The Guilty Grave

I wake up the next morning and I'm shocked. I had no nightmares the night before. Odd…

Mornin' Aster!! Victor yells out of the blue.

I wince. "Use your inside voice, gosh."

Today is the day that we save the world! Get hyped!!

I sigh, but that can't keep a grin from spreading across my face.

I walk to closet and try to slap together the most "action-hero" look possible. I come up with a leather jacket with a white shirt, grey cargo pants, and fingerless leather gloves (which I don't know why I still have, to be honest).

I check myself out in the mirror.

"I don't look half-bad," I say out loud.

You look stupid, Victor chimes in.

"Hey…"

No, you're right. You'd look great with the right lighting.

I double check my appearance.

With the lights off… Victor mutters.

"Okay, listen here!"

I place my phone in front of me on the kitchen table.

"Alright, Victor. You said that we can track the professor through his message. What did you have in mind, because there is no number listed."

I honestly thought that you would have caught up by now. We're using magic, stupid.

"A tad salty today, aren't we?"

Sorry, dude. I'm so pumped for this battle! You should be, too!

"You're positive that we aren't in over our heads, right?" I ask nervously.

Come on, Aster! You are practically a master at fire magic. And I'm pretty sure that Moordoor can throw fireballs.

"Yeah, but he can raise the dead. I'm pretty sure I can't make zombies."

Technically they aren't zombies. They have no need for food like zombies do. They're basically wind-up puppets. So really, they're just reanimated. And also-"

"Okay, okay! I get it," I interrupt. "Now the spell, please."

Right, right. Okay, hold your hand over the phone for me."

I comply.

Cool. Now you may feel a slight tingle.

"Wait," I say. "What do you mean a slight-"

Suddenly the sensation of a billion volts shoots down my arm. The sensation doesn't last much more than 5 seconds. But once it ends, my entire body is tingling and I'm pretty sure that I'm smelling colors.

Alright. I have the information. That wasn't so bad, right?

I wheeze and the smell of colors intensifies.

"Yep. Couldn't have gone any smoother."

Perfect. Now let's get going.

We walk out to the stolen Cooper and go on our way.

"Alright, where are we going exactly?"

Well… Victor says. You've probably never heard of this place before. It's a mystic monument called the Golden Gate Bridge.

I roll my eyes. "Woow." But then the realization hits me. "Wait, Moordoor is planning to end the world from the Golden Gate Bridge?"

Yep. That's where he currently is at least.

The rest of the ride over there was silent. Except for the lyrics to Demi Lovato's Heart Attack pounding in my brain on loop for the hour drive.

It wasn't long after my headache started that I realized that the Bridge was in sight.

"There it is," I say relieved.

Yep, Victor says. Time to face ourselves a vil- KABOOM!

A massive explosion shakes the car and the very earth beneath us.

There is smoke billowing from the center of the bridge.

"Oh no…" I say, exiting the vehicle. "Are we too late?"

No, Victor says. That wasn't dark magic.

I sprint through the crowds of people exiting their cars toward when the explosion when off. By the time that I got there, the smoke was beginning to dissipate. There is a line of cars right in front of where a smoky spot is. I squint.

"Who is that?"

It's not Moordoor. I don't sense the items.

The figure turns toward us through the smoke.

"Well, well, well," a manly voice with a southern accent says to me through the smoke. The figure approaches, and I can finally get a good look at him.

The speaker is a young man in a cowboy hat, a white dress shirt tucked into a pair of jean and cowboy boots. If he was trying to look like a cowboy, he was spot on.

"I was startin' to think that you weren't gonna show," he said, approaching. "You must be that Aster fella that the good doctor was talkin' about. The name's Austin."

I name a cautious step back. "You're with Moordoor? What do want with him? But more importantly, what do you want with me?"

"Well, ya see," Austin stops advancing. "The doc has promised something very important in return for me takin' care of y'all. So, it's nothin' personal. Jus' good business." Austin begins walking again.

"I'd stay where you are if I were you," I say, adopting a defensive stance.

Austin pauses again. "Well, that'll suit me jus' fine." Austin extends his right arm and makes a finger-pistol in my direction.

Get ready to dodge, Aster, Victor says.

At that moment, blue electricity swirls around Austin's feet. The strand of lighting snakes up Austin's body, down his arm, and gathers at the tip of his pointer finger.

Austin grins. "Nice meetin' ya."

And just like that a lightning bolt shoots from the tip of Austin's finger, zigzagging in my direction.

I was barely able to dive out the way, but I still the tingle of the electricity as it wizzes by me.

"Was that magic?" I ask, stunned.

"Ya darn tootin'!" Austin says. "It's one of the many talents that I was born with." He points his finger at me again.

This time, I dive behind a car.

