Halls of Splintered Souls (Wandering Souls #1)

Chapter Two

I slammed the door as hard as I could. Padma heard the bang and hurried over to where I stood in front of the door completely still, frightened by what just happened. She looked at me questioningly. I glanced at her and then backed away from the door, falling to my bed. I fumbled to explain why I was trembling with fear.

"Someone... I thought there was... The door, it's uh... I thought someone knocked on the door," I finally said.

"And..?" She raised her eyebrow, telling me to continue.

"I opened it," I paused, trying to steady my voice, "there was nobody behind it."

Padma narrowed her eyes, considering my answer. To my surprise, she burst out laughing. I frowned, confused. My heart was still beating wildly in my chest I was so sure it was going to jump out and tear through my uniform. My hands were still shaking and my legs felt like they were made of jelly.

"It's probably just the seniors playing a prank on us. You know, to establish power over the freshmen and all those seniority rituals," she assured me as she wiggled her eyebrows.

I replayed her explanation a few times and realized that it's probably true. I felt stupid for being afraid of ghosts. I'm a sorceress. Ghosts shouldn't scare me. I rationalized that my room was most likely not the only one knocked on. I sighed in relief and collapsed on my bed. My head was still spinning but I was finally calming down. How ridiculous, I was frightened of ghosts. I've never been afraid of ghosts.

When dinnertime came, I was completely relaxed and forgot all about the knocking. Ayn called earlier to tell me she was already in the dining hall with her roommate. She told to me to find her and that she saved me two seats for me and Padma. I headed down with Padma and searched for Ayn amongst the students.

The dining hall was buzzing with conversations, but definitely less hectic than when I was there earlier in the day. Students sat down and joked around. A few playful spells and hexes were casted and I could smell magic in the air. When it's not overwhelming, magic smells really comforting. Most good-natured spells, at least. I know some spells that spread unwelcoming smell when casted.

I found Ayn sitting with a girl who I suspect to be her roommate. She spoke to a few other girls around her. Seems like she already made some friends. I wasn't surprised. Ayn never had much trouble getting along well with people. She engages in conversation with strangers and people actually like talking to her. It's not that I couldn't talk to people. I just prefer the company of my closest friends. Aside from that, I'm actually a very talkative person.

She waved me over and I sat down next to her. I wanted to ask her if someone knocked on her door but she was speaking to the other girls so I just kept silent. I didn't want their first impression of me to be the paranoid girl.

Waiting for the welcoming ceremony to start, I scanned the hall one more time. The ceiling was decorated with floral paintings and sculptures are put all over the place. There were Greek styled sculptures, modern sculptures, abstract sculptures, and many more. All of them were originally owned by the conjuror royal family.

In all honesty, Ayn and I were pessimistic about attending Arce Umbra. We've learned the conjuring lessons from our family, but the only formal education for conjurors is here in this school. Our parents insisted we enroll. They didn't go to Arce Umbra because of its location. Being overseas, they decided the training from their family is enough. But of course, that means there were certain skills that they never mastered.

Before we flew to Europe to attend Arce Umbra, we looked up conjuror forums online. Turns out there were a lot of foreign students here. We talked to some of the older students and became friends with a French guy named Adrien. The fact that Ayn ended up crushing on him is inevitable.

"Anyway, this is my sister, Aya," Ayn told the other girls.

"Hi, nice to meet you all," I replied with a smile.

There were three girls in total. They introduced themselves and I learned their names. The blonde one is Celina and her focus is botanical magic, she's also Ayn's roommate. The redhead is Gemma, and the Japanese one is Kira. We spoke a few more minutes before we saw the principal walked the podium and opened the ceremony. The principal is a famous conjuror named Alycia Pierce, a middle-aged woman with slighting graying hair. She was dressed in ceremonial robes worn only by those who are members of the Conjuror Council.

"Students of Arce Umbra, welcome!" The principal smiled and paused. "Today we welcome a new term at our beloved school. I would like to say congratulations to the new addition to our family, class of 2018."

The crowd cheered and I smiled. Despite being literally the only conjuring school, Arce Umbra does not admit everyone. The selection process is pretty complex, though no one actually know what the admission criteria actually is. Although, since my family is one of the original Conjuror family, it was pretty clear why Ayn and I were admitted.

"Our goal is to make sure that your future is bright. We sincerely hope that you enjoy your study here and will be able to build a successful career with the help of our professors and counselors. Your classes will begin in two days, on Monday. You may use the rest of the weekend to tour around the school grounds and get to know each other. Though, we must remind you to keep to the curfew. Any students found awake pass curfew will face consequences," another pause, "and any use of illegal magic will be handled by the council themselves, so don't go trying to cast transforming spells on your classmate. I'm talking to you, seniors."

The seniors laughed and some cracked a joke. The principal talked for a while longer and we had conversations of our own. By the time we finish, I had a full stomach and a really good time. The curfew is at ten o'clock and it was only a quarter past nine when I left the dining hall so I stayed over at Ayn's room. Padma decided to head to bed so she went back straight to our room. I talked with Ayn for about half an hour. I only left because Gemma fell asleep and we didn't want our talking to wake her up.

I walked up the stairs to the third floor and made my way down the hallway alone. It was obviously a lot darker than in the day, and seemed a little longer. I was a little creeped out by the emptiness and made the decision to walk faster. I was halfway to my room when I heard a door open behind me. I thought that some other student was just arriving from dinner or their friend's dorm.

When I looked behind me though, all the filled rooms were closed tight. Instead, the room at the edge of the hallway is open with a silhouette of a girl tilting her head out the door. I stopped dead. I watched the girl's shadowy figure and she seemed to be watching me too. I felt my heartbeat quicken. I knew I should run but my fear is gluing me to the ground. That room was supposed to be empty. I know because I read the room assignments. Thirty rooms, and only twenty-five are filled. The thirtieth room shouldn't be opened, and the girl shouldn't be there.

I couldn't make out the girl's face at all. She was just a silhouette. One, two, three seconds and I finally ran. A few more doors and I'll reach my dorm room.

307.

306.

305.

304.

303.

I immediately swiped my card key to open the door and before I entered, I cast one last glance to the end of the hallway. I felt a shudder ran through my body and I slammed the door shut behind me. I almost didn't notice her shrilling laughter ringing through the hallways.