Forced Magic (16 page)

I hadn’t thought about it until that moment, but he was
right. The little gnome was just a few feet away from me and his memory spell
had no effect on me. I thought about the little girl who was unaffected as
well. I wondered what that meant.  Johnathen had made it out to be a big deal
that the spell had no effect on me.

“There was a little girl who wasn’t affected by the magic as
well," I said.

“Really? It was a powerful pulse and for a human to not to
be affected by it is rare.  Do you think you could point her out to me if you
were to see her again?”

“Her family is staying here at the hotel so unless they
leave tonight, I think I could.” 

"Good, we will check for her tomorrow. I think it would
be a good idea for us to stay here too, Michelle. I have already gotten rooms
for us. I have neglected you for too long. It is time to really see what you
can do. First of all we need to see if you can perform your forced magic in
conditions that aren’t necessarily dangerous."

I nodded my head and looked at the wine. I was starting to
feel guilty for keeping the writing a secret from Johnathen.  It was quiet in
the room for a few minutes.

“Are we really going to stay here for a while?” asked
Michelle.

I could tell that she was desperately trying to change the
subject. I had the feeling that she wouldn’t be able to keep our little secret
for much longer. I hoped by the time she revealed it, the writing might have
already done some good and Johnathen wouldn’t be too upset.

“Yes, we need to see what Jack and Fetch can do.  The best
way to do this would be to stay close. Look at us, just standing here with wine
in our hands! Let’s have a toast and a drink. To new and best friendships. May
we all find our way to make this world a better place."

If anyone else had made that toast, I would have thought it
corny, but just looking at the gleam in Johnathen's sad tired eyes when he said
it, let me know that he meant it. He wanted a better world. I made a promise to
myself to help him achieve that goal.

I took a sip of the wine. It tasted wonderful! The humming
did change. Each of our glasses started to make a new music. Johnathen's tune
sounded like an old madrigal number I sang in high school choir. It was strong
and sweet with a proud undertone to it. There was a strange weight to the music
that could only be described as determination. Michelle's song was much sadder.
It had a driving beat to it and the melody flowed from one style to the next.
It seemed to say that she was accepting of change and could adapt to any
situation. Fetch's tune was loud but lighthearted. At times you could hear a sad
lonely melody attached to it. It was a little jangly but it stayed together and
would eventually get on track. My wine sounded much different from the others.
It was a messed up mix of melodies and sounds. It never seemed to stay with one
melody or sound for very long but jumped around. Loud one second, soft the
next, the best way to describe it would be like members of a giant orchestra
were given different pieces of music and they played them all at the same time.
This was very disturbing to me. It seemed to say that my life was a mess. I
mean, I knew it was a mess, but for it to be brought before me like this was
not a good moment. It was a noisy room for a bit until Johnathen motioned us to
quickly finish our glass. When we all drained our glasses the sound stopped.
Johnathen brought out a bottle of what he called 'Dwarf Ale' and gave each of
us a pour from the bottle. With just one sip the world became a happy
lighthearted place. My doubts and concerns over my music were pushed aside. An
old memory of a friend of mine, whom I had not thought of in years, and how we
had, on a dare, mistakenly mooned a cop, came to mind. I shared the story and
we all had a good laugh. Our mood became happy and relaxed. We did this so
quickly that I didn’t have time to even think about why my music was so
chaotic. Soon we were laughing and just enjoying each other's company. 
Michelle shared a story of a guy sitting on an ice cream cone, and Johnathen
shared a tale of a dwarf and an elf having a burping contest that was interrupted
by a troll who didn't understand the rules and farted knocking both contestants
off the stage. We laughed some more. Fetch laughed the loudest and, as always,
caused me to laugh even more.

Our little party went well into the morning hours before we
finally decided to end it.  Michelle and Johnathen left for their rooms, and,
after a brief wrestling match for the bed, I pulled the top cover off the bed
and drifted into a satisfying slumber.

