by Jamie Ott
That evening, her clothes lay in a humungous pile on the living room floor. Halfway through rolling an expensive shearling, there was a knock at the door.
Lin allowed the shearling to unravel, sent up an invisible protection shield and slowly opened the door.
“Hi, Mara. I can’t talk right now.”
Mara didn’t listen. She pushed past her into her apartment.
“What are you doing? I said I can’t talk. Shouldn’t you be looking after your family?”
“They’re fine.”
Mara removed her coat and hung it on the wall hook.
Upon seeing the suitcase in the living room, she said, “Milton called me. Are you really leaving?”
“Uh, yeah, something’s come up and I can’t explain. I just need to get home. Wine?”
Mara followed Lin into the kitchen.
“When are you leaving?”
“End of the week.”
“You weren’t going to say anything to me?”
“I tried to call several times this week already.”
“I was with my mother.”
“How is she?”
“She’s fine. You know, I thought we were friends.”
“We are friends, but I have family that I want to get back to.”
“Well, this town needs you. After all you said about people sticking together, standing and fighting, I’m surprised at you. With what you did on the mountain, you could easily put an end to all of this.”
“Mara, you know as well as I do that if anyone found out about my being a sorceress, they’d run me out of town. Why should I risk my neck for a town that is likely to crucify me or reject me? I can’t help this town any more than you or someone else.”
“So that’s your secret?”
“Yes.”
“Still, it’s a poor excuse not to stay and fight. I’m staying, and I’m not half as powerful as you.”
Her phone rang.
Lin sipped her wine a moment while Mara had a few words and then hung up.
“Come on,” she said.
“I need to finish packing.”
“It’s my cousin. Something’s going on at The Glass Towers.”
“No, I can’t go.”
“Blair needs our help!” she snapped. “She was at the makeup counters when there was another attack. Apparently, she went to pick up her friend who was working. Now she’s stuck under a fallen makeup counter and can’t leave or call for help. No one knows she’s there, except for us.”
“Shouldn’t you call the sheriff?”
“She did but no one’s picking up.”
“Alright,” Lin said and set down her wine, “let’s go.”
When they got to the Tower’s quarry, it was to see the ancient crystal windows on the lower level had been blown to bits. Large and small chunks of glass, strewn tables and chairs were scattered all over the ground.
A gust of wind blew in their direction. They covered their faces with their hands to protect them from flying shards of glass that made clinking noises which echoed through the quarry.
“I thought the towers were indestructible.”
“I thought so, too,” said Mara.
“Why are we the only ones here?”
“I don’t know,” Mara replied irritably. “Let’s find Blair and go. We’ll ask questions later.”
They continued through the glass covered quarry and ducked under the bars of the double glass door, which had been shattered. Lin held her breath in shock, as the once neat and shiny dome entrance was now a clutter of chunks of glass wall.
Quietly, they walked further into the entrance.
The left wing had piles of glass and merchandise blown from the stores into the halls, and it was the same on the right. The entire coffee bar that was in the café, now, lay in the hall; the smell of coffee hung thick in the air. From Samuels Fit for Formal, she could see the familiar desk, register, and racks of clothes lying about the floor.
They went left toward the makeup counters. Mara pulled out her cell phone and began texting.
“Put that away!” whispered Lin.
“I’m texting Blair that we’re here.”
Shattered glass and merchandise made it difficult to walk. They stepped over piles of junk and climbed over a counter that stretched across their path.
Lin put out her hand and stopped Mara from continuing into the makeup counters shop.
“Why are we stopping?”
“Because it’s black as pitch, in there. What if it’s a trap?”
“Why would someone want to trap us?”
“You really can’t tell that something is off here?” she replied sarcastically.
Lin brought up her protection shield. The moonlight through the ceiling made it glow light yellow.
“Grab my arm and stay close to me,” she whispered.
“Why?” Mara asked.
“Shhhh... whisper!” she replied.
“Why?”
“Don’t you think it’s strange that we’re the only ones here?”
“Blair is here.”
“Why isn’t she calling out to us? Did she text you back?”
“No, but maybe she fell asleep.”
“What is this bubble? What did you do?”
“It’s a protection shield.”
“But you didn’t even say a spell.”
“I don’t need one! I’m a sorceress; just stay close though because it will only reach so far. More importantly, stay quiet until I say it’s okay to speak.”
Every single makeup counter had been broken and blown apart. Shattered glass walls had been blown out, revealing the shops on the sides. Dummies, clothes, and displays were scattered everywhere. Mannequins were broken into pieces and a funny shimmery, perfumed dust hung, like a cloud, in the air, making Lin’s nose twitch.
They stepped in through the busted window display because the doorway was barricaded by junk.
All the racks were torn from the walls; displays, and shelves were strewn helter skelter about the place. Ceiling lights had been blasted off, and the smell of a hundred bottles of shattered perfume made her gasp for fresher air.
“Blaaair,” Lin whispered. “Are you hurt, Blair?”
