The Deceiver | The Magicians

Chapter 6

Six | The Beast 

The Beast ran a finger down Quentin's cheek like a cat playing with its food. "Let's get this over with." The Beast's hand snapped forward, clamping around Quentin's mouth and squeezing tightly. Lilly tried to stand, to help him, to do anything, but the spell still bound her in place. She knew that she would be forced to watch as The Beast killed one of her best friends.

"Quentin." Lilly heard a strained voice call from the back of the room. The Dean's voice. That was who had fired off the spell. "Take this." Lilly couldn't see him, nor the object he told Quentin to take, but suddenly Quentin was holding a pocket watch in his hand. Quentin wasted no time before clicking the top and setting everything in motion. The Beast was thrown back away from Quentin and Lilly was free from her bonds. The room was thrown into chaos and filled with screams of students running for the door. 

Lilly ran to the door, making sure everyone got out safely and unharmed. Once the last person ran out Lilly turned back to help her friend. Kady, Penny, Alice and Quentin remained, the Beast recovered quickly, going after Quentin who had fallen to the ground. Lilly started towards him through the rows of desks, seeing Kady shoot of a spell, hitting The Beast but only knocking him back a step. 

Alice used the opportunity to move Quentin away from the moth man but he wasn't the target anymore. Kady's spell angered him enough that he began moving towards her and Penny. Kady moved to hit him again but The Beast used his magic to slam her head into the desk beside her. She fell to the floor, unconscious, Penny hovering over her protectively. The Beast continued to move in on them but there was nothing Penny could do except raise his hand in a plea for mercy. 

Lilly didn't get along with the two but she sure as hell wasn't about to let them get killed. In a split-second decision she ran in between them and The Beast conjuring the strongest shield she could muster. The Beast paused in his pursuit, taking in the shield and the defiant girl before him. Lilly held her stance, though her mind and body told her to run. He looked at her, tilting his concealed head to the side and Lilly was sure that beneath that cloud of moths, he was smirking. The Beast took another step forward before reaching his hand through the shield and clamping it around her throat. Lilly gasped for air but nothing came, The Beast lifting her off the floor by her throat.

"Ah Lilly." The Beast said as if they were old friends, "how nice to see you again." Lilly clawed at The Beast's hands trying to get him to release her, but his grip only tightened. Her lungs screamed for air, black spots beginning to cloud her vision. The Moths brushed past her in a frenzy, moving every which way until a few just dropped. More fell to the ground as The Beast's hand around her neck loosened, letting her slip through and smack the floor hard. She inhaled sharply, Her chest tight from lack of oxygen. Looking up she could see Alice performing some sort of spell that seemed to be working as The Beast stumbled away and back towards the mirror. It hissed in pain, gripping its face, before finally going back into the mirror and disappearing. Before it could come back, Penny grabbed a chair and smashed the mirror into thousands of pieces, leaving the five of them alone, in the classroom that had just become a war-zone.

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"I know you want to understand what happened, here is what I can say. We live in a world that is one world among many. The beast you saw was from one such place. We do not know that exact nature of this entity, only that it was powerful and malevolent and we know that it is gone now." A team of professors had arrived on the scene a few minutes after the students had gotten rid of The Beast themselves. The five of them had been questioned seemingly to no end by Professor Sunderland about what had happened and how they had managed to get rid of it. "Wars and shields protect Brakebills," Sunderland told them, "They are encoded to each authorized person on campus and no one else. We are investigating how this beast got through. If someone is responsible for this attack rest assured, they will be expelled." The words resonated deeply with the five who knew they were in deep trouble. "Classes are canceled tomorrow, they will resume Wednesday. There will be a quiz." 

With that she dismissed the group of students. Lilly's throat ached despite the healer's efforts to help her, a bruise had begun to form around where The Beast had held her. She walked out of the building, following after Quentin who rushed to catch up to Alice. Lilly let them talk, too drained to fight with anyone, instead sitting on the edge of a bench rubbing her sore neck. She spotted a few students with suitcases, probably dropping out after the incident. Lilly couldn't imagine giving up magic, even after such a traumatic event and they hadn't even gotten up close and personal with it like she had.

