Knight of the Black Rose (12 page)

He turned around on the spot worrying what it was as it felt so near to him, he could hear his heart beating even faster and harder than it had ever done before, he thought that it felt as though it was echoing through-out the shop itself; which he was sure that it couldn't really be that loud, but as he listened harder that was the only sound that he could really hear, so perhaps it really was that loud.

All he could hear was that noise, it was like it was all around him; but it couldn't be his own, even though he was scared now wondering what was going on. He told himself that it couldn't be his; that it had to be something else in here, but that was a heart beating. He walked towards the sound as though he was actually being drawn to it in some way, when he finally decided for sure that it wasn't his own, but he did want to know who or what it did belong to; he walked around the counter and towards the back draws that were vibrating ever so slightly.

Will walked towards those drawers, it had to be coming from one of those he was sure of it; he reached out his hand for the nearest draw.

"It has been a while since I've had one such as your self," a man said softly behind him.

Will practically jumped out of his skin, pulling back his hand and turning around to face the man; he looked old enough to be his grandfather but his voice was that of a young man, not gravelly at all.

"I'm sorry...I didn't mean to just come back here..." Will told him when he realised where he was in the shop, though he wasn't completely sure now why he was there. He still didn't move away from the draws though even though he knew that he shouldn't be back here, now that he had somewhat recovered his senses.

"Close your eyes and listen to them, for they are calling to you," the man told him.

Will had no idea what the old man was talking about, and he wasn't going to close his eyes for him no matter how ancient he looked it didn't mean that he couldn't use magic.

"The one who is calling to you, the loudest voice or the softest whisper, is wishing to serve you," the man told him. "Close your eyes and turn to them,"

Will stared at the man for a moment not understanding what he had been told, but then doing as he was told, well not really because he was told to do so but because it felt right and he could hear them getting louder again. He closed his eyes as he turned around listening, it was no longer the beating of a heart but he could actually make out voices in all of the chaos, and they were calling to him, or at least he thought they were since he could hear them.

"My lady...My Lord...William...My Fair Lord William...Luxis..."

Among the names being called to him as if they were all speaking to him, one of the names he heard wasn't his own, but still he was drawn to it all the same, like a moth is drawn to the flame. He reached out for the fourth draw to the left and six up from the bottom and opened the draw without fully realising what he was doing, it was kind of like watching yourself from afar in a dream, wanting to do something but you wasn't really in control.

Will opened his eyes just in time to see the wand that had called to him glow red as it lifted itself out of its draw while the other draws began to vibrate once more, joining the wand through the cracks all the wands were glowing red also. Will knew that he should have been scared at what was happening, but he couldn't be, in fact he was excited as he held out his hand which was the only part of him that wasn't shaking as it moved towards him on it's own accord, then lowered itself and rested gently across the palm of his hand feeling warm and right as though it belonged to him.

"I've never seen a wand behave in such a way...even for one such as yourself," the man said behind Will startling him.

Will had actually forgotten that he wasn't alone, as though everything around him had just suddenly come rushing back into focus, kind of like when your dreaming and then you wake suddenly and it takes you a while to figure out what had happened.

Will seemed too realised that the man had said something important to him, but he didn't understand what it meant. "What do you mean? That hasn't happened before? And you keep saying one such as my self, what does that mean?"

"You do not know?" the man asked slightly surprised, and then smiled at him. "You will though,"

He turned around walking back to the counter and reached beneath into a compartment, pulling out a small long black box lifting the lid off of it and pulling back the red tissue paper. He held out his hand to Will and for a moment he didn't understand why, before it hit him and he quickly handed him his wand, but then felt empty without it, thinking that he shouldn't have handed it over so willingly, because he wanted it back now.

The man started to talk to himself, as though partly forgetting that he wasn't alone, or rather was used to carrying on conversations with himself even if others were about. "Black oak...very rare...only one matched with a dragon heart string that I have..."

Will wondered what he meant, if it was what his wand was made out of, that it was really rare, because it wasn't as though he understood that much about wands. Though there was something stranger, how he had got it; because neither Alex nor Troy had told him that anything like this had happened to them, and his dad had never warned him on how a wand was chosen. He would have to ask them later, he even considered asking his aunt, but he didn't want Stuart knowing if he was asking a stupid question or something. Will walked around to the other side of the counter in a kind of daze as the man sealed the box with his wand in, he had so many questions and didn't know where to start, he really wished that his dad was here to explain all of this to him.

"That'll be twenty five Silronze’s," the man told him.

Will handed over his money staring at the box on the counter wanting to pick it up as quickly as possible, not to just hold the box, but to take it out and actually hold his wand; but he knew that he wouldn't be able to do until he got home. He smiled to himself thinking that it was a good job that it was such a short journey, a step through the door and he would be home with his new wand.

The man handed his change and a warning. "Be careful Mr Ryker,"

Will stared at him wondering how he knew his name and what he meant about being careful, he wasn't going to ask, this place was strange enough, without listening to this guy as well. He quickly pocketed his change and picked up his wand box not really wanting to stay any longer than he had to, he wanted to get home and try it out with the spell books that he had gotten.

"Thank you," Will said before he quickly turned and near enough ran out of there; but in doing so he had left so quickly that he had forgotten to look if his aunt was waiting for him.

