Not Your Usual Magical Girl

Susan held back a sigh as she looked over the scene in front of her. There was Kelly, standing in front of her, the immaculate blouse she once screamed at another girl over staining now covered in a thick layer of dust. Anne and Cole huddled against the wall behind her, clothes rumpled and torn from their ordeal. Cole had passed out while Anne stared back and forth between the two fighters with an expression of mixed hope and terror.

This just wasn't her day. First she couldn’t see her family, then it turned out her school was positively swimming with magic. Now, Kelly Baker the high school bully turned out to be a vampire.

A vampire.

Of course it had to be a vampire. It didn’t matter what world, or dimension, you were on, they were all the same. Ten percent edgy goth, and ninety percent raving egomaniac, they were one of the single hardest to deal with magical species purely due to their utter self obsession. And now she had to do the impossible by talking one of them down without resorting to vaporizing them.

“Alright,” She said, holding her hands up placatingly. “Let’s all calm down.”

“And why should I do that!” Kelly snarled.

Susan pointed a hand behind her while still staring at Kelly. “Were you paying attention just now? The bathroom needs a new door, and all I need is a new shirt.”

Kelly sneered, “Wow, you’re tougher than a door, good job. Now go back to play with your magic sugar daddy so I can finish up here.”

Susan rolled her eyes, “First of all, never assume you know how somebody else uses magic. It’s a good way to get blown up right when you think you’re safe.” She pointed at Kelly. “Now you are going to shut up and quit attacking people, I'm going to fix up Anne and Cole and then we’re going to have a nice long talk with whatever idiot decided to turn you into a vampire.”

As Kelly’s face twisted into a snarl, Susan belatedly remembered that she was supposed to calm the situation down.

“You think you’re better than me?” Kelly whispered as her hands clenched into fists. Her eyes flashed bright red as her fangs seemed to lengthen in her mouth.

As Susan watched the vampire work herself into a frothing rage, she decided to change strategies. Quietly, she slid a hand behind her back. Her hand moved quickly through the air, glowing lines appearing in the wake of its movements as she sketched an arcane symbol. Unseen by the rest of the bathroom’s occupants, the symbol glowed briefly in the air before breaking into streaming lines of energy that coursed into Susan.

Then she gave her response to Kelly’s challenge, “Yep.”

Kelly charged forward with a scream. Unlike before, things went sideways the moment she got within a few steps of Susan. At least, Kelly went sideways.

With barely a batted eye, Susan backhanded her. In a fraction of a second Kelly went from charging forward to flying sideways into the stalls, vanishing in a hail of ceramics and plastic as her flying body demolished half the bathroom.

Susan was across the bathroom in the next instant, crouching over the bodies of the two damsels as shards of ceramic bounced off her back. She couldn’t help but feel some consternation at the fact that her first great fight in this world was taking place in a school bathroom of all places. She really hoped this wasn't a portent of things to come.

Something in the sight of Kelly’s former victims broke off her train of thought. It wasn't the torn clothes, or developing bruises from being thrown around the bathroom. No, it was the look in Anne’s eyes as she stared up at Kelly.

Susan had seen hero worship before. This certainly wasn't her first time saving people, and some people surprisingly didn't mind being saved by a building sized dragon. The look in Anne’s eyes wasn't hero worship. Hers were the eyes of a sailor in a storm finding a lighthouse against all odds. Anne stared up at her with a desperation and a zeal that had Susan dreading their next meeting.

There was a quiet moment between them, the bathroom falling silent for a brief moment as the last of the debris landed. Anne and Susan tried to school their expressions away from hope and exasperation respectively as they stared each other down.

The moment was broken as Susan heard a clatter behind her. Kelly moaned as her body fell out of the vampire shaped impression in the wall onto one of the toilets below.

Susan sighed again. Standing up, she walked over to the insensate vampire draped over her porcelain throne, carefully stepping over the remains of the stall as she went. Reaching down, she grasped Kelly under the arm and hauled her to her feet. A few light slaps brought her back to her senses.

