Chapter Four
The President was a very powerful mage. She continued to call rolling black power towards her until it was gathered like a blanket around the podium.
With that as her backdrop she began to speak. “Good evening, Starters. Today marks the first day of your paranormal learning. We all hope that you will work hard and learn well. I am the President, and these are my colleagues on the welcoming committee.” She extended her hands in both directions to take in the professors and students sitting alongside her.
“They are here to discuss any unusual paranormal cases, as well as to see what the new students can do.
“As Starters you will be expected to abide by and follow all orders. Certainly if a professor tells you to do something, you must do it. You will be expected to make a decision within the week about what type of paranormal ability you will specialize in. For some of you, such as the werewolf, the pixie, the fallen angel, and the vampire, the choice is clear. For others” – somehow I felt like she was looking at me when she said it – “the choices are more opaque. By the end of the first semester you will be expected to take a test in your chosen paranormal ability. This will allow you to move from Starter to full-time student. If you fail the test, you will be expected to leave campus immediately. There are no second chances. Once you have passed your examination you will no longer be considered a Starter.”
The President clapped her hands together. “Are we clear?”
She waited. No one moved. When she was satisfied with the response, she continued.
“Other information you will need: As a Starter, unless you were here two weeks in advance you will not be allowed to participate in Dash.” There were some cries of dismay from the other students around me.
“In the afternoons you will take classes with your dorm. In the late evenings the classes will be mixed. You are NOT, under any circumstances, allowed outside during the night unless you have express permission or are going to the library. I cannot stress this enough. We are living in dangerous times.
“Also, the elemental dorm, Astra, must be kept orderly until we have elementals studying and teaching there again.” There was a slight crack in her voice as she said it. “So as punishment for certain infractions, students will be assigned to assist with the cleaning of the building. Lastly, the pond by the administrative dorm, where my office is located,” she said with a wry smile to a few chuckles from other professors, “is always off limits. It is an elemental pond, and until Astra is bustling again we will respect their property and leave the pond alone.”
I sighed. There was so much to learn and remember. It didn’t sound like I had a chance of even getting through the first semester.
“You are all here for a reason,” she said more quietly, her eyes softening. “We would not have admitted you if we did not see your potential. Do not waste it.”
I looked sideways at the other Starters. Most looked as pale and scared as I felt. A couple, like Sip, looked excited.
“Now, each Starter is expected to demonstrate his or her ability in front of the panel and your fellow students. Once you have done so and I have presented you with your dorm ring, you may return to your dinner. Vampires change into vampires and so on. All we want to see is your skill. This is not a competition and you are NOT allowed to attack other students.”
I wondered what had happened in years past that had prompted her to say that last bit.
The line started moving quickly. As I watched each Starter walk to the podium, I got increasingly nervous.
“Evan Drapper.”
The first Starter in line was a pale boy with straw blond hair. He walked up to the panel, his face smug. His hair grew darker, his skin even paler, his lips redder. He opened his mouth to show off a set of white fangs. I gulped. He’d just turned into a vampire without even trying.
There was polite clapping, mostly from other vampire students, and he walked off the podium to be presented with a ring.
The line of Starters continued. The next two up were werewolves, Katie and Lauren Bells. They were twins and skipped up to the front hand in hand, their brown hair swinging in braids. They turned to face each other, grinning. They weren’t as small as Sip, but they weren’t very big. Hair started to grow on their faces and they started to shrink closer to the ground. Right before my eyes twin girls became twin werewolves.
This time I was too shocked to gasp.
A very slight young man was next, Jordan Lawrence. His arms and legs looked like uncurling wires. He came forward and spread his green arms wide. I noticed that his skin shimmered and his smile became bigger, more mischievous. Pixie. The pixies were gorgeous.
Every transformation was a new shock, but one of them, a black-haired girl wearing a shoulder-baring black dress, was the most surprising. She had a long pale face. She was more striking than conventionally attractive, but when she moved, all eyes followed her.
Looking supremely confident, she twirled her hand through the air. A lick of black flame burst from her hand to dance around her. Gasps could be heard throughout the room as students pushed their chairs further away from the podium and the girl alight with black flame.
