¨Did you ask something?¨ She prompted.
¨I was just wondering if we all got our abilities on our fourteenth birthday.¨
¨I did,¨ Markus confirmed, and the rest confirmed the same. All except for Boke, of course, who was now concentrating extra hard on her dinner. Only Sophie and the other Faeries looked at her.
Boke hadn’t told anyone that she wasn’t fourteen yet, Sophie noted, and was glad that none of the Faeries spit it out then, for she suddenly got the feeling that Boke had told her in confidence, expecting Sophie to keep her secret.
But why did Boke get an invitation to study here if she was a year younger than all of them. Surely the administration knew her age! And why was it that she could do magic already? What kind of Witch was she?
”What kind of Werecat are you, Lola?” Klaus asked the question Sophie was too scared to ask Boke.
”I'm a puma,” she said proudly.
”Wow!” Sophie whispered, too bewildered to say anything else, staring at the girl beside her, and wondering how much of her was cat, and how much was human.
”I've never seen a puma,” Keira confessed.
”The animal or the Werecat?” Lola asked with a laugh.
Keira flushed. ”Both,” she admitted.
”Well, this is your lucky day!” Lola flashed her a wide smile. ”Look on, baby!” She prided, and then her face shifted from human, to the narrow head of a jungle cat! Most at the table jumped back with a yelp, some even falling off their chairs.
”You can thank me by giving me your share of that steak,” Lola pronounced proudly when her face reverted.
Keira scrambled back to her seat, and without question, pushed her plate towards the feline.
”Aren't you just a darling!” Lola mocked with a confident laugh, forking the piece of steak off Keira's plate.
Chapter 8
When the prefect said lights out was at ten thirty, he meant it, for the moment the clock struck 10:30, all the lights in the building automatically went off. Boke tried the light switches a few times before finally giving up, and instead conjured a candle to burn on her coffee table, held up by an enamelled candle holder that left her wondering about whoever owned it previously.
For someone did indeed own the candle and its holder. Someone always owned any object conjured. Nothing could be made from thin air, even by a Witch as powerful as she. Physics is physics, even in sorcery.
Boke listened some more, the approaching footsteps sounding from along the corridor letting her know that the matrons were looking in again to check that all were asleep. She immediately blew out her candle and slipped into her bedroom, throwing herself onto the bed.
Soon after, she heard the door open, and someone tread into her dorm apartment. She was the only one living in here, and the matron that walked in knew that, for she came straight into her room.
A dim flashlight flicked around, and then the matron bent to pull the covers over her before walking out again. Boke listened intently to the receding footsteps as the matron walked into an apartment dorm neighbouring hers, to check that the other freshmen Witches in it were asleep too.
”One check every forty five minutes,” Boke said to herself.
She’d been awake since lights out, and every passing hour a matron had come by to check on them. The first one passed by at 10:30, the next at 11:15, and now the third one at 12:00, the only one that had come inside to inspect that they were all in bed. If her calculations were right, she had about forty five minutes before the next check, which she assumed would occur at 12:45.
She waited yet a while longer after the footsteps receded towards the stairway, wanting to be sure that no one was about before she set out.
About ten minutes later, Boke slipped out of her bed and threw on the coat her grandmother had gifted her, ignoring the school issue blazer. She wore it both because it reminded her of gogo, as well as because it was made by gogo.
Just like all past Maiga ancestors, her grandmother left protective enchantments in the things she made. Boke didn’t know how exactly, but the coat would try protect her whenever she couldn’t. Like it had during the thorough inspection LEs and matrons had put her through after dinner, when it hid the hereditary enchanted dagger tucked inside it, a family heirloom that Boke treasured above all else.
Or maybe the dagger just hid itself as it too was enchanted. Who knows?
That impromptu biased inspection had angered her immensely, though she agreed it'd have been silly of them to trust her. Regardless, it was unfair to go through only her things, yet there were seven freshmen Witches that had checked in to the school today with her. Very unfair.
