Whateley Academy, Wednesday afternoon, Nov 23rd 2016

Classes were over for the day…and for the week…and the campus was bursting with energy. Students were rushing in all directions, even more so than usual. Of course, this was because many of them were either hurrying to get off campus or getting ready to do so.

It was the day before Thanksgiving, and a lot of students were going home for the holiday weekend. This meant that every school bus to either the airport or the train station was going to be packed like a can of sardines, with long lines of kids who were waiting for their turn to suffer that claustrophobic torment.

“You know,” I mused aloud as I shifted the weight on my backpack. “I’m glad that I don’t have to take the bus.”

“Me too,” Janine responded from beside me.

I looked at my girlfriend, Janine, blushing a little as I did so, even if it never touched my chalk white cheek. I could barely believe that I actually had a girlfriend, much less one who was this cute and sweet. Of course, neither of us was comfortable announcing our relationship to the whole campus, so we both kept it quiet for the most part.

“I’m glad I don’t have to go through all that,” Janine said in a quiet voice, gesturing in the direction of where all the school busses were lined up. “But I kind of wish that I was going home for Thanksgiving anyway…” She looked a little self-conscious as she admitted, “I miss my family.”

Those last few words made me wince slightly, though I tried not to show it. I missed my family too, though there was no chance that I would ever see them again…at least not while I was alive. Of course, my family was gone, but the Family was still there for me, which was why I was heading home for the holiday.

“Plane tickets to Idaho are kind of expensive,” Janine explained, almost as if she felt she needed to give an excuse for why she wasn’t going home for the weekend. “And I’m going home next month, anyway. For Christmas.”

“Honestly,” I admitted, feeling a little jealous of her for having a family that was still alive and wanted her in it. “I’d rather not go back, but…”

“Then why are you?” Janine asked, giving me a curious look.

“Family politics,” I explained with a sigh.

As Marcus and Tessa had told me over the phone, I needed to remind the Family of my existence and continue building more connections among them. That, and I needed to demonstrate that I wasn’t running away from Chicago and hiding…even if that was exactly what I was doing. I needed to make a show of not being afraid of Scorn and his people…though I definitely was.

Janine shuddered. “I’m glad that I don’t have to deal with that either.” Then she paused before adding, “But I kind of wish I could go with you too… To watch your back.” She patted her jacket, right in the spot that covered her custom-made gun.

That gesture made me more aware of the weight at the back of my belt where my own gun was holstered. It was a small pistol that fit comfortably into my hand. I felt a momentary temptation to pat at it, to confirm that it was still there even though I could already feel its presence. That kind of action was not only unnecessary, but would give away the weapon’s existence to anyone watching.

“I wish you could too,” I responded, resisting the urge to kiss her. There were too many people watching for me to do that at the moment, much to my regret. It would be nice to have a friendly face, or at least, one my own age. “But I wouldn’t want to put you in that kind of situation.”

A moment later, Janine and I reached my destination, the school teleportation platform. This was the spot on campus where all teleporters who were either leaving campus or arriving, were supposed to go through. I knew that this was mostly for security, so that they could track the comings and goings, rather than having people just randomly pop up wherever they wanted.

“Here we are,” I announced as I shifted my backpack and adjusted the weight. “I guess I have to say goodbye for now.”

“It’s only a couple days,” Janine said. “Right?”

I nodded at that. “Yeah. I’m supposed to be back Sunday afternoon.”

“Then I’ll see you then,” my girlfriend stated.

Janine and I hugged, the way that any two girls who are close friends might do without anyone thinking anything odd about it. Of course, I wanted to do more, and I suspected that she did to, but we both held back. Still, while we were holding each other like that, one of the older boys in Poe walked past, flashed me a grin and a thumbs up in the process.

After I finished saying my goodbyes to Janine, I continued into the teleportation area myself. I did have to stop at a registration desk and sign out from school, but that was way easier than security would have been at the airport. No metal detectors. No pat downs. No harassment from MCO agents, and of course, I could go through with not only my gun, but also a few other items that would never have made it to an airplane.

Once I was in the teleportation area, I looked around for the person I’d been told to meet. I’d been given a description, and I immediately spotted someone who matched that description. The girl looked to be only a couple years older than me, about sixteen or seventeen, with a slender build and blonde hair that was in a pixie cut. She was also wearing a professional looking black suit.

“Hello,” I greeted the girl politely. “Would you be Sharon?”

“My name is Charon,” the girl responded, emphasizing the different pronunciation while keeping her voice calm and even. “And you would be Miss St. Claire.”

“Yes,” I answered, looking the girl over.

She looked like she should be a Whateley student, but I didn’t remember ever seeing her on campus. Then again, looks could be deceiving, and for all I knew, she could be as old as Mr. Mazarin…or older. She exuded an aura of calm professionalism, reinforced with her suit, which definitely helped me to believe that she could be older than she appeared.

“Strawberry sorbet,” Charon said, providing the password that I’d been looking for.

I quickly provided the expected response which would prove my own identity. “With peanut butter drizzle.”

Charon nodded faintly in acknowledgement. “We can depart whenever you are ready, Miss St. Claire.”

I adjusted my backpack again and stated, “I am ready.”

“Please, remain where you are,” Charon directs me as a large transparent bubble forms around us both. It looks to be about ten feet to twelve feet across. “Do not touch the bubble or exit from it.”

Once the bubble was fully formed around us, everything outside of it faded away and was replaced with an entirely different view. It was now dark outside the bubble, with large ribbons of swirling light which reminded me of the aurora borealis.

“What is that?” I asked, pointing to the strange scenery.

“We are traveling through another dimension,” Charon answered me with the same professional tone that she’d been using. “Distance works differently here, so I can travel large distances in a short period of time.”

I gave Charon a curious look. This wasn’t any kind of teleportation that I’d ever heard of before, but it was no stranger than many of the other powers I’d heard about at Whateley.

I tried to match Charon’s professional tone as I commented, “I wasn’t aware that the Family had someone with your abilities.”

Charon was staring out of the bubble and didn’t even look at me as she responded, “I am not directly associated with the Family. My employer has merely provided them limited access to my services as part of the negotiation.”

“Of course,” I replied, pretending that I knew what she was talking about. I didn’t want to admit that I was currently just a figurehead for the Family, and that I wasn’t actually involved in running it.

I should have known that Charon wasn’t really part of the Family. If she had been, then there would have been no reason for me to head to Whateley by plane, back at the start of the school year. It would have been nice to have been able to avoid that hassle, but then again, that also would have meant that I would have missed out on that ridiculous Squid incident and I probably never would have ended up as part of M3.

Our journey through this strange dimension only lasted for about five minutes before Charon announced that we were nearly at our destination. Almost immediately after saying that, the darkness and ribbons of light outside of the bubble began to fade away while images of the real world began to appear instead. Once the real world had completely replaced that other dimension, the bubble vanished and I found myself standing in front of my grandmother’s mansion in Chicago.

“We have arrived,” Charon announced unnecessarily.

“BIANCA,” a familiar voice calls out.

I look over and see Tessa standing beside Marcus. The two of them had been waiting for us in front of the mansion.

“White Lady,” Marcus greets me, using my official title in the Family, as though this is some kind of formal meeting. Maybe he just wanted to remind Charon of who I was for some reason.

“Hello,” I greet them both, following Marcus’ example and keeping my tone polite and professional.

“Mister Montrell,” Charon greeted Marcus and Tessa. “Ms. Contrare.”

Marcus gave Charon a polite nod before asking, “Will you still be available for the return trip on Sunday?”

“Yes,” Charon agreed. “I will return at the agreed upon time, to take Miss St. Claire back to Whateley Academy.”

“Good,” Marcus responded with a nod. “Thank you.”

Charon merely nodded at that and then stepped back, away from everyone else. Once she seemed satisfied with the distance, a bubble formed over her body. At first, it was transparent, letting me see her inside of it, but then the entire bubble faded away and vanished, taking her with it.

“Welcome back,” Marcus exclaimed, giving me a friendly smile. “I’m glad you made it safely.”

“It was an easy trip,” I assured him with a faint smile of my own. “But the flight attendant never brought me any drinks or peanuts.”

“I’m sure you’ll survive,” Tessa responded with a look of amusement. “Now, let’s get inside where it’s warm.”

--------------------

Chicago Il, Wednesday evening, Nov 23rd 2016

A comfortable chair, a good book to read, a glass of my favorite rootbeer, and an impressive library where I could enjoy them. At any other time, or in any other library, I would have considered this to be my happy place.

I was sitting down in my grandmother’s library, trying to relax and forget about where I really was. I was in my grandmother’s library. In her house. Technically, this was my house now. I’d inherited it from my grandmother along with her position as the White Lady. However, I didn’t think of it as my house and I doubted that I ever would. Even if my grandmother was gone, in my mind, this house would always be hers. This was the house where she and the rest of my family had been slaughtered just months ago.

I thought about the ballroom downstairs and the horrific condition it had been in the last time I’d been in this house. I shuddered at the memory and tried to think of something else, though it wasn’t easy. And even though I was sure that the room had been cleaned up since, and probably scoured with bleach and every kind of magical cleaning spell possible, I couldn’t bring myself to go see it again.

I didn’t want to be in this house, which stirred up so many memories. I didn’t want to be anywhere near this place. But unfortunately, Marcus and Tessa both insisted that it was necessary. They said that my staying in this house was a statement, a message to both Scorn and the Family.

“Like I need to send another message,” I muttered bitterly, thinking about the last message that I’d sent to Scorn, in the form of the Messenger’s head. “At least this one won’t be so disgusting.”

My presence in this house was a reminder that I was the new White Lady, and a statement that I wasn’t afraid of Scorn or another of his attacks. Marcus and Tessa assured me that this would help improve the Family’s morale and give everyone more confidence in me.

I let out a sigh and tried to turn my attention back to my book, though it didn’t do much good. I’d already read over the same page four times, and I still didn’t remember any of it. I was just too distracted to get into it.

“Maybe if I had something from the other library,” I thought aloud, thinking about grandmother’s secret library full of her magic books. I knew that she had one, but I had yet to find it.

Just then, I suddenly felt a tug on my awareness and I shot up out of my chair, immediately tensing up to fight. I looked around, not seeing or hearing anything suspicious, but I wasn’t about to relax, not when one of my wards had just been tripped.

I wasn’t alone in the house. Members of the Family were providing security, both outside and within. There were even three Loyal currently on the property, along with a couple Hands, so I should have felt safe. I didn’t. We’d had even more than that back during the party that the Messenger had crashed.

Before I’d settled into the library, I’d set out a few extra precautions…just to be safe. I hadn’t done much since I didn’t want to step on anyone’s toes or interfere, but I had placed a couple wards nearby. These runes would activate and notify me if anyone went past, as one of them had just done.

“And Morgana calls me paranoid,” I muttered with a self-justified snort.

Of course, this could have been one of the guards, and if it was, I’d feel a bit silly. However, there weren’t supposed to be any guards moving around on this half of the floor, which was why I’d felt the need to set my own wards. Now, I wasn’t going to feel safe until I knew for sure.

I reached into a pouch on my belt and pulled out two spell cards, each containing a carefully drawn spell. Then I reached out for my inbuilt spells, though I didn’t activate any of them. I focused on the one that let me manipulate air since I thought that would be safer than throwing fire around inside of the house. A moment later, I took a deep breath and stepped out of the library.

The ward that had gone off had been just down the hallway, though when I looked over the area, I didn’t see any sign of why. There was nobody in sight, which meant that whomever had set off that ward, had probably ducked into one of the side rooms.

Another ward suddenly went off, tugging at my attention via the magical link. That one had also been placed in the hallway, just around the corner. I quickly raced to the corner and looked, though I still didn’t see anyone. However, I did see something. There was a small painting on the wall that was coming off, all on its own.