“Ready to negotiate now?” She asked in a tired voice that should have come from a fast food worker and not the victor of a magic duel.

“I… buh… wah…” Kelly mumbled.

“Great, we’ll talk later.”

She pulled Kelly from the remains of the stall and set her against the wall on the other side of the sinks from Anne and Cole. She looked around the shattered remains of the bathroom with a tired eye.

The sinks and the toilets were the only things left standing. Everything else was in ruins. The door was in pieces somewhere down the hall, the plastic stalls weren’t exactly helping with privacy anymore with the entire top half blown away. And to top it all off was the cartoonish Kelly shaped imprint in the wall over the toilets.

Susan was pretty sure the amount of sheer exasperation she was feeling at the moment wasn't healthy. It was just frustrating. She had done it, made her glorious escape and yet the exhilaration and joy hadn’t even lasted a day. Crushed under the mountain of problems that she hadn’t even seen coming.

She held back the urge to sigh again. She got the worrying feeling that this was going to be a regular occurrence.

“Well, first things first,” Susan muttered under her breath.

Moving away from Kelly, she went to stand in the center of the room. Crouching down, she placed a finger on the floor and began drawing on it. The glowing symbol she traced this time was much more complex, three concentric circles with a dozen different symbols interspersed between them with a larger one commanding the center.

She could see Anne gape at the mass of glowing lines, but tuned her out to focus on what came next. Without a sound, the detritus of the bathroom; the splinters from stalls, shattered tile, and broken porcelain rose in the air as one. It hung there suspended for a moment before beginning to flow in the air in great clouds of debris. The wall stitched back together, silhouette gone. The stalls reassembled next, each shard slotting back into place like a mad Jenga puzzle. Finally, the door snapped back into place with a heavy clunk. The bathroom was left exactly as it had been mere minutes before. Even the students' clothes had been perfectly repaired, the dust and grime stripped away and returned to where it came from.

“What… what was that?” Anne whispered in the silence that followed.

“That was a rune.” Susan said. “They’re my favorite kind of magic. They work off of a standardized system that allows for an optimized and efficient flow of magic. It’s perfect for achieving a desired result unlike some of the other magical arts that… err, where was I?” She trailed off as she caught herself going off on a tangent.

“I’ve seen runes before,” Anne said quickly, “Just nothing like that!”

“Oh, that’s probably just because they weren’t powered by a dragon.” Susan responded with a casual wave of her hand. Anne stared blankly for a few seconds before responding.

“A what?”

“Oh I guess I haven’t introduced myself yet,” Susan gave Anne a small formal bow, “I am the A... I am the Dragon known as Susan.”

Anne’s stare this time was more incredulous than worshipful. A moan from behind Susan cut off the response.

“Why…” Kelly moaned.

Susan blinked, “Why what?”

“Why are you doing this to me?”

“…Are you asking why I stopped you from attacking teenagers?” Susan’s question seemed to break Kelly out of her stupor

“It would have been fine, okay!” She snapped, “I wouldn’t have really hurt them. Just scared them so that they have to accept me into the Dark Tower.”

“Oh come on!” Anne cried, startling both of them. “You mean to tell me that the person harassing the entire school for a month is just another tower climber?”

“What’s this Dark Tower thing?” Susan broke in. “Wait, hold that thought.” She shook her head, cutting herself off as she turned to face Kelly and jabbed a finger at her. “Who is your maker?”

“My what?” Kelly responded, confused, “Wait, do you mean Rob?”

“If Rob’s the one who stuck his fangs in you, then yes. We need to talk to him.”

Somehow, it was this declaration that made Kelly look genuinely worried for the first time. “Um, I don’t think that’s the best idea. Rob really doesn’t like visitors,” She said.

“Don’t care, he decided to vampirize random people, he gets to deal with the consequences.” Susan said with a glare.

