Sand in an Hourglass
Chapter 5
The Guilty Get Guiltier

Matt wasn't sure what in the room was colder: the air, the walls, the ice in the water they'd handed Ash's mom, or the looks that Nolan kept shooting him. The dark haired boy glanced sideways at Ash, who had been staring down at the linoleum flooring for the past half-hour. She hadn't been scolded or even confronted so far, but the Necromancer was started to think she didn't need to be. There was so much worry in her eyes that he wasn't sure there was room for anything else. They were the last people in the waiting room at this hour and the silence in the room was absolutely deafening.

Kymma and Nolan were seated against the far wall, about six feet away from where the teenagers were seated in the middle of the room. Ashley had plopped down in the center chair with Matt on one side and Krim on the other. Krim had been much better at comforting the girl than Matt had been. The boy barely managed to utter an 'everything will be fine' before Krim shooed him away. Who was he to promise something that he couldn't make happen?

"You know when the last time I came here was?" Ash's voice was dry and cracked, as if she'd been holding back tears for a while. She'd twisted in her chair to look at him, leaning slightly against Krim as she did so. Matt picked his bowed head up and blinked at her sadly. Truth be told, he had no idea when it was. He had no real reason to sympathize something that he didn't understand. In the short time he'd known her she'd always had a fire in her eyes. It was her stubbornness, her fight… her. Sadness didn't look right in her eyes; it softened them, made them more blue than normal, and it made her look vulnerable. Vulnerable didn't look right on her.

He blinked, catching his own thoughts as she stared at him. Matt cleared his throat quietly and shook his head in response to her question. Krim shot him a half-questioning half-teasing look over the other girl's head. Ash sat up a little more, glancing sideways at her parents. Kymma was staring at the door to the emergency room as if it might come alive and dance a jig. Her father, on the other hand, looked as if he might have been trying to make their brains explode with his mind. Krim stood up abruptly and stretched.

"I'm going to go find us some food. No one's helping anyone on an empty stomach." She started to the door before pausing as Alric stood up.

"Yeah, I think I'll go, too."

"Uh… Yeah, okay." She muttered, twisting the edge of her shirt as she avoided looking at him. The blond opened the door and ushered her through with a small, sincere-looking smile.

There was silence once the door stopping swinging back and forth on its hinges. Kymma reached over and patted Nolan's hand, tearing her eyes off the door to look at him. They seemed to be having some sort of silent conversation. Nolan slowly turned away from staring at them to furrow his eyebrows at her in confusion or disagreement. Kymma dropped her shoulders slightly and cocked her head at him slightly; the look reminded Matt of how his mother looked at him when he told her that he sucked at magic. He and his father referred to it as the 'you're kidding me, right?' look. There were a few moments of silence between the two, before Nolan dropped his shoulders in defeat and stood up. Kymma shook her head and started toward the reception desk.

"I'm going to run home and get some stuff. We'll probably be here for a while." Nolan spoke as if his words were a rehearsed, monotone script. "You need anything, Ash?"

"I'm fine."

"No clothes?" He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

"No, I'm fi—" Ash was cut off by the sound of the ER door opening. All eyes in the room turned to stare at the unfortunate individual carrying a clipboard.

"Family of Aedan Gates?" The man flipped through the papers attached to his clipboard as he spoke. He seemed high uninterested in speaking to them, Matt noted with a small frown.

"Yeah?" Nolan responded carefully, glancing at Kymma with a unreadable expression.

"Tests are still being run at the moment to determine the cause of Aedan's illness." He explained flatly. "Unfortunately," he dropped his arms to his sides, looking over his bifocals at the group, "visiting hours are over and we have to ask you to leave the waiting room."

"Excuse me?" Kymma blinked, taken aback. "That's my son, and if you think we're going anywhere—"

"I'm sorry, ma'am, but you'll have to come back tomorrow."

"Why don't you take that clipboard and shove it up yo—"

"I can call security to escort you out, if you'd like." The man interrupted Nolan with the wave of his walkie-talkie. Kymma bite her lip, squared her shoulders, and shot Nolan a look that Matt didn't understand. Something caught his attention at the edge of the room. He turned slightly, blinking at the flowing object as it swirled toward the man. He grabbed hold of Ash's arm and nodded to it. It was like smoke, different from the spells that Matt cast but still dark and intangible, and it moved like a stalking predator. The man stood up straighter, glancing over his shoulder to something invisible to him before he waved his clipboard to the group and turned to the door once more. "You have ten minutes before security will be here."