My eyes narrowed and I activated one of my built-in spells, though not the one for air. All of the glyphs on my skin began to glow a golden color, and I held out my hand, releasing a wave of brilliant light. My built-in light spell didn’t just provide light to see with, it also cut through illusions.

A moment later, a previously unseen figure was revealed. A young woman had been in the middle of pulling a painting off the wall, though she paused and turned to look at me in surprise.

The woman wore a red and white costume that covered nearly her entire body, and included a red hood that went over her head. When she turned to look at me, I could see beneath the hood, where she was wearing a white mask over the top half of her face. A pair of small white devil horns seemed to be part of the mask.

“Well, this is embarrassing,” the woman commented, seeming more amused than anything.

“You’re a thief,” I blurt out in relief. A thief was much better than another assassin.

“I’m actually more of an anti-thief,” the woman responded with a smirk. “After all, this is a stolen painting, and I was hired to recover it and return it to the rightful owner, whom it was stolen from.”

“So, you’re not here to kill me?” I asked, not lowering my guard.

“Nope,” the thief responded in an almost cheerful tone. “Killing people isn’t my thing, and especially not a kid. Honestly, I planned to be in and out of here without anyone knowing.” She shrugged. “I guess I got overconfident.”

I stared at the intruder, wondering how I could stop her or if I should even try. Was that painting really stolen? Knowing my grandmother, I wouldn’t have been the least bit surprised. But even if that painting had been stolen, who said that this woman was telling the truth about returning it to the rightful owner anyway?

“So, now what?” I asked, still tensed up and ready to fight. That would mean switching over to my built-in air spell since the light one had already served its purpose and was pretty much used up.

“Now,” the woman responded, “I take off with this…” She held up the painting. “I turn it in and collect enough reward to buy some Christmas presents. You can go back to whatever it was you were doing.”

I gave her a skeptical look. “And you expect me to let a bad guy just walk away after robbing me?”

As soon as those words left my mouth, I realized how stupid they were. After all, I was technically the head of the Family, so most people thought of me as being the ‘bad guy’. In fact, I probably sounded just like one of the Spy Kids at school, and that thought made me a little nauseous.

“I’m not bad,” the thief responded, still looking amused. “I’m just drawn that way.” Then she held up two fingers. “And secondly, I’m not a guy, so that means I can’t be a bad GUY.” A third finger went up and she smirked. “As I already told you, I’m returning stolen property to its rightful owner, which doubles down on me not being bad…” Then she held up a fourth finger and made a show of counting her fingers. “And finally, I’m not here to hurt you or anyone else. At worst, I’m just getting into a little harmless mischief.”

“Those are some good points,” I said carefully, wondering how I could notify Marcus and the guards that we have an intruder…and if I even should. This one seems kind of harmless, and if she really was just recovering stolen property… Still, the fact that someone was able to get through this far without being detected was enough to make me extremely concerned. “But I still don’t know if I should let you go.”

The thief just laughed at that. “Okay, finally,” she said with a cocky grin as she held up five fingers. “You can’t stop me.”

With that, she thew something at the ground and there was a burst of smoke right where she’d been standing. I jumped back in surprise and held up the spell cards that were still clutched between my fingers. When the smoke cleared enough, I could see that the thief was gone, or at least, I could no longer see her there. My revealing light ability was already used up and would take an hour to recharge, so I couldn’t use that again.

I activated my built-in air spell, making all of my tattoos glow silver, right before I sent a blast of air rushing down the hallway. The remains of the smoke were blown away and several paintings and other decorations were knocked off the wall. However, there was no sign of the thief being caught in the wind as well. If she had been, I would have at least heard her tumbling down the hall.

“Damn it,” I exclaimed in frustration.

Even with all of the security, with the Hands placing wards, and the Loyal standing guard, a thief had just walked into grandmother’s old house and stole…or restole something right in front of me. I was already nervous about staying in the house, and this incident had only made that worse.

--------------------

Chicago Il, Thursday morning, Nov 24th 2016

“This is exceptional work for someone with your level of experience,” Tessa announced.

Tessa and I were sitting in the casual living room in grandmother’s mansion, and she was carefully examining my coat. This was the long white coat that I’d bought in Berlin and then covered with spells so as to make it the magical equivalent of a bulletproof jacket. I’d placed every protective spell I could on that coat, and I was proud of my work.

“Thank you,” I responded, practically beaming from the compliment.

“It seems that Whateley truly does provide a solid magical education,” Tessa commented with a nod of satisfaction. “And I see many of your grandmother’s techniques as well, most of them ones that she taught to her Hands.”

“I have ideas for how to improve it in the future,” I told her, fully aware that there were things I could do better.

Tessa nodded at that as she handed my coat back to me. “The largest improvement you could make, would be to use better materials. Kevra and similar materials would enhance the non-magical protections, but if you want to make a truly powerful version, something like dragon skin would be ideal.”

I winced slightly at that, imagining how my roommate Morgana would react to learning that I was making a coat out of dragon skin. I doubted that she’d be very happy about that, and that was nothing compared to her girlfriend Thulia. I probably shouldn’t even mention the idea of a dragon skin coat to the dragon.

“You can also incorporate spellwork from the beginning,” Tessa continued thoughtfully, “rather than just applying it to an already finished product. The Family does have access to specialized materials, but they are usually quite expensive, even for us. “

I nodded at that, feeling excited at the idea of being able to make my next upgraded version with better materials. Then I deflated a little and admitted, “I’m probably not skilled enough to really make use of the good stuff yet. It would probably be a waste on me, until I get a lot better.”

Tessa didn’t disagree, though she was polite enough to not actually say so aloud. Of course, she’d been my grandmother’s assistant for years, and she wouldn’t have survived in that position unless she knew how to be tactful.

“You know,” Tessa commented, sounding almost as if she was merely musing aloud. “If you wanted a quality item without having to spend all the time and effort to make it yourself, you could always commission something from a specialist like House Cosgrove or the Enchanter.”

“I’ll think about it,” I told Tessa after a moment of consideration.

After this, Tessa and I changed topics a little, though not by much. We discussed my classes at Whateley, especially my magic classes and what I’ve been learning. She seemed impressed, though she gave me a few pointers and suggestions of things I should study on my own. I was getting the feeling that she was putting together a list of additional study materials, or maybe even some ‘homework’ for when I went back to school.

Eventually, Tessa told me, “Thanksgiving dinner will be semi-casual, and there will only be a few of us present.” She gave me a forced smile and admitted, “Unfortunately, you won’t be able to get off so easily for Christmas. For Christmas, you will probably need to make a more formal social appearance for the high ranking Family members.”

I nodded at that, wincing faintly as I considered what Tessa meant by ‘formal’. That meant I would probably have to wear a fancy dress or something of the sort, which would be bad enough. And then, I’d have to deal with people I barely knew, if I knew them at all, and I would have to be extremely careful about every interaction. Every single word, gesture, or expression could have unforeseen consequences. I’d have to keep my metaphorical White Lady mask in place the entire time.

“I think that is a problem for future Bianca,” I announced, which seemed to amuse Tessa a little.

It was around this point when a small group of people came into the room, lead by Marcus. Marcus was my regent and a member of the Loyal, so I trusted him more than just about anyone else in the Family, except perhaps for Tessa. He was also one of the very few people who knew who I really was, or at least, who I used to be before I’d inherited the mantle of the White Lady and the physical transformation that went along with it.

“Marcus,” I greeted him politely, keeping my voice calm and even as I slipped into my White Lady persona. Then I turned my gaze to the three people who’d come with him.

One of them was Olivia, a woman with formerly dark hair that was now more than half grey, and which was tied up into a strict bun. She was one of the senior members of the Hand, one of the Family’s magic users. She bore a sour expression, which seemed to be normal for her. From what I understood, she thought that she should have taken over as the head of the Hands, not Tessa. However, Tessa was the one grandmother had trusted, and even more important to me, the one I trusted.

James was the second member of the Loyal, a stocky man with a thinning hairline and an air of casual ease. He seemed like the kind of guy who’d chat you up at the grocery checkout, talking about lawn care or the weather just as an excuse for a friendly conversation. But I knew, that as a member of the Loyal, he was a dangerous man who’d already proven how capable and trustworthy he was to my grandmother. The fact that he was here to help guard the mansion was proof that Marcus also thought that he could be trusted to protect me.

The last of the people who came into the room was a young guy, about seventeen or eighteen. I didn’t know him and hadn’t seen him before, but he had an earnest look about him, as though he was trying very hard to impress the people around him.

“This is Michael,” Marcus indicated the boy. “He has old Family connections and has recently come to start training.”

“If you work hard and prove yourself,” James told the boy, “you might be able to become a Loyal one day.”

Michael nodded at that, though he didn’t look very enthusiastic. “I’d rather become a Hand.”

That earned Michael several odd looks, though Olivia was the one who announced, “Only women can become Hands.” Her tone was dismissive, as was the look she gave him.

Michael already looked self-conscious and this reaction only made it worse. Still, he said, “Aunt Marissa taught me a little magic… Just some basics, but she said I have a bit of potential…”

I gave Michael a curious look. Marissa was the name of a Hand who’d been killed during the Messenger’s attack on my grandmother. If she was his aunt, then that would definitely be a solid Family connection.

Michael gave me a nervous look but carefully avoided staring. It was clear to see that he was both curious and a bit intimidated. That wasn’t surprising since I was the new White Lady, and my grandmother, the previous White Lady, had been very intimidating even when she wasn’t trying to be. After a moment, he looked away while trying to act as though he wasn’t intentionally trying to avoid looking at me.

Olivia snorts and then bows to me before reporting, “We have finished reinforcing the wards around the property.”

“Good,” Tessa said. She glanced at me and frowned. “Unfortunately, most of the old protections faded after the death of the previous White Lady.”

“We’ve added some motion detectors and extra patrols,” James added. He shook his head. “I can’t believe someone still managed to sneak in last night.”

“It’s inexcusable,” Olivia agreed, looking offended by the very idea.

“If a burglar could get in,” Marcus pointed out grimly, “then an assassin could have just as easily. We can’t allow that to happen again.”

“And we won’t,” James stated firmly. “We’re not going to allow so much as a rat to sneak in.” He nodded to Olivia, acknowledging her part in the added security. “Scorn’s people have been watching the house, so we can’t afford to lower our guard.”

They spent the next couple minutes talking about the additional security features while I needed along occasionally, following most of it and pretending that I understood the rest. Most of this report was for Tessa’s benefit, since she was one of the people who actually ran things in the Family.

Michael spent the entire time standing back and listening. Then as the group was about to leave, he took a step forward and cleared his throat. “Ma’am,” he started nervously. It took me a moment to realize that he was talking to me. “I know I can’t become a Hand…” He glanced to Olivia. “But…is there any way I can get someone to teach me magic anyway?”

I blinked at that, then glanced at Tessa, who was the one in charge of the Hands. I’d never understood why women were the only ones to become Hands in the first place. There were a lot of guys at Whateley who were learning magic, so it just seemed like pure sexism to me.

“I don’t see why not,” I answered carefully, still trying to keep my White Lady persona in place. “As long as you can find someone who is willing to teach you.”

Olivia practically hissed at the suggestion. “Traditions…”

“Our current rules may not allow him to become a Hand,” Tessa said, cutting Olivia off, “but magic users can always be useful.” She hesitated a moment t before adding, “Especially when we have so few Hands left.”

Olivia scowled at that but gave a reluctant nod while Michael tried hard to contain his excitement. He bowed to me and gave a polite yet nervous thank you.

