The glow of celestial light burned against my irises as I sat before a representative of the Syndicate, who was carefully checking my vitals to ensure that I wasn't bewitched by a potion or spell. Things like that tended to happen when the students of SMI, the Spevack Magician's Institute, hosted an event. It wasn't often that our celebrations got too out of hand, but last night was a prime example of all magical hell breaking loose. The result was so dire that the Syndicate of the Sainted, the most respected and revered coalition of witches and warlocks to ever roam our world, had no choice but to get involved. Anyone and everyone who was seen at the party was to be questioned thoroughly.

After all, a mortal girl died at the hands of one of our own.

"You're clear..." My examiner lowered the glimmering orb that he'd nearly blinded me with and glanced at some paperwork that SMI's administration had provided. "Ceyrin Grimlock, is it?"

I nodded before adding, "Rin. I go by Rin."

He didn't take much interest in that and continued with his spiel. "No signs that your memories or cerebral function have been tampered with. Let's try this again, why don't we?" For the fifth time, it would seem, but my story wasn't changing.

"Like I said before," I snapped as my frustration rose, "I didn't even see what happened. I saw that mortal girl once at the beginning of the party. She came with one of the boys from the initiate class— and no, I don't know his name." I shot the man a testy glare. Who did he think he was, walking around in some fancy Italian suit like he owned the place? By the look of him, it wouldn't be much to assume that he hadn't stepped foot in the SMI dormitories in years, let alone the common rooms where students held such parties. "She bumped into me, apologized profusely, and then she went on her way. The next time I saw her, she was sprawled out on the floor, stone cold. That's all I know."

The man's jaw set, but he said nothing in reply as he scribbled down a few more notes, then rose from his chair, jolting the table forward slightly. "We'll be in contact, Mister Grimlock." Had I no interaction with the girl, I would have been able to leave with nothing more than a slap on the wrist for "prohibited and obscene actions" as they called it. I remained silent, staring back at him with dead eyes and a flat expression. I was in a comatose state of near sleep from waiting outside the lecture hall overnight until my time came to be berated. "Go get some rest," my interviewer commanded as he fastened his hand around my upper arm, rumpling the sleeve of my coat, and led me toward the door.

"Easy there, tiger. This is my good jacket." I rolled my eyes and shrugged him off gently with an unreadable smile. "I'm leaving now. Don't lose sleep over me." My hands found their way to my pockets as if by instinct as I left, falling into a loose walking pace.

A smug grin edged on my lips as I caught a soft mutter from back in the room. "Stupid kid." I turned the corner at the end of the hall, offering a sympathetic gaze to the poor souls who still sat in the vicinity. The sun had already started to rise, pastel hues draping over one another, the melancholy heavy like a leaden weight. That same feeling hung on me, even after the sky had left my sight, replaced by the golden-flecked walls of the boy's dormitories. I carefully avoided the common room, knowing well that it would be boarded off and likely be a breeding ground for Syndicate superior types such as the investigator. They were exactly the types that would be suspicious to see a kid like me snooping around a quarantined zone.

That in mind, I took the long way to my room. It didn't take much longer, but it was an inconvenience, so only on rare occasions such as this would I take it. I flung my door open carelessly as I reached my final destination and winced at the noise it made as it rammed into the wall. My shoes were the first thing to go the moment I passed the threshold, kicked off one by one in the general direction of the closet. My coat came next as I shrugged it off and laid it on top of my bed. Free at last, I lumbered toward my desk, clumsily futzing with the collar of my shirt. I loosened the top few buttons and slumped down into my desk chair with a groan.

That party... My thoughts drifted to the night before, bringing every moment I spent there under thorough speculation. Nothing as scandalous as this had happened at SMI in ages. Could it really be coincidence that of all the partygoers, only a human girl, the only human in attendance, died that night? Countless possible explanations consumed my thoughts as I recounted the proceedings in my head for the umpeenth time.

Ten hours earlier...

My shoulder blades hovered over the grainy stone blocks of a column outside the girl's dormitory. I waited listlessly, back slouched and eyes closed, for the rest of my group. There were to be four of us that night: my closest friend at SMI, Willux Sasony, who I met my initiate year at the school as we had nearly identical placements; his on-again off-again girlfriend, Masiere Huldt; Masiere's best friend and my "date" for the evening, Roulan Delsange; and myself. I peered down at my watch to check the time, frowning as the rest were late. I'd come to expect nothing less, but Willy had promised this time would be different.

A good fifteen minutes passed before they made an appearance, and the hot pink lipstick smudged against the back of Willy's neck just below where his hair fell gave me a pretty clear image of what they'd been doing. The couple walked hand in hand, though Maisy faced away from Willy chatting happily with Roulan, who tramped behind for good reason, I assumed.

