Chapter 5: 5. Spooked Sleepover

"I'm not complaining," Marissa protested quietly. "Not exactly. I'm just saying, it kind of sucks me and Kaylee were busy with a couple boring orbs while Cass got to talk to a whole solid apparition!"

Brooke sighed, "We didn't come out here to gawk and sight-see Marissa. We were here to do a job, and you and Kaylee did it. Now please keep your voice down, you're going to get us in trouble."

The younger blonde opened her mouth to protest but Miss Hawthorne finally spoke up, albeit in a soft quiet voice.

"Brooke is correct, and this is not the time or place for a debate. Less talking, more walking. The sooner we're out of here and back at my home, the sooner we can discuss the evening's events."

I was positive Marissa was pouting, even if I couldn't actually see her face. She stayed quiet though as she walked alongside Brook and Paige. The three of them were leading the way, while Miss Hawthorne walked beside Kaylee and I. We were retracing our path through the conservation area, slowly walking all the way back around the lake to get to where we parked on the north side.

Kaylee had an arm around my shoulders, she'd been holding me ever since the others figured out what happened.

A half hour ago she and Marissa finished their magic stuff and those two glowing orb things faded away. When it was done they turned towards me and the others, and that's when Kaylee saw I was shaking. At first everyone thought I was just scared at being sort of alone in the dark while they were looking for ghosts. I managed to explain what happened with the lost guy looking for directions, and that caused a little uproar among the other witches.

Marissa wanted to chase after him, she wanted to race off along the path where I told him to go. Brooke vetoed that idea, since that would lead us towards civilization and maybe get us caught being in here after the place was closed. Kaylee and Miss Hawthorne were both more worried about me than the ghost. Kaylee pulled me into a comforting hug while our teacher quietly told the others to forget the truck driver, it was time for all of us to leave.

And I mostly stayed quiet. As freaked out as I felt after that encounter, I couldn't deny how much I enjoyed having Kaylee looking after me. It turned out hugs were even better than holding hands, as far as I was concerned.

I tuned out the quiet conversation as it started to stress me. I gently leaned against Kaylee's shoulder and just focused on walking with her. Eventually we left the path, and finally we reached the gate. Brooke opened it and we all filed through, then she closed it and set the lock.

The six of us split up into the two cars, same as before. Kaylee and I rode with Miss Hawthorne, Page and Marissa rode with Brooke.

We drove west along the county road till we were on the other side of town, then turned south on Town Line. After a few more minutes we turned right onto a long driveway. It was nearly midnight and almost pitch black out, the only light was from the car's headlights so I couldn't see much of our surroundings. We finally pulled to a stop next to an old farmhouse, and Miss Hawthorne turned off the car.

"Come along girls," she said as she opened her door. "Cassandra, don't forget your new clothes in the trunk."

There was no sign of Brooke's car yet. Me and Kaylee got all our stuff, while the teacher unlocked the front door of the house and stepped inside. By the time we got to the door Miss Hawthorne had turned on some lights inside, so we could see where we were going.

From the outside it looked like a friendly old farmhouse, the kind of place you saw on rural roads all over the county. Inside it was all modern, it had obviously been redecorated fairly recently. We were standing in a small front foyer, with a door to either side of us. Beyond the foyer was a large open-concept space, which was mostly a kitchen dining area on the left and a large friendly living-room on the right. There were a couple doors at the back, and a staircase that led up to the top floor.

The living-room area had a big fireplace in the middle of the wall, and a large warm fire was blazing in there. There were three big comfy-looking sofas arranged in a C shape facing towards the fireplace. Four big reclining chairs sat in the corners. A couple coffee tables were spread out too. All in all it was a friendly cosy looking space, with loads of seating.

I found myself frowning as I stared at the fire. It was lively, there were a couple logs burning bright. And there were windows along the walls, so we should have been able to see the glow from the fire when we were outside the house. For that matter it was incredibly unsafe to leave a fire burning like that while she wasn't home.

Then it struck me, Miss Hawthorne was with us for hours, there was no way a fire like that would be burning so strong after being left unattended that long. Finally I realized she must have someone else living here with her. Like a husband or wife or roommate or something.

"Come on in," she motioned to me and Kaylee, then gestured to the right. "Make yourselves comfortable, have a seat by the fire if you like."

I let Kaylee lead the way, and the two of us sat down next to each other on the sofa on the left. We left our backpacks and the bags of clothes on the floor by the end of the sofa.

Miss Hawthorne followed us, she settled into one of the recliners then asked "How are you doing, Cassandra? I hope this evening hasn't been too much for you?"

Kaylee still had an arm around my shoulders and she gave me a reassuring squeeze.

I felt my cheeks colouring but I shook my head, "It's not too much. It was a shock... Actually today's been one shock after another. But I guess I'm ok. I think I just need time to get used to all this stuff?"

Kaylee gave me a sympathetic look, "Sorry Cass. It's been non-stop for you, hasn't it?"

"Yeah," I grimaced. "Like being turned into a girl, then being told I'm a witch, then suddenly I'm part of your club and we're all friends, then seeing you all doing magic, seeing you and Marissa talking to ghosts, then meeting and talking to one myself?"

I shook my head, "I think I need some time to get my head around all that? Maybe I need some sleep to let my head catch up to everything that's happened..."

My voice trailed off as I noticed both Miss Hawthorne and Kaylee were looking at me funny, and I started feeling anxious again.

"Um, what's wrong now?" I asked nervously. "Why are you both staring at me?"

There was a sort of wary cautious tone in Kaylee's voice as she asked, "What do you mean you saw us all doing magic? And what exactly did you see, when me and Marissa were talking to the other two ghosts?"

