Chapter Five: Holly

"No way," Holly said. She hovered with Arlo by the lip of the well. "We're just imagining things."

"Yeah," he said, sounding as unconvinced as she was. The tingling – the light press of an otherworldly presence in the air had led them to the well. Now, she stared down the depths, but it was too dark to see anything of significance. Both of them knew instinctively, however, that something was up.

The ground around the well had been picked clean of pebbles with which to test the depth, most likely by students, but Holly managed to pry one pebble loose from the soil and tentatively drop it in. There was no sound, at least not to her ears.

"It's landed," Arlo said, now leaning over the well. "There was a faint plop. There's still water in the well."

Holly looked at the rusted bucket and frayed rope. Neither looked as if they'd been used for quite some time.

Just then, two students — a man and a woman — emerged from the woods, giggling to themselves. The woman, still giggling, brushed a leaf out of the man's hair.

Wonder what they were up to, Holly thought sourly.

The students hesitated when they spotted them. "Oh, hi!" the woman said. "What are you guys doing?"

"We…" Arlo glanced at Holly, "we thought we heard something from the well. So we're just looking into it now."

"There's nothing there. We checked earlier," the woman said, blue eyes bright. The man nodded in agreement.

"You don't sense anything?" Holly asked, glancing at Arlo. "Nothing at all?"

Now, the man approached. "Nope," he said, plucking another leaf out of his shirt. "You guys said you heard something?"

"More like felt something," Holly said, a cold feeling prickling at her heart. "What type of magic do you guys have?"

The man could shapeshift into various animals, while the woman manipulated wind magic. When Holly and Arlo mentioned their powers, the woman said with a laugh, "Oh, maybe there's a dead body or spirit trapped down there. You never know!"

She didn't seem to believe her own words, though, and tugged her leafy boyfriend with her, leaving Holly and Arlo standing there, feeling dumb.

With two people confirming that they felt nothing (and not seeming to care), it made them nervous.

"Shall we… use our powers?" she asked Arlo.

"We don't have any supervision. Though… I don't think there would be anything really risky about it."

Holly didn't say anything about that. Certain kinds of spirits could be risky if they were around. But at the same time, she wanted another opportunity to tap into her powers. She saw that Arlo wanted that same opportunity as well. It wasn't as if they could practice their powers on a daily basis.

She closed her eyes, searching the darkness, stumbling over the threads that lingered of whatever supernatural energy they'd both sensed. Reaching for it felt as if she were seated on the bucket, slowly being lowered to the bottom of the well. On impulse, her hand reached out, brushing over the bucket.

A scream – a piercing, terrified one, along with a strong sense of vertigo and a rush of air, came up to meet her. Her eyes snapped open. She stumbled backward and tripped, landing squarely on her butt.

"Holly?" Arlo bent down beside her, his eyes wide. "What happened? Are you okay?"

"I…" Her heart fluttered, and she swallowed nervously. "I heard a… a… psychic echo."

The terror still lingered within. The stark, keening wail of someone who knew they were seconds from death. She shivered, and Arlo rubbed her shoulders, helping to keep her grounded.

"What kind of echo was it? You're pretty shook up. You're pale, ashen even."

"I… think I heard someone's last moment. I felt their terror." She squeezed her eyes shut, remembering the rush of air. "I felt them fall. They…" She bit her lip. "I don't know how they fell, just that they did."

Arlo's hands stayed on her, and he inhaled deeply. "Then I will try and reach for… a body, a spirit. It's less risky for me than it is for a medium." He smiled briefly before going back to the well.

Holly felt the ghost of his touch linger on her shoulders, and, oddly enough, she found she missed it. She watched Arlo attempt to engage with his magic while trying to understand what she was feeling toward him.

He dug in deep, channeling his magic, and a faint blue flicker gathered around his fingertips. "The spirit is close," he murmured. "Hey, Holly, can you see if you can drop the bucket? Assuming the rope doesn't snap, I might be able to bring the whole thing up…"

Holly hesitated only a second before scrambling to help him with his request. "Sure, but isn't that dangerous…?"

"Not as long as I have control over the body and what's happening," he assured her. "It should be fine."

