Catalina Santos drew the final touches of a summoning rune on the white tile. A keyboard phone was among piles of papers and a cumbersome laptop she carried everywhere. The setting seemed normal enough; a typical college student laying on the floor of a cheap dorm room studying with her notes splayed out on the floor. The rest of her surroundings would agree, with posters of boys in bands and pieces of media popular for the time. A bulletin board on a wall was pinned with polaroids of smiling friends. Fairy lights were strung along the cinderblocks, giving the drab room an innocent glow.
However, upon closer inspection through her papers would find a rather eclectic arrangement: etches of ancient texts, advertisements for dating websites, and bright red demonic symbols were sloppily drawn with her blood.
The only thing that seemed normal was her laptop browser was pulled to a rather ordinary social media feed. In reality, it was her central motivation and her main conduit for information.
Before she could begin the ritual, she pressed the refresh button one last time. A couple notification sounds dinged in response, mostly likes and comments on her recent complaint about her latest programming class. No messages.
Cat pouted. She thought this was the post that could have gotten his attention.
Though the poor student was no stranger to things not panning out for her socially, no matter how hard she tried. Having been an antisocial freak all throughout high school, she was still in braces and tank tops while the rest of her classmates were filling out bra cups the size of her fist. She hadn't had a boyfriend or even a kiss or a hand-hold to speak for an entire 4 years. Not to mention balancing work with high school to support her single mother also left her out from any after-school hangouts.
One scholarship and job opportunity later, Cat thought she would reach her peak and make up for lost time. For the most part, it was successful. She learned a modicum of makeup and even made friends. Her body had also came into its own, filling out curves along her petite body, even if they were covered with hoodies and loose cardigans.
But there was something... missing.
Relationship Status: Single.
Soon, she mused, staring blankly at the glow of her screen.
It will be over. It was one of the last things to check off her list before she could consider her college experience complete and Cat was never one to give up when her mind was set on something. In fact, it was the opposite.
For months to almost a year, she delved into her research. She started with self-help books and love advice from random forums throughout the web, even subscribing to the mailing lists of love gurus before that was a dud. Then there was social media pages, stumbling across dating websites and communities. That was practically a lawless no man's land, with unsolicited pictures and invitations to meet in alleyways or seedy biker clubs.
Though, the old adage of third times the charm rang true in her case. The Goldilocks of her search for a boyfriend:
microblogging. Catalina even became a minor celebrity in her search for a man that would fulfill her desires. But as these blogs tended to go... it didn't take long before she stumbled across witchcraft and the supernatural. She even tried some of the minor spells to boost her grades to test their legitimacy and was met with resounding success. The more she upped the ante, the more convinced she became.
A few articles and sketchy advertisements later, she found a promising ritual that would summon the man of her dreams. While the same sources offered alternatives for phone number lines or email forms, Catalina preferred a more... personal medium as opposed to exchanging any vulnerable information that could put her at risk.
She knelt in front of the rune, drawn with a silver chalk with a thorny heart in the center, chanting slowly and awkwardly in an ancient Latin-esque language. She had memorized the pronunciation by heart and practiced in front of her mirror multiple times before the real thing. Then she waited, slowly stepping away for her potential boyfriend to enter.
"Huh... I thought I had the incantation just right." The brunette huffed. She checked her phone for the steps again, her mouth molding into a confused frown. "Oh,
duh!" Cat grabbed the silver knife and pricked along the upper side of her forearm, waiting patiently as the blood dripped down onto the center of the silver rune, filling the heart in the center.
"Guess it'll be the last time I'll be able to use virgin blood for spells, eh?"
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SORA: THE MAGICIAN 
