Black Crow

by Jen Pretty

  He pushed the door open and flicked on a light, displaying a typical office. A large desk occupied most of the space. Folders, stacked in tall piles, covered most of the desk's surface.

  Nick let go of my hand, and my magic tried to cling to him like gum on my shoe. It pulled and then snapped back as I clamped it down. He picked up a telephone receiver. It was ancient and had a twisted cord attaching it to the base. I smiled and took the receiver from him, then dialed the number I would always know by heart.

  “Hello?” a groggy voice muttered from the other end.

  “Hey, Dorothy,” I said, tears springing to my eyes. I bit my lip and took a deep breath. I didn’t need Nick thinking I was an emotional wreck on top of being unable to handle my magic.

  “Oh, Selena. I’m so glad you called. I’ve been worried sick about you,” she said, already sounding more awake.

  “I’m fine,” I said, wiping my eyes on my sleeve, so the sneaky tears didn’t have time to run down my face.

  “That’s good,” she sighed. “You left so fast. I know it's for the best, but I was so worried.”

  I looked up at Nick who was inspecting the books on a bookshelf, decided I didn’t care if he heard and asked her the question that had been eating at me since I woke up. “Why didn’t you send me here when I was a child?”

  She didn’t reply for so long, I thought maybe she had hung up. I was about to ask her if she was still there when she answered.

  “I wanted you to have a chance at a normal life. I couldn’t imagine you doing the things they do. You were so quiet and fragile. You weren’t hard like them. I’m sorry, Selena.”

  “You couldn’t imagine me doing what things?” I asked.

  Nick spun to look at me, a worried look on his face.

  “You know, solving murders and looking at dead bodies every night,” she replied.

  My mouth went dry, and I dropped the phone. I had never seen a dead body. I only raised people who were old and had died of old age because the one time I raised the wraith of a murdered person, she screamed and wailed. Her pain was so raw, I hid in my room for three days and cried. It was as if the woman was my family and I watched her die in pain and torment.

  I shook my head when Nick took a step towards me. He took another step, and I ran past him and out of the room. I raced down the hall, looking for any door I could find.

  “Selena, wait,” Nick called from behind me. “It’s not so bad.”

  I slammed into the first door I found that led outside. Magic assaulted my senses, but I kept running. I pressed on as long as I could, trying to make it off school grounds. I didn’t know how far I had to go, but I just prayed I made it before the magic overwhelmed me.

  My steps grew heavy as I ran into the forest that surrounded the school. Magic still slithered into me like I was a sponge in the ocean. I tried to push it away, but it just piled on until I was staggering under the weight.

  “Let it go, Selena. You can’t carry that much.” Nick’s voice rang through the night. Under the canopy of trees, with the moon blocked out, it was completely black. I couldn’t see and had to slow down, or I would stagger into a tree. My hands in front of me, I kept moving forward.

  “Selena!” I heard Niri’s voice now. It echoed Nick’s, but I had to keep moving. I could get away and then find a new city to live in. I would be safe enough.

  “Oof.” Someone grabbed me from behind — arms wrapped around me. I felt the world tip sideways and closed my eyes, but I was determined not to lose consciousness. I had to stay awake and get away from this place and the person holding me. I struggled, but my arms and legs felt bloated. They flailed in slow motion, not impacting anything until the arms released me and I dropped to the ground.

  My eyes flashed open, and by the light of the moon, I could see I was in a graveyard. Magic poured out of me towards the graves, and I took a deep breath, then another, until my lungs were working properly again. I collapsed and let my cheek rest on the dewy grass. If I had my knife, I would have raised a wraith to feel the rush, but at least I didn’t feel like I would explode. I opened my eyes and gazed at the blue magic as it slid over the grass under the moonlight; it wandered between the graves, hoping to entice me to raise someone from the cemetery.

  I looked behind me to see who had brought me here and it was Falcor, his face in a harsh scowl.

  “I was sleeping,” he said by way of greeting.

