20 Ch. 20 Don’t Freak Out

"Uuuggggghhhhhh"

Myrddin holds the side of his head while he opens his eyes. His entire body feels weird and hurts in certain places like he slept on the ground.

He slowly opens his eyes and blinks a few times as the sunlight attacks his retina. Myrddin wonders when he opened his blinds, they normally stay closed.

The light continues to brightly shine so Myrddin moves his left hand over his eyes and rolls onto his back. As he stretches his right arm, legs, and back there are some loud popping and cracking noises.

"Dayum!" Myrddin exclaims as his body begins feeling much better. He also moves his left arm out and stretches that as well.

As his brain begins to start he notices he fell out of bed. There's no way his bed would be this hard.

He takes the palms of his hands and rubs his eyes for a few moments before opening them.

Myrddin pauses as he looks up at the bright morning sky with some trees accenting the view but not overwhelming it.

After a big breath Myrddin slowly looks to his left and sees THE magically disappearing stump giant stump and there's some red on its side from what looks like fingers.

He moves his hands in front of him and looks at them. Besides the fact his sleeves are about 2 inches shorter and tighter on his arms, there is some dried blood on the fingers of his right hand.

Immediately, he sits up and extends his right hand and scrambles backwards. He then shoves his hand onto the morning dew laced grass and tries to get the dried blood off. After a few passes offer the short grass his hand is blood free.

His breath then calms down, and then he spots where he was just laying.

The grass behind him, and a trail leading to the edge of the clearing, is covered in blood.

There's a second before Myrddin puts his hands on his back and he prepares to feel the worst pain of his life, but there's nothing. Just his shredded jacket and shirt.

His left fingers bump against something hard sticking out of his back pocket and pull out the twig and looks at it.

The twig is fine. Even after he fell on it, basically slept on it, and whatever else happened to it. There wasn't a scratch or bend to it at all.

Myrddin then slowly remembers what happened last night. He grabs the sides of his head as he relives what happened.

The sight of the dead woman and her lifeless expression. The darkness. The growling. And that hulking figure of that 'wolf beast' as it stated him down. The fear he felt when it charged him.

But then he remembers it didn't actually attack him at that point. Myrddin remembers extending his hand out to defend himself…. but it wasn't to defend himself. He did it in a swiping motion instinctively. Like he knew something would stop the charge of the beast.

After that, he remembered running. That fear still shook his body a little. He remembers dodging something by a hairs width as the best struck the ground. And he also remembers not being so lucky the second time. And then the next thing he remembers is realizing he was here and passing out. And now it's morning…. And he's still alive.

He lowers his hands and looks at the twig in his left hand. It feels natural to hold it.

Myrddin looks back towards where he was sleeping and sees his glasses behind it, along the trail of blood.

"Wait…" Myrddin holds his hands out as far away from his body as possible. "It's not blurry!"

Myrddin is over the moon with this news. He touches under and around his eyes as he looks around the clearing.

Remembering that his phone is in his pocket, he fishes it out of his front left pocket. And looking down at it he can't help but sigh as his mood drops a little bit. The screen was cracked, but at least it turned on. And it's not completely shattered, it just will make things harder.

Going to the camera he holds the phone in front of his face. He has to switch the view to selfie mode….

Myrddin newrly drops his phone when he sees the image on his phone when it should have shown himself. He brings the phone back up to his face and he turns left and right to make sure this is really him.

His eyes nearly charm himself as the emerald green eyes look even more vibrant as they scan his new appearance. The change is way too much. His slightly tanned skin is flawless and smooth without any blemishes. His cheekbones and square jaw stand out, but not too much. His eyebrows don't have any red in them whatsoever. Yet his hair still has its ends red. But if he cuts it there wouldn't be any indication that he was the old Myrddin.

This is unbelievable. There's no way to explain what just happened. He was attacked and should have bled out the previous night. And his eyes, he shouldn't be able to see so clearly. And he can hear new things that he couldn't before. There were birds chirping, but they sounded way off in the distance.