"Hidin' won't save ya!" Austin shouts. Then he lets loose rapid-fire lightning bolts from both fingers. They pelt the car, one after the other. Glass shatters over me after the first hit.

"What do I do?" I ask Victor, trying not to panic.

Well, it's clear that Austin is the one who sent us the message under Moordoor's name. Because I'm still picking up the signal from him. But we have to beat him in order to move on. If we don't, he'll just become more trouble later.

"Okay, but how do I compete with him?" I reply. "He's had his whole life to train with his magic!"

A lightning bolt penetrates the side of the car that I'm on, narrowly missing my ear.

No time to think. Just go!

I reach into my pocket and take out a lighter that I brought from the house. I don't want to have to use the knife yet. I stand up and run around behind Austin. I flick the lighter and concentrate. The flame jumps from the lighter to palm and flares up to the side of a basketball. The glove protects but hand from immediate burns, but I still feel the heat.

"Hey, Austin!" I shout. "I'm only after Professor Moordoor. And If you continue to be in my way, I'll just have to burn you down!" And with that I hurl my fireball.

Austin evades my attack easily.

"Oh-ho ho!" he cackles. "We've got ourselves a good ol' fashioned standoff, don't we?" He stands up straight. "Guess it's my turn to fire off now!"

Before I can react, Austin blasts the lighter out of my hand and I hear it explode behind me. I feel a small shock shoot through my body, and I cry out. Austin fires twice-more but misses. This gives me time to dive behind another car.

That's unfortunate, Victor says.

"No, duh," I retort. "I'm flame-less and pretty much magic-less!"

Oh, you're never magic-less, Victor replies. That's part of what makes magic magical. It's limitless and shapeless. You just have to get creative.

I think about what he just said. "Get creative, huh?" I have an idea. I shake out my arm and get in front of the car.

"Hey, Austin!" I shout.

Austin stops firing.

I gain a little bit of confidence here. "Can you really dress like a cowboy when you haven't hit me once?"

Austin looks confused. "What are ya talkin' about? I shot that there lighter outta yer hands a couple minutes ago!"

"Let's be honest here. I totally let you have that. The reality is that you couldn't hit the side of a barn!"

Austin begins to turn an unflattering shade of purple. "You watch yer mouth, boy. I'll shoot ya full of holes."

"Blah, blah, blah. Don't see it don't believe it. Do you know where I could find the professor. I don't have time for second-rate cowboys."

Austin lets out a roar. He aims both of his finger-pistols right at my head. He let's loose a massive double blast right in my direction.

I do one last dive roll out of the way, and the blast hits the jeep that was right behind me. The car explodes and bursts into flames and the shockwave throws be across the bridge. I slam the back of my head into the edge of the bridge.

I start to see spots and I feel blood running down my neck.

"You see that, Aster?" Austin spits. "You mess with fire, and you get burned."

I struggle to push myself up and stand. I stare Austin dead in the eyes.

"I couldn't agree more."

I extend both of my hands toward the flaming wreckage that once was a jeep. I envision the bonfire, then I imagine it swirling upwards towards the sky. I open my eyes and continue to focus on the flames. The flames soon take the shape I imagined. A blazing tornado.

A devilish grin spreads uncontrollably across my face.

"Imagination," I say in a low tone.

I turn my head and look toward Austin. He has a look of pure, unbridled fear across his face. I turn back towards my fire funnel and my heart sinks. The spell is raging out of control. Out of my control. I stumble backwards as the flame rages past me. I grab the border of the bridge as I try not to get sucked in.

Austin stands, frozen in terror. By the time he turns to run, it's too late. The spinning blaze picks him up off the ground and pulls him in.

I hold on tight and shut my eyes tight, but none of this helped to block out the screams of agony coming from the inferno. After what feels like an eternity, the screams cease. I open my eyes and look behind me. My spell is still going strong and getting stronger. I had made a massive mistake.

"V-Victor," I manage to squeak out. "I-I can't s-stop it."

Yeah, Victor says gravely. I know. I got this.

I willingly pass the control to Victor. I know that I can't go on.

Victor stands up and looks at the out of control spell. "Wow, that's insane. Welp, here goes nothing."

Victor dabs three fingers into the blood running down my head, charges toward the twister. He sprints a tight circle around the flame and paints a circle of blood around it.

Once the circle is complete, Victor jumps back from the flame and pats the embers on my jacket down. He points toward the tornado, then to the circle of blood.

He takes a deep breath and shouts, "Sanguis Dissolvit!"

The blood circle glows red and begins to melt through the bridge. Within 3 seconds, the circle on the bridge caves and in and falls into the bay below, taking the flame with it.

Victor lets out a massive breath and sprints back the way we came.

I had just killed another person.