Against all better judgement and logic, there was a perpetual belief that magic is real.
This was especially true in Jude’s school. Even more so in the History class he just bunked.
They all heard the story. Once upon a time, there might have been witches, faeries and mini-gods on Planet Earth. A thrilling theory that everything once blossomed with magic and wonder, not a corner of the planet untouched by its mystery. Scientists said it was possible and often said it could’ve been aliens. Jude himself once believed in the wonder of magic, mostly due to his grandfather’s stories. Three years ago, that had changed. If magic was real, he didn’t think he wanted to associate himself with any of it.
So as soon as Jeffrou Jacobus started to talk about the Tales of the Magic Society, Jude excused himself to the bathroom. He wasn’t planning on returning until a minute before the bell. He kept an eye on his watch as he sat on the floor of the bathroom stall. But time moves slowly when you were not having fun. So he ended up scribbling in his pocket-sized notebook.
He checked the time again. Ten more minutes.
Jude sighed, falling against the ivory, graffitied door behind him. The bathroom was the best place to hide when bunking class. The pavilions were the most fun, empty classrooms had several opportunities but he’d never been caught hiding in the bathroom. He picked up his notebook again and doodled something a bit half-heartedly.
A sudden scuttling sound caught his attention, and Jude froze. That better not be a teacher, he worriedly thought. Straining his ears for it, he was met with silence. After a while, he hesitantly let his guard down. He looked back at the notebook only to hear the scuttling sound again. It sounded more like an animal’s then a person’s, he noted.
He was just being paranoid. It was probably just a bird. Reminding himself to try and sleep earlier tonight, he glanced over to his watch again. He saw he had five more minutes before the bell rang. Might as well get ready to leave.
“Jude Blake, are you bunking class again!?” An angry voice boomed from outside. Jude could barely contain his surprise at the sudden sound. Oh great… not him.
“Your teacher said you left at the start of the lesson! You better hope I don’t find you in here.”
Principal Mollow – a man with slicked-back black hair, brown eyes and the aura of a real-life vampire. If the entire ‘magic hypothesis’ thing was real, Jude would bet all his pocket money that Mollow was a vampire-in-hiding. Unfortunately, no amount of garlic would get rid of him now. So Jude had two options: either stay quiet and eventually get caught or make things easier on himself and leave the stall.
Both sounded equally bad.
He picked up the notebook, placing it in the pocket of his hoodie and got up to face the music. He placed his hand on the handle of the bathroom door before his brown eyes widened at the familiar scuttling. Turning around, he caught a glimpse of a tail with a triangular point disappearing behind the grey divider into the other stall.
“I can wait here all day, Jude!” Mollow shouted startling Jude back to the present. Pushing the strange occurrence to the back of his mind, he stepped out of the stall. “Ah, there’s the man of the hour,” Mollow said, stepping toward him.
Jude rolled his eyes, “Please, I wasn’t even trying my best. Give credit where credit’s due.”
“No more jokes. Why aren’t you in your classroom?”
“Because I don’t see how knowing about a fake magical society is going to help me in life.” Mollow looked bemused.
“It counts towards your grades and was supposed to be a treat for the students. Now get back to your class, we’ll discuss your detention during the break. I’ll be waiting for you in my office – do not keep me waiting, Blake.”
Jude reluctantly followed him out of the bathroom. Hopefully, he stalled long enough, and the lesson was over. Arriving at class, Jude went to sit at his desk and ignored the stares from his classmates. The teacher cleared her throat.
“Right… as I was saying – that’s when the team realized that the word was ‘magi’ which could be a short form of ‘magic’. They haven’t been able to translate any other words but that one, which leads many to believe that the first word might not even be correct.”
Jude laid down on his arms, his strawberry blonde hair falling over his eyes. Looking at his watch, he was relieved to see the bell would be ringing any second now.
The bell rang not even a minute later.
The class of eighth-graders got up for break time, slinging their heavy backpacks on their backs. Jude grabbed his backpack and left the class quickly. Before he made it around the corner to the staircase, he felt a hand grab his arm.
“Hey!” Henry said with exasperation. “I got caught at the back of the row and you sped off like a runaway car! Are you trying to avoid me?” He smirked at him.
“I’m not avoiding you,” Jude said raising an eyebrow, “I forgot.”
“Your own friend? Your best friend?” Henry placed a hand over his heart, “I’m wounded.”
