Broken by Magic
by Rebecca Danese
For Daniele, who is still waiting for the movie version but is happy to accept a TV adaptation instead.
CHAPTER 1
“Riots and protests continue today on Parliament Square, almost two months after the terrible incident that some are calling ‘the blackout’, when Carlton Munday, former Civil Defence Minister, brought chaos and terror to the City of London, blacking out a third of the city and killing dozens in power-cut related accidents. It seems that now the search for the band of Augurs who helped put a stop to him has been all but given up, the people of London begin to ask the question: ‘What’s next?’
“Demands on the Prime Minister, herself a victim of Augur crime, are at an all-time high, and now the country looks to her to keep the peace. Only a few days before The Blackout, the PM was subject to two attacks: one to her car and another directly at Downing Street. It has since been ascertained that the Augur terrorist group known widely as the Magic Circle have been the instigators of these and some thirty other terror attacks across the south of England.
“People are beginning to ask why more arrests aren’t being made in light of this.
“You can hear the shouts behind me of Normals from all over the city congregating here to protest against Augurs in our city and to grab the attention of the politicians who are, as we speak, meeting on the proposed plan to bring order and safety to the UK.
“Behind me is a group of what must be two hundred Normals, all crying out and holding signs that clearly bear the slogan ‘Normal is Natural.’
“We don’t know what will come of the meetings today, but it is obvious that both Normals and Augurs are confused and upset at what both parties claim is a violation of their basic human rights. Normals appear to be arguing for the total ban of Augurs in the city, while no Augurs have shown up to defend themselves from what we can see.
“Here’s one gentleman now, holding a sign stating that ‘Normal is Natural’. Sir, what are you hoping to achieve here by your protest?”
“We just want them out of our city. Our families won’t be safe until they’ve gone, and the Prime Minister needs to act now before it gets out of hand again. It’s their job to protect us.”
“Oh, turn that off, will you, Curtis?” Lou says through a mouthful of cereal. She could probably manage it herself, but I’m never one to argue with her. With her short, spiky hair and piercings, and the fact that she could probably force me through her ability by throwing me off my chair, I try not to mess with her.
I oblige, padding across the kitchen to the radio to silence the shrill reporter’s voice, grateful only to hear the sounds of the house around me. There’s a knot of worry in my stomach that has been there for days, and none of the news reports seem to ease it.
I sigh, something I’ve been doing a lot lately, as I sit back down at the breakfast bar. Ella puts a hand on my back, resting her head on my shoulder briefly for comfort, and I kiss the top of her head.
“Sounds like they’ve given up looking for their saviour then,” I say to her quietly.
“Good,” she replies abruptly. “That’s the last thing we need now that we’re finally back to normal.” She looks me up and down for a moment.
“I’m okay,” I say before she can ask. She holds my gaze intently, her blue eyes taking me in. It’s not that I look bad; I know that the weeks of rest and walks in the countryside have done nothing but good for my health, and there’s more colour in my cheeks. But she can see it just like I can when I look in the mirror each morning. There’s an underlying bitterness and fear that I haven’t been able to shake.
She should be the one that is kept awake at night fretting over what’s going to happen, not me. After all, she’s the one who was there to stop it when Carlton Munday lost it. We all were in the end; Lou, her boyfriend Jer, even the dodgy Duke and his son, Edward. But she was the one that risked her life ultimately. She insists that I was the hero, distracting him so that she could put an end to his magic by overwhelming him with her own. But, typical of Ella, she’s calm and collected while I, the only Normal in a house full of Augurs, am a nervous wreck.
“You don’t have to pretend, Curtis,” she says quietly, dropping her gaze and finishing her muesli.
“Yeah, sure, and then what good am I going to be? Next you’ll be telling me it’s okay for me to curl up in a ball in the corner and start sucking my thumb. What good am I to you if I go around scared of everything and everyone?” I say emphatically. “Nope, acting like I’m fine is working out just fine for me at the moment, thank you, so let me have at least that, won’t you?” I pretend to plead. She smiles and shakes her head, knowing I’m making light of the situation.
“Mornin’ all,” Jer says, thankfully interrupting the moment as he walks into the kitchen and walks straight over to the counter. “Coffee?” he asks the room in general. We all nod enthusiastically, and I hop off my stool again to help him.
The kettle floats across the kitchen and fills itself at the tap. I shoot a glance over to Ella who bursts into fits of laughter at the surprise on my face, her fingers glowing with energy.
“Sorry, couldn’t help myself,” she laughs. It’s nice that she can use her powers freely here without causing trouble or getting arrested, but I’m still surprised when she does it. It’s slightly surreal to me, having lived with Normals all my life, that all of my friends are Augurs.
Our retreat out here in Hertfordshire is like an Augur haven. Jer, who can sense and identify other Augurs using their power, and his girlfriend Lou, who can throw force fields that can and have blown me across a building rooftop, are our closest friends. There’s little that we do without them knowing about it.
