Chapter 132: 104. Like a Nightmare

"This is a nightmare," Paige said quietly as we all watched the ambulance pull away from the front of the school.

Melanie nodded, "Yep."

My girlfriend looked up from her phone and added, "It's already all over social media. At least ten different students posted videos of Mr. Guthrie writing that stuff out before he collapsed."

"Those podcast guys are lapping it up too," Cerys grumbled. "Running around interviewing everyone who'll talk to them on camera."

The school wasn't closed this time, but it was lunch now and it seemed like half the students came outside to watch the ambulance take Mr. Guthrie away. And somehow those two internet reporters found out about it, or maybe they were already hanging around the school waiting to see Melanie or Kimmie. Either way they were taking full advantage of the situation.

And it meant they were here to catch the action with the ambulance. And try to interview all the students who came out to watch, so they could find out what happened.

Now that our math teacher was on the way to the hospital there wasn't much else to see, so after a few more seconds Paige suggested "Let's go have lunch. Maybe we can talk more in the cafeteria."

There were a few murmurs of agreement, and a few minutes later all six of us were sitting together in a quiet corner of the lunch room.

"Cass you were there when it happened," Paige commented quietly. "Did you see anything that didn't turn up in the videos people are posting?"

I sighed, "Yeah. I didn't see the beginning of it, I was distracted I guess. But after it started I could see the magic. He was enspelled, there was a faint magic glow around his head. I couldn't see where it came from though, it definitely wasn't anyone else in the class causing it."

"By the time I tried to dispell it I was too late," I added with another sigh. "He'd already collapsed, and I guess whatever the magic was doing, the damage was done."

Cerys asked, "Did you catch what he said before he fainted? I've watched a couple different videos and it sounds garbled in all of them."

That surprised me, "It does? The stuff he was writing was gibberish, but when he talked it was really clear. It didn't sound like his voice though."

"What did he say, do you remember exactly?" Paige asked.

"Um," I frowned and thought for a few seconds, "Something about Medeia? Someone named Medeia is coming, or is here maybe? And they're going to punish someone. Um, evildoers? Or no, it was wrongdoers I think?"

My girlfriend was already searching on her phone, and a couple seconds later she grimaced, "Huh. This can't be a coincidence."

"What do you mean? Who's Medeia?" Melanie asked.

Kaylee replied, "She's a character from ancient Greek mythology. According to this she's best known as a priestess of Hecate. Which makes me think maybe that invocation we found in the cave in March was the real thing after all."

"Seriously?" Cerys asked. "So someone tried to invoke Hecate, and possibly summoned or raised one of her priestesses instead?"

Paige frowned, "That's assuming it's the same person, which honestly feels really unlikely to me? I'm not saying it's impossible, but could a character from Greek mythology be real, and somehow appear here and now?"

Melanie looked at Nina and asked, "Do you know if the ancient Greek gods are real? And the myths and stuff?"

"That was almost a thousand years before I was born," my little sister replied quietly. "At least some of their gods were probably real, some might even still be around today, but I don't know any of them."

I added softly, "It might just be a coincidence like Kaylee said? Maybe the Medeia Mr. Guthrie mentioned has nothing to do with the myth, or with Hecate."

"Whoever they are, this Medeia is attacking people," Paige stated. "According to Mr. Guthrie she's 'punishing wrongdoers'... So far that's Mr. Sanderson and Mr. Guthrie, two teachers with a reputation for being nasty to some students."

She continued with a sigh, "That makes me think our mystery pagan turned to Hecate for help? They probably wanted to get back at people who've wronged them, or who they feel have hurt them?"

"Invoking gods to get revenge is something people have done for ages," Cerys pointed out. "I'm not saying it's a good idea, just that it's not uncommon."

Kaylee was looking at her phone again and after a couple seconds she commented, "The myths say Medeia killed with poison. That might align with the bee attack? Venom instead of poison? She also used magic and potions, which might explain what happened to Mr. Guthrie? Like a potion, or some kind of magical poison maybe."

"I don't know," I shrugged. "I didn't notice any other magic, and like I said it wasn't coming from any of the other students."

Cerys was looking at one of the videos again, and had paused it so she could zoom in. She commented, "He had a coffee mug on his desk. If we're talking about poison, maybe someone put something in his drink?"

"It would have to be magical poison, since Cass saw magic on him. I don't know if there is such a thing though?" Nina pointed out quietly.

My girlfriend responded, "Maybe not, but curses are a thing. Someone could have given him a cursed object, or left something cursed on his desk? Either way it would be nice if we could get into his class and have a look around. If there's something magical or cursed in there, Cass should be able to see it."

