O sweet shepherd, hie thee,

For methinks thou stay'st too long.

-A Madrigal, William Shakespeare.

What we reached was an opening with several vans on the outskirts of Calamity. Whoever used this opening as a van campsite first was a genius. Anyone who just got to Calamity could just steer over and sleep the night, maybe stay a day or two. At least if they didn't mind the lack of bath.

The Necromancers swiftly trailed over several vans amidst the darkness and walked towards one. But my spine began to tingle again.

"Um, guys," I began. "I think -"

Suddenly a chill went down my back, and before I could react, suddenly dizziness took over. Not the rather painful headache like the ones I'd been having these few hours, but more of the which-side-is-up dizzy.

And from the looks of it, the Necromancers around me felt the same thing.

"What are you all doing here?" a voice said.

Uh-uh. The voice was familiar.

Any hint would help.

...try not to slip.

I turned right. There's a familiar posture there - a posture with square glasses holding a voodoo doll, a posture that lacked a feathery headdress from the last time I saw him.

Chief Magus.

"We need to see The Shaman," the Necromancers' leader's voice said. "If you haven't realized yet, we -"

"Have a situation, I know," Chief Magus said. He sounded annoyed. "I'm asking what you all are doing here, not the situation."

"If you realize what's going on, you might as well already know what we're asking," a Necromancer next to the leader said. "And honestly, that magikinesis really isn't necessary. We're not here to wage war. We're here to ask for help."

Chief Magus scoffed. "Ask for help? And what makes you think we'd give you? Since when do you guys chicken out like this? I thought you were perfectly capable of handling those monsters yourself."

"We are," the leader replied calmly. "But we're not perfectly capable of protecting everyone else in Calamity. Especially the nonmagi. Do you have any idea how they perceived what's going on?"

For a moment, that question hung in the air. Of course they'd see some unexplainably thick mists and monsters roaming about trying to abduct -

Then some of the kids' expression when the mist first infiltrated the Witch House party came to my mind: they were oblivious.

The nonmagi couldn't see a thing.

Chief Magus was silent for a bit. "So you're asking us to give out personalized protection for everyone in Calamity? Is that so?"

"Yes," the leader said. "And we realize that the only person in your clan with such authority is The Shaman. So we'd like to see him. If you want, I'll see him myself. All alone and unarmed. If it's for the interests of everyone's safety, I believe I won't need arms."

Chief Magus scanned him from head to toe. "Indeed you don't," he said. Then he put his voodoo doll back into one of his pouches. "Wait here."

He turned and ran around several vans until he was out of sight. The opening was apparently bigger than I thought.

The dizziness left our heads as soon as he was gone, and no one moved. No one spoke. We just waited in eerie silence.

Maybe not precisely silence, either. As soon as silence took us over, I could clearly make out some screams and wails. There were also several hurried movements everywhere. The monsters must be spreading.

"Barney," I said. He turned.

"What?"

"Remember that zombie army you guys summoned when I left Disaster?"

"Mm-hmm?"

"What happened to them? I mean, we left, but the monsters were chasing me and everything even before I got to you guys. If those zombies aren't guarding the borders of Disaster..."

"They're trying their best to hold back the monsters," Barney said. "It's kind of the command we've bound them to do. But if you're thinking about the monsters roaming Calamity, yes, I think they've spread."

"How's Cora?" I asked again. "I know I've asked, but really, the last time I saw you guys, you were too tired to call forth any more zombies and Cora was exhausted from fighting that giant spider."

"The skinwalkers calmed down after they knocked you down. One grabbed you, and just like that, they left. We tried following them so we know where we could send help, but they were guarded, so I could only manage to sneak one tracking bug. Luckily dead bugs can still be raised via Necromancy without draining me too much power. And luckily those skinwalkers weren't hygienic. The other Covens in the party that managed to survive gathered around with Cora and they left to their clan's shelter to replenish their power and get some medical help. The Necromancers outside the party that I called earlier heeded our call and were already waiting outside the party. We left a message for the Covens' leader via Cora and the others, and then we left for the Shamans. But then the leader asked me about you, and after I told him everything..."

His voice trailed off. He'd told me the rest. The leader switched his priorities and they went to Disaster first to rescue me, and apparently I'd managed to rescue myself first - although I was really grateful they got there with the army of zombies, there was no way I could take on that ghoul alone - and then we left for the Shamans, which led us to this point.

"Who's your leader's name?" I asked. Calling him 'the leader of the Necromancers' was pretty mouthful.

