She then told me how she met Vin and about how he had been sent to her grandfather for training. Renee’s grandfather was considered a great teacher amongst our kind and that promising students were often sent to him for training.
She told me how Vin was at first. How he was shy, thoughtful and introspective. Renee continued with how they had studied together and grown up together and how Renee had thought herself in love with him with all the heart and earnestness of a sixteen-year-old girl. Renee spoke in simple truths and it was hard not to be hurt by her frank retelling. She continued on with her story explaining that as Vin became stronger in the arts and learned more, he began to change. It manifested in small ways at first and Renee hadn’t noticed it. Then Renee found that he had begun testing the local kids in the local school. A school that both Renee and Vin attended at the time. He would play games with them, seeking out their weaknesses to prove that they would never be as strong or as smart as him. He became cruel and reckless as he flaunted his powers without ever revealing his powers directly to them.
Renee’s grandfather had placed stern restrictions on them both against revealing the magic to outsiders. Each month that passed Vin was skirting closer and closer to breaking the rules. He would scare the students and torment them more and more and as time passed he became more reckless.
He became arrogant and proud of his abilities. He spurned his master’s teachings and began to actively seek out ways to test himself and to improve his abilities. He sought to prove that he was stronger than those around him. In the end, he tired of tormenting the ‘normals’ as he dubbed them. This only left one option, there was only one on whom he could really test himself – Renee.
It came to a head when they had finished high school. Renee chose to attend university and Vin did not. Vin saw no value in formal education and scoffed at Renee’s choice. He obviously saw this as a sign of weakness and began to exploit it.
This competition began in little ways. Vin would create stupid challenges to see who could project the strongest mana thread or who could detonate the most mana. When he inevitably lost he would become cold and distant.
He had no patience with being bested by a woman and it soon began to show. Renee described how the two began to argue, often loudly and how one night after a particularly stupid argument she had slapped him and demanded that he go away and leave her alone.
He had taken it badly.
The argument had made Renee’s grandfather concerned and he chose to send Vin away. Vin had refused to go and instead moved into the local town to stay close to her. He became fixated on her and began to follow her, often turning up unexpectedly at her university campus.
At the conclusion of her first year at university, Renee’s grandfather arranged for a trip for Renee and several of her friends. It was an amazing holiday opportunity. Renee found out later that it was merely an excuse to get Renee out of the way so that her grandfather could deal with Vin.
Renee spent the next several weeks travelling around Europe with her friends in what she described was the best time of her life. It wasn’t until Renee returned from her trip that things turned horrible. In her absence Vin’s fixation had increased. Renee’s grandfather’s plan had obviously had the opposite effect to what he had intended.
Renee and her friends were returning home from the airport via a bus when Vin caused the bus she was travelling in to have an ‘accident’. He telekinetically sent the bus tumbling over the side of a cliff on the road leading back into the town.
The accident made the papers, as dozens of people were injured and several people were killed, including the driver. There were rumours that the bus had swerved to avoid someone standing on the road, but Renee knew better. She had seen the mana threads wrap around the bus that had sent it hurtling over the edge. She’d seen the driver on the brakes and grasp at the wheel in panic. This was useless as he had no control over the vehicle any longer. In vain she had tried to steady the bus using her own powers, but it all happened so fast. It was all she could do to brace herself and those around her as the bus fell to its inevitable and fiery end.
She awoke amongst the ruins of the bus. Her arms were battered and bruised and she had a cut to her forehead. A red mist covered her eyes as she spotted Vin on the roadside looking down upon what he had wrought.
In fury she stormed from the bus, leaving dozens of confused and hurt passengers in the wreckage behind her as she leapt to the top of the ravine where Vincent was waiting for her. He gloated, saying that she wasn’t powerful enough after all. That at the end, when it had really mattered he had beaten her.
She didn’t even listen to him in her anger and she struck him, again and again and again. The accident weakened her and put her off balance and her magic wouldn’t respond to her the way it used to. She was unable to penetrate the shield around him.
He’d laughed at her and called her pathetic. He shrugged off her attacks with his mocking laugh as if they were nothing. Renee stuck him again and again, her rage lending her more strength and power but it simply wasn’t enough.
Then, when he had decided it was time, he struck back.
With a contemptuous flick of his wrist he sent a powerful thread against Renee. Due to the accident she had just survived and her own expenditure of energy Renee wasn’t able to stand against it. Renee was just barely able to shield his attack in time, but the blow sent her tumbling back over the side of the cliff. Renee wasn’t sure what happened next, but had supposed that the impact with the ground had caused her to black out.
Renee’s grandfather found her several hours later unconscious at the bottom of the ravine. The trees around her had been crushed as if something far larger had come tearing through the woods.
Renee didn’t see Vincent after that. The bus accident had been investigated and it was blamed on a driver fault that had caused the bus to swerve over the side. An investigation into the fault was launched as to how it could have happened, but had come back inconclusive.