I shook my head, "It wasn't anything special. There were two faint fuzzy glowing spheres, just like you said? And when you and Marissa were sort of pointing at them, I saw that faint purple light on your fingers. I figured that's magic right? Paige did it too, when she unlocked the gate? There was that purple glow on the lock."

Kaylee and Miss Hawthorne exchanged a glance, then the cute redhead asked "Do you remember when we split up to search for the ghosts, you asked me how to do that? I told you I was using my Sight?"

"Yeah," I nodded. "I don't know how to do that though. You said I'd learn it eventually. Why?"

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Our teacher spoke up, "Kaylee was using her magic Sight to locate the ghosts, we all were. Without magic Sight, we wouldn't be able to see those orbs. And generally speaking, even witches cannot see active magic."

I found myself staring at Miss Hawthorne, but before I could ask what that meant the front door opened and the other three girls arrived.

"Sorry we're late," Brook apologized.

Marissa added enthusiastically, "We swung by the coffee shop! We got hot chocolate and donut-holes!"

There were a few minutes of disruption before all six of us were settled down.

I had an extra-large hot chocolate with whipped-cream in my hand, there were two big boxes of assorted donut-holes on the coffee tables in front of us. Kaylee was still sitting next to me, but not quite as close now that everyone else was here. We had Miss Hawthorne in the recliner to our left next to the fire, Marissa in the recliner on our right, and both Brooke and Paige were on the sofa across from us.

Most of the lights had been turned out, there was just one small dim light in the kitchen area on the other side of the house and a little nightlight by the staircase at the back of the house. Apart from that, all the light came from the fireplace. It was warm too, and felt nice.

With all that excitement over I looked towards our teacher. I wanted to ask what she was getting at, with what she said about sight and invisible magic and stuff, but she seemed to anticipate my question.

"You and I will talk more tomorrow Cassandra," Miss Hawthorne said. "For now, let's all enjoy our cocoa and treats. Then we'll work out sleeping arrangements. It's been a very long day after all, and we'll have all day tomorrow to cover the rest of the details. And perhaps even begin your education as a witch."

"Ok," I frowned slightly. On the one hand I was disappointed, I wanted to know more about this stuff now. On the other hand I also really needed some time to get used to all today's shocks before I added any new ones.

As usual Marissa was enthusiastic and talkative. She was still going on about the ghosts, both the two she and Kaylee put to rest and the one that got away.

"So I've got a whole new theory," the brash young blonde announced with a grin. She stuffed a donut-hole into her mouth then kept talking as she ate, "I think all three ghosts came from the same accident, but they were two separate hauntings. That'd explain why the married couple and the truck driver were separate, right? Like the married couple appeared together, and me and Kaylee put 'em to rest together, but the driver was off wandering around on his own? If they were all one haunting all three should have been together, right?"

"Good point," Paige responded. "I hadn't thought of that, but it makes sense."

Brooke suggested, "So we know the married couple are at rest now. I wonder if maybe Cass took care of the driver for us too."

"How so?" Marissa asked with a frown. "No offence to Cass but she doesn't know how to put down a ghost."

"From what she described, the truck driver was sentient." Brooke explained. "He interacted with her. He saw you and Kaylee working with the other two ghosts, he asked Cass's name and he repeated it back to her. That's true communication, not just replaying past events."

She continued, "He was lost, trying to find town right? Cass gave him directions, and he left to follow them. It's possible that's all he needed. Some ghosts just need to finish a task before they can move on. Maybe that's all the truck driver needed, was to get to town."

Kaylee gave my shoulder a gentle nudge and smiled, "You go girl! Less than six hours as a witch and Club Luna member and you're already out there helping restless spirits find peace."

I blushed and had a deep sip of my hot chocolate rather than trust my voice to respond to her praise.

Miss Hawthorne suggested, "We'll have to monitor Island Lake to be sure, and pay attention to any further sightings. We might even consider returning in the spring to have a look around for him. If you're right Brooke, then the sightings will end. Or at least, they'll taper off. Now that the place has a reputation, there'll always be reported sightings. People see what they want to see."

Paige agreed, "Another visit in the spring is probably the only way to be sure. But either way, at least we were able to help two of them. If Cass helped the third, that's perfect."

I blushed again but kept quiet.

The conversation tapered off after that, until Miss Hawthorne spoke up again.

"I'll be retiring upstairs to bed momentarily. Before I go, I'll fetch the blankets and air mattresses. Cassandra, as it's your first time here let me give you some quick pointers."

She gestured towards the front door, "The door to the left of the front entrance is a washroom. There's bottles of water in the fridge, along with juice and soda. You may help yourself to that or anything else you find in there. The upstairs is my private retreat, please don't go up there. And the door to the left of the stairs leads to the cellar, but the staircase down is in ill repair and unsafe so please don't go down there either. Kaylee or any of the others can probably answer any other questions you have."

"Ok," I replied quietly. I had no intention of snooping around her house, and now that I knew where the washroom was I really didn't have any other questions.

One of the other doors at the back of the house apparently led to a laundry room or storage room, and our teacher disappeared into there for a few moments before returning with an armload of blankets and two air mattresses.

She set them all down on one of the empty recliners then announced, "There's two air mattresses, so three of you can use the sofas and the other two have the mattresses. If you need more blankets they'll be in the laundry room. Good night girls, don't stay up too late. I'll see you all in the morning."

I mumbled a quiet good night to her, as did the others. I watched as Miss Hawthorne took her hot chocolate with her and climbed up the stairs to the upper level."

After that, the five of us grabbed blankets and worked out sleeping arrangements, then took turns using the washroom to get ready for bed.

I ended up sleeping on the sofa me and Kaylee were sitting on, while the cute redhead slept on an air mattress nearby. Marissa was happy sleeping on the recliner, and Brooke and Paige slept on the other two sofas.