Paranormal Public (Paranormal Public Series) (16 page)

“Why do the elementals?” I asked. I didn’t dare to leave the doorway in case I disturbed anything.

“Because this wasn’t just a dorm. It was also where the senior elementals had their headquarters,” Keller explained.

“So they entertained here?” I asked. Out the windows was the far side of campus; the forest met a gentle sloping lawn. All the colors from grass to sky were enhanced and brighter-looking thanks to the recent rain.

Keller nodded. “All their power was concentrated here. If you were an elemental, at some point in your life you would definitely visit. Maybe just to see it. Maybe to meet with the elemental King or Queen.”

“I’ve never seen anything so beautiful,” I said, running my hand along the wall. The room was painted in every shade of blue, red, brown, and green.

“How do you know so much?” I asked him, still looking around in awe.

“I like to know where we came from. It helps understand where we are now,” said Keller.

He cleared his throat, “Anyway. The quicker you dust over there the quicker we can all get to Dash.” He headed towards a glass case at the opposite end of the room. I was forced to move from my spot by the door and follow him in. The glass case was filled with ancient-looking artifacts, from scepters to something as seemingly simple as rocks.

Keller pulled out another key, this one tiny and silver. He fitted it into the lock on the front of the case, and as he did so he quickly said words under his breath in a language I’d never heard before. Around his fingers was a quick spark of blue.

The glass doors swung open.

Keller handed me a rag. “Be careful,” he said. “When you’re done just come back into the front hall.”

I looked at the rag in my hand. Normally I wasn’t a big fan of dusting; well, of cleaning in general. I liked stuff to be clean, I just wasn’t good at making it that way. But somehow the prospect of cleaning this case wasn’t so bad.

“Where are you going?” I asked Keller.

“To clean the upstairs,” he said. “It won’t get finished today, but there’s always next week. And the week after that. Luckily, I have lots of help.”

Once he had left I examined the glass case. The objects were evenly spaced, but they would have to be moved if I was going to dust around them.

I gently started to pick up every object and dust around it. I used my thumb and my index finger to pick each one up and move it over just enough so that I could also dust under it.

Once that was finished, I dusted the object itself. I was working my way through the case when I came upon an elemental ring. It looked to be made of twisted white gold, with blue and white jewels running along the edge.

When my hand touched the metal, sparks flew from underneath my fingertips. The jewels on the tiny ring blazed to life. I hadn’t noticed how dull the blues and the white had been before I touched them, but now they glowed brightly out of the dark, illuminating everything nearby, humming with power.

Without thinking, I reached out and touched the ring again. This time, not just that ring, but every other object in the case, came to life in a triumphant song. The scepter lit up, showing off a rainbow of color. The rock came to life, but it wasn’t just a rock anymore. It was mass of crystals, with reds and blues embedded in its depths.

I yanked my hand away. I had no idea what I had just done, but it couldn’t be good. I stared at the crystals in the case. All I wanted was for all of them to just stop shining. If I got caught messing with elemental stuff I’d be kicked out of Public for sure. I checked over my shoulder, but there was no sign of Keller, so I made a move to close the case and get out of the room as fast as I could.

But before I could even get the case closed, the mirror lying on its back in the center of the case came to life, and I was horrified to see an image forming in what had been, a breath before, clear glass.

All I wanted to do was run away, out of the ballroom, but I couldn’t. If I left the case open, anything could happen. I had to stay. Steeling myself, I took one step closer, my eyes locked on the mirror. I could feel sweat forming on my forehead. I clenched my hands together to keep them from shaking.

Rising out of the mirror was a thin curl of mist. As it cleared I could easily see the image that had formed there. It was of paranormals, standing in a circle on open grass. There were four of them, clasping hands together. All around them were other paranormals, screaming in fear.

At first I couldn’t see what they were afraid of. But when I squinted, I saw hellhounds coming at breakneck speed out of nowhere. My whole body shuddered as I saw what was following closely behind: demons. Hundreds and hundreds of demons, hopelessly outmatching the paranormals huddled on the grass.

I gasped as one demon swept in, picking up a young-looking paranormal and flying off into the night. The sounds of screams and the smell of wet dog and fear were pungent in the air around me. The young paranormal who had just been carried off by the demon reappeared, falling through the sky. He hit the ground with a wet thud and lay still.

“Do something!” I cried to the paranormals in the circle. They were trying frantically to perform a spell, but it was clear that it wasn’t working. Paranormals had started to turn; vampires bared their teeth, and pixies hopped into action. Humans turned into werewolves and fallen angels spread their wings and took flight.

It didn’t matter. There were too many demons.

But the paranormals were clearly determined to stand there and fight. They were going to hold their ground, and I could see what the result would be: death.

Tears were running down my cheeks as I started to sob. Suddenly, the four figures in the middle gave off a burst of pure power. I gasped as beams of light struck out at the attackers. Blackness turned to sunlight and hellhounds gave howls of pain. The knots in my stomach eased.

But I couldn’t tell yet if it would be enough. The battle wasn’t over.

Just as the demons and hellhounds came on in a fresh attack, the mist that had covered the mirror reappeared. Floating lazily forward, it covered the glass, obscuring any view.

I darted forward, trying to push the vapor away. I desperately wanted to know what had happened. I wanted the paranormals to keep fighting. But once the mist cleared, the images were gone. The luster of the mirror started to fade.

For a long time I simply stood there. I didn’t even bother to wipe the tears from my face, and soon they dried in streaks. At last, when I felt like my breathing was under control and all of the artifacts in the case had gone back to their dull colors, I gently shut the glass. Slowly the colors faded out of the jewels, leaving them looking dark and dusty once again.

Without a doubt I had seen a battle between the paranormals and the demons. What I didn’t know was if it was real. Maybe the mirror only showed our fears, or maybe it showed the past. Maybe it was the battle that had killed the elementals, but I wasn’t sure if any elementals had been fighting. I wondered who the hooded figures were and I wondered where the fight had taken place. Most of all I wondered why I had been the one to see it.

I hoped that Lisabelle and Sip wouldn’t notice how upset I was. When I was out of the ballroom I stopped to scrub my face, taking away all traces of the panic I had just felt.

At first I had thought that the jewels lighting up was strange, but that paled in comparison to the mirror. Not that I knew anything about elemental magic, but could the mirror really have lighted up for anyone who touched it? Was I special? I pushed the thought from my mind.

I briefly wondered if Keller had known that the jewels and the mirror would do what they had done, if he’d sent me in there to clean the case as some sort of joke. I walked slowly through the dorm, trying to collect myself, but it wasn’t easy. What I had seen had felt real, as real as the white t-shirt I was wearing, as the mist outside. If it had already happened, then there was nothing I could do. But what if it hadn’t? What if that mirror showed the future? It was not a future I ever wanted to happen.

“Thanks for doing that,” he said. “They really needed to be dusted and I knew you’d take good care of everything.”

When I didn’t answer he peered at me more closely. “What’s wrong?” he asked. “It looks like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“No,” I replied. “Still just a little tired, I guess.”

He nodded. His concern evaporated like the mist from the mirror. “Don’t worry. Dash will fix that.”

“Yeah,” I said, as Lisabelle and Sip joined us. I wasn’t about to tell any of them what I had done. That was not the way I was supposed to prove that I had magic, and if the President, or worse Professor Zervos, found out I’d used it on elemental artifacts I’d be finished.

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.”

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.