by Abby James
Lorna crinkled her nose. “God, that sounds awful. Really, Sam, you can come home with me. My parents would welcome anyone I bought home even at a short moment’s notice.”
“Honestly, I’m going to be fine. I’m not totally alone. I can bug Duncan or hang out with Emrol.”
“Just don’t let the Marcel sisters know. They’d skin you.”
She squeezed my arm. “Same goes for me, no opening until Christmas day.”
I hadn’t exaggerated to Lorna. I intended to spend most of my time in the library. There was a book under Ms Appleguard’s care, somewhere in that library, that would help me understand what my father had done to me.
McManus had been experimenting on himself for years, dissatisfied with how slow it had taken him to master his own ability. And unhappy with the limitation that one ability placed on a supernatural, especially since there were so many different abilities out there, McManus focused his experiments on expanding his gift.
His idea was far from unique. His spectacular failure to expand his ability was not where he differed from all those whom had failed before him. His success lay in the fact he had not killed himself in the process, nor had he been detected by the council casters. But unlike everyone else McManus had succeeded, or at least he would have done once he managed to subjugate me to his will. I was my father’s greatest achievement. A supernatural that could hold the ability of all supernaturals.
His defining success came when he managed to get his hands on the diary of a certain man who’d lived centuries earlier, Claude, the same man who’d displayed similar abilities to my own. McManus began with supe blood samples, spells, foul concoctions, chants, castings, everything and anything. He gave it to himself and, unbeknownst to mum, he gave it to her.
He wasn’t smart enough to come up with the idea himself. It had been Claude, achieving temporary success, but finding no lasting effects, who’d thought of feeding the parents to change the child. Claude had killed himself on his own brews and spells, but it didn’t matter. His words remained to poison my father’s mind.
It was too late. I was already here. But I wanted to learn everything I could about supernatural biology and evolution. I needed to know if I had an expiration date. I wasn’t natural. I was the result of a concoction of bloods and potions and god knows what else. Supes were never meant to hold more than one ability. Their immune system actively worked against it. I felt healthy, but what if one day my body remembered abilities weren’t meant to exist in harmony and started to reject every energy I took in, and in the process rejected me?
Luca was a mutant, like me, and he was still alive and healthy. But it wasn’t enough to ease my concern. What if he had an expiration date too?
As soon as the buses disappeared from sight, I looked around for Duncan. Not being tagged, I’d have to use him to get me into the library. Duncan had disappeared but I did spy Jona standing at the top of the steps.
I climbed the steps toward him. “Not going home?” I said.
“Nah, my grades weren’t so crash hot after the last exams. I didn’t see any point going home to be told how my older brothers achieved twice my grade when they were first years. I told them I was doing extra lessons over Christmas.”
“If you don’t mind me asking, what were your grades?”
“I averaged a B plus for most subjects.”
“That’s fantastic.”
“My practical was terrible though. I couldn’t even achieve a basic incarnation or conjure.”
“You were likely too nervous. You can do it. I’ve seen you.”
“It only matters when it is graded. That way I can show my parents.”
“That’s not true. It matters more when you can do it in a real situation, not when it’s simulated.”
“I don’t think my parents would see it like that.”
If only his parents could understand that their high expectations were undermining his success.
“I thought about taking a holiday somewhere. Just to get away and forget about studying and exams and my parents. But then I remembered I don’t have a lot of money. I came here straight after I finished high school. I’ve never had a job.”
“You’re not missing out. I was heading to the library. Do you want to join me?”
“Might as well. Guess I could start studying early.”
“No way. You’re not going to delve into text books over Christmas.”
Talk was prohibited by our panting as we climbed the endless spiral stair.
“If they want students attending the library more often, why put it so high up?” I managed between pants.
“That’s Ms Appleguard’s doing. She’s terrified of losing the priceless books, so she makes it impossible for would-be thieves. To be honest with you, I think she would prefer to lock the doors and not allow anyone in, including the students. She can seem harmless enough at first, but I’ve seen her at her worst. She’s a witch to most students, and I’m not referring to her ability, but you seemed to have tamed her.”
“Only because she knew my mother.”
“You’re lucky. Most students find themselves banned at some time or another. She likes me for some reason.”
Jona went ahead, holding his wrist up to the door once we reached the top. The door swung inward, creaking and groaning its age.
“When students are ban, Ms Appleguard removes the tag. They have to earn it back through a merit system.”
“Like what?”
“They have to spend a few hours helping out in here, filing, dusting, stacking, the most tedious jobs she can think of. That gets them points of merit. Once they have enough they earn their tag back. A lot don’t bother once they lose it, which suits her fine as it means less students coming to her library. What were you wanting to look up?”
“I’m curious about supernatural evolution and biology.”
“That’s in the second year classes.”
“I never stick to schedules or timetables.”
“I know where you will find some of those books. Come with me.”
Jona led me across the expanse of the library, rendered even more eerily quiet now there was not a soul in here.
