In the previous chapter: Marian goes to the Disciplinary Office about the hex. Oriane interrupts to get them both out of trouble. On the way back, they overhear teachers talking about missing students.
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CHAPTER TEN
They dropped everything in the dormitory suite and first went knocking on Jessica's dormitory door. However, since no one answered, they made haste to Block Three where Charlotte and Oriane last saw Jessica.
But as expected, she was nowhere in sight. The girls were getting worried.
"Where could she be?" murmured Charlotte.
Marian shook her head and frowned. "Not here! You sure this was where you left her?" They had searched the entire floor, which was in itself a very spacious area to explore. "How could you just leave her?"
Charlotte pursed her lips, "I just assumed she knew better than to go around walking by herself. And she's been hanging around another crowd a lot lately."
Marian shook her head, "There's no way. Who would she hang out with?" She laughed dryly, "Phoebe and Elle?"
"That's a possibility," Charlotte remarked.
Marian's eyes widened. She looked down at the floor thinking, "She wouldn't... Jessica 's on our side." They continued tapping across the corridors when she turned to Charlotte again. "How did you get back? Who walked with you?"
Charlotte looked away and stumbled on her own feet. "Well, Robert, you know Robert? The-"
"Yeah, I know who Robert is," snapped Marian and waved at her to go on.
"Robert was looking for Anna, but he bumped into me instead. And since I just dropped off Oriane, he and Scott offered to walk me back..."
"Scott? Which one is Scott?"
"You know... Air affinity?"
While they bickered about why Marian ought to have known who 'Scott' was, Oriane wanted to ask Marian why she disliked Elle Lowery so much but kept quiet, reminding herself that it wasn't her place to wonder.That, and she wanted to ask Charlotte why Robert was looking for her.
Switching back to the subject at hand, she asked herself: where could Jessica be? It suddenly occurred to her-
"Would we be able to look for Jessica's location with Charlotte's crystal ball?" Oriane offered.
Marian lit up from the suggestion. "Yeah! That's the way to go. Hella suggestion, girlie." She turned to Charlotte. "Can we do it, Charlie?"
Shaking her head, Charlotte replied, "I would need something of her's. Like her hair or nails. Since we haven't got anything like that, I don't think so."
Suddenly remembering the Teas class Oriane and Jessica attended on Monday, Oriane started looking for something on herself. Luckily she had hung the small coin pouch onto the belt loop of her jeans. She remembered she had put something from class in it. "I've got something," Oriane said. "We took with us a charmed spice stick after Teas on Monday where we boiled it in some sort of soup with our essence mixed in it. Jessica gave hers' to me."
"Huh," expressed Charlotte with a frown. "What kind of essence?"
"Jessica used her hair and I snipped my finger nail," she said, as she procured two very small pieces of branch. "But erm, because we both used clove sticks and I don't remember which one was mine."
Charlotte nodded slowly, "That might work. Let me see them."
Oriane handed the clove branches to her. Charlotte examined them from her pink finger nails and three or four rings. Turning them front and back.
"I... I'm not sure. I'd like to sit down somewhere to do it though."
"Perfect! Cause we have plenty of empty rooms to work with," Marian said as she gestured right to a bare room beside them. "Let's go look for our soldier, shall we?"
"I'm not guaranteeing anything!" Charlotte held back as she began setting up her crystal ball.
Marian put her hands on her hips and quipped, "Do you bring that crystal thing around with you all the time?"
"Yes," Charlotte replied. "I do. Don't you bring that shrunken wallet with you wherever you go?"
Charlotte had brought her smaller crystal ball that fit within the pockets of her chequered skirt. However, she was still missing a stand that fits. Without it, she would not be able to concentrate - what with the ball rolling around and all.
So, Oriane and Marian were tasked with looking for an appropriate stand in the neighbouring classrooms. Charlotte continued setting up the candles and all other accessories necessary for an accurate 'scry'.
Not long, Marian yelled out that she had found a small enough stand to hold up Charlotte's crystal ball.
"Alright. I'm starting," Charlotte concentrated and first scried for the individual branches.
In an intriguing fashion, images started to flash from within the crystal ball. Albeit the small visual, Oriane could make out each distinctive form. From the farmers which harvested and dried the clover, to the touch of workers piling stacks of similar clover branches into crates, and to Missus Rutledge who examined the batch.
"What are you looking at?" asked Marian.
"The... scry."
The last image was of Oriane staring curiously at the clover and taking it to her station during Teas. The visual in the crystal ball flickered like a light bulb and disappeared.
"You can see what Charlotte sees?" Marian questioned with emphasis.
Charlotte set up the other clover stick for the scry and took a few deep breaths.
"Why, yes."
"Awww," cooed Marian as she pulled Oriane into a hug. "I think our Annie is getting her affinity! Water has got to be her affinity if she can visualise your scy, Charlie."
