by Rain Oxford
My head started to throb in pain, but I ignored it and concentrated on heat. I thought of every kind of heat I knew of; hot summers, fevers, sunburn, cooking accidents, and general burns. The heat spread from my thoughts to my chest and slowly into the sticks and hay. It started smoking.
A thought occurred to me that I could use figurative heat, because magic was really just a mental exercise. So I imagined meeting Remington at dusk that afternoon.
The sticks burst with flames.
I am a wizard.
After about ten minutes, we poured the contents of the cauldron into a glass jar, tied mesh over the end, and held it upside down over another jar. The mesh filtered out the dried ingredients and produced a rich, tea-brown liquid. We then took a funnel and divided the potion into ten glass dropper bottles.
Professor Langril tested one bottle from each team, still looking for a perfect dark purple. Mack and Andy were first up with a neon orange potion that, predictably, did nothing when the professor dripped his testing solution in it. Jessica and Tali, who had a light brown potion, were up next. When the professor added his dropper and shook it slightly, it turned the lightest possible shade of purple.
“Well, you might possibly have a good ‘drowsiness’ potion if you ever need one,” Professor Langril said. “Maybe you could soothe your baby to sleep with it.” Jessica blushed with embarrassment.
Professor Langril turned to us and Becky hesitantly handed him a bottle of our potion. Tali smirked, excited to see us fail. The professor put the drops in out bottle and shook it as he did the others. Instantly, it turned a deep, dark purple.
“Perfect.”
* * *
I was early to meet Remington, so I tossed some cucumbers to the kappa. The cook was starting to give me looks.
“You’re on time,” Remington observed, suddenly behind me.
I turned and smiled as politely as I could manage. She was the one who argued against expelling me, so I felt I owed her gratitude at least. As long as I could keep her from going Rambo on me again. “I studied,” I said.
“So, what time of day corresponds with water?”
“Dusk.” That was easy; we always met at dusk.
“Direction?”
“West.”
“Sense?”
“Taste and smell.”
“Quality?”
“Heavy and passive. It’s receptive. The magical tool is a chalice or cauldron. Its color is blue. The basic nature is flowing, purifying, healing, soothing, and loving. It is used in rituals of purification, love, psychic awareness, dreams, sleep, peace, marriage, and friendships.”
“Good. Get in the boat.”
“There isn’t a---” I cut myself off when I turned and saw the boat from before… which had not been there until she mentioned it. “Um… I think I would rather stay here.”
“I’m sure you would. Get in the boat.”
Unable to argue with her sound logic, I obeyed. Once again, we headed for the middle of the lake. I felt the presence of the familiar kappa’s mind and welcomed it. The image of him pushing the boat back to shore came to me.
“No, not yet,” I responded, not out loud but in his mind. Whether he knew English or not, he would understand me. Then the image of his webbed hands reaching into the boat and pulling Remington into the dark depths appeared and I nearly shuddered. “Friend.” Sort of. I would reserve judgment unless she tried to leave me stranded again.
“What does water mean to you?” she asked when we stopped in the center of the lake.
“You already asked that.”
“And I will keep asking it until I feel you have learned what I can teach you. How you regard water will change from the human concept, to the developing wizard concept, and then finally to the mastering wizard concept. A wizard is a wise man by nature; a learner until his last breath. Water is a characteristic of man, as are the other elements. A wizard is a man who has learned what the elements mean and how to use the very nature of the universe to change his reality. To understand water, you have to look inside.”
“But water is a female element,” I said. The undine had said I needed love instead of hate. Unfortunately, after considering Alpha’s Flagstone’s law of self-knowledge, I realized love and trust were my weak points. Which meant water was my weak point.
“Did you know that when they are first developing, every person is female? Can you be man enough to accept your emotions as a characteristic of you?”
I didn’t want to be characterized as a hateful person. Did it count if I just hated vampires? Did it really blemish my soul that I didn’t trust anyone? “I have loved before.” I loved my parents. I loved Regina a little bit, or at least the person I thought she was at first.
I loved Astrid.
“Find that love. Maybe it isn’t love for a person in your past, but love is love. When you can forgive your enemies and trust people, you will understand what water is.”
“So all I have to do is forgive my enemy and I will be a master of water?”
“No. To master it, you must understand it, but understanding it doesn’t make you a master of water. Being a master of an element is much more than being able to control the element; it’s being able to control that part of yourself and your reality. Things like walking on water and what you did in that bathroom are just playing with it. When you fought Jackson Michaels, what were you thinking and what were you feeling?”
I thought about it for a minute. “I was thinking about kappa and undine, but I was angry that Jackson and his friends were trying to gang up on me. It seemed like a stupid, childish thing for them to do. This is a university, not a playground, and the students should mind their own business.”
“There is a lot of fire in you, which isn’t really a bad thing. By focusing on the water element and feeling the fire element, you were making water active and fire passive. That’s why the pipes burst instead of the gas lights. Water can steady your emotions and heal, as long as it’s balanced.”
