Truths revealed crossedl.., p.1
Truths Revealed (Crossedlake University Book 2), page 1
Truths Revealed
Crossedlake University Book Two
E. E. Thatcher
Copyright © 2021 E. E. Thatcher
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof
may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever
without the express written permission of the publisher
except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter One
Crossedlake University’s nondescript gray building came into view as we climbed the hill; a sight for sore eyes. The past two weeks had been wonderful and a pleasant escape from the chaos of the school, but I was eager to get back and get to work again. Thanks to my construct, who was still busily working, I had plenty of money and took Sam to Florida to visit all the theme parks. Neither of us had ever been before and were both thoroughly pleased with my surprise.
Our birthdays were only a week apart and coincided with our break; we celebrated while on our trip. Each of us got full reign of our birthday and chose everything we did and ate. Sam spent his entire birthday eating. It was a wonder he didn’t get sick. I had to pace myself that day and tried almost everything, but felt sick near the end of the day.
For my birthday, we saw four movies and had ice cream three times. We also went to every bookstore in a thirty-mile radius. Sam told me to stock up and covered the cost of all the books. It was one of the best birthdays I had ever had and I was happy to share it with Sam.
Corbin somehow found where we were staying and sent a package to both of us. A beautiful silver watch for me; he said in his note that it was indestructible, which was good because the first one he gave me had stopped working after the incident with Wyatt. He gave Sam a small coupon book with vouchers to eat at every all-you-can eat place within a fifty-mile radius of Crossedlake. Sam almost cried.
Easton and Ophelia had birthday cards for each of us included in the package from Corbin. Easton’s looked like he hired a four-year-old to write his name on the card, but it was still sweet, nonetheless. Of course, Ophelia’s looked like it was typed on a computer instead of handwritten. I was always jealous of how perfect her handwriting was. I got a text from my sister three days later telling me happy birthday and still haven’t heard from my parents. No surprises there.
The cats had fun too, lounging on our hotel balcony and enjoying the unfamiliar sights and smells. Esmeralda and Charlie slept the entire trick back, but Esmeralda started perking up after we crossed the bridge from town, apparently eager to be back.
It was a double-edged sword. This was my new life, and I was excited about it and ready to return, but after the entire Wyatt incident, I was also nervous to be back. I had a sneaking suspicion it was far from over. Try as we might, we couldn’t avoid talking about it during our trip and both of us were concerned about what might happen this semester. Have you ever seen anyone go from screaming and laughing to completely solemn and brooding in the middle of a rollercoaster? Sam has.
Outside the door, I stopped and looked into the cat carriers nestled on top of our floating luggage. Esmeralda on mine and Charlie on Sam’s. Esmeralda was alert with her ears perked up, while Charlie was snoozing his life away.
“We’re home,” I whispered to them. Home. I never really considered anywhere home before. Crossedlake University felt like the closest I’ve ever gotten to having an actual home. Despite the dangers, I’ve felt more comfortable here than anywhere else.
“Good to be back,” Sam said with a yawn. “I’m ready for a nap.”
“You spent the entire flight and car ride from the airport sleeping.”
“Yeah, but I mean a real nap. In my bed.”
“Apparently that’s all Charlie wants to do, too. You can take him with you.”
I smiled at him and pushed the door open, stepping into the pitch black room. Purple light blazed to life in front of me as the portal popped into existence and I grabbed the handle of my luggage, pulling it into the portal with me.
A brief flash of purple overtook my vision before I stepped out into the courtyard. The haze slowly lifted from my eyes and my grin fell flat as I found myself face to chest with Chancellor Ebin, almost toppling over as I hit the brick wall of a man.
“Welcome back,” he said in his growly voice. It was devoid of the usual exuberance, putting me on edge immediately.
“Hello chancellor,” I said as cheerfully as I could muster, my mood suddenly spoiled by the tension hanging in the courtyard's air.
I peered around his broad chest to find that the courtyard was drastically different from before we left. The half a dozen doors that were normally open and leading into the school were closed and had glowing red light criss-crossing them like a laser grid in a heist movie. Only one door remained open and the students arriving from the other portals were being ushered through it by the teachers on guard.
Outside of the door, the students were lining up and waiting beside large red curtains suspended in the air from nothing. They took turns going into it with their belongings before stepping out the other side a few seconds later and entering the school.
Sam materialized behind me from the portal and managed to stop before completely slamming against me, his body lightly pressed to my back.
“What’s going on?” Sam asked.
“There have been some unsettling findings in the university. More than normal, anyway,” Chancellor Ebin replied with a quickly fading smirk. “We are taking extra precautions this semester. Until the situation is resolved fully.”
