(Josie
Sayz: I had a dream that was the sequel to the previous dream that I wrote
about on my blog. It is not necessary that you read the previous Arcturus High
themed dream piece, but if you would like to, you can find it here: https://josiesayz.blogspot.com/2024/12/dream-28-11-24.html.
I have never had a sequel to a dream before.)
The students in Caitlyn’s classroom all looked ahead at the board, as their humanities
teacher, Miss Tata, went through a PowerPoint presentation, about the second
world war, on the projector. Caitlyn flickered her eyes down to her notebook
and scribbled down a few notes, as Miss Tata continued. Beside Caitlyn, Darcia
rubbed her hands together. The leather of Darcia’s gloves made a gentle
swishing sound that Caitlyn had become used to. Since Darcia’s Raynaud's Disease
diagnosis, she had a doctor’s note that allowed her to wear gloves during
school. The swishing sound of the fabric had begun to bring Caitlyn much
comfort. She could not explain why. It just did. A soft smile prodded into the
red head’s right cheek, as she glanced over at her friend.
A knock rapped at the classroom door and Ms Carey poked her head
inside, bearing her usual warm smile. An icy shudder crept up Caitlyn’s spine.
Her eyes widened with worry. Alert, her eyes darted from left to right,
wondering what had caused her icy shudder. Everyone was facing forward, looking
at Ms Carey. Caitlyn sunk in her seat a little bit and kept her senses on high
alert, as Ms Tata welcomed Ms Carey into her classroom.
“I am sorry to interrupt,” said Ms Carey, with what Caitlyn thought
seemed like a forced smile. “I just wanted to check in on Mr Heekin’s form
group… after what happened the other week…” A deep frown lined Caitlyn’s
forehead, as she watched one of the school’s nicest teachers appear to force a
huge open-mouthed smile across the room. Ms Carey’s eyes darted from right to
left, as she appeared to scan the room.
‘Something isn’t right,’ Caitlyn realised. ‘The icy shudder… it was
because of Ms Carey… but it can’t be,’ she told herself in disbelief. ‘It just
can’t be… she’s my favourite teacher.’
“For all of the hardship you have faced lately, I wanted to hand out a
small gift to all of Professor Steinin’s, I mean, Mr Heekin’s students,”
announced Ms Carey, as she reached into a plastic wallet and began handing out
small colourful objects to the small number of students, who were in Caitlyn
and Darcia’s form group. Another icy shudder danced along her spine, as
Caitlyn’s favourite teacher appeared in front of her and, with stiff movements,
placed a small piece of rubbery plastic in front of her and Darcia. Caitlyn’s
eyes locked onto the see through, plastic wallet that housed over a hundred colourful
shapes and designs. There were flowers, hearts, animals and words, like
‘sunshine’ and ‘happiness’, everything that she, and most girls her age, loved
to doodle or would buy for her keyring. A slight twinge tugged at Caitlyn’s
heart, as her awareness that something was wrong prevented her from enjoying
the colourful gift that her favourite teacher had placed on her desk.
As Ms Carey made her way back to the other side of the classroom,
Caitlyn fixed a firm stare on the back of the teacher. Returning her hand to
the plastic wallet, Caitlyn was certain that Ms Carey’s movements were a little
rigid. From her forced smile, to the jerky way that she handed out the small
charms, something, to Caitlyn, did not seem right. Once Ms Carey had left the
classroom and chatter began to build around them, Caitlyn turned to Darcia and
asked in a very quiet voice, “Did that seem a little odd to you?”
“Yeah,” replied Darcia, with wide eyes, as she picked up the small
pink and red flower charm that Ms Carey had placed on her desk. “Teachers are
never nice to us, like that. This is so nice. I’m gonna put it on my bag,
later,” Darcia exclaimed, as she carefully zipped her charm away into her
pencil case.
“No, not that part,” Caitlyn whispered. Leaning towards Darcia,
Caitlyn flickered a glance around the room and in a very quiet voice said, “Did
Ms Carey seem to be acting a little odd to you?”
“Odd?” replied Darcia, with a puckered brow. “You mean, that she gave
us all presents?”
“No,” Caitlyn whispered, in a disheartened tone, as she shook her
head. “Did you not think that Ms Carey seemed a little… I don’t know,” she
shrugged. “Almost animatronic, in a way?” Darcia cupped her gloved hand to her
mouth to conceal a giggle.
“Caitlyn, it’s not like you to be rude, like that,” Darcia blurted
out, feeling a little shocked by Caitlyn’s comment. “I thought you liked Ms
Carey.”
“I do,” insisted Caitlyn, as she forced a swallow. The red head’s
brows slanted together. “She’s my favourite teacher, but something about her
then, it seemed a little odd.” For the first time, Caitlyn lowered her eyes to
the charm that Ms Carey had placed on her desk. The face of a cartoon
chocolate-brown bear smiled back at her. Caitlyn reached a hesitant hand out
towards the charm, but snapped it back to her chest, as a vision of her staring
at Ms Carey’s plastic wallet full of them and the icy shudder it had caused her
shot to the front of her mind. “Something seems odd about these too.” Darcia
gave Caitlyn a sympathetic look and shook her head.
“Caitlyn, this is a nice gift from the school’s nicest teacher,”
Darcia said, in a soft voice. “Yes, it is unusual, but it isn’t anything to be
suspicious of, is it?” Caitlyn felt her heart sink, as she listened to her
friend’s words. “You have been doing a lot of rehearsals for the school play
lately, maybe you are overtired?” Letting out a deflated sigh, Caitlyn dropped
her eyes to the desk that they shared. “Or maybe you miss Professor Steinin…
and Ms Carey’s charm is a reminder of that.” Caitlyn’s lips parted. Her heart
gave a slight thud. Darcia prodded her mouth into her left cheek and placed her
gloved hand on Caitlyn’s sleeve. Inhaling a slow breath, through her nose,
Caitlyn gave Darcia a weak smile.