"Ivan M. E.," Barney said. "No idea what the M and E stand for. Got his way with words and convincing people, and is well-known for being a pacifist." He grinned. "Kinda like me in a way. I also prefer not to use violence. He's pretty good at making calls, too. But ironically, despite his widely known pacifist status, when in combat, he's used to being nicknamed the Deathcaller."

I raised both eyebrows. "Deathcaller?"

Barney grinned. "He's that good."

There were some light footsteps, and I recognized it as Chief Magus' - he used to storm towards me with steps just like that. The guy then appeared around the bend and walked up straight to Ivan.

"Come," he said. Then he turned to the other Necromancers. "You all stay." But then his eyes fixated at me. "You're coming."

"What - me?" I asked, pointing myself. He nodded.

"Quickly," he said. I turned at Barney, but he shrugged.

"Don't stare," he said. "Go."

It was still all too fast to let sink for me, but my legs knew made me follow Chief Magus' and Ivan's silhouettes. They moved quickly between the silent vans, and I knew that if I didn't go back with them, I would be lost.

Chief Magus led us through the opening, turning from one van to another, sometimes even moving in circles. But still, even without the moving in circles part, the path was already too complicated for me to memorize. The Necromancers were out of my sight in no time.

Then he stopped in front of a van and knocked. "He's here," he said.

The door opened.

"Please do," a voice said from inside. Ivan bowed courtly a little, then stepped into the van and shut the door, leaving Chief Magus and me outside. As soon as the leader of the Necromancers was in the van, Chief Magus turned to me and reached a hand.

There was a chill running down my back, and suddenly, I could feel air draining from my lungs as if they were pressed hard. Chief Magus' eyes were less than pleased. "Why did you do this?"

"Do..." it was unbelievably hard to breathe. "Do what?"

"Summoning the monsters!" Chief Magus hissed. His fist clenched tighter and I could feel the pressure on my lungs building. "Changing this whole town! Why the heck would you do this?"

"It..." I was gasping for breath. "Let...me...go...can't -"

He clenched tighter before he realized that I wouldn't be able to speak if he kept holding my lungs, so he relaxed a little. The cold air suddenly flooded my lungs, and after such a hold up, it felt so good. "Why?" he repeated. This time he looked pretty irritated.

"It was an accident," I managed to say as I tried to control the airflow in and out of my lungs so that they'd tone down back to normal. "A killer ghoul attacked me. My magic slipped out of control and casted this spell over Calamity."

"Killer ghoul?" he asked, frowning. "Why would there be a killer ghoul here?"

"I have no idea. I saw this witch back there in Disaster when the killer ghoul appeared, and with this magic circle and candle around her, I think she might've summoned that creature. Why she did that, I don't know."

Chief Magus' eyes were staring deeply into my eyes, and as an uncomfortable chill went down my back, I suddenly realized that he was casting magic on me. He was trying to see if I was lying.

He realized I wasn't.

"Hmm," he muttered. "Fine. It's going to be one hell of a cleanup, though. You terraformed the whole town."

"I think we both know now that this mist is what's causing the terraformation," I said, raising a palm as if to hold the mist in my hand. Cora's charm was still around my neck, so I still couldn't see the mist nearest to me, but I could still feel it and I knew it's there. "Maybe we can just try to focus on getting rid of it, don't you think?"

Chief Magus' eyebrows came together and I could see that he was seriously considering my suggestion. I could tell that he was remembering the moment he saw the mist coming through the air ducts back in the Witch House party. "Good point," he said. "The mist is wrong. And it may be the terraformation agent, just like you said. But if this mist is magic, and it's that influential, there's no way it's going to be easy to rid." He then muttered something and turned his hand around. Nothing happened. "See? A typical mist-cleansing spell doesn't work."

"If I were you, I would've guessed that a typical spell won't work on this one," I said. "But you have a point. We shouldn't overlook any detail. By the way - what's your name?"

I reached a hand out. He took it. "Isaac."

"Alden." I remembered what Barney and Cora told me about the clans. Cora was a Wicce; Barney was a Necromancer..."So you're a Shaman?"

Isaac nodded. "And you?"

I shrugged. "Still no clan."

Isaac frowned. "Really? How old are you?"

"Eighteen."

"Aren't you a bit too old to not figure out where you belong yet?"

I rolled my eyeballs. "I've been told."

