A Dreadful Thing

Fifteen-year-old Orla thinks her life is nothing short of ordinary. Then, a knock upon her door changes her entire world forever.

Orla is told she is one of the Seraphium, a society of people gifted with special Talents that can bend time, space, and reality to their whims. In order to learn and master her abilities, Orla is enrolled in Bilarthus Academy, part of a secretive community where she makes her first friends with a girl whose touch can raise the dead, and another whose nightmares come to life.

Despite its charming exterior, danger lurks in the Academy. One of their teachers is found dead, and suspicion turns to Orla and her odd friends. To make matters worse, Orla can't be entirely sure one of them didn't commit the crime, not when her own Talent starts to behave violently in the presence of the enigmatic Obscrumancy instructor, Master Atlas Lazarian.

One thing is for certain: life will never be ordinary for Orla and her friends again.

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Written for National Novel Writing Month 23'