As their humanities lesson continued, Caitlyn periodically scanned her
eyes around the room, to check on the pupils in her form group. Nothing bad had
happened to them since touching the charm. Nothing was different about them or
the rest of her lesson at all. Still, a knot built up in the pit of Caitlyn’s
digestive system. ‘I know I’m not wrong,’ she told herself. ‘Something isn’t
right about these things.’ Caitlyn snarled her nose, as she glared down at the
cute, rubbery bear face on her desk. She was still yet to touch it, with five
minutes left until the end of the lesson. As Darcia asked Miss Tata if she
could use the toilet before the end of the lesson, and she was handed a pastel yellow
pass, Caitlyn unzipped her pencil case and pulled out a tiny Maison jar that
was no bigger than the length of the tip of her thumb to its bend. Inside it
was an iridescent, deep teal liquid. With her entire class distracted by the
end of lesson chatter, Caitlyn uncorked the jar’s stopper and, with a trembling
hand, allowed one drop of the shimmering substance to drip onto her bear charm.
The liquid spread across the charm’s surface and glowed red for a millisecond
before evaporating. Caitlyn’s eyes widened. She pinched her lips tight to
conceal a gasp. ‘I was right,’ she realised. ‘These charms are charmed with a
Frandadis mixture.’ Picking up her pen and a pencil from inside of her pencil
case, Caitlyn used them, like chopsticks, to pinch the bear charm up from the
table and place it in the front pouch of her pencil case.
Walking out of their humanities classroom, Caitlyn and Darcia met up
with Aisha, Samantha and Emily. The group of five friends followed the stream
of students out of the humanities corridor and down Arcturus High’s back
staircase. “Hey, did Ms Carey come into your guys’ classes too?” asked Aisha,
with an excited gleam in her eye.
“Yeah,” Samantha replied, holding out her small charm of a pastel pink
ice cream in a beige cone. Aisha’s eyes widened and she held out her sunflower
charm.
“Charanpal gave me his,” Emily told her friends, with an eager smile.
She tugged her keys out of her pocket and held her charm out for them to see. A
small bouquet of pink and red roses hung from her keys.
Panic shot to the front of Caitlyn’s mind. ‘They’re spreading,’ she
realised, as her heart leapt into her throat. ‘Whatever Frandadis concoction is
on these, the more they get passed around, the more people get contaminated.’ Caitlyn
glanced in Darcia’s direction and she felt a tugging at her heart. ‘I need to
talk to Bert about that icy shudder I felt, but if Darcia finds out I’m talking
to Bert, she’ll think something is going on between us again, and she’ll be mad
at me.’ Thoughts of Ms Carey’s robotic movements, as she handed out the
Frandadis contaminated charms caused Caitlyn to tremble in fear. She squeezed
the back of her neck tight, in attempt to claw her anxiety away. An idea sprung
to mind. Caitlyn’s eyes widened. “Emily!” Caitlyn called, as she leapt to her
friend’s side. “What lesson did Josh just have?” she asked, knowing that Emily
knew the year eleven boy’s timetable off by heart, due to having a huge crush
on him. Emily’s cheeks turned scarlet, as she shrugged.
“I dunno,” muttered Emily. “Why?”
“Come on,” Caitlyn sighed, feeling frustrated with her friend. “I know
you know. Why can’t you just tell me?” The group reached the bottom of the
staircase and proceeded to travers down the art corridor and towards the main
body of the school.
“I told you, I don’t know,” replied Emily, with a sharp tongue and a
snarled glare. “Why d’you need to know?” Caitlyn let out an over exaggerated
sigh, as she stepped to the front of her group of friends and turned around to
face them.
“As the only one of you who isn’t boy crazy, I’m surprised that none
of you ever care to trust me,” Caitlyn sighed. “No, Emily, I’m not trying to
steal some guy away from you who doesn’t fancy you.” Caitlyn folded her arms
and tilted her head to one side, as her shoulders deflated. “Darcia… what
lesson did Bert just have? And no, I’m not interested in him… this could
be an emergency.”
“Spanish,” Darcia blurted out, having learnt Bert’s timetable off by
heart, before she had even memorised her own. A sense of pride shone through Darcia’s
response, but at the same time, she scrunched up her nose at Caitlyn.
Before Caitlyn had the chance to see Darcia’s expression, the red head
had already turned on her heels and had taken several paces forwards. Throwing
her head over her shoulder, Caitlyn called out, “Darcia, the charms have been
tampered with. If I’m late to maths, please tell Mr Archimedes that I’m trying
to prevent a Frandadis emergency. I’m sure he’ll understand.” Caitlyn took
serval fast paced steps forward, before turning back to face her friends,
adding, “I have no interest in boys… or girls for that matter,” and powerwalked
down the corridor.
Weaving in and out of other students, as they raced from one lesson to
the next, Caitlyn scooted up the English staircase and sped down the
upper-level’s central corridor. As she neared the modern foreign language
corridor, Caitlyn’s eyes widened, as they locked onto Bert. A grumble of
frustration left Caitlyn’s mouth, as she spotted a head of mauve hair beside
him. ‘What’s Ariel doing with Bert?’ Caitlyn cried. ‘How am I supposed to talk
to him now?’ Keeping watch on the couple, Caitlyn quickened her pace, as she
tried to navigate the maze of students to get to them. “Bert!” Caitlyn called,
as she managed to push her way through a line of year eleven boys. “I need to
talk to you.”
“Caitlyn, find me later, okay?” Bert replied, with a shrug and without
even glancing in Caitlyn’s direction.
“But,” cried Caitlyn. “It’s important.” Her words were lost on deaf
ears, as Bert’s full attention was on Ariel. He slipped his hand around her
waist and the two stood staring into each other’s eyes. An idea sprang into
Caitlyn’s mind. The illusion that she had been practising, with Bert and Mr
Penn, to make a clock appear to have changed time. ‘Surely if I change the time
on Bert’s watch to something weird, he’ll take me seriously.’ Caitlyn gripped
her books tight and focused all of her energy onto Bert’s watch. The current
time was ten o’clock. As Caitlyn concentrated, the hands on Bert’s watch
disappeared, then reappeared to show three o’clock. “Bert, what time is it?”
Caitlyn asked in a loud voice, in attempts to break him out of his trance with
Ariel, while she kept her focus fixed on his wristwatch. She heard Ariel greet
her, but Caitlyn was too focused on creating the time illusion, that Bert has
taught her, to notice.
