Month: March 2020

Chatoyant College, Chatoyant College Book 14: Ghost Stories

Chatoyant College Book 14: Chapter 25: Some Time

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Edie ran up the steps to the second floor of Mary Thomas, only slowing down when someone she vaguely recognized flattened themselves along the wall as though she was going to barrel over them. Embarrassed, she switched to a fast walk. At least she wasn’t far from Annie’s room now.

She hesitated at the door, then knocked gently. If Annie was napping or something, she didn’t want to disturb her.

Annie’s voice was soft at the best of times, but Edie was used to it by now, and so she could make out the words from the other side of the door. “Who’s there?”

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Chatoyant College, Chatoyant College Book 14: Ghost Stories

Chatoyant College Book 14: Chapter 24: In Shock

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Dawn wanted to ask Ginny if Annie would be okay, but if the answer wasn’t good, she didn’t want to force Ginny to say it in front of Annie—or listen to the silence. So she just bit her lip and focused on helping her friend walk. Luckily Annie was small and light, because she really didn’t seem to be able to keep herself steady. When they got to the steps, she and Ginny just lifted Annie by the arms.

They finally reached Ginny’s office, where Ginny had Dawn wait in the doorway, holding Annie up, while she pressed a button in the wall next to a bookshelf. The shelf came down to reveal a cot on its other side. Dawn wasn’t sure whether it was magic or just a very clever Murphy bed.

Without waiting to be told, Dawn helped Annie get onto the bed. Annie clutched the edges of it with apparent gratitude, taking deep breaths through her teeth.

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Chatoyant College, Chatoyant College Book 14: Ghost Stories

Chatoyant College Book 14: Chapter 23: Do Something

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Dawn thought Mardalan seemed to disapprove of her spell idea, but since she hadn’t actually suggested any alternatives, it must have been good enough for the assignment. Maybe it was a weird combination. But if it didn’t work, Dawn would be no worse off.

She set the candle on her desk, taking her time to find the right spot, while Mardalan spoke with Celeste. She put the stone on top of the candle, to the right of the wick, and tried to concentrate on seeing the future of her relationship while also finding her inherent magic to light the candle. It took her a couple of tries—she hadn’t been practicing—but the candle caught, the reflection of the flame shimmering in the stripes of the stone.

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Chatoyant College, Chatoyant College Book 14: Ghost Stories

Chatoyant College Book 14: Chapter 22: Violent or Passionate

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While they passed the papers around, Mardalan opened the storage locker and carried out several handfuls of candles of every type—from fat white pillar candles to tiny candles that appeared to shimmer, obviously intended for birthday cakes. After laying the candles on the floor, she returned to the storage locker and brought out several plastic bags. She lay them in among the candles, then stepped back. “Please come up and choose candles,” she said. “One per person, please, but choose whatever you would like. Please also select one item from a bag, then return to your seats.”

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Chatoyant College, Chatoyant College Book 14: Ghost Stories

Chatoyant College Book 14: Chapter 21: Candle Magic

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Monday, September 11

After having gone through two full weeks of Ritual Magic classes, Dawn had to admit that Mardalan did seem to have some understanding of knot magic. She performed a simple spell right in front of them on the first full day of class, using a knot to capture smoke from a small candle; they all watched the smoke disappear into the knot in her rope, and when she untied the knot, the smoke was completely gone. Dawn couldn’t even smell anything.

Mardalan had also avoided touching any of them, even in passing. She was obviously not an experienced teacher, but at least she seemed to have no interest in doing them harm.

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Chatoyant College, Chatoyant College Book 14: Ghost Stories

Chatoyant College Book 14: Chapter 20: Strange Noises

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Edie gasped. She should have known that the story would have a tragic ending, since they were talking about a ghost, but the idea that this striving scholarship student had died by suicide still really struck her. She would have guessed that the student had been killed by a faerie or some magic gone wrong. But then, there wouldn’t be a well-known story on campus about a student having been killed by a faerie, would there?

Of course, she hadn’t heard this story before. It could have easily been suppressed by the magic that kept people from noticing the strange discrepancies that having a campus filled with faeries produced. And she thought if that were the case, the only reason it could have resurfaced was if there was really a ghost.

“So she haunts the building?” Corrie asked. “What is she supposed to do?”

“People say they see her, standing in the hall or on the stairs,” Sam said. “Or there are strange noises.” Continue reading “Chatoyant College Book 14: Chapter 20: Strange Noises” →

Chatoyant College, Chatoyant College Book 14: Ghost Stories

Chatoyant College Book 14: Chapter 19: Haunted

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Friday, September 1

Edie walked a little bit ahead of Dawn and Corrie as they entered the Mary Thomas dorm, looking around. She’d been in here a couple times now, but she was still trying to rid it of the association it had picked up last year, since Elrath had lived here. She was trying to learn to like it now that people she liked—Annie and Roe—lived here. And it did have interesting Victorian architecture. It was pretty in some ways, though that big staircase leading up to the second floor still seemed intimidating.

Annie was the reason they were here; they were picking her up to go have dinner together in the dining hall. And there she was, approaching the top of the stairs from the hallway, covering her mouth in a yawn.

“Are you okay?” Corrie asked Annie as she came close. “It’s not even seven o’clock, you can’t be tired yet.”

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Chatoyant College Book 14: Chapter 18: Help

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Corrie frowned and raised her hand. That sounded like the campus protections had changed since last year.

Lal nodded to her. “Corrie?”

“Did you get rid of the walls that were up for a while? They were supposed to keep faeries out and humans in.”

Continue reading “Chatoyant College Book 14: Chapter 18: Help” →

Chatoyant College, Chatoyant College Book 14: Ghost Stories

Chatoyant College Book 14: Chapter 17: See Her Coming

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The next person to be called asked, “Are you sure there aren’t any vampires on campus? Couldn’t they come here if they wanted to?”

Professor Lal assured them that while vampires could, in theory, enter campus, it had never been a problem in the four hundred years that the college had been in operation, and that vampires had proper respect for and fear of faeries. She then assured another person that the vast majority of faeries in and around campus were on the side of humanity and would help protect the students against those faeries who were not. Then she had to assure someone else that the risk of a werewolf attack was extremely minimal.

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