Chapter Three
When I woke up I knew three things. First, my eyes were too tired to open, but I had to open them anyway. Second, I was in a very comfortable bed, which meant that it wasn’t my bed. Third, I was surrounded by the smell of lavender. My room did not smell like lavender.
“Are you awake?” a light female voice asked. I felt what could only be a finger prodding me in the shoulder.
My gray eyes snapped open and I tried to sit up all at once. “What?”
“Morning,” said the girl sitting at the bottom of my bed. She was so small that her feet dangled over the edge. Her skin was pale and she had spiky blond hair and luminous violet eyes.
I was in what looked like a small, undecorated dorm room. The walls were white, and next to the single window there sat a desk, a dresser, a chair, and a mirror, and of course there was the bed I was lying in. A bright light was filtering through the spotless glass. I stared around the room and then back at the girl.
“Where am I?” I demanded, pulling the covers more tightly around myself, as if they somehow offered protection.
The girl’s purple eyes brightened with surprise. “You’re in the Infirmary at Public,” she said.
“I’m in an infirmary?” I squeaked. “What happened? What is ‘Public’?”
“Yes, you are,” she said. “You hit your head, so you had to visit the Infirmary first. Actually, you’re really late. All the other Starters got here a week and a half ago. And Public is a college, Paranormal Public University. I don’t know why they brought you here so late, though.” She frowned a little.
Something about that amount of time sounded familiar to me, but my addled brain couldn’t quite grasp what it was.
I reached up and felt the back of my head where I remembered hitting it against the steps of my house, but all I could feel was my brown hair.
“They healed you really fast,” said the girl. “The nurses here can heal anything. When students get hurt playing Dash they come here and by that night they’re as good as new again. I’m SO excited you’re here.”
I rubbed my head. I had no idea what was going on, except that this girl was way too chipper. “But I already have a college to go to,” I protested.
“I’m Sip, by the way. It stands for Sipythia Quest, but no one calls me that. And yeah, you’re looking at me like I’m crazy, but I’m really not.”
She was right about how I was looking at her, so I tried to stop. I looked down at my small hands instead. “Sorry,” I said. “It’s nice to meet you. I’m Charlotte. Charlotte Rollins.”
“Oh, I know,” said Sip, grinning.
“What is this place?” I asked again. I felt like I was swimming against a tidal wave. All I wanted to do was crawl back under the covers and fall asleep and wake up on the day I was supposed to leave for college for real.
“Paranormal Public University, like I said,” she repeated. “It’s a school for… paranormals. You know, vampires, pixies, mages, and the like.”
“Paranormals don’t exist,” I told her, crossing my arms over my chest. “There’s no such thing as a vampire.” I was determined for all this to be a very bizarre dream.
“Of course we do,” she said, laughing. “You don’t think that every person who wrote a book or made a movie about us got it wrong, do you? And that all the history books are wrong? Of course not. Your mother was one,” she pointed out. “Your mom was a mage from Airlee Dorm. I’m in that house. It’s mostly mages, though there are some werewolves and dream givers as well.”
My first surprise was that she had mentioned my mother. It added legitimacy to her claim, but being reminded of my mother hurt. My second surprise was that this tiny girl was a paranormal. She looked perfectly normal. But something about what she had said sounded familiar.
Suddenly it snapped into place. I had always wondered if this would happen, but I had tried to block it away most of the time. What I had wondered was whether my dark secret would be uncovered. Mom had always been honest with me when I was little, telling me that she had magic. She’d even shown it to me a couple of times. But for some reason she wouldn’t discuss with me why she never had anything to do with the magical community. We were sectioned off in the normal world. Every time I asked, she would change the subject. Then she died and left me alone with my awful stepdad.
When I started high school and gave no signs of magic, I decided that my mother had been crazy. She had shown me her own magic, but maybe I had imagined that, and since she was dead there was no way I could ask her. I had gone about living my ordinary life assuming that paranormals and magic didn’t exist. You can’t miss what you never had.
