by Jen Pretty
a cafeteria. People were holding trays of food and chatting,
ignoring us.
I shoved the trench coat man away and looked around
for an exit. On the far wall, there was a door, and I made a
run for it. I didn’t care if Dorothy said he was fine; he had
just done some weird magic and teleported me somewhere.
I tripped over chairs and backpacks that littered the path
between the tables. People noticed me and stopped what
they were doing to watch.
“Selena, just wait a minute,” the man said from behind
me, but there was no way
I would wait for anything.
I reached the door and pushed it open, stumbling out
into the mid-afternoon sun — except the world wasn’t
right. Fire flooded me. I fell to the ground, trying to hold
it all in. I had to keep it from sparking out and alerting
more people. The flames bloated me and stretched my skin
making me feel like a balloon about to pop.
“Just let it go,” the man said from right beside me. “You
can’t hold it all.”
I was panting, barely able to fill my lungs; the fire used
up so much space.
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“If you don’t let go, you’ll pass out. I’m cool either
way,” the man said, leaning back against the wall of the
building.
My vision was going black around the edges. A face I
recognized moved into my field of view.
“Jesus, you could have prepared her better,” the
vampire DJ said.
“I tried; she pulled a knife on me. I thought this would
expedite the situation.”
“You’re an asshole,” the DJ said to trench coat.
The blackness took over my vision, and I set my head
down on the ground as I lost consciousness.
“Well, you’re an idiot,” I didn’t recognize the voice.
“I’m an idiot? She is the one who pointed a knife at
me.” That was trench-coat. The jerk.
“She couldn’t kill you with a knife!” the first man said.
“Exactly my point!” Trench Coat countered.
“Shut up, both of you,” an older voice broke in.
I didn’t want to open my eyes. My fire had snuffed out.
I felt empty as if I had just raised a wraith. I hoped that no
one saw it.
“You can open your eyes, Selena,” the older voice said,
closer to my ear.
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I opened one eye and peeked at him. He was a man late
in life. His hair and bushy beard were both grey, making
him look like Santa or a wizard.
He chuckled, “Very close on the second one.”
I furrowed my brow.
“We prefer the term warlock,” he said.
“Did you just read my mind?” I asked, my voice
scratchy. I cleared my throat.
“Yes, but we will get to that later. How about you rest
for now?”
I looked around. There were beds lined up with white
sheets and patterned curtains separated each bed.
“You are in a hospital,” the warlock said. “My name is
Niri. You have already met Falcor and Anick,” he said
indicating trench coat and then the vampire. “That’s
enough for now. We can chat more once you have
recovered. Please don’t go outside until we can talk.”
Niri turned and walked past the other two men who
looked down at their shoes until the door clicked shut
behind the old warlock.
“I’m going to get something to eat. You can babysit,”
Trench coat, Falcor said.
“Whatever,” the Dj, Anick, replied. The door didn’t
open, but Falcor disappeared, and Anick perched on a
stool in the corner, staring down at his phone. I studied his
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profile for a few minutes trying to decide if I would fall
over if I stood up.
“Why are you staring at me?” he asked without looking
up from his phone.
“Sorry,” I muttered and pushed myself up to sitting. My
vision blurred, but I grabbed onto the sides of the hospital
bed and waited for it to pass. I felt empty still.
No flickering flame at all.
I opened my hand and looked at my palm. Then pushed a
little and tried to get a spark, but there was none. I pressed
harder, but still nothing. I started to breathe harder again,
trying to find something. Was it gone? All of it? I felt like
my chest would cave in. There was nothing inside me at all.
“What are you freaking out about?” Anick asked, eyes
still glued to his cell phone. “Your heart is racing.”
“I have no fire.” I threw back the sheet covering me and
moved to stand up. All the blood raced away from my
brain, and I wobbled, flailing my arms. A strong pair of
hands grabbed me and steadied me on my feet. My fingers
wrapped up in Anick’s t-shirt, and I stabilized myself.
I took some deep breaths and tried to calm down, as
Dorothy had taught me. “I want to go home,” I said, my
voice scratching.
“That’s not safe. There is a monster running around
killing people in your hometown,” his voice was low.
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“I’m empty,” I said, a tear breaking over my eyelid and
trailing down my cheek. I couldn’t let go of the man, or I
would fall, but I wanted to hide away. My whole life I had
wished to be normal, now I was, and I hated it. I felt empty
without the stupid flames.
