Callie was twelve when she woke up to her bed stained with blood. She was horrified to learn she was bleeding between her legs. There was no wound or pain and she went to her mother for help. Lilith explained to her about moon blood and babies.
The concept of becoming a mother terrified her more. She imagined a baby in her belly growing like a parasite and it would burst out of her once it was big enough."I never want to have kids," Callie declared.Lilith smiled and gently patted her hair. Her mother had moments when she was sweet and kind and Callie wished she could have her like this more. She loved her mother best when she was this way. Lilith felt like a real mother and Callie treasured these moments."I was not that older than you are when I was cursed to be barren," Lilith told her, somber. "My husband, Adam, punished me for leaving him. But how could I stay when he could not accept me as his equal? He could not love me and he hated me instead."CalCallie ducked into the girls’ bathroom between classes. The fourth floor bathroom was her favorite as it was the least busy since there were fewer classes on that floor. She nearly bumped into the Fourth Year girls who were on their way out. She weaved around them as they ignored her and left.She went to the sink to wash her hands when she saw something silver on the ground. She bent down to pick it up and found it was a headband with cat ears snapped into two pieces. It was identical to the one Aubrey owned. There was a quiet sobbing coming from one of the stalls.She walked over to the stall, unsure of what to do. She couldn’t be sure it was Aubrey in there. She hesitated before knocking softly on the stall door. There was a pause."Is that you, Aubrey?" she asked."Go away," Aubrey sobbed. "I want to be alone."Callie looked around as if the answer on what she should do would appear. This was none of her business. She tried to be as considera
All the avian familiars were getting sick. They were all brought to the Medical Bay where Doctor Dougal diagnosed them with West Nile Virus. Nadia’s familiar was one of the infected and was quarantined in the Medical Bay. Goblins could heal faster than regular animals but they weren’t immortal.A few of the familiars had already succumbed to the virus. Nadia was distraught as the days went by and her familiar wasn’t getting any better. Magic could only do so much and even witch doctors couldn’t find a cure. Nadia’s familiar was going to die and there was nothing they could do about it.Callie came along as Nadia and Aubrey visited the Medical Bay. The golden parakeet was asleep in its cage. It looked small and pathetic. Nadia couldn’t touch the bird as she could become a carrier for the virus and infect the other familiars so she just watched the bird sleep."Tiya’s going to be okay." Aubrey wrapped her arm around Nadia and le
"Callie! Wait up!"She stopped and turned around to see Enoch running towards her, his familiar pulling him forward on his leash. They stopped in front of her. Enoch took a moment to catch his breath and she let him. She was in no rush to get to her Herbal Magic class and brave the cold."I’ve been looking for you everywhere," he said, still winded. "You’re a hard one to track down."She tried her best to be."Thank you." He grinned. "I just wanted to say thank you for what did for the familiars."She froze and her heart started beating faster as she began to inwardly panic. "What are you talking about?""You helped cure them.""What makes you think I had anything to do with it?"He tapped his temple with a finger. "Seer, remember?"Her heart beat even faster as she tried to think about what to do next. Her fight or flight instincts kicked in. How much did he see? What did he know?"What did you see?" she demanded.
The next day, Callie was determined to get the sugar cookies to Enoch. She wasn’t going to be deterred. He would be walking back from the Greenhouses soon and she could catch him alone in the woods. She sneaked out of her Magical Zoology class and sat under a tree to wait for Enoch’s class to end.She carefully took out the pink box from her backpack and placed it on the ground. She opened the lid and looked over the cookies. The crushed cyanide she’d sprinkled over them looked like powdered sugar. Enoch wouldn’t suspect a thing.Guilt wasn’t a foreign feeling to her. She had nothing against Enoch but he could be dangerous to her. Her anonymity was her biggest advantage in reaching her goals and she didn’t know how much he’d seen in visions. He was a liability.A growl made her look up. A large dog that looked like a Doberman stepped out from behind a bush. The red eyes and the forked tail told her it was more than an ordinary
Callie had to stay in the Medical Bay for two days as Doctor Crane fussed over her injuries. Not many doctors had dealt with a Hellhound attack before so she excused the woman’s dithering about infection. A real bite from a Hellhound could take weeks to heal but she didn’t have that problem. She had some bruising but that would fade.The police were investigating the attack and she gave her statement to Officer Oliveira. Nadia’s father had a good poker face and she couldn’t get a grasp on what he was thinking. He seemed sympathetic but she couldn’t discount if he thought the attack had anything to do with what happened on Samhain. Fortunately, Doctor Crane ordered him out as Callie needed to rest and the officer hopefully didn’t return with more questions.Aubrey and Nadia brought over her homework along with a small blueberry cheesecake. Callie smiled brightly and helped herself to the dessert as the two girls kept her briefed on the go
After spending the long weekend being counterproductive, Callie was eager to get back to Shipton. She had less than two weeks before the Council’s Winter Ball and her anticipation was growing with each day. She woke up one morning to Aubrey jumping on her bed and shaking her. She opened one eye blearily as her roommate pointed to the window.Aubrey exclaimed in excitement, "It’s finally snowing!"Callie sat up and stared at the snow outside before deciding she was uninterested. She lied back down and pulled her comforter over her head. Aubrey tried to shake her again. Her roommate tried to plead with her, "Let’s build a snowman."Callie muttered through the comforter. "You’re too old to be playing in the snow, Aubrey.""I’m sixteen, not sixty. I’m not that old.""You’re not six which is the only appropriate age for this nonsense."She couldn’t see her roommate pouting but she knew Aubrey definitely was.
Out of the list of things Callie could guess she would walk into after class, her roommate and Matthias kissing passionately on the bed wasn’t one of them. She would later think she should’ve seen it coming. They had been dancing around each other for weeks. Enoch’s little nudge did the trick to finally get them to acknowledge their feelings and they were expressing them with enthusiasm.They didn’t notice her at first as they were so caught up with each other. She could leave and let them do their thing but before she could decide on that Matthias finally noticed her. He leapt off Aubrey and fell off the bed landing on the carpet with a hard thud. Aubrey was wide-eyed and looked mortified."Callie!" she said. "What are you doing here?""I live here."Matthias shot up to his feet. "I should go."Aubrey looked dismayed. "You don’t have to-""I need to go." He dipped down and gave her a quick peck. "I’ll see you later."
On the way to their first class, Nadia grabbed both Callie and Aubrey’s arms and stopped them from walking. They both turned to her in confusion as she told her familiar, Tiya, to fly through the hallway first. When nothing happened, Nadia looked relieved and encouraged them to move forward. This continued on until they were outside the Potions classroom."Any reason why you’re acting weird?" Aubrey asked as she opened the classroom door for them to enter."Enchanted mistletoe. It’s a prank by some devious Second Years," Nadia answered as they made their way to their usual seats. "The professors have gotten rid of most of it but there are still a few around causing havoc."Ah, it explained why Nadia was using her familiar as a canary in a mine. Aubrey bit back a smile. "I heard about them."Callie questioned, "What do they do exactly?""You get caught under the mistletoe and you’re stuck until somebody gives you a kiss," the oth