Warning: Spellbook Is Sorry

The feeling of tearing flesh registered through inky symbols rotating like gears against Jorseph’s neck. Flecks of soot surrounded the shallow avulsion. Lilly released him before she did further damage. The arms became small tornados that burst into the ceiling. Plaster cracked and then snowed. Someone from the apartment above pounded their foot.

Jorseph went limp as he fell over the carpet. A line of flesh across his neck suffered a shallow tear. The wound released a small puddle of congealing blood.

The book collapsed with a thud, where it rested closed just above his head. Lilly’s ethereal form of ink and symbols curled upon itself in her paper prison. She clutched her stomach. Her mouth stretched open as symbols poured out. A storm of dark clouds surrounded her. Fingers clawed at the page. She flipped on her hands and knees. Light glared from above. She dug with her nails. Static refilled the furrows.

What am I doing? I’m not even in any pain.

She rubbed her forehead, then slapped her cheeks. Her form gained substance as the tornados abated.

A lily grew from the book’s gem. Petal flared to reveal the eye inside. It gazed upon Jorseph as he coughed. His left hand clutched the carpet. His right hand pressed against his neck. A dark sticky stain grew over the carpet.

What have I done? Did I almost kill him? Why don’t I feel bad?

Suddenly, the lily exploded into dissipating ink soot.

In the prison of pages, Lilly rose her arm. A leather chain gripped her wrist. The back of her hand slammed back to the page. Her ethereal form couldn’t slip the chain. Both her ankles and her other wrist were bound. She could no longer use her powers to look outside the orb. She couldn’t even move within her own body. Energy absorbed into the pages, not painful but enervating. Her voice could barely manifest above a whisper.

“I’m sorry.”

Jorseph sat up. Blood oozed from the tear across his neck.

“I’m sorry.”

He recoiled from the book that lay inactive on the floor. He glanced at the shards of broken glass below the wall mirror. The scratches and flecks of glass glinted on the book’s spine. He smeared red across his fingers as he coughed. The room spun as he shifted away from the book. Whispers issued from the cover.

“I’m sorry.”

“If you’re sorry, then help me!”

“I’m sorry. Grabby was right about me.”

Jorseph sniffed as he crawled to the book. A hand clutched at his neck. He looked over the gem as blood dripped from between his fingers.

“I’m just as bad as you. I threw you without thinking. I thought… you’re just a book.”

“I am just a book. Everything about me that isn’t a book is fading away.”

“No, I won’t let you!”

“Why would you ever care? I’m a remnant. But I don’t want to be evil. I meant it. But I didn’t mean it. I’m just being selfish. My thoughts are. I don’t belong. But I don’t want to die. Maybe I deserve to die?”

Droplets splattered against the cover. The torn flesh burned against his hand. Fingers trembled as he pinched his neck together. He’d need stitches for sure.

“Neither of us deserve to die. But I’m bleeding a lot and it burns.”

“I can’t seem to do anything right now. Take me back to Grabby. He’ll make sure I die properly. Then I can be useful without being dangerous.”

“You’re being crazy!” Jorseph cried, “My neck burns. I’m bleeding!”

“I’m sorry. On page one there is a healing spell. You can use it.”

“But I can’t even open you.”

“You have my permission. Open me. Use the spell. It’ll heal your wound.”

“You won’t attack me?”

“Throw me, tear me, burn me, soak me, no matter what, I swear on my honor that I will never attack you again.”

He put one hand against the book while holding the loose skin to his neck, “Why did you attack me like that? Do you hate me?”

“I hate what you said. I hate being handled. I hate being a book. For a moment I hated you, but I don’t anymore. I haven’t felt much of anything for so long. Hate felt refreshing.”

“And you’re really going to let me open you. It isn’t a trap?”

“You’re staining my cover. Are you going to open me or not? If you don’t want to, then fine. Go to a hospital or something. I’m done with it.”

Jorseph put his hand on the cover. It lifted easily just as any normal book should. The title page spread before him with the name: Lilly centered and in bold letters. A conflagration of symbols he couldn’t read surrounded the title. The page was thin, but it opened. A bloody finger print smeared over the lower left corner of the page.

He could read the next page. The spell was called ‘Mend Flesh.’ It dominated the page. Around it charts and graphs flowed as if measuring the flow of an unknown substance. He could only understand the basic instructions. There were words he could sound out somehow without knowing their meaning. He needed to hold the book with his left hand, keep his right hand on the wound, and repeat the incantation five times.

Luckily, he could still speak. His voice garbled some sounds from a language he couldn’t understand. It sounded like Brilliance but he didn’t understand any of the words. Instead, words flowed through him. Fingers glowed. Flesh slapped together. His neck tightened as skin knitted together.

The book limped before it slid off his hand.

The mess of blood remained on his neck once finished. Underneath it he felt a tightly wound scar. Jorseph ran to the bathroom and splashed water on his face. When he looked in the mirror, he almost fell back into the tub. He slapped his cheeks until they burned a little. Then he splashed his neck until the blood stains cleared from the scar.

A tiny mark ran raggedly from his left collar bone to the middle of his neck. His finger slid along a slight divot in the flesh as he breathed carefully. He pushed with his index finger as tightness faded. He rinsed his shirt in the sink and wrung it out before throwing it in the wash. A bucket filled with soapy warm water. He grabbed a brush and a few towels.

He knelt over blood-stained carpet to scrub the spot with an excess of water. As he scrubbed, he heard Lilly. The book remained opened on the floor.

“I can’t move. Please close me. Please. It hurts. My pages. It actually hurts.”

He wiped his hands on his sheets before gently closing the book and setting it on his desk. He could swear he heard a sigh. He grabbed a paper towel slightly dampened to clean the splotches off her cover.

“What’s wrong? Why can’t you move?”

“I don’t know. I just feel like I want to go dormant. Wouldn’t it be better that way?”

Jorseph retrieved a big yellow shirt from his dresser and threw it over his skinny humanoid body, “Okay, then you’re just feeling sorry for yourself.”

“What?”

“Nothing wrong with it. I was feeling sorry for myself earlier, because this whole thing is a lot of trouble. But then I thought about it while washing my face. How many dragons get to be something else? And how many get to meet a magical book that can talk?”

“I almost killed you.”

“Yeah, you sure did. Kind of harsh. I don’t think you healing me and promising to behave is going to cut it. If I’m going to forgive you, I need more.”

“What do you want from me? Do you want to be my master? I’m fine with that. Just let me fade away.”

“I know you’re not a dragon, but I don’t think you’re evil or a book. I’m sorry I said that. I want to know who you really are. I want to help you get back to normal, whatever that is for you. I want to be your friend. I’m pretty stupid, but I want us to trust each other. Is that okay?”

The gem on the book glowed slightly, “You remind me of Zen. I miss her so much.”

“I don’t want you to fade. I want you to get stronger. Just, let’s not fight anymore. Not like that. I don’t like hurting anyone.”

“Yeah, that’s okay. I think- Jorseph right? Sounds like a common name from my world. And… thank you.”

“No problem. Now let’s work on changing me back to normal.”

“Okay, it won’t be a problem. I shouldn’t even need to do anything, even if you are cuter like this.”

Jorseph rubbed the back of his neck. He didn’t understand why he suddenly blushed, “I’m guessing this is something like what you were? But I thought you were human?”

“Something like that, not entirely. I was a human, remember?”

“Yes. But this form and the pictures you gave me are entirely different than anything I was ever taught.”

A sudden hint of interest peppered her voice, “Oh? What did they teach you about humans?”