Anick looked over his shoulder at the door. Then
reached in his pocket and pulled out a vile, corked with a
rubber stopper, like the little tubes the doctor fills with
your blood when they draw it for testing. He looked over
his shoulder once more and then popped the top of the
vile, and it was like a few days’ worth of embers filled my
body. I took a deep breath and a wave of dizziness washed
over me from the sudden onslaught, but it relieved the
empty feeling.
“It won't last, this place eats magic for breakfast, but
you look better already. I’ve never met someone with
magic who wasn’t raised here. Falcor shouldn’t have
brought you so suddenly.”
I released him and slid back onto the bed. I let a spark
into my palm. It sizzled and disappeared as if I had used it
or a giant vacuum had sucked it up. I would have to hold
on tight if I didn't want to lose my fire again.
I felt awkward in front of Anick now. My emotional
moment was weird.
Shit.
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I closed my eyes and tried to sleep instead. I wanted to
ask questions about this place, where I was and why there
was no magic, but I was so tired my eyelids wouldn’t stay
open. So, let them stay closed and told my brain to shut up.
Flames swirled under my skin. I let my arms and legs
sink into the feeling of heaviness. Like a thick blanket was
pinning me down and sleep washed over me.
33
CHAPTER FOUR
Sun was shining through a window when I woke up.
My alarm hadn't gone off. I sat up suddenly and looked
around, giving myself a head rush be
fore I remembered I
was in some weird hospital or something. Somewhere with
no magic.
“You finally awake?” Falcor suddenly stood at the end
of my bed.
“Where the hell am I?” I asked.
“Finally, an intelligent question. I was beginning to
think you were stupid,” he said with a sneer.
“What’s your problem?”
“This is the training centre,” he said ignoring my last
question. “Children of magic come here to train.”
“I’m not a child,” I said. “Are there kids here who can
raise the dead?”
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“Only a few necromancers are born to each
generation. The rest are witches, warlocks and vampires.”
Dorothy had filled me in on the fact that there were
other people with magic. My fire wanted vampires just like
any other dead thing, and I had come across a few in the
city, but I had never met a warlock or witch. I was pretty
sure. Though, maybe I had and didn’t know. Falcor was
standing right in front of me, and my flames didn't seem to
want anything to do with him.
“So, why am I in a school for children?” I asked when
the silence had stretched on too long.
“Well, Dorothy didn’t train you properly. You passed
out trying to hold too much magic,” he got that crooked
smile again. The one that made me want to punch him.
“It usually just trickles in slowly. I don’t know why I
got so much. Did anyone see?”
“Oh, everyone saw.”
“Shit.”
“The warlocks spell the grounds. Inside there is no
magic, outside, on sanctuary grounds, is pure magic.” He
said it like it was part of a tour speech given to everyone
who came to the school.
“Why?” I asked, sitting up in bed.
“Because you need to learn to live with too much and
not enough.”
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“I can live just fine with a normal amount,” I said.
“We all saw how well you managed yesterday.”
I scowled at him.
“Come on, I’m supposed to show you around,” he
said, turning towards the door. I stayed put, not sure I
wanted to follow him anywhere. He stopped at the door,
turned back and raised his hand. The sheet that was
covering me blew off the bed and flew through the air to
land in a heap along the far wall. “I can move all kinds of
things. Unless you want me to float you around the
building, I suggest you get up.”
I huffed but swung my legs over the side of the bed. I
wasn’t wearing my boots but saw them sitting on a chair,
so I pulled them on and hurried after the jerk warlock.
“You have already seen the medical ward. This is the
classroom wing.”
Bright splashes of various colours covered the walls.
Each colour glittered. I found one the exact shade I saw
when my flame met the dead and wondered if the others
were what warlocks saw.
“Very perceptive, Selena,” the older voice of Niri
echoed down the hall. I spun to find the man standing with
a child. The little boy had stark white hair and beautiful
features. His chocolate eyes were wide as he stared at me.
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The little flicker of fire I was holding tried to reach out
to the little boy. It was tentative, not like when I was
around the dead. I clamped it down but saw blue sparks
around the boy too. They danced along the floor like a
sparkler in the night — glittering blue.
My fire pushed at my skin, but I held it at bay. I had
never met another necromancer, but here he was with my
hair, my eyes, my magic.
His sparks crept closer to mine, and I was locked in
the moment until Niri rested his hand on the young boy's
shoulder and the blue glitter slipped back into him and
disappeared.