It didn't exactly feel fine, but she did as he asked, unraveling the rope and bucket. She gave a few test tugs to the rope and then lowered the device down with her hands, being careful not to release the rope as she continued. It took far longer than she expected for it to stop moving. The rope slackened, and she kept it steady.

"Hold tight," he said. "You'll feel a weight. Try not to let go. I'd try to help, but I really need to keep my focus on the channeling. It shouldn't be too heavy, anyway…" He flashed her an apologetic smile.

"Noted." She didn't voice it, but the thought of hauling up a corpse in the bucket made her break out in a cold sweat. She didn't want to think about it – and nearly flinched and let go of the rope when something weighed it down. That sensation terrified her. She kept thinking, picturing something clinging to the rope, waiting to launch itself at her with a rattling scream.

The rope grew taut, and she waited until Arlo whispered, "Okay, haul it up. I'm focusing on keeping them together."

Bit by bit, she pulled the bucket back up. It wasn't as heavy as she expected, but her heart thumped violently in her chest at the uneasy thought of whatever was using that bucket as a seat. A minute later, a head emerged, followed by a blue, glowing, knitted-together skeleton.

Holly almost forgot herself and dropped the rope there and then, but she held it together when Arlo showed no signs of fear or signs of losing control of the skeleton. Once it was fully up, he gently commanded the skeleton to clamber out of the bucket.

"That's the whole body," he said. "Easier than sending a team to scoop it out. I have the soul with it, but the soul doesn't seem very willing to communicate with me."

The skeleton stood there, glaring balefully at Arlo through the winking blue sockets. "Do you know who killed you, soul?" he asked.

No response from the skeleton.

"How did you die? Were you dead before you went in the well, or were you pushed into the well?"

Again, no response from the skeleton.

"I don't…"

"Usually," Holly said, "you're more likely to make a connection if you know the name or any details about the victim."

"Ah, true." Arlo wiped away the sweat gathering on his upper lip. "I didn't exactly have much time to do the research here, given that I thought this would be a nice little afternoon for us to spend together. Can't quite say I expected this." He sighed. "What's your name, soul?"

Now, the skeleton creaked to attention. "Charles Suntooth."

Suntooth.Was that a…?

"Charles Suntooth?" Arlo sputtered. "No way." He paused before gathering himself, not wanting to waste the magic churning through the soul. "Charles Suntooth – I'm here to help. I want to find out who killed you. Do you know? Can you tell me anything?"

Holly nodded in silent approval. Souls were stubborn things. This type of approach was better. The Suntooth soul reacted to the questioning more favorably.

"I appear to be…" the skeleton lifted its hand, examining the bones and the blue glow. "I was not found. They did not look." The voice sounded soft, mournful.

"They did," Arlo hurried. "I know some of the people of your clan. You went missing around fifteen years ago. But you… were a student at Archon. Why are you in a well near Dreadmor Academy?"

The spirit continued to examine its hand as if in a trance. It eventually responded with, "I was visiting a friend. Someone I cared about a lot. We were visiting the village." the soul paused. "My friend. Where is she? I want to see her. I want…"

Arlo hissed as the spirit took a jerking, forceful step forward. He fought against it until, with a frustrated grunt, the last of his magic drained, and the light from the bones faded into nothing. The skeleton had enough time to set itself lethargically on the ground before collapsing into loose bits. Arlo hunched over it, panting. "I couldn't – I'm not strong enough…"

"Arlo, hey, no." Holly reached out to him as he had reached out to her. "You did an amazing job, Arlo." She shivered. "But what the hell have we just stumbled onto here?"

He took a few deep breaths before those penetrating, yellow eyes fixated on her. "I have no idea. But I know his disappearance was a big deal. Search parties were arranged, but they couldn't find him. Obviously, he wasn't where he said he would be. They also didn't know if he was… seeing anyone."

Arlo trembled under her touch from magical exhaustion, and she helped guide him away from the body. When someone was suffering the effects of magical exhaustion, it expressed itself like physical exhaustion. The person's energy slumped, and rest was needed. Arlo allowed Holly to guide him without complaint. She settled him on the grass on a raised section and dug into her pocket for her cell phone. She didn't have any of her teacher's numbers, but she did have a number for Dreadmor reception. They would undoubtedly be interested to hear about the fate of an Archon student found dead fifteen years ago in their territory.

