by J A Campbell
“Oh, well, I guess there is that.” Elise shrugged. “I’ve never really gotten in trouble.”
Grinning, Harmony shrugged. “It’s not so bad. At least we’re not cleaning the boy’s restroom.”
Elise shuddered. “Ew.”
“Ew is right. They’re the worst.”
“So who was that other guy?” Elise glanced back over her shoulder.
Harmony sighed. “That is our esteemed cousin, Marcus Macrow. He picked me up in Texas.”
“Oh.” Elise shivered.
“Yeah, come on. Let’s get some rest.”
Harmony seemed in a very good mood, considering everything, Elise thought. Maybe the week of pot cleaning was worth cheering her roommate up a little. While Elise was somewhat mortified that she’d gotten in trouble, she was also a little proud of doing what was in her blood. She didn’t feel too bad. Not this time, anyway. Hopefully she could avoid getting in trouble again, but somehow she didn’t think that was going to happen. Professor Thompson seemed like the type that would look for things to punish them for. She wondered if he simply didn’t like students, or if he didn’t like House Macrow. That was a mystery for another day. Elise remembered she hadn’t told Harmony about her discovery yet.
“Hey, when we get back, I’ve got something to tell you.”
Once they were in their room, Elise made another cup of tea. Harmony was beginning to enjoy this ritual and wondered what sort she’d prepare this time. Sniffing, she thought she caught a hint of chamomile.
“It’s sleepy tea. All relaxing herbs. It thought it would be good after the excitement.”
“Thanks.” Harmony accepted her teacup and tested the temperature. Just right.
“So, the other night, when...well, the other night I overheard some stuff. Two dark cars drove down the drive and, well, I eavesdropped.”
Harmony sipped her tea and listened while Elise described the little bit of the conversation she’d overheard. House Macrow hadn’t wanted to share how two full blooded members had been raised outside the house. Somehow they were in danger from getting attacked and that they’d be safe at the school, and that at least one part of the family had lavender eyes like her own.
“You know what this means?” Harmony said, not feeling that concerned at the moment.
“No, what?” Elise looked hopeful, as if Harmony could solve the mystery that quickly.
“We’re related.”
Elise blinked, as if she didn’t quite understand what Harmony had said. “What?”
“We’re related. We’re like cousins or something. Family.”
Elise brightened. “Oh!” She laughed. “I guess so. I hadn’t thought of it.”
“With everything else, I hadn’t, either.” She took another sip.
“So what are we going to do about the danger?” Elise glanced at the door as if worried something would break in right then.
“Learn as much as we can so that we can be strong enough to keep ourselves safe. We don’t know who we can trust right now, so we’ll have to trust and rely on ourselves.”
Draining her cup, Elise nodded. “Okay. It’s a deal. We’ll trust each other.”
Harmony sipped the last of her tea and put the cup back on the night stand. “Deal.”
“Didn’t take you long….” Marcus Macrow greeted them as they were heading down for lunch. Elise stopped in her tracks, staring at him. Harmony thought she was either gobsmacked by the gorgeousness or scared to death—or more likely, some combination of the two. She could read the girl pretty well most of the time but Elise’s feelings flickered so quickly across her face, it was hard to tell right then. Harmony promised herself to warn the girl not to act like a deer in the headlights. “It’s a pity none of the faculty would bet on you staying out of trouble, Ms. Hendricks.”
“Elise, Elisabeth Winters,” Harmony managed to keep some semblance of cool. Inside, she was repeating to herself, Don’t let them see your fear. “This is Marcus Macrow. He’s….”
“Your magical control and defense tutor,” Cousin Macrow provided. “Clearly, you both need to start working on self-control before we begin with the magic. Your lessons will start right after regular school. And, I believe Professor Thompson will also commence working with you today.”
Oh great, right after the World History and English tests I haven’t studied for. Harmony wondered if some portion of her powers contained good test mojo. To date, her regimen was to study her butt off—but when your mom gets killed, you have to go out in the woods at midnight to see if you can talk to her.
Mom loved me. She never wanted to forget those words. ‘You’re as much my daughter as theirs.’ But whose, specifically. Not just House Macrow. She had a biological mother—and a father somewhere.
“Huh?”
Cousin Macrow had said something to the two of them but she hadn’t been paying attention. Harmony took a deep breath of the foggy morning air, hoping it’d wake her enough to concentrate. Sleepy tea was nice, but she needed at least two cups of Earl Grey to wake her up.
Cousin Macrow shook his head at her and strode past them. Harmony watched his broad back getting smaller. He was one scary dude. She recalled Elise talking about the House Macrow mages showing up at the school late at night, and wondered precisely what kind of people they were. The school didn’t differentiate between “dark” and “light” magic, at least not yet. So far, what little instruction they’d gotten taught simply that magic was a tool. What about ethics? Did mages believe in karma? Her mom had made a point of introducing her to quite a few Wiccans who taught her about the rule of three. She must have known something about Harmony's heritage and had been doing her best to prepare her daughter.
But why hadn’t House Macrow done something?
“He’s really our cousin?” Elise asked, still whispering after he was long gone.
