“Is it possible that Magnus Thorne managed to reach out from beyond the veil this year?” the blue-haired teacher asked. She had a friendly heart-shaped face, and reminded me of an eccentric grandmother of some sorts. “And that he strengthened the potions until this was possible?”
“Whatever caused this, it was caused by one potion in particular.” Professor Thorne lifted the vial containing the potion I had used to bring the pumpkin to life, and smelled it. “Doesn’t smell unusual. I thought perhaps someone had tampered with it, made the potion more powerful, but even then…” He shook his head. “Nowadays, magic is no longer potent enough to do something like this. At least, it shouldn’t be.”
“And why was only her magic capable of hurting the monster?” Wynona said, gesturing towards me. “I’m sorry, I don’t know your name yet.”
“Liv…” I struggled to get up from the floor, leaning on Jensen for support. “Lavinia Bloodbane.”
“A Bloodbane… Peculiar.” Professor Thorne glanced from me to the pumpkin and back, as if he was a detective trying to solve a murder mystery and working hard to put the clues together. “The only possible explanation I can think of, Miss Bloodbane, as to why only your magic could hurt this fiend, would be if your magic caused it to come to life in the first place.”
Professor Thorne stared at me, waiting for me to say something.
I opened my mouth to speak, but then closed it again when no words came out. I had whispered that ancient word, having no idea what it meant, but the word had come from my lips, so technically it had been my magic that created the Pumpkin Man.
“I…” I struggled to find the right words to explain what happened. I wanted to tell them the truth but doing so without making it sound like I was the one who concocted a scheme to make all of this happen, was difficult. “I don’t know what…”
“Don’t be absurd,” Wynona said, interrupting me. “I’m sure that whatever happened was just an accident. Isn’t that right, Miss Bloodbane? Maybe you unwillingly poured some of your magic into that vial, and that caused all this ruckus.”
The headmistress was giving me a straw to grab onto, but I didn’t understand why. Surely she had to realize that magic this powerful couldn’t come from me? From any of us?
I might have spoken the words, but the spirit that possessed me a few minutes ago, was infinitely more powerful than I would ever be, and than any witch or wizard this generation would ever be.
“Miss Plum, can you please take care of the wounded students?” Headmistress Wynona said to the blue-haired teacher. “I’m sure it’s nothing more than some bruises and cuts, but I still want everyone submitted to a thorough check-up.”
“Of course, Headmistress.” Miss Plum nodded and then walked toward the nearest student, who was sitting on the floor holding his head, a large bump developing on his forehead.
Apart from our little group, seven students were still in the room, and all of them were injured in some way, except for Flynn and Matthew. Five students had been hurt by the monster I had created, and I should count my lucky stars that it was just superficial cuts and bruises.
“This is an unfortunate ending of our First Day of Halloween,” Headmistress Wynona continued, “but accidents happen, and we all know magic is volatile.” She squeezed my shoulder, but I wasn’t sure if it was meant to be reassuring or a warning. “I would like to see you in my office tomorrow morning before class, Miss Bloodbane.”
I swallowed, feeling tears well up in my throat. What if she expelled me? What if she thought, after having done this on my first day, I had no place in this school?
“Don’t look so terrified.” Wynona smiled at me. “I don’t think you caused this, Miss Bloodbane, certainly not willingly. I would just like to discuss some matters. It’s normal practice for me to invite all new students to my office in the first few weeks, to talk to them and get to know them. You’re just lucky to be number one on the list this year.”
I didn’t feel particularly lucky, but at least the headmistress’ words eased some of my concerns. I let out a sigh of relief, and then had to grab onto Jensen’s arm as my knees buckled and I nearly tumbled to the floor.
“Poor thing, you’re exhausted,” Wynona said. “All that magic must have drained you. I suggest your friends take you back to your room, and that you all stay in your dorms. I will address the other students, and then hopefully we can soon put this awful incident behind us.”