“Time?” mumbled Bert, as he brought his watch towards his face. Lines
puckered Bert’s forehead, as he saw the time on his watch. “Er, my watch musta broken,”
he shrugged. Caitlyn gave Bert a daggered glare. “Later Caitlyn,” he muttered,
with another shrug and continued his walk down the corridor with Ariel.
Removing her illusion from Bert’s watch, Caitlyn felt her blood bubble
with frustration. She held her pen tight in her hand and on a page in the
notebook in her hand scribbled the word, “Nincompoop,” before tearing it from
the pad and scrunching it up. Snarling her nose, Caitlyn turned on her heels
and lobbed the paper ball at the back of Bert’s head. The paper ball flew
through the air, but began to descend just before reaching Caitlyn’s target.
With a fire fuelling through her veins, Caitlyn held her arm down at her side
and flicked her fingers up. The paper ball bounced from its descent, midair and
flung into Bert. A content grin prodded into the right corner of Caitlyn’s
cheek, as Bert fumbled forward and reached out for the scrunched-up ball of
paper that had struck him. An icy shudder trembled up Caitlyn’s spine, as she
caught glimpse of Ms Carey stepping out of the staffroom. Caitlyn gasp, spun on
her heels and dashed off in the direction of her maths classroom.
Looking down at the paper ball in his hand, Bert scanned the corridor
for the culprit. “Look, there’s something written on it,” Ariel pointed out, as
she saw the ink marking from a biro peer out between the scrunched crinkles.
Bert unravelled it. “Nincompoop?” Ariel giggled, as she read it.
“How dare they,” growled Bert.
“Relax,” Ariel chuckled. “I think Nincompoop is quite an endearing
nickname for you,” she said, with a sweet smile, as she fluttered her eyelashes
at him. Bert chuckled, his expression softening. “They didn’t swear,” she
pointed out.
Caitlyn’s heart pounded, as she powerwalked to her maths classroom, in
the hut, in the centre of the courtyard and dropped into her seat beside
Darcia. “Just in time,” the brunette hissed. “Did you find Bert? What did he
say?”
“I found him,” replied Caitlyn, as she rested her hands to her chest,
panting. “But he had more important things on his mind.”
“Ariel?” Darica muttered, rolling her eyes. Prodding her mouth down in
the right corner, Caitlyn nodded. “Do you think those things are bad?” Darcia
whispered, as her eyes darted around the room. Caitlyn shrugged.
“Nothing bad seems to have happened to anyone who’s touched them,”
Caitlyn replied, leaning towards her friend, to keep their voices as quiet as
possible. “But I used the Frandadis charm revealer on mine and it glowed red.”
Darcia’s eyes widened.
“How did you do the charm revealer?” asked Darcia.
“Bert gave me a tiny bottle of it, just in case of emergencies,”
Caitlyn replied. Darcia glared at her. A swirl of knots in Caitlyn’s stomach caused
her to exhale a shaky breath.
“Told you, he likes you,” Darcia huffed. Folding her arms, she twisted
herself away from Caitlyn.
“You’re being ridiculous,” hissed Caitlyn, as Mr Archimedes tapped his
desk, with a pen, to call everyone’s attention.
Throughout the beginning of their maths lesson, Darcia twisted her
body away from Caitlyn, towards the wall, despite this making it difficult for
her to see the whiteboard, at the front of the classroom. Caitlyn tried her
best to pretend that Darcia’s childishness did not bother her. The red head attempted
to keep her back straight and take notes, as Mr Archimedes tested their
knowledge of how to solve quadratic equations. Caitlyn wrote out the quadratic
formulae at the top of her workbook: “-b +or– √b2-4ac/2a” and
attempted to work out the answer to the equation that her teacher wrote on the
board, when there was a knock at the door. “Come in!” Mr Archimedes called. An
icy shudder crept up Caitlyn’s spine. Looking up from her equation, the colour
drained from Caitlyn’s face, as she stared ahead at the robotic, smiling face
of Ms Carey. Thudding raced in Caitlyn’s chest. Her breaths turned short, sharp
and shallow.
“Nice to see you, Mr Archimedes,” Ms Carey smiled and nodded her head.
“Ms Carey, to what do I owe the pleasure?” replied Mr Archimedes, with
a beaming smile.
“I am here to speak with any of your students who are in Mr Heekin’s
form group,” she told him, as she looked around the room. Her eyes locked with
Caitlyn’s. A wincing tugged at Caitlyn’s intestines. She threw one hand to her
stomach and raised the other in the air.
“Sir… I don’t feel very well,” Caitlyn announced to the room.
“Oh my, Caitlyn, you look as white as a sheet,” gasped Mr Archimedes. “Go
ahead and get yourself to Pupil Support,” he said, handing Caitlyn a pastel
pink pass.
Gripping one hand to her stomach, Caitlyn shuffled out of the room and
pulled the door most of the way closed behind her. With a crack in the door,
Caitlyn leant towards it and listened, as Ms Carey gave the same speech that
she did during Caitlyn’s humanities lesson and made her way around the room,
handing out the small, rubber charms. While she listened against the door,
Caitlyn focused her thoughts to create an illusion of herself walking past the
classroom window, on her way to Pupil Support. “It is such a terrible shame,”
Ms Carey said to Mr Archimedes. “These children have been through so much
already… and now this.”
“What a shame. Poor man. We lost him too soon,” Mr Archimedes replied.
Muffled chatter began to build in the room and Caitlyn struggled to hear any
more of the teachers’ conversation. Footsteps grew nearer. Caitlyn’s heart
leapt from her chest. Throwing one foot in front of the other, she raced out of
the maths hut. Instead of walking past her classroom windows, towards Pupil
Support, she snuck around the back of the maths huts and made her way towards
the science department.
As she made her way towards the science department, Caitlyn ran
through what she was going to say over and over again, in her mind. Sweat
clamed her palms. Her heart hammered in her chest. ‘I’m a good girl,’ she told
herself. ‘I’m doing this to save people.’ She repeated this over and over to
herself as she hovered outside of Mr Penn’s chemistry classroom. In an attempt
to calm her trembling hands, Caitlyn inhaled a long, slow breath, before
knocking on the door.
