Monday morning came quickly. The room buzzed with its usual pre lecture chatter, but Skylar barely heard anything. She was bodily present but her mind was far away. She sat by the window, watching the leaves outside. It's been two days since she last saw him, her hallway boy, whose name she doesn't know. She can't stop thinking about him which to her is very odd because she doesn't even know him. She was just bumping into him everywhere so she can't say they were friends or anything.
She kept thinking about that night he had walked her home. Even though she didn't ask him to, he did anyway. She will not admit it but she was scared that night because she felt as like someone was following her. She kept feeling that way until he brought her home. But the fact that he was with her had made her feel safe. It was like he had protected her that night even though he had teased her.
But since then she hasn't seen him. It's almost like he had disappeared. She had to remind herself that this was a huge school with many people, many places and many hallways too plus it was on a weekend and it wasn't like he was her boyfriend or even a close friend. She sighed. She returned her attention to her classmates who were still chatting.
Soon the lecturer came in and the noise dropped.
"Good morning everyone,"He said, setting down his tablet. "Let's get started with today's class shall we." And the class commenced as students took notes as the he taught them.
Everything was normal as usual, until something unexpected happened.
A student sitting a few rows ahead of her suddenly jolted upright screaming, eyes wide and unfocused. His chair screeched back violently as he stumbled to his feet, clutching his head.
"Make it stop!" He screamed in pain. "It's too loud....it won't stop! Make it stop!!"
Gasps rippled across the room. Some students stood up in alarm, others leaned back in their seats trying to stay as far away as possible from him.
The teacher stepped forward, concern written all over his face. "Jared? Hey ,hey, it's okay. What's wrong? what's too loud?"
But Jared couldn't answer. He fell on his knees, Still screaming, hands pressing against his ears.
"Jared what's wrong tell me." The teacher, Professor Lane asked, trying to calm him, but it wasn't working. Jared collapsed on the floor thrashing and screaming.Then he went still after a few seconds. Unconscious with foam coming out of his mouth.
The whole room was thrown into panic. Everyone was trying to understand what was going on. The teacher made a phone call to medicals asking for urgent assistance in his class. Some student were all over the place panicking and asking questions no could answer then.
Minutes later the medics arrived. They lifted Jared and carry him out to the school hospital, the teacher left with them, cancelling the class for the rest of the day. Whispers and nervous theories started circulating around the room.
Skylar sat on her seat frozen, heart thumping. 'What was that?' she asked herself. She had never witness anything like that, never. It all happened so fast.
"Hey," a calm voice said beside her, pulling her away from her thoughts. "You okay?"
She looked up and blinked. The boy had moved from a few seats over and was now crouching slightly by her desk.
He had soft brown curls and warm green eyes. He was dressed in a black and white sweater vest and blue jeans. The glasses on his face made him look smart and chic at the same time. His voice was steady as he spoke.
"I'm Marcus," he added, offering a polite smile. "I sit two rows behind you."
She blinked slowly and said. " uhm yeah. I mean....yeah, I'm okay. Just…" she was a bit disoriented
"A bit shocked and surprised?" He asked and she nodded. "yeah we all are." he said, glancing toward the other students. "This has never happened before so it's a bit shocking to everyone".
"I wonder what happened to him" She said still a bit shaken by it.
"Me too. Jared's usually very chill and quiet so we're all worried and curious about what just happened." Marcus said.
There was a pause.
"Do you think that maybe he was sick? I think he was having a seizure." she muttered.
"Maybe." Marcus said thoughtfully. "But seizures don't make someone hear things." He said and Skylar gave him a confused and questioning look. He stared at her and smiled. "Anyway, your name is Skylar right?" He asked.
"Yeah." She said and he nodded.
"You know you..." He trailed. "handled your self very well just now". He said taking a seat next to her. She gave him a puzzled look.
"What I mean is you didn't scream or try to fly out the door when Jared collapsed." Marcus said. "You handled yourself like a champ."
"How? by freezing?."She asked quarking a brow. He smiled. "I was literally frozen with fear"She said.
"Still. You didn't jump on a desk or try to worsen the situation like the other girls did." He said nudging his head towards some girls in front of them.
She chuckled, and realized she felt strangely calm around him. "You seem… unbothered by it though." She said.
"Because I'm not," he admitted. She furrowed her brows questioningly "Look it's not like... me being bothered by it and panicking would help anything. Panicking won't help anyways. So I just choose to be curious instead."
"Curious?" She asked.
