Mage without Magic

Trouble never comes alone.

Mage without Magic

We entered the room slowly and sat down at our usual place by the window. The next moment Alice and Coffee dropped their stuff on the desk.

"We need to talk," Alice announced.

Alex and I looked at each other.

"I guess I don't need to explain that there's too much weirdness going on around us lately," Coffee added.

The wolf and I nodded immediately.

"It's not just here, it's like that all over the world," Alice said, "Tornadoes, fires, it's like the world's gone mad. Do you know anything about it?"

"I read something about it on Kaleidoscope," I nodded.

"Something bad is happening, Shay," Alice added, "I can feel it. And probably the worst is yet to come."

"What should we do?" asked Alex "Is there anything we can do?"

"The hunters are already investigating," Alice said, "They've called an emergency meeting for tomorrow. Deni and I have to go too."

"My father is also investigating," Coffee added, "But he's not doing too well either. The Vampire Council meets again tomorrow."

I looked at Alex.

"I think we should leave things to them and keep a low profile," I suggested, "We shouldn't even come to school."

"You think that's a solution?" snorted Alex.

"No," I shook my head. "But until we have a better idea, there's not much else we can do."

Nobody argued with that.

Outside, the wind was howling, tugging at the trees, and banging furiously on the windows. The dark clouds completely blocked out the sun.

A strong gust of wind caused the glass to finally give way, shattering it into a thousand pieces and falling on the terrified students. They all screamed as the wind whipped them, stomping on each other to get out of the room, which was filled with bone-chilling cold. We crawled out from under the cover of the table. We looked at each other. We all knew that this was no longer just the fury of nature. The world had truly gone mad.

"Everyone must leave the school immediately! I repeat: Everyone must leave the school immediately!" thundered the loudspeaker.

It seemed that our classroom was not the only one in chaos.

 A stream of distraught, frightened students was flowing towards the exit. Most of them had already made it out when the ground suddenly shifted, pulling the rug out from under people's feet. The ground shook, there was no way to stand on it.

Mose tried to crawl closer to the exit, but the lamp over him gave way and it fell under. He simply closed his eyes like an idiot and froze. He didn't really care about the frightened cries of the others, maybe he didn't even hear them. But he was aware of the loud bang as the lamp landed. He opened his eyes and found himself face to face with a pile of wires and broken glass. I could see that for a moment he did not understand how he had escaped.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

Mose looked up at me, his face frozen with terror.

He slowly nodded. "Thank you."

The shaking of the ground subsided for only a moment before it came back with renewed force on the people who remained in the building. One by one the lights fell. I pulled the shocked boy up from the ground, and on my way out I began to drag another human, clutching at his clothes, towards the exit.

When we were a safe distance away, I pulled them towards the alarmed crowd outside the school. I started to walk back, but Moses grabbed my hand.

"You can't go back!" he said, "It's dangerous!"

I easily tore my hand out of his grip. "If I don't get those people out, they could die."

I ran back into the building, I saw Coffee, Alex, and Alice following me. We quickly got the people stuck in the main hall out, and some of the teachers came to help us as well.

"Let's check upstairs, see if they're stuck up there," I said and my friends nodded.

Coffee looked over the first floor, Alex got the lobby, and Alice got the second. I was left with the third. I took four stairs a step while shouting and trying to call out to humans. Suddenly I heard banging in one of the classrooms.

"Help! Help me!" I heard a girl's voice.

"I am here!" I said.

"I can't get out," she cried, "the board has fallen on my foot and is blocking the door!"

"Calm down, I'll get you out," I promised.

I easily ripped the door from its hinges. Behind the door was indeed a heavy iron board, the fall had broken the glass and wounded the girl in several places, burying her left leg underneath.

The girl was crying bitterly, and I tried to calm her down, promising to get her out immediately, while I also explained that if I told her to do so, she'd have to pull her leg out from under the board. I lifted the pile of iron and when she pulled her leg out, I dropped it.

