Page 2 of A Dose of Agony
So, in theory, a note from the jinn is a message from my beloved sister, but it’s also a message from an enemy.
While I adore my sister, and I know she still loves me, she’s also trapped in a magical contract that renders her a slave to Mr. Vandozer and the rest of the Cosmic Council. A message from her is also a message fromthem.
My chest is tight as I lie alone in the dark room. I stare up at the dark coffered ceiling, wondering if I received a message, what my sister might have to say to me, even knowing the words may not be her true thoughts and feelings.
My sister, who was once a normal human like me but is now a powerful magical being.
She has immense magic in her blood. She has power over me that I cannot even fathom.
She’s everything I’ve always feared.
I am just a human in a magical world.
I’m vulnerable. I’m prey to these creatures.
And now, my sister is one of them.
But I’ve long since learned that magic and brute strength are not the only forms of power. I refuse to be weak. I refuse to continue running.
I refuse to hide.
Magic or not, I swear I will find and destroy the man who did this to her.
The sky is just beginning to lighten, which is my cue that I’m notcompletelyinsane for waking at this point. There isn’t much to do at six a.m., but with the way my mind is spinning, it’s not like I’m going back to sleep, so I may as well make the most of it.
I flick on all the lights and open the blinds to expose the sun just beginning to peek over the horizon, and I decide to begin my search for evidence of my intruder to prove it wasn’t all in my head.
I’m not sure which option I’d rather be true—my nightmares feeling so real I can’t tell what’s reality or that someone really has been slipping into my room while I sleep.
On second thought, never mind.
When I put it like that, it’s clear I’d much rather have a warped sense of reality than literally being stalked.
I slip out from between the smooth sheets. My feet hit the cold tile, sending a shiver down my body.
Jarron’s room is massive, with sleek, dark walls and furniture. There’s a set of crushed silver handcuffs sitting on the table by the bed but otherwise very little decor anywhere except the one cabinet in the corner.
The doors to the closet and bathrooms remain closed.
Everything is in pristine condition.
I walk out onto the balcony, welcoming the chilly breeze on my hot skin. There’s a light frost on the grassy field below, and the mountains in the distance are snowcapped, but I know spring is near. Most afternoons have brought lovely weather, not that I’ve had the chance to enjoy much of it.
I take two deep breaths of the fresh air and then turn back to search the room once more, losing hope with each step.
I even resort to digging through a few of the closed drawers by Jarron’s bed.
There are papers in haphazard piles mixed between books. These are mostly Jarron’s notes on his random research topics. There are also several art sketches. Buildings and animals. A school uniform skirt. A close-up sketch of an eye.
These are all the things he once had in a massive pile in the middle of his room, now tucked away out of sight.
Jarron’s sketches are skillful but fairly abstract. Not enough to get a full sense of his perspective, just small flashes.
There is one watercolor painting of a bedroom much like Jarron’s here at school, except the world beyond the balcony is not the mountains of Idaho; it’s the red sky and twin moons of Oriziah. I drop the painting back into the pile.
Jarron once told me he had nothing to hide from me and he didn’t mind me looking through his personal belongings. Even so, it feels a little invasive, so I don’t go far.
It’s not like the jinn or the council would hide a message under piles of research notes and sketches.
