Charms and Contradictions

Chapter 2

I won't beat around the bush. The school was straight-up a castle with four towers - that I could see from the front at least.

"Holy sh-"

"Miss Vitaly, I presume?" I turned to see a tall, pale man with dark hair and a dramatic frown.

"Uhm, yes," I said.

"You are an hour and a half late," he said very monotone.

"Yes," I agreed.

"Hmm," he hummed in something that resembled curiosity, though he also seemed very uncaring of the whole situation.

"Can I go in?" I asked, holding back the urge to roll my eyes. He chuckled.

"I can take your things to your assigned dorm. You can go right in to the assembly hall," he said, taking my suitcase from me.

"Thanks," I said and walked into the school, somehow managing to find the assembly hall relatively quickly. I figured I could just very quietly open one door just enough so I could slip in. Unfortunately for me, this was a school of magic. The doors had been enchanted to function like automatic doors so once I'd gotten within a foot of the doors, they both swung open - admittedly soundlessly - but very dramatically, leaving every person in the assembly hall to be staring at me as I stood there, half-mortified, half-pissed off.

The half-pissed off side won off in my reaction.

"Are you screwing with me?" I muttered under my breath. I sighed heavily and walked in with a load of anger, sitting in the closest empty chair I could find with my arms crossed. Everyone surrounding me was wearing most if not all black. There were too many leather jackets in this corner.

"I think you're in the wrong spot," spoke the guy next to me. I glared at him. He had short but messy black hair and pale skin. He was probably taller than me. I already had a hunch about what he was.

"I didn't realize there was a right spot. Would you care to draw me a map?" I asked sarcastically.

"I think you should go sit in your own section, witch. You smell like magic," he sneered at me. He had an odd accent. I thought it was Canadian, but something sounded off.

"Oh no. And I tried so hard this morning to cover up the stench," I said, dropping my bag on the floor finally. The loud bang it made certainly helped nothing. I may have been a tad bit heavier than it looked. The extension charm I'd cast on it didn't make the extra room weigh less unfortunately.

The boy next to me glanced at my bag before looking back at me with a raised eyebrow. His teeth grew into fangs.

"Miss Vitaly, will you please sit in the section for witches?" Professor Foster said from the podium and gestured to a section filled with a bunch of people that all looked like stuck up rich kids. They all seemed to already be in uniform, though somehow none of them were wearing the same thing. The boy next to me had pulled his fangs back in. Professor Foster hadn't spoken since I'd entered despite clearly having been in the middle of a speech. I wondered how they were at my car if they were giving a speech.

I picked up my bag and sauntered over to the witch section, plopping down into the only empty seat I could find. Professor Foster finally continued their speech.

"As I was saying, venturing into the forest is only allowed outside of class hours, and only with staff permission. You may not leave the grounds without explicit permission either."

"Are you kidding?" I demanded, half of the students shouting in protest with me - most of that half was the vampires.

"This is for not only your protection, but also the protection of others. This school is meant to help you control yourself so as to not expose yourself in the real world," Professor Foster said, though I was still reeling at this information. I did not do well with being cooped up.

I'm sure the vampires felt the same way.

"For those of you that have only recently awoken to your abilities, I urge you to believe that you're not any less able than more experienced individuals. You are all here to learn the same things, and I hope that you can all learn to work together in your time here." Professor Foster grinned as they finished their speech. "Alright, well that concludes our opening assembly. Everyone should find a key to their dorm in their pockets with the room number. Classes begin Monday. Thank you." Professor Foster left the stage with a wave of their hand. I checked my the pockets of my jeans, but there was no key to be found.

Great...

While everyone stood up and made their way out, two people from my section approached me with scornful looks.

"I hope you don't have any more entrances like that," said the girl with a thick accent that sounded Irish. She had crimped brown hair and freckles scattered across her face. She had a purse hanging from her arm that might have been worth more than anything I owned - had everything I owned not been vintage and already expensive when I bought it.

"We don't need a single witch messing up our entire image," said the boy next to her. He also had an accent. He was a ginger with dark green eyes and quite a ways shorter than the girl.

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

"Didn't you know? Witches have ruled the school since Professor Foster became head of the school. We're the best, and we're not going to let a tardy wanna-witch mess up that image," the girl said.

"Okay, well you have fun with... whatever that's supposed to mean, and I'm gonna go find my dorm," I said, muttering a jinx under my breath as I walked past them. They ran right into each other as they turned and fell to the floor. I chuckled as I left the assembly hall, only to remember that I didn't actually know which dorm was mine. The key was not in my pocket, so I checked my bag. I found it on my keychain, right next to my car key. I detached my car key, figuring I should be at least a little subtle about it, then pulled the key out of my bag.

Room M702.

Where the hell was that?

I sighed heavily.

"Well, that was dramatic," a familiar voice spoke behind me.

"Which part, the entrance or my sigh?" I asked with steel in my voice. It was the vampire I'd sat next to.

"Both." he smirked. "Funny. You're not quite as... dressed up as your mates," he said.

"Ah, moved from Europe? Lemme guess, a hundred years ago?" I asked. He chuckled, though it might have been a scoff.

"More like 50," he said.

"Well, I hope you've enjoyed the country. Please make your way to the exit whenever you feel enticed," I said. He really got on my nerves.

"What if I don't?" he challenged, standing up straighter.

"Oh, I'm sure you'll get bored in another 20 years. There's not really much to enjoy here," I said.

"I've noticed," he said.

"So why are you here?" I demanded.

"You're really cold, you know that?"

"Look who's talking."

"Isaac!" someone yelled down the hall.

"Gotta go," he said with a final huff.

"Hope I see you never, Isaac," I said roughly, storming off, ignoring his very confused expression.