"Cassie, just take a deep breath." Kat stated, trying to calm her down.
"No, absolutely not. You both just trapped me and brought me to a freaking magic school. This stuff doesn't exist. No. It's not supposed to exist." She said, huffing around her words. Her breathing became very scattered.
"Cassie, we had no other choice. You had no clue what you were doing, and you started making the whole town miserable." Damian voiced concern.
"What do you mean?" She asked, crossing her arms at the both of them.
"Cassie, you had no clue you were a witch." Damian uttered.
"Not to mention, Cas, weird things were happening around you. You wouldn't have believed us if we had told you." Kat said, putting her hand on Cassie's shoulder. She shrugged it off of her.
"You were planning your escape when you woke up." Damian said, shrugging his shoulders and moving away from them.
"No I wasn't." Cassie defended herself, fluffing out her chest.
"Yes you were, I heard it." Damian said, pointing to his head.
"Heard it?" She asked questionably.
"Part of my powers, and charm." He said, a grin beginning to play on his lips.
"And what charm is that?" Kat asked sarcastically. Cassie laughed a little.
She started to calm down a little bit. Only a little bit though. She looked at both of them, and it occurred to her that her best friend. One of the people she trusted in this entire world, or whatever world they were in, was a witch, and she had no idea that she was.
"Hold up a minute, Kat you're a witch?" My brain just started to really process it.
"Um, yeah." She said hesitantly, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.
"When did this happen?" She asked, stepping forward a little to slightly soft push Kat.
Kat began to laugh, "Come on, I'll explain but first we need to go somewhere more comfortable, and not in front of watchful eyes." Kat said, glancing around.
Then, Cassie started to notice all the students "coming" in? If that was even the right word for it. They began to walk into the huge building that was in front of them. Cassie made notes of what the structure looked like. The columns had indented spirals in them, with little dragon designs weaved in and out of the spiral.
They started walking up the stairs. The stairs consisted of rock built in them, and what appeared to be a glass type of coverage. The outside of the building couldn't give the inside justice though.
In the inside of the building, there were desks and tables made strictly out of wood. It looked like a whole enchanted forest with the decorum. Her breath was stolen away by the beauty of the walls, with vines and flowers sprouting along it.
She thought surely it must be some sort of health hazard though. Cassie then looked up, if her mouth could open wider it would. The building had an open ceiling with glass.
Meaning, when Cassie looked up, she was staring right at the purple filled sky. The walls lined with lanterns you would see in a cave, there wasn't much light sprouting in at the moment.
This was mainly due to it being too dark in the building. They made their way over to a bench made out of woven wood. It reminded her of the bench in Bella and Edward's wedding from Breaking Dawn. They sat down, Kat just to her right, and Damian standing across from them.
Kat sucked in a breath, "Well what do you want to know. Specifically?" She said, shaking her head a little bit.
"Everything. Were you born a witch?" I asked, then I looked at Damian, "Is that even a thing?" Damian nodded his head, remaining quiet. Weird. Something was up with him.
"No, I wasn't born a witch. I am what they call a made witch. I started practicing to gain my magic, I wasn't born with them. They don't immediately sprout out of me." Kat half whispered, glancing around as she did.
"Okay, so how did you get into being a witch anyway?" Cassie, with her arms crossed, glaring at Kat.
"It was just interesting to me I guess? I have always loved supernatural things, you know that. I had my own interest in the Mason's Mansion too, with the story of the ritual there. I wanted to know more." She took in a breath. Cassie nodded at her.
"I was there and then I was sucked into the portal. You know how awful that thing is." Kat said, making a barfing face.
"Yeah, that was a horrible experience. Am I going to feel that everytime?" She asked, glancing up at Damian, hoping for a response.
Instead, Kat answered, "I am afraid so, it does get better after a while, but it will become bearable." A look of horror in my eyes, Kat laughed at it.
"But, I got sucked here and I found out about this place. The rest is pretty much history I guess. I stayed, they started teaching me. So, now I take classes and I am learning to be a witch." Kat said with a light giggle.
"What about you Damian?" I asked, "What about me?" he said.
