“Oh, he’s coming. You know Quinn, always five minutes late.” Finch grinned grabbing a loaded burger and a cup of French fries.
“Stop talking as if I’m not here,” Quinn commented coming through the door. “Heard the two of you halfway through the room. You’re hardly quiet.” Quinn glared at Finch and then looked at me. “Hey Bethany, wanna sit with us?”
I smiled. “Sure.”
I paid for my food and then waited for the boys. I followed them across the room to a table near the large windows that looked out over the East courtyard. Setting my tray down, I turned back and went to get my books. “Be right back,” I said over my shoulder.
Finch was already shoving his massive burger in his mouth, and Quinn was shaking his head at him, saying, “Dude, manners!”
Laughing, I figured the two of them were just the lighthearted companions I needed at that moment.
Chapter 23
James
I stood on the edge of the small town watching as the witches in red robes moved closer to Arrond. I yelled at him to move, to run, to lash out, but he just stood there, as if in a trance. I pushed forward, racing down the hill into the center of town. I wanted to rip the masks off of every robed witch there. I wanted to stomp them into the ground and rip their heads from their shoulders. My animosity toward them grew exponentially as one of them moved from the circle toward Arrond. I got there just as the robed and masked figure reached for Arrond.
It was too late, the Formless One was moving through him now and the robed witch turned on me. Slowly they took their mask off and I gasped.
“No! This isn’t real! You aren’t real!” I screamed out as I backed away.
I awoke with a start, a shiver of evil coating my mind as I recalled the robed figure removing their mask to show themselves as Bethany. I knew that wasn’t true, it couldn’t be. Bethany had power, sure, but she wasn’t evil and she’d never hurt anyone, let alone be part of some deranged witch coven who killed vampires.
I shook my head and wiped my hand down my face. Blinking, I looked around the dark room and my eyes landed on a figure against the door.
Frowning, I said, “Cory? That you?”
“No.”
“Bethany? What are you doing here? Don’t you have tutoring with Ubel?” I asked searching for my phone to check out the time.
She moved closer to me and I switched the light on. She blinked at the light. “No.” She crossed her arms over her chest and stared at me, her gaze never lowering. Her attitude seemed cold and angry toward me. “We don’t belong together.”
I frowned at her. Something wasn’t quite right, but I couldn’t put my finger on what.
“What are you talking about? What’s wrong? Why are you here? Did something happen?” She really didn’t seem to be herself and I started to get worried.
“Vampires and witches don’t belong together! Vampires are cruel, soulless creatures! You are all nothing but vicious beasts!”
Her words had me rising from the bed. I moved closer and then I noticed it. Her scent was wrong. I reached for her, gripping her neck and slamming her back against the door. “You’re not Bethany. Who are you?” I demanded
The Bethany look-alike arched her brow and smirked at me. I noticed then that her eyes were more maroon than brown and blood shot.
“Who are you and why are you in my room?” I demanded again, feeling my vampiric strength just out of reach. It wasn’t twilight yet, but if I could hold onto her long enough, I would be able to make this imposter talk.
“You are all vile creatures and we will crush you all!” the Bethany look-alike said and then her gaze met mine and I was falling into a black abyss I couldn’t climb out of.
Chapter 24
James
Blackness enveloped my mind and I couldn’t see my way out of the cloying presence of it. Something else was there in the darkness too, something evil. Not being able to see, I tried to use my other senses to determine where the threat was coming from. I tried to remember how I’d gotten into the darkness, but all I could recall was the dream.
Arrond’s death. The red robed witches surrounding him, the Formless One moving in and out of every opening he had, his eyes, his nose, his mouth as he screamed… and then the image of one witch leaving the circle… moving toward Arrond… Bethany.
My heart fell to the ground and shattered. No! Bethany couldn’t have been involved. Bethany was everything that was good in this world, she would never do this! My heart argued with my eyes, with my mind over what we were seeing. It was then that I recalled the look-alike with the blood shot eyes.
