Nightschool chapter 7

"What the?" Alex asked, wide-eyed, not able to see the glowing symbol on her forehead.

"Light." Mrs. Murrey took off her glasses and squinted at Alex. "Who do we have here?"

She put her glasses back on and knelt down so she was level with the tied-up girl. "Are you a student here? Where is your nightpass?"

"Um, no," Alex said, confused. "I'm-I'm looking for my sister? Sarah Treveney? She's the night keeper here?"

Mrs. Murrey looked away, thinking. "Sarah Tweeny, Sarah Tweeny…"

"Treveney!" Alex repeated.

"No, I don't know anyone by that name," Mrs. Murrey said. "And we haven't had a night keeper for a month. Which is why I am forced to make the rounds myself, of all the…" She clapped twice. "Clarice, release them."

The black creature let go, letting Alex fall two feet, her Astral swooping to catch her.

"Trespassing on school grounds without a nightpass…" the teacher said, thinking. "Casting spells without teacher supervision… I suppose I can't give you detention if you are not a student…" She turned away. "But I'm sure I could get this on your recordsomehow…"
Alex stiffened.

Mrs. Murrey smiled evilly. "Madam Night Principal will have access to that."

Alex thought fast.

Mrs. Murrey turned back to her. "Follow m–"

"I came to enroll!" Alex interrupted quickly.

Mrs. Murrey blinked. "Excuse me?"

"I, um…" Alex started. "I would like to attend this school. What should I do to enroll and get a nightpass?"

Mrs. Murrey was silent for a moment.

"You'd have to see the keeper. The day keeper, since we don't have a night one, and I sure as hell am not handling admissions, too. She comes in at 6 a.m."

The clock read five to midnight.

"Now, I'm going to pretend I didn't see you," she continued. She passed her hand over Alex's forehead, erasing the symbol. "No need to thank me." She waved a hand, gesturing for her to leave. "Now leave. Don't come back without a nightpass."

Alex found herself swept up in a wind and plopping down outside the school.

She looked up at the darkened windows of the school and sighed, frustrated.

"Need some help?"

Nicholas and his girlfriend were standing behind her.

She screamed, jumping back.

"Easy there, I don't bite," Nicholas said. He glanced back at the black-and-white-haired girl behind him, grinning mischievously. "This early."

The girl giggled.

"Oh, you think you are so funny!" Alex accused, heart pounding.

She tried to think of an appropriate way to start a conversation with her night speciology subjects.

'Ha-ha, I was totally spying on you earlier.'

No.

'H-hello, person and not-so-person I've never seen before in my life. No, seriously."

Maybe.

'How did you get away from the Hunters?'

Hmmm…

"U-um," she started. "Do you go to this school?"

"Well, every now and then," Nicholas said, chuckling. "Why, you trying to get in?"

"Um, yeah," Alex admitted reluctantly. "Apparently I need a nightpass? The lights weren't even on."

"Oh, right," the vampire said. "There's a glamour spell on the school, so it looks dark and empty. To get past it, yeah, you need a nightpass…" He pulled out five slips over paper, smiling impishly. "Or at least something that passes for one."

Alex stared. "What do you want for one of these?"

"The happiness of a lady is all the thanks a gentleman needs," he said, handing her one of the slips.

His girlfriend smiled at him, adoration plain on her face.

"U-um…" Alex started. "Th-thank you?"

"Okay," the vampire said, "you girls sit tight, and I'll be right back."

He disappeared into a whirlwind of light and shadow.

"He is socool," the human said.

She looked at Alex, obviously wanting to say something. After several moments, she opened her mouth.

"WHAT?" Alex demanded.

"Are you really a witch?" the girl asked, undeterred.

"Yes," Alex said after a moment, turning away.

"A Weirn, right? Is that your Astral? Can I touch it?" She reached her hand out toward the guardian.

"No, hey!" Alex yelled, jumping between the two.

"Oh, sorry!" the girl said nervously, pulling her hand away. "I didn't mean to be rude.

"Hide," Alex said to the spirit.

The girl looked down shyly as the spirit vanished.

"I'm just so excited," she said. "I was always so into this stuff. And now it's suddenly real!" She looked in the direction opposite Alex. "I thought his notes were some kind of practical joke, at first."

"Notes?" Alex asked.

"You'll probably laugh…" she said, looking away. "I would write these… letters. I pretended that I had a vampire pen pal, but we couldn't meet… because he couldn't come out during the day and I couldn't come out at night. So I'd put them in a box and bury them under this big old tree in the nearby cemetery.

"And then one day he wrote back." She blushed lightly. "Tonight is the second-ever time we've met for real."

Alex raised an eyebrow. "You went to meet some guy you only know through letters? At night?"

"Yeah, probably not very smart, huh," the girl admitted.

"There was a 95% chance that he'd have taken your blood and dumped you in a nearby grave… to die or turn," the Weirn said. "Most vampires are like that."

"Th-that's just a stereotype," the girl stuttered, looking at her uncertainly.

"Yeah, okay, a stereotype," Alex said. "Now explain that vampire newbie that attacked you."

