Magic Runes

by Devyn Jayse

  Liv flinched again when I tried to tackle a particularly stubborn rune.

  “She’s in pain right now because the spell is resisting my attempts to dislodge from her.” I explained. “It’s latched on to her energy source and so I’ll have to unhook it carefully or she’ll suffer my carelessness.”

  “Latched on to my energy? Is that why I’ve been feeling tired?” Liv raised her eyes to me.

  I nodded. “Yes, it is.”

  “Do you remember when it first appeared?” Rafael asked the girl.

  She shook her head. “All I know is that one day it wasn’t there and one day it was.”

  “Did you do anything unusual beforehand?” He nudged, remembering Greta’s account of events.

  She shook her head again. “All I did was come to the university. I went to class as normal. I participated in a study. It was the last session for it. That’s all.”

  I continued to unravel the runes as she talked. Little by little, the pulsing slowed and the red glow faded from her forearm. At the end there were runes so closely intertwined I couldn’t tell what their original basis was. I kept trying to reverse them and experimented. I let out a huff of frustration. I was out of practice. If the institute knew I was struggling with something so basic I would have been punished and my mother would have doubled their punishment. Then again, my mother didn’t think too highly of me to begin with.

  Adrian said, “Try the line horizontally instead of diagonally.”

  I looked up at him. He traced it in the air and I blinked. He was right. I looked back down and did as he recommended and I almost yelled in joy. The last rune was a simple one and with one last trace, the glow faded from her arm.

  “Do you mind?” Rafael reached for her and touched the area where the spell had been. “Completely gone.”

  “Did you doubt it?” I asked.

  “No, but it doesn’t hurt to be sure.”

  Liv had a look of awe on her face. “I feel so much better! Thank you!” She grabbed me in an impromptu hug. I patted her on the back.

  “Thank you so much,” she repeated. “I feel like I can run ten laps around the university.”

  I laughed. “It would probably be best if you didn’t. Go home and get some rest. Your body needs some time to recover.”

  “We have some questions for you. Could you come to this address in the morning?” Joe handed her a card.

  She took it and read the text on it. “Yes, of course.”

  I got up from my chair and she followed me. She went to another seat to grab her backpack and left the room. The agents and I stayed in the room. I looked at them. “Well? What do we do now?”

  “You saved a life, Carmen. You did some great work today.” Joe told me.

  “Go home and listen to your own advice. Rest.” Rafael advised me.

  Eighteen

  The next morning, I was on my way to Paris.

  The night before, after I lifted the spell, I returned to the SBI headquarters with the agents. Adrian wouldn’t let me go home. Joe particularly wanted more details about what I had done to unravel it. By the time I left them and returned to my apartment, I was exhausted. I decided to take it easy at the store the following day. Then I checked my email drop and noticed an email that changed my plans.

  My father had sent me an email, the first time he had used this line of communications since I shared it with him. I had told him it was for emergencies only. I had no choice but to meet him. He offered three options for a meeting - Andorra, London, or Paris. I chose Paris. I was more familiar with its layout than London.

  I was on high alert. I had just seen him a few days ago. He must have something to tell me or he wouldn’t risk this. I didn’t have the time to stake the perimeter for any watchers the way I usually did. I improvised instead and it was an hour before I stepped foot into the bookstore where my father had arranged for the encounter.

  He was reading a book in the corner. He looked up as I approached him. “Took you long enough.”

  “I just saw you a few days ago. What happened?”

  “I thought I’d tell you in person. I’m sorry if it’s inconvenienced you but I thought it wouldn’t hurt if I saw you again. You know I think I don’t see you enough.”

  I ducked my head.

  “I wanted to warn you that your mother is about to enlist the SBI in the hunt for you.” He told me.

  “What? Why?”

  My father let out a long sigh. “She’s gotten it in her head that you might be under someone’s influence.”

  I didn’t like the sound of that. I narrowed my eyes. “That’s what she always said when I wanted to do something she didn’t approve of.”

  “I know, but it appears that she recently got some information that made her reconsider her hands-off approach with you.”

  “Hands-off approach?” I was incredulous. “When I first left, she had teams of investigators searching the globe for me. Do you know how difficult it evade them? I couldn’t turn a corner without running into somebody she had hired. She even hired bounty hunters, Dad!”

  He ran his palm across his face. “You know she’s thorough.”

  “You call hiring bounty hunters thorough? I call it crazy!” I snapped. “I can’t believe you’re still defending her after what she’s done. This is why I keep scoping the place whenever I meet you, do you know that? I keep expecting you to betray me and tell her where I am.”

  The sadness in his face may have moved me any other day but today I was angry with him.

  “I understand that the two of you have a tense relationship.”

  I let out a laugh. “That’s an understatement.”

  “But at the end of the day she cares about you and wants what’s best for you.” He continued.

  This time my voice had a bitter edge. “She only wants the best for me if it conforms to what she wants, not what I want. I’m happy with the way my life is. She wants to drag me back and make me miserable. It’s the only thing that will satisfy her.”

