Club season was here.
It was only late September, but spring came early for the boys and girls of North Wing. All over the campus were red burgundy tents, lining the paths like cherry blossom trees in bloom.
"Hurried up, Jane."
Amelia called out, while Jane lingered at the entrance. Her gaze caught on each tent for at least 1 minute. At her old school, fairs had never been something to look forward to. The best part was having no classes that day, and the worst was having to sit at the greeting table.
Jane caught up with Amelia and Alice. Without wasting any time, they pulled her along and led her straight to their club.
If the Midnight Social Club ran on invitations, the Theater Club ran on competition, or connections if you knew someone inside.
"This is Jane," Alice said, with a heavy emphasis on the last word. Clearly, she had already informed them of an intruder.
"Hi." Jane gave a small wave to the girl behind the table.
Contrary to her expectations, the girl didn't act surprised or annoyed at her appearance. They must have been used to exceptions like this.
"Sign here, please."
Heavy, high-quality paper, with a soft roughness beneath her fingers as she touched it. The edges were decorated with roses and swirling lines, embossed in gold. In the center lay a faint mask symbol, half-buried beneath lines of signatures.
Jane took the pen and signed her name on the less crowded spaces.
She didn't ask, and they didn't demand, but Jane knew where they would want her to be. Fortunately, their intentions aligned with hers. Standing on stage was tempting, that was why so many wanted it, and why she dodged it.
Jane stepped out of the line. There were already other students waiting behind her, peering over her shoulders with barely disguised impatience.
The theatre clubs opened doors in the real world. Club members ranged from the children of famous actors to descendants of big names in the industry.
Actually, any club here did that.
Jane glanced back inside the tent. Amelia and Alice were talking to their friends. It didn't seem like they would come back anytime soon.
She hesitated for only a moment, then shifted her steps and merged into the stream of students.
The Astrology Club was her first destination. Then the Geology Club with their cool crystals, followed by the Culinary Club and their delicacies, and the Book Club was there too, though Jane mostly read romance. She might end with the Art Club, if time allowed.
She had read the brochure this time.
Jane carefully dodged the telescope guarding the entrance and stepped inside. Who would have thought such a small opening led to a space this vast?
From floor to ceiling, everything was pure black, scattered with tiny, sparkling stars. Jane glanced down at her feet; it felt as though she were stepping on air.
Then the light exploded. The darkness bloomed into color, washing over the space in waves of red, yellow, orange, blue, then purple, the shifting hues imprinting themselves across her face.
She stood there in the dark and experienced everything once again before moving farther inside, where models of galaxies, stars, and meteorites, some billions of years old, were carefully displayed in glass boxes.
Jane stepped out of the tent. Then, suddenly, a hand and a photograph flashed into her view.
"For you," a boy said. A heavy camera hung from his neck, and a smaller one was still resting in his hand.
In the polaroid was her, her fingers tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ears, leaving only her eyes lifted and caught in the starlight.
"Thanks." Jane smiled at the cute boy. Anyone who could take a picture like that was a cute person.
The sun had set, the lights were on. Lines of tiny bulbs hanging across the castle transformed the scenery into a magical nighttime gathering.
Vampires and humans walked together. What a peaceful scenery, if she could ignore the black umbrellas neatly folded in the hands of the human students. They weren't meant for them, yet they still had to carry them.
The weaker the vampires, the more likely they were to avoid the sun. Her mind drifted back to a conversation she had not long ago.
"Like Ryan."
"Yeah, he needs his umbrella even on gloomy days." Alice chuckled.
"I wonder what happened to him. They haven't found him or his body yet," Amelia said curiously, a question that would never be answered.
Body.
Only a vampire killer would know they wouldn't have found one, even if he were dead.
Jane stayed silent. Joining the conversation would help her look less suspicious, but all she could give was a faint show of surprise.
Her eyes drifted briefly to the twins. Not even a blink. None of them reacted. Was she really the only one noticing the flaw in Amelia's question?
"Move!"
The sound cut through her thoughts. When Jane raised her head, a group of students had already stood in front of her.
"Sorry."
Words babbled out of Jane's mouth as she lowered her head and stepped out of the way. The group passed by, a group of vampires mixed with humans, leaving behind a trail of perfume.
Jane rubbed her nose and turned around. The bump on her shoulder had led her directly in front of a... tarot reading club?
A girl was sitting behind a table. Half of her face was covered in a black cloak, making it hard for Jane to see her clearly. The table itself was also wrapped in a black cloth, with a small purple drape on top, adding the triple moon symbol in the middle.
Jane must have been staring long enough to alert the girl of her presence.
"Interested in a reading?" the girl asked, lifting her head and looking straight at Jane.
