Chapter Thirty-Seven
“PERHAPS I could use my magic and try to do what me and Elliot do when we combine our abilities,” Farlden said, eyes on Nolan, who was alone on his knees in the corridor, trying to find something in his backpack, throwing books and notepaper out over the floor.
Fal just wanted this investigation finished and then he could get out of everyone’s way and give Elliot and Barve a chance to work out their feelings for each other. He wanted to be with Elliot more than he wanted oxygen but Barve loved him and always had.
“Your magic doesn’t usually work in that way,” Barve said, pulling him back to the subject of Nolan.
“I can try.” Fal looked at the scruffy figure on the floor and reached out with his mind. He had a sense of Time opening up to him but nothing to anchor it to. He tried to put the thought of Al Greela alongside the corridor of Time but no connection was made. He pulled away, letting the flow of magic disintegrate.
“What happened?” Barve asked as Nolan began stuffing items back into his bag.
“Nothing. You were right. It doesn’t work without Elliot.” In more ways than one.
“No.” Barve was looking at him in an intent way, as if trying to work something out, and Fal couldn’t stand the thought of how Barve would feel if he ever realised how he and Elliot felt and the mess Fal had made of everything.
He wondered where Elliot was but didn’t dare phone Callie to ask and risk giving Barve another piece in the puzzle. Besides, that sounded pathetic and needy even in his own head. “Let’s get out of here.”
They walked past Nolan who was still staring blankly ahead of him as if he had no idea what he was doing there.
* * *
Elliot walked out of his room the next morning, feeling brighter than he had after escaping to the cinema with Callie. The film had been entertaining enough to distract him from everything going on in his life for a couple of hours and they had eaten dinner at a restaurant after it, sharing more about their lives than they had in the last two months. Their whole friendship had been centred around university work and investigating Nolan and he’d hardly known anything personal about her. When the Nolan business was over, he didn’t want their friendship to fall apart, particularly now when things were painfully awkward with Farlden.
He got halfway down the corridor when another door opened and Farlden stepped out. They both came to an abrupt stop and stared at each other. Farlden was wearing a red jumper that looked good on him and, combined with the green beads in one of his necklaces, had an oddly Christmassy feel.
“Hi,” Elliot managed.
“Where did you get to yesterday?”
“The cinema. Callie wanted to see a film playing and it was actually pretty decent. I wouldn’t normally dream of going in the middle of a week-day, but neither of us had any more lectures yesterday and...” Why was he trying so hard to justify it? He hadn’t done anything wrong. “So we need to sort out this whole thing with Nolan for Eva’s sake.”
“Yeah,” Farlden said, making Elliot wonder when was the last time that they’d agreed about anything, if they ever had. “Let’s just read his mind and get the mystery resolved today.”
“Fine.” After talking the matter over with Callie, he felt better about what the investigation. They could decide not to do anything against Nolan unless he was really up to something terrible and at least help Eva understand why it had all fallen apart. “He normally shows up at lunchtime so let’s get it done then.”
“Sure. All right.”
They walked off in different directions.
Elliot got through the morning lecture and discussion group, which was improved by Callie’s company. Lila texted them before they even got to the canteen at lunchtime to say that she had caught sight of Nolan talking with another boy in the corridor. Elliot went to the location she gave, the rest of the group joining them.
When Farlden appeared, Elliot said, “Are you ready to use magic now?”
“Yeah.”
“Too late,” Callie said and quickly turned her gaze to the wall as Nolan finished talking and walked past them. They followed him, Elliot afraid they would end up having to do the magic in the canteen, giving him a painful headache like the one he’d got when they did the spell amongst all the people at the other residential hall. Instead, Nolan turned and went into the men’s toilets.
“Now,” Farlden said.
“What memory are we looking for?” Elliot checked.
“I don’t know exactly, but I think it might work if we concentrate on the thought of Al Greela.”
Elliot closed his eyes and felt his magic swell up out of him and join with Farlden’s. The connection between them felt more intimate this time, like a shared touch, the magical link seeming to grow stronger the longer they knew each other and, possibly, the better they knew each other. It gave him hope that their connection was stronger than Farlden’s doubts were.
