The Clock!?

“Never, in any situation would I go into action without planning every single one of my steps
beforehand. It would be nothing but foolishness, and I like to consider myself to be at least
one step above foolishness,” Keera replied, though her mind was elsewhere; he hadn’t been
effected at all, and she had to admit, it bothered her slightly, but she supposed it was only
because she hadn’t won. Keera felt his cool palm against her cheek and brought her hand
up slowly, placing her hand on top of his. She didn’t flinch or pull away that time; she was
getting used to the affection he was showing towards her, though she was still quite baffled
that he was showing her affection to begin with. She had gotten the impression that he was
a cold, distant person when he had introduced himself, but then again, first impressions wer-
en’t always accurate.

“You are going to have your name written in history, are you? And how, might I ask, do you
plan on doing that,” Keera asked with a smirk, testing him once more; she found it interesting
to hear what went on inside his mind.

Keera shook her head, he had misunderstood her reply. “No, no, you have misunderstood me,
I meant to say that the one who has been fallen in love with holds a great deal of power,”
she corrected him simply.

Keera listened to Wilson speak, his strategy involved getting into the mind of the opposing
side, tinkering with what he found inside, and that, she had to admit, intimidated her. She
would pray never to be in a position where she was placed against him, for she feared
she wouldn’t stand a chance. The ability to think that way, as if you were in fact, the other
person, was a terrifyingly powerful one that she knew she didn’t possess. Though she
was wonderful with strategizing, it was nothing against psychology, which was what she
had been so afraid about earlier.

“I am worthless at teaching either way, but I have found that teaching by the book teaches
the students nothing, that is, unless they plan on using those books to shield themselves
from incoming hexes,” Keera stated, watching as he stroked her arm gently without really
registering the fact that he was doing so; she was too in to their conversation for any sort
of reaction.

Keera nodded her head, she understood his point of view, and agreed with it for the most
part. If you were to let thoughts of happiness and perfection fill your head to the brim, there
would no longer be any room within your skull for logic or common sense, and therefore, it
was a weakness. Keera believed from her own unfortunate personal experience that love
was not a two sided emotion, that one person could fall for the other, but the one who had
been fallen for would never return that love, and so she had come to the conclusion that that
person would then be able to manipulate their lover in any way they pleased. “Have you ever
experienced the dreaded emotion then? Or are you basing your opinion on what you have
seen happen to friends and family?” she asked.

Keera sat in silence for a moment before- for some unknown reason- reaching into Wilson’s
pocket slowly, pulling out his small pocket watch. She supposed she wanted to see what
would happen, thinking that perhaps now that she trusted him, his watch would not affect
her the same way. But things didn’t work out that way, and she knew that somewhere in
the back of her mind, though she ignored it. She was wrong… again. Wrong for thinking that
for once, she could hold a watch in her hands and look at it without it affecting her. She was
wrong for believing her fear was conquerable.

As soon as she was able to see the small hands of the watch moving their way clockwise
slowly, it began to tear her apart from the inside out. Keera released her grip on the device,
dropping it back into his pocket quickly. She was no longer resting her head against Wilson’s
chest, instead the back of her head was pressed to the wall and her eyes were closed. Sh-
e was shaking- though she did not realize it- as she sat there, waiting for it to pass. “Stop,
stop, stop, stop. What was I Thinking?” Keera asked herself aloud, her voice breaking
toward the end. She balled one of her hands into a fist and slammed it against the wall
behind her.

Keera was just about to slam her head against the wall when Wilson wrapped his arms around
her. She squeezed her eyes shut, whispering two words over and over again, though she wasn’t
exactly aware of it; “Get out. Get out. Get out.” She dug her nails into her palms as she stood there
with Wilson, desperate to get the sound of the clock ticking, out of her head. “I don’t…know. I don’t
- didn’t think it would work this time!” she replied, her voice shaking just as badly as she was.
She felt like such an unintelligent fool for doing what she had done. What was going there your he-
ad?” her mind scolded her, hardly making any sense at all.

Slowly, Keera began to calm, though the shaking didn’t cease and she hadn’t yet opened her eyes.
She buried her face in the front of Wilson’s robes, her hands covering her ears, “Idiot…” she hissed
at herself. That’s some bad luck, kiddo, but for the record, I told you not to do it…

Thud Thud… Thud Thud… Thud Thud, Keera’s heartbeat slowed to it’s usual pace. She opened
her eyes and blinked a few times to clear her blurry vision. It was over, all she had to do now as
convince herself that everything was going to be fine. She feared sometimes that the attacks wo-
uld never end, but so far, they had only ever lasted a few minutes. “I’m not going to leave”, those
words echoed in her ears, that was all she needed to hear. Keera looked up at Wilson- he was qui-
te a bit taller than she was –and nodded slowly.

More compliments. Keera couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She was silent, returning the hug,
breathing in. “Why?” she asked, one simple word that, if finished, could turn into at least ten different
questions. Why was he still there? Why was he helping her? Why- after years of not trusting anyone
at all- did she trust him? Why, oh freakin' why?

Keera couldn’t help but grin, looking him straight in the eyes. Honesty… it was such a sweet sound
to her ears and it tasted even sweeter on her tongue, it wasn’t like the taste of artificial sweetener
that usually came with each forced laugh- which was bitter and unpleasant- or the disgustingly sour
lies that were constantly on her tongue. Honesty was different, honesty was real, and she liked that.
“You’ve seen me in my worst state, how is that possible, good sir?” she asked, though it was a more
serious question, there was hint of amusement in her voice. Things were better now, she was feel-
ing better, and that was a fabulous- and rare- thing.

“Far sighted, or near sighted?” Keera asked, not bothering to stop her mind from asking the first rand-
om question that popped up within it. She raised her hand and flicked one of the lenses on his gla-
sses- not nearly hard enough to scratch it or do anything damage- and smirked.