Academic Magic

by Becky R Jones

  “I can add to what Rowantree was talking about,” said Robyn. “I was leaving the poetry reading last night about eight o’clock or so and felt a strange pulsing in the air around Shelby Hall as I walked to the parking lot. It’s had that strange aura since last year and now it seems like it’s larger and getting stronger. But the pulsing sensation last night was new.”

  Kieran’s eyes narrowed. “The cloud is getting bigger and stronger, and that much activity when there are still a good number of people wandering around on campus is a sign that they’re either getting bolder or desperate.”

  The tension in the room grew noticeably when Kieran took the very unacademic step of simplifying the situation they were facing.

  Mark looked at George. “You’re suggesting they’re figuring out the terms of power-sharing between the coven and the demon before they perform a complete summoning.” It was not a question.

  “Yes. The summoning would have to take place at a place of power. And, there is one such place in Philadelphia. The fountain at Logan Square is a power locus. It represents the three main waterways in the area, the Delaware River, the Schuylkill River, and the Wissahickon Creek. Symbolically, those waterways come together there. The fountain was deliberately placed over the power locus by Alexander Stirling Calder, the designer. He was a Water mage and thought that would be the best way of controlling the power coming from this particular locus,” George explained. Mark nodded and Zoe, numb to more strangeness, simply filed the information away for future investigation.

  Zoe grimaced as a thought occurred to her. “The winter solstice, the longest night of the year. That would be the logical date for the coven to complete its deal and summon the demon. And, that’s only a couple weeks away.”

  George nodded. “Yes. However, we do have one thing in our favor.” He smiled slightly. “The city of Philadelphia has already turned off the water in every fountain in the city for the winter. Without the water flowing, the power is not easily available; something else we owe to Calder’s foresight. The fountain was engineered so that power in the locus rides the water. There is more power available with the fountain on, turn the water off and the power is almost completely contained. Calder knew he couldn’t completely shut off the power, but he hoped it would be less accessible at the winter solstice. It’s there, but it takes far more energy to tap into it when the fountain is turned off.”

  His voice became serious. “We have a very short window of time here. And, we’re already behind.”

  After some more fruitless hashing out of limited information, the group broke up and left in various directions. Zoe couldn’t help but think of them now as the Faculty Mage Committee. She had a feeling this committee would be more action and less talk than your average faculty committee.

  Having no more teaching obligations for the day, Zoe was anxious to get back to her office and start researching demons and their powers. She was already formulating research questions as she stepped out of the main door of Davis Hall. A nasty cracking sound came from over her head. Jumping back, she narrowly avoided being hit by several bricks falling out of the façade. The bricks shattered on the sidewalk with sharp retorts. Zoe yelped and jumped again.

  Ahead of her, Robyn had turned down a different path that would take her back to her office in Harrison Hall. She spun around at Zoe’s shout and sprinted back up the walk.

  “What happened? Are you okay?” Robyn yelled.

  “I don’t know!” Zoe’s heart was racing, and her hands shook. “I heard a cracking sound and as I was trying to locate it, I stepped back. Which was a good thing because I think those would have hit me on the head if I’d still been standing there!” At that moment Kieran emerged from the main door.

  “What happened?” His eyes widened when he saw the smashed bricks on the walkway.

  Zoe repeated her story and Kieran looked up at the façade of the building which now sported a hole where the bricks had been. He turned back to Zoe.

  “Bricks don’t just fall out of buildings that are in good shape,” he noted. “I think this was either a message, or an attempt to take one of us out.”

  Zoe and Robyn exchanged worried looks. Zoe took a deep breath. The recognition of the physical danger they were all facing intruded itself into what had previously been an academic and intellectual puzzle. Combined with what had happened with the students, this brought home the shift in reality she had been experiencing for the last couple of months. I really have to get a grip, figure this all out, and get moving. I wonder if it’s worth it to ask Mom about it? Where else am I going to get answers? Her naval gazing was interrupted by a new, and unwelcome, voice.

