Zoe and Queenie sat right next to the fireplace. The heat from the flames was starting to make Zoe sweat a little.
Not many girls had shown up for the cookies. Zoe assumed it was probably because of the burnt smell coming from the kitchen. Or the fact that the first day of school always seemed to be the most exhausting, whether you were a witch or not.
"So..." she started, lightly tapping her hands against the sides of the armchair. "How do you guys like Robichaux so far?"
Rebekah, a girl named Amber, and two girls whispering constantly to each other in French, Starr and Celena, were the only other students in the den. They all stared back with slightly blank expressions. Starr and Celena continued to whisper.
"It's pretty nice." Rebekah answered, sipping her tea. Amber looked at her and nodded. "Not as nice as my pad in New York, but nice." She took a bite of her cookie.
Zoe nodded and noticed Queenie turn her head to roll her eyes. Zoe knew she was biting her tongue, being a member of the council now, she couldn't use her trademark sass.
"Um…" Amber started while chewing at her nails. "It's cool. My mom went here in the eighties. I didn't even know she was a witch until she told me a few days after the news story about this place came out." she laughed a little. "Makes sense though. My diaries had a tendency to disappear and reappear a lot when I was younger." she paused "Though I guess she could have just snuck in my room while I was at soccer practice." she continued to bite her nails. She laughed again and tucked a piece of her jet-black hair behind her ear.
"My family comes from a long line of witches." Celena finally spoke in English. She flipped her blonde hair behind her shoulders. "But my aunt wasn't too convinced about the safety of this place when she was reminded of it. Guess she assumed on the safe side since half of you…" she paused and looked at the fire "-passed away, last year." she cackled and Starr laughed with her.
Zoe felt her own self biting her tongue now. She wanted to ask Celena if she could go through her own personal hell or two head witches and come out alive. But she was a member of the council now, so it'd just be seen as rude and inappropriate.
"My mother runs Marie Laveau's old shop now." Starr quipped, sipping her tea. Celena asked her something about the voodoo queen in French. "Non." she replied "It's just a passed down name. Don't tell me you really believe those old spook's tales about Marie being over a hundred years old and still running around the Earth." Starr looked at Celena and chuckled. Celena just shrugged with a sheepish expression on her face.
Zoe wasn't allowed to confirm that the rumor was, in fact, true. It was one of the new council secrets. Since they had dealt with Fiona yearning for eternal life and trying to get it by whatever means necessary, they had to keep the fact that it was a possibility a secret, lest one of the new girls get any ideas of their own.
"Shame she went missing, though." Starr leaned over to get a cookie. "Thought she was a little smarter than that." she smirked.
Due to the secret and already existing rumors, the council simply said that Marie's 'descendants' took her name and looked very similar to her. They also theorized her 'soul' eternally lived on through each woman, hence why most witches referred to her as if she was one person (which she actually had been). Anyone who had been and was in Marie's inner circle knew about her immortality.
"I wish there were some guys here." Rebekah butt in, visibly bored by Starr's slight conversation with Celena. "It was just me and my dad back home. I'm not used to all this female…" she stopped and looked around the room, mostly keeping her gaze on Celena and Starr "-energy." she peered at her nails.
Zoe bit her lip, not liking the slight but obvious tension in the air. The teenager in her enjoyed that Rebekah had been snarky towards the two, but she couldn't act that way. She cleared her throat. "Yeah." she chuckled "I had two brothers back home. Feels weird only seeing them about three times a year, excluding summer break." she rubbed her palms nervously against her knees.
"That boy who serves us food is kinda cute." Amber giggled into her teacup. Zoe tightly smiled. She wasn't allowed to tell the students her and Kyle were an item. She heard Queenie chuckle.
"I don't know, he screams 'stereotypical frat boy' to me." Rebekah crossed her legs as she retorted.
"Doesn't he seem familiar?" Starr asked "Like he was on T.V. or in the newspaper once or something?"
Zoe gulped and gripped tightly into the arms of the chair. That was one more secret she wasn't allowed to tell. The girls knew of the possibility of bringing the dead back to life, but not that any non-Supremes had the ability (as of yet). It was possible that the power would develop in a student or even a few of them later on, but highly unlikely.
