Cody snuck around to the back entrance of the abandoned warehouse he frequented as of late. It was outside of town with mostly woods nearby, and he made sure no one followed him. Currently, it was past midnight.

Unkempt weeds crawled all over the dusty windowsills and creaky doors. He assumed it was an old shipping facility lost to the times, and he set an incantation on the only unlocked door to alert him if anyone ever entered. So far, he was in the clear.

Moonlight spilled in with him as he entered, though he didn’t need it to see in the dark. His enchanted contacts were off and his eyes practically glowed red. Even in pitch black, they could operate as if the very world had a faint glow.

Maybe, it did.

Energy was everywhere, spilling out of the Earth herself. Magic was a means of merely using her.

He walked through the facilities of broken down machineries and dilapidated walls— a permissible silence slithering away from his footsteps.

A grocery bag crinkled in his hand as he navigated his way to the makeshift prison.

Through the cell bars he once put in place, he saw his mother looking up at him. He stuck his hand through the bars and tossed her the bag, backing away before she ran up and grabbed the bars, the metal resounding a hollow sound.

“Cody, how long until you stop doing this to me? This is madness!” Her voice was shaky, borderline hallucinogenic.

“When you find a spell that will help him.” Cody said coldly. This part always annoyed him. Hearing his mother speak was like baby birds grating on egg shells.

“There isn’t anything in these books!” she shouted. “I need to search elsewhere!” Stacks of books littered her cell, all brought to her by Cody.

“I’ll find more books.” Cody looked away from her. “Try thinking outside the box.”

“Thinking is all I can do in this BOX you’ve stuck me in!” she said. “Cody, we can solve this together. Just come here, I love—”

“DON’T YOU DARE say you love ANYONE in our family.” He stepped away, shaking his fists. His patience was running thin as of late. The new semester was distracting him, but coming here every week was a burning drain.

He had to feed the wards he set with more magic, to prevent her from using magic in this space. He wanted her to shut up for this part, but he knew she wouldn’t.

“You are my child! I can’t believe you are doing this to me!”

Cody stepped right into her face. “You want to talk about the bad things I’ve done?” Cody said. “It doesn’t matter. Because my bad decisions don’t hold a fucking candle to yours. You hear me? Now eat your raw fucking chicken like the monster you are. It should last you a while, not that I care.”

“Well Cody, you are part monster then, if that’s how you—”

“I am NOTHING like you.”

“You’ve caged me. You’re worse.”

“ALSILEA FREVOL.” Cody shouted. His mother clasped her hands over her mouth. “Be quiet, and look for the spell we need.”

Cody stomped off, a pointed fire in his eyes. He quickly finished feeding the wards in the space while relentlessly itching his right arm. The arm he covered with an enchanted bracelet, so that everyone saw it as normal.

His fingers grated on living wood.

That of a sinister weald, passed on from generation to generation.

He would be the one to end his family’s bloodline, if it was the last thing he did.

He stuck his contacts back in once he got into his car, and enchanted his energy to not bleed through the contacts either.

Now that Cody’s entire class knew the zut spell, he was extra conscious about that added layer of protection over his eyes. If anyone caught his real eyes back at the dorm or in his classes… he’d have to do something he didn’t want.