Pay For The Crime

Morning comes with a pounding headache. Rolling out of bed comes with some extra muscle pain. This doesn't seem to be from physical activity though. It feels so different. The shock from being up for days in a row may be it. My body is finally starting to recover or at least I hope. Just standing up is painful. Looking around I begin to remember where I am. The cabin is mine. Remember that?

My mind is still in a fog. My joints crack as I walk around trying to wake up. Looking around I notice that everything is open. There's no bathroom.

Living near the shed was somewhat simple. I had to sneak off to relieve myself but now with a place to live you would think there would be some convenience. I walk outside letting the door close behind me. The sunlight hits me in the face burning my eyes. I fall over catching myself against the side with my arm while my free paw covers my eyes. I let out a painful moan while I try and steady myself. I feel as though something might be wrong at this point.

I manage to get myself back up using the side as support. I walk around the side heading towards the woods when something odd catches my eye. There's a small section behind the house that's concrete. There's a door and it looks to be a decent size. Even so, the cabin is large enough to hide it from most views. I open the door to find a fully functioning bathroom with running water, a sink, a toilet, and a shower. Madam Odette does care!

Back out front, I look towards the main house where I can see some of the helpers working hard. One person sticks out though. She's wearing some rather casual clothes with a long yellow sundress while talking to Vicki. The two hug before Vicki wanders around the side to the front. As if like clockwork she turns to look at me. Well over 500 yards away and her gaze can still pierce from such a distance. She's beaconing me over with a sign to hurry up. Even with the strain, I jog as fast as my body will let me try to get to her.

She has a bit of a disapproving look on her face as I approach nearly winded. I stand up composing myself to the best of my ability, "Yes, Madam Odette?" She seems to be back to her old self where I'm about to be disciplined. She crosses her arms with that stern look where I know I'm about to get it. "Red, I want you to show me what you can do. If you can demonstrate how much you've advanced then I will decide your punishment for escaping, eluding me, and causing so much worry among my staff."

Does she want to see the extent of my power? I haven't had much time to practice. A lot of it was just book reading. I'm not sure I can apply any of it. The worse thing that happens is I fail to where she comes up with some weird punishment. "Yes, Madam Odette." One thing that I remember is a simple amplification spell that can, in theory, exponentially increase the output of a casted spell. For this, I will go with… a basic fireball.

I square myself looking away from her and anything else that I may damage. The best course for this is to just aim it into the air to avoid accidentally hitting anyone or anything. My focal points are the knuckles on my fingers and my wrist with an extra focus on my lungs and nose for amplification. I take a deep breath in to calm myself. As I exhale I can feel the burning sensation as mana begins to pool. I can feel everything beginning to swirl to a finite feeling. As though a feather is being run across the joints. With one hard push, I release it all completely incorrectly blowing it back into my system.

I'm immediately hit with nausea as my vision begins to blur. My balance is gone from throwing my hands forward and throwing myself face first into the grass. I manage to get myself to all fours but not before vomiting in the yard. I lost focus at the last possible second causing everything to be lost and whatever was not released pushed back into my body overloading it. It's commonly referred to as "Mana Poisoning". It's not fatal but it can be very crippling for a while.

I get myself to a sitting position while I try to recover. There is no pain associated with it. My head just feels like it has a sinus infection, my ears are ringing, my stomach is twisted in knots, and worse off, I can feel Madam Odette's gaze on me judging my failure. I'm just trying to shake it off while trying to stand back up. I get myself back up looking over at her. She has that disapproving look on her face. She goes to turn away but I know what will happen if she leaves. "Wait!" I get her to stop looking back at me. With one heavy pant, I manage to get out, "One more!" I raise one finger to emphasize my point.

She's sizing me up. My condition is not ideal for anything else. I get a nod from her, "One more try. Better not fail me, Red." I have no choice at this point. I steady myself as best I can, trying to focus. With my head still in a daze, it's a lot more complicated. I manage to feel the swelling again as I gain the energy needed. I can't screw this up again otherwise I may be bedridden for days. At the very peak, and the most precise moment when the element and the amplifier mix I throw one paw clenched into a fist towards the sky releasing everything I have.

The roar scared and captured everyone's attention. The blast back from the heat was intense throwing a heat wave across the garden that everyone could feel. The flash from the fire was blinding before it quickly disappeared into a large cloud of black smoke. The sick feeling from the Mana Poisoning was gone. All the excess mana was removed bringing me back to a normal state. Now I'm just tired.

I feel Madam Odette's hand on my shoulder. Looking over I can tell this was not enough for her. I can only nod as I hear her say, "I will send someone to get you when I have decided on your punishment." I watch in defeat as she walks back into her luxurious home. I tried my hardest yet it was not good enough. At least she knows where to find me.

I catch up with Anne to help her do her work to try and get her done with enough time to continue her lessons with Penny this evening. She and I have gotten into a solid routine when it comes to getting food out. Her other chores change so often that we never really get a good pattern down. But when lunch and dinner come around, we are unstoppable! Until I hear someone call my name and pull me away. We were two platters into the dinner rush when I had to put mine down.

I followed Danny, Madam Odette's personal butler, to her office where she was sitting behind her desk with a whole ton of papers on it. She looked like she had been keeping busy the entire day. I took a seat instinctively until I hear her bark at me, "No! You're in trouble." I stand back up just before my butt hit the seat. I must have done it. I already know that I did. Who am I trying to kid? Escaping from the hospital, running off to another city for two or three days. I'm in deep this time. I can feel it.

Madam Odette let out one sigh. As her breath exited the room it was almost as if it filled the air. My breaths became shorter with longer pauses in between just from the pressure. The pen in her paw is laid to the side before she intertwines her fingers. Here it comes. She doesn't even look at me, "I'm not even sure where, to begin with, you. I have so many concerns about what happened. I have many reservations about how you handled it. I have questions about your motives and why you did what you did. Most importantly, just simply why did I have to chase after you for almost two days?"

Her voice is very stern, very to the point with a sharp tone. She continued with the same structure to her words, "I'm glad you're ok. I'm glad that you recovered. I am not happy that you thought that you had to escape from me and from the hospital. I would like to know why you thought that but I want to start with what happened before." She stood up herself walking around the desk checking the door to make sure it was locked. She turned back to me walking to the corner of her desk just out of my reach to my left. She took a seat on the edge, "Just so you know, you're not in trouble for what happened with Marcus, the skunk you walked in on. He was coming at me with the intent to hurt me and you did save me. When he returned you defended the home in a manner that you saw fit."

She completely glanced over the part where he shot me. I remember that. I remember the feeling of the bullets tearing through my skin. I touch a couple of the spots but they are not physically sore. It's just my mind remembers. She snapped me back to her, "You're going to be on extra duty for the next couple of days. I'll send people who need help to you. You're not going to be allowed to say no. Period. Even if you are already doing something else. Make a list and complete it before the end of your day."

Anything and everything… I'm not going to be able to help Anne to get her to learn cooking. Or maybe I still can. I feel there is still more. Something like that can't be all of it for the build-up she put into it. I watch as her eyes shift between mine. She stands back up with her arms crossed, "I also can't have you falling behind on your progress so you need to show me weekly that you're still advancing your magic." There is a catch. I am going to have to do it all.

I am released from her office back to the backyard. I wonder how long it's going to be before someone asks me for help. Probably not long as Madam Odette's word travels quickly. I wonder how long I'm going to be in trouble for this. I can't argue with it either. I messed up on this one.