Published: March 23, 2020

12

KAYLA

Kayla dry-heaved when her father set them down. Yet the
invisible force of Marnie’s magic tightened around her stomach, making it impossible
to bend over.

“Let me out of thi—” Garrick began, but was cut off. Marnie’s
magic split from around his arms and traveled up his neck and over his mouth
rendering him unable to speak. He thrashed against his restraints. Each time,
his binds cut deeper into her.

“Stop,” a pained yowl retched from her throat. She clenched
her jaw as the sides of her stomach caved in under the weight of the red magic
constricting around Garrick. Their eyes connected and he froze.

“What’s wrong with you, young one?” Marnie pulled a cigarette from the pocket of her caftan and lifted it to her lips.

“You’re hurting me,” she said through gasps.

Instantly, her father was at her side, then stared back
at Marnie with befuddlement plastered on his brow.

“It’s probably your magic coming back,” he rubbed at her
back. “It’ll settle down soon.”

“No. Her magic is hurting me.”

“I am not touching you,” Marnie barked, then moved to
the front of the alley and craned her head west. “Come on, our opening is clear.”

Neither Marnie nor her father waited for her to explain
that when Marnie’s magic constricted around Garrick did the same to her.
Garrick understood, his gaze softened and he stopped fighting it. The pain
settled.

The red magic constricting around Garrick reconfigured
itself, sliding around his arms, then individually around his legs, forcing them
both forward in awkward steps behind Marnie and her dad.

As with the night before, the entire city street was cleared of people or cars. Her palms began to sweat as they were forced to follow behind Marnie and her father. Normies didn’t like the feel of magic and based on the radius they’d unconsciously formed by their cars, there was a heck of a lot of mage power in the vicinity. All centered around Sun City’s last remaining gothic-style cathedral in the heart of downtown.

Tall spires shot up into the sky, dark stained-glass windows peppered the stoned grey facade. The cathedral was foreboding, but she tried to keep her thoughts positive. Deep down Marnie was only trying to help, even if she was mistaken about Garrick.

At the entrance, the magic loosened Garrick’s legs but
kept his hands bound and his voice muted. Before she could knock, heavy mahogany
doors five times her height swung open on their own.

There was no one there to greet them, and despite the creepy
feeling crawling up her neck even though there wasn’t all that much wrong with
it. The church was pretty standard as far as churches go. Gleaming pews, fresh
carpet leading them to the altar, soaring ceilings, stone archways cornering
different sections together, stained glass windows letting colorful sprinkles
of light through the nave.

Yet something about it made her bristle. Her father seemed
at ease as he waited for an opening to large enough to step through.

Just the same, Marnie took several sure strides inside,
her heels clicking on the stone as they walked past several pews before she
turned around to stare at Garrick.

Her father grabbed her suddenly and moved her beside Marnie like they were clearing a blast radius.

Garrick’s eyes darkened then darted around the hall, sneering
in distrust as pulled at his binds. Her wrists felt like they were on fire. He
must have seen the pain flicker in her eyes because he stilled and stared at
them at the threshold.

“Are you coming, vampire?” Marnie asked when their eyes
met.

He didn’t move.

Marnie raised her hand and forced him forward. With each
step her heart pounded, watching the gleam in Marnie’s eyes spark as she
watched Garrick like she was waiting for him to explode on them. Her father pulled
her tighter, shielding her from the entrance. Garrick was forced forward into
the body of the cathedral.

She flinched, but nothing happened.

Just like at her house, Garrick crossed the threshold into
the church without incident. Marnie’s jaw set, but there was no mistaking the
fear in her eyes. Apparently, he’d passed another test he shouldn’t have. Her
worried glanced scoured him before a mask of confidence covered her face and
she settled.

“They are waiting for us,” Marnie turned on her heel and
focused her attention on the group sitting at the altar.

“Are you alright?” She asked Garrick. He nodded but didn’t fidget like she did. She plucked at the hem of her shirt, then found her pockets and shoved her hands in them for something to do. Garrick, on the other hand, seemed perfectly at ease with being taken prisoner to a council of mages that probably wanted to kill him.

Silly her. Here she was petrified, and he calmly looked
at the exits and fiddled with the magic binding his hands together.

“Marina Brasili,” A teenager in a red skull cap, faded
black t-shirt and loose jeans stood at the altar, watching them approach.

“Pellan,” Marnie bowed deeply to the teenager at the altar.

“Why have you called a council gathering so late?” Pellan
looked like he’d been skipping JV soccer practice to make this meeting.

“That’s the council?” she whispered.

Her father shushed her, the harsh sound bouncing off of
the tall archways as they walked the carpeted aisle.

The Council of Elders was not exactly what Kayla expected. Old men in long white robes came to mind, the group in front of her did not. The ragtag band of misfits loitering at the altar looked like they’d spent their days in a skateboard park before heading to their parent’s house for a jam session in their basement, not deciding the fate of mage-kind in Sun City.

