Chapter 22: Forced cooperation
«AMY?!»
She was lying on the floor in front of me, belly down.
Judging from the bathrobe she was wearing, she must have just come out of the bathroom. She was probably heading to the closet to grab a clean uniform, but she had never reached it.
Normally I'd have thought she'd just tripped over her own feet, but it was clear at first glance that something was wrong.
On her right leg shone an extremely bright light. I squinted, trying to figure out what was emitting it.
With horror, I realized that the thing perched on Amy's body was alive.
About four inches long, two transparent wings, a pair of small glassy eyes, it allmost looked like a mosquito, but obviously it was way too big.
I saw its legs moving erratically, scraping against Amy's skin.
It was like a signal.
I finally managed to shake off the shock.
I drew my wand and aimed it right at the creature:
«Freeze!»
The bug immediately stopped moving and, immobilised, slid to the ground with a slight thud. As it detached itself from its victim, I caught a glimpse of some sort of proboscis coming out of Amy's leg. Was this thing sucking her blood?
I approched her, shouting her name.
She didn't react.
"She must be unconscious... What did that thing do to her?!"
I looked down at her leg, where it looked like she'd been bitten, but there was no sign of a sting.
"Weird..."
With trembling hands, I pointed the wand at her.
At my command, Amy's body lifted into the air. Slowly and with great care I guided her to her bed, turned her onto her back and gently laid her down.
I quickly rushed to her side.
«What the...?!»
Amy's face was extremely pale, as if she had lost a lot of blood.
But there was something much stranger and more worrying. Amy seemed strangely emaciated, as if she had lived in hardship for a long time.
But that... couldn't be possible. I saw her just a few hours ago and she was perfectly healthy!
"What kind of bug could do something like this?!"
To my immense relief, however, she seemed to be breathing. Carefully I placed two fingers on her wrist. Her heartbeat was faint. She needed immediate attention, whatever had happened to her.
But before I could decide how to proceed, someone burst into the room in a hurry.
«What the fuck is going on in here?!»
It was Sophia. My screams must have alerted her.
Her gaze moved quickly around the room, shifting from Amy's body, to the oversized bug on the floor, and finally to me.
«What are you waiting for?! Let's get her to the infirmary, I'll help you!»
In a flash she was at my side, draping Amy's arm over her shoulder. I nodded and did the same. But as we lifted her up, we couldn't help but exchange a confused look.
Amy's body was extremely light. Too light.
Even though she had a petite build, it wasn't possible for her to weigh so little.
But now wasn't the time to think about that: the priority now was to get Amy to the infirmary as quickly as possible.
We made our way through the dark hallways of the school, without speaking. We were on high alert. I feared that around every corner, we would find a swarm of those strange creatures ready to attack us.
But luckily we managed to reach the infirmary without incident.
I was about to open the door with my free hand when Sophia stopped me:
«Can you make it on your own from here?»
«Mmmh, I think so...»
Normally I would never have managed it, but Amy was so strangely light that I didn't think I would have any issues carrying her alone.
«Okay, I'll see you here in a bit.»
Sophia dashed off.
"Leaving me alone in this situation... I hope she has something very important to do to..."
***
About half an hour later, I closed the door to the infirmary behind me.
As she had told me before, Sophia was waiting for me outside, leaning against the wall. She seemed so lost in thought that the creak of the door made her jump.
«So?! How is she?» she asked immediately. Her tone betrayed concern.
«S-she'll make it...» I replied, my voice choked with relief.
I let myself slide down the wall with a sigh. Now that the adrenaline rush from the sudden crisis had worn off, I felt completely exhausted.
Sophia sat down on the floor beside me.
«I-I... I'm sorry,» Sophia apologised, avoiding my gaze, «if I hadn't stopped you in the hallway, you could have intervened sooner and...»
«Don't be ridiculous... how could you have known that something like this was going to happen? If you put it that way, then it's my fault. If I hadn't arranged to meet with her, she wouldn't have left the door open and she wouldn't have been attacked by that thing in the first place!»