"Can you stand up?", I asked.

She shook her head, "I don't think so."

I sighed deeply, then got her on my back. She squealed in surprise, but the next moments he was clinging to me as if her life depended on it.

The window gave way up and showered a million shards of glass at us. I tried to dodge most of the glass projectiles hurtling towards us, but some of them still grazed my skin and cut into me. I couldn't move that fast in front of the girl.

I stormed towards the exit. Fortunately, I didn't have to deal with any more nasty shards of glass, so we got out relatively unscathed. I was the last one out, Alex, Alice and Coffee were waiting outside.

I dropped her off and a couple of teachers immediately ran up to her. I sighed.

Suddenly, I felt eyes on me. When I looked over, I saw that Mose was watching me.

(...)

The raging storm had passed by the next morning. Despite this, phones still failed to find a signal and the power went out occasionally. The school was a total mess. I only knew this because Alice told me. As planned, I only went out when I had to.

It was just such an occasion on the fifth night when all our spare food ran out. I decided it was time to get some food, so I grabbed some money and headed for the nearest shop that was open in these conditions. Public transport slowly started functioning again, but only barely due to the few vehicles left intact. I walked.

Having got what I had set out for, I wanted to return to the safety of my house without any detours. Well, things don't always happen the way we plan them. I dropped the bag when a strong stench of death got to my nose.

There were two dark figures in front of me, and the disgusting smell undoubtedly belonged to them. The larger one turned and started towards me. Don't believe the zombie movies! These fucking undead are very agile. And it looked like these cute little corpses were determined to get a bite of me.

"Shit!" I shouted and ran off in the opposite direction.

Well, needless to say, I was surprised when another zombie jumped out from behind one of the fences, coming right up beside me. For a moment I was dizzy with the stench of rot and death, and the corpse didn't hesitate to grab my shoulder. Its claws dug deep into my flesh and I hissed hostilely.

Another zombie got too close, so I kicked it away, then grabbed the hand of the zombie grabbing me and threw it. At least, I threw most of it away, as his hand stayed in my hand. I stumbled and looked at the greyish skin, which was not bleeding at all. Then the hand came to life and started wiggling wildly.

"Ew," I commented, and threw the zombie appendage away.

Another zombie caught the hand with its mouth like a golden retriever catching a ball. Then, as it continued to jog towards me, it began to chew lazily.

"Double yuck," I grimaced.

The zombie to which the hand belonged took back the lost limb but made no attempt to put it back in place, merely clutching it like a small child clutching a broken toy. I pursed my lips and started running again.

(...)

Mose lived on the fifth floor of an ordinary grey apartment block, surrounded by seemingly equally simple and depressing giants. Only a balcony added a touch of luxury to the modest surroundings, but the boy wasn't complaining. In fact, he never complained.

He didn't complain when his sister, for no good reason, shouted about his simple-minded incompetence. He didn't complain when she threw a potted plant at him in anger, even though that particular plant was Mose's only cherished succulent. Nor did he complain when he picked up her sister's discarded clothes, her beer bottles, which she regularly forgot around the house, nor when she left all the housework to him, nor when she criticized his cooking.

He also put up with her sister bringing up all sorts of strange men to passionately hug with until dawn, not caring about his presence. No, Moses kept silent and endured. In fact, even if he was only scolded for it, he took care of his moody, quick-tempered sister just the same, I think for one simple reason: because he loved her.

His sister allowed him to stay with her, and Moses could ask no more than that. Maybe he didn't want to. Maybe he was content with the way things were at the time. After all, as "Misfortune Mose", he had slowly come to realize that things in the world don't always happen the way he wants them to.

Sometimes, of course, Mose's infinite patience came to an end. Not long ago, he was on his way to scrape his sister off the ground. When he got there, her friends simply waved toward her and returned to the walls shaking with the thundering music. Mose's expression showed he wanted to punch them in the face.

