by Jeff Hale
Kat spoke up. “Just that I dated him for a short while, and that he tends to move around a lot.” I could tell that she was lying. They both were.
I swear if Kat told her anything about what I am….
“Well, you can stop now. He’s nothing but a normal human boy here to learn like the rest of you. So shall we get back to it?” Bianca asked as I saw Kat bite back an unbelieving snort.
“Yes ma’am,” all three of them said in unison, sounding chagrined. I gave a tight grin and relaxed in my chair a bit more. This could be more interesting than I thought. I wasn’t here to learn. Or not to learn what they were here to learn. I was here to investigate, which meant I was really free to do whatever I liked as long as I didn’t disrupt the natural flow of the class. Again I began to study the students, what they looked like, so I would know who was in the class. That way I could approach them later and start a conversation with them, with the overall goal of finding out what they knew about Kent
Right before class ended, Bianca looked up at me directly. “That will conclude my lecture. Remember to read Chapter Sixteen tonight. There will be a test on Friday. Mr. Kerensky, I need to see you after class. I believe you have something for me to sign for the upfront office?” she asked as everyone gathered up their books and packs. I nodded. The class filed out and I headed down to Bianca’s desk.
“I swear by all the Aspects, Bianca, if you ever call attention to me like that again I will personally leave you burning in a pillar of flame for the next ten years,” I threatened, somewhat emptily.
“Oh, you were fine. I can’t treat you any differently than I would any other student or it would seem suspicious. You saw how I handled those three gossip-mongers. I swear those three, they are some of the smartest girls in my class, but because they’re in some hotshot sorority they feel like they can just skate past and get good grades. So is it true? Did you date Katelyn Shaughnessy?” Bianca asked, giving me a surprised look.
“I did. For a short while,” I confirmed.
“Wow, you like living on the edge. You do know she’s a shifter, I’m assuming?” she inquired, half-sitting on the edge of her desk, half-leaning.
“Yes. I do,” I said.
“And you don’t remember what we taught you at MAGE about shifters?” she asked.
“I do. It’s fine, we’re not together anymore for that exact reason,” I said.
“And you know who her father is, right?” she pressed.
“And that matters because?” I asked.
“He’s dangerous. Very dangerous,” she stated emphatically.
“I know. And Lucien’s more dangerous. Especially to his kind,” I said bluntly.
“Wait. I know you knew Lucien, but you’re close with him?” she asked, slightly awestruck.
“Actually, yes. I am,” I said, giving her a slight smile.
“Damn, but you do know how to make powerful friends, Aerick. Merlin, Lucien. Say you don’t happen to know Prince Charming do you?” she asked, hopeful.
“Not that I’m aware of. Isn’t he just a fairy tale?’ I asked.
She just gave me a look like I should know better. “Come on. A descendent of Arthur Pendragon, King of Camelot, and you’re going on about fairy tales like they don’t exist,” she said, disappointment clear in her tone.
“Well maybe it’s best that I don’t know Mr. Charming. After all, he’s probably a fae, and you know the rules about that,” I said, giving her a meaningful look. She had all but pounded that into my head when I was working with Raven against her better judgment.
She just laughed. “I do. I do. I just suppose it can get a bit lonely from time to time,” she said, sighing.
“Well, I think I have the lay of the room and the students now. I should be able to know who to talk to. At least I can use this class as a conversation starter. Anyway, I better get to my other class,” I said.
“Good luck, and good hunting, Aerick,” she said as I left. I waved in response as I left the room.
Me dealing with people? Seemed like I was going to need that luck.
EIGHT
I made my way down the hall to the room for the next class, seeing a few of the students from the previous one waiting outside the door for the professor to show up. I struck up conversations with them, using the previous class and my newness as a conversation starter. I eventually brought up Kent, stating that he was my cousin and had talked me into going to college, and that I had hoped to be in some of the same classes with him.
Out of the four people I spoke to, only three knew who I was even talking about, and two had only heard that he had disappeared with rumors stating that he had found his precious manticore and that the creature had made an appetizer of him. The third was Celeste. I approached her cautiously, not knowing what to expect.
