Tag: Character: Celeste

Chatoyant College, Chatoyant College Book 14: Ghost Stories

Chatoyant College Book 14: Chapter 36: Not My Secret

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“Weird noises in the middle of the night,” Celeste said. “People’s doors don’t stay shut and sometimes their stuff moves around. Weird, right? I mean, I know there are faeries and stuff on campus, but if faeries are teachers and students, they’re probably not sneaking around in dorms playing little tricks on people.”

“No, faeries don’t do that kind of thing,” Corrie said. “Though I guess it’s probably safest to keep a four-leaf clover and some iron on you at all times anyway.” She stuck her hand in her jeans pocket, where she always had a four-leaf clover. Nothing changed this time when she touched it, but she would have been very surprised if it had.

“Oh, yeah, I got one of those.” Celeste reached into her back pocket and pulled out a four-leaf clover, holding it up. “No faerie is going to sneak up on me.”

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Chatoyant College, Chatoyant College Book 14: Ghost Stories

Chatoyant College Book 14: Chapter 35: Nothing There

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Saturday, September 23

Corrie and Edie stood in the doorway of Annie’s room while she packed a few things. They’d made plans earlier for a movie night with her, and since Dawn had made plans with Rico to spend the night in his dorm room (his roommate would be away), she’d agreed to let Annie sleep in her bed. They were all hoping Annie would be able to get a better night of sleep away from Mary Thomas. The ghost had been bothering her every single night recently. Corrie had suggested she ask to be moved to a different dorm room, but there weren’t any empty ones; the way the administration had juggled the student population when so many people had dropped out, the dorms that had remained open were fully packed.

Corrie heard footsteps on the rug behind her and turned around to see Roe, smiling wanly. “Hi, guys,” she said. “What are you up to? Keeping Annie company?”

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Chatoyant College, Chatoyant College Book 14: Ghost Stories

Chatoyant College Book 14: Chapter 33: Handout

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Monday, September 18

Dawn walked into Ritual Magic to find Annie already in her usual seat at the back, staring into a very large coffee cup from the coffee stand in the humanities building. She sighed and walked over to sit next to Annie. “Still having trouble sleeping?”

“Mhm,” Annie said. She made a face, wrinkling her nose, and took a large sip of the coffee. “I don’t like coffee. I ordered a fancy drink with sugar and steamed milk and stuff, but now it’s too sweet.”

“Maybe just a coffee with cream and sugar next time,” Dawn suggested.

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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 13: Questions

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Mardalan went through the rest of the class; Dawn learned that the pink-haired girl’s name was Celeste and the guy who had been arguing with her was Rick. After everyone except Dawn, Mardalan paused to write something down on the list. Dawn hoped it was something inoffensive about each person’s appearance so that she could remember their names—and also that it wouldn’t change later in the semester and confuse Mardalan.

“That’s everything we need for today,” Mardalan finally said. “For Monday’s class, I will supply basic cords, but if you have any string you think you might like to use for your spells, please do bring it. We cannot waste any time.” She stared at them for a moment, the class staring back, before she said, “Class dismissed.”

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Chatoyant College, Chatoyant College Book 14: Ghost Stories

Chatoyant College Book 14: Chapter 12: Human-Looking

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Annie cringed, but when Mardalan walked away, she began to hand out the syllabi. Dawn glanced over hers. It was a single piece of paper, printed back and front, with a complete list of the dates the class would meet that semester. Each class had a topic assigned to it, and they were divided into four sections: Knot Magic, Candle Magic, Potions, and Spiritualism. That was pretty close to what Dawn remembered reading in the course catalog.

“This is the introductory Ritual Magic class,” Mardalan said, standing with her hands behind her back like a kid reciting a story. “You will have the opportunity to take the more advanced Ritual Magic class in future semesters. You have all taken the introductory magic class, so you understand the basics. We will explore types of magic that are similar to witchcraft and classical necromancy.”

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