“Come in,” she heard the deep voice of her afterschool club magic
teacher say. Following Mr Penn’s instruction, Caitlyn poked open the door and
peered inside. A collection of familiar year ten faces stared back at her.
Pete, Fabian, Heather, Katie, Rickie and Tobi’s eyes gawked at Caitlyn, as she
darted her eyes around the room. Caitlyn felt her eyes be drawn to Fabian’s.
His cheeks turned scarlet, before he snarled his expression, which Caitlyn had
come to accept as normal. “Miss Flynn, what bring you to my classroom?” asked
Mr Penn.
“Sir,” Caitlyn hesitated and forced a swallow, as she shuffled a step
closer towards him. Her heart rattled in her chest. Her knees felt weak and
wobbly. “Sir, as you are head of health and safety, I’ve been told to tell you
about the flood, in the maths hut,” Caitlyn said, with a shaky voice, hoping
with desperation that Mr Penn would realise that she had some sort of emergency,
and not think that she had gone mad for inventing a fictionalised position.
“What?” scoffed Rickie. “There ain’t no such thing. Head of health and
safety? Yeah, right! If Mr Penn’s the head of health an’ safety then I’m the
Queen a England,” he mocked. Many of the year ten students laughed along with
him. Rickie’s remark sent a quivering twinge of upset through Caitlyn’s chest.
Rather than look at her number one taunter, Caitlyn inhaled a shaky breath and
stared at Mr Penn, hoping that amongst his magical abilities that he could also
read minds. As if confirming Caitlyn’s wish, Mr Penn gave her a slight nod.
“Now, now, Rickie, you of all people should know that I have been the
head of health and safety for months now,” Mr Penn announced, in a firm tone.
“Why, there hasn’t been a mishap in my classroom in the fifteen years that I
have been a teacher.”
“She’s making it up!” Rickie exclaimed, with a raise brow. “Look, her
pass is pink, that’s for Pupil Support. She’s lying!” Caitlyn’s heart thudded
against her chest, as Rickie jabbed his finger towards the Pupil Support pass
in Caitlyn’s right hand. She inhaled a sharp breath. Keeping her eyes locked on
Mr Penn, Caitlyn tried to remain calm. She twisted her hand, carrying her pass,
towards her back and used all of her concentration to try to change the colour
from pink to yellow, with her mind.
‘This is my magic hand… if I just…’ Caitlyn told herself, as she sent
all of her willpower into this illusion. She felt her energy drain down her
right arm and disappear into the piece of paper that she was holding.
Fluttering her eyes down to her hand, she held her pass out towards Rickie,
showing him that it was pastel yellow, which represented the colour of passes
that allowed students to pass through the hallway and return back to their
lesson. Rickie’s eyes bulged from their sockets, as he leant forward.
“Nah… that was pink, I swear,” Rickie cried out in disbelief.
“Mr Archimedes gave it to me,” she said, as she pointed at the L/M=N
formula that for some unknown reason was her maths teacher’s signature.
“Now, now, Rickie, stop making a scene,” warned Mr Penn. “I shan’t be
a moment. While I am gone, Fabian’s in charge.” Caitlyn looked towards Fabian
and gave him a small smile. He lifted his head, to give Mr Penn a slight nod,
and Caitlyn could tell that he was still avoiding her gaze.
As Caitlyn and Mr Penn stepped outside of his classroom, Caitlyn
whispered, “Can you soundproof the door?” Before Caitlyn could finish her
sentence, Mr Penn’s hands were already sound sealing the door to his classroom.
A slight glow outlined the edges of the door, as his magic sealed around it,
which Caitlyn knew he had added the effect for her satisfaction. As Mr Penn
turned to face her, Caitlyn felt her insides churn around in a circumbendibus
and she hunched her shoulders beneath the towering teacher’s glare.
“Well?” asked Mr Penn. Caitlyn shifted her eyes from left to right,
and then looked over her shoulder.
“Can we talk in a soundproof bubble?” she asked, as her eyebrows
slanted together.
“It can’t be that bad,” mused Mr Penn, with a slight smirk.
“Someone’s spelled Ms Carey,” Caitlyn blurted out. Mr Penn tilted his
head to one side, and squinted a little, as he processed Caitlyn’s words. If it
were not for the unusuality of the situation, he would have laughed. Caitlyn
was a good girl. She would never sneak out of lesson to speak to him, unless it
was something serious. “I tried to speak to Bert, but he’s too interested in
Ariel to listen to me.”
“When is he ever not,” mumbled the teacher, rolling his eyes. “Okay,
Caitlyn, I believe you,” Mr Penn concluded, with a nod. “But now you have to
convince me why I should believe you.” Inhaling a slow, shaky breath, Caitlyn
felt her right knee tremble, as she nodded.
“Ms Carey has been coming into every lesson that my form group are in,
and is handing out Frandadis charmed charms, except, it isn’t Ms Carey… well,
it is, but she is acting very stiff, it’s like she’s an animatronic from a
theme park or something. No one seems to believe me that she is acting weird,
but she is. She’s my favourite teacher, right after you, of course,” she
added, with a nervous chuckle. “But I know something is wrong,” Caitlyn went
on. “I felt it.” A sparkle shone from the inner corners of Caitlyn’s
eyes, as she continued. “It’s almost like she has been spelled, and someone is controlling
her, but I don’t know who or why. She says that the charms are a gift, due to
losing Professor Steinin.” Upon saying her late form tutor’s name, Caitlyn felt
a sinking feeling in her chest, as she dropped her line of sight to the floor.
While Caitlyn spoke, Mr Penn nodded at various intervals. His left
eyebrow cocked up, a little, as Caitlyn’s emotion caused the light above them
to flicker. “How do you know Ms Carey is handing out Frandadis charmed charms?”
he asked, as lines indented his brow.
“I used the detection charm,” replied Caitlyn in a matter-of-fact
tone.
“Okay, I am going to forget about how you got hold of the Frandadis
fruits, while we are in a shortage, to make the-” Mr Penn spoke in a firm tone,
as his brow rose to a glare.