“Stupid question to ask, but does Ms Appleguard go on Christmas bre—”
We both jumped at her sudden appearance in front of us.
Her eyes saucered as her wrinkled lips drew up into a smile. “Jona, you stayed behind this year.”
“I’ve lots of research to do.”
She nodded her head as her lips remained stapled into a mirthless smile. Her eyes darted across to me. “And I suppose you have nowhere to go.”
Was that a catty comment? Her face remained frozen in its smile and her voice stayed charming, so I could only assume she was the sort of person that never bothered to candy coat her words. “Apparently not.”
“Just make sure all items are returned to their proper places when you are finished with them.”
She addressed the comment to me obviously trusting Jona to do what was right.
I glanced around to make sure we were out of earshot, to find Ms Appleguard had disappeared. “Does she stay here all year round?”
“I think so. I have never been to the library when she is not here. I think she even sleeps here. She’s older than she looks, you know. Some say she’s over one hundred, even closer to one hundred and fifty. But I’m not sure I believe that. They say when she dies they will entomb her ashes in the spines of the books.”
“What’s her ability?”
“She’s a witch. A real one, but she is also a witch if you act out of line. If you get what I mean.”
We traversed the entirety of the library. The place seemed to grow in width with each step we made, so it took awhile.
When we reached the shelves on the far side, Jona craned his neck up. “The books we need are up on the tenth shelf.”
“That’s going to make it hard,” I said arching my head back, counting each row to reach number ten.
“Not when you have one of these,” Jona said. He pulled his satchel from his shoulder and rummaged around inside until he found a thin, flat device about the size of a normal smartphone.
“Only a certain few are given one of these. Mostly third years and above and then only a handful. They’re given out by Ms Appleguard to those she deems trustworthy enough.”
“What is it?”
“It’s a library assistant. Catalogue’s every book in the library. But it does more than that. Watch.”
I leaned in close as the screen lit up. Jona then scrolled through the screen and punched in various keyword searches. When he located the books he wanted, he pressed the green button. The books filed into an empty square. After that he brought up a map of the library. “Where do you want to sit?”
I looked around us. “We’re not stuck for choice.”
“Okay.” Jona pressed on the image of some seats in the far corner of the library, the same place I had found him sitting when I first came here.
“That’s it,” he said, swinging his satchel over his shoulder and heading in the direction he’d indicated we should sit.
“There doesn’t seem anything magical in that. I was expecting you to conjure the books off the shelf or something. That looks like something wissends would come up with, if they haven’t already.”
Jona smirked as he walked. By the time we reached our table the books were there.
“I take that back.”
Jona dropped his satchel to the floor and sat, pulling the first book in the pile toward him. “It’s a handy device. Ms Appleguard created it herself. If she wasn’t so obsessed with protecting the library, she should step out into the wissend world and patent something similar. Make herself a fortune.”
“I wish I could get myself one of those.”
“Sorry, no one under a third year.”
“Except you.”
“It took a lot of sucking up to win my place.”
“Does she even like students?”
“McGilus tried to introduce an easier system for the students to utilize the library as many students complained, but Ms Appleguard soon reverted to the old system. Everyone on faculty are too afraid or feel too bad about removing her because she’s an institution at this place. And no one knows what she would do or where she would go if she was kicked out. Besides, no one would understand her shelving system. She made it up herself and refused to share the system with anyone. She’s constantly recoding and reshelving everything, then has to recall all the library assistance so she can reprogram them with the new code and shelf order. Like I said, she’s paranoid of anyone thieving any of her books and she goes to great lengths to make sure it doesn’t happen.”
He flipped open the book in front of him. “Let’s see what we have here. Is there anything in particular you want to know or are you just reading for interest?”
“I’m interested in knowing if there have been any studies done on supernatural modification.”
Jona ducked his head and cast a quick look around. “You won’t find anything in the library about that. It’s illegal. And don’t let Ms Appleguard hear that you’re looking. She takes any suspicious searches as a sign of someone’s immoral character. You’ll be banned from the library in case you plan on a major heist of her rare books, which she keeps locked in the antiquities section.”
“I didn’t know it was so taboo.”
“Any of that sort of stuff would be vaulted in McGilus’s office. Of course Ms Appleguard will never forgive McGilus for removing those books from her library, but she can’t do more than snarl whenever she sees him.”
“So you don’t think there will be anything here for me to read?”
He leaned over and moved books around the pile. “If you’re interested in biology, there are a few.”
I’d lost my enthusiasm by now, but pulled one of the books over.
“I did read some of the books you’re referring to. Ms Appleguard gave me special permission. She can do that, you know. She gives you a slip that you take to the Dean. He generally agrees as he knows Ms Appleguard would vigorously scrutinize anyone she allows to read such material.”
I didn’t need a pass from Ms Appleguard as I knew McGilus would allow me in anytime I wanted. But I had hoped to start over Christmas and McGilus was away. He’d offered Ms Rhinecroft a lift to the airport and had not been seen since.
