I sat there for another few minutes, shaking my head. Then I picked up my schedule without reading it. Suddenly whatever I would be studying this semester felt massively insignificant.
Chapter Eleven
A little while later we were sitting in the oldest building on campus, the one we’d had class in with Professor Penny last semester. Now we were waiting for the dream giver, Professor Rooks, to come. The class consisted of familiar faces. Fog and Frances were there, as were Hannah and Candace. Greek wasn’t there and neither was Averett, but Matthew was. He was so big that the seat next to him had to be left empty, and he stared around the room as if challenging other paranormals to sit there. No one looked like they wanted to take him up on it.
From other student groups there were the Burble siblings, all four of them. “Are they ever separate?” I whispered to Eighellie. She had cooled down after breakfast, walking away from the dining table and instantly stopping to read her schedule – she just couldn’t wait.
Now she shrugged. “I doubt it,” she said, “except that Huky is a girl.”
Huky, the lone female Burble, was sitting in front of the professor’s desk. She wasn’t pretty; her face was so flat she could have balanced a vase filled with water on it if she were lying flat on her back. Her hair was a short, dull black and she had dark circles under her eyes. She was neither short nor tall and her frame was stocky, even athletic in an “I’ll pound your head into the ground” sort of way. To be fair, she did have three brothers.
The three boys were a little different. One had a nose ring and had attacked Eighellie last semester when she’d tried to break up a fight. I hadn’t known how important a role he would play in my future at public. The other two Burble brothers were fraternal twins and looked the opposite of each other. One was short and one was tall. One had a sort of pot belly while the other was remarkably skinny. If Averett hadn’t said something about their being twins, I wouldn’t have had any idea.
The room was made of stone from floor to ceiling and very cold in January. The windows had bars over them. “Why are towers always creepy?” Eighellie mused. “I’ve never seen a tower that wasn’t creepy.”
“Maybe because no one can use them for anything,” said Keegan. His surly mood hadn’t improved much since breakfast, so Eighellie was ignoring him even more than usual. I tried to stay neutral, but I wondered what had Keegan so up in arms.
“The Astra library isn’t so bad,” I said. “It’s just a lot of books.”
“Oh, it’s run by a ghost?” Eighellie said.
“I’m not sure what Sigil’s doing these days,” I said. Although I had checked for the Astra library ghost a number of times, he was never there when I went looking for him. “I suppose it’s possible he’s hiding from me. I know he wanted to move on and stop being a ghost, but I don’t think that happened.”
“Maybe he is hiding from you,” said Keegan. “You’re pretty scary. What’s so great about you anyway?”
“Nothing is great about either of us, and yet Eighellie wants to be friends.”
I grinned at the darkness mage, who raised her eyebrows and said, “Keegan has a point.”
“What’s with you two?” I demanded. “Just because the paranormal president might die and the paranormal world is falling apart, there’s no reason to be in a bad mood.”
Keegan sighed and crossed his arms tighter over his chest. He was determined to be grumpy, and there didn’t seem to be anything I could do about it.
“Good morning, new students,” said Trafton as he breezed into the room. His robe today was the same gray, only this time it was held firmly together by a blue sash, and gold buttons ran down the front of it. His perfectly curly hair was swept away from his bright blue eyes to reveal his tanned face. He looked more like a model than a full professor. “Maybe you should all be saying ‘Good morning, new professor’? Oh well.” He winked.
Hannah blinked at him several times, her green skin turning a shade of what I imagined was pink for a pixie. “Thanks so much for teaching us this semester. It really is such an honor. Dream givers are so rare and talented,” she gushed.
Frances and Fog, who took their lead from Hannah, all nodded in agreement. Trafton gave them his patented bright smile.
“Thanks for welcoming me,” he said. “Of course I’m delighted to be here with so many talented and driven students.” He said the last bit with a touch of irony. College students were not known for working hard, or at least if they did, they also liked to play hard.
“This semester we’ll be concentrating on evasive maneuvers for all paranormals,” said Trafton. “Because I’m a dream giver, the bend of my magic is very much toward avoiding or re-directing a confrontation, one way or another. I am going to show you my ways.” He grinned broadly around the room. No one moved or spoke except Hannah, who was panting a little.
“Let’s get started,” said Trafton.
“I like him,” said Keegan. “I might have misjudged him before.”
We’d had the most interesting class I had experienced at Public, and we were discussing what a good professor Trafton was as we walked away from the classroom.
“I can’t believe your sister is friends with all these cool important people,” said Eighellie. “Is she back yet?”
“She was supposed to come back with Keller today,” I said. I had been ignoring the pit in my stomach that I knew would be there until my sister returned safely home. I trusted her and Keller, but I knew she was still a target. She and I were still on the sought-after paranormals list, a fact that must have accounted at least in part for our quick rescue by Trafton when Surround attacked us.
“I’m going to go see if they’re home before I go to lunch or the next class,” I said, waving to my friends and hurrying away. I knew that Eighellie would keep on trying to get out of Keegan where he was going at night, and he would keep refusing to tell her. I didn’t need to be there for that.
