Chapter Six - Tammy

The bird had moved into the downstairs living room by the time Scully teleported me out of the Archive. My eyes were burning and I didn’t really feel like trying to ask the creepy magic lady that acted like I’d known her as a kid if there was a bathroom under the giant magic tree. There was too much to unpack there, and in the three books I threw onto the couch. Before impact, the air shimmered and they shifted, settling down gently.

There was a faint sense of disapproving pressure as I ducked into the hall bathroom that lingered even once I came out and sat down with a cup of water and a notepad I’d pulled out of our box of college supplies.

…fuck. Nope, now was not the time to deal with that.

The clack of the bird’s stylus gave a stochastic undertone to the soap opera it had somehow gotten playing. Which explained the Netflix recommendations we’d been getting since we moved back in. I did a double-take when I looked over, though.

“Wait, is that Fruit Ninja? It’s still on the app store?”

Clack clack clack. One empty socket stared at me with something that was very, very clearly judgmental.

“So, what’s your deal anyway? Pet, familiar, murdered rival bound into a bird?” I didn’t really believe that, but well, it had been in one of the books that started all of this. “Maybe something like Scully?"

The eyeless glare intensified.

“Hey, these are honest questions. It’s gotta be obvious that Grandad didn’t teach us about this if you’ve been here all along. I’m just…”

The pressure bore down on me again. My hand was painfully hot as I buried my face into my palms and let out a slow, shaky breath. The Archive hadn’t been a help, not yet. Nothing that looked like it should help made sense. And these three were the best spot I had to start with. I could already feel the panic clawing at the back of my throat again as the clacks turned to taps.

I flinched as a grating, synthesized voice spoke up over the drama on tv.

“Minni, einirinn hluturinn í þessu húsinum sem deyja ei.” A pause, and a different synthesized voice finished, “The only thing in this house that does not die.”

“Mini?” I butchered the pronunciation, and flinched as a dry, cool bone smacked into my elbow. It wasn’t that thing in the darkness. I was fine. “Well, Mini…”

I only looked over a few times, but the bird didn’t leave or bring an app up again as I fumbled my way through telling it what had happened. All it did was turn down the TV, and occasionally twitch the fleshless skull that didn’t seem actually connected to the rest of it.

“The mirror lady, Scully…she doesn’t seem all there. She only suggests things I don’t understand in the Archive, or she freezes up and gets scary.”

I sighed again, and just spread my hands helplessly. The weight on my shoulders was a little bit less, and tears felt a bit further away. My smile to the bird was genuine as I asked, “Any ideas?”

A few seconds of obscured typing later and it read out, “Check the yard.”

“Uh – ok?”

The volume went up again as I went to the front door. With how things were going, I wasn’t going to second guess the only…person? Thing? One who was trying to help me. The bird said to check the yard, I was going to check the damn yard.

The sun was starting to go down, but the breeze was still pleasantly warm, the scent of pine and dirt blowing in with it. The yard looked normal, even though I was just realizing that neither of us had done anything to mow the grass since we moved back and it was still the same exact height. The only things that stood out were sitting on the main table of the veranda, just past the stairs up. A clean, pressed envelope, and a folded, stained piece of paper. Both had the vibrant glow of magic about them, and neither shifted with the wind.

Those hadn’t been there before.

The envelope had a wax seal on the back, one that broke off in one piece. I honestly had no idea what it was supposed to be. The writing inside was in precise, glowing blue lines that looked almost typed.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

“To Grandmagus Aufrey’s Heir(s),

Council meetings are the third Saturday of each month. Attendance is voluntary, but firmly suggested if you intend to participate in any form of overt magical activities within the local area. If following your sire’s path, attendance is firmly suggested; an Inquisition would inconvenience the entire community even further than the loss of the Grandmagus has.

Unless otherwise updated, the location is the Belmont Estate, at 11 pm. Sharp.

Sincerely,

Alistair Belmont.”

The folded paper was an eye-searing purple, and as hard to read as a drunken teenage girl’s idea of cursive. Seriously – it was worse than my notebooks at school. When I unfolded it, a breeze blew out, strong enough to push my hair out and with a heady pall of wine hanging in it.

