Black Magic || Muke

Chapter 4

Luke’s POV

It is now 5am on a Thursday morning and I'm eating coffee grains straight out of the jar.

It’s not necessarily the best ‘go-to’ when it comes to waking yourself up, but it’s something. It’s a way to distract myself enough to avoid the deep regret that festers inside me after pulling an all-nighter… with school the next day.

After realizing the tantalizing mistake Tam and I had made yesterday at school, we’d immediately referred to the sacred books to figure out a way to temporarily mask the scent of her blood.

It was a long shot but it was all we had because there was no way we would go back to those hallways when such incriminating evidence was obviously present.

But after only about half an hour of super intense research, we found a spell that would temporarily burn away the essence of supernatural blood, leaving behind the common metal-like scent of human blood. The spell only lasts 18 hours, so that gives us just enough time to wipe up the remainder of the blood before the spell wears off… if we remember to cater for it, that is.

Mind you, there’s no denying that I’ll definitely remember.

After completing the spell, Tamsin and I cooked an early dinner in an attempt to rid our minds of the possible fate that lied ahead of us the next morning. We had eaten in silence, which eventually turned into an awkward, forced conversation about the meaninglessness of buttons, especially considering velcro exists.

After cleaning up after dinner, we decided to put on a movie and cuddle up under a shared blanket while enjoying a good comedy. We don’t do that a lot, just when things get a bit stressful for our liking, so we immerse ourselves in a fictional universe, even if its only for a couple of hours.

Halfway through the movie, I noticed that Tamsin had fallen asleep, so I’d slowly moved her off of me, stood up and covered her in a blanket. After turning off the movie, I had struggled my way up the stairs, sudden exhaustion taking over me.

Arriving in my room, I had shrugged off my shirt and skinny jeans and gotten into bed, because sleeping in ninja turtle boxers is the true way of comfort. But, lying in bed with the deafening silence surrounding me eventually took its toll, as insomnia took over.

The entire day’s events constantly replayed in my head, with the million possible outcomes of what the next day could bring, also becoming present in my mind.

This had gone on the entire night, which brings me to now. While Tamsin continues to sleep peacefully, I’m pacing the kitchen, shaking with nervousness and hyped up on caffeine.

Brilliant.

***

“Good morn- woah… you look like shit!”

Grumbling, I turn to face a laughing Tamsin who, unlike me apparently, looks wide-awake and rather refreshed. I just mumble back a ‘good morning’ as I move across the kitchen to give her space to grab some cereal.

“So please enlighten me as to why you look like you’ve been dead for 3 months.”

“Well long story short, I didn’t sleep a wink last night.”

“Sounds fun.”

“Paranoia is a bitch.”

“Didn’t say it wasn’t.”

“Why are you not empathizing for me?”

Sighing, she pours the leftover milk from her cereal in a glass that was originally meant for orange juice and faces me. “I’m sorry, it does sound like hell, but we still have duties in dire need of attendance, so I'm trying to keep my mind on the end goal, distractions are useless.”