Cauldron of Ash

by Dorothy Dreyer

  It seemed as if we were waiting for hours before Principal Grayson finally came in. She marched in with squared shoulders and her lips in a straight line. She went promptly behind her desk and pulled out a large binder.

  “Miss Lattner has informed me of the incident in the kitchens. I’m sorry to announce that Christine is no longer with us.”

  Tears flowed down my face. I wrapped my arms around myself, barely able to speak. “No. No! She’s dead?”

  Principal Grayson took a deep breath. In that small moment, I could see the sorrow in her eyes. But as quickly as it came, she seemed to push it away.

  “This is, of course, awful news and very tragic. The worst possible thing that could happen, and there will have to be repercussions. Not just for those directly involved, but also for the school.”

  “I’m so sorry,” Laurel said, her high-pitched voice barely audible over her sobs.

  “I’m afraid we cannot let it sit unattended, however. We must find out all the details of the predicament now, while it’s fresh in your minds. It is customary that I allow you each to say your part so that we have the full story. So which one of you wants to speak first?”

  “Principal Grayson,” Laurel said, her lips quivering. “I’m so so sorry. I didn’t mean to do it. I didn’t have any control. It just... It just happened.”

  “It wasn’t her,” I said, jumping in. “It was me. The fire came from my hands.”

  Principal Grayson looked between us. Her eyes narrowed and she let out a curt breath. “Well, I don’t think I’ve ever encountered two people claiming responsibility. I’m not sure who to blame. Killian, what did you see?”

  “Principal Grayson, I’m not going to be a big help. I’m afraid I didn’t see the source of the flame. I only saw the explosion, and when the smoke cleared, Christine was on the ground. I’m sorry. I wish I could say I saw more.”

  “Yes, well,” she studied him, her mouth drawn down at the corners. “I appreciate your honesty.”

  “The only thing I can think of,” Killian continued, “was that only one of the girls has been known to cause destruction with fire.”

  My jaw dropped. I wanted to argue. I knew it wasn’t Laurel; it was me. Even though I’d only ever accidentally killed using powers that turned someone into ash, I knew this was my doing. But Laurel nodded, bursting into tears.

  We couldn’t understand what she was saying, but her body language suggested she was admitting guilt.

  I turned to Killian, not able to grasp the fact that he was blaming Laurel. I was sure he’d seen the flame come from my hands. Why would he lie? Why would he protect me? He and Laurel were friends—if not more, from what I could gather. Why would he throw her under the bus like this?

  “Well, I will have to do some more investigating,” Principal Grayson said. “I would like the three of you to go directly to your rooms and wait for my instructions. I will have to call your family and report the incident. We wouldn’t want word to get out about this. Goodness knows there have been families in the past who sold this kind of information to the press, and it was a nightmare getting it all under control. We’re going to have to address this with careful consideration.”

  The three of us stood in silence as she scrutinized us one moment more.

  “Go on, then,” she said, dismissing us. “Get to your rooms.”

  We all turned away from her and walked into the hall. At the foot of the stairs, I turned to Killian.

  “You must have seen what happened,” I said. “It was me.”

  “No,” he said. “I didn’t see. I mean, I saw you, and I saw the explosion, but you and Laurel were standing so close together.”

  Laurel raked a hand through her hair. “Just shut up, already, both of you. I know it was me. I did this. But you better believe I’m pissed off at both of you.”

  “What?” I asked. “Why?”

  “Because you are both bad luck. Killian probably threw off my vibe by warning me not to even go to the event tonight. And you”—she poked my shoulder with her finger—“you have been messing with my control since the moment you got here.”

  Without another word, she turned on her heel and marched up the stairs, leaving Killian and me staring after her.

  I didn’t know what to do or say. And Laurel’s insistence that she had caused Christine’s death threw me. I even began to doubt what I had seen. Maybe it hadn’t been my fault. Maybe the fire I’d seen had come from Laurel after all. Had I imagined it? Had I not seen what had really happened?