“You have stones, kid,” James told Michael as they turned to leave. “Big ones.” Then he chuckled and added, “Now, come on Stones, because you’re going to help with the patrols.”

Once everyone else was gone, I turned my attention back to Tessa. “I don’t think Olivia is happy with that.”

“Olivia is never happy,” Tessa responded with a faint smile. “Now, I just have to ask all the Hands if any of them is willing to take on an apprentice.”

--------------------

Chicago Il, Thursday evening, Nov 24th 2016

“I did it,” I told the girl in front of me. “I survived Thanksgiving dinner.”

The girl I was talking to was staring back at me from the mirror. She was rather pretty, even though her skin and hair were chalk white. Honestly, she was both pretty and creepy at the same time. If I put in a pair of plastic fangs, I’d definitely be able to pass as some kind of vampire.

This was my reflection now. This was me. I’d looked like this for only a few months now, but sometimes it felt like a lot longer than that. It had been long enough that I was already starting to forget some of the details of my old reflection. How long would it be before I forgot what I used to look like completely?

After a moment, I turned away from the bathroom mirror and let out a sigh. I was still thinking about dinner, which had been an eerie experience. There had only been a few people at the main dinner. Me, Tessa, Marcus, and my Uncle Andre. Those were the only people in the Family who knew my original identity, from before I became the White Lady. Of course, other people came through and ate with us as well, but those were mostly Family members who were working security and who took turns cycling through so that everyone had a chance to eat.

Dinner had been a nostalgic experience in both a good and bad way. This had been my first major holiday since my family had died, so the emotions hit me particularly hard. Sitting around a table with turkey in front of me… It brought back memories, and not all of them pleasant. It reminded me of the Thanksgiving dinners that I used to have with my family, and how my mom had always been more concerned with everything looking perfect than with everyone being happy and comfortable. I’d never really enjoyed our holiday dinners, but I still missed Mom, Dad, and my sister Paige.

“Christmas is going to be Hell,” I mutter with a deep sigh.

I absently brushed my hair back with my fingers, mostly to keep the strands from falling in front of my face. Maybe this was why grandmother liked those fancier and more intricate hairstyles. They kept her hair under control and out of her face.

A few seconds later, I left the bathroom and began walking down the hall towards the library. Now that dinner was over, I’d be able to relax and do a bit of reading. I had a new spy thriller that I was looking forward to starting, though I also had a few notes I’d taken earlier, and which I really should look over.

Before dinner, I’d looked over some of the magical wards that had been set up around the house, and to my surprise, I was already familiar with most of them. There had only been a couple runes that I didn’t know, and I’d taken good notes on them so that I could add those to my repertoire as well. Now, I just needed to memorize them and put in some practice working with them myself.

I was nearly at the library when James and Michael came down the hallway. The two of them were doing another patrol of the house, though at the moment, James was mostly focused on training Michael. I didn’t know if this would continue after Michael found someone willing to teach him magic.

“Check the windows, Stones,” James told Michael. “We don’t want to leave any unlocked. All of them should have some kind of rune drawn in the corner too, so we check to see that none of those are smudged.”

I was careful to keep from smiling too obviously as they walked past. It seemed that Michael had earned a new nickname, and James was intent to keep using it. I made a mental note to use it and call him ‘Stones’ sometime.

When I reached the library, I paused and looked around, trying to see if I could spot any signs of another intruder. Sure, security had been increased since then, both magical and the mundane varieties, but that didn’t necessarily make me feel more comfortable. After all, last night, it had been my own wards that had warned me about the intruder, not something that someone else had set up.

With that in mind, I reached for a pouch on my belt and pulled out a half dozen spell cards. I carefully activated the first one, pushing a little mana into it so that the rune I’d drawn on the surface began to glow. As soon as it was ready, I placed the card flat on the floor, right in the middle of the hallway. The card blackened and crumbled away while the glowing rune remained on the floor. After a couple seconds, the rune stopped glowing and almost faded away entirely, though the magic remained active. I could feel it in the back of my mind.

“One down, five more to go,” I said as I activated a second spell card and slapped it against the wall.

Once I was finished, I had a small network of wards set up around the library, each one a magical tripwire or motion detector. Now, nobody would be able to get too close without my at least being aware of it. I looked over my work once more and smiled in satisfaction before I finally went into the library.

--------------------

Chicago Il, Friday early afternoon, Nov 25th 2016

Black Friday was the worst possible day to go to a store. Any store. Sure, there were amazing prices and great deals, but those weren’t worth the pain and effort of dealing with large crowds of pushy people. That was why I never went shopping on Black Fridays, and I avoided any and all stores like the plague.

Today, I was following my usual rule of avoiding stores and shopping of any kind, but unfortunately, I’d forgotten one important detail. People who were going shopping used the roads as well, so traffic was backed up and crowded just as bad as it would have been in one of those stores I avoided.

It had taken over an hour to reach my favorite pizza place, a journey which should have taken only a quarter of that time. I silently cursed myself for the entire trip, remembering that I could have saved myself the hassle by having the pizza delivered. However, I’d been tired of being stuck in grandmother’s house and had been looking for an excuse to leave. Getting pizza had seemed like the perfect reason to do so at the time.

“At least we’re finally here,” I muttered to myself as I climbed out of the car.

“Please wait, ma’am,” James said as he got out of the car and looked around.

Michael…Stones as he was now called, stepped out of the car beside James. He didn’t have a gun that I was aware of, but he was still able to look for possible threats.

My third bodyguard, or second real one since Stones didn’t really count yet, was a serious looking man named Sebastian. Sebastian was doubling as my driver and would keep watch on the car while we ate, just to make sure that nobody tried to cut the break lines or sneak a bomb into it like I’d seen in so many movies.

“We probably should have had someone bring a pizza back to the mansion,” James commented, echoing my own thoughts. “Security is going to be tough out in the open.”

“Do you think anyone would try something here?” Stones asked cautiously. “It’s so public.”

“That won’t bother Scorn,” Sebastian commented.

My eyes went from them to our second car, which had parked nearby. Three more guards stepped out and began looking around the area for any potential threats. One of them made his way into the restaurant to make sure it was safe for me to go inside.

I resisted the urge to wince in guilt at making these people jump through so many hoops, just because I wanted some good pizza and some time outside the house. Unfortunately, I was the White Lady, which meant that I had to keep up appearances, even when I was just going out to lunch. I had to look calm and in control for the Family.

Once James was confident that there were no threats, we went inside and found a table. James arranged a table in the back, where we’d have a bit of privacy and easy access to the back door…just in case. I continued feeling guilty for wasting their time like this, though admittedly, those feelings faded once the pizza arrived at our table.

“Keep an eye on the back door,” James whispered to Stones. “Don’t look like you’re doing so, but let me know if anyone tries to come in or go out.”

Stones nodded and shifted his seat so that he had a better view of the door. “Will do.”

The security precautions relieved me, but they also made me more aware of the danger we were in…because I wanted to get out of the house. Because I wanted to get some decent pizza for the first time in months. I glanced around the restaurant, wondering if I should place a few wards and protections of my own, just in case.

But in spite of all the concern, nothing happened during our lunch. I ate my pizza in peace, without so much as a rude customer commenting about my unusual appearance. Admittedly, I did get a couple odd looks, but nobody actually said anything, so I was able to enjoy my meal.

After we finished eating, we left the restaurant and made our way back to the car. Sebastian was standing beside it, patiently waiting for our return. The sight of him made me thankful that I’d thought to order him a couple slices to go since it would be pretty sad if he missed out entirely.

Before we reached the car, a man abruptly stepped out from behind another car, immediately drawing my attention because of his odd clothes. He had dark hair, pale skin, and he looked like a cross between a circus ringmaster and a mime. He wore a jacket and pants, which resembled some kind of fancy military parade uniform, though they were all black but with white piping and trim. Without warning, the uniformed man threw a canister onto the ground in front of us and it suddenly exploded into a thick cloud of smoke.

“LOOK OUT,” James shouted.

I could barely see a thing through the thick smoke, but I felt a hand grab hold of my forearm and begin pulling me away.

“I’VE GOT HER,” James exclaimed. “Everyone get out of here.”

“Hey,” I started to argue, immediately realizing that something was wrong. James said that he had me…but his voice was too far away for that, and I was being pulled in the opposite direction as the car. “Wait…”

The smoke cleared enough for me to see through it, but what I saw was enough to make me gasp in surprise. James was at the door of the car, pushing someone inside. Someone who looked like me. Before I could call out, a hand clamped over my mouth and I could only watch as the car raced off, followed immediately by our second car.

I elbowed the person who was holding onto me, catching them right in the stomach with a move that Sensi Tolman had taught me in BMA. They let go with a grunt, letting me pull back enough to get a look at them. My eyes widened at the sight and I could only gape at a girl who looked just like me…except much taller and thinner. She looked like me…as if someone had stretched her out until she was nearly seven feet tall.

Other figures surrounded me, though I was so distracted by this white stick figure girl that I nearly missed them at first. And when I did look, I was met with the sight of more copies of me, each one with my chalk white skin and hair, though each one was oddly distorted somehow.

One of the twisted clones was bulging with thick muscle, as thick as any male bodybuilder. It was a very strange sight on someone who otherwise looked like a bleached teenage girl. Beside her was another version of me, but one who looked like she constantly gorged herself on junk food. That version of me was so fat that she had to be twice my weight.

“What the…?” I blurted out in surprise and confusion.

None of the clones spoke a word, though a couple more stepped forward and made themselves known. There was an old version of me, one who looked like she was well past retirement age. Then there was a dwarf version, who couldn’t have been four feet tall. And finally, there was one whose proportions were just…wrong. Her right side was larger than her left side, with arms and legs that were too large on the one side, while the opposite limbs were so small that they looked like they had come from a child.

“Now that your guards are out of the way,” the man in the black uniform said, “we can finish this…”

“Who are you?” I demanded, already reaching for the spell cards on my belt.

I was grabbed from behind, knocking my hand aside. With a grimace, I began to activate one of my built-in spells, the one for fire, but I was suddenly punched in the face and distracted from finishing. More hands grabbed me and pulled me back, dragging me into an alleyway.

“I’ve been warned that you are too dangerous to take chances with,” the strange man commented, not looking impressed. “However, I have a hard time believing those words.”

I struggled against the people holding me, all of them twisted versions of myself, but there were too many of them. Suddenly, one of them forced my hands into a pair of shackles, though not like any that I’d ever seen before. These ones had a sort of box for my hands to go into, and as soon as my hands were inside, the inside seemed to fill up with metal, making it so that I couldn’t so much as wiggle my fingers.

“Damn,” I muttered with a surge of fear that nearly had me shaking.

I couldn’t use my hands, which meant that not only were my spell cards out of the question, so was being able to cast any spell. At least, any spell other than my built-in ones. The runes for those ones were tattooed on my skin and didn’t need me to do anything else. But before I could use one, a collar was suddenly clamped around my neck, and as soon as it was locked in place, my spell cut off. I tried activating my air spell. Nothing.

“A magic absorbing collar,” a new voice said. “Scorn said that it would drain your magic. I’m glad to see he was right.”

My eyes widened at that and I tried once more to activate one of my built-in spells. Still nothing. My heart raced as I realized just how helpless I currently was.

The source of the second voice stepped forward, giving me a good look at him. The man was middle-aged, with dark hair that was liberally sprinkled with grey along the sides. He wore a grey suit, the kind that would have fit right into an office environment.

“Who are you?” I gasped. I didn’t bother asking what he wanted. He’d mentioned Scorn, which told me that he was probably there to kill me.

The man casually straightened his tie before answering. “My name is Robert Grace. I believe that you’re familiar with my son…Crysis.”

“Crysis,” I whisper, remembering my classmate from Whateley.

