The Phoenix and the Witch

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER ONE

Staring out the window at the branches of the large oak tree beside her English class, Cat let out a huge sigh from the bottom of her super bored grade twelve soul. As interesting as her teacher was, and Mr. Grayson was the oddest human-appearing teacher she had ever met, the day was still dragging. The students were yet again being forced to read a Shakespearian play, this time Macbeth, and she wondered suspiciously if Mr. Grayson had another secret message hidden in his play choice. Over the previous two years since she'd had him for a teacher, he'd had a nasty habit of choosing plays from Shakespeare that ended up directly impacting her life in a big way. Cat did not appreciate this, and now that she was getting to know him, she was paranoid that Macbeth would somehow end up doing more than simply giving her a headache during class.

Spacing out from the work she was supposed to be doing, Cat flashed back to the previous year's epic fight against the dark, hooded evil being known to her and her friends only as Dub. They'd beat him back and saved the day, and in the process of being faced with possible death, the girls had become closer as a team. Each of the girls had learned more about their abilities and how to use their powers to fight the darkness that surrounded them. It had been an amazing experience but Cat still couldn't help but shake her head in wonder at the fact that they'd all come out of it alive. It had been the New Year's Eve party to end all parties and the most incredible start to a year that she could have ever wished for.

She was seventeen now and so close to being done school that she could almost taste how sweet it would be. She only hoped she'd be able to make it to the end of the year in one piece. While this was a relatively simple proposition for most people barring major tragedy, after her previous two years of high school she was past holding her breath. It was completely possible she wouldn't make it through the year, or worse, that someone she loved wouldn't survive, like her sister or her friends.

She looked over at Evelyn, who was working away diligently like the model student that she was, and smiled fondly. Evelyn was Cat's rock, her sassy boss of a buddy who could always be counted on to tell the truth. Even though they weren't in the room with Cat and Evelyn, she couldn't help but think about her other best friends, Vanessa and Mai. Cat loved her sister Vanessa dearly, while simultaneously having the frequent and almost uncontrollable urge to kick her firmly in the butt. They got along as well as could be expected, for sisters that were so close in age. Now that Vanessa was on the way to becoming a big film star in San Francisco, Cat found that she missed her much more than she'd anticipated. Mai Ling, a girl Cat hadn't known before the events of the previous year, was the soothing and calm friend who nicely rounded out the more outgoing nature of her sister. Vanessa and Mai lived together in a fabulous third story walk-up in San Francisco, getting along famously despite their opposing natures, which Cat found somewhat surprising. She'd become close to Mai after everything that had gone down during the winter break and couldn't wait to spend more time in San Francisco with her best friends, as soon as school let out for a break.

But first, Cat needed to survive grade twelve. Evelyn had had the brilliant idea after their giant battle with Dub at New Years that they should break out and take correspondence courses or start home schooling. That way, they'd have a more flexible schedule, allowing them to fight evil whenever necessary. But their parents had firmly put the brakes on that plan. Cat wasn't surprised that her parents hadn't gone for it, being staid and traditional in their expectations that she must graduate first, then leave home. No other combination was acceptable to them. University or college were optional, but grade twelve and a job after graduation, if Cat wasn't going to be furthering her education, were non-negotiable.

Evelyn however, had been truly shocked when her mother had thrown a fit about their plan. Apparently, a good education was even more important to her mother than it was to Cat's parents. Evelyn's mother had gone on a huge, hour long rant about all the adversity she'd had to overcome as a Haitian single mother in America. When she'd said that she would be damned if her only offspring didn't surpass her mother's achievements, Evelyn had been the meekest that Cat had ever seen her. Even Cat, who'd had the dubious pleasure of being in the room at the time, found herself ducking her head whenever Marie-Jean walked by for a few weeks. When Cat had asked Evelyn about it, she'd simply shrugged, explaining that she hadn't known about all her mother's struggles because she'd been protected from most of it.

And so for this reason, both girls were sitting in English class, listening to their otherworldly English teacher discuss Macbeth while he wore a skull hat and a velvet cape. Oh well, Cat thought, not even a full year left and then we're free to move on. She reluctantly returned her attention to what was happening in the classroom and realized that people were starting to pack up their books and leave.

Sweet, the end of the day is finally here!

Evelyn looked over, eyebrows raised slightly. "So, was it a good dream? Where were you for the last twenty minutes of class? Somewhere warm, I hope. Maybe with a beach and a drink with an umbrella?"

Cat laughed a little louder than what was appropriate, blushing when some of the nearby students looked over curiously.

"No, nothing that relaxing. I was just replaying everything that happened last year with Dub in San Francisco and wondering what to expect this year. I mean, after Declan trying to kill everyone in grade ten at the play, then Dub trying to steal the souls from everyone at New Years, I'm a little concerned this year will be more of the same. Have you had any unusual dreams lately?"

Evelyn shook her head, pursing her lips in thought. "Nope, nothing for a few months now. Just the couple last year around the same time that you were having your scary dreams, after you destroyed Dub. I'm wondering if it was just aftershocks from defeating Dub? Maybe that was it?"