Mumbe, with his ability to put hallucinations in people’s heads, and his boyfriend David, a healer, have both been there for us through thick and thin since the moment we met them. David’s mother, Beryl, owns the house, and we’re all grateful for her hospitality these past two months. Then there’s Agnes, Ella’s sister, who makes no efforts to try and like me and rarely comes out of her room. All in all, it’s a weird but wonderful place to live, and being here has been good for us in more ways than one. But I often get the feeling that we’re in a bubble and that any moment someone from the real world is going to burst it. Maybe even me.
“What’re your plans today, mate?” Jer says to me, grabbing the kettle from the sink as if it floating across the room was the most ordinary thing in the world, and flicking the switch on.
I try to disguise the look of guilt that passes over my face.
Do I really want to tell him? I feel bad just thinking about it. I glance over to the girls at the breakfast bar who aren’t paying much attention to us, and luckily, the only person who might know what I’m going to do is Agnes, Ella’s future-seeing sister, who stays cooped up in her room most of the time anyway.
“I was thinking of going into town,” I say, attempting to sound nonchalant.
“With Ella?”
“Nah. She wants to help Beryl around the house a bit, cleaning, fixing things and stuff in exchange for her letting us stay here. Useful to have her kinetic abilities around,” I smile.
“Lou too. Although I don’t think her powers will be of much use. Mind if I join you then? I’m not much of a DIY man meself,” he smiles as he brews and then pours coffee into the four cups I’ve laid out for him. Having Jer with me might complicate things. After all, I’m not actually planning to be in town for very long. Only so that I can catch a bus to a neighbouring village to meet someone. But I can’t very well say no. Aside from Ella, Jer, with his Irish charm and easy manner, has easily become my best friend in the past month, and if I were going to do something potentially dangerous or a
t least stupid, I’d want him there to have my back. He can’t do anything fancy like using force pressure to push things around like Lou, or Ella, who can pretty much do anything if it involves manipulating energy, but he does have the ability to sense people’s magic. It’s useful when you want to find out if an Augur was responsible for a particular deed. Less so if you get into a fight, but he knows how to do that pretty well too and has always had my back. He’s also a great co-conspirator, so it can’t hurt having him around.
“Sure,” I say lifting two of the cups by their handles and taking them over to the girls. “Set off about ten?”
“Sounds good,” he smiles and sits down at the breakfast bar with us, handing me my coffee.
“What’s this? Lads day out?” Lou asks resting her elbows on the counter top. I nod and take a sip from the cup, enjoying the warmth it gives. The two of them are in their late twenties, maybe almost ten years older than Ella and me, but they act like an old married couple sometimes. Jer’s calm and flippant manner seems to keep Lou in check and stops her from jumping down everyone’s throat all the time. God knows what she’d think if she knew where we were really going.
“Keep him out of trouble, will you?” she says to me. I snort, as if I’d be able to keep Jer out of anything.
“I’ll do my best,” I grin, and Jer gives me a wink that Lou just misses, turning her head to see a seemingly innocent look on his face.
In my room I pull on an extra layer of clothing and my shoes, which I’m tying when Ella comes in.
“Called your mum lately?” she says, sitting on the bed.
“Damn. I forgot,” I look at the time on the bedside clock. “She’ll be at work now. She starts the early shift at the care home.”
“Text her, then. Just make sure she knows you’re still alive and you love her.” She gives me a kiss on the cheek, and I turn to face her, pulling her lips to mine. For a moment my mind is blissfully blank as I take in the feel of her hands on my neck, which still makes me tingle pleasantly.
“Don’t we have things to do?” she eventually pulls away and smiles.
“I wish we didn’t,” I admit as I finish tying my laces. “I could stay here forever quite happily, you know. Or anywhere for that matter, as long as I was with you.”
“I know. Me too. But the world isn’t going to stop just because of us, and there are others who need our help,” Ella says, running her hand up and down my back absentmindedly, tracing the line of my spine with her fingers as she’s done so many times recently.
“After everything that’s happened, don’t you want to just get away from it all?” I say, trying not to sound miserable but failing.
“What do you call this?” She waves a hand, as if the excursion to a house only an hour away from London is the solution to all of our problems.
“I call this a stop-gap. Ella,” I take her hands in mine, always warm and full of energy, and look her in the eyes, “let’s get away. I’m serious.”
“Curtis, we’ve been over this before. I can’t just very well leave everyone behind. What about Agnes? Lou, Jer, the others?” she says, the desperation clear in her voice.
“They’d understand. Hell, they could even come too! But I don’t feel safe here, not really. We’re too close to home and to where… it happened.” I look away, but she turns my head to face her.
“I know, okay? I understand. And if I knew that us leaving wouldn’t have any harmful effects on anyone else, I’d do it in a heartbeat. I love you, Curtis.” She rests her forehead against mine, and I close my eyes. I want to scream, to tell her that for once in her life I’d like her to think of herself and what’s best for her. But what’s the point? I know she won’t listen.
“I love you too.” I sigh and plant a kiss on her forehead.
“I know you aren’t really okay, by the way. You’ve been much quieter than usual. Normally I can’t get a word in edgeways,” she smiles briefly.
“I’m sorry. I just thought that after everything that happened, all that we’ve been through, we’d be able to start over, you know?”