Maybe I do fit in here, thought Oriane and she inwardly smiled. Wow, I can see images in the crystal ball.
Charlotte's concentration broke, she sighed and turned to Marian. "Technically speaking, all elementals have the leaning towards any types of parapsychological activity like the witches. Some just do better at certain activities than others," she explained. "Please, keep it down. It takes concentration to do this!"
"Yeah yeah." Marian.
Again, as Charlotte concentrated, more images appeared. The beginning of the visuals were similar to the last, but towards the end, instead of Oriane picking the branch up, it was Jessica.
Charlotte paused the image the moment Jessica was visualised.
Then she started breathing long and heavily.
"What's happeni-?" Oriane watched as a thin streak of beige coloured light, tinted with a dark red, appear from the crystal ball, pointing forward-right, straight through a wall.
Marian whistled low, "That arrow I can see. Why is it tinted red though? I've never seen Jessica's aura like that."
"The... That is the colour of her aura?"
"It's concentrated so even if you can't see it normally, you can now," said Charlotte. "If we follow the direction of the arrow, we should be able to reach Jessie" She got up from the seat and picked up the crystal. "It looks like... she's below us."
"No wonder we couldn't find her," quipped Marian. "She wasn't even on this floor!"
"I know," nodded Charlotte. "We should hurry. I don't know why, but I have a bad feeling."
As they passed the myriad of classrooms and different hallways, following the 'aura arrow', Marian grumbled under breath. Saying something about if Jess and her Earth affinity were here, they could just drop to the lower floor.
For a single block at Mystic High, Oriane thought there were too many hallways and paths indeed. It was like a maze. If not for the signs on the wall, they would have been lost. Anyone would be lost.
Despite the modern appearance of the building, this winding and enormous structure hinted at its ancient beginnings.
The memory of the night she got lost in the basements of the school resurfaced. She remembered the direction-less hallways and dim lighting. And the indurated and powdery brick walls she had felt in the darkness.
Oriane shook away her drifting thoughts and concentrated on the stairway they were passing through. Wouldn't want to trip over and embarrass oneself.
"Where is she?" asked Marian. "The arrow stops here!"
On the second floor near the stairway, the light of beige and red fades to a stop just in front. At a corner next to the lavatory.
Charlotte looked around. "She should be right at this point."
They fell into a silence and heard a crashing sound from a distance.
"What was that?" asked Charlotte.
Marian's eyes narrowed, glinting with something like... excitement? "I'll check it out! I can sense... weres and one of us. Cross my fingers that's Jessie and a battle waiting for us."
"Marian wait," beseeched Charlotte. "How many weres? What if we're outnumbered?"
"There aren't that many, otherwise I wouldn't have sensed that single elemental. Right?"
Charlotte. "Double check, please?"
Weres? As in, 'werewolves'? Will they attack us?
Oriane stepped closer and nodded in agreement with Charlotte. Concerned. She hoped that it wasn't the reason why it was preferable on campus to walk in groups.
An exasperated Marian took seconds to answer, "There are four of them. Nothing we can't handle."
It must be that because Energy was Marian's affinity, so she could sense the presence of weres, or any others, if there were any around. Lucky she was around. God only knows what would have happened otherwise. Especially since Oriane does not even know if she has an affinity yet. She can only rely on her friends. Should I consider them my friends?
Charlotte gave Marian and Oriane both a nod.
"Yes!" exclaimed Marian, as she ignited two balls of fire on her palms. "Brang it on puppies!"
With a sigh from the other two, they headed in the direction of the crash.
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Jessica was soaked from head to... hips with some sort of muddy water. It sure smelled like the earth. Too bad she couldn't control Clay that was fused with Water. It needed to be pure. If only she had a dual affinity with Water.
Unfortunately, that means she needed something solid to fight back.
Like the walls, or the ceiling. One flick of her index finger would squash the weres to pulp.
Or maybe she shouldn't do that. That would likely expel her. And Jessica was not prepared to have her parents send her back to reform boarding school.
The four weres had been tossing her around for a good half hour since they saw her walk down this quiet part of campus. Jessica tried not to listen to a word they were saying.
Something about retribution and that they thought she was easy target since she was alone when she bumped into them.
That was why there was an unspoken rule amongst students to move in groups of at least two.
"Are you listening?" one of them yelled at her.
"Pay attention!" another one barked as she backhanded Jessica.
Ahg! That hurt. But Jessica bit her lip and not utter a sound. Would not give them the satisfaction. Cursed weres and their temporary truce with us. Jessica was aware there were factions of weres, vampires, and elementals who were unhappy with The Peace arranged by their respective Councils in their respective Chambers.
Those that would be happy to rebel like the four before her. Those who were happy to bully the weak.
Those who would be happy to start the Wars again. The war pitting all specie against all.