Reception sent two teachers – one a dragon shifter that could carry the other. Arlo and Holly watched as a shape blotted the sky above, descending toward them with a flap of huge green bat wings. The dragon teacher landed, and Z'Hana slipped off his back.

"By the spirits," Z'Hana muttered, staring at the skeleton laid out. "We're going to keep this one away from the local sheriff's department. We'll have to contact Archon Academy about the missing student, who, in turn, will contact the family. And we'll need to call the necromancer back again…" she rubbed her face, clearly tired. "Best you two don't speak too much of it."

She examined Arlo, who still sat slumped and exhausted before she took out a black bag and carefully placed the bones into it.

Holly wasn't sure about keeping quiet. It seemed… evasive. Dishonest. However, she also understood that they did not want to scare the locals. There were a couple of people gawking from beyond the field, noticing the huge dragon that had flown in. As for the couple Holly and Arlo had encountered – they might be spreading rumors about the weird medium and necromancer themselves. There was no real way to control this.

But for now, until the family was informed, Dreadmor Academy had yet another secret in its long list of potential secrets.

Z'Hana offered to give them a lift – and Holly accepted for Arlo because she didn't see him being able to walk back in his current state. They all clambered onto the back of the dragon teacher, Professor Umber, and hung for dear life as the professor flew them the short distance to Dreadmor.

From the air, Dreadmor looked even more impressive, its turrets piercing the mist as if attempting to claim the sky. The gardens near the gates appeared like green squares on a gameboard, and they could pick out the swamp and woods nearby. Students crawled the ground like ants.

The professor landed on a higher tower balcony that seemed designed for people like him, as it had plenty of room to accommodate his wing spread and for him to clatter forward. They all slipped off – Arlo and Holly together and Z'Hana with her bag of bones.

The dragon professor finally melted back into his human form, brushing himself down. He examined the bag distastefully.

"I remember when that Suntooth lad went missing," he said in a distinctive southern British accent. "We'll have to be careful they don't end up pinning the boy's death on us."

Z'Hana nodded. "We'll need to go to the principal. Thank you again, students. We may need to call on you both once we have the necromancer's report and a better idea of the direction we'll take this. But for now, good work. Smart thinking to use your powers to get the skeleton out of the well, too, Arlo." She smiled at him before the two teachers walked briskly down the corridor, leaving Arlo and Holly standing on the balcony.

Neither moved for a moment as they admired the view from the balcony, which included the expansive gardens and iron gates. In the distance, Holly could faintly pick out the village they'd come from. She didn't seem too willing to leave, and they both eventually ended up sitting on the balcony's ledge, their legs dangling in midair.

"Well, that date didn't quite turn out as I expected," Arlo said, and Holly whirled on him in shock.

"Date?"

"Uh, hanging out. Totally not a date." He'd said that a little too quickly, and Holly continued to squint at him, suspicious. Not that she was opposed to calling it a date, exactly, but she didn't want to feel like she was rushing into things or make any assumptions since she didn't know what Arlo was thinking. It wasn't that long ago when they were in the car, enveloped in an icy silence.

Take things slowly. She could do that. "How are you feeling now?"

"A little better. But still… weak." He seemed like he hated admitting his weakness. Strong people didn't like to reveal to others that maybe they weren't as strong as they appeared. She hated it at times, too.

"Yeah. You wrecked yourself a bit with that magic," she said, patting him on the shoulder. "Are you hungry? We can head to the dining hall."

"I…" He attempted to get up, but his legs shook. "I'll probably be in my room."

"I'll bring food. I won't say anything. Okay?"

"Okay." He appeared grateful for that. She helped him to his dormitory room, conscious of his need to appear strong to others, particularly when they passed a shapeshifter in the corridor. His quarters were in the left wing of the residency building – while the women were housed in the right wing. Both buildings were connected directly to Dreadmor by a long, wide corridor, but people often found ways around the separation – and sometimes, if they had more of one gender than another, dorms could be mixed. Right now, there were more women, so a few of them also took up residence in the traditional men's side of the residence.

Students were allowed to live on campus for a maximum of two years before they had to move to residential spots in the surrounding villages since the idea was to gradually transition students to be able to adjust to living alone and maintain their own homes like full-fledged adults. Not that Holly felt like an adult yet. She was one on paper, but she knew she still had far too much to learn.

