Heath
His home was in a rural neighborhood just west of the college. The properties here were widely spaced with large yards and mature trees. There were several houses on each side of the winding road. They weren’t on top of each other like most of the residential neighborhoods in Clementine.
Alumni was the title on the left, and what had begun his investigative project. Graduates of Mars had vanished, seemingly into thin air, beginning a little over a year ago. Each of them had been at the top of their classes, and were being recruited for sought-after positions.
His sister, Nadine, reported the same thing happening at Venus. A total of five more had disappeared from both colleges after graduating last term.
Reaching out to faculty at other universities revealed that alumni were also missing from the three closest educational institutions that exclusively taught evolved students.
Those graduates also had high-ranking powers, scored top grades, and were being watched by scouts.
There were no leads. That was extremely disturbing.
Relatively few of the missing graduates were casters or shifters. Most of them were elementals, or had physical powers. That could be insignificant, but Heath felt like it was a clue as to why these students had vanished.
Heath was convinced that all of the graduates had been targeted by one entity or organization.
He had a theory of when and how they were being selected, without the necessary data to prove his suspicions.
Not that it would help if he couldn’t figure out why and where they had been taken, and by whom.
Animals was the heading of the second column. It was a scientific fact that animals, both wild and domesticated, were more sensitive to metaphysical events, energy fluctuations, and magic than humans, evolved or unevolved. It was a subject that Heath found fascinating.
Rascal had found and picked him when he was still a kitten. A little orange and white ball of fluff had run out from under a shrub, and raced straight to Heath when he was outside casting in the yard one day. They had been together ever since, and had a strong bond.
The existence of familiars was highly debated, and unproven. But, many animals were drawn to magic. As such, evolved universities had barns, and occasionally habitats for the creatures that felt an urge to be close to that energy.
Students visited the barns frequently. Many volunteered to help with care and feeding. Some had pets in the enclosures, or had been followed from home by an animal they had emotional ties to.
The barns near Venus, Mars, and north of Clementine were now fuller than ever, and on the verge of being overcrowded. Typically, animals that gravitated to magic displayed interest and curiosity, but were primarily calm. Now the local animals were anxious and temperamental for no apparent reason.
Outside of housing for personal pets, the barns were open, allowing the animals freedom to come and go as they pleased. Currently, none of them seemed inclined to leave. That was also unusual.
Perhaps the energy had shifted, causing anxiety, and making the animals feel safer in the barns. Whatever it was, Rascal was unaffected. He got excited when Heath used magic, and stayed close, but was otherwise as sweet-tempered and playful as usual.
Nadine, who lived in Clementine, said it was the same with her raccoons. A female had chosen her, and now had babies. Roger and Brady, Nadine’s mates, had built a shelter for them in the yard.
It was possible that animals with a strong connection to a person were less vulnerable to what was causing the disturbance. Heath had no idea what the influx of animals and their fractiousness meant, or if it was in any way connected to the missing students. But it had to portend something.
Dr. Lauren Prentiss was at the top of the third row. She was a veterinarian with the power of animal empathy. Dr. Prentiss had worked with animals at the Denver Institute of Evolved Studies for fifteen years, and was highly respected.
Her insight on the current situation with the animals here would be invaluable. But that wasn’t feasible.
Prentiss specialized in researching the relationships between animals and evolved humans. Heath had read most of the articles she had written. He appreciated her love and respect for animals, as well as her perspective on the subject.
An expert in her field, Prentiss often traveled during summer breaks. She volunteered her services to a number of zoos around the territory. Now, she was missing.
Reportedly, Lauren Prentiss had purchased a bus ticket to Pittsburgh approximately two months ago. She only drove locally, preferring to be a passenger on long journeys.
Somewhere between the two cities, she stepped off the bus, and did not reembark. There had been no sign of her since.
Heath’s sister had heard about the missing empathic veterinarian from a colleague in Dever who responded to her inquiry about missing students. He told Nadine that the police had no leads. All the faculty and staff at DIES were worried sick about her.
He said that Dr. Prentiss always had an itinerary, and was extremely reliable. She wouldn’t abandon her responsibilities or break a promise to work with troubled animals voluntarily.
While Lauren Prentiss was not a recent graduate, there were similarities. That, and her tie to animals, was why Heath had added her to the board.
