The Soul Thief

Chapter 10

I woke up to screams that weren't my own for once.

It took a minute to reorientate myself, my fingers finding the edge of my duvet in the dark as I realised I was in my dorm room, tucked into bed. My head turned, and I caught sight of the discarded cloths and bits of gauze that littered my bedside table where a horrified Nancy had discarded them as she hurried to help clean me up. Enzo had been furious as he offered to confront them on my behalf, but there didn't seem like much point considering Kira had them distracted.

I still didn't understand why she had stepped in, nor did I entirely trust her intentions. Far too much of my time had been spent with people who only looked out for themselves and the people here, supernatural or not, were still just people at the end of the day.

That warning she had given about the monsters here as well felt a little misplaced. Sure, the witch bitch had tried to crack my head open like an egg, but at the heart of it she was so different to any human bully I had faced.

No matter what they were, I was determined no one here would catch me off guard with their magic like that again. Somehow I needed to find a way to protect myself from the unseen attacker they wielded.

A second scream ripped through the night, joining the first and suddenly reminding me why I had woken. I jolted upright in bed, wincing at the movement, as bile rose in my throat. My head was throbbing as I pressed my palms to my eyes and waited a moment until the dizziness faded. My hand fumbled for the tonic Enzo had fetched for the pain and I sipped it slowly until my head cleared.

Although I didn't think much of witches based on my interactions so far, Enzo and Nancy had proved to be caring and their brand of magic was appreciated when I needed a little healing.

I still hadn't had a chance to ask Nancy about the shots. The thought came back to me as I placed the tonic back down and swung my legs round so I was sitting on the edge of the bed. My throat itched rather than burned like it normally did and I wondered if I had been screaming again and that was what woke me.

As far as I knew, my screams had never woken me before, but there was a first time for everything.

My body stilled as I caught the sound of footsteps were thundering down the hallway and half fell out of bed in my hurry to join them. My pajamas bottoms were just slightly too long and the excess fabric caught under my bare feet as I stumbled to the door and yanked it open. Bleary-eyed students spilled out of their rooms, all moving towards the sound.

I grabbed my robe and key before hurrying to follow them. By the time I joined those on the staircase down to the courtyard, I had already begun to regret not grabbing shoes. The stone floors were freezing and I was relieved when we veered round to the common room instead of heading outside.

The high ceilings had the screams echoing eerily, and I spotted the crowd huddled around a single spot. Some of the screams had changed and now and were more like distressed wails, which filled the night and had the hair on my arms standing on end. "What happened?" I asked one of Nancy's friends who came through the door at the same time as me.

"I don't know. I think someone is hurt." Her face was white with fear as we jogged to join the back of a crowd.

Gasps of horror and frightened whispers whipped through the crowd as rumours of the cause of the screams filled the space.

Mrs Kennedy appeared out of nowhere, two other teachers at her back, "Clear a path." she ordered.

Despite the fact she was in her pyjamas, her hair was in a neat plait and she looked strangely elegant. The other teachers in their red and grey pyjamas respectively looked a little more worried and dishevelled.