Leah Carstairs (Book #2)

An Extraordinary Set of Powers

2009

"Ah, Catarina, I can't believe it. You have only been so kind to me. I have taken all possible advantage of your kindness and yet been unable to do anything worthy in my life. I have ruined all opportunities you had bestowed upon me, and what can I say?  I've got precisely what I deserve. I only came to thank you for your generosity, and to apologise for all those countless times I have caused you pain and inconvenience.

"I shall, unquestionably, remain forever indebted to you in many ways. But for the moment, I beg you to not pile onto my debts by proposing another tempting offer - which I shall undoubtedly end up ruining once more. Let me find my own path. I don't deserve anyone's help or sympathy." Oskino finished curtly.

After deeply contemplating about what had happened in Beth Israel, for quite some hours, Oskino had finally arrived at the conclusion that he was getting fired. It was the kindest, most generous action that could possibly be taken against him.

He had to get fired. He was going to be lucky if the authorities only decided to fire him. He might have a trial, to decide a legal punishment. His face might be printed on mundane newspapers, with the heading: HOSPITAL PATIENT TRANSPORTER SETS 10-YR OLD PATIENT ON FIRE.

Before he could allow all this to happen, Oskino thought it better to go meet Catarina - his benefactor - one last time, offer his sincerest apologies, quit his job and then maybe start somewhere fresh.

But before Catarina had even ensured her guest was seated, he had commenced his grave, eloquent  - and frankly, rather dramatic - speech. Catarina could do nothing, but wait till he was finished, before she said. "You are clearly missing onto a lot, Jack. Where had you been hiding yesterday?"

"At . . .uh, another homeless shelter." Oskino answered.

"Well, unlike you, I had the guts to show up at work yesterday morning - and you will never believe what I saw." She paused, allowing Oskino a moment of suspense. "The child's hand was completely healed. Not a scratch. No blisters. No pus. No demon venom. Nothing! Whatever had transpired between you both the other day - which is to mean, the part where you set him on fire - it seemed to have healed the wound completely."

Oskino didn't speak a word. Internally he was just as shocked and confused as he expected Catarina to be.

"It's okay, Jack. I mean, I don't understand it rather well myself, but you can be yourself now. You don't have to be afraid of society and your past anymore." Catarina assured him.

And if Oskino wasn't already shocked and confused enough about his spontaneous tendency to start a fire, Catarina's next words confused him even more.

"I should've seen it coming. The signs have been there since the right beginning. You're not a mundane, Jack; I think a part of you has always known that. You are a warlock." She said. "Your powers are just . . . developing at the moment; you probably have no idea what you are capable of. I bet, during some point of your life, you thought you will never foster magical powers at all - but you were wrong."

Catarina extended her hand and placed it on top of his wrist. "Don't you see? It all fits in: your mysterious fire-related abilities, how you are able to speak Japanese, how you were acquainted to Shuten Dōji. I won't be surprised if you're directly his son." She paused.

"I have spoken to my boss and my superiors, and explained to them as gently as possible, about you. I told them you too are a rare, magical healer - like me, and that we will together heal special patients: you, being my apprentice of course. I will help you figure out your powers, and guide you where necessary. So, if you were expecting to get sacked the first thing today morning, well, it's evident now that you aren't."

Oskino yet didn't speak a word.

"Jack . . ." Catarina continued sympathetically. "I know what it is like to be a warlock. I too have experienced an unpleasant childhood and adolescence, knowing that I was different - dangerous. I have been feared, disliked and bullied by mundanes. I have known what it is like to be afraid to accept my own identity. I used to live in constant fear of what would happen if I ever lost control of my abilities.

"I was fortunate enough to have a mother who accepted me and loved me with all her life, but I have known quite some warlocks who didn't have that privilege - who had been abandoned in asylums and dustbins, whose parents have even attempted to murder them. I have known warlocks who have committed grave errors in their childhood - a phase when they can neither understand nor control their powers. And . . .if you are one of them, I just want you to know that it's alright. There's nothing to be afraid of.

"Forget your past, Jack. A forever waits for you. Your life has just begun." She sounded so earnest, so full of hope and sympathy, Oskino couldn't bring himself to tell her that she was wrong.

Oskino sighed. If only she knew. . .

***

Oskino didn't know which was worse: Catarina being completely out of the loop about his identity, or Catarina believing in her own incorrect theory about his identity. At this point, he himself was utterly confused about what on earth he really was.

Could he have gone from a Greater Demon to a mundane, and from a mundane to a warlock? Was he a mundane with demonic powers? Was he beginning to transform into a new kind of a demon - one with confusing capricious combusting powers? He himself didn't know what to believe in.

But for Catarina, it was simple. To her, 'Jack' was a late-blooming warlock with little understanding about his own magical powers. For her, he was another one of those countless helpless Downworlders she had helped in her lifetime.

With Catarina's excellent guidance, Oskino gradually bloomed into a successful magical healer himself. He discovered with time that nearly any kind of demonic wound can be healed with his fire-abilities - starting from a demon bite to demon poisoning, a vampire or werewolf bite, faerie pranks and potions, 'magic gone wrong' and influx of demon venom.

With his quick promotions in the hospital, Oskino started earning a fine salary at Beth Israel by healing people suffering from uncommon infernal conditions.

After little more than a year had passed, he realised that if he intended on pursuing a career as an only demonic wounds healer, a mundane hospital was not the place for him. He started visiting ifrit dens and popular Downworlder hangout spots - where he gathered information about those sick or infernally injured, and cured them for a fee.

He publicised himself by putting up posters and spreading word through other Downworlders, about the Certified Magical Warlock Healer, who could cure injuries caused by demon, vampire and werewolf bites, faerie tricks, spells gone wrong and demon venom.

He tracked down mundanes who were bitten by vampires and werewolves, and helped reverse their transformation. He tracked down mundanes who were unknowingly attacked, bitten, injured or raped by demons, and healed them.

When extraordinary infernal cases arrived at Beth Israel, Oskino was summoned to cure the patients - which he did, but he didn't work at the hospital on a full-time basis anymore. He liked to focus more on his private mundane and Downworlder clients.

Somewhere in the middle, he even managed to gather enough money to rent a furnished studio apartment in Brooklyn. Very slowly,  Oskino realised that his life was finally becoming stable. He now had a job, a friend, an apartment and quite some money to spend. Perhaps his life in New York wasn't so bad afterall.