  Killian put a hand on my shoulder. This time I had my wits about me to pull away. All it took was imagining those black veins spread out around his face to be repulsed by him.

  “Reagan,” he started, but I could only shake my head.

  “No, Killian.” My tone had no anger in it. I was too numb for such an extreme emotion. “Please, just leave me alone.”

  When I got upstairs, Laurel was in bed. She was facing away from me, but I knew she wasn’t asleep. Her sobs shook her shoulders. As much as I wanted to comfort her, I knew she wouldn’t listen to me. I could only hope that whatever happened, whatever Principal Grayson decided, it wouldn’t result in Laurel hating me. I’d lost enough people tonight.

  I went through the routine of getting ready for bed. Rascal sniffed at my face, especially my cheeks which were stained with tears. I couldn’t believe Christine was dead. And at my hands. When I slipped underneath my covers, I felt numb. It was as if I were under some kind of curse. I couldn’t be trusted around people. I only ended up hurting them.

  Chapter Sixteen

  I hadn’t slept at all. My eyes felt heavy and stung from not being able to get a second of sleep. Even Rascal snuggling up against me didn’t comfort me enough to fall asleep. When Laurel’s bed creaked, I shot up, ready to talk about what the hell had happened yesterday. But she stopped me, throwing up her hand.

  “Just leave it alone, Reagan. Nothing you can say will change anything. I stuffed up yet again.” She quickly jumped out of bed and gathered some clothes from her closet, she threw some food in her owl’s cage as she passed.

  “But it isn’t....”

  “Just leave it, Reagan!” she yelled. After getting dressed in a hurry, she slammed our door shut behind her.

  I slumped back into my pillow, throwing my hands up in the air. What the hell? It hadn’t been her fault at all. I could swear black and blue that I’d chanted the spell and thrown it at the stove, which was what had caused it to hit and kill Christine. But Laurel was adamant that she’d caused it. Should I continue to argue with her or should I let Principal Grayson deliver her verdict and try to make it up to her? I let out a loud sigh. Why had all this drama happened lately and every time I was involved. I’m a murderer and everyone around me suffered. Rascal rubbed up against my hand. I rubbed behind his ear, thankful for his company.

  My wrist started vibrating. Lifting my head up, I glanced down at my planner.

  No potions class this morning. Meet Principal Grayson in her office at 9 a.m. sharp.

  I jumped up, checking the time. I had five minutes to get there. I ran over to my cupboard, pulling out the closest top I could find. Rascal popped his head out of yesterday’s top, which I’d thrown to the ground. I leaned down, giving him a little scratch. I put some dried food and water in his bowls. Poor guy, I hadn’t had much time lately to spend with him. After this meeting with Principal Grayson, I wondered if I might not get another chance to be with him. I could very well be expelled from here. In fact, I could be headed to prison. I was responsible for killing a fellow student. They wouldn’t take that lightly. Nor should they; a person I considered my friend was gone because of me. I wiped away the tears as they fell down my cheeks. I’d do anything to take back what happened.

  I made it to Principal Grayson’s office with one minute to spare. Killian and Laurel were there talking in hushed whispers. Killian raised his voice, and I heard the last part.

&n
bsp; “Good, keep it that way. We need her to think...”

  Once they saw me, they stopped talking. I turned away, leaning against the hallway wall. They were clearly talking about me, but why? And they needed me to think what? My head started thumping. I massaged my temple, trying to ease the tension. The door to the principal’s office swung open and she gestured us in. The amount of times I’d been in here since I’d gotten here must hold some type of record. I spent more time here than in my own room.

  I sat down next to Killian, and Laurel was on his other side. I tapped my finger down against the arm of my chair, trying to keep myself together. At any moment, my future would be determined. I was going to prison. I was sure of it. I’d now killed two people. I was a murderer who deserved to be locked away. I couldn’t bring myself to look at Principal Grayson, afraid I’d see the answer in her eyes. My eyes averted to the ground.

