Magic of the Day (Chapter 3)

I whirled around on the person sneaking up on me. Without taking any chances, I landed a sidekick to his face. It didn’t surprise me that the person now lying on the ground was the Daydream that I’d seen earlier. He was now on his side, a hand over his busted lip. I stood at ready, waiting for him to make a move, but he didn’t. He just looked up at me awkwardly.1

“Damn, that was a nice one!” he exclaimed as he sat up, rubbing his chin.2

“Who are you and what do you want?” I demanded, not letting my guard down. When the 3

Daydream stood up, I only noticed that he was taller yet a whole lot weaker than me. It wouldn’t even sting if he threw a punch at me right now, but I bet anything that his magic was powerful.4

“You can call me Jordan. I already know who you are,” he replied, looking straight at me, blue eyes intensifying his already fair features. Well, how I find the time to notice a possible enemy’s features is beyond me, but that was just another noticeable trait.5

“Okay, then who am I?” I snapped as the two of us began circling each other, wary of every motion the other made. This guy-Jordan-was foolish for sneaking up on me, but he apparently wasn’t stupid.6

“Let’s see, where to begin. You’re aura is extremely dark. When anyone gets close to you, they immediately notice how cold your body and emotions are. The minute something strikes you as odd, you get tense and prepare for fights. Your hair and eyes are extremely dark. I bet if I cut you right now, you’d bleed black. It all points to one thing,” he claimed as we stopped circling. “Nightmare.”7

“How clever of you!” I said facetiously.8

“Wait, there’s more! You live in the woods with two other Nightmares, Silversong and Rattlesnake. You’re cold and bitter about who made you a Nightmare, making you extremely aggressive. Your one weakness is that you always want to help others in need, which is what led you straight to me!”9

“I’m starting to think that’s a bad thing! Have you been following me?” I commented. He was getting irritating. I wanted to kill him.10

“I only followed you out of curiosity, Firefly,” he said, stepping closer. I started to back away from him.11

“Curiosity killed the cat!” I told him as I continued to back away from him.12

“That’s rather a cliché, don’t you think?”13

“Still fits the bill, doesn’t it? Now what do you want?!” I said loudly, losing my temper. I was backed into an alley wall, ready to fight if I had to. I didn’t feel at all comfortable with the idea of being pinned down, but who would.14

“I just wanted to psychoanalyze you!” he said, standing before me.15

“A rather dumb reason to get your ass kicked, isn’t it?” I folded my arms and grimaced.16

“Well, the fact that you were willing to kill me is kind of upsetting,” he said.17

“You’re using past tense. I’m still willing to kill you…if you’re a threat,” I growled. He laughed.18

“Trust me!” he said after his last snigger. “I’m the least of your worries!”19

After that, all I remember was waking up in the same alley, leaning up against the same wall I had been pinned to, and with a knot on my head.20

*21

“I told you this wasn’t good, Firefly,” Rattlesnake spat as I was lying between him and the sleeping Silversong.22

“Shut up about it, why don’t you?” I groaned. That Jordan fellow was on my mind. I kept wondering what he’d meant. Were there more Daydreams? Was he just being sarcastic, 23

because all he’d seemed to do was pick on and laugh at me? God only knows!24

“No, I won’t shut up! We’re leaving tomorrow,” he said.25

“No we’re not!” I retorted.26

“Yes we are! Because of him, we’re not safe here and I want to leave!” Rattlesnake sounded final with this, but I wasn’t willing to comply.27

“One more day to figure this out is all I ask,” I said. Silence. A very long silence.28

“One! That’s it!” he said, then settled down on his side, facing away from me. I grinned triumphantly and lay still, not feeling tired enough to sleep. Like I ever slept!29

*30

Walking down the street the next day to the alley, I noticed that Jordan was not too far behind me. What did he want now? Ever since he’d followed me the day before, I kept an even closer eye on my surroundings. I turned into the alley and hid behind a trash can. 31

Sure enough, I heard him set about two or three steps into the alley, then I jumped out into view, my forearm slamming against his throat, pressing him into the wall. Ha ha!32

