Read Online The Magi (The Magi Series) by Kevin M. Turner - Free Book Online Page A

lying around. He looked back up at Hawthorne. Seeing that Elijah didn’t understand, Hawthorne bent down and ran his finger along the floor, then stood back up.
    “You didn’t clean the bathrooms today,” Hawthorne said, holding up his finger with the smallest amount of dirt on it.
    “I didn’t have time to—”
    Before Elijah could finish his sentence, Hawthorne stretched back his hand and unloaded it on Elijah’s face with enough force to knock him down. Hawthorne stood over Elijah, who was now holding his face where he had just been struck. He spoke in a low voice—very slow and soft.
    “Never… argue…with me.” It took everything in Elijah not to let his anger get the best of him. The weather outside must have sensed his anger because thunder roared in the distance. Elijah was able to control himself, and he bowed his head.
    “Yes, sir,” he said with clenched teeth.
    “Now,” said Hawthorne as calmly as ever, “you shall do your chores right after your punishment.” Elijah looked around worriedly. Hawthorne stepped aside and the other adult, a pale-faced man with long, dark hair, stood right in front of Elijah, holding a long, flat stick. On one side of the flat stick, Elijah saw thorns about a half an inch long sticking out.
    “Hold out your hands,” commanded the man in a whisper-like voice that sounded almost like a child trying to hide his excitement. Elijah did so. Hawthorne stood behind Elijah, apparently making sure he did not try to make a run for it.
    Elijah let out a small whimper as the stick slammed down on his hands, and the thorns dug into his tissue. The pain surprised him. The pale-faced man raised the stick, and again he slammed it down. Elijah bit his lip, but this time, he didn’t make a sound. He didn’t look at his hands, but he saw the thorns with his blood on them as the pale-faced man raised up the stick a third time and slammed it down again—this time leaving it in the back of his hands—wiggling it around. The pain was almost unbearable, but Elijah wouldn’t let out a sound. He just stood there looking defiantly at the man, who seemed to get a small amount of satisfaction out of Elijah’s pain. Elijah thought he could detect a smile on his lips.
    “Now, get to work,” Hawthorne said as he and the pale-faced man walked out. Elijah spent most of the evening scrubbing the bathrooms until the floors shined and his wounded hands throbbed. When he was done, he opened up his room door and saw Samuel doing homework at his desk. Elijah held his hands behind his back and tried to act casual. Samuel looked up when he walked in.
    “Hey,” said Samuel looking up from his work. When Elijah didn’t respond, Samuel looked back down and said, “You don’t need to hide your hands. I got the Thorn Stick my first week too. It seems my shirt wasn’t tucked in quite right, and I ran right into Hawthorne. See?” Samuel held out his hands and Elijah saw a few red scabs and wounds beginning to heal from the piercing thorns.
    “You could have warned me,” Elijah said, irritated.
    “I don’t really like to talk about it. It makes me hate my parents even more than I do,” said Samuel coldly.
    “I’m sorry,” apologized Elijah. “It’s not your fault. I guess you’re the only family I’ve got now, so I shouldn’t make you mad at me.” Samuel turned around again and looked at Elijah directly in the eyes.
    “What was your family like?” The question took Elijah by surprise.
    “I dunno. They were cool. They loved each other. They loved me.”
    “How do you know?” asked Samuel. “Did they never get you into trouble?”
    Elijah laughed. “I got in plenty of trouble.”
    “Did they ever hit you?”
    “Not like here,” admitted Elijah. “I got swatted a few times when I was younger I’m sure, and I was grounded loads of times. But they always explained my consequences to me,” Elijah said angrily as he remembered his recent punishment for not cleaning the bathroom