A Simple Spell

"Hello" said Dhira. Visha may have jumped in shock if she still could. She accidentally contacted the one person she wanted to escape. But considering the state she was in, she couldn't pick up her phone and dial another number. Visha had to compromise.

"Dhira, help." Visha was still breathing heavy. Dhira got worried as soon as she heard her tone. Visha sounded weak and breathless.

"Where are you?" Dhira immediately asked.

"Washroom. First floor." Visha somehow managed to mumble these two things before she blacked out. Dhira was her only hope now.

***

Dhira's mind went blank for a moment when she heard Visha's barely audible voice saying help. She rushed out of the classroom she was in. The professor saw her leave but didn't dare stop her. No one could. She heard Visha say she was in the washroom. She tried to keep talking to Visha as she rushed downstairs to the first floor. But there was no reply. She couldn't help but imagine the worst and called Shivam as well.

Dhira opened the door and saw Visha lying unconscious on the floor. Shivam entered right behind her. Dhira rushed to Visha and tried to pick her up. She was burning hot. Dhira then poured water on her face and Visha opened her eyes slowly. Dhira and Shivam sighed in relief. They were glad to see she was alright. Visha's face turned red and she blinked her eyes continuously. Her head was still spinning and she was burning. The heat was unbearable. She snatched the bottle in Dhira's hands and poured it on herself. Dhira and Shivam looked at her in shock as she clawed at her own clothes. She tried to speak but her voice didn't come out. She was now breathing heavily too. Dhira looked at Shivam and then pointed at the door with her chin. Shivam rushed and closed the door as Dhira started to examine Visha.

"It's some kind of drug. No spell." Dhira concluded.

"Can you do anything?" Shivam was worried. He remembered today was the quiz Visha took part in. And it was important to her.

Dhira thought for a while, "Maybe" she shrugged her shoulders and hesitated. " I'll give it a try." She placed her hand on Visha's forehead and started chanting. Visha's temperature started to drop and her breathing slowed down as well. Sweat beads formed all over her body. In just a few minutes, her clothes were drenched in sweat. She turned over suddenly and spat out some blood. Her temperature and breathing then returned to normal. She woke up to see Dhira and Shivam standing there. They looked relieved.

"Are you alright?" Shivam asked as he helped her stand up. Visha nodded as a reply.

"What happened?" Dhira asked.

Visha looked confused as she tried to remember, "I came in here to practice my intro and I just went blank. I don't know either." she touched her forehead. She could still feel the remaining drug giving her a headache. It felt like she had a bad hangover.

"You were drugged. Who could have done that?" Dhira asked again. Shivam sighed. Could she not see that Visha was still in a haze. She should comfort her before interrogating her. What will happen to this girl with zero EQ. He shook his head in helplessness.

Visha looked at Dhira and thought for a while, "I drank water that Priya brought and a sandwich. It was for all the participants, nothing else. There was this other participant and we had an argument. But she was the one who came onto me first." Visha complained.

"Maybe you should be careful from now on. It's a fierce competition." Dhira warned. Visha nodded as a reply. She then turned to look at Dhira, "But what did you do? How could drug effects disappear in minutes?" Visha asked.

"A simple spell. I sped up your metabolism to get the drug out of your system. The blood was a side effect, because I increased it too much in a very short time." Dhira explained.

But Visha had barely listened after she heard the word 'spell'. So it was real. She had just seen it work, she couldn't deny its existence anymore. That means, Dhira really was a witch. And maybe so was her mother.

***