Jude snorted in laughter, “Don’t expect an apology any time soon.” Henry pouted but then just shook his head.
“We have science after this, right?”
“Yup,” Jude said as they headed up the staircase.
“How long did it take Mollow to catch you this time?” Henry asked.
Jude groaned, “Seriously, Henry?”
“C’mon! Just asking because you were back a couple of minutes after Jacobus told him you had left class. How did that happen?”
“Shut up,” Jude said, shoving his friend as they got to the second floor, “I showed myself. He didn’t find me! Speaking of which, we gotta go to his office later.”
“We!?, you mean you right?”, Henry said with a smile. They arrived in the mostly empty hallway and put their backpacks down in front of the science class. Most of the students were making their way to the sports field, filling the hallway with chattering amongst each other.
“Hey, Blake!” a voice rang out of the chatter.
He knew who it was before he turned around. Amy was making her way toward them, her school monitor badge set blinking on her white shirt collar.
“Amy! What a pleasant surprise.” Jude said.
“Keep the sarcasm for your friends, Jude,” Amy replied, “Where is the library book? Do you have it with you? It’s three days late.”
Jude tried to avoid looking at Henry. “Slow down there. What is this, the Spanish inquisition?”
Amy crossed her arms, “Please return it today, okay? Give us all peace of mind so Karla won’t have another anxiety attack.”
Jude gave her a thumbs up, “It’s in my backpack.”
Amy smirked as she looked over Jude’s shoulder at Henry, “Good. And good luck.” She turned around and swiftly walked away. Jude turned toward Henry, who was positively glaring at him.
Jude shrugged with a grin. “Whoops?”, he said.
Henry groaned, “Why!? You told me you returned it!”
“I forgot ok”, Jude replied, already rifling through his backpack to look for it.
“I asked you if you gave it back and you said yes!” Henry ran his hand through his dark brown hair, either out of frustration or to push back his fringe again, “You have it with you, though? Right?”
“I’m looking! I’m looking!” Jude said, “Hold your horses.”
“I cannot be stable! You know that!”. His hand closed around the library book and he showed it to Henry.
“We’re in luck.”
Henry sighed with relief, “Great. Now go return it, before you “forget” again.” The two friends made their way towards the library. They reached the bottom floor where everyone was hanging out or throwing people with soccer balls.
Pushing through the crowd of students, Jude and Henry made their way to the library off to the side of the vast sports field. As they entered the library, Jude saw a very long line at the front desk. Jude almost decided to turn back thinking, “Karma, art thou a heartless snitch”.
“I’m gonna return this,” Jude said, “You look around. Looks like I’m gonna be a while.”
Henry nodded, “I’ll be over at the Comic Section.” He left, leaving Jude standing alone in line. The line shortened slowly. Jude considered just leaving the book on a nearby shelf and leaving before he wasted his entire break. Mollow was still waiting for him, he really couldn’t be wasting time waiting in a line.
‘Next!’, the librarian called and Jude was again snapped back to the present. He made his way to the desk, placed the book on the table and was just going to turn away when Mrs. Botha cleared her throat. With a sigh, he accepted his fate.
She was peering at him over her spectacles. “It’s late,” She said. It wasn’t a question.
“Yes, it is,” Jude admitted, “Would you also be interested in knowing the color of the sky?”
She sneered at him, “Five Rand Blake.”
“Fine,” Jude sighed, “I’ll bring it tomorrow. Can I be excused so I can enjoy what is left of my break, or do you prefer to keep me in your clutches?”
Mrs. Botha’s glare hardened. “Go,” She hissed. Jude left quickly and looked for Henry. He walked past the kiddies’ section, avoiding Karla as she organized some books. He saw the Comic Book section up ahead. Something ran passed him as he was making his way over to where Henry was. Startled, he jumped back, his mouth agape.
The strange creature with the triangular pointed tail was making its way out of the library and towards the computer lab. He stared at it as it snickered out the door, noticing its yellow scales, brown markings, and bat-like ears. He knew this creature. Even before seeing it earlier in the bathroom. No, no, it cannot be. He was just sleep-deprived or something. He just needed to ignore it, grab Henry, honor his appointment with the principal, and forget all about this.
Alas, Jude was never someone to leave things alone and so, he followed it like an idiot. He stepped into the computer lab, and cautiously observed his surroundings. The school can do with some serious upgrades he thought to himself.
