The Witching Hour

Chapter Sixteen

The day after magic was made illegal, the odd disappearance of a young fifteen-year-old boy was put in the papers.

A young Irish boy, aged fifteen, disappears on a train, read the headline.

Most magic schools had shut down, following the ban of magic, but Primrose had voted to convert itself to a non-magic school and not have to close its doors.

When magic was banned, the headmistress of Primrose stood up in front of all of them and told them what had happened. She proceeded to cancel end-of-year exams and urge everyone to send a message home–the ordinary way, without any tricks like flying envelopes.

Vivienne and her dorm mates all returned to their room. Ariel brought out a bottle of wine, and Taylor took the first sip. Vivienne eagerly followed, grateful for the distraction and also giddy with nerves.

Two of the girls left to send letters to their families. Claire, in opposition to the drinking girls huddled on the floor, sat on her bed with the newspaper.

"A boy went missing," she hollered at Vivienne, over the laughter.

"So what," Vivienne said, head in Taylor's lap. "I don't fucking care."

Claire huffed and closed the paper. She left it on her bed and leaned over Vivienne.

"This isn't good for you," she said.

"Just one night," Vivienne laughed.

"Bad idea," Claire warned. "But it's your life. And your day spent puking in the bathroom."

Claire went to bed early, but not to sleep. The girls had invited several other students into the dorm with them, and Ariel had brought out another bottle. While everyone else had a ball, Claire thought of what had changed–and how quickly the change came about.

A few minutes until midnight, Claire switched on her reading light. If the other girls were going to stay up longer, so what. She could stay up just one night. She got out the newspaper again, her favorite thing to read, and flipped through until she found the page on the boy who disappeared.

James Kelly, she read, ran away from his father's home, a small farm near the coast. He was reported to have boarded a train to England, but never stepped off at his destination.

These stories were always so sad. She loved sharing them with Vivienne, because Vivienne always came to a conclusion before listening to the whole story.

Claire smirked, watching as her friend rudely impersonated their history teacher.

"I'm Charles," she heard Vivienne say, in a strained English accent. "You have to do this and this and never be late even though all the clocks in this damn school are broken."

Claire laughed aloud. "Good impersonation, Vivi!" she called. She was met with a thumbs-up and a wink before another girl tackled Vivienne to the ground.

No one reported to have seen Kelly jump off the train at any time. The entire train is being searched for him. His father, Sean Kelly, said his son took only a school bag with him, and carried no other luggage. A bag matching the provided description was found on the train. We have yet to confirm it belongs to Kelly.

Claire shut her eyes. I don't know you, Kelly, she thought. But I really hope you're okay.