“What do you mean?”
She held up her palm and a small stream of water flew out of the lake to form a sphere that hovered a few inches above her skin. The water then broke its formation to make a butterfly, which then flew away on fluttering water wings.
“Doing something like this is nothing. Rituals are a much more powerful form of magic, but if you don’t balance it right, it can end in disaster. If you were going to heal someone with a powerful ritual, you would use the water element. You would also gather items that represent healing; colors, smells, textures… anything that means healing.”
“So, disinfectant because it smells like a hospital, white because it’s clean, and maybe bandages?”
“Everyone will be different. I know someone who would use a chicken. However, whatever element you are using, you have to balance it with its contrary element. Fire is contrary to water. So, if you’re trying to heal someone, you would have all the items you thought represented water and healing, but you would also have to have something to represent fire.”
“Like a candle?”
“Exactly. But, you have to keep it passive and the water active. So if you used a candle, you wouldn’t light it. It just needs to be there.” The boat started moving slowly towards the shore. “Same time next week. Try to see signs of love, trust, and hate in the people around you, and tell me who looks happier.”
I knew without seeing it that loving people were happier than hateful people.
When we reached the shore, she stood up, but hesitated and sat back down. “Tell me what happened to Professor Hans. Tell me honestly and I will trust you.”
Her voice was warmer and her expression was patient. Obviously, there was a lot more to Remington than her anger. “I was a few minutes late because I was talking to Dr. Martin and he actually reminded me that I had---”
“Dr. Martin?” she interrupted. “We don’t have a Dr. Martin.”
“Dr. Andrew Martin. He’s a weird guy. He was---”
“Andrew Martin died over thirty years ago. I wasn’t even born yet to meet him.”
* * *
The next day, in Laws of Magic, we discussed the Law of Contagion. “This is a law of association, which states that things which have once been in contact with each other continue to interact after separation. This is what enables you to enchant a person with their hair, blood, nails, etcetera. You can do a locating spell with such objects as well.”
That was something I could see being very helpful as a private investigator.
The door burst open. “Alpha, Van just ambushed a fox shifter in the dining room,” a man said from the door, not entering the room.
Alpha Flagstone sighed. “Not again. Class is dismissed.”
Magic in Everyday Life had been cancelled until further notice on account of Professor Hans’s murder, so Darwin and I returned to our room. Darwin opened the door and froze. “Did Henry’s girlfriend track him down?” he asked as he finally stepped out of the doorway.
Dr. Martin’s ugly cat was sitting on my desk with a pair of black chopsticks. “No, that’s Dr. Martin’s girlfriend.”
The cat glared at me.
The cat did not approve.
“Well, who let her in?”
The cat hissed at Darwin. “I think maybe it’s a boy cat.” The cat stopped glaring so hard. “As for who let him in… the same one who let him out last night, I suspect; himself. The damn cat can disappear and reappear.”
Darwin nodded with understanding. “He must be a familiar then. It looks like he left you a present.”
I went to the desk and picked up the chopsticks. They weren’t ordinary wooden chopsticks; they were pointed and had decorative beads hanging on the top ends. Hair chopsticks. “They’re pretty, but my hair isn’t long enough,” I told the confused cat.
He glared and then calmly stood and stepped off the book… which he hadn’t been sitting on before. Not only did the book suddenly appear, but it did so under the cat that can disappear.
“There’s something in the water, right?”
Before I could pick the book up, the leather cover opened, lying itself back, and dozens of pages flipped over. There were no page numbers, but the page it stopped at had a circular design at its top. I read through as much of the script as I could before giving the cat my best look of disbelief.
“You want me to do a locator spell on chopsticks?”
He purred.
“You’ve lost your---”
“Hey!” Darwin interrupted as he approached the desk. “There’s a scent…” he took one of the chopsticks from me and sniffed it. “You should have Henry check it. There’s been blood on this. Could be steak blood or something, yo, but that’s definitely blood. Henry could tell you what kind.”
“I have martial arts with him soon. If it’s human blood, maybe I can use the spell to track down whose blood it is.” When I looked back at the desk, the cat was gone.
I read a little more into the book, and then I returned to the locating spell. This time, it made more sense. I was startled when Darwin tugged on my sleeve.
“You’re going to be late for your class.”
I looked at the clock and saw that he was right; I barely had enough time to change and get there on time. Two minutes later, I was out the door, still trying to pull my black t-shirt over my head. One thing entered my mind just before I made it to the practice room.
That book. That damned book.
It wasn’t on the table when I had left the room.
* * *
Henry and Zhang Wei were chatting when I arrived. I really wanted to ask Henry alone about the blood, so I decided to wait until after class. I set them next to my bag and focused on doing well. It was a good way of getting exercise.
