Calla wasn't sure what was worse, the anguish on Nathan's face or the anguish on Emily's. She walked across the field, feet barely touching the ground and she half-floated toward them. Calla gripped her bat in her free hand as Nathan tried to pull her back.
"I knew it," she said quietly, voice garbled as blood ran down her chin. She was in the awful first week phase. Ghosts were caught between moving on and staying, still in the state they died in. She'd seen it a few times. "I'm really dead then?"
She examined her bloodied hands, ignoring the tendons hanging out of the hole in her neck. "It feels weird. I can't seem to remember what happened to me. I remember a dark room and a girl, you." She pointed an accusatory finger at her, moving closer again. Nathan tugged at her arm, his quiet pleas to leave lost under Emily's next words. "How is it you survived? My only assumption is that you killed me. So, Calla, why'd you do it?"
"I didn't. They did. I-If you're dead here they either moved your body or the room is near here. They killed you. I don't know why I'm alive but, but I'm sorry." Emily took a step closer, finger touching her forehead. Calla flinched, taking a step back before Emily grabbed her throat and wrote something against her forehead.
She struggled to breath before she finally loosened her grip. The blood running down her chest didn't make her feel any better. She took a step back, rubbing her hands together as she looked Calla up and down.
"I'll look for this room, or my body. If I find out you're lying I'm taking your body."
"My body...?"
"I may have been Mutatio, but I had enough friends in Mortem to know about possession. It's a fair trade isn't it? You kill me, I kill you. Metaphorically of course, I need you alive to keep your body functioning."
"Emily I didn't-"
"You have until this time tomorrow."Nathan, already eager to leave, dragged her backward as Emily walked back into the clearing. Calla's feet moved without her knowledge before they stopped a good ways away. Nathan dropped when hand and fell against a tree, clutching his chest. Calla only watched as he dug his fingers in the dirt, trying to calm himself down. Panic, she decided, a panic attack. She'd had enough of them to know what they looked like.
So she let her instincts take over, crouching in front of him just out of arms reach. "What do you need Nathan? Do you want me to talk?"
"No. No. No just let me figure it out I-" she moved to stand again, Nathan gasped. "Don't leave. Please don't leave me alone." Calla nodded and sat back down. She didn't intend on leaving. Instead she dug through her pockets, taking of Rhiannon's rib she'd given her months ago. The bone was still smooth but it was cold. She wondered if they'd eaten her too.She turned her attention back to Nathan. "You're okay. She wasn't going to hurt you." He nodded, breath starting to slow again, "You." He mumbled, "She was going to hurt you." Calla shrugged, she'd look for her bones later. She didn't mind being possessed by Hugo because she trusted him. Emily was a loose canon right now. She'd been through something traumatic that ended with her death and she was pissed.
"I can hold my own. You don't have to worry about me."
"I still do though."She nodded, tucking the bone back in her pocket. She saw Rhiannon watching from a few feet away. She was barely there but she looked scared. Calla would ask her about it later but she didn't need to say Nathan like this so she shook her head at her and hoped she'd get the message. She did.
Nathan was breathing normally again but he was still trying to figure out what had happened. Calls offered him a hand, he flinched away from it. "You had a panic attack." She said quietly, "That situation put you under a lot of stress and it led to... that. I'm sorry." "It's alright I just, I didn't want to die."
"You're scared of dying?"He looked almost as scared as when he saw Emily. It had him leaning forward through, cupping her face, feeling down her arms, she let him.
"You aren't?"
"Not really. I just hope it isn't painful."She could see it again. Remembered Ramona practically running away from her. Reading in between the lines to spell out what she wanted to say, monster. Nathan looked just as scared.
"Do you need to talk Calla?"
He wasn't running. Why wasn't he running?
"I don't want you to get hurt. It would absolutely destroy me and everyone else if you died. Do you..." he looked down at her arms. Calls realized what he was thinking and upturned her arms. He let out a sigh of relief and she pretended the scars on her thighs didn't itch. That was a long time ago. She didn't do that anymore.
"Promise me you-"
"No."
"What? Calla-"
"I don't have to promise you anything. I've got myself under control. I'll be fine."
"Calla-"
"Are you ready to go back yet?"He nodded but his eyes lingered on her forehead. She touched her fingers to it tentatively, her fingers coming back red. She sighed and wiped it with her sleeve. Nathan shook his head, "It's not smudging." She tried again, checking her sleeve this time. "Is it dry?" Nathan shook his head and she tried a third time. Nothing. Nathan moved her arm away as she tried it a fourth time.
"It says.... oh god."
"Oh god? What's that supposed to mean?"
"Calla it says Butcher. You have Butcher written in a dead girl's blood across your forehead."
"I'll deal with it when we get back. Then I'm taking a nap. Let's go."They walked back the long way. Calla kept her head back until she reached the dorm bathroom. Luckily it was empty.
She turned on the sink, watching the water run red as the blood washed off her fingers. She scrubbed her forehead until it was raw, looking up to find the letters unchanged. She moved to her throat, scrubbing at the bloody handprint on her neck with a paper towel. It stayed unchanged, mocking her. She dried off and touched her forehead again, fingers coming away red. She washed it off and retreated back to her dorm, only to find Francine and Cash sitting on the bed.
They turned when she entered, smiling falling away into something twisted. Disgust, Calla realized. "It says Butcher. I'm aware. No, I can't get it off. Oh, and Nathan's scared of me now I guess? We saw fucking Emily and she thinks I killed her so," she pointed at her forehead, "now she's threatening to possess me if she doesn't find the room she died in or her body and," she felt her emotions seep through. Her throat closed as breathing got harder. The next thing she knew she was climbing against Francine, sobbing.
"Hey, hey it's alright. We got you. We won't leave you," Calla nodded, pulling back to make sure blood didn't get on Francine's short. It didn't. She sat up, looking at the necklace dangling from Cash's hand. "Anti-ghost." He said quietly, "Sorry it's not prettier I-" "What about Rhiannon and Hugo?" They two appeared by the door at the sound of their names, staring at the necklace. "Anti-possession." He corrected. She looked at the black sting, a small blue charm speckled gold swinging back and forth. She slid it over her neck and sighed.
If Emily wanted her she'd have her. The necklace would likely only make her mad, though she wouldn't reject Cash's attempts to help her. She'd take it off later when she went looking for her bones or the room. For now though, she let herself exist. Sitting with Cash and Francine was nice and it may be the last time she could so she decided to savor it.
YOU ARE READING
Fowler School of Magic's
FantasíaCalliope is one of hundreds invited to attend Fowler School of Magics. She's already accus timed to magic, having seen ghosts all her life, but is she ready for the schools secrets that she and her friends will reveal? -- this is MESSY it's unedite...