“Bert gave me a mini jar,” Caitlyn told Mr Penn, as she held her
thumb and index finger a couple of centimetres apart. “I don’t have the charm,
or know how to mix it, to find out what the charm is that is on them, I just
know that it turned red.” In response to Caitlyn’s anxious pout, Mr Penn
continued to nod, as he tried to piece together Caitlyn’s tale.
“And Ms Carey, that isn’t Ms Carey, is handing these out to your form
group?” asked Mr Penn, as his left brow rose again.
“Yes,” Caitlyn nodded. “Except…” she paused, recalling Emily holding
one in her hands, after her humanities lesson. “Charanpal gave his to Emily.”
Caitlyn forced a swallow, as images of people passing the charms around to
their friends, until her entire year group had made contact with them, forced
its way to the front of her mind. Caitlyn found her vision blurring, as the
picture in her mind became clearer. She shook her head, trying to remove the
trance from her mind.
“And have there been reactions? Side effects?” Caitlyn heard Mr Penn ask.
Looking up at him, Caitlyn shook her head. “How peculiar…” he muttered and let
out a low hum, deep in thought. “Can I see one? If we can figure out what charm
has been used, and how they were able to conceal it, we might be able to piece
together who is behind all this. There aren’t many people with access or the
knowledge of how to use Frandadis fruits, nor are there many people who possess
magic, that we are aware of, so it shouldn’t be too difficult to track down our
culprit.” Caitlyn’s brow wrinkled and her anxious pout returned, as her shoulders
sank.
“I didn’t touch my charm. I was scared too,” Caitlyn exclaimed. “I do
have it though. It’s on my desk.”
“Get it for me,” Mr Penn told her. “I’ll run some tests, see if I can
figure out what’s going on.”
“How do I get it to you? I don’t want to touch it, just in case,” said
Caitlyn, with a worried gasp.
“You’ve been practising levitation, haven’t you?” An uncertainty hung
in Mr Penn’s voice. Caitlyn nodded, and a small smile poked into the corner of
her mouth.
“I used it to throw a paper ball at Bert’s head, when he was being a
nincompoop,” she said, as a soft giggle escaped her lips.
“I’m sure he deserved that,” Mr Penn replied, with an amused, but
proud, smirk.
“But how do I transport the charm to you. I can’t go back into my
maths classroom; I’m supposed to be in Pupil Support,” Caitlyn exclaimed. “I
can’t exactly walk around with a floating piece of rubbery plastic either.”
“Do you remember the shielding illusion that you used to cover
yourself and Bert, during Ms Quinn’s initiation assembly, last summer?” he
asked. Caitlyn gave him a slow nod, as her brow puckered. “Put two and two
together.”
At her magic teacher’s words, Caitlyn’s heart began to race. Her chest
tightened. A lump lodged in her throat. ‘Two pieces of magic at the same time?’
her mind panicked. “How can I make myself invisible, sneak back into my maths
class, make the charm invisible and float it back to you? I… I can’t do
all of that magic at once,” Caitlyn cried.” I, I think I used most of my energy
up by changing the time on Bert’s watch, throwing a paper ball at him and
changing the colour of my pass… oh and I already used a big illusion of me
walking past my maths classroom, when I was listening in on Ms Carey.” Caitlyn
forced a swallow, as her heart leapt into her throat. “I have never used my
magic so much.”
“Do you have your amethyst with you?” asked Mr Penn. Caitlyn nodded.
“Is it charged?” Again, Caitlyn nodded. “Recharge yourself,” Mr Penn
instructed. “There’s a full moon at the end of next week.”
Caitlyn nodded and slipped her hand inside her inner blazer pocket. The
icy stone slid into the palm of her hand. A tingling sensation began to spread
from her palm, up her wrist and into her forearm. As Caitlyn held her amethyst
in front of her, she could feel it heating up. The tingling sensation
began to spread up her bicep and to her chest, where heat began emanating from
her heart. With each tingling sensation, the crystal in Caitlyn’s palm grew
warmer and warmer. “If you can’t do all three,” Mr Penn said, “try standing
outside your maths room and bring the charm to you.”
“But won’t everyone see me at the window?” asked Caitlyn, feeling a
little confused.
“You’re good with light, kid. Use it t’ your advantage,” he told her,
with a nod. “Now get going. I’d best save Fabian.” Caitlyn gave Mr Penn a
little chuckle, before turning around and returning to the maths hut.
While Caitlyn returned to the maths hut, she thought about what Mr
Penn had said. ‘Control the light… how will that help me?’ Frowning to herself,
Caitlyn tried to think of many ways that manipulating the light in Mr
Archimedes classroom might be able to aid in her retrieving the charm. ‘Could I
make the lights really bright and blind everyone?’ she wondered. ‘Or maybe I
can turn them off… no, it’s really bright outside,’ she realised, as the sun
shone in her eyes. ‘Hmm…’ As Caitlyn tried to think of an idea, the summer sun
shining in her eyes began to illuminate a ball of frustration inside of her.
“Grrr… will you just move?” she growled to the sun and wafted her hand in front
of her face. The beam of light moved in the direction of her hand’s movement.
Caitlyn gasped. Her eyes widened. ‘Did… did I just do that?’ she wondered. Her
eyebrows slanted together with confusion, and she wafted her hand around again,
to try and move the sunbeam. Nothing. ‘That figures,’ she chuckled to herself.
‘Concentrate!’ she heard the roaring voice of Mr Penn echo in her brain.
‘Concentrate?’ she repeated to herself, frowning. ‘What if I…’ Caitlyn prodded
the right corner of her mouth into her cheek, as she stared at the beam of
sunlight to her right. Extending her right arm out, Caitlyn concentrated her
energy down her arm and wafted it towards the sunlight. The beam inched in the
direction of her waving hand. ‘I did it?!’ she gasped, as her eyes shot wide.
‘I can move light?’
Excited by her knew discovery, Caitlyn crept up against the side of
her maths classroom. The sunlight was a little off to the side of the building.
