Jen Pretty

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.

  28

  “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.

  29

  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

  30

  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.

  31

  “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.

  32

  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?”

  34

  “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.”

  35

  “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.

  36

  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.

  37

  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

  38

  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.

  39

  “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.”

  40

  “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?”