I didn’t know the boy well, though I knew he didn’t like me for some reason and that he somehow knew that I’d killed the Messenger. I’d never considered that it might be because his dad worked for Scorn.

“So, you’re going to kill me now,” I stated, trying to keep my voice from shaking. I might be terrified, but there was no reason I had to let them see it.

“Not quite yet,” Grace answered, much to my surprise. “Mister Scorn is interested in talking with you.” Then he gestured to the other man, the one who resembled a ringmaster mime. “And thanks to our associate, Funhouse, that meeting is now possible.”

The strange man, Funhouse, held his hand out and a figure began forming into the air in front of him. A couple seconds later, there was another twisted copy of me, one who looked like her features were melting like warm wax. I shuddered at the sight.

I knew that I was in deep trouble, and there was nothing I could do to get out of it. Well, nothing I could do myself, but there was still a chance. With that, I took a deep breath and then yelled, “HELP!” as loud as I could. I barely got the word out before a hand clamped over my mouth.

“None of that,” Grace told me. “You have an appointment to keep.”

Chicago Il, Friday late afternoon, Nov 25th 2016

I was tied to a chair in the middle of a room which looked like a vacant office. The room was almost completely empty, with no furniture remaining, though I could still see imprints in the carpet where a desk and bookshelves had previously been.

My hands rested in my lap, locked inside a metal box that was about the size of a shoe box. As soon as my hands had been placed inside, something had filled the space and then instantly hardened, almost as though my hands had been shoved into wet cement. From what I could see of the former opening around my wrists, the material that had filled the inside had been some kind of metal, though a different metal than what the outside of the box was made of.

“Some kind of devise,” I thought aloud. I tried moving my hands again but I couldn’t even twitch my fingers. They were well and truly trapped in that box. “Great…”

I thought about how I could escape, but absolutely nothing came to mind. Between the box holding my hands and the collar that messed with my magic, I didn’t have any options that I could think of.

When I’d been captured, Grace had taken my belt, which held the pouches of spell cards and my gun holster. He probably would have taken my long coat as well, but with my hands already locked up, he wouldn’t be able to remove that without cutting it off. Fortunately, he hadn’t gone that far just yet.

I kept my expression as calm as I could, though it wasn’t easy since I was freaking out inside. I was burning with a mixture of terror and rage, emotions which kept shifting back and forth.

At the moment, I was the only one in the room, though I knew this wouldn’t last long. A couple of guards stood outside, and I could hear talking, enough to let me know that Scorn would arrive soon. The very thought of that man stoked both my rage and fear. Scorn was the man who’d murdered my family and had tried to do the same to me on multiple occasions. He was the man who would probably succeed in making me join them once he finally arrived.

The door finally opened and then one of Scorn’s men stepped inside. I’d seen this man before, after I’d arrived at this location, but this time he looked…wrong. His skin was glossy, almost as though it was made of plastic. A moment later, another version of him stepped through the door, though this one looked a lot younger, as if he was a teenager who was wearing clothes that were far too large for him.

“Oh,” I said in realization of what was happening.

Three more guards stepped into the room, each one a twisted version of the original. One was lopsided, one had an extra arm growing out of his side, and the third was a female version. Only once all five of these people came into the room and took places in various spots around it, did Funhouse follow.

Funhouse looked exactly the same as the last time I’d seen him, like some kind of Tim Burton version of a circus ringmaster. He didn’t say a word as he came to a stop beside the door.

Then another man came in behind Funhouse, another version of all the other guards. No, this one was the original man, and he kept giving his clones odd looks.

“This is pretty freaky, Funhouse,” the man said. “I wish you would have imprinted on someone other than me.”

“I need to imprint on someone in order to create my reflections,” Funhouse commented in an almost bored voice. “And you were convenient.”

I watched Funhouse, adding that bit of information into the other bits I’d overheard since being captured. From what I understood, Funhouse was a manifestor, who effectively had the same power as Penny Dreadful back at Whateley. But where she could create fake zombies, Funhouse created his twisted copies…his ‘reflections’ of other people.

“It’s starting to get kind of crowded in here,” the original goon said. “A regular party.”

“You do have a point,” Robert Grace commented as he stepped into the room as well. He looked around, frowning as he did so. His eyes locked on me. “Is she still secure?”

Three of Funhouse’s reflections step forward and grab hold of me to make sure I didn’t move, as if the ropes holding me weren’t doing that well enough. Then Funhouse himself came over for a closer look, examining the ropes, the collar on my neck, and the box on my hands. Once he was satisfied, he stepped back and nodded to Grace.

“Alright then,” Grace said, looking to Funhouse. “You can wait outside, along with your reflections. We’ll call if we need you in here.”

Funhouse nodded. “Sure.”

With that, Funhouse stepped out of the room and all of his minions followed out right behind him. Once he was gone, the original goon let out a sigh of relief. “Those things are so creepy…”

“Perhaps,” Grace responded. “But they are useful…and expendable.” Then he looked towards the door and called out, “It’s clear.”

A couple seconds later, another person stepped into the room, doing so with a confidence that declared he was in complete control. He wore an expensive looking dark grey suit, and from his white hair, I assumed he was old, though it was hard to be sure since I couldn’t see his face. The newcomer’s face was covered with a featureless gold metal mask.

“Mister Scorn,” Grace greeted the man, though it was obvious that he did so for my benefit.

“Scorn,” I whispered as a cold chill ran down my spine.

Scorn stepped forward and stood about five feet in front of me. He didn’t make any other movements and merely seemed to be staring down at me for several long seconds. I wanted to pee myself, but instead, I braced myself and put on my metaphorical White Lady mask. I tried to keep my expression as calm and controlled as possible, and I hoped that none of my fear showed through as I stared back up at him.

“So,” I commented, pleased that I was able to keep my voice even. “You’re Scorn. You’re shorter than I expected.”

“And you,” he responded, “are Bianca St. Claire, the new White Lady.”

“Thanks to you,” I said, the bitterness and anger slipping into my voice.

“I’ve been curious about you, ever since you emerged,” Scorn commented. “You are very young for the role.”

“What now?” I asked, suspecting that I already knew the answer. “A bullet through my head?”

Scorn didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he stood back and watched me for several seconds before responding. “That will come soon enough. For now, I merely wanted to see you with my own eyes. You look a great deal like your predecessor.”

“It comes with the power,” I said with a hint of bitterness.

“Very true,” Scorn mused, almost as though he was talking to himself. “Madeline’s coloration was once quite different as well, before she inherited the mantle.”

I blinked in confusion, wondering what Maddy had to do with this. Then, it suddenly dawned on me that he wasn’t referring to Madelyn Belle, who an influential member of the Family. He was referring to Madeline St. Claire…my grandmother.

“What do you know about her?” I demanded, surprised that Scorn knew my grandmother’s name, or at least, that he felt comfortable using that name. Almost nobody had called her that.

I couldn’t see Scorn’s face through the mask, but his tone almost seemed amused as he replied, “I assure you, I knew quite a bit about your predecessor. After all, I knew her before she inherited the mantle of the White Lady.”

“What?” I blurted out in surprise.

“Oh yes,” Scorn continued. “I knew Madeline quite well. I was but a boy…only a few years older than you when her predecessor was killed. I was with her when she brought the Family to America. I was one of those who survived our decimation in the Great War…”

I stared up at Scorn with my mouth hanging open as I realized exactly what he was saying. “You… You were with the Family.”

“Indeed, I was,” Scorn said with a bitter chuckle. “I became a high ranking Hand…the first and only man to have ever earned that honor. And, for many years, Madeline and I were lovers.”

Each word that Scorn spoke was more and more shocking…and even harder to believe. All I could do was stare at him as I tried to wrap my head around these revelations. Of course, he could have been lying, but I didn’t think he was.

“It is obvious that your grandmother never spoke about me,” Scorn continued. “I am surprised at this, as I would have expected to be spoken of as a cautionary tale of why men should not be allowed to learn magic, or a warning for any other who might cross the White Lady.” By the last bit, his own tone had become cold and bitter.

“What happened?” I asked, trying to make sense of his story and the current circumstances. “If you were a Hand, then why are you trying to destroy the Family now?”

Scorn was silent for a few more seconds, and when he spoke, the anger and bitterness had receded from his voice. His tone was calm and in control when he spoke again, reminding me of how I tried to sound whenever I was trying to project my White Lady persona.

“I was well placed within the Family,” Scorn explained. “I was consort to the queen…” Then he paused for another couple seconds before continuing, “But I wanted more. I grew to despise being in her shadow…so I attempted to seize control of the Family. Needless to say, my coup failed…with disastrous consequences.”

“What did she…?” I started to ask, only to pause and say, “I’m surprised she didn’t kill you.”

“As was I,” Scorn admitted. “Perhaps, Madeline would have been kinder to kill me, but that has never been her way. After my betrayal, Madeline proved the adage that hell that no fury like a woman scorned.”

Scorn began to reach up to touch his mask before he caught himself and pulled his hands away. Then he stood straighter, hands behind his back in an almost casual manner as he stepped back.

“Your predecessor cursed me, then cast me out.” Scorn told me. “I spent many years suffering from that curse before I finally learned how to contain it. But to this day, decades later, I have still found no way to break it.”

“That’s why you came after the Family,” I whispered. “That’s why you sent the Messenger after my grandmother… It’s all personal.”

“Yes, my motives are largely personal,” Scorn admitted. “I will destroy the White Lady and her entire legacy. When I am finished, everything that Madeline valued will be turned to ash and ruin.” Then he paused and adjusted his tie. “But I am a businessman, and claiming the Family’s territory and business will be enormously profitable. One can have more than one motive for their actions.”

“And me?” I asked, already wondering why I was still alive. He’d already sent assassins after me, so why hadn’t he finished the job yet? Had he spared me this long just so that he could monolog at me? “What are you going to do with me?”

“You won’t need to worry about that for much longer,” the original goon commented from the side. He’d kept silent for the exchange until this point. Scorn looked at Grace, who took a step back and nodded in acknowledgement of the silent warning.

“I will kill you, of course,” Scorn answered. “But I do not want to risk another hidden heir appearing afterwards and claiming the mantle. If I am to permanently end the legacy of the White Lady, I need to take additional precautions. Once the ritual is ready, I will end the White Lady for all time.”

With that, Scorn turned and walked out the door. Grace, who’d been silent for the entire exchange, immediately followed his boss out, not even bothering to spare me another look. The only one who remained in the room with me was the original goon who Funhouse had imprinted on.

“Sorry, kid,” the goon told me with an almost sympathetic look. “Nothing personal about this. It’s just business.”

Those words were familiar and immediately sparked a surge of anger. I stared at the goon and pointed out, “The Messenger said the same thing, and look what happened to him.”

The man suddenly looked a little nervous at that, though he quickly covered it up. He suddenly lashed out with his fist and punched me in the cheek, probably to try proving that he wasn’t intimidated by a teenage girl who was all tied up. A few seconds later, he was gone as well.

--------------------

Chicago Il, Friday evening, Nov 25th 2016

I stared down at the box that my hands were trapped in, silently cursing the box and the situation. No matter what I tried, I couldn’t get out of that box, nor out of the ropes that tied me to the chair.

“It would have been a lot easier if they’d underestimated me,” I muttered bitterly. But unfortunately, my kidnappers had taken me seriously. Too seriously.

It had been a couple hours since I’d met Scorn, and I hadn’t made any progress in escaping since then. I’d tried stretching slipping my hands back, out of their bonds, just like I’d tried wiggling out of the ropes. Nothing.

After that goon had punched me, I’d briefly thought that I’d discovered an opportunity. His punch had split open my lip and I’d been able to spit out a little blood, enough so that I dribbled it down onto the box and tried to draw a rune. All I’d done was make a mess.