They tried not to fall as they walked through scattered lipsticks rolling on the floor when, out of the corner of Lin’s eye, a shadow disturbed the steady beam of moon light that bled through the ceiling.
She looked to her left and saw Mara was now over by the Sioux Falls counter. Angrily, she walked over and yanked her by the elbow.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” she whispered. “I told you to stay close to me!”
“I’m sorry, but I don’t see why you’re so paranoid. Blair could be hurt, and you want to take your time about the place.”
“Mara, why are you so thick in the head…?”
Lin didn’t get to finish her question because Mara flinched. “What is it?”
“I think I saw someone.”
“Where?”
“Over there,” she said and pointed to the only standing rack on the other side of the room.
Lin couldn’t see too clearly, but there appeared to be a shadow.
Once more, she grabbed Mara’s arm and wrapped it around hers. “Don’t let go of me, even if you get scared and want to run. Hold on tight and you’ll be fine. I might have to use my hands, but whatever you do, don’t let go.”
She knew Mara was still defiant, but she continued toward the strange shadow with the hope that it was nothing.
As they stepped over junk, Lin scanned the room for any signs of movement, but the light from the moon was bleak, and there were too many shadows.
Lin pointed her hand at objects, and mimed lifting them, so as to make sure Blair wasn’t lying under anything. Mara gasped in surprise when she lifted several counters at once.
“That is unbelievable power. You don’t ever use a wand or spell?”
“Sometimes, like when I need a constant effect
of something. Unlike sorcery, spells can be everlasting.”
“I don’t get it.”
“Some sorcery requires concentration; once a sorcerer’s attention waivers, so does the effect.”
“But I thought you could change things at will, permanently?”
“Sure, tangible things, but if I want to bring a person good luck, or I want my towels to hang dry from the ceiling every day after a shower, for something like that, I’d need a spell. That’s why a sorcerer invented the magic rod and discovered the usefulness of having a familiar - to assist in the magic that needed constant looking after.”
“Is it true that you can make something from nothing?”
“Not for me, it isn’t, but I’m sure for some, it could be. Since I’ve spent most of my life in non magical communities, I haven’t really ever practiced.” Lin sighed and said, “I’m sorry, but I don’t think Blair is here. I think we should visit Deputy Dennison.”
Then she felt a light air blow around her face.
“What was that?” asked Mara, tugging on her arm. She pointed at a shadow in the farthest corner toward the back wall.
“Who are you?” asked Lin.
At first, she thought it was the man who’d been following her, but then she realized the figure was too short.
They stood motionless, a moment; then the figure sent a rain of spells at her. Lin’s shield lit up like fireworks, as they bounced off, one by one.
Her shield remained impenetrable, and so the figure extended its arms and, using a backward and forward thrusting motion, sent chunks of glass hurling at her. Instead of knocking them off their feet, they bounced off her shield, shattered against the walls and fell into pieces on the floor.
When that didn’t work, he or she sent balls of fire that blasted into bright flames and clung to the shield, heating them on the inside and making them cover their faces.
The heat was unbearable, and there was no way Lin could fight the person and protect Mara at the same time. She needed to get her out, fast, because it was only a matter of minutes before her protection shield would waiver. A sorcerer’s energy came from within, and each hit on her shield was a direct hit on her energy.
When their attacker tired of fire, it sent an entire makeup counter at them. Mara screamed and then hit the floor.
The counter bounced off her shield.
Lin focused her will, and sent it back at the figure.
He or she ducked and ran. The counter smashed into the wall and crumbled to the floor.
“Get up! Stay close to me!” Lin screamed, but Mara became hysterical.
Lin yanked her up off the ground.
“What do we do? What do we do?” she asked over and over.
“On the count of three, we turn and run out of here, but stay close to me or else I can’t protect you.”
“What about Blair?”
“She’s not here, Mara! This was a setup, don’t you get it? Wise up and act like soldier, like the woman you were that night on the mountain!”
She shook her head.
“What?”
“I can’t, not without Blair.”
Ignoring her, she said, “On the count of three: one, two, three.”
They turned together, but Mara ran as fast as she could, letting go of Lin almost as if she didn’t hear a word she’d just said.
“No, Mara! Stay close to me!”
But she’d streaked off, sloppily jumping over counters and other junk. Lin followed.
A ray of red light extended across the room and hit Mara in the back. She screamed and fell to the floor.
“Mara,” she called and ran to her.
Her shield lit up like disco ball when the ray of light hit her, too.
Enraged, Lin turned and conjured a ball of fire that was the size of a basketball. Fast as a missile, it dashed the figure, but he or she had already disappeared. The fire ball blasted into the glass wall and shattered it; the force blew Lin back toward the dressing rooms on the other side of the room.
She lay there, stunned by back pain.
“Where are you?” she called.
When the pain in her back subsided a bit, she gently rose.
The figure she tried to blast reappeared.
“Hey,” Lin yelled, but the figure ran at Mara and bent over her body.