Niri led the boy closer until he was standing in front
of me. The little boy's eyes blinked, and a soft smile curved
his lips.
“Selena, I would like you to meet Colvin. He is the
only other necromancer here at the moment. There is one
other whom I would like to introduce you to when he
arrives next week.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Colvin,” I said. The boy smiled,
displaying his gapped teeth. His face was such a contrast
— white hair and dark eyes. I was younger than him when
Dorothy started dying my hair.
“You won't have to dye your hair while you are here,”
Niri said, reading my thoughts again.
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My eyes shifted from Colvin to Niri. The old man had
a friendly smile on his face and was wearing a patchwork
suit that made him look a bit like a hobo. He chuckled at
my thought, and I blushed.
“I can’t stay here, I have to work tomorrow
afternoon,” I said, then remembered someone was leaving
dead things on my doorsteps and the truth set in. I
wouldn’t be able to work or go back to my apartment.
What about Georgia?
“Your old life is over,” Falcor said beside me.
I narrowed my eyes at him.
“Let’s discuss that later, shall we?” Niri said, drawing
my attention back to him and the child beside him.
He was right. I didn’t want to discuss the murderer in
front of the young boy. The foster home I lived in had
children of all ages and a few very young kids. Many of
them came from bad homes, and they had suffered too
much. I felt an overpowering urge to protect Colvin. I
wanted to scoop him up and hide him away.
“That is a natural feeling, Selena. Necromancers are
family. They are rare and fragile. We are fortunate to have
you here with us.” Niri said with a smile. “Colvin has to get
to class, but you will see him in some of your classes.”
I returned his smile, and then Colvin took his hand, and
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they walked away. “Wait, I’m taking classes with little
kids?”
Falcor scoffed, “You will have to catch up to them. A
six-year-old can probably handle magic better than you.”
I bit my tongue to keep from saying something I
would regret.
“This is the cafeteria,” he said as we walked past the
open doors of the big room with rows of tables. It was
empty now, but I remembered it from the day before.
Falcor strode off down the hall and through a set of doors.
I hurried to catch the door before it swung shut behind
him.
“This is the dorms. You have a room to yourself since
you are significantly older than the rest of the students.”
“I’m nineteen. Not over the hill,” I muttered.
He ignored me and took out a key, unlocking a
wooden door and stepping inside. I followed him into the
tiny room. There was a bed and desk with a wooden chair.
A second open door on one side led to a small bathroom
with a shower. At least I had that. It wasn’t much smaller
than my apartment. A window above the bed let in the
midd
ay sun, making the plain space seem bright and
welcoming.
“This is your room.” He handed me the key and
turned to leave.
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“I don’t have my suitcase,” I said.
“Yes, I’ll go get it for you.” With that, he disappeared
and reappeared a second later, holding the bag I had hastily
packed before running to Dorothy’s house. He set it down
on the bed and handed me a piece of paper before
disappearing again.
Why couldn’t I get warlock powers?
I lifted the piece of paper and studied the timetable
printed on it. It was a class schedule. It displayed room
numbers and times with the warning not to be late.
Super, I was back in high school or maybe grade
school since I would be taking classes with kids. Fun.
I moved my suitcase and collapsed on the bed, my feet
hanging off the end. I wondered why Dorothy hadn’t sent
me here as a child if it was safe and they would teach me
things. Friends woudl ahve been nice while I was growing
up.
There was a knock at my door, and I sat up. “Come
in,” I said.
The door cracked open, and Anick stuck his head in.
My flame tried to flow towards him, and I clamped it
down.
“Hi, I wanted to check in on you. Falcor is an ass.”
I laughed. “Thanks. He is an ass. I’m fine though.”
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“Cool, do you want to come to the cafeteria? You
missed breakfast, but the staff usually have some
sandwiches in the fridge,” he said, smiling and displaying
his pointed teeth.
“Sure, thanks.” I stood up and followed Anick out
into the hall, pausing long enough to lock the door behind
me.
“Did you meet Colvin?” he asked as we walked side
by side down the hall. I was about to answer when a bell
rang, and every door swung open, releasing nearly a
hundred children into the halls. They appeared to range in
age from six to late teens, and the noise was overwhelming.
My sparks wanted to reach out to a few I recognized as
vampires, but I had the tiny scrap of flame still left inside
me locked down already.
I stepped in behind Anick and let him lead through
the chaos until he turned into the empty cafeteria.
I sighed with relief, and Anick chuckled. “You OK?”