“What was found?” I asked hesitantly. They found Wyatt. I know they did.
“What kind of extra precautions?” Sam asked. I glanced back at him and his head was half-cocked, a tell of his that he was trying to glean information from someone’s thoughts. His face dropped, and he found something incredibly interesting to look at in the sky when the chancellor locked eyes with him.
“We will explain some things in orientation. Make your way through the check-in,” the chancellor said, motioning towards the curtains. “And allow the guards to check your bags. They will direct you further.”
I opened my mouth to drill him with more questions, but he shook his head at me and smiled sadly. “Ms. Cassidy, I know you have a lot of questions. As does everyone else, myself included.” He motioned towards the curtains again.
Sam and I took our leave and trudged towards the curtains. Even the trees in the courtyard looked less green and the normally blue sky above was cloudy and gray. I looked around as we crossed the courtyard, hoping to see someone I knew, preferably Corbin or Ophelia. They would know what was going on.
My eyes locked with Xavier, and he sneered at me from the line at the curtains. Well, not going to ask him anything.
We took our place in line behind some very nervous-looking students. They were wearing t-shirts and jeans. I assumed they were new here and not aware of magic like I had been. It was strange that the school didn’t teleport them in with their houses like it did for me.
It took every ounce of my willpower not to devolve into a fit of panic and insist to Sam that we had been found out. I kept myself quiet and plodded through the line with the others, wrinkling my nose as the faint scent of a recently blown-out candle hit me. The scent put me on edge and the closer I got to the curtains, the stronger the smell got. I looked back at Sam for reassurance.
He was staring at the curtains, clearly on edge too. The other students seemed hesitant to step into the curtains when it was their turn and I couldn’t help but wonder what they knew that I didn’t. The three new students in front of me spoke to each other in hushed tones, and one of them laughed nervously before stepping up to the curtain and peeking through the folds.
Whatever they saw caused them to gasp quietly and look behind them as if they wanted to run. Instead, they took a deep breath and stepped into the curtain. I felt my ears straining as I tried to pick up any sounds from inside, but I could hear nothing except the quiet whispering of the other people waiting in line.
After half a minute, the student appeared from the curtain near the door and looked back at his group before being ushered through the door by Dr. Silvius. I breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing him. At least there was a friendly–well, friendlyish–teacher nearby. I felt even more comfortable as Aldora stepped out of the doorway and took a position opposite of Dr. Silvius. Her method of moving the students through the doorways with a gentle touch on the shoulder and a smile was a lot warmer than Dr. Silvius’s scowl and aggressive hand waving.
I stepped up to the curtain as the last student in front of me entered and tried to peek through the g
It’s okay, it’s okay. The chancellor is right over there and there’s Dr. Silvius and Aldora. They wouldn’t let anything happen.
I tried to reassure myself as best as I could, but the thoughts of what horrors could be on the other side of the curtain wouldn’t leave my mind. Also, the knowledge that someone had been assisting Wyatt and there was no telling who it was. It could be any of them, or all of them.
The light faded, and the student stepped out from behind the curtain. No worse for wear. A small sense of relief spread through me and I managed to fully calm down. Briefly. The gravelly voice that bellowed, “Enter,” from inside of the curtain put me right back on high alert.
Without giving myself the opportunity to panic, I stepped through the curtain. Complete silence descended on me as the curtains glowed red and encased me in a prison of light, leaving me trapped and alone with the creature in front of me.
A very large and muscular woman was on the opposite side of an iron table. Her face was set in a permanent scowl, but the corners of her lips were turned up in a smile that only made her look more unsettling. She was wrapped in a red cloak that matched the color of the curtains and wearing nothing underneath it.
I could see almost every inch of her body underneath the cloak, as the table only came up to her knees. Her skin appeared freshly sunburned and looked immaculately smooth, save for the ridges and bumps of someone that worked out twenty hours a day. The oddest thing that took me a moment to even notice was that she had no other discernible features besides her muscle definition and breasts. No nipples, no belly button, nothing between her legs, exactly like a doll.
“Greetings,” she said, looking down at me, her face remaining still and her lips barely moving. “Empty your bag on the table.”
I set Esmeralda down on the ground carefully before ending the levitation spell and hoisting my suitcase on the tall table with a quiet thud. The zipper sounded much too loud in the absolute silence as I opened it and emptied the contents.
Her hands flew out in a flash and hovered several inches above my pile of belongings. They touched nothing as they moved across everything multiple times, each of her fingers wagging wildly in the air. After several seconds, she nodded to me and said, “You may place your belongings back into your bag.”