She doesn’t answer for a long time, and in the end, I get up to leave.
“Curtis,” she says just as I open the door.
“Yeah?”
“I’ll figure something for us. I promise.”
“Okay,” I reply before heading out, feeling her eyes still on me and the weight of a thousand words we haven’t said to each other. I pull out my phone as I walk back downstairs and type out a quick text.
Hi Mum,
How are you?
Just wanted to let you know I’m okay, and Ella is fine.
How’s the cat? Love you. X
It doesn’t mention Dad because, honestly, I don’t want to hear how he is. If I didn’t know any better, I’d guess he’s outside parliament with the Normals protesting like the closed-minded pillock he is.
It won’t replace a proper phone call, but it’ll do for now.
It’s just after ten when Jer and I set out, jackets and scarves warding us against the winter chill. The countryside is several degrees colder than London, and before long I can’t feel my fingers, so I ram them into my pockets.
“Where are we really going then, Curtis?” Jer asks me as soon as the manor house is out of sight.
“What do you mean?” I ask, astonished.
“Ah, give over, mate. You’ve been quieter than I’ve ever known for about two days, and it’s obvious you were waiting for a chance to get away from Ella.” He gives me a friendly jab with his elbow.
He’s not wrong. The message on my phone arrived almost exactly two days ago. Matthew Avers, lead newspaper reporter on all things Augur related, requested an urgent meeting. Actually, he’s requested several, but, after giving me a few weeks to convalesce, it seems his patience has finally run out. His latest text simply gave a date and time, along with the name of a pub in a village some twenty miles from the manor.
“Crap. I didn’t think it was that obvious. Do you think Ella noticed?”
“I think she knows that you’ve been out of sorts since— well, you know…”
Since Carlton Munday snapped my back in half, and it took two weeks of excruciating Augur healing, courtesy of David and his healer mother, to get me walking again. I count myself lucky. Some people break their spines and never move again. But it hasn’t stopped the nightmares or the terror that this little bubble we’d been living in for a month could be burst at any second. Which is why I have to see Avers.
“Well, you might as well know, particularly if you’re going to be my accomplice.”
We trudge along the road, avoiding puddles from a morning rain and stepping into the copse any time a car drives past. The town centre is twenty minutes away at a brisk walk, and we take it at a good pace as I talk.
“Remember the reporter that the Duke asked me to give that USB stick to?”
“Er, Aviary or something?” Jer replies.
“Matthew Avers, yeah. Well, I wasn’t sure why the Duke asked me to go to him specifically, but I figured he must be some kind of Augur sympathiser.”
“There’s a lot of them about, Curtis. Not everyone wants us wiped off the face of the Earth, ya know.”
“No, of course. But he seemed particularly interested in anything and everything to do with Augurs. I mean, it was almost weird. I left him with the information on FADE,” I pause as Jer flinches at the mention of the Facility for Augur Detention & Experimentation, where he himself was a prisoner for I don’t know how long, “and he showed a real interest in exposing their crimes.”
“He’s a reporter, of course he’d find it interesting. What’s this got to do with you?” Jer asks. That’s a good question, one I haven’t figured out how to explain to Jer, Ella or anyone else yet.
“I’m not totally sure. I know he has some questions for me and that he’s working on a story that will expose the crimes of FADE. He left me a message several weeks ago saying that he’d found something about how the Fac
ility was being funded, but he wanted to ask me some questions…”
I don’t want to mention my suspicions that the Duke is behind everything. That will win me no favours and would seem completely unfounded right now in the midst of everything else.
“And why exactly didn’t you want to tell Ella about your clandestine meeting with this guy?”
“Mainly because she’d want to come with me, and I’m trying to keep her as far away from a reporter as possible.”
“Well, that’s nice. You’ll not let your girl near him, but I can tag along, is that it?” he jokes.
“You can handle yourself.” I smile and give him a light jab on the arm with my elbow.
“So can Ella, you know. She’s been through a hell of a lot in her life; you need to stop trying to be the hero all the time,” he says.
“Leave it out, Jer. I know she’s stronger than me. I mean, she’s one of the most powerful Augurs I know of, and she’s already risked life and limb being with me,” I sigh frustratedly.
“Feeling inadequate much?” he chuckles.
“Wouldn’t you be too if you were in my position? A mere Normal with a girlfriend who can pretty much do anything with magic and creates her own energy?”
“Listen, mate, if I were you, I’d be counting my lucky stars she loves you more than anything. I wouldn’t trade what me and Lou have for the world, and we’ve been together long enough to know each other’s strengths and weaknesses. I think you and Ella could do the same if you’d stop worrying about who was looking after whom.”
“What would I do without your wise advice, Jer?”
“You’d be a mess, and we both know it.” He winks at me, and we walk the rest of the way into town completely changing the subject onto something more mundane.
Being a weekday morning, there are few people about, and the high street is a very different scene to that of the one back home in London. Based on the latest news reports, the city is more dangerous than ever before, and I don’t want to think about what will happen if the law officially changes. If Augurs have to start registering their existence, I can see how things could quickly get out of hand.
Broken by Magic Page 1
