Emotionless (The Emotionless Book 1)

by Shaina Anastasi

  “Shit!”

  I looked up at a soccer ball that flew over my head. The ball then went over the fence and within the cluster of leafless, spiked trees that glistened with icicles. I then looked back at Spencer and Wes, along with a few others that were crowded around them. Spencer had both arms stretched back and hand behind his head.

  “Hey, Eileen, could you grab the ball for us?” Spencer called.

  I nodded.

  “I will come with you,” Charlie announced.

  “It’s okay. I can do it myself.”

  I am grateful that she didn’t grow wounded over my words. She nodded and walked the track. Others would have been offended. I tried to think of the best wording while I had no sort of expression. It was better than me telling her that I wanted some peace and quiet for a moment and that’s the reason I don’t want her to follow me while I go fetch the soccer ball. I think she would have been offended if I told her that.

  I am not sure as to why Spencer asked me to get the ball. Anyone would have been faster than me. I couldn’t run, jog or even powerwalk to save my life. If the world went down and a zombie apocalypse broke out, I’d be the first dead if I didn’t have any sort of magic to protect me.

  Over the fence and onto the other side, I went through the trees. The snow was much thicker within the winter woods. Not as soft as the snow on the oval. My boots made a crunch sound as I walked around the trees. There was this chilling feeling through the trees as well. A shudder that wanted to crawl its way back up my spine. Silence overwhelmed inside of these woods. The only sound was of my doing.

  I found the soccer ball not that far off. I crouched down, took hold of the soccer ball and stood. I went to turn when the wind brushed against my back. There was a bite to this wind. Unfriendly and filled with hate and anger. This was no ordinary wind that nature has provided. This was being done by a mage.

  My veins heightened as I turned around and towards the lashing wind that wanted to propel me backwards. I stepped forward when I saw something move within the wind ahead. It was through the flakes of snow that have picked up and circled around me in a sort of blizzard.

  “Activate shield,” I murmured. Right when my shield warped around me, I blinked when I heard a thud of a sound hit against the shield. Diamond-like shields gleamed and sparked in a specific place of where the sound came from. “Deactivate shield.”

  My shield dispersed right when the blizzard thinned and softened. Until the wind was nothing more but the soft breeze that it had once before. That’s when I noticed on the ground before my feet was a rock the size of my palm. I picked it up and rotated the rock around. There was a small rune on the rock. It was a dead rune now, but still, a rune nonetheless.

  “Hey!” I looked up. My fingertips moved, and the rock rolled away from my hand and thudded against the ground. Spencer broke through the trees and jogged over to me with a worried look on his face. “I completely forgot about your…” He trailed off and looked up at my curse mark and then back down at me. “I should have gone to grab the ball. I’m so stupid.”

  I took hold of the soccer ball I dropped and handed it over to Spencer. “It’s okay. I found the ball.”

  “Thanks.” I nodded at his response. Spencer then bashfully looked away and back towards the oval. “We should head back and get changed. Sports will be over soon.” I nodded once again. “I can’t wait until tomorrow. I have so much I need to get. The boys also want to know more about cliff diving and the rules and best lookouts to dive from.”

  “Cliff diving?”

  “Yeah. It will be awesome to do once the weather starts to warm up once we get back into summer.”

  I still don’t know what cliff diving is, but I don’t want to persist for it doesn’t interest me that much. Instead, I thought about the reason as to who would want to throw a massive rock at me and hurt me.

  Over the fence, giggled girly laughter made me look over to Rebecca and her group of girls. She must have noticed that I was watching her because she turned into my direction. Her eyes narrowed when she saw me and her lip curled up into a sneer.

  I can think of a few who would want to hurt me, actually.

  We were on our way back to our apartment after sports was over. I left Charlie at the stairs, and she went in the direction to her dorm rooms. She begged me to come to see, but I was on edge after what happened in the woods.