The tables were lined with old-school computers and colorful mouse pads, the blinds over the windows were closed, and everything looked normal. There was no sign of the strange creature either.
Jude slowly closed the door behind him, waiting for it to show itself. Just as he was about to give up and leave he saw it crawl out from under a table. There was a strange appendage on its head, kind of like an angler fish’s light. Its ears were huge enough to cover its entire head, its entire body roughly half the size of a common house cat. The best way he could think of describing it was as an angler-gecko.
He was positive he’d seen this creature before. It was three years ago. The day his grandfather died. Jude had heard an ambulance siren, saw it parked in front of his grandparents’ house and ran over. He had watched his grandmother run into the house and saw this same creature. Not this exact one though. That one was cream in color. It had run across the road and disappeared behind a tree.
Here he was three years later and here is another of those creatures. He found himself just staring at it as he did the last time he saw it.
That’s when the creature turned its head toward him, its bright yellow eyes staring. With a loud ‘squeak’ it leaped back and jumped onto the window sill, exploding into flames. Suddenly everything started to move too fast. It was as if someone had hit the fast-forward button on life.
Bright red flames ignited the curtains, spreading further and further throughout the room quicker than he’d ever seen a fire spread. The tables were soon covered in flames. Jude opened the door, and the fire seemed to leap into the adjoining library. A booming sound came from behind him and he barely got out of the way as the computers and monitors blew up, spewing red hot flames further into the library.
Screams filled the air. The fire had consumed the entire library.
Where was Henry?
Jude’s heart hammered in his chest as he looked around for his friend. He spotted him helping Karla out of the library. Relief spilled over him, his eyes searching for any other students who might need help. Henry helped a dark-skinned girl out of the library and without hesitation turned around and headed back into the library.
“Where’re you going!?” Jude shouted.
“Getting Sam!”
Jude anxiously looked back at the computer lab. He prayed nothing would blow up again, but he knew there was no stopping Henry. This was another of the personality traits shared by Jude and Henry. The others being freckles and being shorter than most of their classmates.
Just as Jude was about to follow Henry the door to the printers slammed open, startling them. Mrs. Botha walked out, pulling Sam out of the room with her.
“Move!” She shouted, “Get outside! Now!”
Jude didn’t hesitate. He grabbed Henry and pulled him along, Mrs. Botha and Sam following. They got out coughing and shaking, but ok. Jude looked around, confirming that everyone made it out safely. To his immense relief, they did. He noticed Karla standing there, looking frazzled.
There were cuts on all of them, but Mrs. Botha definitely took the brunt of it. She had a bruise forming over her eye, spreading to her temple, and her glasses shattered and bent. It was then that Jude realized the way she was looking at him. Her face was filled with anger and blame, her glare beyond murderous.
The message was clear. Jude Blake was her chief suspect.
He cast his eyes toward the library, and for once was grateful that it was at the far end of the school grounds away from the rest of the school’s buildings. This could have been so much worse.
Students gathered around on the field, asking questions and staring wide-eyed at the building. Mrs. Botha shouted something, but Jude didn’t hear. Henry tapped him on the shoulder and gestured to follow him. Everyone moved away from the library where teachers were gathering, staring in horror at the commotion.
“What happened!?” Mollow asked as soon as they arrived. “Long story,” Mrs. Botha said, side-eyeing Jude. Sam was still in her clutches, looking uncomfortable. Whether that was because of the burn mark on her face or being trapped with the grouchy librarian, Jude wasn’t sure.
“Did everyone get out?” Mollow asked.
Mrs. Botha gave an affirmative. That’s when Jude heard the sound of the fire truck alarms trumpeting. A red truck was speeding towards the school, and the sirens that followed meant there were cops on the way as well. Jude looked back at the library, reminded of the strange creature. He had seen it, or something like it, once before, but this was the first time he saw how dangerous it could be.
Part of him wishes he’d captured it, but he wasn’t sure if that would’ve ended well for him. He knew he probably should just let this go and move on, but he couldn’t any longer. The last time he’d seen that thing, it was when his grandfather died. Nobody was sure what happened to him. Jude had seen him that day an hour before he died. He just got back from a ‘Faery Hunter’ trip. He was happy.
For the first time, Jude actually wished the creature would return. Maybe he could finally have some answers. Because, it seemed, to ignore the perpetual belief that magic might just be real, was getting him nowhere.