"Yo! Barbie!" Lilly groaned, knowing exactly who it was before laying eyes on him. Penny sat beside her, eyes immediately drawn to her bruised neck. "Thanks," Whatever she expected to come out of his mouth, it definitely was not that. It looked like he was in pain when he said it, but he did say it. "For what you did in there. I don't know what would have happened if you didn't jump between us. You ok?" He asked gesturing towards her neck.

"I'll live and you're welcome." She told him with a small smile. Maybe there was a heart in there after all.

"This doesn't mean I like you." He told her, ruining the moment.

"Of course not." Lilly rolled her eyes about to say more when Margo's concerned voice sounded from a few feet away.

"There they are!" Margo came to sit next to her on the bench, pulling her in a tight hug. "You poor thing." Elliot went to get Alice and Quentin while Margo took care of Lilly. As soon as Margo hugged her, Penny stood up and walked as far away as possible, not wanting to be next. "Are you ok? Let's get you a drink, or twelve." Elliot and Margo whisked the three of them away to the Physical's cottage, a cute German looking house on the edge of campus. Upon entering, Lilly was hit with the strong scent of booze and loud music playing. A few people sat on the couches, chatting, probably about the incident.

"Nothing to see here!" He announced as they walked into the sitting area "Avadacadavra" he snapped his fingers and begrudgingly the group on the couches left.

"Welcome to the Physical Kid's Cottage. It is the single best place on campus for a number of reasons, that will become clear as soon as you taste our signature cocktail," Elliot told them while simultaneously pouring them drinks.

"Ok girls let's get you drunk!" Margo announced moving forward to grab three bottles of alcohol from the massive bar. "God knows you need it after that shitstorm of a day." She linked arms with both Lilly and Alice, leading them down a hall and away from Quentin and Elliot. Margot's room was much subtler than Lilly expected, with pink, purple and blue accents. Two large French doors led out onto a back patio, letting soft rays of sunlight shine through. A pink vanity sat in the corner, completely covered in cosmetics. A few clothes were strewn about the room, but overall it was kept very tidy. Lilly didn't hesitate to flop onto the bed, taking a large gulp from the bottle Margo had given her. The liquid burned her throat, but the warmth that followed was more than welcome after such a horrible day.

"Do you have any idea what it was that attacked you?" Alice and Lilly shared a look, not sure if they should tell Margo about what happened.

"No not really. It was a beast, covered in moths." Lilly whispered as Alice nodded in agreement. She had been trying not to think about the incident, for every time she did, it would bring up a wave of fear.

"Oh my god. I hate moths" Margo's face showed how horrified she was when she tried to imagine the kind of monster they spoke of. "How did you escape? What happened?" Lilly knew that Margo was only curious but the questions were making everything harder for her.

"Margo if you wouldn't mind, we don't really want to talk about it." Margo nodded in understanding, looking down slightly before perking up to her normal self.

"Well if you want to keep your mind off things," She smirked slightly making the two girls worry what she had in store for them, "I have the cutest outfit for you to try on!" Margo grabbed Lilly's arm and dragged her into a massive walk in closet. Lilly clutched the bottle in her hands for dear life, knowing that she would be needing it.

"This closet is bigger than your room!" she exclaimed, eyes wide.

"Just a little extension charm." Margo told her like it was no big deal. "Here!" she grabbed a few garments off their hooks, throwing them into Lilly's arms. Something extremely furry was added to the top of the pile and a pair of high heels concealed her sight. "Put those on and come out when you're done!" The door the closet was closed before she could protest, leaving her to get dressed. Faint whispers drifted in from the other room but not loud enough to understand. Margo had given her a white jumpsuit and Blue and white, fur-tipped peacoat to put over top and completed with a pair of sky high pumps. Lilly found the whole outfit was a bit too glamorous for her to pull off but even so she stepped out into the room for Margo and Alice to see.

