Divided by Magic

by Rebecca Danese

  "We could find a fire escape. There’s got to be one around here if one of these buildings is an office or something," Lou says, getting on her feet again and walking hunched over to the other side of the roof. She disappears out of sight behind a large pipe but comes back within moments shaking her head. "Nothing. I hate to say it, but we’re at a dead end. We either need to backtrack or climb down somehow."

  "So, there aren’t any Augurs that can fly, then?" I joke, and they both laugh at that.

  "No but I knew a guy back in Dublin who thought he could whenever he’d had too much to drink. He wasn’t even an Augur!" I chuckle at the thought of it, followed by a shiver that threatens to rattle my teeth inside my mouth.

  "Damn, it’s cold."

  "Too right. Let’s get the hell off this roof, eh? We’re all smart cookies, we should be able to figure it out between the three of us."

  I was enjoying a moment’s rest, but now I peer over the edge of the wall and down to the street below. As I expected, we’re at least twenty metres from the ground so jumping isn’t an option. Soho is busy even for a late Tuesday night, or early Wednesday morning depending on how you look at it, and there are the occasional passing cars and pedestrians beneath us. I skirt round to the left side of the building and see an alleyway only three metres wide, the office block opposite being about a metre lower than the one we’re on. My eye catches something on the roof over there. A door, probably a fire escape, small and bolted from the outside, but with any luck Lou might be able to get us in.

  "I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but I think we should somehow jump over to the next building," I say pointing at it.

  "Why the hell would you want to do that?"

  "Because I think I can see a fire escape there that we could use to get down and out. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not sure I could do it myself, but it’s my only suggestion so far."

  Lou puts her hand on her chin thoughtfully.

  "I think it’s a terrible idea, but I actually don’t see another option. I might be able to help you be a little more aerodynamic though," she says eyeing me up.

  "So, you can make me fly?"

  She laughs drily. "No, dumb arse. I can probably help give you a little push though if there’s any electricity running through some wires or something up here." I recall the way she knocked Steve off his feet in the warehouse, as if an invisible ball of wind hand hit him in the stomach. She did that by channeling energy from a mobile phone. I hope she isn’t thinking of the same treatment for me, but she’s already looking for a power line to use.

  "Ah, here we go," she says spotting a cable that is neatly tacked to the wall. It runs all the way up to the TV aerial, so hopefully no one is up watching night time telly to notice the sudden power outage we’re about to cause.

  She kneels and puts a hand on it, the other pointed palm forwards in my general direction.

  "Ready?" she asks as I edge my way backwards in preparation for a run up. Try not to think about it, I tell myself. Like doing the long jump at school, but with a concrete landing and certain death if you don’t make it.

  I nod and take a run, covering the distance to the ledge within a couple of seconds. I leap as high as I can, hoping that with Lou’s help I might be on the right trajectory. An impact in my back, like being hit with a bowling ball made of air, throws me forward at an alarming speed. It happens almost too fast, and the hard surface of the adjacent roof comes to meet me as I smack into it, hard.

  "Ouch," I manage, lifting myself up slowly. I don’t know what hurts more, my front or my back. A few moments later Jer lands next to me, but slightly more prepared than I am, he manages to stay on his feet rather than face-palming like I did.

  "You should’ve gone first," I say bitterly as I rub my forehead. There’s a gravelly imprint on it and my nose smarts a bit, as do my knees, but I don’t think anything is broken.

  Lou lands deftly next to us and I look at her like she’s some kind of super human.

  "What? That was nothing," she shrugs off the attention and makes her way to the fire escape door that sits amongst the air vents and chimneys around us. This is certainly an office block from the shape of it.

  She rattles the door handle impatiently but as expected it’s locked from the inside. She pushes her hands against the door, and I think she’s trying to see if she’s got anything left in her to unlock the door, but after a few moments she makes an exasperated sound.

  "Ah, bloody hell," she says as she kicks it impatiently. "I need something to power off of," she says, holding her hand out as if I’m going to suddenly produce a large battery or something.

  "Isn’t there a wire or cable around here somewhere?" I say, searching the ground.

