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Sebastian Sallow, the name felt sweet on my tongue. Sallow.. He was anything but, bursting with life and color, freckled and flushed from the summer heat. When we first met he was awash with potential and righteousness, but the path to hell is paved with good intentions isn’t it? He was so helpful, without question, unwaveringly loyal, both the best and worst thing about him. His loyalty often gave way to stubbornness, we were doomed from the start.
The day we met he was confident, cocky even. He had never been beat, and he certainly wasn’t expecting to get swept off his feet by the kid on their first day. It took forty-five seconds to take him down, dust billowed up as he slammed into the ground, coughing.
“Not bad,” He rasped, sitting up and taking my outstretched hand. He had this look about him, I couldn’t quite read it then, but I had come to know that look of his. Plans were brewing, mud was kicked up in the water.
We got on quickly after that. “You’re the only one who’s ever bested me in a duel. The way I see it, I’d be wise to keep you around.” That’s what he told me, was it a compliment? Perhaps he felt threatened, but his tone was light, playful. He was just a boy, no malice was hidden in his words, I never could see that until it was too late. Self sabotage snowballs, perhaps that's why I did it.
I called for his aid first, he had mentioned his knack for getting into places one shouldn’t be. It started with the library, sneaking into the locked corridor and swiping old books. We played around with the spells, spinning purple flame in our hands, zapping the spiders with a red crackle, watching them twitch and flail. It was dark magic, we both knew that. It was..potent, I could feel it in my bones, it was intoxicating. It was just the start.
It soon became a routine, meeting up after classes and delving into those dark books. We spent hours locked up in one of our dorms, casting spells on each other. As the weeks passed we opened up, he told me about his family, a sickly twin sister, uncooperative uncle, deceased parents.
“I’m trying to find a cure for Anne, my uncle has already given up on her. Just trying to make her comfortable. Letting her wither away in that house.”
I didn’t know how to respond, I had no idea how to deal with something like that, so instead of words I offered my help.
One weekend Sebastian took me south to meet his sister, he figured it would do good for the both of us. The town was small, a quaint little place with a large well in the center. The Sallow cottage was nice, the inside was rather small, one large room with a kitchen to the right, and a curtained off section to serve as a sleeping area. Parallel to the door Anne was sitting at a table. Sebastian approached from behind, scaring her. She was laughing, she stood and hugged him, asking how he’d got there but he didn’t answer, handing her a flower known for healing properties.
I stood back, lingering by the door. It was a sweet reunion, quickly tarnished by whom I assumed was Uncle Solomon. He grabbed the flower, crushing it in his hand and it dissipated into a glowing green dust.
“We’ve been over this boy! That plant won’t fix her. Nothing can.”
I already had shallow opinions of the man from Sebastians stories, but he had just destroyed any respect I may have offered him. He didn’t even try to sugarcoat it as he looked over at Anne. He might as well have proclaimed her a walking corpse.
“But we haven’t tried everything,” Sebastian retorted. It had only been a year since Anne struck ill, and I was in favor of Sebastian’s view. Solomon began to yell, verbally beating down Sebastian’s arguments until the both of them stormed out, leaving Anne and I alone in the house. We spoke, albeit briefly. Solomon’s view had soaked into her, she was barely 15, it was depressing.
Sebastian and I didn’t stay much longer, and he ranted for a good while as we made our way home.
The next time he asked for my help it was.. messy, complicated, but I owed him. He had found something in those books, a relic that-in theory-could revert dark magic. That’s why he went through those books, that is where we differed. He wanted to help his sister, and I wanted knowledge, power. I wanted to learn all that I could in this world, so I followed by his side, whispering in his ear, playing devil’s advocate.
He led me through a tomb, it was filled with spiders, and living dead. I burned my way through them, but Sebastian.. He was taking control of their minds, turning them against each other until they didn’t notice us at all, we were able to walk through the rest unscathed. It wasn’t long until we had reached the main chamber, an open square room with high ceilings. A few of the undead were still lingering with us when Sebastian retrieved the relic.
The undead groaned, agitated when suddenly there was a blast of magic, and one of them went up in flames, throwing the rest into a frenzy, screeching and attacking wildly. It was Solomon, somehow word had gotten out.
“What have you two done?” He roared, summoning the relic from Sebastian’s hand. Both of his hands glowed that same color as when he’d destroyed the flower and the relic began to disintegrate.
In a matter of seconds spells were flying wildly, from all three of us. Solomon cast fire at us, and I could smell my hair singing. Blood rushed in my ears, filled with adrenaline, I could hear nothing else, feel nothing else. The world was almost mute as bright flashes of magic shot around, Solomon turned his eyes on me and fear flooded my senses, but before he could attack there was a blinding flash of green.
“Avada Kedavra”
Solomon fell. Sebastian dropped his wand, eyes glazing over.
We left his body there, eyes open. The trip back was silent, he held my hand like a lifeline, because in that moment, it truly was for him. Sebastian finally looked his name, Sallow, pale, sickly. He looked like Anne, halfway to keeling over.
The next week or so was quiet, until Officer Slade came around asking questions. She offers Sebastian condolences, walking on eggshells. Her intentions were thinly veiled, but Sebastian was too out of it to see, he was neck deep in grief, he had killed his blood, and that tore his twin sister away from him. All he had left was..
Oh.
*Oh.*
He must be miserable in that prison. Cold, wet stones in a straight jacket, nothing to think of but how I had betrayed him. He lost his entire family that night, all because he trusted me