Sorcery (Louis Tomlinson)

l. Checkmate

I stared blankly forward as I sat on the same stiff bed I had been strapped to only a few days prior. My posture was slouched, my breaths were more like long sighs, and my eyes hardly moved from where they stared at the floor.

The healers had given me some kind of spell to keep me calm when I woke up that morning, but instead of just keeping me relaxed, it sent me into a kind of daze. Everything was foggy and sluggish, like I was watching a movie in slow motion. My body felt extremely heavy and my mind felt like a bowling ball rolling around inside of my skull. My mouth was constantly dry, but the healers wouldn't give me anything to drink on account of my violent behavior from the last time I stayed here.

"It's almost lunchtime, you can have a drink then." A healer had told me, a too cheerful smile on his face. I didn't say anything, only stared at him with glazed eyes until he got uncomfortable and left the room.

I suppose I should've been kinder to my only visitor, but I didn't really have any energy to say or do anything. Louis hadn't visited me all day, none of my friends had shown up, even Dad hadn't stopped by. Then again, why would they? No one socializes with crazy people except crazy people, and I had been deemed unfit for social interaction.

I sighed when I shivered, the cool air conditioning getting through the thin fabric of the t-shirt and pants I had been given to my skin. I got under the starch white blankets, curling up into a ball under the covers. What had my life come to? Scheduled meals, solitary confinement, and empty bedrooms?

"Hello, little niece." I heard a voice in the room, my heart no longer stuttering and fear long gone. I was getting used to Allister's little visits. I didn't even flinch when I felt the bed shift a bit as he sat on the edge next to me.

"What's up." I spoke in a monotone voice, my uncle chuckling.

"Not too excited to see me?" He smiled at me, his pale skin seeming ghastly white under the harsh lights. He looked like the angel of death with his black attire, an angel I was no longer scared of.

"No, I'm absolutely thrilled. I haven't talked to anyone all day." I breathed out, partly registering how crazy I must have sounded to anyone listening in. I was practically having a conversation with myself, how messed up was that?

"Well I'm happy to keep you company." Allister spoke, my eyes closing as I kept a casual conversation with him. We sat in silence for a few minutes before I decided to speak again.

"You're not real. I don't know how I'm the only one who can see you, but you're not real." I was almost reassuring myself. I honestly didn't really know what was real and what wasn't anymore, I was slowly losing my grasp on reality.

"Oh, believe me Mira. I am very real." Allister replied, and then, almost for confirmation, he lightly patted my shoulder over the covers. I didn't have any energy in me to fight back or shove him away.

"So then is this a talent of yours? To mess with people's minds and make them go crazy?" I asked, Allister smiling his usual wicked grin.

"Maybe." His eyes narrowed as his grin grew bigger, thin pale lips stretching more.

"So this was your plan the whole time? You wanted everyone to think I was crazy and lock me up?" I looked up and over my shoulder at him.

Allister hummed as his head tilted and he got up off the bed. I heard his footsteps as he strolled over to me, kneeling in front of me so our eyes were at the same level. Dull blue eyes looked into colder and harder ones. Allister smiled faintly at me as if I were his own daughter, a look of almost admiration in his eyes as his hand raised and cupped my chin.