by Rain Oxford
Cy approached me. The sixteen-year-old was five-six and thin with light brown hair and light blue eyes. When he wasn’t busy in class, he was acting as our temporary librarian because he loved books as much as Darwin. Fortunately, he was much better tempered. “Mr. Sanders, can I help Darwin with the investigation?”
“No,” Ms. Davis said immediately. However, she didn’t know him like I did.
“Of course,” I said. “I’m sure he would appreciate your assistance.”
“We can’t just let the students run amuck,” Ms. Davis argued. “If he’s allowed to, then the rest of the students will want to.”
“The difference is that Cy is uniquely qualified. He’s brilliant and talented in magic, so Darwin would want his help. I trust the other students to be mature enough to handle it. Everyone is good at something. If they have some skill that can help us to figure it out, without hurting them, it’s stupid of us not to utilize them.”
“You sound like Darwin,” Dr. Grant said.
“I’ll take you to the library, but you mustn’t go anywhere alone,” I said to Cy.
Cy nodded. “Of course.”
When we got to the library, we found Darwin buried in books. “Go away,” he said without looking up.
“I brought you an assistant.”
“No thanks.” He looked up, saw Cy, and smiled. “Never mind. You’ll do nicely. Grab a book, lad.” Cy gathered up a stack of books and flopped on his stomach on the floor to read.
“I’ll leave you to it, then.”
* * *
Tuesday, November 22
“Wake up!” Darwin demanded, smacking me in the chest with a handbook.
I grabbed it and tossed it away. “Get out of my room.”
“Fine. I won’t tell you what’s going on with the magic.”
I sat up and saw him pretending to leave. “You figured it out?”
He turned around and rolled his eyes. “Nah, I decided to wake you up to yank your chain. I figured out why it was so hard to identify the spell immediately. Come outside.”
I groaned and got up. Fortunately, I had gone to bed dressed, just in case I needed it. Amelia was standing outside, waiting for us to join her next to one of the sigils. It was still dark outside, and the glowing symbols were ominous. Darwin gestured to them. “I don’t recognize them as any known magic system, but they’re damn familiar.”
“Okay.”
“It’s way ancient magic, mixed with new magic. It has notes of modern wizardry, witchcraft, Druidic magic, and something that predates anything we use today. For now, I’m calling it bitchcraft.”
“We’re not calling it that,” Amelia assured me.
“So you know what it’s doing?”
“It’s like super-charged elemental magic, and it’s fucking up elementals.”
“He’s saying it’s not our magic that’s failing,” Amy explained. “It’s the elementals that are cursed, and because they’re out of balance, so is our magic.”
“All of us can feel it, not just wizards and fae,” Darwin said.
“That’s a start. Should I try to talk to the elementals?”
“Just because you did that once doesn’t mean you can do it again. Even when they’re good and balanced, they’re dangerous as hell. If you try to contact them now, they might think you’re the cause of their imbalance and attack. Think of them like poisoned, injured wolf pups. They’re not in their right minds.”
“How do we fix it?”
“This is super old magic, and we need a super old cure. Whoever did this is brilliant.”
Amy smacked his covered arm. “Don’t get any funny ideas.”
“I don’t know how to fix it yet. If we screw up, we’re going to screw up hard, so I need to be extra sure we can succeed before we try anything. Until then… don’t piss off the sigils. This is going to get worse before it gets better.”
“It always does.”
* * *
Darwin’s experiments were weird and required different paranormals to do different things. He had Henry draw all of the sigils to scale so that he could make out the magic circle in its entirety. Then he added measurements, notes about the design, and coordinates. The sigils were all different. Once he was done with that, he started volunteering teachers and students to help him.
He told Roland Zedrick (the math teacher of the North) to shift while standing on one of the sigils and he did successfully. However, he wasn’t able to shift back into his person form. Darwin recorded this in his notebook, not caring in the least that Mr. Zedrick was stuck as a coyote.
This made other teachers and staff hesitant to be part of his experiments. Ms. Bounds was instructed to levitate a cup while standing over the same sigil. She did with no problem, so he had her do the same over three other sigils. The fourth time, the cup didn’t levitate… she did. In fact, she couldn’t come down. It took three students, rope, and rocks to get her down, and then she had to hold onto things for the rest of the day. At sunset, she and Mr. Zedrick returned to normal.
Darwin studied all of the sigils with varying degrees of danger, but no one asked him to stop because he was the only one we trusted to figure it out. Even Remington had never seen anything like it.
Despite our warning, students and adults kept attacking the sigils with magic. When Mr. Murphy tried to burn a sigil away, it electrocuted him and nearly killed him. Dr. Martin said he could save the assistant principal, but also suggested that Remington start looking for a replacement just in case.
To keep the kids occupied and out of trouble, we had them start decorating for Christmas. Since only a handful of the students were Christian, the decorations were a little nonstandard.