She left Arlo in his room and went to the dining hall to get whatever she could carry: buttered rolls, cartons of milk, some fruit. Nothing fancy, but she wanted to make sure Arlo had enough.

When she got back to the dorm, the front door was unlocked, so she eased herself into the dormitory – almost a direct copy of her own. Some students shared a room; some had singles. Arlo, like Holly, had a room to himself.

He was asleep on the bed, sprawled out like a starfish. He even snored. Holly placed the food on the table, debated whether she should wake him, and then shook him awake. He snapped awake with a groggy, grumbling noise but became a little more alert when she pointed him toward the food.

"Sorry. I know you were asleep, but you need to eat. Otherwise, you're going to wake up in a foul temper."

"Mm." He rubbed his eyes, yawning. "God, I feel so exhausted. I didn't even do that much with the magic."

She handed him the roll, and he bit into it without a second thought, finishing it in seconds, then started on the next. Turned out he was really hungry. She quietly let him eat and drink while taking a quick scan of the room. Frugal decorations, all papers and pens tucked away in the desk in the corner by the window, a small counter with a coffee machine, and a laptop, cellphone, and eBook reader plugged into a charger.

When he finished gulping down the milk, she pointed at the reader. "You like books?"

"From time to time," he said. "I don't like the space they take up, though, so this was the compromise. You like to read?"

"From time to time," she said, echoing his words. However, she hadn't read anything other than textbooks recently. They smiled at each other, and he proceeded to show her the latest book he was reading – some sci-fi adventure novel. It was not her preferred genre, but given the huge list of sci-bi books she saw in his digital library, she suspected it might be his. They sat together on the bed, leaning together as he shared this small passion of his.

The way someone's face lit up when they shared something important to them – she didn't think she could ever get tired of such a thing. His yellow eyes sparkled with joy. His lips curled up into a soft, warm smile, a smile that her wandering, distracted brain found quite… appealing.

She shared with him some of her favorite books growing up – all with psychic elements, of course. She loved stories where the protagonist ended up finding their way to a shadowy world – which wasn't too far from their own reality. They hadn't read the same books, but that didn't stop them from respecting the other's reading tastes.

Eventually, Arlo's eyes began to droop again, and even with the food and excitement of sharing something of interest with her, it was not enough to fully stave off the magical exhaustion. "Wake me up… two hours," he murmured, tucking himself into bed. "If I don't get up then, my sleep's going to be screwed tonight, and I can't let that happen." He cracked a yawn, which made Holly want to yawn as well.

"Good night, sweet prince," she said to him, and he grinned in response. "Two hours. Got it."

Leaving him to sleep, Holly's next course of action was to find her friends and share everything with them. Sure, Z'Hana and the dragon professor might want to keep things on the down low, but there was no way she was not sharing this kind of information with them. She texted Chloe and met up with the blonde a few minutes later.

"Kati and the others are in the village at the moment," Chloe said after greeting her. "They mentioned something about seeing Professor Umber fly over the village, but he didn't land in the village. Were you there?"

"Uh… about that…" Holly grinned before sharing the whole tale. Chloe listened with rapt attention, though Holly did leave out some of the parts where she might have been getting a little too cozy with Arlo. Some things just didn't need to be shared in that way.

"No way," Chloe gushed. "A dead kid in the well? That's freaking crazy! Oh, wait until the others hear about this. They'll never believe it in a million years!"

"I can't believe no one even noticed anything suspicious about the well," Holly added. "I mean, aren't wells really creepy places for a lot of supernatural creatures?"

"To be fair," Chloe said, "you'd probably need someone with your kind of powers to be able to sense anything there. Or for someone to go spelunking down the well for a lark and then accidentally find a corpse. Mostly, people in the village treat it as a sort of wishing well. And it's too deep to be able to see anything there."

Made sense. Holly found herself nodding, though a part of her wondered how a body might go undiscovered for so long. Surely, many had looked for the Archon boy. The case was one she wanted to look into in her spare time.

"I wish my powers were more reliable," Chloe said with a sigh. "Sometimes I can glimpse the future, but often I don't really know what I'm seeing. It's not like I can be like, ‘Show me the lottery numbers for next week,' and it'll just do that."