"It's like I've seen his face with that name on T.V. before. And it seems like it wasn't too long ago that I did." Starr stared up at the ceiling, a puzzled and thinking look on her face.
"All white boys look the same, he could look similar to anyone really." Queenie replied.
Starr laughed "Yeah, I guess you're right." Zoe sighed out a breath of relief.
"Well, Queenie…" she started, standing up and stretching "If it's okay with you, I'm gonna head on to bed." she looked over at her, making a pleading look.
"Yeah, I'm good here. 'Night." she mockingly saluted her. "Goodnight." Zoe smirked back at her. As she walked past the couch of girls, she whispered "See you later." to Rebekah.
"See you girls in the morning, I expect you all to be up and ready by seven forty-five!" she called out from the bottom of the staircase.
She walked up the stairs and heard a few girls mumbling and suddenly stopping when they heard her footsteps. She laughed since she didn't plan on spending any of her offtime scolding the girls about late-night gossiping. She passed Cordelia's room and noticed the light was still on. She figured she was probably up late doing slight-teacher work. At her old school she'd always hear them and other faculty complain about how a teacher's work was never done at the end of a school day. She wondered if that applied to a headmistress who was a witch as well.
She got to her room and as she opened her door, she noticed Kyle sitting on her bed. She paused for a minute and looked around the hallway, making sure no one was near the room. She quickly closed the door behind her.
"Sorry, I know it's risky." Kyle said "I just couldn't wait 'till the weekend to talk to you and this is the only other time I thought it was appropriate." Zoe walked over and sat down next to him.
"Okay." she let out a small sigh and let down her hair. Kyle placed a hand on her knee. She noted how she almost flinched.
"So…" he smiled at her "How was your day?" He tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. She smiled slightly.
"It was okay. Pretty tiring. Definitely different from my first, first day." she chuckled. "It was weird having to watch myself, since I'm on the staff and council now." Kyle nodded in response.
"How was yours?" she reluctantly placed a hand on his knee. He looked at the floor then back at her. "Pretty boring, really." he shrugged. "But it gives me something to do and a place to stay, so…" he looked off, seemingly staring at one of the posters Madison had left behind and Rebekah hadn't taken down.
"I'm sure you'll get used to it." she replied softly "Did you get any reading time in?" she asked. He looked back over and shook his head. "I was figuring I'd do some when I got back to my room, after this." she nodded. "Ms. Cordelia picked me up an easy book of Grimm fairy tales to look at and try, last time she went out." he smiled a little. She smiled back.
"That's good." Zoe rubbed his back slightly. She stared at the floor, uneasy that the conversation seemed so awkward. She couldn't tell if it was because the minor suspicion she had of Kyle or the fact that, after Fiona had 'fixed' him, he seemed a lot less passionate for anything but work and a lot more violent when 'set off'. She felt like he was even more like Frankenstein's monster at this point. Functioning and vocal, but not all there or very interesting to engage with.
"Uh, well, Rebekah might be up here pretty soon and I'm pretty beat, so if you don't mind…" she looked back up at him, twiddling her thumbs.
"Oh, of course." he stood up. She followed him to the door and they went in for a quick hug.
"Goodnight." he whispered to her "I love you." he added. Normally that would have filled her with glee, but now, after the awkward 'interview' that afternoon, she just felt slightly guilty. "I love you, too." she mumbled and hugged him tighter to make it seem earnest. They broke apart and he smiled and waved as he opened the door and walked into the hallway. She waved back and quickly but quietly closed the door.
She sighed and walked over to her closet and leaned down to get a black shoebox she kept her 'secret' stuff in. She grabbed the legal pad and walked back over to her bed, getting under the covers as she flipped to her notes from that afternoon.
Later, when she heard footsteps, she quickly opened the drawer to her bedside table and threw the pad into it. She clicked off her lamp and rushed to a sleeping position, shutting her eyes and trying her best to look asleep, so Rebekah wouldn't try to chitchat with her.
