Golden Boy

T W E N T Y

Bev eventually made it back from where ever he had been with a duffle bag of stuff I couldn't identify, or at least didn't want to identify. He looked sweaty and like he hadn't showered in a couple of days, which I then learned he'd actually hadn't. 

I sat alone on the couch, scrolling through my phone as Bev freshened up because he smelled so awful that we wouldn't be able to handle being in a car with him. Jace stayed in the kitchen, finishing up boiling down the substances and storing them into glass jars. We finally packed into Bev's car and made our way to my house, where we parked, and then I snuck us all into the backyard. 

I saw Bev take in my house for the first time, probably already familiar with it since Jace had been. It wasn't much of a sight to see. I lived in a two-story blue-grey house with a wide front porch and an average-sized backyard filled with trees and bushes for privacy from our neighbors. We didn't have a pool, despite the number of times my mom has begged my dad to install one, to which he replies that we live in New York where it's too cold to swim nine months out of the year. I, up until yesterday, never thought of my house as special, just a home. It was harder to look at my house now and not see the history attached to it and feel like it didn't really belong to me despite having lived here my whole life. 

I positioned them at the side of my house where I knew my parents wouldn't be able to see in case they happened to look out the window, and sat down on the ledge of the brick wall gating off my mom's flower garden and watched as the boys pulled out the jars of the red substance Jace had boiled down earlier from the herbs and dumped it on the grass. It was a thick red substance that had the consistency of honey. It reminded me of thickening blood, which made me want to gag. 

Bev pulled out a knife and cut his hand and then passed it to Jace who did the same. They let the blood drop onto the grass and I watched as it mixed with the red honey-like substance already on the floor. The liquids mixed themselves and started to spread, covering every rock, dirt, and blade of grass. I lifted my feet so that my shoes didn't get stained with the red that quickly colored my whole backyard. 

"Aren't my parents going to notice that the whole yard is red?"

Bev shifted just to glare at me and shake his head, loudly shushing me, agitating my mood since they never mentioned that I had to stay quiet the whole time. He turned to face the side of my house like Jace who stood completely still, concentrated with his eyes closed, silently chanting. 

I couldn't say anything, or move because of the substance covering the ground, so I sat bored for twenty minutes watching Jace and Bev perform magic even though I couldn't physically see it, other than of course the goo covering the yard. 

Strong winds whirled around me quickly picking up speed and blowing up leaves and other debris from the floor. The air felt electric with magic, Bev twitching from the sensation. I sucked in a breath, my heart pounding in my throat as I waited to see how this would all end. I started to feel a warm energy surround me, pushing me closer into my house's boundaries where Jace and Bev stood. I figured that was where the limit of the protection stopped.

Out of nowhere, a red ring of the honey substance from the floor created a dome over my house, becoming transparent as it sealed. Bev and Jace stumbled back, falling on their asses from the force of the energy bouncing back on to them. 

"I think it worked," Bev said, turning to Jace who was clawing his way back to his feet using the support of the brick wall. Jace took a step towards the house, his arm stretched out to feel for the invisible boundary he set up. His hand met some resistance, indicating that they were able to restore the protections originally set on my house.

"You should be safe here now. Let us know if anything strange happens. We'll get here as soon as possible."

"I'll actually take my sweet time, but hopefully everything should be fine now," grinned Bev with his fakest smile.