Seminary of Magic

Chapter 1 Downtown

Lynx

All I have left of my family are my memories. No pictures to look at, no one to talk to that knew them as I did. Just my memories, and as the time goes on those seem to be slipping away too. I wonder if one day there will be nothing left of them other than my own face in the mirror to remind me.

It has been nine years since my mother passed, and five years since my brother, Draco, went missing. It feels so long ago, miles ago, countries ago, life times ago.

Tonight is the anniversary of the last time I saw my mother, the last night I sat by her frail side. I don't know why I chose to remember the date. Especially now, when that vague night just feels like a dream.

All these years later I still have that pointless dream. The kind of dream that every orphan has. A dream where my mother is still alive. Only swept away into a magical world. Waiting for me to find her one day. For the life of me I don't understand why I still have hope. I watched her grow sick. I watched her become too weak to walk, too weak to breathe.

There was just something about that night that wasn't right, or at least that's how I have chosen to remember it. I never actually saw my mother take her last breath, but I did see her go into the light.

I know Draco saw it too because we both ran as far away from it as we could, and since then I have never really stopped running. I wish Draco was here so I could ask him what he remembers about that night because still I wonder. Was it in my imagination, was I remembering a scene from an old movie and confusing the two, or was it just how the fragile mind of a eight year old girl chose to cope with losing her mother?

Fast-forward to today. I am a seventeen year old girl pretending to be much older. Just surviving and I have learned to survive well. I live in San Clemente in a tiny little flat furnished with a couch I found by the dumpster. My shower is in my living room, I don't have a kitchen sink, but it is still the nicest place I have ever had.

I have lived in bigger spaces. Bigger cities. In old abandoned buildings that I would call mine, but this small flat had electricity and water. It doesn't matter how much space I used to have, it can't beat having an AC on a hot day.

Plus I worked in the bar downstairs. Not as a bartender or waitress. Just as a pretty face that would get on stage and sing sometimes. Rile up the crowd, make the girls dance, and make the boys spend their money. It wasn't much of a job, but all I had to do was show my face there each night and the bar owners would knock a couple hundred off my rent.

The bikers that owned the bar had been watching out for me for just over a year now, ever sense I came to America. It's hard not to be noticed by a biker gang when you are a young girl on the streets of L.A. They all roll around with a charitable complex, and I was a shiny target for them to try and offer help to.

A lot of the bikers only wanted to help me for selfish reasons. Either for their own ego or to get into my pants, but there were a few good guys amongst them. The two bar owners Jared and Edgar were the best of them. The only ones that I actually trusted. The only people I trust in this world now that I think of it. That's why I said yes when they offered me a job and a place to rent in this little beach town.

Edgar was an old man no matter how hard he tried to fight it. He styled a ridiculously long handlebar mustache that flew in the wind when he would ride his Harley. He was thin and always wore a dirty bandana around his forehead to hold back his long straight gray hair. He bore a collection of tattoos on his body that told the story of his life, a story he often told me. Most of the tattoos were old and worn to the point I couldn't even tell what they were supposed to be until he told me.

Edgar was a thief, and I think that is why we get along so well. He is extremely knowledgeable in the matter. He has an eye for a good heist, and expensive jewelry. With his expertise and my life experiences of stealing to survive we have come to form a pretty productive friendship. A team if you will. Edgar comes up with the full proof plan, I take the risk of stealing the items, Edgar sells it, and we split the cash, 50/50.

My persona is easily dismissed as being incapable of doing anything wrong. However, when Edgar enters the room everyone suspects he is up to no good. Switch it around. If I try to sell something, looking young and naive, no one takes me seriously. However Edgar is always able to negotiate a higher price. So together we have made quite a bit of cash.

Jared, the other bar owner, is Edgar's son even though Jared is opposite in almost every way. He is large in stature, lightly tanned, and freckled. His arms are covered in fine line tattoos and bulging muscles. His hair was black and sleek like a greaser from the 50’s. Always in his leather jacket rolled up to his elbows no matter how hot it was outside or how sweaty it made him.

Jared was a kind hearted guy. A big teddy bear. Always a gentleman with good intentions, and I sometimes wonder if he would be hanging out with all these bikers if it wasn't for his dad.

