LUCAS
Lucas was baffled, to say the least. He gawked through the back window of Coach Timi's black car, trying to process what just happened. But he couldn't.
Coach Timi walked over to the fallen Wendigo, knelt by his headside side and touched one of the long silver horns before saying that word again. "Fascino!"
The Wendigo shuddered vehemently, then stilled.
Coach Timi barked at him. "Up on your feet!"
Suddenly, the Wendigo sprang up. The speed of the action made Lucas's heart skip a beat. But his Coach looked unfazed.
"Now that you're under my control," Coach Timi glared at the creature. "Apologize to Lucas."
When the creature's hollow eyes locked on Lucas, they sent a chill down his spine. To his surprise, the Wendigo grunted. "I...am...sorry...Lucas."
"Good!" Coach Timi stood akimbo. "Now, tell me who sent you."
"My sender..." The Wendigo's voice was dull, soulless, lacking that bloodthirsty edge it had a while ago. "... He called me from darkness. I perceived not his form, only his flashing green eyes... and the many whispering voices around him."
Coach Timi's smile bent into a frown that creased his forehead. He looked like he just saw a ghost. "Well," Only the night's cold breeze was heard during the pause. "Forget everything that happened tonight, and go as far away as possible from where you met your Sender."
Immediately, the Wendigo strolled away from the parking lot. Lucas watched the slow procession until he heard the driver's door swing open.
Coach Timi hopped in and started his car. "Stay put, we need to get you home safely."
Lucas clenched the edges of his seat, afraid that this man who he once thought was a normal person now sat only inches away from him. What if he hypnotizes me too?
He reached for the door handle but remembered that Coach Timi made the Wendigo apologize. Curiosity got the better of him, and he relaxed a bit longer. "Why did you protect me?"
"Well, it's my specialty."
"I thought that was Basketball?"
"Basketball was a hobby until I retired and decided to focus on it full-time. Tell me, did you find that medallion?"
Lucas leaned forward, mind yearning to make sense of that entire night. "What just happened?"
"I asked first, did you find it?"
"Yes, and I left it at a corner store! Gimme some answers, eh?" His voice cracked. "I'm losing it here."
His Coach pulled the car out of the parking lot and turned on the headlights. "I figured you'd find it." He drove further away from the School. "Things might get uglier from here on out. Hope you have those Latin words at the back of your mind?"
"Are you serious?" Lucas snapped, his blood boiling. "How is Latin going to solve anything? Did that Wendigo speak Latin? Why do-"
"Lucas!" Coach Timi yelled. "You're a mage! Okay? You can cause things to happen with the mana inside you. That's why the Universe chose you. That medallion you found was a gift from the Universe."
Lucas was speechless.
"Kiddo, I'm an Enchanter. What you saw me do back there was enchantment. And I'm an Ex-Protector too. I was chosen around your age to join the Protectors of Balance. When my time of service was up, I resorted to full-time basketball."
"You're saying... that you found the medallion at my age? And that it's an invitation?"
"Not an invitation," Coach Timi looked in the rearview mirror. "A calling. You'll find it again. And it's important you answer the call."
"What about the Wendigo?"
"What about it?"
"I thought Fantasio Inc. was crazy. I thought cryptids weren't a thing."
Coach Timi sighed. "Listen, Fantasio is another story entirely. They may be nuts but they're not inaccurate-mostly. 'Cryptid' is the general term for non-human creatures that aren't categorized in normal biology; creatures of folklore, if you may. 'Mystics', however, are extraordinary humans; Humans with manna. And manna can express itself in different forms. My manna is responsible for my power of enchantment, yours makes you a mage."
"Why'd you keep saying that? Why are you calling me a mage?"
"There are different kinds of mages. You'll find out more at the Absconditum. But all you need to know now is that you're a magus verborum; a mage of words."
"Magus Verborum?"
"Yes. With specific Latin words, you can initiate spells that range from creating anything you desire to altering the nature of existing objects."
"The words you taught me? Are those the specific words?"
"Yes."
"How?"
"How else? They're like prefixes to whatever sentence you want to say in English." He looked into the rearview mirror. "We're almost at the bus stop where you said you usually drop off. I know your parents must be worried sick about-"
"They're not home." Lucas folded his arms. His voice was filled with gloom. "The Wendigo said he abducted them or something." He sniffed, eyes tearing up. "What am I supposed to do?"
He pulled out his phone and glanced at the message he sent earlier-still unread.
"Hmmm. You should've told me that earlier when I enchanted the creature. Still, don't lose hope. I'm sure they'll come back."
The lights of flashing billboards streaming into the car, made Lucas acknowledge their current location. The towering buildings, mostly painted gray or black had the lights from their windows join in to illuminate the night.
Crowds scurried along the sidewalks of Yonge Dundas Square, and Coach Timi had slowed down at the sight of the zebra crossing ahead.
Upon driving past the zebra crossing, the two recognized something odd at the centre of the crossroads they were approaching. A floating dark mass that enlarged and contracted with the rhythm of a slow beating heart, having a somewhat circular shape.
People kept their distance while taking pictures and videos, no doubt posting them online, probably tagging Fantasio.
Coach Timi stopped the car and frowned.
Suddenly, the dark mass swirled and transformed into a person. A woman with her head bowed, unnaturally long unkempt hair flowing over, shrouding her face. She wore a ragged pitch-black garment and had ghostly green skin.
She was there, at the intersection of a crossroad in the middle of the night; right in Lucas's path. Was this night an elaborate setup?