  My brothers were faster when we went up the agonisingly long flight of stairs towards our home. They raced up, jumping over steps at a time to see who was the fastest of the two. When I neared the top, I paused for a moment at the end of the staircase. I could hear my brothers talking. Intrigued, I placed my hand on the wall and listened carefully.

  “So, how do a dragon and a mage have sex?” Donte and Nixon asked. An exasperated breath made me realise this wasn’t the usual conversation they do together. Someone else was with them and annoyed.

  I took a few more steps up and around. Donte and Nixon looked back and grinned at me wickedly. “There’s Eileen.”

  “Little sister, you have company,” Donte then said.

  I walked up until I stood on solid ground and face to face the dragon. Melancholy golden eyes held firm as he looked at me. I was the one that felt uncomfortable and lowered my gaze down to Lawliet’s boots.

  “Uh… we will leave you to it,” Nixon said.

  Donte then slapped his arm and said, “Should we ask for some of his salivae while he’s here?” They both looked at Lawliet, and that sudden angered, fire-breathing look that was on his face. “Never mind. Go. Go. Go!” Donte shoved Nixon through the door to our apartment.

  “Your brothers are annoying,” Lawliet spoke through clenched teeth.

  “They are diabolical,” I agreed.

  Silence then stretched excruciatingly long. At this rate, before a conversation starts, it was going to be dinner time, and Silas and Hopper are going to wonder where I am at. That is if Donte and Nixon haven’t already told them. However, if they did, I would assume a curious fluffy bunny would be peeping through the crack of the door. I hear nothing of the sorts now.

  “My brother has left Mage Academy, if that was the reason you kind of left so quickly after meeting him,” Lawliet said.

  “That wasn’t the reason why I left,” I murmured. Lawliet narrowed those golden eyes further. Suspicious now of my words. “I left because you found out about who I am. Save the hassle of you telling me you don’t want to be my friend anymore.”

  “You are…” Lawliet closed his eyes and heaved a breath inward. He looked tormented and frustrated. “Why would you think that?” He asked in a strained voice.

  “It is the most logical thing to do. It’s okay. I am used to it all.”

  “Eileen, that’s… that’s messed up,” Lawliet breathed out. “Are you telling me the reason people hate you is not because you’re a Highborn born in a wealthy family but because you defended yourself when a mage tried to kill you?”

  “Correct,” I agreed. “I thought you also didn’t keep up with mage’s lives. Yet you know about mine without knowing about me.”

  “Darius… the dragon that you met up in the tower. He told me stories of how he gained his freedom.” I blinked slowly. “Yeah, I know. It’s complicated, but when a Guardian’s mage dies, that Guardian is free, unless they willingly want to stay. I don’t know what kind of Guardian would want to stay with that family and still become a slave.” Hopper. He loved my grandfather and our family so much that he decided to stay with us and looked over us when my grandfather didn’t need him anymore and vanished with his Guardian Knight. “But, yes, he gained his freedom, and he said it was all thanks to this small Highborn mage that was somewhere that she shouldn’t have been.”

  “I see. Did he mention a Guardian?” I then asked.

  Lawliet lowered his eyes down to the back of my hand, where the black gem laid and then back up to my face. “He only told me that once his master died, he fled. He did mention golden aura but didn�
�t look back to see what had happened. Not sure if he’s lying or not. He always gives cheek and lies more times than he tells the truth, so I don’t believe half the crap that comes out of his bloody mouth.”

  “Okay.”

  Lawliet sighed and stepped towards me. I went to step back when I realised that I was still atop and at the edge of the stairs that go down. With nowhere to go, I stood still as Lawliet moved towards me. Warmth flooded through to my cheek as his hand glided up the left side of my face. A tingling sensation flooded through my bones. Charcoal breathe a foot away from me. There was also fire within those golden eyes, and they held firm. There was no sadness like I usually see in them.

  “You are smart, a little challenging, yes, and really weird – but also beautiful.” A soft breath escaped my parted lips. “Why would anyone want to lose you as a friend, Eileen Frost?”