Jared never really approved of the business his father and I conducted. He chose to look away, and didn't want to hear a thing about it. Jared wanted me to “Go to school, get a real job, look for a boyfriend!” I wanted that too, just not in the sense that he did. I considered faking my degree to get an awesome job, and I am not against dating guys with worth, or a lot of money. Both are hard to find.

It was a Friday night, so I decided to go walking around downtown. Looking for my kind of trouble. Either an opportunity to steal or fight. Or both sounds nice. As long as it gets my mind off of my past.

I could always sense the evil in people. I'm not the type to steal from anyone that doesn't deserve it, but I am the type to bait a Monster. Evil hearted people are the easiest to lead anyway, like sheep right into my traps.

It was clear when these three men left the bar hollering that their “night wasn't over yet” that they were going to be my next target. When men like that get this drunk they tend to do crazy things. They also tend to have heavy wallets.

I cross through a nearby alley. Just watching them wander aimlessly in no particular direction. Laughing and being vulgar.

I was considering my approach when I saw another girl stumble up to them. I silently observed in the shadows, watching their body language change as they laid eyes upon her.

"Hey y'all. Have you seen a pink car parked anywhere. I got separated from my friends, and now I'm all mixed up and just trying to get home." She says in the sweetest drunken southern belle accent.

The three men just stared at her. Not one of them said a word. Predators. As I suspected. My prey. She seemed to have come to the same conclusion because she went on to say.

"Oh, Okay. I think I am just going to go back to find my friends now."

She didn't even realize her actions were baiting them. Practically begging them to commit terrible acts. Something I would have done to lure them tonight, but plans change. A new trap must be set.

She turned around and began to walk away. Slowly they followed as did I.

She got to the end of the block. There was nothing but darkness beyond. She turned around, and chose to go through the closest alley that led to the adjacent street rather than pass by them again.

The men descended after her in the dark, as did I.

I could see her drunken stumble, hear her echoing footsteps. Completely unaware of how close they were. How silent they made themselves. When one of them reached out and caressed her hair she ran.

Monsters enjoy the chase. It makes them more willing in a way, and boy did they all become willing in an instant. They chased after her and together all three of them tackled her to the ground.

She let out a pathetic scream for "Help!”.

Her voice echoed throughout the criss-crossing alleys making it impossible to determine where it was coming from. No one would come to her aid. No one other than me.

"Hey Boys." I say with my hands on the hips of my black slit dress.

Two of them turned around while the third continued to try and undress the struggling woman on the ground. The two men looked at each other with devilish smiles and rose to their feet.

I let them grab me. One latched his grip around my throat while the other pushed me back against the cement wall.

I pretended to struggle when actuality I was slipping my hands into each of their pockets. Pulling out their wallets and tossing them into the shadows. When I discarded the last one I caught a glimpse of someone watching us at the mouth of the alley.

A man. One I have oddly seen a few times tonight. Walking around, looking harmless, emotionless even. I sensed nothing from him. Not my kind of target, but now with that smile across his face I wonder if I made a mistake when I read him. His arms were crossed, and he just looked amused. Not bothering to yell stop or pick up the phone to call the cops. He was enjoying the show.

One of the men on me began to slide his hand into the slit of my floor length dress. I head butted him before he could touch something I intended to keep concealed. He stumbled back while the other gripped my throat tighter.

I grabbed his forearm with one hand to hold it steady as I open palm punched up at the joint of his elbow, snapping the bones where they connected. His arm became jelly before me, and he lost his grip on my neck. I kicked him in the stomach away from me.

For a moment I spare a look at the woman on the ground next to me as she screamed. The man on top of her has gotten what he wanted. Acid burned in my stomach, and I wish I could spit it at him. I wish I could tear him off of her, but large arms quickly latched around me.

BAM

I see a bright white light as the man I head butted returns the favor. He let me collapse to the ground, but that was a mistake. I wrap my legs around his, and bring him to the ground. His knee catches his fall and I can literally hear it shatter as it makes contact with the asphalt. I jump to my feet and kick his jaw with all my might. His body fell to the ground like a wooden pole, knocked out.

My eyes once again catch with the man watching at the mouth of the alley. He was laughing hysterically. As the woman next to me continues to be r***d.