«You couldn't have known either...» replied Sophia, giving me a light nudge with her elbow. It must have been her way of comforting me.
After a few seconds of silence, she asked:
«Have they told you what's wrong with her? I didn't pay much attention in the rush to get her here, but she didn't seem to have any wounds. What the hell did that giant bug do to her?»
The answer was simple, yet terrifying. As I thought about what the healer had told me, I couldn't help but shudder.
If I hadn't stopped it, that creature would've certainly killed Amy in a matter of seconds.
«It's her mana... She barely has any left. That thing must've drained it.»
I remembered the blinding light that seemed to be emanating from the creature's belly. There was no doubt that the light was nothing but Amy's mana, which the bug was feeding on.
«But she will recover, right?» Sophia asked, apprehensively.
«They told me she will. But it'll take time. She'll need several invigorating spells and to rest for at least two or three weeks.»
Sophia seemed relieved. After a while, however, her face turned puzzled.
«But... really, the loss of mana affected her like that? She looked like she had been starving for months and weighed like a small child!"»
«Well, knowing the effects of mana deficiency, it seems logical, doesn't it?»
For some reason, my words seemed to irritate her.
«Sorry, but I'm not very knowledgeable on the subject,» she burst out.
«Uh? Isn't it like one of the first things they teach you in magic school?» I asked confused.
«I never went to one before I came here, ok?» she replied in an extremely annoyed tone, «with the mana I have, it would've been useless anyway.»
"Huh?"
In the light of the torches I could see that her cheeks were tinted red, as if she was very ashamed of her words.
I had never seen her react like that before.
Did Sophia have a complex about her lack of magical power?
But with that absurd ability she had, what did it matter? She didn't need to cast spells to defeat practically anyone!
Normally I would have teased her, but something told me that, in this case, Sophia would not take it as a joke...
For a moment, I thought about the best way to explain what I meant to her.
«Mhh... Ok. Imagine running and running, non-stop. What would happen if, even after exhausting all your energies, you didn't stop?»
«Well, I guess I would collapse to the ground or maybe faint...»
«Exactly! Regardless of your will, there would come a moment when your body would simply refuse to go on,» I explained, «with mana it's the same thing. If you use too much of it, it becomes difficult to cast spells. You feel exhausted just like after running too much. And if your mana levels are too low, your body can't take it anymore and shuts down.»
«That's why, under normal conditions, it's almost impossible to completely run out mana,» I continued, «if I tried to cast a spell that would bring it to critical levels, I would end up fainting. Think of it as a safety mechanism your body puts in place to prevent you from hurting yourself.»
«What about me then? With how little mana I have shouldn't I be allways exhausted? Instead, I am much better athletically than someone like you who is full of mana.»
«Did you really have to add that last part? Anyway, I think it's because your body is used to it. Your guard level is much lower than mine.»
«Allright. So, Amy...»
«Her mana now is well below that guard level, and this had direct effects on her body. It's as if she started eroding all her energy reserves to keep herself alive until it reduced her to that state.»
«That's terrible... but... why?» Sophia asked, still unconvinced, «I've always seen mana as something that's only useful for casting spells... Why should losing it cause all these problems?»
«Mmmhh... here we enter a branch of magic that is still kind of hazy,» I replied, «the one that seeks to give an answer to what mana actually is...»
«You see, if you were to cut me open with your sword right now, would you be able to find my mana?» I asked.
«The prospect is tempting, but no, I wouldn't even know where to look, actually...» Sophia replied with a slight smile
«Idiot... Well, anyway, you're not wrong. Despite all the studies that have been done, no one has been able to find out where mana is in our body. There's no doubt that it's within us, that we can feel it when we concentrate, and that mages can manipulate it... but we don't know exactly where or what it is. In some cases, it can be observed outside the body, but apart from measuring its intensity, there doesn't seem to be anything we can do with it. It's odourless, tasteless and intangible. Just very bright...»