"Are you sure you're okay?" the girl had asked the vampire afterwards. "You looked sodeeead…"

"I'm fine, I'm fine," he'd insisted, scowling at his blood-soaked collar. "Not my shirt, though."

"That was soscary," the girl said now. "That whole episode was just… I can't believe he actually got up after that–"

She blinked. "Wait. How did you know about that?"

Alex stiffened. "U-um. Er. Well." She thought. "I'm a witch, duh! I have… witchy ways. Of knowing things. And stuff."

That and really good binoculars.

"Ohhhh," the girl said, smiling. "That is so cool. "Hey, can you find out winning lottery num–"

She was interrupted by the ground rumbling under their feet.

A rectangular hole appeared in the ground in front of them. Alex pushed the girl behind her.

A figure came up the stairs leading to them, the silhouette fuzzy with the mist swirling around.

"Boo," Nicholas said simply, jumping in front of them.

The girls shrieked.

The human opened her eyes, saw it was him, grabbed his sleeve, and shook him, smiling. "Why did you do that, you scared me!"

"Sorry," he said, chuckling.

"I was this close to siccing my Astral on you!" Alex said, glaring and holding her fingers a centimeter apart. "Thisclose! And what's with the big hole in the ground?"

"There are protection wards all over the school," he said, looking at her like it was obvious. "Can't just waltz in… I had to find an empty entrance. Did you fill out your passes?"

Alex looked down at the slip of paper asking for name, kin, and who it was issued by.

"You have to fill it out and seal it before going in," he explained.

Alex walked over to a tree and scribbled in the blanks, leaning on it.

"Um, kin–" the human said. "Like, my family name?"

"Just put "human"," Nicholas said. "Now hold it between your hands."

The girls complied, then flinched.

"Ow!" the human said. "It bit me!"

"Just a tiny drop of blood to seal it as yours," Nicholas explained.

"Don't get any ideas," Alex said, glaring at the vampire.

"Oh, please," he said, waving it off. He then leaned in, placing a hand on the tree next to her. "But if ever you really wanted to thank me for the pass…"

"What happened to a lady's happiness being enough?" the Weirn cried, alarmed.

"Just kidding!" Nicholas said, laughing. "Damn."

Alex growled.

The girl tugged on his arm. "L-let's go…"

Nicholas led them down the stairwell, the girl behind him, holding his hand. Alex trailed a few feet behind them.

"Oh, I wonder what the school is like!" the girl said, now clinging to his arm. "Do you seriously have mermaids?"

"I think there's one in third year, yeah," the only actual student said.

Alex was looking away, slightly exasperated with the couple.

"Does she have a tail?" the girl asked.

Nicholas smiled mischievously. "You know, I've never checked…"

Out of the corner of her eye, Alex saw the faint image of a woman, her short, wet hair clinging to her forehead.

"Sarah!" she cried.

It disappeared.

"Sarah!" she yelled, glancing around. "Sarah!"

"Is she having a vision?" the girl whispered to her boyfriend.

"Dunno," he said.

"Hey, witch-girl," he called back, "these things don't stay open forever, you know. We gotta roll."

She glanced around one more time, then followed, still looking behind her.

Nicholas peeked out of the door the portal had lead to.

"Perfect timing," he said to the girls. "Class is almost over."

"Hey, Nic. Sneaking in late?" a girl's voice asked.

Nicholas looked out and saw Ronee and her two friends.

"Gah!" he said, surprised.

"We missed you at the meeting today, Nic," the redhead said.

"Yes, reallymissed you," the blue-haired teen said, grinning.

Nicholas slipped out. "Uh, the meeting…?" he started, almost-closing the door. "Oh sh– Was that tonight? Well! I… have a… very good reason! For not being there."

"Oh?" Ronee asked, amused.

"I ran into Hunters," he said.

"You look…" Ronee started, "surprisingly intact and un-dust-cloud-like following that."

The redhead and student with blue hair snickered.

"Th-that's because they got distracted by these two rippers," he explained, a bit frustrated.

Ronee held back a smile. The other two burst out laughing, both on the verge of tears.

"Look," the vampire said, stiffening, "I know how this sounds, but first of all–it's true, and second, I don't have to explain myse–"

"We really were attacked!"

Ronee creaked open the door to reveal the human, who now had her hands over her mouth again.

Nicholas sighed.

"Lunch?" Ronee asked him under her breath.

"Girlfriend!" he yelled. "What the hell!"

"Ah, okay," the dark-skinned Weirn said.

"So do we have a problem or what?" the vampire asked.

"We didn't see anything," Ronee said, fluttering her eyelashes.

"'Kay, I owe you guys one," Nicholas said.

Ronee turned toward Alex, who was slipping out of the door.

The two of them were suddenly pushed away from each other by an invisible force, the image of seven children cloaked in white pushed into their heads, identical cloaks suddenly over the two of them.

The Weirns stared at each other, panting.

"Who the hell are you?" they asked in unison.

Oh, and in case you're wondering, Ronee is pronounced like Renee.