She was breathing shakily, shoulders rising and falling in uneven rhythms.
What scared the shit out of Lucas was not the recognition that she was floating inches above the ground, but the sudden raise of her head that parted enough hair to unveil glowing red eyes and a scowl that revealed short pointy teeth.
"Don't look her in the eyes!" Coach Timi warned, and Lucas complied. "If you remember your Mexican legends, this is none other than La Mala Hora. She'll drive you insane if you make eye contact for more than three seconds."
"How on earth is she real?" Lucas panicked, gripping the edges of his seat, unsure of what to do.
Coach Timi unbuckled his seatbelt. "She was summoned. Kiddo, you're gonna have to get used to these kinds of things."
La Mala Hora whipped her head to the side, glaring at the onlookers who didn't flee for the sake of taking a picture or two. How unwise they were.
They doubled down in moments, men and women screaming at the top of their lungs. Lucas felt a knot in his stomach when he saw them all rise with bloodshot eyes and crimson irises. They groaned and wailed, over thirty people, all converging with limping steps around the black car.
Before he knew it, a palm slammed on the window beside him and scraped down. A lean man peered through, sobbing. "She says the nightmares will stop..."
Another palm slammed on the opposite window. There was a woman with a perm hairstyle and heavy make-up, her crimson eyes never left Lucas. "...if we give her the boy!"
"Coach!" Lucas shrieked.
The horde had closed in on the car, banging on the windows and doors and hood, wailing with tears billowing down their cheeks.
"Coach!" His voice was even louder. "What do I do?"
Coach Timi buckled his seatbelt. "Sit tight, I'm about to press the eject button."
"No offence but cars don't come with eject buttons."
His Coach laughed. "Of course they don't. I'm installing it in this one." He touched the dashboard and closed his eyes, focusing. "Fascino!"
A sharp sound cut through the air and all the car's functions started going haywire. Headlights flashing off and on, rearview mirror rotating 360, radio surfing through random stations, horn blaring incoherently.
Coach Timi raised two fingers to the sunroof and it popped off like a cork on a champagne bottle. The night sky looked down on them, the crescent moon and countless stars like heavenly spectators of this bizarre moment in Lucas's life.
Suddenly, Lucas saw the thin clouds getting larger. It took him a second or two to realize his chair was reaching for the sky. He actually ejected.
"Ahhh!" He looked down and saw the insane people and his coach's car minimizing every height he climbed. La Mala Hora craned her head up, scowling at him. Instantly, he looked away. Coach Timi was in front of him, crossing his legs as he rested in his flying car seat, his joggers flapping to the breeze.
"We're landing there!" Coach Timi yelled against the howling wind, pointing at a large glass-enclosed structure with several automatic doors. It had a black metal panel across the top with an inscription 'CF Toronto Eaton Centre'. The lights streaking through the various windows lit the surroundings. Stationed on the roof was a massive digital display currently advertising a Christmas discount sale that Lucas couldn't be bothered to focus on.
"I'm not the best at math," he yelled. "But I don't think we're landing anywhere near that shopping mall!"
"Chairs, listen up!" His Coach pointed towards the LED Christmas tree a few paces away from the Eaton Centre's entrance. "Get us behind there!"
Immediately, they started plummeting with breakneck speed. Lucas saw his life flash before his eyes. Eyes that he shut tight before screaming. He didn't realize when everything stopped.
"Kiddo, nize it!" Coach Timi said.
Lucas paused screaming and opened one eye for a peek. "I'm alive!" He opened his other eye as he patted himself in disbelief.
The car seats they were on now rested in the snow, behind the enormous LED Christmas tree. They could still hear the not-so-distant wailing of those under La Mala Hora's curse.
Lucas unbuckled his seatbelt following Coach Timi's lead, and peered from beside the tree. Sure enough, the red-eyed horde was approaching.
"If we go into Eaton Centre, we'll risk the lives of shoppers." Coach Timi stroked his chin. "Check around if you'll see the medallion."
Lucas reluctantly scanned his surroundings. When he looked at the space between his feet, the breath left his lungs. How could this be?
The medallion was lying there, on the exact spot he landed. He bent and picked it up, caressing the material, confirming it wasn't a hallucination.
"I...I don't understand." His voice wavered. "How is it here? Why is it here?"
"Put it on."
"What? No way, I need answers."
"It's for your own good, put it on." Coach Timi's steely gaze didn't falter Lucas. He was tired of mystery after mystery. Question after question. If Coach Timi really wanted to help, he would start talking.
I can't be going crazy. Lucas thought. There must be logical explanations for all of this.
He glared back until Coach Timi looked away. "Elasto, protect Lucas."
Instantly, the royal blue scarf around his neck slithered like a snake, off his body and onto Lucas-spiralling up his arm until it wrapped around his neck. Lucas trembled all the while.
"Relax, it's not going to hurt you. Now for the last time, put on the medallion, and let me fix this mess."
Lucas released his pent-up thoughts. "That's the problem! Everything you say to me makes me feel I don't know anything! Get this stupid scarf off me, I want answers. Where are my parents?"
The horde was closer now, their voices louder, their footsteps, a symphony of noise.
"You want answers?" Coach Timi forced a tight smile. "Wear the damn medallion. All the answers will reveal themselves to you. Just answer the call and put it on."
Lucas raised the white medallion and bent his head to wear it. But he paused when it was inches away from his brown side-parted hair, wrestling with hesitation. How could wearing this give me answers?
"Kiddo, you can trust me."
And so he did. The moment he wore that medallion, he vanished in a burst of golden light.