A JSE Fanfic
Chapter One: Broken Spells
[On Halloween night 2017, Marvin decides to wander aimlessly about the city to relax. Instead, he finds a new threat—or perhaps a new friend…]
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“Is Chase doing okay?” Marvin asked, speaking into the phone.
“He’s hanging in there,” Jackie replied on the other end. “A little upset ‘cause he can’t take the kids trick-or-treating, but there’s not much to do there. You busy?”
Marvin snorted. “If that’s some half-assed way to ask me to come help babysit with you, it’s not gonna work.”
“It’s not babysitting!” Jackie yelled. “It’s called ‘hanging out with a friend who needs company!’”
“Yeah, well, I have plans.”
“Doing what?”
“Things.”
“Marvin I swear to god, if you’re blowing me off for no reason I’ll sneak up on you while you’re sleeping and relocate you to the roof of the highest building in the city. You’ll wake up and be hanging off the damn edge.”
“Have fun babysitting,” Marvin laughed, then hung up.
In truth, he did have plans. But he didn’t think the hero would see them as important. Jackie was the type of person who cared violently about his friends, and spent every moment of free time he had with at least one of them. Marvin was not like that. Every so often, he needed some time to relax, to think.
Halloween night. The one time when the magician could go out in full costume—mask, cape, wand and all—and not get any weird looks. For all anyone knew, he was on his way to a party. But no. Marvin just enjoyed wandering the city and exploring new areas. He also happened to like wearing his costume. So why not combine the two?
He stopped, leaning against a fence, and observed his surroundings. He’d made his way to the suburbs. This was actually very near Chase’s house, so if he wanted he could join Jackie in whatever it was the hero was doing. Children in cheap costumes were running about, followed by semi-enthusiastic parents, waving flashlights and bags of candy. “Nice mask, mister!” a girl in an astronaut costume called. Marvin smiled. “Nice helmet!” he called back. The girl laughed, but her mother standing behind her glared. No doubt suspicious of grown men dressed in dark capes. Marvin decided it was best to move on.
Not two minutes later, a boy ran straight into him, sending candy everywhere. “Sorry, sir,” the boy said.
“No no, it’s fine,” Marvin assured him. “Here, I’ll help.” He stooped, picking up bars of chocolate from where they’d fallen. He looked at the child, ready to hand them over, only to freeze. A white coat, a stethoscope, blue scrubs—was he seeing things?
The boy frowned. “Um, mister?”
Marvin blinked a couple times. The kid was just wearing a costume. Nothing more. “Sorry,” he said. Then smiled, “I think I just saw a ghost.”
The boy’s eyes widened. “Really?”
“Yeah.” Marvin gave the boy back his candy. “You have to be careful running around on Halloween.”
“Alright!” The boy gripped his flashlight tighter, blinking it on and off as if to show he was prepared. Then he darted away.
Marvin sighed, setting off again. He was seeing ghosts, just not in the way the kid had thought.
It had been nearly three months since Schneeplestein had disappeared. Three months since the operation on Jack had failed, leaving him in a coma. Three months of Jackie pushing himself to the limit trying to find an answer. Three months of Chase slowly spiraling downward into a black hole of depression. Three months of Marvin himself just getting by any way he can.
They all knew something was off. Something beyond ordinary. But none of them knew what exactly it was. Marvin suspected some sort of black magic, but who would have a grudge against any of them?
Gradually, Marvin realized he was in an area of the city he’d never been to before. The buildings around him were tall and narrow, the architecture decades out of fashion. But…music was coming from somewhere. Marvin struggled to remember the word…ragtime. That was it. Tinny-sounding ragtime music was coming from somewhere nearby. Listening, Marvin followed the sound to one of the houses. He stopped outside the gate. Why would music be coming from here?
“Dude, you don’t want to be going in there.”
Marvin whirled around. A pair of teenagers had managed to sneak up on him: a boy and girl, dressed like a vampire and werewolf respectively. No doubt a couple on their way to a party. “Why not?” Marvin asked.
