Paranormal Public (Paranormal Public Series)

by Maddy Edwards

  Quietly I helped Keller gather all the cleaning supplies and leave the dorm. I was so preoccupied with my own thoughts that I didn’t notice how closely he watched me.

  “Come on,” Sip finally said, skipping ahead of us. “It’s Dash time.”

  Chapter Twelve

  I’d been so preoccupied in Astra Dorm – doing yet another thing that would probably get me expelled – that I hadn’t noticed that the mist had turned to rain while we were inside. I zipped my jacket all the way up to my chin and took the umbrella from Sip. You didn’t get to use umbrellas while you were playing Dash. Sip groaned as the rain splashed down on her head. It would definitely dampen her spiky blond hair.

  As the four of us headed towards the field, we joined with lots of other students; the whole school watched the Dash competitions. Far ahead of us I could see Camilla and Cale walking arm in arm, Camilla’s pixie friends surrounding them. Kia was talking, waving her hands madly. I looked for Lough but didn’t see him anywhere.

  The Dash field was on the far side of campus. To get there we had to walk down a long hill. As the field came into view I let out a gasp. Lisabelle and Sip both grinned. Since they’d both grown up in the paranormal world they had known about Dash for years, but everything was new to me, including this insane-looking game.

  The field had been transformed. Instead of just an empty space that looked like an oversized football field, I saw magical walls of fire, bright blue mazes, massive brown structures, and huge white balls singing through the air with nothing holding them up. If one of those bright white balls were to strike a student, the best-case scenario would be that the student ended up in the Infirmary, almost, but not quite, dead. Everywhere in front of me students were milling around. Lots of students were signing in and lining up – preparing to Dash.

  Bleachers were set up along the sideline for spectators. In front of the seats was a clear glass wall. I saw students who were already sitting on the bleachers holding up their rings and pointing. To my complete shock the glass rippled, then magnified activities on the field. So, instead of having to squint through the rain to try and see participants Dashing, you could look through the glass and see the field as if it was right in front of your face.

  “Wow,” I said.

  “Yeah,” said Lisabelle, sighing in appreciation. “The joys of magic.”

  “You’re just saying that because you’re a mage,” Sip accused. She was still half-heartedly trying to cover her hair by pulling up her jacket, but she was failing miserably.

  “I can’t help it if we’re one of the more useful types of paranormals,” Lisabelle sniffed.

  Sip just rolled her eyes at me.

  “I should find Lough,” I said. “He’s probably already here.” Lough was unfailingly on time. It was borderline annoying, because if I was even two minutes late I felt guilty.

  “Cheer really loudly,” said Lisabelle. “And whatever you do don’t cheer for the vampires.”

  Lisabelle and Sip raced off to join the rest of the contestants from Airlee, waving goodbye to Keller and me as they went. I waited for Keller to leave and join Aurum Dorm, but instead he kept walking silently next to me.

  Finally, sick of the suspense, I said, “What?”

  Keller smiled. “You’re a prickly thing when people want to help you, aren’t you?”

  “I’m not prickling.”

  “Anyway,” he said, “wish me luck. See you Monday, for more time spent enriching your mind!” With a nod he headed towards the other students from Aurum Dorm. I watched until I saw him greeted with cheers and hugs, then I looked away.

  “Hey, Charlotte,” said Lough, coming up to me with what looked like a lollipop in his hand. “They’re selling them over there,” he said, seeing my eyes on the lollipop. He pointed to a tent set up along one side, adding, “In case you want one.”

  “Thanks,” I said, “Maybe later. Why aren’t you down there?”

  Lough shook his head. “I’d suck at it.”

  I looked Lough up and down. He wasn’t exactly what you’d call athletic. Not that that’s all that was needed; Dash was unpredictable and definitely magical. But it didn’t hurt if you could run fast.

  “Stuff’s pretty crazy, right?” he asked, pointing to the field.

  I nodded.