This wasn’t Bethany! This was the imposter! I knew it as well as I knew my own name. Whoever this was wanted me to blame Bethany, to attack her and even kill her. I wouldn’t do that. Ever.
“You can’t trick me!” I shouted into the blackness. “I don’t believe Bethany had anything to do with my sire’s death! I will never believe that!”
A flash of red nails appeared before my eyes as they left stinging scratch marks across my cheek. I lashed out, swinging at nothing as I tried to attack the woman attacking me. “What have you done to me? Where am I?” I questioned, wanting out of the blackness.
“Vile, disgusting creature! You dare question me?” the imposter said in Bethany’s voice.
Bethany’s face appeared before me, but I knew it wasn’t her, she didn’t smell like her and her bloodshot maroon eyes gave her away. “Stop wearing Bethany’s face! You will never make me hate her or hurt her!” I shouted at the fake Bethany.
“You will! You will destroy her just by being with her! You should just kill her now, get rid of her!” the fake Bethany tormented me.
“I won’t!” I said with determination.
“Your kind are an abomination! I will see all of you burn in hell!” she muttered, her nails digging gouges into my cheek.
I gripped the hand on my cheek and squeezed, but I didn’t quite have my vampiric powers yet. I could feel them close, but not quite here yet. “Not if you burn first!” I commented squeezing as hard as I could, but then her hand was gone from my grip.
I spun in a circle, peering into the blackness, trying to figure out where I was and where she was hiding. I couldn’t make out anything. It was as if we were in a void, there was nothing solid for me to lean on or touch. I couldn’t even really feel the ground beneath my feet. It was as if I were just floating.
“Where are you?” I demanded.
I heard a cackling laugh coming from behind me just as those nails dug into my neck. The nails pierced through my skin, as if she were trying to rip out my jugular. Once again I gripped her hand, and then I felt it. The shift into twilight. With twilight came my powers. My vision changed and suddenly I could see everything.
We were in my head. None of this was happening for real, it was all an illusion. Had she actually ripped out my jugular though and I’d believed it, she would have killed me. Now that I knew though…
I spun and flashed my fangs at her as I gripped her arm and shoved her out of my head. Blinking I opened my eyes to just see my bedroom door fling open and the back of the woman as she sprinted out of the room and down the hall. Taking a moment to recover my mind, I gave chase, moving after her, following her scent and then… it was gone.
I stopped, mid-stride and turned in a circle trying to figure out which direction she’d gone. It was no use. The scent had simply vanished. I scratched my head, looking around the deserted hall and wondering if she’d entered one of the other dorm rooms. I moved back down the hall the way I’d come and found her scent again. I took a big whiff and followed it right back to the same spot I’d lost her in. It hadn’t just dissipated, it was completely and utterly erased. As if it had never existed in that spot.
“Hey man, what’s up?” Cory asked coming down the hall.
I looked up at him and shook my head. “Did you see Bethany?” I asked.
“Here? No. You know the witches have been banned from coming into th
e vampire dorms since the attacks. Bethany wouldn’t risk it, would she?” he asked, arching a brow at me. “You okay, man?”
“I know she wouldn’t, but did you see her?”
“I just told you no, dude, what’s got you freaking? Did you see her?” he asked.
I shook my head. “No, but I saw a woman, well I thought it was a woman, she sounded like a woman, but then maybe that was a disguise too…”
“Man, you ain’t making a lick of sense. Start from the beginning.” Cory directed me back to our room. “What’s that smell?”
“I told you. It was that woman! The one who looked like Bethany. She wanted me to kill Bethany—”
“Whoa, hold it right there! A woman wants you to kill your girl? That’s harsh, why she got the hate on for Bethany?” Cory asked.
I shook my head. “Look, all I know is I woke up to find Bethany in here, but it wasn’t Bethany, it was this… woman… person… I don’t know what they were, but they tried to make me believe they were Bethany and that they were breaking up with me because vampires are vile and disgusting creatures.”