“It’s supposed to be, like super haunted,” the boy explained. “Some old film star used to live there, who disappeared under mysterious circumstances. People think he was killed and that his ghost hangs out there.”
The girl sniffed dismissively. “Of course, there are lots of perfectly normal reasons to not go tramping through some wreck. It’s condemned. You could fall through the floor and break your neck.”
“Really?” Marvin muttered. “What’re you two doing here then?”
“Shortcut,” the boy said, shrugging. “Anyway, if you want to go in, whatever. It’s your life. Or soul. Bye, dude.” The teens walked away.
Marvin turned back to the house. . He believed in ghosts, of course. It would be hard not to believe in the supernatural when you had real magic flowing through your veins. But the question was, would he rather take a risk with a possibly vengeful spirit, or walk away never having seen a ghost?
“Fuck it,” Marvin said out loud. Curiosity killed the cat after all. He vaulted over the locked gate and crept up the path to the house’s door, following the sound of the music.
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The door creaked when Marvin eased it open. Inside, there was a hall with three doors leading off, each one ajar. A rickety old staircase led up to a second floor. Holes in the ceiling revealed wooden beams. The floor was littered with broken bits of unidentifiable trash. Everything was silent except for the sound of the music, louder now, coming from upstairs.
Cautiously, Marvin climbed the stairs, each step creaking beneath his feet. Reaching the second floor, he saw a similar hall to the one downstairs, minus the steps. The music was coming from the second door on the left. Dodging holes in the floor, Marvin made his way toward it.
He opened the door, hinges groaning loudly, and peered inside. The room was empty, save for a few old-fashioned armchairs and a small table. A phonograph sat on top of the table, its needle tracing a path on a spinning record.
Marvin found his hand instinctively straying to his wand. He pushed the room’s door all the way open, eyes darting left and right, looking for anything unusual. Slowly, he took a step toward the phonograph. Then another. When nothing happened, he half-ran the rest of the way there.
The phonograph kept playing, its ragtime music oddly happy considering the run-down ruin surrounding it. Looking around one last time, Marvin reached out and took the needle off the record, stopping the music.
Silence.
“Huh,” Marvin said. He’d expected more. Sighing, he turned back to the open door.
Except it was no longer open.
Marvin blinked. “Now, that’s more like it,” he muttered. For a split second, the world seemed to break in two, a red photo negative appearing out of nowhere before immediately disappearing. It was barely anything, but accompanying it was an overwhelming sense of nausea, causing Marvin to double over to keep from vomiting. When he straightened up, a figure appeared before him, only to blink out of existence just as quickly.
An uneasy feeling crept over the magician as he drew his wand, spells running through his head. Behind him, the ragtime started up again, slowed and distorted. It wasn’t particularly threatening, just a little creepy. But still, something in Marvin screamed at him to get out, that there were forces here he couldn’t take on by himself.
“All right, you damn ghostie,” Marvin called. “Why don’t you stop being a fucking coward and show yourself?”
The room seemed to tilt beneath his feet, and Marvin stumbled. The world seemed to break again, afterimages of people appearing in red. Color drained from the room, and the music became unrecognizable, punctuated by whispers. Marvin fought the urge to vomit once again, swallowing hard.
The figure appeared before him again, closer this time, before vanishing. Marvin spun around, looking for where it had gone.
It reappeared, right in front of him. Before the magician could even raise his wand to defend himself, hands reached out and grabbed him by the neck. And squeezed hard.
“Arck,” Marvin choked. He grabbed his attacker by the wrists, struggling to pull away, but the figure held on with inhuman strength. Marvin stumbled back, but black spots were already appearing in his vision. A strange laugh seemed to be echoing through his mind, hoarse and strangled like it was being forced through a throat that hadn’t made sound in years.
One more try, Marvin decided. He threw his head back violently and stepped backwards, pulling his attacker with him. But his foot found nothing to land on, and he fell through the floor, landing with a crash.
