by L.L Hunter
Trait
Scarlett was a little angry with Dyston for moving her up to a Third Year Traits 101 class. In Third Year, most of the students had already refined their Traits, while Scarlett’s were just appearing. Wasn’t she supposed to be hiding her trait? She strolled into the classroom, not knowing what to expect. She didn’t even know who her Professor was going to be. She sat down at a desk towards the back, and immediately, began hearing whispers.
“Isn’t she First Year?” said one girl.
“Yeah, I heard she’s just here ‘cause her boyfriend thinks she’s special,” said another, snickering.
Scarlett tried to tune them out, but she remembered what her grandmother had told her about bullies: Anyone who doesn’t like something that you do is just jealous. She wondered if her grandmother knew the truth of her fate. Scarlett looked up as the sound of two pairs of footsteps entering the room could be heard. It was Beth Blackbell and someone more familiar, Dyston.
“What are you doing here?” she mouthed to him. Then her pocket vibrated and she reached in to pull out her iPhone.
“I always co-teach this class with my Mother,” he texted. She looked up at him and he smiled. Then he turned to switch on the computer and projector.
“Good morning, class,” said Beth as her eyes found Scarlett’s. She smiled. “Welcome Scarlett.” Scarlett smiled back.
“The origin of Angel Traits began when the first Nephilim was created. About the time Jesus was born, around two thousand years ago. The angels knew that when Angel blood was combined with human blood, it created a magnificent chemical reaction in the body resulting in Angel Traits.” She was an amazing speaker, Scarlett thought. She was in awe of Dyston’s mother, probably in the same way Scarlett was in awe of him.
“Now, that was a refresher for Miss Porter. Scarlett, I’m going to ask that you catch up on the History of Traits in your spare time. Now, we are going to move on to the chapter entitled Exploring Your Traits. Dyston?” She glanced over at her son. He got up from behind the teacher’s desk, walked around and sat on the front of it, facing the class. She loved watching Dyston. Then she noticed the two girls in front of her. They were leaning in to whisper to each other and giggling. She knew they were talking about Dyston, and that they thought he was hot. She wanted to yell at them, Hands off my man! But she knew it wouldn’t be appropriate. And she didn’t technically own him. He’d only been visiting her in her dreams for the past six years or so. Instead, she just bit her tongue and listened to him speak.
“As you know, there is not just one type of Trait. It all depends upon your lineage, personality, and how high up the Angel was from whom you descended. So, each of your Traits will be different.”
“Is it rare for someone to have more than one Trait?” Scarlett couldn’t help but ask. His gaze met hers, and a small smirk twitched upon his lips.
“Normally, a Nephilim only develops one Trait, but in exceptional circumstances, more can develop,” he said. He trained his gaze on her. It almost burned a hole into her soul. And then she felt herself starting to burn.
Emer sat down next to Kat in the library.
“Kat, I need to talk to you,” she said impatiently. The other students in the library quickly shushed her.
“Not here, though,” she continued, but quieter.
“Okay,” replied Kat. She picked up her books, and the girls walked into a nearby classroom, closing the door behind them.
“What’s wrong?” Kat asked when they were inside.
“Okay, well, I kissed Joshua.”
“Wow, that’s fabulous. Wait, why are you upset?”
“Something bad happened when I did.”
“How bad?”
“I had a vision. About Scarlett.”
“Whoa, slow down. You had a vision?”
“Yeah. It just happened last night. I was going to tell you as soon as I could, but you were with Jacob,” she told her.
Kat’s cheeks immediately flushed. “Sorry,” she replied, a little embarrassed.
“No, it’s fine. You’re allowed to go on a date. How’d it go, by the way?”
“Oh, it was more of a hanging out type of thing, not really a date. So, back to you. You had a vision after you kissed Joshua?”
“No, during.”
“Oh, no. How did he react?”
“He was confused, I think. But I also spilled my hot chocolate that he made me and scalded myself. So he was a little preoccupied with that.”
“Do you think Joshua caused the vision?”
“That’s what I’m afraid of, Kat. What if he planted it in my head?” She was almost crying again. “What if he’s a Lucifite?”
Dyston was by Scarlett’s side in seconds. He immediately put out the flames with his hands.
“Sorry,” she whispered.
“Don’t apologise. There. It’s out,” he told her, smoothing out her hair, as well. Scarlett loved the feel of his touch, but was confused as to why her flames didn’t burn him. Maybe it was because he was the opposite, the ice to her fire. His touch made her ignite in more than just the physical sense, and she couldn’t handle it, couldn’t risk it. Dyston was already too close. She had to put some distance between them. Even though she didn’t want to, it would be for the greater good.
“No, wait. I shouldn’t be the one apologising, you should. This happens every time you’re around,” she shouted, pushing him away. Everyone was gawking at them, including his Mother, but she didn’t care.
“Scarlett…”
“No, don’t Scarlett me. Stay away from me. Ever since you found out what I am, you haven’t left me alone,” she yelled. She then turned and stormed out of the room, leaving him standing there speechless.
Kat literally dragged Emer through the library.
“Kat, what are you doing?”
“I want you to kiss him again.”
“No! I can’t.”
“Yes, you can. You have to see if he really did give you that vision. ‘Cause I don’t believe Joshua is evil.”
