“Hugs are for wimps.” Alba started towards the quad. “Come on, let’s go see where everybody is.”
Reign looked at Sweets as the crowd moved away. “Your name is Mildred?”
Sweets nodded and let out a giggle.
The quad was just as empty as the auditorium had been, and we hadn’t seen a single student coming or going, making us all even more curious about what time in history we gone back to.
“Maybe we should try Sorceress Stone’s office,” said Cinder.
“Good idea,” said Alba.
Seconds later, we discovered Sorceress Stone’s office to be locked. The secretary’s door was open, but the lights were off.
“Maybe everyone’s in class,” I said with a shrug.
Sweets pointed down the hallway towards the kitchen. “Let’s see if the cooks are here. If they’re cooking, then we know someone’s here.”
“Yeah, Sweets has a point.” I led us down the hallway.
The kitchen door was open. The lights were on, and we could hear the sound of a crackling radio station spilling out. Pots and pans clanged as if someone were cooking.
“Well, at least we know someone’s here,” whispered Sweets. “I was beginning to think this was a ghost town!”
“Me too,” agreed Libby.
“Well, then, where are all the people?” yelled an exasperated Alba. Her voice reverberated down the hallway.
Suddenly, a head popped out of the kitchen. “What are you kids doing here?” said a stout woman with a curly gray mop of hair on top of her head. Her eyes flicked up to look at Reign and her breath caught in her throat. “And men aren’t allowed on this side of campus!”
“We’re students here,” said Libby.
“And he’s my brother,” I said, pointing at Reign. “He just came to visit.”
“Visit?!” breathed the woman, her hand on her chest. “It’s summertime! Students aren’t allowed on campus during the summer!”
Summertime?
“Oh, yeah,” said Alba, nodding her head as if she were playing along. “We know. We just forgot, umm…”
“My bracelet!” chimed in Holly. She showed the woman the gold bracelet on her wrist. “I must have lost it during class. We came back to look for it. Reign gave us a ride. We were just showing him around.”
That seemed to relax the woman. “I see. Well, you better go before the Great Witches Council sees you. Men aren’t allowed on campus, and neither are students during the summer.”
Alba looked around curiously. “The Great Witches Council is here? In the summertime?”
“Yes, they’re having a special meeting.”
My eyes widened. “A special meeting? About what?”
“Oh, that isn’t any of our business, now is it?” The woman winced, like she regretted even mentioning that the Council was on campus.
“Sure, it’s none of our business,” agreed Alba. Then she glanced towards Sorceress Stone’s office and, hooking a thumb over her shoulder, she looked at the cook curiously. “Hey, uh, is Sorceress…”
“Oh, no, she’s long gone,” said the cook is a hushed voice, before Alba could even finish her sentence.
“Gone?!” said Sweets.
The cook lowered her voice. “But you didn’t hear it from me.”
“Hear what from you?” I said with a reassuring smile.
The cook pointed at me and smiled. “Exactly! Because the minute it gets around that the Institute is up for sale is the minute that all hell breaks loose.”
“For sale!” breathed Holly. “The Institute is for sale?!”
The cook’s eyes widened. “Oh, shoot! Do you remember what I said? You didn’t hear it from me!”
“Hear what from you?” I repeated.
She nodded and pointed at me again. “Exactly! Now, I need to be going. I have to finish lunch for the Council. They’ll be coming out of their executive session anytime now.” She shooed us along. “You all better get going before they see you!” After she’d disappeared in the kitchen, she stuck her head out one last time. “And don’t forget—you didn’t hear any of that from me!”
Alba waved us on. “This way,” she whispered, leading us back down the hallway towards the Winston Hall lobby. There, we regrouped by the doors to the quad.
“So the Institute is for sale!” said Cinder.
“Obviously we know who buys it,” I said as my brother wandered away. “Sorceress Stone buys it. Why else would time take us back here?”
Alba shook her head. “I don’t know. That’s what we’re here to figure out.”