 “I’m sorry to
seek council so late,” Marnie rose. “But it’s an important matter that can’t be
delayed.”

The teen stood straighter, and pulled at his graphic tee before his gaze zoned in onto the vampire beside her.

“How did you bring a vampire in here?” His eyes hardened.
The rest of his rag-tag crew stood and like what Marnie had done when she’d
thought she’d been threatened, they pulled their magic to her palms.

“It’s not what you think,” Kayla was the first to Garrick’s
defense, stepping in front of him. Their magic grew at the gesture, swirling in
larger circles around their hands.

“And who might you be?”

“She’s my daughter,” her dad announced, then stepped forward
with a shaky voice. “We come to seek asylum.”

The group behind them shared glances at one another.

“You harbor a vampire, yet you seek our help?”

“We can explain,” Marnie stepped in, holding an arm out in
an attempt to keep them from talking. It was clear from the soured looks in
front of them, their current strategy was failing. “I think they’ve found a way
around the blood oath.”

“Speak quickly,” a boy with sandy hair and an alert expression
shot Marnie an annoyed look. She bowed her head as if trying to skirt his scornful
gaze.

“One of our own is in need. For decades he has evaded a threat greater than any we’ve ever seen. We’ve come to seek your counsel on this matter—”

“Whose magic allows him entrance here?” He cut her off, mistrust
blanketing his face, the swirl of his magic grew. “Or are you claiming this
vampire is a mage?”

“Theo,” Marnie’s voice tipped onto impatient before she respectfully
nodded and continued in a softer tone. “As I’m trying to explain. He claims he
was born with the gift to walk into the sun.”

The council erupted before Pellan’s sharp gaze bore into
Garrick. “Bring him forward.”

The magic around them forced them both forward. Pellan eyed
her curiously but kept his focus on Garrick. “What say you, vampire?”

Apparently, Garrick was taken off mute. “I am under no
spell. I seek to be let loose of these binds so I can return home.”

Pellan bit the inside of his cheek.

“He’s a vampire, who helped free me from being sold,”
she piped in.

“Quiet,” her father ordered her in a hushed tone. Again,
the sound bounced off the walls.

“Where do you live, vampire?”

“I am called Garrick. Servant—”

“I don’t care what you’re called,” Pellan yelled. “I
want to know why you’re here.”

“I was brought here by Kayla’s father.”

“Are there more of you?”

Garrick didn’t answer. “Let him free,” he told Marnie.

His binds loosened.

“Do you know who we are, vampire?”

Garrick remained silent but checked for the exits. He was going to flee the first chance he got. Her heart became heavy.

“You will tell me the truth or I will force it out of you.”

Pellan waited for only half a second before Garrick was
at his knees. Then, a pain, sharp like the tip of a knife shot through her
temple. The world went black for a second before.

“Stop,” she screamed. “You’re hurting us.”

Pellan only eased briefly. Instead of a searing knife,
it dulled like someone was trying to the blunt end of a hammer through her
temple.

“So, you do have magic, vampire,” Pellan’s boyish faced set
with deep lines as wicked grin encroached onto his cheeks.

“I am no mage.”

“No, you are not. She’s bound herself to him.” The look
of disgust on his face made her cower.

“My daughter’s magic is gone.”

“It is clearly not. Her magic is inside of him. Is this how he can walk in the day without burning under the sun? Answer me, girl.”

“No. I don’t know. I don’t have magic anymore.” As she
said it, it felt like her world emptied out.

“We will soon find out,” he motioned to the sandy haired
kid from behind him. “Unbind them, Theo.”

Both Marnie and her father’s bodies skited across
several pews before being forced to sit.

“She’s not bound to him,” her father urged. “You don’t
have to do this.”

Before Kayla could blink, a shot of green mist burst in
their direction. She tried to back away, but her feet were stuck to the carpet.

“What are you doing?” she asked as fright made her gut
summersault.

The mist blew into Garrick’s face, then wrapped around his
body, but didn’t do much else. It dissipated into his skin like lotion.

Well, that was a non-starter. Just as the thought left her mind, her feet became warm inside of her shoes. Then, it traveled up her calves, then up to her chest where it burst into every corner of her body like someone had turned up the temperature. The heat grew too uncomfortable then crossed over into unbearable. Fire burned across her body, searing her into place.

“Dad,” her voice wavered.

Tugging at her t-shirt, she forced it over her head
uncaring she was stripping in front of a crowd. She tried to wave her shirt
like a fan in front of her face.

 “She has no
magic. This will kill her,” her father fought against his own set of invisible
binds. “We came here for help.”

The heat grew worse. It felt like they’d thrown her into
a furnace.

“Stop this!” Her father urged. She gasped for breath, but
the fire scorched her lungs, burning them until it was too hard to talk.