  “If only you would talk to her,” my dad tried. “Maybe you can reach an agreement.”

  “That ship sailed a long time ago when she first tried to lock me up.”

  “She wasn’t trying to lock you up,” he protested.

  “What do you call forcing someone to be somewhere they didn’t want to be and against their will? What do you call it when that person can’t escape the place? I call it being locked up. I wasn’t allowed to leave, Dad.”

  He looked sheepish. “I have to admit to my role in that. I thought you might change your mind and adapt.”

  “I’m not a child anymore.”

  “I know,” he said. He sighed.

  “You might let her control you but I refuse to let her do that to me.”

  “She’s invested a lot of time on you.”

  “Isn’t that a mother’s job? Don’t use her line of defense. When she can’t force you to do something, she uses guilt and emotional entrapment. Do you want to change our agreement?”

  He knew he was the only one in my family that I was in contact with. The rest of my siblings fell in line with my mother’s instructions. They would give me up any day to appease her. My father hated the rift in our family that my absence caused but I thought he had accepted the reasons why. It appeared I was wrong. I couldn’t help it but I felt a deep sense of betrayal. After all that my mother had done to me, I thought he would understand.

  Then again, he was still married to her. He was complicit.

  “I just wanted to give you a head’s up. I know you don’t want to hear this, but I recommend you get in touch with her before she enlists the SBI. Even if you only tell her to leave you alone.”

  “Do you know when she plans to tell the SBI?”

  “She may have already done it. You know what she’s like. I just wanted to let you know before it was too late. I made a promise to you and I wanted to keep it.”

  That was true. I didn’t like what he was saying but he was sharing a
s we had agreed when I first told him the conditions of staying in my life.

  “It’s been a few years. Isn’t it time to fix this?” He tried one more time.

  “She can keep waiting until she changes. And from what you’re telling me, she hasn’t.”

  I didn’t stick around to have a meal with my father. I couldn’t pretend everything was okay when he was trying to help the person that made it her goal in life to make my life miserable. I said goodbye and left without a second glance.

  I drove around the city, feeling extra paranoid and looking for tails. This whole thing may have been a ploy to get my father to flush me out. I wouldn’t put it past her.

  To ensure no one was following me, I spent some time outside Paris in a tiny town to ensure nobody was following me.

  By the time I got back home, I fell into my bed in an exhausted heap.

  Nineteen

  I woke up feeling groggy. I really had to get myself back on a normal schedule. The past few weeks had been even more erratic than usual. I got up to get myself some food. Food would make everything better. I saw my cellphone on the table and picked it up. There were several missed calls, most of them from an unfamiliar number. I dialed it first.

  “Hello?” A deep voice answered. I recognized Adrian’s voice. “Carmen? Where have you been? I called you several times.”

  “I know, I was busy and just saw it. What is it? Do you need more information about my process?” I had told them everything I had done and they had it recorded, something that still made me feel nervous. I didn’t know what else they needed from me.

  “No, it’s not about that. It’s worse. We found another dead one.”

  When I didn’t reply, he said, “Carmen? Are you still there?”

  “Yes.” My mind scrambled to understand. “How many girls is he bewitching? How is he getting to them all?”

  “Would you mind coming in to the office?”

  That meant another morning with the store closed. At this rate I was surprised customers passed by the store at all.

  “Of course, I’ll be there in an hour.” I hung up the phone and stared at it for some time. There had to be something we were missing. There had to be a connection that was the key to solving this case. We had to find it for the sake of the girls.

  When I got to the SBI headquarters I made my way automatically to Joe’s office. It was empty. I stood there confused until a voice spoke behind me. I turned to see Rafael. “Guess you heard? They’re in Adrian’s office. I’ll take you there.”

  We walked further down the floor until we reached the end. Adrian’s office was in the corner. The door was open and I could see Joe and Adrian standing by a round table poring over papers. I noticed that Adrian had a bigger desk than Joe and the wall behind it was decorated with various framed certificates.

  “This is Adrian’s office?” I asked Rafael.

  “Yes, why?” Rafael turned to me, his eyes curious.

  My face must have given me away because he chuckled. “Did you think Adrian reported to Joe?”

  “Yes,” I confessed.

  A huge grin spread across his face. “Adrian runs the Magical Division. We all report to him.”

  “What?” I stared at him. “Then why is he working on this case?”

  “He chooses cases from time to time. He likes the challenging ones best. It doesn’t get any more challenging that this one.

  My heart sank. In all the time I had known him, I had no inkling that Adrian was the Head of the Magical Division. His interactions with Joe had never made me think he outranked him.

  Rafael chuckled as he watched my face process the new information. He had no way of knowing the real reason I was dismayed.

  “What about you?” I asked him. “Are you the SBI Director without me knowing?”

  At my question he laughed loudly, drawing the attention of the two men inside. They turned to look at us with twin quizzical expressions.

  “Carmen, come on and take a look at this, won’t you?”

