Chatoyant College, Book 13: The Teeth

Chapter 81: Keeping Us Safe

Dawn nodded. She hadn't checked her email that morning, actually, but she would have assumed there would be an email from the administration telling them that the threat was over. In fact, they should have sent it last night—it hadn't been that late in the evening when Gerlina had finally been caught.

Then again, maybe the magic professors hadn't told them anything last night. They'd been busy, after all. And were there even people in the administrative building while they'd been catching Gerlina? Maybe no one was here over the weekends.

"They might have to wait until Monday," she said. "I don't know if anyone in administration is in on the weekends."

"Professor Lal or one of the other magic professors should have sent out an email," Corrie said.

Dawn shrugged in uncomfortable agreement. Rico spoke up, though. "They might not have access to the full list. There are probably precautions—the administration wouldn't want just anyone to be able to email the full student body, plus all the professors. So they'll have to wait until someone with those abilities comes in."

"They could start trying," Corrie said with a sigh, but she had to nod.

"Do you think we should start telling people?" Edie asked. "Spread the word that it's safe again?"

"Would anyone believe us?" Annie said. "I mean, other than the people like me that you've already told. I trust you, of course, but that doesn't mean Fred in my English class does."

"Is there really a Fred in your English class?" Roe said with a laugh.

"It was an example," Annie said, laughing too.

Dawn tried to think of who else they could tell. Maybe she should say something to Emi. She could at least tell Derwen, if she didn't already know, but she was sure Derwen wouldn't tell anyone else. Of course, she hadn't told anyone what she knew or suspected about the killer when it was still free—so why would anyone believe her now?

"There might be a few people we could tell," Corrie said. "The people who have taken magic classes. Dawn, did you tell Naomi?"

"Yes, last night. I don't think she's going to tell anyone else, though. I have the impression most of her art-class friends are gone already, anyway."

"That's another reason they'd better send out an email," Corrie said. "They need to make sure the people who left know the truth. I guess it wouldn't get to the people who have transferred already, but anyone who went home for the summer early needs to know that it's going to be safe to come back in the fall."

"How many people have transferred?" Annie asked.

"I don't know, but at least a few have," Corrie said. "I was talking to someone in one of my classes about it. They're too scared to stay on campus, and I can't blame them."

Dawn looked around the room again, wondering how many of the people missing from the usual crowd were gone because they'd just left for the summer, and how many were gone because they'd transferred or otherwise decided not to come back to Chatoyant College. She hoped there weren't too many of the latter. After all, anyone who'd attended here knew about magic. What other school could they attend that would give them that?

She excused herself to go get some more chocolate milk. As she waited for the machine, she heard the two girls in front of her gossiping. "You can't go out at night anymore," one girl was complaining. "It's ridiculous. We're college students. If they can't keep us safe at night, then they're not keeping us safe at all."

The other girl nodded. "I heard that somebody else was attacked last night. They got away, but who's to say the next one will be that lucky?"

"Really?" The first girl sucked a tooth. "The attacks are getting closer and closer together. I heard that they're going to call the FBI, but if they haven't had the regular cops come, how much of a chance of that is there?"

Dawn couldn't resist stepping in, especially since this was a chance to see if Edie's idea would work. "Actually," she said, "the killer was caught last night. We're all safe again."

The two girls turned to her with identical expressions of disdainful disbelief. "Oh, we're safe?" the second girl echoed. "Then how come we haven't seen anyone get arrested?"

"It was magical," Dawn said, hesitating a little. She didn't know how much she could tell them—certainly not that it had been a faerie killer. "The magic professors are the ones who caught them."

"Oh, right," said the first girl. "Of course. And you just believe them when they say that?"

"Yeah." She didn't know what else to say now. She probably shouldn't say that she had been there and seen it.

The first girl shook her head and stuck her cup under the machine for some milk. "They're going to have to show me more proof."