“Obviously not Bethany then.” Cory nodded his head. “Go on.”
“Right, so then I realized she didn’t smell like my Bethany, so I pinned her to the wall and then she did some sort of mind trip on me and we were in my head. I didn’t have my powers yet, wasn’t twilight when this started. Anyway, long story short—”
“Too late.” Cory chuckled.
“Shut it, Cors.” I glared at him. “Anyway, once I got my powers, I threw her out of my head and then she took off. I lost her in the hallway.”
Cory laughed. “Funny, man. You lost her.” He shook his head and snorted as if I was joking.
“Dude. No. Seriously. I. Lost. Her.”
Cory stopped laughing. “What do you mean you lost her? How is that even possible with your vampiric senses? You’re like a blood hound. You don’t lose scents.”
“I know.” I frowned at him.
“Huh. Well.” Cory scratched his head and then rubbed his ashy arm. “Want me to try? I mean I’m not as good at tracking as you are, but I’ll give it a go. Her scent is still in here.”
“Sure, give it a try, what could it hurt?” I arched a brow.
Cory nodded, drew in a deep whiff of the woman’s scent and then followed it out of our room and down the hall and then stopped. “What the ever-loving hell?” He turned around and went back to our room and repeated his path, stopping again in the same place. “Man, this is some kind of voodoo magic.”
“I know, right?” I shook my head. “On top of that, I think she’s the one behind these attacks. Getting in people’s heads and making them crazy.”
“Probably, man. Why you think she’s after you to kill Bethany specifically?” Cory asked as we went back to our room.
I shrugged. “Bethany and I think that whoever is behind this is with the Shadow Society.”
“And you think it’s someone here?”
I nodded. “Well, I don’t think it’s a student, maybe a teacher? And they weren’t vampire, was definitely a witch.” I frowned. “I don’t know all of the witch teachers, so it could be one of them, but I don’t recall this scent being one of the regular teachers.”
“Yeah, that wasn’t a scent I’ve smelled on a regular basis, though…”
“You have a thought?” I asked watching his face.
“Not really, just that I’ve smelled it before, but I couldn’t tell you where or when.” He frowned.
“Well, if you think of it, or you come across it again, let me know.”
“I will.” Cory nodded and glanced at his phone. “Oh hell, late for class. Come on, man, we gotta go.” He grabbed his books from his desk.
“I think I’m going to skip.” I cringed at the look on his face.
“Man, Tran is going to go ballistic.”
“I know, but I need to find Bethany and make sure she’s okay, that this woman, or person, or whatever, hasn’t hurt her.”
Cory sighed. “Okay, go. I’ll cover for you, but you better get back here asap.”
I grinned. “Will do,” I commented, patting his shoulder and taking off again.
Chapter 25
Bethany
Feeling more settled after eating and hanging out with Finch and Quinn for a little bit, I decided I should go find Professor Singh. “Bye guys, see ya later,” I said as I stood up and gathered my books.
“Bye, Bethany.” Finch waved.
“Bye,” Quinn commented turning back to his phone.
I shook my head and smiled as I moved down the hall. I headed toward the professor’s offices. I wasn’t sure if Professor Singh would be in or not, but I figured I would check there first. If she wasn’t there, maybe she’d be in her lab next door. When I reached her door, I raised my hand and knocked. I waited patiently for about a minute, but no one answered, so I moved down the hall to her lab. Inside I could see that it was completely dark.
Frowning, I sighed. “Where could she be?” I murmured as I started to walk away.
“Watch where you’re going, Miss Welch, those of us of limited stature are not meant to be stepped upon.”
I blinked and looked down. “Oh, I’m sorry, Professor Zin, I was distracted.”
“And what possibly could have distracted you in the Professor’s hall, Miss Welch? Poor grades?”
I smiled. “No, of course not. My grades are fine. I was just looking for Professor Singh, but she isn’t in her office or lab.”
“Hmm, she wouldn’t be right now, would she?” Professor Zin pursed her lips, putting her hands on her tiny waist.
