A Human’s Guide to Surviving Magical Mishaps by Kit Bryan
Rule 86- Guilt is like that friend who shows up uninvited and overstays their welcome. Learn to show them the door when necessary.

I quickly let out a false yelp of pain to hide my shocked reaction and let myself topple over a little as if i'm trying to throw my weight off of my injured ankle.

"Ow, shoot. Sorry, I stepped wrong." I say to Mrs Logan, doing my best not to look at the fae because somehow I think if anything were going to give me away, it would be paying too much attention to the random kid. I limp to the end of the driveway where Ashton rushes to meet me. We head back to the car together and I play up my limp until I am absolutely sure that we are out of sight, just in case. Then I leg it back to the car, jump in the driver's seat and slam the door shut. Ashton joins me moments later and Fin only a few seconds after him. I have no idea where he was hiding, it's like he appeared out of nowhere.

"He's there, the fae is there. He's a kid! You didn't mention that the assassin was a kid!" I hiss the words out, a little hysterical. The kid being fae has really thrown me, I didn't think to be cautious of the kid, I was sitting right next to him, he handed me the ice pack. No wonder Mrs Logan was so uncomfortable! Ashton looks appalled.

"I did not know that the final assassin was a child, I had not even considered that as a possibility." He frowns. Fin nods his agreement.

"Nor had I." He admits.

"Tell me what you saw." Ashton orders gently. I take a deep breath to calm myself before I explain what happened, how I almost didn't notice but I saw the family photo just before I left. Then I describe the fae as best as I can. "His skin was blue, not actual blue, but more like when you've gotten blue ink on you or something and tried to wash it off. It's mostly gone but you can still see hints of blue. And his eyes were bright yellow, not just the pupil, the whole thing. It was so weird. He kind of reminded me of those pictures of poisonous frogs that you see online. All brightly coloured but otherwise harmless looking. His hair was a light blonde colour. Other than that, I didn't notice anything weird about him aside from the fact that he looked like he was about fourteen years old, barely more than a kid." I know I'm kind of rambling, but I just can't get over it. Of all the things I expected to find, a child was not one of them. I was prepared for weird colours, wings, tails, magic, fire and general chaos. But to find out that the assassin we're chasing is a literal child? I don't think anything could have prepared me for that.

"Ashton... I'm worried about the kids. I didn't see either of them, and the parents were obviously uncomfortable and freaked out. I'm sure he's done something to them." I tell him, my voice small. Ashton takes my hand and squeezes it gently. "We will find them." He promises me. I can't do anything other than give him a trusting nod and hope that he knows what he's doing.

I watch anxiously from the car as Ashton and Fin approach the house. I don't know what their plan is exactly, but they seem confident. Ashton knocks on the front door, it opens and they both rush inside and then... Nothing. I can't actually see what's going on. I sit here in silence while I wait for them and hope that everything is going well.

I flinch as Fin knocks on the car window. I didn't notice him approaching. I don't think I was asleep exactly, but my brain had definitely taken a little holiday. I was so concerned, it's weird that I zoned out so fast.

"We have captured the fae. He did not put up a fight at all. Ashton asked me to fetch you. Mrs Logan is a little hysterical and we are hoping you might be able to help." He explains. I immediately hop out of the car and follow him. "Oh, of course. I'll see what I can do." I promise. We enter the house and it looks exactly the same as it did a few minutes ago. There are no signs of magic or fighting. I guess the assassin really did just surrender. Weird. I guess he is outnumbered, and I doubt the kid had any chance of fighting the two of them, so he did the smart thing. It just seems so easy compared to the last two we captured. The fae is sitting on the couch, pouting and wearing the necklace to restrict his magic. He looks even more childish now than he did before. Ashton is standing guard over him and looks no worse for wear.

Mrs Logan is sitting in the middle of the kitchen floor, like she collapsed there and just hasn't managed to pull herself together. Mr Logan is nowhere to be seen.

"Hey Fin, I'm going to talk to Mrs Logan, why don't you call my dad and get some officers down here to collect the kid?" I suggest. He nods and pulls out his phone. When did he even get my dad's number? Oh whatever. I approach Mrs Logan slowly and kneel on the floor beside her.

"Hey, are you-" before I can finish my sentence, she launches herself at me, wrapping her arms around my waist and burying her face into my stomach. I have to work not to jerk away from the shock. I force myself to relax and I stroke her hair soothingly.

"It's alright, everything will be alright now. The police are on the way, they'll take the kid away and you will never have to see him again." I assure her. She sniffles against my stomach but nods slightly. "The kids." She murmurs hoarsely.

"Are they okay?" I rush to ask, concerned. She shakes her head.

"He did something to them. They're sick. He said they're poisoned. He promised me that they wouldn't die as long as we cooperated." She whispers in a pained voice.

"Fin? Tell the police that the kids need an ambulance as well." I instruct him. He nods and I hear him passing on the message.

"Help is on the way, we will do everything we can to make sure they're okay. Where's your husband?" I prompt gently. "Upstairs with the kids." She answers.

"Would you like to go check on them?" I offer. I think it might be a good idea for her to see them, plus her husband would probably be better at comforting her than me, assuming he's not also freaking out. She agrees and I pry her from me then take her hand and let her lead me to find her kids. We're partway up the stairs when she pauses.

"I really did try to fight back. I spent every night trying to think of a way to get help. I even wrote you a note when you first arrived here. It was on the ice pack, but he- he..." She trails off and I realise why she's so upset. She's feeling guilty that she couldn't protect her family. I rush to assure her.

"You did everything you could and you held it together for days. No one can ask for more than that. Help is coming and we're going to figure this out." I promise her. She clings to my hand and we take the rest of the stairs in silence as she tries to consider that maybe, this isn't her fault.