Page 117 of Sweet Nightmare

“Why did we choose to do the portal out here?” I ask, shouting to be heard over the roar of the wind and the sea.

“The security witches said this was our best bet to build a portal this complex that would allow us to transfer several students at the same time,” my mother answers with an annoyed wave of her hand. “Something about the meeting of three powerful elements being much stronger than two not-so-powerful ones.”

I can’t help glancing back at the ocean. Yeah, there’s definitely power there. Too much power, at the moment, if you ask me.

We start the first group through, and I mark each of them off as they step into the portal. “Are all portals like that?” I ask my mom as the sky shimmers and vibrates above us. I can’t actually see any defined walls for the portal, but there’s definitely something there because everything kicked up by the wind keeps slamming into something as it flies through the sky.

“Secure ones are,” she answers. “We have a very specific protocol in place in order to keep these students safe and their powers locked down. That shimmer you see is part of it.”

I’m not sure what about this screams safety to her, but I don’t say anything else as we start on students with the last names D through F. Then again, how else could we safely evacuate people in the middle of all this? There’s no way any traditional modes of transportation would get through this mess.

So, as the storm rages around us, I concentrate on doing my job as quickly and efficiently as I can—as does my mom. We’re all the way up to the junior class Ts through Zs when another bout of lightning fills the sky.

Again, there’s that weird shimmer in the sky that doesn’t seem quite right to me. I blink and rub a hand across my soaking-wet eyes and look again. And scream as I watch dozens of students suddenly fall through the air.

“Clementine!” My mother turns to me wild-eyed. “What’s wrong with you?”

“What do you mean what’s wrong?” I point at the disaster unfolding in front of me. “Can’t you see?”

“See what?” she asks.

I blink and the scene disappears as quickly as it came. “I don’t understand,” I whisper. “I saw—”

“What?” my mother demands. “What did you see?”

“I don’t know. There were students falling through the sky. It didn’t make any sense to me.”

She studies me for a few seconds, her eyes moving over every inch of my face as if she’s looking for something. I don’t know what. And then she turns and walks several feet to Ms. Picadilly and Mr. Abdullah—the two most powerful witches on campus—who, I now realize, have been casting the portal this whole time.

“Is everything okay?” she asks them. “Any problems holding the portal?”

“No,” Ms. Picadilly shouts to be heard over the storm. “Everything’s perfect. It’s going like clockwork.”

“Abe?” my mother asks, turning to Mr. Abdullah. “What do you think?”

“I think it’s fine, Camilla,” he says. “Why? Do you think something’s wrong?”

She ignores the question. “There are no fluctuations? The lightning isn’t bothering it?”

Now he just looks baffled. “No. Why?”

She shakes her head. “No reason.”

“We’ve got this, Camilla. I’ve done it a thousand times before, and this feels just like every other time.”

She studies him—and Ms. Picadilly—for a moment, her gaze shifting back and forth between them. Then she seems to make a decision. “Okay, then. Keep up the good work.”

She hustles back to the opening of the portal. “Let’s get this done, Clementine.”

“Of course.” I’m still shocked that she took what I said seriously when I don’t even know if she should have. What I saw only lasted for a split second before it vanished. Unlike everything—and everyone—else around here, all of which are sticking around in triplicate.

She calls for the first group of seniors—in reverse alphabetical order this time—and I start checking them off just as another gust of wind rips across the beach. Seconds later, lightning flashes while thunder rumbles at the exact same second.

“Get in there,” my mom orders Izzy, who has been patiently waiting her turn. “Now.”

Izzy shoots her a very unimpressed look, but she does what my mom asks, disappearing into the portal just as giant, cantaloupe-size hail starts falling from the sky.

One slams into the ground inches from my feet, and I jump back, horrified.

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