‘Are you in trouble or something? Don’t tell me, you want me to get rid of that leech for you?’ he asked laughing.
‘Actually, I took care of him myself. Besides, it doesn’t matter with whom I’m sleeping now,’ I said. ‘My power is getting out of control. I’ve been having blackouts. Some people got hurt. Ella had been in coma for a few days. Now I keep dreaming that I’m going to burn my parents’ home and someone believes it’s the future.’
There was no point to milking Jasper with some crap about my power. When we were dating he’d said he felt that my magic was more advanced than I realised. He listened and was silent until he stopped the car at an unknown street.
‘How long has this been going on?’ he asked in a serious tone, looking directly into my eyes.
‘Three months maybe. The last blackout was recent. I woke up next to the dead body,’ I explained. Jasper’s eyes widened and he gripped the steering wheel tighter.
‘I had a feeling that you inherited strong power from your father, although I never actually experienced anything like that when we were together,’ he observed. ‘Why didn’t you come to me earlier? Why now?’
I bit my lips, wondering if I should mention Tron, but I knew I couldn’t reveal all my secrets to Jasper, who was hungry for power.
‘Whatever I was doing before, doesn’t seem to be working. We both know that you specialised in dark magic, lethal like mine. All those trips abroad and rumours. I know what you’ve been up to.’ Seeing he was getting anxious about my facts, I didn’t go any further. I’d learned when to stop talking, having experienced his bad temper before.
‘I don’t talk about it, if I can help it. How do I know that you won’t call your father and get me arrested?’
I laughed.
‘I had that chance, but I helped you, didn’t I?’ I asked. ‘Now I need your knowledge and experience.’
It seemed that I gave Jasper something to think about. We had been together a short while, but I learned that he had strong connections and he was always educating himself, studying books and old journals. When we broke up he went abroad. Jasper should have been the last person that I’d ask for help, but I knew that my time was running out and Tron wasn’t making much progress.
‘If you promise me something, first, then I’ll help you,’ he stated, glaring at me when we stopped at the traffic light. I had a bad feeling about this, but then I thought about my mother and cringed.
‘We are not getting back together,’ I stated, perfectly clear that I wasn’t interested in him that way.
‘Maybe not, but you’re going to be friends with me again. I guess you owe me, cause I saved your virtue.’
‘We are kind of even, cause you were the one that used me for McGregor,’ I said. ‘He used you, only hoping to ruin Nathaniel and you went along with his plan.’
‘It wasn’t just about your leech,’ Jasper muttered. ‘He introduced me to a few powerful vampires, gave me access to unlimited magical blood.’
‘But he is dead now, and the police are on your arse,’ I said.
‘Yeah, I’m kind of glad that he is,’ he admitted. ‘What about your powerful grandmother? Why don’t you ask her for help?’
‘Let’s just not go there, but I agree to your conditions. I’ll forget about your naughty past, consider being friends with you again, and you help me to gain control of my magic to prevent a blood spill. I won’t ask any questions in return.’
‘Fine, but we need to go somewhere first. Your genes are complicated enough. Magic as powerful as yours has to be handled right. We might have to take some serious steps in order to help you,’
‘Like?’
‘Magic thieves, their lives are all about survival. They have skills that other paranormals don’t. No one believes that they should be alive, but they can be useful. If that fails, then I’ll step in. We will locate those toxic genes and try to remove them.’
‘Wow, what? Magic thieves? What bad genes? We can’t trust them, they will feed on our magic.’
He laughed then and parked his car in some obscure dark street. We were still in a good location, somewhere in South East London. My thoughts railed to the time when I met Gordon. He talked about magic thieves like he understood them. I’d never met any of them, but now I was curious.
‘You need to come with me first. I need to see if I have what I need in my lab,’ he informed me, opening the door for me to a small terrace house in the middle of the quiet street. I was pushing this. Jasper was unstable and now I was going with him to his illegal lab so he could experiment on me. I was either desperate or crazy. Maybe both.