He thought about the Facebook picture of Al Greela. Nolan clearly had some relationship with him so they must have met at some point. The magic just sat doing nothing, no memories emerging. He tried thinking more about Al’s name but there was still no result.
He pulled back and opened his eyes. “This isn’t working.”
“I know,” Farlden said, brow creased. “I don’t understand it. Okay, we’ll have to try something different.”
When he fell silent, Elliot suggested, “What if we focus on the lectures we know Al Greela is registered for?”
“Worth a try.”
They closed their eyes again, their magic weaving into a single entity. Al was supposed to be taking History classes so Elliot thought about that and at once saw a lecture theatre and a professor he had seen around the campus. A few other faces were clear but most were blurred. The mind they were in was taking notes and listening avidly to what was said, wanting to make comments but too shy to put his hand up. The professor kept repeating certain phrases. They weren’t looking at Al from Nolan’s mind so they must be seeing everything from Al’s perspective.
Elliot pulled back again. He blinked, trying to make sense of what had just happened. “Did we somehow slip away from Nolan and into Al Greela’s mind?” he asked Farlden and Barve made a surprised noise. The two girls crowded closer to them until they were all almost touching.
“That’s impossible.” Farlden’s frown suggested he was equally lost. “We were focused on Nolan.”
“Could Nolan be related to Al?”
“That wouldn’t make this happen.”
While he tried to find an answer to what their magic had done, a part of Elliot’s mind wondered where Farlden had got so much information about magic. They would need to talk about it later. “Can we just focus on Nolan again and see what he’s doing now, so we can be sure we’re actually in his mind?”
Farlden nodded. “Okay.”
Elliot shut his eyes and the memory appeared at once. A second too late it hit him that he really didn’t want to see what Nolan was up to in the toilet, but thankfully the boy was already at the sink, washing his hands. Elliot could feel the cold water as if it was pouring over his hands and he shivered. The boy glanced up, into the mirror, but the face reflected there wasn’t Nolan; it was Al Greela again.
Pulling back his magic, Elliot returned to reality and the campus corridor surrounded by his friends. “Why aren’t we connecting with Nolan? Could there be something about his mind that can block us?”
Before Farlden could reply, Barve said, “I think you were in Nolan’s head. Look.” He gestured towards the figure leaving the men’s toilets.
“Wait.” Lila looked as confused as Elliot was. “Nolan went into the toilets and Al came out?”
“He has magic,” Barve said. “Greela is a Nean surname.”
Elliot still didn’t understand, although he saw the flash of realisation hit Farlden.
“Al!” Farlden called out and the boy stopped walking and looked round at him.
They approached and Barve said, “You’re Al Greela but you’ve been using magic to pretend to be Nolan Summers, haven’t you?”
Al swore and stumbled backwards, eyes wide. “You can’t tell anyone.”
“He can look like someone else?” Elliot asked, startled but also impressed. This was stronger magic than theirs.
“No, I-I don’t change,” Al stammered, “but I can make everyone think they’re seeing someone else.”
That still sounded pretty amazing to Elliot. “Wait a minute.” He frowned, an unpleasant thought coming to him. “You made Eva think you were her boyfriend. I mean, there’s a real Nolan somewhere that she started dating, right?”
“She dated him last year but he failed most of his courses and dropped out. I live in the same town as him and I found out by accident what had happened. It seemed as if fate was giving me a chance. I loved Eva from the moment I first saw her last year but she never even remembered my name.”
“Hang on,” Lila said, eyes narrowed. “Did you cheat Eva into having sex with you using a different face?”
Al flinched under their combined glares. “It wasn’t like that – I didn’t let things go that far. I love her.”
“But she doesn’t love you,” Farlden said. “That’s why she dumped you last week. Even with Nolan’s face, you weren’t the boy she fell for.”
Al’s face crumpled at the harsh words.
“Get Eva here now,” Callie said to Elliot. “She has a right to hear this.”
“No. Please don’t,” Al begged, complexion pale and tears in his eyes. “I just wanted a chance to be happy.”
“By ruining Eva’s life?” Lila demanded, stepping into his personal space, fists clenched. “By manipulating her and making sure she never trusts a man again?”
Elliot made the phone call, speaking to the girl who had hired them to help her boyfriend: “We know why Nolan has been acting so strangely all year but you’ll never believe it unless you hear the truth for yourself.”