Paranoia!

"Jered..." she repeated, almost as if to confirm it. Now that he was closer she could clearly see the changes on his face, "You... what happened? What was that?"

"Nothing that you should be worried about," he scanned her body, looking for injuries or any sort of mark that would have sparked his fury upon the perpetrators, "Mom called me. She told me you called her because you didn"t feel...well." he drawled the last word whilst glancing at Alaric, who nervously met his gaze. "I hope nothing serious happened."

"Ah... regarding that-"

"I hope nothing SERIOUS happened." Jered reiterated forcefully, not leaving s.p.a.ce for Alaric to explain what could have easily fueled his rage. He was at his limits, any more reasons and he doubted he could keep holding himself back from turn this place into a slaughterhouse, not that he would have minded, of course.

"Ehm... Jered, right? I think you should listen to what we have to say," a black-haired beauty whom Jered recognized as Alaric"s wife chimed in, "Why don"t you come in?" she gestured to the villa behind them.

Jered scowled. He didn"t trust them, nor was he foolish enough to blindly follow them inside just because they gently asked him to. Albeit he was still a novice regarding supernatural matters, that didn"t mean he would take everything for granted. It was just another reason to be cautious when dealing with these kinds of people. Putting on a thinking pose, he replied with an apologetic smile, "I"m afraid I"ll have to decline your hospitality, I"m more concerned with my sister"s health."

"It does concern Jasmine"s health, please... just give us a chance to explain." Alison pleaded, "Now that you found out about us you"re in it too."

His scowl deepened, before moving his gaze towards his sister, "Do you know what they"re talking about?" he had to confirm that she was unaware of what they did to her.

Jasmine shook her head, "No... I..." she suddenly froze before slightly staggering towards his body for support, "Sorry, I feel a bit dizzy... my head feels... ugh..."

Jered quickly grabbed her shoulders to steady her up, however, the moment his hands made contact with her skin he felt an abrupt surge of energy bursting out of her body. It was not strong enough harm him, but what scared him was that the attribute matched Alaric"s one. It was dark, but not overly so, but still dark.

"Jasmine!" he snapped his head around and furiously stared at the family, "You guys better make sure she"s okay or imma use your heads as wall decorations!"

"This... we can"t stop it, she has to go through it. But I a.s.sure you that aside a bit of pain everything"s gonna be ok." Alaric tried to placate the young magician"s rising anger, but from the looks of it, he was utterly unsuccessful.

"What are you? A f.u.c.king doctor?" Jered sarcastically blurted out, "Why don"t you check out my flames too? They"re green, I think they"re sick." he lifted his hand up, coating it in a scorching green blaze before dissipating it right away. He had more things to worry about, but looking at Alaric"s pale face he knew the message had been delivered successfully.

Turning his head around, he gazed at his sister"s beautiful face, sweat was pouring down from her brow, locks of hair stuck to the sides of her face as she held onto him for support, "It hurts a bit... d.a.m.n..." she squeezed her eyes, before fluttering them open anew, and where once two green orbs used to shine, black pools were the only thing Jered could look at.

"Jasmine..."

Frowning, he stared at Alaric, his eyes narrowed, "Okay, Alaric. Explain yourself. Now." his aura flared but he forced it down, it would just be a useless waste of mana, which he hadn"t that much, to begin with, "Why the f.u.c.k is her eyes black!?" he demanded.

Alaric looked at his wife who looked back at him worryingly, she likewise was puzzled at how Jasmine"s younger brother got the power he was currently wielding, not only because it was dangerous, but usually the stronger someone"s power was, the higher the chance it could affect their psyche, molding them to their bidding. Knowing how to use your own power could make you feel like you"re the one in control, but that could not be farther from the truth.

They were concerned that Jered was already under the influence of his own power, his behavior was too bloodthirsty and vengeful.

"Jered, I"d like to invite both of you inside, I promise I"ll explain everything to you." he pursed his lips, "You have no reason to trust us, I know, but if you truly care about your sister, then you should hear us out, this has to do with her too, and she might be in danger if we don"t provide the necessary aid." he didn"t flinch from Jered"s glowing eyes, "And we"re the only ones that can ensure her safety."

"You"re saying that I can"t?"

"That"s right, Jered. You"re strong for your age, very strong. But you may be in danger as well, and I doubt you can fulfill your potential overnight," his wife intervened, her brow furrowed, "We didn"t mean any harm to your sister, h.e.l.l, I even see her as if she was my own daughter," she looked at Jasmine tenderly, "But our situation is dire and we needed to do it, I"m not hoping for you to understand, nor for you to forgive us." she took a deep breath, "But I hope you can at least collaborate with us."

