Broken by Magic

by Rebecca Danese

  I nod glumly. If what she says is true, there’s no chance in hell Dad will forgive and forget, so introducing him to Ella is completely out of the question.

  My train of thought is rudely interrupted by my least-favourite nurse bursting in the door.

  “What on earth? How did he get back here?” she demands.

  “There was a mix-up,” Mum says, matching the nurse’s impatient tone. “I suggest you sort it out, as I don’t appreciate my husband being herded like a sheep from one place to another.”

  The nurse looks surprised at her abruptness but shuffles off, more than likely to take it out on some poor orderly.

  “Did you ever meet her?” I ask, picking up where we left off, unable to let it go.

  “No more questions now, please, Curtis. I know it’s hard, but I need you not to mention it to Dad. I’d rather not set him off again when he’s so fragile.”

  I nod, sensing that now is not the time to push it further. We sit in silence for a long time, waiting for what, I’m not sure. Either the nurse will come back and give us the Spanish Inquisition about where he really was for the past hour or maybe, just maybe, Dad will wake up.

  Mum and I sit, her one hand on Dad’s and the other on mine, for what seems like hours. My thoughts turn to Ella and what she’s contending with downstairs, whether they’ve managed to break Cassie’s spell on those poor people or found out anything else. With Beryl and David around, maybe they can heal their minds? But no, I realise. The Evans-Weston family are healers of bodies. I don’t know that their abilities would stretch any further.

  The sound of monitors beeping rapidly breaks the monotony, and I panic for a moment. Has Dad had a relapse?

  “Should I call someone?” I ask Mum. She nods, standing over him with concern. I run out into the hall and almost crash into a doctor walking briskly by, saying something incomprehensible as I drag him into our room.

  “Take it easy, son, let me see what’s going on,” he says, stepping over and checking equipment.

  Mum chatters to the doctor, making only slightly more sense than I was, and he waves at her to calm down as he looks at the monitor and the chart at the end of the bed.

  “What’s all that bloody noise?” I hear a gruff voice that I almost don’t recognise. I never thought I’d be so happy to hear my father being angry, but I almost collapse with relief when he opens his eyes.

  “Mar, what the hell is going on? I feel like something that bloody cat threw up,” he says, trying to move. Mum laughs and sobs at the same time, almost throwing herself on top of him.

  “Remarkable,” mutters the doctor, before attempting to extricate her from Dad so that she doesn’t send him back into unconsciousness. I step closer and place a hand on Dads arm, the first time I’ve probably touched him in a long time. I feel an unusual tingle and wonder if the last of Beryl’s and David’s Magic is coming out of his skin somehow, but the thought is quickly wiped away by his expression.

  “Curtis?” he croaks, looking at me as if I’ve grown an extra head or something.

  “Yes, Dad. I’m here. You gave us quite a scare,” I smile, blinking back my own tears.

  “Well, serves you right for disappearing like that on your poor mother. I don’t know what you’ve been playing at,” he says, instantly attacking me.

  “It’s a long story, Dad, for another day,” I try to say calmly.

  “No excuse! Of all the ungrateful things you’ve done, this tops it. Imagine what the family thought at Christmas without you there?”

  I should let it go, but the room suddenly feels stifling. The thing that has eaten away at me for ages, the guilt pooling in the pit of my stomach, thrown in my face within moments of successfully saving his life sends an anger through me that competes against my will to stay quiet. But rather than storm off or retaliate I take a very deep breath and pat his arm gently.

  “I know, Dad. I know.”

  I hear Mum exhale and realise she was holding her breath, no doubt expecting a fight.

  “Pete, how are you feeling?”

  “Very uncomfortable,” he replies, cutting to the chase. “And starving. Someone get me a sandwich.”

  “Just a moment, Mr. Mayes. We’ve had you on a drip for the past forty-eight hours, and you’ll not be able to eat until that’s removed. But I’ll get someone over to do that and find your own doctor for you,” he says, giving us each a nod before leaving.