«Are you saying that... someone actually tried to eat it?!» Sophia asked in astonishment.
«I guess they were really desperate to discover anything of value,» I chuckled.
«So, in the end, no one has an answer to what it is?»
«No, but there's an interpretation that I think convinces me.»
«What would that be?»
«If mana is so tied to our bodies and losing it causes them to deteriorate... maybe it's nothing more than our life force in the end»
Sophia stood in silence as she processed what I had told her.
After a while, she slapped her forehead as if she had just realised something, making me jump out of my surprise.
«What would happen if your mana was completely drained?»
«Like I said, it's not something that usually happens... But you'd die for sure.»
«No I meant, what would happen to your body?»
«To your body... Wait... you don't mean...?»
I finally understood what she was getting at, but it was crazy!
«I mean, look at what happened to Amy even without it being completely drained! Her body lost a lot of mass, she probably weighs like 50 pounds right now! So what would've happened if the bug had actually been able to finish its meal?»
«So you're telling me that some kind of giant mosquito has been flying around the school all this time? And it ate up two of our classmates?!» I exclaimed.
Saying those words out loud made everything even more absurd. But as bizarre as it was, it was the key to the puzzle.
We hadn't found any corpses, not because they had been hidden or destroyed, but because there had never been any in the first place.
The victims had withered away from the absorption of their mana, leaving no trace.
Amy's condition was the proof we needed to discover the terrible fate that had befallen Mary Stillwater and Frank Boyle.
But there was still something that didn't add up.
«But... why didn't Amy defend herself?» I asked, «even though it was quite big, it's still just a bug, even without a wand she could have likely shaken it off...»
«We should ask her when she wakes up, but I have an idea,» Sophia replied, «you know, when a mosquito bites you, you usually don't notice it right away, right?»
After seeing me nod, Sophia continued:
«It's because their saliva has the power to reduce the pain caused by their bite... I wonder if that creature could do something similar, but instead of reducing pain, it has paralysing properties, so it can eat undisturbed.»
«You may not know much about mana, but when it comes to interesting facts about mosquitoes...» I teased her.
«I read a lot when I was little,» Sophia replied dismissively, «there's something that makes me think I'm right...»
«What would that be?»
«The blood in Frank Boyle's room.»
I had almost forgotten about it.
Although it stung its victims, the insect didn't seem to cause wounds, so the presence of blood couldn't be explained.
«I can't be sure, of course, but I think it went like this,» Sophia began to explain, «for some reason I'm still not sure of, Frank was alone in his room with the door open during class. The creature took advantage of this to enter and attack him. Frank was probably standing at the time. The sting paralysed him, causing him to fall forward and hit his head on the desk, causing him to bleed.»
Sophia's theory made sense, and also explained why the room was in the state it was. When he fell forward, he must have knocked over the desk, causing all that chaos.
Poor guy...
«So the insect drained him of all his mana, he lost his life energy or whatever you said, and he left behind only his clothes on the floor...» Sophia concluded.
«Right! There was an uniform th-»
Then I remembered a fact that had completely slipped my mind because of these strange murders. If only I had thought of it earlier...
«Sophia...»
«What's wrong?»
I told her how, a few weeks earlier, I had stumbled across an abandoned uniform in the middle of a corridor.
In another situation, I was sure Sophia would have laughed at me falling on my butt, but this time she didn't.
We both knew that what I had stumbled upon was the last remnant of Mary Stillwater.
It was all the proof I needed to believe Sophia's theory.
In the end, though, I couldn't help but feel a little relieved.
«At least this time it wasn't one of our classmates but an animal,» I said with a sigh, «we should go back to Skylark again, he's the only one who can find out if there are any more of those things buzzing around...»
Suddenly, Sophia's face darkened.
«Ah... I had almost forgotten about it...»