"Well," Isaac held his chin. "You casted quite the spectrocide back there. You might have some talent on melinomancy. Maybe you're a Necromancer. But this terraformation spell, this..." he looked around. "It's some really powerful cosmokinesis. Terraformation isn't easy."

I shook my head and raised a hand as he brought up the magic terminology. "And what is cosmokinesis?"

"World manipulation." He stared at me again, his eyebrows knitted tightly together. "What clan are your parents?"

"They're nonmagi," I said. His eyes widened, but I quickly added, "They're adoptive." Apparently, I appended mentally. Thanks, Jack.

He tilted his head. "And your birth parents?"

I shrugged. "Still no idea who they are."

I could tell that Isaac softened a bit. "Sorry."

"No worries," I said. Then I remembered something that Ivan said earlier. "Hey, Ivan said that he's here to ask the Shamans to create personalized protection for everyone in Calamity, right? Then he also said that he'd asked the Covens to cast protection for everything in Calamity. Why not ask both clans to do both things? Aren't you both users of magic? And..." I remembered something that Cora said about the Covens. "Aren't the Covens deviants from your clan?"

Isaac managed a small grin. "Each clan has their own signature specialization," he said. "And the Covens are pretty good on telekinesis and magikinesis - the quick physical aspects of magic. We Shamans, in the other hand, are better than them in magikinesis and moirokinesis, the more spiritual side."

I could barely register the word telekinesis. "I literally don't understand a single thing you said."

Isaac scanned me for a second, and then sighed. "This might be a bit complicated, so I'm expecting you to catch up with me quickly."

"No promises."

"Magikinesis is almost like telekinesis," Isaac carried on as if I never interrupted. "Except that when you use magikinesis, it doesn't have to be tangible, visible things. For example, I can use magikinesis to hold your lungs hard." He grinned wickedly. "Like I just showed you a few minutes ago."

I held my chest. "You sure did."

"And," he continued. "Magikinesis usually manipulates the living. Telekinesis works only for inanimate objects. That's to put it simply."

"That's more understandable," I said. "What about that other thing you said?"

"Moirokinesis," Isaac said. "It's -"

Before he could explain, the van's door opened again. Ivan came out, smiling calmly. "We'll have everyone in Calamity protected before we know it. And the Shamans are fully supportive of our united rescue team. Let's hope this one goes well."

I grinned and couldn't help myself a remark. "Amen to that."

Seriously, I don't know the witchcraft equivalent to 'amen'.

Ivan turned at me and his expression said that he found me amusing, but he simply held me by the shoulder. "Now let's clean up some mess," he said. He was only about to lead me to the other Necromancers - with Isaac tailing behind us - when he froze dead on his tracks.

There were men behind us.

They were wearing deep-blue robes with a uniform small compass-like symbol with a skull in it on their chests. On their left index fingers were golden rings with some ornaments that I couldn't see clearly. Their eyes stared at me intently and at Ivan calculatingly.

"Huh," Ivan said casually. I could tell, however, that this caught him off guard. He was on his edge and was desperately trying to measure any way to get out of this situation. But a quick glance on his expression and I realized that he didn't find any. That didn't seem good. "Alchemists."

Cora was right when she described them. They were creepy.

One of the men - the Alchemists - smiled calmly. He looked like the archetypal Merlin and had white beard and everything, so he didn't look like that much of a threat. But I couldn't help but feel that something felt dangerous about that smile. "Good early-in-the-morning, Ivan," he said firmly, his electric blue eyes glinting against the moonlight in the sky. "I believe we'd like to have a word with our friend Alden here."

//

Ivan's grip on my shoulder tightened.

"What would you like to talk to him about?" Ivan asked. The edge on his voice was clearer than earlier. He was still trying to keep his calm demeanor, but there was enough in his voice to tip off that he didn't like the situation.

"We realize that he may have caused a certain event," the Alchemist Merlin said calmly. "A certain event that can endanger others."

Despite the tension, I couldn't help but feel a twinge of guilt yet again.

"So we'd like to help him," Alchemist Merlin continued. "As you may have noticed over the years, we Alchemists have a certain way to induce, empower, and control our magic. We believe we may be able to help him with a particular issue."

My heart sank. How did he know? "What issue?"

Alchemist Merlin looked victorious. "The one issue I mentioned the last, Alden. Control. We knew how to track magic back to the caster - the same reason we could apprehend the culprit behind the 1908 Tunguska event - and we know well that you are behind this mist. And we also know that it's not even 24 hours after you first casted the spell - or any magic at all. Following the spectrocide spell you casted in the Witch House just earlier tonight, we have reasons to believe that this is simply your magic making its first-time blooms. It is not fully under your control yet. So let us help you."