  Mum and Dad stare at each other for long enough that I feel uncomfortable, and I have the sudden need to get out and find Ella.

  “I’ll go and get you something for when you can eat, shall I?” I suggest, not waiting for an answer before I dart out of the door, hearing Dad grumble behind me.

  I take a few breaths when I reach the lift and run my hand through my hair, noticing that my hands feel unsteady. By the time I reach Ella and the rest of my friends, who seem to have gathered in the hospital café, I don’t feel well at all.

  “Hey, what’s the matter?” Ella says, ushering me into a seat when she sees me.

  “Not sure. Just feel a bit odd,” I say, rubbing my eyes.

  “Nerves. They’re probably shot to shreds after everything that has happened over the last 24 hours. How’s your Dad?” Beryl asks.

  “Awake, and not wasting a second to make me wrong for existing,” I smirk.

  “Ah, he’s fully recovered then,” Jer says, patting me on the arm.

  “Seems like it. But what did you guys find?”

  “Well, they’re screening people as you saw. They have to fill out forms that include where, when and how they were hurt, and there’s a plain clothes police officer permanently stationed in there who reports all the suspicious activity to someone over radio. So, we can safely assume that things are already being put into place for Augur registration,” Ella says, fidgeting with the sugar packets on the table.

  “Just like the newspapers said.”

  “That’s not all,” Jer adds. “While you lot were upstairs playing doctor, we went and had a look in A & E too. Every single person being admitted had a thumb-prick test.”

  “What’s that for?”

  “Blood samples,” Lou interjects, “to test for traces of Augur blood we reckon, although they weren’t saying that officially. When I asked one of the attendants, they said the blood banks were ‘running low’,” she says, using her fingers to make air quotes. “They wanted to find blood donors, or so they said.”

  “Wow. This is getting out of hand.”

  “And moving faster than any of us thought it would,” Ella adds.

  “Bringing you all here was riskier than I thought,” I say, feeling the sudden urge to get all of them as far away from any Augur detection as I possibly can.

  “Curtis, don’t beat yourself up on our account. We can take care of ourselves,” David says kindly. “Besides, we did what we came to do, and it worked, so although he may not know it, your Dad is alive and well because of a small risk.”

  “A big risk, and I appreciate it more than I can ever tell you.” I look at them all, the people that, despite my stupidity, are still willing to risk their lives for me.

  “What did you get from the spaced-out people in ward 5C, by the way?” I ask Jer.

  “Just as you thought. The traces on them match what I felt in St Albans and based on what they were muttering, I’d say it’s a safe bet that Edward got Cassie to do her voodoo on them.”

  “I know he wants to get his hands on you badly,” I say, turning to Ella, “but brainwashing a bunch of strangers and then having them dumped in a hospital isn’t exactly a great plan.”

  “There’s probably more than that, and these are just the poor sods who had someone close enough to bring them to hospital,” Lou says angrily.

  “You’re right. Maybe she’s saturated the entire Hampstead area with a personal army of zombies,” I realise, horrified at the implications of that.

  “You know what that means, don’t you?” Jer says pointedly.

&
nbsp; I do know what it means. It means that I have to abandon my family again if I want to stay with Ella and get away from the city fast. I look back in the direction of the lifts, and Ella puts a gentle hand on mine.

  “I know this is hard for you, and I don’t want you to choose between me and them,” she says quietly. I feel six pairs of eyes on me and sense they’re waiting for me to say something.

  There’s no way I’m leaving Ella’s side, but how can I walk out on my parents after everything that has just happened? They’d never forgive me.

  Minutes pass before I let out a sigh.

  “I feel ridiculously under-qualified to make this call but—“

  My words are cut short by a rumble from beneath our feet.

  “What the hell is that?” Jer exclaims.

  We stand up almost as one, chairs scraping against the lino, to see similarly stricken faces from the strangers around us.

  The barista behind the counter lets out a little scream when a glass falls off a shelf and crashes beside her.