“Uh, heya, Celeste,” I started off awkwardly. Great.
“Hi, Aerick,” she said, her tone happy and friendly.
Good. Kat must not have said anything too horrible.
“So, do you actually know Kat?” I asked, needing to know how pissed I should be at Katelyn.
“Uh, yeah, we’re friends. I’m sorry for starin’ at ya, but, I was just curious as to why I keep runnin’ inta ya,” she apologized, though I had the idea that she wasn’t telling me everything. She probably thought that I was stalking her, and didn’t want to say it out loud.
“How long have you known Kat?” I asked, getting slightly exasperated.
“Oh. Not long. Jus’ since the beginnin’ of the school year, I suppose. We’re part of the same sorority, but she’s usually hangin’ out with her frien’ Kris, and partyin’, which usually ain’t my scene. I help with some of the parties, especially when mah boyfriend wants me ta, but I prefer ta stay in mah room and study,” she said.
That fucking bitch. All this time, and Kat said nothing to me.
“So, do you know Kent?” I asked bluntly.
“Oh yeah. I hang out with ‘im when I get the chance. It makes mah boyfriend jealous, but Kent’s really smart and helps me with mah homework sometimes, or helps me understand what I’m readin’. I mean, I get good grades, and I like ta think that I’m pretty smart, but that boy is jus’ a genius,” she said, smiling the whole time. She had a bit of a thing for him, I could tell. Maybe I should start hoping that that manticore got him.
Then it hit me. “Your boyfriend is the jealous type?” I asked cautiously.
“Oh, yeah, absolutely. But it’s okay, he wouldn’t hurt anyone over it,” she said, her hand brushing away a strand of hair from her eyes. It almost seemed like her hand lingered just a bit on her cheek, almost reflexively. I narrowed my eyes briefly. If she was being mistreated by her boyfriend, Serena or not, I’d kill him.
“You’re sure about that? You don’t think he’d get jealous enough to kill?” I asked pointedly.
“I’m sure,” she said, more forcefully this time.
“So what do you think happened to Kent then?” I asked.
“I don’t know. I heard his stuff was still here, and I don’t think he’d leave without it. He wasn’t very popular, especially since a lot of these classes grade on a curve, so a lot of people didn’t like him on account of ‘im getting such good grades and doing all o’ the extra credit. I mean, I don’t even do all o’ the extra credit. I could see a lot of people wantin’ ‘im ta not be around anymore. Maybe someone scared him off,” she mused.
That was so like Serena. She wouldn’t think that anyone would actually kill Kent because she believed the best of people in general. I wasn’t so naïve. I had a feeling that someone had killed him, but so far all anyone had heard was that, yes, he had disappeared. The hows and whyfors were strictly rumor. Not a good start. Once the professor arrived, I went into the next class, slightly deflated. The professor, one Mr. Moraine, nodded at me as I walked in, letting me know that he was in on the fact that I was there to investigate.
Once everyone had taken their seats, Mr. Moraine started into his lecture. Crypt
obiology was actually about the abilities and powers and weaknesses of each creature. While these were covered briefly in Cryptozoology, it was covered in much greater detail here.
I sat next to Celeste and tried to pay attention to the class, even though I already knew all of this stuff. I didn’t take notes, and I didn’t even crack the book. He announced a pop quiz out of nowhere to the collective groan of the students. He graded them while we watched a short film of clips from right after the Barrier had fallen, then handed them back towards the end of the class period. I was the only person to ace the thing and Celeste gave me an incredulous look as she saw the grade on the paper.
“Ya say this was yer first class evah?” she asked.
“Uh. Yeah,” I replied, shrugging.
“So, since Kent isn’t around, ya mind helpin’ me with some of this stuff then?” she asked.
My heart skipped a beat. More time to spend with the girl I thought might be Serena reincarnated? What was I going to say?
“Uh… no. I probably won’t have time,” I said. Fucking idiot! Why did I just fucking say that?
