6.1 - Secret Admirer

Elaina sat by one of my windows.

She kept silent as she stared outside; her eyes wandered from thing to thing, while her Spellbook floated silently beside her.

After rescuing me from the masked girl, Elaina decided to stay for the night and keep watch. It was actually the first time she had been to my new place. Though, this was hardly the time for us to indulge in that.

Conscious not to touch me, she used her Magic to lower me onto a sofa so I could lie down.

"Just let the Healing Spell take effect. Try not to move."

"...Yeah...thanks again..."

It had been almost a full week since I last saw her, and tonight, as the moonlight illuminated her figure by the window, I felt relieved to see her familiar outfit.

Her hair was still in a ponytail, though the tie was now a dark violet. She wore her signature orange scarf that almost reached down to the floor, and she now wore a dark gray skirt piece over shorts. On her hands and wrists were the same brown wrappings that—I could only presume—had to do with some new forms of Magic she had yet to reveal to me.

Despite the dozens of questions I had for her, I picked only one.

I cleared my throat and looked at her.

"I thought you were...at Bethsville?"

"I was," she replied, still staring out the window. "For like, a day."

"A day?" I repeated. "But then...do you visit your—?"

She looked at me from the corner of her eye. "Yeah. I saw my parents. Realized they're still the same stupid people I've always known, then came back home to Ave Strata."

"I...I see. Do you...not have a good rela—"

"—No, I don't. They abandoned me when I was a kid because they hated my powers. My grandmother, my Obaa-chan, she took me in and raised me to be a Mage. But my folks...they hate Magic. They hate people who use Magic. They hate...They still hate...me."

She turned her focus back out the window.

"Ela..."

Elaina folded her arms. "Jace, do you know that masked girl who attacked you?"

"No...I don't. She just...appeared out of nowhere."

"Yeah, almost like Magic, huh?"

I did not want to answer that. "But she...The powers she used against me—that was...a form of Magic, right?"

"Right. In fact, from what I sensed, she used several forbidden forms of Magic, though they all seemed to be rudimentary in their application. Safe to say, you were indeed attacked by another Mage."

"How did you...even find me?"

"I sensed an unusual Magic signature coming from the park—so strong, that I couldn't ignore it."

"And what were you gonna do if I managed to survive on my own after that scuffle with that masked girl? Leave without saying hello?"

Elaina didn't answer; she just lowered her eyes in shame.

I continued to press her. "Why did you lie to me, Ela? What the hell were you even up to after Bethsville that you couldn't even say a word to me?"

She met my gaze. "It's...complicated, Jace."

"Story of my life."

"I've been following leads on...um..."

"On who? Doctor Molecruel? Don't tell me you've been snooping around all on your own!"

She shook her head. "Another Mage is in the city."

"Ok, so? You tried to make a new friend?"

"No, Jace, listen. This new Mage isn't friendly, by any means. From what I've detected of them so far, they're a Blood Mage. That means they use people's blood to power their Spells. That's a HUGE no-no in the world of Magic. They're basically killing people to fuel their powers."

"All right, so you think that masked girl is this new bloodthirsty Mage?"

"I...don't know, to be honest. She could be?"

"Why do you sound uncertain about that?"

"Because that masked girl did not match the signature I was tracking."

"So you can...do that now? You can track other Mages?"

"Among other things, yes. But anyway...that masked girl used powers I've never seen before—manifesting fireballs and being able to override your ability with just a touch...It's unreal."

"Wait, you're telling me you can't even conjure fireballs? What was that stunt you pulled against The Rumbler? Like, is that really unheard of for Mages?"

Elaina rolled her eyes. "Okay, my mistake, I’ll be more specific. It's not normal to conjure GREEN fireballs, you got it?"

"Yeah, yeah, I got it."

"So, now, I'm wondering...if that masked girl really was the Blood Mage I was tracking...could she really have been after your blood?"

"Huh? But why me? I didn't do anything to her!"

