The staircase grew cold as Erin veered off to the left, leading me away from the golden doors I ever so wanted to walk down. A smaller door opens and Erin leads into the dark room. I thought the anxiety from downstairs was enough to kill me, but I was sure wrong. This feels like one of those traps in those movies. The heroine comes home, the old friend takes her in and bam he kills her. Oh my god, this is where I die.
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There is a flick of a switch and light fills the room. Okay, I take back what I said about Erin killing me, he is selling me off. All the high chairs before me were empty bar one. There sat an elderly man, his eyes white, his smile sad and almost senile. I’m about to be sold off like a mail-order bride.
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“Louis”
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I want to say it felt like magic awoke my body, running rapidly through my veins, only because this is what I think magic will feel like. It feels like everything should have been wiped clean and once the smoke clears, I will be standing in the centre of the room, my suit swapped for my royal suit. But when the smoke clears, the magic didn’t feel the same anymore.
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“You’re home. Why?”
“What do you mean why? This is all everyone seems to be doing these days. Please come home Luke, you must return. You people are the ones to bring me here in the first place.”
“It will only get worse if you stay here, she will come back for you, she always does.”
“Worse? You think me returning to the forest will only make it worse. How dare you? Do you have any idea what kind of hell I have lived outside of these walls? Have you any idea how much I have suffered being away from my forest?”
“Do not speak to your father like that.”
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There it was, the defining moment, the magic gripped itself in my throat and I couldn’t speak. I couldn’t breathe. I want to faint.
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“My father died ten years ago, you have no right to claim that title.”
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Groaning, I slide up from whatever surface I had been placed on. The room is dim thankfully. My head feels like someone has clocked me over the head with a baseball bat. Erin is sitting to my right, engrossed in his phone call. When he noticed that I had finally awoken, he ends the call and hands me a glass of water and two panadol.
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“How are you feeling?”
“What happened?”
“It seems the event might have been too much for you. You fainted on the stairwell.”
“I’m sorry it must have been a hassle to carry a stranger.”
“Stranger? Luke, what exactly do you remember?”
“Umm, someone gave me a raffle ticket, I won, you introduce yourself and we started to walk upstairs. Then I guess I must have passed out. Why?”
“Oh, Jesus.”
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He said it in a whisper but I still hear it loud and clear. Something is wrong with this picture. I had told him the truth, of course, the truth I thought he needed to hear. I haven’t seen Erin in six years, I’m not exactly on speaking terms with everyone from home. I much like that they all think I have memory loss and don’t remember anyone.
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“Maybe we should do this another day when you are feeling better.”
“Honestly I am fine. We can go up and then we can get some dinner. I believe it has been a while since I have had some food.”
“Okay”
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Erin sighs and offers his hand, helping me off the floor. I brush clean my suit, still very much feeling the magic coursing through my bones. It is like I have been struck by lightning. I don’t think I have ever felt this way before, well not like I can remember if I have anyway. We walk back up the stairs in silence, I can see the small frown on his face and it seems to deepen when the door to the VIP room opens. I feel my feet stop walking, as I come in contact with everyone, the whole gang back together.
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Kira looks around the room with disgust, hating every moment she had to be in this room with these people again. She had been blackmailed by her daughter to come back. If she had a choice, Crystal would not be seeing these people again. My eyes meet Kira’s first and I can see the hatred she had built up for me, melt in one look. I didn’t much care for repairing the relationships with everyone else in the room, except the mother of my child. If I want to have any relationship with Crystal moving forward, I had to make sure that I don’t fuck this up.
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I can feel the tears wanting to run down my face. For a man, I was sure one emotional mess. I see the concern in Poppy’s eyes and there is nothing I want more than to run to her and cradle her in my arms.
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“Why are you crying?”
“I’m just so happy.”
“It’s only a stupid prize, why would that make you happy?”
“Kira don’t be rude. Why don’t we introduce ourselves? I’m sure your dying to meet everyone.”
“You don’t need to. I know who everyone is.”
“Well you are a reporter, so that doesn’t surprise me.”
“Poppy, come give your big brother a hug.”
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The room stood in silence and shock was written clearly on everyone’s faces. The emotions were too much for Poppy as she started to sob, as she made her way over to be, crash tackling into my open arms. Softly patting her head, I made note of everyone else in the room.
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Saxon had been growing out his hair again, a look we all agreed did not suit him. Kira was crying as well, you could tell she was trying to hold herself from hugging me. Wyatt looked nonplussed about everything, which didn’t surprise me, we hadn’t been close in years.
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“Are you crying?”
“What? No. I must apologise. I have never liked coming to Bluehaven, my allergies just play up so much.”
“Alright then. Everyone should introduce themselves, Luke is our lottery winner this evening. We should make his stay as welcoming as possible.”
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