Paranormal Public (Paranormal Public Series) (5 page)

“No idea,” I said. Lough thought it was odd that I was late to school.

“Sometimes they aren’t sure or stuff goes wrong,” said Sip. “I’m sure they didn’t mean for you to be so late.”

“Yeah,” said Lough, “not a big deal. Is it time to eat yet? Other people are going in.”

The paths were all smooth stone under my feet as we walked towards the Tower along with a lot of other kids heading in the same direction. I stared at them with interest. My classmates. At college. I had a lot of expectations for college. Like lectures and drinking. I wondered how much of that would happen at Paranormal Public.

“That’s the dining hall,” said Sip, pointing to the Tower again. “I am
so
hungry.” She rubbed her stomach.

“Are you sure I’m supposed to be here?” I asked, running a hand through my brown hair.

“Of course,” said Sip. “You’ll be fine. Don’t worry. I think all the Starters are nervous.”

But Sip didn’t look nervous and neither did Lough. She smiled and waved at other students as we headed into the building. There was a short entryway, and then we came to a massive room. I stopped short, surprised by all the noise. A kid behind me, not expecting me to stop so suddenly, bumped into my back.

“Watch it,” he muttered, shoving me out of the way. I stumbled, but caught myself. The guy that had almost knocked me over had pale skin and a red-jeweled ring on his hand.

“Vampire,” said Sip. “His name is Tale. You should watch your step. They aren’t nice.”

“Right,” I said. Sip grabbed my arm and propelled me forward. Lough wandered in after us, but he knew his way around, so it wasn’t a big deal if he got lost, whereas I had no idea where I was or what I was doing.

I took a deep breath and followed Sip to get food. The dining hall looked like something out of the future. On one side of the wall were trays and dispensers for silverware. Across from that area, food was kept behind warmed cases. Students went up to the case and pointed, and the food appeared on the tray. I had visited normal colleges. None of them had that in their dining halls.

Instead of just concentrating on filling my plate, I tried to look around the room and take everything in. The dining hall was one big room, with windows making up the far wall and long wooden tables, with chairs surrounding them, blanketing the floor.

As I followed Sip I saw that very few of the other students didn’t have rings on.

“Do the rings mean you aren’t a Starter?” I asked Sip.

“Yeah,” said Sip. “You get your ring tonight, then after you pass your Starter examinations it fills with your dorm color. Or if you perform really powerful magic.”

“When are Starter examinations?”

“Whenever you want to try for them,” she said absently. “I think I’ll go for mine next week, but you have to pass them by the end of the first semester.”

“What?” I yelped.

Sip put her tray down at an empty table near the back. At the front of the room, with another wall of windows as a backdrop, was a podium.

“Come on,” said Sip, heading in that direction.

“Wait, where are we going?” I asked. “Don’t we eat dinner now?” I stared longingly at my food.

“Yeah,” said Sip. “After we do our Demonstration and get our ring.”

I stopped dead. “Where do we have to go for that?” I asked, hoping she wouldn’t point towards the podium.

But of course she did.

In front of it was a long table where both students and adults sat.

“They’re the professors,” said Sip when she saw where I was looking. “Plus, all the student representatives of each dorm.”

“That’s where we do our Demonstration?” I asked in a small voice. I started to feel like something was constricting my throat. Kind of like I’d swallowed an elephant.

“Yup. It’s no big deal. You demonstrate your ability and then they give you a ring and then you sit back down.” Sip said all of that like it would be the easiest thing in the world. “It’s just a formality. A show of honor. It’s not like a vampire is ever going to be in any dorm besides Cruor.”

I didn’t have a choice, since Starters were expected to demonstrate their skills, so I followed Sip and we joined a line of other Starters, each waiting for a turn on the podium. Now that I was at the front of the room I could see the long table more clearly, and I wished I couldn’t. It was filled with stern-looking faces. None of the professors were smiling, and the eight students looked as stern as the professors. Not one had a look of encouragement.

I felt my heart start to beat faster. I had to perform in front of all of these people and I had no idea how. My mother had only told me I was a mage. She hadn’t told me how to do anything. The elephant in my throat started to rise up.

I noticed one of the boys at the long table looking at me. He had black hair and light blue eyes, and his features were delicate enough that I would have thought he’d look feminine. But he didn’t; he looked strong and confident. I tried to study him without his knowing it, but he turned his head to look at me and I thought I saw the ghost of a smile pass over his face. Ricky’s warning flashed in my mind: no dating. I forced my attention back to the present. I didn’t even know the guy.

The woman sitting in the middle of the table stood up. She was the only adult wearing completely black clothes on her tall, wiry frame. Her steel gray hair was pulled back into a severe bun, making her look even more intimidating.

Her voice rang out through the hall.

“Let us begin.”

With a wave of her hand the lights flickered and dimmed, and blackness rolled in around us.