My stepdad hated any talk of magic or paranormals. He thought my mom was being crazy and said that she was filling my head with nonsense. My mother said that men secretly value “rationality” above God or sports. She could never mention any of it around him, so all she would do is tell me little bits in secret. She tried to pretend that she hadn’t told me she was a mage. I had never known what parts to believe and I was afraid of my stepdad. I hated it when he yelled.
Once my mother died, living at home was pure misery. My stepdad had never wanted me around to begin with, and he also had my little brother to take care of. My brother was his biological child, whereas I was not. He basically pretended I wasn’t there. I think I reminded him too much of my mom and I don’t think he could handle it. He never got over losing her.
If my father had been alive, my stepdad would probably have tried to send me to him. But since he wasn’t, it was easier to just tolerate me and hope that I would disappear eventually.
If my father had been alive a lot of things might have been different.
“My mom told me she was a mage,” I said, still looking down at my hands. It was the first time I’d said it out loud; I had never dared before. Somehow, saying it was freeing. It sounded right and it was a relief to talk about my mom. “At the time I didn’t really believe her. She didn’t say much about magic, so I figured she was kidding.” But a part of me had always hoped that she wasn’t.
“I understand,” said Sip, nodding. “And the professors here think you’re a mage, too.”
“But I’ve never done any magic,” I protested. I tried to remember movies where I saw kids waving their hands while silver fire poured out or whatever. None of that had ever happened to me. I had never moved things with my mind or made stuff disappear.
“You just haven’t been trained,” Sip assured me. “It will come, with time and the proper professors. Your mom had magic, so there’s a good chance that you do too.”
I wasn’t sure if I believed her, but I didn’t argue. I liked the idea of following in my mother’s footsteps.
“So, what now?” I asked. “I mean, I should probably head home soon.” Not that my stepdad misses me, I thought to myself, but I still had packing to do for college. “But maybe I can visit again?”
Sip was shaking her head. “You got here late, so you have a lot to do. Classes start tomorrow, and tonight is the Demonstration. Starters demonstrate their paranormal abilities for their dorms. Besides, you need to see the campus. We can do that now, I guess. There is SO much for you to do! Basically, you aren’t going home.”
“But what about my college?” I demanded, panic starting to rise in me.
“You’re still going to college,” Sip pointed out. “The subjects you’ll be taking in the first semester will probably just be a little different than at your other school.”
“Do I have a choice?” I asked. “About all this?” I waved my hand to include the Infirmary room, but I really meant the whole paranormal/magic completely changing my life plan thing. I was supposed to start normal college. I had packed for it. There was nothing normal about Paranormal Public University.
Sip grinned. “Not technically. Untrained paranormals are dangerous. The professors don’t take kindly to rogue mages. Besides, you’ll like it here. I promise.”
I thought that m
ight turn out to be true. Being about to start paranormal college was way more exciting than starting normal school. Besides, it couldn’t be worse than what I was leaving. My stepdad wouldn’t even miss me, and Ricky was already more mature than I was.
“So, I’m staying here? What about my stepdad? My brother?” I wanted to know. This all sounded well and good, but I wasn’t sure it could really happen. Sure, my mom had told me about magic, but when she died the idea that I might be a mage had died with her.
“You need to be trained,” said Sip gently. “I’m a Starter too and we are going to be roommates. That’s why I’m here now. They wanted you to see a friendly face and get to know someone.” Sip was a friendly face all right. I’d bet she could sell coal to miners.
She continued, “I know it can be hard, but your stepdad has already been told that you left early and will call when you have a chance.”
That might be what someone told him, but he wouldn’t believe it. He’d know the truth, and what was worse was the fact that he’d be happy to get rid of me. He’d be much better off with just himself and Ricky anyway, I thought.
Suddenly it hit me: I wouldn’t be going home that night or any night soon. No more stepdad ignoring me, no more brother who got everything he wanted. I was sad, but I wasn’t that sad.
I started to smile.
