Chapter 4

“Jayden!” Kayla called out, seeing the youngest Valentine crossing the street from the parking lot to the science building. Both Kayla and Kalinda moved to intercept the other woman, Kayla still not sure what happened at the science building earlier. Kalinda insisted they come to the college to find out, so here they were.

Jayden turned, crossing to meet them, waving as she did, one arm loaded down with books. “What are you doing here?” the young woman asked once she reached the others. “I thought you couldn’t start taking classes again until spring.”

Kayla nodded. “True, but I’m not here for classes. Kalinda got a text about something happening in the science building. I came up with her to see what we could discover.”

Jayden’s brows pinched together. “I turned those off a long time ago. They’re annoying.”

“Come on, let’s go see what happened,” Kalinda said, pulling on Kayla’s arm. “First, zombies, and now this. The place hasn’t seen so much action since the football team got busted in the locker room half-naked with the girls’ swim team last year.”

Kayla glanced over her shoulder at Jayden, nodding for the girl to join them. However, Jayden just stood there for a moment, staring after them. “I knew I should have gone out for the swim team.”

Kayla rolled her eyes. “Will you come on?”

Jayden shrugged and started to follow them. “Why not? Beats college algebra.”

The three ladies bounced up the steps to the front of the science building, only for a self-important teacher’s aide to turn them around once they reached the top. “No one is permitted inside,” the kid said, pointing the girls back the way they came. “Teachers have canceled classes for today. Check your emails for any assignments.”

“Oh, for crying out loud, Dudley,” Kalinda said, one hand on her hip. “Just tell us what’s going on. If the college didn’t want us asking questions, they shouldn’t send out a notification.”

Dudley turned his nose up at them. “I’m sure if they wanted you to know what it was, they would have told you in the same notification. The fact they didn’t tells me I shouldn’t tell you, either. Now, please clear the doorway. Move along.”

“Dudley Turner, stop being such a pompous ass. Just tell them what they want to know. You’ve heard what happened to the cat, right? You wouldn’t want that to happen to these curious young ladies.”

Kayla turned, glancing at Damien Ledbetter as he leaned back on the wall off to the side, his hands shoved into his pockets, sunglasses hiding his eyes. They couldn’t hide his mocking smile, however. “You know what happened inside?” How had they not seen him standing there when they walked up the stairs? The last time Kayla saw Damien, he headed toward the administration building to tell the school staff their cadavers had suddenly come back to life and were sludging their way around the science building. The administration played the stunt off as college students dressing up as zombies to scare the other students, but Damien and his small group, the Chaos Magicians, had used their magic to reanimate the corpses just to stir up some excitement. I wonder if that makes them necromancers like Laci.

Damien nodded. “As a matter of fact, I do. Seems someone came in last night and switched all the classrooms around.” Kayla glanced up at the four-story building, amazed someone could do that all in one night and not get caught. “The ones on the top floor are now on the bottom and vice versa, everything in exactly the same spot, all posters, chairs, even the pencils and pens on the teachers’ desks. Except,” he added, grinning, his eyebrows arched, “everything was upside down.” He chuckled. “Sent the entire science wing into chaos this morning when the faculty arrived. Amazing thing to watch.”

Kayla felt her eyebrow pop up as she stared over at the dark-haired kid. They pulled another prank. She did her best not to bust out laughing, instead glancing over at Kalinda, the other woman’s eyes holding the mirth she kept inside, as well. Kayla turned to look at Jayden, but the young Latina just looked confused as she stared at them all. How had Jayden missed the zombie apocalypse?

Dudley glared over at Damien through narrowed eyes. “And just how did you know what happened inside?”

Damien shrugged, turning his gaze back out to the parking lot. “What can I say? I hear things.” He turned back to Dudley, smirking. “You must have failed at your guard duty. Naughty boy. Some angry teacher may have to punish you.” He narrowed his eyes, cocking his head to the side a little, as he studied Dudley. “Do you like teachers punishing you, Dudley?” Then Damien’s eyes went wide. “Have they already punished you?”

Dudley huffed, shoving his arms down at his sides as he glared at Damien. “Would you please leave?” Dudley snapped. Then turned his gaze to the others. “All of you, just leave.”

Now Kayla did laugh as she turned and started back down the steps, the others following her lead. Damien did a hop skip and joined them, his hands still stuffed in his pockets. “I don’t think he likes me,” Damien said, chuckling. “Can’t blame him. If I were him, I probably wouldn’t like me, either. After all, I helped rearrange his entire building.”

The young witches laughed, Kayla shaking her head.

“What made you guys decide to use your magic to swap the floors on the science building?” Kalinda asked as they all turned toward the cafeteria.

“Is this the type of stuff you do with your magic?” Jayden asked, not seeming impressed with the male witch.

Kayla realized the other woman had only met Damien a week ago when they all showed up at The Murky Cauldron to help the Daughters of Darkness sever the bond between them. Jayden didn’t know Damien was responsible for anything else happening on campus.

Damien shrugged. “We do other things,” he said. “My older brother, Marcus, is really big on the god, Chaos. From this god came all the fundamental building blocks of existence: the earth, hell, love and passion, darkness, night. Their children would add more, of course, like day, mountains, rivers, but Chaos created the first.” He sucked in a deep breath. “Isn’t it amazing to think about? Chaos, out of all that gobbly-goo in the beginning, when only time and air existed, Chaos produced children and called it creation. Amazing.”

Kayla shot him a look, wondering if the kid knew Famallumi. “And just why is your brother so obsessed with Chaos?”

Damien glanced over at her, a mischievous grin toying at the corners of his lips. “Chaos represents the unknown, and out of the unknown came life. Night and Darkness ruled in the beginning and only because of them came day and love.” He shrugged. “Marcus thinks we need to return to the night, bring back chaos, so the world can once again walk in the day, feeling the love for their fellow man that the gods intended.”

“And you do that by rearranging the science building?” Jayden scoffed. “Not sure how love fits into putting the earth science classes on the top floor rather than the first.”

Damien laughed, nodding. “I said that’s what my brother thinks. Me? I think chaos stirs up things, makes people think outside the box. It’s also fun as hell. It’s all about breaking up the patterns in which people find themselves stuck. I mean, think about it. Everyone in earth science walks into the building day after day, turning left, counting three doors, walking into the room, and sliding into their favorite seats. Today, they only stood there, staring, not sure what the hell to do. Their world was totally turned upside down, and they possessed no idea what to do about it. They actually had to think. That’s the problem with people these days. They go through the motions without thinking anymore. People need to stop and wake up.”

“And get eaten by zombies?” Kalinda asked as they reached the cafeteria.

“Well, I didn’t put that piece of life into them,” Damien said, grinning. “I just made them walk.”

“And everyone else run,” Kayla said, laughing.

Damien opened the door, gesturing for the others to enter first. “It made them think though, right?”

“It made them piss their pants,” Kalinda said, giggling as she walked into the building. “I can’t wait to see what you come up with next.”

Damien laughed as he followed the ladies inside. “Neither can I, to be honest. Neither can I.”