Nevertheless, Mose simply nodded, acknowledging that these assholes were not only ignoring him but even his unconscious burden.

Maybe Moses felt a little indebted to his sister because even though she told him how much she hated him every chance she got, she always defended him. She protected him, even in spite of her words. She protected him when her drunken boyfriends used the poor boy like a punching bag, just like she did as a child on the playground, or when her parents decided work was more important than their children.

Perhaps for that reason, I knew that even if he rejected her sister's lifestyle, Moses could not stay mad at her for long. Mose never complained, yet, like all people, he sometimes got tired of life. And then the balcony was his only refuge.

For hours he could lean against the cold railing and stare at the inky blue sky. He thought a lot standing here. Standing on the very balcony where I arrived, out of breath. Of course, I didn't know that at the time, I was simply planning to jump off and disappear into the shadows.

I gasped in surprise as I was grabbed and pulled behind a door. The first thing that crossed my mind was that the zombies had caught up with me, but I quickly dismissed that.

In any case, I instinctively grabbed in the general direction of my supposed attacker. My fingers locked on his neck, and in the darkness, I could barely make out his silhouette. In any case, he looked decidedly shorter and more frail than the corpses that pursued me.

Then, with a click, light filled the room. Surprised, I let go of Mose, who then began to stroke his neck in confusion, as if to check that all his parts were in place.

"What are you doing here?" I raised an eyebrow.

I thanked the heavens I hadn't broken his neck. That would have been difficult to explain.

He laughed at me. He sounded quite cheerful, considering that not a minute ago I had been squeezing his neck, my claws on his pulsating artery...

"I live here," he replied calmly and then immediately offered me a seat on a stained sofa.

The sofa, which had seen better days, had been spilled more than once with an alcoholic drink, for it smelt strongly of beer. The place looked quite clean and well-kept, even with the tobacco stains on the walls. There was not a speck of dust on the shelves, a bunch of fresh flowers was blooming in the middle of the coffee table, and on the cream-colored, fluffy carpet the path of the vacuum cleaner's head was still visible.

I remained standing, and in fact I was about to leave, for it had just occurred to me that if I delayed even a minute, the corpses would break down the balcony door and not only I but Mose would be swiftly killed.

Perhaps he guessed my thoughts, for suddenly he spoke again. "Don't worry, they won't be able to enter."

"What?" was all I could say.

At my question, Mose hurried to the window, and it was only then that I noticed the thick line of salt on the sill. Then he drew the red curtains and I simply covered my mouth. On the fabric, a pattern of circles and polygons was painted in black paint, with Latin words added to the vertices and lines of the circles.

"This is not the only protection," he said proudly, "I have carved special runes into the walls. Anyone I consider an enemy cannot go near them."

Mose was not a mage. He could not have been. I didn't feel the special essence of magic around him.

"I surprised you, didn't I?" he grinned.

"How is this possible?" I asked, "You don't smell of magic..."

"I'm not a mage," he replied, with a hint of disappointment in his voice at the fact, "In any case, one of my ancestors was a mage. I found his notes among the legacies. I wanted to find a solution to my perpetual bad luck, so I started to delve into the subject," he thought for a moment. "In any case, I can't do magic. I only know a few tricks and protective runes I've read about in my notes."

"I see," I nodded.

"And what about you, Shay?" he asked, "What kind of monster are you?"

I sat down on the sofa and did not answer his question.

"I don't think this is a good idea," I said, "Our world is dangerous. If a simple human gets involved, he is unlikely to have a long life."

"I think you're a little late with that warning," he replied.

"Maybe," I shrugged. "But if you get quit it now, you have a chance of survival."

"There's a problem, Shay," he said with a slight smile on his lips and a thousand tiny stars exploding in his eyes, "I don't want to quit it."

Remember what I said about human curiosity? There is indeed no more ruthless killer than curiosity. I shrugged. It's not my business how he gets himself killed.