I woke up the next morning stiff and sore. I hadn’t done my
usual work out and ended up paying the price for it today. Fetch was already up
watching TV. I lay there remembering the roller-coaster night I had last night,
from the fear and anger of an attacking goblin, to a bonding moment with a
wizard and an up-and-coming witch. You definitely couldn’t call my life boring.
I thought about how mine and Fetch's story was now being written; magically. I
wondered, if something were to happen to me, would it continue writing? Then I
remembered all of the things I had been thinking about Michelle. Those words
would go on the computer soon and Michelle would be able to read them. I had to
find a way to edit it. My face went red with the thought. I felt a sharp pain
on the top of my head. Fetch had seen me just sitting there staring at the
ceiling and had thrown a bottle top at my head. Before I could retaliate, my
phone rang. It was Michelle. She said that we should meet them down at the pool
in about twenty minutes. I jumped up and headed for the shower.

“We've got to get ready to meet Johnathen and Michelle by
the pool Fetch. You should do something about your breath. It really
stinks."

I slammed the door to the bathroom before he could respond.
I took a quick shower and wrapped a towel around my waist, and then I
cautiously opened the door expecting Fetch to retaliate over my comment. He was
sitting on the bed still watching TV. You could see the bed sagging from his
weight. I grabbed my bathing suit and slapped on some deodorant.  I turned to
the vanity area to brush my teeth and saw the toothpaste squeezed out and my
tooth brush mangled and twisted. I looked over at Fetch who was sitting on the
bed looking at me. He was smiling a very big toothy grin.

“Ha Ha, Lizard, very funny."

I brushed my teeth with my finger and in minuets headed out
the door. I saw Michelle and Johnathen sitting in lounge chairs. Michelle was
wearing a two-piece suit. I could see more of her incredible tattoo, which
seemed to cover most of her body. I had to admire her commitment to get that
much work done. It had to have taken a lot of time and effort. Johnathen was in
a pair of shorts and, of course, a black T-shirt. He was having an animated
conversation with a little girl, the little girl from last night. I walked up
as the little girl was talking to Johnathen about the green monkey that took
her little brother. I saw her parents giving Michelle the once over. They
seemed to have a problem with her tattoo. They didn’t give Johnathen a second
look as he continued to talk to the little girl.  When Johnathen saw me, he
smiled and said.

“Hello Jack. I would like you to meet Brittney.”

The little girl turned around and her eyes got really big
when she saw me. She ran up and gave me a big hug.

“This is the guy who saved my brother,” she shouted.

I looked over at her parents. They continued to look at
Michelle who was effectively ignoring them. It seemed strange to me that these
parents were not worried about Johnathen or me talking to their little girl. I
patted Brittney on the head. She let me go and went back to standing in front
of Johnathen.

"This is Michelle’s and my friend, Brittney. His name
is Jack."

She ran back to me giving me another hug. ”Hi, Jack! I’m
four. How old are you? Did you get that green monkey and kick him when you saved
my brother?” 

Johnathen laughed at Brittney’s rapid way of talking.
Michelle looked over, smiling at the whole exchange. She got up and moved
toward us. I could see a look of concern from the parents, then, when she got
about five feet away from us, a strange glazed look came over the parents'
faces and they both went back to their books as if they had never noticed her
at all. Johnathen had taken Brittney’s hands. Michelle sat next to Johnathen.
Brittney kept on staring at Michelle’s tattoo. She wasn’t scared at all.
Michelle smiled and Brittney climbed into her lap. I glanced over at her
parents, but they didn’t even seem to notice. It had to be a spell. When
someone got close to Johnathen, it was like they were forgotten and not seen
anymore. They would look over at their daughter, smiling and waving, but it was
like they didn’t see any of us. I sat down on the lawn chair across from
Johnathen, Brittney, and Michelle. I had mixed feelings about this kind of
magic. It seemed so manipulative, so controlling. Both Michelle and Johnathen
were ok with it. I could hear Fetch grunt and was sure he didn’t like it
either. I gave Johnathen a questioning look. He nodded his head letting me know
he understood.