  Unlike the houses, there are no aerials on the roof of this building, and I figure probably not that many people watch TV whilst they’re at work. "Can’t we just bust it open?"

  "What, and set off an alarm? Not one of your brightest ideas."

  I nod, momentarily defeated when I realise that I’ve got a power source right in my pocket.

  "Er, will this do?" I say pulling out my phone.

  "You still have your phone? Curtis!" she chides, "That could be how they found us at David and Mumbe’s!"

  "But it was off!" I protest, not wanting to have been the cause of any trouble.

  "They might have been clever enough to figure it out anyway," Jer says sounding at least a little calmer than his girlfriend, but still unimpressed.

  "Crap, I’m sorry guys. I just didn’t want to lose the only way to contact my Mum if I’m honest," I apologise. Lou grabs it off me and turns the power on without speaking. The screen lights up and with it a bunch of notifications appear to my surprise.

  "Someone’s popular," she says, and I take it back from her protectively to look at the messages.

  Two voicemails, a load of missed calls from an unknown number plus two texts. I read them quickly, feeling like my phone is going to be snatched out of my hand at any second.

  Curtis, this is Matthew Avers. I’m trying to reach you. It’s important. Call me!

  That surprises me. The message was sent about 11pm, so long after our lunch time meeting, and I wonder what it is he wants.

  Hello love, hope you’re doing fine. Are you eating okay? Dad and I having a great time —weather lovely. See you on Saturday, Mum x

  That one pulls at my conscience and I feel a moment of sadness. Jer hands me a pen and offers a page from his precious notebook, the one that accounts for all the different investigations of different Augur signatures he’s done in the past. I jot down Mum’s number and Matthew’s and then as an afterthought I take Dad’s as well, just in case. I don’t think I’ve phoned him more than once in my life, but you never know.

  "Can I listen to the voicemails?" I ask, feeling like I need permission. Lou gives a surly nod and decides to stand watch over the edge of the building to give me some privacy.

  I press the buttons and hear the familiar voice of Matthew Avers again.

  "Curtis, it’s Matthew Avers. Listen, I really need to speak to you. A girl came in here all guns blazing. Unfortunately, I couldn’t help her as I’ve no idea where you went, but she seemed desperate to find you. I could only tell her what we’d found on the drive that you gave me, although I don’t think that will help her. But look, that’s not why I called. There was something on that stick that I think you need to see before you go back to the person you got it from. There’s half a file on there and it seems like the other half has been kept separate, but I’m hoping you might be able to tell me where it is. I’ve spent all day trying to piece together some kind of coherent article, but this missing piece is all I need. Curtis, it’ll take down a whole empire!" He says enthusiastically. "Look, just call me back, quickly. Please. Okay, thanks. Bye."

  I get a sinking feeling in my stomach. Ella must have marched into the building as soon as she couldn’t find me, and worse, he’s found something out and I bet the other half of it is o
n Ella’s USB stick. Marvin was too clever, telling us not to trust each other. Now, rather than get her involved, I’ll need to be the one willing to get him the rest of that information and point the finger as a witness or whatever. But it’s more than that. It’s the fact that Carlton Munday probably won’t be removed from post unless there’s someone to accuse him, and a newspaper reporter isn’t going to be allowed to do that. I shake my head in frustration and hit the screen to hear the next message, but I nearly choke with shock as I hear Ella’s terrified voice.

  "Curtis! Oh my God, what have they done with you? I’m so worried," she chokes back a sob which is like some form of torture to me, "I’m going to see Munday. Or the Duke. Christ, I don’t know, but I have to do something and I can’t just stand around while someone tortures you or… or worse." She doesn’t sound rational at all and I wish I had some way to tell her that I’m fine. That she needs to get as far away from Munday as she possibly can.

  I search for any sign of a number that goes with the missed calls, but it looks like she called from a payphone. The fact that she phoned me means that there’s a chance she could call me again at any time. I have to keep it with me now, regardless of the ATU or anyone else using it to track me.

  "What’s up? You look like you saw a ghost," Jer asks. I tell him about both messages, trying to keep my voice steady and not sound hysterical at the thought of Ella walking straight into some kind of danger.