“Scratch the snooty talk, girls. July and August’s meetings are in the basement of Mordo’s, same time. Tell the bouncer you’re there for the Mouse House’s Magical Hour. You’ll be on the list. Pizza and drinks are free if you manage to offend the Belmonts.

I’d knock, but the Archivist looks like she might vaporize me if I tried, so…

Enjoy that sweet inheritance

Sorry for your loss,

Mordo.”

Mordo’s…that name sounded familiar. I didn’t know why – but there was an address scrawled across the back of the envelope that was just off campus corner, so...

It took a second longer for it to click that it was the third Saturday. Of July. The damn bird had a message already playing the minute I got back in the front door.

“You have four hours.”

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It was a nightclub. A fucking nightclub, that was already packed with a line out the door even though classes were still weeks away. I parked in the campus lot and got in at the back – I didn’t want to push my luck and muscle up to the front. I was here early enough, and it gave me time to think.

This was already feeling like a bad idea. Scully just started going on about the minutes from previous meetings and then clammed up citing rules that I apparently wasn’t allowed to – or didn’t know how to – change. Mini had ignored the rest of my questions as I rushed to get ready, so now here I was standing in line for a club dressed like I was going to a job interview. The rainbow dress that had almost gotten me suspended from boarding school would’ve fit in better here, but the looks weren’t what was bothering me.

No, that was the nagging feeling that I was making a mistake and the conspicuous weight of the bracelet that I couldn’t get rid of. It and the brand were reminders of what happened the last time I’d rushed into something with magic. But this had to be my best chance. I recognized the Belmont letter – they were the only other really ‘old money’ family in town even if we hadn’t really done anything with them growing up – but I had no idea how to go up to them about magic. If I missed the meeting, I’d be a month behind at best on getting people to help me.

Teresa might not have that long.

I didn’t like that I kept unconsciously fiddling with the bracelet, either. I’d put my hands in my pockets, get lost in thought, and then when I stepped forward I’d be fidgeting again. The dark wood and gems were warm to the touch, and never seemed to cool down. It didn’t look like it had the last time it was a bracelet – but I was starting to figure out the one constant in it.

“Is that a moth?”

It took a second to realize that the short guy I was behind was talking to me.

“I think so? It was a…” I trailed off and swallowed hard as my palm started to itch at the thought. “It was a gift, so I’m not sure.”

“See those feathered antennae? That’s a big sign that it’s a moth. The wings look a bit closer too. It’s weird – there’s a lot of detail on it, but I honestly have no clue what species it’s based on.” The lavender-haired guy’s voice was soft. He looked like he was going to bend over to look closer, then he blushed and pulled back. “Ah – sorry. I’m a bit obsessed with lepidoptera. It might have a bit to do with what I’m studying.”

“It’s fine.”

We stepped forward, then stopped. Still over two dozen people ahead of us. They were checking IDs, and the last girl had gotten turned away. That would…hopefully not be a problem. Since I hadn’t remembered to bring my fake.

“So uh, I’m guessing you’re here for school?”

Another step. One person let in, one sent away as a second bouncer stepped out to help. Both of them were in the same ‘uniform’. Purple velour or velvet pants and very tight shirts. If I was into guys I might’ve been a bit more distracted, since neither were particularly bad looking.

“Mmm…sorta. It’s complicated, I grew up here.”

“Cool, cool. I’m Weylan – came up here for a bio degree, so if you ever need someone to show you around campus…”

Another itch on my arm. This guy just wasn’t getting the hint. I needed to be focusing, not entertaining him.

“Look, dude. I’m not going to sleep with you. I’m here for something important, so…”

He blushed, again, and his voice cracked a little as he shook his head.

“Oh! Oh, no no. That’s not – I wasn’t – I assumed you were gay. The uh, hair.” He pointed up at his own. “Like literally, I volunteer with diversity and inclusion to give tours and help freshmen settle in. And uh…well you look like one. You do know that this is a bar right? Their eighteen-and-up nights are on Tuesdays.”

I looked him dead in the eyes and took a deep breath as I stepped back and let someone get between us in line. His face fell and he slumped a little, but I just didn’t have the energy to deal with that. By the time I got up to the front of the line, he’d already vanished inside.

And of course, the first thing the bouncer said was the dreaded question.

“ID?”