“Brittney is a very special little girl, Jack. She can see
things that others can’t see. I want her to understand that she should never
talk to these things, because they might not understand why she can see them,
and they might get a little scared.” He had something in his hands that glowed.
“Did you know that Jack is friends with a dragon?”

Brittney’s eyes got big and her mouth dropped open. “Really?
Can I meet him?”

Before I could say anything, Fetch appeared. He was sitting
next to me, his eyes blue and his smoke purple. Brittney jumped up and wrapped
her arms around Fetch's neck. She kept hopping up and down excitedly, laughing.
Again her parents looked over, smiling, but not concerned. Her mother had
picked up her little brother and was taking out a bottle to feed him. Fetch
blew smoke under Brittany’s chin and she squealed in delight and giggled.
Johnathen took her hand for a second. The glowing thing went from his hand to
Brittney’s hand and then went out. Brittney didn’t seem to notice.  I wasn’t
sure how to feel about all of this. I was about to say something, when Michelle
caught my eye. She was nodding her head, so I stayed quiet.

“It was nice to meet you, Brittney,” said Johnathen. “I
think you should go back over to your parents now."

Brittney looked at Fetch. She was disappointed that she had
to leave. With a sigh she gave him another hug and a kiss and gave one to me
and Michelle. She turned to Johnathen and whispered.

“Is this when I pretend not to see you?”

Johnathen nodded 'yes'. With another sigh and a sad wave,
Brittney turned and went over to her parents. I sat there watching her for a
while as she tried to pretend that she didn’t see us. But she would look over
at us and smile and give us a wave when she thought no one was looking. Her
parents would smile and shake their heads. I had a feeling she saw many
different things at times and her parents had dismissed them as imaginary
friends. I hoped she would learn to not tell people about what she saw.

“What was that Johnathen, the glowing thing you put in her
hands?”

“It was a spark of magic. She will pass it to her brother
and the rest of her family. It will keep them safe from anyone who might
realize that she can see into the magic world. When she is older and ready, I
will come see her again, and teach her some magic if she wants. She has elf and
gnome blood in her. That makes her very special. Her brother is the same and I
have a feeling that is why the goblin attacked. You were right to be
suspicious, Jack. There are forces in the magic world that seems to be getting
ready for something, and I think that the same ones who sent the goblins to
attack you are the ones who kidnaped that baby last night.  We need to find a
way to stop them, Jack, or more children will be kidnaped. These things happen
from time to time, but it is too much of a coincidence that they took a child
with such strong magic potential for this to be random. I didn’t like to
manipulate her parents that way, but I had to talk to her without them around.
The spark will help her, if they get too worried about her telling them about
the things she sees as she gets older. If her brother sees things too, it will
also protect him."

“What do we do then?” I asked. “How can we stop it?”

“It might take some time, Jack. You have to be patient. I am
trying to discover who our mystery enemy is. I have been able to cast a spell
of concealment, so that I won’t be detected for a while, but I can’t do it
forever. For now, Jack and Fetch, I think it is time for me to see what you can
do."

We went back to our rooms. I realized that Johnathen wanted
us to go to meet them by the pool, to show us what he did for Brittany. It was
strange to me that he felt he had to do that. Before going back to our rooms,
we had discussed going out to the desert and showing our abilities.  Fetch
seemed eager to show off, and, even though I didn’t want to admit it, so was I.
This was more than for Fetch and me though. Michelle would be given a chance to
show what she could do as well.

I changed into a pair of jeans and a black T-shirt. I gave
myself a good look in the mirror and rubbed my head. My hair was coming in
nicely. It was much lighter that it was before, in fact, I began to wonder if I
might end up being blond when it grew out.  My goatee had red in it as well as
some brown and a little grey. I kept it trimmed and wondered if I would
eventually have to shave it when more of my hair grew in as it didn’t seem to
match the hair on my head.  Fetch smacked me in the head with his tail. He was
right. I was spending too much time looking in the mirror. We left the room and
met Johnathen and Michelle out front. This time they had a jeep and Michelle
drove. It seemed to me that Johnathen had a problem with any kind of technology;
even how to drive a car seemed hard for him to grasp.