"What the fuck happened." A middle-aged man wearing a classy black suit asked while slamming his fist on the table in front of him.
To the man, this case was a make or break for his career. Either he catches the perpetrator and locks her up for good, or he can kiss his career goodbye. Because of this, the man's hair was already mostly grey, his thick beard sharing that same hue.
"Sorry sir, she escaped again. We have no idea how, the whole block was on lockdown, even the roofs." One man in the boardroom apologized.
The middle-aged man clenched his fists, his knuckles turning white from the pressure.
"How… can you incompetent fools… not catch a simple fucking woman." He said, gritting his teeth.
"With all due respect sir, out of all the investigators we've sent to the scene, none of them managed to come back yet."
"So what?"
The other board members all looked at each other in confusion over their superior's lack of thinking skills.
"So, that means we have no information on her or her gift. All we have is a name that may as well be false." One of the men explained. "But, we can infer that she has an ability that allows her to turn invisible or simply teleport. Though which one it is, we can't say."
"You know as well as I that there hasn't been a single teleportation or invisibility gift ever recorded in history." The old man said.
"Maybe it's time to look into it."
"Yea, maybe." The man looked up at the ceiling while saying those words.
****
The woman's ability was simple enough, she could instantly teleport herself or anyone around her, to any place she can see or has visited before.
Thus, she snapped her fingers and found herself in a narrow back alley.
'Shit I forgot my shoes.' Snapping her fingers again, she found herself back in the blood-soaked apartment. She grabbed her shoes and then reappeared in the back alley again.
From there, she walked out onto the main road only to be met by a large, rectangular school building with a tall metal gate separating the schoolyard from the street.
The apartment and the location of her school were thousands of kilometers apart and on entirely different continents. The reason she'd eluded the bureau for so long is precisely because of her ability that allowed her to be virtually untraceable.
The sun hung brightly on the warm blue sky, unobstructed by any clouds, the area around the school was surrounded entirely by pristine green lawns, kept alive by the ever-working water sprinklers.
The building itself was an ugly rectangular thing, made of red bricks and kept together by mortar, sharply contrasting the beauty of the surroundings.
As she approached the gates of the school, a plump old lady with graying hair rushed to her side.
"Sofia Montblanc, where is your tie?" The lady asked with a tone you'd use to scold a child. "And why aren't you wearing your shoes??"
Sofia looked down at her feet which were only covered in white socks, shoes still in her hands. 'Damm.'
"Miss Hartford, my tie disappeared again. Can you believe it? I think I'll need a new one." Sofia raised her hand to her mouth to conceal a snarky grin as she looked down at the much shorter woman.
"Looks like someone needs a wake-up call this morning." The lady said, as she conjured a small ball of water and splashed it on Sofia's face.
She ground her teeth, knowing that if she retaliates, it would spell the end for her. After all, this was the only public school that took her in despite her having no family register, proof of citizenship or even a birth certificate. To get kicked out of this school would mean either having to go back to begging people or going to an orphanage.
"Put your shoes on right now. We've excused you for not having a proper uniform one too many times it seems, now you don't even bother anymore." The lady lectured, "Go to the office and pick up a tie then get your ass to class."
"Good one miss Hartford, that rhymed," Sofia remarked, followed by another ball of water splashing her and getting her hair wet.
She walked onto the school grounds, using a current of hot air to dry her own hair when she felt her phone vibrating in her pocket. Picking it up, she continued drying her hair while placing the phone between her shoulder and ear.
"Sofia where the fuck are you?" An angry voice came out the other end.
"At school?" She replied simply.
"You can be anywhere at any time and you still decide to go to school?" The voice sighed. "Sofia, you're the world's greatest assassin, please get your shit together. Listen, you have-"
"Not so loud Vlad, I'm heading to class." His sentence was interrupted.
"You have a mission, I need you to-"
Just as she was about to enter the building, a student walked by and shoulder-checked her.
"One second." She said as she hung up the phone and put it back in her pocket, conjuring a slight air gust and using it to knock the student to the ground all while suppressing the urge to do a lot more than that.
