Elemental Academy

'Power Surge' week

The rest of the weekend passed in a blur of boredom for pretty much the entire school. Sunday evening at dinner, though, resurrected headmistress Cade's compelled upon excitement for the upcoming ball. "As of tomorrow," she started sternly and the entire banquet hall was dead silent, "all beasts must be locked in the pens until the end of the Equinox surge. Also," she went on excitedly, "there will be unlimited access to the town of Ferndale and all classes have been cancelled!" Needless to say, the news caused a deafening roar in response from the entire student body.

September 17th, Monday

Aria woke up to blinding darkness and a deafening silence that muted both Jasper the hedgehog and Dire's breathing on the pillow next to her. With a brief exhale, she turned to the bedside alarm clock. 05:24 it read. Her sudden wake up was an indirect message; her powers were stronger than usual, now. 'They'll be this way for a while,' she thought to herself. She could feel she was stronger; it was as if she could fell her own weight. She felt heavier.

Giving up on sleep, she left her room for the common room, watching what she could of the sunrise. The common room windows faced south, towards the portal she was once stood with her father, dread filled and excited. 'Naïveté,' she thought with a head shake.

The notice board next to the banquet hall's door was masked by a terrible hand made banner reading, 'Equinox Ball' in bold. Just below it, in between the words 'only' and 'days to go' was the number five. Carved out of cardboard and decorated by a toddler who doesn't understand the phrase 'too much glitter'.

Breakfast felt hollow. Every girl was excited, talking about her dream dress and her date or dream date. Some spoke about losing their virginity while others spoke about the food they expected. It didn't matter if they were freshmen or seniors, they were some how wallowing in the idea of the 'perfect night'.

"I haven't come across a single person who thinks this's a joke," Phoenix stated. "It's like the entire school is in some hypnotic state."

Raquel hummed as she turned to where the teachers sat. "Three guesses who charmed them," she whispered with her eyes locked on headmistress Cade. "A perk of soul stealing?"

Quinn occupied herself with a book but she shook her head at Raquel. "I'd disagree based on absurdity, but you may actually be on to something. Soul stealing goes deeper than transferring someone's soul into somebody else's body." Raquel sat up straight, clearly chuffed with herself. "If you can control moving somebody's life force, I don't see why you cannot master controlling what the soul believes in."

Phoenix waved a hand at them. "That means darkness is more dangerous than anticipated."

September 18th, Tuesday

The five on the banner was replaced by four made from cardboard with pink and yellow feathers glued on. "I swear headmistress Cade's grandchildren made these numbers," Phoenix heard a senior girl whisper. She was in the banquet hall for a makeup tutorial Alister forced her to go to.

He waited for her outside the hall, by the large window that used to have colored glass but was shattered and never replaced. His bleach hair and pallor skin made him look invisible against the white walls of the utilities building in the background. Only his black slacks and green golf shirt gave him away.

"How was it," he asked enthusiastically.

She sighed as she leaned into him for a hug. "Talking to you as the school guidance counselor, I'd say 'very informative. Thank you, Mr. Darcy for the suggestion. Who knew putting on Vaseline before your lipgloss makes it last longer'?"