by Lan Chan
I trailed after his broad back. The whole time Sophie held the tongs in front of her, thrust out like it would somehow shield her if the demon did whatever demons do. Without exchanging a word, the boy led us out and across a wide expanse of lawn. Everywhere people watched us with interest. Indigo fluttered in my periphery, but I was too invested in what was happening to care.
We came upon a detached grey stone building with gargoyles guarding the entrance. The boy knocked once. “Professor Mortimer?”
“It’s open, Max,” a deep male voice called out from inside. The boy, Max, pushed the door open and waved Sophie and me inside. She shot straight through but I hesitated at the bitter smell that flooded out of the door. It made my eyes water. When I tried to breathe through my mouth, it was even worse. Like it was coating the back of my throat.
Max collected me on his way in. He deposited me just inside the door as he shut it behind. A fire roared in the stone fireplace, but it was strangely cool. The entire left wall was covered in wooden shelving that held all manner of things inside glass containers. Max shot me a knowing grin as he followed behind Sophie.
“Well, what have you got there?” the man who must have been Professor Mortimer asked.
“It’s a demon!” Sophie wailed. She seemed stuck on that notion.
“Bring it here.”
I peered out from behind Max’s shoulder to come face to face with green eyes that glowed in the dim light. The caution on Kai’s face deepened into a scowl when he saw me.
“Why I am not surprised,” he said. I must have made an unpleasant noise without realising because Max turned to me with a raised brow.
“You two know each other?” he asked.
I shrugged. The two boys exchanged looks. I couldn’t decipher the message they were sending each other, but I could imagine it wasn’t great for me.
“Introductions later,” Professor Mortimer said. Now that Max’s back wasn’t in my way, I saw that the older man was dressed in a tan cardigan with tweed elbow patches. He had on round glasses and his hair was peppered. He looked every bit the university lecturer. Sophie tried to hand the tongs to him, but he smiled at her and shook his head.
“Kitchen tongs aren’t really all that useful as a shield,” he said.
“It squirms,” she shot back. “As soon as I opened the trunk it jumped out. This was all I had to catch it with!”
“What trunk?” I asked.
She glanced at me for the first time. Her dark brown eyes widened as most did when they took in the full measure of me and didn’t know what to say. “Umm… there was a trunk at the base of the other bed when I came in today. I heard thumping so I opened it and this…thing came out!”
“I beg your pardon,” the doll said. “I am most certainly not a thing.”
I would have smiled at the British accent if I weren’t severely freaked out by the fact that it was a talking doll. The tuft of brown wool for hair made it even freakier.
“And what exactly are you then?” the professor asked.
“I’m a high mage, of course.”
Max snorted. “Doesn’t look like you’re much of a high anything.”
“Neither are you, boy.” The doll crossed its arms over its chest. Sophie must have had enough of carrying it around because she dropped it and the tongs on the coffee table. As soon as it was free, the doll leaped over the side of the table and proceeded to walk over to me.
“Umm….” I backed up against the shelves.
“Alessia,’ the doll said. “Where is Betty?”
It stood on the floor in front of me, its stuffed arms on its hips. I was being interrogated by a rag doll. “Umm with Raphael?”
“The Raphael?”
I nodded. The doll contemplated this for a second. “Perhaps that’s the best thing for her right now. Where have you been?”
“Umm…”
“Is that all you’ve got to say for yourself? I turn around for a second and your grandmother is locked up in a psychiatric hospital and you’re off to who knows where.”
I almost spat fire. “Oh I’m sorry, did my bout of homelessness inconvenience you a little? I didn’t mean to disappoint on account of not knowing anything about you or what you are!”
We glared at each other. I was having a standoff with a glorified ball of yarn.
“You should have stayed with her!”
“She set the house on fire! I was a bit busy trying not to die.” I kicked out at an ottoman close by. “You know what? I think it is a demon.” I looked up at the professor. “How do we kill it?”