“And my truant officer,” Harmony said and explained his appearance in Austin—and the threat he’d made.
“They can control our magic without…” Elise couldn’t quite say the rest.
“Apparently so,” Harmony said. “I wonder why they give us volition at all?”
“We don’t have a plan to deal with him, do we?” Elise sounded hopeful.
“We don’t have a clue,” Harmony told her. “The one thing I know we’ve got to do is get with our schoolwork and do as well as we can. Our survival’s going to depend on it.”
On her way to her biology class, Elise pondered what she had learned from Harmony. The threats from Cousin Macrow, combined with what she had overheard, terrified her. Considering calling her mom for advice, Elise thought about what kind of danger that might put her parents in. She and Harmony might be able to deal with the threats since they had some magical talents. Her parents would be defenseless, and it wouldn’t surprise her if the magical community had measures in place to prevent involvement by the police.
Shivering in the cool Columbia River-fed humidity, Elise wrapped her arms around herself and looked around at the other students traveling down the concrete path for a familiar face. Hoping to find some comfort in her classmates, Elise cast about for a friend. She saw Annie from history, and a couple of her fellow biology students headed to the same class as her, and a few boys she knew and sometimes talked with at meals, but no one she’d call a friend.
Joy was off on a retreat with fellow weather-workers up North. They were going to deal with winds and snow if they were lucky. Elise wondered what kind of retreats she and Harmony could expect as necromancers…. The thought made her shudder and draw her jacket closer around her.
With all the changes and everything else, she hadn’t stopped to think about it, but her only real friend here was Harmony.
Not sure if this should bother her or not, Elise studied the walk while she hurried to her class, the sight of all the familiar faces disquieting at the moment.
A pair of men’s dress shoes appeared in her field of view and she jerked to a halt. Eyes wide she looked up. Prof
essor Thompson stood in front of her, his expression unreadable but not quite friendly.
His smile replaced the unfriendly expression so quickly, Elise questioned if she’d actually seen the menace or just imagined it. So far, the staff had been more than accommodating. They were here to educate her, to make her a better magical citizen. All good purposes, right?
“Elise, how are you this afternoon?”
“I’m fine, Professor. Can I help you with something? I’m on my way to class.”
“Of course you are, Elise. This will only take a moment.” He held out a card.
Elise took it from him, not knowing what else to do. The letters HH glittered in gold on the front. The back had a time and location. The next morning. Early.
“I’ve noticed that you and Harmony don’t attend any clubs at school. If you’re interested in learning more about magic, and perhaps fitting in a little better, you should consider coming to this one.”
“I don’t know, Professor. There’s a lot going on and I’m still trying to learn so much. I don’t know if I have time for clubs.” She handed the card back, but he didn’t accept it.
“Elise, I’m not sure exactly how to tell you this except by being direct. You and Harmony spend too much time together, and now that everyone knows you’re both full bloods, that makes people nervous. You need to have other friends among your fellow students. Perhaps you should even consider getting a different roommate. Part of school is making connections that will serve you later in life. If no one likes you, if something bad should befall Miss Hendricks…well, you won’t have any connections to fall back on. Come to the club, Elise. You’ll be better off for it.”
Professor Thompson turned away and Elise’s protest died on her lips as she clamped them shut. Disagreeing to his back wasn’t going to do any good. Studying the card, she fought the uneasy feeling the glittering HH gave her and shoved it into her pocket. The card wasn’t evil. The students weren’t evil. Surely professors had their students’ best interests in mind. What could it hurt?
Elise hurried to class and sat in her normal seat at the front of the room. A quick glance around showed her mostly averted faces, no smiles or nods in return; it confirmed to her that she had no friends in the room. Taking a deep breath and trying to focus on the teacher, she took a few notes on cell division. Professor Thompson’s words kept overriding her current teacher’s. What could he possibly be talking about? Making connections now? It made no sense. That was for politics, not real life.
What if something happened to Harmony? What if Harmony needed help herself? The what-ifs over-rode the lecture, clamoring for her to pay attention to them. Her parents had always told her to have many friends so she could learn about different people and have many things to do.
“Don’t just put all your eggs in one basket.” Her mom had said those words more than once to her.
The bell for class change rang. Elise had taken exactly one note. She had no idea what the rest of the lecture had encompassed and hoped it wouldn’t be on the test.
There wasn’t a single student in there she could ask for notes. In her old school, she would not have hesitated to ask just about any student in her classes. She really had made herself an island—and Harmony didn’t seem to know how to do anything else but isolate herself from the bullying and abuse.
Fortunately, or unfortunately, her last class of the day was defense with Cousin Macrow. It was a good class for ignoring distractions. If she didn’t focus, she’d get blasted. Literally.
Elise hurried to the locker rooms so she could change.
Earning only one magical bolt, and therefore, only one sore spot later, was a testament more to luck than to Elise’s ability to concentrate. She’d seen Harmony shoot her a few concerned glances during the training. Some of it had been meditation training, to help their control. Most of the rest had been self defense. Hand to hand stuff. They hadn’t started on magic yet, except when they displeased their instructor. Then Cousin Macrow would jolt them with a bit of lightning, or the magical equivalent, anyway.