  “I have to go,” I replied, trying to push my feet to rise.

  He scoffed and watched as I struggled. My legs were jello and wouldn’t hold me, but I got into a sitting position. My magic had spread around the entire graveyard. Blue glitter coated every inch like a birthday party gone wild.

  Niri appeared beside Falcor, a frown on his face until he noticed the magic spread around the area, then his jaw dropped open, and his eyes got wide.

  “I have to go,” I said again, but I knew I still couldn’t rise from the ground.

  “What happened?” Niri asked, still gazing at the light show I created.

  “You lied to me. You all did. I thought I would learn how to use magic, but you want me to raise people. Murdered people. I can’t do that.”

  Niri nodded. “You’re right. I should have told you. We have never brought in someone at your age before. Magic first appears in children very young, and we have never had an adult show up. We should have prepared you.”

  “So, you lie to children? How is that better?” I asked, struggling again to get to my feet.

  “Children are raised here. We don’t lie to them. You don’t tell a four-year-old that the world is dark and violent.”

  I looked away. He was right, but I wasn’t ready to accept that. I wouldn’t raise any murdered people for anyone, ever.

  “You don’t have to,” Niri said calmly, reading my thoughts. His eyes stayed locked on mine. “If you can’t do that, we won't force you. It’s just that some find a purpose in catching killers and others find their purpose protecting the innocent with magic. You were born with a gift that can help, but it’s yours to use how you see fit.”

  Some tension left my body, and my magic pulled back in. Instead of lighting up all the graves, it started to coalesce around one in particular. I watched the blue magic jump and twist, beckoning me to drop my blood and let the dead speak.

  “Selena,” Niri said my name in a hushed voice, and I tipped my head up. He held out a small knife. A peace offering, if ever there was one. Falcor’s face was blank. I had never raised the dead in front of someone before, except Dorothy.

  “We only want to help you find a purpose. If your purpose is a cook in a restaurant, we can help you do that safely.” Niri sounded convincing. I wanted to believe.

  I felt a calm wash into me. It felt foreign. I looked up at Niri and then to Falcor. I toyed with the calmness, letting my magic explore the unexpected feeling for a moment and when I focused my eyes again, I saw it. A string of magic was flowing out of Falcor and into me.

  I crab-walked backwards away from the warlocks.

  “Selena, wait,” Niri said.

  The magic thread stretched. The further I got from them, the more the feeling wavered.

  “Falcor, stop,” Niri said, but my heart surged and brought power back to my legs. Finally, I was up and running like a jackrabbit. I ran until my legs were ready to give out again and the foreign feeling was long gone. I didn’t recognize the city. The streets were wider and made with red sand, making them look bloody under the glow of the streetlights.

  People eyed me as they walked by. Couples, hand in hand and groups of people my age laughing and joking as they walked the night streets. I passed a nightclub with music pounding.

  The bouncer out front looked me up and down as I hurried past. At the end of the block, there was a restaurant with smooth jazz music playing. The sound of dishes clinking and people talking floated on the light breeze along with the smell of charbroiled steak. My stomach rumbled again, but I ignored it and kept walking. I was
going nowhere, but it was better than going back.

  A few blocks later I came to a park. There were lights along the path, but there was a small wooded area that was dark. I crawled through a bush and into the sparse trees then collapsed to the cool bare dirt. I leaned back against a trunk and stared up at the moon.

  I was probably still in the US, but I had no idea where and I was too tired to think about how I could get home. Colvin. I wanted to get him away from there too. I couldn’t leave him with people who would manipulate him and then make him raise murdered people. I closed my eyes.

  “Don’t freak out, ok?” I didn’t recognize the voice, but my magic wanted to spill out towards it. I clamped it down and slid silently on my butt away from the voice on the other side of the shrubs. “My name is Peran.”

  I slid back a bit further, trying not to make a sound, but my breath was rasping in and out.

