The Club

Thirty

“The place you thought of was your bedroom?” Joz asks making me open my eyes. 
“I did it?” I question myself.
“You did it. I told you, you could.” Joz tells me proudly. 
“Thank you Joz.” I say, smiling as I stand up from the floor. 
“What are you going to do now?” Joz asks. 
“Well, clean up Finn’s wounds, for one. Unless you know how to heal?” I ask as I try to get Finn on my bed.
“We unfortunately aren’t able to heal, since we are demons.” Joz tells me, confirming my theory. 
“Then I guess I will just clean and bandage his wounds. He will unfortunately will have to heal himself.” I say as I went into my bathroom to get a first aid kit. 
“I hate to suggest this, but why don’t you ask that light user for help?” Joz ask already sounding like he regretted it. 
“Iridiana? Do they heal?” I ask, confused. 
“If she’s a light user, then she should be able to.” Joz tells me. 
“Okay. I’ll see if she can come over and help me. Um, do you know what room she stays in?” I ask Joz awkwardly. 
“Why the hell would I know that?” Joz asks like I’m stupid. 
“Well, because you seem to know everything.” I tell him like it’s obvious. 
“I only know what’s going on with you and other dark users. I don’t meddle with light users.” Joz says, sounding annoyed. 
“Okay, okay sorry. I will just figure out what room she’s in.” I say, but scared of picking the wrong room. 
“Didn’t she give you her number? Why don’t you just call her over?” Joz asks like it was the obvious choice. 
“Oh! You’re right!” I say, feeling dumb as I take my phone out. 
I instantly called Iridiana and explained the whole situation. Then I asked if she could come over and help me. She didn’t hesitate and said that she will be right over. I didn’t mention that I would need her healing ability, but hopefully she would know that we will need it once she sees the condition Finn is in. While I was waiting for Iridiana to get over here. I instantly went over and cleaned up the blood from Finn’s wounds. I moved my hand away when he flinched in his sleep. I watch him for a moment to make sure he would not wake up when he didn’t. I continued to clean up the blood. 
“Why are you helping him, anyway?” Joz asks as I went to grab another clean washcloth to clean his wounds. 
“You said that I can trust him. That he was good and just unpredictable.” I say as I focused on cleaning off the blood. 
“I never said that he was good, dear Lonnie, but yes, I said you can trust him. But I also said not completely as well. I said that he’s unstable at the moment. So I advise to be careful around him still.” Joz warns me. 
“I’ll be fine. I have you to help me, plus Iridiana is on her way over.” I tell him as I sat back looking over Finn’s wounds. 
Finn looks so much worse than the last time I saw him. Finn’s covered with bruises, scrapes and cuts. He’s even paler than before, almost as white as a ghost, which is worrying. I noticed he has a black eye and a busted lip. I also noticed even though he’s unconscious, he was clutching his side again. The same one that was bothering him before. I stare at his side before glancing up at Finn’s closed eyelids before glancing back to his side again. 
“I know what you’re thinking. Do not do it.” Joz warns me. 
“I have to. He could have a severe injury there.” I tell him as I reached over to lift his shirt. 
“This is a bad idea.” Joz warns again. 
“He’s clutching there for a reason, Joz. It must be so painful. I have to help him.” I say, trying to lift his clutched hand carefully away from his side. 
“Why? What has he or anyone else done for you since you arrived at this school?” Joz asks getting angry. 
I stop as he had a point, but does that give me a right to leave an injured person alone? Especially if it’s someone that I can somewhat trust? Joz said that I can trust him, and so I have to do this. If he’s one of the few people in this school that I can trust, then I can’t abandon him in his need of help. That will just make me just like the rest of them. I don’t want to be like them. I have to help Finn, and then I have to warn Hector about Grimshaw. Hector deserves to know about his friendship with Tynan. We cannot trust Grimshaw no matter what. I let out a sigh as I continue removing Finn’s hand away from his side. I gently set it next to him before I went to lift his shirt, but stop when Finn groans in pain. I glance over at him and saw that his eyes are closed still, but his hand is now back over his side. 
“Joz. I need your help.” I whisper to him.
“My help? Just remove his hand again.” Joz tells me.
“He’s probably going to just place it back over again if I try that.” I tell him. 
“Then just use magic.” Joz simply tells me. 
“No. I used too much today. I should have said no.” I say refusing. 
“Remember what I said, Lonnie dear. You won’t be able to stop any ritual if you don’t start using and learning to control my magic.” Joz tells me again. 
“I-I know, but I don’t want to use your magic Joz! It’s your magic, it isn’t right, and I’m scared when I use them!” I yell at him as I covered my face. 
“Lonnie dear. There’s nothing to be afraid of. I’m here to help you learn to control them. Please trust me, I can help you with them.” Joz tells me softly. 
“I do trust you, Joz. It’s just that they are your powers. I don’t deserve them.” I tell him.
“You deserve them. I’m glad it was you who ended up with my magic and not some wannabe dark user. I’m glad that I’m in this situation with you, Lonnie dear.” Joz tells me, making me smile. 
“Your just saying that to make me feel better.” I tell him.
“No. I really mean it. If it wasn’t for you, then I would’ve perished already and I would’ve thought every mortal only cares about getting stronger and powerful. But, since I meant you? You don’t care about any of that, you just want your family back. You care about family and friends, and you want to help people. Considering what they’ve done to you in the past. You are nothing like what I’ve thought mortals were all about.” Joz explains to me seriously. 
“Nothing is more important to me than family and friends.” I whispered, missing my parents. 
“I know, and I’m sorry for what happened to your parents. But with this newfound power. I can help you stop the ritual, and we can stop everything.” Joz tells me confidently. 
“You really think I can do this?” I ask him. 
“Of course!” Joz says with so much confidence.
“Okay. Tell me what I should do.” I tell him with newfound confidence. 

