Chatoyant College Book 9: Sundered

Chapter 49: Vision

Corrie swallowed. She wasn't sure she liked where this was going at all. But they would be able to change it, right? Or at least be prepared for it. Roe had told them about visions before that had turned out to work differently when the actual event took place. So she bit her tongue and did not interrupt Roe with questions.

"We stopped before we got very close to the lights, though," said Roe, and they all sighed with relief. "There was someone there I couldn't see very well. Corrie, you spoke to her."

"How do you know it was a her?" Corrie asked.

Roe shook her head. "I'm really not sure. I might have seen an outline of some hair or something. It's not very clear, though." She gritted her teeth. "Professor Strega and I are working on my recall, but it's still really fuzzy when I get visions while I'm sleeping. If I could make them come, I would wake up and then get a vision, but I can't."

"We'll figure it out," said Dawn. "Just tell us about it. What was Corrie saying? Could you hear?"

"No. I never really noticed before, but there isn't sound in my visions. The other person moved around a little while talking to Corrie, then walked back to the court. But they were in shadow the whole time."

"Tall or short?" asked Professor Lal. "Slim or wide?"

Roe pursed her lips. "Not really tall. Definitely shorter than Corrie, but none of the rest of us got close enough for me to see any comparisons. More wide than slim, I think."

"Was there anything else?" Corrie asked.

"That was when the red tree appeared. It seemed to fade in, so I thought it was catching fire, but maybe it was really just slowly showing up. We all ran away then, but north through the woods, not back to campus. We stopped at a place I didn't recognize, but it was dark, and I think someone climbed a tree. But it might have been turning back into a dream at that point. I don't remember anything after that."

"What about the moon? Could you see it?" Corrie pressed. There couldn't be a real lunar eclipse coming up, could there?

"No, we were under the trees the whole time... actually, I guess we weren't. Just in the parts that seem important. But I never looked up at the moon."

Corrie sighed. "If you could have seen the moon, we would know what time of the month it was. But it's not your fault."

"I know." Roe grinned. "If I could control my own actions in a vision, we would have a lot more information."

"It does seem fairly obvious what this vision refers to," said Professor Lal. "You will be meeting Ever in the woods and speaking to her."

"But why would I be the only one talking?" asked Corrie. "Especially if we're all going."

"We should all go together to be safe, but probably only one person needs to actually talk to Ever," said Dawn. "Maybe we were in a hurry. We did want to run away."

Corrie frowned. "We can change this, right? We should change the circumstances. If only one person needs to talk to Ever, only one person should go."

"We need Tom to find her," said Dawn. "And I'm not going by myself, even with him there. I won't let any of you go alone, either."

"Fine," said Corrie, though she didn't like the idea of bringing a huge group so close to the court faeries. "We should at least bring Rico."

Dawn nodded. "That works for me."

"But why should we change the circumstances at all?" said Roe. "It didn't seem like anything bad was going to happen."

"You looked pretty scared when we first saw you and you wanted to talk about the vision," said Corrie.

Roe shook her head. "That was before I saw the Tarot card. I thought the forest was catching fire, or that there was some kind of magic fire after us. Now... I'm not really sure we were in danger."

"I can assure you that you will not be in much danger," said Professor Lal. "I do not think it would be a good idea for me to go with you, but I will be monitoring that section of campus more closely from now on—especially at night. I will be able to be there within moments until you tell me that the vision has come to pass."

Corrie nodded. "That's good to know."

"I think we should talk to Tom today, then," said Dawn. "Even if the vision isn't what takes place tonight, it's obviously going to happen soon."

"Sounds good to me," said Roe. "Before dinner?"

"Please keep me updated," said Professor Lal. "If you finish speaking to Tom before eight PM you may come to my office and I will be there."

"Thanks," said Corrie. "We will."