She heard the door open and the girl chuckle, presumably at the sight of Zoe asleep so fast. "That sleepytime must work for her." Rebekah laughed to herself. Zoe heard her bed squeak as she got into it. She heard her whispering and assumed she was praying before she got too comfortable. Sometimes she wished she still had nighttime rituals like that.
Rebekah clicked off her own light and Zoe could hear her as she shuffled under the covers. A second later, it sounded as if she was leaning over to get something, but as to what it might be, Zoe had no idea.
Zoe had had her eyes closed for what felt like twenty minutes, but couldn't get herself to drift off to sleep. All the stuff with Kyle that afternoon and night was bothering her, and on top of that, she was getting the eerie feeling of being watched again.
She tossed and turned, and even tried covering her head with one of her pillows while softly humming to herself. Nothing worked.
She shot up quickly. She looked around the room, but it didn't help. The only source of light were a few streetlamps far off, near the sidewalks. They made everyday objects and furniture cast odd and looming shadows against the almost stark white walls.
She quickly got up and walked over to the bathroom, hoping maybe a few minutes in the bright fluorescent light would comfort her into sleepiness.
She shut the door and flipped the switch. She covered her eyes as they quickly adjusted. She looked around, slightly afraid of a ghost or bloody, mangled teenage girl showing up in the shower. Usually she would tell herself a thought like that was stupid, but with a year like the one she had just experienced, she gave herself some slack. She had proof and affirmations of almost all those specific fears in general.
She walked over to the mirror and turned the sink's hot water on. She hastily splashed her face with some while it was still lukewarm. She felt a little more comfortable as the warmth washed over her face. She reached over, with her eyes still closed, for a towel. That comfort was quickly shattered.
"Zoe!" she heard someone say in a quick, excited whisper. Her eyes shot open and she looked around the bathroom cautiously. She prayed Rebekah was in there with her. No such luck. Her eyes scanned the completely empty room and she gulped.
She gingerly grabbed the doorknob, hoping that when she opened it the girl would be on the other side. She slowly pulled and looked through the crack.
The room was dim in the leaking light of the bathroom, but she could see enough to clearly make out the outline of Rebekah's body laying in her bed. Her chest heaved up and down in a deep sleep. Zoe sighed shakily, deciding to try one more time to see if it was just Rebekah needing something, or maybe talking in her sleep.
"Re-Rebekah?" Zoe muttered in the girl's direction. No reply, except for the sound of her softly snoring. She felt her knees start to shake.
"Zoe, please!" the voice whispered right behind her shoulder. She whipped around quickly, causing her back to push against the door and shut it. She looked around. No one. Her lips began to tremble.
She shut her eyes and felt around for the knob. She hit the switch as she opened the door and quickly opened her eyes again in the bedroom.
When she saw the outline of the door, she ran quickly, trying not to bump against anything in the dark.
As she entered the hallway, she noticed how hard she was breathing. She tried to calm herself down by counting her breaths and breathing deeply. She looked around the dim but still lit (by plug-in nightlights) hallway.
She started walking towards the stairs. She didn't know where she was going, but she had to get away from her room. That was where the paranoia hit her the most. And where the ghost seemed to be active.
She passed Cordelia's room and saw the light was still on. It was at least one in the morning, but she paused in front of the door anyway. She hesitated, but soon tapped softly in a quick series of knocks.
"Who is it?" she heard Cordelia call out. She bit her lip and almost considered turning around and going back to her room. But she quickly remembered the chill that went down her spine as the voice had called her name a second time. She gulped.
"It's Zoe." she replied softly, trying not to wake anyone else up in her slight panic. She heard some shuffling and what sounded like a 'click'. She laced her fingers together in anticipation.
"Come in." Cordelia spoke a bit louder. Zoe opened the door and stood still a bit, waiting until she could see the woman.
She saw her laying in bed, with a pen and legal pad on her lap, and a big, old book open next to her. She figured she might have interrupted some work, but her nerves were too shaken to feel guilty about it.
"Can I come in?" she asked softly. Cordelia smirked slightly and nodded, taking off her reading glasses. "Just be sure to close the door, please." she placed the glasses on the nightstand. Zoe nodded and walked in, quietly shutting the door behind her.
