Wilde Magic

by K M Charron

  A prickle crawled across the back of Ainsley’s neck, the feeling of someone watching her. She shook off the odd sensation. It was only nerves.

  A few girls lingered, sitting in the wingback chairs and over-sized sofas. They smiled and giggled with each other as if they didn’t have a care in the world. Maybe this was what students did here––chatted over a cappuccino before heading off to engaging lectures.

  Things were going to be fine. Ainsley could be anyone, including a girl whose father hadn’t committed suicide.

  The elevator dinged. The mirrored door slid open, and she and her mom stepped inside, dragging Ainsley's bags behind them. Her finger hovered over the five-button, when a loud bang sounded, reverberating under their feet. Ainsley dropped her bags, her hands grappling at the wall. "What was that?"

  Her mother laughed. "I thought you grew out of your elevator anxiety? It’s nothing. This building is old, it’s going to make noises. You’ll get used to it." She reached past Ainsley and pressed the button. The doors closed, and the elevator car shook roughly before ascending.

  Just breathe. It’ll be over soon. Ainsley had a touch of claustrophobia. She particularly hated small enclosed places ever since getting trapped inside an elevator for two hours when she was eleven.

  And why was it so freezing around here? With the cost of tuition, they should be able to heat the place. She blew a small puff of air, and transparent vapor hung for a second before dissipating.

  The elevator stopped and chimed as the doors slid open, revealing a dimly lit hallway. She let out her breath and steadied herself, letting her shoulders fall back.

  This is it. No turning back now.

  Not that she would.

  Ainsley yanked her suitcase behind her, checking for signs as they walked down the hall. It resembled a hotel corridor––long and straight with countless wooden doors. The floor was burnished pine, covered by a thin, worn runner. The only light came from small sconces that hung on the walls between each door, a few bulbs flickered as she walked along, the wavering light sending a shiver from the back of her neck down her spine.

  She knew why this hallway looked familiar. It was just like the eerie hallway in The Overlook Hotel in the movie The Shining. God, she hoped she didn’t run across creepy twin girls guarding the hallways or find REDRUM painted haphazardly in her room.

  Her dad wouldn’t let something like a creepy hallway stand in the way of his work, and neither would she. As they walked along, she went over the scattering of random thoughts about Ashcroft Academy in his work-in-progress file—questions and unfounded suspicions. Ainsley had read it so many times she could picture the screen in her mind—a slew of questions: Were the accidents really accidents? Are the girls connected somehow? Is the school protecting certain students—hiding something? Money and power of the students’ families shutting up the victims’ families? Where did the girls go? Someone knows something. And underlined was the sentence: Not an accident.

  He’d written about a local missing girl—a Daphne Whitmore that had gone missing in the area last January. She attended a nearby high school, not Ashcroft. He’d made a note next to it that said: Darren Angelo - boyfriend (Ashcroft student). Alibi?

  He’d obviously been looking into the girl’s disappearance, but she had no idea what the other comments meant. The answers had to be here.

  Her mom finally stopped at the end of the long corridor. "This is it, aren’t you excited to see inside and meet your roommate?" she exclaimed, apparently oblivious of the creepy factor. Her mom knocked.

  "Of course, I’m excited." She’d play along. "Why are you knocking if I live here?"

  "To be polite. We don’t want to startle your roommate. It’s not good manners."

  Ainsley had been dreading this part. She’d be sharing a tiny space with a stranger. "It’ll be weird to live with some girl I’ve never met."

  "Having a roommate will be fun. Besides, she’ll show you around and introduce you to new people. It’s like an instant friend." Her mom pinched her cheek lightly and kissed the tip of her nose.

  She braced herself.

  The door opened, and a very tall, willowy girl with long brown hair, purple-rimmed glasses, and a Marvel t-shirt faced them. "Oh my God, you must be Ainsley!"

  Ainsley immediately found herself engulfed by two bony arms and smothered in brown hair. "Uh, hello." She managed to croak out.

  The girl pulled back and looked Ainsley up and down, clasping Ainsley’s hands in her own. "Well, aren’t you pretty." It was then that she recognized a southern twang. "What am I doing keeping you standing in the hallway? Please, come on in." She backed up and made a sweeping motion with her arms.

