An Odd Sort of Magic

Chapter Eight

Jayan coughed as the smoke spread through the room. There were similar sounds from the others. Arianna was still talking. Did nothing shut that girl up?

Only now Arianna's voice was getting raspy, and she was complaining about the smoke.

"Stay calm," Kiya's voice was cautious, "I'm going to figure out what this is. Don't move unless you can see one of the others. If you do, try to get to them. But be careful."

Jayan couldn't make out anyone through the cloud of smoke. She heard the shuffling of feet, and a sharp gasp from Kiya.

"What is it?" Arianna called out. The others must have heard it too.

"Everything's under control," Kiya called back. The smoke began to clear. Kiya stood by the door with the new recruit, Victor. When the smoke had cleared enough for Jayan to see clearly, she saw he had an apologetic look on his face.

Arianna was still rasping, but she kept talking anyway, "Oh, did he do that? Is that his power? What's the catch?"

"Calm down, Arianna," Jasmine rolled her eyes.

"I'm sorry," Victor apologized, "I really didn't mean to scare anyone. I was following Kiya, and I saw the smoke filling the room. I didn't realize I was doing it."

"It's fine," Kiya said, "No one got hurt." She turne back to the others, "you are all okay, right?" Everyone nodded, except for Arianna, who was still shooting off her mouth.

"Of course I'm not hurt. But that still doesn't explain what the catch is. And are we sure it was Victor? I mean, it could have been someone else passing by right? And-"

"Arianna!" groaned Beta, "Does anyone have some duck tape? I have a very good use for it."

Arianna yelped, and covered her mouth. Drew chuckled, and Jayan and Kiya joined in. Jasmine barely cracked a smile.

Jayan was starting to not like Jasmine very much. She was as hostile as Vanessa had been the first time Jayan had come.

"Settle down," Kiya said, stiffling her giggles, "It's almost time for dinner."

Gradually the room got quiet. More magic casters gathered, until the room was almost full. Everyone was just playing around, waiting for dinner. Jayan took the oportunity to read over more of the list.

There were several useful powers, but Jayan didn't know many of the kids. She did catch a glimpse of some of the faces occasionally, but she rarely saw the Underground members in general.

She leaned over and whispered to Beta, "Why are the other members never around?"

"Kiya doesn't want them to sociallize to much, in case one gets caught by Ms. Shelling. We don't want them to know everyone. If they don't, we can continue operating," Beta whispered back.

It made sense to Jayan. Just then, Kiya stood up on one of the couches, and said, "Underground! Assemble for dinner!"

The students began walkng down the stairs, mixing with the other students. Drew whispered to Jayan, "What are we considered? Undergroundians?"

Jayan had to cover her mouth to keep from laughing. She felt some warmth in her chest, spreading through her body.

As the group walked into the dinning hall, she saw Vanessa, standing with Ms. Shelling. Vanessa glanced at her, and twitched her mouth. Jayan cocked her head in confusion. What was up with Vanessa.

A cold feeling replaced the warmth. Was Vanessa only pretending to be on the Underground's side? Jayan shook that thought out of her head. If Vanessa was against them, she would have already told everything to Ms. Shelling. Unless...

No. Jayan couldn't think that way. She sat down between Arianna and Beta, and across from Drew. Arianna started talking the moment she sat down, but Jayan tuned her out. Beta rolled her eyes, and grinned at Jayan. Jayan grinned back.

Ms. Shelling stood at the head of the table, "May I have everyone's attention?" All heads turned to look at her. Jayan saw Jasmine go pale. Ms. Shelling smiled, "I do hope everyone is enjoying thier time here." There was a chorus of yes's.

"Anyway," Ms. Shelling continued, "I just want everyone student to know that this is not permanent. We will get to move to a new and better building in a few days. I want all of you to be prepared to leave." She sat down, and evryone began eating.

The members of the Underground picked at thier food. Ms. Shelling was attacking in a few days. They didn't have enough magic casters to stop her.

Jayan felt a tap on her shoulder. It was Beta, "Kiya's calling a meeting after dinner. She'll tell us what to do. We shouldn't worry."

Jayan would have believed her, if it weren't for the look on Beta's face. She looked more than worried to Jayan.

When dinner was over, the Underground members hustled up to the attic. Everyone was hoping Kya could bring good news. They sat anxiously on the collection of chairs and couches, waiting.

Kiya appeared a moment later, without Vanessa. There was a little murmuring throughout the room.Kiya held up her hand. Everyone quieted down.

"As you have noticed," Kiya's voice was strained, "Vanessa is not here. She wishes to be absent, so she doesn't know the details of our little 'rebellion'. She feels the less she knows, the better."

There was mutterings of agreement. Kiya silenced them again, "Ms. Shelling will launch her attack in three days time. We must be ready as well, with a counter attack. Ms. Shelling plans to create a portal to the magic realm. We must prevent her from doing so. Unfortunatly, we don't have enough to keep them all busy, so we may have to stop her sooner, rather than wait until she is ready to open it."

That's when an objection cut in.