Finally, he stopped speaking and looked up at Fiona. He blinked several times, as though waiting for a response.
Then he looked at me.
Then he looked back to Fiona.
“Well, shit,” he said bluntly. “I did not know you were here, Charlie. Please excuse my language and my intrusion.”
“That’s okay,” I said. “I mean, it’s not my office.” I shrugged casually, trying to fight back the sudden embarrassment I felt. I wasn’t sure why I was the one who felt embarrassed. After all, I hadn’t purposely intruded on a private conversation. He was the one who had. There I was, though, feeling like I had walked into a situation that I didn’t belong in.
“That’s right. It’s mine,” Fiona said. She glanced at the book and then back at Sebastian. “Sebastian, would you like to come back in about an hour? I’m certain that Charlie and I will be finished by then, and you and I can finish this discussion at that time.”
Fiona was so very diplomatic, and she always seemed so cool, calm, and professional. I was a little jealous at just how easily she made juggling people look.
“Of course,” he said. “Have fun, Charlie. Apologies again.”
He bobbed his head in a sort of apologetic nod, and I gave an awkward little half-wave as he hurried out of the door. He left just as quickly as he’d come, but now I had something new to think about and to worry about. Sebastian Wild really was something else. He was awkward and strange, and he was endearing, but there was more to him than that, and I was curious about that.
“Fiona?”
“Yes?”
“What was that all about?”
There was no way she was going to tell me. There was literally no way she was going to tell me. The book he was holding, A Lost Treasury of Magical Items, was one I’d seen around campus before. Mr. Harper also had a copy of that book. It was on his desk. He always kept it there.
Why was Mr. Wild reading the same book?
And what did it have to do with what was happening on campus?
To my utter shock, Fiona looked at me carefully, calculating, and then shrugged.
“I suppose it can’t hurt to tell you,” she said. “I trust you, Charlie. You’ve never been anything but honest with me, and besides, you did save my life,” she winked at me, and I instantly relaxed.
Okay, so maybe this was going to go better than I thought it was. Maybe not, but it seemed as though Fiona had decided to trust me, and that had to count for something.
“Okay,” I said, nervously. I wasn’t really sure if this was actually happening.
“Once upon a time, when my husband and I were teachers here, there were a lot of students who were…shall we say…mischievous?”
That was what all of the kind teachers called troublemakers.
“Mischievous” made it sound like the kids were simply causing a little bit of, well, mischief. The reality was that when people used that word, the kids were usually hellhounds set loose in the halls.
“What do you mean?”
“There were some students who seemed to run a little wild. Some of them got into trouble quite a bit. Some students were always looking for their next thrill. Others just wanted to get by.”
“Sounds kind of like how things are now,” I commented, thinking of some of the crazy things I’d seen in my time at the school. Most of the time, people weren’t wild or uncaring. In fact, generally speaking, people at Shifter Falls Academy were pretty wonderful.
There were always those who ruined things for other people, though, and I didn’t think that was something we’d be able to find a solution to anytime soon. Some people just loved to cause problems for others. Humans and shifters were totally alike in that respect.
“Shifter Falls Academy isn’t the only school for magical people,” Fiona continued carefully.
“I knew that!” I said excitedly.
“Yes,” she laughed. “One of the other schools, Enchanted Academy, is known for its magical items and stories.”
I wondered where she was going with this. Enchanted Academy? What a beautiful name. That was a school I wanted to know more about. Was it similar to our school? Could I ever go there? Maybe for a visit on a holiday break…
“Enchanted Academy used to be very closely connected with our school,” she continued. “And we helped each other out. A lot.”
“What do you mean?”
“Our students took trips together and we had student exchange programs. We lent each other books and ideas and even special items.”
My ears perked up.
Special items?
The man in the hallway had been looking for some sort of special item.
Was that something that Fiona was talking about? I didn’t ask. I didn’t want to interrupt her because I was scared that if I did, she’d somehow change her mind about telling me.
“We actually had a large collection of special items that were loaned to us. A few of them were items that are absolutely irreplaceable.”
“Like what?”
“Special books. Fairy tales that have since been lost to the world. Spell books. Enchanted notebooks. There were some coins and even some medallions. Enchanted Academy even gave us a couple of special wands.”
“So what happened?”
“One day, everyone heard screaming. It was the middle of the day, and we all came running out. My Petey was a teacher, too, and our classrooms were across from each other. We both ran into the hallway. Everyone did. No one knew where the screaming was coming from, but then we all realized at the exact same time that it was coming from the headmaster’s office.”
My heart sank.
This wasn’t going to have a happy ending.
“We ran,” Fiona whispered. “But we were too late. By the time we got there, the headmaster was knocked unconscious and several of the enchanted items were missing.”
“What items?” I whispered.
“They were all recovered except for one particular thing,” she said.
“What?”
