Of Beasts and Belle

by J E Mueller

  The latte in his hand exploded, causing the fresh coffee to get all over him and only him. The hot liquid caused him to yelp as he tried frantically to wipe it off to no avail. His friends laughed at the display and I turned my glare on them, letting my magic go and do as it pleased. Their drinks mimicked their vile leader’s. I left them to frantically deal with the scalding hot pain.

  I wasn’t concerned about being pursued today. They would have enough to deal with. I was disappointed in myself for letting my magic get out of hand, but at the same time they fully deserved it. Donny did for sure. The others were idiot bystanders, but they could have put an end to him harassing me a while ago.

  I tried to keep the anger from washing over me again. Without another thought I took out my phone and called Marcus. I wasn’t surprised when he didn’t answer. He was likely busy either still traveling or getting settled in for the convention, so I left a long message about what happened. He’d understand.

  With no more desire to be in town, I headed home, ready to lock myself up for the day.

  After a few hours of reading, and some time on my computer I realized Marcus still hadn’t yet messaged back. I shot him a quick text, asking if he was alive, and tried to find a movie on streaming to watch. When he hadn’t replied after I picked something, I checked his location worried he might have been in an accident. Marcus wasn’t perfect at replying, but he’d at least send an emoji or something really quick to let me know he was fine.

  The location flashed up and disappeared before I could see exactly where. My heart dropped. What had happened? His magic made it work from anywhere. I reloaded it and screenshotted the place when it showed again before it could vanish once more. What could possibly do that? Nothing had ever prevented his magic from working.

  With the power of internet maps I figured out the approximate location. It was about twenty-five miles away and, according to every map view I could find, there were no roads there. That added to my concern. How did he get there? Marcus had a car, and, as far as I knew, wasn’t into random off roading adventures. The only road close to this was shortly after the highway. Did Marcus stop nearby to get gas? The maps didn’t suggest a gas station, restaurant, or any tourist stops. My brain couldn’t figure out any more logical possibilities.

  I didn’t have a car, and I knew the local authorities wouldn’t do much for an adult who hadn’t been gone that long. I bit my lip as I considered the possibilities. All I had was a bike. Not an enchanted one. Not even an electric one. Just a good old fashion, pedal for your life, bicycle. It could take four or five hours to reach where that signal was coming from.

  Of course I was going to go. I headed into Marcus’s room and looked around the disaster. His bookcase was filled with exactly the things I was looking for. I grabbed the device that strengthened the signal of devices, a portable charger, and an extra battery for my phone. Next I grabbed my backpack and hoodie before heading out the door. I would find him, and from there, figure out what was going on and get him home.

  ——Marcus——

  I couldn’t figure out what happened. My mind felt groggy, almost how it did after a migraine. It was like a fog took over things in my head. I was driving on the highway, jamming away to the latest music I had downloaded on my phone, when the next thing I knew I wasn’t driving. I was standing in front of an old, somewhat crumbling castle. My car wasn’t in sight. My phone was thankfully in my pocket, but I wasn’t getting a signal.

  The last fact was the weirdest. Something was preventing my magic from working with technology. That never happened. I could revive a phone dropped into a pool. Use the internet from an area with zero wifi. My magic made technology work, at least for a long period of time, even if it should be dead, and here I was getting nothing.

  Sighing, I did a slow turn. I had no idea where I came from. The woods behind me was the most logical guess since I wasn’t even on the stone laid road to the castle. Still, that was hardly an answer to any of my thoughts. The biggest question was why.

  Why did I blank out and end up here?

  Something, likely magical considering all the facts, wanted me here. Was it for nefarious reasons or something different altogether? Growing up with Ash, I knew magic wasn’t always the nicest thing. If it wanted to do something, good or bad, it would do just that. People like me with overly specific talents very rarely had problems.

  The less common group like Ash had less say in what their magic did. It sought out its own path, traveling through the user. It often played off of their emotions or desires. Ash was normally amazing at reining in her feelings and keeping things from exploding, but every so often it would go off. Sometimes I wasn’t sure if she even knew if it was going to strike like lightning or clash like thunder.

  “Well magic, what are we here for?” I asked softly into the void.

  Of course it didn’t respond. According to every horror movie out there, going into the mysterious castle was probably bad news. I didn’t think going into the woods would be much better. Still, the woods wouldn’t be able to trap me.

  With a nod for no one but myself, I turned around to walk into the woods.

  It felt oddly chilly as I stepped into the greenery. The further and further I trudged on, the colder it got. The trees and bushes took on a less lively appearance and some even had bits of frost or snow. It was the end of summer at home. I doubt I had gotten too far from there, but maybe I was wrong. No, I couldn’t be wrong. The area by the castle wasn’t this cold, and with how much chiller it was getting the cold could only be magical in nature.

  Blasted magic was messing up my day, making me miss my convention, and probably worrying the crap out of Astrid. I knew full well she abused the location app I installed on our phones. It helped her relax knowing where I was and that I was okay. She’d be having a conniption by now.