“Why are you following me!?” I inquired angrily. 33

“Wouldn’t want you to leave town because of one weak Daydream is all!” he muttered softly, given that I was choking him in a sense. I thrust him to the ground, satisfied with the sound of air being knocked out of him when he landed. 34

“I’ll only leave if there’s more than one Daydream! If not, I can take care of you easily,” I said.35

“Well,” he said quietly, standing, “there are only three of you and one of me. So what good is the argument?”36

“Not very good if you ask me! Now what do you want!?”37

“Nothing, I was just walking down the street, going down the alley, when you pinned me to the wall,” he claimed. “I visit this alley everyday!”38

“Liar,” I claimed. 39

“Am not! I seriously do come here everyday!” he said.40

“Why?” I asked.41

“Curiosity killed the cat,” he said, smiling. Okay, the guy was witty, so I grinned a 42

smidgeon. “If you wanna know, follow me!”43

“Wait a second! Follow you?” I said, backing up. 44

“Hey, you can trust me!” he said, swiftly grabbing my hand. I yanked it away, appalled that he even touched me. 45

“Well, I don’t know that!” I snapped.46

“Consider, for a second, that I’d have to trust you in order to take you to where I hide! Think about it!” he said, then waited for my answer.47

I hope you realize what a predicament this is, because this guy could very well be setting up a trap, but it occurred to me that if he’d wanted me, Rattlesnake, or Silversong hurt or dead, he could’ve easily done so by now. But the age old conflict was that he was a 48

Daydream and I was a Nightmare. Jordan seemed intent on trust, though, and I supposed that if he hadn’t ratted my hiding place out yet, I should be able to trust him.49

Even though I might as well had walked into my grave, I followed him anyway.50

*51

“Wow!” I said. His hideout was a penthouse with an amazing outlook over the town and woods where I dwelled. On the roof, he appeared to have practiced magic on his personal garden. I wasn’t the flowery type, but technically what he had was more herb-like. There were very few flowers. Thousands of smells filled my nostrils, some making me dizzy, others euphoric, and some sad or fearful. His home wasn’t that large, it was basically a one room house colored with the brightest colors I’d ever seen. It was small and very much like a home.52

“This is where I hang out!” he said, sitting in his garden as I looked out over the town. I was amazed, which was rather rare.53

“You’ve got it good, up here!” I said softly.54

“I know,” he said. “Please, sit down.”55

I was still wary, but I did sit down across from him. 56

“What’s with the garden?” I asked, a scent that made me feel at ease made me relax more.57

“I make plants into potions and stuff like that. I use them whenever I need to. It helps when I make my enemies fearful with the scent of a certain formula.”58

“Neat!” I admitted it, I was impressed.59

Jordan and I talked for quite a while, making me forget how different we were. I felt as if I’d known him for a long time. I didn’t even realize how similar we were or how long we’d talked until the sun began to set. When I did realize, I jumped up and hastily made my way to the door.60

“I better go!” All my senses had returned to normal, my wariness returning. I had almost gone through the door when Jordan grabbed my hand again. I stopped, startled. “What?!”61

“Nothing, I’m just wondering if the next time I see you, would you please try not to kill me?” he said. God, I didn’t realize how nice of a guy he was.62

Dammit, Firefly! What’s gotten into you?! You’ve spent your day chatting with a Daydream!63

Then it occurred to me that maybe it didn’t matter. Maybe I’d been on guard for nothing. My senses tingled at that thought, but somehow I knew. I had nothing to be afraid of with this guy. If he’d wanted to hurt me, he would’ve.64

“I won’t,” I told him. He grinned. “I just wonder if I will see you again.”65

“In that case, here,” he said. Before I could pull away, he’d leaned forward and kissed me on the cheek. I froze for a minute, wondering what I should do, if I should do anything, and whether or not my eyeballs had stayed in their sockets.66

Just like that, I was standing in front of a closed door that led out to a penthouse. I was dazed, wary, totally upset with myself, and not the least bit sorry for it. For a moment, I hoped I’d see Jordan again. Then I shook my head and headed back out to find Rattlesnake to see if he could possibly change his mind about leaving.67