A knock on the door made me jump, but then I remembered Iridiana was coming over. I wonder what took her so long to get here. I stood up from my spot on the floor before walking over to the door and unlocking it. The moment I opened the door, she bursts through the door looking frantic. I watch, confused but scared, as she quickly locks my door before looking over at me with wide eyes. What is going on, Joz? I ask him in my mind. 
“I don’t know, but I can sense a lot of fear from her.” Joz tells me seriously. 
“Lonnie quick! Do you have a place for me to hide?” Iridiana asks grabbing onto my shoulders and I can feel her shaking in fear. 
“What’s going on? Are you okay?” I ask, grabbing her shaking hands. 
“No! He’s here. H-he’s here and-” Iridiana says, but stops as she looks around trembling in absolute fear. 
“Hey calm down. You’re safe here. Tell me what’s going on. Who’s here?” I ask, trying to calm her down. 
“Kedron! He’s here, and he wants to kill me!” Iridiana yells full of panic.
“Kedron? Why does the name sound so familiar?” I whispered to myself. 
“He’s Grimshaw’s older brother, and he demises light users!” Iridiana yells again. 
“He’s not the only one.” Joz says.
“Oh! Oh my god! He’s here? Like on the campus?” I ask Iridiana ignoring Joz’s comment.
“Yes! He’s looking for his brother and if he comes across any light users, he will kill them.” Iridiana tells me seriously. 
“Okay, um, well, you’re safe here. He’s looking for his brother, right? Which is Grimshaw and he’s not here. So, he has no reason to come here. You’re safe as long as you don’t leave this room.” I promised her. 
“How can you promise her that? You know that wannabe punk likes to pop up wherever you are. What if he leads his brother here? Not that I care about the light user or anything.” Joz explains to me seriously. 
“I don’t know. I just hope he will stay away after what happened last time.” I tell Joz in my mind. 
“I hate to break this to you, Lonnie dear, but I don’t think he will.” Joz tells me. 
“I know.” I nearly whispered. 
“What?” Iridiana asks looking over at me. 
“I uh, I said that I know. I, uh, I know that you’re scared, but I still called you over for a reason. I need your help, Iridiana.” I say, feeling guilty. 
“My help? With wha-wait, is that Finn?” Iridiana asks confused. 
“Yes. He’s badly injured, and he needs your, uh, healing ability.” I ask, coughing awkwardly. 
“My healing ability? How did you-wait, it was your demon that told you right?” Iridiana asks letting out a sigh. 
“Maybe.” I say, looking away, feeling guilty by the second. 
“Then he forgot to tell you a small bit of information. Light users can’t heal dark users. They tainted their blood with demon blood so our healing magic won’t work.” Iridiana tells me while crossing her arms. 
“What? Well, technically, Finn is safe to heal. His demon betrayed him and all of his demon’s blood has disappeared. He’s safe to heal.” I tell her, crossing my arms, making her uncross hers. 
“Is that true?” Iridiana asks shock. 
“Very, but you may tell no one. Now, please heal him.” I pleaded with her. 
“You are an odd one, Lonnie.” Iridiana says as she walks over to Finn, who was once again clutching his side. 
I watched her as she observed him before hovering her hands over his wounds. And at first nothing happens. But then her hands glow a soft yellow orange and by being near her, it gave off some warmth. I watched in awe as Finn’s wounds magically disappeared, included the leftover blood I missed. Finn lets out a soft sigh as he seems to be comfortable rather than be in pain. I felt better knowing he’s going to be okay, and won’t be dying on my bed. Iridiana stands up, still watching Finn as she furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. I somehow felt that she was uneasy and I’m not sure why she would feel that way. Well, I guess I do. Kedron is here, and he’s after light users. I will have to keep him away from her. But I know one thing that’s unsettling. If Kedron is here, then that means the war is going to be happening soon. I’m not ready for it. I don’t think anyone will ever be ready for an upcoming war, and honestly, I think I’m the only one who can stop it.