September in Salus

September 4th

"Thank you for taking care of the vampire, Caelum. Please, sit down."

Caelum sat, unsure of where the conversation was going. Dr. Nichols had clearly not called Caelum to his office just to congratulate him on a job well done. Dr. Nichols continued. "This may seem like it comes out of the blue, but, for some time I've suspected that we Salusians are not alone. I think that perhaps there's another group of magical people."

Caelum felt his jaw drop. "Another group? But that's impossible! Salus is the only safe place- isn't it?"

"That's the thing we don't know," Dr. Nichols said. "In theory, any building could be enchanted for protection against threats, but Salus is unique in that it is the largest existing protected magical place."

Caelum bit his lip. "So you think that there's another group of people fighting threats?"

"Not exactly." Dr. Nichols shuffled through the papers on his desk and pulled out a chart. "This is a graph of entrants into and people who have left Salus. As you can see, our numbers have dropped drastically within the past twenty years. However, you can also see that within the past ten years, there has been a steep decline in new manifestations of magical powers. In fact, Dominic has been our only Newfound Salusian since Will Montgomery, and I don't even know if that's the right word to describe Dominic. The Council suspects that perhaps this other group may be seeking out those with magical powers and recruiting them before we can bring them here."

"Couldn't there just be less people with magical powers?" The idea of another magical group sounded more and more ludicrous as Caelum turned it over in his head.

"Of course there could be. We don't know anything for sure." Dr. Nichols leaned back in his chair and picked up a sheaf of papers. "This is all the information we've been able to find about Dominic. His family lives in Pennsylvania, they came to St. Louis on vacation, and Dom wandered into Salus. All innocent enough, and his parents seem utterly confused by the existence of Salus. They're refusing to listen to the Council members. All of this is very normal for a Newfound, except for the fact that Dominic came into Salus on his own. This is what's frightening, because surely you know that he shouldn't have been able to get in on his own for a very simple reason, correct?"

"Right, because he didn't know that Salus existed before he came in. Obviously he has magical blood, but he shouldn't have gotten in because he didn't know about the existence of Salus."

"Exactly." Dr. Nichols pushed his glasses up on his nose. "It's basic stuff. Everyone knows the rules of entry into Salus- everyone except Dominic, it seems. So naturally we're suspicious."

Sitting suddenly seemed wrong. Caelum got up and began to pace across the room. "Do you think that he already knows how to control his powers and he's just putting on an act? Is that why they're so strong?"

"We have no way of knowing for sure, but that's part of the reason why I wanted to talk to you." Dr. Nichols leaned forward. "Caelum, in addition to your questing duties, we would like you to do your best to keep an eye on Dominic and even your classmates. "

Caelum stared at Dr. Nichols. "Keep an eye on him how?"

"Nothing too out of the ordinary. Just keep an eye out for any suspicious behavior. Anything unusual. And if there was any way you could look into his emails or texts, that could be helpful. Obviously he shouldn't be able to contact any outsiders, but we know he's already broken the rules, albeit unintentionally." Noticing Caelum's apprehension, he added, "You don't have to decide today. You can have some time to make your decision."

"Yes, sir." Caelum couldn't shake the uneasiness he felt about investigating Dom. Thought he'd only known Dom for a few days, he considered him a friend. But then again, if he helped the Council, he would be doing his part to keep Salus safe. "Okay. I'll- I'll think about it."