Supper

His words hit her like a blow to the head; sure she expected him to say that he would fight her if it was necessary, that statement didn’t come as a surprise at all, but when he said that he cared for her- loved her, even, she found herself feeling rather disoriented. She blinked, her expression still blank as she tried to figure out why she felt so…off. And that’s when it happened; when all of the memories that she had forced herself to forget, came flooding back, nearly suffocating her.

Keera stood on a bridge in the middle of London, her arms rested against the metal bar
that ran along the sides of it. The sun was hidden behind the gray clouds overhead, but the air was warm and sticky, making it feel as if the sun were shining and the clouds had left the sky. Keera looked down at the river beneath her as it slowly- lazily –pushed tree branches and little ducks along. She was waiting for someone; it was clear by the way she
drummed her fingers against the railing, and glanced about every few minutes. What was
taking him so long? It had been nearly an hour…

“Boo!” someone shouted from behind her, causing her to scream and nearly topple over the railing. That same someone grabbed her by the waist to keep her from falling off the bridge, laughing his head off, “Ha- I scared the shit out of you!” he mocked, that smirk that Keera hated so very much upon his lips. Keera scowled, she clearly wasn’t amused. She pushed him away from her and turned to look back out at the river. “Sorry I’m late,” the man apologized, running a hand through his scruffy brown hair. “I know,” Keera replied with a sigh, rubbing her face. She looked tired; her night terrors were getting worse, keeping her up for days at a time, not to mention the fact that she went off to play at Casinos as soon as the sun went down. “Good. Now come on, we have places to be,” he told her, turning around before starting down the sidewalk.

Keera frowned, she hated being told what to do, but she knew her boyfriend was right. She pushed off of the railing and walked with him, yawning every now-and-then. They were on their way to buy their ticket into a big shoot out at an old casino in the run-down part of London. Keera would play, hoping not to lose the five thousand dollars she had to raise to get in, and Ryan would deal. They had met in a casino a few years back, so it wouldn’t feel weird for them to both go to work together; poker was their life. They played fair; Ryan had only ever dealt her the winning hand on purpose, and promised he wouldn’t cheat during any tournaments.

-

“I used my rent money, my next two car payments, and all the money I had saved for food & clothing on this… what was I thinking?” she mumbled to herself. She was nervous, very nervous, and she had every right to be. The chances of her winning the shootout were very slim considering all the people who were showing up. If she did win, however, she would leave with over a million dollars in her pocket. The thought of it filled her stomach with butterflies; it was the risk that made her feel so good, an adrenaline rush that she had been begging for for quite a while.

“You are going to do just fine,” Ryan whispered in her ear from behind her, rubbing her back gently. Keera nodded and took in a deep breath. Any of the people in there could have a watch on them, she would have to do her very best not to lose control. If she did, well, she wasn’t sure what would happen or how it would end- but she was sure It wouldn’t be a good thing. Ryan turned her around and leaned his forehead against hers, “Just do your best. If you lose, we can find a way to earn the money back,” he assured her, smiling softly. “I love you,” he told her and walked away, a deck of cards in his hands as usual. She thought it was funny that he always carried his cards with him; it was as if he would die if he didn’t have them with him.

Keera walked over to her table and took a seat, grinning foolishly; he loved her, he said he loved her and it was the first time she had ever heard him say so. She knew she felt the same way, but she was too terrified to admit it. Keera looked around and spotted Ryan at the next table, shuffling his cards expertly. She exhaled, she had to win it for him.

-

The cards were dealt and the chips were passed- before Keera knew it she had built her chips up to an outstanding amount, and she had already moved on to the next table. She was feeling confident, as if she could actually win- and at the time, she believed that she could. Keera straightened her chips and looked up, grinning when she saw that Ryan was dealing for her table now. Ryan smirked at her, but something about the smirk seemed…off, as if he were mocking her. She tried to push it aside, focusing on the cards rather than him for a little bit. Ryan placed two cards down in front of her, and that was when everything went up in flames.

Keera shook her head, trying to shake the memories from her brain. That night, Ryan had claimed that he loved her, and then had used her fear of clocks and watches against her. He had purposely worn one and had avoided her table until she had a fair enough chance at winning until he dealt for her table, so that his plan would be most effective. She had lost control, of course, and she had lost everything; her house, her car, her dignity, & the one person whom she thought she loved.

“I love you too much to lose you, and I will even fight you if that will bring you back to me,” Wilson’s words echoed in her ears. Don’t do this, you idiot- but she was standing before her mind could protest further. Keera walked to the coat rack and grabbed her cloak, wrapping it around her shoulders. She breathed in deeply and pulled open the door, shutting it behind her. She didn’t know why she felt so broken when she heard him say those words, but whether it was because of her past experience with the blasted emotion or if it was simply because she was confused; she still knew she couldn’t stick around if she wanted to keep herself from losing it. Keera stopped when she reached the staircase down the hall, sitting down on the bottom steps, resting her chin on her knuckles.