  “What’s going on?” Melanie Porter was striding up the walk from the direction of Shelby Hall.

  Zoe glanced at the others and then looked at Melanie. She indicated the broken bricks on the ground in front of her.

  “I was just walking out of the building and these fell out of the façade right as I passed under the entrance. I heard a strange sound and jumped back. I’m lucky they missed me.” She studied Melanie’s face for any indication that she might already know that the bricks had fallen.

  Melanie did look upset. “I thought I heard yelling, so I came up here to see what was going on. The bricks didn’t hit you, did they?” Her tone was slightly tinged with disappointment. She stared at Robyn.

  “Why are you here?”

  Surprised at the question, Robyn answered shortly. “I had a meeting.”

  Kieran turned to Melanie. “Since you’re here and can see for yourself what happened, can you maybe get maintenance to take a look at the bricks on this building? It seems dangerous if they’re randomly falling off; what if a student was injured by falling bricks?” he simultaneously conveyed innocence of any other-worldly cause and genuine concern for the health and well-being of students.

  A dull, red flush rose in Melanie’s face. Did Melanie realize that everyone facing her was a mage? And that nobody really liked or trusted her? Zoe assumed that Melanie now knew she was a mage given Susan Barker was her secretary and Susan and Meredith had headed straight for Shelby Hall after losing the students in the basement.

  “I’ll definitely have maintenance look at it right away. You’re right Kieran, we wouldn’t want anybody to get injured or worse.”

  Melanie attempted to regain a small shred of dignity. “Zoe, I’m very glad you were not hurt. As I said, I will have maintenance look at it, and every building, immediately. My apologies for the accident and for the scare.”

  The provost turned and headed back toward Shelby Hall. The three faculty mages watched as she neared the building and Zoe swore Melanie flinched slightly when she crossed the invisible line and walked into the bad air shrouding Shelby Hall. But there was no other sign that she was affected by the cloud around the building.

  As the three of them were still staring after Melanie, George and Mark walked out of the door of Davis Hall. Zoe repeated her story and added the conversation that had just taken place. She stopped speaking and along with the others simply stared at George waiting for his response. Whether he wanted the job or not, it was clear he was now the unofficial chair of the unofficial Faculty Mage Committee. George frowned and stared at Shelby Hall.

  Kieran finally broke the silence. “So, do you think we still have time until she finalizes whatever it is she’s going for? I mean, could she start something over the Thanksgiving break while campus is mostly empty?”

  “I doubt it. She’s still trying to hide her power and her plans. And, even if she were successful in summoning a demon, I believe she’d try to keep things moving as normally as possible. Power is always greater if it’s given to you by willing followers, than if you take it by force. She’ll want people to continue to support her and her ideas and that will feed her power.” George turned from his contemplation of the administration building and smiled at them.

  “Go and have a good holiday, all of you. Do you all have some place to go for Thanksgiving
dinner? If not, you have a standing invitation to our dinner.”

  Mark nodded at that and added “Zoe, you’re still coming over, right? Anybody with no place for dinner is invited to our house as well.” He looked around at the others.

  “Yes, I’ll be there,” Zoe answered.

  Kieran nodded his thanks at Mark. “I’ll take you up on that offer. My parents are going to Hawaii to visit my mom’s sisters, so I’m on my own.”

  Zoe found she liked the idea of Kieran coming to Mark and David’s for Thanksgiving dinner.

  Robyn nodded her thanks. “We’re going to my in-laws, but thanks for the invite.”

  George nodded. “Good. Don’t let me delay you any further. Go home, enjoy the time off, but keep your eyes open. We’ll keep in touch if anything happens over the weekend. Happy Thanksgiving!” The laugh lines around his green eyes deepened as he smiled at them all. He turned and headed back into the building.

  Zoe let out a snort of laughter. “Well, the first meeting of the Faculty Mage Committee was certainly interesting!”

  More laughter greeted this statement.

