The first order of business was apparently decorating. At least, that's what I had decided to do. In my trunk, beneath layers of my casual clothes was a box. The contents rattled a bit as I lifted it up out of the trunk.

I lifted the lid and smiled, the light from the large window to my right hit the rocks which fractured the light into a rainbow of colors.

My babies were free from their dark prison, but it was far better in there than it was in the pink nightmare of Pixie Tower.

The carpet I was kneeling on was soft and kind of fluffy and was deep Dragon red. I lifted the box to the window, it covered most of the wall and I could overlook the forest of holly trees, deep green with spots of white flowers.

The sill of the window was about three inches wide. More than enough space for trinkets.

The first rock was a hunk of jasper, polished but in a natural lump. The light from the setting sun made it glow. It looked almost exactly like the pale yellow of Mom's magic. The next was a large quartz crystal, white with small flecks of imperfections. It glittered. The third was the smallest, a little ruby crystal, also in a raw state but far prettier to me than anything in a jewelry store. The fourth, and last, one was a hunk of bismuth crystal. Pinks, greens, yellows, and purples in layers in the spirals of right angles.

After setting the bismuth down I noticed the curtain. Black decorated with red dragons.

This was real.

I was here.

Dragon Tower.

A month of waiting and now I was here. We were here.

The sun was setting fast.

The rest of the room was fairly plain. The bed was nearly identical to the one I had back in Pixie Tower except the white wood was traded for a dark oak and the pinks were traded for red. I had a massive wardrobe instead of a closet now. Standing next to the window was a three shelf unit that barely reached my chest.

Nothing remarkable. But leagues better than Pixie Tower and already feeling much more like home.

I should show Mom and Dad later.

Stepping outside of the room and lingering in the doorway to face out onto the main sitting area I stopped. I wasn't sure what to do now. To my left was Fethris' room, further left was Russel's, to my right was Celica's and further was Jarec's. Unlike Pixie Tower which had floors of rooms we only had the one floor for five rooms.

Part of the whole two-thousand-year-old-magical-tower thing, probably.

The only thing that could really ruin this moment for me, the curse I was still hiding underneath the black and pink gloves of Pixie Tower, was quiet. I had ditched the overcoat and the vest. Leaving me in just the white button up shirt and the black pants.

Russel was sitting in front of the fireplace with his feet resting on the coffee table.

Because teenagers without adult supervision.

What Vivian Hearth didn't know didn't matter.

I walked down the stairs, my fingers trailed on the wood of the banister, the rails were carvings of dragons.

"Serafina," Russel greeted with a wave. "Can I talk to you for a second?"

"Sure, what's up?" I sat down across the table from him in one of the armchairs. I tucked my legs underneath me in an attempt to be comfortable. If he wasn't bothering with decorum neither was I.

"If I recall correctly, you said you would assist with my séance if we weren't going to get in trouble for it."

"I did. And I meant it. I suppose that means you want to do it tonight?" I asked.

"Exactly."

I shrugged, "Why not?"

"I'll get my stuff and see if the others want to get involved," Russel stood up while I stayed put.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"What's this about a séance?" Jarec asked from behind me.

Where did he come from?

I startled. "Russel wanted to do one after my first adventure in here and I told him I wasn't getting involved in anything that could get me expelled. Or nearly eaten by spiders. Again."

Jarec nodded, "Fair."

"You're welcome to participate, if you wish."

"Centuries old tower that got locked up for reasons either they won't tell us or don't know, and you two are hosting a séance? Of course I'm getting involved."

That's about the reaction I was expecting.

Russel returned from up the stairs with a large wooden board in hand and a parade of black candles floating in the air behind him.

"Are you serious?" I asked.

"The ones you find in stores are great for jokes. But I made this one special," He held it up for me to see and sure enough it was a Oujia board. It looked hand carved, with letters and words burned into the wood. In the upper corners were the sideways profiles of skulls.

Because Russel.

"What kind of wood is that?" Jarec asked.

These were my friends.

And Towermates now.

Yet, I had no regrets.