Renee suspected that her grandfather had involved himself in the investigation to hush matters up. She was never able to prove that this was the case though. A small service was held in the town for the victims of the accident. Amongst the victims were two of Renee’s close friends from university.
Renee had fallen into a deep depression after the accident as she blamed herself for the death of her friends. After all, if it hadn’t been for her friendship with Vin the accident would never have happened. Renee’s grandfather had decided that Renee had to be sent away until Vincent could be found and stopped. She could not be adequately protected where they were. She needed to be sent far away while he dealt with matters locally.
Renee’s grandfather arranged, through his contacts, the apartment in Melbourne. It was as far away as he could arrange in a city that had a good university for her to continue her studies. She didn’t want to leave but grudgingly agreed.
She moved and took up film studies (something she’d always wanted to do) and a part time job in the bookstore, finding as she did so that she didn’t need to draw upon the magic like once she did. In fact, she found very little need for it at all. She still used it of course, but she didn’t get the same joy from the experience as she once did. She’d actually done a pretty good job of leaving her past life behind until she met me.
When she met me, her love of the magic returned with renewed vibrancy and temptation. She realised that it was a part of her life that she simply couldn’t do without. No, that wasn’t true – she didn’t want to live without it.
When Renee had first met me at the club she had thought that I was a threat. She thought I was someone sent by Vin to find her and bring her back to him. She knew he would still be hunting her and that he’d never give up. When Renee saw the state that I was in as my body was coming to terms with the mana, she knew she had to help me. She knew from her studies that this is a dangerous time in our development and that it can easily lead to death if it goes badly. In the end, aga
inst her better judgement, she decided to teach me.
It might have been easier for her if she’d turned her back on me and let me go my own way. Renee had found that she enjoyed helping me, teaching me and sharing her knowledge with me. Although it hurt when she said it, she said it reminded her of the good times with Vin.
And that was the problem.
She began to look for signs in me, a smirk or gloating comment that would make her believe that she was creating the very same monster that she was trying to hide from. And so she said she had watched me and kept her distance from me. Then Renee told me that she loved me. We didn’t break up that night. I had asked her if she truly thought Vincent would leave me alone just because we weren’t together any longer and Renee had remained silent. She couldn’t answer me, but her silence had answered the question nonetheless.
Vin would eventually come after me anyway. It was obvious that he’d feel that I represented a threat to him. It would be a threat that he’d inevitably feel the need to test himself against. I wasn’t sure that I’d survive the test, let alone pass.
I often look back on this night with the wisdom that comes with hindsight and ponder what would have happened had I just decided to turn and run. I doubt had I chosen that path that I would have retained my self-respect, but the path I chose cost me that anyway. Turning tail and running probably wouldn’t have hurt anywhere near as much.
* * * *
The ticket machine clicked with a dull thud as my ticket was returned to me. I moved through the security check and onto the train station platform. It was dark by the time I left Renee's and although I had vague plans of staying the night there, Renee didn't think it was good idea given the circumstances.
She’d seen Vin stalking her during the day and guessed that he probably knew where she lived. She didn’t think it was a good idea to antagonise him by staying the night. I think I was a little obvious in my disappointment, but Renee was firm with me. My phone buzzed in my pocket and I fumbled for it and brought it to my ear. I was a little out of breath as I answered it as I’d had to run as I thought my train was about to leave the station.
“Hello, Renee?”
“Where are you?” she demanded down the line, in way of greeting.
“I’m at the train station.”
“Have you seen Vin?”
“No, why?” I replied. I glanced nervously about the abandoned station. It was pretty dark and there were several other people on the train and platform, but I’d have never missed the tell-tale evidence of a mana circle. Vin wasn’t here.
“Can you see any small particles of mana in the air?” Renee demanded, ignoring my question.
I glanced around frantically. I couldn't see anything unusual about the place.
“It'll be very hard to see,” Renee continued urgently. “Look for reflections of light out of the corner of your eye where there shouldn’t be any. It’s kind of like when a light reflects off a mirror.”
“Maybe,” I reflected as a flash of light caught my vision.
“Okay,” Renee said. She sounded calm but it was obvious from her tone that she was more than a little concerned.
“Yeah, I’m definitely seeing something funny going on,” I continued. The flickering became more and more obvious to me now that I had noticed it.
“Right, set off an awareness blast now!” Renee hissed down the line.
“I can’t, there are people here,” I disagreed.
“Then do it quietly! It won’t need to be that big, just do it now!” Renee retorted.
“What will this prove?”
“I think you’re being watched,” Renee replied darkly.
“Does it matter?”
“Of course it fucking matters,” Renee snapped, finally losing her patience. “Don’t be stupid!”
I didn’t argue the point any further. I simply moved to a seat where my hand motions couldn’t be seen and set off a small blast. To my amazement the small amount of mana I used covered the entire carriage, most of the two on either side and a good portion of the station platform.