Being a private investigator, I didn’t normally have to dodge bullets, jump over the hoods of cars, and chase bad guys down back alleys like cops had to. Actually, that was probably better for my health overall. Since I didn’t have the authority to make arrests, I investigated a situation, organization, or person for my client. Most of my work involved spying on people, looking up contacts and records, and tracing company actions. Thus, I normally did a light workout a few days a week to keep in shape. After watching the shifters in martial arts, I decided I was going to have to step up my game.
At the end of class, I gathered my things and Zhang Wei approached me. “You should spar with me, Devon,” he said.
“I think I like my internal organs to stay internal, thank you. Where is Li Na?”
“She has been having nightmares. It is strange; she has never been afraid of spiders before, but now she sees them everywhere. Headmaster Hunt let her return home to rest for a few days. Hey, those are hers,” he said. I realized I was holding the hair sticks as we talked.
“Oh. Are you sure? My… cat found them today. I wanted to see if Henry could find who they belonged to,” I lied, giving them up. I had to hand over what was possibly my strongest evidence because I made a dumb oversight, but at least I knew who they belonged to.
“They were our mother’s. Li Na lost these a week ago and was heartbroken over it. Please thank your cat for me.”
* * *
When I got back to my room, I opened my notebook and folded a sheet into three columns, which I labeled as suspect, motive, and evidence. At least it was evidence for suspicion. My first suspect was Mrs. Ashcraft. Under evidence, I noted the two conversations I overheard. Under motive, I left it blank. Second suspect was… Li Na. It felt wrong putting her name. I scratched it out. Bloody chopsticks that were stolen from her or lost wasn’t enough to make the list. Instead, I wrote the incident down on the first page. On the next page, I wrote case draft, because this far into it, I had to have something.
August 24 – August 31: Five people (four wizards and one fae, two women and three men) were killed in their bedrooms. All had fang marks on their necks and were drained of blood.
Supposed cause of death: vampire attack
Connection: promising students of Quintessence
Questions: Who gave vampires the student records?
September 10: Susan Walker (fae) was killed in private and relocated to the dining hall. There were fang marks in her neck and she was covered in blood, but she was not drained of blood.
Supposed cause of death: vampire attack
Connection to the other murders: …
Questions: Why wasn’t she drained of blood? Why was she left in public?
September 11: Professor Marcus Hans was killed in his classroom. There were fang marks in his neck and he was covered in blood, but he was not drained of blood. He was the first teacher.
Connection to the other murders: …
Questions: Why was he killed?
I turned back to the front page. Who is Dr. Andrew Martin? I skipped a few lines. Whose blood was on Li Na’s chopsticks?
* * *
I felt dread when a gentle knock sounded on my door. I looked up from my Metals textbook, but didn’t stand. Henry was at his desk, studying, while Darwin was sprawled over his bed reading manga. Darwin glanced fearfully at the door, then from me to Henry. “Maybe we should pretend we’re not home,” he whispered, nearly too quiet for me to hear.
“I heard that!” our visitor yelled through the door.
I recognized the voice, so I got up and opened the door. Heather smiled at me. She was dressed in a dark purple plaid shirt with short jean shorts and high-heeled silver sandals.
Darwin whistled with appreciation before I could say anything. “Looking good, Heather!”
She just laughed and waved at him. “Devon, I’ve come to take you away.”
“Go, bro!” Darwin encouraged. “I heard Heather’s a yoga instructor.”
She winked at him, but it seemed to be just playful banter. “What do you need?” I asked.
“Unfortunately, it’s not me. Mrs. Ashcraft needs to see you in her office right away. I’ll show you the way.”
“The ice quee
n sends the sugar princess,” Darwin commented.
I exited the room and closed the door before he could get himself in trouble. “Sorry about him.”
“Not a problem.”
Neither of us said anything else as we made our way through the dark halls of the school. It was creepy enough during the day; night took it to another level. The door didn’t need a “keep out” sign to scare the students away, because the aura around the door promised all kinds of horrors inside. I knocked, hoping there was no one inside.
“Come in,” Mrs. Ashcraft’s voice called out.
I turned to find that I was alone in the hall. Since I could see no reasonable means of escape and my roommates could attest to my last known whereabouts, I opened the door and went in. Mrs. Ashcraft’s office was brighter than I expected. It was about twelve-by-twelve with tan-painted block walls and hardwood floors.
There was a bay window against the far wall with a sill large enough to sit on and look out over the campus. She had a large desk made of metal and glass with paperwork arranged in many organized stacks. The deputy principal sat in a high-back office chair at her desk, across from two smaller, decent black chairs.
“You wanted to see me?” I asked.
“Yes, sit down. Would you like some tea?”
Is it flavored with arsenic or cyanide? “No, thank you.” I sat hesitantly in one of the chairs, half expecting a rusty tack, half expecting the floor to open up into a shark tank.
“I wanted to ask you about something that happened a few days ago. Some of the other students have said that you discovered a vampire in the school. Is that correct?” she asked. Her expression was friendly and concerned.
