Chamber of Magic

Chapter Eight - The Bet

დ. Riley. დ

A week had passed since Kael had gone out on that case with Ellora. A week of pent up anger and disappointment. I had been avoiding Ellora like the plague and honestly, it wasn’t that easy since we were roommates but even then, I felt bad. Ellora wasn’t like me. She wasn’t outspoken and carefree. No, she was shy, well most of the time and insecure. A wave of guilt hit me, and I cringed. I know I shouldn’t be mad at her; I know I should be more understanding. After all, Manny and Kael had both explained to me exactly what had happened. Kael was at fault. He had seen Manny advancing the stupid thing but had wanted to be the guy who took down the leader. Yet, I still felt as if Ellora should’ve done better. The guilt disappeared and I smirked despite it all.

“Riley? Can we talk?” I heard Ellora ask me and I wanted to turn around and tell her no, but on the other hand, I missed my bestie.

“Sure,” I snapped, immediately regretting it as I turned around and saw the expression on her face. I wasn’t sure why I was being this way, yes, I was disappointed and angry, but I also knew it was misplaced.

“Riley, please, I am sorry for what happened,” Ellora’s voice was soft and sad. Yet a part of me still wanted to hurt her, even though I knew she was going through her own guilty hell.

“Are you though? Are you sure it isn’t jealousy that caused you to f**k up?”

“What?” she gave me a shocked look and I frowned.

“Oh please, don’t act so surprised! I know you are jealous that Kael is my promised!”

“Why on earth would I be jealous? Hell, Riley, I am the one that helped him see you, I am the one that gave him that little nudge. I am far from jealous, you know how happy I am for you,” Ellora was upset, clearly and hearing her words made me flinch. She was right of course. She had done so much for me in such a short period of time and yet here I was being nasty. I needed to face the truth.

“I’m sorry Ellora, to be honest, as much as I want to blame you, the truth is, I blame myself,” I blinked quickly, hoping I could stop the tears that were threatening to fall.

“I don’t understand why you are blaming yourself for what happened, you weren’t even there,” she took a step closer to me and for the first time in this week, I didn’t move away.

“I should’ve been there, Manny asked me to be there, but I put too much on you Ellora. You don’t understand, I blindly trusted that you would keep him safe, that you would keep yourself safe,” I stopped and looked at her, enough was enough, I couldn’t pretend that she was to blame when I knew she wasn’t. “I had expectations that I wasn’t allowed to have. It was your first case, Ellora and I put way too much on you, for that I am sorry. I am sorry for being a total b***h this past week,” I reached out and gently took her hand in mine, pulling her towards me for a hug.

“Regardless, I let you down and for that, I am truly sorry,” she whispered in my ear and I squeezed her just a little bit harder.

“It’s in the past now,” I said as I let her go. She nodded and gave me a weak smile. I had a lot to make up for, I realized. “You’ve always been there for me and I do this to you, forgive me?”

“Of course,” we hugged again, and I felt a lot better about everything.

“Did you hear that there is another case?” I asked her curiously after a few moments of silence.

“Yes, Manny informed me,”

“I will be going on this hunt with you Ellora,” she gave me a genuine smile this time and it was contagious as I smiled back at her.

“That’s great Riley, now I know you’ll have my back,”

დ.დ.დ

“Alright team, we have a week to prepare and train for this next case,” Manny said as he looked around at the group. I nodded as I glanced over at Ellora, who (poor girl) was so pale it reminded me of how a ghost looked. “Djinn is not to be played around with so we need to make sure of our plan before we can even attempt to take them down,” he stopped as Amelia entered the room. “Ah, here comes our info,”

“Thank you, Manny,” the girl said, and I was tempted to roll my eyes, I didn’t like her. Not even a little bit but I had to listen to what she had to say. “Do not be fooled by the name, Djinn, they are not genies that are going to grant three wishes,” Amelia’s attempt at making a joke fell on deaf ears yet, I wanted to laugh at her awkwardness. “Ahem,” she cleared her throat and opened the file. “There aren’t meant to be more than one at a time, yet we suspect there is at least six of them, working together,”

“Interesting,” Manny muttered loud enough for all of us to hear.

“Their powers are strong and the one thing you don’t want is for them to touch you. If they touch you, you can forget it. You can consider yourself dead,” I understood what she was getting at and nodded taking note of the team members. Brent, Annie, Claudia, Ellora, and Kolton. Each one of them had the ability that they could use from afar. Excluding myself yet, I knew I would be protected regardless. I tuned out Amelia’s voice as I gazed over at Kolton. He looked so much like Kael yet an older version of him and I hid my smile behind my hand. At least I knew Kael would age beautifully.

დ. Ellora. დ

I followed the group out of the training room and spotted Oscar leaning against the wall. He nodded over at me and I knew he wanted to talk. I stood next to him as the others started leaving.

“And now?” Riley asked me and I threw a look in Oscar’s direction, knowing that she would follow my eyes. “Ah, I’ll see you upstairs?” I nodded and she hurried up, leaving me alone with Oscar.

