The Guy from the Insane Asylum

Chapter 13

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"Those people who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do." —Isaac Asimov.

Chapter 13

"Wait, do that again." Bethany whispered.

It had been five days since she discovered Zach's strange skills. She processed all her thoughts about his magic over the weekend and on Monday and Tuesday, she skipped school to research all about witchcraft and the Egyptians and the Babylonians and how it came to be. She was astonished by them. And a lot more confused than originally when she researched supernatural sight.

The first two days after she found out, she had ditched Dared and focused on her mental stability. She kind of believed she was going crazy. And just yesterday, she had showed back again at the Asylum, not yet ready to face her enemies in school.

Zach was glad to see her, though he knew she would come back eventually to get some answers. She hated being in oblivion, it bothered her too much.

They had hung out and done 'magic' together. It was what Bethany called it, because she didn't truly know what it was. Zach knew it was more than magic, but he thought it was cute that Bethany wanted to call it that so he let it be. She also sometimes called Zach a wizard but that was left for questioning. If he really were a wizard wouldn't he be able to do more?

Zach repeated what he had done before, but this time he made butterflies appear out of thin air in the garden of Dared. She could see them through the glass window. She could see the way they were created out of thin air too. It baffled her.

"What else can you do?" Bethany asked, her eyes twinkled. A small breeze blew through the windows they were watching the garden from, they were almost never open in the commons but that night they were.

"I don't know. I never discover these things on purpose, they just kind of come to me randomly." Zach admitted.

"Who else knows?"

"We don't have to worry about that. My mom did but she's dead and I lost contact with my best friend when I got admitted into Dared. He knew as well." Zach ran his fingers through his hair and leaned back.

"Do you think he'd tell anyone, on the outside?" Bethany still believed there were blanks from his story but she knew he'd tell her soon enough. Or she convinced herself he would. And she didn't question more about his mother because every time she was spoken about he'd get weird.

Zach was ready to tell her an additional piece of information. It was time she found out, that's why he said, "hey, there's a lot you don't know still."

Bethany nodded, mentally preparing herself for anything that he could've said next.

"And I think it's about time I tell you everything, now that you've figured me out." So he does, he tells her everything. Well, mostly everything. He was waiting until Bethany could take all that in before he told her about his recent discovery.

Bethany thought his story was so sad. Her eyes couldn't help but water. But she didn't cry. "I'm so sorry," she finally said. Imagining her family dead, or her dad turning against her, they were horrible thoughts.

"Thank you," Zach murmured. And as he watched her recollect herself, he tried to read her. But then it felt inappropriate so he stopped.

"Sorry," she apologized again. "It's just, a lot, you know. I wish there was something I could do—,"

"There is," he said softly. "I knew your brother. He's the other person that knows." Zach had finally realized why Bethany's last name sounded all too familiar only a week ago.