Holly had heard about oracle powers being unreliable. Sometimes, they'd capture something relevant – but the future was so vast and full of probability that peering into it with complete accuracy was probably one of the rarest powers on the planet. There were rumors of certain magical artifacts being able to aid accurate visions… but there were lots of rumors of such things. "I think your powers are really cool, though. Don't you have some kind of intuition? That's a bit like the psychic powers we have."

"Yeah. Intuition. Again, unreliable. But it might save me a lot, so it's nothing to sneeze at." Chloe sighed, kicking her feet as she settled on a bench, glancing toward the dining hall. "You've already eaten?"

"No, actually." She'd gotten food for Arlo but nothing for herself. With that, the two of them ventured into the grandiose hall, with its long tables and students lining up by the kitchens with trays to grab their choice of food. Chloe and Holly grabbed trays and filtered through the selection until they both had things they liked – Holly with a leek and potato bake, Chloe with a burger and fries. The two of them ate their food, talking about anything and everything that came to mind, whether it was odd questions like, "What's the meaning of life?" to "Which teacher do you think is the hottest?"

The topics ranged from deep to shallow in the blink of an eye, but all of them were fascinating in their own right. "Well, I've not seen all the teachers, but that Professor Umber – the dragon guy — whew."

"I need a better look at him. I only saw him from a distance, and he didn't look that hot to me. I like Professor Thadius, the science professor. He looks like he understands the inner workings of your soul."

"Oh, is that what you think? I always thought he looked at people like he wanted to vivisect them," Holly said, which caused Chloe to swipe at her.

"No way! Don't ruin my image here!"

"It's true, though. He's a science teacher. They like that sort of thing."

"What about students, though," Chloe said, changing track. "Anyone in your classes who you like? What about that werewolf boy you sit next to? You know, the one who freaking well showed up as an actual werewolf on his first day?"

"Eh, he's alright," Holly said, pointedly not meeting Chloe's eyes, instead slurping on some orange juice. "I like him better when he's not eight foot tall and furry."

"Holly? Holly. Look at me." Chloe gestured for Holly's attention. When they finally locked eyes, Chloe grinned like an imp. "Is that a blush I see?"

"I'm not blushing!" Holly said, red as a tomato. "I just – tired, busy day…"

"Uh-huh. Sure. Very busy day. And didn't you say you were hanging out with pretty-boy werewolf today? Just the two of you?"

"Friends hang out. We're friends. Doesn't have to be a big deal or anything."

"Of course not. But, for real – do you like him?" Chloe's teasing tone lessened, and her expression grew serious. "You, the medium, and he, the necromancer?"

At first, Holly wanted to reject the probing, wanted to say nothing, and let Chloe babble away, steering the topic to safer pastures. She also didn't quite want to keep all of these feelings to herself. It was all a little confusing, new territory – and her stark lack of experience might come back to bite her on the ass if she said nothing.

"I… maybe like him. But I don't know if anything will go anywhere, and it's all pretty new for me. I don't want to make things awkward between us, either, because, most likely, we're going to be together on a lot of the assignments when they send us out to a case or bring anything into the academy."

"Ah." Chloe's expression softened further. "Have you had boyfriends before?"

"Like, one. And we didn't really progress past kissing." That seemed oddly tough to explain. Chloe, bless her heart, didn't show any disdain or pity for her.

"All the more reason to take it easy. You know what to do, of course, should it come to being a bit more than kissing?"

"Of course!" Holly flushed. It was not like she was completely innocent. There was enough media around: movies, books… and certain websites. She'd visited those a few times out of curiosity and once accidentally from a pop-up ad that dominated her screen, but it wasn't really for her. There were plenty of other sources, however. Just the actual personal experience was lacking for her.

"If you have any questions, no matter how weird you think they are, you can talk to me about it. And if you have any doubts at all… sometimes it pays to listen to yourself." Chloe leaned in to take one of Holly's hands. "Seriously. He doesn't seem like a bad guy, from what I know and from what Skyla and Lujan have said. They mentioned something about the Sixclaws generally being jerks, but they think he's an alright one, and he seems to like your company. So… take it as slow as you want. Maybe nothing comes of it. Maybe you do the whole friends-with-benefits thing. Maybe you're totally destined for one another. Or it doesn't work out. All are possibilities – but you'll never know if you never do anything."

