Corruption

As the week goes on my nervous habits and terrified attitude dwindle, leaving a calm, comfortable feeling in it’s wake. I feel like I’m meant to be here, like I belong. Sitting in the lounge with Lilly and Reika on a Saturday evening feels more like home than anything else I’ve ever known.

“This is boring,” Lilly says as she flips through channels on the flat screen mounted on the wall.

“So stupid it rained today,” Reika says. “And now that it’s finally stopped we can’t even leave the dorm, let alone the campus.”

“Why not?” I ask, sipping red wine from a glass.

“It’s a new moon tonight,” she replies, taking the glass from my hand and tipping some of the red liquid back. “I’m sure you’ve learned by now that witches don’t have power during the night of a new moon.”

“Yeah, Headmistress Lucinda told me when her scary Guardian brought me to her office that one day,” I say.

“And because of it we’re under a stupid fucking curfew! We can’t leave the building past eight,” Lilly grumbles. She checks her phone and groans. “And it’s eight-fifteen.”

“I’d rather have a curfew and know that I’m safe than be attacked without magic,” Reika says before downing the last of the glass. “I may be good with a katana but I can’t take it from the Training Hall.”

“Need...fresh...air...” Lilly groans, dramatically putting the back of her hand to her forehead and ungracefully falling off the couch.

“Someone’s a drama queen,” I say, looking at her.

“If all you need is fresh air then let’s go to the top of the tower,” Reika says.

“I second that notion,” I say, standing up. “I haven’t been up there yet.”

“Sounds good!” Lilly says, clambering to stand up from her awkward position on the floor.

“Let’s grab some towels,” Reika says. “It’ll be damp.”

Lilly and I agree, so we make our way to the staircase. As we pass the table in the center of the lounge I grab a bottle of red wine, getting a laugh from Lilly.

“You’re going to become an alcoholic,” she says as we ascend the staircase.

“Only way to live,” I joke.

We stop at my dorm room and grab a few towels, then continue up to the tower roof. After many stairs and too much exercise in my opinion, we reach double glass doors leading to a cute little set up of tables and chairs. An unlit fire pit sits in the center of the roof. We walk through the doors and take seats at a table near the edge of the roof, sitting on our towels. A wrought iron railing sits on the circumference of the roof, ensuring no one could accidentally fall.

“You can see the whole campus from up here,” I say in awe, looking at the grounds. The fountains light up the lawn, and the setting sun paints the skies with rich reds and pinks.

“I love it up here,” Reika says. “No one comes up here anymore.”

“Why not?” I ask. “It’s beautiful up here.”

“Ever since they installed flatscreens in the lounge no one comes up here,” Lilly says. “People would rather watch TV.”

“I’d rather be up here,” I say.

“I should have grabbed a jacket,” Lilly says, hugging herself. “Weather’s getting crappy.”

I glance at the fire pit and smile. I lift my hand and wave it, calling flames to me. The appear out of thin air and wrap around my hand, dancing happily. I send them to the fire pit with a flick of my wrist, and soon enough a merry fire is burning behind us. We move to a bench beside it so Lilly can heat up. We sit and chat, enjoying the fresh air and the heat from the fire.

“Oh wow, it’s already nine-thirty,” Lilly says after checking her phone. “I’m gonna go eat the Munchies I have stashed in the dorm then crash.”

“Yeah, same,” Reika says, standing up. “Minus the Munchies.”

“You guys go ahead,” I say as Lilly gets up to follow Reika. “I like watching the flames, I’ll be down in a bit.”

“Don’t stay up for too long,” Reika says.

Soon enough I’m alone, curled up on the edge of the bench. I watch the flames dance, and my eyes begin to feel heavy. I yawn and shift my weight. I close my eyes for just a moment, and I don’t even feel my head drop.

I open my eyes and see almost nothing, just tendrils of darkness slinking around fog. I try to look around but I feel detached from my body, almost as if I didn’t have one. I hear a whisper, faint but urgent. The fog churns through the air. Again I hear a whisper, recognizing my name this time.

“What is this?” I say, my voice muffled.

Wake up...

“What?” I say in confusion.

Wake up!