Paige looked thoughtful, "If it was a cursed or poisoned object, that might help narrow down our list of suspects? The people in the same class as Cass are one potential group to check on. And maybe whoever had math class first thing this morning?"

Melanie and Cerys exchanged a glance, then the ravenette wolfgirl said "Me and Cerys and Nina all had Mr. Guthrie for the first period this morning."

"You three were also in gym when Mr. Sanderson was attacked," Kaylee pointed out. "It might be a coincidence, or it might mean our mystery Hecate worshipper is someone in your class."

Our club leader lowered her voice as she said, "I can access the school's computers tonight and get a list of everyone in your gym class from last week, and your math class this morning. I'm sure there'll be some overlap, but that might narrow it down to maybe a dozen or two names I think."

Cerys said, "I'll start keeping a closer eye on our fellow students, to see if anyone's acting weird. And me and Melanie can listen in and hopefully catch it if anyone says something incriminating."

Me and Nina agreed to talk to our parents after we got home, to see if they knew anything about Medeia or ancient Greek mythology stuff. Unfortunately that was about the extent of all our plans for now. Until we had a name or someone to investigate, all we could do was watch and listen and hope nobody else got hurt.

When she was finished her lunch Paige posted some updates to the group chat, so Brooke and Melody would be in the loop about the recent developments. Then when our lunch period was over, we all headed back to our afternoon classes. Fortunately the rest of the day passed by without any more magical attacks in the school.

Me and Kaylee met up with Nina and the wolfgirls after class, but rather than all five of us heading home together Melanie said she wanted to swing by her dad's place to get some more of her and Cerys's stuff. She was worried her dad might start throwing her stuff out, especially if he was going to be moving soon.

Nina volunteered to go with them, to help carry stuff and maybe to look out for them just incase. Kaylee and I offered to help as well, but the wolfgirls didn't think they needed all five of us.

So my sister accompanied the wolfgirls back to their place, while me and Kaylee went out the school's back door so we could cut across the field towards the ravine.

"I was wondering," Kaylee said as she glanced at me, "Do you know if there's any way to tell when someone has magic, or has used magic? Does using magic leave some sort of evidence behind? Traces of magic in a person's system or anything like that?"

She blushed slightly and added, "I guess I'm thinking about some of those crime shows, like using a gun leaves chemical residue on your hands. Do spells leave magical residue behind after you cast them?"

You are reading story Club Luna at novel35.com

"No idea," I shrugged. "You have more experience with magic than I do."

My girlfriend sighed, "Ah right. Well, it was just a thought."

As we started down into the ravine she added, "Here's another thought? If someone's summoned Medeia where would she be lurking? Has she disguised herself as a student so she can hang around the school? Or is she here but invisible? Or maybe she's non-corporeal, more like a spirit or ghost. And if that's the case, is she following our mystery summoner around? Or does she only manifest when she's needed?"

"If she was a spirit or something I might be able to see her," I commented after thinking it over. "I think I can see through some kinds of invisibility, but not others. Like I couldn't see those fairies last summer when they were invisible? I'm guessing if it's a natural trait I can't see through it, but if it's being done with magic or a spell then I'd probably see through it."

Kaylee nodded, "And if Medeia is a human sorceress then making herself invisible would be a spell, so you should be able to see through that. So I guess you'll keep your eyes open for anything like that around school."

"If I saw any out of place magic at school I'd have already said something," I replied. "But yeah I'll make a point of watching out from now on."

When we emerged from the ravine onto the sidewalk at our usual spot we were a little surprised to see someone there, apparently waiting for us. It was a young woman, she was dressed in some light grey track pants, sneakers, and she had dark grey hoodie on. A small black canvas purse hung from her shoulder. Her hair was a little messy and she didn't have any make-up on. And she had a sad, almost desperate look in her eyes.

Kaylee was immediately wary of the strange woman, but I recognized her. It took a couple seconds for me to place where I'd seen her before though.

"Alyssa?" I asked. "What are you doing here? Is everything ok?"

She gave me a weak smile as she replied, "Hello Cassandra. Sorry to turn up like this but I was hoping I could talk to you? I wanted to ask you for a favour..."

I glanced at my girlfriend then looked back at Alyssa and suggested, "We can go talk at my place?"

"I'd rather speak with you in private, if that's ok?" she asked nervously.

That worried me a little. Not that I thought she was up to something, but she seemed anxious and uneasy which didn't seem good. I asked, "Do you mean you don't want Kaylee around? Or do you mean, you don't want to talk with my parents around?"

Alyssa blushed, "Your moms... I don't have anything against them, but I don't want to involve them."

"Ok," I frowned. "If this is going to be a big conversation maybe we should go to a cafe or something? Somewhere we can sit down?"

