Jiwa

Chapter Twenty-Four

Devi frantically knocked on the door and buzzed the buzzer. No one came to the door of the small apartment.

"Devi, give it up. She isn't here," said Kelly tiredly. "I'll inform the Headmaster that we-"

The door opened, causing the girls to jump. Devi shook off her surprise and grabbed the boy who had opened the door by his shoulders.

"Where is she? Where is Fiona? Answer me, you-" Devi shook the boy, who started to cry.

"Dev, chill!" Kelly grabbed Devi's arm and gently pulled her away from the boy.

"Who are you? And do you know where Fiona is?" asked Kelly kindly, kneeling down in front of him. The boy nodded and swiped his eyes.

"M-my name is Patterson. Fee-Fee came home and she made the nifty sculpture thing with her magic, but then she went back to school right after dinner. Then, I heard from my buddy who goes to that school that she had gotten sick, and so I got worried. I haven't seen her since; she hasn't even written, the eejit. And I thought you folk had come to tell me you had found her."

Patterson swiped at his eyes again as Kelly comforted him. Devi pushed past them and into the small apartment.

"Kelly, you look around out here and ask Patty here for more details. I'm gonna check her room." Kelly nodded once and led the small boy over to the couch, then got him a glass of water.

Devi slammed the door to Fiona's room shut behind her and hummed. But instead of humming a tune, she hummed a high frequency. Everything in the room vibrated, and Devi closed her eyes. She was anxious to find Fiona; so anxious, she was using experimental magic called Sound Locating to check over her whole room. She had actually been given the idea by Fiona, who had tried to explain something called echolocation-

Don't think about her now, thought Devi. You can't mess this up, this is too important. She moved towards the clay-caked bed and pulled up the sheets. There was nothing there. She looked under the bed and in the pockets of every jacket on the coat tree. Still nothing.

"Dev! In here!" called Kelly. Devi's heart jumped at the thought of news about Fiona. She slung open the door and rushed to the front of the apartment, where Kelly sat with a tear-soaked Patterson.

"I...I think I know where she is," said the boy. "Or who might have taken her."

Devi nodded excitedly. Sitting down next to Kelly, she placed her hand on the boy's shoulder and tried to mask how helpless she felt.

"Tell us, Patty. Tell us everything you might know about Fiona. Please."

*****

"Someone, please! Help!" I screamed. I lay on the stone pedestal, strapped by my ankles and wrists with leather bands. Hovering a few feet away was a Scarlet Guard. He seemed to be a berkuasa spirit bender; he was keeping me held against the stone, to the point where I couldn't move around.

"Please! Please stop!" I yelled. I became hysterical when I saw the huge syringe on the metal tray. It was filled with a bright blue liquid, like a Blue Lagoon.

"Ah, calm yourself, Mrs. Murphy. That liquid is nothing more than racun, my dear. Stop squirming." Peni-Puh pulled on a surgical mask and was strapping on thick gloves.

My eyes bulged as I tried to scream, but I couldn't. One of the Scarlet Guards had finally gagged me.

"You see, Fiona," he said, tightening his goggles. "When I was a young boy, my father was a  brilliant star-based Magic. My whole village respected him, and I was so proud to be his son." He pulled his arms through the sleeves of a think canvas coat. "But one day, I happened to turn on the news station. Do you want to guess what I saw?"

Peni-Puh picked up the syringe and held it up to the light. "I saw a group of star-based Magics - just like my father, in that respect - blowing up a building. One summoned the power of the Sun, and killed ten innocent people with a wave of their hand."

I slumped against the stone, panting through the gag. I could feel my organs going rigid with terror. "I was terrified, Mrs. Murphy. I saw then what a Magic could do. When my father came home, I confronted him. I asked him if he could do such terrible things, or if he would. He looked me dead in the eye, and he said, 'I can, and I will.' Then, he knelt before me, chilled his hand with the power of the Moon, and touched a finger to my eyelids."

Peni-Puh placed the syringe back on the table. He began to button the canvas coat he was wearing and straightened the collar. "My father nearly blinded me that day, Mrs. Murphy. He would have, had the police not come by and arrested him. They arrested all of the Magics in the town, fearing they could do the same thing.  And they all could, Mrs. Murphy. They all could.  That day, I learned that not another Magic could be trusted. I could not even trust my own father; the magic had corrupted him too far." Peni-Puh buttoned his cuffs and sat to tighten his boots. "So when I heard on the news that such a young girl had performed such dangerous magic, I took it upon myself to try and help you. To clean you."

Finally, Peni-Puh was ready. He stood up and gripped the syringe tightly in one hand. In his other, he was clutching a scalpel.

"You are cleared to make the incision, sir," said one of the Scarlet Guards, tightening their grip. My eyes widened with fear and I squirmed against the bindings, feeling as they became tighter and tighter, only to be grabbed by the neck and held down by Peni-Puhs' rough, gloved hand.

I closed my eyes at the feeling of a knife scraping against my skin.