Cousin started out asking them two questions: had they any self-defense training, and were they ever in a fight?
Elise answered “no” to both, somewhat proud she’d managed to stay out of trouble.
Harmony, on the other hand, cheerfully replied to the affirmative.
“I took aikido after I got jumped in fourth grade.”
“Did you earn a belt?” Cousin asked.
“No,” Harmony replied. “But I never got beat up again—even when there were more of them than me.”
She fought more determinedly than Elise could. Even when Cousin had her, Harmony couldn’t find it in herself to surrender.
The first time he’d blasted Harmony, she’d tried to fight back. They’d both quickly learned that there was a reason Cousin Macrow was a defense instructor. They both wanted to learn as much as they could, but getting hurt in the process wasn’t something Elise relished. Harmony took it better.
By the end of the first lesson, Harmony had conjured up her own lightning and shot it at Cousin. He merely shielded and parried it back for her to dodge, but that hadn’t deterred her. She kept going.
Harmony spat an insult at him in Spanish. Her face firmed in concentration, and his return shot splattered against a shield.
“Yes!” Harmony’s cheer shifted to a screech when Cousin’s next bolt shattered her shields and stopped a hair’s breadth from her face, blowing her hair back like she’d been in a strong wind.
When Cousin turned to work more with Elise, Harmony set up a shield and commenced throwing everything she had at it, from bolts to rocks, to pieces of glass and chunks of wood. She was panting and soaked with sweat by the end of the class and swearing she’d have a functioning shield by the next lesson.
“Elise, are you okay?” Harmony asked once they were alone in the locker room to clean up from class.
Staring at a grass stain on her sweatpants, Elise shrugged. “I’m hot, sweaty, I need a shower, and I never thought I’d be learning hand to hand combat from some scary dude who could be a bodyguard in a movie. What could be wrong?”
Laughing, Harmony patted her on the shoulder. “At least we’re alive and they’re teaching us how to stay that way. They could be trying to kill us without any preparation at all.”
Elise nodded. “You’re right. Harmony. I just never thought fighting would be something I’d have to learn. What do you think it would be like in the House school instead of here?”
Harmony pulled clean clothes out of the locker and headed for the showers. “Cutthroat. They’d kill us in a heartbeat, maybe for real. We don’t have the background to take on something like that. Not yet, anyway.”
“Are you sure? Maybe we’d fit in better. Make good connections, things like that.”
“No, I think we’d get eaten alive. I’ve heard stories of the House schools. We’re not ready.”
“Oh.” Coming from someone as tenacious and dauntless as Harmony, that was a frightening thought. Elise wondered who had told Harmony about the House schools. Maybe she was making connections unlike Elise. If she was, Elise was happy for her. It just seemed like Harmony was as much an outcast as herself. She hadn’t even noticed until today. Maybe she should go to the HH club, whatever that stood for. She wondered if she should go alone, or if she should take Harmony. Professor Thompson’s words echoed in her mind.
You make people uncomfortable.
So, how to fit in and not scare people? And should she do it alone? Or with her only friend?
Speaking of not scaring people, Elise glanced toward the library. That ghost...she had to conquer her ability to deal with ghosts. Callie liked the poltergeist. Maybe she could convince the library ghost she was okay. Determined to try, she headed for the library.
A few of the students gave her a wary glance as she walked in and the librarian on duty paled. Before they could stop Elise, she hurried to the stairway down to the basement stacks. Hopefully, if
there was an issue, she could contain it to the lower levels. Pausing, she listened.
Satisfied no one followed her down the stairs, Elise hurried through the stacks, hoping she was alone. Not many people came down to these levels and a quick perusal convinced her no one else was there.
Finding the necromancy section, mostly just because, she settled to the floor and opened her mind.
Callie appeared next to her and lay down with her ghostly muzzle resting on Elise’s outstretched legs. Taking her lack of concern as a good sign, Elise reached out with her magic, thinking about the poltergeist.
Nothing.
“Um, hello?” She said aloud.
Still nothing.
Elise grumbled. Here she was, trying to be nice, and nothing. A book dropped on her head.
Shrieking, Elise scrambled to her feet, but, when seeing how light the book was, and how heavy the one shelved next to it had been, she took that as a good sign, too.
“Hey, I’m sorry about the other day.”
Wind whispered around her, but still Callie remained calm. The book that had dropped on her head rustled and Elise looked more closely.
Whispering to Ghosts. Why hadn’t she seen this book before? After a quick look around, Elise shoved it under her jacket and hurried from the stacks, hoping it was the peace offering it looked to be.
“You know, there are two meanings for the word club,” Harmony complained. Elise had awakened her at the butt-crack of dawn, thrust a cup of hot green tea at her, and advised her they were joining a campus organization. That was a lot to throw at a person first thing in the morning.
“Remember what you said the other day about us both needing to excel in school?” Elise reminded her as Harmony scalded her tongue on the tea. Her eyes watered and she wiped at them trying to wake up and think. “Professor Thompson says this group would be good for us to assimilate into the school’s population.”