This is the Supernatural Realm for you! She could almost hear her grandmother’s voice say. They hate you and hate what you represent. Go home now!
But Boke stilled herself against such sentiments. She would go home, eventually. As for now, she had a mission to accomplish.
Having been away for just over a day, Boke missed her home already, where nearly everything was enchanted, reverberating from the magic of past Maiga Witches.
Thanks to the sandals gogo made for her mother back when she’d been her age, Boke made no sound as she stepped out of her dorm apartment. These sandals too bore some enchantments. She stifled a chuckle as she rushed down Sibylline tower’s staircase, just then remembering the ancient rocking chair that wouldn’t let her sit on any other chair back home. Old and rugged it might be, but that chair could cause a ruckus like no other. It was a very jealous chair, stubborn too- it had no wishes to be re-upholstered for comfort, yet it wouldn’t let her sit on any other more comfortable chair. Boke resigned to always sitting on it a couple years ago, tired of the racket it’d cause if she sat elsewhere. She was accustomed to it now, its smooth shone wood having long become dear to her.
A sad wave washed over her as she puzzled over how her home was doing without her. Was Mtani leaving Nyau, her cat, alone? Those two were always going off at each other. And hopefully Sinda, the rude goat, and Maringo, the womanising bull, would remain safe from predators during the wildebeest migration this season. That migration attracted the most dangerous wild cats to her area, but Boke had enchanted some jackals to protect her pets before she left.
I don’t even plan on staying here that long, she reminded herself as she stepped onto the main landing, making sure to remain hidden behind shadows caused by the statues available in plenty in this building.
She listened a while, trying to gauge if there were any guards or matrons about, but all remained quiet.
Showtime.
“Maiga, the name, all mentions I claim,” she chanted under her breath, closing her eyes and spreading out her hands, asking the walls, the air, the spirits in this castle to inform her of all mentions of her family name.
However all that answered her was silence, a heavy disconcerting silence.
That couldn’t be right. There was always a neglected spirit wishing to talk, a lingering echo in the walls begging to be heard, or even a document of information would be available, and fly her way with the help of the wind element she so easily commanded.
Unless- unless an enchantment had been put in place to ensure that one couldn’t access the information the building and its spirited occupiers had about her family.
There must be thousands of recordings about Maigas available, as the family of Witches had been around for over a thousand years. They all came to school here after the unification of the realm, except for her grandmother of course.
“Why won’t you give me the information I seek?” She asked under her breath, losing her patience.
Silence.
“Answer me!” She ground out enraged, feeling the walls of this monument of a building around her, squeezing the life out of it, reminding it that it was merely an element, and was therefore her subject as all elements are.
“We’ve been cursed to silence!” A spirit whispered into her ear, its detest for her clear in the emotions it left behind.
Not many in the Supernatural Realm were fans of her family. In fact, hardly any was, so Boke wasn't surprised by the spirit’s hatred towards her.
“By who?” Boke asked in a whisper yet again.
Silence.
“By who? I swear if you don’t answer me, I’ll bring down this whole building...”
She started back as hundreds of spirits now broke out of the walls and rushed at her angrily because of her threat. She gritted her jaw hard again and reminded herself that they wouldn’t, couldn’t, do anything to her even if they wanted to. She is a mchawi of the family Maiga.
“If you wish to be displaced, then keep holding this secret to yourselves,” she threatened again, folding her fist suddenly so that a section of the castle crumbled. Not much damage, but enough to get them talking, for spirits need an anchor to remain here on earth. And for most of the spirits in here, this building and its holdings was their only anchor.
“The High Coven, you Wailer!” Some of the spirits threw at her in anger.
Boke’s heart plummeted upon hearing this. Gogo had warned her about the High Coven, made up of the most powerful Witches in the world.
“What are you going to do now, Wailer, attempt to break their curse?” Another spirit mocked.
