Chatoyant College Book 13: Chapter 8: Doldrums

A little while later, there was a knock on the door. Corrie hopped up to answer it, and Edie saw her open the door to let Lorelei in. Lorelei looked around at the group of them and laughed. “You guys certainly know how to take advantage of a foggy day.”

“Come join us,” Edie said, gesturing at the pile of food. “There’s plenty.”

Lorelei shook her head. “Sorry, but I can’t. Charlie and I are responsible for the whole dorm. I wish I could just hang out with you guys.”

“Well, that’s why they pay you the big bucks, right?” Roe said.

“They pay us, anyway,” Lorelei said. She grinned. “You guys may not need it, but Charlie and I have a big stash of pasta for exactly this occasion. We’ll be making enough for everyone to eat around noon. It doesn’t look like the fog is going to let up anytime soon, and not everyone is as prepared for this as you.”

“What if it doesn’t let up at all today?” Corrie asked. “We won’t have enough food to last all day, and other people will be hungry at dinnertime.”

“The administration says that they have a plan if it becomes necessary, but it’s expensive, so they hope they won’t have to.” Lorelei shrugged. “They won’t tell us exactly what it is, but I’m guessing it involves takeout and a car or two on campus. Maybe one of their golf carts—a car wouldn’t be able to navigate the sidewalks safely.”

“Is there even anyone at the dining hall to make dinner?” Rico asked.

“I don’t know. It’s my job to take care of you guys, not worry about the rest of campus. Sorry, I have to get on with it.” Lorelei turned to the door.

“Wait,” Edie said. She stood up. “Before you go. Have you heard anything? Did they update you on—whoever’s dead?”

Lorelei turned back with her hand on the door handle and grimaced, shaking her head. “They haven’t shared anything. I wish they would. Waiting and wondering like this is worse than knowing would be, I’m sure.”

Edie nodded. She sank back down to the floor as Lorelei left and broke off another piece of chocolate.

“Do you know anything, Roe?” Derwen asked. “Haven’t you had any visions that tell you about this?”

Roe shook her head, nibbling on a cracker. She swallowed hard before answering. “For the last couple weeks, it’s just been the same vision. Or maybe it’s a dream, but I don’t know what would be stressing me out enough to have this dream.”

“What is it?” Dawn asked.

“Teeth,” Roe said. “Just… teeth, in the darkness. I don’t have a clear image of them and I don’t have any context. It’s pretty creepy.”

Edie winced. It sounded scary. Roe’s visions always came true in some fashion—but was this vision about what had already happened, or was there something yet to come?

“Do you think these teeth killed whoever it was?” Corrie said. “Have you had the vision again since then?”

“I’m not sure,” Roe said, frowning. “My dreams from last night before and after being woken up are pretty mixed together. But maybe this is it. Maybe it’s over.”

“I hope we get some answers soon,” Annie said.

Conversation faded. Edie finished her chocolate and found that she wasn’t really hungry anymore. She sat on her bed, checked out the window, and picked up a book to read. The others stayed hanging out, but some of them got their homework, and Corrie started drawing. As the morning went on, they nibbled slowly at the food.

Edie kept checking on the fog, but it didn’t seem to be fading. Had something made the court faeries really angry? Was it one of them that had been killed? If so, what were they doing in the middle of campus?

They went down and got some pasta around noon, but it was so crowded in the common room that they decided to bring it back up to Edie and Corrie’s room to eat. As she ate, Edie checked her email. Darcy and Zip had both, to her relief, checked in. They were fine, as was Theresa. Neither of them had any idea who was dead.

Zip lived in Hillel, which shared space with the environmental co-op, so if it was a student, she didn’t live in that dorm. Edie couldn’t remember what dorm Darcy lived in, but decided not to ask. They would probably find out who was dead before Darcy got back to her.

The day seemed to drag on. Edie was restless, unable to stick with a book or a knitting project, even as she chatted with her friends. Normally she would have been up and down the stairs several times by this time, and she would have left the building and had some fresh air, even on a weekend. She thought she was starting to understand Corrie’s impatience in the morning.

Around seven, as the sun was starting to head toward the horizon, Lorelei paid them another visit. Trucks had brought pizza for everyone in the dorm. But there was still no news.