Fae students made decorative pazìth blankets to place over the symbols. They were tribal blankets normally made to bless marriage unions and babies, and to cover the dead. They protected against evil. Although I wasn’t convinced of their effectiveness, they did help to calm everyone. I thought Darwin would call them stupid, despite being half fae, because intelligent people were usually skeptical. On the contrary, he explained that faith was powerful magic in itself, and the belief that fae had in them was what made them work.
“Belief is the essence of all magic, and the oldest form of it. You can’t do anything if you don’t believe you can. If you truly believed you couldn’t walk, you wouldn’t be able to. The first magic spell was weaved by man because he believed in it.”
“I thought magic was created by elementals.”
“Elementals are magic. Man learned to use it because he convinced himself he could. Magic predates wizards. Humans were the first to control magic.”
“What about the tower and Dothra wizards?”
“Humans came first. I don’t know when paranormals populated the world. Our historical records are terrible because paranormals were so damned private. What I do know is that magic was being used long before there were shifters, vampires, fae, and the modern wizard.”
Students decorated their school buildings and classrooms, but were instructed to stay away from the sigils. This went fine until several classrooms and entire hallways disappeared.
I was familiar with classrooms that randomly moved in Quintessence, but it had been built by a madman and a demon, so it was to be expected. This was a lot more dangerous.
As the day progressed, the strangeness got worse. There were freak gusts of wind that turned into miniature tornadoes. One formed over the lake and actually turned into a small hurricane… which flung fish at people and avoided the sigils. Darwin said it was caused by the elementals being unbalanced.
* * *
Wednesday, November 23
I sensed trouble the moment I woke. When I automatically reached for my keys in their usual spot in the bowl on my nightstand, the absence of said keys was disorienting. My sleep-deprived brain jumped to sensible conclusions, such as that they fell or I’d left them in my pocket.
That wasn’t the case, though. They were gone.
> Nevertheless, I had to focus on the greater threat. I dressed and went downstairs, only to find the dining room and kitchen deserted. The silence was ominous. As soon as I stepped outside, however, I discovered why there was no one in the Center. Students, teachers, and staff were standing in the field, dressed in their pajamas, horrified.
The massive, majestic forest around the school had burned down overnight. Through the skeletal remains of the century-old trees, I saw an obvious line where the fire had stopped. It was only inside the dome that had been affected.
I approached the damaged area and was joined by Remington. Everyone else stayed back. The shifters and fae, who played in the forest every weekend, were especially devastated. No one said a word and the only sounds were the wind and the soft cries of some of the younger children.
When I was ten feet from the line of dead trees, I realized that the ground under the blackened debris was moving. I picked up a stick and knocked aside a rock. Not to my surprise, I saw a fire salamander— an elemental. It was merely an inch long nose-to-tail, glowing, and colored like lava. The entire area was covered in them.
“What if one of the students had been out there?” Remington asked.
“We need to take attendance. Send everyone to their first hour classes. All we can do is try to keep them calm. And inside. I think we should keep them inside.”
“Rooms and hallways are disappearing.”
“I would rather them disappear with kids in them for a while than for anyone to get hurt out here.”
After a moment, she nodded. “We need to deal with the wildlife, though.”
Wild predators like bears and cougars avoided the school, but there were small prey animals such as deer, rabbits, and hares, for the shifters to hunt. It was a valuable skill they needed for survival. The deer were all huddled behind the North, since they wouldn’t go near the forest with the salamanders. The birds and hawks that got trapped in the ward were perched on the mansion roofs.
Although they were still in shock, the shifter students rounded up the wildlife and safely put them in a storage barn I didn’t know the school had. Then they joined the other students in class. All of the students were asked if they witnessed anything strange before or during the fire. Many fae students admitted to sensing something wrong beforehand, but they had been too afraid to tell anyone.
Darwin appointed his students to review and continued his experiments. Teachers took turns watching each other’s students so that they could help Darwin with research. The libraries looked like hell, especially the one in the East.
Remington, Henry, and I walked the perimeter of the school grounds, trying to find a weakness in the ward. We had to push salamanders out of the way to keep from getting burned, which pissed them off. We didn’t come out of it unscathed, and we didn’t find any weaknesses in the barrier.
I told Remington and Henry about my missing keys. They were as bothered by it as I was. However, there wasn’t much we could do about it. “It would make sense if the person responsible for all of this wanted to break into your room, but why steal the key if he could already break into your room,” Remington said.
“I also keep my office key on it.”
“But you don’t keep anything important in your office, do you?”
“Records on the kids. Nothing like my staff or sword.”
“What about in your car?” Henry asked.
“I think I have a pack of gum in it and junk mail I haven’t had a chance to throw out yet.”
Remy grimaced. “You leave trash in your car? I might as well be dating Darwin.”
I contemplated a flirty comeback, but my brain was in work-mode. “We can’t risk using magic to track them.”
She shook her head. “I’ll get you a set of spare keys and have Dani… someone replace your lock.”
“I can replace my own lock. I’m more concerned with how someone got in in the first place. All of the doors are protected against magic, and like you said; if they had a key, they wouldn’t need to steal one.”