Matthew took the lead in escorting our little group out of the common room and toward the dorms, but while we left, I noticed Professor Thorne staring at me curiously, his eyes narrowed. I wondered if he believed Wynona, or if he still thought I had done all of this of my own free will, in an attempt to mess up the First Day of Halloween.
I really hoped he didn’t, because being in a teacher’s bad book on day one was not what I had planned.
Chapter Three
“I’m fine,” I told Jensen as soon as we were out of the room, through the secondary exit Matthew had led us to, away from prying eyes of the other students. “I can walk.”
“Are you sure?”
I didn’t feel very well yet, but I didn’t want him to fuss over me. “Go talk to your brother. Flynn was obviously worried about you.”
Reluctantly, Jensen let go of me and started walking next to Flynn, right behind Matthew and Eleanor, who were at the front of our little troupe.
Which left me and Eiran, walking together at the end.
I grimaced as a sharp pain spread through my stomach. I still felt cold, only warming up slowly, and although I had no idea what exactly had happened other than that something had possessed me and something had cursed the potion I used, I prayed to the Goddess that nothing like this would ever happen again.
“I saw her,” Eiran blurted, interrupting my thoughts. “I mean, I didn’t see her clearly, but I saw a faint shape behind you.”
I stopped dead in my tracks, turning toward him. “Like… a ghost?”
“I think so,” he replied. “She reached out for you, but I wasn’t sure if… I thought I was imagining it at first, but then I heard you whisper that word and I figured that wasn’t you.”
The others continued walking, not having noticed that we stopped, but I couldn’t bring myself to follow them. Instead, all I could do was panic.
“Do you think she’ll come back?”
“I don’t know, but why would she?” Eiran scratched his chin. “We were doing a summoning ritual, so maybe this spirit, or whatever it was, came to you because of that ritual. Then there’s no reason why she should come back and haunt you now. The ritual is over.”
I shivered. “By the Goddess, I hope you’re right.”
“The real question is who she was,” Eiran said. “I only got a glimpse—she was nothing more than a shadow. But like I said, this ghost probably only appeared because of the ritual, and now she’s gone. These things happen around Halloween.”
I must’ve looked terrified, because he chuckled and said, “You’re not afraid of ghost stories, are you, Liv?”
Hearing him use my nickname, reminded me of how insanely attractive I found him when we first met. Not that he was any less attractive now, but I couldn’t quite grasp his true intentions. First, he had offered to spice the drinks, showing a rebellious side, but then he had stayed quiet and hadn’t shared with the teachers what he had seen me do. I wondered why he had done that.
Trying to figure out what his deal was, I didn’t realize I was staring at Eiran until he cleared his throat.
“We should go join the others,” Eiran said.
“Yeah, you’re right.” I turned away, trying to hide the blush that had crept up my cheeks. “Otherwise, they will get worried.”
“So, you’ve never seen a ghost before?” Eiran asked as we continued walking. “I’m just trying to figure out why this ghost was drawn to you in particular.”
“Not that I know of,” I answered. “Only in creepy movies.”
“I was
slightly impressed by you stepping up to the task and blasting that pumpkin to smithereens,” Eiran said. “Maybe you’re not such a goody-two-shoes after all.”
I snorted. “I ruined my first day here. All I wanted to do was blend in, maybe get to know some people, and then I end up cursing a pumpkin so that it smashes everyone around. It all feels like a bad dream.”
We reached the common room, and I heard the muffled voices from Flynn and Jensen from inside the room, probably already locked in another argument. Those two never got along for longer than five minutes.
Eiran pushed the door open, and as soon as we walked in, four heads turned toward us.
“Ah, there you are!” Jensen said, throwing his hands in the air. “I was worried about you. We were about to head back.”
“Now that we’re out of earshot of teachers and the other students,” Flynn said, turning toward me, “Can you explain what the hell you were up to?”
I froze, shocked. “What do you mean?”