“Did you find anything interesting?”
“Apart from the fact that everyone who ever tried to alter their ability died.”
“Is that what it said?”
“Molecular autopsies showed that they had succeeded in altering the structure of their DNA, which made it weak. The bonds that kept the proteins in their DNA together collapsed. It’s why they ended up accidentally killing themselves.”
“Did that happen in all cases?”
“Yep. There was this one case of a sorcerer who ended up on death row. Red tape slowed his execution down, which meant he languished in jail for one year. He survived for one year in this altered state.”
“What had he done to himself?”
“He’d managed to succeed in gaining a telekinetic ability. They ran tests on him while he languished in jail, of course. I’m sure they wanted to know how he had done it.”
“They executed him.”
“Nah, he died a day before his execution. An autopsy showed that his DNA literally imploded. It’s serious stuff. These people who do this shit are crazy. What’s the point? Be happy with what you have.”
I’d lost my enthusiasm for the topic.
“You won’t learn any of that sort of stuff in any of your classes. The council wouldn’t permit it on the curriculum in case it gives anyone ideas. And if you ask questions the teachers will clam up or mark you for being a disruption to the class.”
“Why are they so afraid?”
“Can you imagine the scary things that would happen if supes became that powerful? Heavy regulations and capital punishment are the only things that keep some of the powerful supes in line. Council casters are like a nuclear threat. Without them we would have tyranny. Another Cruces war. Only worse. We’d annihilate ourselves for sure.”
“What if multi-ability supes weren’t tyrannical? What if they were normal people who wanted the best for everyone else?”
Jona snorted a laugh. “Fat chance. And if they started like that they would soon change. Power does that to a person. Greed is like that. No one is immune.”
According to Jona I was going to self-destruct or turn into an evil tyrant.
“I need the bathroom.”
“Ladies is next to the large statue of Venus over in the left corner.”
Finally a pleasant statue to look at.
“What statue is out the front of the men’s?”
“Hercules, of course,” Jona said, keeping his eyes on his book.
I scanned about for Ms Appleguard as I made my way across to the bathroom expecting her to ghost in front of me demanding to know where I was going. She didn’t appear, neither did I hear any noise apart from my trainers crossing the floor. Libraries were meant to be quiet, but not this quiet. What about the fingers tapping on the keyboard, or the whirring of a photocopier or the sound of books being stacked onto shelves?
Once inside the bathroom, I beelined for the first cubicle, got halfway when a sharp pain stabbed my left thigh. I dropped my gait for a moment, clutching at the place where I knew the mark to be. This was getting serious. And I couldn’t seem to tell anyone about it.
Where I stood, I undid my belt and pulled my jeans to mid-thigh. The skin around the mark had turned an angry red, the usual color that signaled infection, but there was no broken skin or entry wound for bacteria, just an inches long black mark. An itched flared as I examined the mark. Scratching only made itches worse, so I resisted. In this case the itch got worse without me even touching it, then burned. Going out of my mind with the urge, I flattened my palm over the mark and rubbed. Heat fro
m the redness radiated up into my skin.
Jeans halfway down my thighs, I shuffled to the basins thinking to cool the burn with some cold water, and shrieked when I saw someone else in the mirror. Instead of staring at my reflection, I looked into the eyes of an attractive woman with an old fashion styled bob. Her eyes had me, blue, beautiful and haunted. A sadness penetrated so deep it had turned into a whirlpool sucking me inside.
I glanced over my shoulder. Stupid, of course she wouldn’t be there. When I looked back she’d been replaced by a man. The woman had stared out of the mirror, like a woman in a picture. The man stared at me. At me. Surely I was imagining it. I moved to the side only to find his eyes tracked me. A creepy shiver raced along my spine when he smiled. No warmth or welcome came from those curved lips. Like the woman, he was young, good-looking and familiar.
With his asking eyes my heart felt snagged and tugged. With his cold smile my body felt wrapped and chained. He was here for me. In the mirror, he’d come for me. The promise was there. At some point there would be no mirror. At some point there would be only him.
My head spun, vision tunneled. I sunk to my knees rather than fall to them, then rocked forward onto my hands. The mark burned, seared, demanded I touch it. I curled my fingers along the stone floor. I would not touch the mark. I couldn’t. It felt too intimate, like I was touching him somehow.
Sweet Jesus, I was going to throw up. I swallowed the saliva building in my throat.
Was that pounding feet across the stone floor? A hand touched my back, and I jolted forward onto my stomach. The burning stopped the instant I had felt the hand. What had been inside of me was gone, the strange entrapment I had felt, vanished.
“My dear girl, are you all right?” Ms Appleguard said.
16
It snowed on Christmas day. I reached out of my window and caught the flakes as they tumbled from the sky. Shame there was no-one around to throw snowballs at.
I found a note, artfully decorated with calligraphy, on my bedside table that had not been there when I went to sleep inviting me to the Christmas feast midday in the dining hall. Next to the note were Amy’s and Lorna’s presents.