She was a human girl whose hair was dyed a bluish black, making her blond eyebrows and lashes stand out.
"I only bring 3 dollars."
Jane pulled three old bills from her pocket after smoothing them out.
The girl glanced up. Her left ear twitched slightly, like a radar catching a signal.
"That's perfect," she said.
Jane pulled out a chair and sat down.
The girl began shuffling her cards while keeping her gaze on Jane. The golden edges flashed with every movement.
Jane didn't like being stared at. Despite her mother's effort to make her think it was normal, it always felt like something was wrong. Even now, it was uncomfortable, though better, since she knew the purpose. The girl was forming a bond, preparing for an accurate reading.
Jane's eyes drifted to the side of the table, where an almost blank sign-up sheet lay. Printed in the middle was a symbol: three triangles stacked downward, like an inverted pyramid.
The shuffling stopped.
"Pick 3 cards," the girl said.
"Do I have to ask any questions?"
Jane had never been to a tarot reader; her mom said she was too young. But this was how she thought it was supposed to go.
"No. I like to do it with no direction first." Karia smiled.
Jane looked down at the table. Two horizontal lines were spread unevenly, the longer one at the top, the shorter at the bottom. They all looked the same, and she was starting to get lost staring at them…
"This, this, and this."
Jane made up her mind and pointed her fingers.
One by one, the cards were flipped.
"Lots of swords. You must have been thinking," Karia said as she moved the lamp closer. Lights spilled across the table, flickering over the cards and bathing her face in warm orange. The glow softened the space between them…
… but there was one place it didn't reach.
Jane's heart sank.
The first card she had touched, the first one revealed, showed a body sprawling on the ground.
"I can see that you woke up in the middle of the night for something," Karia said calmly.
Jane's jaws clenched, her eyes and ears were alarmed, waiting for a signal. Her right foot had already pulled out of the table. If she needed to leave, she could do it now.
"An old man falling."
"Old man?"
"Yes. Look here."
She followed Kiara's finger. The card was upside down from her perspective, resulting in her misjudgment at first.
A gray-haired man lay beneath what looked like a cliff or a pit. He was dressed in blue silk with an orange drape thrown over him. Ten swords pierced his body. A black dog stood above him, barking, while his hand reached out in the opposite direction.
"Oh, right. My grandpa," Jane said quickly. "He fell down the stairs recently."
Her hands twisted together under the table drape.
What grandfather? She hadn't heard from that side of the family for years. But the words slipped out faster when there were no thoughts behind.
"Did it happen at midnight?" Karia asked, then she paused after looking carefully. "No, the transaction, closer to morning?"
"Yes…"
Jane bit her lips.
No doubt now. This was the crime scene. The aftermath.
"Then that's correct. See that black dog here? Black dog is never a bad sign in my religion," she confidently smiled before continuing. "The advice here is to relax and stop thinking so hard. He's fine."
Karia gestured to the second card, the Nine of Swords. A half-naked man sat on the bed, his face buried in his hands. At the foot of the bed, a black dog barked at him.
Two had fallen that night. One turned into ash, the other turned out to be an illusion. It wasn't Ryan the card was showing. It was her father.
Jane wiped her damp palms against her skirt. She felt a slight sense of relief until her eyes caught the last card.
"This one," Karia murmured. "I don't quite understand."
A knight on his horse, his blade was mid-raised, a dragon rearing beneath him.
She looked up. "What were you thinking when you pulled this card?"
"My… potential career?" Jane answered with a nervous smile.
That wasn't completely a lie. Love, she couldn't think of anyone to ask about. Health was not a problem; soon enough, she would be free of diseases. But maybe a curiosity about a career, so she could pick a major.
"I could see you doing something like a police officer," Karia said with uncertainty, eyes still on the card. "Slaying the bad guys."
"Uh huh."
Finally, something was wrong. Police and teacher were the two paths Jane had never imagined for herself. But she didn't blame Karia; she wasn't exactly worthy of a customer.
"Or the dragon could represent something else," Karia said.
Then she looked straight into Jane's eyes.
"Dracula."
The r rolled on her tongue. Vlad II Dracul, Son of the Dragon, the infamous vampire in legend.
Jane's chest tightened, her vision dimming for a heartbeat.
"I'm joking," Karia laughed quickly.
"Right." Jane stood up. "Thank you for the reading."
She dropped three dollars into the jar and stepped back. The chair screeched against the floor, loud enough to alert anyone to her runaway.
"Wait. Do you wanna join?" The girl asked. The light shone on her face, exposing a spark that cracked through the mysterious shell.
Jane hesitated for a second. Three dollars suddenly felt too little.
"I'll think about it."
As if afraid that the girl wouldn't believe her, she grabbed one of their posters and walked away.