PART 2- Vade

...“No one grows up to be a frog here; get your arse out here Vade! Lemme show you how this is done!” The wooden door shivered under the heavy bangs from the outside, throwing the young boy who had been covering behind it onto the floor.
Clasping his thin fingers together he kneeled down into prayer, shaking forward and back, trying to utter something that the Gods would like and save him from the bullies outside. But his lips trembled fruitlessly, for he had never known what a prayer was or what he was supposed to say, leaving him to chant the only words he could muster- please God... please...

BANG!
The door flew open and two tall teenagers entered the tiny room, one of them had bright green eyes that held the attention away from the slight scar on his left check, his face had a handsome look about it with the black hair falling carelessly over the broad forehead; the other had depthless grey eyes that fitted into a perfectly rectangular face, a slight stubble sprouting on the firm jaw that twisted into a disgusted mock as he grabbed the child by the collar and faced him.
“Please... Tara, I can’t do it!” the tiny boy writhed on the floor, unable to stand with the fear of the two towering figures now staring at him, bemused.
“You called my name Vade? You dared say my name?” said the boy holding onto Vade’s collar.
“Bad start lad, you don’t call your daddies by their name!” the other boy smiled and stuffed his hands into the pockets of his trousers, taking a step backwards like an onlooker intent on watching a monkey-tamer dance his monkey.
“Let’s see if you’ve got the guts to be a man my son, come!” Tara yanked onto Vade’s collar and the little boy followed helplessly, letting himself to be pulled into the corridors and to the fields that surrounded the huge mansion, to a paddock that had a chicken tied to a stick at the gate.
“Khalid, help our little boy here with the instruments, please.” Tara’s voice felt like the chilly wind that swept the valley that made the hair on Vade’s arms stand on end, his eyes looked at the chicken for a moment before darting quickly towards the ground.
“Here you go lad”, Khalid pulled out a knife from his belt and flipped it towards Vade who tried to catch it but failed and the knife fell onto the ground, the red of the rubies encrusted in the hilt shimmering in the twilight as the knife fell, and the next moment Vade was on the ground, his head pounding from the punch he received from Khalid for letting the knife fall.
“You know what this is? You fool! I earned it when I was half your age! Don’t you dare let it fall again!” He shouted as Vade tried to stand up again, holing the knife close to his heart.
“Kill it Vade.” Tara stepped in between, his words more than the punch itself and Vade turned towards the chicken, his face sweating as he moved forward, his hands shivering as he got closer.
“Kill it.”

“It was just a chicken, said a soft voice from behind him as he sat looking at the sunset, his arms crossed over his knees.
“How did you know I’m here?” he asked; his voice barely more than a whisper as he wiped the tears from his eyes.
“Oh it was easy, it’s here you always come when you fail at the fights.” She smiled one of her pretty smiles as she sat down beside Vade, crossing her arms like him.
“Why is it necessary to kill?” he stared at her face.
“Because you have to survive.” She replied, without looking at his face.
“I never wanted to come here, this place is brutal.”
“It’s all i ever dreamt of.” She answered.
“I can’t kill, murder is not my thing.” Vade replied, his bruises smarting in the night air.
“Yeah well, it was a brave thing to get beaten up for releasing that chicken and letting it run away into the forests. Everyone’s still laughing at your courage in the common rooms!” the sarcasm in her voice stung worse than the bruises as he looked away from her face.
“You’re just like the rest of them.” He said, bitterly.
“No way! I am better. I’ve killed a jaguar and three wolves and more chickens than you can set free.” She said plainly.
They sat in silence for a while, then she turned to look at his face, a black bruise had swelled up ‘neathe his left eye.
“Is there someone you hate the most?” she asked.
Vade considered the question for a while before nodding.
“Just imagine your practising how to kill them by killing these animals... that’s what I do. Then you don’t feel that... that guilt.”
Guilt. The word brought with it a sweeping memory of a grey-haired lady being dragged away by a pair of men, her silent cries echoing in some distant world as his fists clenched tightly onto his knees, his nails digging into the flesh. The girl sitting beside him noticed the motion, and instantly grabbed his arm, her touch bringing him back to the cold, silent valley in a wave of warmth.
“Let’s go eat something before the idiots clear away the bones.” She said softly, dusting her pants as she stood up, her black hair flying in the chilly wind, her hazel eyes twinkling in the light of the moon.....



Bang!
The afterglow of the shot stung in the pale brown eyes as their pupils expanded into complete voids. The sting spread out into the temple and then the brain as his lungs ached bitterly in an attempt at breathing, but air seemed like a solid block that couldn’t be swallowed and he fell onto the floor, his pale eyes reflecting blue as the shooter peeped into them, looking for signs of life.
“Dead.” He exclaimed, getting up and placing the pistol back into the backpack that slung loosely from his shoulders, wider and stronger than he had been the night he had set the chicken free. His deep blue eyes guiltlessly staring at the dead man on the floor.
“Bloody traitor!” said Tara from behind, his palm on Vade’s shoulder.
“Who’s next?” came a careless reply.

Part one- Magic.

Dropping the only thing he ever owned, he stepped forward, the dry rose falling onto the wet street n his feet slipped over the gravel. A blurr of memories rushed thru his hazy mind, makin him dizzy as he tried to walk on, his eyes fixed on the black figure, sinking with the downpour onto the street, his heart sinking with each step he took.

..... It was a bright sunny day, the kind you read about in books, with the smell of fresh leaves n marigold blooms filling up the tiny room that added to the child's excitement as he played wid his food.
"Amma, where can i see magic?" he asked the grey haired lady who had been watching him intently.
"Magic? you can see it all around you." She replied, brushing butter onto the bread.
"Here?"
"Yes."
"But how?"
"You need to see it with your heart munna, u can always feel magic."
"Make me feel!"
The grandma lookd around the table, then picked up a piece of butter n placed it in his mouth.
it felt strange, the way the slty thing melted instantly into something creamy n sweet, n then disappeared. but the taste still existed, somewhere where the butter had been, his tongue tickled.
"Did u feel it?"
"What?"
"The taste, its still there, isn't it? That's magic munna. You can feel it all around you, in everything. All you have to do is feel it.
Can you feel it?"
The child sat feeling the taste in his mouth and closed his eyes for a moment.
"But there's no wands in it! and no light or spells or, or, anything!" he frowned and the grandmother burst into laughter, a long, clear laughter.....


"Can you feel it?" the alien voice broke through the laughter.
"Can you feel a pulse?" the nurse shouted over the horn of the ambulance, yanking him back to the moment and he stared blankly, waiting for reality to wash over him.
Something throbbed weakly 'neathe his thumb and he nodded, oblivious to how he was crouchig in the ambulance next to her, all he remembred was watching the dark figure fall on some rainy street, on a very cold night. The throbbing occurred again, even weaker this time and he stared down, a pale, blood-soaked face slapped hard onto his conscience as he woke up for the first time in many days. She looked so perfect even in the luminous blue of the street lights rushing past and he held onto her palm even tightly, determined not to let the magic fade away.
"I can feel it." He said aloud, his mind repeating the same words it had been saying all night... this can't be... this can't be.. this can't be...