His skin crawls as he remembers his skin pulling itself back together. It didn't hurt, but it just felt different and unlike anything he had ever felt before.

As his mind jumps around topic to topic he realizes there is a euphoric feeling hidden beneath his depths. It was like it was there but not there at the same time.

A few seconds go by when Myrddin jumps to his feet and looks around.

Myrddin looks down and sees his shirt clinging to his torso and his jeans trying to contain his legs with his ankles and a part of his abdomen showing a little.

Pulling his shirt up he can see abs glistening in the sunlight. He puts the shirt down and looks around.

"What the fuck…" Myrddin doesn't know what to believe.

He does know that his clothes are uncomfortably tight right now. So he takes his jacket off and he can hear his shirt try not to get ripped to pieces.

His arms feel free once his jacket comes off. His old slightly baggy black shirt has become a compression-t at this point.

Myrddin looks down at his wide shoulders, compact pectorals, washboard abs, slightly bulging biceps. He looks like those Olympic swimmers on their best day, cranked up to 11.

Tying his jacket around his waist he walks over to his glasses. His shoes genuinely crushing his feet. "I just had to get the only pair of Nikes that don't fall apart"

Myrddin kicks his shoes off and hold them in his left hand. He goes to his glasses and bends over to pick them up. He doesn't want to find the limits to his jeans and he can't really bend his knees that much. His right hand is outstretched when the glasses move up into his hand.

He stands up and looks at the glasses that moves vertically through the air to go into his hand. He blinks twice before coming to a conclusion. "Magic?"

The feeling was weird. He wanted the glasses but didn't want to split his pants. And when he reached just a little more the glasses came up into his hand.

Now if you ask him if it's easier to believe that he has magic or that something else caused the changes in his body and made the glasses float into his hand…. The easiest and simplest answer is magic.

'Venire~' That old voice he heard way back when male goes in his mind. 'Come'

Myrddin looks around. He doesn't see nor hear anything else. And it's like he just unlocked a command word.

With his hand outstretched towards a leaf up above him he says: 'Venire'

The leaf gets pulled directly into his hand after being ripped from the branch that sways slightly above the clearing.

"I did not expect that to actually work…" Myrddin studies the leaf.

Looking at the stump, he walks up to it and rubs the blood off it with his thumb. He looks at the blood covers grass and hopes rain washes it away. And as far as he knows this stump only appears to himself. Not even Caval could come here. But maybe that's because Caval is a coyote… oh well. Not like anyone will know it's his blood.

Myrddin also takes his socks off. Walking through the woods with wet socks isn't fun. And when he walks with his bare feet he doesn't feel anything break his skin. Even when he stepped on a piece of broken wood that should have taken some skin with it.

There's a feeling beginning to rise in Myrddin's chest. It's making him restless and want to just take off running at his top speed. He wants to know what this new body of his can do.

Right before he's about to take off he reigns himself back in. As he continues his walk he has to stop himself from just bursting out into a full on sprint. If he rips his pants it would make going to buy new clothes significantly more awkward than it already will be.

Walking through the woods for 30 minutes gives Myrddin plenty of time to come to terms with what happened last night. And he realizes he somehow stopped the charge of the best with a wave of his hand. If he can figure out what he did and manages to do it at will, he won't have to worry about being defenseless.

His blood begins to get excited at the thought of learning magic. Testing various theories. Trial and error.

By the time he gets to his car he has already decided.

If that beast comes after him again, he wants to be prepared. He won't be looking for a fight, but he doesn't want to be caught off guard with no way of defending himself again.

He also has to repay that beast for the wound it gave him. Even if it did heal.

Myrddin takes the keys from his pocket with some difficulty and gets in the challenger. He drives away from the burned down house that should or shouldn't still be standing.

——————

"Just walk in there. Pick out some clothes. Get some shoes. Try them on. Pay for them. Leave. Easy, right?" Myrddin is sitting in his car planning what he should do.

His car is parked outside a clothing store near the edge of town and not many people are out and about.

"Here we go" Myrddin says beneath his breath as he gets out of his car.