“How are you?” he asked me. After he had called me a b***h and ignored me, it was a surprise that he even bothered to ask such a thing.

“Do you really care?” I questioned harshly. He looked taken aback but I didn’t care. He hadn’t been very nice to me, so I didn’t think he had changed just like that overnight.

“Yes, I do actually,” he snorted.

“Well, I won’t be honest, I’m fine,”

“Come on Ellora, I’m here to say that I am sorry for what I said, actually I’m sorry for everything,” I stared at him, trying to figure out if he was being sincere or not. “Go ahead, read my mind, I’m telling you the truth,”

“Ok, I am doing a lot better, how are you?”

“I’m fine, I wanted to talk to you about our bet,” he said softly.

“Oh, right the bet,” I smirked then, I had definitely won the bet.

“Yeah so, you know, the terms. You won fairly,” I could tell he was uncomfortable.

“And you think I am going to humiliate you?”

“I would if I was in your position,” he mumbled out and I rolled my eyes.

“I am not you,” I said softly. I wasn't anything like him and I didn't want to have any enemies.

“Oh,”

“I did win fair and square though, but is there anyone you are comfortable kissing? And maybe won’t feel humiliated for kissing?” I didn’t like the guy but if he was truly trying then I owed it to myself to do the same for him.

“Annie,” he informed me and that caused me to frown. As far as I knew Annie wasn’t into guys.

“May I ask why her?”

“We’ve kissed before, so I know it won’t be a big deal,” I thought about it for a moment and then nodded.

“Alright then, I’ll mention it to Manny,”

“Thank you Ellora,” he turned around and headed up. I smiled softly to myself as I watched him leave. Poor Annie, but then again, if he was certain of his choice then who was I to judge. I headed upstairs and walked over to Manny, who was busy dishing up his lunch.

“Hey Manny,” I greeted him as I took a plate to dish up some of the steak, chips, and salad.

“What’s up Ellora?” he smiled over at me as he finished dishing up his food.

“Remember that bet between me and Oscar?” I asked him and he turned to me quickly. He didn’t look happy.

“Are you really?” he asked me curiously. I didn't have to read his mind to know what he was thinking. 

“Yeah, he came to see me, we kind of sorted things out and he said he would be comfortable kissing Annie,” I quickly explained to him and the crease smoothed out as he chuckled.

“Poor Annie, but nice of you to help him out like that,” he looked relieved and I had to wonder if the word b***h was written on my forehead.

“Since he is trying, I thought I should return the favor,” I shrugged like it was no big deal.

“Still, that is very nice of you,”

“Well, I am a nice person, you know,” I said playfully.

“Of course, I didn’t mean to insinuate that you weren’t nice or anything,” I could hear the panic in his voice, and I couldn’t help but giggle as we made our way to the dining room table. Riley looked up at me and gave me a small smile as we sat down.

“Pulling your leg Manny,” I teased.

“Right, right,” he mumbled as he shoved some chips into his mouth. I was busy cutting off a piece of my steak when my phone pinged.

Jareth   ➺ Are you at dinner?

Ellora     ➺ Yes, where are you and Kael?

Jareth   ➺ I’m stuck at the library, not sure where Kael is though

I was just about to respond when Kael suddenly appeared at the table. He leaned down and kissed Riley on her cheek before sitting down to join us.

Ellora     ➺ He just arrived. What about you?

Jareth   ➺ I wanted to ask if you would bring me a plate?

Ellora     ➺ Are you too busy to come to join us?

Jareth   ➺ Something like that, so will you? Or must I ask Kael?

I put my phone down and continued eating while I listened to the conversation going on around me. Although Riley and I had sorted things out, Kael was still acting weird towards me. That confused me, he said everything was fine, yet he acted differently.

Jareth   ➺ Ellora?

My phone when off again and I sighed, causing Riley to raise her eyebrow at me.

Ellora     ➺ I’m eating

Jareth   ➺ Sorry to bother you then, I’ll ask Kael to bring me a plate

Ellora     ➺ I’ll bring you a plate, no worries

Jareth   ➺ Ok, thank you

I felt so silly, of course, I would make him a plate. The fact that he had asked me made me blush and feel giddy. Yet I hadn’t answered him when he had asked. I sighed again catching Kael’s attention this time but as soon as our eyes met, he looked away. I decided that I couldn't take it anymore.

"Kael, why are you acting this way?” I asked him mentally. He looked up at me, surprised but then looked down and continued eating. “Don’t ignore me, please Kael,” I begged.

“Ellora, what do you want me to say?" he finally answered, just when I was about to give up.

“I don’t want you to say anything, I just want to know why you are acting so coldly towards me,” I needed to understand why he had changed.

“I feel bad, ok?” his answer surprised me.

“Why the hell do you feel bad?”

“Because of what happened, duh,” he remarked, and I saw him roll his eyes as he shoved a piece of steak into his mouth.