"Using magic is forbidden, you know that." One of the students that witnessed the events commented.
"Claire!!" Sofia cheerfully smiled, throwing her arms around her friend.
"You do this every day, can you lay off?" Claire said, with an annoyed but playful tone.
"No." She squeezed tighter.
After she let go, the two of them began walking through the spacious, lock-riddled hallways and to one of their classes.
"Oh that's right, tomorrow is the tournament. Are you gonna compete?" Claire asked.
"The inter-school thing? No thanks. I'm pretty weak actually. I'd just get my ass handed to me."
"Well maybe, but I think it would be fun. I'll participate too."
"Really?" Sofia asked.
"Are you gonna join now that I joined?" Claire rolled her eyes.
"Obviously."
****
When they finally reached the classroom, they settled into two of the remaining seats, the other students having gotten there at least 15 minutes prior.
The eager students patiently awaited their teacher, excited to learn the new subject of basic magic application.
This class would allow students to better understand the ways the elements functioned and how to use them effectively. Since this was a public school, most students did not come from a prominent background, meaning that they didn't have the access to the resources required for learning magic, nor did they have anyone in the family who could teach them, leaving school the only place to properly learn about magic.
The reason parents don't teach their children the things they have learned from their respective time in school is because they are simply not allowed to. Aside from teaching them simple parlor tricks, passing down magical knowledge without a license is a punishable offense, thus, only the rich that could afford a tutor could grant their children magical training from a very young age.
'A way to control the masses.' Sofia thought as she looked at the student's giddy faces. 'By the time they learn, the upper class will have left them so far behind, talent becomes borderline irrelevant.'
Even this class only scratched the surface of the things accessible with magic.
"Hello, students." A calming, soothing voice rang out, snapping Sofia out of her daze and drawing her eyes towards it.
Behind the teacher's desk stood a man with hair black as night contrasting with his pale white skin. He had a normal face with a somewhat prominent jawline and a narrow nose bridge, yet, inexplicably, everyone was drawn to it.
"Ok class, today we'll start off easy. We're gonna look at awakened and their gifts." At the mention of awakened ones, the whole class involuntarily groaned. If there was one thing they hated more than powerful rich people, it was the awakened ones who were seemingly blessed by the gods. "Does anyone know the difference between an awakened and a normal mage?"
One hand quickly shot up faster than the others, it belonged to a short girl with freckles dotting her face.
"Awakened ones are humans who can use other forms of magic, besides the 4 elements." She answered.
"Close. Who else wants to have a go?" The teacher said.
Claire's hand shot up this time. She was a beautiful woman, only slightly shorter than Sofia, with gorgeous wavy blond hair and a pair of deep blue eyes.
"Claire, please, go ahead."
"Awakened ones are people who have received a 'gift', an ability unique to them that no one else can learn or replicate. These abilities can range from ordinary to logic defying, and are highly sought after by big organizations." She answered without skipping a beat.
"Great answer. Now, we don't know much about the nature of gifts, or why people suddenly awaken them. The important bit to remember is that anyone under the age of 20 has the chance to awaken one at any moment, as that is when the body stops developing and magical channels become fully developed." The teacher added, in his soothing voice. "Meaning that any of you might be lucky enough to awaken one someday."
"Now, please open your books from page 12 and begin reading. Tomorrow, we will start performing the practical as described in the book."
****
As the day drew to a close and the sun began setting behind the hills in the distance, Sofia took out her phone from her pocket and looked at the dozens of notifications taking up her screen.
She sighed and called the number trying to reach her.
"Finally you pick up. Don't hang up on me this time, I have a job for you. The pay is good, but I doubt you care." An old voice said.
"Just tell me what I have to do, Vlad." Sofia's eyes looked at nothing in particular while she thought about what to eat for dinner.
"The day after tomorrow, on Wednesday, just meet me at the Cafe. I won't give details on the phone, but it's nasty."
Sofia nodded, even though the man couldn't see her do it. "Okay. See you." She hung up before the man could get another word in.
She sighed while she looked out the window, a complicated look appeared on her beautiful face.
'Should I do takeaway or go somewhere?'