Holding her hand out, Caitlyn focused all of her concentration and channelled
her energy down her right hand. She wafted her hand to the right. The sunbeam
began to move across the metal framework of the maths hut. As Caitlyn continued
to move the beam of sunlight, until it sat in direct line of sight with the
windows, she came out of hiding and watched as her peers lowered the blinds
three quarters of the way down the windows. ‘Yes!’ she cheered. Scooting towards
her classroom window, Caitlyn could not help but smile to herself, proud of her
own magic accomplishments.
Peering through the classroom window, Caitlyn squinted against the
reflection of her blazer and the bottom of her tie. At the far side of the classroom,
she could see her notebook and pencil case next to Darcia, who was looking down
at her maths book, deep in thought. A tightness tugged at Caitlyn’s chest. ‘I
have never done anything like this before,’ she worried, as her anxiety wrapped
its claws tight around her torso. ‘Concentrate!’ she heard Mr Penn’s voice bark
in her head, again. Hearing her magic teacher’s voice caused Caitlyn to tremble
and the anxiety induced claws gripping her chest loosened a little bit. Caitlyn
stared ahead, at her desk, through the window and let out a long, slow breath.
She stood staring, steadying her breathing for some time. Thoughts trailed
away, leaving only the instruction to breathe in, hold her breath and breathe
out replaying in a loop in Caitlyn’s mind. A warm tingle built up inside
Caitlyn’s heart, as she lifted both of her hands towards her chest. Holding her
hands up, as though a sphere, around the size of a small cantaloupe, was sat
between them, Caitlyn stared ahead at her desk. Her breathing grew heavy, as
her energy tingled to the tips of her fingers. A firm stare of concentration wrinkled
the part of her nose that met with her eyebrows. Caitlyn’s fingers began to
lean together, as the small bear-face charm that poked out of the top pouch of
Caitlyn’s pencil case disappeared. Inhaling a shaky sniff, Caitlyn kept her
fingers frozen in place, as she moved her forearms in a slow wavering movement,
attempting to levitate the, now invisible, charm across the classroom and
towards the door. Her heart hammered in her ribcage. A lump leapt into her
throat. Caitlyn could feel sweat beginning to clam up her palms. She shuddered
a little, raising her hands to avoid the charm from bumping against Clare’s
head or Daniel’s arm, as he raised his hand to answer a question. A tightness
tugged at Caitlyn’s intestines, as she took several slow sidesteps towards the
hut’s doorway. Using her elbow, she prodded the entrance door’s handle down and
stepped inside. Her eyes fluttered closed, imagining the high up placement of
the charm in the classroom, which she could no longer see, having stepped into
the maths hut entranceway. A slow breath exhaled Caitlyn’s lips, as she regained
composure of her heart and her thoughts. She inhaled a long slow breath, her
feet rooted to the spot, before exhaling a even longer, slower breath. All of a
sudden, Caitlyn sensed a tingling all over her body, as she cloaked herself in
the invisibility illusion that she had used to protect herself and Bert, the
previous year. She took a hesitant step forward and, using her elbow, she
creaked open the door a fraction.
“Who’s there?” she heard Bentley say, upon seeing the door’s movement.
A twinge tugged at Caitlyn’s chest and she jerked her hands towards herself.
With a whooshing of air, Caitlyn sensed her charm shoot past her head. She
gasped and spun around, making sure to keep her hands in motion and her
concentration on masking the charm’s appearance and keep it floating in midair.
Before anyone had the chance to check the classroom door, Caitlyn darted out of
the maths hut and released the invisibility cloaking illusion from herself.
A thudding rapped in Caitlyn’s ears and tugged tight at her chest, as
she made her way back to Mr Penn’s classroom, floating the invisible charm all
the way. Her knees began to quake. Trembling shuddered her thighs. An aching
grew in her arms. A tingling of light-headedness wavered around in her head. Caitlyn
sniffed and let out a shaky whimper, as she tried to pull all of her remaining
focus and energy into floating and concealing the charm for a little while
longer. Holding her breath, Caitlyn rapped the back of her left hand against Mr
Penn’s classroom door. “Come in,” he called. Using her elbow again, Caitlyn
prodded the door open and shuffled inside. Her eyes darted towards the back of
the classroom, where she saw Mr Penn standing behind his students, as they took
a practise GCSE chemistry test.
“I…I brought the rock sample from the flood, at the maths hut, like
you asked, sir,” Caitlyn said, with a tremble to her voice, as she held her
left hand to her side and her right hand behind her back, keeping control of the
invisible floating charm.
“I see,” nodded Mr Penn, making his way around the room towards her. “Please,
Caitlyn, leave it on my desk. I will see to it at once.” Caitlyn nodded and
shuffled to her left, towards Mr Penn’s desk. Aware of the watchful eyes, she
surveyed the students around her, as she lowered the charm to the desk,
removing both the levitation and invisibility illusions. The dizziness in her
head spun her mind around in a racing circle and she gripped a hand to her
forehead. She and Mr Penn exchanged a knowing nod, before Caitlyn raced out of
his classroom.
Guilt ate away at Caitlyn’s chest from breaking so many school rules.
Her intestines swirled around, creating knots upon knots deep inside of her.
The light-headedness from using so much of her internal energy caused Caitlyn
to stumble a couple of times, on her return to her maths classroom. As Caitlyn
peered her head around her maths classroom door, Mr Archimedes gasped. “Oh
Caitlyn, what are you doing back?” he asked, with a worried tone to his voice
and a wrinkled brow. “You do look a little pale still,” he added, as Caitlyn
returned his pastel pink pass to her math’s teacher’s desk and took her seat. “I
do think that you should go home.”
“No, sir,” Caitlyn whispered, shaking her head. “I don’t want to miss
any more of your lesson. I don’t want to miss school.” Mr Archimedes gave
Caitlyn a sympathetic smile.
“Your health does come before your education, but, if you insist,” Mr
Archimedes paused and looked toward Darcia. “Darica, would you keep an eye on
Caitlyn, please? Ensure that she is alright, and pass on the notes that she has
missed from today’s lesson.”
“Yes, sir,” nodded Darcia. Looking towards Caitlyn, Darcia gave her
friend a weak, apologetic smile.