"You my dear," Margo said with a big smile on her face, "give that outfit life! I just shouldn't even bother wearing it again. Seeing you in it makes me realize how horrible I look." Lilly laughed at Margo's comments, though she highly doubted that Margo could look horrible in anything. She scanned the room, looking around for Alice who had seemingly disappeared.

"Where did Alice go?"

"Oh... she had to leave." Lilly was a bit confused by Margo's vague answer but shook it off, she didn't need another problem to worry about. "Here," Margo's voice was soft and genuinely caring as she led Lilly over to her vanity. "Let's cover up those bruises on your neck." Now that she looked in the mirror, Lilly could see that she indeed had dark bruises surrounding her neck. If she looked close enough, the shape of a hand could be seen. Margo grabbed a bottle of concealer that was obviously five shades to dark for Lilly and began applying it to the bruises. 

Miraculously, as soon as the dark makeup touched her skin, it faded to match her skin tone perfectly. She couldn't even tell she had makeup on. "It's spelled to match the wearer's skin tone perfectly and it doesn't rub off! One of the greatest things about magic, took me a month to find the spell for this, but it was obviously well worth it." As Lilly watched Margo carefully cover the bruises, she couldn't help the pang of anxiety that washed through her. She had been a part of the group that summoned The Beast. If they found out it was them, they would all be expelled and their memories wiped. She couldn't go back to her life before magic, she wouldn't be able to handle it. Lilly took another long drink from the bottle in her hand as Margo finished. No one would ever see the bruises, they were completely covered.

"Thank you." She said to Margo, smiling at her through the mirror. Margo returned the gesture, though hers was sadder and Lilly could tell that she saw right through her smile.

"You aren't ok. Are you?" Lilly shook her head sadly and Margo immediately knelt down beside her engulfing her in a hug. Lilly rested her head on Margo's shoulder, thankful that she had a friend in all this. Her eyes watered as tears threatened to spill. "Lucky for you I know just the thing to cure your troubles."

Apparently, that 'thing' was margaritas and Beyoncé. The girls sipped their drinks and danced around together for the better part of the afternoon. Lilly never thought she could laugh that much, people truly didn't give Margo enough credit. She was an amazing friend underneath her sarcasm and mean girl persona. Lilly found herself actually having fun, not even sparing a thought on The Beast or the events of the morning. Elliot had joined them after a while, belting out a rendition of Hollaback Girl that would have put Gwen Stefani herself to shame. They were about to head downstairs to join the rest of the Physicals when Quentin came through the door, a concerned look on his face.

"Uh... sorry to interrupt but Lilly I need to talk to you." Lilly stood to follow her friend, stumbling slightly from the alcohol she had consumed. She wasn't drunk but she was definitely tipsy. Quentin led her down the stairs and out the door. Alice waited on the grass outside, looking just as worried as Quentin. "We just came from hiding the spell book we used last night." That was all it took for the fear and anxiety to return.

"We need to talk about what happened and get our stories straight." Alice told them nervously fiddling with the sleeve of her sweater.

"Guys what we did was beyond a simple mistake." Lilly began, "We got a man killed. We need to do more than just get our stories straight. If they want to find out who did this, they will." Just as Alice opened her mouth to answer, Quentin caught sight of Penny and Kady, calling out,

"Hey!" The three quickly made their way over to them as Penny groaned and Kady said simply,

"No. Leave us alone."

"Gladly," Quentin responded, "Just, we've got to discuss -"

"There you are!" A new voice sounded from across the lawn and they turned to see Professor Sunderland striding towards them, looking less than pleased. "Quentin, Alice, Lilly, and Penny and Kady. You're exactly who I was looking for." Something about the way the Professor said their names screamed 'impending doom'. Lilly could tell that she knew it had been them that summoned the Beast and there was no getting out of the consequences. "I found the most interesting thing," She pulled a book from behind her back, holding it out for them to see. "Buried in our woods." Her heart dropped as she saw the spell book they had used to do the summoning, resting in Sunderland's hands. The rest of her companions shared the same look of fear in their eyes. "Follow me." The Professor commanded and that was all it took for Lilly to completely sober up.