“Hey, girls,” said Reign, standing next to the corkboard that held all of the club and extracurricular announcements. “Look at this!” He pointed up at some framed pictures above the corkboard. “It’s SaraLynn.”
Rushing to his side, I followed his finger to see a professional portrait of a younger Sorceress Stone amongst a row of other portraits. Sorceress Stone wasn’t as young as she’d been when we’d seen her as a student, but she was younger than we now knew her to be.
“We had pictures hanging up in our present-day dorms too,” said Sweets. “They’re of our teachers. I bet these are all teachers here now!”
“You’re really on top of your game today, aren’t you, Sweets?” said Alba, rolling her eyes.
I gave Alba an elbow to the ribs while Holly pointed at another portrait. “Look! It’s Poppy Ellabee!”
My brows lifted. “She looks so young!” Poppy’s hair was styled shorter, in a bob cut, and she wore a prim blouse with lace around the collar, but she still had the same friendly smile on her face.
“Poppy told us that she and Sorceress Stone had been colleagues,” said Sweets.
Alba’s brows lowered. “Did we ask her why she stopped working at the Institute?”
I shook my head. “I don’t think we did.”
Holly nodded. “Yeah, I’m sure we didn’t. That would have been a good question to have asked.”
“Well, we’ll put that on our list of follow-up questions to ask when we get back to the present,” said Alba. “For now, we need to find Sorceress Stone and see what she’s up to. There has to be some kind of clue here.”
“The Council meeting,” said Reign. “Maybe we should see what the special meeting is about. Maybe that’s the clue.”
I lifted my shoulder and looked at Alba. “He could be right. It’s worth checking out.”
“We don’t even know where they’re meeting.”
“The teachers’ lounge seems like a pretty good place to start,” said Libby.
“Fine,” grumbled Alba. “Maybe we’ll bump into Stone along the way.”
22
The low hum of voices in the teachers’ lounge rolled down the long hallway, hitting our ears before we’d even gotten there. Alba stood with her ear to the door for several long seconds as we all looked at her expectantly.
Finally, I whispered, “Well?”
Alba held a finger to her lips and shushed me, trying harder to hear. Finally, she stepped away, shaking her head. “It’s like I’m listening to Charlie Brown’s teacher in there. I can’t make out anything. Maybe we should go listen outside the window again.”
“No. I tried to hear what Sorceress Stone was saying when we were up there, but you can’t hear anything through the glass. I mean, obviously we’d be able to see what’s happening, but we won’t have any idea what they’re talking about.”
Alba ran a hand through her short brown hair, tugging lightly at the roots. “Ugh!”
Cinder frowned too as she stared at the wall that separated us from the Council. On it hung the same bulletin board that had been there the day before, when we’d grilled each of the current Council members. She fingered it lightly and then glanced over at her sister. “Help me out, Lib?”
Libby nodded at her.
Cinder held her arms out on either side of herself while looking at the rest of us. “Stand back.”
“What?” Alba lowered her brows. “Wh
at are you doing?”
Cinder shooed her back. “Just get back. You’ll see.”
We all scooted back, except Libby. Instead of scooting back with the rest of us, she took hold of her sister’s hand. With their free hands, each of them put a palm on the bulletin board, and then they began to chant.
Piece of wood upon the wall,
Show us what’s behind.
Let us see, let us hear,
Those that are confined.
In a low murmur, the duo recited the chant over and over until finally, the bulletin board became a one-way window.
Alba’s mouth gaped as she stared at the results of their spell. “Cool! I need to remember that one. Can they see us?”
Cinder quirked a brow. “Would I do it if they could see us?”
Alba smiled. “True.”
As we turned our eyes onto the Council inside, it became immediately apparent that once again, they weren’t the same members we’d met the day before, nor were they the same Council members that had been on stage when Sorceress Stone was Jax’s age. Their ages varied. Two were older ladies, but three of them looked a bit younger.
One of them had short blond hair and wore a dress and heels. She stood at the head of the table. “Is there any discussion on the subject?”
