Mia
I was surprised when my colleagues started trooping into my office five minutes before closing time. I had no idea of what was going on but I knew it wasn’t normal.
I wondered what was going on as I looked at them all. None of them told me anything and just smiled at me, acting as if they were not acting abnormally.
I sighed in relief when I saw Gerald walk in with Sammy and rushed to their side.
“What is going on?” I asked them.
Gerald snorted. “What do you mean by what is going on? You were the one who decided to resign. Weren’t you expecting people to hear of it?”
I took a step back and glanced at Gerald. He seemed angry at me and I felt I needed to confirm before I left. “Are you mad at me?”
He snorted. “Mad at you? Why would I be?”
I sighed. “Gerald.” I pinned him with a gaze and drawled his name.
“Fine.” He growled, flinging up his hands in the air. “I’m angry at you. When were you going to tell me that you were leaving? I can’t believe you told Sammy and didn’t tell me.” He sulked.
I looked at him, an amused smile lurking around the edges of my lips. He could be cute at times. I couldn’t believe he was being petty about that.
“I didn’t mean to tell Sammy before you.” I confessed to him.
“I have told him that already.” Sammy chuckled. “But he wouldn’t believe me.”
I had meant to tell him during our lunch break but he had chosen to sit somewhere else other than with me and Sammy. He had a project with his team and they had decided to talk of it during lunch.
I had planned to tell him after lunch but Sean had beaten me to it. He had announced to the whole employees that I was resigning and they had all gushed about how much they were going to miss me.
Gerald had scowled at me when I had caught his eyes and hadn’t talked to me since then, until now.
“Okay, I’m sorry.” I apologized to him, smiling.
He pretended to still be angry with me and said nothing. After some minutes of whining to him that I was sorry, he eventually laughed and pulled me in for an embrace.
“I wasn’t mad at you.” He chuckled.
“Of course, you weren’t.” Sammy and I said at the same time, looked at each other and started laughing.
After the laughter had subsided, I finally asked what I was curious about. “Now, can someone tell me what is going on here? Why are you all in my office, at my desk?”
“Sean told us to be here so we could have a mini farewell party for you.”
“Oh my!” I gushed. “I had no idea about that.”
“It was meant to be a surprise.”
Of course. Another thing that surprised me was how fast Sean removed me from the employees’ group. There was no way he would have sent that message and I wouldn’t have known if he hadn’t done that.
It was good to see him moving on so quickly. I was glad that he would be fine and my absence wouldn’t cause a glitch for the company.
I knew that was supposed to make me feel bad, that I was easily replaceable and forgotten after all his sweet talk of being one of his best employees, but that brought me relief instead.
I wouldn’t have to worry about the company and the state it was in while still worrying about the boys and the dark wizard.
“I didn’t know Sean was planning something.”
“Planning?” Gerald snorted. “This is only a way for the employees to wish you luck as you proceed with life and tell you how much they will miss you. It’s nothing big.”
I nodded. “I know but I’m happy you all care enough to do this.”
“Well, what can I say?” Sammy chuckled. “The boss wanted us here and here we are.”
“Farewell, Mia.” Someone said behind me, disrupting the little conversation that I had going in with my friends.
“Take care of yourself, Mia. We will miss you.”
I turned with a smile on my face to face my well-wishers.
Sean walked in and the real unofficial farewell party began. It wasn’t something big but I was glad but it was still a lot of fun.
By the time we all called it quits and decided to go home thirty minutes later, I was glad that I had worked here and met all of them.
I should have taken a cab. I cursed on my way home. I had thought that I would be able to walk with my box home but tugging my handbag and the box in my hands seemed like a lot of stress. I shouldn’t have overestimated myself.
I snorted. This wasn’t overestimating myself. I used to be strong enough to carry two boxes before. I was getting weaker the more I walked and I wondered what was wrong with me. There had to be something wrong.
I jumped as I took the corner to my house and saw a giant snake on the road. It wasn’t moving on but stood there as if it was waiting for me.
It turned its head when I gasped and I could swear that it smiled at me. That was crazy but I already lived in a world that was crazy. Anything could happen.
