The Magic Makers

Chapter 7

Katherine yawned sleepily and pressed her cold palms to her eyes. Her copy of Lexington: A History was open in front of her, important lines underlined in pencil. She had to sleep. Anyway it's twelve seventeen.. she thought, glancing at her phone. Slamming her textbook shut, she unconsiously reached for her bag. It wasn't there. Katherine glanced down in surprise. "Crap." She muttered in frustration. I left it at the Insedium Practicals room.. she realised and leaned back in her chair. I'll have to go get it. Getting up, she pushed open her door softly and stepped out into the dimly lit passage. She was in the Insedium corridor. The walls were draped with golden tapestries, with the picture of a dragon breathing fire in the centre of each. Torches flickered, casting eerie shadows on the stone walls. Katherine tiptoed down the hallway, past all of the other Insedium rooms. Gentle snores came from each room, reminding Katherine of her warm and cosy bed. Shivering, she walked into the Insedium common room, past all the potraits of ancient Insedium Elders glaring down at her. She finally reached the Insedium Practicals room and lit a small fire with a few wrist movements and incantations. Walking over to her locker, she pulled it open. "Ah! There you are.." She whispered and withdrew her black bag. Hugging it to her chest and closing the locker softly, she was making her way across the room when something caught her eye.

The Insedium Practicals room had huge glass windows which looked out to the greenhouses. The plants that grew in the greenhouses were used for many things, especially medicinal purposes. The Terranium students were responsible for the greenhouses. The greenhouses were on the edge of a forest. And seeing a light in one of the them after midnight is not exactly a comforting sight. Katherine froze in her tracks, the flames still dancing on the palm of her hand. There was a light in the greenhouse, from a torch or something. It wasn't flickering. Katherine walked over to a window and pressed her forehead against the cold glass. The light was bright. Katherine had no idea what took over her. She walked out of the practicals room and into the cold night, still clutching her bag and strengthening the flames in her hand. She reached the first greenhouse. The light was coming from the third. "Hello?" She called and moved closer. That's when a thought dawned upon her. It could be Ari! Ariana claimed that such tricks were like brain exercise for her. Of course it was Ariana! Katherine thought, silently reprimanding herself for getting so scared. "Ari! I know it's you!" She called into the darkness and walked ahead confidently. There was no answer. "Ari!" She called again, walking over to the second greenhouse. "It's not funny! I know it's you! Joke's over!" Katherine called out a little crossly, reaching the end of the second greenhouse. The light was shining brightly in the middle of the third greenhouse. Katherine felt scared. Ariana never really carried jokes this far. This is none of my business.. she thought suddenly and turned around to leave.
*CRACK* A twig snapped, and not under her foot. Katherine looked behind in fear. The light was moving. Towards her. It wasn't a torch, she realised. It was too bright for a torch. The light suddenly shone right on her face. The flames in her hand flickered out and she raised her hands, sheilding her eyes. The light came closer. "Stop!" She screamed, and it stopped. Katherine tried to look at it but now it was very close to her face and the white light was blinding. She couldn't see anything. "W..who's th..there?" She stammered, scared to death. "H..hello?!" She asked a little louder. "Hello, Katherine." The cold voice of a man greeted her. Katherine froze, trying to recognise the owner of the voice. She couldn't. "Who're y..you?!" She asked, stepping back. "You'll know soon enough.." the voice answered her softly. Katherine gulped. She heard someone walking towards her. A cloth was slapped to her face. And then there was darkness.

                         ~♢~

*Beep-Beep. Beep-Beep* "Uhhhghhhhh..." Ariana woke up groggily and slapped her phone in random places till the alarm stopped beeping. She sat up and swung her legs over the bed. Pushing her hair back in a firm bun, she got up and walked to the restroom. Another mundane Monday.