“You must’ve done something for that pumpkin to suddenly start growing limbs!” Flynn strode toward me, towering over me. “Jensen could’ve gotten hurt. You could’ve gotten hurt.”
I wanted to pretend his concern for me was real, but I knew he was just worried about his brother, not me.
“Leave her alone,” Jensen said to Flynn, standing in front of me to block his brother’s path. “Liv did nothing wrong.”
“Well, she must’ve done something!” Flynn yelled. “Last time I checked, pumpkins didn’t become murderous for no reason.”
“You think I would actually do something that could’ve gotten Jensen hurt? Or anyone else?” I shook my head, fury ripping through me. “What kind of person do you think I am?”
“If Liv did something, and that’s a big if,” Jensen said, “then she certainly didn’t do it on purpose.”
“Whatever.” Flynn sighed. “I’m done with this. I’m going back to my dorm, so please try to stay out of trouble for the rest of the night.” He rushed past us, out of the door.
“We better get going too, Liv,” Eleanor said once Flynn had left. “I don’t know about you, but I don’t feel like talking to the other students right now and explain to them what happened.”
“You read my mind.” I wanted nothing more than to crawl in my bed, pull the covers over my face and pretend this was all a nightmare I could wake up from.
“I’ll walk you to your room,” Matthew said to his sister. “I’m glad you’re okay.”
Despite Matthew acting like a prick when I first met him, even toward his sister, it was obvious that he actually cared about her.
I liked this side of him a lot more than the arrogance I had seen earlier.
Jensen hugged me as we said our goodnights, and then I followed Eleanor and Matthew into the hallway leading to my new room. I ran my hands up and down my arms, trying to regain some warmth.
“What’s wrong? Are you cold?” Matthew asked, with the slightest hint of concern in his voice.
“I’ve been feeling like this ever since the ritual started,” I told him.
Eleanor looked at me worriedly before she pushed open the door to our room. “Should I grab some extra blankets from the common room?”
“That would be great, thanks.” I walked inside, following Eleanor.
“Here. Take this one already.” Eleanor grabbed the blanket from my bed, gestured for me to sit down, and then draped my blanket over my shoulders.
“I’ll be right back; shouldn’t take more than a few seconds,” Eleanor said before turning to her brother and telling him, “Don’t worry. If I’m not back in five, then you can send out the pumpkin-smashing cavalry.”
I smiled at her joke and pulled the blanket closer around me. Why did I feel as if every ounce of warmth had vanished from my body?
“Tell me what happened,” Matthew said the moment Eleanor left the room. He bent his knees until he was on eye-level with me, while I was sitting on my bed. “Whatever it was, I don’t think you did this on purpose, and if that’s true, then I might be able to help you.”
“Why?”
Matthew sighed. “Because I’ve been here for three years, and I’ve spent the majority of time studying things you’ve yet to learn. Just indulge me, Liv.”
I wondered when he’d gone from using my last name, “Bloodbane”, to using my nickname, “Liv”, but I was too exhausted to argue.
“While we performed the ritual and Professor Thorne tried to summon the spirit of Magnus Thorne, something appeared behind me. It whispered to me, and then it touched me, and when Professor Thorne said we could take our vials and perform the spell… That wasn’t me. Something possessed me, and it made me say a spell I didn’t even know.”
I had no idea why I was spilling the entire story to Matthew while I hadn’t even told my best friend, but then again, with Flynn hanging around, it wasn’t like I had time to open up to Jensen anyway. Whatever I said, Flynn would use it against me.
“What spell?” Matthew asked. To my surprise, there was still no judgement in his voice, only concern.
“Mortis.” I shivered when I spoke the word out loud. “I don’t know what it means, and I’ve never heard it before. Usually, spells are much longer and much more complicated…”
“It’s a Word of Power,” Matthew replied. “Ancient. Older than magic, at least our brand of magic.” He looked down at the floor, taking a minute to compose himself. “It’s dark magic that goes back millennia, and it’s very dangerous.”
