// MARSCAPONE SCHOOL OF MAGIC //


There are eyes watching me as I come to consciousness. Too many eyes. I sit up.

CEDRIC

WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON?

MYRTLE?

MYRTLE

YOU’RE AT THE SCHOOL, CEDRIC.

YOU’RE SAFE NOW.

VINCENT

SAFE?

YOU THINK HE’S SAFE?

THE USE OF THAT SCROLL DETONATED A SHOW OF WILD MAGIC THE WORLD’S NOT SEEN IN –

MYRTLE

BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY, HOW DO YOU FEEL?


I did not relish being watched like this. Always with the eyes. I despised the eyes.

CEDRIC

I’D LIKE A DRINK OF WATER.


She turned toward her son, standing sheepishly behind.

MYRTLE

KEVIN, COULD YOU GET HIM A GLASS OF WATER?


I had no qualms with the Headmistress’ teenaged son, not outside the fact that he belonged to this crazy-ass school. What I did take issue with, however, was the rumor I’d heard that he’d been kept locked in a room for the entirety of his childhood years.

No claim to unknown magicks would dissuade me from the foul taste in my mouth.

CEDRIC

THAT’S FINE; I CAN GET IT MYSELF.


I try to make a familiar gesture but my limbs feel thick, heavy, useless.

MYRTLE

CEDRIC…YOUR TALENT…


I try again. But as if moving my hands through cold water, I’m weak.

MYRTLE

PLEASE DON’T OVEREXERT YOURSELF.

CEDRIC

OVEREXERT MYSELF?

I JUST WANT A DAMN GLASS OF WATER!

MYRTLE

IT MIGHT BE…OVER FOR YOU.


Rage bubbles to the surface. What could she know about my power?

CEDRIC

WHAT THE FUCK DID SHE DO TO ME?

MYRTLE

SHE DIDN’T KNOW WHAT SHE WAS DOING.

CEDRIC

YOU KNOW ABOUT THIS?

MYRTLE

HERMIONE TOLD ME.

I’M GLAD SHE DID OR WE MIGHT NOT HAVE GOT TO YOU IN TIME.

CEDRIC

YOU’VE GOT TO BE FUCKING KIDDING ME.

FIRST SHE HIT ME WITH HER CAR, NOW SHE’S TAKEN MY MAGIC FROM ME?

WHAT THE HELL AM I DOING HERE?

VINCENT

YOU NEED OUR PROTECTION.

CEDRIC

LIKE HELL I DO.

ALL THAT I’VE GOT SINCE COMING TO THIS PLACE…


I’d never been as capable as the Orphans that’d been here since their youth, but now…Was it really gone? All of it, gone?

The two of them stare at me in what can only be pity. Kevin seems to be hiding his eyes.

CEDRIC

LET ME GO HOME.


But Vincent speaks with an edge of impatience, like I’d heard him use toward me in my apartment.

VINCENT

THE ENEMY IS AFTER YOU, CEDRIC.

YOU’VE BECOME…SOMETHING MORE THAN A MAGE.

CEDRIC

YOU’RE GOING TO PUNISH THEM, RIGHT?

LARRY AND HIS LITTLE BUDDY WERE THERE, DRUNK AS FUCKING SKUNKS.

MYRTLE

EACH IN THEIR OWN TIME.

RIGHT NOW WE’RE WORRIED ABOUT YOU.

CEDRIC

ME?

I’M JUST FINE.

YOU KNOW, BESIDES LOSING MY LIFE AND MY TALENT ALL IN ONE NIGHT.

I’M JUST PEACHY.

MYRTLE

THE SCROLLS WERE CREATED BY THE FIRST ONE.

IT WAS SAID SHE AIMED TO CREATE AGELESS, DEATHLESS SOLDIERS TO GUARD HER CREATIONS.

YOU’RE…IMMORTAL, CEDRIC.

CEDRIC

I WAS IMMORTAL BEFORE.

MYRTLE

NOT WITHOUT YOUR POTION YOU WEREN’T.

BUT YOU HAVE NO NEED OF ANY OF THAT NONSENSE ANYMORE.

CEDRIC

CAN EVERYONE JUST GIVE ME SOME GODDAMNED SPACE?

WHERE AM I?

VINCENT

THIS IS MY LAIR, CEDRIC.

I AM A VAMPIRE. LIKE KEVIN. LIKE YOU.

CEDRIC

NOT LIKE ME.

VINCENT

YES LIKE YOU.

YOU’VE CROSSED OVER.

IF YOU ACQUIESE TO OUR OFFER OF FRIENDSHIP –

CEDRIC

FRIENDSHIP?

I’VE HAD NOTHING BUT TROUBLE EVER SINCE I CAME TO THIS GOD-FORSAKEN HOVEL.