The doll’s red woollen mouth gaped. It was freaky as hell. “You wouldn’t.”
“Maybe I’ll just throw you in the fire! If you’re a mage you’d be able to save yourself, right?” I highly doubted it was telling the truth. If it was a mage, it would have been able to unbind itself from the rag doll body.
“Now hold on a second. Everybody knows a mage’s powers are bound to an object once the curse has been completed.”
It turned around in a circle, soliciting opinions. The professor took off his glasses and blew a breath on the lenses. He took a cloth from his pocket and started polishing it. “That is technically correct. What begs the question is, who cursed you?”
The doll pointed to me. “Her great-grandmother!”
“Stop making things up!” I yelled.
“Wait,” Kai said, stepping out from behind the desk. “You knew her family?”
“Of course.”
“Her great-grandmother was a witch?”
“Not just any witch. The greatest hedge witch the world has ever known. Most powerful binding spells I’ve ever seen. How else do you think a high mage such as myself came to be bound to this…toy?”
I crossed my arms and leaned against the wall. “Why did she curse you? I’ll bet it was your own fault.”
The doll’s shoulders slumped. It looked at the floor. I sensed something uncouth had occurred. “You and my ancestor…” I couldn’t finish the sentence.
It looked at the floor, shaking its head. “I don’t remember.”
“Ew!” I make a retching sound.
“He could be your great-grandfather,” Sophie suggested. We looked at each other. Her face became a mask of nausea. We burst out laughing. “Double ew.”
“Now see here!” the rag doll said. “Nobody insults Basil Dumont!” It threw its arms in the air, looked at its rounded paws and remembered it was magically castrated. It sighed. “I can assure you that I’m no demon.”
“Only one way to find out,” Kai said. He held up his arm, and like before, the broadsword manifested itself. To its credit, the doll didn’t shit its pants like I had when I’d first seen the weapon. Green reflected from the tip, throwing a soft glow against the wall.
Out of the corner of my eye, I watched Sophie step back behind Max. Kai flicked his wrist, spinning the blade in a wide circle and then touched the tip to Basil’s woollen torso. The blade turned transparent, slicing through Basil and coming out the other side. Nothing else happened.
“Checks out,” Kai said.
“Doesn’t really solve the problem of what to do with him,” Max said.
“There’s nothing to do,” Basil informed them. “With Bethany indisposed, my duty is to Alessia.”
“Duty?” I balked.
“To protect you at all times.”
I snickered. “And how are you going to do that? With a toothpick?”
“I can guard you while you sleep.”
“That’s so creepy. You’re not staying in my room.”
“Then I shall guard the door.”
I covered my face with my hands and screamed into them. It had been a long couple of days. An arm slung around my waist. I smelt powdered sugar.
“Well,” Sophie said, her voice close to my ear. “That’s one way to meet a roommate! I could use a drink.” The professor cleared his throat. Sophie backtracked. “I meant cake. I need cake. Let’s go, Alessia.”
&nb
sp; She grabbed my arm and tugged me out the door, Basil running to stay close to us.
“I told you you’re not staying with us!” I shot at him. I supposed now he wasn’t a demon I shouldn’t keep calling him an it.
“Aww don’t be like that,” Sophie said. “He can stay. I don’t mind. Now that I know he’s not a demon anyway.”
“There you go,” Basil said. “Everything is fine.” He did a little jig and then leaped onto her shoulder. That was a long way to jump for a doll so small. Maybe I had misjudged him. I was still smarting from his comment about abandoning Nanna.
“Are we going to get food?” I asked Sophie, who still hadn’t let go of my arm.
“In a minute,” she said. “First we’re going back to our room and you’re going to tell me everything you know about Malachi Pendragon.”
“What? Why?”
“Why?” she whisper-screamed. “He didn’t take his eyes off you the whole time we were in there. I’ve been at this school for years and not once has he said more than two sentences to me at one time. Or anyone else besides Max, for that matter. So move those little legs. I want the goss.” I followed her obediently, but to be honest, I would have preferred the cake.
