Chatoyant College Book 2: Initiates

Chapter 18: Roe

This time they got out into the hallway much more quickly. So did most other people; heads popped out of doorways all down the hallway. Corrie automatically checked to see if Annie was still there, and she was, her fair head next to Salome's dark one. Then she remembered what Annie had said: she never screamed. It had been someone else, and they never found out who. Maybe tonight they were going to.

Lorelei arrived much more quickly than she had a few days ago, too. Of course, it was much earlier tonight, and she was still dressed. "What happened?" she asked breathlessly as the fire door swung shut. "Is everyone all right?"

"I think we're all here in the hallway," said someone close to her. "Except for the two in that room." She pointed at the door immediately to Lorelei's right.

Lorelei quickly turned and knocked on the door, then tried the handle. It was unlocked. She opened it slowly, calling, "Are you okay in there?"

"Sorry..." came a faint voice from inside. A short girl with messy brown hair came out, supporting another girl Corrie recognized by her long blonde hair: Roe, from their Intro to Magic class. She turned to Dawn to confirm her guess. Dawn nodded, and they turned their eyes back to Roe, wanting to know as much as anyone else what was going on.

"Okay, wait just a minute," asked Lorelei, putting her hand on Roe's arm to help steady her. She was much calmer now that it was apparent no one was seriously hurt. She turned back down the hallway. "Is everyone here? Raise your hand if you think someone is missing," she called. Corrie saw Dawn turn to look for Naomi; she was there and had in fact joined their little group, her eyes round and wide. Corrie cast her own eyes up and down the hallway. Everyone she knew was there--Roe, Annie, Salome, and Helene across the hall. Other people were looking around and murmuring, but after a few minutes, it was apparent that everyone was there, or at least their absence wasn't noticeable.

"Do you see anything unusual, Dawn?" Corrie asked softly.

Her friend shook her head. "No... if anyone's vanished, I'm not aware of it."

Lorelei was talking to Roe again. She'd straightened up and was looking better; her roommate went back into their room. "Was it you that screamed?"

Roe nodded with a slight grimace. "I'm sorry to bother everyone. I should have warned you--I get these visions and sometimes they can be kind of alarming." Corrie nodded to herself--she remembered Roe mentioning that in class the day before.

"So you're the one who screamed on Thursday, too?"

Roe frowned, looking confused. "I don't know... I might have. I know I had a dream that might have been a vision."

Lorelei let out a breath that sounded like she'd been holding it for a while. "That's probably it, then. Are you all right? Do you need to see a nurse?"

"No." She smiled wanly. "I just need to take more magic classes and learn how to control this, if I can. I get headaches a lot when I get visions, but it should be gone soon."

"Do you want to tell someone what you saw?" Lorelei asked.

"I don't think so," Roe said. "Not unless I see..." Her voice trailed off. She was staring in their direction. Corrie suddenly realized that almost everyone else had gone back into their rooms while she, Edie, and Dawn had been listening raptly to Lorelei and Roe's conversation. "Uh, you three," she said, pointing at them. "Corrie and Dawn, right? From my Intro to Magic class?" Corrie nodded, and she and Dawn began to walk forward, so they could talk to Roe without shouting down the hall. Corrie noticed Annie watching them walk down the hall before she, too, went back into her room. "And the other girl with you," she said, nodding toward Edie.

"My name's Edie," she said in a small voice when they reached the other end of the hall. "Were we... uh, in your vision?"

Roe nodded, her eyes wide. "Yes, I recognize you two now. And Professor Lal was there, and someone else I don't know."

"But what's going to happen?" Corrie asked, feeling as if she were going to burst with impatience to find out the answer to the question hanging over all of them. "What was in your vision?"

Roe put a hand to her head, then sighed. "I don't know. Most of the time they fade quickly, like dreams. All I remember were the faces and, well, obviously something pretty scary was happening. I'm sorry I can't give you better information. But you three should probably be careful."