I hoped the Headmistress would take offense. I hoped they all would take offense. I was at their mercy and I hated it.

VINCENT

MY SON HAS RECENTLY BEGUN TO SUFFER THE CURSE.

I THINK THERE’S MUCH YOU CAN LEARN FROM EACH OTHER.


No, I didn’t begrudge Kevin. But I hadn’t known that he was a…

MYRTLE

IF I HAD KNOWN, CEDRIC…

I’M SO SORRY.

CEDRIC

THIS IS BULLSHIT.

THIS IS ALL BULLSHIT.


I look at the eyes of the three Marscapones all staring at me. I run my fingers through my hair anxiously.

CEDRIC

CAN I HAVE THAT DRINK NOW?

MYRTLE

KEVIN, CAN YOU GET CEDRIC –

CEDRIC

I DIDN’T MEAN HIM.

I’LL GET IT MYSELF.


So this was the secret hidden on the lower level. I’d fled Uhaigha so I could find myself at the mercy of the undead.

CEDRIC

SO YOU’VE BEEN LYING ABOUT WHAT THIS SCHOOL IS.

MYRTLE

NOTHING HAS TO CHANGE.

VINCENT

DON’T FILL HIS HEAD WITH PLATITUDES.

EVERYTHING IS CHANGED NOW.

CEDRIC

WAS THIS YOUR GOAL ALL ALONG, TO BRING VICTIMS TO YOUR…

YOUR…

MYRTLE

IT WAS NEVER OUR INTENTION FOR THIS TO HAPPEN.

CEDRIC

AND WHAT ABOUT HIM?


I point at Kevin.

CEDRIC

HE’S JUST A CHILD!

MYRTLE

THAT IS OUR CROSS TO BEAR.


At second glance, Kevin seemed older than he had before. In the shadows of the dark room, I could swear I saw grey fade upward into his crown. But it couldn’t be – he was supposed to be sixteen.

MYRTLE

JUST THINK BACK TO WHEN YOU FIRST WORKED MAGIC.

YOU MADE A LEAP OF FAITH.

A TREMENDOUS LEAP OF FAITH.

I JUST NEED YOU TO MAKE ONE MORE JUMP.

CEDRIC

ONE MORE?

WHERE DOES IT END?

VINCENT

IT ENDS WHEN OUR FOES ARE VANQUISHED.


His wife gestures to dismiss his commentary.

MYRTLE

ENOUGH, VINCENT.

CEDRIC

WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO, STAY HERE AND BECOME A GUEST LECTURER ON THE FINER POINTS OF PARASITISM?

VINCENT

YOU’LL JOIN OUR FAMILY.

MYRTLE

ENOUGH, VINCENT.

YOU’RE SCARING THE BOY.


Kevin returns with my glass of water. I take it greedily and down the liquid without so much as a breath between.

VINCENT

WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO RETURN TO?

DEALING DRUGS AND FLIRTING WITH HOUSEWIVES?

CEDRIC

FUCK YOU TOO, OLD MAN.

MYRTLE

CEDRIC, PLEASE.

CEDRIC

YOU TOO!

I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU KEPT THIS FROM ME!

FROM ALL YOUR STUDENTS.

DID YOU KILL HIM, TOO?

MYRTLE

KEVIN IS NATURAL.

BIOLOG–

CEDRIC

THERE IS NOTHING NATURAL ABOUT THE WAKING DEAD!

I SUPPOSE THE OTHER –

VINCENT

THE OTHER IS GEORGE HENRY.

ONE OF MY ACOLYTES.

CEDRIC

ONE OF YOUR PRISONERS.

VINCENT

NO ONE HERE IS A PRISONER.

WE FIGHT TO PRESERVE THIS WORLD FROM THOSE THAT WOULD SEEK TO DESTROY IT.

CEDRIC

THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A GOODLY VAMPIRE.

VINCENT

PERHAPS YOU’LL CHANGE YOUR MIND AS YOU SPEND A LITTLE TIME WITH US.

CEDRIC

I CAN MAKE IT JUST FINE ON MY OWN, THANKS.


I put my glass down on a nearby dresser.

Fat lot I care about water stains.

VINCENT

I CAN’T LET YOU LEAVE, CEDRIC.


As I step forward to try to leave he steps forward to block me. In those sunken eyes, I see the gaze of the wolf and I fear.

VINCENT

DON’T MAKE ME RESTRAIN YOU AGAIN.

I DON’T WANT TO KEEP YOU A PRISONER BUT I WILL DO WHAT I HAVE TO TO KEEP YOU SAFE AND OUT OF THE ENEMY’S HAND.


I stare at him, trying to focus on my body as if to keep its integrity.

VINCENT

YOU ARE THE DAYWALKER.

MAY THE GODS TAKE PITY ON OUR PATHETIC SOULS.