Belief In The Occult

Five

After spending a few days, their visit with Bloody Mary ended, and Kodiak was in a car with Varick driving, Kodiak's single bag and the Mirror, padded with styrofoam and a black cloth secured over it in the back. In the passenger seat, Kodiak was tense, shoulders hunched and uneasy aura pulsating like a painful wound. It wouldn't be a good first impression if his anxious aura was literally visible, but he would have a lid on it by the time they exited the car and walked up the drive.

The Dorm was a large manor at the top of a hill, located in a gated neighborhood. No close neighbors meant less questions, with lots and lots of forest surrounding the property. Varick didn't park in front of the house, but instead at a secondary area halfway up the gravel drive.

The sun was setting as they began to walk up the hill. Kodiak had his bag over one shoulder, and was carrying his Mirror with a white-knuckled grip. It was vanity sized, and wouldn't look out of place over a fancy antique desk, so he didn't have much trouble walking with it.

Per usual, Ramsey was waiting for them in the yard.

Varick raised an eyebrow, "Your charge is out, I presume?"

Ramsey rocked back and forth on his feet, a bright smile on his face, "Yes! She's doing so well, at this point she's summoned twice a month almost." He looked at Kodiak, "You two will make good friends, she's got enough pep in her step for the both of you." He nodded his head over his shoulder, "The chaperones are inside."

Ramsey entered the house first, Varick calmly waltzing in after, but Kodiak lurked in the doorway for a split second. It felt like there was a ripping motion right behind his eyes, not quite painful but not exactly pleasant either. A shudder sloughed off his shoulders and down his spine, and he realized the anxiety was getting to him again and forced his stiff legs to move again.

There were four Chaperones. Two were waiting in the foyer. Varick made sure Kodiak knew all their names and gave him descriptions, so they felt less like strangers. These two were Kallik and Elita. Elita was a witch with dark skin and short purple-blue hair, dressed in fancy black clothes. Kallik was also a witch, but looked more serious and stern, in a silver waistcoat and pencil skirt with long green hair, dark skin, and heterochromic eyes.

Varick was already engaged in some conversation with the other three entities, which was fine by Kodiak; it gave him some time to map his surroundings. He liked to be familiar with the area he was in, because being aware of exactly where his surroundings were eased his anxiety.

Since he wasn't exactly listening to what the older entities were saying and inspecting his surroundings instead, it allowed him to hear a slight noise and he automatically snapped his head to look at the top of the stairs, seeing a small flash of movement on the landing before stillness. Right. This was going to be his first time living with other people. He wasn't too homey with that fact.

"Kodiak." The poltergeist turned quickly at the sound of his mentor's voice. "I will be leaving you now, but coming back to check how you are settled in at the end of the week. Next week, we will resume your lessons as normal, am I clear?" Kodiak nodded firmly, but didn't verbalize. Varick rolled his shoulders. "Good. In that case, I leave you in the capable hands of Miss Kallik and Elita."

With that final note, he patted the back of Kodiak's head- Varick's version of a warm hug -and left the house again, Kodiak's gaze on his back until he couldn't see his superior anymore. Behind him, Elita clapped, and Kodiak managed to hide how it made him jump. "Well! I think for the first order of business I will show you to your room, that mirror looks heavy. Once you're settled in, we'll get you introduced to everyone at dinner, that sound good?"

Kodiak nodded again and shifted his grip on the frame of his packaged Mirror. He wasn't exactly eager to let it out of his sight in the unfamiliar environment, but this was his new living situation for the foreseeable future, so he supposed he'd have to get over it.

Following Kallik and Elita up the stairs, they passed the dark hallway Kodiak had seen movement down earlier. Curiously, he paused to stare down it. There was an open window at the opposite end letting in the moonlight, and four doors, two on one side two on the other. He turned his head again when a hand landed on his shoulder.

"There'll be time for a tour tomorrow, for now let's just get you all settled in." Elita said, smiling at him. He followed her the rest of the way up the stairs to a second landing, this time turning down a slightly shorter hallway with only three doors.

Kallik opened the door that had a side of the hall to itself and reached inside, turning a light on. "This will be your room. You may move, add, or remove furniture and decorations as you see fit." she said primly, then simply turned and left, leaving him to Elita.

Inside, Kodiak surveyed the room. Blue walls and white wainscotting, navy blue ceiling, grey carpeting, a plain desk with a silver architect's lamp, an empty bookshelf built into the wall, a black twin bed with thick white bedding, a pair of windows, a set of closet doors, and another white door on the other side of the room. Catching him staring at it, Elita quickly went over and opened it, revealing a bathroom. "Every room has its own bathroom." she explained before crossing over to the door again. "I'll leave you to unpack your things and get set up for now. If you need us, Kallik and I will be in the living area down to the left of the foyer."