"Maybe in your eyes. But to her, she might think your blood is precious because of your Abnormal abilities."

"That's crazy."

"Yeah, it is. And that's why a Mage like her needs to be stopped. Blood Mages can blend in with communities easily, pretending they're friendly when, in reality, they're just looking for a fresh vessel to extract blood from."

Then it hit me.

Back at the Dale's supermarket...

Vanessa...

The cracked eggs and ruined carton...

A red aura...

"Ela, wait a second, I..."

"What is it?"

"I...met someone while you were 'away.'"

Elaina moved her body to face me and folded her arms. "Go on."

"It was a girl, and, uh..."

She didn't blink. "Go. On."

"Her name's Vanessa. I met her at Dale's. She...I think she's a Mage."

She finally blinked. "Why do you think so?"

"Well, when I met her, I kind of...ran into her with my cart and—"

Elaina snorted. "Okay?"

"And so she was holding a carton of eggs and other stuff. She dropped everything when I ran into her. But then she...she waved her hand in some motion and...there was this reddish portal or whatever that opened underneath the eggs and carton, and they all fell in."

Elaina frowned. "...Are you sure it was a 'red' aura, Jace?"

"I'm sure of it."

"Hmmm..." Elaina nodded and held out her left hand. Her Spellbook floated to her palm and opened by itself. She then manifested a pen in her right hand. "Can you describe what Vanessa looks like?"

"Uh, she's blonde. Her hair comes down to here below her shoulders." I gestured with my hands for Elaina to see, and she nodded again. "She's got beautiful crimson eyes that kinda have this shine to them." Elaina stopped writing and allowed the pen to write on its own as she looked up at me. "And she looks, uh, well...I think she looks kinda hot."

"Okay! Okay," Elaina interjected, glancing from the Spellbook to me. "I think I got her general facial appearance. How about what she wore? Just the type of clothing, please."

"Oh, she was wearing this pink track suit, I think. Her whole outfit was sort of casual. Think of a light-skinned blonde with a good figure, and—"

"Uh huh. Okay, Jace. I'm gonna show you a picture, and I'd like you to confirm if this is who you saw."

"Sure."

When the Spellbook rotated to show the page Elaina was writing—no, drawing on—I saw an almost photographic image of Vanessa, complete with all the features I described and whatnot.

"Oh...yeah, that's her. Very nice."

"Ahem!" Elaina glared at me. "Is this the girl you met at Dale's?"

"Y-Yes, she is. That's, uh...some cool photo-real Magic or something you did! Well done, Ela!"

"You damn idiot. It's a form of Mind-Reading."

"Mind...Reading?"

"But fine, this'll have to do." She rotated the Spellbook in midair. "I'll keep an eye out for this chick moving forward. For now, I think you should—"

Baleep!

My phone screen illuminated with a new text message.

"Huh. New message?" Elaina said.

"Yeah. I wonder—Could it be one of the twins? Or maybe Sami? Uh...I also...scheduled to talk with Vanessa over the phone tonight, so..."

"At this hour?" Elaina ignored that last bit. "Something must be up if it's the twins or Sami. I hope they're all right. What's it say?"

My heart nearly stopped as soon as I opened the message.

There was no phone number, just an ellipsis (...) with the following message:

Did you enjoy our little playtime in the park, Vector? I'm glad we spent some quality time together.

My hands shook and I dropped my phone.

Elaina caught it with her a Levitation Spell and lifted it onto the table, as I backed away from it and fell onto my sofa.

Elaina rushed to me. "Jace? What's wrong?"

I couldn't say anything. I just kept my eyes locked onto the phone screen.

Elaina looked at the phone, held it up, and her mouth fell open. She turned to me again.

"Is this...her? You think it's...the girl with the mask?"

I don't know how many times I nodded.

"Okay," Elaina said.

She tapped on my phone screen several times, and I heard the sound of a message being sent.

"What...What did you...?"