"Do as you please."

"You can stay the night," he offered politely, as he stood up again, 'Would you like something to eat? I was just thinking of making dinner."

I merely shrugged, but followed him into the kitchen. While he cooked, I took a seat.

"You're not going to tell me who you really are?" he inquired.

"Why do you care?" I asked.

"Of course, I care," he replied, but I didn't see the connection.

Why would it be natural? Nevertheless, I sighed and answered.

"I am a mixed-blood."

"What does that mean?" he asked.

I didn't answer, so he started talking again.

"You know, I learned a lot about mages from the notes, but I only read a few things about other creatures. I don't know much about your world yet, I'm sorry if I offended you with my questions..."

I sighed deeply. It wasn't that I was offended, I just didn't like to talk about my origins.

"There aren't many mixed-bloods and most monsters don't like them. Mixed-bloods are the children of half-bloods," I finally replied.

He just mumbled something.

After that, he asked me many more questions with childlike curiosity and naivety, and I suddenly found myself answering them. He asked me if vampires really can't stand garlic. I laughed. Then he asked me if werewolves existed. I graciously shared that he knew one of them. He looked at me with round eyes and was even more shocked when I told him it was Alex. His eyes lit up and he flooded me with more questions, and for some reason, I kept answering them.

I had to realize that Mose was one of those typical "healthy lifestyle" misfits. Dinner was steamed vegetables and roast meat. He divided the portions into three plates and placed one in front of me. I raised an eyebrow at the sight of the third plate.

"My sister's," he shared, "We live together."

"Oh."

After that, we quietly ate our food.

I accepted Mose's offer to spend the night at his place. I was aware that only the night belonged to the Necromancers, and therefore to the undead, which meant that I had to stay until dawn.

Mose offered me the couch, and, even though I knew the house's defenses were probably being heavily besieged by the corpses looking for a possible weakness, I fell asleep quite quickly.

(...)

In the morning I woke to the smell of cigarettes. I sleepwalked into the kitchen where Mose was preparing breakfast and a woman was sitting at the table. She was Mose's sister.

What can I say, they didn't look alike. Mose had curly light brown hair, braces and clumsy black-rimmed glasses. His sister had straight, dyed black hair, dark eyes highlighted by black eyeliner, and bright red lipstick-stained lips — and, of course, two or three piercings. She also wore a low-cut top and tight leather pants, so it was a complete contrast to his simple jeans and T-shirt combo.

When I walked in, she looked up at me, bored. "Did I bring you here last night?"

"No," I replied, perhaps a little more coldly than usual.

She let the cigarette smoke escape her lips. "It's a pity."

"He's my friend," Mose said hastily as I took my seat.

She almost spat out the coffee she was sipping, then burst out laughing. I raised my eyebrows in question, but she didn't notice, continuing to giggle holding her belly.

"No way my lame little brother has such a friend," she stated with absolute certainty, as she looked me over with her gray eyes and nodded in acknowledgment.

She looked at me suggestively, her eyes holding the promise of possible nocturnal activities, but I chose to ignore it. She was not my type. Seriously, I could see in my mind's eye that Encsi would look the same in a few years! I quickly pushed the very existence of the wolf girl out of my mind before I felt like killing someone.

Seeing that I showed no interest in her, she shrugged and left it at that. It was the first and probably the last thing she did that made me feel any friendliness. She took another sip of her coffee.

"But it's true!" Moses insisted.

His sister ignored him, I knew she heard him mostly because of what she said to me. "You should choose your friends more carefully, handsome."

"You should take your own advice," replied Moses, so quietly that his sister could not hear, but I could.

"I'm off," I announced, as I stood up.

"What?" the boy was surprised, "Aren't you staying for breakfast?"

I shook my head, then whispered to him on my way out. "I have yet to find out who persecuted me and why."

Finally, he nodded.