  "We can’t help her if we stay here," Lou points out. I hand it back to her, and as she holds it she places her other hand on the door handle. I hear a faint click from behind the door. "There. Now be prepared for the possibility of an alarm going off and us having to run."

  "Er, we have another problem," Jer interjects. "We have some seriously dodgy looking company below," he peers over the edge of the roof and onto the street below and I join him to find two familiar black cars pulled up below.

  "Oh my God."

  "Can’t we just catch a break?" Lou asks rhetorically, throwing her arms up in the air. "There’s nothing to be done boys, we’re going to have to keep going. Curtis, dump your phone now. Throw it as far as you can over there somewhere," she says waving off to the distance from where we came. My heart sinks, but I do as I’m told, doing my best to give it my hardest throw. It lands on the street below some way away and I see some of the figures on the street below look around at the sound of it landing, but luckily they look in the wrong direction.

  "Did it work? Are they distracted?" she asks, hand poised on the fire escape door handle waiting for the all-clear.

  Something has sparked their attention, that’s for sure, because I can see them sticking their fingers in their ears. Like spies with intercoms that are on all the time. They seem to be conferring with each other before climbing back into their cars and driving away at breakneck speed.

  "That was weird," Jer says, watching the cars go until they’re out of sight.

  "I didn’t throw it that far," I point out.

  "I don’t think that’s why they left," Lou says, sounding distracted. I look up at her to see her staring somewhere in the middle distance. I follow her line of sight all the way to the South where the river will be. The familiar sight of the Houses of Parliament and the London Eye just by it are just visible from here. But what makes my heart stop is not the breathtaking view, but rather what’s happening to it. One by one, block by block, all the lights are going out. Not just in the tower blocks or on the streets, but everywhere. Within a few moments every building, every house and every street lamp is off, and we’re plunged into total darkness. It’s a blackout.

  CHAPTER 16

  "That can’t be good," I say. In the darkness around us, sounds are almost amplified; dogs bark, sirens wail and car tyres screech. But there isn’t the mass chaos one would expect because at least half of the city is asleep. It takes a moment for my eyes to adjust, but with a little light from the moon I can just make out Jer and Lou’s surprised faces. The wind ruffles our hair and coats, and at the same time Jer exhales loudly.

  "What is it?"

  "I don’t know quite how to say this, but I’m picking up some heavy Augur activity from somewhere over there," he points somewhere in the distance.

  "You can do that?"

  "I’m as surprised as you. I guess I can when it’s this big. It feels like someone is setting off a nuclear bomb with their powers."

  "Do you recognise who it might be?" Lou asks.

  "No, too far away," he shakes his head. "But I have a feeling, and you’re not going to like it, Curtis."

  I think I know what he’s going to say. Big Augur activity? A lot of power coming from one place? Based on what everyone’s been telling me, that sounds like something Ella could manage.

  "It’s her, isn’t it?"

  He nods, but I feel the motion rather than see it, thanks to the darkness.

  "What do we do now?" Jer asks and I realise he’s looking at me. So is Lou.

  "What? How should I know?"

  "Mate, it’s your call. Do we use this opportunity to get the hell out of here and to safety, or do we go and get Ella? We’re with you either way."

  I don’t even consider the first option. Getting Ella to safety is the only thing that makes sense to me, and I feel a resoluteness in knowing what I have to do.

  "Where did the power cut start from, do you think?" I ask Lou, who points somewhere off to the South.

  "Houses of Parliament area."

  "Or Downing Street?" I ask. She nods. "Yeah could be. That’s a bit of a giveaway isn’t it?"

  "Well, then that’s where we’re going," I say decisively. It feels oddly exhilarating to be calling the shots for once.

  Lou yanks open the fire escape door to reveal a pitch-black stairwell. I immediately regret throwing my phone away. "I can’t see a thing."

  "I don’t exactly have night vision meself," Jer points out.

  "We’re just going to have to go slow and steady," Lou says in front of me. We tread carefully and in a line, listening for each other’s footfalls and making sure we don’t end up in a pile at the bottom, wherever that might be.

