While Kren had his eyes closed and his head back against the grey headrest snoring during the flight, Molly tried to look up as much as she could about Lockdrest on her phone using the plane’s WiFi. Surprisingly, she had found a lot of information. So much that it was hard to sift through and know what was true or false. She had found that some students that went to Lockdrest had large social media accounts and many followers, but those students posted pictures and told stories on what went on inside of the school that seemed too far-fetched to be believable. One student had said that her teacher had turned another student into a pink spider to punish them and had posted a picture of a creepy pink spider on a wall and then the same one trapped in a jar. The comments posted below these stories were often calling those students out, claiming they were attention seeking. Some said that Lockdrest would never let anything like that happen to a student.

She sure hoped so. She was already scared about going to another school, let alone one full of magick, when she knew so little about magick. She just hoped that she could make friends quickly and they could teach her the right or wrong thing to do so she didn’t mess up or make a fool of herself. She also didn’t want people to find out that she was an empty vessel. Molly knew that there was a chance that the term “empty vessel” might be understood or accepted in this school and the magickal world compared to the non-magickal world and her old friends, who would have found a way to make fun of her for being “empty.” Kren had said it was rare, and she was still self-conscious about it. She was not ready to let anyone know—not without knowing how this world felt about it first.

Turning off her phone and sliding it back into the same shorts she wore yesterday, Molly sighed, overwhelmed. She reached for her bag on the floor by her feet that Kren had carried onto the plane with him. She couldn’t wait to unpack and change into new clothes for tomorrow. For some reason, Kren had not wanted her to waste a set of new clothes today and told her that when she needed to wash her clothes, there was a laundry area in each of the bathrooms in the hall where her room would be.

She had never stayed at a school where she would be there day and night.

A voice came over the loudspeaker announcing that they would be landing soon.

It was then that Kren partially opened his brown eyes with disinterest.

“How far is the school from the airport?” Molly asked as Kren yawned and stretched up his short arms. Today, he wore a dark brown suit that went well with his green hair, although it pulled a little tightly at the seams.

“Airport at school.”

Oh.

Molly couldn’t look out to see because the closest window was covered and near the boy who wouldn’t tell her his name or look her way. She hated how the boy’s aloofness made her quiver inside and want to cry. She hated being rejected, which was why she hadn’t tried talking to anyone else on the plane. She didn’t want to meet another person so cold right away again. If she did, she was sure she would want to turn around and head back home.

The plane landed, and they were told they could disembark. Kren led her off the plane. She kept her head down until they took the steps onto the sun-warmed pavement of what looked like a massive parking lot. That was when she looked up and saw the long runway behind them facing the airplane’s tail and another aircraft that hooked her attention immediately. It was an old run-down plane at the edge of the lot that looked well past broken, as though it were a memorial piece. It had moss, grass, and weeds growing all over it, cracks along the worn grey sides, and no letters to name it. If a troll or giant came and picked it up, it looked as though it would break in half immediately.

“Adults don’t like to send kids in it alone,” Kren mentioned as some of the other students walked past them as they got off the plane, although a few stopped and stared at it with her.

“I don’t blame them,” Molly whispered. “How does it even run? Magick?”

Kren snorted, which made Molly turn to look at him. He was actually smiling at her, with yellow but straight teeth. “Does not fly. Techno magick. Finicky but okay. Need a little device. Few teachers have. Can take anywhere if used, if enter inside.”

“Like a portal?” Molly covered her mouth, embarrassed at her surprised outburst. Her embarrassment grew when she saw the boy from the plane staring at her, his lanky figure tilting with most of his weight on one leg and his arms crossed. “But if you guys can… If that can… why do we have cars, planes—why do we have anything?”

Kren laughed again while waving her off before he began to walk away from her toward a mighty building of bricks many stories high that had to be the school. “Too young. Dumb. Would collapse economy.”

Oh. Molly was about to follow him but stopped. He was right. If everyone used something like that, too many people would lose their jobs. And he did say that it was finicky, so did that mean it didn’t always work? And he said only certain teachers could use it? What for and why? Were there other things like that that she didn’t know about?

Molly shook her head to realign her thoughts then took a few quick strides to catch up with Kren and the others.

The sidewalk from the airport curved around to the right so they could see the side of the school, which was beautiful. The side they were facing had no windows, only tan bricks and an ominous presence.

“Where students and teachers sleep,” Kren said, pointing to it as it towered over them. Its shadow stretched to cover them, blocking out the sun.

“How old are students when they come here?”

“Seven if smart. If adult and need learn, have classes elsewhere. In cities. Kids leave at eighteen.”

Molly swallowed hard. The building looked menacing: as they made their way around it they were encountered by many windows, all lined up together in uniformed rows staring at them like hostile eyes. She also wondered if she would have classes with kids half her age.

Large windows that Molly could not see into lined the bottom floor as they continued to walk around the building that had to be more than thirty school buses long. Above were eight rows of windows with over fifty windows for each floor and a couple of gaps containing more oversized windows in between.