  “Lawliet,” I whispered. “You are the first friend that I like.”

  He breathed a laugh, released his hold and stepped away from me. “You are also cruel.” Lawliet took a few more steps back and looked towards my door. “You should go inside now, as well. It’s getting cold. You should go in the warmth of your apartment.”

  “But you are also warm,” I murmured.

  “What?”

  “Goodbye,” I said and as fast as I could, went inside of the apartment and left Lawliet outside, baffled.

  Inside, after I closed the door, I leant against the door and placed my hands over my chest. There was a flutter, like butterflies that fluttered around within me. I wanted to smile. I wanted my smile to reach ear to ear because of what Lawliet told me. I wanted to race to my room and giggle and collapse on my bed and hug my pillow as I thought of his words.

  I am grateful that he still wants to be my friend. However, I don’t buy his brother’s story. He would have had to see my Guardian or have an idea. I need to find this Darius and ask him more questions. Until then, everything will stay as-is because Lawliet has decided to still be my friend.

  “My Mistress.” Hopper waved me over to the dining table and chairs. Plates of food were being set up. “Dinner is nearly ready. I got your favourite. Dragon eggs.”

  “Yum,” I murmured and then mechanically moved towards the delicious food that I wanted to devour.

  Cold Conversation.

  Sorcerer City was packed. Just getting off of Destination Road, my heart skipped a beat at the crowd of mages. They swarmed everywhere and crowded around every shop. There were younger mages that looked like they went to high school. In groups, they ran around and pointed off in various directions.

  The feeling of being overwhelmed crushed my insides. It was like being in a compacted elevator filled with Ordinary-Humans. No breath was of freshness. There was no air. Like under a blanket with no breathing hole. I could already tell that I want this shopping expedition with everyone to be over quickly.

  “Where to first?” Spencer asked.

  On Destination Road, onto our way to Sorcerer City, everyone voted for Spencer to be the captain. We get the essential things we needed for school first. After lunch, the boys will go to wherever they wanted to go to and Charlie, Lollie and I will look at pretty dresses. I would instead go home after lunch, but the mages at St Clairiss Academy will be around the shops Charlie and Lollie wanted to check out.

  “I’m chill with anything,” Wes stated with a shrug. “As long as we get to go to the sports shop in the end.”

  “We will, bro,” Spencer agreed.

  “Can we go to the art shop first?” Lollie asked. “I need a new scrapbook for runes.”

  “Yeah. I can also get some pencils as well,” Charlie chimed in.

  “Sounds good. There’s an excellent art shop near the outskirts here that’s also cheap. We should go there,” Spencer announced.

  We all agreed that cheap is better. Which, if I recall, cheap here was non-magical based equipment. No pencil that has a thousand colours to use or rulers with runes. Everything is as mundane as it could get.

  Even knowing we were still on the outskirts and nowhere near the central plaza, where I bet so many mages and Guardians would be located.

  I walked behind Spencer, between Lollie and Charlie. I wore my beanie to conceal the curse. I also use the beanie to hide most of my hair so that it doesn’t shine in the dull, white winter light. I am hoping that not many would notice me. As long as I keep my head down and eyes cast to the ground, there may not even know that I am a Highborn. Unless someone at the Academy tipped mages that I was going to Sorcerer City with a group of friends.

  The art shop wasn’t that big. Squished in-between a scented candle store – which was very overwhelming – and a chocolate shop. Wasn’t a surprise that there was a chocolate shop out here. Mages don’t have a sweet tooth. Wouldn’t be that popular like it would have been outside and in the Ordinary-Human world. If anything, I am surprised that this shop still exists and hasn’t been shut-down.

  We went into the art shop and away from that heavy smell of lavender that’s really dense and overwhelming, and not in a right way.

  Inside, it was not organised at all. There were two aisles of items, and from what I could see, they were everywhere. I am someone that prides on being organised, in a way. Never tardy and always on time. I even have a clean environment to work in. This was beyond Donte and Nixon’s capabilities of messy and nearing unliveable. I had to suppress the urge to clean and fix this place as I walked up the side of the right aisle.

