Six - The Day She Finally Understood

Staring blankly at the two men who stood before her, Mae frowned, then paused, and suddenly burst out laughing.

Looking at each other, Ted and Jaydon exchanged worried glances. Neither of the two could quite place what Mae was feeling or thinking. Powers or no, not even they could sort through her mixed emotions.

"Mae?" Jaydon asked timidly, not entirely sure how to approach her or what exactly to ask to be sure she was still okay.

Mae abruptly stopped laughing and started sobbing when she realized that there was a possibility they were telling her the truth. Instances were flashing in her head, certain dreams on replay as she tried to wrap her head around it all.

The time she dreamed of the car crash, the car crash actually happening. The reason why he turned on her the way that he did, the reason everything happened. Slamming her hand to her mouth to stop herself from getting sick, Mae sobbed again.

"I...I deserved it. All of it. It really was my fault." Mae whispered as she looked up at Ted, her eyes bearing her completely shattered heart and soul.

There was absolutely nothing she could do to hide away what was happening inside her head, she didn't have the energy to build up her walls before the two men who stood watching her. Ted looked broken at her words and Jaydon just looked confused.

Ted immediately fell to his knees on the cold floor before Mae's shaking form on the bed. Grabbing her hands to get her attention, his raspy voice begged and pleaded, "Please, Baby Girl, don't ever think or say that. There was no way you could have known, no way you could've tried to stop it at the time, and that filthy boy you left behind has no excuse for what he did to you." Ted spat out those last words when speaking of Travis.

Jaydon said nothing, he just listened to the words Ted spoke and looked at Mae's prone form, analysing her. He saw that her tank top's low-cut-front was once more revealing the scar he'd glimpsed earlier that day, but she was too distraught to take note and yank it up again. He noticed her shaking form and the way she kept pressing the palm of her hand over her mouth, as if she was worried she'd let something slip out. Whether it be words, sounds, or vomit, he wasn't sure. Hell, it could be a bit of everything.

Most importantly, however, was that as Jaydon took in all these things while he stood there looking at Mae, the puzzle pieces started falling into place in his head. Mae had said she'd been raped, that her firsts had been stolen from her, and at the time he was speechless, not knowing how to comfort her. Now, though, now he was seeing red.

Whoever they were talking about, that fucker had done more than just steal her firsts, he'd abused her in every conceivable way. Besides that one scar he was seeing, who knew what other marks she was hiding under her clothes. Who knew what all he'd done to her, all because he blamed her for something?

Fists clenched, Jaydon felt himself losing control of his anger way too fast for him to keep track of everything. Knowing he'd be of no help in this situation and knowing full well that soon his emotions would be affecting Mae and Ted, he retreated. Backing up to the door, Jaydon slowly pulled it open before exiting and pulling the door shut again.

Running his hands through his hair he huffed angrily and started gnashing his teeth, something he hadn't done in a very long time. Walking towards the only place he could think of to help himself calm down, Jaydon headed for the fountain.

The fountain. That's the reason everything happened so abruptly...but why? Why at that instance did she have a reality slip and get sucked into another dimension?

Lost in thought and not paying attention to his surroundings, Jaydon abruptly bumped into someone. He was milliseconds away from mumbling an apology, when suddenly he noticed the change in the atmosphere. Anger forgotten, the hairs on the back of his neck stood up straight and goosebumps spread across his skin.

Gathering himself quickly and hiding away all emotions, Jaydon looked him right in the eye. "Victor. You should be more careful, you know,"

"Me?" Victor laughed bitterly and snarled at Jaydon. "Boy, it wasn't me who wasn't paying attention to his surroundings." Pausing for a second and examining the boy, he noticed his clenched fists and set jaw. "Oh my, has someone upset you? I haven't seen this much anger in nearly a year. Could it be somehow related to the girl?" Victor noted his observations out loud.

Upon seeing the look of shock and increased anger on Jaydon's face, Victor knew he had hit the jackpot. "It is about her, isn't it? Oh, could it be a little lover's squabble? I wonder what would happen if I were to go in there right now. Her prince in shining armour, if you will," With a sickening smile Victor made to go around Jaydon.

Grabbing hold of Victor's collar and slamming him into the wall, Jaydon hissed at him. "Stay the fuck away from her, Victor. I'm warning you."

