by Zed Amadeo
I left the woman’s house the following morning without any plan for what I was going to do next. Despite my previous confidence with my decisions, as I walked alone through the city, I suddenly found myself veering from one place to the next. For the first time, I began to feel the exhaustion from my adventures pressing down upon every inch of my body. The pain within me grew until I was barely able to stand. I sought refuge on a bench, laying my face into my hands. Everything had been going so much better than I could ever have imagined before life hit me with the ultimate whammy. I couldn’t see a path for what I was supposed to do next. Without a home, and without Alejandra, I was lost. In my fatigued state, I didn’t know if it would be possible to go on. When my exhaustion had lifted a little, I got up and continued to wander from one spot to another, hoping to find the answer that would help me guide my future.
I shouldn’t have been surprised when my wandering eventually led me back to Alejandra’s house. I waded through the rubble, re-tracing those familiar paths that I had taken so many mornings before. What little was left of the walls and floors was covered with soot, as if this vigilante group had been trying to cleanse the house of something, perhaps Alejandra’s presence. I picked up whatever scraps I could find: burnt corners of books, a piece of her charred dining room table, and singed bits of unknown material. I needed to collect all of the pieces of her that I could.
I carefully descended through a hole in the floor into the dark basement, the site of so many important events for me, illuminated only by the light that shone through that hole. I lay down and mourned Alejandra’s loss. I sprawled out in all directions, searching for another piece of her presence. One of my fingers felt a lump of something unknown lying on the ground. I lunged out until I could grasp all of it and I heaved myself up into the floor above. Now standing in daylight, I held out the object in my hands toward the sun.
The item that I had discovered was a heart-shaped locket, with an “A” carved into the front and an “E” carved into the back. A small cursive inscription dated it to 1901.
The locket opened with minimal effort. One side held a tiny black and white photograph of a couple whom I had never seen. The other side held a few tightly coiled blonde, almost white, hairs. I closed the locket and clasped it around my neck. A small, personal trinket to remember my mentor. With the locket around my neck, I gave the house one last look before walking out into the early morning.
As I walked, my sadness over the loss of my mentor became anger. I began to truly understand that I was nowhere close to being done with magic or revenge. I didn’t care how powerful these vigilantes thought they were. They had no idea what they had coming for them.
When I used to look upon this city, I had only felt jealousy. So many beautiful people trying make it in show business, living lives that I could not. Good fortune that I had been so close to having but was perhaps never meant to possess. Now I looked at all of these people and saw only the fantastic possibilities that their bodies could hold for my own life. I was free to leave this old body in pursuit of something better.
All I had to do was wait until the right tall blonde passed me, tear myself out of my body for the final time and leave my old useless self behind in a crumpled heap. I allowed the sudden stream of memories into my mind, processing them and gaining the knowledge of the life of whoever this woman used to be. Whoever she had been, she was me now.
I am the newest addition to your community of magic.
I am a student who has lost her teacher.
To the group that killed Alejandra: wherever you are, I will find you and make you pay for your “transgressions.” You have my word.
You have received your warning.