1 Chapter 1: Cassandra

I found myself alone for the first time in a long time. It wasn't something I needed or enjoyed. Especially when the place creeped me out the way it did.

I turned on my heels, looking for the guys, looking for anyone. A squirrel raced by and up a tree. It climbed out onto a branch and watched my confusion. The last thing I remembered was Aurelius teleporting us away from Edius. And then I just kept falling through the air. I remembered Braeden calling my name in the darkness. Then came Dash's voice. And then silence. When I landed, I couldn't help but feel like I'd been gone for an eternity, stuck in some cosmic loop that wouldn't let go of me or my time on the planet. A little something had been secretly stolen from me during teleportation.

"Hello? Anyone there? Hello? This isn't funny, Aurelius! If you guys know what's good for you, you will stop the shenanigans."

I looked up at the surrounding academy buildings, the architecture a dark and ominous contrast to the Enchanted Academy. Gargoyle statues stared down from the rooftops. A few of the buildings were watched over by statues of angels: Michael, Gabriel, Raphael and Uriel. Windows were made of stained glass and gave no view to the inside. Black rose bushes surrounded many of the building entrances. I'd been dropped inside the Enchanted Academy's doppelganger.

"Aurelius, where am I? Where did you put me? Guys?" I remembered back to teleportation class and all the things that could go wrong when teleportation didn't work the way it should. At least all my body parts were in the right location. "Okay, I'll play your little game. But I'm warning you - if this is a joke, there will be hell to pay!"

The squirrel raced down the tree and grabbed an acorn near my feet and then ran off. As he ran away, I saw the aura of several people. They were there, and then they weren't. I was losing my mind. The teleporting had scrambled my brain and dropped me in a different location than everyone else. That had to be it. Or maybe all the stress had really sent me tumbling over the edge.

"Braeden! This isn't funny. Dash, I'm going to kick your ass!"

I entered the building to my right and found an empty lobby; though a piece paper on the reception desk moved and then fell silent. For a moment, I thought I caught a glimpse of something moving away from the desk, but it disappeared like dust in the wind. I closed my eyes and then looked again. Nothing. "Hello?" Oddly enough, my voice didn't echo in all the emptiness which told me there was more there than I could see. I absolutely wasn't alone. I took a deep breath and pulled myself together. Even when I was alone, I didn't need to show fear. If Edius had been the cause of whatever screw up that had happened, the last thing I needed him to do was sense my fear.

A sign on the wall listed the many offices in the building. I found the headmaster's name and read the office number before heading down the hall, the eerie feeling of people moving around me sending chills down my spine. I knocked on the headmaster's door, and when no answer came, I eased the door open, expecting anything from a sarchi to a rat jumping out at me. The office stood empty but clean. No dust or sign of decay. I returned to the hallway, and a sudden wisp of air brushed by. I quickly followed the phenomenon but then came to a halt, starring bug-eyed down the long, dark hallway. I caught a shimmering glimpse of someone or something. They were there, and then they weren't. There was also an animal smell. Not bad, but there, nonetheless.

"Hello?" I called again. "Okay, I'm seriously losing my shit. I know someone is here. Quit playing games and come out." I glanced at the desk and studied its top. Clean just like the headmaster's office. Maybe everyone had gathered at an assembly, and I landed at just the right time, or wrong depending on how I looked at it.

Seek and you will find.

I turned to the voice but found no one behind me. "Hello? Is this a joke?" I swallowed hard and moved closer to the wall. Edius liked games, but he wasn't one to hide. He would have come right out and taken advantage of thel fact I was alone.

Seek and you will find, Cassandra.

"Who are you? Where is everyone? I'm not moving until you tell me what the hell is going on."

I pulled my wand from my pocket. Yeah, I was going to fight a ghost, or tear up shit around me. It was up to whomever was taunting me.

This way, Cassandra. Find me, and you will find your answers.

With nothing else making any sense, I left the building and followed the voice, praying I wasn't walking into a trap.

Outside, I once again felt the presence of people around me. That was when it hit me that I could very well be dead and caught somewhere between heaven and hell. I shrugged off the thought and started across the empty campus. I glanced up at the gargoyles and thought I saw one of them move. I was totally losing my shit.

The campus buildings were laid out in a circular pattern, surrounding a single courtyard. At the center of the circle stood a large fountain. In the middle of the fountain a statue of a woman with water rising from her hands. Lights inside the base of the fountain illuminated the images of the five elements. I stepped to the edge of the fountain and stared at the woman. She had the beauty of a Scandinavian queen. Her features seemed so real that I had to reach out and touch her. Her oily skin was soft and pushed inward when I pressed with my fingers. I looked to see if her chest moved, sure she was alive. It did not, but when she opened her eyes, I fell over my feet trying to back away.

Her eyes blinked as they followed me. Her lips remained sealed. She then danced around inside the fountain like a ballerina, spraying the surrounding area with water. Her moves were magnificent and made me swoon. She stopped when I began talking to her.

"Where am I? Who are you?" I closed my eyes and concentrated on everything around me, feeling the presence of many. Aurelius had landed me in a ghost academy.

I opened my eyes and once again got just a glance of a bustling campus. Then, like before, they were all gone. "Do you know why I'm here? Where everyone is?"

Seek and you will find. Trust what you hear.

I watched the statue for a moment longer, and her hand shifted, reaching out, pointing in the opposite direction I had come. Her eyes studied me, blinking, their blackness an abyss that fortunately held no evil. She motioned me around the fountain and then pointed in the direction she wanted me to go. Before moving, I studied her again, mesmerized by her beauty, wondering how something so amazing could be stuck in such an unexciting place.

Seek and you will find, Cassandra. You know in your soul what it is you seek. I am the one who will help you become what you are meant to be.

I proceeded in the direction the statue pointed, passing what appeared to be a ritual chamber, a classroom building, dorms, and a food hall. It still felt as if the campus was crawling with students, but I saw nothing except an empty academy. Maybe I had died during teleportation and landed in the ether.

Once I'd passed between the last two buildings, I stopped and stared at the forest. I could very well have been walking into a trap. But what other choices did I have?

Seek and you will find, Cassandra. Follow me, and find what you are meant to achieve.

"Where are the others?" I closed my eyes and spread my energy, searching for the guys. Though I sensed others around me, none were Dash, Kyler, Oliver or Braeden. "I'm not going anywhere until whoever you are tells me where I am and what's happened to my friends."

Your answers lie beyond the trees, Cassandra.

I looked back at the statue. Her hand still pointed toward the trees.

Seek and you will find.

"Enough!" I said, and started toward the trees, once again catching a glimpse of people walking on campus who were not there physically. "Guys! It's not funny anymore!"

I entered the forest, and the temperature dropped twenty degrees. Then I stopped to look back at the academy, which was gone, because the trees had moved to block the view. And then those same trees started toward me.

Run, Cass.

I drew my wand and took off away from the trees, skidding to an abrupt halt when the path opened to hundreds of concrete pillars.