As I came around the side of Astra I saw Charlotte outside, examining a window on the cottage. Before I was even within earshot she turned around and smiled.
“I was wondering when you’d get here,” she said. “I have to head to the office to interview new secretaries. Want to walk me?”
I nodded and waited while she disappeared inside and grabbed her bag. When she came out again she said, “So, you used a lot of essence last night, huh?”
I groaned. “You knew that? Of course you knew that. Yeah, I wanted to help Lisabelle. She didn’t want my help.”
“She’s never wanted anyone’s help,” said Charlotte. “Even if she realizes something would be easier with help, she doesn’t like easier either.”
“She’s ridiculous,” I grumbled. “You can’t help her. She should be coming to me.”
Charlotte gave me a comforting pat on the back. “That’s very sweet of you, Ricky. Maybe she’ll come around.”
“Or maybe she’ll dig herself so deeply into the ground that she won’t be able to find her way out again,” I said.
“Or that,” Charlotte conceded. “We’ll have to see how the semester goes.”
“Who are the secretaries?”
“One is from Surround and one is from the secretarial agency Sip told me about. I hope the one from Surround is good. If I have a local paranormal, it might ease the difficult relations between town and campus.”
“You mean since Ms. Cernal died and the Surround residents started attacking students, including me?” I said. I wasn’t even bitter about it. I was just shocked that they had been so hostile.
“Would you like to sit in on the interview?” she said. “It’s a couple of hours until lunch.”
Charlotte looked like she wanted me to, so although part of me wanted to go back to Astra and start working on my idea, I was also curious to see a Surround resident who didn’t hate students and professors.
The job applicant turned out to be a woman in her sixties who looked more like a grandmother than a secretary. She had white
hair, a white blouse, a blue cardigan, and a skirt down to her ankles. She smiled at Charlotte as we walked into the waiting room. “I’m Ester,” she said, “Ester Chiffon.”
“Charlotte, and this is my brother Ricky. If you don’t mind, he’ll be sitting in on the interview.”
Ester smiled at me. “I don’t mind at all. I’ve heard you had quite a journey to get here. I’m so sorry about that.”
“Yeah, it was exciting, to say the least,” I said, following Charlotte and Ester into the office.
“How are the townspeople doing?” Charlotte asked. She was always curious about other paranormals. It was one of the qualities that made her beloved among those who had a chance to get to know her.
“It’s been a stressful month,” said Ester. “I don’t know what’s happened, but the attacks are getting out of hand. Ms. Cernal’s death only brought it all to light, but there were problems long before that.”
“It’s unfortunate that there’s no new information about who killed her or what she was really doing in the TP office,” said Charlotte. “What other attacks are you referring to? The fire bird?”
Ester scoffed. “Townspeople are using the fire bird as an excuse, but she hasn’t attacked anyone. She just flies high overhead all the time, surveying the world from above. I rather like her. She keeps us company as she burns brightly in the sky. It’s as if the sun is out even at night.”
“So, how else is Surround being terrorized?” Charlotte asked. She had clearly forgotten all about interviewing this woman for the job.
“Several townsfolk have been attacked at night. None were killed, but they all described a dark shape. Naturally they blame the vampires. The militia is being forced to patrol at all times and they’re exhausted. My husband patrols three nights a week, and I worry about him. He told me I shouldn’t worry, and that I needed to find something to do. I told him I’d find a good kick in the ass for him if he kept up what he was saying. Then I realized he might have a point. I used to be a secretary, and it’s not as if those kinds of jobs are easy to come by around here. When I heard that you were looking, after the awful stuff that happened last semester, I applied right away. I could really use the distraction.”
“That’s awful,” said Charlotte sympathetically. “I’m really, terribly sorry.”
Ester sighed and looked around the office. “I don’t need pity. I need work. Let me prove to you that I’m good at my job. You won’t regret it. I promise.”
Charlotte smiled. “I’m sure I won’t.”
Chapter Twelve
LUTHER CAVES!
If our dedicated and delightful readers will recall, last semester there was an incident at Paranormal Public where Charlotte Rollins, formerly known as the last elemental, was targeted by her own secretary. Foolish hiring practices aside, this publication reported that the secretary, named Luther, had been taken in for questioning by the paranormal police.
There were certain issues of jurisdiction, as the Quest government wanted their own interrogators to do the questioning. However, that issue was not raised very loudly, because President Quest is missing. Therefore, the police took over and by all accounts have done a fabulous and splendid job. In fact, the police have done so well that Luther was released yesterday. He admitted to stealing the transports, but is not believed to have committed a real or serious crime.
He also engaged in a few ill-advised pranks at paranormal Public, but all of that was directed at the unfortunate president of the university because of Luther’s the animosity toward higher education in general. Neither of these things are believed to be very big crimes.
Golliar Gillardin
“That’s ridiculous,” said Eighellie furiously. “He must have been the one who attacked Sip, mustn’t he? She’s nearly dead. Doesn’t that count for anything?”