"Hold on," Elaina said. "I want to test something out. Here, do you mind?"

She took a seat on the sofa next to me—I slid a bit away from her—and allowed my phone to float in the air in front of us.

From where I sat, I could see the message Elaina sent as me:

Who are you?

A buffering ellipsis soon appeared—the unknown person was replying. Elaina read the reply message aloud when it came through:

"Think of me as a secret admirer. I have been watching you for a while now and wanted to test your powers for myself. Turns out, you're the real deal, after all.

(…)

If you only you left behind

some of your blood.”

I got angry at that.

Elaina was about to reach for my phone when I seized it first.

"Lemme at her," I said.

"All right," she nodded.

I typed in my next response: What do you want from me?

Buffering (...)

I want you to make a choice. You will join the Science Division and stop your crusade against Dr. Ambrigado

Buffering (...)

Or you can give me a small teeny tiny vile of your blood

Buffering (...)

Pick one.

"Jace..." Elaina began, her voice soft but alarmed. "That Vanessa girl...she really is the Blood Mage I've been searching for..."

I kept staring at the words "Pick one." In that moment, memories of my and Elaina's previous encounters with Abnormals flooded back to me. Then, the last memory to cross my mind was of the masked girl and the green eyes peering through her dreadful mask.

I shook my head and felt enraged.

"Ela!" I raised my voice.

I spooked her. "Y-Yeah?"

"I have an idea. We're gonna find who this bitch really is. You can still use your Tracing Magic, right?"

"Yeah, of course, but why—?"

"Would it be a stretch to pinpoint where a text message was sent from?"

Her eyes brightened up. "I see where you're going with this! Nice, Jace! But I...I never tried to do that before."

I removed the glove in my right hand and held my phone out to her. "Well then, no better time to find out than right now. Y-You hold onto one side of my phone. I'll hold the other side."

"What're you gonna do?"

"I'm gonna try to boost your Tracing Magic with my powers. I'll focus on keeping your direction straight across the net. You stay focused on finding where this girl's hiding. Good?"

Elaina nodded. "All right, Jace. Let's do it."

"Here we go. Y-You first."

Elaina closed her eyes and breathed deeply. Just then, the crescent moon hairpin above her left eye glowed with cyan light.

I closed my eyes and focused—first on my grip on my phone, then within its mechanical innards, then to the wires, then to the processor, and network module. I thought of the last message sent by the unknown witch, "Pick one," and so I found my consciousness latching onto those words as it sailed through the bright, digital realm of the internet.

For some reason, the message glowed cyan, but then I realized it was Elaina's Magic at work; I was just helping her get to where she needed to go.

Suddenly, we arrived at a white, glowing rectangle—I presumed, the unknown sender's device. Then, in the next instance, I saw only flashes of an interior location—a wide desk with multiple computer monitors on and lined next to each other, four separate towers underneath the table to the left, an empty swivel chair of some luxury brand turned away from the monitors, a bed behind the empty chair, and someone sleeping—a girl—with her feet hanging out from her thin blanket. The vision expanded to a larger view of the space before expanding beyond that. It was a one-room apartment, contained in a three-story apartment building, located in...the Western district!

There was a flash of white, and I was back in my living room.

I panted heavily as my phone dropped to the floor.

Elaina leaned forward. "Jace, are you all right?"

I tried to nod as the nausea washed over me. "Y-...Yeah...Just...not too good...right now."

"You're nauseous. Happens to everyone the first time they experience Tracing Magic. Here—take a rest for now. I'll get you some water, too."

"But...But that girl...We-We found her...!"

"Yes, we did. But you're in no condition to go right now. We'll go to that apartment together first thing tomorrow morning, all right? Or...maybe tomorrow night."

"Then you...do the same...Ela. Rest."

Ela smiled. "Hmm?"

"Yeah, you...Don't you...be going there without me tonight...got it?"

"All right, all right," she nodded twice. "Tomorrow. Together."