Paranormal Academy Book 1: Magic 101

by Jody Morse

  Something about this just didn’t seem right. Something was… off, but I just couldn’t seem to put a finger on what it was.

  “Hey, I really need to get going. But I’ll see you tomorrow morning, alright?”

  “Oh. Yeah. Of course,” I replied, forcing a small smile at him.

  I watched as he headed for the House of Mage. He looked like he was about to go inside, but he didn’t.

  Instead, he headed off down the trail that led in the direction of Enchanted Forest, leading me to wonder where, exactly, he was going.

  ***

  “I have a question,” I told Ambur and Draia.

  “What is it?”

  “Well… I was just wondering. I know we’re not supposed to go past the front gate, but are we allowed to go to the Enchanted Forest? It’s technically not past the gate, even though it’s kind of far.”

  “Absolutely not. It’s completely forbidden for students to go there,” Draia replied, shaking her head.

  “Didn’t you read your student handbook?” Ambur asked with raised eyebrows.

  Oh. That pamphlet Headmaster Crane had given me to read.

  “No, I haven’t gotten around to it yet,” I replied, shaking my head.

  “One of the main rules around here is that we’re not allowed to go to the Enchanted Forest without faculty supervision,” Ambur explained. “It’s really dangerous.”

  “Dangerous how?” I was sort of surprised. It hadn’t looked like anything more than a quiet forest to me.

  “A lot of strange things have happened there,” Draia replied. She lowered her voice. “Any time a student has ever gone into the Enchanted Forest alone, they haven’t come out alive.”

  A knot tightened in my stomach. I wondered if Kaden knew about this. He had to have known that the rule existed, considering every member of his family had gone to school here.

  I was probably wrong. Just because it had looked like he had been going off in that direction didn’t mean he actually was. At least, I hoped.

  “Why?” Ambur questioned as she cracked open a bottle of sparkling water. “Were you thinking of taking someone there to make out?”

  “No.” I laughed. “I was just curious. I like the outdoors a lot, so I thought it might be a good place to go hiking,” I replied with a shrug, as I twirled spaghetti on my fork.

  Of course, that was a lie, but I wasn’t about to admit that I was asking because of Kaden or that I had been spending time with him, even though I was pretty sure that they would inevitably find out. At some point, they were bound to see us talking around campus or the Rumor Factory would let them know that we’d been hanging out together in the garden. There was no way that this could forever be kept a secret—especially for someone like me, who was already the source of plenty of gossip around here.

  Now I was curious about where Kaden actually had gone.

  The strangest part about it all was that I didn’t even see him in the cafeteria. He wasn’t eating at the table I’d seen him at this morning. I actually didn’t see him anywhere, which made me think that he hadn’t come to dinner at all.

  “Did you hear about what happened to Katie Klein?” Draia asked, turning to Ambur.

  “No, what happened?” she asked.

  “A raven got her.”

  “I watched it happen,” I chimed in. “It was really scary.”

  “You were in the courtyard when it happened?” Draia glanced over at me, wide-eyed. “I wondered where you went after classes ended.”

  “Yeah. It just came down and grabbed her.” I shuddered at the memory. “Does that happen a lot around here?”

  “It’s happened twice since our first year,” Ambur explained. “First, they got this kid Tommy. But he was a bit of a jerk, so no one cared.”

  “Ambur! It’s not good to speak ill of the dead like that,” Draia said.

  “Well, he was,” she replied, rolling her hazel eyes. “Don’t you remember that time when he spilled your potion in class so you wouldn’t be able to hand it in on time and he would have the best potion?”

  “Don’t remind me. He was a bit of a jerk,” Draia agreed, “but that doesn’t mean no one cared.”

  “Then there was this girl Sammie who also got taken by one of the ravens,” Ambur went on. “That happened last semester, so it seems like these raven snatchings are starting to come closer together.” She paused and then said the same thing I was thinking. “I hope these ravens don’t try to snatch one of us.”

  “I’d like to see a raven try to put its dirty little talons on me,” Draia said. “I can assure that it won’t get very far.”

  “How? I mean you could kick it with your stilettos, but that won’t help if you’re wearing your uniform,” Ambur said. She paused. “Do you have a spell for this or something?”

  “No, but I do have this.” Draia pulled a keychain, which was attached to a little tube, out of her bag. “There’s one here for each of us.” She handed two matching keychains to me and Ambur.

  “What is this?” I asked, as my eyes found the label.

  Demon Spray: designed to keep the demons, ravens, werewolves and all other unwanted paranormal beings away.

  “It’s just like pepper spray,” Draia explained. “Pepper spray doesn’t work on paranormal beings, so we have to use this instead.” She then said in a lowered voice, “Put it away. It’s not allowed on school grounds. Just know that if you ever find yourself face-to-face with a raven—or just about any other dangerous paranormal being—all you need to do is shoot some of this in their face.”

  “You are so bad! How did you get this?” Ambur stared at hers like she had just laid hands on a huge block of gold or something super valuable.