  Joe spread the photographs around.

  “Guess I have to get consulting.” I told Rafael as I walked away. “I’ll be waiting for you to tell me who you really are.”

  He chuckled. “Nothing impressive, I’m afraid.”

  I looked down at the crime scene photographs. “Where was she found?” I asked, looking at the foliage behind her.

  “On the street by the zoo.”

  “Which side?” The Barcelona zoo was huge.

  “The street closest to the university.”

  “Where was the mark?”

  “It was on her upper shoulder. That had to be why she didn’t notice it.”

  “She had no idea?”

  “From our understanding, no. We questioned her family and friends and she never mentioned the mark to them. She did have the usual symptoms. She went to the doctor and thought she was coming down with the flu.”

  “Don’t you think it’s time that you let people know?”

  “And tell them what? Beware the glowing marks? Magic exists?”

  “It’s still happening to a very low percentage of the population so it won’t do to cause a panic.”

  I glared at Adrian. “We could be saving lives.”

  “The only we we can save lives is by finding the person who’s doing this,” he answered me.

  “Is there any new information that you’ve learned from this one?”

  Joe shook his head. “She fits the exact same profile as the other victims. She’s from Sweden.”

  “How is he managing to find them?”

  “We don’t know. All the online boards have been searched over and over again. We’ve had keyword alerts but they haven’t resulted in anything substantial. We’re even monitoring social applications but there’s no mention of anyone wanting to date Scandinavian girls only in Barcelona or anything like that.

  “We’re missing something.”

  “We know, but what is it?”

  I was sure my face had at the same frustrated expression theirs did.

  Adrian said, “The reason we called you is that we need to figure out a new lead. Only then can we leave the room.”

  Twenty

  My visit to the SBI turned out to be a waste of time. The only revelation was the one about Adrian’s role in the organization. We didn’t come up with any new leads to follow. I was still frustrated when I left that we had not come up with anything substantial. Despite having saved two lives a couple of days earlier, I felt more defeated than ever. I went back to my apartment and took out my old books scouring them for any mention of any person that would use the marks in order to do this.

  I couldn’t find anything.

  I gave up and went to the store. Less than an hour later, Mateu and Dina strolled inside.

  “What are the two of you doing together?”

  “Mateu passed by my store asking about you,” Dina replied.

  “You weren’t here yesterday,” he said.

  “Sorry about that, something came up.” I didn’t elaborate further and the gargoyle studied me carefully.

  “Is everything okay?”

  “Yes, no, well a mix of it all. I have a lot of updates for you.”

  “Gossip?” The gargoyle’s ears perked up.

  “No, an update on the case. It’s getting worse. Do you want to stay and hear about it? I can make some tea.”

  “Yes, but first I want to show you this.” Dina removed a small box from her bag and handed it to me. “I thought I would drop it off myself.”

  I looked at the box curiously. I opened it and found a white gold necklace within. I glanced back up at Dina. She said, “The birthday?”

  “I forgot!” I smacked my forehead with my other hand. Things had been so hectic I forgot that today was Irene’s birthday dinner.

  “Thank you for finishing it on time. It’s beautiful,” I told her.

  “I hope you don’t mind but I took the liberty of strengthening the rune protection just a l
ittle more than usual because I’ve met Sylvia.”

  I laughed. “I don’t think Irene will get into as many escapades as her mother, but I know Sylvia will appreciate it. Thank you.”

  I returned the necklace to the box and in a drawer.

  Mateu went to perch in his usual seat. I waved Dina off to the corner with the armchairs. “I’ll go make some tea.”

  The bell over the door jingled and before I turned to see who it was, I heard Natalie’s voice say, “Make enough for me too.”

  “What are you doing here?”

  “I got the feeling you wanted to see me.”

  I nodded. She was right, then again, she always was.

  “Let me make some tea while you have a seat.” I moved to the side room to boil some water.

  By the time I finished preparing a tray of tea and snacks, everyone was siting in the corner. I carried the tray over and placed it on the table. I leaned back in the armchair and stared morosely at my cup of tea.

  “Well, what’s the update?” Mateu asked.

  “Are you sure you’re ready to hear this?” They all nodded and I started telling him what had taken place since the day of my event. It was slow going with Mateu’s constant interruptions for details but I finally managed to reach the end, leaving out my day in Paris. None of them mentioned it.

  “So now the SBI has found another body. Is he escalating or did he spell a lot of girls at once? How is he getting to these girls?” I have so many questions and no one has answers.”

  “What did the girls say?”

  “The SBI questioned them. They don’t mention anything out of the ordinary. They went to the university the day we think they were spelled. They’ve had the same schedule for weeks. Nothing they did was out of the ordinary.” Well, except for Greta and Liv getting high off magic.

  “Is it a memory spell that’s blocking them?” Dina asked, a delicate furrow wrinkling her forehead.

  “No, they’ve tested them for that and no spell has been determined other than the original one.”

  “Can someone spell them without their knowledge?”