Creepy bunch. Thanks, Cora.

"Help me how?" I asked. I could feel Ivan's fingers getting even firmer around my shoulder. He knew where it's going, and he didn't like it.

"Help you in no way that's natural for you," Isaac answered from behind me. I stole a quick glance - his hands were in his pouches. Then I noticed the Alchemists behind Alchemist Merlin - their own hands had reached to under their sleeves or into their robes' pockets. Everyone was definitely ready to battle.

Then I realized that if my life got threatened again by, say, the Alchemists, my magic would've done something stupid again. So I had to be ready, too.

I began to mentally search for the immaterial strings that were connected to everything, just like the ones I used back in Disaster for telekinesis. So far, it's the only magic I could do and control. The weakness from the monsters' treatment had left now, and I could feel my magic surging through my veins - I had greater amount to exert this way. No dizziness. No mental barriers.

Except that I found no strings to grab at all.

I could feel some strings connected to Isaac's clothing, but those strings were out of reach - someone else must've grabbed them. There were several strings connected to some vans, while most other strings around the vans were already grabbed. There weren't even any string at all in The Shaman's van and Ivan and the Alchemists' clothing.

Wow. They already knew what to do. And I'd just known about the strings thing.

It's a start.

"We can concoct a catalyst," Alchemist Merlin said. "This catalyst will perfect your magic. It all depends on the quality of the magic and the quality of the catalyst, really, because all the results come from that equation. But after all that we know you've done, I believe we can calculate just the right amount so that the catalyst would perfect you."

"The right amount of what?" I asked, and this time I couldn't help but also feel an edge on my voice. The Alchemists' eyes flickered and I knew that they registered it.

Alchemist Merlin looked as calm as ever, but as I dug down deeper to see the plane where the strings were again, I realized that he and Ivan were domineering the string-grabbing of the vans and practically everything else here. Of all the vans that had strings here, Alchemist Merlin were holding nearly a half of them and Ivan the other half. The rest were grabbed by the other Alchemists and some by Isaac.

"The right amount of magic in the catalyst," Alchemist Merlin said. "That is a very basic principle. The catalyst has to be more perfect than the object that is to be perfected. It has to be at least one level above your magic in order for it to perfect your magic."

"You're saying that perfecting my magic means I can control it?"

"Yes," Alchemist Merlin said. Ivan's fingers were trembling softly on my shoulder, and I suddenly realized that the vans he was holding were, too. "The more perfect the magic, the more potent it is - and the tamer it becomes. Because the perfect magic is the kind of magic that is great enough to overcome the less-perfect ones and yet controlled enough one can pull it off without a problem, is it not?"

"I remember what happened the last time you tried to offer your catalyst to a non-Alchemist, John," Ivan said. His tone was alarming and somewhat disturbing. The vans shook a bit harder. "And I don't think we can afford to do the same mistake with Alden here."

"Mistake?" Alchemist Merlin - John - said, raising his eyebrows. "Ivan, mistake is how science grows! And yes, I have not forgotten the mistake our dear Madeleine has to suffer through. And we promise, we have found out where it has gone wrong and we will not repeat the same mistake. The situation will be under better control." John smiled warmly. "Besides, Madeleine isn't the only genoseidric magus that has tried our catalyst, and although she isn't the only case as well, more than sixty percent of our subjects are doing fine - great, even."

Genoseidric. Cora mentioned it to me once...right, magic obtained by blood.

"I'm not willing to put Alden in the risk of the forty percent," Ivan said firmly. "It's not worth it. Not with that kind of magic he has."

"Believe me, all the calculations can be simplified," John said. "And I already have an idea of how potent his magic is. Can't we at least try? Besides, if this catalyst turns out to work, he will have greater control over his magic. Not only will he be able to help us in handling the monsters, he may be able to cancel the terraformation entirely."

Cancel the terraformation. "So how does this work, again?" I asked. I could feel Ivan's grip weakening - there was already a sense of defeat there. John's grin turned somewhat triumphant and unnerving.

"You just need to drink the catalyst," he said. "That's about that. It should take effect almost immediately. It has extreme reverse-osmotic properties - it can enter your bloodstream from practically anywhere on your soft dermis tissues."

I've heard some of the scientific terminologies he'd used, but I didn't feel like I had the chance to rummage through my head for definitions. "So just drink it, and my magic would be...perfected?"

John nodded.