  Principal Grayson cleared her throat and brought her hands together in a clap. My heart started pounding against my chest. But I still kept my eyes down.

  “This is a very serious incident here at Wildwood Falls—one that we don’t take lightly. One that we’ve had to investigate overnight. It’s been deemed that Christine is no longer with us.” My gasp caused her to stop for a brief second. Tears streamed down my cheeks. She was really gone. Killian reached over, grabbing a hold of my hand. He squeezed tightly and continued rubbing circles into my palm. I let him try to calm me down, but it wasn’t working. Christine was dead.

  “I know this is upsetting and after replaying the footage from the incident, it’s clear it’s the result of an accident. Her death was caused by a head injury from the work station. No one is at fault for her death; however, you three are to be punished for your behavior. You two girls for your recklessness in the kitchen, and you, Killian, for your outburst toward a teacher. You girls may not have been charged for her death, but you were part of the incident that resulted in her death.” She paused, writing something down on her notepad.

  This gave me a second to let out the breath I was holding in. My head was buzzing with what she was saying. That we hadn’t killed her, but we had caused the incident. Shouldn’t that mean that we had killed her? I was so confused. Killian continued to hold on to my hand, which I was grateful for. It made this moment feel real, reminded me that I wasn’t in a dream right now.

  “Your punishment will be determined, and you will receive a message by the end of the day. In the meantime, I want you three to think really hard about what you’ve caused. One hundred merit points will be deducted from each of you. I don’t ever want to see either of you back in here again unless it’s on my request. Be gone.” She raised her voice at the end.

  I jumped up, walking as fast as I could to get out of there. I needed air. As soon as I got out of her office, I ran. Everything around me flew past in a blur. I was barely aware of bursting out of the school’s front entrance, dashing toward the trees. I kept running until I was covered by the forest and out of breath. My legs gave out, my body falling to the ground in a heap. I screamed out to the forest.

  “Why? Why is it always me? Am I cursed?”

  Nothing but silence greeted me and I screamed out in frustration. I didn’t know what or who I expected to reply to my pleads for help. But I wanted someone to tell me why. Why was it me who was around every time someone died? Had I somehow gotten cursed by an evil witch?

  A crunch of dirt had me spinning around, ready to attack. Killian stood there with his hand reached out toward me. I was still in a heap on the ground. Reluctantly, I gave him my hand and he pulled me up, yanking me forward until my chest was tightly against his. I let go, relaxing into his embrace. We stood like this for what felt like hours, not saying a word. He let me cry on his shoulder and I listened to his heartbeat.

  “It’s going to be okay, Reagan. Trust me, I’ll figure it all out.” Killian’s words broke the silence and all I could manage to do was to nod my head in return.

  Did I believe that he’d make it okay? Not a chance, but something told me that I could trust him, trust his intentions, and that was all I needed.

  Killian carried me back to my room and didn’t leave my side all day. Which I was grateful for, to have him here with me. Laurel stayed with us, lying on her bed, but she didn’t say a single word to us. Every time one of our watches dinged with a notification, we jumped up, expecting it to be our punishment, but we were still waiting. Killian’s cat Marshall had been playing with Rascal, running around the room nipping at each other. They were now cuddled up at our feet.

  My clock announced it was now 5pm, they sure knew how to keep someone sweating.

  Just then all of our planners beeped at once. I sat up quickly and glanced down, it read

  8 a.m. tomorrow morning you will meet Mrs. Wellward at the entrance to Wildwood Forest. She will hand you your special task that MUST be completed by 5 p.m. If this is not completed, you will be expelled from Wildwood Falls and sentenced to Wildwood Prison.

  Good luck. —Principal Grayson

  Falling back against my pillow, I groaned. Back into the Wildwood Forest. Something felt off. But if we didn’t pull this off, it was goodbye, Wildwood Falls, and hello, prison life.

