Just a hop, skip, and a jump away was the Ghost Village, meaning that it was simply across the courtyard.

When Jess made her way over, she couldn't help but comment in her head about how wretched the place looked. It was decrepit and nothing short of black and spooky. Another issue was that Cheez-It didn't want to go in. He hissed and stopped, standing in front of the door.

"Come on Cheez! We have to go to class. I don't have time to take you back to the dorm," Jess complained, tugging slightly on the leash. Then, Jess thought for a second. "Bri will be there." She sang to him, and with a small crackling grumble, Cheez-It stood back up and inched towards the door. "I knew you'd go because of her." She could've sworn he rolled his eyes.

Stepping into the classroom, it looked abandoned at first. There were old desks on one end of the building in front of a blackboard and the other end had a circle surrounded by chalk in a big, open space. Probably where they summoned spectrals. The space in front of her was lined with dusty, old books creating an almost hallway to either end of the building. The ceiling, much like Angel Tower, was tall. This puzzled Jess as ghosts were not known to fly.

Jess turned to look more closely to the desks to find that every ghost had turned around to stare at her come in. She blushed madly with embarrassment.

"Seen enough?" A bored, mid-range voice asked her, seeming irritated. She looked to find the ghost professor staring at her, his ruler tucked under his thin arms as he crossed them.

"Yes sir, I'm sorry, sir," Jess apologized and walked up to the desks. In the back was an empty seat next to Bri, so she took it.

"It's Professor Heidman, but I suppose sir will do just fine..." He spoke with the airiness of a ghost, but his voice was still strong. Jess watched as his eyes narrowed at the sight of her sitting down next to Bri.

The ghost himself was pale, just like everyone else in the classroom, his eyes, black like the others, had striking light blue irises. His white hair was short and well combed into a short ponytail. His expression was stern but he had black roses over his ears. He was giving Jess mixed signals.

"Miss Brown...," Jess snapped back into reality. "Do you care to introduce yourself to the class...?" Jess, still slightly red in the face, nodded and stood.

"Uh, hello," she awkwardly waved, swearing she heard Heidman scoff. "I am the weirdo human Jess Brown." Oh my god I'm so stupid. "Weirdo?" Why would I ever say that? Jess cleared her throat. "Anyway, I hope we get along..." She trailed off, feeling very embarrassed and sat back down.

"Right..." The ghost professor huffed slightly. "Well, I must say I was instructed to tell you all that the animal is not to be touched. Am I clear?" The students looked back at Cheez-It, who had made himself at home around Bri's foot, and nodded.

"Why does the weird girl get to, then...?" Jess heard a girl ask. Heidman frowned.

"You will not utter that insult again in my classroom. Now. I believe we've wasted enough time." Jess caught how he avoided the question. "Miss Brown, since you were late, I assume you'll be the first to volunteer to show off your spectral?" Jess felt her eyes widen.

"Yes sir, I will. Which one would you like to see?" The ghost looked at her, puzzled.

"You shouldn't be able to summon more than one... As you should know, Miss Brown, ghosts can only hold the control over one spectral in their lifetime... The spectral chooses the ghost at birth and cannot. Be. Separated." Jess ran a hand through her hair as he enunciated the last words.

"I'm sorry sir, but I'm not lying..." Jess shook her head. "Maybe it's because I'm not a ghost?"

"Then I'm sure you'll be itching to show us some of your spectrals." Jess nodded slowly. He pointed his ruler over to the salt circle. "Over there in the circle. Be quick about it."

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Jess sped walked over to the other side and thought of a cat she'd known to have passed away. With a deep breath and a summoning of energy causing a glow in her eyes, the kitten burst forth from her chest and started prancing around the circle, meowing. The class cooed, but Heidman scoffed.

"Surely you have something more impressive than that at your disposal..." Jess scratched the spectral's ears and let the kitten's energy pour back into her body.

"Yes sir, but impressive in what way?" Jess turned to look at him.

"Oh, how about your favorite?" His voice seemed to taunt her, pressing her buttons. Jess had to remain calm. Fine. You wanna see my favorite? How about this one?