Walking up to the store he can see a young and beautiful woman inside. He opens the door and walks inside. "Excuse, I'm afraid that I lost my shoes. Is it alright if I still shop here?"

The woman moves some of her blond hair to the side and looks down at Myrddin's feet. "I'm sorry. No shirt. No shoes no-"

Her eyes travel up along Myrddin's body. From his pants to his jacket around his waist. To his black shirt showing off all his torso and not leaving anything to her imagination. And then to his face, especially his eyes as they gaze back into her own cold blue eyes. "How can I service you? I mean-! How can I help? I-our shoes are in the back sir…"

Myrddin rubs the back of his head. "I know I look a bit out of place, but this is all I had with me"

The woman can't help but stare at him. Specifically his torso. "N-not at all… What's your name?"

'nomen tuum Merlin'

Myrddin smiles brightly. "Merlin. I mean, it's Myrddin"

The woman blushes and bats her eyes. "I think Merlin is easier for me to say"

"If that's the case, Melin it is. Can I have yours?" Myrddin walks into the store and walks up to the counter.

"Yeah… you can have me" The girl looks up at Myrddin's eyes and bites her lower lip.

"Er, I meant your name" Myrddin wonders what's with this lady. But he definitely doesn't mind it.

She covers her mouth and blushes wildly. "Oh my-! What am I saying! Please forget I said that! My name is Stacy"

Myrddin feels better than ever. "I can't forget things so easily, Stacy"

Stacy's blush turns a shade darker and she continues to cover her mouth with her right hand. "Uhhh, th-the shoes are towards the back. Do you mind if I show you? They're tucked away and you m-might miss them"

"Really? That's very kind of you. And I'd really appreciate that" Myrddin watches as she goes around the counter and motions him to follow her.

They walk through an isle of shirts and eventually make it to the back.

"Mens shoes are over there" Stacy says and then looks at Myrddin's feet. "Uhm, what size shoe are you? We might not have your size…"

Myrddin looks down at his feet. He cleaned them before he got in his car back at the Preserve. "I don't actually know…"

"Oh, that's fine! Most people forget if they don't buy shoes often" Stacy says a little louder than she meant to. Her head is a little foggy and she feels like her chest is burning a little.

Myrddin around. "Where is your Brannock Device?"

"Our what?" Stacy doesn't understand. But she does understand she can see Myrddin's abs.

"The thing you measure your shoe size with. It's called a Brannock Device" Myrddin doesn't see one at all.

"Strong and smart?" She mutters.

Myrddin clearly heard her, even if she barely whispered it. "Is that a bad thing?"

"Hwha-? No! No, definitely not! It's actually…." Stacy stops herself. "The Brann whatever is over here"

Myrddin couldn't help mess with her.

He puts his right foot next to the device. He doesn't want to put it on the device since he isn't wearing a sock, for common courtesy.

He eyeballs it and it. "Looks like a 13 and a half"

Stacy can tell that Myrddin is struggling with his right his pants are and kneels down. "It actually looks closer to 14. Here"

Myrddin doesn't stop her from grabbing his foot and using her finger to get a better measurement. He feels her hand move on his foot and can't help but laugh. "Pfft! Hahaha- ehem!" He can't help it, he's ticklish.

"S-sorry!" She lets his foot go and stands up. "I didn't know you were ticklish"

"It's.. it's alright" Myrddin takes moves his foot back next to his other foot. "You said it was a 14?"

"Y-yeah" Stacy looks at the shoes to their left. "I don't think we have any 14s here"

"Tk. So you don't have any?" Myrddin clicks his tongue.

"W-we might have some, just not out here. You can take a look out here while I go check. Do you have a specific style or color you want?" Stacy's blush was going away but now it's back.

"Something black I guess? It sorta depends on what you have in my size. I'll leave it to your judgement" Myrddin shrugs.

"I'll be back in a minute then" Stacy says as she quickly goes through a door off to the side.