"What's your story?" Hope playing in her eyes. She wanted to know. All this fascinated her, she should be scared out of her mind right now. Somehow, she started to feel that she did belong here.
"There's not a story, we need to head to the office." With that, they got up, disappointment flashing across Cassie's face. Kat just patted her on the shoulder. They went up to the administration desk that was in the lobby.
"We're at the office," Damian said with a smile.
Cassie gave him a "really" look, it was three feet from where they just were. He just gave her a cheesy grin. Then Damian spoke, "We would like to speak with Headmistress Lady Reganomie Aofnx."
"In what manner do you wish to see the Headmistress Aofnx?" What I thought was a woman, but appeared to be a dragon lady.
She had flames bursting out her hair, but not regular ones. They looked different shades of pink and red. Her dress was what appeared to be green looking scales. Was she naked? My mind couldn't register it.
Everything was so different here. Fascinating the hair though, I wanted to reach out my hand to touch it. I almost acted the impulsive thought, but then we started to walk. Kat caught my attention and motioned for me to follow.
We were led down a creepy hallway. That's just great. First, I ran into a demon and a witch, who happened to be my friends. Then, I am getting led down a creepy ass hallway.
Could this just get any better? When we walked in, a lady with black long hair spun around in her chair. Every bone in my body screamed to turn around, but something familiar about her presence kept me there.
I couldn't pinpoint what it was. Maybe I was a psychic. I hoped so. It would be cool to have. I started to get excited, maybe they aren't wrong, and I am a witch.
Kat and Damian went to sit in the chairs in front of the desk. Headmistress Aofnx sat there, a pen in her mouth, and her hands on the desk tapping it slightly. She looked almost maniacal, those villains you see in movies.
It creeped me out, and I couldn't wait to get out of this office. She looked between the two, and then glanced up at me.
Recognition was there for a fleeting moment, but as soon as it came it was over with. Cassie was too busy trying to not look at the Headmistress.
The Headmistress Aofnx then leaned over, after that brief and awkward moment of silence. "Do you two care to explain to me, what a human is doing in my school, my faculty?"
Damian cleared his throat with a slight cough, I could see a tremor go through his body, "We have reason to believe that Miss Brooks is a witch." He said, not glancing up for a moment.
The Headmistress Aofnx then turned towards Kat, "Is this true?" She asked her in a stern authoritative tone.
It was Kat's turn to clear her throat, and then she looked the Headmistress straight into the eyes, "Yes. Strange things started to happen to Cassie. Her eighteenth birthday just recently passed.
It is a known fact that a borned witch, or wizard after their eighteenth birthday starts to experience the beginning of their powers.
With Cassie, hers started as flickering lights, we have cause to believe that it was the beginning of her developing her powers."
"And do either of you have proof that this is true, and not just some coincidence?" She asked, tilting her head down, along with her reading glasses.
I cleared my throat, "I mean the cabinets at my house have been going wild. I can't say that I am a witch or anything. I watched Kat back there moving her hands and muttering. I haven't done that myself." We made eye contact, her eyes, like looking into my own. The glassy fixture of them that is.
"Still there is no proof that she is in fact a witch. The two of you didn't think to gather any evidence, and bring it to me, before you decided to bring a human to this world." She said, angrily.
I looked up at her, because her vibes were very intimidating. "I mean, isn't there a way to prove these things?" I asked, hesitantly, everything was new, and I just felt I was making a fool of myself.
A light bulb went off in The Headmistress's head, we could physically see it. However, Damian spoke up instead, "There are multiple ways one can test if they are supernatural or not."
I clapped my hands together, "Well, how do we do that?" I asked them, glancing around.
The Headmistress brunched her eyebrows together. "We'll have her participate in one of Miss Jones' classes that she is skipping out on."
The group looked amongst themselves. How was she supposed to even prove she was a witch based off of a class? How did that make any sense?
"Deal." Damian said, with that everyone got up and followed Kat.
Kat walked out of the main building to outside. We went straight across the lawn to a similar building.
Its designs consisted of stars instead of dragons. I wondered what that could signify? When we walked in the Professor was in the middle of the room, levitating in midair.