  Her mom stepped forward with her hand out. "I’m Lillian, Ainsley’s mom. So nice to meet you."

  "You, too." The girl pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose, her eyes unnaturally wide. "I’m Harper. Harper Lee Johnson." She stuck her hand out toward Ainsley’s mother. "Named after the author. Mamma loved To Kill a Mockingbird, but my Granddaddy says it’s not the sort of book you want to be named for, on account of the rape and murder."

  Ainsley gave a slow nod. “Sounds… interesting. I’ll have to read it sometime." She took a tentative step forward and surveyed the space. The room was brighter than the hallway, with a long window that divided twin beds. The walls were beige, contrasting tastefully with the navy bedspread on Harper’s mattress and the room’s matching curtains. There were two small desks and a tiny wardrobe that would fit about a third of all the things Ainsley’d brought. It looked like every dorm room in any teen movie. It had not received the loving attention to detail that the rest of campus had.

  "This looks nice," her mother cooed as she walked around the cupboard her daughter was going to call home. "What do you think?"

  "It’s really cozy."

  Her mom circled the small space before setting her gaze on Ainsley. "It’s not huge, but it gets a lot of light from that big window." She walked closer and noted, "It has a nice view of campus."

  Ainsley rolled her suitcases to the foot of her twin bed. "At least it’s warmer in here than the rest of this place." She winced, not meaning to sound so snarky, but her tone often came across horribly when she was stressed and nervous—both of which she was currently.

  Her new roommate clasped her hands together. "Oh, it’s going to be so much nicer to have someone else in here. I was starting to get lonely all by myself the past few days. I came early. My parents were going on vacation and couldn’t leave me home alone."

  Ainsley forced the most genuine smile she could muster and pointed to the empty bed with its folded navy comforter on top. "I’m guessing that one’s mine?" she asked with feigned enthusiasm.

  "I hope you don’t mind. I picked this one. We can switch if you’d prefer."

  "This is perfect. Thanks."

  "Why don’t you let me help you put the sheets on, then we can unpack your clothes.” Her mom had already begun rifling through her garment bag.

  "It’s okay, Mom, Uncle Philip’s waiting." Her heart fluttered at the thought of her mom leaving. This was the first time she’d be away from her mom—not on a sleepover, not a week at her grandma’s cottage, but really and truly away—and she needed to do this part alone. Maybe, if she unpacked and set up her room herself, it would make her miss home a little less. That way, every time she looked around, she wouldn’t associate everything in here with her mom.

  There was the sound of throat-clearing before Harper said, "I think I’ll run down to the cafeteria and grab a snack or something."

  Ainsley turned toward her. "No, please don’t go. It’s okay.”

  Her mom put her hands on Ainsley’s shoulders. "This is going to be great for you. A new chapter in your life. Just remember how much I love you."

  "Thanks, Mom. I love you too. Drive safe, okay? And text me when you get home."

  "I’m going to miss you. If you need anything, you call me." She pulled Ainsley into a hug and smelled her ha
ir. Her mom had done that since she was little.

  Ainsley squeezed her back. Her throat ached, but she managed to say, "Love you too. Miss you already."

  Drawing back, her mom looked at the empty bed and stack of clothes. "I guess you can handle this. I’m proud of you, kiddo. And your dad would be, too." She stopped in the doorway, hugged her purse to her chest, and blew Ainsley a kiss before disappearing into the quiet hallway.

  Ainsley squared her shoulders and inhaled, relieved and proud that she’d made it here, that she’d managed to send her mom home, and not run after her. It was time to figure out what her dad had been investigating and bring her mother the peace she deserved.

  Sydney

  Chapter 4

  Sydney watched the new girl, Ainsley, from across the cafeteria. Her pale eyes and crooked smile radiated insecurity behind the long hair that hung in her face, hiding her safely away. She wondered why the girl felt she needed to hide. One thing she’d learned from growing up under the stern hand of her mother was that many things weren’t as they appeared.