Then I took a deep breath. This was crazy. I knew this was crazy, but somehow all the bad feelings I’d had for the past couple of weeks were gone. With every breath I took I felt more relaxed and happy than I’d felt in years, at least since I lost my mom. It felt good to be doing something my mom would want me to do. I’d been so busy with school and avoiding my stepdad that I hadn’t had much time for anything else.
“What if I suck and can’t do any magic?” I asked. “And are there really vampires?”
“You won’t suck. How can you suck at your destiny?” she said. “And yeah, there are really vampires, and elementals and pixies and fallen angels. They have their own dorms.”
“Which are you?” I asked. I couldn’t tell just by looking at her.
“Werewolf,” she said smiling.
“I don’t really know what that means,” I said.
Sip’s grin got bigger. “No, you don’t, but trust me, by the end of this first semester you will.”
She paused, looking at me carefully. “Do you need a little time?” Sip offered.
I didn’t. I knew my answer.
I squared my shoulders. “No. I’m ready.” I told Sip. “I’m staying. What do I need to know?”
Sip clapped her hands together in glee. “Awesome. You are going to love it here.”
“Yeah,” I said drily. “Once I know anything about it.”
“Let’s start with the basics,” she said, making herself more comfortable on my bed. “Here’s the deal. Tonight you’re going to join your dorm. It’s a big deal. You will be in Airlee Dorm and I will be your roommate. Awesomeness.”
I grinned.
“So, what types of paranormals are here?” I asked. She was a werewolf and I was a mage, and there must be vampires, but who else would there be?
“There are five dorms: one is Cruor, which is Latin for blood; it’s the vampire dorm. Aurum (shining dawn) is for fallen angels, Volans (flying) is for pixies, and Astra (stars) is for elementals, but there aren’t any more of those, so Astra is empty.”
She sounded sad about that, but I had so many other questions racing through my mind that I didn’t get a chance to ask why.
“What does ‘Airlee’ stand for?”
Sip sighed. “It doesn’t stand for anything. They just named it that when they decided they needed another dorm. Paranormal Public started out with just vampires, fallen angels, elementals, and pixies. They didn’t want to mix the paranormal types, they don’t get along, so when werewolves and mages came into the mix they realized they needed another dorm.
“Airlee is a newer dorm and is therefore considered lesser by some.” She said the word as if it left a bad taste in her mouth.
“Because Airlee has werewolves, mages, and anyone else with an ability that isn’t vampire, fallen angel or pixie, everyone in those dorms looks down on us.”
“Oh,” I said.
Apparently there was a hierarchy to paranormals and I was in the dorm that was at the bottom of it.
“We have to work really hard to prove ourselves, but it’s going to be SO great,” said Sip. Apparently nothing bothered her.
The door opened and in bustled a woman dressed in something like what I thought a nurse on crack would wear. She wore a rainbow of colors with bright pink-rimmed glasses almost falling off her nose.
“Oh, darling, you’re awake! Isn’t that lovely?” the nurse said to me, barely looking at Sip. “How are you feeling?”
“I’m feeling much better,” I told her honestly. “My head feels fine.”
“Lovely, lovely. I’m Nurse Tabby,” she said. “If you need anything, just come by. My door is always open, so to speak.”
“Now, do you remember much about what happened?” She pushed her pink glasses higher up on her nose.
“Just that I hit my head,” I said.
“You did indeed. Nasty bump, but I think we mended it just fine. You do have a hard skull, I think. Lucky.” She poked me on the tip of my nose as she giggled.
“Um, thanks,” I said, rubbing the tip of my nose where she’d tapped it.
“Oh, that’s alright darling. Now, Sip,” said Nurse Tabby, turning to my new roommate. “Take her to dinner and make sure she eats lots of fruits and vegetables.”
Sip nodded, but her hair stayed perfectly in place. “Of course.”
“You girls have a good night,” said Nurse Tabby, bustling out and closing the door behind her.
I felt like my head was spinning.