“But you said everything was ok,”

“Yeah, I did but I know you’ve been walking around this past week feeling guilty,” he looked up at me and continued. “I know Riley has been giving you hell and all of this is my fault,”

“But Kael, that doesn’t explain to me why you are acting cold towards me,”

“Because I’m pretty sure you hate me now,” he admitted and his face fell, I didn’t like seeing him sad. Riley picked up the change in him and placed her hand on his arm. She looked over at me and I quickly nodded over at him, hoping she would understand, which she did.

“I could never hate you Kael, even though I don’t like the way you have been treating me,” I told him honestly and he looked up at me again and for the first time this week, he smiled at me.

“Are you sure Ellora?”

“One hundred percent sure Kael. Riley and I sorted things out and I just want things to go back to the way they were before,”

“I’d like that,” he told me out loud and Riley smiled, knowing we had sorted things out too. I finished eating and quickly went to dish up a plate for Jareth. He must be starving and here I was taking my sweet time in taking him a plate of food. I grabbed a coke from the fridge before heading to the library. Just as I was about to push open the doors, I found myself back in the dining room.

“What the?” I looked over at Kael and he shrugged.

“Sorry, Manny’s orders,”

“Zap Jareth here then as this is for him,” I told him firmly as I placed Jareth’s plate and coke down on the table. Kael nodded and poof Jareth was suddenly standing next to me.

“Sorry man, Manny’s orders,” Kael explained to an unhappy Jareth.

“There’s your plate,” I whispered as I pointed to it. Jareth nodded and sat down.

“Right, everyone is here?” Manny looked around and when he was happy that we were all indeed close by he continued. “I’m sure by now all of you are aware of the bet that Oscar and Ellora made?” sounds of ‘Yes’ and ‘Oh’ could be heard around the kitchen, living room, and dining room. Manny waved over Oscar. “Well, Ellora won the bet, so Oscar has to kiss anyone that Ellora instructs him too. The rules are simple, whoever she chooses must kiss Oscar back for at least one full minute,” Manny looked over at me and smiled. “Ellora?”

“Mmm, let me see,” I looked around the room and shook my head, not seeing Annie in the kitchen or dining room. I walked into the living room and spotted Annie shoving potato salad into her mouth. So attractive. I glanced back at Oscar and smirked. I needed to play my part despite us having an agreement. I could clearly see the worry in his eyes. He didn’t trust me, and I sighed unhappily. I would show him that I could be trusted. “I think Oscar should kiss…Annie!” I shouted out her name, startling the poor girl. I actually felt bad as she spat out whatever was in her mouth. To my surprise, she looked horrified at her actions but not unhappy to kiss Oscar and I wondered what they had together for them to be comfortable kissing each other. Annie stood up and Oscar groaned out loudly as if he was unhappy with my choice. Everyone was chanting: ‘Kiss, kiss’ and I smiled. I caught Jareth’s gaze and blushed before looking away. Annie threw her arms around Oscar and pulled him down to her. Their lips crashed together, and Manny made a point of checking his watch around his wrist.

“Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, ONE!” everyone counted down the last ten seconds and when they shouted out ‘ONE’, Oscar and Annie pulled apart.

“Well done Oscar,” Manny said as everyone cheered loudly before going back to whatever it was, they had been doing before. Oscar came over to me and hugged me. It was very unexpected.

“Thank you,” he whispered and then I understood. I remembered his crush and I blushed. I nodded as he pulled away. I went over to Jareth who was almost done with his food.

“Was it enough?” I asked him carefully.

“More than enough, thank you, Ellora,” I blushed again and sat down next to him. Kael and Riley excused themselves and I silently thanked them for giving me some alone time with Jareth. Well, as much as I could get in the room full of people.

“How is the research going?” I asked him.

“Difficult,” he admitted, and I frowned.

“That bad huh?”

“Yup,” he finished eating and looked over at me. “Care to join me in the library?”

“Sure,” we got up and headed towards the library.

“I have to ask…”

“Mmm?”

“Why Annie? Is she his crush?” Jareth asked me.

“No, she isn’t his crush, Oscar and I don’t really get on very well, but he apologized for his attitude towards me and I felt I owed him one. I wouldn’t humiliate him and reveal his crush, so I asked him who would he feel comfortable kissing and he said Annie,”

“Oh,” Jareth nodded in understanding as he pushed open the doors to the library. I spotted Amelia sitting in one corner and Jordon just across from her. Jareth led me to their table, and I sat down. I didn’t miss the look Amelia threw my way and I wondered why she didn’t like me.

“Any luck?” I asked no one in particular.

“Not really, but I believe that someone or something is calling these monsters here,” Jordon announced.

“Really? Do you think so?” I asked curiously and he nodded looking over at Amelia.

“Amelia doesn’t agree with me and Jareth but at this point, it is the only logical explanation we can come up with,”

“I wonder who would do such a thing?” I questioned softly. I couldn’t look over at Amelia, for some reason, I just didn’t trust her.