Inner Demons

35. Feel Better

"Courtney, wait up," I called. A sharp pain shot through my side. I slowed to catch my breath.

"Hey, Harper," she said. She stopped and waited for me. As usual, her stick straight blonde hair covered half her face. She wore a pair of tattered jeans and a black hoodie.

"Thanks," I said. I doubled over slightly as a wave of nausea passed over me. Man, using magic got more and more dangerous to my health each time I used it. This time, I had only been invisible for ten minutes at most. Why was it affecting me so harshly?

"Are you all right?" Courtney rushed over and put her hand on my shoulder.

"I'll be okay," I said. "I think maybe I ate something bad."

She helped me to the van. The whole ride home, she kept looking over at me as if there was something she wanted to say to me. When I met her eyes, though, she just looked away.

Mary Anne sat quietly in the backseat. She had taken Morgyn Baker's death quite hard, retreating even further into her shell. For days after the dance, Mary Anne stayed in her room. She missed school and refused to eat. Several times, when I'd knocked on her door to ask her to come down for dinner, I'd heard her crying.

Tonight, she was silent and still. I was surprised she'd even gone to the game at all. Maybe Ella Mae made her come.

Whenever she was around, tension hung in the air. Even now, in the van, I felt her eyes on me. I wanted to ask her what her problem was, but since I knew she'd just lost a good friend, I figured she deserved a little space.

When we arrived home, Courtney helped me up the stairs and into my bedroom. I said goodnight and went to wash my face, but when I came out of the bathroom, she was still standing there.

"Oh, hey, I thought you'd gone to bed," I said.

"Can I come in for a sec?"

I shrugged. I didn't really have time to sit and chat. Not when I was so close to getting my memories back. But I couldn't exactly tell her to leave. "Sure," I said. "I probably won't be up too much longer, though."

Courtney turned and stuck her head into the hallway, looked both ways, then closed us into my room. "You were using too much magic."

She said it as a fact, not a question. I narrowed my eyes at her. What did she know about it? I didn't know whether I should trust her. I didn't answer her. Instead, I walked to my closet and pulled out some pajamas.

"I recognize the signs," she said. She moved to sit on my bed. "Believe me, I've been there before. This one time, I tried to get my stereo to work without any electricity running to it. That knocked me out for a few hours."

"You can do high level magic?" I asked. I forgot my pajamas and joined her on the bed.

"Some things," she said. "Probably nothing like what you can do, but I play around some."

As I looked at her, I realized I didn't know that much about Courtney's past. How did she end up here at Shadowford? From what Morgyn told me, Shadowford was being used by the Order as a way to draw in orphaned girls like me and Agnes. They were looking for the Prima, but what were their intentions with the girls who turned out not to be the Prima? If they were so powerful, why weren't they recruited and trained? It didn't seem fair.

"What can you do?" I asked.

She looked around the room. Her eyes settled on something near my closet. I followed her gaze. The pajamas I discarded on the top of my dressing table floated toward us. I smiled.

"Where did you learn to do that?" My pj's landed beside me on the bed.

Courtney's face broke out in a smile, but she dipped her head to hide it. She shrugged, but I could tell she was glad to share her ability with me.

I touched her arm and got a slight shock of static electricity. "Oops," I said. "Sorry."

"It's okay," she said. "Sometimes the air in a room gets charged with a little bit of electricity after magic is used."

"I've noticed that before," I said. "Actually, the first time I met Mrs. Shadowford, the door gave me a shock. She's a witch, too, isn't she?"

Courtney nodded.

I winced as another wave of pain shot through my abdomen.

Slowly, Courtney reached out to take my hands in hers. "There's something else I can do," she said.

I looked up, curious.

"Close your eyes."

I closed my eyes, unsure what to expect. At first, nothing happened. The house was quiet and still. The only sound was the sound of our breathing.

Then, Courtney's hands became burning hot. On instinct, I tried to pull away, but she held firm, refusing to let me go. My eyes flew open. I was frightened. Was she trying to hurt me?

"Shhh," she whispered. "It'll be okay, I promise."

The burning heat spread through my body like hot lava. My lower back screamed in pain. I bit my lip to keep from crying out. Just when I didn't think I could take it anymore, an instant calm settled over me. My skin cooled and felt refreshed. Suddenly, my nausea was gone.

Courtney dropped my hands. "Feel better?"

"What did you do?" I took a deep breath. I felt strong.

She smiled shyly. "I recharged you," she said. "It's one of the few things I know how to do." She cleared her throat and swiped at her eyes. "I used to do that for Agnes all the time. Before she..."

I touched her shoulder. "Thanks," I said. "I really do feel better."

She nodded and sniffed, then rose from the bed. "Well, I'm gonna head to bed," she said.

"Goodnight," I said. "Maybe we can share magic tips or something sometime."

She turned around, her face creased with worry. "I had no idea she wanted to hurt you, Harper. I never would have helped her if I thought she would do something like that."

I breathed slowly in and out.

"I know."