With her hand, Lin mimicked sending the attacker flying back toward the wall on the opposite side of the store. As if by marionette string, the person’s body followed.
As the figure flew through the air, it screamed like a woman. The figure hit the wall and fell, silently, onto the floor.
Lin gasped when the person’s head was jerked forward upon smashing into the wall. The face revealed was Blair.
She went over and rolled Mara onto her back and checked her pulse. She was knocked out but still alive. Breathing a sigh of relief, she tried to revive her but she wouldn’t wake. Lin knelt down and put her forearms under her shoulders and yanked her up.
She felt pity for both Mara and Blair. Lin knew there was bitterness between them, and it wasn’t completely unreasonable because Mara wasn’t exactly nice to her. Still, it was amazing that Blair could go so far.
She wrapped Mara’s arm around her neck and dragged her outside while using her power to move objects in their path. Blocking the door to outside stood the figure that had been following her. Lin sent a speeding ball of fire but he disappeared too quickly.
The remaining top part of the doors blasted outward, making enough room for her to drag Mara through.
Once outside, Lin flew them through the air and landed, one minute later, in the waiting room of Blackthorn Medical.
“Hello?” she called as she set Mara’s body into a chair.
She walked up to the empty counter and slammed the bell with her hand.
“Hello?” she yelled.
It dawned on her that it was very quiet. There were no patients waiting, and no sign of nurses.
Quickly, she ran through the admittance door and into the hallway. A few paces in, she tripped, face down, over a large copy machine that lay across the floor.
As she pushed herself up, she observed that the whole hall was a total wreck. White paper was strewn all over the floor. Inside the room to her right, the bed had been upturned and an I.V. bag laid leaking fluid onto the floor.
Slowly, she continued down the hall, keeping vigilant for the possibility that attackers were still there. And the sight didn’t get any better, for the entire hospital had been trashed.
The hall tapered off into a roundabout shape that led her back in the direction from where she came. When she entered the waiting room again, it was to find that Mara had disappeared.
Lin was stunned. Someone really was messing with her, she realized.
“Mara,” she called out.
No one answered. But Mara would never just leave her like that.
Thinking she must have walked into a different room, she ran back through the hallway and all the way around. She entered the exact same waiting room again. Mara wasn’t there.
She called her name again.
“MARA!”
Lin went over every foot of the floor, calling her name but found no one. After verifying there was no upstairs or downstairs, she walked around the building.
After an hour of searching, Lin decided it was time to go to the Sheriff’s office and report her missing. She hated to leave when she didn’t know if she was safe, but there was nothing else she could do. No one was in the hospital, and it was apparent that some sort of struggle had taken place.
As she walked down the street to Deputy Dennison’s office, she contemplated what had just happened. Obviously, someone had gone out of their way to take Mara. She couldn’t have walked out herself. Did Blair follow them?
Upon crossing the street, she stopped in the middle of the crosswalk. Five cars were parked at the red light, all of which were still running but without the owners behind the steering wheels. <
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Lin’s heart pounded as she realized the seriousness of the situation. She looked across the street and realized there were several empty cars there, too. Their engines were running; one must have been close to empty because it made sputtering noises.
Oh, well. She didn’t have time to go around and turn peoples cars off. Instead, she continued across the street and walked up the corner steps into Dennison’s office.
Like the hospital, the place looked awry.
“Hello?”
Panic made her heart pound.
File cabinets were upturned, paper was laying everywhere. The water fountain was over turned.
Upon noticing the scent of burnt coffee in the air, she decided to inspect the rest of the office. She’d hate for the deputy’s place to go up in flames.
She tugged on the door to the back hall and offices. It was electronically locked, so she climbed over the front desk and pushed the red button under the counter.
The hall was completely empty yet clean. In the break room, she turned the coffee pot off. No one was there. The struggle seemed to have only taken place in the front.
Completely confounded and unsure of what to do, she walked back outside. It was like a zombie apocalypse, only without the dead bodies.
Night was coming fast but she didn’t want to go home; she wanted to find someone. Down on Blackthorn Street, she peered through every window she passed and saw no one, not even at the cafe.
She turned left down Main Street and sat on a sidewalk bench, hoping to see someone – anyone.
The wind blew across her face and arms. The sky got darker. Lin rubbed her arms and shivered. She got up and walked past Youthful Apparel. On she continued, shop after shop but it was all the same.
She pulled back from the window and, turning around, saw the girl from the mall, the Shoester’s peculiar daughter. “Hey,” she called out.
The girl faded and disappeared like a trick mirage.
Confused, she walked on, even though she was extremely fatigued. She needed to go home and rest, and then figure out what to do next.
She took a step forward and stumbled to the ground. Lin tried to push herself up, but her arms were rubbery and weak, as was her body. Her breathing became slow and sluggish, and her brain completely useless.
All she needed was a nap.
A nap? I need to go, she said to herself.
But she was already lying on her side, and within seconds was asleep.
Heated Wakening