“We should get you food,” said Sip seriously. “You look like you could use something to eat.”
My stomach grumbled.
“So, when’s dinner?” I asked.
Sip laughed. “Right now.”
I looked around for my clothes, but they were nowhere to be seen. “Um, do we have a uniform or anything?”
“No,” said Sip, grinning.
“You wear that until you can get some of your own clothes,” she said, pointing to a plain white shirt and jeans. “It’s pretty casual around here.”
I got out of bed. Sip headed out the door with a vague comment about having to do something before we went to dinner. After she left I got dressed.
I felt strange. Just a few hours ago – or so it felt – my life had been normal. I’d been working and waiting for college to start. My worst problem was whether to have a separate suitcase for my movie collection. The summer had been boring. Its biggest highlight had been hanging out with Ricky. I had known those days were numbered and I had wanted to spend as much time with him as I could. Now, suddenly I was in a paranormal college with a werewolf for a roommate, and she was telling me that I was a mage and about to start college with vampires.
And I had thought going to normal college would be stressful.
Of course, in reality, nothing had been exactly normal since my mother died, and even this summer, especially since the dog and the mist had shown up, “normal” had been a relative term that I wasn’t very familiar with.
I wondered what had happened to Cale. I had been surprised at how nice it was to see him.
I sighed. My life had been turned upside-down. Again.
Once I was dressed I went out into the hall. It looked like your average dorm, only cleaner, which made sense if it was the Infirmary. Sip was waiting for me outside the door, and we headed off to wherever she was taking me.
We didn’t see anyone as we walked through the halls. Sip explained that all the other students were probably in their own dorms, getting ready for dinner and the ceremony. The walls were covered with pictures of different paranormals. Some were vampires transforming, or werewolves brawling.
&
nbsp; When we stepped outside it turned out that I hadn’t been in a dorm at all, but in one wing of an ultramodern building.
“So, the University is housed in this building,” said Sip. She pointed upwards at the glass and steel structure stretching into the sky. “Each dorm is detached and scattered around the grounds. And the professors and the President have their offices in a house over there.” She pointed away towards the trees.
I stretched my neck up. All I could see were walls of glass. It was breathtaking. Each glass panel shimmered with a different colored light.
“See,” said Sip, “we have classes in the tower part. All those floors are classrooms, and the dining hall is on the first floor.” I looked around. Surrounding the building with the tower were several smaller buildings, each made of colored glass and steel. Green grass, trees, and stone paths stretched around the campus as far as I could see.
“Isn’t someone worried a stone will go through a window and bring the whole thing crashing down?” I asked.
Sip laughed. “I’d like to see someone try to use a stone to take down the Tower.”
“Hey, Sip,” said a boy walking towards her. I stopped craning my neck upward so that I could focus on the guy. His cheeks were round and red, making it look like he was always blushing.
“Hey, Lough,” said Sip, grinning. “This is my new roommate, Charlotte.” Lough stuck out his round hand and smiled. “Are you a Starter too?” he asked. He had blond hair and his hand was warm and calloused. I liked him instantly.
“Yeah,” I said. “Just got here.”
“I’ve been here a week now,” said Lough. “Did they have a hard time finding you?” He seemed to think it was odd that I was late to school.
“No idea,” I said.
“Sometimes they aren’t sure or stuff goes wrong,” said Sip. “I’m sure they didn’t mean for you to be so late.”
“Yeah,” said Lough, “not a big deal. Is it time to eat yet? Other people are going in.”
The paths were all smooth stone under my feet as we walked towards the Tower along with a lot of other kids heading in the same direction. I stared at them with interest. My classmates. At college. I had a lot of expectations for college. Like lectures and drinking. I wondered how much of that would happen at Paranormal Public.
“That’s the dining hall,” said Sip, pointing to the Tower again. “I am so hungry.” She rubbed her stomach.
“Are you sure I’m supposed to be here?” I asked, running a hand through my brown hair.
“Of course,” said Sip. “You’ll be fine. Don’t worry. I think all the Starters are nervous.”