  The vampires looked dominating. Wearing all black, they lined up in front of blood red obstacles. Their rings glittered like rubies in the dull light. The fallen angels looked almost as intimidating as the vampires, dressed in dark silver; their obstacles looked strong and imposing. The pixies were a little different. Their obstacles were an array of bright colors, from pinks and purples to yellows and oranges.

  “Why are there only a couple of pixie girls competing?” I asked Lough.

  “Because they aren’t very strong,” he said. “They’re ridiculously quick, but they’re so small they have a hard time when it comes to lifting, so some of the more advanced pixie girls compete, because they can use their magic to pick stuff up, but the Starters can’t. Plus, most pixie girls are stuck up and would rather not risk breaking a nail.” Lough directed a glare Kia and Camilla’s way.

  Camilla was on the sidelines, dressed head-to-toe in the same colors as the obstacles, and holding a sign that read, “Let’s go, Volans Dorm!”

  “Let’s find a seat,” I said to Lough. “As far away from them as possible.” He saw my own glare towards the pixies and laughed.

  Lough led us to the top of the bleachers, where we had a clear view of everything. He showed me how to use the big screen in front of us. It was like turning on a TV and making the picture as big as I wanted, only this was with real people. There was no rewind, only win or go home.

  “So, the fastest dorm wins?” I asked after I’d played with the glass for a solid ten minutes while Lough looked bored.

  “Yeah,” said Lough, “and the vampires have won it the last three years in a row. The elementals used to win it, but obviously not since they all died. The fallen angels come in second, and the pixies are normally third.”

  “Airlee is that bad?” I asked. I could feel the tip of my nose starting to get cold. It always turned red when I was outside in the winter.

  Lough shrugged. “They’re mages and werewolves, not necessarily the fastest, strongest paranormals.”

  I looked at the line of Airlee students. Lisabelle and Sip were both near the middle. The two werewolves were in front. The students expected to be slower would go first, while the fastest would go at the end, so Sip and Lisabelle being in the middle was actually pretty good. Normally the older, more advanced students were at the end.

  The fallen angel line was different. Even though he was only a sophomore, Keller was so good that he was at the end of the line. He would be the last angel to compete, their last chance to win.

  Boom.

  “It’s started,” Lough yelled, jumping out of his seat.

  The first Dashers were racing into the obstacle course. I got caught up in the screams of the other students and started yelling wildly for Airlee.

  Before I knew it Sip was pelting forward. I watched in awe as she ducked and spun. The white balls that were hanging in mid-air came dangerously close to clobbering her in the head, right before a giant black board came up off the ground and tried to whack her across the back. This game was violent and dangerous. I could now see that students who participated were risking their physical and magical health, but oh, the glory if they won!

  As fire came cascading towards her, she jumped into the air. I watched in awe as she flew over the fire pit, landing easily on the other side.

  “She’s fast,” I said to Lough.

  “She’s amazing,” he answered, breathless. His eyes never left the small blond figure whirling through the air in flashes of light.

  “Yeah, Sip,” I yelled, waving my arms wildly. “Beat the vampires!”

  Several vampires around me turned to glare, baring white fangs. Tale was running the maze and they were cheering wil
dly for him. I stuck my tongue out at them. I didn’t like the vampires.

  “Do you enjoy responding like a third grader?” asked one, silkily turning around. Cascading down to her waist was hair so dark it had an almost bluish tint; it contrasted sharply with her pale skin and her smile. It was the girl who had stopped Keller the first night. Sip had said something important about her, but I couldn’t remember what it was.

  “I like to stay on my opponent’s level,” I offered.

  She snarled and started to get up, but her two companions grabbed her and stopped her.

  “Don’t you ever speak to me that way again,” she hissed, but she sat back down as she said it.

  “Nice going,” said Lough. “Piss off the vampire princess. You just can’t help yourself, can you?”

  “That’s the princess?” I hissed. Oops.

  “Yes,” said Lough. “And she’s known for being hard to anger, but of course you managed it within seconds. Normally that’s Lisabelle’s territory.”

  I grinned at Lough. “Sorry.”