What hit me at first was this fresh, antiseptic smell with a wave of heat coming from upstairs. Jasper put all the lights on and I found myself in a completely bare home. On our right there was a living room, with an old green dirty sofa.
‘This is your lab? Are you kidding me?’ I asked, looking around in disbelief.
‘Easy to hide, plus no one disturbs me here. Come on,’ he encouraged me to follow him. In what was supposed to be a dining room, I was taken back straight away by the large table that stood in the middle of the room. On top there were various flasks, jars and the scent changed, turning into a raw and heavy metallic odour of blood. The air was soaked with magic and my energy started whipping through me again, lifting my hair up, sending prickling through my skin.
‘What exactly do you do here?’
Jasper was going through a few books that were on the shelves. He wasn’t listening to me, muttering to himself something about formulas.
‘I always knew what you were capable of, but you dismissed it. You have that part of yourself, that dark part, and I want to see if I can get it out of you.’
‘Wow, hold on, what do you want to get out of me?’
He stopped reading and looked at me; his eyes were shimmering with challenge and mischief.
‘The darkness starts controlling you and I need it for my research, so there is a spell that we could perform, that splits your magic in pieces.’
My mouth went dry and in front of my eyes I saw myself again, burning my mother alive, being without control.
‘Okay, do whatever you can. When can we start?’ I asked, rubbing my sweaty plans together.
‘We need someone, a magic thief. Best if it’s hungry and unstable.’
‘Jasper, sorry but you’re confusing me,’ I said, laughing. My ex-boyfriend narrowed his eyes, putting black gloves on. His magic wand was next to him.
‘This is dark, lethal magic, Julia, that you’re carrying, and we need a person that lost control of his or her mind to split the pieces. Magic thieves are more powerful that you can imagine; they feed on all the emotions and fear. Some of them to the point where they go crazy. We need this person to touch your soul. I can only do so much.’
I didn’t like the sound of that at all, especially the part where we had to use another human being to prevent the blood spill. Magic thieves had enough on their plate already. They were outcast from all the populated streets and alleys, settling in old, abandoned buildings. Most of them lived on the streets selling whatever they had to have that magical connection.
Every part of me wanted not to trust Jasper, but then there was my mother. Dad would probably lock me up if I told him that Mum was going to die. My visions were powerful and when it came to magic I had to expect the worst.
Jasper was still looking through books as I ran my fingers over flasks, inhaling the herbs and that metal smell in the air. There were stains of blood on the table and I started asking myself, how long Jasper had been doing this. Some wizards were obsessed with the darkest, most forgotten magic. In our modern times no one was paying much attention to the ancient spells.
Jasper worked for himself. I always thought that he had enough money, but it was his ambition of becoming the greatest that was pushing him forward. His spells were more advanced than spells of many other wizards. He travelled a lot, made connections with all sorts of creatures. I
still hadn’t discovered the purpose of all these, but now I kept wondering if I was doing the right thing.
Chapter twenty - six
No, of course not, but at the moment I don’t have any other choice.
Jasper wanted to use a trial spell, to see if my magic would react to it. He came closer, lifting his magic wand and waving it in front of my face. He was focused, his eyes sharp and wide on mine.
‘Let me ask you something,’ I said, not able to help myself with questions. ‘Why do you do this? Why do you want my darkness so much?’
He frowned, taking a deep breath.
‘Julia, you’re distracting yourself. Stop asking questions and tell me, do you feel any different?’
I laughed, but his frown deepened. When I thought about his question I was surprised, because I did feel slightly better. The pressure above my eyes stopped and my body wasn’t responding anymore to the strong current of magic that had been floating in this room.
‘Yeah, kind of. What kind of spell did you use?’ I asked, curious. He then relaxed and dropped his magic wand, losing that mad gleam in his eyes that had been there just a moment ago.
‘It’s a refreshing spell. I wanted to see how your manic power would react. The next step is much more complicated and even more dangerous. Are you sure that you’re ready for this?’