I hadn’t been injured very badly, and it had all healed up in just a few minutes. This showed that my regeneration was still working and that the collar hadn’t cut off my magic entirely. My regeneration was based off magic, like a healing spell that was always running in the background. So, my built-in elemental spells were dead, but not everything was.

“Come on,” I told myself with a growing sense of desperation. “You’ve got to get out of here before they come back.” I didn’t have much longer and I knew it.

There was a loud thump from right outside the room, causing me to pause. After a few seconds, I realized that it was just a couple of the guards. They began talking so I let out a faint sigh of relief.

“Not time yet,” I whispered.

“I don’t know why we didn’t just bring her to the Castle,” one of the guards said. I recognized the voice. That was the goon who’d punched me. Earlier, I’d overheard someone calling him Kyle.

I perked up at that since Kyle’s comment made it clear that this wasn’t the Castle. The Castle was Scorn’s headquarters, a large building in the middle of downtown.

“Because the Family knows where the Castle is,” the other man responded. “And that is the first place they’ll look for their White Lady.”

“You know, Mike,” Kyle responded with a chuckle. “I kind of wish I was at the Castle when the Family shows up. I’d love to see the looks on their faces when we tell them that their princess is in another Castle.”

“That would be funny,” Mike admitted with a laugh.

The two of them continued talking, though I stopped paying attention to them and looked around the room, trying to figure out how I could get out of this. However, I knew that even if I saw something in the room that I could use, it wouldn’t do much good if I couldn’t get to it. With that in mind, I struggled against my bindings again, hoping that if I kept at it, I might be able to get the ropes to slip a little.

Then I heard a soft fluttering off to the side which immediately drew my attention. A bird flew through the room, circling around once before it abruptly landed on my lap, right on top of the metal box.

“Lenore,” I gasped, immediately recognizing the white raven. “What are you…?”

I paused as I realized that my grandmother’s familiar had been carrying something in her beak, something which she’d dropped right on top of the metal box. It was a card. Specifically, it was one of my spell cards.

“Where did you get that?” I asked, a smile forming on my lips. I recognized the rune that was drawn on the card. I knew exactly which spell this was, and it just so happened to be the one I needed. “Thank you…”

Lenore let out a soft “Kaw,” before taking to the air again. She flew straight at the office window, but instead of hitting the glass, she went through it as though it wasn’t even there.

I shook my head and muttered, “How the hell does she even do that?” Lenore was my grandmother’s familiar, and with my grandmother gone, I would have expected the raven to lose her power as well. “But not important right now.”

The card was sitting flat on top of the metal box which held my hands. I couldn’t touch it. The ropes kept me from being able to bend over to even touch it with my tongue, which was a problem since I normally touched my cards to activate the spells that were stored on them.

When I’d made this card, I’d drawn the rune with ink that I’d created from my own blood. That meant I had a special connection to this spell. A connection that I hoped to use.

I closed my eyes and tried to feel my connection to the card. It was easier than I expected. I could feel it…

“It looks like the collar can’t stop that either,” I said as I flipped a mental switch.

The rune began to glow even as the card crumbled to ash. A moment later, rust began to spread over the metal box, starting where the card had been and quickly covering the entire thing. Then the entire box crumbled away, rusting until it was little more than red dust.

“Yes,” I exclaimed as I pulled my hands free and wiggled my fingers.

The chair suddenly collapsed beneath me, dropping me to the ground with a painful thud. The screws in the chair had rusted away, just like the box had, which also served to release me from the ropes.

I felt an itching around my neck and reached up to the collar, finding that it had rusted away as well. “I’m free.”

Once I untangled myself from the now loose ropes and got to my feet, I gave a nervous look to the door. I’d been making too much noise and was afraid that they’d heard me. But when the door remained closed, I let out a breath that I hadn’t realized I’d been holding.

“Now to get out of here,” I whispered, trying to figure out what resources I had available for the next step. Somehow, I didn’t think that Lenore was going to show up with another card for me. I’d just used up all my luck for the day and couldn’t count on getting lucky again. “Let’s see…”

I still had my coat, which was the biggest asset I had at the moment. My coat…and everything I had stuffed into the pockets. They’d taken my belt, but they’d never thought to search my coat too.

The first thing I discovered was that every bit of metal I had on me had been destroyed by my spell. The small knife that had been hidden away was now gone. However, I still had a few spell cards in one pocket along with a nice collection of writing tools.

“Chalk, crayons, sharpie, and charcoal,” I said as I took inventory.

I had a few other things as well, but nothing that would help me at the moment. Still, the writing tools were all that I really needed for now.

My next step took about five minutes as I carefully drew a couple runes on the door and wall. I would have preferred to use the floor, but that office carpeting wasn’t very good for writing on. But in the end, it didn’t really matter.

“HELP,” I cried out. “PLEASE NO…”

The door opened and Kyle charged into the room, looking more annoyed than anything. “That won’t do you any good,” he started to say before he abruptly realized that the chair was a pile of wreckage and I was standing on the other side of the room. “What the…?”

Kyle had already stepped too far into the room and was close enough to activate the spell I’d placed on the wall. It exploded like a landmine and triggered a nearly identical spell on the door, right as Mike was coming through. Both goons were thrown by the explosions while what was left of the door was left completely open and unguarded.

“Thank you for your hospitality,” I said in a sarcastic tone as I calmly strolled out of the room.

--------------------

Chicago Il, Friday evening, Nov 25th 2016

Two of Scorn’s men walked down the hallway as they searched all the empty offices for me. They were both wearing cheap suits and carrying weapons that looked like something a devisor would have come up with.

“Great,” I muttered from the empty office I was hiding inside of. I peeked through a crack in the door. “Just what I need. Mobsters with ray guns.”

I backed away from the door as the two men approached, ready to deal with them if they should open the door. However, they walked right past, not even looking at the door much less opening it. Once they had moved on, I let out a sigh of relief.

It looked like the ‘nothing to see here’ spell that I’d put on the door had worked. If Scorn really had been a Hand, then that probably wouldn’t work on him, but his men… Well, it didn’t look like he had many magic practitioners on hand.

When I was sure that they were gone, I slipped out of the office and began moving down the hallway. I paused a couple doors down and quickly drew a new rune onto the wall, a ward that would warn me if anyone got too close. That was part of how I’d been keeping ahead of the people who were searching for me.

I was in an office building with multiple floors, and unfortunately, I hadn’t been able to sneak out just yet. The elevator was shut down, and though I could go down the stairs, I found that I couldn’t go very far. A couple floors down, the stairs had been blocked off by some nasty magic, so I’d turned around and had been playing hide and seek through the building since.

A minute later, I stepped into what had been a cafeteria before the entire building had been emptied. There was no sign of tables and chairs, only a large floor which had been put to a different use.

A circle had been painted in the middle of the cafeteria, about ten feet across, and surrounded with dozens of symbols and complicated runes. In addition, six objects had been placed around the circle as well, each connected to some of the runes in the diagram. Three of the objects were golf ball sized crystals, while the other three were random seeming magical objects. There was a goblet, a figurine, and a dagger.

“The ritual,” I said with a deep scowl. “This is what Scorn was working on…”

I stood back and carefully looked over the ritual, noting that it hadn’t been completed, but it was nearly ready. It looked like my escape had distracted Scorn from finishing it.

The ritual looked complicated and I wasn’t familiar with all of the symbols being used, but what I did recognize or could translate with my power, gave me a good idea of how the ritual was supposed to work. If I died in the middle of that circle while the ritual was active, it would act like a prison, keeping my spirit captured within. That alone would have been bad enough, but it looked like the spell was also meant to tear my spirit apart and destroy it…like a giant magical blender.

“Kind of overkill for something that isn’t even necessary,” I said with a snort.

Scorn had said that he wanted to make sure that there would be no new White Lady after me, that no hidden heirs would be able to take up the mantle. This whole ritual was unnecessary since there were no other heirs. If there had been anyone more qualified, then they would have inherited the mantle instead of me. The spirit had pulled some tricky stuff to even get me.

I gave a weak chuckle. “Nothing says it couldn’t pull something like that again.” I imagined that if I died, then the spirit might try to find some other avatar that it could change to fit the requirements. I seriously doubted that this would work, but then again, I never would have thought that it could change me either.

Now that I’d found the ritual, I needed to decide what I should do with it. I certainly couldn’t leave it like this, so ruining it was an obvious step. The question was, should I wreck the entire thing or just make a few subtle sabotages that could come back and bite Scorn in the butt if he ever tried to activate it?

“Or,” I mused aloud, looking at the three crystals.

Each of the three crystals held a lot of essence. They were essence batteries, hooked up to the ritual in order to power it. From what I could tell, they each had a very nice amount of essence, enough that it would be a shame to waste it.

For a minute, I considered erasing the entire ritual and then drawing out a new one of my own. I could use those crystals to power a pretty strong effect, enough to take down this entire building if I wanted. But then, reality hit and I realized that there were two main reasons this wouldn’t work. First, I didn’t know enough to pull off any kind of large-scale ritual off the top of my head, and second, it would take hours to draw out something like this…hours that I would be here as a sitting duck.

“So, that idea is out,” I muttered in disappointment. I let out a sigh and turned my attention back to the crystals. “But I can still use those.”

I moved around the ritual, snatching up the crystals and then ruining everything I could as quickly as I could. Containers of special paint had been left off to the side, so I splashed these over the writing. That should be enough to make this completely unusable.

That still left the question of what I should do next. Now that I had the essence in these crystals to help, I could pull off a few more spells. I might be able to get around the barrier that Scorn had put on the stairs, or maybe, I might even be able to set up some kind of flare to get the Family’s attention. I had no doubt that they were looking for me.

“Or,” I started with clenched teeth… “Or, I stay and fight…”

That last idea was the most ridiculous one yet. What could I possibly do against Scorn and all of his people? I was seriously outnumbered and outgunned. The smart move would be to do the same thing that I had been…continue running and hiding.

“I’m tired of running and hiding,” I spat out, the anger and bitterness rising to the surface again.

I clenched my fists and thought about Scorn and everything he’d taken from me. I thought about all the people he’d already sent after me, ones that I’d barely managed to escape. There was absolutely no doubt in my mind that if I slipped away again, he would just send more people after me…and continue doing so until one of them succeeded.

This was the closest I’d ever been to Scorn, the closest I’d ever been to being able to hit him back. This was an opportunity, one that I might never get again. I had to take it.

“No more running and hiding,” I stated with a grim determination that floated on a layer of terror. “Now, I’m going to make him hurt…”

Of course, I knew that this wouldn’t be so easy. For one thing, I didn’t really know what Scorn was capable of, though his being a Hand gave me some ideas. Still, that wasn’t enough. And for another, I wasn’t really a fighter. I wasn’t the kind of mage who threw fireballs at their opponents. Sure, I could do that a little, but that was more of an exception…the kind of tricks I could pull in an emergency, or if I needed to buy myself an opportunity to get some distance from the threat.

“I have to hurt him and his people,” I thought aloud. “But I can’t just go in blasting…” I scowled at that. “That isn’t how I fight. If I want to hurt them, I have to fight the way that works for me.”

After a little more consideration, I turned and left the cafeteria, filled with a new sense of purpose. I was going to fight back. I was going to hurt Scorn and his people. And I was going to do it by…running and hiding.

--------------------

Chicago Il, Saturday early morning, Nov 26th 2016

I was on my hands and knees, frantically drawing a rune onto the hard tile floor. Once I finished with the rune, I leaned back onto my knees and stretched my hand, trying to work out the cramp that had formed.

“That should do it,” I said as I glanced down the hallway, which was covered with a dozen spells, each of them having been drawn in chalk that matched the color of the beige tiles so that they were hard to see. “At least for here.”