“Ummm, no?”
“Exactly, Miss Welch. Professor Singh is out with the Dusk Knights at this time.”
“Oh, right. I forgot about the Dusk Knights.”
“Hmmm. Well, I suppose it is better that you students don’t see the knights around campus. Professor Singh has been working with them on their stealth spells to keep them from disrupting student activities as much as possible.”
“Is that what she’s doing? Do you know what time she’ll be back?” I asked.
“She is and judging by the position of the sun, I expect she is wrapping up with them right about now. If you hurry, you might catch her in the courtyard before she joins the rest of the professors for dinner. Mind you, do not keep her long, Miss Welch.”
“Yes, ma’am.” I smiled and moved around her. “Thank you, Professor.”
Professor Zin nodded and started in the opposite direction, heading toward her own office on the other side of Professor Singh’s lab.
I hurried down the hall, down the stairs and down another two halls before reaching the main hall to go out the doors to the courtyard. As I reached the bottom of the steps, I saw Professor Singh coming toward me just past the clock tower. I waved and hurried toward her.
“Miss Welch, what is your hurry?” she asked with a smile.
“Oh, not really my hurry, well I suppose it is my hurry, considering what Professor Zin said, but…”
“Take a breath, Miss Welch.” Professor Singh advised. “Now, I assume you are here to see me?”
I nodded. “Yes, Professor. I wanted to speak to you about… well,” I frowned, “there was an incident that happened to me after I left Professor Ubel’s this afternoon. A woman attacked me. The woman Professor Ubel brought to the New Year’s Eve dance.”
“What do you mean she attacked you? Like she was in one of those fits like the others?”
I shook my head. “No, ma’am. She specifically targeted me, she was in my head. I fought her off using a spell Professor Ubel taught me and she ran away. But it left me dizzy, and nauseas.”
“I see. What spell did you use? Could that have been what caused your discomfort?”
I frowned. “No, I don’t think so. It was a siphon spell.”
“A siphon spell! He’s teaching you to siphon?” She looked slightly concerned.
“Yes, and about that… well, I have s
ome questions, but Professor Ubel left me feeling like my questions were stupid and I…”
“Well, let’s not stand about here all day, Miss Welch, what questions do you have concerning the siphon spell?”
“When Professor Ubel taught me how to do it, he said I should drain my opponent completely of power. He said that it would turn them temporarily human…”
Professor Singh frowned. “No, that isn’t correct. If you drain a supernatural creature of all of their power, it will kill them, Miss Welch. If you ever have cause to use such a spell, please know that if you drain them completely, you will take their life.”
I nodded. “I thought so.”
“Hmmm, it surprises me that Ubel wasn’t truthful about that, though there are few witches who are actually capable of performing the spell in its entirety. Maybe he just wasn’t aware. I imagine you, with your power, would definitely be able to drain a supernatural completely.”
“I was afraid of that.” I pursed my lips.
“I imagine that isn’t all you needed to talk to me about?”
“No ma’am. I also wondered, given that I can perform the spell, if I could use it to remove spells from people? Or even stop the person who is performing these spells to make them attack people.”
Professor Singh looked thoughtful. “Yes, I imagine with more focused practice, you could do both. This curse, as the Librarian has called it, does worry me, so I will have to see what kind of effects it would have on you if you drain it from the victims.”
“Well, I do know how to let go of the power I’ve drained, and I also learned to channel it if I want to.”
Professor Singh blinked at me. “What do you mean by channel it?”
“Professor Ubel,” I began uncomfortably, “showed me how to channel it and draw it into myself to use their power as my own for a short time. We used mimics, so it was only a fragment of the power, but I transformed into a Strigoi, a werewolf, a—”
“What!” Professor Singh screeched before composing herself. “That is a completely… those poor creatures.” She took a breath. “I think, Miss Welch, that perhaps you need a new tutor. I would be more than happy to take over and teach you practical and ethical ways to hone your magic.”
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