I didn’t know what to say. My lip trembled. “So, the spirit, or whatever it was, that possessed me…”
“Was old, powerful and dangerous.” To my surprise, Matthew took my hand and caressed it softly.
I stared at his hand stroking mine, incapable of moving or saying anything. What was he doing? And why…
Why did it feel…nice?
Why did I like him touching me like this?
It felt comforting, friendly, but also something more than that, something I couldn’t quite place.
“You shouldn’t tell the headmistress,” Matthew said, shocking me even more. “If she asks you about it tomorrow—and she will, trust me—don’t tell her anything about this at all. If you must tell one teacher, tell Thorne. At least, he can be trusted up to some degree.”
“What do you mean?” I frowned at Matthew and lowered my voice to a whisper. “Why shouldn’t I tell our headmistress? Why can’t she be trusted?”
“Liv, think this through.” Matthew still held onto my hand. “Thorne was right: to anyone with even the most basic insight in magic, it’s a no-brainer that if the pumpkin could only be harmed by your magic, it was because your magic created it. The only logical conclusion is that your spell infested that creature with so much magic it attacked students, a feat no one has been able to accomplish in All Hallows Academy in centuries, simply because of one blatant reason: magic is dying out.”
Matthew paused and gazed down at our entwined fingers. Why did he still not let go?
And more importantly, why did I not want him to let go of me? Why did his touch feel so… good?
“Regardless, the spell endangered several pupils, so it’s strange that the headmistress didn’t formally investigate what happened, if you did it on purpose or not—I know you didn’t, but I’m just saying, it doesn’t make any sense logically.”
“She trusted that it was an accident. She said so herself.” The moment the words left my mouth, I realized how hollow they sounded.
“You’re just saying that because you haven’t seen the headmistress’ true nature yet,” Matthew said with a hint of sadness in his voice. “She’s obsessed with one thing and one thing only. Restoring magic. Bringing back the powers we lost over the years. Becoming powerful enough to match the great witches and wizards of old.”
Matthew looked me straight in the eye. “You don’t know her yet, but one month here, and you’ll realize the truth. Wynona wants power above anything else, and that’s why,
rather than investigating how the students’ lives could’ve been endangered by a spell going haywire, she’s going to invite you to her office and grill you about this incident as much as she can. She wants to figure out how you obtained the power to do what you did.”
I swallowed hard, the cold that had made my teeth chatter, now clinging to my heart. “And then what?” I asked, although I dreaded the answer.
“Then she’ll do everything she can to get access to that power, even if it means you’ll have to suffer, or someone else will have to suffer,” Matthew answered. “That’s why you shouldn’t tell her anything. Not about the ghost, not about the Word of Power, nada.”
I gazed at him, trying to figure out if he was telling me the truth or not. I didn’t want to believe the headmistress was capable of such a thing, but then again, Matthew seemed sincere, and he had no reason to lie to me.
I nodded slowly. “I won’t tell her anything.”
“Good thinking. Well, I better go check where Eleanor is at. Goodnight.” Matthew stood back up, leaned forward, and kissed me on the forehead.
The movement was so sudden and surprising that I didn’t have time to react.
I just sat there, frozen like a statue.
No one had ever kissed me on the forehead before, besides my parents, and even that had only been when I was a little girl. Maybe Jensen had done it once or twice, but from him, it didn’t count. This was different. This made me feel… special.
I blinked slowly, about to ask him why Matthew had kissed me, when Eleanor came bursting into the room, carrying a pile of blankets reaching above her head.
“Sorry it took a while,” she apologized while stumbling toward me. “I checked all the cabinets for spare blankets.”
“Thanks. I already feel warmer just looking at them.” That wasn’t exactly true; I actually started feeling warmer the moment Matthew kissed me.
“Anyway, I see you’re all settled, so I’ll get going,” Matthew said. “Take care, sister.” He didn’t say anything else to me before he rushed out of the room.
But he had kissed me.
A Cursed All Hallows' Eve Page 37