All of these mysteries were vexing with far too little information. Moving on from them for now, Heath focused on the newest addition to the board, at the far right. Smith/Voudrie. They might not be connected to the rest, but something was going on there.
Clark Voudrie seemed like an upstanding guy, and an excellent monitor. Junior and senior casters that Heath knew well had told him that the underage students liked and respected Clark Voudrie. He was a good teacher who showed no favoritism, and kept his classes interesting.
Voudrie’s performance during the emergency drill proved his capability. Parents of powered students had made favorable comments, saying that Clark Voudrie had facilitated a smooth move-in day.
Bruce Walker, who was in his late sixties, planned to retire in a couple of years. This would leave an opening in the powered department.
Heath was positive that Dean Stanhope had hired Clark Voudrie with the expectation of promoting him to professor after Clark earned his doctorate. Allen Stanhope had done the same with himself.
This method gave the dean a sense of the dedication and work ethic of a preferred candidate prior to offering a professorship. There was also the advantage of the new professor having established a rapport with the rest of the staff, and being familiar with the college’s objectives.
They had gotten lucky with Voudrie. Seven weeks before the start of term, the previous powered monitor had found his mate. He had notified the dean immediately that he would not be returning to Mars.
Heath frequently found his attention being drawn to Clark Voudrie without being certain why. The powered monitor was primarily on the list of mysteries to investigate due to Jason Smith. It was 007’s behavior with Voudrie that aroused Heath’s curiosity.
Since they had been fellow monitors during Jace’s first year at Mars, Heath knew him fairly well. There was a mutual respect among peers between them.
Jace was an athlete through and through, a quintessential jock. All his close friends were in law enforcement, or involved in sports. They met at pubs in Clementine, drank beers, and flirted with the ladies.
He had a good relationship with most of the staff, but didn’t hang out with scholarly types. Until now. It was only Voudrie that Jace seemed to make an exception for.
The two had been seen eating and running together. 007 sat next to Voudrie at every meeting, and was angry on Clark’s behalf when the other monitors got nasty with him.
Of course, Heath had been bothered by that as well, and took Ray and Mitch to task for it. So, that could have been a simple matter of Jace bristling over the injustice. Clark had stood his ground and remained calm, but it shouldn’t have been necessary.
Heath’s thoughts went back to the mystery of Jace’s unusual behavior and friendship with the new monitor. Why? What was different about Voudrie, who was so obviously intellectual? There had to be more to this than a love of running.
Heath enjoyed running, but he and Jace had never jogged together, or bonded over it. They kept to their own routines and schedules.
Jace had volunteered to give Voudrie a tour of the campus, and explain the duties of the job. Better him than Mitch or Ray, neither of whom were impressing anyone. It made sense that Jace would take being a mentor to the new monitor seriously.
Being supportive of a new coworker, however, did not necessitate sitting next to each other at meetings, running, and sharing meals together. That seemed more like friendship than a mentor and mentee conferring over a job.
Jace also had actual conversations with Clark, rather than his usual less-than-communicative behavior. Heath had dubbed him 007 out of fondness for the cranky shifter, but also because it was fitting.
Then, there was Jace’s sudden change in clothing choices. Coaches and teachers in the physical training department were the only members of faculty exempt from the dress code for the rest of the staff.
In all the years Heath had known Jace, the combat trainer had worn tank tops and shorts, sometimes sweats, often going shirtless on hot days. Now, he exclusively wore muscle shirts, never taking them off. That gave Heath the impression that Jace was hiding something.
But what? The only possibilities Heath could think of were scars, or a mate mark. To his knowledge, 007 hadn’t been injured, and didn’t seem the type to be embarrassed by a scar.
Jace was open about longing for a mate. If he had a mate mark, he wouldn’t hide it. He would brag, and display it proudly.
Maybe he was making too much out of this, or just trying to distract himself from more serious issues. None of the other professors acted curious, or seemed to think something odd was going on with Jace.
With a sigh, Heath moved Rascal off his lap, and stood to clear the table. He decided to change out of his work clothes and read for a while before heading to bed. The distraction might serve him well.
There was no point in staring at the board. No epiphanies had come to him like a gift from the universe. Heath was as mystified as ever.