Angered by the boy's behaviour, Victor wielded the shadows and used them to press a shadow-knife to his throat. With no choice in the matter, Jaydon let go of Victor and backed up. He didn't stop glaring daggers, though.

Jaydon swore to himself that he'd be the end to Victor one day. No matter how much blood he got on his hands, Jaydon would make sure that Victor's stone cold heart stopped beating one day. An evil force like him shouldn't be allowed to exist, shouldn't be allowed to corrupt the beauty of the world around him.

Knowing that he couldn't risk Victor going to Mae in the state she was in, Jaydon decided to go back to her room as soon as he finished here. "Leave Mae-Vera alone, Victor. You'll start a war if you go after her."

Smiling at his own twisted thoughts, Victor shrugged. "This isn't over, boy."

With that, Victor gave one last gut wrenching smile, and then walked away. Jaydon's mind was left reeling. What is that asshole planning?

When Jaydon reached Mae's room again, he didn't think he could bear seeing her in so much anguish, but he knew he had to be there for her. He couldn't abandon her when she needed him most. He and Ted were the only two people she had right now, and they couldn't allow her to be left vulnerable with Victor in close vicinity. Jaydon knew that all Victor needed was one small opening, then he'd jump in for the prey.

Opening the door to Mae's room, Jaydon walked in and quietly shut the door behind him. His entire mood was somber, his body language giving away his inner turmoil. When he looked up he saw Mae and Ted in the same positions he'd left them in, only now Mae had stopped sobbing.

Jaydon could see the dried tears on Mae's cheeks, her eyes were a little red and swollen from the crying, and he could hear her trying to calm her ragged breaths. Every so often you could hear a little hiccup coming from her. Even though he hated these circumstances, Jaydon couldn't help but notice how cute she looked and sounded with the little noises leaving her mouth every now and then.

Jaydon didn't say anything to point these things out, instead he walked over and sat on the bed beside Mae. With a reassuring smile on his face, he turns to her and says, "Hey Princess, why so glum?"

Letting out a slightly strangled laugh, Mae shrugged and gave a half smile. "Oh, no reason, not like my whole world has just been turned upside down."

"Well, on the bright side, you're not alone anymore. You have Ted and me, and we won't be leaving your side any time soon."

"That's right, Baby Girl, Jaydon and I will stand by you for as long as The Fates allow it, and even if they try to part us we won't back down without a good fight." Ted smiled up at Mae and gave her knee one last reassuring pat before he got up from his position on the floor. "I don't want to put any unnecessary pressure on you, but we'll need to start training you soon, Sweet Girl."

With a grim smile and an unamused laugh, Mae pipes up, "I was waiting for one of you to drop that bomb on me." Shaking her head and sighing, Mae continues, looking straight at Ted without blinking. "That's alright, but before we do anything further, may I ask a few questions?"

"Of course, what's on your mind?" Ted was smiling at the girl's nerves of steel. Despite everything, she still showed unyielding strength and bravery in the face of all her uncertainty.

"Your powers... is that how you managed to calm me down the other night? After my nightmare?"

With his hands in the air as a mock show of surrender, Ted smiled at her, "That's right, you got me."

Giggling, Mae said, "I thought as much, it struck me as odd that you managed to pull me back from a panic attack so fast, no one has ever been able to do that." Pausing to think, Mae tried to recall what her other question was, and when she did, her body stiffened.

"Is...wait, no," Trying to organize her thoughts, Mae took a deep breath and tried again. "Victor, is he a Wielder of the Dark Arts? Is that why I get such a dreadful feeling when he is near?"

"How do you know Victor?" Ted interrupted, his eyebrows raised and his body taut with unkempt anger and anxiety. Jaydon laughed bitterly, explaining to Ted that Victor had interrupted his and Mae's breakfast together on the day they had first met, which was also the first day she was here at the hospital.

Grimacing, Ted turned to Mae, "I'm sorry you had the misfortune of meeting that man. In answer to your previous question, yes, he is a Wielder. Not all of them are bad, but some of them, like Victor, are hungry for power, and so they do things, inhumane things, to get that power.

"Now you need to understand something, once you start messing with those evil and vile things, you lose pieces of your soul and you become," Ted paused, looking for the right word, "corrupted."

"So you mean to say he wasn't just like that? The way he is now? There was once a time when he was a good person?"