9
We walked into our room. I stopped and stared. It was like a hurricane had hit the place. There were clothes strewn all over the floor. One of the pillows had burst, spilling feathers like snow.
“Oh yeah,” Sophie said. “Basil and I sort of had a disagreement before I managed to catch him.”
I’d thought the clothes would all be hers, but I recognised the baby-pink cardigan scrunched up in the corner. It was Nanna’s favourite. I picked it up and held the soft material against my cheek. My fingers traced the floral embroidering decorating the collar. Sophie had simply swept her arm over her bedspread and pushed everything onto the floor. “You alright?” she asked.
I shook myself. “Yeah. I just don’t understand how these things got here.”
“Who took care of your grandmother’s extraction?”
“Extraction?”
“Yeah, you know, when they go in and remove a demon target.”
“Oh, that would be Malachi.”
The wide-eyed look she gave me said it all. “Tell me everything.”
“I’d prefer that you tell me everything,” I said, taking a seat on my own bed. It turned out to be my pillow that was shredded. Basil didn’t even have the decency to appear ashamed. He just dragged himself onto the bed and for all intents and purposes, fell asleep. He didn’t have a physical body, why did he need sleep? I suspected it was his get out of jail free card.
Sophie slapped her forehead with the heel of her hand. “That’s right! I forgot that you’re completely new to this. My bad.” She cocked her head to the side. “You’re taking this pretty well for a magical newbie. It normally takes a while for humans to accept this is all real. Some don’t ever accept it.”
“I ate some Arcana fruit.”
She shot up off her bed and almost elbowed me in the head as she jumped on mine. “You did what?”
I held my hands up, palms outstretched in surrender. “I didn’t mean to! I was hungry and trying to get out of this place and I stumbled into the Grove.”
She started to laugh. “Did the nymphs try and attack you?”
“They were not happy.”
“What did it taste like?”
I scrunched up my face and tried to think of a way to describe it. “Like perfect contentment. As if all the cares in the world just slipped away.”
Sophie whistled. “How’d you get out of there without them skinning you alive?”
I puckered my lips and she knew straight away. “No! Malachi again?” She made a half-squeal, half-screaming sound. And then of course, she wouldn’t rest until she made me tell her everything. When I finished, her eyes almost pulsated with love hearts like characters I’d seen in manga comics.
“Ohmygosh!” She lay back down and sprawled out. Basil grumbled when her knees broached his personal space. “Malachi Pendragon is literally the prince of the school.”
I made a face. “I’d prefer a toad.”
Her eyes snapped open. “You don’t think he’s hot?”
I could have said no but we’d both know I’d be lying. I had eyes, therefore, I thought Malachi was hot. “I’d still prefer a toad.” I picked at imaginary lint. “Anyway, it doesn’t matter because his girlfriend has already warned me off him.”
Sophie pushed herself up on her elbows. “Girlfriend?”
“Yeah. The Fae with the indigo wings who could make all the supermodels weep.”
Recognition shone on Sophie’s face. “Oh, you mean Brigid? They’re not going out.” She grinned.
“You said you’ve been at this school for a long time?”
“Yeah. Almost six years now.”
“So you’ve always known you’re a kitchen witch?” I’d read that from the information Jacqueline gave me. It felt odd saying that out loud.
“Sure.” She pointed to the framed picture of the African couple on her side table. She’d inherited her dad’s full lips but her features were made exotic by her mum’s delicate bone structure. “My mum’s side has always had a high incidence of low magic.”
“I keep hearing the term low magic being thrown around. Brigid said it like it was a smudge of dirt on her shoe.”
Sophie huffed out a breath. “Believe it or not, beings from the other dimensions are more classist than humans.”
“I take it from your expression that we’re low on the pecking order.”
Her mouth turned down. “The lowest.”
“And yet, Max knew who you were.”