Jess imagined a basilisk, a giant, deadly snake. She placed her hands in the proper placement and the large snake burst forth from her chest, cramped in the confines of the salt. It hissed and rapidly circled the cage it found itself in. The class audibly gasped and one girl screamed. That was when Jess stared it down. It lost its will to fight its confines and turned to a calm state, listening for Jess' instructions. Jess had never summoned a basilisk, she had only heard they went extinct. This meant she had to introduce herself.

"Hello ma'am," Jess nodded her head in respect and the snake stared her down. Jess did not break eye contact. "It is a pleasure to meet you. My name is Jess." When the basilisk lost the contest, it nodded in mutual respect. Jess smiled.

That was when she heard panicked breathing.

Jess' head snapped to Bri, who was staring at the snake with a large eye, frightened. Jess noticed as Heidman's eyes slowly panned over to Bri and were suddenly filled with worry. Jess, knowing what to do, turned to the basilisk and bowed, returning the energy the basilisk held to Jess. She then walked over to Bri and helped her up, guiding her outside before Heidman could protest.

She sat her down on the grass outside against the wall of the building.

"Bri, can you hear me?" Jess placed a hand over hers, still panicking, Bri nodded slightly. "Then I need you to listen, okay?" She talked in the most calming voice she could. "We're going to control your breathing and then we'll talk. Four counts in, four counts out. Ready? Here we go."

Over the course of about three minutes, Jess helped Bri calm down to the level of being able to talk relatively normally.

"Do you feel any better?" Jess asked, not hiding the worry look she felt.

"Y-Yes,... thank you...," Bri spoke softly.

"Do you want to talk about it, or do you need a distraction?"

"A distraction, please... I can't bear to talk about it." Jess nodded and called Cheez-It over, who was rolling in the grass.

"Do you need a Cheez-It break?" Jess asked, smiling slightly as Cheez scampered over at the call. Bri nodded, looking close to tears. "Then you have my permission." She gently scooped up the cat and placed him in Bri's lap, to which he happily obliged. Bri started petting him as softly as she did last time, but this time it felt more... shaky. "I swear you're his favorite." Jess joked, causing Bri to laugh quietly.

"You really think so...?" She turned to look at Jess. Jess nodded.

"I mean, come on! Look at the chonky dude. He's so happy right now." Jess chuckled, feeling less worried at the sight of Bri's smile. Cheez-It looked too content to even swat at Jess. "So, how are you feeling now?" Bri took in a deep breath.

"Better."

"Is that all? Are you sure?" Jess leaned in slightly, causing pink to rise to Bri's cheeks.

"Yes, I'm sure." She looked away. Jess wasn't buying it, but she didn't pry. Instead she leaned her head against the wall and sighed, enjoying the feeling her contact with Cheez-It brought her. "How was your first class?" Jess closed her eyes.

"It was... actually pretty good y'know? I got to show off a little and the professor was pleased with my capability with air, so that's good I suppose."

"Do you know why you can do that?" Jess peeked her eyes open, feeling a ripple of what could only be described as a good feeling down her spine. She shook her head.

"I don't. If anything, I feel like a monster." Jess didn't know why she kept referring to herself in that way, but in a twisted sense, it felt right.

"What? No!" Bri cried, her voice suddenly very loud. Jess was startled. "Oh... I'm so sorry... Just don't talk about yourself like that!" Jess slowly nodded, smirking slightly.

"Yes ma'am." Bri blushed and hid her face.

That was when the door opened.

"Is everything alright out here...?" It was Professor Heidman with a concerned tone in his voice.

"Y-Yes sir... Jess helped me...," Bri told him. The ghost looked at Jess.

"I see. It appears I misjudged you, Miss Brown. I apologize."

"I promise it's alright, sir. You're forgiven," Jess assured him. He nodded.

"Well, class is almost over anyway... Bri, are you ready to come back inside...?" Bri nodded.

"Yes sir, thank you, Jess," Bri smiled and stood up, handing Cheez-It off to Jess. The poor thing tried to cling to Bri's sweater in an effort to stay with her. Bri giggled, prying him off. With a curt nod, the professor closed the door.

"Shall we?" Jess asked, opening the door for Bri, the other hand holding Cheez. Bri smiled and laughed slightly, nodding.

They packed up together and said their goodbyes before Jess left for her next class.