Ripping my eyes away from the black-haired girl, I looked at the panel. The President was busy shuffling paper. Her lips were pursed together. The two professors to her left exchanged angry looks. I wondered why they looked so uncomfortable.
The girl, aware that everyone in the room was gaping at her, smirked, and the flame vanished.
“Magic of darkness,” Sip whispered to me. She was up next and had given the girl as much space as possible while she was standing in line. “Darkness for short.”
“Do they have a dorm?” I whispered back.
Sip smiled grimly. “Not their own. They’re in Airlee.” Her ears were turning pink and I could tell that she was nervous.
“Most mages who can control darkness are with the demons. There are only a few who come here to be trained. The professors are always wary of them,” she explained. “I don’t know why this one chose to come to Public. She’s the only one here right now.”
As it turned out, “wary” was an understatement. The President stood up. Her face was red with rage. “Lisabelle Verlans, you may join the Airlee Dorm.”
Without a word the mage of darkness, Lisabelle Verlans, stepped off the podium. The President almost threw an Airlee ring at her. Lisabelle Verlans, flipping her hair over her shoulder as she passed the panel, started weaving her way through the tables. I wanted to keep watching her to see where she sat, but Sip had stepped up to the podium.
After a brief pause while the whole room let out a collective breath, the President nodded.
“Sipythia Quest.” Sip stepped up to the podium and smiled, clasping her hands in front of her. Her face was smooth and serene. Her eyes blazed with confidence.
Suddenly, she whipped around, crouching low in a fighting stance. The next instant she sprang into the air, almost floating upwards.
Sip, the tiny blond girl who had greeted me when I woke up, was a werewolf, and a powerful one. She could move with incredible bursts of speed.
She raced around the professors once, so fast I could barely follow her movement, clearly enjoying the sound of applause from other Airlee students.
Gracefully she returned to her human form, grinning from ear to ear.
After giving Sip a ring, the President indicated that she could take her seat for dinner.
I was so busy clapping and cheering for Sip that I had forgotten what was supposed to happen next.
When the hall grew quiet again I looked around, and a jolt shot through me. I was next. Every face was turned expectantly towards me. I felt like I was on display under a microscope, expected to do something I couldn’t do and be something I wasn’t. The professors sat quietly, waiting. I had no idea what to do.
Before I knew it the President was nodding at me. “Charlotte Rollins.”
I took a deep breath and walked for
ward. There was a good chance I would throw up. I thought about running away, but that was impossible. I wanted to be here. I desperately wanted to prove myself. I also knew that the black-haired boy was staring at me, and his intense eyes alone made me want to run and hide. I couldn’t read the look he was giving me. It was a combination of surprise and consideration. It really wasn’t helping.
As I stood in front of the panel I could feel my hands shaking, and I tried to steady them. They would have to be steady, I told myself, so I could put the ring on later. It was such a silly thing to think.
A slow panic was creeping through me, like shadows lengthening. All the people standing in front of me had great powers, whether as vampire or pixie, werewolf or fallen angel. Even Lisabelle Verlans, who clearly didn’t have a friend in the room, had stood up in front of everyone and shown them what she could do.
Now here I was with a chance to be brave, and all I felt was lost. The air had gone out of my lungs, but as I tried to draw it back in all that happened was that I made a sort of sobbing noise.
There were snickers in the room. I saw one girl cover her face to keep from laughing.
I could do this, I told myself. I’d come this far. I was here and I hadn’t even thought that would happen; after my mother died, I hadn’t even let myself keep believing that her magic had been real. But here I was. They had come for me and that must mean something.
I squared my shoulders, ready to fight. My mother had been a mage. If she could do it, so could I.
I tried with all my might to perform magic. I tried so hard. But the truth of the matter was that I didn’t know what I was doing. No one had ever shown me what to do. I’d just grown up a normal girl. The idea that I was now suddenly paranormal was all well and good, but there was no way I was going to be able to do magic. Not tonight.
I heard one of the professors give an awkward cough. I wiped sweaty hands on my jeans.
“Boo,” someone called out. A chorus of boos followed it.