The President was a very powerful mage. She continued to call rolling black power towards her until it was gathered like a blanket around the podium.

With that as her backdrop she began to speak. “Good evening, Starters. Today marks the first day of your paranormal learning. We all hope that you will work hard and learn well. I am the President, and these are my colleagues on the welcoming committee.” She extended her hands in both directions to take in the professors and students sitting alongside her.

“They are here to discuss any unusual paranormal cases, as well as to see what the new students can do.

“As Starters you will be expected to abide by and follow all orders. Certainly if a professor tells you to do something, you must do it. You will be expected to make a decision within the week about what type of paranormal ability you will specialize in. For some of you, such as the werewolf, the pixie, the fallen angel, and the vampire, the choice is clear. For others” – somehow I felt like she was looking at me when she said it – “the choices are more opaque. By the end of the first semester you will be expected to take a test in your chosen paranormal ability. This will allow you to move from Starter to full-time student. If you fail the test, you will be expected to leave campus immediately. There are no second chances. Once you have passed your examination you will no longer be considered a Starter.”

The President clapped her hands together. “Are we clear?”

She waited. No one moved. When she was satisfied with the response, she continued.

“Other information you will need: As a Starter, unless you were here two weeks in advance you will not be allowed to participate in Dash.” There were some cries of dismay from the other students around me.

“In the afternoons you will take classes with your dorm. In the late evenings the classes will be mixed. You are NOT, under any circumstances, allowed outside during the nights unless you have express permission or are going to the library. I cannot stress this enough. We are living in dangerous times.

“Also, the elemental dorm, Astra, must be kept orderly until we have elementals studying and teaching there again.” There was a slight crack in her voice as she said it. “So as punishment for certain infractions, students will be assigned to assist with the cleaning of the building. Lastly, the pond by the administrative dorm, where my office is located,” she said with a wry smile to a few chuckles from other professors, “is always off limits. It is an elemental pond, and until Astra is bustling again we will respect their property and leave the pond alone.”

I sighed. There was so much to learn and remember. It didn’t sound like I had a chance of even getting through the first semester.

“You are all here for a reason,” she said more quietly, her eyes softening. “We would not have admitted you if we did not see your potential. Do not waste it.”

I looked sideways at the other Starters. Most looked as pale and scared as I felt. A couple, like Sip, looked excited.

“Now, each Starter is expected to demonstrate his or her ability in front of the panel and your fellow students. Once you have done so and I have presented you with your dorm ring, you may return to your dinner. Vampires change into vampires and so on. All we want to see is your skill. This is not a competition and you are NOT allowed to attack other students.”

I wondered what had happened in years past that had prompted her to say that last bit.

The line started moving quickly. As I watched each Starter walk to the podium, I got increasingly nervous.

“Evan Drapper.”

The first Starter in line was a pale boy with straw blond hair. He walked up to the panel, his face smug. His hair grew darker, his skin even paler, his lips redder. He opened his mouth to show off a set of white fangs. I gulped. He’d just turned into a vampire without even trying.

There was polite clapping, mostly from other vampire students, and he walked off the podium to be presented with a ring.

The line of Starters continued. The next two up were werewolves, Katie and Lauren Bells. They were twins and skipped up to the front hand in hand, their brown hair swinging in braids. They turned to face each other, grinning. They weren’t as small as Sip, but they weren’t very big. Hair started to grow on their faces and they started to shrink closer to the ground. Right before my eyes twin girls became twin werewolves.

This time I was too shocked to gasp.

A very slight young man was next, Jordan Lawrence. His arms and legs looked like uncurling wires. He came forward and spread his green arms wide. I noticed that his skin shimmered and his smile became bigger, more mischievous. Pixie. The pixies were gorgeous.

Every transformation was a new shock, but one of them, a black-haired girl wearing a shoulder-baring black dress, was the most surprising. She had a long pale face. She was more striking than conventionally attractive, but when she moved, all eyes followed her.

Looking supremely confident, she twirled her hand through the air. A lick of black flame burst from her hand to dance around her. Gasps could be heard throughout the room as students pushed their chairs further away from the podium and the girl alight with black flame.

Ripping my eyes away from the black-haired girl, I looked at the panel. The President was busy shuffling paper. Her lips were pursed together. The two professors to her left exchanged angry looks. I wondered why they looked so uncomfortable.

The girl, aware that everyone in the room was gaping at her, smirked, and the flame vanished.

“Magic of darkness,” Sip whispered to me. She was up next and had given the girl as much space as possible while she was standing in line. “Darkness for short.”

“Do they have a dorm?” I whispered back.

Sip smiled grimly. “Not their own. They’re in Airlee.” Her ears were turning pink and I could tell that she was nervous.

“Most mages who can control darkness are with the demons. There are only a few who come here to be trained. The professors are always wary of them,” she explained. “I don’t know why this one chose to come to Public. She’s the only one here right now.”