On the only couch in the Basement, Agnes sat languidly with her legs crossed, her phone pressed against her ear as she idly studied her fingernails.
"Mom, I already told you, I've got it under control." She muttered absent-mindedly because her mind was on other things she would rather be doing than trying to stop her mother, Ursula from coming back to the Borough.
"Come on, if Ulva is dead then shit has hit the fan. I'm coming right away, besides I'm not much good here. I've taught the students everything I know already."
"No, Mom! Stay right there!" Agnes snapped. She didn't want Ursula back in the Borough not just because she believed she had it under control, but because she felt that after all the time she had served the pack, she deserved to do something that made her happy. Her mother had always been a great teacher, even as a young witch, which was why Lena had been able to learn so much from her even though she was only a wolf.
However, Ursula couldn't pursue that side of herself or build on it because there was always one magical issue or the other in the Borough, making it difficult for her to focus on herself. So, the minute Agnes came of age and was powerful enough to bear the magical responsibilities of the pack, she sent Ursula out to find herself and do her thing.
At the moment, Ursula was at a monastery on the far side of the country where she was teaching young witches the full extent of their powers. Agnes had also gone to the monastery during her time and she knew that Ursula teaching there, they would be exceptional witches. After all, she had learned everything she knew from Ursula herself.
Besides, this was the first big case she was getting since her mother left. She needed to show she didn't make a mistake by asking her to leave and taking charge. She needed to show her mother that she could handle whatever came to the Borough. And so far, it had not seemed that way, everything seemed to be falling apart.
How could she tell her mother that her best friend, Lena, was responsible for killing Ulva because of the very witchcraft she helped her learn? How could she tell Ursula that Ashina, who Ulva took as a child, could very well be the one who snapped the alpha's neck? Everything was going to shit, and she felt like it was happening right under her watch. She couldn't shake the feeling that if she had been more vigilant none of all that would have happened.
"Hello? Agnes?" Ursula called, she had been speaking to empty air for a while. "Are you even there?"
"I'm here. I'm sorry, bad network I guess, I'm currently in the Basement, you know?"
"So, you said Ulva was bitten by a hybrid, right?" Ursula asked.
"Yeah," Agnes nodded. "However, there has been something bugging me about the bite. No matter how I look at it, something feels off about the whole thing."
"Well, hybrids are dark magic which gives off a different energy from the magic of the light which we practice and which encompasses everything the wolves are about."
"I get it. But that's the problem, when I sense the energy, I don't just get dark magic, there's something there. It's not fully dark, but it's not exactly light either."
"Hmmm… like a mask?"
Agnes thought about it and nodded, "Exactly like a mask. When I think about it, it doesn't make sense, like who would do that to a bite mark? Besides, if he was bitten yesterday, there would have been no time to get it done before he died. Unless it was after he died. It's just confusing, Mom."
"I believe you know what to do, Agnes. And I also believe you're right in that. If someone did mask the bite, there had to be a reason for that. I know how complicated the spell can be. But still, it could be anything else."
Agnes shifted in her seat and looked behind the couch where there was a huge tub on the floor. It was filled with a slimy liquid that was boiling furiously even though there were no flames under the tub.
"Yeah," she muttered. "It could be anything else, but I'm going to find out what it is."
"I trust you, honey. Agnes, you have to know that I would never have left the Borough if I didn't feel you could handle the pressure. I'm so proud of how strong and resilient you are, but this will only be the first of many troubles that will come your way. In time, you'll have a knack for solving them all. I'll always be here if you need anything. For now, I have a class to get to."
"Okay Mom, thanks a lot! Love you!!!"
As the line went dead in her ear, Agnes slowly lowered her phone to the couch. She got to her feet and approached the tub, its contents were boiling furiously, popping off. Beside the tub, there was a contraption that she had set up. Ulva's naked body was rigged to it, she was preparing him for the Cleansing. This way, she would be able to undo whatever magic had been done to him at the time of death.
"Well, here goes nothing." She muttered as she picked up the remote and pressed the button. Slowly, Ulva's corpse was lowered into the tub. The minute his body touched the bubbling surface, it began to sizzle loudly and the smell of burning flesh filled the air. She didn't stop though, she allowed it to keep going, lowering the body even further. The tub kept simmering loudly, making popping sounds like water thrown into hot oil would make.
Soon, his entire body was immersed fully into the liquid and he slowly sank to the bottom of the tub. Agnes stood beside the tub, looking down at it as it bubbled furiously. She kept her breathing even as she timed herself, she knew just how long she needed the body to be in the tub before she pulled it out.
A few minutes later, she was satisfied and pressed the remote again, at once, the corpse was pulled out. Just as slowly as before. This time, the furious simmering reduced drastically and the boiling also reduced. By the time she had completely pulled the body out, the surface of the liquid had become still and calm. It was almost as if it never boiled, to begin with.
Without touching the body, Agnes operated the contraption and gently controlled the corpse to her slab where she was working. She stood over Ulva's body and studied him, he was looking clean and fresh, as if he had never aged a day. However, the bite on his neck was different. It looked old and dirty, it didn't look like a new wound at all. There were maggots and termites crawling all over it. It was deeply infected.
"What the fuck? This is impossible!" She gasped, not believing her eyes. "This wasn't a fucking mask!"
She stepped away from the slab, struggling to control her breath as she stared at Ulva's neck. It was a sore sight and almost made her want to puke. Something was wrong. For a bite that occurred the previous night, the wound looked way too old and too infected.
The more she stared at Ulva's corpse, the more her mind traveled as she calculated.
"No… it can't be…" she gasped suddenly. She hurried over to the closet and began to rifle through his clothes. They were the clothes he died in, she kept them there when she took them off him. She didn't stop searching until she found an orange scarf. It was long and silky to her touch.
She recognized the scarf, she squeezed her fingers around it as she thought hard. Ulva had been wearing the scarf for months.
"It's just a fashion trend," Ulva had said with a shrug when she asked him about it. "You're younger than I am but I know more about what's cool than you. So relax, I'm just trying something new out."
Now, as she held the scarf in her hand, she felt her heart beating heavily in her chest. She couldn't just shake the feeling that the scarf was for a darker reason.
She walked away from the closet and made her way to the cauldron which was on fire as usual, she snapped her fingers and the flames changed to green at once. She got down to her knees, moving as close to the flames as possible, ignoring the heat as she slowly raised the scarf and held it against the flames. As she held it, she saw a blue spot reflected through the scarf. It was dark blue and it was glowing, so unnatural.
Now that she saw it, she knew what it meant; it was the spot that had covered Ulva's hybrid bite.
With a curse, she stormed out of the Basement, clutching the scarf tightly as she got back into the open air. She and Lena were about to have another conversation.