By moonlight's shadow

Chapter 33

The office was painted grey, and it had only one floor-to-ceiling window, which faced the main road. On the grey desk sat a desktop computer, a notebook lying open, and a stack of papers sitting under a turtle-shaped paperweight. In a corner, the air conditioner was blasting at medium, and there was a swivel chair in the middle of the office. A bookshelf, bursting with books was in a corner, with yet another stack of papers under a paperweight that was shaped to look like a tuft of grass. A few pens were lying on the papers, but some had fallen onto the top of the bookshelf.

Snow when she had last come to the office had not noticed very carefully about the surroundings where she was in. But now that it was empty she looked at everything carefully and noted in her mind’s eye. There was something different which she could smell but she could not pin what was amiss. It was like a sore thorn which was sticking out but it was invisible.

“You have come back, it seems,” came Rebecca’s voice from inside the office where she came out of a door which Snow had not noticed before.

“My apologies for being so rude and obnoxious to you the last time we met Ms. Rebecca. I was not sure about anything and my emotions were running astray and were all over the place. I should not have done something of that sort,” said Snow, as she looked down at the ground and did not look up until she could hear the footsteps of the witch coming to take her place behind the desk.

“You are forgiven Snow. No offense has been taken but from the next time you need to remember the fact that I am here trying to only help you and not the other way round. I am just trying to understand the extent that you can wield your powers and how strong they are. The fact that you are a vampire makes this certain that your powers are going to be haywire but once they are under control you shall be unconquerable. But then again at first it has to be discerned that what kind of power do you actually possess…” said Rebecca as Snow looked up at her.

“What kind of powers are there? I thought you guys can do magic and that is all…” said Snow as she looked at the older woman but the other one smiled at her.

“No, that is not all dear. You have limited knowledge about magic that runs in the blood and veins of the sorceresses because of the treaty that stops the vampires from consorting with the sorceresses but this is an exception. Since your knowledge in this case is limited I am going to suggest a lot of reading material to finish in a short time. This is not for any test but for increasing your knowledge. For starters, there are three kinds of sorceresses in the magic that we are allowed to practice and there is another kind which we don’t talk about,” said Rebecca as she walked around the room moving closer to the bookshelves finding out volumes which she was going to give to Snow to read.

“What is the thing that you are not allowed to speak about? I mean, if you can make an exception, because I am not a witch par say as far as you guys and your tribes are concerned. So I mean, you can tell me about it, isn’t it?” asked Snow, as Rebecca looked at her and smiled.

“You are a clever little thing, aren’t you now? You know the exceptions and you can find out a loophole just like that. It is true Snow, I can tell you but pronouncing something like that is blasphemous for us,” said Rebecca as she picked out the books and stacked them on the chair.

“Should you think that I am ready for practice even before knowing anything about it? Don’t you suppose that I should be doing some amount of reading before I start practicing magic? Because I am not going to be able to understand anything at all if you tell me,” said Snow, as she eyed on a slim leather bound volume lying on the table. She could very well understand that this was something which she would not be allowed to read but she would like to read it nonetheless.

“You are correct on that count Snow. I think it will be good if you start reading the basics of magic and then we can start our practice from tomorrow. You can start with all these books and then I can be able to talk to you without being interrupted at every single sentence,” said Rebecca as Snow smiled at her guiltily.

She went back to her room with all the books in her arms and then she locked the door and started studying.

But first she started reading the writings of the diary, the handwriting seemed feminine but there was no name written anywhere.

They say that any technology sufficiently advanced looks like magic, and you see, there is the clue to the art of magic... it's also a science, a technology. It can be used for the betterment of mankind, to promote our evolution, or to bring devastation upon us all. Those who practice the dark arts use it for power and control, for abuse and for the pleasure they feel in causing pain and death. It is for the most parts a linguistical method, hence the "spells" in literature, the sense that it is done with words... because for the most part, it is. It is often combined with fear and sometimes drugs. It works because of the way the brain is wired with words and images.

Magic can be used to make a person forget experiences, to not see what is right in front of them and to control behaviour. With words you can be paralysed or have your body controlled... yet it is possible to fight your way out of it, to resist the "spell" and I'm living proof of that. I'm the one who was never supposed to survive. For the ones that fight the spells, who emerge with memories that were supposed to be erased, there will be the drugs to induce insanity and the watchers to ensure you are living as you ought to, that even if you have memories you are too intimidated to tell them. Magic is a science and an art, it uses the entire brain... so be both too, be a scientist and an artist, use positive phrasing, be kind with your words... then the ones who aren't will stand out, or else they'll have to hide and be reduced in the ways they harm our world. And please remember, there are the good magicians too, the ones who will share their abilities and teach you how it works. So please, dear muggles, wake up, because we're trying with every ounce of strength we have to save you.

We good magicians work with and for the positive universal force, we are helped by love and made well by love. The dark arts magicians are helped by the negative force and they are poisoned by love, feeding off pain.

I hold out my hand in shock. Pulsing from my fingertips is a strange, bright light. I watch it flicker, changing colors from amber, to ruby, then back to gold. I clench my fist, my nails digging into my palms. This isn't supposed to happen. I'm not supposed to have this. The elders forbid it. If they learned of this, I would be banished. I sigh, slumping against the wall. What am I supposed to do now?

With trembling fingers, I clutch the mirror on the wall for support. Threads of silver wind of the edge in stunning floral designs. The glass surface is covered in dust. I hold up my hand hesitantly, and touch the glass. Immediately, my fingers sink though.

I double over. My mouth is filled with the coppery tang of blood, and it feels like fire is rushing through my veins. I moan as my vision shifts and the world erupts with colors. At first, it hurts, but then I'm suddenly filled with confidence and power. I push myself up. In the mirror, I can see my mouth is set in a hard line. My eyes are glowing gold. The light burns brighter and I curl my fingers up.

This is my magic.

This is my life.

It is here, in the midst of an industrialized civilization, that magic still flowed rampant and wild through a world. A surge of energy courses through my veins. I’m alive again. Magic can be held in any sanctuary, being contained within the sights, sounds and smells of a world. "Contained" seems like the wrong word for magic in this world, unlike our own where such power has been dammed up and caged. Here, magic is in symbiosis with reality. At home, where magic always had fixed routes to guide me, here it doesn’t take notice of me. I’m left to wander and wonder again, like a child.

A hint of a deeper magic called from a distance away. This magic wasn’t only more dense, it was ripe, like if it were coming from well-decayed flesh mingling with the earth. Terrifying, unintentional, human magic.

A nonentity was walking ahead of me, only, it wasn’t a nonentity; the magic was coming from her.

Snow read the words and her level of surprise kept on increasing. What world was this person talking about? There was some kind of alternate or parallel universe as well which she had no idea about? If that was so was it only to be accessed magic? What on earth was this? She knew that she needed to talk to Raphael about this but also something at the corner of her mind spooked her out saying that it was not the right time yet. After all she had no idea about magic and she did not know what she was going to talk about, it was better to always communicate with evidence along with her so that she could back her words with proof.