It hissed and moved towards me, its huge red eyes shining at me. I used to think that snakes crawled and couldn’t be fast but this one was.
It leaped in the air and charged at me, his jaws opening to swallow me. I hadn’t seen a sight as scary as that and whimpered, falling on my behind as I collapsed to the ground, my bag and box flying tumbling out of my hands.
I closed my eyes, accepting my fate that I was going to die that night. I didn’t want to witness myself being swallowed by a snake that was as huge as a ship.
It wasn’t normal. None of this was normal. There was no doubt that this was the handiwork of the dark wizard.
Ever since I had been living here, I hadn’t seen a snake here before and to think that I saw one as big as anything else could ever be, days after the dark wizard’s appearance.
What a coincidence.
I would have to be a fool to believe that this was a coincidence.
Suddenly, I heard an angry roar and my eyes flew open. I looked up in surprise to see my brothers jumping out of the forest and running towards the snake. They rushed at it and pulled it back from me. It landed on the ground and curled, giving them an angry hiss.
I could feel the hatred and shivered in fright. This was bad. What was going on? It looked past them, looking for ways to get to me but they were ready for it. They blocked its path and it boiled with rage, his jaws opening wide as if to tell the boys what it could do to them if they didn’t leave his way.
“You will have to get through us to get to her, serpent.” Jack hissed.
Were they stupid? How did they intend to fight that thing? What if it struck at them and they died of its toxin? Then, we were all going to die.
I was about to scream at them to run when they looked at one another and nodded. Before I knew what was happening, they transformed into wolves and charged at the snake, moving with a sleek and deadly precision that I was amazed. They attacked the snake from all sides and angles, moving with a practiced confidence. It was no doubt that they had fought a lot of battles together and knew how to be in sync with one another.
I looked in wonder at the fight and blinked in disbelief. The fight was deadly but the giant snake lay dead beside the wolves in minutes.
I ran to them, sobbing with relief as I fell before them, wrapping my hands around their necks. I had been so afraid that they were going to be bitten by the snake and had my heart in my mouth all through the fight.
They seemed shocked at first at my outburst of emotions and went still. After a while, they relaxed and nuzzled against me. Having their furs stroking me as I tried to get closer to them was both tickling and comforting.
I hadn’t been expecting them but I was glad that they had come to my rescue. It was a relief that they had all come. If only one of them had been around, I doubted that the snake would have been defeated. We would both be lying dead by now instead of the snake. I was beginning to realize the importance of having the three of them by my side.
We all stilled as we heard a chuckle behind us. It sounded like an evil echo and crawled over my skin like a disgusting goo and I knew before I turned my head that it was the dark wizard.
“What a lovely sight, I must confess.” He laughed as he moved closer.
He was in another appearance but we were not confused. There was a tell around him.
The wolves growled at him but he didn’t seem bothered. He placed a finger on his lips and I glanced at the wolves to see what their reactions were.
Just as expected, they had their lips bared open in a snarl with their teeth hanging open, threatening to tear the dark wizard open if he angered them. I knew my arrogant brothers wouldn’t like being told to shut up.
With the way they looked, they were ready to tear the dark wizard open and not letting him leave alive.
The dark wizard continued, not bothered with the way the wolves looked at him as if they would like nothing more than to have him for supper.
He turned to me as he spoke. “I was told that you are their weakness and I’m glad to have confirmed it.”
He turned to the boys who hadn’t shifted into their human forms yet, showing that they were ready to attack the dark wizard.
“The snake would have scared anyone but the three of you didn’t hesitate to jump into a battle with it.”
“Your brothers must really love you.” He taunted me. “You are going to be a great tool for their destruction. It would be good if we can work together.”
“Cut the crap.” I hissed at him.
He was crazy and bold to dare to scout me to work with him in the presence of my brothers. I snorted at my thought. Of course, he believed he was superior to everyone else. He wouldn’t think that anyone could hurt him which was why he was acting with arrogance.
I had thought that Jack was the most arrogant person I had ever seen but that of the dark wizard sickened me.
I couldn’t wait for the sap of the Aselia tree to be gotten. I wanted to see how he would be without his powers. I could bet that a rat caught in a pool of water would be stronger than he was.