The Curse ✔️

Chapter 27: Hypotheses

We were acing this brainstorming thing.

"We're focusing on what's wrong with the demons." Amma continued, circling the word magic, "I think we should focus on what's wrong with our magic."

For a second, silence ruled Amma's room.

"My magic works fine." Eugene broke it first. "Dean?"

The dark-haired boy raised his head from the cup of coffee in his hand, "Yeah, it works fine. Haven't had any issues since the start of the semester."

The rest of us mumbled the same thing. Magic worked fine, as far as we knew. Neither those with affinities nor those without had any issues.

Amma sucked in her lower lip, frustration knitting her red eyebrows closer together.

"This makes no sense." She faced the blackboard again. "There is no reason why our magic would fail against the demon. Absolutely no reason. It's never happened before."

Out of habit, I touched my wrist. The idea popped in my head immediately.

I sucked in a sharp breath, "Amma..."

The girl faced me, gaze full of expectation.

"Where are demons?" I asked.

She kept staring at me. The rest of the room faced me too.

"Not here." Eugene said, voice careful. "Like spirits, you know?"

"So, they're somewhere else?" I looked at the blonde boy.

"Yes." He answered. "If you're asking me where, I have no idea. Books don't mention it."

My heartbeat picked up the pace, "But they are capable of crossing over to here?"

"Yes." Eugene repeated, chocolate-coloured eyes still locked on me.

"Hypothetically, if the barrier between here and where they are disappeared, would they be stronger?"

Even Leon came closer to the middle of the room.

Eugene's eyes jumped across the carpet, and I could almost see all the books he's read and classes he's attended listing in front of him.

"Logically, yes."

"But we have no idea?"

"It's never happened before." Eugene's eyes narrowed slightly. "What do you know?"

I ignored him and looked at Amma instead, "The door opens when the sign completes."

She dropped the chalk on the floor, "I'm going to lose it. I'm losing it."

"Wait, wait." Morta walked to her and lifted the chalk, she began writing on the blackboard, "How is it possible to summon a demon if they can't even cross over to our side?"

In sloppy handwriting, she wrote demons not here, they're behind a door.

"I don't know." Eugene grunted and flipped through the pages of Advanced Demonology. "This book is fucking useless, all it says is the exact same things we've learned from Intro to Demonology."

"Sweet." Leon murmured. "Less studying."

I was one stupid comment away from throwing him out the window.

"Jade, what you've just said, about a door, what does it mean?" Dean asked in what was probably the politest possible way to ask why I hadn't shared everything.

I looked around the room. In theory, I had no problem sharing this with Eugene and Dean. They broke enough rules with Morta, Amma and me to be in shit just as deep as us if someone found out what we were doing. Bella flipped through a magazine, probably not even aware demons attacked the school at some point.