One of the older witches raised a hand. “Sorceress Richardson, if you will, it is my opinion that Sorceress Ellabee has proven to be a commendable teacher and an excellent role model for up-and-coming witches. I have full confidence in her ability to run the Institute fairly and to teach our young witches the morals and ethics necessary to practice magic in today’s society. I fully support the Council’s acceptance of her bid to purchase the Paranormal Institute.”
“Thank you, Sorceress Villanueva. Is there any other discussion?”
Another hand went up. This time it was one of the younger witches, perhaps in her late twenties or early thirties. “I’ll be completely honest here. While I appreciate the kind of teacher that Sorceress Ellabee is, I am concerned about the amount of her bid. I feel that it’s fairly low in consideration of what the buyout of the previous headmistress amounted to. I feel that we could get a fair amount more if we held out a little longer.”
“I understand your concern, Sorceress Hicks,” said yet another member, “but we’re already in a bind. With Sorceress Klatworthy leaving the Institute in such a rush, she left us little time to do a proper candidate search. I feel that Sorceress Ellabee’s offer is low, yes, but as Sorceress Villanueva mentioned, she’s a wonderful candidate and, if given the opportunity, would do great things with the Institute.”
Sorceress Hicks spoke again. “I don’t disagree with that statement. I readily believe that Sorceress Ellabee would do great things with the Institute. I just feel that if we held out a little longer—”
Sorceress Villanueva clucked her tongue. “Sorceress Hicks, money isn’t everything. I’m afraid that by holding out for a higher bid, we’ll offend Sorceress Ellabee, and she’ll pull her offer. Then the Council will be left holding the bag! I hereby make a motion to vote on Poppy Ellabee’s bid to purchase the Paranormal Institute.”
Sorceress Richardson, the woman who seemed to be chairing the meeting, lifted her brows. “I see. Do I hear a second on that motion?”
Sorceress Hicks raised a hand before anyone else could speak. “I would appreciate it very much if we could hold off on a second and a vote until after we’ve had lunch. I’m quite hungry, and I’d like to give this whole thing a little more thought before casting my vote.”
Other heads around the table bobbed up and down.
Sorceress Richardson nodded. “Very well, we’ll resume this conversation after we’ve had lunch. Do I hear a motion to recess for lunch?”
Sorceress Hicks raised her hand. “Sorceress Richardson, I move to recess for lunch.”
Sorceress Villanueva raised her hand. “I second that motion.”
Sorceress Richardson nodded. “Very well, we are hereby recessed for lunch. We will meet again in an hour. Lunch will be served in the cafeteria.”
Chairs around the table screeched across the floor as they were scooted back.
“They’re coming!” hissed Alba. “We’ve gotta get outta here before someone sees us!”
Libby and Cinder released their hold on the window, and it immediately reverted back to being a bulletin board. Without another word, the seven of us raced down the hallway to the stairwell as if the devil himself was hot on our tail.
While the Council went to the cafeteria for lunch, the seven of us found a secluded spot beneath a scarlet oak tree in back of the Canterbury Building to hide out until their meeting resumed.
Reign dropped his backpack on the grass and plopped down next to it, leaning his back against a tree trunk. “Well, we’ve got an hour to kill, we might as well have lunch too.”
Sweets nodded and looked at Reign’s bag with interest. “Exactly what I was thinking.” She rubbed her hands together in front of herself excitedly. “What did you bring?”
“Nothing fancy, just chicken club wraps. It’s something new I’m trying.” He pulled out little individually wrapped bundles and handed them out. “I brought some chips too if anyone wants some.”
Sweets’ eyes widened as she pulled the cling wrap off of her tortilla and lifted one of the halves to inspect it. “Wow, this looks amazing! Where did you learn to cook?”
“Funny enough, YouTube and cooking shows. Is it weird that I’m obsessed with Rachael Ray?”
Sweets giggled. “I don’t think so. I happen to be a fan of hers too.”
Holly wrinkled her nose as she picked at the wrap she’d just opened. “Who’s Rachael Ray?”
