Apprentices: Full Moon

Liquid Courage

“Again,” I hear my mentor instruct me, making me clench my jaw as I feel sweat running down my forehead. We’ve been going at it for the past twenty minutes and I’m already half dead. What is this damn spell he’s trying to teach me?

I murmur the incantation again, but just as I feel the magic on the tip of my fingers, ready to pounce at Kir, it tones down and disappears back into my veins. “Damn it!” I exclaim, getting mad that I’m failing to make myself superfast. I’d love to try it out.

He sends me a pointed look, shaking his head in disapproval. “That’s not the way you’re going to succeed. You need to keep trying,” he encourages me in a soft voice, but I’m not really hearing him.

“We’ve been trying this for days. I still can’t manage. Do you think that’s why I lost control yesterday? Because I can’t conjure the spell?” I wonder, trying to keep my voice as calm as possible. However, it still wavers towards the end, making Kir know perfectly well what’s going on with me.

He leans on his forearms, staring at me intently. “I don’t know what went wrong yesterday. But you’ll need to be extra careful from now on. You know you can’t afford any slip-ups, considering your magic,” he reminds me, making me stiffen. As if I didn’t know that already.

“Yeah, because it’s enough that I hurt two people, right?” I ask, realizing that I’m upsetting myself out of nothing. What’s done is done, I can’t change the past, no matter how badly I want to. But I can stop blaming myself over and over again.

“Evelyn,” he says in a warning tone, his eyes glistening dangerously. “You weren’t in control. And clearly, the control will keep being an issue, unless you take my suggestion and start drinking blood,” he continues, making me scrunch my face in disgust.

Crossing my arms against my chest, I send him a challenging gaze. “Oh? And what if I don’t want to drink it just yet?” I ask, ignoring the deadly glare I earn myself with my question. Uh-oh. I might’ve just pissed him off. This wasn’t a good idea at all.

“I can’t force you into it. But I told you enough that you should be able to make a decision by now, that is, if you’re smart enough to want to live,” he retorts, taking me aback with his tone. Suddenly, he rubs the inner corners of his eyes with one hand, letting out a long breath. “My apologies. I’m tired.”

“It’s okay, I …” I begin, but trail off as I watch how pale he looks. “Kir, are you alright?” I want to know, watching him worriedly and completely forgetting that he was just about to persuade me into drinking blood again.

He nods after a few long moments, still leaning his head on his hand. He doesn’t look very well. I already get up, walking to the other side of the desk to check on him, but he tries to spat me away like an annoying fly.

“I’m fine,” he grunts in a grumpy way, while I frown. I’m not happy with this kind of answer. Especially not when I’m trying to help someone I care about very dearly. Suddenly, he looks up at me with a pleading gaze. “It’s just … If you don’t find it too disgusting … Could you please bring me some blood? I feel a little dizzy,” he then adds in a much more friendly way.

Before he even properly finishes the sentence, I’m already heading towards his tiny kitchen, checking the fridge for blood. It there, in small, neatly packaged foils, and I have to try my best not to think about what I’m doing.

I quickly bring it towards him in a few quick steps, and he grabs the glass with shaking hands. Oh, no. What’s going on now? He seemed fine yesterday.

“Kir, please tell me if there’s any way to help you,” I practically beg him, but he just smiles and shakes his head in response.

“No, thank you. You’ve been incredibly helpful, I feel much better now,” he explains, soon handing me the empty cup. “If there’s any leftover blood, please drink it. Or at least take it to a vampire. It spoils so quickly,” my mentor practically pleads me, making me freeze.

Was this … Was all this just a charade? A scene to put up, just so he could make me drink blood? Oh, no. I’m not playing into this s**t. Getting angry, I place the cup back in front of him, shaking my head furiously.

“Did you really just do that, so I’d start drinking blood?” I hiss at him, not fully aware of my body and mind. “You’re wrong, because that won’t make me reconsider it,” I then add, making him furrow his eyebrows.

“I didn’t do this for attention, if that’s what you’re trying to say. I’m just not feeling like myself and I asked for your help. Or is it already too much to have to drive your old mentor around?” he asks, taking me aback and realize I’m treating him unfairly.

“I’m sorry, Kir … I stepped over the line, I shouldn’t have,” I apologize sincerely, just making him wave his hand in response.

“Don’t worry about it. Just start drinking blood. Please. Before it turns out to be too late,” he suggests, offering me a small smile. I return the gesture, then head towards the kitchen, staring at the open bag for a few minutes.

I take a deep breath, not knowing why I’m even doing this, but I know that it’ll make Kir rest easier tonight. I watch the dark red liquid, sitting in the plastic bag. “Do you have some sort of a straw or anything?” I yell out at Kir, who simply shakes his head by barely even turning around.

“Sorry, none! Just take a glass,” he suggests, making me groan mentally. Why should I? drinking out of a bag works just as fine.

I grab the plastic bag, forcing myself to chug every last drop that comes out of it. By the time I’m done, my face feels like it’s forever going to stay scrunched in disgust. The feeling passes as soon as I throw the bag in the trash, but the aftertaste stays behind. Great.

Now, as I sit down and try the spell again, I can feel it working without even trying it out. My mentor watches me with curiosity in his eyes, while I’m too nervous to try to move.

“Well?” he encourages me with a mysterious twinkle in his eye. “Let’s see that speed now,” he suggests, making me smile like a little girl. I get up, using the same amount of energy that I usually do.

But as I do it now, the armchair falls over and I stand there, surprised by my newfound superspeed. I’m not going to say it out loud, but blood magic is kind of cool.

We spend the rest of the lesson like this, however, Kir still decides to retire early for the evening. It’s completely understandable, he still doesn’t look fully himself. Despite the amount of blood that he got into his system.

As I’m getting ready to leave, he has one last request to make. “By the way, we’re meeting earlier tomorrow. Ten in the morning, is that fine?” he wants to know, making me raise my eyebrows in surprise.

“Of course … What for, if I can know?” I respond to his question, making him send me a tired, but contented smile.

“We’re visiting someone. They don’t know it, and I’m not telling you who it is either. I want you both to be surprised,” he explains, his words not really telling me anything. Tilting my head curiously, I finally give in, nodding in response. Okay, then. I hope it’s going to be worth it.