I tried grasping around in the strings plane again - the strings were even more occupied. Even though Ivan had felt somewhat defeated, he was still unwilling to let me go without a fight.

I raised a hand. "What happened to Madeleine?" I'd be lying if I say I haven't ever heard of that name. That name popped up once. I just forgot when.

"She is a Necromancer," Ivan answered from my side, his eyes still fixated on the Alchemists and his eyebrows knitted in focus. "She was making slow progress in her training, and apparently, she felt left out. So she looked for help. The Alchemists gave her the catalyst. Next thing she knew, she woke up on the streets not remembering what happened." Ivan gulped softly. "She opened several Doors at once when the power from the catalyst first flowed through her veins. It was messy. We covered it all up as a freak storm, but most of us knew what actually happened."

Freak storm. That answered it. It happened back when I was a kid - everyone was asked to stay indoors while waiting for the storm to pass. I remembered asking Amanda if storms were living creatures because I heard some growls from out there. When the storms finished, she read me a bedtime story about Greek mythology where the gods battled the Titans - and how the gods were on the end of their wits when the Titans unleashed their greatest warrior, Typhon. The English 'typhoon' pretty much came down from his name. That story pretty much gave me a sort of a storm-phobia. Even now when I knew the truth about storms, I still shivered when that name came into mind.

Madeleine opened several Doors. I just opened one Door and this whole thing happened. Now I could see how it must've been almost literally a freak storm.

My heart froze. "So? What happened to her?"

Ivan shifted uncomfortably. "Well...she actually finally managed to regain control over her magic after some intense training sessions, and finally went to join the -"

He abruptly stopped, like suddenly realizing that I was there. There was a knowing glint in the Alchemists' eyes, and apparently, somehow, they all didn't like what Ivan was about to say as much as he.

"Joined the what?" I baited. Ivan let go of my shoulder.

"We'll get there, Alden," he said. There was no doubt that he was disturbed. "Just...not now. Later on, maybe, when you've practiced enough. We know that it's inevitable for you to finally know this, but we think it's the best for you to not know yet. Is that okay?"

Deadly knowledge in the magic world? I'm not surprised. "Sure." But I realized that by ending this topic, I'd have to draw a decision about the catalyst. From what Ivan said about Madeleine, I couldn't really get any assurance to take the catalyst - I hadn't even taken one and I'd opened a Door. What would I be able to do if I'd take it?

But when Ivan said that Madeleine finally controlled her magic and joined whatever it was she joined, his tone wasn't saying that she was evil. He just didn't like it that she joined them, but it was as if they were still on good terms. And with magic potent enough to open multiple Doors under her control, there's no telling how powerful she'd become.

"So?" John said the word I was half-hoping he wouldn't say. "What say you about the catalyst?"

You're saying that perfecting my magic means I can control it?

Yes.

Well...she actually finally managed to regain control over her magic...

Not only will he be able to help us in handling the monsters, he may be able to cancel the terraformation entirely.

Cancel the terraformation entirely...

I sighed. The decision made my chest feel heavy. "Fine. I'll take it. We'll see where it goes from there."

Ivan's soft sigh of defeat wasn't even heard when John smiled. "Good. You do realize that school will commence today? Unfortunately, the headmaster of our one and only Minerva High is a nonmagus. However, the Vice Principal isn't, and we will inform him of the situation as soon as he is awake. He will try to cook up a reason for the students to go home early today - for their own safety." His expression turned serious. "Go to Minerva later on and find Emma Warren in class 11B. Ask her to take you to her brother Alex Warren and tell her that John Dee asked you to take the catalyst. Their home isn't too far from the Witch House. Alex will take you to the laboratory; tell him that the amount is thirteen. That should do it."

Alex Warren. Near the Witch House...

Warren...

Wait.

My conversation with Cora after we left Disaster came into mind. So the host's name is Warren? "I think I know his house."

John smiled. "Good," he said. "Then I hope you will have no problem later. We'll see you again, Alden. Good luck."

The Alchemists turned around, but before the back of their robes even came into view, they disappeared into the night.

Ivan sighed. "It's going to be a long day."

//

The Necromancers began to disperse as soon as Isaac led Ivan back to them, but Barney and I stuck around. Isaac apparently decided to join. I told Barney about my encounter with the Alchemists briefly, and I knew he was trying to conceal his shock.

"One last thing?" I asked them. "Cora. And the midnight shifters. I need to know how they're doing."