Myrddin begins looking at the 100s of shoe boxes and the biggest size he can find was a single pair of 13. "Guess finding shoes will be harder from here on out"

He remembers how easy it was in the past. Just find a pair that looks decent and grabs one of the several pairs that were his size. Guess it's good that he isn't picky when it comes to fashion.

A couple minutes later and Stacy comes back with twos boxes. "You're in luck Merlin!"

It takes a few seconds for Myrddin to get used to being called Merlin. It isn't new, but it is new when someone says it without any rude or mean intentions of saying it. "That's great. It's been some time since I've had some good luck"

Stacy puts the boxes on a bench. "Does it have something to do with your hair?"

Myrddin reaches up and pinches some of his hair. It's smooth, but since he was sleeping in the forest it's currently messy and the majority of it is red. "You can say that"

"Was it you choice?" Stacy puts her hands behind her back and rocks forward on her toes.

"No, it was some stupid prank a while back" Myrddin runs his right hand through his hair to try and deal with it but he just decides to leave it until he goes to get a haircut.

"That's one crappy prank, did you get them back?" Stacy seriously asks as if it was one of her close friends that got pranked.

"I'll say that they got what was coming to them" He winks at her and sits down next to the boxes. On the boxes are a pair of cheap socks that women usually when they try on heels or similar types of shoes that they don't usually wear socks with.

Stacy blushes again and looks to the side. "That's good. What goes around comes around"

"That it does" Myrddin opens the first box and tries on the shoe. He opens the second box but decides to go with the first.

"It looks good" Stacy says while looking at the shoe on his foot.

"Thanks, you have a good eye. Mind if I ask you to help me a little more?" Myrddin takes the shoe off and puts it back in the box.

"N-not at all. We're clearly not busy" Stacy giggles a little bit.

Stacy brings Myrddin to the Mens clothing section and helps him pick out a set of clothes.

Myrddin changes into the black jeans, white shirt, and black and white plaid flannel.

He steps out while holding his old clothes under his arm. "Ready to ring me up?"

Stacy's brain nearly short circuits. Even if she can't see his toned upper body she is still amazed by his looks. "You can ring me up anytime…"

Myrddin scratches his cheek. "I might take you up on that offer later but I kinda have to be somewhere soon"

"Wha-? Oh! Uhm, yeah!" Stacy quickly walks back up to the front of the store and goes behind the counter. "Your total will be $XX.XX"

"Alright" Myrddin takes out his credit card and swipes it.

"Do you want a bag for your old clothes?" Stacy asks as she prints the receipt.

He puts his shoes on and shakes his head. "Nah, I'll be good. Thanks though"

"Y-you're welcome…" Stacy stutters as she hands him his receipt.

"What is it?" Myrddin notices she wants to say something else.

"… the back of the receipt. My phone number. You can call me or something…" Stacy stammers. She doesn't know why but Merlin just causes her to act abnormal.

"Number?" Myrddin flips the receipt over and notices a phone number and the name Stacy below it with a heart next to it. "Right, ok. I'll give you a call at a later time. See you around, Stacy"

The young woman looks around 20 and she watches as Myrddin walk out of the store and get into a sports car. The burning feeling in her chest grows more as she watches him drive out of the small parking lot and down the street.

——————

"That… was something" Myrddin feels like a whole new person. Him, a guy who had never drawn the interest of a girl in the past, has just gotten a phone number witching 15 minutes of talking with a girl. And he didn't even ask for it either.

Having good looks is such a cheat.

But as he drivers closer to his house he wonders how he's going to explain this. The only reason he doesn't get his hair cut is so that he can hopefully convince his mom it's really him. He can only imagine all the tests they'll do on him if he goes to the hospital.

The black Charger pulls into the driveway and parks beside his moms car.

He wonders how he's going to go about this as he walks up to the front door with his keychain full of colorful keys.

He's about to put the key in the lock when the door opens and he sees his mom at the door.

"Why are you driving my son's car and why do you have his keys?" Ada asks with a dangerous look in her eyes.

"Hold on a second" Myrddin puts his hands up. "Don't freak out"