  The sound of a wolf howling made me freeze in my tracks. The cold air seemed to wrap heavily around me, weighing me down. Carefully looking around I spotted a wolf in the underbrush, watching me very carefully, it’s coat helping it blend in with the landscape.

  Slowly, I took a step back. Then another. I heard the sound of another wolf on my left, closer than before. Would they charge me if I ran? I couldn’t remember a damned thing about wolves. Either way they were closing in on me and I hadn’t been walking that long. I could get back to the castle, and hopefully safety, if I sprinted. Right?

  I took a slow breath as I backed another step away before turning and running with all I had.

  The sound of something pursuing me through the woods was unmistakable but I didn’t dare look back and slow myself down. I wasn’t about to become wolf chow. Ash would undoubtably find a way to revive me and kill me again for such a stupid mistake. I pressed harder, feeling my lungs burn with every breath as I gave it everything I had left, and broke through the tree line and out of the woods. I didn’t stop until I reached the castle door and noticed nothing continued to follow me here.

  Collapsing on the ground I tried to regain my breath and composure. Something wanted me here and the wolves knew better than to cross over from the woods. A curse maybe? Would the walkway out of here be safer? I tried looking down the road, noticing the forest looking less and less lively as the path continued. No. The area around here was very much spelled and I was stuck.

  With a sigh, I got up and knocked on the castle door. The sound echoed deep into the building. No other sounds could be heard, at least not by me. I really didn’t want to go in there. Still, there weren’t many other options, and I needed shelter until I could figure out how to get out of this mess. Maybe with some luck there would be some tech here I could finagle with to find an escape.

  Carefully, I opened the oversized door. It was heavier than I expected but it moved well enough, revealing a cozy interior. A large, over the top, staircase was directly across from the door with an old ornate rug taking up the center of the floor. To my right looked like an old dusty sitting room. The left had the door clo
sed.

  I hesitated. Could someone be in this run down place? Would I want to alert that someone that I was also here? Maybe they could help. Maybe they were trapped here like me. There was also that maybe chance they put the spell here to trap and murder people, but I tried to shove the thought from my head. Too many horror movies made me assume the worst.

  Taking a deep breath, I reasoned eventually someone would figure out I’m here. So, why not see if they are the helpful type or the murderous type from the start? I called out a hello. It seemed to echo deep into the halls. I waited, somewhat hopefully.

  No answer.

  I took a few steps further in, the heavy door shutting itself behind me with a loud thud that echoed throughout the castle. I paused for another moment, waiting for any other sounds or response before calling out a hello again.

  When no one responded, I took a few more steps in. Still nothing. Maybe this place was truly empty. I carefully walked to the open sitting room on the right. It looked somewhat modern. This wasn’t the most up to date style but well within the last decade. I slowly took in the room with its portraits and shelves and those weird bust statue things until I saw a phone on the end table. If this place was abandoned it likely wouldn’t work, but maybe I could sum up just enough magic to get something through.

  Without hesitation, I walked over to the phone ready to pick it up and saw the cord was completely chewed through, maybe by some invading mice or something. Still, I had to try. I picked it up and wasn’t surprised it was dead. Summoning my magic, I felt nothing. It just wasn’t working. I didn’t feel like my magic was gone, but as if it decided to go on hiatus.

  I let out a frustrated sigh and headed out of the room calling a hello once more. Still nothing. So, I headed over to the closed room on the left. Inside revealed an office, this one with a phone actually plugged in. For a moment the sound of a dial tone appeared before going completely dead. Once more, my magic decided nah and I couldn’t revive it.

  I slammed the phone down, calling out in frustration. The sounds echoed for a moment before silence reclaimed the building once more.

  “This freaking place echos a lot for well filled rooms,” I grumbled, annoyed with both the abundance of this trapping magic and the lack of my own powers.

  I had zero desire to search through the building. Instead, I made my way back outside to try and see if there was any break in the magic.

  The immediate surrounding area looked decently cared for, and had the greens I would expect of late summer. Plants bloomed abundantly along the path. Deciding that was a safer route to take, I followed it around until I saw a large garden. Walking toward it, I noticed it was amazingly cared for. As if the owners of the castle didn’t care much for the rest of this place and poured their heart and soul into this one spot.

  I couldn’t help but walk through it both amazed and concerned. Where were the people that were keeping this place so well kept? Maybe the gardener was all that was left and this final spell ran them out? I had no real guess or clue. That was when I saw the rows of reds, pinks, and whites. Roses! The one thing Ash has asked for. I could only imagine what Ash was thinking by now. I checked my phone again and still couldn’t get a signal. She had to have known something was wrong. There was no way she would have gone all day without messaging me and from the sun it was well after noon.

  I glanced at my phone that happily displayed the time at least. Just after three thirty. Why was that working and nothing else? Freaking magic.

  I noticed a rose lying on the ground next to the bushes and walked over to pick it up. Such a beautiful flower. It wasn’t my favorite, but it was still pretty neat. Beauty and thorns, the price of perfection.

  A growl resounded behind me and before I could turn something hard struck the back of my head.