“My father’s ward is down. Most likely, none of our security measures are at full strength, if they’re working at all.”
* * *
I tried to take a shower to get the ash off, only to discover that we had no water. I stayed calm and checked other bathrooms in the Center, as well as the kitchen. When I didn’t get a drop out of any faucet, I still refused to panic. I checked the East and didn’t find any there, either. Hoping it was just a clogged pipe, I went to the lake.
It was completely dry.
I took a deep breath and stood there for ten minutes. I didn’t know what drained the water, but since the salamanders caused the forest fire, I wouldn’t put it past the undine to cause the water to dry up. When I was absolutely sure I wasn’t just seeing things, I went to Remington’s office.
She was asleep at her desk with her head on a pile of paperwork. I patted her back softly to wake her and she sat up. Only then did I see the official document addressed to her father, stating that she was resigning and giving the school back. I decided that she had time to reconsider it, and trying to convince her to keep the school before we were safe would just make her want to give it up more.
I ignored the paper. “You said we have food stocked, right?”
She nodded. “Yeah. In the basement of the Center. Do we need it already?” she asked quietly. It was probably more because of the depressing atmosphere of the school than the fact that I had just woken her.
“We’re not out of food yet, but did you stock water?”
“Of course. We can get pretty severe winters and you never know what nature will throw at us.”
“Good. We’re going to need it.”
“Why?”
“The lake is dry.”
She blinked. “What?”
“It’s dry. Completely dry. I suspect the undine are behind it.”
She groaned. “What about the fish?”
“I didn’t see any.”
She frowned. “Something ate the fish? Or were the water and the fish moved somehow?”
I shrugged. “I can’t think of anything that can move a lake, but you know the paranormal world better than me.”
“I’ll take a look, and then I’ll ask Darwin. I don’t know anything that can move a lake, either, but I haven’t met undine like you. In fact, didn’t you make out with one before?”
“Yeah. She impersonated you and poisoned me.”
That made her laugh.
* * *
Ten minutes later, we were standing next to the lake… which was full of water. “Maybe you should get more sleep,” Remington said.
“I’m not crazy.”
“I have no doubt. I think you’re sleep-deprived, not crazy. We’re all sleep-deprived. Either that, or something sucked up the lake, moved it, and then put it back while we were in my office. I really hope that’s not what happened. Are you sure it was this lake?”
“Yes, I’m sure! We only have one.”
“Okay. I believe you. Go to bed. Maybe tomorrow will be a better day.”
“It’s not even noon yet.”
“Well, it’s been a shit day so far. I really want tomorrow to be here, and I want it to be better. It can’t get worse.”
I really wished she hadn’t said that.
* * *
The students over ten ate their lunches in the West as usual, but the teachers were spread out, still trying to find answers. I was one of the few staff members watching them, and I noticed the change in the students (particularly fae) first. I went to Willow, because she looked like she was trying not to vomit. She was thin, with bright blue hair and pierced black cat ears. “What’s wrong?” I asked. Like Darwin, her mother was a forest fae and her father was a shifter.
“I don’t know. I feel cold and hot. I feel like my blood is… I don’t know. It’s worse than that tornado or the fire last night. Something’s coming.”
Judging by how many students looked ill, I knew i
t would be bad.
“Hi, Mr. Sanders,” the girl next to Willow said cheerfully. I hadn’t even realized there was anyone next to her, and even then, it took me a few seconds to recognize the teen.
“Hi, Mandy,” I finally answered. I turned around to catch Remington’s attention, but she was talking to another student.
“Mr. Sanders, is something wrong?” Mandy asked.
I turned back to her and jumped. Willow was gone.
Mandy’s eyes widened. “What’s wrong?”
“Where did Willow go so fast?”
“What are you talking about? She’s been sitting over there all lunch,” she said, pointing to another table. Sure enough, Willow was talking to a wolf shifter. She didn’t look sick anymore.
Are my visions messed up after all? “What day is it?”
Mandy frowned. “Wednesday. Do you need me to get Dr. Martin?”
“No, I’m fine,” I lied. Suddenly, none of the fae students looked sick. My normally uncanny intuition only gave me the vague impression of danger. I went to Remington and observed the students, silently urging my intuition to be more specific. Finally, when Remington raised her arm to gesture that the students be released back to class, I grabbed her hand. “Wait.”
“What’s wrong?”
I shook my head. “I don’t know, but it’s better to be safe than sorry. I think we should keep them in for a few more minutes.” Seeing the students sick and the warning from Willow could have been a trick, but it wasn’t a risk I was willing to take.
She studied me for a moment before nodding. “Okay.” She gestured that the students stay.
“I’m going to tell everyone to get inside.”
I stepped outside and noticed the hard wind. The sky was overcast and the birds were gone. I knew I was right. I unleashed my magic across the entire school. I knew it was an uncomfortable invasion and that anyone with mental blocks wouldn’t hear me, but it was the fastest plan I had.