  “I’m just like you, Selena. I want to talk to you for a minute,” he said, and I saw his blue magic pour across the ground towards me. A face came through under the bushes. Eyes as green as grass and hair stark white, cut short and spiked up like a punk. He smiled, and I felt the same pull that Colvin had. It drew out my magic, and I didn’t want to fight it anymore. I let my magic slip out and roll across the ground to meet his.

  When the two magics combined, I saw sparks across my vision. Warmth filled me from my center, and I felt balanced. Not like when Falcor’s magic was trying to control my emotions. This lifted me, making me feel confident and whole. The rest of the man wiggled through the bush into my tiny hiding spot. He sat and pulled his long legs in, wrapping his arms around them to fit in between the trees. It was a hiding place for one, and the tall man was more like one and a half on his own. But he kept himself as far back from me as he could get within the confines.

  “Peran, you said?” I whispered into the silence that fell on us.

  “Yes.”

  “Why are you here? Are you from that place?”

  “It’s not what you think,” he said in a quiet voice. “They shouldn’t have involved Falcor in your transfer or any part of you settling in. They should have called me back sooner. If I had known you were coming, I would have been there.”

  I felt like I had always known this stranger. Like we grew up together, and now he was here to comfort me like he always did. It wasn’t the same feeling I got from Colvin. I wanted to protect the little boy. This man, I wanted to curl up next to him on a couch and watch movies. I didn't feel awkward or stupid, even when he stared at me like he was doing now. It felt natural.

  “I don't understand,” I muttered.

  “You will, I promise. Come with me?” He held out his hand.

  I stared at it for a moment and then set my hand in his, and his smile lit up the night. He squeezed my hand, then tugged me forward and gestured to the small gap under the bush. He waved me forward, indicating I should slide through. I took a deep breath and crawled out of my hiding place.

  Standing on the other side, I dusted my knees and looked up to find I was face to face with a scowling warlock.

  chapter six

  “Why are you still here?” Peran asked from behind me. I turned to look at him, but he was sneering at Falcor. The air was thick between them. Obviously, Peran didn’t like Falcor any more than I did.

  “Niri asked me to bring you both back,” Falcor replied.

  “That won't be necessary,” another voice said from the darkness.

  “Whatever, I don't need this,” Falcor said before disappearing.

  The night air was cool, and now that my heart had calmed, the sweat clinging to me made me shiver. The man in the darkness stepped out into the moonlight. He was older than me — maybe early thirties and his face was open and kind. With a small smile, he peered at me curiously, standing in a relaxed pose like he was just out for an evening stroll and happened upon us.

  “I would like to introduce you to Kai. He is a warlock. He assists me in my work and protects me so I can be safe in the real world.”

  “Hi,” I whispered. He waved once, a sort of salute, then went back to scanning the park. I realized he was looking for danger — like a bodyguard.

  I turned back to look at Peran. “What do you do? Do you raise murder victims?” I asked.

  “Yes,” he replied.

  I shivered again, wrapping my arms around myself to try to keep some body heat.

  Peran took off his sweater in one smooth movement and popped it over my head. It was huge on me, but I pushed my arms into the sleeves and wrapped myself in the warmth. His smooth ashy scent filled my nostrils and calmed me even more.

  “How do you do that?” I asked. “Raise murdered people, I mean.”

  Peran stepped forward, wrapping his arm around my shoulders and leading me back towards the path that led out of the park. “It's important work. If I don't get answers, no one will.”

  I bit my lip, and we walked in silence for a while. He had a point, but each victim’s pain was so real.

  “Niri said you saw Falcor’s magic,” Peran said hesitantly.

  “It was a string. He was trying to control me,” I replied, shivering and pressing in closer to the tall necromancer. He was warm, and his arm around my shoulders held me to the ground, making me feel like I was a hot-air balloon, and if he let go, I would float away.

  “Hm,” he said.

  “Is that weird? That I could see it?” I asked after a few moments.

  “I have never seen warlock magic, but he also said you lit up the whole graveyard and that you can’t handle being without magic.”

