by S R Watson
“Is this me?” I ask, pointing toward the door. She nods, so I turn the knob and enter. The room is bare on one side, which is to be expected. Loren follows me in. I’m too distracted by the gorgeous décor on the other side of the room. My dorm has never looked anything close to this. Lights twinkle along the wall, golden drapes hang from the ceiling to the floor, matching the plush comforter. Chanel Haute Couture fashion pics cover an inspiration board. Everything is so modern and luxurious compared to the historical presence of this building. The interior of the building showcases high ceilings, archways, and a rich history that carries over from the medieval cathedral architecture outside. But not inside this room. It’s like we’ve turned the page and entered another realm in time. I love the contradiction of this décor.
“You like?”
“It’s gorgeous. My roommate must be swimming in money—well, have parents who are. I don’t even know what designer that bedding is, but I just want to touch it.”
“It’s Michael Amini. Go ahead and touch it. I won’t tell.”
I walk over to the bed and run my hands along the softness. I pick up one of the embroidered pillows. “LB,” I read. “Well, I hope she’s not some rich snotty brat. Wait … how do you know what designer this is?” It just occurred to me that she could be rich too. They could all be. “Or was this bedding standard issued from the academy?”
This time, she lets out a hearty laugh. “I’m LB, genius. As in Loren Blakely. This is my room too. You’re my new roommate.”
“Dammit. I’ve stuck my foot in my mouth again. I should just stop talking.”
“It’s totally fine. I’m rather enjoying your assumptions. Your face turns so red every time you realize your mistake.”
“Wait. Blakely, as in Headmaster Blakely?” I ask, putting the pieces together.
“Yep. That is my uncle.”
“So why even bother having a roommate? You can have this place all to yourself. Your uncle runs this entire school.”
“Because, believe or not, not all people with money are pretentious snobs. Or how did you put it? Some ‘rich, snotty brat’? Having just one roommate is actually a privilege. Some have three or four in a room.”
“So sorry, Loren. I promise I’m not some judgmental bitch. Before today, this was all fiction to me, like entertainment to watch on television. I haven’t been myself lately, and the stress of it all has me on edge. Let’s start over.”
“Don’t worry, red. You can’t push me away that easily. You and I are going to be great friends. I don’t go by words. I rely on vibes, and yours is a good one. So as your new roommate and friend, I vow to get you through all of this.”
“Thank you.” I pull out my phone to show her the incident in the coffee shop. I get a good vibe from her too, so I’m okay with sharing what happened. “This is me accidentally freezing the entire coffee shop,” I say as I point my phone in her direction.
“That’s just a white screen.” She shakes her head. “What is it?”
“I accidentally froze all the people and everything in it,” I share.
“That means you froze your phone and all of its components too. I have a lot to teach you.”
“Well, there goes proof that it actually happened.”
“You don’t want proof of your indiscretions. What you did is against the rules. Your eyes are the only proof that you need. You’re not crazy. This supernatural existence is very real.”
“Your uncle intercepted me before I could be captured by two shapeshifters that were closing in on me.”
“As I said, you have a lot to learn, and I have much to teach you. You’re at a slight disadvantage because you came straight here instead of learning from an early age as most of us did.”
“I figured as much. I’ve always been at the top of my class—grade wise. Now I get to start at the bottom. I get to see how it feels not to be the smartest in the room.”
“Learning about your abilities and how to use them appropriately is not a sprint. Intelligence has nothing to do with it, so you shouldn’t compare yourself to anyone. Come on, let’s get out of here for a while. I have some people I’d like you to meet.”
A knock on the door interrupts us. The door opens without acknowledgment from either of us, and a small gray-haired woman walks through with a blanket, sheet set, pillows, and toiletries. She never utters a single word. She just places the things on my bed and turns to leave. “Thank you,” I say anyway. She simply nods before leaving.
“That’s Gertrude,” Loren informs me. “She normally gets the newbies settled with the essentials until you can get your own. She also ensures that the students in this wing don’t break any rules such as cooking in our room, breaking curfew, or sneaking guys in.” She laughs.
“So she’s similar to the RA or resident assistant we have at our university,” I point out.
“I’ve only ever done online classes, so I’ll have to take your word for it,” she admits. “Anyway, what do you say about getting out of here for a bit?”
“I’m going to have to pass for today. I’m exhausted, and to be frank, I need a little more time to wrap my head around all of this.”
“That’s understandable. We have plenty of time to get to know each other and for me to introduce to the cool people,” she jokes. “I won’t be out too long.”
“See you later,” I reply, but she is already out the door.
Finally, I get some solitude. I make my bed with the supplied linens and organize my toiletries in our bathroom. This room is definitely nicer than my dorm room at the university. For starters, our shared space isn’t this large, and we don’t have the luxury of our own bathroom. You carry your shower tote down the hall to shower as a group—very little privacy. My eyes light up when I see the tub. It’s a standard tub, but I can’t wait to soak in it. It’s nice to have something to look forward to. It will have to wait until I get my clothes, I guess, since I don’t have anything to change into.