I almost snorted at the blush that turned her skin ochre. I had a feeling she thought Kai was hot but she thought Max was…hawwt. I scratched at my hair and had difficulty pulling my hand back. “There’s so much I need to learn.”
I caught the grimace on Sophie’s face. “Well, you’re not going to pick it all up in here. Let’s go out to dinner.” She pursed her lips. “But first, can I interest you in a hot shower? Preferably burn your clothes as well?”
“What’s wrong with my clothes?”
“Girl, there’s been a stink I haven’t been able to pinpoint, and I think it might be you.”
“It is not!” I lifted my arm and sniffed. “Or maybe it is.”
She laughed and ushered me down the hallway to the communal bathroom. Once inside, she pushed a waterproof make-up bag under the stall door. There was shampoo and conditioner inside. While I showered, she perched herself on the sink and chatted to me. I found out that her parents were from Zambia. They met at a summit for supernaturals. I was under the steaming hot water for so long that I expected it to turn cold but it never happened. When I stepped out in the towel Sophie lent me, I felt like a new person. Well, at least a cleaner version of the old person.
“So I take it you don’t have any clothes?” Sophie asked as we made a mad dash back to our room. “Do not even think about wearing any of the clothes in that old trunk. We’re already socially handicapped enough.”
“I wasn’t going to suggest that at all!” She raised a brow at me, and we laughed at the same time.
Sticking her head into the free-standing closet on her side of the room, Sophie pulled out a few pieces. Her belongings were quite eccentric. She had three wigs on their stands lined up along the windowsill. At the base of her bed was a big leather storage chest with a lock on it. I wondered what was in there.
“Hmm.” She held up a tunic that looked like it could be a dress on me. “Gosh you’re small. You need to get a good meal into –” She bit her bottom lip. “Sorry. That was really insensitive.” I waved away her apology. Not having a roof over my head sucked bigtime, but often it was the lesser of two evils. Looking back, I wondered if some of those people who chose to be foster parents might actually have been demons.
“How about this?” She held up a sky-blue T-shirt. “It goes with your eyes.
”
“Shouldn’t I be studying for the trials tomorrow?” I asked while dressing.
“Umm I’m not sure if anyone told you, but if you aren’t ready for the trials by now, there’s no way you’re going to be able to cram.” She saw the look on my face and retracted some of her statement. “I mean, I’m sure Headmistress Pendragon will take your circumstances into consideration.”
“Are you ready for the trials?”
She opened her mouth to say something and then closed it again. “Ready as I’ll ever be.”
“Do you have to do one every year?”
“No. This trial is only held for entrance to the senior campus. School works differently here than in the human world. The junior campus is for anyone aged sixteen and under. At seventeen, the supernatural community considers us mature enough to really take our studies into the practical realm. The senior campus is like high school and college all in one.
“The trials are pretty hardcore. This isn’t like any other human Academy. You don’t just get to pass because you’ve done the fifty-percent necessary to cruise. If we don’t learn, we die.” She waved her hands around as if to dispel bad mojo. “But I’m sure that won’t happen. Let’s get going. It’s still early but the place tends to fill up pretty quick. Especially during this first week before classes officially start.”
I finished lacing up my sneakers and followed her out the door. We turned left at the entrance this time. It felt like we were walking forever. “This place is massive,” I said.
“You have no idea. And this is just the senior campus. The junior campus is over the bridge.”
I sniffed the air. There was a certain pongy dampness to it. “What’s that smell?”
“The billabong and wetlands. We have to keep some habitat for the water-based supernaturals. Otherwise they’d get restless.”
I could tell we were nearing the dining hall because more and more people started to appear. They were all in small groups, talking and laughing. One thing I noticed they all had in common was that they gave us a wide berth.
“Do we have supernatural leprosy or something?” I asked.
Sophie’s sigh was long suffering. “Totally unfair, isn’t it? They come over to our dimension, bringing a war with them, and we’re the ones they look down on because our magic isn’t mighty enough.”