S.H. 2: Evil Befalls Thee

I couldn’t help being happy as Lucas and I strolled back up to the school, hand in hand. I started humming a tune under my breath, and I was still humming it when we got to the common room. Riley looked up immediately when we entered and then leapt up when she saw me with Lucas, clapping her hands excitedly.

‘Yay, Laurie!’ she giggled. ‘I’m so glad you two sorted everything out!’

She enveloped me in an enormous hug, squashing the breath from my body. As she stepped back I saw Kota and Morgan had gotten up and were stood behind her.
Kota took a step forward.

‘I’m sorry about earlier, Laurel,’ she said awkwardly. ‘I guess I just… overreacted a bit.’

‘That’s okay,’ I replied. After all, having your friend mad at you is one thing, but having your friend, who is also one of the Three, mad at you because you read her mind, is another thing altogether, and I somewhat doubted that there would ever be a good time for that to happen. I figured forgiveness had to be the best option, if not the only option.

‘Thanks, Laurie,’ Kota smiled. ‘Now, come on and sit down. We were just about to watch a movie.’

‘Sure,’ I pulled Lucas forward and we settled on the opposite end of the couch to Kota and her boyfriend Ryan. Lucas pulled me close, his arms around me, and kissed my forehead.

‘What are we watching?’ he asked.

‘City of Angels,’ Riley said, throwing the empty box to me and slipping the disk into the DVD player. I skim-read the back of the box and then settled in for the ride.

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The next month or so passed without comment. There were no serious attacks to speak of, just a couple of shifters and a minor incident involving a sea hag. Lucas and I were together again and I was happier than I’d been for a long time, knowing that finally I’d found someone who really loved me despite my powers and my crazy ways.

Lucas and I were closer than we’d ever been, and we often found ourselves just curled together in a quiet corner, just talking. We shared our deepest secrets, our hopes and dreams, wishes for the future. Riley told me with a laugh one evening that most of the girls in our year were actually jealous of me -- not just because I had Lucas, but of the way we connected. I could see what they meant - the connection we had was more than just boyfriend and girlfriend; we connected on a much more intimate, spiritual level as well. He was now happy to help out should we find ourselves caught up in another fight, but he was careful not to be too reckless, as he knew how much I’d already lost to the darker forces of Magick and what it would do to me if I lost him as well. However, when we weren’t battling evil and I wasn’t terrified for his safety, the time I spent in his company was absolute bliss.

My relationships with Kota, Riley and Morgan chanced irreversibly too, we grew closer, despite their initial dislike of Lucas. I could tell Kota still resented him for what had happened between the two of them but overall, I was sure they approved of him more now that they could see how, even though I’d been so hurt by the revelation of his true identity, he now made me so happy.

Unfortunately, the contentment I felt at finally having worked everything out blinded me to the truth: eventually, something would have to go wrong.

One chilly, early spring morning I woke up with the strangest feeling - like something terrible was going to happen. I shrugged it off but it came flooding back to me at lunch. I frowned and looked around the table for a second time, checking off who was there on a mental list: me, Lucas, Riley, Kota, Ryan - but not Morgan.

‘Where’s Morgan?’ I frowned.

‘I expect she went to the bathroom,’ Kota suggested.

‘Was she in last lesson?’ Ryan asked.

I cast my mind back and suddenly realised I actually hadn’t seen Morgan since she’d insisted we go ahead to breakfast without her that morning.

‘I don’t think so,’ Riley said.

‘I haven’t seen her since before breakfast,’ I said. I was starting to get nervous - it wasn’t
like Morgan to vanish without an explanation.

‘Maybe she got sick?’ Lucas threw in.

‘Maybe… but she’d have said something, surely.’

‘Not necessarily - you know Morgan, she’s not exactly the type to tell you what’s on her mind,’ Kota added.

‘Maybe we should go check the dorm - she might’ve felt sick but not bad enough to go see the nurse,’ Riley replied.

‘I’ll go,’ I volunteered. ‘Are you two coming?’ I added to Riley and Kota.

‘Sure. You boys stay here and save our table.’ Kota said.

It was strange having not seen Morgan since the morning. Seeing as we had all the same lessons, it was more than strange; it was worrying.

Riley, Kota and I trooped up the stairs to the common room. It was empty, and felt cold.

‘Oh, Goddess,’ I whispered. I could smell fear, and sense death.

I moved slowly across the common room to the door of our dorm. The sense of death was strongest here.

‘Stay here,’ I whispered, holding out my hand to stop Riley and Kota coming any farther.

The door opened slowly under my hand. My heart was thudding in my chest. Slowly, I stepped through the open door and glanced around the room. My breath caught it my throat.

‘Oh, Goddess,’ I repeated, but louder.

Morgan was sprawled across her bedspread, which was stained red with blood. My gaze travelled up her inert body, until I reached her neck. There, in the side of her innocent white throat, were two bloody puncture marks.

I took a step backwards, my mouth open in a silent gasp of shock and horror.

‘What is it, Laurie?’ asked Riley, taking a tentative step towards me.

‘It’s… She’s -’ I couldn’t speak, couldn’t express the horror of the image before me to her in words. My mouth stayed open slightly, and I lifted my hand, as if to wave towards the open door before me.

Kota was at my side in an instant, in time to catch me as my knees buckled and my vision went black.