“Remember, he had already been arrested,” I said. The situation was getting more confusing by the moment, especially since it was getting ever harder to believe anything the Tabble said. “I just know I can’t have my sister in any more danger. I want them to come after me instead, and then we’ll see.”
“But who is ‘them’?” Keegan said. “We don’t even know who we’re talking about.” The tree sprite had again left Eighellie and gone to the dining hall alone. This time we found him covered in wood chips.
“I’m talking about Hunters,” I said. “I want the Hunters to come after me, not Charlotte.”
“Do you have a plan for making that happen?” Eighellie’s expression was a cross between skeptical and worried.
I spent a few seconds chewing my food. Then I said, “Yeah, I might.”
Both Keegan and Eighellie shook their heads, but they knew better to ask me to explain when I wasn’t ready.
“Are you ready to tell us why you smell like wood?” Eighellie demanded, turning to Keegan.
“No,” he said.
Talking to Lisabelle had given me an idea. She had said that I needed to control my essence better, but that wasn’t true. I had let it run rampant around me precisely because I wanted to offer her my assistance.
I got up from breakfast and left the dining hall quickly. That morning’s class with Professor Penny was scheduled for right after our first group meeting, which I wasn’t looking forward to. We needed to come up with a year-end project, and we hadn’t had much success at that so far. Last semester we had thrown out three ideas, none of which I liked very much. Somehow I had missed the part where whatever we did was going to involve violence, but I should have known.
“Do you think this is what President Valedication meant when he said he wanted us to do Cornerstone projects?” Eighellie asked. She was reviewing our options with distaste.
“I doubt it,” said Keegan, squinting at the list.
“Nighttime Pulse, Roof Battle, Ring Race,” he read off.
“The last one could really be interesting, except for the bit where it might destroy us,” said Eighellie. “We aren’t supposed to take off our rings, and we’re really not supposed to attack each other with them.”
“Supposed to, supposed to,” Keegan repeated. “I don’t even have a ring.” It was true that as a member of the Paranormal Strange he had flat-out refused to wear a ring. His tree powers weren’t very dependent on one anyway, and neither was his ability to speak with dragons. “That should be on the list,” he said. “Me speaking with a dragon; we’d win in no time.”
“Yeah, because no one else on campus can do it,” I said.
“How’s this going to work, anyway? We make plans and then submit them to Dobrov?” Eighellie asked.
“That’s right. He’ll choose groups to review,” said Keegan, “so that we could be engaging in fighting throughout the semester, which is what Ricky wanted all along. The first group has already gone, so we should know by the end of the week what we’re going to do.”
“And then all the groups have to do it? Working together?” said Eighellie.
“Yeah, it’s going to be a joke,” I said.
“Someone’s probably going to die,” said Keegan.
“Good morning,” said Professor Penny, trundling into the room.
Keegan groaned.
Our group meeting turned into an argument as soon as the Cornerstone project was mentioned.
“I like Nighttime Pulse,” said Hannah. “All the rest of you should, too.”
“That’s stupid,” said Candace.
One good thing to come out of strained relations was that the fallen angels, who used to try and keep the peace, had given up on that and now sometimes joined the fight, especially when it related to something we all had to do.
“Its like what happened that night at Astra,” said Fog, giving me a sideways look and grinning mischievously.
“Then it’s stupid and dangerous,” said Averett from her usual perch by the window, where she was standing with her arms folded, also as usual. She often stood in the backs of classrooms, too; I rarely saw her sitting. In fact, I basically had the im
pression that she was always ready to spring: fangs out, eyes wide, hands raised, and totally terrifying. I shook the image out of my head as quickly as I could.
“You’re only on his side because you like him,” said Hannah.
“I do like him. He’s better than dirt under my feet, which is all you are,” said Averett, her eyes flashing. I would have thought she’d react poorly to the implication that she liked me, but it flowed off her like the wind over Vampire Locke.
“We aren’t going to repeat a battle that almost got half the school expelled last semester,” Greek cut in. The other students nodded their heads in agreement, especially the girls; they didn’t want to go against the cutest fallen angel on campus.
“What about the Roof Battle?” Matthew asked. The fact that he had spoken at all was shocking. I supposed that as a vampire he liked the idea of a Roof Battle, because vampires could float around with ease. I didn’t like the idea of any kind of battle; even fighting the Burble siblings, who were mercifully not in our group, wasn’t really appealing. I wanted to waste my energy on a real fight, not some stupid pretend battle. I knew my sister had done Tactical in her day, and I did wish we had that. But even there the point system would have been a problem for our team, since both Keegan and I were high value, especially with no dream givers on campus. Still, it sounded like fun.
“We should do Ring Race,” I said.
“Why? You don’t want to do Roof Battle?” chorused several voices.
“No, I don’t,” I said. “There will be all sorts of battles submitted. It’s not very original. I bet no one else will have thought of Ring Race,” I finished.
“Are you willing to take that ring off and throw it?” Eighellie asked. The principle behind Ring Race was simple. We would take off our rings and threw them up the hill at Public, seeing how far our power could stretch. Then we’d use our magic to bring the rings back. It was sort of like video games for paranormals, which was why Keegan was the one who’d suggested it.
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