Traces Of Magic

~Chapter 31~

I groan as I wake up. I clench my teeth as I deal with sitting up with a stiff back. Once sitting up, my jaw relaxes and I sigh. I take a quick look around and find myself in Grayson's room, and more specifically, in his bed. My hands ache as I raise them to rub my eyes. My nails and fingertips are caked in dry blood. I lick my lips. The saliva from my tongue freshens up the dry blood on them, turning my tongue red. I look down at my hands.

The bedroom door creaks open as Grayson slips inside. "Hey." He stares at the floor as I look up at him. "Hey." My voice is hoarse. He doesn't look up, so I take the chance and examine him. There's bandages stained red from blood wrapped around his left arm, his right hand, and his upper chest. Eventually, he comes over and sits down beside me.

There is expected silence between us. I watch his chest raise and fall as he breathes. He moves around uncomfortably, positioning himself one way only to change it a minute later. Sensing the nervous tension between us, I decide to break the ice. "How...how are you feeling?" He still doesn't look at me. "Like shit. How about you? You doing okay?" I look down at my hands.

"Not really. Is this..." He sighs and responds without looking up.

"Yes. That's my blood on your hands Mandy."

Silence.

"So then that means..." He sighs again.

"Yes. My blood's also on your lips."

More silence.

"How? How is your blood on my hands and face?" He shakes his head in disbelief before taking the bandages off, revealing the deep scratches and cuts in his chest and arm with his bitten hand. My hand hovers over my mouth as I stare at his wounds. "And I... I did..." I swallow nervously. "...I did all of that to you?" Tears start to fill up my eyes as he nods his head and winces while he wraps the bandages around him again. "Yeah. You did. Don't you remember?"

A few tears find their way out and slip down my face as I shake my head miserably. "...n...no...no I don't..." My body trembles in fear. I am scared. What scares me the most is that fact that I honestly have no memory of ever doing that to him. I lean against Grayson as I begin to sob. To my surprise, he doesn't push me away or move but actually wraps his left arm around me comfortingly. The bandage scratches my neck, but I ignore it. I am too deep in my sadness to pay attention to it.

"Shhh. It's okay Mandy. Don't cry. We're all here for you..." Taking his free hand, he places under my chin and gently tilts my face up to his. "...I'm here for you..." His eyes sparkle as our lips collide. He locks lips with me briefly before pulling away. Slowly, I stop crying. I am overwhelmed with a warm sensation and can't stop my lips from talking. "Lexi is...she is...she's dead..." Grayson's grip around me grows tighter. "What? What do you mean?"

One final tear falls down my cheek. "Lexi's dead Grayson and it's all my fault!" I wrap my arms around him and hug him very tightly, causing him to wince. "Mandy...I...I had no idea..." His stuttering normally would have made me giggle, but this is too depressing. He goes silent for a moment.

"It isn't your fault that she's..."

I cut him off.

"Yes! Yes, it is my fault Grayson! I just stood there and did nothing while her douchebag of a boyfriend shot and killed her! I could have SAVED her!"

"You mean Dustin?"

My face turns pink with anger. "Don't say that god awful creature's name! He should go back to Hell for what he did to her!"I look down as I breathe heavily. My now red face feels like its on fire. My chest heaves up and down as I struggle to stabilize my breathing. Grayson's arms grow extremely tight around my shoulders. Flames lick the back of my throat as they try to escape but I do my hardest to keep them at bay.
The protective arms around me let go as he gets up. " You feel really warm. I'm going to go get you something to cool you down." I roll my eyes. "Grayson I'm fine. I'm just angry. That's all I swear!" I let out a deep breath. Flames come out too and linger in front of my lips for a few seconds before diffusing into the air. "Like I said Mandy: you need something to cool you down. I'll be right back. Just...please stay put, okay?" He disappears, leaving my emotions and I alone.

The realization comes to me while I sit there. He's babying me like I can't handle myself! The audacity of him to behave in such a way! I make my way over to the window and throw it open. I look down. Two floors isn't high, is it? I sit down on the sill and swing my legs over the ledge. I place my hand over my heart as it starts to beat faster. I take a deep breath and shut my eyes before letting go and throwing myself out of the window.

The ground comes sooner than I expected and catches me by surprise. I hit the ground feet first. I can feel the bones in my left leg snap in different places. I open my mouth and scream silently and internally as I grab my leg. I roll around on the ground for a while before getting the nerves to try standing up and walking. I manage to get to both feet after a few attempts.

My leg hurts like hell when I put any pressure on it as I take a few steps. Scrapping the idea of walking, I try limping. Limping decreases the amount of pain in my leg, so I decide to go with it. With a nice long nap in mind, I start on my way home.