“Easy location for students to get to with least property tax. Used to be useless land. Built by Reeneme Yurr and Jarcob Wills with chaos magick. Let chaos stir in walls. Do what need to for children. Know what needs to provide.”

The few other students who were with them turned and looked at him. The girls smiled at what he was saying.

“The school would know what it needed to provide? For the kids?” She hated how it was hard to understand him sometimes.

He nodded. “Help from goddess of beginnings. Help from gods of fate. Lockdrest was first made.”

Now he sounded like he was just making up rhymes.

The sidewalk grew broader as it curved and then plunged into a corridor-like hall outside the building.

Molly was shocked at how the building formed in on itself, making a hallway with bricks on either side that they all headed down. They were approaching a set of giant wooden doors that must lead to the inside of the school. It was a cool design, but Molly didn’t see the benefit of it being shaped like it was. It felt like a waste of space having a chunk cut out of the school to make an outdoor hallway unless it was to slow traffic. Molly scratched at her arms and saw a couple of the other students do the same. It felt like something was crawling all over them, leaving little threads.

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“When did school start?” Molly asked. She figured it couldn’t be the first day since there were only four students arriving, included herself.

“Days before. But it is fine,” Kren answered.

One of the students looked even more nervous at his words. Molly wondered why the few others were arriving late.

The door seemed perfectly normal at first until it glossed over green the moment Kren knocked on it twice with his knuckle. Then the door creaked open, allowing only enough room for one to enter at a time. Kren allowed all the other students to go in first before he beckoned Molly inside.

“When first come,” Kren said, “Didn’t think me real. Or Trennly. Mini-trolls not exist. Did tests. Check age. Decided we okay.”

Molly first noticed the dark lustrous hardwood flooring when they entered. Then, as the door closed behind them after Kren tapped the side of the door with an easy touch, she saw a wall of names directly in front of them. There were hundreds of names in flawless white cursive letters on the smooth black marble wall. Then there was a sizeable TV that was shut off over the top of it leaning down at an angle so everyone could see the screen.

“New,” Kren said, studying the TV with his head cocked to the side. Then he looked down to the names, which he seemed more familiar with. “Names of witches honored.” He gave a nod of respect before he walked past it to the right, where there was a giant staircase that could fit twenty kids across going down. A pristine-looking maroon-colored carpet traveled down the middle of the dark wood.

Molly followed Kren, although she was desperate to look around the main floor. Right before they descended, she noticed that if they had continued right, there was what looked like a cafeteria further off after a set of restrooms and offices.

As they went down the stairs, she noticed the school looked very clean and, at this time, it felt very empty. There were no students around except the ones she had arrived with who were ahead of them now. She wondered if the other students were all in their classes.

Although the ceilings were not as high as they had been on the main floor, the basement was massive, with a harsh concrete ground. There was also no chunk cut out of the basement structure like on the top floor before the main door. The basement seemed to run along the whole building with many light wooden doors that were closed. From where Molly stood, she could see to the right three sets of restrooms, what looked like a small office, and a large library. To the left was a small pool of water shaped like a half-moon trickling in through an underground river with stone set all around it buried into the concrete.

Molly and Kren walked in that direction. The water was a beautiful emerald blue.

“Given by Closedrest. Nice gift. No one knows what for,” Kren said as he strolled with his hands behind his back to where the other students had already made it. The two girls were in front of an office that looked like a ticket booth. There was a window with a light flecked-brown marble table set in between with a college-aged smiling man behind it. The man was wearing a green beret and had a freckle or birthmark the size of a quarter on his right cheek.

He handed one of the girls a large old silver key. She took it and hugged it to her chest before running off with one of the other students from the plane, who was already holding a key and a piece of paper.

The boy from the plane, who had ignored Molly the whole time, was next in line. She looked back at the two girls running up the stairs together. It made her desperate to know someone here. She suddenly missed her friends.

“Name?” the young man asked, smiling down from his window.

As Molly approached, she saw his name tag: “Mr. Bell (Key Giver)”.

“Derrin Nimper,” the boy from the plane said.

Mr. Bell nodded and picked up a metal box that was a little larger than his hand from the desk on his side of the window. He pushed it out the window across the marble to Derrin.

Derrin looked at him, confused.

“You put your hand in. Don’t worry; it won’t bite you,” Mr. Bell said, laughing.

Without hesitation, Derrin put his whole hand inside. There was wide enough of a gap around Derrin’s hand to where Molly could see deep-purple and violet streams of floating liquid. It didn’t seem to hurt; he didn’t flinch. He only held his chin high. He looked to Mr. Bell to tell him when to take his hand out.

Mr. Bell turned away from the window to examine a wall behind him filled with hundreds of miniature golden drawers. Molly had to stand on her tiptoes to get a closer look. After a few moments, one of the golden drawers opened.

