Trials - Chapter 5

It had been a day like any other.

Eric had woken up, walked to school with Connor, met Kaida on the way, gone to forum, Alexa sped in at the last second, classes would begin, they spent lunchtime talking aimlessly, afternoon classes, and then the same walk home.

“Aw, GCSE’s start next year,” Connor complained. “I really don’t know what I want to take. What about you guys?”

“All I’ve got so far is History,” Eric admitted.

“I’m picking French,” Kaida said.

“Any reason?”

“It will look good on my CV and give me a better chance of getting into university.”

“They always say that kind of crap but then none of it really matters that much in the end.”

“How do you know, Connor?” Eric asked.

“My older sister said so before she went to uni.”

“GCSE’s do help decide our future!” Kaida argued.

“Not really.”

“They do!”

“Not even a little.”

Kaida pouted as Eric and Connor laughed. “You guys better at least try to take it seriously,” she said in a grumpy voice.

“I will.”

“Guys, we missed the turning,” Connor muttered.

“So, we did.”

The three turned back and went down the side alleyway.

Not even three seconds later, a man in a worn and dirty business suit appeared before them, a kitchen knife in his left hand covered in a little bit of blood.

“Give me your wallets,” the man hissed, slowly moving towards them. “Give me ‘em and no one gets hurt.”

Eric stepped in front of Kaida, putting his hands into the air. “Okay, we will, just don’t do anything stupid.”

As he did, Connor took the chance to reach into his pocket and dial 999.

“Give ‘em!”

Even though Eric’s body screamed at him, told him to run as fast and as far away from the mugger as possible, Eric’s own desire to protect Kaida kept his feet firmly on the ground.

Eric slowly lifted his wallet out of his pocket and offered it to the man. “Here you go.”

The man looked at it and glared at Eric, grinding his teeth together, and he took another step forward. The man’s thin fingers reached out and snatched the wallet from Eric and he pointed the knife at Kaida.

“Give it!”

“Hey, we’re giving you them!” Eric yelled back. “There’s no need to point it at her!”

“You mockin’ me, brat? You lookin’ down on me, too?”

“No, I’m just-”

“Fuck you. Fuck everyone! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!” The man growled and thrusted his knife towards Eric. “Give ‘em!”

“I don’t know what you’re-”

Before Eric could finish, the man had lunged his knife into Eric’s heart.

The mugger and Kaida both screamed louder than a banshee, alerting a nearby police patrol to their position.

What happened?

Eric fell onto his back, his strength rapidly leaving him and his vision slowly turning black.

I’m…on the floor…

He looked down at his chest and saw the blood spurt from it, the knife had been pulled out by the mugger who was now being held down and handcuffed by the police. Eric could hear Connor yelling frantically to someone, perhaps to someone on the phone, and Kaida was kneeling beside Eric, his hand in hers.

She was saying something, as loud as she could, through an ocean of tears but Eric couldn’t hear her.

Am I…dying?

His vision turned blurry and was consumed by darkness.

He felt a burning sensation more painful than the blade at his heart, but he didn’t have the strength to scream or move.

***

Groggily, Eric opened his eyes and let out a heavy sigh.

His body was covered in sweat and he had thrown his covers off his bed in his sleep.

“Again.” He gently running his fingers along the scar across his heart.

He winced, undressed and climbed into the shower, turning the temperature down to its coldest setting.

Ever since his encounter with Bunny, the same old memory had resurfaced in his mind time and time again, reminding him of the first time he had almost lost his life, and a dark part of his own history that he wanted to forget.

Eric had gotten used to seeing the mugger in his dreams now, but it always left a lingering pain in his chest.

Thankfully, he and his team had a day of rest from the tournament today as well.

Once he was dry, Eric eagerly went to his bookcase and pulled out a large paperback book, before heading off to the lake.

***

Eric knew there was a high chance that Laila would be reading by the lake too, and he was happy to see that she was already there, a copy of ‘The Epic of Gilgamesh’ in her hands.

“Morning.”

“Good morning.”

“Are you enjoying it?”

She nodded.

“Where are you in the story?”

“At the end of the seventh tablet.”

“I think that that’s probably one of the best bits in the entire poem.”

The two of them began to read peacefully together against the tree, facing away from one another; both of them completely immersed in their own texts.

“Did you have another nightmare?” Laila asked, catching Eric off-guard.

“…What makes you think I did?”

“You always come here to read whenever you’re not feeling too good, or when you want to escape from your problems.”

“I like to come here and read even when I’m feeling fine, too, but.” He smiled sadly and rested his head against the tree. “You’re right, though.”

“Bunny?”

Eric shook his head. “The mugger. I haven’t had a dream about Bunny in a long time, but…the memories of the mugging keep reappearing in my dreams. It just...reminds me of all the bad things that have happened.”

Laila glanced over her shoulder. “Is it the stab itself?”

“No, I’ve…sort of come to terms with that. It’s what came afterwards that keeps bothering me.”

“Afterwards?” Eric went silent and turned his head away from her. “You don’t have to say anything more than that.”

“It’s fine.” Eric’s hand inadvertently gripping his chest. “If I don’t talk to someone about it, then it will never go away or change.

“After the attack, I was rushed to the nearest hospital and my wounds were attended to by a healer. All that was left was the scar where I’d been stabbed. The thing is, no one at the hospital had any idea how I’d gotten it, but they said that the wound had sealed up soon after the attack and that saved my life. I never understood how that happened either, until I found out about Kaida’s abilities.

“It…it was after I was discharged from the hospital the next day that the problems began to arise.

“Being attacked caused me to be terrified of the outside world for months and I always felt restless and on edge unless I was inside my own house. I remember that everything terrified me when I went to school the day after I had been released.

“The people, the noises, the sound of metal, even the tiniest drop of blood from my friend’s papercut sent me panicking.

“Everyone knew that I wasn’t exactly in a good place and, as soon as the last lesson ended, I ran as quickly as I could home, ignoring Kaida, Connor and everyone else’s screams and pleas.

“After that, I refused to leave the house.

“I ignored my parents who asked me to try going to school again, I turned my phone off completely so that I didn’t have to deal with anyone calling or texting me, and I didn’t step outside except to pick up packages and answer the door for strangers. For four months, I spent all of my time locked inside my own home, my own personal fortress, and spent my time reading, playing games, exercising and studying.”