Ed came back from the bathroom a few minutes later, finding Aiden still leaning against the lockers, looking completely stunned.
- "Dude, what's wrong with you? You look like you just saw a ghost."
If only you knew, Aiden thought.
- "Nothing, I just... I have a headache."
- "It's the stress of the investigation!" Ed exclaimed with overflowing enthusiasm. "I've already started thinking. We're going to establish an action plan, gather testimonies, analyze clues..."
- "Ed, please..."
- "And I thought of something. You said the guy was weird, not normal. What exactly does that mean? Did he look drugged? Mentally disturbed? Or weird in the... paranormal sense?"
Aiden looked at his friend with surprise. Sometimes, Ed was more perceptive than he let on.
- "Why are you asking that?"
- "Because that mark you're talking about... I did some quick research on my phone while Mrs. Henderson was grading papers. Strange symbols that appear on skin after an attack, that's not really... normal."
Ed took out his phone and showed Aiden several pages he had bookmarked.
- "Look. Occult rituals, demonic marks, stigmata... There's tons of stuff on the internet about symbols that mysteriously appear on people."
Aiden quickly browsed through the pages. Most were conspiracy sites or horror fan forums, but a few contained information that gave him chills. Testimonies from people who claimed to have been "marked" by supernatural entities, photos of symbols similar to the one he had seen on Victoria...
- "Do you really believe this bullshit?" Aiden asked, trying to keep a detached tone.
- "Honestly? I don't know. But you believe it, don't you?"
The question caught Aiden off guard.
- "What makes you say that?"
- "The way you talk about it. It's not just 'I saw a weird guy.' It's more like 'I saw something that shouldn't exist.' There's a difference."
Aiden observed his friend with new respect. Ed might be obsessed with movies and TV shows, but this passion had apparently given him a certain intuition for detecting the supernatural.
- "What if it really was... paranormal?" Aiden asked cautiously.
Ed's eyes lit up like a Christmas tree.
- "Then we'd be in the coolest situation in history! Supernatural forces, a mystery to solve, a damsel in distress... We're literally in a horror movie, man!"
- "Ed, in horror movies, secondary characters often die."
- "Not intelligent secondary characters! And besides, we have an advantage: we know we're in a weird situation. In movies, people spend half their time denying the obvious."
Despite the gravity of the situation, Aiden couldn't help but smile. Ed's enthusiasm was contagious, and in a way, it felt good to have someone to share part of the burden with.
- "OK," he finally said. "Let's suppose you're right. Let's suppose it really is... supernatural. How do we go about helping Victoria?"
- "Research! We need to learn more about this symbol. Can you draw it for me?"
Aiden looked around, then took out a notebook and pen. He sketched from memory the mark he had seen on Victoria's nape, the inverted triangle surrounded by wavy lines.
Ed examined the drawing carefully.
- "It does look like something occult. These wavy lines... they look like flames or water. And the inverted triangle is often associated with..."
- "With what?"
- "Not very nice stuff. Demonic invocation, curses, that kind of thing."
A shiver ran down Aiden's spine. He thought back to the words Victoria had whispered: nightmares of rape, horrible images, a constant burning in her neck...
- "We need to find a way to remove it," he said.
- "Agreed. But first, we need more information. I'm going to dig deeper on the internet, see if I can find references to this specific symbol. And you..."
- "Me what?"
- "You're going to talk to Victoria. Try to find out more about what she's feeling exactly. Details can be important."
Aiden shook his head.
- "She'll never trust me. She thinks it's my fault."
- "Maybe it is," Ed said with a shrug. "Not directly, but your presence might have triggered something. In movies, there's often a catalyst element."
If you knew how right you are, Aiden thought.
- "Anyway," Ed continued, "she doesn't have a choice. If this mark is making her endure what you say, she's going to need help. And we're the only ones who know what happened."
The bell announcing the next class interrupted their conversation. They headed toward their literature classroom, but Aiden couldn't concentrate on anything other than the Victoria problem.
He had to find a way to help her, but how? He had no control over his Librarian abilities. He couldn't even return to his pocket dimension when he wanted to.
Unless...
An idea germinated in his mind. What if being confronted with a Scourge in the real world triggered something? After all, his abilities had activated automatically the night before. Maybe by concentrating, by trying to feel that vital flame energy he knew well now...
He closed his eyes and connected to his Vital Flame. The sensation was exactly the same as in Greyhollow—that warm, golden energy circulating within him, perfectly accessible and stable. His daily meditation helped him control it better and strengthen it slightly, but it was already a fully awakened and functional flame.
Focused on his flame, he tried to extend it, to see if he could detect something abnormal in the vicinity, like he had done facing the Scourges of Greyhollow...
- "Mr. Norask!"
Mr. Williams' dry voice made him jump. The whole class was looking at him, and he realized he had completely zoned out in the middle of class.
- "I was asking for your interpretation of the symbolism of the color green in The Great Gatsby."
Aiden blinked, trying to gather his thoughts. Fortunately, his improved memory and intelligence allowed him to formulate a coherent response about impossible hope and the American illusion.
Mr. Williams nodded, apparently satisfied, but Aiden felt that he would watch him more closely for the rest of the class.
Ed gave him a questioning look, but Aiden just shrugged. He couldn't explain that he was trying to activate his supernatural powers in the middle of literature class.
The rest of the day flowed by in a fog of worry. Aiden kept thinking about Victoria, about the pain she must be enduring, about the nightmares haunting her. And especially about the threat she had made.
If she carried out her threat, his life at school would be over. Worse, with his past as an orphan and his recently "strange" behavior, adults would tend to believe her rather than him.
He absolutely had to find a solution.
At the end of the day, while Ed had gone to the library to "do in-depth research," Aiden hung around near the lockers hoping to run into Victoria. He needed to talk to her, to try to convince her that he really wanted to help.
He finally saw her come out of her last classroom, still dressed in her turtleneck despite the heat. She walked with a stiff gait, as if every movement cost her considerable effort.
- "Victoria," he called softly.
She turned around, and what he saw in her eyes hit him like a punch. Pain, yes, but also deep fear and fatigue that was anything but normal for a sixteen-year-old.
- "What do you want?" Her voice was hoarse, as if she had spent the night screaming.
- "I want to help you. Really."
- "You've already helped me enough."
- "Listen, I know you think it's my fault, but..."
- "It's not that I think it," she cut him off. "I'm certain of it. Before last night, I was perfectly fine. Now..." She brought a hand to her nape and winced. "Now I feel like someone's burning my skin with a red-hot iron, and I can't close my eyes without seeing... horrible things."
Her voice broke on the last words.
- "Let me help you," Aiden insisted. "I don't know how yet, but I'll find a way."
Victoria looked at him for a long time, as if gauging his sincerity.
-"You have until tomorrow evening," she finally said. "If this... this thing hasn't disappeared by then, I'm going to see the principal. And I'll tell him exactly what I think happened in that hallway."
She turned on her heels and walked away, leaving Aiden with an ultimatum that resonated like a countdown to his doom.
Less than twenty-four hours to figure out how to save Victoria Ashford from a supernatural curse.
No pressure, he thought bitterly.