"What is it? Is everything alright? Are one of the girls hurt?" Cordelia asked. Zoe crossed her arms and shook her head. "No, they're fine, ." She bit her lip and rocked back and forth on her feet. She looked around the room, wondering if whatever had whispered to her in the bathroom had followed her to Cordelia's bedroom. It didn't feel like it. She looked back over at her and noticed she had a worried expression on her face.
"Well, are you alright, Zoe?" she placed her hands together on the yellow legal pad. Zoe shook her head again. She was still scared, but didn't quite know how to explain what had happened without it just sounding a little bit dumb. Cordelia nodded.
"What is it, dear?" she quietly asked. She bit her lip harder and felt tears start to sting her eyes.
"I-" she heard her voice waver and swallowed. "I was trying to get to sleep, and got a little scared in the dark. You know, with how big the room is and all." her cheeks felt warm as she recounted the story. "So I went to the bathroom to get a little light and splash my face." her stomach sank as she got closer to the climax of it. She messed with her nails and looked at the floor.
"Is that all?" she heard Cordelia ask while she continued to stay quiet. She quickly shook her head. "Um, while I was washing my face, I heard a voice. Again." a tear rolled down her cheek.
She looked up and saw Cordelia's eyes widen a little. "Come here." she patted the bed on the space next to her. Zoe walked over and sat down, crossing her legs and facing Cordelia.
"Did it just say the same things as before?" she handed Zoe a tissue from the box on the nightstand. Zoe thanked her and patted her cheeks.
"No. Well, sorta. It said my name this time, . It knows who I am." she whimpered a little. Cordelia slowly nodded and placed a hand on Zoe's arm.
"It said 'Zoe'. And then it said 'Zoe, please!' in an urgent tone. Whoever the hell it is really needs my help." she sniffed. "But I don't know why I only hear it at night and in my room." she wiped at her cheeks with her hands.
"Is that all the spirit said this time?" Cordelia asked as she rubbed up and down Zoe's arm to try and comfort her. Zoe nodded.
"It's alright, Zoe." Cordelia pulled her into a hug and rubbed her back a little. Zoe sobbed and put her face into Cordelia's slightly damp hair.
"I know it can be scary when we're aware of these powers, at first, but I don't think this spirit wants to hurt you." Cordelia leaned back and used her thumb to wipe at Zoe's cheeks.
"And…" Cordelia grabbed the book next to her. She closed it and showed the cover to Zoe. She wiped her nose and shook her head. "I can't read that." Zoe replied. Cordelia peered down at the title and chuckled.
"Oh, I've forgotten you all haven't learned much Latin yet." Cordelia laughed again and put the book down. "To finish my thought, I meant to tell you that I've been studying up on and refreshing my knowledge of spirits." she grabbed her legal pad and handed it to Zoe. She glanced down at the notes.
"Okay, but…" she looked back up at Cordelia with a puzzled look "What does this all mean?" she pressed her lips together. Cordelia put her glasses back on and opened the book.
"There was a way to contact spirits that I had completely forgotten about." she flipped through the pages and stopped on one she had dogeared. "It's a little more direct and visual, but not as risky as something like a Ouija board." Cordelia gave Zoe a sympathetic look "As you know."
Zoe nodded, recounting how her naive experience with a board had caused her to foolishly release the spirit and give form to the infamous Axe Man.
"The book says 'Larva', which I'm sure you could gather, which means 'ghost' in Latin. So this is a really old and rather worn down book, as you can tell." Cordelia scanned the almost feather-light pages. "But, I was reading through it and was reminded about the act of scrying, or, to put it more simply, mirror gazing." she looked at Zoe and paused. She seemed to notice the glassy-eyed, bored look Zoe felt like she had. She leaned over a bit and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Are you following me?"
Zoe perked up a little, away from her own train of thought and nodded slightly. "Yeah, sorry Ms. Cordelia. Just a little worn out." she yawned and stretched "I think I saw that mirror gazing thing in a horror movie once." Zoe replied while looking at the pile of books. She grabbed the stark black one and peered at the title. It seemed to be French.