But Sip didn’t look nervous and neither did Lough. She smiled and waved at other students as we headed into the building. There was a short entryway, and then we came to a massive room. I stopped short, surprised by all the noise. A kid behind me, not expecting me to stop so suddenly, bumped into my back.
“Watch it,” he muttered, shoving me out of the way. I stumbled, but caught myself. The guy that had almost knocked me over had pale skin and a red-jeweled ring on his hand.
“Vampire,” said Sip. “His name is Tale. You should watch your step. They aren’t nice.”
“Right,” I said. Sip grabbed my arm and propelled me forward. Lough wandered in after us, but he knew his way around, so it wasn’t a big deal if he got lost, whereas I had no idea where I was or what I was doing.
I took a deep breath and followed Sip to get food. The dining hall looked like something out of the future. On one side of the wall were trays and dispensers for silverware. Across from that area, food was kept behind warmed cases. Students went up to the case and pointed, and the food appeared on the tray. I had visited normal colleges. None of them had that in their dining halls.
Instead of just concentrating on filling my plate, I tried to look around the room and take everything in. The dining hall was one big room, with windows making up the far wall and long wooden tables, with chairs surrounding them, blanketing the floor.
As I followed Sip I saw that very few of the other students didn’t have rings on.
“Do the rings mean you aren’t a Starter?” I asked Sip.
“Yeah,” said Sip. “You get your ring tonight, then after you pass your Starter examinations it fills with your dorm color. Or if you perform really powerful magic.”
“When are Starter examinations?”
“Whenever you want to try for them,” she said absently. “I think I’ll go for mine next week, but you have to pass them by the end of the first semester.”
“What?” I yelped.
Sip put her tray down at an empty table near the back. At the front of the room, with another wall of windows as a backdrop, was a podium.
“Come on,” said Sip, heading in that direction.
“Wait, where are we going?” I asked. “Don’t we eat dinner now?” I stared longingly at my food.
“Yeah,” said Sip. “After we do our Demonstration and get our ring.”
I stopped dead. “Where do we have to go for that?” I asked, hoping she wouldn’t point towards the podium.
But of course she did.
In front of it was a long table where both students and adults sat.
“They’re the professors,” said Sip when she saw where I was looking. “Plus, all the student representatives of each dorm.”
“That’s where we do our Demonstration?” I asked in a small voice. I started to feel like something was constricting my throat. Kind of like I’d swallowed an elephant.
“Yup. It’s no big deal. You demonstrate your ability and then they give you a ring and then you sit back down.” Sip said all of that like it would be the easiest thing in the world. “It’s just a formality. A show of honor. It’s not like a vampire is ever going to be in any dorm besides Cruor.”
I didn’t have a choice, since Starters were expected to demonstrate their skills, so I followed Sip and we joined a line of other Starters, each waiting for a turn on the podium. Now that I was at the front of the room I could see the long table more clearly, and I wished I couldn’t. It was filled with stern-looking faces. None of the professors were smiling, and the eight students looked as stern as the professors. Not one had a look of encouragement.
I felt my heart start to beat faster. I had to perform in front of all of these people and I had no idea how. My mother had only told me I was a mage. She hadn’t told me how to do anything. The elephant in my throat started to rise up.
I noticed one of the boys at the long table looking at me. He had black hair and light blue eyes, and his features were delicate enough that I would have thought he’d look feminine. But he didn’t; he looked strong and confident. I tried to study him without his knowing it, but he turned his head to look at me and I thought I saw the ghost of a smile pass over his face. Ricky’s warning flashed in my mind: no dating. I forced my attention back to the present. I didn’t even know the guy.
The woman sitting in the middle of the table stood up. She was the only adult wearing completely black clothes on her tall, wiry frame. Her steel gray hair was pulled back into a severe bun, making her look even more intimidating.
Her voice rang out through the hall.
“Let us begin.”
With a wave of her hand the lights flickered and dimmed, and blackness rolled in around us.