It was freaking cool. The students were surrounding the Professor. I couldn't tell what creature the Professor was, not until they landed on the ground, and started walking towards us.
The Professor had a stride, almost gliding, walking towards us. Then, I notice the eyes, a glowing light orange color. Demon? The eyes reminded me of Damian. What would a demon be doing teaching a witch class? I better listen, the curiosity of what the teacher was intrigued me.
"Headmistress Aofnx, what means do we owe the pleasure of your visit to our classroom." The professor said with a hiss.
The Headmistress cleared her throat, being very loud and vocal, "We are trying to determine if we have a witch in our midst."
She then turned around and eye balled me. Which, in return, had the Professor and the whole class looking at me. My nerves shot through the roof. I was being put on display.
The Professor shook their head, "Very well, come forth youngling, let's see what you're capable of." The Professor motioned me forward.
I confidently made my way forward. If I was going to do something bad in the next few minutes, at least I will be bold. I stood beside the Professor, he led me over to a table. I sat at it.
The Professor looked at me, "Now, I am going to give you a few options on what to do. A lot of these skills are hard to master at first, but if you are in fact a witch, then you should have no difficulty in attempting to do something. I'll explain further in a minute. Do you understand?"
I shook my head yes at the Professor. "Good. This is the Power of Knowledge class here at MASON. What I do in this class is to teach you how to fly, and have mindfulness. Learning to practice mediation, and learning how to read minds accordingly. I also teach telekinesis." The Professor said in one breath.
"So, what are my options?" I asked, hesitantly. The other students started a low laugh. The Headmistress gave them a look to quiet them.
"Your options are Mindfulness, Telekinesis, or flying if we narrow it down." The Professor said, their voice going lower.
I was thinking, I mean this will prove to myself that I am a witch too. If I am being honest, I don't fully believe it myself either. I just thought they were bullshitting me for the most part.
Then, I remembered the creatures I met so far. It's all real. A part of me wants to be here, I need to be here. It just makes sense, and I couldn't figure out why exactly.
"Well, I have always wanted to know what having Telekinesis felt like." I replied, a little breathless if I might add.
"Good choice. I was afraid you might get hurt while flying, it's no easy task even for a beginner." The Professor said,
"Where do we start?" I asked, "You're the teacher here."
"I am a Professor, and we start with you closing your eyes. You need to concentrate, and focus on your breathing. If you can't focus yourself out, you can't focus your mind. That is where everything takes place." The Professor mentioned, staring me down.
I nodded my head, took a deep breath, and closed my eyes. My mind was racing. Maybe I should have picked Mindfulness, relax my mind, but I chose Telekinesis so I need to stick with it.
I stayed there for what felt like forever. Right, the Professor mentioned something about concentration. I just felt like I was making a constipated face.
"With this class, it's all about figuring out what works best with you, and how you approach things. My job is to give you ideas, and be there for you if it goes wrong for the most part.
I can't teach you to concentrate, but I can help you figure out what might ease your mind. Do tell me, do you have a favorite artist?" I could hear the Professor mumbling to me. I couldn't tell what he was really saying, but I did hear the artist.
"I really like Taylor Swift, her music is pretty amazing." I said, eyes still closed.
"Think about one of her songs," I nodded my head. The first song I could think of was Midnight Rain. The lyrics started to play in my head, over and over, and suddenly there was static.
It was like a switch had been flipped on, I felt it, every bit of it. It was like a power surge through me.
It was like a breath of fresh air. I felt like electricity was going through my body, like it was weaving in and out. I felt it all. The power. This uncontrollable thirst for more. It could consume in one take, one breath. I could take control and consume others.
The power was powering. I focused on my mind, it felt like a bee was buzzing in my head instead of my ear. I opened my eyes and looked straight forward. Anyone with an outside view would assume I was getting possessed or something.
I went for the first object that my eyes landed on. Which was a textbook. With a flick of my finger, I lifted it, for a split whole second, the book was lifted in the air by me. Then, it got too heavy, and I dropped it back down on the table. I was brought back to reality by Kat and Damian grinning from ear to ear.
