“No,” he says, turning to me, and I start when I see that his eyes have gone a bright amber color. “Wolf vision.”
“Lucky,” mutters Landon, craning his neck as he continues to search.
“You should give it a try, Millie,” Shade says. “Maybe you could--”
But at that moment the light comes on in the room, nearly blinding me for a second. “What on earth are you kids doing in here?” asks Mrs. Fairbanks, who is standing in the doorway in a nightshirt.
“Fuck,” moans Hunter, putting his head in his hand.
“I-” I begin.
“Are you looking through the student files?” Mrs. Fairbanks takes a few steps closer to us, and I notice that her eyes have gone the telltale black of a witch. While once that was comforting, however, now it’s terrifying. “What are you doing outside at this hour? Breaking into the registrar’s office, and… Hunter Ash, is that you?” She rounds on Hunter, who is shrinking in the corner of the room.
“Mrs. Fairbanks, please--” begins Hunter.
“Break in!” she yells, at a surprisingly high volume considering her diminutive size. “Break in in the registrar’s office! I need security, now-”
But before I can react, I see a flash of sea green out of the corner of my eye. Landon has transformed into a Siren, his lean muscles on full display as he shimmers with iridescent scales. He opens his mouth, but instead of a reply, what comes out is a shrill, high-pitched tone that’s enough to make me clap my hands over my ears.
“Landon, what the hell--” I begin, but then my eyes go wide as I see that Mrs. Fairbanks’ posture has changed. Her shoulders slump, her eyes return to their normal color, and the twisted expression of upset confusion on her face smooths out. Within seconds, she’s quieted, and she stares at Landon with a docile look as the frequency dies down to a low thrum. “Leave,” Landon tells her, his voice like silk in his siren form. “Go back to bed.”
Mrs. Fairbanks blinks. It looks like part of her is trying to fight it, but back in human form, there’s nothing she can do. “I… yes,” she says quietly. “Yes, bed would be a good idea. Excuse me.” And with that, she turns around and waddles out of the registrar’s office, switching the light off as she goes.
Landon is already shifting back by the time I turn around. The others are staring at him, stunned.
“What was that?” I ask, eyes wide.
“Siren song,” Landon replies. “She’s female, and she wasn’t prepared, but that’s the only reason it worked. I’m not powerful enough to make it last, either. Between that and her yelling, I don’t think we’ll have long here, guys.”
“Then we’d better hurry,” says Shade, turning back to the filing cabinets. The rest of us don’t need telling twice, and I hurry to resume my search, still reeling from Landon’s magic. I guess it’s a good thing it wasn’t directed at me.
The seconds tick by, the only sound is our frantic scrabbling as we look for our files. As hurriedly as we’re searching, it’s damned near impossible to find what we need; it seems like the student records are dated all the way back to the mid-twentieth century, at the latest. I can practically hear Mrs. Fairbanks coming back, this time with help, and adrenaline rushes through me as I desperately sort through folder after folder. I’m on the verge of yelling in frustration when Hunter’s voice draws our attention. “Guys, look at this.” We cross the room to where he is, and I’m surprised to see that he’s not looking at the files themselves, but rather the cabinet. He points to it, running a hand through his hair. “Do you see that?”
“As much as I’d love to sit here and admire the furniture with you, Hunter,” Landon says, “we’ve got more important things to--”
“No,” insists Hunter, his voice sharp. “Look.”
I have to squint in the darkness, but a second later I see what he’s pointing at: in the place where the cabinet meets the wall, there’s what looks like a seam of hinges. The kind that would be put in if there were a…
“A door?” asks Shade, frowning.
“I don’t know,” Hunter replies. “That’s what it looks like though, right?”
We stare at it for a moment longer, and Shade runs his fingers along the seam. “I’ll be damned,” he murmurs, and then nods to Hunter. “Here, help me. Let’s try to open it.”
“Guys,” I begin, “what if it’s not--”
But they aren’t listening to me, already putting their weight onto the filing cabinet, Hunter pulling and Shade pushing. For a second nothing happens, but then there’s a low groaning noise as the filing cabinet swings outward on its hinges, revealing a gaping doorway. It’s impossible to make out where it leads; all that’s visible from here is a long, steep set of stairs descending into the floor. “A secret passage,” mutters Landon. “We really are in a movie, aren’t we?”
The sound of muffled voices and echoing footsteps makes us all jump, and a light comes on in the entryway. “What do you mean, they were in the office?” comes a male voice.
“They were rooting through the filing cabinets, Sir,” I hear Mrs. Fairbanks saying, the sound of her voice growing closer by the second.
There’s the sound of the office doorknob jiggling, and the male voice asks, “Isn’t the office usually locked?”
“Usually,” replies Mrs. Fairbanks.
“All right, let me take a look.”
None of us say anything, instead making panicked eye contact before our gazes settle on the passageway. We’re all thinking the same thing, and the four of us bolt through the doorway and onto the stairs.
Shade remains for a moment longer to pull the door shut moments before the newcomers enter the room. We’re left in darkness, breathing hard as we listen to the staff members moving through the office.
“I’m telling you, they were in here,” Mrs. Fairbanks says.
“I believe you, I believe you,” the man insists. “They can’t
