Milo (#2 of the Hyle pack)

the teacher and the caretaker

17 years ago

SLAP! The sound filled the entire room, being followed by nothing but silence. The only other thing that happened at that moment were tears, tears that were streaming over a young child’s face, as he dived away into a corner, fearing for his life if he even dared to cry out loud or make any sound at all.

“Again!” A male voice yelled through the air. But the child’s eyes were filled with tears, making him see everything foggy, and therefore, unable to see anything that was lying around inside this room. Or even inside the whole house.

SLAP!

“Again!” The man screamed, harder this time. And thankfully, as the child looked at the table, standing in the middle of the living room, the heavy book finally started to float in the air. It was very shaky, but it floated nonetheless. The young child swallowed deeply, as the man turned around to watch and see for himself what was happening behind him. He nodded his head, content with what the child had just done for him, as he threw a wooden ruler back on the table.

“That will be all for today, you will be back here tomorrow at 8, when we will continue.” And as soon as the man had spoken out his last words, the child was already up, running home as fast as he could, in case the old man changed his mind.

Karina was already inside the small wooden house, making a pot of tea, as the child came running in. She turned around and by just seeing the child, she already knew what had happened to him. His eyes were red, his face was smudgy and his hair was an utter mess. She sighed deeply, as she waved for the child to come sit down at the table with her.

“Little Mago, sit down, so I can look at you.” The child swallowed hard again, but did as he was told, he knew much better than to say no to anyone living here. It would only end with him, hurting... a lot. Karina set herself down, a teapot and two mugs followed as she filled both of them up, handing one over to the child.

“Don’t drink just yet, you’ll burn your throat, Mago.” The child just set still, afraid to move or even speak.

“What did you have to do today, with Merle?” Karina asked, and now, the child knew he was welcome to talk.

“Float a book, Karina.” Karina nodded her head, wrapping her hands around the cup of hot tea and welcoming the warmth that spread over her cold hands and fingers. Karina was an older witch, her glory days were already far behind her, the only assignment she had left right now, was to make sure this child would stay alive, and she had managed for the last five years, although they had not been easy on her old body and mind.

“Did he hit you?” The old woman asked. The child nodded his head slowly, his eyes filling up again with a new load of tears, as he remembered how that awful man had treated him, how he always treated him.

“You know,” Karina spoke, as she leaned in towards the child, their noses almost touching and their eyes locked.

“The faster you learn to control your own powers, the faster you can kick Merle’s sorry ass, my Mago.” And Karina ended her sentence with a wide grin, as she leaned back and took the first sip of her tea.

“That man is nothing but trouble, child. But we need to do what the council tells us to do, Mago. If they want Merle to teach you how to control and use your magic, we have to listen to them. The sooner you will be stronger than that crazy man, the sooner you will not have to go back there and listen to his nonsense.” The child nodded his head, making a promise to himself he would not stop practicing, until he would be stronger than that stupid wizard and make him leave.

The two shared their cup of tea in silence, the one too old to have a conversation with a small child, the other too afraid to start a conversation at all. But still, there was some sort of relationship between the two. It wasn’t what one would call a parental relationship at all, but more one of mutual respect and trust. Once both mugs were empty, the old witch took them to wash them in the sink. Looking over her shoulder towards the child.

“Would you like to show me what you can do? What have you learned today, with Merle?” That seemed to brighten the child’s mood just a little. The child didn’t know how to play, and toys or comic books simply weren’t a part of a coven’s household anyway. So, the child simply nodded, as he looked at one of the mugs, still standing at the kitchen counter. He focussed deeply, as he squinted his eyes together, and after a while, the mug started to move, and gently rose up from the counter, as it floated midair. Karina smiled a real smile as she looked at the child.

“Very good, my Mago.” She nodded, as her hand took the mug out of the air, turning around to wash it in the sink.

“Karina, why do you call me Mago?” The child asked, finding some sort of strength within himself, to dare and ask a question to his caretaker. Karina turned to look over her shoulder, as one eyebrow lifted on her forehead.

“Did you know I am actually Italian?” The child shook his head at her question, still hoping his question would not get him in trouble, but usually with Karina, the child was completely safe.

“Well, mia mama e mio papa were both Italian.” She sighed ,as she placed both cups back on the counter, turning around to face the child once again.

“But Italy was no place to live for witches or wizards, too many witch hunters, so they came to America, hoping to live a better life.” She sighed as she remembered her parents. And she knew she had had a much better upbringing than the small child sitting right in front of her now.

“Anyway, to answer your question little one, Mago means wizard in Italian, and it’s not that different from your real name, so I won’t forget it either.” The small child raised his nose, making it wrinkly, as if he just smelled something bad.

“Why don’t you just call me by my name, like everybody else?” Karina laughed, as she stepped forward, rubbing through the child’s white hair.

“Because Mago, to the world, you may be Milo, but to me, you are so much more than that.”