No, of course not, but at the moment I don’t have any other choice.
‘Yes, I’m ready,’ I said, trying to sound confident, but my voice cracked. Jasper smiled and ran his hand over my cheek, as heat started blazing in his eyes. I shivered, but caught his hand before this whole situation got out of control.
‘Jasper …I—’
‘Julia, it’s all right. I know that you’re in love with the leech, and I want to prove to you that I’m worth having around you again. We are a good team.’
I was past the time when Jasper scared me; now my own magic mattered more. My ex-boyfriend was making an effort and I had to agree to his terms.
‘Maybe we are, but let’s forget about the past. If you don’t hurry up, soon I might have no freedom to speak of.’
‘What are you talking about, Julia?’ he asked. I accidentally said too much.
‘Nothing, I’m just exaggerating as always.’
He wasn’t convinced but didn’t ask anymore questions, for which I was glad. Jasper wanted to keep me happy so he was brushing the facts away, for now. He packed a few flasks and books into his bag and shortly after that we vanished from the obscure house.
When we were back in his car, I had this odd nagging feeling that I forgot about someone or something. Ella was safe, Mum was at work, and Kate had no idea that I asked my crazy ex for help. Tron would get mad if I didn’t show for training and I wouldn’t be surprised if he was waiting for me outside my apartment. None of this mattered now, because that feeling didn’t go away when Jasper drove through the dark streets of London.
After some time the flames on my hands were back again and the tingling only got worse. Jasper noticed, but he was silent, his eyes never leaving the road. It wasn’t long before he started breaking the speed limit, and whenever I asked him why he was rushing, he refused to respond. I had no idea where he was taking me; his ideas about magic thieves seemed absurd, but he was the one that studied black spells, and more or less knew what he was doing.
Soon we were driving through darkness; the street lamps were off and I quickly realised that we were in a restricted area, that rough part of London. Almost two years ago I came here with Nathaniel searching for answers about Claudia, but that memory seemed distant, like it never happened. My stomach churned loudly and from out of nowhere a new lethal fear was injected into me like a live virus. Outside the streets were empty, but I spotted individuals, paranormals by the buildings, crossing the street at the least expected moment. No paranormal in the right frame of mind would cross here. Maybe if they weren’t scared of death, because everyone knew that death was waiting, watching from every corner for these weak, brave souls.
Jasper parked the car in one of the darkest alleys. He didn’t seem scared, but he told me to keep close to him when we got out. As soon as I stepped out of the car I felt a cold chill running down my spine. The air was thick, dense, like oxygen wasn’t reaching part of the alley. Wind started blowing from the south, ruffling my hair, and the shivering only got worse. Someone was watching us. I could feel more than one pair of eyes on us, but I couldn’t spot anyone in the darkness.
‘Just stay quiet and follow me. Try to avoid bringing attention to yourself,’ he stated as we walked, moving through narrow streets surrounded by unoccupied and abandoned buildings. Only a week or so ago I was somewhere in this district, chased by the police, then by a giant who wanted to rape me. I pushed those thoughts away, concentrating on the task ahead. Jasper didn’t say much, and I wished that I had asked more questions when we arrived at his lab.
‘Should I be worried?’ I whispered, hearing low hissing noises nearby, forgetting that I wasn’t supposed to talk.
‘No. Magic thieves are aware that we are here. They are getting excited because your magic is so transparent.’
He didn’t make me feel any better, but I carried on walking, glancing everywhere, hoping to spot the outcasts. I’d heard stories from people that had seen them, but until now I never thought about how those forgotten creatures lived. The street narrowed even further as soon as we took a sharp left. We took a few more steps before we saw a shadow at the end of the street. In the dying darkness I couldn’t see if it was a man or a woman.