"Hemlock. Don't worry, I got rid of the poison part." Russel assured. Yes, because that was the concern here.

"Should we move the furniture?" I asked.

Russel nodded, "Yeah."

"I got it," Jarec cracked his knuckles.

Nope. I stood up fast and moved towards the door on the other side of the area.

Jarec held his hands out and trails of blue energy lifted up the chairs, sofas, and coffee table and moved them to the edges of the lowered seating area. He then lowered his hands and set all the furniture down.

Russel snapped his fingers and the board and candles were suddenly on the floor in a circular pattern that still had enough space for five people of questionable judgement.

I sat down at the foot of the board.

Fethris and Celica joined us and after a bit of shuffling we were all situated around the Oujia board.

Moment of truth. Did I see a ghost that day or something else? Time to find out.

Russel waved his hand and the candles all lit up.

The sun had gone down at some point during our preparations.

Russel pulled a planchette out of his orange Salamander overcoat. Unlike the rest of us he hadn't ditched his previous uniform. It was the same color as the board and had a glass sphere in the center.

My heart was racing with excitement.

He set it down on the board and when I started to reach for it he nodded.

Silence and then the others joined in.

We were going to have to make a rule about telepathy in the tower, weren't we?

Later.

'Go ahead,' Russel mouthed to me.

Me, who had never done this kind of thing before? If he was sure… "Are we alone in here?" I asked.

Nothing for a long moment. There was a stillness in the air and I think we were all holding our breath.

Then footsteps from somewhere behind me.

Oh. Oh boy.

I froze.

The steps got louder despite how soft they were. They sounded deliberate. Maybe even confident.

I'm glad someone here was.

She appeared next to me. Just as I remembered her. A bright red coat with a hood up over her face so I couldn't see what she looked like. Her hand, transparent and glowing with blue light, reached for the planchette.

We all let go of the thing.

I scooted back as the apparition moved the wooden triangle over the word 'Yes'.

Was…was the ghost trolling us?

"Do you have a name?" I asked. I was proud of myself for not having a tremor in my voice.

She tapped the planchette twice.

I guess that meant still a yes.

"Are you going to tell us your name?" I asked.

She moved it to 'No'.

What a rude ghost.

But how was she here?

"Are you a ghost?" I asked.

She vanished.

The candles went out all at once.

Silence for several moments.

I burst out laughing. "I knew it! I knew I wasn't crazy! Oh take that school paper! By the gods!"

Fethris started giggling before falling backwards to lay down. "It's haunted. It's actually haunted. This is the best day ever."

Celica had her hands over her face. "I didn't know they could touch things! Nowhere in the books did it say they could touch things!"

I snorted, "Oh right like the books actually told us anything useful about how Dragon Tower actually works."

Jarec threw his arms into the air in victory, "I cannot wait to tell everyone about this!"

Russel wasn't moving.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"That…that wasn't a ghost," He stated.

"A little late for denial buddy," I told him.

Russel rolled his eyes, "I've been communing with the dead since I was ten. That wasn't a ghost."

Celica turned to look at him, "Then what do you think it was because it wasn't one of those 'echoes' we read about. They go right through objects. We spent a month reading about them I think this would have come up."

Oh goodie, more mysteries.

"Well…we know from what we read that echoes are a frequent thing. It's only a matter of time before we see another one. Maybe we just bide our time?" I offered.

"All I know is that I am not sleeping tonight," Fethris added.

My heart was still hammering and I was inclined to agree.

(*********)

Hours later I was proved right. Sleeping was escaping me again. But I knew it had nothing to do with the seance we had held.

Tomorrow I had an appointment with the Curse Breaker.

Moonlight filtered in from the window. More than enough to see the scars on my left wrist and the mark under my skin they revealed. Please, please, by whatever fragment of mercy in whichever god is listening please set me free of this thing.

I traced the mark with my fingers, the skin there was just slightly colder than the rest. The eye shape seemed to taunt me. Like it was seeing all the time without me having seen it.

My whole life passed without me noticing this.

But I wasn't even close to lucky enough to be rid of it by this time tomorrow, was I?

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