Elemental Eclipse

🌻Chapter Seven; Part One: Office Hours🌻

Rachael struggles to keep up with Professor Swan as they sprinted down the hallway. "What was that?"

"Come on. We can't afford to linger here. It might not be safe. Too many shadows." Swan grumbles.

She followed Swan down every twist and turn of the halls until she finally stopped at a door with her name on it opening it and ushering Rachael inside quickly.

Rachael looked around at the office full of strange knick-knacks as Swan leads her to the chair in front of her desk and sat down in the chair behind it herself.

"I looks like your still in one piece, aside from a few bruises. Good. I'd never hear the end of it if you weren't." Professor Swan sighs. "Oh, I'm Professor Swan, in case you didn't already know that. I teach the Sun and Moon Atts at Penderghast. Can I get you anything? A cup of tea or perhaps you need something stronger..."

"Professor, I'm not really sure-" Rachael says, getting quickly interrupted.

"No wait, you're a student! Tea it is." Swan says mostly to herself.

"How about we have tea tea after you explain." Rachael says. "I keep getting attacked and something tells me you know why."

"Why do you think that I-" Swan gasps like she just got caught in a lie.

"Professor, you showed up right after that monster attacked me. You have to know something." Rachael says. "Please... tell me. Because all of this is starting to make me lose my mind."

Swan sighed, before looking at her calmly. "Yes, of course, you must have a great many questions. Naturally. But tea first."

She levitated a tea kettle over to her and pressed her hand against it warming the liquid inside, before pouring it into two tea cups. One of the cups floated over to Rachael.

"Uh...Thanks." Rachael says taking it out of the air, taking comfort in the warmth it sent though her when she sipped it. "Now can we talk about what just happened?"

"Right, of course. What do you want to know?" Swan asks, uncomfortably.

"I want to know why you had a baby picture of me." Rachael says, thinking back to the picture she found when she was chasing after her, with Beckett the other day.

"Wh-What? A picture of you? I've never had a picture of you in my life!" Swan stutters.

"I followed you into that hidden room. The picture was in a bag of weird stuff, just sitting in the middle of the floor. It wasn't pushed up against the wall like everything else, and you were the only other person around. It must have belonged to you." Rachael glares at her.

"A bag? Oh that must be...I mean, I don't know anything about a bag, or a picture, not at all. Why would I?" Swan says obviously lying, she jumped up quickly. "I just realized, I need to check that hall again. That monster should have left behind some kind of trace after i destroyed it.

Rachael thought about the rock in her bag, but stayed silent about it. "There wasn't anything left in the hallway. I checked. And if you don't want to tell me the truth about that photo, then fine."

Professor Swan hesitantly retook her seat with a sigh. "I am telling you the truth...I'm sure it was a coincidence. All sorts of stuff ends up in that list and found. Whether we intend it to or not..."

"Okay, then answer me this. What was that creature that attacked me?" Rachael asks.

"I honestly don't know. It's evidently some kind of shadow creature, and it must want something from you." Swan says.

"Me? But what could I have that it wants?" Rachael says.

"Normally magickal creatures only attack if they're cornered or defending their territory, but this is definitely different. It's really quite fascinating." Swan says. "Whatever it is seemed to have locked on to you."