Awakened Spells Box Set

by Logan Byrne

  “Can I help you?” I asked.

  “Oh, the little lady has some spunk. Yeah, you can help me, sweetheart. You see, I run things around here in this block, and when I heard that a M.A.G.I.C. officer was roaming through making a residence for herself, I became a bit worried about my fellow inmates,” he said.

  “Listen, I’m here to serve my time just like everybody else. I’m not a cop anymore, my badge was taken. I don’t plan on having problems with anybody. I keep to myself,” I said.

  “Gee, Zark, I think the girl is giving you grief,” the lanky one said to the boss. He looked down at me, smiling, before sucking up a wad of spit and shooting it down into my gruel.

  “Have a lovely day, officer,” he said, before walking away. I looked around, seeing some of the audience grinning and laughing, while others looked away like they’d been dealing with this guy’s crap for a long time. I turned around and watched Rosie pushing food around her plate. She pushed her tray towards me.

  “You need to eat. Your strength is important these first few days,” she said.

  “I can’t eat your food, it’s not right,” I said, looking at the bubbling wad of spit in my food.

  “Take some of it, please, just do it. It’s okay, I’m a lot smaller than you, I don’t need as much,” she insisted, so I took some of her gruel. I worked around the spit and tried not to think about it being there as I ate quickly and felt a fire rage inside me.

  I didn’t like bullies, especially in a place like this where people were just trying to survive, but men like him couldn’t let things be. All I wanted to do was whip out my powers, turn him into a roach and stomp on him, but I had to keep myself calm and make sure my hands never turned blue in here, at least not in front of anybody. That was imperative.

  “We have free time in a few minutes, so make sure you eat whatever you can fit in your stomach. They don’t let you take food into your cell or out of here,” Rosie said, as the long hand on the clock approached eight in the morning.

  Free time in the yard wasn’t like free time in the other prisons I’d seen or been to. At lower-security prisons, there was an actual yard, an outside space where you could breathe fresh air and run around, doing whatever you wanted. It was the only real exercise you could get. Here, however, they didn’t have fresh air or open spaces to run about. We were outside, technically, but we were in a frost-covered dome with a thick cement floor.

  I walked out for the first time, seeing the mountain peaks towering around us, though the foggy frosted glass made it hard to see clearly. The temperature dropped in here, likely to make us aware of the fact that we were in an inhospitable part of the world that wasn’t convenient for escapes, and it worked.

  I shivered a little, goose bumps forming on my skin, as I heard barbells clink together when some of the prisoners began to lift weights. “What do you do here during this time?” I asked, looking at Rosie.

  “I like to just walk around the perimeter and get my legs moving and blood pumping. I’m not one for weights, if you couldn’t tell,” she said, laughing a little.

  “Mind if I join you?” I asked.

  “Not at all,” she replied, smiling.

  “So what’s the deal with that Zark guy, anyway?” I asked, looking at him from a distance. He’d totally forgotten about me.

  “He’s a bully, plain and simple. Nobody really challenges him because of his size, and he’s been here for at least five years. I guess he just took it upon himself to be the leader, in his mind at least, and nobody challenges that. I guess they’re too afraid,” Rosie said.

  “Why are they afraid?” I asked.

  “Maybe because of his strength, but also because of what the guards would do. If they caught you in a fight, you’d get thrown in solitary for who knows how long. One time I saw a guy get tossed in there for two weeks straight without ever coming out. That was my third day here, and I’ve never forgotten it since. It’s better to put up with Zark’s crap than get thrown in solitary,” she said.

  “It’s just horrible that those are the only two options. There has to be a way to get rid of him without getting in trouble,” I said, staring at him.

  “You’d be a god to these people, to most of them anyway, if you pulled that off, but I wouldn’t get too excited. I don’t see how you could do that,” she said.

  “Yeah, maybe not,” I said, as I continued glaring at him.

  “And don’t even get me started on what they do to escape attempts,” she said.

  “Escapes?” I asked, my ears perking up, my attention drawn away from Zark.

  “I’m pretty sure they execute those who try to escape, but I’m not sure and I definitely can’t prove that, so take it with a grain of salt,” she said.

  “Why do you think that then?” I asked.

  “One guy tried to escape two months ago. It was a brazen attempt, and he was almost successful, I think, but he was sedated before he could get outside. He was never seen again, by anybody, even those who’ve passed through solitary. I think they got rid of him, so that he couldn’t tell people how he almost did it or inspire another attempt,” she said.

  “Do you know how he did it?” I asked.

  “All I remember is him getting up high. I think you have a decent shot if you get up towards small openings in the roof, but it’s many stories up. Besides, what would you do when you got out there?” she asked, pointing outside, as we stopped and reveled in the majesty of the harsh winter outside.

  “I think it’s possible,” I said.

  “Maybe if you were a shifter with some heavy blubber and fur, but not you, definitely not you, and I wouldn’t even stand a chance, given I’m not a witch like you. I think it’s a great dream to have, like winning the lottery, but it’s never going to actually happen. You can think about what you’d do all you want, how you’d want to do it, but it’s all just a dream, a fantasy. It’s better to put your time and thought into things you can actually control, like keeping yourself alive,” she said.