She seemed to be fiddling with something on her right. After a moment, she handed me what looked like some rugs.
I recognized, by the color, the sheets that covered our beds.
«What are those?» I began asked her.
«You see, when you went in the infirmary, I went back to Amy's room. I didn't know how long your spell would last, so I thought it would be a good idea to trap the insect before it got free. I wrapped it in blankets to bring it here, but...» Sophia swallowed, «when I was halfway there, I suddenly felt the bug moving again inside. After a bit though it suddenly stopped. When I carefully checked what was going on... it had vanished.»
«How is that possible?»
Did that strange creature also have the ability to teleport?!
I couldn't rule it out, but there was a much simpler explanation.
«Have you ever heard of some kind of giant mosquito capable of absorbing mana?» Sophia asked me.
«No, of course not.»
It didn't seem like something that could exist in nature.
But then...?
«...A familiar!»
Sophia nodded.
«That creature disappeared because whoever was controlling it, realising it was trapped, got rid of it.»
A familiar was nothing more than a creature summoned through a spell. It wasn't a flesh-and-blood animal, but its body took shape from the magical power of its owner. The summoner could then control it through a continuous flow of mana.
That also explained why it didn't seem to leave marks on its victims, it could probably just make itself incorporeal at will. Hell, it probably was able to go through walls. I guess it didn't need the door to be opened to attack Amy after all.
But...
«Could such a familiar... exist?»
Usually commonly summoned familiars were small creatures, mostly useful for sending messages or spying on someone. After all, summoning spells were quite advanced. Creating something with those mana-draining abilities would be an insane feat. Unless...
«An innate power...»
«That's what I thought too,» Sophia nodded, «whoever created that being is extremely dangerous. After all, if their familiars can absorb mana, there must be a reason.»
Indeed... those creatures seemed to be able to store magical power in their bellies. Were they returning it to their summoner? And for what purpose?
It couldn't be anything good.
«Well, what I know is that I'm back to square one,» Sophia said, annoyed.
«What do you mean?»
«Even though we now know what their power consists of, if the killer can just send these bugs around while sitting comfortably in class, how the hell am I supposed to catch them?»
«Mmmh, maybe there's a way,» I replied, scratching my chin.
«Eh? How?»
It was the first thing that came to mind when I thought about familiars.
«Well, I'm not sure if it's going to work, since we're most likely dealing with an anomalous power. But if it works similar to a familiar, it shouldn't be too difficult to find out who controls it...»
«The fact that they made the bug disappear when they realized it was trapped,» I continued, «indicates that it still maintains a connection with its creatures. So you can probably just follow the mana flow to trace back to the culprit.»
«Mmmh, follow the connection between the creature and its summoner, you say? How am I supposed to do that?» Sophia asked.
«Well, it's simple. It's a bit like following the course of a river. All you have to do is send a flow of mana yourself and make it follow the... Oh!»
At my words, I saw Sophia's expression change from curiosity to frustration. She would've never been able to do it alone. Her low mana level wouldn't allow it.
But then... she had no choice...
It was with a strange sense of satisfaction that I watched Sophia's inner conflict unfold before me. In the end, clenching her fists, she could do nothing but admit defeat.
There was no other choice: if she wanted to find out who the killer was, she had no choice but to cooperate with me.
«... From tomorrow, after dinner, we'll keep watch... together...» she finally told me.
From her tone, it was as if uttering those words had caused her physical pain.
For the second time tonight, I resisted the temptation to tease her.
For a moment, I almost considered saying no to her. Before tonight, I had been determined to find the killer on my own, but after that piece of shit had hurt Amy, I was going to spare no effort to catch them.
«Alright. It'll be a pleasure working with you,» I replied, smiling.
«Don't get any funny ideas, it's just out of necessity. And make sure you don't slow me down...» Sophia said and turned on her heels.
But before she disappeared into the darkness of the hallway, I was sure I saw the shadow of a smile shining on her face.
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