Free Student Bodies by Sean Cummings Page B

long been taking his exposure to my magical life for granted.
    I took his hands once more and tried to give him a hopeful smile. “Marcus, you have always been a part of my magical life, but things have changed and neither of us has had much of a chance to prepare ourselves for what it means. Half the time, I’m trying to figure out what it all means and I’m the person wearing the copper band. But we’re an amazing team and I can’t think of anyone I’d rather have standing by my side when the shit starts flying.”
    He nodded and smiled back. “The shit started flying on the weekend, Julie. And if Mike and Travis were targeted, it means that nobody at Crescent Ridge is safe. I’d rather be doing something about it, so I’m in.”
    Did I mention that Marcus Guffman is awesome? He was scared to death and he still had my back.
    We had about thirty minutes to kill before the memorial service in the gym, so I decided that it would be a good opportunity to see if we could track down Mike Olsen and find out what he was doing in the moments before he came under magical attack.
    You know, assuming that I could get him away from his friends for long enough to grill him.
    I reached into the front pocket of my jeans and felt for my amulet. I’m a little paranoid about losing it now that I know it’s one half of a Shadowcull’s weapon. I exhaled in relief as my fingertips brushed against the embossed sigil on its surface.
    â€œWe have a bit of time before the service,” I said as I looked around at the throngs of students whose eyes were fixed firmly on their handheld devices. “Care to do a little detective work, Mr Guffman?”
    Marcus glanced at his watch and then adjusted the strap on his backpack. “If it’s going to help us find whoever did this so I can breathe a little easier, then I’m all for it. Where do you want to start?”
    I motioned with my thumb to the hallway immediately to my right. “Mike Olsen. Your nemesis and victim of a Soul Worm attack. Let’s do this thing.”
    Â 
    I downed a phial of potion and gagged as Marcus and I pushed through small groups of students who were gathered in front of their lockers or standing in the middle of the hallway texting and, the entire time, I kept my amulet clutched tightly in my hand as I focused on detecting even the tiniest current of supernatural energy. It’s a lot like playing Where’s Waldo? , because every single person alive carries a magical signature; each tingle of energy feels similar to the next and what I was searching for would be something stained with intense emotions – the building blocks for a malicious spell.
    All around me the hushed voices of fellow students spoke of the same thing: Travis Butler’s suicide. The general tone of discussion ringing through my ears ranged from rumors of a breakup with his girlfriend to plain old disbelief that someone so popular could actually be dead, so I shut out the voices and focused a little bit harder until I found what I was looking for.
    Except what I found wasn’t anything like what I was expecting. Instead of sensing a foreign surge of spiritual energy amid the collected auras of the dozens upon dozens of students filling the hallway, there was a hole.
    I stopped in my tracks and squeezed my amulet tighter in my hand and I pushed my senses further. All around me pulsed spiritual energy that flowed out from the bodies of my fellow students in hundreds of thin, wispy tendrils. The whole hall was filled with a vaporous curtain of weak magic, save for one small area of absolutely nothing – a small pocket of emptiness from which nothing emanated.
    I released my grip on my amulet and pointed down the hall. “Over there,” I said nodding to a quiet corner of the hallway. “It’s like a spiritual dead zone.”
    â€œDead as in another ghost?” Marcus whispered in my ear.
    I shook my