Argent Eye II

3

As I was walking, I realised that Ronan could have quite easily teleported to the house and then back to Greenwich Park with me, but then I wondered whether that was lazy on my behalf.

Probably.

When I approached the gates, there were still people walking about- although it was getting dark, it was still summer, and so people tended to stay out later. A bit risky, if you ask me. Also, there was no sign of Ronan. I frowned, taking a look around, and just pulled my phone out my pocket to text him when I felt a pair of arms wrap around me and my feet leave the floor.

Before I had time to comprehend what was happening, I'd already landed in a new location.

I turned, ready to face my attacker, but there was Ronan, a mischievous smirk on his face.

"You're late." He said.

I blinked. "What did you do that for?" I exclaimed.

"There were lots of people. I had to be quick." He said, still smug that he'd managed to scare me. He used to make me jump all the time, when he'd suddenly appear beside me with no warning, but I'd grown used to that.

Or so I thought.

"You could have, like, text me that you were gonna do that! I thought I was being attacked or something!" I threw my arms in the air.

Ronan just laughed, and in the end, I couldn't help but laugh too.

"I'm sorry." Ronan said between giggles.

"No you're not." I huffed, before taking a good look around. We were in Greenwich Park, over the far side surrounded by trees- if anyone were to be patrolling, we would remain fairly hidden. The sun had completely set, leaving the skies a weird combination of orange and navy blue, but it was still warm. I was standing in my shorts and T-shirt and didn't look out of place.

"Okay, so I guess we should get started." Ronan said, and as usual, went to stand opposite me. "Today, we focus on metal."

I didn't mean to, but my face must have screwed up.

"You know you need to." Ronan said, having seen my face. "Likelihood is that if you don't wanna do it, then you probably should. Otherwise the metal might get bored and make an unexpected appearance. Besides, you've been putting it off for ages."

I mean, he had a point, but it was the metal that made me feel the worst, simply because I couldn't do it and it took a lot of energy to do even the smallest of things.

"Fine." I sighed.

Ronan pulled something small and shiny out of his pocket, and threw it at me. I caught it one handed, and then opened my palm to see a silver coin there- not the British currency, though. It looked old, and heavy. It was the same coin Ronan always got me to practice with, for some reason.

"Let's start from the basics." Ronan began, putting his serious teacher Dreamwalker face on and clasping his hands behind his back. "Make the coin float."

The truth was, when I said I was rubbish at controlling metal, I truly meant it. It seemed that I'd made no progress whatsoever- I'd make the coin float and feel like I'd achieved something, and then the next time we approached it again, it was like I'd never done it before and I'd have to start the training from scratch.

I took a breath and closed my eyes, feeling the weight of the coin in the palm of my hand. It was cool to the touch, and smooth round the edges. When I focused on these properties, I started to feel a bit of a connection. Like a weak magnet. Then, I concentrated in trying to intensify the connection I was feeling, keeping my breathing steady and forcing enough energy from my hand to begin to feel the weight of the coin lift ever so slightly-

An intense pain seemed to pierce right in my stomach then, and I had to stop. When my fingers closed over the coin, it seemed as though a small pulse resonated from the centre, nearly knocking Ronan over. But then I doubled over, clutching my belly. I wondered what it could be, but then in my mind's eye I remembered the moment Haydn had sliced the piece of jagged metal through my stomach in Greenwich Park. His yellow eyes seemed to fill my vision for a moment, before darkness, and then the trees started to come back into focus.

For a moment, I wondered where Ronan was, but then felt his arm over my shoulder. I hadn't realised my hearing had also gone, until his voice started to get louder.

"Millie? What's wrong?" He asked.

I looked at him, the pain receding and my senses coming back to life. I slumped onto the ground, suddenly very tired and out of breath.

"Shit." I said. "That really hurt."

"What did?" Ronan asked, trying to look for any visible signs of injury.

I rubbed by belly, at the spot just below my belly button where I had a neat looking scar. "Right here."

"Is that...?"

He didn't need to finish. I just nodded, and sighed. "I keep seeing him." I admitted.

Ronan frowned, unsure what to say or ask. "Who?" He finally asked, although he had to know who I meant.

"Haydn." I said anyway. "He's... I've seen him twice. Sort of. It's like I see his face on someone else for a second, and then he's gone."

"Shit, Millie, why didn't you say something?"

"It literally just started happening today." I said. I could feel my energy slowly beginning to return to me. "Ever since I came back to Greenwich."

Ronan rubbed his chin, having sat down on the floor next to me. "You know he's dead, right?" Ronan said.

I looked at him. "Of course I know he's dead. I saw it happen. Not to mention it's been nearly six months since then, and I've had no problems. He's barely even crossed my thoughts, and when he has, it's not been negative. It's been relief. But now... now I don't know what's happening."

There was a while where we both just sat there in silence, trying to come up with an explanation.

"I mean, I think this may be the reason behind your lack of progress with metal." Ronan said after a moment of thought. "It seemed to be a subconscious thing, that you weren't really aware of before. But now that you're back here, where it happened, it's moving into your conscious mind. You're being reminded of what took place."

I sighed. Just when I thought things were looking up. Haydn was dead, and yet he was still invading my thoughts. Was there any way of getting away from him? "Great." Was all I said, but the word was laced with several emotions.

"It's okay, Millie." Ronan said, clearly sensing my disappointment. "We can get through this."

I looked up at Ronan again, his optimism sometimes baffling. I smiled a little. "I hope so."

He patted me on the back, and then stood up, lowering his hand down to me. "Come on, then. I'll give you a lift back."

I took his hand, and allowed him to haul me off the floor, before the ground left my feet.

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