Unfamiliar (Unfamiliar Series #1)

Chapter 4

"You're going to like it here," Tessa assures me while she chatters nonstop and we walk up a narrow sidewalk to the dorms. "I already have a room so you can bunk with me. Each room has three bunks, so I don't know who our other roommate is going to be, the other two girls I had last year already have a different room."

I smile at her voice, letting her words wash over me. We had only managed to get together over the summer a handful of times because she was doing extra studying for cryptozoology. I didn't mind, I still had Luke to play Forever Expedition with on our computers, a fantasy game of all things. But online chat rooms weren't quite the same and my chest aches from missing him.

The dorm building looms over us as we approach, the outside being made up of the same, crème colored brick façade as the other buildings. It's maybe half the size of the lecture hall, but it's six floors tall instead of five. Several windows are open and varying genres of music are pouring out from them as one girl sitting in a window looks down at us as we walk into the building beneath her.

A set of double, black doors stand open as we pass through them into a tiled lobby that reminds me of what I would likely see in an apartment complex. There are four doorways in the lobby, one in each corner that probably leads into a hall for the rooms on the ground floor. Staircases spider up the walls, extending up to the other five floors that rise above us as a few other people either ascend or descend them.

"Come on, we'll take the elevator," Tessa says as she grabs me by the arm and leads me over to an elevator hub.

Indigo follows us and my bags rattle along behind me as we step into the elevator. Tessa pushes the button for the third floor and the elevator shudders to life as the doors roll shut. No music plays as the elevator glides upwards before it pauses on the third floor.

As soon as the doors open, a shadowy wolf leaps at us as it clambers into the elevator and wags its tail as it slaps against my leg. A dog of some species, its fur also shimmering like a familiar's barks as it chases after the wolf and joins it on the elevator before they run back out and head down another hallway.

"Yo! Someone put a leash on your familiar, yeah?" Tessa calls as she steps into the hallway and motions for me to follow her.

I glance back to see that Indigo hasn't moved from her place in the elevator as my bags refuse to follow.

"I'm going to head up to my own room, I'm supposed to be getting a new dorm-mate soon," she tells me when she sees that I'm puzzled.

"Oh," I murmur as I step forward and give her a brief hug. "What floor are you on?"

"The fifth, sometimes the service is a little spotty so I might not always get your texts, I'm in room 583," she says as she returns the hug, "I'll meet you in the dining hall for dinner tonight. Your schedule is in the front office, you'll need to pick it up and classes start tomorrow, so have as much fun as you can today."

"I will," I promise her as I grab my duffel and messenger bag before I reach for one of the roller bags.

Tessa grabs for the handle of the other roller bag and trots along in front of me as the wheels thud dully on the thin carpet in the hall. Some of the doors for the rooms are open as we pass by and the pull of magic is strong here.

I can smell several different varieties of herbs being burned, there's no doubt that they're being used in good fortune rituals for the coming semester. Papers with sigils drawn on them in black sharpie are already tacked on some of the corkboards that are mounted next to the doors, though I don't recognize what many of them symbolize.

Tessa finally stops at one of the rooms toward the end of the hall and pushes the door open. Three, twin-sized beds greet us, two of them being a bunk bed set on the left wall while the other bed is pushed against the right.

The top bunk has already been claimed by Tessa as I realize that it has a dark purple quilt sprawled across it, along with a bag that has been opened and has its contents strewn over the quilt. A few band posters are tacked on the wall and ceiling around the top bunk and one of the three dressers has miscellaneous items scattered on it.

A silver barred birdcage hangs in the window and perched on a swing within it is a shimmering, white dove that I recognize as Peace, Tessa's familiar that she had introduced to me over the summer.

"Hey, Peace," Tessa croons as she sets my bag upright and strolls into the room as she makes a cooing noise at the dove.

The dove stirs at her voice as it lifts its head and makes a low noise and ruffles its feathers.

"Pick a dresser," Tessa says as she stops below the cage, her eyes focused on her familiar.

I glance around the room, there are three, pine dressers and a closet, two of them are against the same wall as the window while the other one is tucked behind the door and maybe two steps away from the bottom bunk. I heft my messenger bag onto the bottom bunk before I walk over to the nearby dresser and begin to pull the drawers open.

"No no, watch this," Tessa says as she makes a shooing motion for me to get out of the way.

I step over to the other bed as she pulls out a short, red wand that looks like a chopstick from her riding boot.

"Please don't set my stuff on fire," I murmur when I see the wand.

"Relax, I'm only using my wand because I'm a junior and I'm supposed to if I use spells," she says as she rolls her eyes and makes a gagging motion.

She twirls her wand and flicks her wrist and the bags begin to unzip themselves as my clothes burst out of them and float about mid-air. The drawers on the dresser open as the clothes begin to fold themselves before they settle into the drawers as they close. When she's finished, both of my roller bags are empty of clothes and the blue quilt I had packed along has neatly sprawled itself across my claimed bed.

"There," Tessa says as everything settles into place and the last of the drawers close, "and no fires."

"Thanks, you're going to have to teach me that one," I tell her and she grins.

"Believe me, it's a lifesaver when they announce that they're going to have room inspections," she says.

"Yeah, so when do I get a wand?" I ask as I watch her tuck her wand back into her boot.

"Next week, it'll be in your general magic class," she informs me as she sets her riding helmet on her dresser. "You may want to put that up, the alchemy labs have rules against wearing jewelry," she warns me as she makes a motion toward my neck before she walks over to a small, black jewelry box that has roses painted on it and is sat on her dresser.

I glance down at the amethyst necklace hanging around my neck before I reach up and unclasp it. The coolness that has inhabited my neckline drops away as I take off the necklace and place it on the red velvet cushioning within the box before Tessa closes it.

"We can head to the lab now-," Tessa begins to say, but her eyes focus elsewhere as she looks over my shoulder, her mouth freezing mid-word.

I turn around to see where she's looking and I realize then that there's a girl standing in the doorway of our room. She's petite and has long, blonde hair that is almost white and is pulled back in a messy ponytail as she stands awkwardly, a heavy looking bag slung over her shoulder. Blue eyes meet mine as she freezes up from where she had been ready to step into the room.

"Hi. Um...I think I'm your third bunkmate," the girl says in a low voice that has a hint of a British accent as she steps forward, "I'm Astrid Hallewell."