“No,” Kelly shook her head, “He’ll go ballistic, believe me.”

“If he lives in the, uh, ‘Dark Tower’ then I can probably help.” Anne said.

Susan turned to look at her. Anne had a smirk that said she was enjoying Kelly’s discomfort maybe a little too much. Susan might have disagreed with the sentiment, but she couldn’t help the smile that spread over her face.

“Wonderful.”

It took a few minutes for Susan to haul Cole down to the nurse’s office. Thankfully it was still staffed despite the hour and they left him still passed out on one of the rickety blue beds. Anne left a note with a half baked explanation for the encounter that left Susan dreading her next discussion with the boy.

In a silent procession the three girls collected their things, stored them in their lockers and left the school. It was only until they were well away from the school grounds that Susan decided to break the silence.

“So what’s the Tower?” She asked as she hauled Kelly along by the arm, following Anne down the sidewalk. The streets were almost totally silent, most of the residents had fled indoors from the afternoon heat. The only sign of life was the three girls walking alongside the yellowing lawns of the tall gray houses.

Anne turned back to look at her. “Well, before I answer that, could you tell me how much you know about magic?” She said as she awkwardly tried to walk and talk back to Susan at the same time.

“On Earth? Basically nothing,” Susan responded as she pulled Kelly forward so that they were walking alongside Anne.

Anne side-eyed her for a moment. “...Right, well, I guess I should start from the beginning. So, way back in the fifties the government got this big idea to cover up magic.”

“They what?” Susan exclaimed. She paused, then actually thought about it. “Nevermind, that actually makes a lot of sense. So that’s why I haven't heard about magic before, is it some kind of government cover up?”

Anne nodded in response. “Yeah, it all started in the Cold War. You know how they were doing a technological arms race right? Well they were also doing a magical arms race where they gathered up and hid away all the magic they could.”

“What, so the Tower is some kind of magic warehouse like in Indiana Jones?” Susan blurted out.

Anne shook her head, “No… well actually they do have those, but not in the Brick. Basically, they didn't stop at stockpiling magic items, they also grabbed up all the magic people too. The ‘Tower’ is one of a series of giant housing developments the government built and then bullied everyone into living in so the Commies couldn’t get us.

Susan was left somewhat flabbergasted as she tried to process this. “That actually worked?”

“I don't know, kind of.” Anne shrugged. “Most of the weaker ones, witches and werewolves and all that were forced to join, but anyone really powerful didn't join unless on sufferance.”

Susan watched the cracked sidewalk pass underneath them for a little bit, digesting this new information.

“And besides,” Anne continued, “It’s not even called ‘the dark tower’ everyone just calls it the Brick.”

“No,” Kelly said. “Everyone knows the right name is the Dark Tower!”

Susan turned her attention back to the girl she had been dragging along. It was a bit suspect that the first words spoken since they had left the school was an argument on nomenclature. What did Kelly know about all of this?

“Really?” Anne snapped back before she could speak, “You know nobody other than tower climbers call it that, right?”

Susan raised an eyebrow, “Tower climbers?” She asked.

“A bunch of magicless idiots. You can’t live in the Brick without having some magic, so they try to get their own by catching one of the magical diseases like lycanthropy or vampirism. It’s kind of like Russian roulette, but with a lower life expectancy.”

Kelly listened to the mini rant at first with indignity, but as it went on she seemed to deflate. Susan was enjoying the display, but decided to cut her a bit of slack. “So, what do you know about the Brick?” She asked.

“It’s not-” Kelly cut herself off as she realized she was playing into the stereotype. “Not much, I guess… Everything I learned just came off the internet, and she already said it all. Um, I do know the town was basically built around it, though.”

“Really?”

“Uh, I think so?” Kelly’s voice trailed off as she realized she was quoting hearsay in the presence of a first hand witness.

