Alexander met the man’s gaze again as he was spoken to. “You saved me, thank you,” he muttered, glancing down at his arm. He regretted that. The wound still looked horrible—crispy boils in the shape of a large hand made up the seared area. A distinct redness spread outwardly from the burn. His wrist and lower arm, just below his elbow, now sported a black band of ink with white markings painted directly on his skin. If he had to describe it, he would have said the lettering was a mix of Arabic and Elven.
“We saved you from that,” Erik gestured towards the injury, “But not from the witch. I suspect you did that thing with the ice all on your own,” he said.
Alexander flinched. “I don’t have any powers. I’m not a witch,” he said firmly, meeting Erik’s gaze.
“Of course,” Erik smirked darkly, “Something any witch would say.”
“And something any non-witch would say too,” Alexander pointed out.
“Have any other explanation for the ice?”
Alexander realized quickly—this was an interrogation, not a friendly chat. His expression darkened, “Don’t you think I would have saved myself this kind of injury sooner?”
“Possibly,” Erik shrugged. “But you had already seen us, so why give yourself away unless you were in true mortal danger?”
Alexander flinched as Sonia cleaned his wound, “Can’t we do this later? And I thought witch hunting organizations didn’t exist in Iropa—you with the police or something?”
A dark smile touched Erik’s lips, “You’re changing the subject, witch.”
Alexander gave an exasperated sigh and rolled his eyes, “I’m not a witch. I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. I couldn’t hear the station announcement because of my headphones.”
“You’re making excuses.”
“What else do you want me to say!?” Alexander gestured uselessly, pulling away from Sonia as he did.
She reached over and grabbed his arm again, forcing him back into place. “Seriously, I’m trying to work here. You have a curse on you, if I don’t treat it regularly until the witch dies, it’ll spread and you’ll slowly cook to death from the inside out. Now, stay still.”
Alexander went pale. “C-curse?” he squeaked. “Is that even a thing?” he added quietly.
“Why shouldn’t I treat you as a witch?” Erik asked, ignoring Alexander’s question.
“Now hold on a hot minute!” Alexander snapped, almost pulling away again, but Sonia had an iron grip on him. “You dump that info on me and just casually brush over it like it’s nothing!? I’m being microwaved at a distance by some psycho witch like a—a—a god damned potato—and you just keep asking me over and over again!?” he was now gesturing wildly, Sonia standing next to him with her hands on her hips glaring at Erik. “Well how about this!? Ever hear of a witch with two powers? No? Because in my last town some kid who tried to stab me got fried by a random bolt of lightning! How about that!? Witches with two powers? Unbelievable. Lightning and ice!? And I had no idea!? Well fuck me sideways, I’ll put a bullet in my own head! How’s that for you!?” Alexander finally stopped, breathing hard, glaring at Erik who was mildly taken aback by the outburst.
“I like this kid,” Sonia mused, but grabbed Alexander again. “And stop moving or I’ll knock you out!”
Alexander hadn’t stopped glaring at Erik, his jaw clenched tight with rage. Erik, on the other hand smirked and let out a little scoff with his laugh. “I already knew that,” he said, pulling out his phone and tapping through it before reading off some information. “Alexander Evans, age: seventeen. Resident of British Colombia, Canada. Guardian: Evan Evans…” Erik paused at this, something unreadable crossing his face before he continued. “Alexander Doe, found in Vancouver late December two-thousand-and-five by the Vancouver Police Department. No claimants came forward, and the child was handed over to Child Services for care by the state. Estimated year of birth, early two-thousand-and-four.
Mr. Evans was expelled from the Vancouver District School Board in June of this year after an incident with another student during which —redacted— was struck inexplicably by lightning on an otherwise sunny afternoon. Due to a previous case of an unexplainable electrical fire in which Mr. Evans was directly involved, he was expelled for concern that he might be a witch with electrical powers. Care to elaborate on that other incident further, or should I continue reading it all for you?”