I crawl into bed and try to block out the remaining light. The sun doesn’t set until after nine, so we have another hour of daylight. I pull the blanket over my head, surprised at how tired I actually am. I don’t think about anything. Instead, I allow myself to give in to the exhaustion.
Two men are chasing me. I can’t look back, but I feel them getting closer. They’ve been sent to kill me. I’m in a forest, and the brush is thick. Twigs snap beneath my feet, giving away my location. I can’t run any faster. They’re getting closer. I feel one of their hands grab my shoulder, and I let out a piercing scream. This is it. I’m going to die.
“Genesis, wake up,” a familiar male voice says. I can feel him shaking me. “Wake up. You’re dreaming.”
I manage to open my eyes. Breathing heavily, I latch onto him except there is no orb of light this time. I’m still in my bed, and Mr. Blakely is sitting on the side. Darkness blankets the room. A few more heavy pants leave me.
“Mr. Blakely?” I ask with need for confirmation.
“Yes. You’re safe. You were having a nightmare.”
“What are you doing here? What made you come?”
“I called him,” Loren’s voice admits in the near distance. “Don’t you feel that?”
“Feel what?” I begin to sit up with Mr. Blakely’s help.
“I got this, Loren. Let me handle it. Thank you for your concern and for calling me.”
“Can someone tell me what’s going on, already?”
I hear a distinct cracking sound before we’re bathed in light. Now with the room lights turned on, I freak. I cover my mouth, but a squeal still slips past. The entire room is covered in ice— the walls, the door, the windows, and even the beds.
“When I got back to the room, I noticed how cold the door handle was. The door was frozen from the inside. I called my uncle immediately,” Loren explains as I look around the room in fear.
“Did I do this?” Mr. Blakely nods, but I knew the answer before I even asked. It’s like the lake thing. I go to bed a
nd wake up to crazy shit happening.
“From what I can tell, this was a response to stress. What were you dreaming about?” he asks.
“The two men you rescued me from were chasing me again, except this time we were in a forest. They wanted to kill me, and I couldn’t make myself run any faster. They had nearly caught me before you woke me up.”
“Hmmm. And when you froze all those people in that coffee shop, your boyfriend has just broken up with you … Am I right?”
“Yes. What does this mean?”
“It means stress is your trigger. Your powers are growing. When I leaned into the coffee shop to wipe their memories of what had happened, I did notice a chill to the room, but I contributed it to the air conditioning. I now think that it was a weaker form of your power. You weren’t quite able to unleash the ice, but even the weakest of your ability was able to freeze everything in there completely still,” Mr. Blakely explains.
“But don’t you need water to make ice?” Loren asks, curiously.
“All air has some water vapor in it. That’s where we get humidity and condensation from,” I answer. “The question is, how do we get rid of it all without creating a river in our room once it all melts?”
Mr. Blakely points at the window that’s lifted just enough. “Genesis is correct on how the ice was formed. We’re going to raise this window a bit more and send it all out there where it can melt.”
Loren wastes no time doing as he says and pushing the screen until it falls to the ground. Thankfully, we’re on the first floor so there’s nobody for it to fall onto.
Mr. Blakely closes his eyes and arranges his hands midair. He twirls his finger without so much as a single chant. No hocus-pocus, mumbo jumbo at all. Still, I watch in amazement as pieces of ice break and begin to swirl around him. One by one, they form a uniform line out the open window before hitting the ground. This process continues until every bit of the ice is gone. I know I’ve been reassured several times since I’ve teleported here with him and have been shown plenty of evidence, but for some reason, this moment solidifies my new reality. This is real. This just happened.
“Wow! Will I be able to do that? Move stuff with my mind, I mean?”
“I don’t know. Maybe. But first we need to teach how to control your abilities. Right now, your stress is in control,” Mr. Blakey answers. He gestures for Loren to close the window, and she does. “Try to get some rest. We will retrieve your things from your university, and then you have a day of tests ahead of you.”
“What kind of tests?” I ask suspiciously.
“For starters, you will need a physical exam so we can establish a baseline for your health. Then we will put your body through some physical stress in the form of exercise,” he informs. “We have a meeting with Miranda at nine to see what she was able to confirm. And just so you know, another student was brought in after you with the same infinity symbol on his wrist. We believe you two are the same. See you at eight a.m. sharp in my office. Loren will escort you.”
“But—”
“Good night, Genesis,” he interrupts. And just like that, he’s gone.
“Your uncle is pretty good at the whole disappearing act. He drops a bomb in my lap and then vanishes. I have so many questions.”
“Yeah. He’s direct like that—a straight shooter. He makes his point or says what he feels needs to be said, and then he’s done. It’s not personal. It’s just his way.” She pulls me over to sit on the edge of her bed. “Now can we talk about more important things like you being an ice queen.”
“Ugh. I’m so sorry. I don’t even know how I did it. I still don’t know how I can go from being a boring, normal girl to freezing shit. And who is this guy that your uncle speaks of? I wonder if we’re related.”
“First off, I doubt you were ever boring. Second, I wish I could freeze shit. That’s so cool—literally.”
“What are your powers?” I can’t believe I haven’t asked her this before now, but I guess the proverbial ice has been broken.