“Pretty much.” Anne said, “The Brick and places like it were built near small population hubs partly to hide them better, and partly to make them cheaper to build and supply. This way they didn’t have to bother building schools or malls or anything else inside the brick, they could just outsource it… Oh, we’re here.”

Susan looked forward for the first time in a little while. The three girls stood at the end of the road. The houses and sidewalk were cut off in a straight line in front of them, going from quiet suburb to impassable forest in a matter of feet. Susan knew this area, it was a mile wide stretch of woods that cut a wedge into the surrounding suburbs. The houses continued on either side of it, but on and behind the enormous lot there was nothing but trees until the state park a dozen miles further down the road.

Susan recognized the area from the incensed descriptions of a dozen older neighbors and the front of many a local political ad. The snarl of zoning laws that made the area impossible to develop had made it a hot topic in almost every election for as long as anyone remembered. But despite the years of legal action and even some public protests the land remained undeveloped.

Susan had even heard several conspiracy theories surrounding the subject, but looking at it now she could tell that this went further than anyone had ever guessed. There was the shimmer of glamour magic here. Everywhere in the woods, every tree, bush, and root had a telltale gleam on it. Looking up, the glamour even extended into the sky, extending so high it was almost impossible to see where it ended.

Susan couldn’t help but feel the mad wizard vibes coming off of it.

Contrary to expectations though, instead of a chant to enter the enchanted forest, Anne pulled a keycard out of her back pocket. With all the ceremony and aplomb of a minimum wage employee on their third shift, she waved the card out in front of her.

“Annabeth Sekh, plus two to enter, please.”

The forest in front of them shivered. The trees and bushes wavered in front of them, the trees shifted, bushes turned to the side and a thousand vines whipped out of the way. In moments a scenic dirt path framed with arching trees had cleared through the previously impregnable forest.

The scene would have reminded Susan of a Disney movie if it weren’t for Anne’s utterly deadpan expression.

Anne marched forward, the other two girls on her heels.

Kelly looked around them with awe in her eyes, and for once Susan found herself agreeing. The magic on display before them held a level of casual power that was frankly ludicrous. She had seen impressive feats of magic before, entire cities shielded or hidden away from the world. But those were the work of entire nations or the magnum opus of great geniuses. This was something the size of a small mountain hidden from the view of an entire town.

For logistics.

Ahead of them, Anne crossed the boundary of the forest and vanished in a swirl of light. Kelly’s steps seemed to falter, but with Susan’s arm pushing her forward there was no time to stop.

They passed through the boundary with a flash of light that left both of them blinking spots out of their eyes. The view that greeted them was one of epic mundanity. It was like someone had tried making a hotel lobby the size of a cathedral. The result was a towering room, held up with immense granite pillars. A vaulted ceiling hung over a blandly tiled floor, while the walls were lined with doors. Every imaginable size of door.

Some were human size, others wouldn’t fit a human’s hand, others looked like they could comfortably fit a T-Rex. A few chairs lined up in rows off to one side seemed to have the same sizing arrangement, some so large Susan would have needed to climb to sit on it.

Sitting in the middle was a tall walled, circular reception desk. A bored woman in a polo slouched behind, glancing over at them as they walked the small marathon between the door and the desk.

Looking at the bizarre architecture, Susan couldn’t help but wonder what kind of government madness resulted in the decision that the building made for people ranging in size from gnome to giant could only have one lobby.

It took the three girls a good minute to make their way to the middle of the room. The receptionist barely paid them any attention until the last dozen feet when she sat up and looked the three girls over.

Susan took the lead, marching up to desk and meeting the receptionist’s dispassionate gaze.

“If you’re here for an entry application its door 4A in hallways F, L, and R.” She said in a monotone, “For legal difficulties, you want door 3, and for specialty medical difficulties there is a clinic through door 2.”

A quick glance showed that the doorways surrounding the room had plastic letters placed above them. A closer inspection showed that the referenced hallways had a large range of sizes. The clinic door had a red cross, while the law office door looked like someone had tried kicking it in.