For the last couple of hours, I’d moved through the building, going from floor to floor and leaving a trail of spells behind. Most of them were completely unnoticed, their locations hidden by ‘nothing to see here’ spells which gently directed people away from those particular areas.

It had been exhausting to draw this many runes and cast this many spells in such a short amount of time. I’d been so rushed about it that my work had been a bit sloppy, though the spells would still work fine, just not as efficiently as they would otherwise. I’d also used chalk, sharpie, and such rather then special made inks, which would reduce the essence efficiency in each spell as well.

Because of the materials and circumstances, each spell had cost about twice as much essence as it normally would. This was a lot of essence, and I would have already used up all my essence, if I’d been relying on my own.

With that, I held out one of the crystals that I’d found at the ritual. It had previously been fully charged with essence, but it was now completely empty. I absently tucked the now empty crystal into my pocket since it might be useful in the future.

“Cheap, fast, or good,” I muttered in annoyance. “Choose two and be glad if you get one.”

A few seconds later, I slowly got back to my feet and stretched. My preparations were finished, so now it was about time to set everything in motion. I grinned in anticipation at finally being able to do something against Scorn.

I wasn’t a fighter, and certainly not a front-line fighter, in spite of all the BMA classes that I’d attended. Instead, I was much better at hiding in the background, making preparations and then drawing my enemies into them.

“I should have taken survival instead of BMA,” I thought aloud, regretting that particular class choice since whatever I learned in survival would have been a lot more relevant to what I usually end up facing. “I’m definitely taking that escape and evasion class they’re offering for winter term.”

Just then, I felt several of my wards go off, warning me of where Scorn’s people were moving. I’d scattered a number of wards around the building, and I’d been using them to track my enemy movements. One of the wards that had just gone off, indicated that someone was coming in my direction.

“It’s time,” I said, deactivating the ‘nothing to see here’ spell that hid this hallway. “Let them come.”

Scorn’s people reached the hallway faster than I expected. Two men turned the corner and stared right at me, before I’d even had a chance to duck out of sight like I’d intended.

“There she is,” one of the men exclaimed.

The second man opened fire with his ray gun, sending a blast of energy in my direction. I dove into one of the side offices, avoiding the shot.

“We’ve got her trapped,” the first man announced with a laugh. “Let’s get her…”

“Yes,” I whispered with an evil grin. “Come and get me.”

Since I was now in the office, I couldn’t see the goons as they ran down the hallway, but I could hear them. I also heard the sudden explosion as they ran into my magical landmine. After that, everything went silent.

I waited a few seconds, then cautiously peaked my head out of the office and looked down the hallway. The sight made me wince and nearly empty my stomach, but it also filled me with relief. Neither of those men would be coming after me again.

“They were trying to kill me,” I reminded myself to ease the guilt that was threatening to form. I shoved that guilt away with a reminder of what their boss had done to my family. “I just got to them first.”

That explosion had been somewhat loud, though I wasn’t worried about it drawing the attention of more people. I had a sound suppressing rune hidden back the way they’d come, which would have blocked any noise from traveling past.

I smirked as I began walking away. “If it can silence a snoring dragon, it can definitely quiet a small explosion.”

Since I’d just proven that my traps worked, it was time to expand them. I released the connection that I had to most of my ‘nothing to see here’ spells and let them collapse. Now, Scorn’s people would be able to enter the trapped areas, and to make sure that they did, some of my ‘look here’ spells, designed to draw attention, became active instead. These would subtly encourage interest and draw my enemies right into my traps.

Now that I’d put everything into play, all I had to do was find a safe place to hide while my traps did their work. For that reason, I’d left a few areas hidden with ‘nothing to see here’ spells, and I made my way towards one of them.

It didn’t take long before I felt alerts from some of my spells, telling me that the traps were being activated. I felt the room shake a little which indicated the ones right above me had probably gone off, but I barely heard a thing. My sound muffling spells didn’t do much for the shaking.

I tried hard not to think about the fact that many of these meant that I’d seriously injured or killed someone. What I was doing was…nasty. Nasty but effective since I could deal with these threats without putting myself in reach.

To distract myself from the guilt, I thought about the magical links themselves. Setting those connections to so many spells without using blood ink was…expensive. Almost as expensive as creating the spells themselves. It was extremely inefficient and ate up an enormous amount of essence, but that was what it took to brute force the effect. If I hadn’t had Scorn’s essence crystals, something of this scale just wouldn’t have been possible.

“Maybe I should thank him for leaving those for me,” I joked weakly.

Then I considered the scale of what I’d set up and just how complicated it all was. In fact, this project, as rushed as it had been, was the most large-scale project that I’d ever worked on. I wondered if Mrs. Grimes would give me extra-credit for this…assuming I was able to make it back to Whateley alive.

“One step at a time,” I reminded myself, trying to remain calm and steady. “One step at a time.”

Chicago Il, Saturday morning, Nov 26th 2016

It had been awhile since any of my major spells had gone off, other than a few detection runes. Many of my traps were still out there, waiting for someone to walk into them, but it seemed that nobody wanted to oblige anymore. Scorn’s people had learned to be cautious.

“Too bad,” I muttered in disappointment. After all that work, it seemed like a huge waste to have so many of my traps left unused.

Then I felt the link to one of my traps suddenly go dead. It didn’t feel like the trap had gone off, only that the link had been disconnected. A second one snapped and then a third, all within the same hallway as each other. At first, I was confused about what this meant, then it came to me.

“Someone is deactivating them,” I whispered in realization. “Someone is taking out my spells.”

I frowned at that, annoyed but not too surprised. After all, Scorn was a magic user, and I knew that he had other magic users in his organization. It had only been a matter of time before one of them realized what I was up to and began to interfere.

“And I’d been hoping it would take a lot longer,” I muttered with a sigh.

Before long, I felt my wards being disconnected as well. This left me somewhat blind as to where they were now moving, but since I felt my connections to the wards snap, each one gave me one final warning.

“They’re coming here,” I muttered, feeling wards in the nearest stairway go off. They were moving too fast to disconnect all of my wards, which meant… “Time to go boom.”

I activated my traps in the stairway, setting them off before they could be deactivated. There was another burst of magical explosions, hopefully enough to catch the magic user. However, I wasn’t about to count on that, especially when I knew there were some pretty powerful shield spells out there. A couple minutes later, my suspicions were confirmed as I felt another ward go off at the bottom of the stairs.

My enemies were on this floor again, and this time, I couldn’t count on my traps to stop them. I scowled at that, knowing that I couldn’t remain in one spot any longer. It was time to go on the move again.

When I left the area where I’d been hiding, I reached into my jacket pocket and felt the spell cards that were held there. I’d lost most of my spell cards along with my belt, but not all of them. I still had some useful ones on hand and ready to go.

For a moment, I considered activating a ‘nothing to see here’ spell, one which would help conceal me as I walked through the hallway. I quickly tossed that idea, though. That spell would keep people from paying attention to me when I was walking across campus, but it would be practically useless now. These were people who were looking for me specifically, and that kind of attention was more than this particular spell could handle. If one of them actually saw me, all this might do was make them hesitate for a second or two.

“I need a cloak of invisibility,” I grumbled. “But definitely not a ring. I don’t want the responsibility of having to drop it into a volcano.”

Several explosions echoed down the hall near me, still muffled by my sound dampening runes but not silenced entirely. That brought a smile to my lips, until I glanced down the hallway and saw a woman running right down the middle…and straight into one of my runes. It went off in a burst of heat and force, completely obliterating her. Another woman stepped into the hallway after that and also ran straight down the middle, past where the first woman had been killed until she too hit another trap.

“What the…?” I started in confusion, until the next three people turned the corner and stepped into the hallway.

Two of them were women, dressed in blue and black costumes, with brown hair that was pulled back into a ponytail. They looked nearly identical, though one of them seemed off somehow. The other woman looked a bit more normal, but held a staff in her hands. It was the third person who explained what was going on.

“Funhouse,” I spat out in annoyance.

Even as I said this, one of the two women took her turn and began running down the hallway, until she too hit a trap and was destroyed. They’d gotten tired of disabling my traps and had switched over to using expendable reflections to intentionally set them off instead. The last woman remained behind, beside Funhouse. She was obviously the original.

“There she is,” the woman with the staff exclaimed.

“Yes, Lapis,” Funhouse responded dryly. “I can see her for myself.”

The woman, Lapis, held out her staff and recited a quick magic spell. A moment later, she sent a ball of fire shooting down the hallway towards me. I dove around the corner and out of sight, easily avoiding the attack.

“Not good,” I muttered grimly.

I activated my built-in fire spell, causing the glossy glyph tattoos all over my body to glow a reddish orange, right before I stepped back into the hallway and sent my own ball of fire back at them. Lapis held up her staff and a glowing blue shield formed in front of them, blocking my attack. I fired several more fireballs at them, partly in hopes that I could get through her shield, and partly because I only had an extremely limited amount of time with that power, and I wanted to make use of it while I could. Once it ran out, I turned went and back down the other hallway, away from them.

A minute later, Funhouse and Lapis caught up to me, along with four more reflections of me. It was creepy seeing twisted copies of myself coming at me, but I suppose that was the purpose. Funhouse got a nice psychological weapon with his manifested minions.

“You’ve been quite troublesome,” Lapis said from where she stood back with Funhouse.

“Surrender now,” Funhouse ordered as four of his reflections came towards me. “Don’t make us hurt you any more than we have to.”

I raised an eyebrow at that. “What? You don’t want to hurt me…before you kill me?”

Lapis held up her staff and recited a quick phrase, right before firing another fireball at me. I dropped to the ground to avoid the attack, though I was already rolling and coming back to my feet in a well-practiced move. It looked like BMA was turning out to be useful after all.

I would have loved to return fire, but my fire spell had already been used up and wouldn’t recharge for an hour. However, I did have other options, and I realized that my other option was MUCH better than simply throwing another fireball. With that, I flipped the mental switch that activated another of my built-in spells, causing all of my tattoos to glow with a silvery color.

“My turn,” I announced as I held up my hand, showing the glowing symbol on my palm which translated to ‘air’.

A massive blast of wind rushed down the hallway, knocking Lapis, Funhouse, and all of the reflections off their feet and sending them tumbling down the hallway. They’d come into the hallway through an intersection, and they quickly rolled past that intersection and further down the hallway, into a section that they hadn’t cleared. Traps activated and explosions went off.

I stood there for several long seconds, taking deep breaths and letting my spell fade. I’d used every bit of stored energy for that wind blast, and it had been worth it. I was still alive and free.

What I saw further down the hallway was somewhat disturbing. There were several twisted copies of me, all torn to pieces and melting away into goo. Funhouse was pretty messed up too, with limbs that were bent in the wrong way. He wasn’t moving at all, so I was pretty confident that he was dead.

Then there was Lapis, who was badly injured but not nearly as bad as Funhouse had been. She was still moving, though not much. A faint glow around her body suggested that she’d used some kind of shield spell to save herself from the full brunt of my traps, but it hadn’t been enough to save her completely. Still, she was clearly not a threat to me anymore, so I saw no reason to do anything more.

My eyes remained on the wreckage of these people as it felt wrong to look away from what I had caused, at least not until I’d taken a good look. I wanted to wretch and close my eyes, but I didn’t. With my earlier traps, I hadn’t actually had to watch them go off like I had this time. That made it harder…more personal.

“I can’t stay here anymore,” I said as I finally turned away. Too many of my traps on this floor had been used up, and there was a very good chance that Funhouse and Lapis had reported where they were going. “It’s too dangerous to stay.”