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One thing that Lilly was exceptionally good at, was the art of lying. This came in handy when it was her turn to sit in front of Professor Sunderland and be questioned about her involvement in the incident.

"So," Sunderland started, placing the spell book in between them, "Ms. Cole would you care to explain to me what the five of you were doing in Professor Navar's classroom last night?"

"We were studying." Lilly lied smoothly, "We have a study group together and I was having trouble with the new information in our Alchemy class. We asked Professor Navar if we could use his classroom to study, given that all the equipment we needed was there." Sunderland studied Lilly, trying to determine if she was telling the truth and Lilly gave no indication that she was deceiving the woman in front of her.

"There is residue of a summoning all over this book and you were the only ones we know of that were in that room. Did any of you touch the mirror when you were studying?"

"No" she replied innocently, "We never went near it, we were just studying."

"And the book? We traced it back to that room, so one of you must have done the summoning."

"None of us summoned anything. We saw the book, it was on a table in the professor's room, but none of us touched it, maybe it was someone who came in after us? I promise you, none of us did this." The professor sat back in her chair, contemplating Lilly's answers. Lilly could tell that she wasn't completely buying the story. "Look," She sighed, faking defeat, "There is something I didn't tell you, something important." Sunderland perked up and leaned across the table, expecting a confession.

"What is it?"

"I've seen the Beast before." This was not a lie and Lilly knew that in order for Sunderland to believe her story, she had to give up a bit of information.

"What?" She said, shocked by this new revelation.

"When I was little, I used to have these horrific nightmares and no matter what my mother tried, she couldn't get them to stop. It was always the same, a man covered in moth's trying to kill me. I called him the Mothman. I would come home from school and instead of handing my mom a drawing of us as a family, it would be of the man who haunted my dreams. They faded overtime and I hadn't seen him again until this morning. I was scared to tell you because I knew you would think I was behind this, but I swear I didn't do this and neither did my friends. Please, you have to believe me." for an extra bit of flair, Lilly let her eyes well up in fake tears, sniffling slightly.

"Oh, my dear," Sunderland handed her a box of tissues, moving around the desk to comfort her. "I am so sorry. We will figure out what is going on. As soon as the Dean is back on his feet I will speak to him about your connection with the Beast and we will keep you safe. You are not alone. I don't know why this creature has haunted you, but we will figure this out. Is there anything of importance that you can remember from your dreams?" Lilly internally smiled, knowing that her performance had worked. She shook her head, still fake crying and Sunderland nodded, "You are free to go, please send Penny in." Lilly moved out into the waiting room, still fake crying, but winking secretively at her companions before sending in Penny, who gave her a look of disgust at her crying. As soon as the door shut she took a seat next to Kady, dropping her victim facade.

"And the Oscar goes to..." Kady said quietly, looking over at her. Quentin had begun pacing the waiting room as Alice bounced her leg nervously.

"As long as Penny doesn't sell us out, we are good to go." Lilly told them, confident with her performance. It was about ten minutes of worrying before Penny stepped out of the office, reaching out a hand to Kady, who quickly jumped up.

"It's fine let's go." he told her before turning to the remaining three. "You're welcome by the way." he told them, winking at Alice and sending a taunting air kiss to Lilly which made anger rise in her chest.

"What does that mean?" Quentin asked worriedly as Sunderland walked out of her office, a resigned look on her face.

"Quentin," She called, shaking her head in disappointment, "Can I see you please? Alice and Lilly, you are both free to go." Lilly hesitated, not wanting to leave her friend. It was obvious that Penny had said something to incriminate Quentin. Sunderland gave her a look, and Lilly quickly shuffled away after Alice. Before she left she could hear Quentin's voice.

"There's nothing I can do in this moment to stop the comet from crashing into the earth, is there?"