  Who are you, Ainsley? The question circled back on itself as Syd stared, her eyes scanning the girl from head to toe. The combat boots and cheap cotton tee were beyond tacky. Did she think she looked vintage 90s? Because she wasn’t pulling it off.

  "What are you doing?" A flicker of ash blonde hair against black skin coming from the right caught her eye.

  "Hello, Ava. Checking out a new girl."

  Ava unknowingly sat down in her line of vision and stole a french fry from Sydney’s plate. "Oh my God! I wish I ate fried food. So good."

  "You’re eating it now."

  Ava looked down at her salad and back up to Syd. "Wanna switch?"

  "And eat that plate of leaves for lunch? Nope." She craned her neck to look past Ava. Sydney’s eyes landed back on the brunette who sat nibbling her lunch with hunched shoulders and a trying smile. There was no way she was a witch. Syd got full-on middling vibes, so why couldn’t she read her?

  Ainsley was eating lunch Harper, the weird science nerd from last year’s biology class. Either the girl made friends fast, or Harper was her roommate. They laughed easily together and shared bites of the other’s food. Disgusting.

  Ava waved in front of her face. "Hello, I said, where is everyone?"

  "I don’t know, and I don’t care."

  Ava’s hands went up in surrender. "Okay, I see you’re more on edge than normal. Does this have to do with Langston?"

  It didn’t, but Syd didn't want to share her suspicions about Ainsley. Besides, Sydney was still pissed at him.

  "He’s being ridiculously jealous. He saw my schedule, and apparently, the fact that Daniel Wilson was assigned as my lab partner is my fault."

  "Seriously? Like, you spelled it to happen? Give me a break."

  Sydney sighed, propping her head on her hand and picking from her plate. “Besides, it’s not as if he has any reason to feel insecure."

  "Maybe not if Daniel was a middling or ugly,” she whispered. “Then there’d be no chance but since he’s a witch, and a cute one, Langston has a point." Ava snagged another fry. "You’re lucky he’s such good friends with Justin, or you might not be able to hang with him anymore either."

  "Langston knew Justin was my best friend before we started dating. Non-negotiable. Besides, Justin is like my brother. We’ve known each other forever." She pulled her plate away from Ava’s wandering hands. "I guess I’m not surprised, Langston is so competitive—guys like like that in the same vicinity is not ideal," Syd said in a flat tone that betrayed how emotionally exhausted she felt.

  She loved him—what was not to love? He was smart, athletic, ambitious, and good-looking. He was almost the male equivalent of her, but sometimes she worried that they were too similar, making their relationship predictable. That intense chemistry that she kept hearing about hadn’t manifested, and she was starting to worry that it never would. Was going weak in the knees a real thing?

  Ava read a message from her phone. "Khourtney, Justin, and Jax are getting food and should be here any second." She motioned to where Syd had been spying on the brunette. "She a freshman?"

  "No. A new girl in our year." Syd had done a bit of chatting with the admin secretary and learned a few things after dropping her bags off in her dorm room. Ainsley Davenport, sophomore from Augusta, Maine, came from a lame public school, decent GPA. But she wasn’t about to show her hand yet, not even to her friends. She preferred to know what she was dealing with first. It was satisfying, knowing things that no one else did. That, and she didn’t want to admit her powers hadn’t worked, not after last night’s testing debacle.

  “If she’s not a coven addition, who cares?" Ava raised an eyebrow before stealing another fry. "It’s not like we socialize with middlings."

  Discovery by middlings was a cardinal sin to The Directive—the governors of witch society who monitored all the covens in the world, including The Wildes, the oldest in North America. If any middlings ever found out about them, her mother would have an aneurism.

  Syd scoffed. "As if you’d need to remind me. They barely register above insect. But seriously, I don’t get why we live in hiding while these idiots run the show. It’s absurd."

  "Maybe because in this room alone, they outnumber us like forty to one."

  "She has a point," Justin chimed in, sitting down next to her and resting his tray on the table. Witches had superior sight and hearing, so it was nothing for him to overhear their conversation from several feet away.