I scooped my stuff up and closed my suitcase before picking up Esmeralda’s carrier and looking at the woman awkwardly. Are we done? Where do I go? I glanced around the small room. The light was still glowing brightly and there didn’t appear to be a straightforward way to leave.
She stared at me for several seconds before her eyes trailed down to the carrier in my hand.
“Place the animal on the table, too,” she said.
“You won’t do anything that might hurt her, are you?” I asked, gripping the carrier tighter.
“No. It will cause no injuries. We have to check everything that comes into the university.”
I hesitantly placed Esmeralda on the table and the woman dropped to her knees and hunched over to look inside the carrier. The hint of a smile on her face grew slightly larger. At least she likes animals.
“Hello,” she said quietly to Esmeralda before placing her hands on the outside of the carrier.
I watched anxiously, ready for her to finish whatever she was doing so I could get out of there. The smokey smell was overwhelming and had given me a light headache.
I leapt back quickly, dropping my suitcase to the ground and preparing for a fight as she stood up straight suddenly. Her skin erupted into flames and her cloak billowed in the heated air as she stared into the carrier. The red light enveloping the room grew brighter, and I tried to slip into the other plane to defend myself, but felt nothing as I reached out.
The red glow on the wall expanded in the blink of an eye, engulfing my torso and binding me tightly, leaving only my head free to move. I started to shout out runes in a panic, but stopped myself for fear of hurting Esmeralda. It wouldn’t have worked anyway, because the light slammed across my mouth like a rope and slid between my lips, gagging me completely.
A burst of red engulfed Esmeralda’s carrier, and I let out a muffled scream of despair and rage. If you hurt my cat, I’ll kill you. I tried to struggle against my bindings, but they felt as if they were made of solid steel and had no give.
The flames dancing across the woman’s body shrank and rolled lightly across her flesh after we were completely trapped. A small opening appeared in the red wall. Dr. Silvius and Aldora rushed through immediately, both tensed up and ready for a fight. I would have liked to see what both of them were capable of, but not when I was the target.
“What did you find?” Dr. Silvius asked hurriedly. When he noticed me bound against the wall, he tilted his head. “Clara?”
“This creature. Something is amiss,” the fiery woman growled. Her eyes had not moved from Esmeralda’s carrier. “It reeks of death.”
Aldora whispered something to Dr. Silvius and the tension in his posture diminished quickly.
“Why?” he asked, glancing between me and Aldora.
Aldora smiled and said nothing else.
“It is fine,” Dr. Silvius said as Aldora left the cramped room.
The flames on the woman disappeared completely. “Are you confident in that assertion?”
Dr. Silvius looked from the cat carrier, to me, to the hole Aldora had just left through before simply saying, “Yes.” He stepped through the hole and it resealed itself, leaving me alone with the fiery woman again.
“Apologies,” she said as gently as her rough voice allowed.
The red light released me instantly, and I rushed forward to collect Esmeralda and get out of there. She stared at Esmeralda for a few moments before the red light released her carrier and I snatched her up. The second the light enveloping the room disappeared, I rushed towards the exit but paused when she made a noise akin to a dump truck emptying a load of gravel.
I hesitantly looked over my shoulder. She was staring at me and gestured apologetically.
“You forgot your bag.”
Chapter Two
“What happened?” Sam asked, hurrying inside after passing through the curtain without issue. Must be nice.
“I have no idea. Everything was fine until she checked Esmeralda,” I said, holding Esmeralda’s carrier up to my face and looking inside. She was alert and looking around, her eyes dilated and ears up, but she looked like she wanted to play more than being anxious. “Have you seen Aldora? She told them something and they let me go.”
“No, she was by the door when you went into the curtain, but I didn’t see where she went.”
“Of course, she has a knack for vanishing when there are questions,” I sighed. “What were those things…er, people?”
“The one’s checking the bag?”
“Mhmm.”
“Elementals.”
“You say that so matter-of-factly like it's common knowledge.”
“It is for most of us.” Sam shrugged and smirked at me.
“Are they dangerous?”
“They can be.”
The hallways inside the school were unchanged from last semester. Mostly barren, with gray stone walls and torches flickering on the walls. Wooden benches dotted the hallways at random intervals, and a throng of students shuffled through it slowly. The path it led us down was straightforward and took us to our rooms without incident. In my time here, I had never seen the halls be so cooperative, and it was mildly concerning. I was assuming it was an effect of the new precautions.
“Weird,” Sam said, standing outside his door.
“It really is. It’s never been this easy,” I replied, glancing at my door directly across from his. “Maybe the school is feeling nice this year?”