“You’ve never heard of Rachel Ray?” breathed Sweets.
Holly wilted slightly. “No, is she like a supermodel or something?”
Reign chuckled. “Not so much. She’s got a cooking show.”
“Oh,” said Holly with a small voice.
Sweets closed her eyes as she savored the taste of her first bite. “Mmm. Is there avocado in this? And bacon?”
“Yeah, I found a really great recipe online. I think we’re going to add these to the menu at Habernackle’s, but first I thought I’d try them out on you girls. What do you think?”
Alba stuffed her mouth. “It’s good.”
“Really good, bro,” I agreed through a mouthful.
Libby and Cinder both nodded too as they chewed.
“Thank you,” said Libby.
Only Holly didn’t eat.
“Something wrong, Holly?” asked Reign. “You don’t like chicken wraps?”
Holly scrunched up her nose. I knew she was torn. She wanted to eat what Reign had made for her and not look picky in front of her crush, but his wraps had avocado in them, and back in November, we’d discovered that Holly didn’t like avocado when our dorm had had guac and chips at our Dia de los Muertes party. “Oh, no. I like chicken wraps.”
“Cosmo doesn’t like avocado,” said Alba while licking sauce off her fingers after having devoured the first half of her wrap.
“Alba!” snapped Holly, her eyes wide and her face flushed. “I do too like avocado.”
“Oh yeah? Then what’s the problem?”
We all stared at her then. Holly’s face burned even redder. “There’s no problem. I’m just not really that hungry.”
“You don’t have to eat it if you’re not hungry,” said my brother with a shrug. “I can put it back in the bag and you can eat it later if you want.”
“I think she should eat it now,” taunted Alba. “We won’t have time for a break later.”
“Alba, leave her alone,” I said under my breath.
“I know she’s hungry. She barely ate any breakfast.”
Holly glanced up at Reign furtively. His hand was extended to take the wrap from her. “No, I’ll eat it now,” she said in a little voice.
Reign held out the bag of barbecue chips he’d brought along. “Want some chips?”<
br />
She shook her head as she stared at the food in her hand. “No, thanks.” Finally, Holly put the wrap to her mouth and took a tiny nibble.
Satisfied that she’d tried his wrap, Reign smiled at her. “What do you think?”
Holly nodded, her lips pressed together in a tight smile. “It’s good.”
“So now that we have a minute to talk about what we just saw, does anyone have a prediction about what’s going to happen in there?” I asked in an effort to take all the attention and watchful eyes off of Holly.
“Isn’t it obvious?” said Cinder. “Sorceress Stone snuck in somehow with a better bid.”
I was fairly confident that Cinder was right. I nodded.
“Unless Poppy bought the place and Stone bought it from her later,” said Alba.
Holly cleared her throat.
I shook my head. “I don’t think so. When we interviewed Poppy, she said that they were colleagues before Sorceress Stone ran the place. She didn’t say anything about her being Sorceress Stone’s boss. I think somehow Sorceress Stone came in with a late offer that was better than Poppy’s. It’s got to be what happened.”
Holly let out a funny little cough.
Sweets, who was sitting next to her, leaned over. “You alright, Hol?”
Holly’s face was redder than it had been only seconds ago, and her lips looked kind of puffy like she’d gotten a fat lip. “I…” She touched her hand to her throat and let out another wheezy sounding cough.
Sweets scrambled to her knees. “Are you choking?”
Holly shook her head, her mouth opened and closed, but only a weak sound came out as she patted her throat again.
“Oh, jeez, Cosmo. You’re laying it on kinda thick, don’tcha think?”
“Alba, I don’t think she’s faking,” said Sweets. “What’s the matter, Holly?”
Holly’s brows bunched together as her mouth hung open. She looked like she was choking.
“Holly, this isn’t funny. You could have just admitted that you don’t like avocados,” I said, my heart beating a little faster.
Holly shook her head. Her eyes were wide, and suddenly I could tell she wasn’t joking. And then it hit me.
The Witch Within Page 16