After taking a minute to settle myself, I went to the stairwell, though as I began to climb the stairs, I couldn’t help but notice the mess that had been left behind. When I’d detonated those runes, someone had been caught in them, one of Scorn’s normal guards, one without any costume or apparent powers. I merely took note of what was left of his body and continued on my way.

--------------------

Chicago Il, Saturday morning, Nov 26th 2016

It was quiet. Too quiet. There were no sounds of explosions going off, nor any alerts from my wards to indicate enemy movement. I didn’t hear anyone else moving about either, and that worried me. My mom used to say that anyone with a toddler knows that silence is suspicious.

“What to do now?” I quietly asked myself, trying to keep my nerves under control.

I’d spent hours moving about the building, staying in out of the way locations that had been heavily warded and trapped. I’d even replaced a lot of the runes that had already been deactivated or set off, giving me a bit more to work with. However, that wasn’t nearly enough to protect me for much longer.

When I’d made all those spells, I’d been working with limited time and resources, which meant that they weren’t especially stable or long-lasting. It wouldn’t be long before the spells started to collapse on their own, losing whatever essence they were charged with and just fading away. Once that happened, the protections that I’d been relying on would be gone and I’d be a sitting duck, trapped in the building and waiting for them to find me.

“I need to get out of here before that happens,” I thought aloud.

There were reasons that I hadn’t actively tried to escape yet, ones beyond my desire to hurt Scorn and his people. They’d blocked one of the stairways going down with some pretty heavy magic, and from what I could tell, there was even more of it below. That left me with limited options to escape, and none of those were very good. Until now, my best option was to continue sneaking around in the building until I could find something better, but time was quickly running out on that.

My eyes moved up to the air vent in the ceiling and I smiled faintly. I’d always been more interested in reading than watching movies, but I still couldn’t help but imagine what it would be like to do a John McClane. If I could crawl through the ventilation system, that would be an even cooler way for me to sneak around the building without being seen. Unfortunately, the real world didn’t work like the movies. These ventilation ducts would be far too small for someone like me to crawl through them, much less do so without making a lot of noise.

“You know,” I told myself with a weak chuckle, “if Whateley had a class on sneaking around through the ventilation system, I bet it would be taught by the Imp.”

I was running out of time and needed a way out, and the ventilation system was not an option, no matter how cool that would be. That meant I had to go with one of my other options, one that was probably my best choice, but which I’d been hesitating to do for several reasons. I could create holes through the floor and then simply drop down to the floor below. But unfortunately, I was pretty sure that the floor I couldn’t get down to otherwise was already heavily protected and that I’d likely just drop right into a trap.

“But I don’t have much other choice,” I said with a deep sigh.

I’d done what I’d wanted to do, at least in part. I’d hurt Scorn. I’d taken out a number of his people, including Funhouse, and I’d sent a message that I wasn’t easy prey. Now, it was time to escape while I still could.

But in spite of that, I wasn’t satisfied. I wanted to hurt Scorn a bit more. I wanted to hit him directly, not just his people. Was that dangerous? Yes. Was that stupid? Probably. Going after Scorn was also the main reason that I hadn’t seriously tried to escape the building yet, and I hadn’t really done that nearly as much as I wanted.

“I’m out of time,” I reminded myself with a grimace. “My traps will all break down… I only have an hour or two left before they have a clear path.”

I spent far too long debating myself over my next move. Escape or go after Scorn. One was the smart move, the one that would be best for my own immediate survival. The other would satisfy my need for revenge…and could help ensure my long term survival.

“Escape,” I finally decided. I was too tired to keep going, so I’d have to be satisfied with what I’d already done. But then, I chuckled faintly. “But there’s no reason I can’t cause some more trouble on my way out…”

It wouldn’t take me long to set up. One more spell, a more powerful trap with just as much essence as I could possibly cram into it. I could drain a whole crystal, the last stolen essence crystal that I still had, and if I could lure Scorn close enough…

“Now, I just need to find the right place,” I thought aloud. “It would have to be closer to Scorn, just to make it easier to get him there…”

With that decided, I began moving through the hallway, glancing around nervously. I knew that my wards would give me warning if someone was nearby, but some of those had been used up or destroyed, so it was best not to take them for granted. My eyes kept darting to the air vents above as I was reminded of the cool movie experience that couldn’t be.

I didn’t know where I was going to set up this final trap, but I was confident that I’d find a good spot for it. I turned down one corridor and then another, following my instincts more than anything. Without having anything else to guide me, my instincts were as good as anything else.

Eventually, I stepped into a large but empty room. It had once been a conference room, and was still clearly labeled as such by the door. Inside, I could see the stained footprint of where a large conference table had once rested, along with similar marks indicating other furniture along one wall. On one wall, there was a large window which gave a nice view at the neighboring buildings, which I imagined must have been quite a distraction for any meetings held in that room. Now, however, the room was completely empty except for a small pile of something on the far side of the floor.

“What is that?” I muttered, my curiosity drawing me closer to the small pile.

Once I was a little closer, I realized that I was staring at my own belt, the one that had been taken from me when I’d been kidnapped. My eyes widened slightly and I began to grin in delight as I took a couple more steps towards it. My gun and spell cards… That was exactly what I needed.

Then I saw something on the floor and my grin immediately vanished. I stopped where I was, practically freezing in place. There was writing on the floor, all around my belt. It had been drawn in white chalk or something similar so that it blended in with the tile and was hard to see, just like what I’d done with my own runes.

“Oh no,” I gasped with a horrible sinking feeling.

Now that I was closer, I could see the circle that had been drawn around my belt along with many of the runes. I couldn’t make out the entire spell, but I could see enough to get a basic understanding of what it did. It was a lure…subtly drawing the owner of that belt to it. Drawing ME in.

I immediately snapped around and rushed for the door as fast as I could, but it was already too late. There were glowing runes on the walls and ceiling, right where I hadn’t thought to look for anything. When I was close to the door, I came to an abrupt halt as I slammed into an invisible wall and bounced off.

My heart raced as I tried to push myself through, but it was about as useless as trying to walk through a brick wall. I was trapped, caught in a cage that I’d simply walked right into. They’d beaten me at my own game.

I quickly looked around, desperate to see if there was any weakness in the spell or a way out of the room. They’d obviously designed this trap to contain, not to kill. They still wanted to capture me, at least for the moment. That meant I still had a chance.

Before I could come up with any ideas, two figures appeared at the doorway. These were two men carrying those devisor ray guns, both of whom had those weapons pointed at me. I jumped to the side and activated one of my built-in spells, then fired a blast of fire at them. Both men jumped back out of the room and away from the door way. One of them returned fire with a blast of energy, but my fire kept him from getting a good shot.

“Don’t make me burn the whole building down,” I called out. There was a reason that I hadn’t used my fire spell much inside of the building. Specifically, I didn’t want to accidentally cause a fire while I was still trapped inside.

I knew that I didn’t have long with this spell, so I took a risk and tried to burn off a couple of the runes on the wall. Nothing. The wall didn’t even burn, which meant that some fireproofing spell had probably been added to the mix, just in case I tried something like this. My flame spell cut out a few seconds later and the two men came back into the room, their weapons pointed at me.

“Don’t move,” one of the men ordered.

“Give me an excuse,” the other man said with a cold glare and a sneer. “You killed my friends…”

“And Mister Scorn will deal with her for that,” a third voice said from outside the room.

A moment later, Robert Grace entered the room. His suit was a lot nicer than the ones that the generic rank and file goons were wearing, which was a clear reminder that he was probably a lot higher up in the organization. Like the other two, he was armed, but he was carrying a normal looking pistol rather than some fancy devisor weapon. Grace looked around, then nodded to the two men. They moved to opposite sides of the room but both kept their weapons pointed at me.

I hesitated a moment and then let out a sigh of defeat. They had me and there wasn’t much I could do. Sure, I could blast them with air and knock them around, but probably not before they shot me.

“We have her,” Grace announced in a calm voice.

“Good,” Scorn responded as he stepped into the room as well. “It seems that our preparations were not in vain.”

“It’s a good trap,” I grudgingly admitted. Putting on my metaphorical White Lady mask and acting calm helped to distract me from the terror I really felt.

“I’m pleased that you appreciate it,” Scorn responded, almost sounding amused. “It is only a pity that you’ll never be able to appreciate the more intricate work I performed on the Castle.”

“A pity,” I agreed wryly.

“And I must acknowledge your own accomplishments,” Scorn told me. “The amount of spellwork you have performed in such conditions is…impressive.”

“She killed our people,” one of the goons grumbled. “Why are you complimenting her?”

“Silence,” Grace told the man with a warning look. “Don’t interrupt Mister Scorn.”

Scorn looked at the man who’d interrupted, though I couldn’t see his expression through the mask. “Now, Aaron, there is no need to be impolite at this time, and one sincere compliment deserves another.” Then he turned his attention back to me. “You do me proud, young White Lady, and it is a shame you must die anyway.”

“So, what now?” I asked, desperately trying to think of a way out of this. Nothing good came to mind. “You take me to that ritual you made and kill me?”

“I’m afraid that will no longer work,” Scorn replied in an almost regretful tone. “While I was able to recreate the ritual, I no longer have the resources…the essence necessary to power it.”

“And that is a shame,” I said, not keeping the sarcasm out of my voice.

“It is,” Scorn agreed, acting as though he hadn’t noticed the sarcasm. “Of course, I could acquire the necessary essence, but I do not want to risk the delay. You see, mademoiselle, you have proven yourself too dangerous for that, and I find that I would prefer to deal with another potential successor than to give you another chance to cause us trouble.”

Suddenly, the sound of gunshots filled my ears even as the bullets went into my back. The impacts sent me sprawling face first onto the ground.

“About time,” Aaron said with a laugh.

I groaned in pain and terror, fully aware of the two people who’d moved closer and were now crouched down over me. One of them was Grace, who held out the gun that he’d already used to shoot me with. The other, of course, was Scorn.

“There will be no delay in your execution,” Scorn stated in a flat tone, “though I do feel obliged to witness it for myself.”

I winced at that, nearly pissing myself in fear. My eyes locked into the gun that was now being aimed at my head. I wanted to close my eyes so that I didn’t have to see it coming, but instead, I realized that I still had a chance. I wasn’t dead yet.

With a grimace and a silent prayer, I carefully reached into my coat. My arm was underneath me and largely concealed by my coat, so they couldn’t see me pull out a spell card. They couldn’t see the card that I clutched in my shaking hand, nor the fact that the symbol on it was beginning to glow.

Grace pulled the trigger, and I winced in anticipation, but nothing happened. He tried again, only to get the same results. Then he stared down at his gun, gasping in surprise as the barrel was completely covered in rust that was rapidly spreading.

I saw my opening and lashed out, kicking Grace in the leg, in a move that I’d learned in BMA. He staggered forward to catch his balance while I scrambled back to my feet. My whole back hurt and was definitely bruised, but none of the shots made it through my coat. The spells I’d put on it had actually worked.

“What did you do?” Aaron demanded as he opened fire with his energy weapon.

The blast pulsed and went wide before abruptly stopping, only halfway fired. The stray shot hit the window and melted a large hole through the glass, though when he tried firing a second time, nothing happened. His weapon, like Grace’s, was now covered with rapidly spreading rust. His companion, the other guard tried shooting me as well, but he wasn’t able to get a single shot off before the rust disabled his weapon.

A moment later, Scorn let out a howl of frustration and yelled, “MY MASK!”

Everyone turned to look at Scorn, and I was almost surprised to see that his golden mask was now covered in rust as well. Real gold didn’t rust and corrode, but it seemed that his mask did. In seconds, his mask crumbled away, revealing his face.