As maths came to an end, Darcia let Caitlyn lean against her shoulder
a little, as the two walked towards assembly. “What happened, Caitlyn?” Darica
asked, with worry lines creasing her forehead. “Did the charm do this to you?”
“Not exactly,” replied Caitlyn. Her heart panged with more anxious
guilt. “I did see Mr Penn though. He said that he’ll look into it.” Darcia
nodded and Caitlyn could see that her friend’s brain was already at work.
“There aren’t many people who have access to Frandadis fruits,” Darcia
said, as they walked across the courtyard between the Drama Studio and the main
school hall. Reaching the other side of the courtyard, Darcia held the door
open for Caitlyn, who nodded and whispered her gratitude. “Only NE have access
to them… and we’re in a Frandadis shortage,” Darcia spoke her thoughts out loud.
“Don’t remind me,” muttered Caitlyn. “I think I’m in trouble for using
the detection charm… Mr Penn seemed cross,” she whispered, as a tightness
tugged at her chest.
“But you could be saving everyone,” Darcia gasped. “He can’t punish
you for discovering something’s wrong with the charms.” Caitlyn winced, as two
year eleven boys barged past her and she wobbled into Darica, who gasped, and
grabbed hold of Caitlyn’s arms the best that she could.
“Thanks,” Caitlyn breathed, as she gave her friend a weak smile. “I
think Mr Penn was torn between telling me off and praising me… so he did
neither,” she said, with a puzzled expression, as she let out a nervous
chuckle.
“Well, he didn’t raise his voice… so that must be a good thing,”
Darcia decided.
The girls looked up towards the opening of the main school hall, to find
their form tutor, Mr Heekin, stood outside. He saw them approaching him and his
eyes widened. “Form room, now,” he whispered, in an urgent tone. Caitlyn and
Darcia turned towards each other and forced a swallow. They both looked up at
their form tutor, in hope of finding out more, but he was already flagging down
more of their form group, who were also on their way to assembly. “Samantha,
Aisha!” he called, ushering the girls over. “Form room, now.” Darcia and
Caitlyn turned around, relieved to see their friends behind them, with Emily in
tow.
“But we have assembly now sir,” Aisha told Mr Heekin.
“Yes,” nodded Mr Heekin. “Which is why I am attempting to round you
all up. Form room, now.” Caitlyn sniffed an anxious gasp and clung onto Darcia’s
arm. “You, you’re Emily, right?” Mr Heekin asked the girls’ friend. Emily
nodded. “You’d better join them,” he ordered, and motioned with a nod of his
head, for Emily to follow Caitlyn, Darcia, Samanatha and Emily to their form
room.
“I have never seen Mr Heekin act so serious,” hissed Samantha, as the four
girls took their usual seats in their form room. Emily grabbed a chair and
dragged it to sit with her friends.
“You girls got any idea what this is about?” asked Miraj, who sat two
seats to Caitlyn’s left.
“Nope!” sung Aisha, as the other girls shook their heads.
“I hope another teacher hasn’t died,” Artie muttered towards Caitlyn,
who’s eyes widened as she gasped.
Mumbled chatter built up around the room, as the remainder of Caitlyn’s
form group was gathered and ushered into their form room. Mr Ahmed, their head
of year, stood at the front of the classroom, ensuring that the students
behaved under his silent watchful eye. Once all of their form group, plus
Emily, were seated, Mr Heekin appeared, with Mr Penn at this side. Caitlyn’s
eyes widened. Her chest grew tight. Pulse pounded in her ears. She clawed her
fingers into the edge of her desk. ‘It’s about the charms, I know it is,’ Caitlyn
realised, as her heart dropped to her stomach.
“Right everyone,” announced Mr Heekin, creating a wave of silence
throughout the room. “Something urgent has been brought to our attention,” he
told his form group, in the most serious manner that any of them had ever heard
him speak, in the three years that they had known him. “I need all of your
cooperation, whilst we investigate into this. Before we begin, Mr Penn just
needs to run a quick test.” Confused mutterings erupted throughout the room. Caitlyn
and Darcia exchanged nervous glances.
At the front of the classroom, the girls’ NE teacher stood holding,
what Caitlyn decided looked like an early photographic device. The front
appeared to have a lens, in the centre of a square, wooden frame. Caitlyn tilted
her head to see that the body of the object looked like the concertina part of an
accordion. “Everyone, keep still,” Mr Penn instructed, as he appeared to look
through, what Caitlyn guessed was, the lens on the opposite side of the concertinaed
box. Mr Penn pressed a small button at the top of the device and a bright white
light flashed out across the room. A brief glow emitted out across all of the
students in the room, apart from Caitlyn and Darcia. Mr Penn inhaled a long deep
breath through his nose and straightened his posture. The other two teachers,
Mr Heekin and Mr Ahmed, exchanged looks of worry and confusion. “Alright,”
announced Mr Penn, clearing his throat to silence any chatter, and bring all of
the room’s attention to himself. “I am afraid that a serious incident has taken
place and we require all of you to remain in this room,” said Mr Penn, as he
looked around the room at all of the students. “It has been brought to my
attention that small pieces of plastic have been handed out to you all.” Mr
Penn’s eyes met Caitlyn’s for a brief moment, as he continued. “These pieces of
plastic contained a chemical that has planted a tracking device inside of your
beings.” Gasps and cries of panic rang out around the room. The two teachers looked
at each other with wide eyes. Caitlyn and Darcia exchanged knowing looks.
“I’m so proud of you,” Darica whispered to Caitlyn. The red head felt
a tingle of warmth from Darcia’s praise, before an impending sense of doom
drained all of the colour and warmth from her body.
“Don’t panic,” Mr Penn warned the room. “In order to keep you all
safe, we have rounded you all up into this room. For now, we do not know who is
behind this or why you students have been selected. We will arrange for trusted,
senior members of staff to keep a watchful eye over you, while we investigate
further.” Mr Penn’s speech came to an abrupt end, as his eyes broke contact with
the students and appeared to look beyond them. Caitlyn turned her head over her
shoulder to see a dazed Ms Carey in the school car park. She walked a few steps,
her chin slumped to her chest, then stopped. Cailyn’s eyes grew wide, as she
watched Ms Carey slump her shoulders and freeze in place, before her legs flung
out and she wobbled in a different direction.