  Chapter 3

  ——Astrid——

  I found Marcus’s car outside of a dense forest. Nothing looked wrong. In fact, the keys and everything were still inside. I was able to turn the car on without a problem, and no warning lights came on. So what in all that's good on this green planet happened?

  I tried his phone again. Still nothing but the glimpse of location showing, teasing that it wasn’t much further now. I’d figure things out soon enough. I had to.

  I grabbed my bike again and walked into the woods trying to see if there was any path or trail he could have taken. Nothing stood out. I couldn’t even see a deer trail near here. Sighing, I got on my bike and carefully made my way around the trees and bushes.

  The late afternoon was starting to get oddly cold as I pressed further ahead, forcing me to pause and pull out my hoodie. The further I went, the colder it got. I finally realized, a bit later than I wanted to admit, it had to be magically done. Something here was remarkably not right. I checked for Marcus’s location once more and sure enough, I was nearly there. It flickered away too quickly, but at least the odd magic around here helped to explain things. Something was interfering with his magic, something much bigger than standard magic.

  I tried to think through things as I carefully continued on my way. Magic like this wasn’t overly common. It would take either a very powerful sorcerer or maybe an enchantress to do such a thing, but why spell the woods? And what did any of this have to do with my brother? While he meant the world to me, I couldn’t see him being particularly special enough that anyone in the magic community would want to mess with or harm him. Marcus just did his tech thing.

  What really worried me was that no one had come to fix this yet. It was supposed to be impossible for something like this to last for any real length of time, and it had already taken me several hours to get here. How was someone keeping this under lock and key away from magical society? Were they just that strong? Or was something even bigger at play here?

  I wasn’t sure I wanted to get involved in anything here, but for Marcus’s sake, I had to press on. I couldn’t abandon him, and I wasn’t sure who I could go to for something like this. Magic of this caliber was above the local police. It was way above me too, but on I pedaled. Even with all the walking I was used to doing, my legs were starting to cramp and burn from the excessive exercise.

  I could hear a wolf in the distance. Not close enough to really be concerning, but enough for me to be wary of my location. Ahead, I could almost make out something made of stone, some sort of building or structure, so I didn’t worry too much. I pressed harder and the trees started to thin out and I noticed it was massive and very castle-like. Breaking free from the trees, I saw it was just that. The old stone building was starting to fall into disrepair and I wondered how it could stay hidden for so long.

  How old was this spell exactly?

  A few years? Decades? Centuries?

  I let my imagination get away from me for a moment before I snapped out of it and checked my phone once more. It flashed once, showing me on top of his location before going dead completely. I had perfect battery before entering the woods, so it was likely the magic causing it to die. Whatever, I was exactly where I needed to be. Now to just find Marcus and get the heck out of here.

  I walked up to the castle doors and bounced from one foot to the other as I debated between opening the door and knocking. This place overall looked fairly abandoned so I mentally voted to just open the door. To my surprise, it took a strong shove to get the door moving. While it did look solid, I wasn’t expecting that much effort to be needed.

  Once it opened enough for me to slip inside, I was feeling a lot less confident and decided to call out a hello as I carefully looked inside. My eyes met the large formal staircase across from the door. The dusty intricate railing leading up the stairs was probably amazing back in its heyday but from here it just looked sad. My eyes slowly took in the paintings, statues, odds and ends that were covered in various layers of dust. As if someone slowly gave up caring for things over a long period of time.

  “Anyone here?” I called as loudly as I could project my voice. “Marcus?”

  I heard
something odd, heading deeper into the house. Was it a cough? A voice? I couldn’t exactly tell. Carefully, I took a few more hesitant steps in, the door closing soundly behind me.

  I thought for a moment I heard a voice behind me but when I turned to look around I didn’t see anyone. An old candelabra sat on a long decorative table by the door between two vases filled with dead flowers. The over-wilted plants were a sad sight, much like the slowly failing castle around us. It tugged at my heart more than it should have, reminding me of the flowers I kept for too long after my mother’s funeral.

  I felt a twinge of magic come to me and released it to the plants. My eyes stayed focused on them as they slowly stood tall once more, petals regrowing into vibrant colors that hadn’t been seen in unknown ages. I shrugged off my momentary sadness, happy my magic could bring some brightness here for a bit, and tried to refocus my mind with the task at hand.

  “Pretty flowers, have you seen my brother?” I asked them, knowing they wouldn’t reply. They were just plants, and even if they could talk, I had no such magic to hear them. “Didn’t think so.” I turned back to the room around me and tried calling out for Marcus.

  This time I was sure I heard something close to his voice. Taking a deep breath, I ventured further into the building. The halls were covered in dusty paintings of people I didn’t recognize, and the occasional piece of landscape art. There were a few odd statues, and some empty suits of armor, as well as several busts that seemed to share the likenesses of the people in the paintings.

  After a little walking, I tried calling out for Marcus again. This time I heard his response, a panicked, “get out of here…” I was never the good little sister though, and followed the sound of his voice to another heavy looking door. This one took a little more effort to open, but once I got it to budge it gave me no more trouble. I took a step into the doorway and sighed as I saw the stone stairs spiraling down.