“We got one. You can pull your hand out now!” Mr. Bell announced cheerfully.

Mr. Bell pulled out an old bronze key with an angled R imprinted on its head. It looked ancient in design, yet had a beautiful luster. Under the symbol was engraved the number 96. He handed it to Derrin.

“Hall Raido, Room 96,” Mr. Bell said, heading to a filing cabinet and pulling out a paper. He handed it to Derrin with a wink. Derrin stood blankly.

“Oh yes. Those two girls had parents here before. I’m guessing you don’t know where to go,” Mr. Bell said and then pressed something behind the counter. “Someone will be coming to show you around. Don’t you worry.”

Derrin only gave a stiff nod then took three steps away before he found a new place to stand with no emotion on his face.

Mr. Bell looked to Molly next, studied her for a second, and then pressed whatever he had pressed for Derrin again. “And who do we have here?”

“Molly,” Kren said. “Paperwork just under Molly.”

Mr. Bell had to lean over his window to figure out who was talking to him. When he did, he looked at Kren questioningly.

“It is Molly Reese,” Molly said, nervously.

“I am guessing you signed her up?” Mr. Bell asked Kren, eyeing him.

“Yes. Under Molly. Just Molly.”

“Okay.” Mr. Bell returned to the filing cabinet and rifled through it. Apparently not finding anything, he then went to a printer and pulled out a sheet of paper. “Found it! You are right. It is under just Molly.”

She wondered how often kidnappers knew their kidnappees’ last names and if that was why Kren hadn’t used her full one. She swallowed a nervous laugh.

“Hand in the box, Molly Reese,” Mr. Bell said, sliding it toward her.

She did as he said, while holding her bag with her left hand. She didn’t know exactly what she was expecting but was surprised to find warmth. It felt as though she had immersed her hand in a stream of dry sand as the purple swirled around her until what felt like the cool end of a pen was tracing every line on her palm.

Mr. Bell was watching her and Kren carefully. When he heard a pop from one of the tiny drawers unlocking, he smiled at her.

Molly took her hand out of the box and gave it a shake trying to bring it back to a normal sensation as Mr. Bell pulled a golden key from her drawer. It had two lines forming only part of a triangle on its base that opened to the right side with the number 260 below it.

“Kenaz Hall, Room 260, Molly Reese,” Mr. Bell said, handing her the key and the thin sheet of white paper when she set down her bag.

The key felt warm in her hand, and the sheet cold and light.

Kren said, “You get books from classes. Will catch up. Couple of days late. Leave when think can protect self. But ask first. You start tomorrow.”

She looked down at the list of classes she had to take or that he had signed her up for. She had breakfast at 7:30 am, then her first class was at 8:15 am: Divinations One. After that was Symbols One, then a break, then Transformation Drinks and Remedies One, a break, Spirit Magick One, Technology, a break, then History and Transformation of the Magick World, online classes before dinner, and then more online classes. She didn’t know what the online classes meant.

“Why do I have to take all of these if I’m just trying to learn to protect myself?” Molly asked, a little taken aback. The schedule was worse than non-magickal school.

“Can’t only take a few.”

“He’s right.” She hadn’t realized that Mr. Bell had been listening. “This is a school leading you to magickal job opportunities in a magickal division of society if you need them. It isn’t like college where you can take a couple of classes. Even if you do not want to take that route, Lockdrest believes in knowledge for all bases.” He paused with a lopsided grin and a pinch of his hat. “Also, it’s free. Free board and free food. So, you take a full schedule in exchange.”

“What are these online classes?”

“Your non-magickal schooling, so you don’t fall behind. Everyone here does that,” Mr. Bell answered with a laugh, then turned away.

All of this was free? She guessed that public education was also free but who was providing money to the school for this? Maybe there was a tax she didn’t know about.

Molly hadn’t noticed anyone approach them, but there were two older students standing next to each other staring at her and at Kren.

Well, the boy with the pasty skin was staring at her. The girl with the big blue eyes and messy brown hair that looked like it was supposed to be straight was staring at Kren.

Derrin had walked off with another older student.

“You go.” Kren said, waving her off. “I get key for guest room.” He turned away from her and gave his attention to Mr. Bell, leaving Molly awkwardly alone with the two other students. She didn’t know what to do or what to say.

“Regretfully, our tech teacher was in the room today and kicked us out to help,” the boy said to her. He narrowed his brown eyes. “I’m Koz.”

“That’s a troll, but mini!” The girl said. “How big are—”

The girl took a step toward Kren, but before she took another, she looked over her shoulder back at the boy she had been next to who gave her a grin but shook his head.

The girl straightened and took a step back to her original spot.

“This is Rem,” Koz said. “We are apparently supposed to show you around the school.”

“We have things to do so it needs to be quick,” Rem blurted out.

Molly could feel her cheeks burning red.

Koz didn’t correct the girl, he only laughed and then started walking away.

Molly followed.