Keera felt James sit down next to her. She sighed; she had been expecting as much. She allowed him to move so that her head was rested on his chest- this was becoming tradition for the two of them, it seemed. “Stay out of there,” she told him, referring to the way he had read her mind; she wasn’t very good at guessing, but it was pretty obvious by the way he knew about her flood of memories back there, that he had, indeed, tapped into her brain.

“Anyone could, at any time; all you would have to do was decide that I was only worth your time if you could get something out of it. Shit happens, and I can get over said shit, but when I feel as if I am being put in the same situation, only with someone different, I must admit, I feel as if the only thing I can do is run. Welcome to my world, James, I don’t have the capability of trusting anyone,” she told him, her words a little blunter than usual. Keera didn’t usually swear, for she thought it was most unbecoming of her, but at that moment, she really didn’t care what anyone thought of her, she just cared about the sharp, stabbing pain that she could feel somewhere in her chest. Keera Mast was very good at forgetting things when she wanted to, but she could do nothing about it when she remembered said things. Nothing.

Keera stretched out her legs in front of her, one of Wilson’s hands in the both of hers. She
looked down at his hand and shook her head, “You are a very stubborn man; that is twice I have run off today, and both times, you have come after me as persistent as ever,” she stated, rolling her eyes, though she wasn’t upset, she was just trying to balance her emotions correctly.

“Yes I am an absolutely splendid person all together,” Keera said sarcastically, smirking. She couldn’t help but wonder how many more times she would run away, only to be found by James once more. It was rather comforting knowing that he wasn’t planning on giving up on her, but at the same time, it was a bit unnerving, because Keera didn’t know if she could handle it. She exhaled, perhaps letting go for the time being would be a good thing- if she could, that was, but it was worth a shot, she had to admit.

With a faint smile, Keera nodded, “Yes, I suppose if I was able to use legilimency, I would use it when there was a good enough opportunity to,” she stated. That wasn’t the first time someone had read her mind before, but it still bothered her quite a bit when people did. It must have had something to do with her fear of knowing what exactly was wrong with her, maybe the idea of someone being able to see for themselves how her brain worked, made her believe that if they read her mind they would reveal to her the truth.

Keera stood up slowly, her fingers still wrapped around one of Wilson’s hands, “A walk would be just fine- but could we, perhaps, not use the front doors? The…clock,” she said, pointing upward in the general direction of the humongous clock tower which could be seen out of the nearest window. Usually, Keera took a back door that she had accidentally stumbled upon during her first day back at the school, because the ticking and chiming of the overlarge clock wasn’t nearly as loud there.

Keera shook her head, but with a smirk upon her pinks lips, “Queen? My, my, James, been reading too many fairytales, have we?” she asked, merely joking, she didn’t take Wilson as the type of person to read such far-fetched fiction, but it made a good joke, and it helped her calm when the conversation was lighthearted. Keera held her palm up, flattened, and moved her index finger to the side, using wandless magic once more. Keera was quite proud of herself whenever she used a spell without her wand successfully. She brought that same hand to her lips, stifling her laughter as she eyed the large crown that suddenly sat atop Wilson’s head. “Then you must be king,” she added, a few chuckles escaping her lips.

She put her hands in the deep pockets of her favorite long black leather vest, and turned around, walking slowly down the nearest hallway, which led her past Wilson’s office and then towards a door that led outside. She hadn’t noticed before that the hallway she took every morning brought her so close to his office, though she supposed the reason it stood out to her that time around was because she had met him. Keera looked over her shoulder & waved Wilson over, “this way,” she told him.

Laughing, Keera looked down at her change of clothes and then back up at Wilson. She hadn’t expected her joke to be turned around in such a way, but it did amuse her greatly. She noticed that he had kept her leather vest where it was and smiled, that was a smart move, for she surly would have had a fit had he made her favorite article of clothing vanish into thin air, even if he managed to make it reappear.

Once Wilson was at her side she looped her arm around his and tipped her crown slightly. She was surprised she felt so comfortable all of a sudden; she was used to her moods shifting constantly, but it was different to actually feel calm and OK in a situation after feeling uneasy, pained, and frustrated moments before. She deduced that it was because of Wilson, because of the way he acted towards her and his perfectly thought out way of speaking. It was strange, how quickly the two of them had managed to figure out so much about each other. It’s a good thing, though, eh? Keera rolled her eyes, We will see, wont we?

The hallway ended soon enough at a small door- about the size of any door you would find in any ordinary home, though it was small compared to most of the doors in the grand castle- made of wood, of course, just as almost everything else in the castle was. Keera pushed her shoulder against it while turning the doorknob and stepped down three cement stones that were in front of the door. She didn’t pick up her dress; it didn’t matter to her if it was covered in dirt or not, and if she tripped, well, it wouldn’t be the first time she made a fool of herself, it just… didn’t matter. Those small things were what made up Keera’s personality when they were added together, they were things that she never changed about herself.

Keera’s overlarge boots thudded against the grass, causing her to look down; she didn’t real ize she was still in her boots, Wilson had apparently forgotten to change those as well, & it was pretty amusing. She laughed, they looked so dorky with the silk dress, but she liked it, it put a spin on things.