  “I like that!” said Robyn. “This is a committee I like being on. At least it’s interesting! Have a good holiday! And a safe one,” she added looking at the broken bricks before heading back to her office.

  Kieran looked at Zoe and Mark. “Thanks again for the invitation, Mark. I’ll bring a bottle of wine? Unless there’s something else you need?”

  “Nope, that’s fine,” Mark replied. “Plan on showing up about three o’clock.”

  “Okay, great. See you both then.” Kieran smiled at Zoe and headed towards the parking lot.

  Mark looked at Kieran’s retreating figure, and then back at Zoe.

  “Hmmmm.”

  “What?” Zoe asked a bit sharply.

  “Oh, nothing” said Mark, his face a mask of innocence.

  Chapter Fourteen

  A couple of days after the falling bricks and basement confrontation, Zoe’s attempt to clear out a backlog of grading was interrupted by the annoying ring of the office phone.

  “Zoe, can you please come to my office as soon as possible?” George’s voice came over the line.

  “Sure. I can come now, will that work?” Zoe suppressed a small shiver of nerves. What was going on?

  “That’s great. It’s nothing to worry about, I just think it will be easier to talk face to face.” George’s tone was neutral, but Zoe could hear the smile in his voice as if he sensed her nervous response. “I’ll see you in a few minutes then,” he said and hung up.

  Zoe closed down her work and logged out of her computer. Ever since the confrontation with Meredith in the basement, she had taken extra precautions where her work and office were concerned. She had even put an alarm on the door of her office using Air magic. If anybody, magical or not, entered her office while Zoe wasn’t there, she would be alerted. She didn’t think that Meredith could break in undetected, and she wasn’t sure why Meredith would do something like that, but she wasn’t taking any chances. Meredith clearly disliked her and even under ordinary circumstances would likely try to undermine Zoe. Given that she now knew Zoe was a mage…well, Zoe didn’t want to think about where that might lead.

  Walking across campus, she kept an eye out for Rowantree or any of the other squirrels, and carefully avoided going anywhere near Shelby. The more she thought about it, the more she wondered if the cloud around Shelby also worked as some sort of alarm system for the coven alerting them when somebody crossed that invisible line. While she didn’t think it could tell them who was crossing into the cloud, there was no point in unnecessarily triggering any type of warning.

  She arrived in George’s office a few minutes later. He was seated at his small table with Simon LeGrande and Declan Jinn. In an impressive display of fidgeting, Simon was managing to bounce on the balls of his feet even while seated. Zoe paused in the doorway and George waved her to an empty chair.

  “Come in Zoe. Thanks for coming over on such short notice.” George gave her his best grandfatherly smile.

  Zoe returned George’s smile. Simon inclined his head. “It’s good to see you again, Zoe,” he said in his vaguely formal way.

  Zoe smiled and returned his nod. “You, too Simon.”

  She turned to Declan. “Hi, Declan. How are you doing?” He was nervously twisting his hands together but looked up and gave her a small smile in return.

  “Hi, Dr. O’Brien. I’m okay. Thanks for your help the other day,” he said softly.

  “Any time.” Zoe was hopeful that once away from Meredith he would lose some of his nervousness. His skittishness was becoming contagious.

  George cleared his throat and Declan gave a small start.

  “Zoe, Dr. O’Brien, Declan asked that you be here since it was in your office that he vanished. Given the events of the last few days, he has asked Simon and I to hear his story and get our take on some information he’s since discovered.” George was using all the grandfatherly warmth and wisdom that had students fighting to get into his classes.

  Declan turned bright red and continued to stare at his hands.

  “Declan and I have spoken about changing majors,” Simon took up the story. “And, he is going to switch to political science with me as his academic advisor. We both agreed that this will be best and keep him away from Dr. Cruickshank. I don’t believe she will like the idea, but she really cannot do anything to prevent it. I’ve told Declan to simply file the paperwork and avoid speaking with her. He will drop the class he has with her this semester and we’ll make up the credits at a later date.” He smiled reassuringly at Declan who glanced up briefly before returning to his determined contemplation of his hands.