It was Garrick who fared worse. He’d been on his knees,
clutching at his chest. When he looked at her, his eyes pooled to black, his fangs
stretched into points, his face contorted into pain.

“Stop.” Tears felt like acid as they slid down her face.
“Leave him alone. We’re not bound. We’re not bound.”

She repeated it as more boiling tears leaked from her face
as she stared apologetically at Garrick. He’d only been trying to help her, now
they were burning them to death from the inside out. “I’m so sor-so—”

She couldn’t finish as a wave of pain split through her
skull then raced down her back. She screamed as it made her toes curl inside of
her shoes and forced her to the floor.

Then, something inside of her changed. It was almost unnoticeable
at first. The fire that had boiled her blood started to ease. Her entire body
started to cool like she’d been thrown into a freezer.

Her lungs returned to normal. She gulped down pockets of
air as soon as the heat in her body eased. Then she saw her own purple essence crawl
up her skin like an old friend pulling her into an embrace. Her magic was back.

Her father leaned back into his chair, visibly relieved,
but a groan to the side of her made her jerk her head.

Garrick, clutched at himself, his arms blackening like they
were roasting his flesh on a barbeque.

“What are you doing? We’re separated,” she breathed.

Pellan waved his hand like he was swatting a fly and her
body was forced upright and into the pew behind her knocking the wind out of her.

“Tell me, vampire, how did you get around the Blood Oath?”
he asked cocking his head to one side as he watched Garrick writhe on the
floor.

“He doesn’t know anything about—” A gust of wind circled
her head, then settled into her mouth.

“Tell me,” Pellan said to Garrick. The vampire warrior shot
Pellan a look that said over my dead body. Pellan frowned, the nodded to
Theo. His eyes lit like emeralds as he pushed his magic into Garrick.

He thrashed under the weight it. Just like she’d done when
the Syste pushed his magic into her. She couldn’t feel Garrick anymore, but she
knew exactly his pain. Blood trickled from his nose; his eyes rolled to the
back of his head.

She was forced to watch them torture him while the
magical essence healing her body from the inside had finished its work.

She stared at her hands. Tiny purple fissure-like veins traveled
the lines in her palm. There was no holding back her magic this time. Before,
she’d been on her tonic. Now, it was coming out of her in its rawest form uncontrollable
form.

Pellan’s binds against her shattered. Her magic forced
her onto her feet. Then a lightning bolt charged from her hand, shooting off
the high ceilings, then came crashing down onto Theo.

His reign over Garrick was finished. But her magic was
not. It was pooling out of her hands. Erupting like a steady stream of lava
onto the carpet at her feet, setting it on fire.

The council ducked, then a girl with red hair and deeply dimpled cheeks forced a current of mist across the floor to extinguish the blaze.

For a moment, it worked. Then like a phoenix, the ashes
burst then reset into worse flames. The fire whipped higher. Smoke filled the
air.

“Do something,” another member shouted.

“I can’t get to her,” Pellan tried to push his magic to
her but it rebounded.

She looked around. Fire was spurting everywhere, traveling up the carpeted aisles and onto the pews. This is what she’d been trying to prevent. If Theo had left her alone, none of this would have happened. As if she’d commanded it, a fireball formed in the flames in front of her, then hurled at Theo’s dazed body like a canon.

“No,” she pleaded with her hands, but the damage was
done. Theo was thrown back. Her terror-filled eyes found Garrick. His wounds
were already healing, but based on the destruction around them, they wouldn’t
be for long.

Another council member jumped from the altar, then
rushed her like she was on the fifty-yard line trying to score a touchdown.

In an instant, a circle of flames encased her and
Garrick creating a wall of protection around them. The fire spread.

“Kayla,” her father choked out somewhere beyond the
flame wall.

“Dad?”

“You have to get out of here.”

“I can’t stop it,” she said looking down at her hands
spewing hot lava magic all over the place.

He coughed again. With a wary glance, she tried one last time to get hold of her magic. She had to calm herself. Letting her emotions go haywire made her magic go haywire.

She tried to take in a deep breath, but calm was the
last thing she could be. Not with an entire council of mages out to get Garrick
for no reason. Not with a rogue vampire after her. Not when her magic was out of
control.

She found Garrick beside her. “I can’t do this.”

“Come on,” he grabbed hold of her wrist. A new sensation
shot through the terror. One she couldn’t allow herself to focus on, but with
him so close the tingles that erupted from his hands ricocheted through her.

Behind her, a window shattered. She jumped. Flames traveled
up the walls and jumped from pew to pew.

“Kayla,” Garrick fished for her attention. “We need to
go.”

She looked back. She couldn’t leave her father behind.
Bright white-hot flames pushed her backward.

“He’ll be fine. He can jump.”

She looked at him, then back through the flames and
nodded. Her father was a teleporter. He would be fine. She hoped.

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Author’s Note: See you on Sunday!

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