They both looked at the Headmistress, who seemed to be in some state of shock, which quickly ended as it came. The look she gave me and the book, it was weird. I couldn't think of why it would be that way.
I walked over to them, "So, does this mean I am a witch?"
The Headmistress looked down on me, "Yes, it appears you are. Welcome Miss Brooks to MASON." She said gesturing in the tiny room. "Damian and Kat can finish showing you around.
We will have someone get you settled, as soon as you're ready." With that, she turned around swiftly, and almost glided out the door.
With that the Professor went back to teaching, Damian and Kat guided me to the exit. As soon as we got out, I had to ask, "What kind of creature is the Professor?"
Damian curled an eyebrow at me, "The Professor is a demon and a warlock, so they are very skillful in that area of the mind."
"Oh," I replied back, "are there any other mythical creatures here?"
"Honestly, I don't know, there are just so many of us. It's hard to keep track of what species go to school here."
"Hey guys, I hate to interrupt this but I would like to actually sit in a class. We did miss today, and you know how missing one day affects you." Kat interjected, Damian gave her a small laugh.
"Alright Kat, what class do you want to go to then?"
"My craft class is starting soon." She said, now all jittery.
"Craft?" Cassie asked.
"It consists of potions, healing and energies. It's my favorite here, oh, and besides the Use of Magical Objects; this includes plants, herbs and crystals mainly. The professor there, Professor Hindstead, is a werewolf.
She does touch on other stuff, but for a witch it mainly consists of those." Kat mentioned, we were traveling across the grounds.
They had mentioned it was towards the end of the campus. Along the way, they gave me a tour of the land. Which classes were where, who not to run into and not be around. It was a lot of information to take in at the moment.
There was just so much stuff here. Plus, I was mesmerized and wasn't paying them as much attention as I should have been. We finally made it to Craft class. We sat at the very back of the class, Damian joining us.
On the table sat what appeared to be a pot, "It's a cauldron," Kat said, she caught me staring at it.
"Oh," I replied back, that seemed to be my answer the whole time I had been here.
Professor Hindstead approached the front of the class. "Today, students, we will be learning how to make a healing anecdote. I know I have shown you countless remedies, but today we are going to advance one of the ones we've been studying.
Let's talk about Wolfsbane, can anyone tell me what that is?"
A girl with light blue hair raised her hand up, the Professor pointed at her, "It's essentially a poison that is used on wolves."
"You are mostly correct Mia, does anyone know the properties that are contained in Wolfsbane?"
Kat raised her hand, "Yes, Miss Jones, enlighten us." The class giggled, Kat blushed deeply, "Wolfsbane can be used as a sedative, it has anti-inflammatory properties as well."
"Right, you are Miss Jones, and do we know some of the symptoms if infected with Wolfsbane?"
I raised my head, Professor Hindstead looked over at me and smiled, she pointed towards me, "Yes miss?"
I cleared my throat, "It's Brooks, and the symptoms consist of fever, fatigue, dizziness, and labored breathing." I glanced down at my hands, fumbling them. Damian put a hand to my shoulders.
"And Miss Brooks, do you know the results if not treated properly?"
I looked up at her, we made eye contact, "Death." I responded.
Professor Hindstead clapped her hands together. "Very well class, now let's begin gathering ingredients. Do I have any current werewolves in here? We would like to make sure you are protected well."
"The first one to make me a remedy to the Wolfsbane that can be used as a sedative, or as medicine gets bragging rights this week."
A couple of hands went up, Professor Hindstead told them to go stand on the other side while their partners prepped the lab itself.
The Professor announced the ingredients we would need for the class. Kat got up, and got the ingredients we needed.
"Good thing you're a witch," Kat said with a wink handing me the Wolfsbane.
"Good thing," I said, taking out the Wolfsbane.
It gave off a strong odor, almost like sweat, and burning cinnamon. I touched it and it burned my hand. That hurt. That wasn't supposed to hurt.
Kat looked up at me, concerned about crossing her face, I quickly responded, "The texture of it caught me off guard, feels really slimy. I am just going to put on the gloves."