"Les morts et de parler avec eux." she read with a very poor accent. "What is this one?" she held it up and looked at Cordelia. She glanced up from her notes quickly and looked a tad bewildered.
"Oh…" she snatched the book from Zoe's hand. She opened the drawer of her nightstand and quickly threw the book in. "That's from my mother's personal collection. I noticed she had left it in the libraries own, probably with the help of Spalding. I got a hold of it before one of the girls got any bright ideas." she shut the drawer. "It's a dark magic book." She looked at Zoe sternly.
"It's only for the very, very last of resorts. We won't be bothering with it. For now." she grabbed the stack of books and placed them on the nightstand.
"Mirror gazing is what I'm focusing on. It simply involves a chair, a few personal objects, relaxation, and of course, a mirror." she took her glasses back off.
Zoe nodded, now a bit weary of the book she had just had her hands on. She felt a chill down her spine as she thought about how, if they had a much less responsible Supreme, that book could of ended up in the wrong hands. An amateur witch with a dark desire. She looked away from the drawer and back at Cordelia.
"So, you're going to do it?" Zoe brought her knees up to her chin and sighed a little.
"Yes." Cordelia settled into her pillows. "No use putting you or any other student at risk. It's a fairly simple task, so I'll be fine, most likely. But I don't want to take any chances with you girls." she smiled sweetly.
"How are you feeling now?" she asked Zoe. Zoe shrugged a bit and looked at her bare toenails. "Still pretty scared, but a little better. Knowing maybe we'll find out who the hell this is." she sighed again while Cordelia chuckled.
"Well...did you-"Cordelia paused, looking at Zoe in a weary way. Zoe gave a half-nod, as if to say 'go on'. Cordelia cleared her throat. "I thought maybe you had come in here because, even though you're a little old for it, you wanted to sleep in my bed." Cordelia finished and brushed her hair past her shoulders.
Zoe felt a blush rise to her cheeks as she slowly nodded in response. "Yeah…" she replied quietly. "I figured sleeping on the couch would cause a lot of explanation, but I didn't know where else to go if I didn't sleep downstairs." she rubbed her arm.
She felt embarrassed and a little ashamed. She knew she was a bit 'too' old for this kind of behavior, but even back home she would have the occasional scary and/or sleepless nights. She'd squeeze in between her mom and dad and try not to get spooked by whatever horror movie-esque creature had entered her imagination.
She figured this time, it was a little worse and/or more understandable, because she knew what the monster was. And now she knew it was real. And that it was aware of who and what she was.
"Well, it's not something I usually advise or approve of…" Cordelia leaned over to click her lamp to a dimmer setting. "But you're a bit of a special case, so, you're free to lay down with me tonight." Cordelia smiled softly towards Zoe. She placed a hand on Zoe's shoulder and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. "That is, if you want to, of course."
Zoe reluctantly nodded and smiled back at Cordelia. "I do." she muttered. She moved farther away from Cordelia and more into the empty space on the bed.
"I don't have the privilege of running to my mom's room, when I'm here at least." she whispered to Cordelia as she got under the covers. She looked over at her and saw her nod in reply.
"I actually had to sleep with Myrtle and a teddy bear the first few nights I was here." she said softly as she arranged the pillows for sleep. "My mother dumping me here was a stressful event." she let out a long sigh and plopped down onto her back, staring at the ceiling.
Zoe glanced over and it seemed the older woman was contemplating. What or about what, she had no idea. She felt her eyes begin to become heavy.
"You gonna turn that light out any time soon, ?" Zoe asked. Cordelia looked at her and giggled, nodding while her hand reached for the string.
The room became black, except for a flower-shaped nightlight in the left corner of the room. Zoe felt Cordelia shifting, presumably trying to get comfortable.
She looked above her and tried breathing slowly to get more relaxed. Her eyes shut and she felt her breaths getting deeper.
Nighttime wildlife sounds seeped in through the slightly cracked window. She smiled a little and after the breeze hit her a few times, she finally felt herself drifting off to sleep.