The shadow-like creature retreated with the man, leaving Matt and Ash staring in stunned silence. Kymma, on the other hand, had walked over to Nolan with the most fierce look Matt thought capable to inhabit her face. "Does that look familiar to you?" She asked through gritted teeth. Nolan looked as if he'd seen a ghost. His skin had gone more pale than before and his eyes were wide with concern and disbelief.

"That can't be… That's dark magic… There's not enough energy here…" He spoke like someone who'd just witnessed a murder: slow and unorganized. He shook his head slowly to the woman, who nodded in return.

"Why do you think they're tests aren't working? We have to get him to Ravenwood." Kymma shook her head, massaging the skin between her eyebrows as she spoke.

"We agreed that they wouldn't get involved in magic." The dark haired man shook his head quickly, glancing over at Ash as he spoke.

"They're already involved in it. That world is violent and its cruel, but we've kept them away from it as long as we could." Kymma sighed, patting Nolan on the chest before she walked over to her daughter and motioned for her to stand. Ash got to her feet warily, glancing between her parents. Kymma put her hands on either of Ash's shoulders and smiled sadly. "You have to understand that we were trying to protect you. You don't know what that world is like, Ash. I hope you never have to find out." She took a deep breath, glancing over her shoulder at her husband before she frowned. "You're father and I are going to Ravenwood tonight. You need to watch Gab; he's at the Morris's house tonight. Make sure everyone stays safe, okay?"

Ashley set her jaw as her mother spoke, willing herself not to get emotional. She held her head up a little higher and sighed. Defiance had never been her forte; she cleaned her room, got home before curfew whenever she actually went anywhere, made good grades, said no to drugs, and everything else that was expected of good teenagers. Ash had never really told her parents that she wouldn't do something. Matt blinked gently between the two of them, and finally looked at Nolan with a confused look. He half-expected her dad to flip him off or yell at him, but he simply shrugged.

"Alright," Ashley mumbled after a long moment.

"Krim and I can help." Matt offered quickly, looking between the two adults. Nolan shook his head.

"No, your grandfather would theoretically kick my ass if I let you come along on something like this." Nolan waved his hand; Matt snapped his head up and narrowed his eyes in return.

"I grew up in Wizard City. There's nothing dangerous about it. You'll just get yourselves lost."

"Look," Nolan sighed in frustration, curling his hands into fists at his sides, "we're perfectly capable of handling ourselves, but Ash and the boys don't know anything about magic. I'd rather they had someone with them who had an inkling of knowledge on how to fight."

"So," Matt raised a curious eyebrow, "you want me and Krim to protect them?"

"If you're capable of that. I want you to try."

"Alright," the spikey-haired boy glanced over at Ash, who looked infuriated by the entire idea but had been silenced by her mother. "You're going to owe us, though."

Matt tossed the light bulb into the air, outstretched hand waiting to catch it as it made its decent to the ground. No matter how many times he travelled to Earth, he was sure he'd never favor the harsh, hot light of the human's manmade bulbs. The light used in the wizarding realms was much more soft and cool; it was true light. It confused Matt that he preferred the light of Wizard City's living sun as opposed to Earth's dying sun. He was a Necromancer; it was in his blood to love death and all forms it. This light bulb was making him question his own sanity.

He'd debated on throwing it out the window on the wall to his right or just laying it on the desk beside the door, but instead he'd just fixed his pillows up against the bedframe and leaned against it. He'd leave the bulb's life up to fate. If he dropped it, well then it meant to die. Matt caught the bulb uncertainly as it fell from its arc. He jumped slightly as a reluctant knock sounded at his door. Brown eyes travelled to the glowing red clock on the nightstand beside him: 3:45. Matt couldn't help but wonder who else would be awake at this hour, besides Krim who probably wouldn't bother leaving her room. Matt didn't understand the redhead very well.

"It's open," the dark-haired boy answered, voice level as he focused his attention back on the lightbulb in his hand. The white door opened slowly, creaking on its old hinges as Ashley peered around the edge at him. Matt tried to keep the surprised look off his face; it would only give her something to tease him about. Instead, he twisted the light bulb in his fingertips and raised an eyebrow at her. "Trouble sleeping?"

"I want to leave." Her voice was shaky and uncertain as she stepped around the door and closed it behind her. He blinked at her for a moment in slight confusion before he sat up and swung his legs off the bed. Ash crossed her arms, looking more awkward than Matt felt.

"Leave?"

"Go to Wizard City." She avoided his gaze as she spoke. Matt furrowed his eyebrows in a quizzical manner at her uncertain looks and nervous tapping. She didn't seem to be very comfortable with the decision at all.

"You want to go in place of your parents?" Matt asked quietly. "You do realize that they've got a much better chance at figuring this out than any of us."

"I don't care. I want to try."

