The fresher was chugging the drink, looking green.
“… SEVEN … SIX … FIVE … FOUR … THREE … TWO … ONE!”
Only recently, Harriet had been like them. A naïve, innocent fresher, whose biggest problem was finding new and disgusting ways to get drunk. She’d changed so much since then.
Charlie held up the empty bottle, looking proud and nauseous in equal measure. The boy clapped her on the back, then shouted, “Let’s get this seance started!”
Seance? Harriet suddenly clicked to attention.
The students gathered in a circle, hooking their arms together, as Charlie wandered off down the corridor, presumably looking for a corner to throw up in.
“Spectres of Mulcture Hall, hear our call. We wish you no harm,” a fresher intoned.
“Give us our girl back!” one of the boys yelled.
The students all burst into giggles, except one boy, who looked terrified.
“We call upon the spirit of Harriet Stoker…”
They were here for her? She’d only been dead a few days, but apparently she had become a university myth already.
“If Harriet is still present in the building, please can she make herself known to us.”
A sign? They wanted a sign?
Harriet walked into the centre of the circle, spinning around to look at them all. Surely it wouldn’t hurt to take a little from one of these humans? Just a smidgen of energy would be enough to make Oscar’s power manifest. They had so much to spare, and they were practically offering it up to her. It could be the difference between life and death; between holding her ground against the others or being destroyed. Could she really…?
Should she?
“Harriet Stoker! Your life was taken too soon! In tribute, we offer up this … er – bottle of tequila!” One of the boys poured out a trail of liquid in the middle of the circle, right through Harriet’s spirit. It was a cold dart to the heart.
The circle was moving, students swaying back and forth as they took swigs of their drinks. Before she could make a decision, one of the boys stumbled into her, passing through her body. Her instincts kicked into action involuntarily. She latched onto his energy, sucking it out of him in waves. She fought to stop it but it was like her hooks had caught onto him and she couldn’t move away.
Oscar’s power pulsed inside her, coming to life as the student convulsed and fell to his knees. Something popped inside her head, a deep pressure swelling and pushing against the inside of her skull. She shook out her ears, trying to dispel it.
A girl yelled, “Guys, I think there’s something wrong with Eric!”
The students dragged him to his feet, carrying him away as they fled. Harriet was left alone, kneeling on the floor. She tipped her head back, energy burning up inside her. The power sprang into life. To her surprise, her whole body began to morph.
She had transformed somehow, like when Rima turned into an animal. Though she was still human, something had changed. Her hands were smaller than usual and covered in wrinkles. When she peered into the cracked glass of a window, it was her grandmother’s face that stared back at her.
Harriet skittered away in fright. It was only when her gran’s expression contorted in fear that she realized she had transformed into her. Harriet’s new power let her change her body.
She focused her power again, thinking of Rima. Within seconds, her gran’s face morphed into Rima’s, looking first surprised then happy. This could come in handy. Incredibly handy.
LEAH
Leah was relieved to see that Felix was still here. She’d seen ghosts commit suicide when their loved ones disintegrated, in the hopes of following them into whatever afterlife came next. But this existence was all they had for certain, and it would be a waste for Felix to give it up in search of something more with his brother.
“It’s pouring out there, you guys. Come back in,” Rima said to Felix and Kasper on the fire escape. “Back at it again with the pathetic fallacy, eh?”
“It’s only drizzle,” Kasper said.
Rima snorted. “Only drizzle. It thundered a second ago!”
Felix watched them, looking a little stunned. Leah gently touched his shoulder. “My condolences on your loss, Felix Anekwe.”
Taking her completely by surprise, he pulled Leah into a hug. She held still. Before Rima and the boys had appeared in her life, she hadn’t touched anyone except Claudia in centuries. She’d tried her hardest not to, in fact.
“I’m sorry that I couldn’t warn you in time.”
Felix kissed her cheek. “Don’t. Please. It wasn’t your fault, not even a little bit.”
She took a deep breath and nodded. “I know. But I’m sorry, anyway.”
When Claudia tugged at his hair, Felix took her from Leah.
“Hey, munchkin,” he said. “I bet you’re glad your mum’s finally woken up, aren’t you?” Claudia adored Felix.
Leah stretched out her arms. More and more, her whole body was a mass of pins and needles. Holding Claudia didn’t help.
It wouldn’t be long before she disintegrated. She’d accepted that; now she was just impatient to get it over with. She’d had more than her fair share of time. Except … there was Claudia. There was always Claudia.
Leah had been alone for most of the time she’d been alive. Her family’s goals were directly opposed to Leah’s own desires. She had always just been a pawn in their plans, miserable and lonely except for Claudia. At least she’d had her, someone on her side who she could trust.
What would happen to her if Leah disintegrated? At least when they became Shells, they could stay together. She didn’t want Claudia to disintegrate with her. If there was an afterlife, it contained people who she didn’t want Claudia to have to see again. The two of them were safer here in Mulcture Hall, hiding out in the place between now and whatever came next.
To Leah’s surprise, Rima looked at Claudia and asked, “Why couldn’t you have done something about Harriet, huh?”
Claudia wriggled in outrage.
“Next time,” Leah whispered in her ear.
She wished there was a way for Claudia to talk to her. She could see just how much she wanted to say. Her eyes would fill with frustration, as she searched desperately for a way to communicate with Leah.
“How are you doing, Felix?” Rima asked. “Seriously.”
“I’m … coping. I think.”
“Do you want to talk about it? Or would you rather we carried on pretending like nothing has happened?”
Felix smiled. “Can we stick with the forced humour for right now?”
Kasper was staring down at his hands. He had been touching Felix’s cheek when Rima had found them, but now he had pulled away. Leah wished that he would love himself as much as he loved the rest of them. Kasper was his own worst enemy, sometimes.
It wasn’t his fault, though. Society was different now, compared to how it had been since she was alive. Most of those changes were good, a sign of progress – women could be their own people, with careers and incomes and bank accounts. But some things were bad. Over the centuries, she’d watched sexuality become something malicious and evil and suppressed. It was a step back, even as everything else in society progressed. Poor Kasper had taken the brunt of that.