“Sorry, but we were hoping to meet with a Rob…” She turned and gave Kelly a look.

“Uh, R-Robert Ross.” She stammered out.

The receptionist looked to the side and Susan heard the rustle of papers for a few moments.

“I’m sorry,” She said, “Mr. Ross is not taking any visitors at this time.”

“It’s urgent.”

The receptionist, Ronda according to her nametag, didn't bat an eye.

“I can take a message, but Mr. Ross is very insistent that he not be disturbed.”

“Not even for his latest vampireling?”

This got her attention, in a moment Ronda was straight backed and looking over the three of them with a sharp eye. Susan heard her the click of a button behind the desk and one of the normal sized doors to the right of the room swung open.

“Let me put in a call, would you mind waiting in room four, it's on the left.” She said with a frozen smile and a wave of her hand towards the door.

Susan was off without another word, Kelly towed along in trepidation while Anne followed calmly. The receptionist stammered something out behind them but she didn't try to repeat it so it must not have been important.

Room was a concrete square with two blockish metal chairs around a drab table. The three girls looked over it awkwardly.

“So that’s what she meant,” muttered Anne who must have heard Ronda’s lost words from earlier.

Susan didn't speak as she left the room and returned a moment later with two more chairs pilfered from the next room over. It took her a moment to rearrange the chairs around the table, before settling down in the chair now facing the door. Anne sat next to her without a word.

In contrast to the other two’s ambivalence, Kelly looked like a deer in the headlights. The whole time they had been in the building she had seemed to hold some sort of strange reverence to the place, like it was some kind of temple. Now she stood almost trembling as Anne and Susan committed their transgression against government seating arrangements.

Susan couldn’t bring herself to care. It felt like this day was wearing away at her slowly. It reminded her of one of the times she went with Elizabeth on a jog. After a while it felt like she was so exhausted that she wasn't even running anymore. Just moving forward on inertia alone because it was harder to stop.

She wanted to go home. She wanted to be with her family again. She didn't want to deal with Kelly, or vampires, or magic, or the government. But here she was, wrangling Kelly, a vampire, and about to deal with more government madness while waiting for the hit from whatever shoe Anne was going to drop on her.

While Susan desperately wished the day away, Kelly managed to drum up the courage to take the seat across from Anne. She looked around the room for a little bit before turning to address Anne.

“What was up with the receptionist earlier? I mean, this is the Dark Tower, shouldn’t she be… I don't know… important?” She trailed off under the deadpan gazes of the other two.

Anne’s slightly incredulous look seemed to fade as she realized that Kelly had asked the question in good faith.

“The help desk is only really there for in person applications to join, nobody uses it otherwise.”

“But aren’t there a lot of those? The other tower climbers you mentioned earlier? There are plenty of people online who want to get into the tower.”

Anne sighed and shook her head. “People trying to get the magic necessary to get in, yes. People succeeding, no.”

Kelly took this news surprisingly hard, staring down at the table with a wretched look while she clenched her fists beneath the table.

“What’s wrong?” Susan asked. Kelly looked at her in surprise before she seemed to remember her fear and grief at the same time and looked back down at the table with intensity.

“The ritual was posted online.” She half whispered. “I was hoping that maybe some of the others could join.”

Susan and Anne shared a look. Anne gave a tiny shake of her head. Kelly must have noticed, as she leaned forward to rest her head on the table and let out a groan.

Susan looked between the two and couldn’t help but be taken aback at the complete reversal of the situation from earlier. Anne sat tall over the prone figure of Kelly, completely in her element when it came to the strange bureaucracy of the tower while the other girl floundered.

The scene was interrupted when the door cracked open. In an instant Kelly sat straight again, joining the other two girls as they stared at the room’s new occupant.