If Mister Thomas Hobbes had known of the immortals when he was alive, even he would be stunned just how brutal the Wars had been. Millions died, and the immortals were scarce as they were.
Jessica was not one of those fanatics who craved war. She wanted to survive college as everyone else placed here did.
She was starting to feel sick. Jessica had not eaten lunch and now had to subject herself to this bullying because if she retaliated, she could seriously hurt someone even if she didn't mean to.
That was how Marian, Charlotte, and Oriane found Jessica. In a puddle of murky water and surrounded by aggressive female weres.
"Hey, pups! What are you doing to my friend over there?" jeered Marian with her nose upturned and hands on fire.
The shape-shifters turned around quickly to face them now and growled low in their throats.
They really are animals! thought Oriane. She hoped they wouldn't transform into one before her eyes; wasn't sure if she wanted to see that at the moment.
"Nothing more than usual," said the largest one of them with the deepest voice. "Just breaking one of your magick-junkies."
The female weres, although shorter than Marian by at least half a foot at around five feet, they exuded power and strength.
"How 'bout I break all of your skins," Marian taunted. "I'd like to see how fun it would be for you transforming into your drooling mongrel halves." Oriane saw Charlotte wanting to stop her with her hand, but Marian shrugged it off.
She stared eye to eye with the were.
"Let's see you try," proclaimed one of her werewolf friend. "We're not so easily burned."
At that moment, Marian released a flood of fire onto the floor which the weres were standing on.
They immediately leapt to the side, thinking they had avoided the bulk of the attack.
But they were wrong. By then, Charlotte had evaporated most of the water from the murky waters splattered on Jessica.
Within seconds, Jessica was already off the floor and assaulting her attackers with mud bullets - or something like mud bullets. Everything was happening so fast, Oriane could hardly keep up.
With the werewolves divided by Marian's fire and a few of them scraped by Jessica's mud, they fled on either side.
"Cowards," said Marian and Jessica at the same time. They grinned at each other.
Oriane thought their teamwork was magnificent. And nobody came out seriously hurt.
"Jessica, are you alright?" asked Charlotte.
She smiled in answer, "Yes, I am fine. What took you guys so long!"
"It would have taken longer, if we would have at all found you, had Oriane not offered that clover branch you two played with at Teas on Monday," exclaimed a relieved and flushed Charlotte.
Oriane looked down, suddenly shy, "If Charlotte hadn't had her crystal ball, we would have still have been upstairs lost and not able to find you. It was Charlotte who found you."
Marian clasped both their, Charlotte's and Oriane's, shoulders and proclaimed, "You both did well. Jessica would have been mauled by those terrifying female weres had we not come for her." She grinned and now pointed at Jessica. "What do you have to say for yourself, you weakling! A Clay elemental who could not defend herself with so much clay around her."
Jessica pouted, "Not my fault! I haven't learned shield yet and I didn't want to crush them with my clay." She puffed up her chest and furthered, "I am simply too strong for my own good!"
Reassured that those female weres were not coming back to hound them, the four of them returned to the dormitories.
In fact, they spent the rest of the afternoon sitting in the gardens enjoying Charlotte's vanilla cupcakes.
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"Charlotte, how can I discover my affinity?"
They were sitting at the picnic tables outside Charlotte's and Marian's dormitory. It was just Oriane and Charlotte at the moment since Marian forgot about something she had to do and Jessica wanted to clean up.
Charlotte looked at Oriane strangely, "It comes naturally," she said. "I've never heard of anyone rushing it."
Shaking her head, Oriane sighed heavily, "Charlotte, I feel comfortable talking to you about this. There's something more... but I don't know how to get it off my chest."
Charlotte turned towards her and put one hand on Oriane's arm. "You can tell me. I'll do my best to help."
"Remember how on my first day Professor Dennings said something about my great-grandmother?"
Tossing a look Oriane's way, Charlotte nodded, "Yeah?"
"I don't even know who she is. All I know is, she enrolled in this college without even asking me," Oriane confessed softly. "When I met the Chancellor on my first week, he kind of implied something bad will happen to me if I don't come into my affinity."
Charlotte didn't say anything. Probably unsure of how to answer her. Oriane's problems were likely so foreign to her, if not for her, she would not have even come up with it.
So she filled the awkwardness, "Do you know a way I can accelerate my process? Maybe stare into a crystal ball more often?"
Leaning back on the picnic chair, Charlotte took a deep breath and replied, "Staring into a crystal ball won't really help you come into your affinity - as you had put it." She took a napkin from the table and dabbed the corners of her lips with it. "But come to think of it, I remember when I found out about my affinity, I was playing in water. Maybe you need to be exposed to your element more? Maybe that will help you find your affinity?"
Oriane contemplated Charlotte's suggestion. But where to start?
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