Isaac and Barney - for the first time - shared a grim nod. "Then we go to the Covens' shelter," Barney said as he began to lead us. We followed suit.

"Shelter?"

"Each clan has their own kind of abode," Isaac said. "My clan usually stays in vans like this, although some - like my family - made permanent residence. Vans are much more mobile, and if any danger comes this way, we'll be well-equipped to save ourselves and, if we have to, wait for the right moment to retaliate. But whenever we need to gather, we usually meet up in our library."

I raised both eyebrows. "You have a library?"

Isaac nodded. "The Covens have one, too. But we don't know where each other's library is, so we can't steal knowledge from one another."

That sounded plain paranoid. "What about the Necromancers?"

Barney's expression shifted a little. "We're...uh, not exactly the most organized clan. We're pretty much the least, actually. Unlike the Shamans, the Covens, or the Alchemists who usually share views and come from certain kinds of people, we Necromancers have always been rather...heterogenic. We all come from all kinds of different backgrounds, different views, different ages, different experiences...but we all agree on two things. First, we are all adept in necromancy-based magic arts. And second, we just want peace. As long as peace is maintained, we don't see any reason to bother with all else."

Simplistic. Cool. "But if you don't have a library, what about training?"

"Have you ever heard of a grimoire?" Barney asked. I shook my head.

"I've heard the word, but I can't pinpoint the when and the what."

Barney nodded subtly. "In layman's term, it's a book of spells. Whenever we figure out something new, we put it there. Then we can share it with each other. The clans' libraries usually contain grimoires throughout the ages and some other things like the clan's secret archives, whatever they contain. We use these grimoires to train."

"Okay...and what about the headquarters?" I asked. "I mean, if you need to gather and everything?"

"Wherever we can gather," Barney shrugged. "Why complicate it?"

Isaac frowned, but said nothing. Then I remembered something else.

"What about the Alchemists?"

Barney almost halted, but Isaac pushed him to keep walking. "What?"

"The Alchemists," I repeated. "What about them? Where do they stay? Do they have a library?"

Barney turned to look at me and shot me a sharp look. It took me two seconds to realize that Isaac was doing the same. I stared. "What?"

"Alden, the Alchemists are rather...secretive," Isaac started.

"There are very few things that we know about them," Barney continued. "And it gets even harder because we rarely have Alchemist friends. They are usually very introverted to far extents. They seclude themselves most of the time. Some of us did try to connect with them, but...it didn't usually turn out well."

I remembered John the Alchemist Merlin earlier. I could easily imagine him in childhood and youth at school, keeping his thoughts to himself, being a silent genius while his classmates went on and did things he'd rather not join. I nodded. "But what do you know about them?"

"They gather in the Philosophers Manor," Isaac said. "And their lab is called the Golden Compass. But where either of the places is, we have no idea."

Their lab is called the Golden Compass.

Alex will take you to the laboratory. "I'm going to their laboratory today."

Isaac winced. "They won't let you know where it is," he said doubtfully.

"You can try and follow me," I offered. "I might need help."

Neither magus gave any response. They led me through the middle area of Calamity, skirting outside the road that circles Disaster - we could still hear shrieks and wails echoing there - then a quick turn to Bia's and over through the alleyways to what I believed was the darkest corner of Calamity.

"Hold it there," a girl's voice suddenly emerged from in front of us. This alleyway wasn't too tight, but there was no denying that it was pretty shadowy there. We couldn't see a thing. "What do you want?"

I peeked into the strings' plane and found that every string there were that could be grabbed were already grabbed, but not by Barney or Isaac. There were two hands grabbing them.

Barney and Isaac's hands weren't gliding into their pouches - they weren't here for combat. "We need to see Cora Maguire," Barney said. "She is also caring for six others, including her twin sister Zoey Maguire. We need to see them."

There was a chill running down my back out of nowhere. After everything that had happened tonight, I could recognize it as someone casting a magic spell on me.

"You're pretty good liars," the girl said again.

"Or we're telling the truth," Barney countered.

I could feel that the girl was about to answer him, but then there was a familiar voice: "Barney!"

Out of the darkness in front of us, Cora emerged. Then she noticed me. She was about to call out my name when she noticed Isaac.

"Uh, this is Isaac," I said. I suddenly remembered that the Covens had a long time rivalry with the Shamans. I could feel Cora tensing.

"A Shaman," she said coldly. "Why do you guys bring a Shaman with you?"

"Cora," Barney said. "We need to talk."