  Rosie had a spunk and realness that I admired. She was trying to make the best out of being here, even though she was going to grow old and die in prison. The designers and guards of this prison did their job well, quashing even the smallest ideas of escape and making the prisoners feel like it was hopeless.

  I disagreed. I knew the resistance would come for me, and maybe I would even take Rosie with me. I knew her skills would be well regarded with the resistance, and besides, she didn’t deserve to be here. I just wished I could tell her we would be rescued soon.

  4

  Four days. I’d lain in this cell for four days without so much as a letter from the outside world. Well, I wasn’t sure I was even allowed letters, since they never mentioned anything, but I’d hoped Blake or Charlie would’ve sent me something.

  I did have two bouts of light insanity during the night, lying in bed staring at the bunk above me and wondering if they thought about me. I knew they did—they had to—but my mind couldn’t help but play tricks as I rotted away in the system. Did they even care that I was gone, or were they partying? Were they happy to get rid of me? Did Charlie get a new partner, and were they amazing? These thoughts plagued me, and I couldn’t help but wonder if there was any truth to them.

  I’d been getting by okay, eating the same slop every day with Rosie and keeping tight to her. The people here didn’t seem to mind me too much anymore; an influx of three new prisoners was keeping their minds occupied, just like they’d been when I walked in the door. I was sort of grateful for the new people, mainly to save my own skin and to not have to deal with any more harassment from the welcoming committee.

  Passing time was difficult when we were in our cells, which was most of the day except for meals and going out into the yard for physical recreation. I was starting to go mad without my magic, though I guess I could’ve used some through my mark if I really needed it.

  I wondered about that—if I wanted to break out of here, could I do it? Presumably I was the
only person here with the mark. I wasn’t sure how many others, if any, bore it, and maybe it would have enough power to take out the guards. I was sure if I conjured enough raw power I could blow through the wall, but then what?

  Rosie had told me one reason breakouts didn’t happen was because of a dampening field around the prison for a few miles. They hid it within the core of the mountain, emanating some kind of magic barrier that made it impossible to teleport or for most shifters to shift. I guessed only the really strong shifters could manage it, though nobody ever did, aside from those trying to escape. I supposed the guards and warden didn’t take kindly to people trying those sorts of things and would take it as an act of violence and aggression.

  I kept these thoughts in the back of my head at all times, just in case Mirian and the others didn’t come for me, or couldn’t, because he did promise that they would. I knew they’d at least try, but a try wasn’t worth squat if it didn’t result in me sitting back in that resistance camp. I’d give it a month, maybe two, and then I’d try to break my way out of here. It would expose me for what I was, but I didn’t care at this point, and I damn sure knew I wouldn’t care then. I’d be free, and that was all that mattered. From there I would just try to gain as much ground as I could to get out of range of that dampener, which couldn’t have been more than five miles, ten tops. I guess that would be more than enough distance in the snowy Alps, however.

  Suddenly sirens rang and guards ran into the block. Everybody rushed to their cell doors, looking out, before a guard pulled out a megaphone. “All prisoners remain calm. There has been an escape attempt in block four, and we are locking down all blocks for the day. Your meals will be delivered to your cells, and recreation time has been canceled,” the man announced, before walking away.

  There was a universal boo, some yelling obscenities. I turned around and walked back towards my bed, picking up a piece of gravel from the floor and rolling it around in my fingers, when I heard a voice.

  “Lexa,” I heard someone call softly. I looked around, trying to figure out who was calling my name, before I heard it again. “Lexa, down here, in the corner.”

  It was Rosie. I walked to the corner, sitting down and seeing a crack in the wall, enough for a thin piece of paper to pass through, before I saw Rosie’s iris on the either side. “Look at this, a hole,” she said enthusiastically.

  “At least I’ll have some entertainment for the day,” I whispered, trying to make sure the guards wouldn’t hear or see me.

  “Yeah, this happens every so often. They bring us our meals, though, and you won’t have to worry about somebody spitting in or messing with your food, so that’s a positive,” she said.

  “You sure do have a lot of positive outlooks on this place and the things that happen,” I said, rolling the pointed rock between my thumb and forefinger.

  “You have to always stay positive. That’s what my mom told me, anyway. Life is going to throw a lot of bad moments at you, but staying positive about them can get you through even the darkest times,” she said.

  “I guess so. I just hate thinking about staying in here, you know? I want to escape,” I said.

  “Yeah, right, look what’s happening now. That poor person who probably sounded just like you do now is going to disappear like the rest of them. Is that what you want for yourself?” she asked.

  “Surely even death would be better than this place,” I said, tossing the rock aside.

  “At least here you have a chance at a life, even if it isn’t the one you want. Besides, where would you go? They’d find you, ya know,” she said.

  “I have my resources,” I said.

  “The resistance?” she asked.

  I froze, my heart racing and stomach sinking, before I looked over at the crack again, seeing her looking back at me. How did she know about the resistance? That was a stupid question, I guess—a lot of people knew they existed, but why would she bring it up to me like this? Surely she didn’t know I was allied with them, did she?