“A book,” she whispered. “A very special book.”
“What does the book do?”
“The book tells of fairy tales and special stories,” she said. “But this book has a secret. It also came with a key, and if anyone were to find the key and the book together, they could unlock the book’s true power.”
“What happens when the book is unlocked with its true power?”
My Nancy Drew senses were tingling again. This place and its mysteries: would I ever grow tired of it? Only, this was the kind of mystery I wasn’t sure I wanted to be involved in. This was the kind of mystery that seemed like it carried certain dangers.
“Why, the stories inside will come to life,” Fiona said. “And trust me, Charlie, these are not books we want to come to life.”
I stared at her for a long time. A year ago, I would have thought Fiona was totally nuts and needed to be committed to some sort of institution. Now I just wondered how I could help her.
“What else was stolen?”
“Just the book and its key,” she said. “We worried for a long time about other items we had missed. A few notebooks and a couple of necklaces were missing at first, but those items were all recovered. Everything was except for the enchanted book.”
Strange.
So someone had been bold and brave enough to not only break into the headmaster’s office, but to steal important items from long ago. Someone hadn’t had a problem robbing the school of some of its most valuable items.
And why?
To impress their friends?
To use the power of the book?
“Who attacked the headmaster?”
“We don’t know,” she said. “Whoever they were, they cast some sort of memory spell on the headmaster. He was fine, and he lived, of course, but he could never remember what had happened that day.”
“That’s terrible,” I said.
“He could never remember who did it, or even who he had talked to.�
��
“He couldn’t remember anything?”
“Nothing at all. That pained him horribly.”
I couldn’t imagine what it must be like to not have your memory. I mean, I was upset over not having the memory of my parents. This was so much more, so much worse. I was upset over memories I never really had, but this…
These were memories he had had.
These were things that were stolen from him.
“So why is Wild looking for the book now?” I asked quietly.
“Because someone else is,” Fiona said cautiously. “And none of us know why.”
“How do you know someone is looking for the book?”
“Because someone at Shifter Falls Academy has been asking questions, Charlie. Someone has been questioning the teachers, albeit very discreetly. And someone has been searching the school grounds trying to find something.”
“Something lost long ago,” I said.
“Something lost long ago.”
“I should go,” I whispered. It was all so much to take in. I knew exactly who was searching for things: Mr. Harper. I wasn’t sure if I should accuse him outright. That seemed like kind of a shady move to pull, especially since he really seemed to be doing his best.
But why would Mr. Harper be looking for things?
Did this mean he was guilty?
Did this mean that he was the one who attacked the old headmaster?
Was Mr. Harper the person who stole the book in the first place?
If he had, why would he be looking for it now?
If he was the thief, then wouldn’t he know where the book was?
“It’s getting late,” Fiona sighed, agreeing. “And I’m sorry that I don’t have more answers for you.”
“That’s okay,” I said. Then I remembered something else, something about our current headmaster.
“Charlie, you can’t hide your curiosity from me,” Fiona laughed. “I know you have another question. What is it?”
“Well,” I blushed. “When I first came here, you told Mr. Wild that he owed you a favor.”
“That’s true. I did say that.”
“What did you help him with all of those years ago?”
“That’s a very personal question,” Fiona murmured. She hesitated, but apparently, she was in a giving mood. “But I suppose it can’t help for you to know a little more about the school. After all, you’re a part of this place now, Charlie. Like it or not, Shifter Falls Academy is your home now, and we love having you here.”
“That…that means a lot.”
“Good. It should. Now, onto the story.”
Fiona sipped her tea again, as though she needed a little bit of calming liquid before she was ready to speak. I had the feeling she wasn’t used to being bugged or harassed quite this often.
After all, her other students seemed to be the epitome of perfection.
Me?
Well, I was nosy and curious, and that wasn’t always a good thing.
“Mr. Wild lost his family,” she finally said. “Long ago.”
“What?”
He lost his family.
Like, they’re dead?
She nodded carefully.
“A car accident. His wife and child were killed, and he’s never stopped missing them. He hit rock bottom after that happened. He wasn’t there. He regrets it constantly. He’d been away on business when it happened.”
“So what…what did you do?”
“I got him the job here,” she said. “As headmaster. I guided him. I helped him get set up. He needed something to do. He needed some way to stay busy. This was it.”
“It seems like it suits him,” I finally said.
“It does, doesn’t it?”
“Fiona?”
She shook her head.
“It’s time for you to go, Charlie.”
“Just one more question. I promise.”
“Okay.”
“When was the accident?”
“Excuse me?” She asked, startled.
“The accident. When did he lose his family?”
“About fifteen years ago,” she said carefully. “Maybe sixteen. Why?”
“No reason,” I said. “It’s just that I know missing your family doesn’t ever stop, no matter how long it’s been.