Feeling better after a nice wash, she walked out of her room. "Hey Ariana!" Tyler called to her. "Hey Tyler!" She walked out of the Imbrus wing of the school and into the Zeta. Elsa was there, looking like she could fall asleep any moment. "Hey." Ariana sat down beside her. "Hey Ari." Elsa said sleepily and spooned up her mashed potatoes. "Didn't sleep well?" Ariana asked her, dragging a bowl of cereal towards herself. "How did you know?!" Elsa asked, widening her eyes with difficulty. "Are the creases on my clothes telling you that, or the bags under my eyes, or my turned up collar?" She asked Ariana who looked amused. "None of that. You looked sleepy, that's all." Ariana answered, making them both crack up. They finally stopped laughing after Elsa choked on her mashed potatoes and Ariana poured the milk all down her front. "Yeah. I didn't sleep really well." Elsa answered her question. "Why?" Ariana asked, a little concerned. "Luke." Elsa summed up all of her worries in one word. Ariana looked down guiltily. "No, no Ari! It's not because of you! I was just wondering if I should you know, trust him." "We can't point fingers at him until we have concrete evidence. I suggest you trust Luke till then." Ariana answered her. "Yeah. I guess so too." Elsa said. "And besides, he- Hey Kath!" Ariana called, stopping mid sentence. Katherine walked into the Zeta, looking tired. "Even you didn't sleep well." Ariana grinned playfully. "Good deduction, Sherlock." Katherine snapped at her. "Woah. Someone's in a sour mood today." Elsa joked, finishing her mashed potatoes. "Yeah. I'm not in a very nice mood today." Katherine answered. Ariana didn't say anything. She was a bit hurt by Katherine's earlier comment. But she brushed it off. "So Kath. which lecture first?" Ariana asked her. "Dunno." Kath answered shortly and turned to Elsa. "Okay listen Elsa, your dad's the Crystallium Elder isn't he?" She asked her suddenly. "Yeah.." Elsa answered slowly. "Ari! Come back!" She called to Ariana who had suddenly got up, leaving her cereal. "No. I.. um.. I've got to go.. Mr Westwood's lecture." She said and left hastily. "Okay.." Elsa glanced at Katherine who looked oblivious. "Kath..?" "Yeah?" Katherine asked swiftly, chewing a muffin. "You were rude with Ari." Elsa said dissapprovingly. "What? Oh yeah. I noticed." Katherine said absent mindedly. "What's up with you?!" Elsa asked in disgust and got up to leave. As she was leaving, she heard Katherine murmur something like "everyone has bad days.."

                        ~♢~

"Ari. look, don't bother about the way Kat-" "Oh I'm not bothering about anything." Ariana said drily. "She must be in a bad mood or something." Ariana said flippantly, apparently not at all disturbed by Katherine's coldness towards her. "Yeah, Maybe. But then why is she so cold only towards you?" "Thanks for pointing that out." Ariana said sarcastically. "No, I mean.. you know what I meant. She's not cold towards me." "Yeah she's not. She's cold to everyone except you." Ariana said, looking into the distance "What do you mean?" "Look there." She replied, pointing towards a table which Phillip, Zack and Luke were occupying. Katherine was walking by. "Hey Kath!" Zack called but she continued walking. Zack got up and held her arm. She twisted behind and jerked it out of his reach, twisting his arm in the process. "Ouch.." Ariana and Elsa both murmured softly. But Zack still hadn't given up. "Kath!" He called loudly, making the entire Zeta look up. Katherine stopped in her tracks. Zack walked up to her, mustering great courage. The smirks and sniggers from Phillip and Luke weren't helping at all. "What's up, Kath?" He asked softly, placing his hand on her shoulder. "Are you okay? Why aren't you talking to me? What'd I do?" "Oh you didn't do anything!" Phillip interrupted. "Ask us, we've had experience." Luke joked, glancing at Elsa. "Yeah. my girl does this all the time!" Phillip grinned at Ariana, who wasn't looking at him at all. She was looking at Katherine. She had gone red in the face and her hands, held loosely beside her body before, were now tingling weirdly. "Kath. Don't.." Ariana warned softly. But it was too late. Using a powerful deflection spell, Katherine knocked Zack off his feet and against the wall. Screams echoed around the Zeta. Luke and Phillip, all serious, ran to Zack and lifted him up. But Zack looked like he didn't care about falling down. He was staring at Katherine, terribly hurt. "Watch it, fire girl." Luke growled at her and she walked away, the crowd parting for as if she were a dangerous criminal. Elsa and Ariana walked over to Zack. "Are you all right?" Ariana asked him. "Yes, I'm good." Phillip answered for Zack, who was still staring after the retreating figure of Katherine. Ariana ignored him. "Are you all right?" She asked Zack again. "Oh, he's just hurt his heart." Luke answered this time, casting an amused glance at Zack. Zack shook them off and walked away into the melting crowd. Ariana shrugged and walked off with Elsa. Luke and Phillip went off to find girls to flirt with. Nobody knew where Katherine was.