Episode 8: An Expedition

Poppy came back after rehabilitating with the counselors for a week. She seemed mellow for a few days, but was soon back to ordering us around and warning us about the struggles we would soon face with exams. We collectively rolled our eyes at her, but always eavesdropped when she had other casters over for study groups.

The rest of us had fallen into a fairly predictable routine. We went to classes, came back to the house to make dinner together, and then spent the evenings studying in the common areas. All right, maybe September kept to the fringes of our merry band and was either in the farthest corner of the living room or out of the house altogether in the evening, but still. Oh, and Angelica spent a lot of time making fun of the rest of us for reading so much while she threatened to break every lamp in the house with her soccer ball. And Echo had so many other girls over for dinner that I was actually starting to learn some of my classmates’ names. Even Nicola often disappeared to write by herself. But any kind of routine was a huge relief to my anxiety so I honestly didn’t mind being left to work on my own from time to time.

My morning meetings with Natalie were also going well. She had already started training me in advanced casting techniques, and even said she had a good lead on getting a meeting with Antonia Rivers. I hadn’t told the other girls why I was up so early on Mondays and Thursday. They probably assumed I was studying; in a way I was, so I didn’t disabuse anyone of the notion.

Life at WCH was just about as perfect as I could wish it.

Author's Note

Scheduling Update:

Hello, dear readers. I've not forgotten about you. In fact, I miss you terribly and so do the girls. The thing is... I'm trying to finish the rough draft of a young adult fantasy novel (unrelated to Holyoak Five) and it's dividing my attention a bit.

I have not stopped writing Holyoak Five. (Horrors! I have grown to love these girls immensely and am more than prepared to spend the next few years writing them. Or at least through three complete seasons of their story.) However, as my attention is admittedly divided I cannot promise that you will see an update every Friday morning as I had hoped. Instead, new episodes will probably be posted every other week. I plan to keep doing so on Fridays - including this upcoming Friday. The final scene of episode 8 is staring at me from the next screen as we speak.

So don't despair! The intrepid neophytes of the Witches College of Holyoak will return to you soon with new adventures under their belts. I hope you're prepared.

Episode Seven: Alliances

On my first Sunday morning at WCH, I got up earlier than anyone else on campus. I knew I was the only one awake because I did my Listening exercises right away. Sitting cross-legged on my bed, I could feel that the sun had yet to peek over the horizon and even the birds in the trees around the house were still asleep.

Professor Vega was the one who had encouraged me to start Listening as soon as I woke up. Yesterday I had stayed after class to ask her how I could move forward. She was still trying to teach most of the others just to keep their minds quiet, and I didn’t want to slide backwards while I waited for them to catch up.

As I made my bed and headed to the bathroom for a shower, I tried to keep my senses open as Professor Vega instructed. I was startled to find that I could feel September stirring in her bedroom on the floor below. What was she doing up this early? I was up because I had a breakfast appointment with Professor Wilde; if it hadn’t been for that, I would’ve slept until the robins woke me with their twittering. So why was she…?

I closed the bathroom door behind me, and turned on the hot water in the clawfoot tub. It wasn’t until I was standing in the shower that I realized I was still tuned in to September and trying to figure out what she was doing. She radiated such calm that I could feel it altering the air that surrounded her. I was so fascinated in my ability to feel her presence in detail beyond a simple life force that I let the water run until it turned ice-cold. My reaching senses snapped off in shock. Shivering, I turned off the water and sat down on the edge of the tub to think.

Excerpt from the Witches College of Holyoak Fall 2013 Course Catalog

Note: Because of the nature of our school, every Neophyte will be expected to take the following classes their first semester regardless of prior experience.

LIS 101: Listening for Neophyte Witches

• Listening is the foundation of every aspect of witchcraft, and the most successful witches are able to actively Listen to the world without and within. In this course, neophytes will practice meditation and focusing techniques which will allow them to truly open their senses for the first time. Concurrently, they will learn the history of witchcraft and its place in the world at large.
• Taught by Melissa Vega, C.W., Ph.D.  

CAS 101: The Basics of Casting

• In this course, students will learn the basics of spellcasting. They will create and maintain their own Book of Shadows as well as be expected to learn the essentials of a caster’s vocabulary and the proper stance and power required for casting. The course culminates in a practicum where students will demonstrate what they have learned.
• Taught by Natalie Wilde, C.W.

SPE 101: The Beast Within: An Introduction to Speaking

• A basic introduction in how witches can communicate with other living beings. This course focuses on mammals, but students will learn techniques that will allow them to proceed in communications with any animal.
• Taught by Alexandra Carmichael, C.W.