  We made it back to the street, and a car came racing up the road towards us, its lights blinding me for a moment. Then it was gone, and my thoughts returned to Peran’s words.

  “I don't want to go back there,” I said.

  “I booked a suite in the hotel,” Kai said from behind us. “You will be safe there.”

  I just nodded. I didn’t know these people, but I knew my magic wanted to be near Peran and that was good enough for me.

  At the end of the block, we turned south and travelled past more restaurants and bars, until we came to a large hotel. It was at least a dozen stories high, and the front entrance was glowing like a beacon in the night. Landscaped gardens lined the grounds and a circular driveway lead to a covered port in front of the doors. I had never stayed in a fancy hotel before. Having grown up in the foster system, my one-room apartment was like a mansion.

  Peran led me to a small sitting area in the lobby and sat beside me on a small couch, his arm resting behind me while Kai spoke to the woman behind the receptions desk and got a pair of key cards.

  It seemed strange to be checking in with two guys I didn’t know, but Peran already felt like a part of my life. I decided to stop over-thinking. I was safe.

  Kai whistled and Peran and I rose and followed him to the elevator. The entire back wall of the elevator car was a mirror, and the lights inside were bright, so I got a great look at how muddy I was from my run through the forest, fall in the graveyard, and crawl through the park.

  Shit.

  I picked some branches out of my hair and tried to smooth it down. It was no use. My hair needed a wash, and so did my clothes. Ugh.

  “Kai can grab your things from The Sanctuary,” Peran said, his eye catching mine in the mirror.

  “Is that what they call that place?” I asked, wiping a smear of dirt off my chin.

  “It’s not as bad as you think, they just gave you a terrible first impression,” Peran said.

  I shook my head and hoped there was a mini-bar in the room.

  The elevator stopped, and Kai led the way down the lushly carpeted hall to a room with 802 on the door in brass numbers. He slid a card in a slot on the door, and it beeped once. Kai pushed the door open and marched inside, looking in the bathroom and checking the closet, then nodded, and Peran took my hand, leading me inside. Kai handed the card to Peran and left.

  I walked past the bed to a window
looking out over the city. The lights were hypnotizing, streets laid out like a quilt of little squares. I could see the pitch-black graveyard where Falcor had dropped me. I wondered if the light beyond a patch of trees in the distance was the school — The Sanctuary.

  A soft beep and a door opened. I spun to look, as Kai came in through a door I thought was the bathroom. It led to another hotel room. Kai left the door open and flicked on the TV in the room we were standing in. Then he sat on the end of the bed and flicked channels.

  I turned back to the window. My eyes traced the headlights of a car as it cruised along the street and disappeared into a darker subdivision.

  “Do you want a drink, Selena?” Peran asked, breaking me out of my reverie.

  I abandoned the giant window and joined Peran by the small fridge. He handed me a tiny bottled mixed drink. I unscrewed the top and took a quick shot of it. It burned all the way down my throat, and I ended up coughing a few times.

  Peran smiled. “Are you ok?”

  I took another drink from the small bottle, emptying it, then reached into the fridge and grabbed another before climbing onto the bed and leaning back against the headboard. I wasn’t sure how to answer his question, so I changed the subject.

  “So, did you guys grow up in the Sanctuary place?” I asked, unscrewing the lid of the second tiny bottle.

  “Yup, someone dropped us off as babies,” Peran said. “Kai is still a bit of a baby though.”

  Kai flipped Peran the middle finger, his eyes never leaving the TV.

  I smiled at their bickering. They sounded like siblings.

  “What was it like, growing up there?” I asked, frowning as thoughts of Colvin seeped back into my mind.

  “It was good. I had friends, and the teachers are like family,” Peran said.

  I nodded and downed more alcohol. It was already pushing into my system, and I felt more relaxed. I tipped my head back and rested my eyes for a moment. The sounds of the TV and the feeling of that soft bed beneath me lulled me nearly to sleep. A knock at the door disturbed me though, and I opened my eyes as Kai stood and strode to the door.