“My family and I are known as cradle witches. It means that we were born with an affinity for magic and it gets passed down in our lineage. There is so much we can do if we know the right spell. Some things don’t require incantation, such as moving objects with our minds as you witnessed my uncle do with the ice.”
“What is incantation?”
“It’s a series of words or a chant spoken as a spell.”
“So is there a class that you take to learn spells or incantations?”
“They teach us some basic stuff, but the more powerful spells are kept in a Grimoire. Think of it as a huge reference book with almost every spell there is. So of course, it’s not accessible to us. We learn only what they want us to know.”
“So I’m guessing these classes are restricted to witches and warlocks.”
“Correct. That’s why classification is so important. Your education is tailored to your abilities. Plus, just because you learn a spell doesn’t mean you should or could perform it. You have to be physically strong enough to channel all the power you call upon or you can die.”
“Holy shit! This is so much more than I originally thought.”
“Hey. Don’t go getting all stressed out again. We don’t want you to make Iceland out of our room again.” She giggles, and I can’t help but join her.
“I wonder who this mystery guy is?”
“I don’t know, but I do know that eight a.m. will come quick. My uncle doesn’t do tardiness,” she jokes.
“I hate that I’ll be stuck wearing the same thing until they can finally get my clothes.”
She jumps off the bed and pulls me up. She looks me up and down and smiles. “Easy fix. You can borrow something of mine. We’re about the same size—well except for those double d hooters protruding from your chest.”
“Hush! I didn’t ask for these. Good thing I don’t play sports or they’d be much more of a hassle.”
“Are you serious?”
“Serious about what?”
“You don’t play sports at all? Like ever?”
Her jaw slacks in awe. Then I figure out why she is so shocked. “Don’t let the muscularity fool you. It’s natural. I don’t do crap. Probably in my genes or something. And before you ask, I recently found out I was adopted, and no, I don’t know who my biological parents are.”
“Oh. I was just going to say you’re ripped like someone who lives in the gym. You look like you can kick some serious ass.”
I roll my eyes at her because it’s nothing I haven’t heard before. “Nope. Not even a little bit. I’m not a fighter.”
“Well, to change the subject … you look about a size four. Am I right?”
“Meh. Give or take. My butt sometimes edges me into a bigger size.”
“After the reaction I got about your girls, I wasn’t going to even mention the butt. We’re the same size basically; you just have more curves.” She goes over to the dresser and begins to rummage through it. “For now, here is a tank and some shorts so you can take a shower. We’ll find you something to wear in the morning. You’ll be issued the standard uniform after you’ve been fitted.”
“Thanks,” I say as I take the clothes from her outstretched hand.
“No problem. I left you three drawers empty for your stuff once you get it. Plus, you can have half the closet.”
Chapter Six
Elysian
I pace in front of the large window overlooking the campus. It’s nearly eight a.m. here, which with the time difference means I would have already attended my first two morning classes and be on my way to work out before lunch back home. I couldn’t sleep last night with my fate hanging in the balance. Professor Winters and Mr. Blakey are gathered around his desk, looking at some leather-bound book with aged pages. They won’t tell me anything until some girl gets here. Apparently, we have something in common that they want to explore, but I just want to get on with it. As if hearing my plea, the door swings open, and two girls appear
. The first girl through the door is a green-eyed blonde with a pixie cut and tomboyish mannerisms. The cliché schoolgirl uniform is no match for her swagger.
“The welcome committee has arrived,” she sings as she takes a bow. Mr. Blakey scowls at the interruption. I like this girl already.
That’s when I see her. The girl who walks in after the crazy blonde. Her steps are unsure as she looks around the room. Long fire-red hair shields her face from me. Oh, but her body couldn’t be hidden even if she tried. Large bountiful breasts strain against her black tank that is a size too small. Her ass to petite waist ratio is completely drool worthy. Rounding off the total package, she’s fit—shredded and stacked. I’m a faithful guy, so I’d never go there, but there is not a man alive who wouldn’t appreciate her assets. I’m technically single, but I don’t have plans to fuck around in the interim of the break with my girl back home.
“Mr. Remis, are you ready to get started?” Mr. Blakey asks, his brow lifted.
“Um, yes,” I answer, slightly embarrassed that I got caught checking out the redhead. If I had to guess, I’d say she was the one we were waiting on.
“Then have a seat.”
He gestures for us to have a seat on the sofa after he dismisses the blonde. He introduces us, and I learn that her name is Genesis. There is an awkward pause, and I realize my thoughts have drifted again. I look up, expecting him to be giving me “busted” look again, but instead, he is inspecting her wrist. He quickly grabs mine and does the same.
“The infinity symbols … they’re gone. How is that possible?” he asks, confused. He’s right. I hadn’t even noticed. When did it disappear?
“I think I have an idea,” Professor Winters speaks for the first time. “First let me explain what I’ve discovered.”
“Please,” Genesis encourages.
“Using your DNA, I created an identity spell. The gist being that your DNA samples were infused into a potion before being laid out on a roadmap of possible supernatural being prospects. Both DNA samples trekked into the deity space.”