"You're late, Willy," I called out as he waved to me. Hearing my words, his hand drifted to hide behind his back.

"Are you sure?" He smirked, tilting his head in mock-confusion. "Check again, buddy." I peered down at the face of my watch to see that the hands had been moved back to show our meeting time.

"Nice party trick," I scoffed though my voice had a playful lilt, "Do you do birthday parties?"

Willy broke into a chuckle, fixing my watch with a flamboyant twist of his hand, then gave me a brief hug. "Wasn't the same without you around."

From the corner of my eye, I watched Roulan grab Maisy by the forearm and direct the girl closer to us. "Willy?" Maisy said softly, tapping on his shoulder.

"Right. Party." Willy grinned. "We'll catch up later."

I nodded before shifting my attention to Maisy. "Ceyrin, this is Roulan."

"Rin," I muttered breathily, but Maisy ignored me and curled her fingers with Willy's.

Roulan gave me a once over, which made me wonder if I should've put a bit more effort into what I was wearing, but I didn't have much faith in Maisy's matchmaking skills. The results were often disastrous and resulted in attempted curses. "You'll do," she mused, wrapping herself around my arm, then whispered in my ear. "Call me Rou."

I tried to shift away slightly, but that seemed to encourage her clinging. "You can call me Rin." After giving up on escaping, I started to trail Willy and Maisy, deciding to give the couple some space.

"Rin..." Roulan cooed, "I like it."

"Thanks." My reply was a defeated half sigh.

Willy and Maisy paused outside by a banner that read "Welcome Back, Students!" "Don't you two look cute?" Maisy's eyes wrinkled up as she smiled in that way Willy described as adorable but reminded me of a chipmunk stuffing its face. Willy stood behind Maisy and offered me an apologetic shrug.

"I need a drink," I grunted, starting so quickly toward the entrance that I almost lost my cling-on in the process. I'd been so focused on tearing free that I stormed inside, eyes trained on the ground, but I wasn't the only person oblivious to my surroundings. I stopped just before barreling into a group of warlocks who were refining magic into its purest element and offering it to their fellow students to get everyone in the mood. They'd been readying themselves to pitch their product when another attendee sideswiped me and I stumbled forward. Roulan was especially caught off guard, falling into the arms of one of the warlocks from earlier.

"Oh god." I turned around to locate the perpetrator, only to find myself staring down at a plain Jane. "I'm sorry!"

"Don't worry about it," I insisted, but the gruff manner of my voice made her apologize more profusely.

"I really didn't mean to. I swear! You see, I've never been in a situation like this, and I don't know how to act around you guys-"

"Elaine." My gaze shifted up to a tall boy who came to the girl's aid. "That's enough, okay? Remember what I told you?" My eyes narrowed at his words as I tried to place him. He wasn't familiar, and I was rather good with faces and names, so I figured he must have been a new arrival. "Let's go."

Elaine nodded, nipping gently at her bottom lip as if she was a scolded child. "Okay." She turned back over her shoulder as he led her away. "Again, I'm sorry."

"It's fine," I shouted over the buzz of the growing crowd, puzzled by the strange encounter.

"Who was that?" Roulan placed a hand on her hip with an accusatory glare in my direction.

"Don't know." I shrugged.

"The others are saying that newbie brought her, a human," Rou jeered at the idea. "To Spevack! He's psycho if he thinks that'll fly."

"What does it matter?" I sighed, shaking my head at her.

Roulan's eyes grew wide, and the girl hastily added, "Listen to yourself. You're just as ridiculous!" With a disdainful huff, she scampered off, probably to find Maisy and complain about being set up with me. Maybe that would finally get me on Maisy's "List of Lost Causes." Alone at last, I hunted down that drink I'd been craving, finishing three or four more before my party of one was abruptly interrupted by a shriek that easily could've blown a vase to smithereens, and like any inquisitive mind, I had to find the cause. Never in my wildest dreams had I expected to find Elaine's lifeless body, twisted into a gruesome shape with smokey black splotches blistering her pale skin, abandoned on the carpet outside the more private sections of the commons.

I didn't have a chance to find Willy or Maisy, or even Roulan, before the room fell to panic. "Hu-human," one girl gasped as she pointed an accusatory finger at a dead girl, "She's the human." That discovery made the students even more frantic than before, and when a faculty member arrived with a student who had reported the body in tow, some tried to flee the scene to avoid the drama while the others, like me, were corralled to meet with the first on-scene representative the Syndicate could provide. And that, the arrival of the Syndicate of the Sainted at our beloved SMI, would only be the beginning of the true hell we were to be dragged into.

Word count: 1991 words