  “My brother got it for me,” Draia explained. “He sent it in his monthly care package.” She glanced over at me. “My brother, Omar, graduated from the Academy last year, but he sends me things I might need or stuff for fun every month.”

  “What other goodies did he send you?” Ambur questioned.

  Before Draia had a chance to respond, I noticed a guy with short light brown hair standing at the end of our table.

  “Hey, Ambur.”

  As she glanced up at him, a huge blush blossomed on her cheeks. “Oh, Gavin. Hey!”

  “I was just wondering… are you going to the Halloween dance?” Gavin asked.

  “I don’t know. I haven’t really thought about it. It’s a month away.” She shrugged.

  He seemed to hesitate for a moment before saying, “Well, would you want to go to it together?”

  I watched Ambur’s eyes widen from behind her glasses. “Together? Like… a date?”

  “Yeah.” He nodded.

  “Really? Are you sure?” she questioned, as Draia shot her a look that said what-are-you-doing-girl? But Ambur was way too wrapped up in Gavin to even notice.

  “Yeah. I mean, if you want.”

  “Of course I want!” Ambur beamed.

  “Okay. Cool.” He smiled back at her. “I need to get going, but I’ll talk to you later.”

  As he walked away from the table, Ambur turned to us.

  “You guys. Did I actually just say, ‘Of course I want’?” She looked completely horrified at her own words.

  “You kinda did,” Draia replied.

  “You definitely did,” I agreed.

  “Ugh. I sounded like such a loser.” Ambur covered her eyes with her hand and shook her head.

  “But think about what this means,” Draia said. “Gavin has never asked anyone out, well, ever.”

  Ambur glanced over at her. “So, what does it mean?”

  “He must really like you,” she replied.

  “I didn’t even know there was a Halloween dance,” I commented.

  “Oh, yeah. Halloween is a super important celebration in the paranormal word. It’s said to be the one night of the year our magic is more powerful than ever, so you can imagine all of the magical energy this Academy is just filled with on Halloween. There’s always
a huge dance—sort of like Homecoming in the human world—and then we get an entire week off from classes to celebrate,” Draia explained.

  “It’s a major deal around here,” Ambur added. “Which makes it even crazier that Gavin just asked me to go with him.”

  I glanced over at Draia. “Do you have a date to the dance yet?”

  “Nope. And I already decided that if I go to the dance this year, which is looking like a pretty big if, I’ll be going it alone. There’s way less drama that way.”

  “You have to go to the dance,” Ambur insisted. “No one just stays in their dorm room on Halloween. Don’t be lame, Ondraia.”

  As the two of them went on to argue about it, I found myself wondering if Kaden would want to go to the dance with me, but I didn’t want to be the one to ask him. If he wanted to go with me, he would ask me. Considering all of his family members had gone to Paranormal Academy, he obviously knew what a big deal this was.

  A part of me couldn’t help but think that this would be the true test of whether or not he actually had feelings for me. If the dance was as big of deal as my roommates made it out to be, then Kaden would ask me to go with him. If not, then I was probably just imagining whatever there seemed to be between us.

  Of course, this was all assuming that Kaden hadn’t gone off into the Enchanted Forest alone.

  It was assuming that he wasn’t dead.

  Chapter 10

  After dinner, I headed back to our dorm with Ambur and Draia. As we passed the cobblestone path that led to the Enchanted Forest, I fought the urge to go off looking for Kaden. I was sure that he was probably safe and sound inside his own dorm room.

  At least, I hoped.

  “I think I’m gonna take a shower before you guys steal all the hot water,” Draia said as we set foot in our room.

  “Okay. It’s time for my nightly recharge, anyway.” Ambur glanced over at me. “Fairies have so much pent up energy that we have to recharge every two to three days,” she explained.

  “How do you recharge?” I asked with raised eyebrows.

  “We have to lay down for about an hour and just turn off all our thoughts,” she explained. “It’s basically the fairy version of meditating. But, um, it needs to be done in a quiet room.” She shot me a pointed look.

  “Oh. I’ll just read my student handbook finally and not make any noise,” I told her.

  “Don’t flip the pages too loudly,” she said, shooting me a half-joking look.

  “I won’t,” I promised.

  “Good.” As she settled onto her bed and Draia closed the door to the bathroom, I grabbed the student handbook from my dresser and laid down on the bed.

  I quietly opened it and began to pour over the pages.

  Welcome to Paranormal Academy, a boarding school for the world’s most elite witches, fairies, vampires, shifters, and other paranormal beings.

  Congratulations. You have been chosen to attend our paranormal training facility because it was determined that you were the best fit for our individualized programs. This is based on a number of factors, including, but not limited to, your bloodline.

  As with any other boarding school, there are expectations and standards our students most follow. Paranormal Academy is the finest boarding school in the world. Please take a moment to review some of our rules and guidelines.

  Student Responsibilities – It is the student’s responsibility to attend all classes, unless arrangements are made with the course instructor and/or the Headmaster. While exceptions are made in the event of injury and illness, students are expected to complete, and pass, all coursework. Failure to do so may cause the student to be held back a year or may result in academic probation.