“I’m sorry about your family,” she whispered.
“Me too.”
Me too.
Chapter 8
I lay in bed for what felt like an eternity. Things weren’t quite clicking into place, but they were a little bit. I knew that I had been put into foster care because no one could find my parents.
No one.
They had searched, and they had looked, but that was it. So even though I didn’t know who my parents were, I knew that no one had come forward to look for me and claim me.
Had my mother died in a car accident?
Was headmaster Wild…my dad?
It seemed impossible to me, but then again, I’d been so starved for any sort of information that in a weird, twisted way, I wanted to believe that he could be. We didn’t have the same hair color or the same eyes, but the timeline was right. He was a cat shifter, too.
Like me.
I’d gone into foster care 15 ½ years ago.
Was it possible that I was his missing child?
How would I even find out?
I couldn’t exactly walk up to him and be like, “Hey, Professor Wild, so…your family’s dead, right? What if they aren’t all totally dead?”
Not only would that be super not-classy, but I’m pretty sure it would get me kicked out of school, too. I think if someone said something like that to me, it would piss me off. A lot. And I’m not exactly easy to irritate.
Jade was asleep when I got back to the room and she stayed asleep even through my thinking and curiosity. She started snoring and I really couldn’t handle that on top of my questions, so I finally got up, grabbed a couple of textbooks, and headed downstairs.
The lobby of the dormitory was decidedly empty. No one was hanging out, studying, or chatting. Nobody was loitering, wondering about tests they had to take or preparing for exams. It was nearly midnight, and even though we weren’t supposed to leave the dorms this late, the lobby was supposed to be open 24/7.
I chose a comfortable couch in one of the corners and settled in. If I had to be awake, if I couldn’t sleep, then I was going to make the most of it. I’d start by reviewing my Shifting on Command homework.
One of the things Mr. Harper wanted us to be able to do was to shift within ten seconds of deciding we needed to. That was a total, complete shift. He wanted us to be able to do this without thinking, and he wanted us to be able to control it.
What he meant was that he didn’t want us to shift and then be stuck that way. In his mind, we should all be able to shift easily back and forth from both animal to human and back again. He didn’t think there should be any sort of hesitation when we changed, and I understood the reasoning behind it.
Still, it was easier said than done.
I looked over some of the papers he’d given us. He’d passed out several scrolls that contained tips for shifting in either direction. He’d offered plenty of guidance for ways we could get better.
I wanted to think that I was totally fine, but I knew that before the winter holiday, there would be some sort of final exam. They weren’t going to let us go on our holiday break without testing us on everything we’d learned throughout the semester.
“Okay, Charlie,” I said out loud. “Let’s try this thing.”
I was totally alone in my corner, but I still looked around nervously. It was impossible to have any sort of privacy with a roommate, but that was fine. I’d make this happen. I could do this.
I just had to believe in myself, right?
I stripped down and closed my eyes.
“And shift,” I said out loud. I focused on changing into my kitty cat form. I could almost do it completely effortlessly, but there was always
something that required a little bit of my attention. Maybe my tail wasn’t quite right or I needed to make sure my paws were soft enough. Feeling my bones change into my cat bones didn’t hurt, but it wasn’t quite as comfortable yet as it should have been.
I’d been shifting for a year. I’d been changing into my other-half for what seemed like an eternity. It was something I should have been able to do without this much aggression and difficulty. Last year, I thought I’d done a great job shifting. After all, I’d changed when I needed to.
Now I was learning that even if you knew how to shift, it didn’t necessarily mean you were shifting efficiently or that you were doing your best.
I changed back and forth a few times. I worked on improving my speed and making sure I was changing correctly. I wanted to finish each change in under ten seconds, as directed. I didn’t have someone timing me, so it was a little difficult to gauge, but after the first twenty minutes went by, it seemed like I was getting a little bit faster.
Finally, I decided to stop for the night. I sat down on the couch, still not tired at all, and browsed through one of my textbooks. Even though I was reading the words on the page, though, I wasn’t absorbing anything. I wasn’t actually learning anything because my mind was still so focused on everything I’d discovered.
There was something hidden at the school. I was sure of it. Why would people be looking for the enchanted book if it wasn’t still here?
But who had taken it?
Why hadn’t they come back?
I closed my eyes and shook my head. It was all starting to be difficult to keep straight.
“Fresh air,” I murmured. That was what I needed. I could go for a little walk and explore. I could go to the gardens or I could wander around outside for a little while. Walking around under the moonlight would definitely help me to sort things out, but when I got to the front doors, I noticed there was a sign hanging there.
It was one I hadn’t seen before: possibly because I didn’t really come to the lobby after curfew. The only time I’d come down here at night, Marissa and Clarissa had created a distraction so that the rest of us could sneak off and go save Fiona from wolves.
Shifter Falls Academy: Year Two Page 6