  Now, Lisabelle was racing into the obstacle course. The students in the stands got quieter, not wanting to cheer, or offend, a darkness mage. Lisabelle was good, borderline exceptional – she mostly used her magic to batter the obstacle course into submission. Just how she treated her friends, I thought wryly. She got through to the end easily.

  “Yay, Lisabelle,” I yelled as loudly as I could. I thought I saw a faint smile cross her face as she walked to the back of the line, where everyone in our dorm who had already competed was sitting down.

  “They should have put her further back in line,” I said to Lough. I had to shout because the noise had picked up again.

  “Yeah, they were probably afraid to,” he answered, grinning. “They wouldn’t want to offend her either.” His nose was turning red from the rain and cold and his mop of brown hair hung limply over his head, but he didn’t seem to care. His eyes were fixed on the race, watching each competitor dart into the obstacle course.

  “They’re too far ahead,” said Lough. “It’s a race for second now.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  “The vampires only have three people left to go,” he explained. “The fallen angels and the pixies both have five.”

  And then I saw it. The next pixie to go was Cale. His red hair was damp from the rain and he pushed it off his forehead as he ran forward. Being towards the back of the line was a great honor for him. It meant that he was one of the best. Somehow I wasn’t surprised.

  I watched as he moved easily through the obstacles, dodging here and jumping there. My breath caught when he got to the part where you had to navigate through swinging black swords sparkling like they were on fire, but even that he did with ease.

  “The pixies are gaining!” cried Lough after Cale blasted through the finish line. I could see Camilla up front in total hysterics.

  I looked at the fallen angels. They were close to beating the pixies, but they’d need a miracle. I wondered if Keller was that good.

  The vampires were already done, but since no one liked the vampires the students from the other three dorms were still creating a deafening noise.

  Keller entered the course. My breath knotted painfully in my throat; I was too transfixed even to cheer. He moved fast. A lot of the other guys had been quick and strong, but at some points along the way they had stumbled and missed a step. Not Keller. He was impossibly smooth, unbelievably quick, and breathtakingly agile. In short, he’d turned the tide. If I were being honest, Cale had nothing on him. Now, everyone in the arena was cheering for him. He was gaining on the last pixie, the senior Kevin, but Kevin was almost to the end. If he got there before Keller, the pixies would beat the fallen angels; they’d be in second place for Dash.

  The last part of the course was an obstacle course. Inside it were countless false leads and traps. Keller moved into it when Kevin was almost out, but just before Kevin had found his way out, a gush of smoke popped up in front of him. Disoriented, he took a wrong turn.

  Keller got to the part where there was smoke, but he blew right through it. Without hesitation he was out of the course. Keller crossed the finish line first.

  Instantly a chant of “Keller, Keller” broke out. The vampires looked pissed, the pixies even worse. All of the Airlee students were cheering for Aurum. Even though our team hadn’t finished – we still had three people to go through the course – we were glad to see the fallen angels defeat the pixies.

  Other Aurum Dorm kids surrounded Keller. He was hoisted into the air and a fresh wave of cheering broke out. In the midst of it all one of the vampires called out, “They didn’t even win!” Everyone ignored him.

  I looked to where the professors sat in a covered box. Professor Zervos looked furious, which was becoming a familiar look for him. The President, whose expression never changed, might have looked pleased.

  Even as I sat there watching Aurum Dorm celebrate, a bad feeling washed over me. At first I just ignored it. When a chill ran down my spine, making me shiver, I looked around, but no one else seemed to notice the sudden coldness. I wondered, if the lights had been on, whether they would have flickered. I wondered if I could feel the bleacher floor if it were to tremble.

  “Hey, I’m cold,” I said. “I think I’ll go congratulate Lisabelle and Sip.”

  “Alright,” said Lough. “I’ll catch up with you.”

  I nodded and started to move through the crowd. I saw Camilla and her friends Tania and Kia making their way to where Cale was standing. He had a towel wrapped around his shoulders and a scowl wrapped around his face. I wasn’t sure why I was so pleased that the pixies had lost to the fallen angels. I thought it was just because of Camilla being evil and had nothing to do with Keller, but of course the best lies are the ones you tell yourself.