The woman grimaced then sort of blurted out, "I just want to know, can you turn me back into a fox?"

That caught both me and my girlfriend by surprise. Kaylee gasped, "What?! Why would you want that?!"

Alyssa sighed, and almost started rambling as she spilled out all the things that have been going on with her since we saved her last year.

"My life as a human ended last summer," she half-whispered to us. "I was grateful you changed me back in December but after just a few days I knew I didn't fit in anymore. I feel out of place. Being missing for half a year meant I lost my job. I've tried to work again, I got a part-time job but couldn't hold onto it. I went through that twice in fact, got a second job and lost it a couple weeks later. I just can't handle it. I can't cope with normal human life anymore."

She continued, "My boyfriend Nic was already seeing someone else by the time you saved me. He was happy to know I was ok, but that's it. He moved on, and I can't really relate to him anymore regardless. I've been seeing a therapist for the last four months but I can't tell her what really happened to me, not without exposing all the stuff your parents told me not to talk about. I can't even talk to my own mom and dad about this stuff. It's like a nightmare I can't wake up from and I can't tell anyone else what's really going on."

"And worst of all," she sighed once more, "My body doesn't feel right anymore. I guess I got used to being a fox. Maybe it was part of the curse, something the fairies did to me? I don't know. I just don't feel like this life is right for me, not anymore. I don't fit in, and I don't know what else to do or where else to turn."

She finally seemed to run out of things to say, but I wasn't sure how to respond to all that stuff either. So the three of us stood there quietly on the sidewalk for a few awkward seconds.

Then Kaylee asked, "Why do you think turning back into a fox will help?"

Alyssa shrugged, "I don't know. In a lot of ways it wasn't great, but it was a lot less complicated than being human. And I knew how to do it. Like how to be a fox? I figured that out in under a month. It's been almost six months since you saved me, and I still haven't figured out how to be human again."

"I'm still not sure being a fox is the right answer," my girlfriend responded. "I think you need help, and maybe instead of avoiding Cass's moms they're the people you should be turning to?"

The woman sighed again, "I know being a fox has some drawbacks. It was really hard finding food when winter started. And I definitely missed cooked food. But I liked the freedom. I just don't know what else to do, or where else to turn. I'm sorry to dump all this on you, I know you're just kids, but you seem to know more about this stuff than anyone else around."

"What if you could part-time it?" I asked. "Be a fox when you need to be free and unwind, then be...not quite human but close enough, when you want to take advantage of human stuff? Like shopping and hot food and stuff like that?"

My girlfriend realized what I was getting at immediately. She shook her head, "Cass you know that's a bad idea. Especially with those internet guys snooping around."

Meanwhile Alyssa's eyebrows crept up and she almost sounded excited as she asked, "You mean I'd be able to turn into a fox and back to a person whenever I wanted? I think that would be amazing."

"I have to warn you first," I told her, "You wouldn't be fully human anymore. When you weren't a fox you'd still have the tail and the ears. You'd basically be a foxgirl instead of -"

"Holy shit really?!" she exclaimed, and this time there was no question about it. She was definitely excited about the idea. "Sign me up, how do we do this?"

My girlfriend sighed but she didn't try and intervene. I glanced around to make sure nobody was looking, then teleported a frosted plastic capsule out of my bedroom closet and into my hand.

I gave it to Alyssa and told her, "This is my last fox, so be careful with it. There's instructions and warnings inside, make sure you read everything carefully. Don't lose it, and please don't use it out here. Go home first, maybe talk to your parents and let them know what you're planning? At least make sure you're somewhere safe and private."

She frowned as she opened up the capsule, then smiled at the little red fox plushie. She had a quick look at the folded up instructions too, then stuffed it all into her hoodie pocket.

"Thank you Cassandra!" she said with a wide grin. She actually sounded almost happy, like I could hear the relief in her voice as she added, "If there's anything I can do to repay you, just ask ok?"

I replied, "You're welcome, but please be careful Alyssa. I really hope this helps, I hope you feel better soon."

"I will!" she nodded. "I know it."

Then she thanked me again, before hurrying off along the sidewalk.

"I sure hope this doesn't cause any more problems," my girlfriend sighed. "And you promised you wouldn't give out any more of those plushies around town."

I shrugged, "I said I wouldn't give them out at school. This isn't school, and she's not a student. And you heard her, she needed help. This is better than just turning her into a fox and leaving her that way. Now she can get her fox fix whenever she needs it, and turn back again afterwards."

Kaylee nodded slowly, "I know Cass. You're right, it's better than just making her back into a fox. But having another foxgirl around town isn't going to help our situation any."