Silence wafted through the stone walls of the castle. Jessamine would be surprised to find anything other than a resting atmosphere this late at night. Curfew had long been called, plunging the castle into a comfortable darkness, save for the flames burning consistently to light the way for ghosts and patrolling prefects and staffers. Jessamine walked boldly through the open corridor, though her steps were subconsciously light. It was like her mind didn’t fear the repercussions of being caught, but her body knew the experience would be distasteful, so it pushed her onto tiptoes any time something in the distance disrupted the silence that surrounded her.
The witch knew that there were always a handful of kids who liked to break the curfew rule, but this night was particularly quiet. Perhaps those sneaking out were doing a good job of keeping themselves hidden. Jessamine should probably take a page from their books but on this night, she was content with toeing the edge of the line.
“Oh—” Turning a corner too quickly, she crashed into the back of someone. Her heart clenched involuntarily at the thought of her escapade coming to an end at the hands of a prefect. She scrambled backwards to get a good luck at the person and breathed out a sigh of relief as she made out of the top of their head in the dark. Last time Jessamine checked, prefects weren’t so short. But she wouldn’t say that out loud since the person still had a couple inches on her.
“What’s this?” she brought her voice to a whisper. “A willing accomplice or the enemy to my freedom?”