  Sip and Lisabelle were standing together, still at the end of the obstacle course.

  “What did you think?” asked Sip excitedly, coming up to me.

  “You were great,” I said. “And that leaping? The crowd loved it!”

  “Thanks,” said Sip, a faint blush spreading across her cheeks.

  “We all looked ridiculous,” said Lisabelle.

  “What do you mean?” asked Sip. “You did it too.”

  “Yeah, my sisters told me I had to try it. Now I have and I’m glad it’s over.”

  “You mean you aren’t going to do it next month?” asked Sip.

  “Monkeys will be ice skating in hell before I do that again,” said Lisabelle, stalking off.

  “She’s happy,” I said.

  Sip grinned at me.

  “Let’s get dinner,” I said.

  “I need to shower first. I’ll meet you there,” she said. We started walking back towards our dorm together. Dash had gone on so long that the light had started to fade.

  We were just reaching the door of Airlee when something in the distance caught my eye. I turned my head quickly to look. Far away, past the field and the lake Lisabelle and Sip had taken me to look at, was the tree line. Silhouetted against the woods was a large dark figure. It was a big black dog, its red eyes burning into me.

  I started to cry out, to tell Sip to look, but the next time I blinked the dog had vanished.

  Chapter Thirteen

  After that first Saturday of cleaning at Astra and watching Dash, my days took on a pattern. Weekdays were spent going to class and studying. Weekends were spent cleaning and watching Dash. The one big rule on campus was no alcohol. Paranormals who drank tended to do strange and dangerous things, and the professors forbade it even to students who were twenty-one. Between my studying and my tutoring, I didn’t have much time for fun anyway.

  After I’d been at Public a week I got an e-mail from Ricky. It simply said: Dear Charlotte, thanks so much for writing. I really appreciate being kept up with everything you’re doing. It all sounds fascinating. Ricky.

  After that, every Saturday or Sunday I would sit down to write him an e-mail.
Hearing from him was always one of the highlights of my week.

  The other issue I had was that Camilla and her pixie friends were everywhere I turned. Sometimes I would feel eyes on me, and when I’d look up Camilla would be glaring at me. Whenever her friends had the chance, they blocked my path. If I walked by, they’d stick their feet out to try and trip me. One time I was walking past Professor Zervos in the library and Kia, Camilla’s right hand crony, stuck her foot out and I went flying. I was sure Professor Zervos saw, but he just turned away.

  And I could forget about hanging out with Cale. If I so much as looked in his direction every pixie around would surround him, blocking him from my view. There was no way I’d get to talk to him. When I had first seen him I had been excited that I would already know someone at Public, but as it turned out it would have been better if I hadn’t known him at all. The pixies might have disliked me even if I hadn’t known Cale for years and hung out with him the first week I was there, but they might not have hated me the way they did. Still, it was too late now.

  One time Camilla spilled her juice in the dining hall and ordered me to clean it up. She said I had to because I was the Probationer. Even Cale, who was sitting with her, looked a little uncomfortable that time.

  “What she’s doing isn’t right,” said Sip one night in the library.

  “No, it isn’t,” Lisabelle agreed. “You should deal with her, Charlotte.”

  “I still haven’t done any magic,” I pointed out. There had now been three weeks of school. All the other Starters were in the classes particular to their paranormal power. I went to the class for mages, but only because the professors didn’t know what else to do with me. I didn’t miss home, but I missed Ricky. E-mail just wasn’t the same. I had known normal college would be very different from high school, less class time, more freedom, but magic college was something else entirely.

  To make matters worse, there was Keller. Every day I had a tutoring session with him. Instead of becoming a friend, like I had hoped he would, he was all about studying. He never said anything extra; he just pelted with me questions about the history of paranormals. Besides, every time I saw him on campus he was surrounded by girls. Ever since he’d done so well at Dash, everyone wanted to talk to him and hang out with him. A girl actually came up and told me I was lucky to spend time with him every day.