  “Why do you bring them up?” I asked.

  “My brother helped them once. They were kind to us, they gave us some rations and bedding. I wish I could fight with them,” she said. “But I don’t think I can do much from here.”

  “Then let’s leave and find them,” I said.

  “Lexa, have you not been listening at all? That’s not going to happen, and you know it,” she said.

  “I’m not saying we do it now or anything. We would need to plan, and we would need more people. I think I could get us out of here unscathed, and if we could break away from the magic dampeners, or shut them down, we would be able to teleport out of here,” I said.

  “I don’t know, I’d have to think about it,” she said.

  “What’s there to think about? Don’t you want to see your family again?” I asked. I was trying to appeal to her emotional side, one that would agree with me and go along with my plan. The fact was that breaking out of here alone wasn’t going to be easy, even with the mark on my side. I would need others, other people to run logistics and take out guards, if I were going to make this work. Hopefully bringing up her family would make her emotional enough to want to say yes, just to see them again. I knew I could get all of them into the camp.

  “Of course I do, you know that, but I also don’t really feel like dying, especially at sixteen years old. I’ll think about it, I promise. I really promise,” she said.

  “Okay, take your time, but I’m doing it with or without you,” I said, before getting up from the floor, dusting off my butt, and lying down on my bed.

  It would be a bold move, getting out of here, but I had to have a contingency plan in case Blake and the others couldn’t get me out. I started to run through the other prisoners here, weighing them in my head, trying to figure out who else would actually help this crazy plan. I thought I knew of two who might give it a go, though only one of them would be any physical help. If only I could get a hold of a wand, maybe from the prison lockup, I knew I could get us out. I wondered if anybody here had that hookup.

  Later that night, after the block had gone to sleep and wandering snores filled the hallways, I slipped out of bed and silently walked to the corner again. I looked through the hole, seeing Rosie dead asleep, before I pushed in some of the stuffing from my bed so she couldn’t see through. I peered out through the bars, making sure nobody was around, before crossing my legs and closing my eyes.

  If I were going to use the mark to get me out of here, then I needed to flex that muscle and hone my skills further. Mirian said meditation would help and it would be a key to let me control it one day, and I figured it wasn’t like I had anything else to do in here. I wasn’t drowning in cases any longer.

  I took a deep breath in through my nose, out through my mouth, and focused on my power. I felt it start to spark and tingle throughout my body, before my mind transcended out of this reality and into another dimension. I was back with the past mark-bearers again, but this time it was a new woman, an English woman, and we were sitting in a pub.

  “Here for a chat?” she asked, leaning back in her wooden chair. The pub was lit by candlelight, and her outfit was a suit made more for a gentleman than a lady. She took a swig of her beer.

  “Where am I?” I asked.

  “London, 1810. Lovely place, isn’t it?” she asked.

  “Can you help me with my dilemma?” I asked.

  “I can try. What’s troubling you?” she asked.

  “I’m imprisoned for a crime I never committed or attempted, and I want to break out. I want to use the mark to get myself and some others out of the prison so that I can stop a tyrant from taking over the magical and mortal realms. I believe he might know I’m a threat,” I said.

  “Does he know you bear the mark?” she asked.

  “No, I don’t believe he does. I think he would be experimenting on me right now if he knew,” I said.

  “Ah, one of them,” she said, laughing a little.

  “
Excuse me?” I asked.

  “You get men like that every so often, trying to chase down the mark-bearers so that they can harness the power to cause chaos or harm to others. It really is the biggest downside to having this damned power,” she said, looking at her own hands. “Such is life, though.”

  “Those with the mark? So there are others?” I asked.

  “Yeah, there are, but they can die out, so I’m sure the numbers in your time are less than those now,” she said.

  “Fascinating. How do they die out? I thought the mark picked someone new when the previous bearer died?” I asked.

  “The magic can be taken from them, mainly through ritualistic practices. I’m betting the man you speak of is attempting that now, which is why you need to make sure you heed extra caution around him,” she said.

  “So once the magic is taken, like you say, the mark never passes on again? What happens if all the marks are taken from their hosts?” I asked.

  “The power either ceases to exist, or all of it is harnessed by one individual, usually a sadistic man who craves nothing but power,” she said, taking another swig.

  “Where can I find other bearers? Surely we can work together and—”

  “It’s not that easy, you know. Besides, mark-bearers should never be together or work together, for it only causes chaos. You know how much one of these sadists would love to get two, three, or eight bearers together in one room at once? They would be unstoppable. It’s imperative that the bearers are never together, at least not intentionally,” she said.

  “I just—”

  “Trust me on this, kid. You don’t want that sort of trouble in your life. Just mind your own business and take care of what you have to on your own. You’ll be better off that way. I must be going now,” she said, before getting up and leaving her glass with only froth left at the bottom.

  “Wait, I still need you!” I said, trying to get her attention before the pub collapsed in on itself. I concentrated harder, not ready to leave yet, before I warped the space around me and dropped myself onto a snowy mountain.