He nodded. "Things like this usually have a reason and I plan to find out what it is."
" Waw....that's quite logical?" She nodded. " Are you always this logical?" she asked jokingly.
He tilted his head playfully. "I don't know if I always am, hmmm..." He gave a thoughtful look before saying "...but it think it's only on weekdays. Weekends not so much" She laughed.
They were talking so casually like they were close friends. It was odd but she didn't mind as it had lighten the air around her.
"So," Marcus said, "can we be friends?"
She smiled. "Yeah sure. Friends." He smiled.
Meanwhile, A few blocks away in the administrative block.
Professor Lane had just stepped into the headmaster's office, closing the door with a soft click and sealing the tension inside.
Headmaster Elias stood by the tall window, hands folded behind his back staring outside.
Professor Lane cleared his throat awkwardly. "Sir… about the boy."
Elias didn't turn to look at him. He continued staring out across the courtyard, where the students wandered with confused murmurs, word of the incident already spreading like wildfire.
"Describe what happened again," the headmaster said finally, voice low and unreadable.
Professor Lane straightened, relaying the scene again: the sudden outburst, Jared's words, the collapse, the stillness that followed. "It was as if… something got into his head. But we've run the standard checks. There was no sign of physical illness nor corruption or—"
"Magic manipulation?" The headmaster interrupted.
Prof. Lane hesitated. "Yes sir. There was no sign of magic of any sort. Not a single trace. No manipulation or control either. But we can't seem to detect what's wrong with him."
Elias turned, fixing a thoughtful gaze on Prof Lane. "It's magic" the headmaster said, "You know as well as I do that it's not all types of magic that can be detected Lane."He said. "There are some that are undetectable. The wrong kind."
"I know sir. Dr Jade said that when he regained consciousness he shifted and his out of control." Prof Lane said.
"I see....." Elias drawled looking outside. Prof Lane watched the headmaster's back but he couldn't see the his expression.
"As you know we've had… fluctuations lately Lane," Elias continued, almost to himself. "Subtle, but growing and it has come to my notice. A few nights ago there were reports of lights and voices coming out from the old building. The archives also registered a pulse from one of the sealed texts and there were reports of chanting being heard. And now a student hears voices in his head."
"You think it's connected?"Professor Lane asked
"I know it is." Elias said. "I wasn't born yesterday, I know when things are normal and when things are being influenced by forbidden magic."
Silence settled between them.
Prof Lane spoke carefully, "Then what should we do?"
Elias stepped away from the window, walking towards his desk. "Cancel all classes for tomorrow and Isolate the boy. Then set up a meeting with the magic council."
"Are you sure sir?"Prof Lane asked
The headmaster's expression was serious. "Yes. Something is happening and it's affecting our students. Today a student was in pain and was hearing voices. I want to know exactly what is going on so schedule the meeting." He said.
"Sure sir. But should we continue to investigate?." Prof Lane asked.
"There is nothing left to be investigated Prof Lane. as you said you couldn't find any traces of magic so there's nothing left to investigate." Headmaster Elias said calmly yet firm.
"But sir....."
"No buts Lane. Investigating anything right now will be a waste of time." Elias said dismissively. "You seem to be forgetting what happened a few years ago. Something strange had happened and we had wasted time investigating useless things and overlooked what was important until it was too late. It had almost revealed the supernaturals in this school to the humans. I don't want a repeat of that?" The Headmaster said firmly.
He sighed, "Alright sir," Prof Lane surrendered, He remembered that incident well. "when would you like the meeting to be arranged?" He asked.
"Tomorrow evening at earnest." Headmaster Elias said reclining on his chair. His expression calculating. "Call Selena and Jade to my office.....you may leave now"
"Ok sir."Prof Lane said as he turned to leave.
"Also make sure not to tell them what's going on."
"Them? Who sir?" Prof Lane asked. The Headmaster just gave him a 'you know who I'm talking about' look and he understood. "Ok sir.. but I believe that they might already be aware of it as the news of the incident had spread."
"I know but make sure they don't get involved..... Yet, I wouldn't want them to get us out of another mess.They just got back and they need to rest." Elias said.
"I understand sir." Prof Lane said and finally left.
Once Lane had left the headmaster brought out something from the lower part of his drawer. It was an old book. He wanted to check something. He had his doubts about what happened to the student. He doesn't know all the students but he knows that something like this isn't normal in this place filled with supernatural students. He had a nagging feeling that something wasn't right and he wanted to find out what it was.