Magic burst through her heart as she stepped through the auditorium. Fellow students mingled, their familiars perched on their shoulders. Amelia felt like a thorn in a rose bush in her plain black dress and fake pearls.

“Amelia!”

A voice addressed her, shrill with joy. She whipped her head in all directions until her eyes met a woman with black hair reaching down to her knees. The way the woman’s steps were taken with enthusiasm made Amelia smile. “Cressida! How are you?”

“I’m wonderful!” Her eyes flirted toward the cat on her shoulder. “You remember Misty, don’t you?”

“Of course!” Amelia stroked Misty’s pink nose. She responded with a gentle purr. “Are you and Melody still together?”

Cressida splayed her left hand out, the large diamond ring glinting bright against her pale skin. “We’ve been married for five years now! She sadly wasn’t able to come. Stuck in bed with the flu.”

Amelia gave a disappointed frown. A flutter of black slipped behind the curtains of the auditorium stage. Neither of them paid any mind. The headmaster must be preparing a speech.

“What about you?” Cressida chirped. “Surely with how active you were in many of the clubs, you must have a very eventful life!”

Amelia looked down at her feet. In transformations class, her fellow witches had taught themselves how to conjure believable lies. In her teacher’s lesson plan, the students would slowly be introduced to the concept at the end of the year. But Amelia and her friends quickly used their newfound talents to delay quizzes they hadn’t studied for. Now, it was difficult for Amelia to make Cressida believe her falsely adventurous life.

“Well…I’ve been busy with work. Specifically at a bank. A non-magical one.” Her hands wrung together in shame. The students of this prestigious academy of magic and alchemy promised to pave the path for future wizards and witches. For some, this path ends in a dead end, and they have no choice but to start anew amongst ordinary humans. Fallouts are what they call those people. And no one wants to be a fallout.

Cressida’s face didn’t falter. “Oh! There’s no need to be ashamed. My aunt works at an ordinary grocery store. She loves it there!”

That’s when the curtains flew open. There was a podium at center stage, and a man in a black cloak and white mask stood behind it. The auditorium erupted in applause.

“Good evening graduating class of 2026!” The mysterious man boasted. “The headmaster is unfortunately unable to make it to this year’s reunion. He ran into an…unexpected emergency.”

The sound of muffled screamed floated into Amelia’s ears, sending her nerves on high alert. Her hand quickly grabbed Cressida’s. The familiar on her shoulder arched her back, giving a feral hiss.

“Many of you have come to this special occasion to mingle with old friends, catch up, and sink into the nostalgia as you recall the wonderful memories of your youth. But for me,” the man began to pace back and forth, bringing a handheld microphone, “I came to remind you of the things you’ve done.”

His voice poisoned the air with its venom. It carried its magic, and in one synchronized motion, all exits were closed and locked. Screams erupted. One woman fainted.

Cressida trembled. “Amelia…”

The masked man continued. “There are so many of you in this room who have gotten away with so many things. Yet you stand here, succes and wealth handed to you like a child earning a lollipop. It’s quite sad really.”

Walls of flame shot up from the ground, further reinforcing everyone inside. This advanced spell elicited more shrieks of terror.

“And someone in this room is witholding the deepest secret of them all, locked deep in their heart. Only until it is revealed, will I let you out. And with each hour, the flames grow higher. You have until the stroke of midnight.” The man took a bow, and Amelia could see the tiniest sliver of a black beard underneath. “Good luck!”

In a puff of purple smoke, he vanished.

“What are we going to do?” Cressida panicked.

“I can’t cast anything. My magic has faded,” Amelia replied. Groups of wizards have gathered around the exits, attempting to perform any spell they could remember.

“This can’t be real,” Cressida crouched onto the floor, curling herself into a ball. “Who would do this?”

Misty pressed a paw against her arm, doing her best to communicate her concern.

“I don’t know, but we’ll figure this out, okay? Just breathe.”

Cressida looked at Amelia with desperate eyes. “How am I supposed to breathe when in a few hours we’ll be dead?!”

A flicker in gaze alerted Amelia. Mixed with tears, heart wrenching fear turned her pupils microscopic.

Along with something hidden in the pools of blue.

A secret.