- Фэнтези
- 18+
Brakket Magical Academy in the Northwestern United States is on its last legs. Enrollment of new students is at an all time low. The academy instructors go out to recruit prospective children other magical academies have ignored.Eva is one such recruit. After witnessing her perform magic no teenage mage should have learned, an instructor of the academy offers her a full ride scholarship. Eva does not turn down the opportunity to learn magic in a proper capacity and quickly ships out to Montana.Barely a day there and things already seem off. Every student has the same scholarship, odd-smelling men wander the town, and a spider demon has decided Eva's dorm room is the place to be.
Evaleen Spencer
A friendly chime rang throughout the office as the door closed.
“Just a moment,” called a voice from the back room. After a brief scuffle of footsteps, the owner of the voice appeared next to the front counter. “Ah, Eva. Good to see you again,” the woman said, “and who have you got there? Another stray?”
Eva shrugged her shoulders, hefting the sleeping kitten in her arms upwards. “Not a stray this time. His collar says ‘Mr. Mist’ but there is no owner information.”
“I can’t say I’ve seen him before, but I’ll check and see if he’s registered in the system.”
Before the nurse could go to the computer, Eva said, “Mrs. Vallenger, that isn’t all.” Eva knelt and allowed the kitten to fall forwards, supported by her arms and knees. The kitten’s hind leg had a deep gash down one side. Blood matted its fur down as well as covered the entire front of Eva’s white tee-shirt. “He was mewing beneath some wire around the library’s parking construction.”
“Oh,” she made some quick clicks with her tongue. “I’ll see if I can get Doctor Thompson to take a look at him.” She carefully took the kitten out of Eva’s arms and marched him straight into the back room.
Left on her own in the empty lobby, Eva walked straight to the bathroom. The young girl sighed in front of the mirror.
With her arms cleaned off, Eva looked down at her clothes; she was stumped as to how to clean them. Apart from getting her shirt completely soaked, not something Eva was willing to do even if the summer heat was settling in, nothing sprung to mind.
Eva sighed once more and left the bathroom. She walked straight through the door marked ‘Employees Only’ without any hesitation. She might not be a member of the staff, but she had been through many times before while volunteering to care for the boarding animals.
The door marked ‘Surgery’ did give her pause. The light was already on, either Doctor Thompson had another patient or he was already working on Mr. Mist. Voices coming from the other side of the door soon answered the question.
“.. of a deep flesh wound, but nothing important. Get me a bag of fluids while I stitch his leg up.”
“Yes doctor.”
Eva backed up half a step and tried her best to look like she hadn’t just been listening in. She raised her hand as if to knock just as Nurse Vallenger opened the door. The nurse looked surprised for half a moment before a light smile spread across her petite face.
“I’ll be back with you in a moment, Eva,” she said as she walked down the hall towards the storage room.
Eva gave the woman a light nod and looked back to the room the nurse had left wide open.
The elderly Doctor Thompson hunched over a table with the black and white cat. He looked to be just about to start the stitches when he apparently noticed the door was open as well, for he gave a light sigh. “You can come in, Eva, if you promise not to touch anything.”
With a nod, Eva walked in and stood opposite the doctor at the table, intent on seeing the remainder of the process. She did her best to hide her excitement, but some must have shown through as Doctor Thompson gave a light chuckle. She couldn’t help it, it was the first time they’d let her in during a surgery, after all.
The doctor set to work on the cat without another word. They stood in silence until the stitches were about half way through the leg.
“Not very squeamish, are you. I’ve seen people who’ve gone through the entirety of med school get queasy at the sight of open wounds. And you’re what, ten?”
“Thirteen sir, and I’ve seen plenty worse than Mr. Mist’s cut.”
Doctor Thompson looked up from the cat. “Worse?”
Eva blinked and a small frown appeared on her face as she quickly back pedaled, “I mean, like, the poor animals that get hit by cars.”
He gave a noncommittal grunt and went back to work on the kitten.
Nurse Vallenger returned a moment later. Eva moved aside, a bit disappointed by just how much her short time in the surgery room did not live up to her expectations.
The nurse hung a small yellow-orange bag from a hook and slipped a needle into the cat’s front left paw. After taping down the tube, she pulled a small camera out of her pocket and tried to line up a shot. “Hmm, should have taken the picture before inserting the IV.”
“I’ve got it,” Eva said. She waited until the nurse gave her a nod and then removed the bag from the hook and held it, along with the tube, off to the side.