Groaning, Marvin climbed to his feet. He’d landed in what looked like a study, with a decrepit desk and chair to match. “Well, I’ve had enough,” Marvin said, his voice hoarse. As if responding, the world around him flickered, his surroundings changing to a parlor, to a kitchen, to a bedroom. The magician almost fell to his knees as the feeling of nausea returned, accompanied by a pounding headache and dizziness.
Shaking his head to clear it, Marvin ran to the door and yanked it open, only for it to be slammed shut. The mad, strange laughter rang again. “Shut the fuck up!” Marvin yelled, raising his wand. A blast of green energy erupted from the end, blowing the door open. Before it could close again, Marvin darted through, emerging into the second floor hall.
He had to get out. He’d had his supernatural experience, and he’d hated it. He ran to the stairs, keeping his wand out in front of him for defense. He reached the top step and started down.
The world broke again, red and green afterimages swimming in front of his eyes. He teetered on the edge. All it took was one tiny push…
Marvin tumbled down the stairs, every inch of his body aching by the time he reached the bottom. Somehow, he’d kept hold of his wand. Using the banister, he pulled himself upright.
“Alright, you demon ghost bitch,” Marvin said through gritted teeth. “You want a fight? I’ll give you one. So come out and face me, you dickwad!”
More laughter. The figure appeared and walked toward him, leaving red afterimages with every step it took. Marvin held his wand tight. When the figure was close enough to see its black eyes, the magician brought his wand upward with a yell, pointing it toward the being.
Green flames tinged with purple exploded with a roar, consuming the figure, burning its essence. A scream pierced Marvin’s mind, seeming not to come from the figure but from everywhere. But the magician didn’t waver, keeping up the magic until he was drained of energy and collapsed to his knees.
Struggling to stay conscious, Marvin reflected on what had just happened. Using black magic flames had been a risky maneuver, but black magic was far more powerful than the regular kind. Unfortunately, it came with heavy consequences. Marvin had barely recovered from the last time he’d used it, but given the choice between consequences or death, he’d take the former.
Something stirred in front of him, and Marvin started, raising his wand. The figure had fallen to the floor with him, but something was…different. The heavy weight he’d felt since he’d entered the house had disappeared. Using the minimal amount of magic, Marvin conjured a small, green witch light.
The figure before him was a man, about average height but more slender than considered normal. His brown hair was hidden underneath a black hat, and a curly mustache adorned his face. He wore a blue vest and a bow tie. When he looked up at Marvin, his eyes were not solid black like they had been, but instead baby blue.
“Um, hi?” Marvin said.
The man scrambled back, eyes widening in fear. His head darted about, taking in the surroundings.
“Whoa, hey, it’s okay,” Marvin said. “You’re okay.” He reached forward to help, though he didn’t know how, only for the man to back away. The magician stopped. “So, uh, what’s your name?” he asked.
The stranger shook his head. He tapped his throat with his hand.
“Ah, I see,” Marvin said, his confusion growing. “You, uh, can’t talk. Well…” Marvin glanced around. Was…was the threat gone? But…the threat had been this man…what was going on? “Um, my name is Marvin. I’m magic, as you can probably tell. Uh…d’you—do you want any help?”
The man hesitated, then nodded once.
Marvin stood up, legs trembling beneath him. “Fuck, too much magic,” he hissed under his breath. He held out his hand again. The man paused before taking it and allowing Marvin to hoist him up. Once he’d gotten to his feet, he immediately collapsed straight into Marvin.
“Whoa, buddy,” Marvin said. “I can’t hold you up. We’ll have to help each other.”
The two managed to stay upright by leaning on each other. Marvin could feel the other man’s uneven heartbeat and shaky breathing. What had happened to him?
“I have a friend who lives nearby,” Marvin said. “We’re gonna head there, okay?” He waited for the other man to nod in agreement before stumbling out of the house, leaving the ruins behind them.