I did just that, quickly putting on the rubber gloves, making sure it didn't touch above it. We stirred the Wolfsbane along with aloe, lavender, and sage. I watched as Kat crushed up some crystals such as quartz, which consists of a healing property.
We stirred it together, the smell itself was amazing. It felt like I could eat it, which brought a warm feeling to my stomach. My brain was telling me to not touch it. Professor Hindstead came over, and examined it.
Damian kept watching and sniffing it here and there. Still keeping his commentary to himself. What was up with him, one minute the guy couldn't shut up, and the next he was as quiet as a mouse.
"Well ladies, for the most part it is amazing. The smell, the crystals and plants you used. However, I know if I stuck my finger in there, my hair would burn off, so it's a no go, but it is an excellent idea.
Fix the burning sensation, and you would've had a good sedative to use." She walked away and onto the table next to us.
Kat and I were disappointed for the most part, I mean she said great things about it, but it wasn't great enough. I walked out of the room. Damian followed in behind me. I made myself comfortable along a bench, Damian sat down next to me.
"What's wrong?" He asked me, concerned within his voice.
"I was kind of hoping to be epic." I said with a small laugh.
"Not everyone is epic." He stated.
"I am not everyone," I replied back.
"You're right about that, I think you're kind of special." He said with a laugh himself.
"Special?" I asked, questioningly.
"Well, yeah, you came in here like a boss for the most part. Besides when Kat and I forced you through the portal. You handled being a witch and knowing there are other supernaturals out there surprisingly well. I am concerned you would have a mental breakdown."
I laughed a little, "No mental breakdowns here. I don't know, just something about this place feels familiar. I know I belong here, I just can't explain how I know it."
"Perk of you being a witch, intuition, automatic."
"I thought everyone had intuition?"
"Sure they do, but a witch, they are the ones who can tell you in detail about their intuition. Apparently, except for you."
I slightly pushed him a little, "Haha, maybe they will teach me how to be more in tune with it?"
"Maybe, I don't know, I'm not a witch."
"That's right, you're a demon," I stated, nudging him.
He glanced down at his feet, "Yeah I am a demon," almost sadly.
"So, want to tell me how you became a demon? You seem pretty human, and from the ones I watched on TV they are either invisible, or some type of gas form."
"Honestly, not really, I don't want to. Just how I got here, I am not really proud of it."
"Oh, I am sorry, I don't want you to feel obligated to tell me."
He shrugged his shoulders, "For the most part, I don't remember too many details. For a demon to become a demon, they have to first die. Heaven and Hell are real."
"Wait, so you mean God and the Devil are real too?"
"Essentially, yes, they are."
"So, how does one go about becoming a demon?"
"Well you were right for starters, some of us can be invisible, some of us can read minds like me, and others are gas. Our favorite thing to do is take possession."
"Is that what you're doing right now? Possession over this body."
"Yes."
"So this isn't what you truly look like?"
He laughed, "Well that's not entirely true, when a demon takes possession of a body, after a while it becomes their own. For instance, at first, I didn't look like this, then my human features set in. So, it became my body. I do have a different form I go by too."
"But for real though, how did you die?"
"Like I said, I went out in style. I was riding my dirtbike, one moment I was going one hundred and thirty miles on it, and the next I flipped over. Then, I saw a light, but I was quickly yanked into darkness. I am what I am now."
"That's kind of sad."
"Not really, I don't let it define me."
"How did you end up in MASON?"
He laughed, a soft deep chuckle, "Luck?" He got up from his spot, and offered me his hand. I huffed at him and took it.
"I think it's time we go grab Kat, her class will be over soon, and we need to get you back to the other world."
We headed back towards her, she was waiting on us. We walked back to the main building. Kat did her little hand trick, and the green vomiting portal opened back up.
"I won't get used to that fyi." I told Kat.
She only grinned at me, "Pretty soon, you'll be doing it yourself." We each took turns jumping into the portal.
When we got back to my world, I looked around and the streets were empty, it was like we had never left.
I quickly made my way out of the Mason's Mansion, and back to my house. Waving at Kat and Damian on my way out. Life was good, and everything, and I mean everything, was about to change. I just didn't know if it was for the better, or for the worse.