Gardens of Bucharest

Chapter II

It annoyed Esma that after a doing a simple rendition of the ceremony, her body screamed at her to stop doing magic. How was she supposed to be successful if she feels exhausted after summoning one family? She should've felt grateful at the mere thought of a small family; more energy could be conserved and her grade wouldn't be negatively affected. But when it came down to it, the family size all came down to luck. They were only given one member of the family to find and seek. They would know how many members to summon once they arrived at the location.

The girl swooped her wand across the graves, picturing them in their undisturbed form and restoring them. The piles of dirt threw themselves into the holes. Weeds sprouted from the plots. Dust covered the tombstones. The chalk marks disappeared. Everything went back to normal.

Wearily, Esma slumped on her backpack and trudged to the front entrance. Though, she composed herself once she saw the cars of other students arriving. At the sight, Esma couldn't help but look at them with distaste. It was past midnight and her classmates just arrived at Ghencea Cemetery.

She decided it to be best to avoid contact with them. There was no need for talking, especially since it wasted energy.

Esma turned on her phone and checked her messages - none from Sebastian. She dialed his number but she reached his overly enthusiastic voice mail.

"Hello! You reached Sebastian Ardelean. Please call again as I'm either sleeping, or doing work. Have a nice day, or night!"

He probably isn't done yet, thought Esma. He had four members and he gets tired easily...

She recalled a memory in physical education class when they had trek across the Carpathians. The memory brought a slight smile to her fatigued body. Esma remembered the invigorating spring breezes rushing through her tangled hair and the cold touch of rock beneath her fingers. However, Sebastian, wheezing at the end of the line, fell behind and instead relegated himself to drawing the different types of mountain flora.

Sebastian was a bright student, but his stamina left much to be desired of.

Esma leaned on the white plaster of the entrance. She decided to wait until Sebastian was finished, giving him fifteen more minutes before calling again; that way she can go home without any guilty consciousness. If it was anyone else, she would've left already. Of course, it was also to recuperate the energy she lost. If Esma walked home in this state, she figured that her exhausted body couldn't handle it.

For now, she had to occupy herself with waiting and thinking.

Esma sat cross-legged on the ground wither her back slightly hunched over. She checked her phone, slightly wincing upon seeing the bright light. The clock creeped towards the thirty minute mark. Like any normal person, she would be snugly sleeping in her bed while the thick scent of lavender drifted through her room. Oh, speaking of which...

She opened her bag and brought a glass vial holding a light-purple liquid. Closing her eyes, Esma liberally sprayed her entire body with the perfume and inhaled the herbal, balsamic scent. Not only did it smell good, it kept the monsters at bay too. All magicians wore some kind of herbal perfume on their person, but some applied it more than others. Sebastian was one of the few people who could possibly tolerate her constant reapplications, as well as she could tolerate his tendency to rub all sorts of herbs on his bare skin.

Feeling refreshed and slightly invigorated, Esma wobbled to her feet, but found it difficult to keep her posture when the wall wasn't supporting her. From the corner of her eye, she saw one of the students approach her - Magdalena Lewandowski, the Polish transfer student from Warsaw. Esma forgot that her assignment was in Ghencea. As Magda bounded towards her, her red skirt rippled with movement, and although Esma found her attire entirely impractical, she was wearing a similar outfit but in purple - and with pitiably more stains.