  Dress Code – All students are expected to adhere to our dress code. Uniforms will be provided, free of charge. Students are allowed to wear their hair or makeup however they would like. It is recommended that students do not wear jewelry, especially family heirlooms or the jewelry exchanged between mates. All students may wear whatever they choose during the weekends or after school.

  Extracurricular Activities – We encourage all students to get involved in extracurricular activities during each year of their education. Students must perform well academically in order to remain in extracurricular activities. Extracurricular activities are offered by each House. Students are not allowed to join any secret clubs or societies that are ill-intentioned. If it has been determined that the student has joined a club like this, he or she may face suspension or expulsion. This will be determined on a case by case basis.

  Curfew – All students must return to their Houses by 9 p.m. on weekdays and 11 p.m. on weekends. Students who choose not to abide by this rule risk detention or suspension. This is for the student’s own safety.

  Anti-Bullying Policy – Interaction between paranormal races is not required, but it is highly encouraged. You will be attending classes with many students from other races, so it is important for you to get along. Make friends and be kind to one another! We do not tolerate fighting, bullying, harassment, intimidation, or any other form of uncivil contact or action between paranormal races.

  Interhouse Mingling Policy – For their own safety, students from the House of Mage, House of Were, House of Crimson, and House of Water are not allowed to have ANY interaction with students from the House of Darkness. Furthermore, students from the House of Darkness must not initiate contact with students from any of the other houses and are limited to their own House’s extracurricular activities and are restricted to their own courtyard, located in the center of the House of Darkness. Failure of any student to follow this rule may result in suspension or expulsion. While we do not promote segregation between paranormal races, this rule is in place for the safety of all students. NO EXCEPTIONS will be made.

  Abuse of Magical Abilities or Powers – Students are not to use their magical abilities or powers in any harmful way against another student or faculty member. Doing so may result in suspension or expulsion. Students are allowed to use magic when it is used for the greater good or to help one another on campus.

  Student/Faculty Dating Policy – Under no circumstances are students at Paranormal Academy allowed to carry on a romantic relationship with a member with the faculty or staff. This is to prevent students from having an unfair advantage on their paranormal training. Additionally, it is also to prevent instructors from abusing their authority. Such a relationship can result in expulsion for the student and termination of employment of the faculty member. The only exception to this rule is if it can be proven that the student and faculty member are mates. In this case, the Headmaster must be notified immediately and an appropriate course of action will be determined.

  Removal of Powers – We reserve the right to remove your magical powers or revert you to a human state at any point in time. Please note that this is not a decision that we take lightly. If there is due cause for removal of powers, the student will go before a jury of faculty members to determine if this action should be taken. The Headmaster reserves the right to use his or her own discretion, however.

  That last policy made a knot tighten in my stomach. They could just remove our powers at any time if they wanted to, which both surprised me and sort of disgusted me. I hadn’t realized how much power the Academy had over us. It didn’t seem even the slightest bit fair.

  I also wondered what was considered “due cause” for removal of powers. It obviously wasn’t just using our magic against another student or faculty member, since the policies stated that would result in suspension or expulsion.

  As I quietly flipped through the rest of the pages, I found myself unable to concentrate. This was all so much to take in.

  The fact that I was attending the Paranormal Academy at all still felt so… unreal. I wasn’t sure when this all would stop feeling like some sort of crazy dream.

  And to top it off, I still couldn’t get over the fact that no one even knew what I was. Witch. Fairy. Werewolf.

  Imag
ine I somehow ended up surprising everyone and turned out to be a vampire. Because that was about the type of luck I seemed to have.

  Except, there was no way I was just a vampire. If I was, I wouldn’t have had a familiar—assuming that Spike actually was a familiar—and a possible affinity for fire.

  At that moment, Ambur sat up in bed and glanced over at me. “Are you… okay?”

  “Yeah, why do you ask?” I questioned.

  “I just feel so much negative energy in this room right now. It’s actually making it difficult for me to recharge. Fairies are empaths, so our energy is affected by the energy that surrounds us,” she explained. “And I get this feeling that this negative energy is coming from you.”

  “Sorry. I’m just really stressed out,” I explained. “I hate not knowing what I am.”

  “I get it. That must be so strange. How do they even expect you to benefit from your classes if you don’t even know what you are?” Ambur asked.

  “Exactly.” I sat up in bed. “What if I’m not even taking the right classes?”

  “Um, girl, did you see what you did with that fire this afternoon?” Draia asked as she came back into the bedroom. “You are right where you need to be.”

  “What did she do with fire?” Ambur looked confused.

  “Oh, I forgot to tell you about it. Juliana nearly caught the whole room on fire. You should have seen the look on Professor Tate’s face.” Draia glanced over at me. “What did he want to talk to you about, anyway?”

  “He wants to do some one-on-one instructions,” I explained. “He thinks I might have an affinity for fire.”

  “I’m jealous,” Draia said. “I would kill to get some one-on-one instruction from him.”

  “He is nice to look at,” I admitted. “Not that it matters. The school has a strict student/faculty dating policy.”