It sounded like she'd rehearsed this speech and had been waiting to unleash it on one of her poor, unsuspecting friends, most likely Harrow since she walked around with a chip on her shoulder. All the same, Holly appreciated it and squeezed Chloe's hand in thanks.

"It's nice to have the support. I just need to figure out what exactly to expect from him. Learn to mind read. Say, do we have anyone in this school who can mind read?"

"Let's… not resort to that." Chloe tapped Holly's knuckles before polishing off the rest of her food. "Mind reading is seriously uncool."

"It's not illegal though, is it?"

"Drop it."

"I'll drop you in a second…"

The two friends conversed, enjoying each other's presence, until the two hours passed, and Holly made good on her promise to wake Arlo. All the while, her conversation with Chloe swirled in her mind, just like her emotions. Neither seemed to land on anything concrete. Holly replayed moments of her "date" with Arlo: the way he stared at her when he thought she wasn't looking, the way his fingers sometimes brushed hers, or his palms rested reassuringly on her shoulders, how, when he was tired from the magic, he sort of leaned into her when he was showing her his vast collection of sci-fi books.

All the moments added up. But perhaps she needed a few more before she could draw any sort of conclusion.

Since Holly didn't have keys to Arlo's building, she had left the door closed but unlocked. She made her way in after getting a couple of curious glances from two male students and encountered a snoring Arlo. Shadows enveloped the room as the sun set, but he'd asked to be woken up, so she sat on his bed and gently shook him. "C'mon, Arlo. Wakey-wakey. Eggs and bakey."

He mumbled something before grabbing his pillow in a fierce, possessive way and curling up with his back to her. While she found this action strangely adorable, she persisted.

"You asked me to wake you up," she said gently. "It's been two hours. You don't want to mess up your sleep pattern, remember?"

He mumbled again, sounding annoyed, before releasing the pillow, stretching, and rolling out of bed with a thump. "Okay," he said. "You're right." His sleepiness evaporated when he accidentally knocked his head against the wall. "Ow!"

"Don't give yourself brain damage trying to wake up," Holly said wryly. "Do you want coffee?"

"Yeah… no!" He sat upright. "No, no coffee. I'll never be able to sleep if I drink it now. What time is it?"

"Eight."

That got him moving. He splashed his face with water and stretched just as Holly's phone rang with an unknown number. She debated ducking it, but the area code matched Dreadmor's, so she answered.

"Hello?"

"Hello. This is Z'Hana. We've sent emails to you and Arlo, but we're also contacting you this way. At 9 tonight, you will come to the testing room near the principal's office. Marisha Raintotem is waiting for your input."

"You want us to come as students?"

"Yes. Plus, as I understand, you have already been able to glean some information. Marisha would appreciate it if you and Arlo could again utilize your powers. However, if you don't choose to come, that will not be a detriment for you."

"Oh, no, we want to come. Isn't that right, Arlo?" she asked, and he looked momentarily confused. "Z'Hana and Marisha Raintotem want our input on the body we took out of the well, Charles Suntooth."

"Oh, yeah. I'll go. But I don't think I can quite use my powers for a bit."

Z'Hana spoke. "You two are together? Convenient. Nine on the dot. You know how to get to the testing room?"

"No," Holly said, "but I know the floor the principal's office is on. Same floor as the balcony."

"Good. We'll see you then."

The call ended, and Holly grinned. "Looks like we're going to be kept in the loop."

"Looks like it, indeed." His eyes settled on her with a strange, calculating look. "Perhaps it will be up to you to find something more."

"I don't know. You kind of found out a lot. You just probably need to have more training."

"I suppose." His eyes continued to examine her, and she got the distinct feeling he was, well, inspecting her as if the meal she'd given him earlier wasn't quite enough to satisfy. She pretended not to notice and acted oblivious, heading toward the door.

"I'll see you outside the testing room at 9. Bet you're glad I woke you up now!"

He didn't say anything, and she left, closing the door behind her and taking a deep breath. The questions still swirled in her mind, none that she felt like answering at that moment.