“Oh. Are ya sure?” she asked, looking a bit down.
“Well, I don’t know for sure. I still have work, and with the added load of the classes, I just don’t know how much time I’ll have. But hey, I’ll give you my number and you can call me and if I have the time free I’ll help you, how’s that?” I asked.
She perked up and nodded, grabbing her phone and putting my name into it. I gave her my number and she entered that into the phone as well. I couldn’t help but notice before she put the phone away, that she had a small background picture of a unicorn standing next to a lake, it’s reflection that of a beautiful woman. Serena always did have thing for unicorns, and had always wanted to be one.
The next day or two went in a similar vein. I was at the college, talking with my classmates, trying to find out what everyone knew about Kent. Somehow on both days, Kat and Kris had managed to avoid me by being the first out of Cryptozoology, and Bianca always wanted to see me after so I could give her a progress report.
Celeste didn’t seem to mind me sitting next to her in Cryptobiology, and I took that as a good sign. She talked with me whenever we had free time in class, and on the second day we had to pair up with someone to quiz each other, and the third day we had to pair up to do an in-class project. Both days she chose to pair up with me. I didn’t know if it was because I was right there, or if she honestly wanted to. Either way I didn’t care. I never let on why I was really there, or what I really was. As far as she knew I was just a normal human guy. I never saw her outside of class, but maybe that was for the best. At least for right now.
But as I talked to her, it amazed me at how similar she was to Serena. A bit older perhaps, a little difference here and there that could be explained from her experiences over the past five years. A little bit of arrogance here, a bit of shop-a-holism there. But no doubt it was Serena’s personality, from her pet peeves to her likes in flavors of ice cream, strawberry, and the fact that she loved all animals equally and would take in every sick and stray animal that she could if she had the capability. She was constantly showing me cute animal pictures on her laptop.
There were other little things, like the birthmark on the small of her back, just above her butt. It was small, almost invisible unless you knew exactly where to look. I had spotted it when she had worn a shirt that showed a bit of her stomach off, and she had pass in front of me to turn in her paper so her lower back had been bare.
Over the weekend I literally sat and hoped that Celeste would call. That she would want help with our reading assignment and the worksheet that Mr. Moraine had sent home. I managed to avoid Dave since he was at work for most of the weekend. I was thankful for that because I knew he would see right through me and start asking me all kinds of questions that I wasn’t prepared to answer yet. Either way, she never called, and I wasted the entire weekend trying to piece together what little evidence I had been able to gather so far.
I finally managed to catch Kat and Kris on Monday. They were pretty much the only ones outside a couple of people in my Cryptobiology class that I hadn’t been able to talk to about Kent. On that day though I managed to block the door as Kat and Kris both tried to make their hasty escape.
“We need to talk,” I said in a low voice as Kat got closer, her posture and expression wary.
“Fine, then we can talk right here,” she replied.
“Fine,” I said, and I stepped to one side so that the rest of the students could pass. Celeste gave us a worried look as she passed us, but shot me a brief smile. Like every other time I had seen her smile at me, my heart skipped a beat.
“What was that about? She has a boyfriend,” Kat demanded angrily.
“What was tha…? Are you fucking kidding…?” I started to whisper harshly before I noticed a couple of other male students wearing fraternity letters on their shirts watching us closely. Wouldn’t do to make a scene and reveal what I was and blow my cover. “Another time, Kat. I’m talking to you right now for a specific reason,” I said through gritted teeth.
“Like what?” she said, crossing her arms and giving me a glare.
“Kent Dyson. Did either of you know him?” I asked.
Kat’s face went neutral, then realization hit her. “That’s why you’re here. You’re investigating Kent’s disappearance!” she said in a surprised whisper.
“Yes, and I’d prefer if you didn’t blow my cover to anyone who doesn’t know about me,” I said.
She just nodded. “Don’t worry. I won’t. If you want my opinion, I think Travis did something to him. He went into a jealous rage the last time he saw Celeste and Kent hanging out together. I mean, he didn’t beat him up or anything, but you could tell he wanted to. I could see him killing Kent,” she said. Kris nodded in agreement, then her brow furrowed as though she was trying to recall something.