Boke ignored him though, and chose that moment to port back into her dorm apartment. She'd have preferred to walk there instead, as by porting she’d leave behind a trace of her magic which other magical beings could sense, especially the well trained matrons and guards now running up the main stairs to go check the section of the building that she’d just caused to crumble.
They’d find out that she’d been about the building after lights out, as it was very easy to trace the source of magical essence. Every magical being has a distinct essence, as unique as a fingerprint.
Almost as soon as she’d covered herself up with her beddings, she felt the increasing magical energy around her, right before a Witch ported into her room to check that she was in bed.
Though the matron said nothing, Boke was certain that she knew her to be pretending to be asleep, for traces of her magic still lingered in the air, identical to the traces she’d left at the main landing.
She had to trail carefully now, for they’d watch her more closely from here on.
Chapter 9
Sophie woke up to the sound of an incessantly ringing bell, the most annoying sound to wake up to.
Her back was terribly sore from having spent so many hours on a plane, and the unfamiliar bed she’d slept on did nothing to help.
The ringing finally stopped, and she gave herself a couple of minutes for her eyes to adjust before slowly crawling out of bed.
“Morning,” Aimi called out cheerfully as they nearly bumped into each other before the bathroom door.
“How.. what time did you wake up?” Sophie grumbled sleepily.
Aimi was fully dressed, her hair pulled back in a ponytail, and her face done.
“About half an hour ago. That’s the first warning bell for breakfast by the way, so I’d hurry if I were you.”
“Oh darn it! What was the frequency again for warning bells?”
“Fifteen minutes,” she said with a chuckle.
“I better get my cousin then,” Sophie said, then walked back to her bedroom.
¨Keira?¨
¨Mmh?¨
¨You have to wake up.¨
¨Five more minutes,¨ she said.
“Actually we have less than fifteen to be down for breakfast.”
“Five minutes,” she mumbled impatiently.
“Okay,” Sophie relented, picking up her toiletries' bag and heading out into the bathroom.
¨Keira?¨ She called again as she dragged on the ugly school skirt, with only four minutes left to breakfast time.
“Just a few more minutes..”
¨You’ll be late!¨ Sophie called half a minute later as she struggled to button up her shirt.
Keira finally dragged herself out of bed with a huff, and she was still stumping her feet into her shoes and knotting her tie over her still to be fully buttoned shirt as the three rushed down the stairway.
They made it to the dining hall with a few seconds to spare.
Sophie was momentarily confused on where to sit, but then she noticed that all were sitting just as they had last night, sharing tables with their classmates rather than with their housemates or friends.
Were these their permanent sitting places? She wondered to herself as she queued behind other students. Unlike the dinner last night, breakfast was served buffet style. She skipped over the warm beverages, instead filling a glass of pineapple juice and serving herself a bowl of muesli and yoghurt. She then placed an apple on her tray before making her way to her seat.
¨Good morning,¨ she said with a smile to Lola, who was stuffing her face with a sandwich of whole wheat bread, boiled eggs and salads.
¨Morning,¨ Markus answered in Lola’s stead with a welcoming smile. Boke soon joined the table, settling on the other side of Markus in her quiet way, with a bowl of oatmeal, an orange and a glass of milk on her tray.
¨Lola, why do you eat so much?¨ Sophie regretted her question a little too late, but luckily, Lola didn’t appear offended by the question.
“I’m Werecat,” she said as a matter of fact.
“And?” Sophie asked confused.
¨We Werecats go for a run through the woods every morning and evening. That burns up a lot of energy. We don't sit around and take long beauty naps like you tinkerbells,¨ she mocked. Sophie laughed at her reference.
¨Why do you run?¨ She asked curiously, sipping her juice.
¨We don’t like to be caged in. We need to be set free and run wild. Otherwise, we just go crazy if we have to sit indoors all day.¨
¨And do you run in your animal form?¨ Sophie asked, her widening eyes betraying her curiosity.
