Ebola

"In my wildest dreams, you always play the hero. In my darkest hour of night, you rescue me, you save my life."

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except Emily. Really- I'm not that creative.


It was a dark night. The sky was black, void of stars and moon. A man walked down a dark alley, not bothered by the late November chill or the echoing sound of leather boots crunching dead leaves.

The man was well-dressed; he wore a suit with a fur coat and a bowler hat. His most remarkable feature, however, was his staff. At the head of the scepter sat a large blue glowing diamond.

The man stopped in front of an antique shoppe. He smiled, a leering grin that didn't look friendly at all. "I have you now, Balthazar."


Dave Stutler woke to his alarm clock blaring in one ear and his dog drooling in the other. He groaned. "I hate my life," he muttered to himself.

He stumbled into the kitchen of his shared apartment. His roommate, Bennet, was already up.

"Dave! What's crackin'?"

Dave groaned in response.

Bennet sighed dramatically. "You can't still be hung up on Becky, man." He leaned closer to Dave. "She's gone. And that sucks, but you gotta show her you're not gonna sit around and mope. Get back on that horse! Find a new girl!" Sensing Dave's apprehension, Bennet suggested a new idea. "I could set you up with a nice girl."

Dave spit his cereal out all over Bennet's face. "Not gonna happen." He stood up and left the room.


I jerked awake from my nightmare. It was always the same one, but I could never remember it. All I ever remembered was that it terrified me to the core. I brushed my hair away from my face. There was something else this time, I was sure of it. A building, or a business, or something. Part of the name was stuck in my head: Arcana.

All morning, the word Arcana was stuck in my head. Finally, I had had enough. I went to the student library at NYU, did a yellow pages search for the word, and found 76 results.

"Seventy-six. Seventy-six. Seventy-six." I chanted to myself as I printed the addresses of all 76 stores. Three pages later, I was set. "Not surprising, this is New York, after all." I mumbled as I scanned the list to decide which was closest.

"What's not surprising?"

I screamed and elbowed my inquisitor in the gut. I stayed poised to attack, ready if they tried anything.

The person behind me groaned. "This just hasn't been my week..." He said to himself. "Hey, look, sorry if I scared you. I was just curious." His hand touched my shoulder. "Are you okay?"

"Are you okay..." I mumbled. "Are you okay?" I looked up at him. Dear God, I knew him. Tall, wavy dark brown hair, puppy dog eyes... He was in one of my physics classes.

"Fine." He looked at me. "Do I..."

"Know me?" I finished. He nodded and I smiled. "You might. Are you in Steinhart's Theory of Particle Physics class?"

"Yeah... I think I remember you." He nodded. "I'm Dave."

"I'm Emily; nice to meet you, Dave." I walked toward the doors. Before I knew it, Dave was beside me again, walking with me toward the exit.

"So what's not surprising?" He asked.

"Don't you know that curiosity killed the cat?"

"I've never been much of a cat person anyway."

I stopped in my tracks. "What? How can you not like cats?"

"They remind me of old ladies and funeral homes."

I laughed and nodded. "Okay, I can see that." We started walking again.

We got about a block before Dave spoke up. "You never gave me an answer. What's not surprising?"

"There are seventy-six stores, shoppes, or warehouses with the word Arcana in the title."

Dave was quiet for a moment. I looked up at him; his eyes were narrowed at a faraway object like he was thinking about something.

"A penny for your thoughts?" I asked.

"I work at an antique store with the word Arcana in the title." He was quiet again. "I could show you it, if you want."

I smiled. "That'd be great! Thanks a lot, Dave."

His smile set butterflies afloat in my stomach.

Dave's store, as it happens, was all the way across town. I didn't mind the walking; it gave me a chance to get to know Dave better.
He was a college student with an aptitude for physics and math, like me. He worked at an antique store called Arcana Cabana. He liked dogs better than cats, much to my chagrin, but he liked birds as well. In his free time, he worked with his Tesla coils and spent time with his uncle and aunt, who owned the store we were on our way to.

"-then I realized that the plasma vibrates, making a low hum. You can make music from Tesla coils." His voice interrupted my thoughts.

"Really?" I loved music.

"Yeah. I can show you sometime... If you want." He smiled hopefully at me.

"Definitely, that's so cool." I smiled back. Finally, someone understood my love for physics. Finally, someone understood me. Well, most of me.

