Lesson 14- Take care of your stuff- broken toys are no fun!
It takes at least another fifteen minutes until I start to think I might be capable of getting up off the floor. Torin stays with me the entire time and his hands remain like iron around mine until he’s sure that I’m not going to hurt myself.
“That was awful.” I shudder. I definitely won’t be doing that again. Torin nods.
“Yes. It’s meant to be. You’re lucky that you only stepped out for a second. The longer you’re outside, the longer the pain lasts.” He explains. I sigh. They really do have me well and truly trapped here. Oh shit. What if someone were to light the place on fire or something? Would I just have to burn alive? Or would the spell fade if there was no building left for me to be bound to. I would ask, but I’m worried Torin might interpret it as me plotting to burn down his tavern and escape. I would obviously never do that, aside from the fact that it would probably kill someone, it would be horribly dangerous for me too. Smoke and asthma are a definite no go.
“I won’t make that mistake again.” I promise us both. Kyle returns with a bowl of whatever stew he was cooking earlier. He hovers awkwardly behind me holding it in both hands.
“Do you want to eat in the kitchen, or do you want to… Eat down there?” He asks.
“I’ll come to the kitchen.” I answer. In slow, stiff movements I get to my feet. I cautiously test my foot, rotating it around, wiggling my bare toes and tentatively putting weight on it. When it feels okay I take a couple of steps towards Kyle. I smile when it doesn’t hurt.
“I’m fine.” I declare. I give Torin a half smile with a dramatic sigh.
“Would you mind taking that bag of trash out for me? I would do it myself but…” I trail off. He nods, all traces of concern gone from his face. He has his scary expression back again but I don’t mind it. He gives a slow nod.
“From now on, leave anything you need to throw out by the back door. One of us will take it out for you.” He promises, glancing at Kyle, waiting for his agreement.
“Yes we will.” he says firmly.
“Come on girl. My cooking will fix you up, even if you were silly enough to test the boundary spell.” he grumbles.
“Thanks Kyle. I’m lucky I fell back inside. If I fell outside I would probably be suffering for days.” I complain.
Kyle starts to lead me to the kitchen but he hesitates.
“Ah Torin? I didn’t want to interrupt, but your phone has been ringing non stop. You might want to check on that.” He points out. Torin nods and heads to my room to get his phone. Kyle has me sitting on a stool at the counter to eat when Torin comes back in and hands me a phone. What the hell? I thought I wasn’t allowed to have a phone.
“Answer it. She’s worried about you.” He insists. I put the phone up to my ear and I’m greeted by Laura’s worried voice.
“Rina? Are you okay? I felt my binding spell going off and I knew something was wrong. Torin says you accidentally stepped outside. I’m so sorry. I didn’t want to hurt you.” She sounds horribly guilty.
“You didn’t. I mean, it hurt, but that isn’t your fault. I just forgot and put my foot out the door. I won’t be doing it again, that’s for sure. But I’m fine now. I promise.” I reassure her. None of them seem to believe me when I say I’m not resentful about being stuck here. Torin saved my life. I wouldn’t even have the option of resenting them if he didn’t do that. He protected me and now he’s protecting himself and everyone else. I can’t blame them for that. Even without the spell, if they had asked me to stay a while I would have probably done it. They just don’t believe that I would never do anything to hurt them or betray them. Even as my captors they’re all ridiculously nice. Laura with her sunshine energy and thoughtfulness, Kyle with his grumpy attitude who is already plating up a slice of cake for me to eat when I finish my meal. Even Torin who is a literal demon but is spending his afternoon cleaning so he can make me a comfortable place to sleep. I spend another minute or two reassuring Laura that I’m fine, then Torin reclaims his phone from me.
“Yes. Continue what you’re doing. Don’t worry about the cost. We can talk about it when you get back.”
Torin hangs up without another word. He blinks again while looking at me. I narrow my eyes suspiciously.
“What’s wrong?” I demand. He blinks again.
“How do you know something is wrong?” He asks.
“I can just tell.” I respond. I don’t want to admit that I figured out his tell, he might stop doing it.
“Hmph… Well, since you asked. There was an issue at your apartment, Laura will be back soon, she can explain properly.” He turns and walks out.
“Hey! What do you mean? Come back here! Explain yourself!”I demand. I go to hop off the stool so I can chase after him but I stop when Kyle glowers at me then points at my bowl.
“Finish it.” he insists.
“Okay, okay.” I agree. Laura had better get back soon or I’ll go insane. What happened at my apartment? What kind of issue? Surely if it was urgent she would have mentioned while she had me on the phone, right? But she was pretty focused on making sure that I’m alright. It’s probably nothing. Maybe my key broke in the door, or I left all the lights on or something. Maybe I have a bunch of packages piled up. I DO like online shopping. I’m sure everything will be fine.
Everything is NOT fine. I’m sitting in the recliner with Torin and Laura standing over me. Laura has just gently explained to me that when she went by my place, it was completely trashed. Almost everything was damaged. The door was smashed in and it had been ransacked. She is clutching a single bag that apparently holds everything she was able to rescue. ONE BAG. That can’t be all that’s left.
“But… But who would do that? Why would anyone do that? Surely not everything is ruined. I… I could go and…” I trail off. I can’t go and look for myself. I have to stay here.
“I did my best to save what I could. I found a few photos and things, a couple of books that are probably salvageable. Your clothes… Yeah I wouldn’t touch them. I think someone might have actually torched them. There were signs of… Fire damage.” She actually cringes as she admits it. Fire. Someone lit my stuff on FIRE!? What am I supposed to do now? I have practically nothing. Just a few books and other bits and pieces. I rifle through the bag and find a silver bracelet that I got on sale a few months ago and slip it onto my wrist. I’m fighting back tears as I think about everything that I’ve lost. Laura panics and gestures to a stack of other shopping bags that she left by the door.
“I got you some stuff to tide you over until you can pick your own. I don’t know what you like but I tried my best. If there’s anything else you really want I can get it for you.” She offers in a rush. Wait, all those bags are for me? How much did she spend?
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