Stunned at the words that were coming out of Mae's mouth, Ted opened his mouth to speak but he froze when Mae spoke again. "Something must have happened to make him change, something must have set him off."

Ted knew that she was comparing him to Travis without even really noticing it, he could also tell that a small part of her hoped for redemption for Travis despite everything he had done to her. Ted was battling with himself, how do I tell her the truth? Can she even handle it?

"Baby Girl, you are too pure." Ted sighed, "Yes, there was a time when he was a good person. He and I used to be very good friends: brothers, even. However, he was weak in the face of his inner demons and he allowed his circumstances to get the best of him. He became greedy for power, and eventually, that greed turned him into the person he is today. I used to think that I could save him, bring back my old friend, but I'm afraid there is no fixing that particular monster. He is too far gone."

Ted could only hope that Mae understood what he was trying to say without actually saying the words out loud. Don't hold out hope for saving Travis, Sweet Girl, because you might not be able to, and the gods know how that breaks a person.

"Oh," Mae nodded her head and mulled over Ted's words. She could tell that it hurt to admit how close he once was with Victor, and Mae knew from experience not to press the matter because it was clearly a sore subject. She had many wounds that she, too, would rather ignore and leave untouched, as unhealthy as it was to bottle things up.

Only now noticing Jaydon's out of character silence, Mae turned to give him a look of scrutiny. "What's on your mind, Dimples?"

Ted burst out laughing at the nickname and Jaydon gave Mae a mock glare for embarrassing him, which she just answered with an innocent smile. "Oops," she blushed. "But seriously, what's bugging you?"

"It's Victor," he sighed, running his fingers through his hair once more. Mae was starting to notice that he did that whenever he was at a loss for words, or when he was particularly annoyed or angsty.

"What about him?" Ted asked, voice on edge.

"We had a bit of a run in when I left the room earlier," Jaydon admitted.

"About what?" Mae asked in surprise. "The best thing to do is to avoid people like him, Jaydon, not anger them," Mae gasped in horror at the thought of Victor getting angry.

"She's right, you know," Ted said matter of factly.

Sagging in defeat, Jaydon decided to just be honest and get it over with. Taking a deep breath, he explained how he got angry and knew he'd only make matters worse, so he left the room and stormed down the halls of the hospital, only to collide with the last person he wanted to see. "Words were exchanged, things got a little physical, he held a shadow-knife to my throat, and then I pulled away and told him to stay away from Mae, lest he cause a war."

Mae was too shocked to say anything, but Ted groaned in frustration. "You reckless boy, I thought you stopped with this foolish behaviour. Did he say anything before you parted ways?"

"Only that it wasn't over, though I cannot decipher his words. What isn't over?" Jaydon trailed off into contemplative silence.

"Start a war? Because of me? I don't understand," Mae had questions, but her brain couldn't quite keep up, so instead, she spoke in broken up sentences.

Paying her no attention whatsoever, both Ted and Jaydon were lost in thought, trying to figure out what exactly Victor could have meant by his words. At last, Ted shook his head so his dreadlocks swished about, "It doesn't matter what he meant, it just reinforces the original plan about how we have to be incredibly careful around him and be sure that he doesn't try to corner Mae. She mustn't be left alone while she is this vulnerable."

"Hello, I'm right here guys!" Mae interjected, slightly aggravated with how they were talking about her like she wasn't even there. "I'll have you know I've survived a lot up until this point, I'm sure I can handle an asshole by the name of Victor."

"Asshole? Well that's not very nice of you," At the sound of his voice, everyone froze in place and spun around to look at the face of the man they'd just been talking about.

Not being able to help it, Mae pulled into herself once more and barricaded any and all emotions inside her, showing nothing but contempt for the man who stood before her. With a snarl on her face, she stood up and squared her shoulders, jutting her chin out at him, "What are you doing in my room, Victor? Get. Out."

Tilting his head to the side, Victor grinned in such a way that shivers ran down Mae's spine at the sight. He saw her bravado as a challenge, and Mae could tell he was the type who enjoyed a challenge. A challenge allowed him a new sense of satisfaction when she finally backed down and let him break her.

What the sick bastard didn't know, however, was that Mae had nothing left to lose. She'd already been completely broken and that meant that he couldn't win. She'd fight until her last breath and she'd be damned if she didn't drag him down to hell with her.