"About what?" Cora asked, her eyes still fiercely fixated on Isaac. Isaac looked somewhat nervous. He must be feeling Cora's aura. That's another victim for you, Cora.

"Alden," Barney answered. "This is about Alden. And the Alchemists."

Cora's sense of alarm took a different direction at once. "The Alchemists? What are they doing?"

"It might be safer if we don't talk about it in the open like this," Barney said. Cora glared at Isaac and gave him her signature I'll-personally-reap-your-soul look before nodding.

"Fine. This way." She was leading the way into the shadows. Then she shouted into the alley. "It's okay, girls! They're with me!"

"The Necromancer's fine," the girl voice answered. "But the other two?"

"I said, they're with me."

There was a short pause. I really need to learn how Cora exerted this kind of dominance.

"Okay," the girl voice said hesitantly. "Bring them in."

Out of nowhere, a wooden door appeared just like that. It was shining dimly with dark magenta, as if it was hot to the touch. But Cora reached to the knob and opened it just fine.

"Try not to do anything stupid," she warned us before leading us in.

Cora walked into the door and Barney followed behind her, so I and Isaac entered carefully after him.

The first thing to greet my eyesight: dark maroon drapes.

Somehow, I could tell that the room was an antechamber: it was only the early part of the whole shelter. The dark maroon drapes covered all the walls and there were no windows whatsoever, but there was a glass bowl on the ceiling and in it was a yellow orb emitting very powerful light - it might be just me, but...was that a miniature sun?

There were several Covens, all dressed in different attires. Some were still wearing their Halloween costumes; some others looked older and were wearing uniform dark maroon capes similar to the drapes. They all turned to look at us when we entered, but when they saw Cora, they simply looked away and carried on with what they were doing.

Cora led us through the antechamber to another room - this time, the ceiling was decorated with blinking stars. The source of light was the moon - I suddenly noticed that they were all subtly moving. Real-time projections, maybe?

Several more caped Covens walked past us, and then I realized that there were several beds in this room - most of them occupied by writhing or sleeping figures.

"It's a shelter," Cora said to me as if to confirm my thought.

She kept walking through this room to another one that looked just like the previous one with the beds and caped Covens and everything. How big is this place?

However, this time Cora led us to one of the beds in the room - Zoey.

"She's asleep," Cora said as we reached her bedside. "The other Covens had helped concoct the cure to terror gaze. It's not that rare a skill among malevolent ghosts, and we've dealt with a lot of those before. She's recovering."

"Great," I said. "What about the others?"

"They'll do fine," Cora said. "But by far, we'd only be able to take care of the catatonia. The stress and trauma will be different things entirely."

That actually sounded okay. Barney filled in the silence.

"Cora," he said. "A moment? You too, Isaac."

The three left Zoey's bedside and Cora led them to the next shelter room, and something in Barney's tone earlier made me realize they didn't want me to come along, so I stayed.

A young Wicce - younger than most of the caped Covens I mean - came over and checked on Zoey. Her hair was dirty blond, but I could see slight traces of brown in there. It was long and wavy, and since she didn't tie it up, I could see that it reached the small of her back. And - God help me - she's beautiful. Not like the Hollywood-pretty beautiful, but more like her face was built to be seen in sweet dreams. She looked adorable, and yet there wasn't even a single hint that she looked childish like Cora or Zoey.

I didn't even realize I was blushing until she smiled at me sheepishly. "You okay? You look a bit flushed," she said. I didn't know if it was possible, but even her voice was beautiful.

I tried to say 'yes', but I could only manage an embarrassing mumble. She tilted her head a little. "Come again?"

I cleared my throat. "Yes," I said. She let out a small giggle.

"I see," she said. "Zoey's friend, huh? Same year?"

"Yeah."

This time, she openly laughed - even while her hands still worked on Zoey. "And I'm a twelfth grader. How did you go through that?"

I could manage a smile. "Twelfth grade? Just don't pick on the teachers and you'll do just fine."

She slightly knitted her eyebrows without losing the smile. "That's the tip I got every single year in Minerva."

"Because that's the only rule there is," I shrugged. "Wait - we're just a year apart, then? Why haven't I ever seen you before?"

She laughed again, this time her hand pressed on Zoey's chest as if to read her heartbeat. "Really? I go around a lot every break."

I raised both eyebrows. "Oh, that answers it. I never left my class." Sadly, it was true. Getting drowned in books seemed more productive, and really, it actually helped during class.

She looked amused. "You should go out and socialize a bit."

