Not As It Seems: Chapter 4
Thomas, after a long day of working on projects assigned by Mr. Agrawal, let out a breath as he leaned back in his office chair. This is another routine he could get lost in too, he thinks. Typing on his keyboard, headphones on, music playing-- it’s nice. This is easy, this is okay. Monotony and something to get lost in.
Which makes the chaos of his life all the more exhausting when the peace is broken, his phone buzzing on the desk next to his mousepad. Fumbling, he threw his headphones down off of his head and picked up his phone, lifting it to his ear as he stood to walk into one of the small privacy offices.
“Tom? It’s Sally. Nicholas-- We’re on our way to the hospital.” The panic in the nurses’ voice makes Thomas’ eye twitch and his fingertips crackle. He shoves them into his pocket, pushing his back against the wall.
“What’s happened?” Despite the fact that he felt like he was going to throw up, Thomas managed a calm facade.
“They think it’s a stroke, hon. Can you get off work early? It doesn’t look good.”
Fuck. Shit. No, this can’t be happening. Three years of moving around and changing scenery and trying to make things work only to lose the thing he was so desperately trying to hang on to. This can’t happen. Anything but this.
“I’ll--” The crack in his voice makes him flinch, another flicker at his fingertips, the fresh smell of rain fills the office as his control slips on his magic.. God, he has to keep it together. “I’ll call a taxi. I’ll be there as soon as I can, okay?”
“Alright, lad. I’ll keep you updated, yeah?”
The phone stays in its place by his ear for the next few minutes as Thomas takes deep breaths and tries to calm his nerves. Father would be okay. Nicholas Monroe was one tough man, and he would stick around. He’d promised Thomas he’d be there. He’d be okay.
“You alright, Thomas?” David poked his head into the room, knuckles rapping against the door. His posh accent made his tone soft, and it took everything in Thomas to muster a small nod.
“Yeah-- I-- My father is being taken to the hospital. Is-- Can I?”
“Say no more, mate. Family comes first. Let me know if you need tomorrow too, yeah?”
“Thanks, Mr.-- Ah, sorry, David. I appreciate you.”
-----------------------------------------------------
David had originally wanted to confront the boy.
After hours of researching who the real Thomas McCormick was, He had chewed the end of a pencil to hell trying to figure out how this kid-- a perfect carbon copy of a dead teen-- was currently working in the computer lab in his section.
Apparently, Allah had other plans.
It was now three hours later, and after puzzling over newspaper articles and police reports, David thought he had earned himself a drink.
“Ivanka, I have had quite the day! One of the new interns is doing my head in.” David slid into his normal booth, opening his menu and looking up to see…. Not Ivanka.
“Sorry, Mate, Ivanka called in. I thought you’d heard…” Richard, a pudgy fifty-some year old waiter who’d been working this joint since the late 80s, frowned down at him. “Something about ‘her kid?”
“Oh, shit! I’ll have to text her later. Do you know what happened?”
“Not much. Her nanny took ‘im to the hospital and she said she couldn’t come in.”
David leaned back in the booth, brows furrowed. Crazy coincidence. David shook his head slowly, looking back up at Richard. “I’ll start with the strongest shot of whiskey you have, mate.”
-------------------------------------------------
Well, the magic certainly wasn’t new, as they had previously thought. No, the magic had always been there. Like a subtle buzz of a fluorescent light, it had flown under the radar until it either got louder or stopped altogether.
And this incessant buzzing had gotten louder.
What Aurelias had been picking up on was overexertion. Exhaustion from an elongated game of hide and seek. From what Viktor could tell with the strong smell of bergamot and the soft smell of fresh rain was that the witch he was looking for was wearing a protection spell, masking themself and hiding among the pale-blooded humans. But a scent was not enough, and this temporary exhaustion would pass when their little lion had the chance to cover themself once more.
That meant Viktor had to act quickly. He had to play chess with a ghost, one who knew he lurked in the shadows. For such a clever little witch, he would need a clever spell and a very clever plan.
The circle was set against the hardwood floors of the chapel-- a repurposed building in the college campus-turned-coven. Dark lambs' blood made up the circle, with two eye-shaped rings that made a smaller circle in the middle where they overlapped. In the center, a dark splotch of black paint represented the pupil of Aurelias’ eye. Where the two eyes’ corners touched the circle, a candle burned, the only light by which the disciples worked as they laid sand outside the entirety of the circle. Viktor knelt in the center of the circle, taking the knife in his hand and cutting into his palm. As the blood dripped onto the pupil, gestured for one of his attendants to bring in the last piece of the ritual; A pet of the Fae.
Aurelias had a few pets, but Noah was favored among them. Sweet, soft-spoken and ruthlessly clever, the boy had been a very good find. He had traded his freedom in for a friend, one who had been the original target of Aurelias’ collection. He was the perfect vessel between worlds, and his skin and blood sang with earth magic so powerful it was truly as though he was meant to be a faepet.
The ginger-headed boy was led into the center of the circle, where he was guided to kneel facing Viktor. He was blindfolded, using his hands to find Viktor’s. With one hand he touched the floorboards where the pupil was etched, and with the other he gently grazed over Viktor’s bloody palm, his fingers tingling. He gasped as his vision came into view, guided by fae magic and letting himself be possessed by Aurelias.
A woman, Viktor. His fae whispered, the deep voice unnatural through a boy of barely twenty. You’ll find her in a pub. Milton’s. Middle-aged, dark hair and gray eyes. Noah will know the way.
TAGLIST!!
@pigeonwhumps, @emmettnet, @serenitydusk, @winedark-whump
turnnoffyourmind
areudirty
izzy806
jbbartram-illu
andulkaphoto
snowghoul
2087