  “Since when are there earthquakes in northwest London?” Lou asks rhetorically. The realisation dawns on me, and I curse loudly as I scramble through chairs and tables, out of the cafe to the front of the hospital.

  “Jesus,” Marco says, catching up with me first, the others shortly behind.

  Standing in the car park outside the front of the hospital is Mr. Earthquake himself, Kai, arms outstretched, eyes wide with the exhilaration of power. And he has company.

  CHAPTER 11

  The tarmac cracks around Kai’s feet, and the windows in the hospital shudder, threatening to shatter at any moment.

  Cassie is there, along with a few other Augurs that I don’t recognise and have hoods pulled over their heads. So much for Edward’s plan to clean up the Magic Circle, particularly as their fearless leader is nowhere to be seen.

  Beryl has the good sense to pull the fire alarm, and the deep rumble below is enveloped by the shrill alarm echoing around the building.

  “I’ve got to stop them from going out the front door!” says Lou, dashing away before anyone has a chance to stop her. Jer mutters something about lending her a hand, and he disappears too as throngs of people already begin to head towards the doors. If they get too close to Kai, they’ll end up tripping over the cracks, falling in a pit, or worse.

  “They’re here for Ella,” Marco points out, which I knew but didn’t want to admit. We exchange a look, and she shakes her head.

  “I’m not going anywhere yet. We have to get everyone out of the building first before it comes toppling around our heads.”

  “Were going to make sure of that,” David says, taking his mum’s arm and pulling her towards the melee.

  “Mum and Dad,” I say as it dawns on me that getting them out of the building is going to be difficult. I grab Ella’s hand to take her with me, but she stops dead.

  “Wait, Curtis. You go - I’ll see if I can counteract his magic.” She pulls her hand free of mine and turns to go.

  “Are you mad? He has an army behind him. Even if you manage to stop him, one of the others will have something up their sleeve to overpower you!”

  She stops, sensing that I might be right. “What do we do then?”

  “I have another idea,” I say, realising that we have an advantage. “You get Mum and Dad, I’m going to cut the power.”

  “Hang on, why don’t I do that?”

  “Because if you leave this building, and they get their hands on you, we’re all screwed. I’m no good to them.”

  “Why don’t I cut the power and you get your parents?” Marco suggests.

  “No, I’ll go. You help Ella get them - push them through the wall if you need to, and help anyone else you can grab along your way,” I say firmly. Marco raises an eyebrow but decides not to argue in the end, and as Ella seems to agree they head towards the staircase, which is sensible as the lifts would be more dangerous right now. What they’re going to do when they need to wheel people out of the hospital, I’ve no idea. I only hope that Dad won’t put up a fight.

  Following the signs for a fire exit, I find myself outside the hospital within the minute, and already a small crowd is forming in the car park, those who can walk or be wheeled keeping a safe distance from the Augurs at the front. I slip through the crowd, keeping my head down and my collar up in the hopes that no one will recognise me, but I needn’t worry as all eyes are on the building. Where would I find a fuse box, I wonder as I scan the area.

  “Back left corner by the wall,” says a voice next to my ear.

  “Jesus!” I turn to find the space next to me empty. “You again?” I accuse the disembodied voice.

  “Yes, but I don’t know how long for, so shut up and let me help you.”

  I nod, turning to see if anyone’s noticed that I’m talking to myself. With the coast clear, I head towards the wall that surrounds the hospital and find a low grey box. It’s locked, and I want to scream in frustration when my fingers scrabble at the doors uselessly.

  “Reach under that car. I think you’ll find something you can use,” the stranger instructs me. My hand closes around something long and metallic. A crowbar. I pull it out triumphantly and wedge the flat end into a gap in the doors, cringing when I manage to lever them open with a noisy screech. With all the racket coming from the other direction, no one seems to care what I’m up to.

  “What should I do?” I ask, staring at the tangle of wires and switches.