It was my turn to laugh. "I've been told," I said. "You're the third one to say that tonight, actually."

"Then you should probably listen," she said as she put a small paper bag on Zoey's forehead. Huh, a Minerva junior in the Covens shelter. What are the odds?

Minerva...

Then I remembered something. "Hey, uh...?"

"Heather," she filled in, offering a hand. I took it.

"Alden," I said. "Do you know an eleventh grader named Emma Warren?"

She shook my hand and thought for a moment. She actually looked even more adorable while thinking. "Emma, huh...do you know which class she's from?"

John's words rang in my ears. "11B."

Her expression brightened a little, but I could tell she didn't quite find the answer. "I think I know her," she said. "Or rather, I've heard of her. Never actually talked to her. I think she's the one her friends called Little Miss Einstein."

I remembered that she was an Alchemist - or, since she was probably barely seventeen, her brother was an Alchemist - and it sort of made sense. "I think that's her. How does she look like?"

Heather sat down. "Let's see...ash blond and straight, shoulder-length; looking a bit pale, and..." she stood up, "...about this tall." She made an imaginary line with her hand over her jaw.

Ash blond, straight, shoulder-length. Pale. That should do. "Thanks, Heather."

She smiled warmly as she sat down again. "You're welcome, Alden."

We didn't really know why, but we laughed lightly after she said that.

"So when did you realize you were a Wicce?" I asked. She raised her eyebrows.

"Just this Halloween," she said. Then she smiled warmly again and I could feel my heart skip a beat. I wouldn't mind drowning in those sea-blue eyes forever. "It's my first one after my seventeenth. My magic manifested and everything. Mom was almost hysterical. My dad took me for a night walk. He'd told me about the whole thing before, so I just needed to pick my clan. Then I just knew that I wanted to join the Covens."

"Why the Covens?" I asked. She shrugged.

"I'm not really sure," she said. "I kind of just knew. But they take the matter of honor seriously, and I think that's amazing. Let alone the fact that I have zero skills on necromancy. And I think the Alchemists are too..."

She struggled to find the word. "Creepy," I guessed. She nodded.

"Creepy. So I think that left me with one choice, and I gladly took it." She smiled again. "What about you? What's your clan?"

That question again. "Honestly, I don't know," I said. "My magic just manifested."

She tilted her head. "So you're seventeen?"

"That's the weird thing. I'm eighteen."

She wolf-whistled. "Late bloomer. Which clan do you think you'll choose?"

I shrugged. "I'm considering -"

"Alden," a voice called. Heather and I turned to the voice - it was Cora. She stopped on her tracks. "Um, hi, Heather."

Heather smiled at her. Hmm, friendly. "Hi, Cora. I was just talking with your friend here."

"I can see that," Cora said lightly. "Can I borrow him for a moment?"

"Anytime," Heather said as she looked at me again. "By the way, Zoey's doing great. I'll go check on Julia now. It's nice talking to you, Alden."

"Pleasure's all mine," I said as Heather left. Cora raised her eyebrows.

"Getting friendly, are we?" she said accusingly at me. I shrugged.

"Can't blame me, she's pretty interesting. So what do you want to talk about?"

"We've agreed on something," Barney said. "And...come here. I don't want to say this aloud."

I looked at Zoey one last time before leaving her bedside and approached my friends. "Yeah?"

"We'll teach you what we know," Isaac said. "At least, just the basics. So you can control your magic."

"And don't even say no because the Alchemists had admitted that there's a forty percent chance of the catalyst failing," Cora said when I opened my mouth. "I don't want you to take that chance. Besides, I've told you - you're not like any late bloomer we've ever seen. That magic of yours is different. There's no telling how you'll react to that catalyst. At least let us help you." She actually looked pained as she said that. "Do you trust me?"

There was a short silence. I sighed and finally nodded. "Of course I do, Cora."

A small smile stole across her face. "Good. Now let's get you home and rest. You can go find that Emma Warren tomorrow. We'll be stalking you."

"What kind of stalker tells the stalked guy that they're stalking him?" I asked as the three led me out of the shelter.

"The kind dealing with Alchemists," Cora said. "Go home and get some sleep."

The four of us walked through the alleyways until we reached Bia's. I knew my way home from there, but all three insisted on coming along just in case any monster attacked me on my way and tried to drain my magic again.

I didn't even think that I could sleep at all after the whole Witch House thing, but as a matter of fact, I could really use some sleep. At least this time I'd be unconscious by choice.

Ivan was right. It was going to be a long day.