The man whose arm I broke came back for more. His limb moved like rubber beside him as he attempted to kick my chest. I blocked it with my forearms, and latched onto his ankle before he could pull away. He lost his balance in his drunken state, and fell to the floor. With a hard twist I snapped another one of his joints. He screamed like a newborn, and wet his jeans on the ground before me. If I had a heart it would have broken at his terrified state, but instead I twisted harder. Even if he was as helpless as a child in this moment there is a Monster inside him. I have no mercy for Monsters. I didn't release him until he passed out from sheer pain.

I flailed my body around to find my last victim, still on top of a woman who now looks like she has completely given up beneath him.

I would have never taken it this far, I would have never broken bones, or considered taking all of their lives if they didn't do this to her. I would have picked their pockets, tossed them to the ground, and ran. I would have led them far away only for me to return to their belongings later, but now. They deserved death, and I wanted it. I wanted their blood.

I kicked the last monster in his ribs, hoping I broke them with my steel toe boots. He rolled off of her and onto his back. He was surprised like he had been completely unaware of me until now. Too busy deep inside her.

Without hesitation I jumped on top of him, straddling him. I grabbed him by his T-shirt, and pulled him off the ground so I could spit my own blood into his eyes. I laughed when the first fist of my fists found the bridge of his nose and shattered it.

Then I did it again, and again. Until his face was an unidentifiable bloody mess, and the only sounds left in the alley were his lungs choking on slobber and blood.

I reached into his pocket and grabbed his wallet.

“Thank You.”

I said and then gave him a wink.

The girl they had assaulted was still laying on the asphalt as were all three men beside her. The man watching, well he was gone.

“Piece of shit.” I say under my breath as I go to pull the girl off the ground.

"Get up." I tell her a little harsher than I meant too.

I pulled her dress down, helped her put on her one missing shoe, and then dusted her off. She stood there petrified.

"Go! Get out of here. Get help." I tell her.

Without hesitation she ran one way and I ran the other, back towards my car parked a few blocks down. I emptied the wallets and ditched them as I went. A few hundred bucks was worth it. I would have done that for free.

Just as I turn the corner I see him, the man that was watching. He was leaning against my car just a few feet away from me. Did he see me park? Has he been watching me this entire time, or is this just a sick coincidence?

"Your bleeding" He says wickedly.

"It's not my blood." I say, like a warning.

He pushes off my car and stands up straight. The moment he tried to take a step towards me I pulled out my hellcat. The small concealed pistol I had holstered in-between my thighs underneath my black as night dress.

"Back the f**k up." I tell him sternly.

I have never pulled my gun out so quickly before, but there is something about this man that makes me not want to fight him hand to hand.

It could be his intimidating dark eyes that look like they have been injected with black ink, or the scar on his cheek that was obviously not put there by accident. Maybe it was because he was the tallest man I ever even dared to fight, or the fact my body was already tired from the altercations before. I just knew for damn sure this was not a moment to f**k around.

His blonde curls shook as he took another step toward me unafraid of the gun.

For a moment I was frozen with Fear. My heart pounded, flooding my cheeks with blood. I have always welcomed Fear, challenged it, but not today. Not with him.

I lifted my gun to aim at his face hoping he would take me more seriously, he didn't. With an ungodly speed, Scarface snatched the gun out of my hand and disabled the clip.

"My time will only take a second." He says in almost a kind way as he tossed my gun to the ground and brushed off his hands.

Again with unbelievable speed he grabbed my neck and slammed me against the brick wall of the building behind me.

He bit down hard on my throat as I squirmed under his grip, screaming.

"f**k you, you Freak!"

I scratched his face, and kneed his legs but his reaction was as if I wasn't fighting at all. I could feel the blood flow out of me. I could feel it being sucked straight out of my pumping heart.

I close my eyes from the overwhelming spin, from the lightheadedness, from the cold euphoric kiss against my entire body. A gust of wind hit me. I wasn't sure if I was imagining it until it blew us both down to the ground. The sky turned a dark glowing green like a boiling witches brew above us. Revealing a thunderous lightning storm like none I have ever seen.

The wind continued to rage pushing the man farther down the sidewalk like an umbrella caught in the wind. Car alarms went off, branches broke from trees, trash cans ripped from their chains, all getting caught in the tornado-like winds that have descended upon us. The city sirens began to roar their warning as I stood.

I could hardly stand against the wind, but I made my way to my gun, then my car. I threw my keys in the ignition, and hit the gas. The wind seemed to carry me faster down the highway as I made my way home.