Lux : The Protector

Chapter Five

Chapter Five

"So, you do magic? You're, like, a legit magician?" Gregory exclaimed as he pushed his floppy hair back.

Despite Gregory's enthusiastic chatter, Lenny didn't feel the same. Instead, he shivered. "I'm pretty sure I'm a marked man from now on," he worried. "They'll be after me for forever."

"Max?" Gregory raised his eyebrows. "Oh, you need not to worry about him. He's just a goner who's got nothing to do with his life. But can you do that again?"

"Oh, you mean this?" Lenny grinned, plucking a card out of thin air.

Gregory gaped at him and threw his hands in the air. "How the hell do you do that? That's amazing!"

Lenny chuckled and shook his head.

The school bus had dropped them by the bus stop on the curb. As they trotted down the narrow sidewalk while kicking leaves on the way home, Lenny glanced at the tall pine trees surrounding the area.

"This place has a lot of trees, huh?" he comments.

Gregory shrugs. "Yeah, it's all over the place. You'll get used to it, city boy," he patted Lenny. "The woods are almost taking over the town and I tell you, that place is spooky."

Lenny pressed his lips firmly at the mention of 'spooky' and halted to a stop right in front of their house.

"So, this is where you live?" Gregory asked, looking up at the house.

Lenny pursed his mouth, shrugging as he stuffed his hands into his pockets. Linda had the front yard cleared already but the house still needed to be repainted. It was still looking freaky as ever. He scrunched his nose and turned to Gregory.

"It's haunted, don't you think?" he asked.

Gregory glanced at him with his green eyes and gave him a slow, creepy smile. "It sure hell is."

"Thanks for the info," Lenny sighed. "But I'm pretty sure I still couldn't convince my mother to leave."

Gregory chuckled and shook his head. "I get how you feel," he said. "This place is a total dump. No fast food, no internet. But it's not as bad as you think. Just give it a shot."

"No way," Lenny laughed, leaning against the old, rotting fence. "Do you live near here?"

"Yeah," Gregory nodded. "It's just further ahead, a little distance from here."

"Cool," Lenny piped out.

A cool breeze sent chills through his skin and he automatically glanced towards the huge house across them. He shivered and rubbed his arms through his sleeves. It was a warm afternoon that day but somehow he felt freezing.

"Are you okay?" Gregory asked

Lenny licked his dry lips and turned to Gregory, who was watching him with a suspicious look.

"Do you know who lives there?" he asked while holding his gaze towards the house.

Gregory followed Lenny's stare. He inhaled slowly, Lenny noticed, his face turning grim while looking at the house with hostility.

"They don't really go out. At all," he said in a low voice, his eyes narrowing.

"Who?"

"No," Gregory shook his head animatedly as if he was speaking to himself. "You don't really have to know."

Lenny gave him a puzzled look. "Okay," he said. "So who lives there?"

"Nobody," Gregory said, shaking his head.