The Witches of Marble Falls

IX

'Thank you so much for watching Daphne and Hayden today, Miss Clarke. I hope we aren't troubling you too much.' Agatha said, handing the young woman a grocery bag of snacks and meals. 'We should be back late this evening. I will call you when we are on the road.'

'It is my pleasure, Agatha. These children are my best students, and I'm grateful to have them here to distract James for a while.' Miss Clarke gave a bright smile and turned to the young twins. 'Go on upstairs, James is playing in his room. Maybe later we will go for a walk down to the lake and see what sort of stones and debris we can find for the classroom.'

'This is much appreciated, Miss Clarke. We should be on our way, call if you need anything.'

'Of course!' Miss Clarke waved goodbye as Agatha left the garden and slid into the driver's seat of the SUV. Emilia watched as the blonde elementary school teacher turned into her house and closed the door behind her. Though it had been her idea to leave the younger twins behind, it felt strange to not have their bickering and squealing serenading the car ride.

'Valerie, put the address in the GPS.' Agatha said, handing a square device to the back-seat. She pulled the vehicle onto the highway, leaving Marble Falls behind. Valerie took the GPS and typed in the information and pressed a button to start the map.

'You are on the fastest route. In 25 miles, turn left onto Ironwood Avenue.' The electronic voice chimed. Emilia and Valerie stared out their windows, watching the scenery pass by in a blur of green and gold and brown, the colours melting together as if someone had flung paint on a canvas without thought.

***

Northview University was located on a small campus north-east of Marble Falls. Built on a plateau, it overlooked the valley and everything contained within, including the seemingly random formation of two mountains that pinpointed where their home was located. It was a private university that primarily produced historians and English majors, with the few theatre and creative arts exceptions.

Professor Alaric Hale, Occult Studies, had an office located on the west end of campus, on the third floor of a red sandstone building. The staircase was grand. and the elevator was modelled after the antiques from the early 20th century—in essence, a small golden cage. Classrooms lined the ground floor, dorm rooms on the second, and when Valerie rounded the corner of the third floor, she saw a row of offices with their doors closed. Emilia followed her twin to the receptionist, who was sitting behind her desk with a stack of papers.

'Excuse me, we are here to see Professor Hale. Is he in?' Valerie inquired. The woman lifted one hand, her index finger raised, to quiet her.

'Just one moment, please.' She stuck her tongue out, concentrating on the paper directly in front of her. 'Ah, there we go, Finished.' She raised her head and narrowed her eyes at Valerie and Emilia. 'I'm sorry, Professor Hale has me grading a few papers. He said to send you in whenever you arrived.'

'Thank you.' Valerie nodded to the woman, who had already returned her attention to the stack before her. She led Emilia to the office, and turned to wait for Agatha and Kittie, who had chosen to ride the elevator instead of the stairs. They exited the golden cage, taking a moment to see their surroundings. When they caught up to the girls, Agatha nodded in approval.

'This is definitely a lovely place. Your father was a professor here as well—he taught English, didn't he?'

'He did. Emi and I were supposed to put in our applications this year, with his help of course—but that doesn't seem too likely to happen at this point.' Valerie said, knocking on the office door. The sound of rustling papers followed by a loud crash echoed through the door.