Lola laughed long and hard at this.
¨Of course. My puma needs to come out and play too. It’d be unfair to keep one half of me permanently imprisoned.¨
“Of course,” Sophie half whispered in wonder. She’d never seen a puma too until last night, not even in a zoo, but she had an idea of the traits to expect from one, and this girl did embody them. Her movements were fluid, her eyes slitted and small, never missed a thing, though they moved slowly, almost as though she was disinterested in whatever was going on around her.
“Let me guess,” she now said between mouthfuls, still hunched over her breakfast. “You’re trying to analyse my human behaviour, and see if it stems from my animal side.”
Sophie blushed, and those at listening distance chuckled, though nervously, for Sophie was certain they too were trying to reconcile themselves to the idea that she was a puma.
“You must be fast in your daily runs!” Sophie decided to say instead, and managed to fight the silly urge to ask her if she might watch.
¨You wanna watch?¨ Lola asked, lifting her head from her food, turning her lazy feline eyes Sophie’s way. Sophie nodded excitedly, and Keira, Aimi and Klaus across the table from them were nodding too, their eyes bright with anticipation.
Lola laughed at them, turning back to her food.
¨At 5:30 pm today, come by the southern gates if you wish to watch. You have to hide though. I think my cat hates being watched, and I suspect the other Werecats would hate it too. The last thing you want to do is annoy a turned Werecat.”
¨I'll definitely be there!¨ Sophie didn’t care whether she had to climb a tree to watch the run. She wouldn’t miss it for anything.
As they ate, a prefect, whose name she couldn’t remember, though a badge announced him as a prefect, arrived at their table and handed them large folders.
Sophie stopped eating and perused it. The first page had a list of all prefects, their names and posts. The next few pages had maps of the grounds and the school building, floor by floor. Then there was a common timetable- detailed from breakfast time to lights out. The pages thereafter contained informa
tion on clubs in the school, their meeting times, patrons, captains, and when they’d be recruiting or holding tryouts.
Sophie’s eyes quickly searched for the tennis club. They’d have tryouts that afternoon.
She must have taken her breakfast a little too slow, exchanging stories with her new classmates on their journey here and first night spent here, for a bell suddenly went off, and when she looked around, she noticed that most of the senior students had cleared out already.
“We have yet fifteen minutes before we should be in our homeroom. You think it’s enough time to brush our teeth?” Aimi asked.
“Just!” Sophie said with a laugh, pushing up from her seat.
The three Faeries ran all the way to their dorm apartment, panting as they hurriedly brushed their teeth, and then cussed when they realised they had to rush down the stairs again, only to run up the main school stairway yet again to get to the fifth floor where their home room was located, according to their maps.
Why couldn’t there be a direct door from their dorm apartment’s floor to the freshmen's classrooms? Sophie thought sullenly as she struggled to regain her breath when she finally arrived at the fifth floor landing.
“It couldn’t be that hard to make a hole through the wall, or at least install a lift to save us from the endless flights of stairs!” Keira grumbled. Aimi only groaned, too tired to make any sound.
“Avalons and Werecats have no problem of course, as they always seem to have an abundant supply of energy that they are dying to expel,” Klaus voice sounded from behind them, still heavily wheezing with discomfort.
“Did you want a piggy back ride, Witch?” Lola mocked, effortlessly bounding towards them, seeming as though she could go yet another round without complaint.
“Nobody likes a show off,” Sophie said with a tired chuckle.
“Lucky for me, I’m not looking to be liked,” Lola said, her laughter echoing in the hallway as she kept running to their homeroom.
“I hate her,” Aimi managed with a smile, drawing tired chuckles from the group.
Sophie then spied Boke walking slowly behind them. Had she too walked all the way up? For a girl that could form fire balls in her palms and remain unburned, didn’t she know a spell that could propel her over the stairs? A lot she is doing to hide the fact that she could already do magic!
A Different Kind of Witch Page 5