It was… a man. That was all that could really be said about him. There was nothing unique about him. His hair and eyes were an unremarkable brown, his face and looks didn't warrant a second look. He wore a bland suit that might have been worn by a million different people across the world. He was completely and totally normal.

Susan couldn’t look away. This was one of the strangest feats of normalcy she had ever seen. It was a face so uniquely bland that it had to be artificial,but it had none of the strangeness of plastic surgery, and no sight or smell of magic. This utter blandness really was how the man looked.

He broke the silence with an awkward, “Hello.” Unsurprisingly, his voice sounded normal. Which shouldn’t have even been possible given it had to have a distinct tone or accent, but there was nothing. It seemed to slither in one ear and out the other without leaving anything that would let you identify its speaker later.

The sight of the two additional girls seemed to take him aback, but he quickly moved to take the seat next to the door without commenting on it.

“My name is John Smith from the Bureau of Supernatural and Magical Protections,” He said upon settling down.

His introduction petered out as Kelly looked away awkwardly and Susan looked at him with tired eyes. Meanwhile Anne stared him down with a level of contempt that made Susan wonder what was going on with the girl.

John seemed to feel the awkwardness of the situation as he shuffled in his chair and slipped a small tablet from his jacket pocket. After fiddling with it for a second he placed it on the table and addressed the room.

“So,” He began, “If you don’t mind, could I get your names?

Kelly glanced at him before taking a deep breath and responding. “Kelly Baker,” She said in a small voice.

John smiled and nodded as he tapped a few keys on the tablet. “And you?” He asked, turning to look at Anne on the other side of the table.

“I am not here in a legal capacity, I am not required to give any information.” Anne responded with a sneer.

The hostile attitude must have been a familiar one as he tactfully ignored the hateful condescension wafting off the girl and turned to Susan. His disarming smile failed him again as Susan just shook her head in denial.

John sighed before turning back to Kelly, “So,” he began, “You’re the one claiming to be Mr. Robert Ross’s, ah, offspring?”

“She’s not claiming it, she is.” Susan interjected.

John turned to her with professional calm. “Would you mind if I get your name for the transcript?”

“Yes I would mind.”

“If you are not willing to give a name and therefore not here in a legal capacity would you mind informing me of why you decided to be here?” He retorted.

“Because I want her out of my hair.” Susan replied, deadpan.

John seemed to think it over for a second, “Well I’m sorry, but unless you can offer proof that she is the offspring of Mr. Ross, then I can’t help you contact him.

Susan gave him an exasperated look. “I don’t care about this Rob guy, I want you to do something about the baby vampire that’s running about attacking people!”

John’s eyebrow went up and he glanced around the table at the fiery Anne and cowed Kelly. “Judging just from appearances, you seem to have the problem well in hand.”

Susan rolled her eyes, “I haven’t solved anything yet, and believe me, you wouldn’t want me to. My problem solving tends to be very… biblical.”

“I’m assuming you mean more Sodom and Gomorrah and less turn the other cheek?”

“Yes.”

He sat back in his chair and sighed as he massaged his nose.

“I am afraid we got off on the wrong foot here.” He said, looking over the group in front of him. “I havn’t even gotten all your names and I’m already being given death threats.” He gave a bemused smile that fell flat in the face of the fear, disinterest, and hostility that pervaded the room.

“Look,” Susan said, “Can you give Kelly the instruction she needs to stop attacking people before she goes and ticks me off again?”

“Of course, the B.S.M.P. offers a suite of instructional classes for new supernaturals to help them grow into their new powers responsibly.”

Susan took a moment to savor the agency’s unfortunate acronym before standing quickly enough to send the metal chair screeching back across the concrete.

“Then I’m done here.” She proclaimed.

Anne imitated her.

“Ditto.”

The two almost raced out of the stifling confines of the room. As the door closed behind them Susan felt a weight lift from her shoulders. She took in a deep breath and let it out, savoring her moment of freedom. Anne’s voice stopped her cold.

“Susan, could I ask you something?”