“No, please Kat. I’m avoiding him.”
“No, you’re not,” she told her. They found Joshua on the second floor of the library reading a graphic novel. He glanced up when he heard them.
“Emer, Kat…”
“Emer needs to talk to you,” Kat told him, pushing Emer forward.
“Kat…” Emer complained.
“I’ll leave you to it.” She grinned and left them alone. Emer stood there awkwardly.
Joshua swallowed.
“You ran away last night. Didn’t you like kissing me?” he asked her, putting his graphic novel down and standing up. Emer didn’t speak. She just stared at her shoes.
“I take that as a no, then.” He turned to leave. “I’m sorry.”
“No wait, Josh…” she called. He turned back to face her.
“I did like kissing you. It’s just…”
“Just what? That I’m a bad kisser? I had bad breath? What?”
“None of the above. Look, Josh, you were an amazing kisser. It’s just that something happened when I kissed you.”
“Oh, like what?”
“I had a vision, like a nightmare, but I was awake,” she told him.
Joshua exhaled. “A vision? Of what?”
“Scarlett running. And then something grabbed her, something like a shadow…”
“And you think that I gave it to you?” Joshua said and was a bit defensive.
“Well…”
“I didn’t, okay? Why would I give you a vision of one of my own friends being kidnapped?”
“Okay, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to accuse you. I just wasn’t sure what to make of it.”
“Anyway, I don’t even have that ability yet. Only some Fourth Year students and Professors can do that kind of thing,” he told her.
“Then who would send it to me?”
“What if no one sent it to you? What if you had it all on your own?” he suggested.
Emer gasped. “You think that
’s my Trait?”
“Maybe. It’s possible,” he told her.
And she smiled at him, stepping closer. “Hey, I’m sorry I ran out on you. I really was enjoying our date. You know, until…”
“Would you like to start over?” he asked.
“No,” she told him. And he was confused until she stepped even closer to him. Holding his hands in hers, she said, “I’d like to continue where we left off.” And then she kissed him. And this time there was no vision, so she wrapped him in her arms tighter, and they didn’t come up for air.
Scarlett stormed back into her room angry and upset. She realised she had to do what she did, but the whole situation frustrated her. She wanted to be with Dyston, but she couldn’t if he kept touching her like that, risking exposure. She needed to be alone. She threw her exercise gear on, grabbed her headphones, and ran out the door.
Her feet made a steady beat on the cobblestones as she jogged. She ran down all the small alleyways that surrounded the Academy, admiring the art and expelling her frustrations about Dyston and everything. She jumped down the stairs that led to the path that ran alongside the Yarra River. She headed left, jogging beside the chocolate-coloured river water. She ran until she could run no more until her leg muscles screamed in pain, and her lungs protested that they needed more air. She stopped in another alleyway, this one dark, the surrounding buildings cutting off the sun’s rays. She inhaled and exhaled trying to catch her breath until she felt a presence near her. She spun around and looked up but couldn’t see anything. Then she heard what sounded like the flap of wings above her head. The last thing Scarlett realised before everything went dark was that the shadow had no face.
After class, Dyston made his way towards the dorms. Instead of climbing the last set of stairs towards the fourth floor, something told him to continue down the third floor hallway towards Scarlett’s room. When he got there, he found her door slightly ajar. He pushed it open.
“Scarlett?” he called. When he didn’t hear a reply, he entered and found her room empty, with just her books and clothes scattered all over the bed and the floor. He immediately began to worry. He checked her wardrobe for missing clothes. He had come to know her habits and routines. He knew from watching her over the years that she owned pink Nikes. They were missing. He ran towards the French doors and pulled them open, unfurling his wings and leaping into the dusk sky.
Emer and Joshua walked briskly through the corridors towards the dorms where they knew Dyston would be.
“What if he’s not there?” Emer asked, panicking.
“He will be. He’s a hermit, remember?” he joked. It was common knowledge that Dyston rarely came out of his room, apart from classes.”
“But Del texted me that he and Scar had a huge fight today in Traits 101 in front of everyone, including Professor Beth.”
“Maybe he’s in Scarlett’s room and they’re making up?” Joshua suggested.
“I don’t think so. It seemed like a pretty epic fight, from what I heard.”
“What was it about?”
“About… and I quote, ‘ever since you found out what I am, you haven’t left me alone.‘”
“What she is?” Josh looked at her confused.
“Yeah, didn’t you know? She’s a Legacy.”
“It must have been something more than that. Lots of people are Legacies, and they’re not unique,” stated Joshua.
“Well, maybe it’s her fire Trait. People also said that she caught on fire, and that Dyston put her out.”
“Emer, did you just say Fire Trait?”
“Yes... why?”
“A Fire Trait is not an ordinary Trait. There’s only one kind of Angel that can develop a Fire Trait,” he told her, pulling her arm as he started to run.
“What type of Angel, Josh? Why are we running?”
They rounded a corner and headed towards the administration buildings where the Professor dormitories were.
“We have to tell someone,” he told her.
“Tell someone what, Josh?”
“That Scarlett’s ‘The Legend,’” he replied. “It’s about time someone knows.
Emer was just about to speak, but the door had opened ahead of him, and Lakyn had stepped out of it, blocking their path.
Chapter Eight