“Silence,” ordered the President, but I hardly heard her. I was concentrating too hard. Everyone who had gone before me had done something exceptional. Besides, they were all clearly paranormals. I had just been told that I was a paranormal, but I hadn’t become one of them. Not yet.
It didn’t help that all the professors were gaping at me; they had probably never seen a student fail the Demonstration before. I wondered if they had ever brought a student to Public before only to sit and watch her embarrass herself in front of the entire school on the night of the Demonstration.
I tried to give a shaky smile, but I felt like crying.
The President took pity on me. “Airlee Dorm,” she said. She wasn’t smiling. “But . . .” – she paused, and I was scared to breathe, waiting to see what she would say next – “please visit my chambers when dinner is finished.”
My ears were ringing. Everyone was staring at me. I gave a quick nod and scurried to my seat.
I sat down next to Sip and dropped my head onto the table. One of the professors gave us all permission to start eating and went through some sort of speech about how great the start of the school year was. But I was so mortified I barely listened. I obviously didn’t belong there. I needed to get back to regular college, fast.
I would probably get to the President’ office and she’d tell me it wasn’t true that I was a paranormal, and I should leave immediately. She just hadn’t wanted to mention that in front of everyone else.
My forehead thudded against the table as I practiced disappearing.
Sip patted me on the back. “Don’t worry,” she said. “Not everyone can perform in front of a crowd.”
“Yeah, I’m sure I’m just so talented. It just didn’t come through tonight. That’s like saying Brad Pitt is only kind of attractive. Blatant crap.”
Sip was quiet for a breath, then she said fiercely, “You’re a paranormal.”
I put my head back on the table. “How do you know?”
“Because,” Sip insisted, “the professors don’t go to so much trouble for everyone. They went out of their way to get you.”
Before she could elaborate, someone behind me said, “Hi again, Charlotte.”
I recognized that voice, but I had never expected to hear it at there. I spun around in my chair. For the second time in two days Cale Marks was standing behind me.
If I were quick or had a different personality, I’m sure I would have come up with something witty to say. But sadly I was neither, and I just stared at him.
“Careful or you’ll catch flies,” said Sip wisely.
I glared at her, but closed my mouth.
“What are you doing here?” I demanded. I was overwhelmed and confused, and seeing Cale didn’t help.
“Nice to see you, too. I go here,” said Cale, shrugging. “I came to pick you up back home, because you knew me.”
In a flash I remembered that Cale had been there the night the dog tried to attack me. It hadn’t been an accident that he’d run into me, it seemed; he ran into me because he’d been looking for me.
“You saved me?” I asked in a small voice.
Cale laughed. “Not really. The vampires are the ones who really saved you. I was supposed to explain what was going on. They thought it might come better from a friendly face, but then you got knocked out and it didn’t matter.”
“Do you want to sit down?” Sip offered, smiling up at the much taller, and standing, Cale. At least one of us had manners.
“No thanks,” he said, running a hand through his red hair. “I should get back to my friends.” He pointed to a table by the windows. “We’ll catch up, though. Just wanted to make sure you were settling in,” he said, and headed off before I could say another word.
“Wow,” said Sip. “So, you already know a pixie?”
“A what?” I gasped. “No way!”
“He’s sitting with pixies,” said Sip, “so I’m pretty sure he is one. Besides, the ring on his hand….”
I had been too surprised to even look at his hand or notice what color ring he wore. I felt like I was running a race, but no matter what I did everyone else was going to be faster than I was.
“Don’t worry,” said Sip kindly. She must have seen the distraught look on my face. “It’s overwhelming now, but you’ll get used to it.”
“I doubt it,” I informed her.
While we ate in silence, a group of pixies walked past us. They were the type of girls who walk like they know everyone is watching, because they are. Each of them was gorgeous in a delicate sort of way, with perfect shiny hair and brightly painted nails. I flinched, thinking of my own chewed cuticles.
“That’s Camilla Van Rothson,” said Sip, pointing out the lead pixie. She had long blond hair and a button nose. “She’s a sophomore and the best in her class.”
“Best at what?” I asked.