  "And? It’s not like they can do anything to us." Sydney was so sick of the fear-mongering culture the Wildes perpetuated.

  Ava swallowed a mouthful of weed-like salad. "Tell that to the ancestors, who may I remind you were burned at the stake," she said, punctuating each whispered word.

  Sydney rolled her eyes. "So dramatic."

  "What are you geniuses discussing? Syd, it looks like smoke is about to come out of your ears." Jax grabbed a seat across from her.

  “Nothing important, just how itty bitty your man parts are in relation to the rest of you." Syd smiled and stole a forkful of his potato salad.

  Justin laughed while Jax rolled his eyes.

  Langston came up alongside the table, holding a lunch tray. A flush threatened to creep up Sydney’s face. She refused to look in his direction. He could apologize to her first. Sitting a few seats down, he acted like she wasn’t there.

  Khourtney plopped her tray of quiche and apple pie down across from Sydney, in the space usually reserved for Langston.

  Ava cleared her throat. "Sydney is spying on the new middling."

  "I am not. Well, I sort of am. But look at her, she’s so pathetic, I can’t help it." And she can somehow block my magical prodding. "It’s like she’s a spokesperson for Walmart."

  "Don’t you have better things to concern yourself with?" Justin said with an exasperated tone that so wasn’t necessary.

  Khourtney snickered before leaning in and whispering, “He’s right, who cares? I don’t know how you guys can seem so relaxed. Isn’t anyone else freaked out about this week’s testing? No offense, Syd, but your mother scares the hell out of me."

  "Try living with her. Your enchantments wouldn’t be the only thing evaluated. At least Gerald isn’t home anytime soon to further solidify his sainthood." She suddenly craved a giant vat of ice cream covered in hot fudge and cherries.

  Ava sighed dreamily. "I don’t know what your problem is with Gerald. He’s so nice, and thoughtful, and helpful, not to mention easy on the eyes."

  Syd waved a hand at her. “Okay, enough. Can you salivate over someone else’s brother, please?"

  "Maybe he’ll visit for Thanksgiving, and you can invite me over," Ava said with a big grin.

  "I wouldn’t mind coming by for pie," Jax said.

  "God, not you too! Besides, Gabriel is barely a memory. Slow down." Syd put a hand over her eyes and shook her head. "Khourt, keep off this bandwagon unless you want my wrath." She couldn
’t listen to how awesome her brother was right now, especially not after the morning’s threats.

  Jax smirked. "Gabriel and I broke up months ago. I’ve grieved long enough."

  "Unlike these two, your brother isn’t my type. No offense." Khourt held her hand up.

  Syd waved her off. "Can we change the subject please?"

  "Fine, just stop whining. Is that brunette sitting next to purple glasses the middling Syd is obsessed with?" Jax asked as if Sydney wasn’t sitting right there.

  Ava picked at her cuticle. "No idea."

  Khourtney smirked. "She kind of looks like she came straight from bootcamp."

  Syd was delighted that a part of her circle at least shared her aversion for Ainsley, even if it was for totally unrelated reasons. "I’m not obsessed, but there’s something up with her. She’s hiding things, and you know how I feel about that."

  “Yes, the only secrets allowed are yours," Justin said with a tinge of amusement in his voice.

  "That’s right." Syd tilted her head and gave him a big smile before bopping him on the tip of his nose with her finger.

  "Are you sure she’s not just a loser?" Khourt took a swig of her sparkling water.

  "Someone’s got to be at the bottom of the social hierarchy," Ava added before sliding her compact out of her bag and checking her reflection. She wiped the indent of her cupid’s bow to remove a dot of unruly lipstick before puckering.

  Jax leaned back with his hands behind his head. "There’s always a hierarchy, true, but it doesn’t always make sense. Just look at you, Syd."

  "What about me?" She stared at Jax in warning.

  "People usually follow people they admire. But let’s be honest, most people here don’t really like you, yet you rule this place. Every girl here tries to be like you, and we all kiss your ass despite how mean you can be."

  Langston let out a snort but didn’t look up from his burger and fries.

  Syd’s jaw dropped, but she recovered quickly, refusing to let them see her hurt.