  “The one in the top right, slightly bigger than the rest. Yep, that one. Pull it down.”

  The satisfying clunk of a thousand lights powering off, along with the alarms and, for that matter, the earthquake tremors, all come to an abrupt stop.

  “Wow, thanks,” I whisper to the voice, but of course it’s gone. The only Augur in a square mile radius who can function without nearby power is Ella, and whoever my secret helper is, they’re evidently no exception.

  I don’t get much of a chance to dwell on it as Cassie’s voice carries over the car park to my hiding spot in the corner.

  “Very clever, Ella, but you’re still coming with us!”

  The stupid woman doesn’t realise that Ella isn’t the one that foiled their plan, but I don’t volunteer to correct her. There’s enough electricity in the city that one block isn’t going to make much difference for long. As quietly as I can, I get up from where I’ve been hiding, taking the crowbar with me as an afterthought and shoving it in the front of my jacket.

  The front of the hospital is at a slight angle to where I am, so I can make out the side fire exit that I left through, as well as a glimpse of the back. Doctors, nurses and patients are evacuating by the dozens, and I can’t begin to guess how long it will take to get everyone out. I just hope that I’ve bought them some time with what I’ve done.

  “Ella, don’t be selfish. These people’s lives depend on you coming out of hiding and coming with us,” Cassie calls out, so that anyone practically in a mile radius can hear her.

  Don’t let her come out, I think to myself. Please let her be somewhere far away with my parents in tow already.

  I keep to the back of the crowd and skirt around the edges of the car park, but when I get to the fire exit I came out by, several things happen at the same time.

  I find the door locked, because of course stupidly I didn’t prop it open. The sound of police sirens fills the air, and I panic at the thought of all my friends being caught up in some kind of SWAT operation, but that’s the least of my worries, as I spot an uncomfortably familiar black car pull up to the back of the hospital just meters from where I’m standing.

  A burly guy wearing sunglasses, despite it being February, steps out and opens the rear door for someone I hoped not to see for a very long time. Miss Banks, head of the Anti-Terror Unit, hasn’t changed a bit since she chained me to a chair just over two months ago, although at least now I’m in her good books. Well, sort of.

  She sees me, gives me a slight nod and then, to my
surprise, wanders off, hopefully to tackle the more pressing matter at hand.

  Left with no other choice, I head to the back of the hospital, where I pray my girlfriend is safely evacuated with Mum and Dad. A surge of hope rises up within me when I spot two familiar faces amongst those gathered at the back. I don’t know what it is about people. You would think that once they had been evacuated from a building that could potentially fall on top of their heads, they would get as far away as possible. This isn't so. Instead, they stand around staring at the damage and the chaos and, I suppose, in some misinformed way, wonder if they’ll be able to see it all come to a head without being killed in the process.

  “Mum! Where’s Ella?” I ask, running up to my parents who are sensibly closer to the back, Dad grumbling from a wheelchair beside her.

  “I couldn’t stop her from going back in, love. I did try, but she had spotted the foundations crumbling, and she and Marco were off like a flash.”

  “Jesus,” I say, looking back at the hospital. Only now can I see a few cracks that must have worked their way up the walls when Kai started causing the tremors. I run back towards the building before anyone has the chance to stop me, to the sound of Dad cursing at my stupidity.

  The sirens from the front of the hospital are louder than ever, and a team of policemen are running around to form a human barricade between the crowd of evacuees and the precarious hospital. If I don’t run for it now, I’ll never get back to Ella and then… well, that doesn’t bear thinking about.

  There are still people trickling out of the back doors, and I use the confusion to my advantage, pushing my way against the throng and trying not to crash into orderlies pushing beds and wheelchairs out of the double doors and to safety. A long corridor stretches before me that eventually leads back into the main reception, where most of the damage seems to have been done. It isn’t a big hospital by London standards, but big enough that it could take me an hour to find another person in here if I didn’t know where to look, and the huge crack in the wall closest to the front glass is a good clue.