Chapter Four
October 18, 2023
8:28 AM
Donovan’s house, Westmoor Woods
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The next morning, Donovan sits up at his desk, rubbing his neck. “Oh,” he says disappointedly. “Damn.” He’d fallen asleep at his desk, the notebook laying in front of him. He stands up and puts away the notebooks. He decides that he must be tired if he fell asleep at his desk. He snaps his fingers so the quills start moving again. With a sigh, he leaves the office and walks downstairs. He’s got a lot planned for the day. He walks into the kitchen. Maebell and Pip are sitting on the floor in front of the fireplace. “Good morning, girls,” he says, getting the attention of the two cats. Pip stays exactly where she is, but Maebell runs over to Donovan, meowing in what can only be described as anger. “I know, I know. I’m sorry, I meant to go to sleep,” Donovan says, stepping away from the angry cat. “I just… forgot. I had more important things to do.” Maebell gives him a sour look, shaking her little, fluffy head, and walking back over to Pip. He’s impossible, she thinks. Utterly impossible.
Corbin shifts in his sleep, and slowly blinks awake. He sits up sharply, looking around. “Oh,” he says softly. “It was real. It was real.” He slowly climbs out of bed, breathing deeply. There’s a sense of security in the house. Something he’s never felt before, not very much, at least. It must be Donovan’s magic or something. It’s messing with my mind, he thinks, walking out of his room. He looks around once he’s out in the hallway. Everything is quiet, calm. Peaceful. A house like this never lasts, Corbin thinks, carefully walking down the stairs. He hears voices in the kitchen. He silently walks down the hallway, towards the living room and kitchen.
“Morning,” he says with a small smile, walking towards the table with a tentative smile. Donovan turns with a larger smile. “Good morning, Corbin. How did you sleep?” Corbin nods. “Good. Yeah, I… I slept well. How about… um… How about you?” Corbin asks, trying his best to be polite after what happened the night before. Donovan, without missing a beat, says, “I slept wonderfully, thank you.” Corbin nods, internally screaming because, Oh my god, maybe he forgot. That would be amazing. “Would you like some breakfast? While you eat, we can discuss what’s going to happen today,” Donovan says, taking an egg out of a wicker basket on the counter and tossing it around in his hands. “Um… no, it’s okay. I’m not that hungry,” Corbin says with a smile. He doesn’t feel like he could say ‘yes’, even if he was hungry. Donovan shrugs. “Your loss, then.” He grabs a pan and puts it on the stove. He cracks the egg into the pan, starting to make himself breakfast.
While the egg cooks, he pulls a dish towel off of a mason jar. Inside the jar is a gelatinous, robin-eggs blue liquid. “What is that?” Corbin asks, eyes wide. “Oh, that’s Ryan,” Donovan replies, smacking the jar. “But… what is it?” Corbin repeats in shock. “It’s Ryan,” Donovan repeats, popping the lid off the jar. He says something in a strange tongue, one Corbin doesn’t even know how to start to name. The liquid, Ryan, recoiled slightly, sinking deeper into the jar. Donovan dropped the empty eggshells on top of Ryan, and the shells were instantly absorbed by the liquid… by Ryan. Ryan moved around the shells for a minute, before the shells slowly started to disintegrate. Corbin moved a bit closer, trying to get a better look at whatever was going on inside that jar. Once the egg shells fully disintegrate, a puff of greyish particles burst out of the jar. Donovan opens the window above the sink, waving a hand in the air to push the particles out of the window.
“What did I just watch…?” Corbin mutters, eyes wide. “You just watched a semi-stable organism absorb the elements inside of an eggshell, and then disperse the atoms back into the atmosphere,” Donovan says, like it’s the most normal thing in the world. Corbin just nods. “Uh huh… okay,” he says, staring at Ryan. Donovan turns back to the stove, flipping the egg. With a wave of his hand, a loaf of bread flies out of the cabinet. Donovan flicks a finger, and even slices of the bread are cut. A plate flies out of a cabinet, and a slice of bread floats onto the plate. Donovan flicks another finger, and the bread toasts and is buttered. Then, the egg seems to stand up, climbing out of the pan and walking to the plate. “What the fu-” Corbin starts to say, before Donovan cuts him off. “Magic, Corbin. Remember? Things happen here without an explanation, a lot.” He picks up the plate and sits down at the table with a sigh. “Won’t you join me? There’s a bowl of fruit on the counter, if you’d like some. Maebell cut up a watermelon yesterday. There should be some apples. Unless Pip ate the last one…” Donovan says, his voice getting quiet as he rambles on about fruit.241Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy8kSXEgixg