Jasper’s magic wand was in his hand. He nodded to me to continue walking. As we got closer, an old street lamp was switched on, and then I could see the person more clearly. It was a woman, dirty, dressed in a low-cut grey top and very tight shorts. She was skinny, underweight, with long dirty blond hair and high boots. Her eyes were too large for her face and a bitter sensation settled in my stomach when I hovered over the marks on her body. In any other circumstance I’d call her a whore with an addiction problem. But I knew that she was not really these things; she was simply a magic thief.
‘Hello, stranger. I need a full flask of your power in exchange for pure, virgin blood or raw sex,’ she said simply, going straight to business approaching Jasper, swaying her hips in a gracious manner. Obviously she was selling her body, but I still didn’t consider her a whore. She was just fighting for her survival.
She approached Jasper, leaned over to his body and ran her hand over his chest, licking her lips. He grabbed her hand and pushed her away.
‘Stay away and you might get something later,’ he hissed. She laughed and brought her hands to her nose, smelling them quickly and laughing hysterically. I couldn’t stop staring. I never imagined them looking so human. Jasper grabbed my hand, pulling me closer to him. He stopped in a front of the last building and walked through a half broken door, dragging me after him.
He used the light from his magic wand to point his way through a narrow corridor. I had to cover my nose, because the smell inside was unbearable. It was like death, and only death covering the entire space, using raw, burnt human flesh as an air refresher. I swallowed, trying not to be sick, but I didn’t know how much longer we needed to walk.
By the walls, in the cold, dark rooms I spotted people, shadows. Some of them were thin like skeletons, with torn clothes, hollow cheeks; others were on the floor, rocking back and forth. I’d never imagined that paranormal society had done that to them. I couldn’t comprehend how no one ever did anything to help them. People who were insane were kept in hospitalised institutions. These were born starving for magic, it wasn’t their fault, and deep down I cried for them.
Then we heard the scream, and I jumped in place, grabbing Jasper’s hand. He stopped and turned his magic wand to the opposite wall pointing at the woman.
She was a magic thief, older, covered with an oversized, used cardigan and long dark trousers. Some of them had tattoos, marks of years that they lived. Small black lines
were covering her entire face. Jasper approached as she curled away from us, pushing her hands to her ears. She was giggling to herself, talking in a language that I didn’t understand, if there was such a language. Terror passed through my body, straining every inch of my skin. Was I ready to use this ill creature to get rid of my own darkness? Could I be part of society that treated those people so savagely?
Jasper wouldn’t understand. He wanted to help me but until now I didn’t get the cost. Magic thieves didn’t deserve to be used; they were only fighting for survival.
‘Hey, come here, we need your help,’ said Jasper, moving towards the woman. ‘We have magic, lot’s of it. I bet you’re hungry.’
The woman screamed while Jasper reversed and then out of nowhere I heard a clicking sound. The smell of a stale body, much stronger than earlier, hit me hard, mixed with wood polish—I sensed a troll nearby.
‘Julia, run! It’s a trap, I should have known…’
Jasper’s screams faded as blue and red beams of light started shooting through the air towards him. Someone was hurling spells at us. I stood frozen, the terror slowly suffocating me. A large hand gripped my jaw, and I was unable to make a sound. I heard a voice, movements, heavy steps hurrying around me. Then someone pushed me down to the ground. My head hit the floor and I saw stars. More lightning spells were flying around me.
Jasper wasn’t someone who accepted failure. He fought, screaming with rage, moving his wand too quickly for me to realise what he was doing. For some reason his spells were useless, pushing him down on his knees. It seemed as if the charms bombarding us were appearing out of nowhere, and in the bright light I saw the people that surrounded him. A sudden rush of energy roared through my ears. My head felt like it was splitting into pieces. A voice pounded through me.
I thought of my training and struggled to gain control of my magic, but my body wasn’t complying with anything I tried to do. Waves of electricity and light came alive, dashing towards Jasper, hurting him. I screamed inside, although I couldn’t move, couldn’t do anything to stop this madness. In the past I’d wanted him down, wished to see him down, surrendered, but now I was petrified.
Paranormal Personnel Saga Box Set - Books 1-3 Page 72