  After several minutes of descending Lou stops and whispers, "I think I hear something." There’s a sound of shuffling coming from somewhere, possibly behind one of the walls. We seem to have come to the bottom of the stairwell as I feel the walls open out. Running my hand along them slowly, I eventually find another door and say as much. "Shall we risk it?"

  "Not much we can do otherwise. Bear in mind I don’t have anything to juice off of if we get in trouble," Lou reminds me.

  "We’ll just have to use our wits and charm," Jer jokes.

  "I’ve got a knife," I suddenly remember.

  "Whoa, that’s a bit unlike you, isn’t it?"

  "It’s not mine. The Duke gave it to me," I explain. There’s a loaded silence from both of them. I guess it sounds like there’s some weird favouritism going on. "It’s not like that. I needed to prove I was with him—" I try to say.

  "Doesn’t matter, Curtis. It’s good that he trusts you, really. We’re just surprised because he only met you a couple of days ago, that’s all," Jer says soothingly.

  "None of it matters right now, okay? Let’s just get out of here." Lou finds a door handle in the darkness and opens it onto a large foyer that we can just about make out in the dimness. I can just see the street through the huge glass panes, illuminated by the moonlight. But looking around it doesn’t seem like there’s anyone here.

  "Who’s there?" A nervous voice comes out of the darkness. Male, possibly some kind of security guard. There’s a fumbling noise and the sound of someone swearing, then the click of a torch that gets us right in the eyes.

  "Bloody hell," Lou says, holding her hand up to shield her face from the light.

  "I’m afraid I’m going to have to detain you here for being on private property," the guard says, recovering when he sees we aren’t monsters or armed robbers.

  "Sorry mate, we got stu
ck out on our balcony and because of the blackout we couldn’t get any help. We found your stairwell open and we’re just trying to get home," Jer says easily, his hands up and spread out, the look of innocence on his face.

  "But the alarm should have gone off," the guard says, reaching over to a phone on his desk and picking up the handset. "Nothing. Must be an all-out power cut," he says.

  "Right, and we couldn’t even get to a phone to call for our neighbours to let us back in," Jer explains.

  "Oh, right," the security guard says and comes over to us from his hiding place, which I can see is a large desk in the middle of the space. "Fair enough. What a weird thing to happen," he says, coming round with keys in his hand, walking to the massive glass door at the front of the building.

  "Tell me about it, gave us quite the surprise," Jer laughs naturally. I’m in awe of his ability to get along with pretty much anyone if he wants to. That and bending the truth seem to come easy to him when the need arises. "Listen, you wouldn’t have a spare torch, would you? It’s just that we might need it tonight if they don’t fix the power quickly."

  "Oh, yeah sure," the guard goes back over to his desk and reaches behind it, pulling out a heavy-duty object that resembles a weapon more than a torch. He hands it to Jer, our self-proclaimed spokesperson for this particular interaction, and unlocks the glass door to let us out.

  "Keep safe, kids," the guard says to us as he waves us off and locks the door behind us.

  "Smart thinking," Lou says and takes the torch off him, switching it on and illuminating the pavement in front of us.

  "Hey! Look what I found!" I exclaim as I spot a mangled object on the floor. My sad, cracked phone that I threw off the roof is laying in the middle of the pavement in pieces. Luckily it’s just the screen that’s messed up, the rest of it still together. I hurry to scoop it up and try to turn it back on. It flickers to life, but half of the LCD is black so it isn’t much good to me.

  "I guess the ATU aren’t interested in tracking us now if they’re off trying to figure out where the blackout is coming from," I reason, and place it in my pocket. We follow our noses a few blocks and encounter only one or two cars, crawling by with their headlights on full beam as they try to navigate the darkness. A few people pass us by, huddled up in the December night and probably wishing they were safe in their beds, using their own phones as flashlights to light their way. We walk fast, but it feels like slow progress at first. Ten, then twenty minutes pass and I’m sweating in my winter gear despite the cold. We round a corner, and the eerie sight of Trafalgar Square in the darkness lays before us. The fountains are off and the place is deserted like nothing I’ve ever seen before.