"Will!" Anne shouted as she quickly tried to catch up with him.

Will stopped suddenly hearing his name and turned back around, realising what he was doing though wasn't really sure now that he was back in the light and out of the shop why he was running.

"Are you alright?" Anne asked concerned looking back at the shop and then at Will, wondering what had happened.

"Yeah...I'm fine..." Will answered as reassuringly as he could, because he was still a little shaken about what had happened, but he didn't really want her knowing that.

"If you're sure then," Anne said accepting his answer without question; she started to walk again, back up the alley. "We've got everything, so I guess it's time to start heading back. Unless there was anywhere else you wanted to look at?"

"No...that's fine..." Will said distractedly.

Anne looked over at him a little surprised, but shrugged and carried on, if he was ready to go then they would go back home. They headed back up to Witchchester Square to head back home, because the door was up there and it was the only way to get back to their house. Anne wasn't really that concerned about Stuart, because she knew that he'd be home later after he'd finished getting his own school supplies and said goodbye to his friends.

Chapter Four

Will stepped through the door in the secret room under the stairs and the light over head automatically turned on, he quickly stepped out of the way as his aunt came through straight behind him; he made room for her so that she could open the door for them both. Will knew quite well that he couldn't open it, though perhaps now he would be able to because he had a wand. He'd have to ask his dad, or he could practice in secret; but as soon as he had thought it he knew better, his dad always seemed to know if he had used magic so it wasn't really a good idea, he didn't want to lose his wand straight after getting it.

Anne went through first still carrying half of Will's thing's for him, as they were too much for just one person. They went through to the kitchen and she put his caldron down next to the breakfast table and then the rest of the thing's on top, looking quite revealed that she could finally put them down.

As Will quickly looked around, he soon realised that none of the lights were on. "It doesn't look as though he's home yet," Will was disappointed as he had wanted to show his dad everything that he had bought, especially his wand and tell him how he had gotten it.

"He probably won't be long," Anne smiled reassuringly. "Now you should take your uniform upstairs and hang it,"

Anne handed him the package with his uniform in and took his books off of him; Will looked around at all of his things and wondered for the first time how he was going to get everything to school. He was sure that they didn't have a case big enough and he didn't really want to be carrying around more than he had too, because he would be carrying all of this on his own, plus anything else that he wanted to take with him; something else that he would have to ask his dad about when he got home.

Will went up to his room, ripped open the packaging dropping it all over his floor because he could always picked it up later when he had opened the rest of them, then hung up his new uniform in his wardrobe thinking that it'd be kind of cool when he actually got to wear it. He was closing the door when he changed his mind and picked it back up and held it up against himself as he had a look at it in the mirror of the door, it would do until he could properly try it on. As he looked at himself in the mirror he wasn't sure why but it kind of felt familiar in away, perhaps that was a good sign that he really was heading off to the right place for him.

He put the uniform back in his wardrobe and closed the door, knowing that it wouldn't be long and then he'd be at the school and he'd also have the estate one to go with it; that's when he remembered Travis from earlier and what he had done to him in front of his friends as well, he wasn't so much looking forward to seeing him again and what he might do to him. Thinking about it now, he still couldn't believe that he had done that, and to an upper class men as well, and in front of his friends, it wasn't like him at all and now he was dreading seeing him again; he just kind of hoped that he might have forgotten about him by the time he got to the school.

Will tried to put it to the back of his mind, because it wasn't as though he could do anything about it now. As he was walking back down the stairs he heard voices in the kitchen, and in hope that it was his dad home early for a change he quickened his pace; but he wasn't in luck as he entered the kitchen it was only Stuart talking to his mum. Even though he was annoyed to see him already, he did noticed that he didn't have as much stuff as him; which meant that Travis had been right. You didn't have to buy everything every year; like the caldron and the telescope, and also some of the books, which he was going to go through as soon as he got the chance.

"So, what’re we going to do?" Stuart asked looking over at Will as though he was annoyed with him.

Will didn't see why he should be annoyed, considering that he got what he wanted by spending the day with his friends doing whatever he wanted; Will hadn't gotten everything he wanted today. Just one day with his dad and he wasn't even home yet, which annoyed him even more.

"We'll wait a bit longer, but if they're not back for five, then Will can come with us," Anne told him.

"I can always stay here, I don't mind...you know that I can make myself something if I get hungry," Will told her; he could spend a little time alone learning a simple spell to show his dad when he got in, but would still impress him. "And anyway I want to sort out all my new stuff...and Stuart's got his to sort out."

"He's got a point," Stuart agreed, as he didn’t want to stay here any longer than he had to.

"I'm not sure," Anne said uneasily, not really wanting to leave him alone, even though she knew that he would probably be alright for a little while until Glen got back, and it wasn’t like he had never been in the house alone.

"Come on Aunty Anne, it's not as though it'll be my first time in the house on my own waiting for him; and beside, I've got loads to do," Will told her, he really didn't mind having the house to himself for a while today as he could have a proper look at everything before his dad got in, so it wasn't as though he was lying to get rid of them.

Anne seemed to reluctantly give into him. "I guess so, if you're sure...call me if you need anything, I’m just on the end of the line,"