Part VII

        The house grew quiet as everyone prepared for bed. Orlando was exhausted and fell asleep within moments of his head hitting the pillow. Until a noise in his bedroom jarred him awake. He sat up looking for what created the noise. At first he didn’t see anything. All appeared to be quiet and in its place. Closing his eyes to sleep he felt the mattress shift to the presence of someone else’s weight, Orlando opened his eyes to find a man standing beside his bed resting his foot on the mattress.

          “What?” Orlando asked thinking he must have been dreaming.

          An eerie yellow light surrounded the man who peered down upon him. A wicked smile upon his face, “Catching up on your beauty sleep?” the man asked.

          Sitting up in his bed to create space between himself and the man, Orlando knew this man. He had been the one who killed that guy in front of his house.

          “What are you doing here?” Orlando asked.

          “I saw you that day when I was taking care of some business in front of this house. Which surprised me considering I had spelled the neighborhood to keep away from the front street…how did you manage to bypass my spell?”

          Orlando moved to the far corner of the bed, his back against the wall, “Did you come here to kill me?”

          “No, I’m not going to kill you; I only wondered how a boy like you could manage to bypass my spell. What level of magik are you?”

          “I don’t know. Why should that matter?”

          “It matters because I have been tracking someone.” Noticing that Orlando was bracing himself against the wall the man took a step back from the bed. Introducing himself, “The name’s Fernie its short for Fernando. I’ve traced a friend of yours out here.”

          “A friend of my mine?”

          “Maxwell?”

          With that name said Orlando moved off of his bed to switch on the light. As the light lit up the room Fernie disappeared. A knock sounded at his bedroom door, it was Orlando’s mother, “Are you okay I heard a noise.”

           It took him a moment to answer his mother; he had looked around the room for Fernie. How could he disappear as the light turned on?

          “I’m fine.” He said not opening the door. After a moment he heard his mother move down the hall.

          Fernie reappeared as Orlando switched the light off.

          “Are you a ghost?” Orlando asked. He switched the light back on, saw that he disappeared and reappeared as the light went off.

          “No, I’m a wizard. There are not very many of us left. Which is why I’m hunting Maxwell, he is not who he says he is.”

          “What do you mean? Maxwell is a friend of my grandfather. For all I know you’re some insane lunatic who is here to kill me. Why did you kill that guy on the street?”

          “He was an informant. He gave me some bad information. He’s what you would call a 'rat'.”

          “Maxwell is a wizard isn’t he?”

          Laughing Fernie replied, “He is a mercurial, a high class one. He knows how to manipulate things and people.  He is no friend of yours or your grandfathers.”

          “Why are you hunting Maxwell?”

          “He’s the one who is creating all of this and you are going to help me stop him,” Fernie announced.  

“There is no way I would help a nut job like you. Now get out,” Orlando yelled.

          The man then became enraged. The yellow which surrounded Fernie grew brighter as he advanced on Orlando.

          Orlando’s radio went flying across the room striking Fernie on his head.

          Fernie paused, “How did you manage to do that?”

          Orlando had no idea. The radio just acted on its own.

          Fernie picked up the radio to examine it, “You made it hit me.”

          “No, I don’t know how to do that.”

          Looking at him questionably, “You have no idea what you are, but I bet Maxwell does.” Dropping the radio back on the floor it broke. “He is hunting real wizards.”

          “Why would he?”

          Fernie didn’t respond, he slowly approached Orlando his eyes fixed carefully on him.

          Knocking resounded on his bedroom door, “Orlando what is going on? What broke?”

          “If she comes in here she will die.” Fernie said his threat in his eyes.

          “Orlando?” his mother asked concern in her voice. She tried the door knob. She pushed open, turning the light on. The room was empty, a broken radio on the floor.