BLE 101: Blessed Be: Creating Goodwill

• This course will instruct students in the basics of the beneficial magic of Blessing. Includes: the use and manufacture of charms and potions, determining when goodwill is needed, how to avoid overreaching one’s own limits, and the importance of maintaining altars.
• Taught by Rebecca Mayfield, C.W., M.B.A.

Episode Six: Where There's Smoke

I opened my desk drawer to search for a bar of wax to seal the letter I had just finished.

“Anyone home?”

“Oh hey, Angelica,” I said, looking up to find one of my new friends standing in the doorway. “How’s it going?”

She came in and threw herself across the end of my bed. “I can’t believe we’ve been here for a week already,” she said, rolling over to stare up at the ceiling. “Weird, isn’t it?”

“Very weird,” I agreed. “Want to see something cool?”

She bounced off the bed to come watch what I was doing. I held the stick of wax out over the envelope and rubbed the tips of my fingers together over it. “Heat,” I murmured, and was rewarded when a gentle glow emanated from between my fingers. The wax immediately started dripping. Once a small pool of it formed on the envelope I separated my fingers, and the heat source disappeared. I grabbed the triskelion seal my mother had given me and pressed it into the wax before it could cool.

“Sweet.” Angelica grinned. “Is that difficult?”

“Not at all,” I said. “You just have to be careful not to burn yourself. Want to try?”

Interlude: Letters Home

Dear Kara,

How are you? I hope you are studying hard because you can’t yet imagine how useful it will be when you get to college. I have already been given muffins, a new set of scrying crystals, and fifty dollars just for my tutoring skills! It turns out that most of the girls here at WCH went to public high schools and barely know anything at all about witchcraft. Weird, right? I wonder what their mothers are like…

You know how you made that bet with Dad that I wouldn’t make any friends for at least a month here? Well, you’re going to be washing the dishes for an awfully long time, sis… As strange as it might seem (no need to remind me of my lone wolf days, okay?) I have no less than three friends in my House already, and I just received an invitation to have coffee with one of my professors. And everyone seems to know my name because of Mom. At first I thought that was annoying, but it’s nice that Mom has such a good reputation among our kin.

You would like my house mates, I’m sure. Angelica is a bit of a daredevil, but I bet her antics would make you laugh instead of the near panic attacks they give me. Nicola likes all of the same books I do, and she’s a poet to boot! Then there’s Echo… Kara, you would adore her. She’s the sweetest, nicest girl I’ve ever met – although she is also extremely outgoing. She’s already friends with everyone on campus. Well, everyone except our other house mate, September. We tried to be friends with her, but that girl is irredeemably rude. I’ve been thinking about asking our class dean if we could get a new house mate, it’s so bad.

As for my classes, I am enjoying all of them except for Speaking. All of my professors are quite knowledgeable in their subject areas, and most of them are less strict than Mom when it comes to giving out work. But Speaking… I know you love it, Kara, but I just don’t see the point of talking to animals. I’m never going to live on a farm at any rate.

The strangest thing happened in our first Blessing class. (I found it strange, but you’ll probably think it was hilarious.) Professor Mayfield was showing us examples of good luck charms when she suddenly turned into a rabbit! Apparently your mind goes a bit when you get turned into an animal because the rabbit flipped out and tried to escape the room. We spent the rest of the class chasing her all over campus.

It turned out to be a prank pulled by another professor and someone you actually met when you dropped me off here – Natalie Wilde. I’m pretty sure she’s CRAZY, but she seems to really like me and the quicker I can advance in Casting, the better my spring application for Salem will look. She’s also the professor who invited me for that coffee date, so I hope that means she’s willing to tutor me personally.

If you don’t hear from me again, you’ll know she turned me into a rabbit too!

Please give my love to Mom and Dad. I hope you can all make it up here for Samhain in a few weeks.

Your sister,

Dana

P.S. In case you were worried, Professor Wilde did turn Professor Mayfield back into herself. She just laughed for a good five minutes straight first.

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<--- Episode 5: Toil and Trouble
Episode 6: Where There's Smoke --->

Season 1 - Full Episode List 
 

Author's Note

Sometimes I'm bad at sticking to my schedule and I don't finish episodes on time. This week is one of those times. But I do have something to tide everyone over until the whole of Episode 6 is ready to go (which should be either late Friday or Saturday).

Because cell phones don't work well at WCH and getting into town on a regular basis is difficult for the wee Neophytes, most of our girls write letters home. In the future, you may be seeing these as interludes posted earlier in the week - in addition to Friday's episodes.