14- Take care of your stuff- broken toys are no fun ! It takes at least another fifteen minutes until I start to think I might be capable of getting up off the floor . Torin stays with me the entire time and his hands remain like iron around mine until he's sure that I'm not going to hurt myself . " That was awful . " I shudder . I definitely won't be doing that again . Torin nods . " Yes . It's meant to be . You're lucky that you only stepped out for a second . The longer you're outside , the longer the pain lasts . " He explains . I sigh . They really do have me well and truly trapped here . Oh shit . What if someone were to light the place on fire or something ? Would I just have to burn alive ? Or would e spell fade if there was no building left for me to be bound to . I would ask , but I'm worried Torin might interpret it as me plotting to burn down his tavern and escape . I would obviously never do that , aside from the fact that it would probably kill someone , it would be horribly dangerous for me too . Smoke and asthma are a definite no go . " I won't make that mistake again . " I promise us both . Kyle returns with a bowl of whatever stew he was cooking earlier . He hovers awkwardly behind me holding it in both hands . " Do you want to eat in the kitchen , or do you want to ... Eat down there ? " He asks . " I'll come to the kitchen . " I answer . In slow , stiff movements I get to my feet . I cautiously test my foot , rotating it around , wiggling my bare toes and tentatively putting weight on it . When it feels okay I take a couple of steps towards Kyle . I smile when it doesn't hurt . " I'm fine . " I declare . I give Torin a half smile with a dramatic sigh . " Would you mind taking that bag of trash out for me ? I would do it myself but ... " I trail off . He nods , all traces of concern gone from his face . He has his scary expression back again but I don't mind it . He gives a slow nod . " From now on , leave anything you need to throw out by the back door . One of us will take it out for you . " He promises , glancing at Kyle , waiting for his agreement . " Yes we will . " he says firmly . " Come on girl . My cooking will fix you up , even if you were silly enough to test the boundary spell . " he grumbles . O 29 29 لی ||| 1/4 Fri , Aug Lesson 14- Take care of your stuff- broken toys are no fun ! " Thanks Kyle . I'm lucky I fell back inside . If I fell outside I would probably be suffering for days . " I complain . Kyle starts to lead me to the kitchen but he hesitates . " Ah Torin ? I didn't want to interrupt , but your phone has been ringing non stop . You might want to check on that . " He points out . Torin nods and heads to my room to get his phone . Kyle has me sitting on a stool at the counter to eat when Torin comes back in and hands me a phone . What the hell ? I thought I wasn't allowed to have a phone . " Answer it . She's worried about you . " He insists . I put the phone up to my ear and I'm greeted by Laura's worried voice . " Rina ? Are you okay ? I felt my binding spell going off and I knew something was wrong . Torin says you accidentally stepped outside . I'm so sorry . I didn't want to hurt you . " She sounds horribly guilty . " You didn't . I mean , it hurt , but that isn't your fault . I just forgot and put my foot out the door . I won't be doing it again , that's for sure . But I'm fine now . I promise . " I reassure her . None of them seem to believe me when I say I'm not resentful about being stuck here . Torin saved my life . I wouldn't even have the option of resenting them if he didn't do that . He protected me and now he's protecting himself and everyone else . I can't blame them for that . Even without the spell , if they had asked me to stay a while I would have probably done it . They just don't believe that I would never do anything to hurt them or betray them . Even as my captors they're all ridiculously nice . Laura with her sunshine energy and thoughtfulness , Kyle with his grumpy attitude who is already plating up a slice of cake for me to eat when I finish my meal . Even Torin who is a literal demon but is spending his afternoon cleaning so he can make me a comfortable place to sleep . I spend another minute or two reassuring Laura that I'm fine , then Torin reclaims his phone from me . " Yes . Continue what you're doing . Don't worry about the cost . We can talk about it when you get back . " Torin hangs up without another word . He blinks again while looking at me . I narrow my eyes suspiciously . " What's wrong ? " I demand . He blinks again . " How do you know something is wrong ? " He asks . 29 29 111 O 2/4 Lesson 14- Take care of your stuff- broken toys are no fun ! " I can just tell . " I respond . I don't want to admit that I figured out his tell , he might stop doing it . " Hmph ... Well , since you asked . There was an issue at your apartment , Laura will be back soon , she can explain properly . " He turns and walks out . " Hey ! What do you mean ? Come back here ! Explain yourself ! " I demand . I go to hop off the stool so I can chase after him but I stop when Kyle glowers at me then points at my bowl . " Finish it . " he insists . " Okay , okay . " I agree . Laura had better get back soon or I'll go insane . What happened at my apartment ? What kind of issue ? Surely if it was urgent she would have mentioned while she had me on the phone , right ? But she was pretty focused on making sure that I'm alright . It's probably nothing . Maybe my key broke in the door , or I left all the lights on or something . Maybe I have a bunch of packages piled up . I DO like online shopping . I'm sure everything will be fine . Everything is NOT fine . I'm sitting in the recliner with Torin and Laura standing over me . Laura has just gently explained to me that when she went by my place , it was completely trashed . Almost everything was damaged . The door was smashed in and it had been ransacked . She is clutching a single bag that apparently holds everything she was able to rescue . ONE BAG . That can't be all that's left . " But ... But who would do that ? Why would anyone do that ? Surely not everything is ruined . I ... I could go and ... " I trail off . I can't go and look for myself . I have to stay here . " I did my best to save what I could . I found a few photos and things , a couple of books that are probably salvageable . Your clothes ... Yeah I wouldn't touch them . I think someone might have actually torched them . There were signs of ... Fire damage . " She actually cringes as she admits it . Fire . Someone lit my stuff on FIRE !? What am I supposed to do now ? I have practically nothing . Just a few books and other bits and pieces . I rifle through the bag and find a silver bracelet that I got on sale a few months ago and slip it onto my wrist . I'm fighting back tears as I think about everything that I've lost . Laura panics and gestures to a stack of other shopping bags that she left by the door . " I got you some stuff to tide you over until you can pick your own . I don't know what you like but I tried my best . If there's anything else you really want I can get it for you . " She offers in a rush . Wait , all those bags are for me ? How much did she spend ? 3