Mystic High ✓

MH │34

In the previous chapter: Oriane had a chat with Shireen's familiar, Reese. On Wednesday, Carolina showed up at her class, looking particularly grim.

-----

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

The vampiress stood and phased close to their trio. A few students gasped from where they sat. Marian and Charlotte, too, jumped back a few steps. It must be that phasing wasn't generally an accepted norm amongst even these immortals.

That sort of behaviour would be more expected in Oriane, who gaped at Carolina and attempted to not make a big deal out of it. Earlier this month, it was ancient underground structures she was exploring. On Monday, she was speaking with a lizard. And, not to mention, she had been witness to plenty of insanity lately. A little vampiric phasing should not faze her.

But, as always, the shock rippled through her, short-circuiting her brain for moments before she came to her senses.

"Miss Moore, Miss Lee, Miss Peters." She looked at all three of them in turn. "A word? We'll talk outside?" Raising an elegant hand, she turned and gave Professor McGail a wave with her long slender fingers. "Brandy, darling," she called out to their Politics and Theory professor. "I'm going to need to borrow these three for a bit. I'll come to your office later and collect their homework and notes, will that be okay?"

Professor McGail nodded and smiled widely, "Of course! Just don't forget to bring those cookies from last time over, yeah?"

"You got it," she responded and led the girls back out the room into the hallway, which was almost deserted of people.

Carolina herded them towards the window panels lining the walls. The dusk sunlight streamed through in a bright orange. It reminded Oriane of the similar colours of the setting sun back in London. Reminiscence squeezed her chest but she was easily distracted from it. Carolina's white ruffled blouse, that tucked into her skirt at the waist, positively glowed orange too. It was such a stark contrast with her long black hair that Oriane had to squint.

"What I am about to tell you girls, you absolutely cannot repeat to anyone else. Is this understood?" Carolina pointed one of her long fingers at the three of them and pinned them with a grim glare.

They nodded in unison.

"Good." Carolina expelled a pent-up breath and straightened her beige pencil skirt.

Something bad had happened, clearly.

So she wanted to know what it was that worried Carolina and also why the vampiress had decided to tell the three of them. No doubt, her friends were all thinking the same thing as Marian and Charlotte shared a curious look with her.

Right up to the point she was telling them about the incident, Oriane could tell she was still contemplating whether it was wise to inform, essentially, a trio of children about something dangerous. Candidness won out in the end.

"Students have been going missing and coming back... different... since the beginning of the summer semester. Mister McMurphy informed me that Oriane and you–" She turned to Marian. "–know something about it."

She was referring to the first week when Marian had gotten in trouble for trying to teach Oriane how to hex. As a result of that, she had fainted. That Friday, they had gone to see the Executive; Marian went because it was imperative and Oriane to vindicate her. Marian had left unscathed. As they were walking down the hallway of the staff area, they overheard some teachers talking about missing students, speaking in hushed whispers. It was pure coincidence that they had stumbled upon that conversation and even more so that Uilliam came behind them while they hid behind a wall to listen in.