We stopped in front of a little antique store. It was no more than a hole in the wall, but I knew it was the store I'd dreamed about. Arcana Cabana was embossed in gold on one of the teal doors. One look through the windows told me it was filled with old and interesting things. I knew that inside lay the object I needed for... Something. I wasn't sure yet what my dreams meant or even what I needed from the Arcana Cabana. I was sure, however, that the key to unlocking my dreams was inside.

Dave's voice came from far away. "You coming?" He held his hand out for me.

I took it.


Dave's heart skipped a beat. Okay, it skipped two. Alright, fine, it skipped three. He had never met a girl like this before; she was intriguing and engaging. She was a physics nerd just like he was.

She was beautiful. Her dark hair fell past her shoulders and her side-swept bangs framed her bright green eyes. She was short; he remembered thinking of her as 'the kid who skipped high school from theory of particle physics.'

Her hand fit perfectly with his.

He led her inside the store and watched her face as it lit up with excitement.

"This is so cool," She said. Dave stayed by the doors as Emily walked further into the store. "You really work here?"

"Yep, twenty hours a week."

"Wow..." Her smile made his palms sweat and his heart race.

"Good afternoon, how may I help you?" Dave jumped. How long had Balthazar been there? Had he seen Dave staring? One look told Dave yes, Balthazar had seen everything. "Dave! How are you?" Dave took this as his cue to walk to the counter. When he had reached it, Balthazar gave him a long, hard look. "Who is she? What is she doing here?" Balthazar whispered.

"She's just a girl in my physics class, she's looking for stores with Arcana in the title."

"And since you can't resist a pretty face, you brought her here."

"Well... Yeah." Dave looked over at Emily again. She was admiring a portrait of Merlin. "Her name's Emily."

"Are you already over Rebecca? And I thought she was so special..." Balthazar clicked his tongue. "Hmmm."

"Look, Balthazar, this is different. Emily's just a friend. I just met her today!"

"Have you invited her to your lab?" Dave didn't answer. Instead, he chose to look sheepish. "You have! You like her." Balthazar nudged him.

"It's not a crime to like someone..."

"What if she was a-"

"Hey Dave? Can you tell me what this is?" Emily called. She was looking at an ornate gold chain.

"That is said to be Merlin's lover's bracelet. Legend says that her descendant will be known through this chain, and that she will be the downfall of the prime Merlinian."

"She'll kill him?" Her eyes were slightly narrowed in thoughtfulness.

"It doesn't give many specifics about that. All the legend says is that she and the prime Merlinian are destined to fall in love and that she will bring about his eventual downfall, whatever that means."

"It means she'll kill him, just like her ancestor Niviane did." Emily and Dave jumped; how did Balthazar sneak up on them like that?

"I thought Morgana killed Merlin." Emily surprised Dave with her knowledge of lore.

"She did, but Niviane was the one who sold Merlin out. She kept him busy while Morgana and Horvath sneaked into the castle. When they arrived, she fled, too cowardly to witness the consequences of her actions." When Balthazar walked back to the counter, they followed.

"Are you so sure her motives were evil? After all, no one got her side of the story. What if she was threatened by Morgana?"

"Then she should have died. Died, rather than betray the one she loved so much."

"What if Morgana threatened Merlin? What if she promised to kill him slowly and painfully, and force Niviane to watch him die without being to help him? Wouldn't you agree that would be worse?"

"Yes, but-"

"At least this way, the two lovers got to see each other one last time."

Balthazar smiled. "You're a very bright girl, Emily. Very good at arguing, too." He looked at Dave. "I like this one a lot more than the last one."

Dave quickly led Emily out of the store after that.


I led Dave back to my apartment building. We didn't talk much about the store; we spoke more about our lives and whatnot.

"Thanks for walking me home, Dave." I smiled. "And thanks for showing me your store. It was so cool."

"Yeah, no problem. Did you find what you were looking for?"

I thought back to the bracelet. "Yeah, I think I did. Well, good night."

"Night."

I went inside. As I walked into my apartment, a strange feeling overtook me. I suddenly felt very heavy, like the weight of the world was on my shoulders.

I flicked my wrist and my coffeemaker turned on. Another flick and it was ready. I held my hand out for the approaching cup of coffee that was levitating toward me. Usually I enjoyed magic-brewed coffee- somehow it made better coffee than I did- but tonight it just wasn't doing the trick.

I set the cup down and cried as I collapsed under the weight of what was eating me inside- I was Niviane's descendant. Dave was the prime Merlinian.

I was destined to kill him.