Jered absorbed the information she spilled out, he was in danger, he had realized that from the start, his power was unusual but mostly, almost unseen, it was bound to draw unwanted people"s attention. But what worried him the most was that his sister was in the same boat as him, something he was unwilling to accept.

He didn"t want to deal with them, but whatever happened to Jasmine, it didn"t seem reversible, and he knew he hadn"t the means even if he wanted to.

"How are you going to protect her? And why did you do... whatever you did to her?"

"I"m glad we finally have your attention," Alaric chuckled before beckoning him inside his house, "Come, she needs to rest."

Jered nodded.

━━━━━━▲━━━━━━

Pouring down steamy tea, Emma, Alaric"s wife, looked at Jered"s face with a small smile, "Do you want some?"

"No, thank you." Jered denied as he looked at his sister"s unconscious form laying on the sofa, "You have a nice house."

The furniture was very antique, and very expansive as well. Pictures depicting the family in various environments littered the beige walls alongside queer paintings. The room was very big too, but he didn"t pay much attention to those details, he was not there to admire their furnishings.

"Thank you." Emma beamed, "Alaric"s about to get dow--" she stopped mid-sentence as she noticed her husband"s shadow walking down the stairs, "Oh, here he is."

"Sorry for make you waiting, Jered."

"Don"t say that, it makes me feel like I came here to pick you up on a date."

Alaric frowned but made no remarks, Alison, however, flexed down as she held her stomach, struggling to stifle the giggles whilst her shoulders quivered from her attempt at doing so, which made her father"s frown deepen even more.

"That actually would be a very peculiar sight." Emma chirped, "Wouldn"t you think so, honey?"

Alaric waved her off, coughing to wipe away the embarra.s.sment as he sat down on the chair opposite to Jered, "Well, then. I know you"re not interested in chit-chats, so I"ll cut straight to the topic." he started, garnering the young man"s complete attention, "Have you ever heard of Death Apostles?"

"No." Jered shook his head, this was his first time getting information regarding supernatural matters.

"You see, Death Apostles are very ancient beings, their first appearance dates back to 1347, a very important year, and do you know why?" Alaric crossed his arms as he asked.

"The black pest, right?"

"That"s right." he nodded, "First, let me tell that everything you know about history is utter and complete bulls.h.i.t." Alaric leaned back on his chair, "We call people with no powers Normals, not a very original name, I know," his raspy laugh resounded, "What you must know though, is that the black pest was not a disease that originated in China as the Normals wrote," he propped his chin up using both hands as he looked deep into Jered"s green eyes, "The black pest was a curse from a very powerful man, more specifically, a contractor, Jered."

"A contractor?" he looked incredulously at the older man, "Why did he do that?"

Alaric smiled bitterly, "During that time, a war was going on between two kingdoms, the daughter of one of the two kings had to get married, however, she was in love with another man, a peasant, to be exact, or so was what everyone thought." he flashed an enigmatic smile as he continued, "That woman, facing the threats of her father, had to bow down to his whims, and thus agreed to the marriage."

"What happened afterward?"

"She didn"t know that the man she was in love with had boundless power at his fingertips, so she never bothered to tell him about her situation, lest he attempted to do something foolish. If they tried to elope then the king would have chased them down, something she didn"t want her lover to suffer from," he sighed, his eyes staring into the distance, as if relishing in a long-forgotten memory, "So... right before consuming her marriage, she took her life."

Jered didn"t speak, patiently waiting for him to continue.

"It was only after a few days that he found out what happened, and... lost in a wave of burning anger, he placed a curse on both the king and the man she had married, leading them to a slow and painful death." he said after a long pause while using his hand to rub his forehead, "However, his anger was left unsatiated, so the post-mortem residual magic, started spreading... and the curse, eventually, began to affect the last people both of them had came in contact to before their demise, and from there, more people got caught in his fury. "

"I see... so that"s what really happened back then?" Jered was left a bit dumbfounded, of course, Alaric could have been deceiving him, but he didn"t see any reason for him to lie, and his own powers were enough proof that the human world, the normal side, was affected by the other even more than he thought.

"Yes, and Medrien, the contractor"s name, not willing for death to do them part, brought Joan back to life by controlling death himself." Alaric gazed at the ceiling as his fingers rhythmically drummed on the table, "From then on Joan was hailed as the first Death Apostle, and from her, a long chain of generations was birthed from."