“Did you do it?” Renee nervously asked.
“Yeah,” I replied as I looked around.
I could see an arc of mana curving onto the station platform where I had been catching the twinkling lights. It was like no mana thread that I’d ever seen before. The mana particles were wound loosely around a central core but weren’t really attached to it. I had no idea how it was maintaining its stability.
This was something far beyond my abilities.
“What do you see?” Renee interrupted my observation.
“It looks like a mana thread on the station. It’s kind of, I dunno, more loosely built,” I replied.
Renee cursed down the line.
“What is it?”
“Scrying,” Renee replied. “Where does the thread appear to be going?”
“I don’t know,” I replied nervously. “Up out of the station.”
“What direction?” Renee almost snarled down the line.
“I don’t know.”
“Guess.”
“North Melbourne?” I guessed, trying to estimate where the thread headed.
“Right,” Renee replied determinedly. “Stay put – call me if you see anything.”
Renee hung up. I stood and watched the mana thread for a good five minutes before eventually an announcement came on indicating that the train was about to finally leave the station.
I watched owlishly as the door to the train closed with a small hiss and the train gently rocked itself into motion. I quickly looked around the carriage, taking note of each occupant. There was a little old lady with a young man who I could only assume was her son.
There were also a few guys in the corner who were obviously a little worse for drink. The last occupant of the carriage was a weary man in a rumpled suit who was staring forcefully out the window ignoring everything else around him. I breathed a sigh of relief as the train left the confines of my awareness spell and left the station.
Renee rang as I passed the first station to check in. She hadn’t been able to locate Vin, but noticed that the thread of mana had stopped. I promised Renee I’d call if anything unusual happened and quietly slipped my phone back into my pocket and positioned myself near the aisle just in case I needed to make a quick getaway.
The train dipped into the subway and it wasn’t long before the motion of the train sent me into a light doze. It couldn’t be called sleep, but I certainly wasn’t alert either. I had meant to stay alert, but given the time it was difficult. Besides, I doubted that anything would happen anyway.
We passed several more stations, taking us out of the underground loop. No-one had gotten into my carriage from any of the city stations. This wasn’t that surprising given the hour and pretty soon the train was making its way out of the city and into the suburbs.
I was on the home stretch now.
A whooshing noise followed by a door slamming brought my attention back into the carriage. I wasn't overly concerned by the noise but it had startled me. It was just someone moving between carriages. It was unusual, but hardly noteworthy. It was only when I noticed exactly who had entered the carriage that I sat bolt upright in my chair.
Vin was sauntering down the aisle of the carriage on his way to me. Fortunately he'd entered from the opposite side of the carriage and was thus immediately visible. I wouldn't have liked to have thought of my reaction should he suddenly have appeared from behind me. It certainly wouldn't have been conducive to the healthy state of my underwear.
I vaguely contemplated ringing Renee but quickly discarded that idea. It would be obvious that I was calling for help and I wasn't ready to admit yet that I needed it. The second reason was that Vin was too close. He'd hear everything said and I didn't like the idea of that either. I decided to play it cool and wait and see what happened. Probably not the best plan in hindsight.
Vin had a smug grin on his face as he reached the row of chairs I was occ
upying and he threw himself into the chair opposite me. He lazily stretched his legs forward to rest them on the chair opposite. This forced me to scoot down the row of chairs further towards the window.
He’d blocked me in.
“I don't think we've met,” Vin grunted after several seconds of silence.
“Just briefly,” I replied, not making eye contact.
“Hardly formally introduced though. Renee was quite rude in that department especially considering that we're such old friends.” He smirked as if making a joke.
I didn't comment. I could tell I was being baited.
A stilted silence ensued and I could feel Vin's eyes dragging across me attempting to find any weakness. It was like he was tearing me apart and inspecting the pieces, looking for defects.
I had no intention of giving him any further opportunities.
I was seconds away from throwing a shield around myself and making a run for it. The rational part of my mind insisted that this would do no good however an irrational part of my mind was screaming at me to get the hell out of there.
“Quiet type, aren't you?” Vin continued in his mocking drawl.
“Yeah, I guess,” I replied. “Don't really have much to say.”
“I guess it seems that Renee's rudeness rubs off on her students.”
I winced slightly at the way that Vin cut off the word ‘students’, but didn't reply.
“Is Renee a good teacher, do you think?” he continued conversationally.
“Good enough,” I grunted.
“How good would you say?” he pressed.
“She's the only mana teacher I’ve known, so I'm not really in a position to judge now, am I?” I replied, letting my voice get a little cutting.
“Really? That’s interesting.” Vin smiled. His tone gave me the indication that I’d just said something that I shouldn't have.
His eyes were almost glowing in the reflected light from the window, giving his face an almost skeletal mask across his features.
“You're certainly committed to the story, I’ll give you that,” Vin continued.
Mage Catalyst Page 29