“I will leave you all in Mr Heekin and Mr Ahmed’s trusted hands for
now,” Mr Penn told the students, bringing Caitlyn out of her trance, staring at
the peculiar sight of Ms Carey. “Caitlyn, Darcia, can I speak to you two
outside for a moment, please?” The thudding in Caitlyn’s chest grew louder and
faster. She shot Darcia a worried glance and the two got up from their seats
and followed Mr Penn outside of their form room door.
As Mr Penn closed the door behind them, he whispered, “They two of you
didn’t touch them… how did you know?” Darcia scrunched up her nose and
shrugged.
“But I touched mine,” Darcia said, feeling a little confused. “I didn’t
believe Caitlyn, at first, so I put it in my pencil case.”
“Your gloves!” gasped Caitlyn. “They must have saved you.”
“Caitlyn may be right,” Mr Penn said in a quiet voice. “Now… what I am
about to say is dangerous, so please say, ‘No,’ if you do not feel up to it…” The
trembling inside of Caitlyn’s chest grew. Her lips parted, as she stared at Mr
Penn. “You two are the only students in your form group who do not have the
tracking device in you, but whoever is behind this will expect you to, so you
are perfect for this. Did either of you see Ms Carey, in the carpark, just now?”
Caitlyn and Darcia nodded.
“She looked possessed!” Darcia cried. She spun her head towards
Caitlyn and gasped. “I’m so sorry I didn’t believe you.” Caitlyn gave Darica a
weak smile, as the more and more magic related things that seemed to have happened
over the recent months caused her insides to swirl around and threaten to be
heaved up.
“It isn’t Pellam, is it?” Caitlyn gasped.
“Pellam?” repeated Darcia, with a confused frown. “Who’s Pellam?”
Ignoring Darcia, Mr Penn looked direct at Caitlyn and said, “I don’t
know yet. Don’t jump to conclusions.” He straightened his back and looked down
at his two students with a proud smile. “I want you girls to go out there and
follow Ms Carey. Stay out of sight. We don’t know who could be watching, from
where or why,” he told the girls. “But you two are the best ones for the job.
Whoever is behind this believes that you have tracking devices inside of you. You
might be their target, but they’ll assume you are here, and you won’t appear on
their tracking device, whatever that may be, as you follow Ms Carey. I need you
to follow Ms Carey, find out where she’s going and why. See if you can figure
out who is controlling her or giving her instructions. Do you think you’re up to
the task?”
“Yes!” Darcia blurted out, full of excitement and adrenaline. Mr Penn smirked,
amused by her enthusiasm.
“Caitlyn?” he asked, as he rose his left eyebrow, looking at her with
a hopeful expression.
“I don’t know,” muttered the red head, with a shaky exhale. “I don’t
know if I can…” she whispered, as her insides trembled with weakness.
“I need you girls to look after each other,” Mr Penn said in a quiet
voice, as he placed both of his hands on Caitlyn’s shoulders. “Now look at me,”
he instructed Caitlyn. Inhaling a shaky breath, Caitlyn’s eyes flickered with
hesitation, before looking up at the towering teacher. As their eyes locked, a
tingling warmth spread into Caitlyn’s body from her shoulders. She let out a
surprised gasp, as strength returned to her legs, arms and chest. “Look after
her.”
“I will,” both girls replied, as they looked at each other.
Following Mr Penn’s orders, Caitlyn and Darcia crept out of the school
and hid between Mr Flourfield’s dark mulberry Nissan Micra and Mr Wye’s sunflower-yellow
soft top Lamborghini. Whilst Caitlyn crept down low and peered around Mr
Flourfield’s car to spy on Ms Carey in her marionette state, Darcia took the
opportunity to check her messages on her Nokia 3310. All of a sudden a bright
light shone from behind Caitlyn. She clasped her hand to her mouth, to conceal
a gasp and spun around to see what Darcia was doing. “Stop that!” hissed
Caitlyn.
“I’m sorry!” Darcia cried. “I didn’t know phones could do that! It’s
like it has a torch or something.”
“Don’t be silly,” huffed Caitlyn, as she wafted her hand towards
herself, signalling for Darcia to crouch down alongside her. “Phones don’t have
torches.”
“I know,” Darcia whispered back and she squatted down, behind Mr
Flourfield’s car, beside Caitlyn. “I don’t know where that bright light came
from.”
“Forget about that,” Caitlyn whispered, with a sharp tongue. “We need
to follow Ms Carey.”
Two heads peered around a plum coloured Nissan Micra just in time to
see a puppet-like Ms Carey appear to get flung around the street like a
ragdoll. Caitlyn and Darcia gasped, as Ms Carey’s legs appeared to curve at the
knees towards the left and she shot across the road. “Quick, let’s follow her,”
Caitlyn instructed and keeping a hunched position she crept forward.
“Are you crazy?!” cried Darcia. “We’ll get caught!”
“No, we won’t,” Caitlyn insisted. Darica’s brow rose in disbelief and
her feet remained rooted to the spot. “Please, just trust me,” Caitlyn
whispered. She threw her head back around just in time to see Ms Carey totter
down the road and take a left. Cupping her hand in the direction that Ms Carey
had stumbled towards, Caitlyn begged for Darcia to follow her.
As the two friends scurried down the street, Caitlyn used her newfound
energy, that Mr Penn had transferred to her, to shield them both from the eyes
of Ms Carey and whoever might be controlling her. Sneaking up on Ms Carey, the girls
watched, as the school’s nicest teacher stood motionless. Her head flopped back
down. Her hair wafted in front of her face. The teacher’s body leant towards
the right, as if she were a stringed puppet, before she plodded forwards. “This
is weird,” Darica whispered. “What do you think is going on?”
“I’ve no idea,” Caitlyn whispered back. The red head’s heart raced
with worry for Ms Carey, anxiety of getting caught and fear that something bad
could happen to Darcia if she did not keep her focus and shield their
visibility. The beating in Caitlyn’s chest began to hurt with the racing of her
heart.
Then
I woke up.
- Josie -