  Chapter Seventeen

  It was just my luck that I woke up an hour before my alarm was supposed to go off. Why couldn’t I just stay asleep until it was time? Why did I have to be tossing and turning and fighting to stop the terrible thoughts from filling my mind? Christine was dead. She was gone, and it was my fault. Would I even get a chance to have closure? Would I be able to look my classmates in the eyes and pretend it hadn’t been my doing?

  It didn’t help that Killian was playing some kind of game behind my back. What had he and Laurel been whispering about? Why would they keep something from me? And why wouldn’t he let me convince Laurel I was the one to blame? Something didn’t add up.

  Well, I would have plenty of time to think about it during our trek through the woods. I actually watched the time tick by and was able to stop my alarm the second it went off. My head groggy and my eyes dark and baggy, I pushed myself off my bed and got ready for our day in the woods. Even Rascal yawned when I pet him and then burrowed under my covers for another snooze. I filled his bowl anyway, so he’d have something to eat when he got up. Laurel looked almost as bad as I did, but I didn’t bother asking her if she got any rest. She didn’t look like she wanted to speak to anyone.

  The only word I heard from Laurel was when we accidentally bumped into each other at the bottom of the stairs. Those words were, “Oh, sorry.” They were mumbled and barely audible, but at least they were words. Killian was already there, and his eyes flitted between me and my silent roommate, as if he were trying to figure out what exactly we might have been discussing all night in our room. I raised a brow at him, as if to challenge him to ask. But he simply turned away from us and headed toward the front door.

  One of the teachers stood by the door, handing us some steaming baked bread. I guessed it was supposed to be our breakfast. We each grabbed one and headed outside.

  “Let’s get this over with, shall we?” Killian said, not looking back at us as he pressed forward.

  Laurel and I trudged along behind him, both of us shivering at the unusually cold day. At least the bread was warm. The sun hid somewhere behind dark, looming clouds, and there was the distant sound of thunder rumbling. No matter. I’d worn my hiking boots, so I was prepared.

  Standing at the entrance to the woods was Mrs. Wellward. Her bright eyes were a strong contrast to her lovely, dark skin. It eased my heart a bit when she offered us a small smile. Maybe today wouldn’t be so bad after all.

  “Good morning,” Mrs. Wellward said in a singsong tone. I wondered how she could be in such a good mood when we were about to drag ourselves through the creepy woods.

  The three of us gathered closer and waited for her instructions.

  “We have a special mission for you three. We have re
ason to believe someone might be attempting to trespass into our school. We have found evidence of doors and locks being tampered with, and we’ve even found a broken window in one of the basement rooms. We haven’t found anything missing, and no one has claimed to have seen anyone, but we have found these.”

  She held her hand out and opened it, palm up, to reveal tiny shells of some kind, from a nut or something I’d never seen before in my life. We all stepped forward and picked one up, inspecting it. They were bigger than pistachio shells but more pliant, almost rubberish in consistency. I dared get close enough to sniff it but instantly recoiled. It had a bitter smell, almost like when a lemon goes bad.

  “These are from the limodangious plant. It is a plant that only grew in the Wildwood Forest. The plant produces bitter-tasting nuts that are usually only consumed by wild boars. They also have a potion-like effect that allows those who consume the nuts to withstand spells.”

  “Like a spell blocker?” Laurel asked.

  “In a matter of speaking, yes. Though they are not one hundred percent effective. In any case, all limodangious bushes had been removed from the Wildwood Forest years ago to deter students from using forbidden magic and to deter trespassers from breaking through the protection spell around the school.”

  “And you found these in the school?” I asked.

  “Yes, both outside of the school and inside a few of the rooms as well.”

  “Maybe a bird flew in with them,” Laurel said. “You know, from some other forest.”

  We all looked at her as if the notion were ridiculous. She simply dropped her gaze and shook her head, seemingly conceding the ridiculousness.

  “Your mission,” Mrs. Wellward continued, “is to locate wherever this rogue bush may be in the forest and see if you can find any clues that will help us figure out who our trespasser is. We will travel together but spread out. Sticking to a calling distance is best so we can let each other know if we find anything. And don’t worry; I’ll be close by.”