I jerk awake, nearly falling off the bench. The only thing left of the fire is embers and smoke. It’s completely dark now, the only light coming through the glass panes of the double doors from the stair room. I stretch and yawn, annoyed with myself for falling asleep. As I begin to get up I get an uneasy feeling. I stand and look out over the campus, watching the grounds. I see a faint light, moving toward the trees at the edge of campus.

“Who could that be...?” I wonder aloud. I have a feeling, an instinct, that I need to know.

I quickly leave the roof and run down the stairs, trying to be quiet. I leave the building through the exit in the lounge. Standing a little outside the door, I scan the trees in search of the light I saw. I see it again, a little further into the trees and moving quickly away. I sprint toward it, nearly tripping from lack of light. I reach the trees and lean against one on the edge, catching my breath. The grounds are still, the only sounds being crickets and small animals in woods. I spot the light, recognizing it as a candle, and walk toward it cautiously. I try to watch the ground to avoid branches and leaves, but it’s too dark to really tell. Luckily, I barely make any sound, and I get close to whoever’s holding the candle. I see someone in a long cloak, wearing the hood up. The person turns toward me and I dash behind a tree, breathing hard out of fright. After a moment I peer around the tree, careful not the be seen, and recognize Hayden’s mother, Amelia. She scans the trees behind her, looking suspicious, and her panther tail lifting the cloak slightly as it lashes.

“What are you doing out here?” I breath, wondering aloud.

I see Amelia’s ear flick, and I duck behind the tree again. My heart beats rapidly, pounding so hard I’m scared she’ll hear it. After a moment I hear her steps again, and I breath out a careful sigh. I continue to follow her, careful to keep behind trees. Soon we reach a small stream, the water moving quickly from the rain earlier today. She walks up to it and looks around, so I get as close as I can and settle behind a nearby tree.

“Are you here?” I hear her hiss.

Even with the light from Amelia’s candle, the terrain on the other side of the stream is pitch black. Out of the darkness rolls a layer of thin fog, covering the stream like a blanket. As it cascades over the running water I hear soft cracks, and watch as the water freezes solid.

“You’re late,” a voice says, hoarse but definitely female.

“I’m sorry, it was hard getting out on the night of a new moon,” Amelia replies.

A figure steps from the darkness and onto the frozen stream, causing fog to ripple in a ring shape away from the stranger’s foot. As she steps forward her face becomes illuminated by the candlelight, and I recognize the features I’ve only seen in pictures. A face framed by curly, dirty blonde hair, and fair but tanned skin. Her eyes seem to shine, even in the dark, the color of dirty amethysts. Similar to mine.

I put a hand over my mouth to stifle my gasp, feeling tears prick my eyes. I swallow my reaction down, knowing in my gut it’s important that I listen.

“Your ice will melt once midnight comes,” Amelia says.

“This meeting will be brief, feline,” my mother says, using the last word as an insult.

Amelia grits her teeth audibly. “What did you need, Mistress?”

“You hold the title of Mystic, and yet you still have been unable to destroy the counsel. What am I to do with you, feline? You’re more of a pet than an asset,” my mother says, looking annoyed.

“You were once Mystic, Dektra Hollow, and yet now you’re a mutated Outcast,” Amelia says haughtily.

My mother jerks forward angrily, and I see that Amelia’s words ring true. Dektra’s pupils constrict, one slimming into a cat-like pupil, the other normal. She has animal ears like every other adult witch, but each are different: one a wolf’s, the other what I could only assume to be a bear’s. From behind her lashes two tails, one thin like a cat’s and the other thick like a wolf’s. Broken, misshapen wings hang limp and useless from her back, and the teeth she bares in anger are jagged and sharp.

“I may be a mutant, but you are nothing more than a cat on a leash,” she hisses, malice dripping from each word like venom. “As broken as I am, you fear me more than you fear death.”

“I apologize, my Mistress,” Amelia says hastily, looking terrified as she bows her head respectfully.

“Do what you must, but overthrow the counsel. I expect a carnage report the next new moon,” my mother says. “You’re dismissed.”

Amelia bows and turns to walk away, so I quickly duck back behind the tree. Before she can take a step, however, my mother has one last thing to say.

“And Amelia, I don’t care how you do it, but I want that wretched Justine LeMark dead.”