“Pretty much everything,” Sip muttered. “I wouldn’t get on her bad side. She has a reputation for ruining the lives of girls she doesn’t like.”
“Any girl?” I asked, thinking that given my performance, or lack of a performance, on the podium just now, she really couldn’t view me as much of a threat.
“Lots of guys fawn over her,” Sip explained, “and she likes the attention.”
“Great,” I said. “Well, that’s one problem I don’t think I’ll have.”
When I looked up again the black-haired boy’s eyes were looking directly at me. It was difficult, but I looked away.
Throughout dinner I noticed one clear fact: different paranormal types did not mix. There were no vampires sitting with pixies, no werewolves sitting with fallen angels. They all kept to themselves. Sip had said that there was an ironclad social hierarchy among paranormals, and I could see it immediately.
It had started when the demons had started trying to kill them/us off. Apparently, not associating with other paranormals was for protection. If you didn’t trust anyone outside your own paranormal group, it was harder for the d
emons to get to you. But it seemed weird at a college. I had expected my college to be this great mixing pot, where different types of people came together and shared ideas, or alcohol, and we all learned and grew as people. Of course, now I wasn’t going to school with “people.”
While I was busy eating and trying to take everything in, a guy with a brown glowing ring walked past the table of vampires. Of all the paranormals, the vampires were the easiest to spot. Despite the lack of a dress code they all wore all black, and most were paler-skinned than you’d think possible.
As the werewolf was walking past, he tripped and went soaring through the air. The guy was slight, with blond hair and a pale complexion. I wouldn’t have expected him to be so graceless. His tray, piled high with all the food being served that night, flew into the air.
Throughout the room there was a collective gasp, then silence as the blond werewolf crashed to the floor. The table of vampires that he’d been passing roared with laughter. Instantly, every werewolf and vampire in the place was standing. The werewolves were growling and the vampires’ teeth were fanged.
“GO, MIKE,” yelled a few of the werewolves.
In the next breath the werewolf who had tripped, Mike, was on his feet, hurling himself into the table of vampires. The hall erupted in noise. Suddenly there was a fight and everyone wanted to watch it. The pixies, who appeared to hate both sides but hated the vampires more, cheered when the vampires landed a punch but cheered even louder when the werewolf did. I wasn’t sure who the Airlee students were rooting for, but they didn’t seem to like the vampires either. The fallen angels were quiet.
The werewolf was hopelessly outnumbered. He’d landed a couple of punches on a beefy-looking vampire before two other vampires grabbed him to hold him down.
The black-haired student who I’d been sure was staring at me was at the vampire table in an instant. I didn’t know it was possible for anything flesh and blood to move that fast.
He commanded respect. The vampires looked less certain about beating on Mike once he showed up. Everywhere around the room, quiet spread. I glanced at the professors, but they were eating like nothing out of the ordinary was happening. Apparently they didn’t get involved in the mere squabbles of their paranormal charges.
The black-haired boy plucked the vampires away from Mike as if they weighed nothing. I was surprised to see that he wasn’t wearing a brown ring like the werewolves; his ring shone silver, marking him as a fallen angel. Apparently he was one, at least, who didn’t care so much for the differences between paranormals.
“Keller,” said a female voice sharply. Everyone turned. Making her way through the crowd was a female vampire who looked like she was floating more than walking. It reminded me of mist. She reminded me of Lisabelle Verlans, except that she was beautiful. Her lips were a deep red and her black air fell over her shoulders in waves.
“That’s a vampire princess,” Sip whispered to me. It was the first time she’d spoken since the fight broke up. Her eyes were still locked on Mike and the vampires.
“Enough,” the vampire princess ordered.
“Tell your newbies to leave the werewolves alone,” Keller demanded. He was still holding the collar of a vampire in one hand and Mike’s collar in the other.
“Tell the werewolf not to attack my vampires,” she shot back. She was unbelievably gorgeous, I thought. And angry. Power radiated off her like heat.
Without responding, Keller shook the collar of the hapless Mike. “Do you hear that?” he demanded. “Leave them alone!”
Silence fell throughout the hall like unrung bells.