"Why?" His voice came out more exasperated than he intended. She blinked over at him, stubbornness glowing in her eyes as she balled her hands into fists. Matt shook his head at her, holding up his hand slightly. "I just don't understand why you would want to go."

"Because," she shrugged. Matt fixed her with a look similar to those Ash's mother wore so frequently, and she sighed. "I have my reason, okay? Forgive me for not completely trusting someone I've known for maybe two days."

"Trust has nothing to do with the amount of time you've known someone," Matt ran a hand through his hair, pushing himself off the bed as he did so. "I can't stop you from going, but I can tell you that Wizard City isn't New York or California; it's a whole other world from this one—"

"—well technically so are those places—"

"—and the rules of the universe are not the same as what you're used to. Hell, the laws are not even the same there. You're better off sailing to across the Earth than to go to Wizard City." Matt finished, leaning against the bedpost. Ash picked her head up higher and met his gaze with a rather annoyed look. The two were both stubborn, possibly stubborn enough to make up for the entire city around them. Ashley put her hands on her hips and raised her eyebrows as she prepared to launch into another lecture.

"I am more than capable of handling myself, thank you." Ash's words were sharp and fast. She barely noticed the small roll of his eyes.

"I'm not saying that you're not, but you've already gotten hurt once and your brother is in the hospital. Don't you think your parents have worried enough this week?"

Ash opened her mouth, then slowly closed it and shook her head. She sat down on the bed, keeping her gaze shifted away from him. Yeah, she'd worried her parents more in the past twenty-four hours than she ever had in her life, but this was different. Her brothers needed their parents a more than they needed her, and if this place was oh-so dangerous than why shouldn't she go in their place? "You remember what I said at the hospital?" The sentence appeared to be off-topic, but she had a reason for bringing it back up, that much was obvious in her eyes.

"About the last time you were in the hospital?"

"Yeah," She nodded. Matt looked perpetually confused and rather caught off guard that she was telling him things about her past. She'd made it obvious that she didn't really trust him or Krim. "The last time I went to the hospital, my best friend died." She picked her head up to look at him with a gravely serious expression. "Drunk driver. They never caught him, but that's beside the point. See, I never snuck out, but she did all the time. There was some party she was going to that night—honestly, I don't remember the details anymore—but she was going to come pick me up. She didn't want to drive by the bar, but that was the quickest way to my house so argued with her about it and…"

Ash paused, taking a deep breath as she looked away from Matt. "She died. She died because I was impatient and too stupid to know better." Matt sat down beside her on the bed, staring at the ground as if he was searching for something nice to say, but what could be said to that? Ash laughed, making Matt jump slightly at her sudden shift in mood. "She used to… She believed in all these other worlds, you know? Like, she didn't think you went to heaven or hell; you just moved on to another world. She always said there was no point in being afraid of death because that was like being afraid of Disney World."

"I don't know what Disney World is." He laughed slightly, glancing sideways at her. "But, maybe she was right. That's not really something you can prove. There are other worlds out there."

"After she died, I spent years looking for them. I even asked my science teacher if it was possible. Talk about getting laughed at."

"So, that's why you're all science-y?" Matt furrowed his eyebrows. "That sounds kinda unhealthy. I mean, you can't focus on your mistakes forever."

"Yeah," she nodded slowly, turning her head to look at him sadly. "That's why I have to go to Wizard City."

"Why? To see if she's there?"

"No. Well, not at first anyway." Ash stood back up, bouncing on her feet slightly. Matt blinked in confusion. "My parents are more important than me. They need to live, but I'm not important so I can go in their place. Okay?"

Matt frowned and shook his head slowly. "Do you even realize how big of a risk that is?"

"Yeah, but it's the logical thing to do."

"What kind of logic are you using?" His words were practically a hiss; Ash crossed her arms once more and huffed. "You are important; you're probably one of the smartest people I've ever met. You don't get to just throw that away because you feel guilty."

"You don't get to decide that."

"You know what, fine. If you want to go, I'll take you, but no one can say I didn't try to talk you out of it." Matt stood, shoving past her to the door. "And if you go getting yourself into trouble, don't expect my help."

A/N: For whatever reason, I've been struggling with writing this chapter, so it took fifty forevers to get a rough draft and it's still shorter than Matt is. I'm starting on an another project (different series) so I have something to work on when I run out of ideas for this one. It's always nice to have a break from main stories ^^. I'm NOT giving this story up! I just figure I should be productive when I have writer's block for this one. The newest story will be Evanescent, and I'll be looking for some characters for it! 3 Keep an eye out!~

You can find the SYOC here! forum/Evanescent-Character-Contest/154569/