“Travis. Celeste’s boyfriend?” I asked. Kat nodded again. “Celeste said that Travis wouldn’t be the type to do something like that. Jealousy or no,” I told her.
“Oh. He is,” she said emphatically.
“Wait,” Kris said, nodding to herself as though she had just remembered something. “I saw Kent talking to some strange old woman that has been around campus lately. She wears an old ragged shawl and has odd looking finger nails.” Kris held her fingers up.
“What strange old woman? I haven’t seen any…” Kat began to say before Kris shook her head.
“From what I’ve heard, none of the Aetherics can. Rumors are going around among us normal types that only we can see her,” Kris explained, giving Kat an almost guilty look.
“Odd looking nails? What do you mean?” I asked.
Kris looked at her fingertips and wiggled them. “They were like… I dunno, like some kind of metal, dull though,” she replied.
“Dull metal? Like iron?” I asked, concern growing.
“Yeah. Maybe like iron,” she confirmed.
“That can’t be good,” I said, more to myself than anyone else, dread creeping over me. “Anyway. Thanks guys. I think the school’s a dead end. No one seems to know anything, and no one’s lying about it,” I said with all certainty.
I knew what was going on. I knew who Kris had described. Who it had to be. I just had to confirm it. The sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach told me that I already knew the answer. I didn’t even bother to head to my next class. As I walked the opposite way, I heard Celeste call after me. I half turned, and she gave me a questioning look.
“Work called, I have to go in,” I called down the hallway.
“Want me ta take notes for ya?” she asked.
“Yeah, would you? Thanks!” I answered as she nodded. I so badly wanted to go to that class, to sit next to her. To be her partner if there was a pairing up task. To be near her if only for that fifty-five minutes.
Dammit. I hate my job sometimes.
I needed to talk with Lucien, to warn him, and h
ave him contact Merlin. If Baba Yaga was in town, then we were all in very real, very grave danger. I decided it was too important to waste time with the bus system, so I teleported to the front door of the Flame, only to find that it was closed. I went around to the parking garage and tried the door there, but it was locked, even to me. I just stared at the door in confusion. Then it opened and one of the armored Cyclopes stepped out and looked down at me from one blue eye.
“Oh. Hey, Rick. I’m sorry, but the boss isn’t in. He went to visit his brother, Kaleb, in Africa. He didn’t want anyone inside while he was gone. Sorry.” He shrugged.
“Theros is it?” I asked. He nodded. “Theros, I need you to tell Lucien that I need to talk to him the moment he gets back. Okay? It’s a matter of great importance. It could mean the destruction of this city,” I said, trying to impart the severity of my request. I knew he would get it; while most Cyclopes weren’t too intelligent, Theros was an exception and was pretty damned smart.
“Understood, Rick. I’ll tell him the exact second that I see him when he returns. Must be pretty dangerous shit if it’s got you this worked up,” he observed, folding his massive arms across an equally massive chest.
“Yeah. It is. The Iron Hag might be here in the city,” I said seriously.
His single eye went wide with fear. “Are you… are you sure?” he asked, dread in his tone.
“Not a hundred percent, but pretty sure based on a witness account. A witness account that I trust implicitly when it comes to these things. She mentioned iron fingernails.” I saw Theros cringe. Yeah, had to be her. “By the way, you heard anything about her being able to hide herself from Aetherics but not normal people?’ I asked, still perplexed over that.
“Yes, tales say that she can cloak herself from magic sight, but that regular mortals can still see her. It’s so she can roam a city full of Aetherics without being noticed. In the old days most of us didn’t pay attention to whatever horror stories the normal people were telling that week, so she could pretty much travel without anyone being the wiser of it. It let her go at her whim into territories where she wasn’t welcome. Also allowed her to spy on her enemies. That’s how she got her power, or so the stories go,” he said, confirming Kris’s story.