Cat sighed, twirling her long red hair around a finger absently. "I wish. That would be awesome, but I think that we'll have to face whatever that tree thing was. It's been bothering me that I don't know more about what it is."

She thought about the horrible dream she'd had for days following the defeat of Dub, in which a gnarled and ancient looking tree dripped blood and screamed vile threats at her. Cat shuddered as she recalled the misshapen face in the centre of the trunk, with its cold obsidian eyes and jagged shark-like teeth, then quickly clamped down on the memory.

Evelyn nodded, appearing to understand why Cat was upset. Evelyn had also dreamt of the tree and because her abilities were much stronger in the psychic realm, she'd been able to see more than Cat, although not enough to have more detailed information. Vanessa and Mai were completely in the dark, knowing nothing other than what the girls had passed on to them. Vanessa's air powers and Mai's abilities as a water dragon made them very powerful, but they didn't have any psychic component to their gifts. Neither Vanessa nor Mai had ever had prophetic dreams the way Cat had on occasion, or like the ones Evelyn frequently experienced.

Evelyn stood up, slinging her bag over her shoulder and motioning to the door.

"Come on, let's go. There's no point in worrying about what could be coming if we aren't getting anything new to go on. Nothing's happening right now. The one thing I do know after all this time is that if something's going to happen, we'll get information when we need it somehow. If nothing else, Robin's pretty good at stirring the pot right around the time that things are ready to escalate."

"Good point."

Robin Goodfellow, also known as Pan, Puck, the Greenman of the forest, and whatever other names people had given him for the last few millennia wherever he'd existed, was always nearby when the s**t hit the fan. He was funny and charismatic, full of riddles and half-truths for the girls to attempt to figure out, but he always somehow managed to come through for them.

Cat gathered her things and the two girls started to walk out of the classroom. The other students had already left and Cat and Evelyn had fallen behind the stream. They were almost at the door when Mr. Grayson stopped them, exhibiting his usual exuberance.

"Ladies! I wish to speak with you for a moment, if you have one to spare?"

He looked at them, his head tilted to the side like an inquisitive bird.

Cat and Evelyn stopped and smiled at him.

"Sure, Mr. Grayson. We have a spare right now. What would you like?"

Cat genuinely liked him. He was her favourite teacher, partly due to his familiarity with the world of magic, but also because he was a little nuts. He wasn't just an ordinary eccentric English teacher though. Nope, he was a Ghillie Dhu, which was a type of forest elf. He had his own special gifts and had been instrumental in helping Evelyn develop her abilities before all the stuff happened with Dub. Mr. Grayson clapped his hands together in delight.

"Perfect! Well, I've been chatting with Master Robin lately and we have some exciting news to pass on. It appears that the next phase of your career balancing good and evil will take place not in North America this time, but across the Pond!"

Evelyn and Cat both looked at him with confusion.

"Say what?" Evelyn asked bluntly, her dark brown eyes squinting skeptically up at their teacher.

Cat felt as she'd just missed a giant chunk of conversation, since she had no idea what he was talking about.

Mr. Grayson beamed at them. "Yes! You'll need to take a trip to the old country for this. Luckily, we put our heads together to figure out how this could be accomplished with your parents' permission, and decided that you'd both be getting a scholarship!"

Cat's mouth dropped open. "Scholarship?" she managed to squeak out, from her suddenly dry throat.

He nodded emphatically, handing each of the girls a pamphlet.

"Here, take these to your parents. Obviously, it needed to look official for school purposes, but to summarize what it says, we'll be putting you on a plane to Scotland for the next leg of the war. Don't worry, it's all on the up and up. I still have many contacts over there. You'll get a good educational experience and probably work a lot harder than if I were the one handing out the assignments."

He paused, no doubt noting that the girls dubious expressions hadn't dissipated. "I can help with your parents if they have any questions."

He abruptly brushed the chalk off his hands. "Toodles!" he said, before he vanished.

Cat and Evelyn looked at each other, then at the pamphlets in their hands.

"What just happened here?" asked Cat, scratching her head. She felt as if she'd been trapped in the eye of a hurricane again. Not an unusual feeling for her following conversations with Mr. Grayson, but always a disorienting experience.

Evelyn shrugged, simply accepting him as the strangest person they knew.

"Looks like maybe we'll get a bit of an out from grade twelve after all? Possibly a trip to the UK as well. I don't know about you, but things are looking up, in my opinion."

Cat looked back at the paper in her hands, quickly scanning the details.

Scholarship program for Shakespearian studies, Grade 12 abroad program.

Held in conjunction with the University of Edinburgh.

Dr. Robert Brown

Room 3.10

50 George Square

Edinburgh

EH9 9LH

Cat shook her head in bemusement, unable to concentrate further on the details, noting a few pictures of buildings that looked like castles before looking at Evelyn.

"I have no idea what this means for us Evelyn, but I've always wanted to go to Scotland. "

Evelyn grinned back at her and Cat bumped her friend's waiting fist.

"Like I said, things are looking up!"