Scorn was an old man who looked to be in his sixties, with a large rune tattooed over most of his face. It was much like the magical tattoos that my grandmother had given all the Loyal in order to enhance their physical abilities. And while I wasn’t familiar with this particular rune, my power translated its meaning for me, not that I really needed it to. Scorn’s tattoo was a powerful magic spell, and it was radiating it’s meaning to everyone nearby. Contempt. Disdain. SCORN

I sneered in disgust at this pitiful old man, all of my other feelings towards him evaporating under the power of this spell. At that moment, I suddenly understood the curse that my grandmother had placed on Scorn, the curse that he’d desperately blocked with that enchanted mask. Grandmother had wanted to make sure that he knew exactly what she thought of him…and that everyone else nearby would also share those feelings.

“DON’T LOOK AT ME,” Scorn ordered, trying to cover his face with his hands, though that didn’t weaken the spell’s effect in the least.

“You don’t tell me what to do,” Aaron responded with a sneer of disgust.

Aaron’s companion shared a similar expression. “I can’t believe I ever listened to this…thing.”

Even Grace was caught under the spell’s influence, though he looked like he considered fighting it for a moment or two. He shook his head and gave his employer a look of pity and disgust.

Everyone was now looking at Scorn instead of me, so I took advantage of this distraction and ran across the room to snatch up my belt. One glance at the buckle revealed that my belt had been far enough back that it hadn’t been caught in the effects of my rust spell, which meant that my own gun should still be fine too. I quickly pulled out a few spell cards, but before I could use them, two more men burst into the room to see what was going on.

“Damn,” I muttered in frustration, seeing that there were too many people between me and the door. Even if I could get through the spells that Scorn had set up, I wouldn’t be able to do so before these new guards shot me.

With a muttered curse and a desperate silent prayer, I activated my spell cards and threw them towards the center of the room, right before I leapt out the window. I screamed like a little girl as I fell, though I’d already activated my built-in spell and almost immediately used a powerful gust of wind to catch me and slow my fall. A quick glance downward nearly made me piss myself, especially when I realized that my spell wouldn’t hold out long enough for me to safely reach the ground.

“Come on,” I gasped as I desperately looked for a solution.

For a brief moment, I considered using the wind to push me through another window in the same building. If I was lucky, I’d be able to get below where Scorn’s security had set up. But then, I realized that first I’d have to actually get through a window, which wouldn’t be easy while I was still falling. I was far more likely to bounce off the window than break through the glass.

Instead of trying to go back inside the building I’d just escaped from, I used the wind to push myself away from it as hard as I could. There was another building nearby, one that was much shorter, and if I was lucky, I’d be able to reach the roof. I silently prayed to any god who would listen as I used the remains of my built-in spell to fly towards my target while also slowing my fall. Then my spell abruptly ended, and I fell.

I hit my target rooftop from higher up than I would have preferred and while moving too fast. I hit hard and then both rolled and slid across the surface before finally coming to a stop. When I did, my entire body hurt like hell, far worse than it did after being shot in the back.

“Ouch,” I muttered once I was finally able to speak. It took me a good minute to get to that point. “I made it.”

For the next few minutes, I remained nearly motionless, only moving my head enough so that I could see the building that I’d just left. There was fire and smoke coming from one of the windows, the very window I’d just jumped out of. The sight made me chuckle as it confirmed that my explosive spells had gone off.

Once I was ready, I slowly sat up and checked myself over for injuries. Nothing seemed broken, just bruised and scraped. One of my hands was bleeding from where I’d torn the skin off the knuckles, and I had a similar injury on my jaw. I was pretty sure that I’d sprained a few things as well, though my regeneration was already hard at work trying to fix it all.

I staggered across the rooftop, moving slowly but still moving. When I reached the door to the stairway going down, I wasn’t surprised to find that it was locked. A quick spell card on the door made the whole thing rust away.

It didn’t take long before I encountered people, though they immediately ran away as soon as they saw me. After a quick glance down at myself, I understood why. With my chalky coloring and the fact that I had a lot of my own blood on me, I probably looked like something out of a horror movie.

One woman dropped her purse as she ran away, and I didn’t hesitate to look inside. I ignored her wallet and pulled out her cell phone instead. Then with a faint smile at my good luck, l as I dialed a familiar number.

“Hey, it’s me,” I greeted Marcus with a voice that carried my exhaustion. “Can someone come pick me up?”

--------------------

Chicago Il, Saturday evening, Nov 26th 2016

The chair was soft and comfortable, perfect for easing my aching body. I didn’t hurt nearly as bad as I did right after my fall, but I could still feel it and probably would for another day or so.

“Regeneration is my favorite power,” I mused aloud.

Then I looked at the book that was open in my lap, a Russian spy thriller set during the cold war and told from the Soviet perspective. It was an interesting take on the genre, and I never would have been able to read it without my translation power.

“Or maybe my second favorite,” I corrected.

At the moment, I was trying to relax with a mug of hot cocoa and a good book. I’d already taken a shower and a nap, and now I just wanted to distract myself and get my mind off of what had happened. However, Marcus and Tessa had other ideas, and once I’d rested, they decided that it was time to talk about what I’d gone through.

“Philippe Dumas,” Tessa said with a grim expression.

“What?” I asked blankly.

Tessa shared a look with Marcus who scowled at the name. “I never would have imagined that Phillipe Dumas was Scorn, but with everything he told you…”

“It makes sense,” Marcus admitted. “I thought that Dumas must have died, decades ago.”

“Philippe Dumas,” I said, testing the name. “That’s Scorn’s real name?”

Tessa gave a faint nod. “It fits. Dumas was one of the Lady’s…one of your grandmother’s apprentices. He became a Hand…the first and only male to do so…and he betrayed your grandmother and tried to take control of the Family.”

I looked back and forth between them. “I’ve never heard of him…”

“This happened a long time ago,” Marcus told me. “Before I was even born.”

“Nobody in the Family talks about him,” Tessa explained with a thoughtful look. “Most don’t even remember that he ever existed. Your grandmother preferred it that way, though every Hand and Loyal were told the story.” She shook her head at that. “He’s the reason we don’t allow men to become Hands. We share his story as a warning about what could happen.”

Marcus nodded at that. “The Loyal share similar stories.”

“I knew that your grandmother took revenge on him for his betrayal,” Tessa said, “but I didn’t know the details.” She shuddered a little. “Her vengeance could be quite…personal.”

“It’s impressive that you were able to beat him,” Marcus told me, looking rather proud. “From what I’ve been able to find out, he survived your goodbye present but not without injury. We haven’t found much beyond that yet.”

I nodded at that, disappointed to hear that Scorn was still alive. However, I was no longer afraid of the man who’d terrified me so much before. Now that I’d met him in person, had felt the power of his curse, and had actually beaten him, he’d lost that power over me.

“He said that he and my grandmother were…together,” I said carefully. At the time, I’d been too distracted to realize the possible ramifications of that, but now…

Marcus and Tessa shared another look, though neither actually spoke, almost as if each was waiting for the other person to speak first. After a few seconds, Marcus let out a sigh and looked at me again.

“He and your grandmother did have a relationship,” he said in a careful tone. “From what I know, they were together for many years, though I’m not sure exactly how long.” He paused at that, his expression hardening a little. “He’s also Andre’s father.”

“What?” I blurted out in surprise. Uncle Andre was…old. Around eighty. For Scorn to be his dad… That meant that Scorn was even older than I thought.

I took a moment to absorb that information, though I also felt an immense sense of relief. For a little bit, I’d been worried that Scorn would turn out to be my dad’s father…that he might actually be my grandfather. Then something dawned on me.

“Oh,” I whispered with a sinking feeling.

For a moment, I hesitated to say what I was thinking, then I just came out with it. “The official story is that I’m Uncle Andre’s secret granddaughter…”

“And Scorn would be aware of that,” Marcus agreed with a sour look.

“So, Scorn thought that I was his great granddaughter,” I said with a wince. “And he still tried to kill me.”

That shouldn’t have surprised me. After all, Uncle Andre had been present when the Messenger attacked grandmother, and if Scorn was willing to kill his own son… Well, it was clear that he didn’t have any loyalty to either Family or family.

“We’ll let you rest,” Tessa told me as she and Marcus got up. “I have to make a couple calls.”

“Me too,” Marcus agreed with a grim expression. “Scorn won’t get away with this latest attempt. It’s about time we bring the hammer down on him.”

After this, Marcus and Tessa left, and I was able to turn my attention back to the book I’d been reading. But unfortunately, I quickly found that I now had too much going through my mind to be able to enjoy the story.

--------------------

Chicago Il, Sunday late morning, Nov 27th 2016

I slung my backpack over my shoulder and stepped out of the house, sighing a little as I did so. My Thanksgiving ‘vacation’ was over, and it was time to head back to Whateley. But the truth was, being at Whateley was a vacation compared to ‘home’.

It would be nice to get back to school and away from all the danger and drama that hid around every corner in Chicago. At Whateley, I didn’t have to worry about hitmen, just obnoxious and overzealous teenagers. After dealing with Scorn and his people, those Spy Kids were a joke.

“Charon should be here any minute,” Tessa told me. “She’s extremely punctual.”

“Good,” I responded since I didn’t have anything else to say.

I glanced over at my guards, Family members who were determined to make sure that nothing else happened before I left. Dominic and James were close by while a few other people kept watch from a distance. Stones was present as well, though he was there mostly for training and experience than because he was expected to contribute much.

Marcus was late, being caught up on an important phone call. I’d hoped that he’d be there to see me off, but it looked like he was going to miss it. But then, as I was expecting to leave without saying goodbye, he finally arrived.

“Sorry for my delay,” Marcus told me. “I was getting an update on the situation with Scorn.”

“Oh?” I asked, eager for the news.

“We already knew that Scorn survived,” Marcus told me. “But he was injured and some of his own people saw him without his mask. It seems that they immediately rebelled and sent him into hiding. His entire organization is now in complete chaos.”

“It couldn’t have happened to a nicer person,” I responded wryly.

Marcus chuckled at that. “No, it couldn’t have, and we’re already moving to take advantage of the opportunity.”

“I’ll have a couple Hands ready to assist,” Tessa told him. “If anyone approaches the Castle, you’ll need Hand assistance.”

“Good,” Marcus replied. “And it looks like your ride is here.”

I looked over to where Marcus was indicating and saw the bubble appearing, which signified Charon’s arrival. When the bubble faded away, the blonde woman stood there, looking exactly the same as the last time I’d seen her. She even wore an identical black suit, if not the same one.

“Speaking of Hands,” I said, glancing over at Stones. “In spite of Scorn’s past with the Family…it would really suck if we didn’t give Stones a chance, especially after saying we might.”

“I’ve been considering that,” Tessa admitted. “I don’t know if he’ll ever be able to become a Hand, but we can at least train him… And maybe, one day, if he proves himself…”

I nodded in approval at that. I’d never liked the Family’s sexist views on magic, especially back when I’d been Bryan. I’d grown up knowing that my mom could do magic, and my sister Paige was following in her footsteps, but that as a boy, I was forbidden from such knowledge. I’d never been particularly interested in magic myself, but that limitation had still bothered me. I still disagreed with that attitude, though at least I now understood where it had come from.

“Well then,” Marcus said. “I suppose this is goodbye for now. Until Christmas.”

“It’s only a month away,” Tessa added with a sigh. “Hopefully, the Scorn situation will be completely resolved by then.”

“That would be nice,” I admitted.

We said a few more quick goodbyes, then I went over to join Charon. As I did so, I straightened up and walked with my head held high, and not just because I wanted to project the image of a strong White Lady for the Family. After everything that I’d just been through, with facing Scorn and finally being able to hit him back, I felt a new sense of confidence.

“Time to go back to school,” I told Charon, who merely nodded and began forming a bubble around us. “It will be nice to be back.”

THE END