  Zoe looked between Simon and George. “That’s great. I’m sure it will be a lot less stressful for you, Declan,” she smiled at the top of his head. He gave a small, jerky nod without looking up.

  “But, I’m pretty sure that’s not why you called me, George,” she said turning back to her department chair. She was a little surprised at her own assertiveness.

  George quirked an eyebrow at her. “No, you’re right. After the episode in the basement the other day, Declan has decided to tell us what he knows about his power and hopefully between the rest of us, we can fill in the blanks.”

  George turned to smile at Declan. “Why don’t you just tell us what you know and then we can take it from there.”

  “Okay,” Declan took a deep breath. “M-my mom said I shouldn’t tell anybody, but I don’t want Dr. Cruickshank or anybody else to control me like that again. I-I could feel that…that helmet thing, you were talking about Dr. O’Brien…b-b-but I couldn’t do anything about it.” He took another shaky breath.

  “Anyway…um…my d-dad was Chinese, and my mom is Irish. I-I don’t know my dad. He left when I was a baby, but my mom always said he had…umm…p-power. I think she knew what it was but didn’t want to tell me,” he glanced up apologetically.

  Zoe smiled at him. The poor kid was so nervous his whole body was shaking. “Declan, it’s okay. All three of us have power. It’s not weird. At least not for us here. I just found out about mine, so I’m still figuring it all out, just like you. These guys,” she indicated George and Simon, “are already good with their power. You and me, we still have to figure things out.”

  The shaking slowly subsided. Declan shot her a grateful look.

  “Yeah. Okay. That’s what Dr. LeGrande said too,” he glanced over at Simon who smiled encouragingly, but didn’t say anything.

  It was like a group therapy session. But the stakes are higher. We have to keep Declan from flying to pieces…or vanishing…literally. Declan closed his eyes for a minute and after another shaky breath, resumed his story.

  “Anyway. I think my mom has p-power too. She can sometimes s-s-see s-stuff that hasn’t happened yet. She always t-told me it was just g-good m-mom intuition. But in the last couple days, I-I did some research…um...I-I didn’t t-tell her. I…um…don�
��t think…um…that she would like that.” He glanced around the table silently asking the three faculty mages not to reveal anything to his mother.

  Simon chuckled. “Don’t worry, young man. We can file this information under academic privacy laws. We are not obligated to disclose academic information to a parent or guardian unless you sign a waiver. I believe that this qualifies.”

  George was thoughtful. “Yes, we can initially handle it that way. But I think that if it becomes necessary, you might want to discuss things with your mother, Declan.”

  Seeing Declan’s hands renew their almost uncontrolled shaking, he quickly added, “But only if you think it will be a help to you.” Zoe shot George a questioning glance; he gave her a slight nod in return indicating that he would discuss it with her later.

  Simon coughed quietly. “Declan, my boy, we can worry about what to tell your mother later. I think now we need to return to what you know about your own power.” His eyes behind his round spectacles were gentle yet firm.

  Declan gave another jerky nod and twisted his fingers together to reduce the shaking in his hands.

  “So, um…I looked up people who can s-see stuff…I mean…um…magic stuff…s-seeing. My mom is Irish…I think she h-has S-Sight…like s-she can…um…see the future and stuff.” He swallowed convulsively and then stared around at the three faculty members in turn. He stopped when he got to Zoe and in a rare display of straightforwardness, looked directly at her.

  “A-and, I think my d-dad is a djinn…um…a genie sort of.” His face went red, but he continued to stare defiantly at Zoe.

  Zoe felt her eyes widen and her mouth drop open. A djinn? Those were real?? Declan’s face started to take on a worried appearance and Zoe quickly schooled her own expression. For some reason, the kid trusted her and needed her to not be shocked at what he told her. She gave him what she hoped was a reassuring smile. It must have worked because he stopped twisting his hands together and smiled shyly in return.