  I stepped over a pile of different coloured fabrics and scanned the aisles. Spencer ended up following me, and that reminded me that we also needed to get a scrapbook for our rune specialist class.

  I found a rack of pencils in a packet and took two packs because I tend to burn through pencils with the amount of drawing that I do. In the same aisle, I also found a few pens scattered on the ground and some notebooks that I took hold of because I was reminded of Lollie and how she needed some. She may already have some, but this place is kind of a mess that it could be hard for her to find one and I could have been lucky.

  “Eileen, I found the scrapbooks. What kind of one do you want? There are all sorts of styles,” Spencer called.

  I stood with four notebooks, two packets of pencils, a yellow ruler, highlighters and two black pens and one blue pen that was balanced atop of the notebooks. Spencer looked at me, laughed and came over to help me. I was hesitant to hand him over anything, but Spencer seems like the persistent, helpful boy type that will be offended if I told him that I am fine holding all of these items myself. So, I let him take the access stuff at the top, and I held four notebooks.

  For so long, I have been brought up to hold everything that I bought and to never ask help to carry any items. It could be presented as a sense of slavery, in a rather odd way. Mages are sensitive when it comes to asking for help. Not many mages do ask because we have mage magic or Guardians to hold our things for us. That’s why I found it odd that Spencer was willing to carry my items. I was also bothered by the fact that he may turn around later down the track and ask of favour. As of right now, I want to believe Spencer is sweet and kind-hearted, but I don’t know him well enough to say that he won’t ask anything of me later down the track.

  “So, they have the A3, A4 and A5 paper sizes. I think the A5 size will be great for doodling and deconstructing runes so that we can get a better grasp of the core of a rune. The A3 size is the mandatory size Mr Swan wanted us to get. Should we get one of each so that we don’t clutter the A3 scrapbook?” I nodded in agreement. While my items balanced in one hand, Spencer grabbed four scrapbooks between fingers. He was utterly determined to do this the Ordinary-Human way. It was rather pathetic and humorous. “Shit.”

  “Activate, Stone Knight.” Spencer’s eyes widened when my overly broad Stone Knight in this compacted and cramped store towered over the shelves. He bent in an awkward stance, but he didn’t look uncomfortable at all. “Carry my items and Spencers, please,” I murmured.

  “Eileen,
it’s alright, I had a handle on this.” I stared blankly at Spencer. He was still struggling to keep the scrapbooks in place. He even used between his legs to keep one from falling onto the ground. In the end, Spencer sighed. “Okay. Thank you, Stone Knight.”

  “Your gratitude lies with Eileen, not with me, incompetent mage,” my Stone Knight grumbled.

  “Wow, I am not sure if I should be offended or not that he called me incompetent,” Spencer said.

  “I didn’t have enough space for him to learn proper manners. He calls it as he sees it. I do apologise in advance.”

  “Huh.” Spencer lowered his eyes onto the rune on my wrist that entwined with my lit veins. “Can I have a look?”

  I shifted where my hand was positioned and put my other hand over the top so that it covered where my rune tattoo was. Spencer smiled, yet it looked strained. I know that I offended him, but it was safer for myself this way to hurt him rather than show him, and he suddenly raises a knife and destroys my adored runes and sever the ties completely.

  “What the heck is that!” Charlie exclaimed.

  Spencer and I came out through the side aisle. Spencer went to step over the foot of my knight when he tripped and stumbled forward. “That’s… uh… Eileen’s Stone Knight.”

  “Woah!”

  “Hey, Stoney.” Donte and Nixon came out through the middle aisle with armfuls of packets of glitter. They both placed their glitter packets on the pile of what my Stone Knight is already carrying and ran towards the door. “Thanks for paying for us Eileen!”

  The door swung open, and they raced out, laughter echoing in the air.

  “Shall I chase after them and punish them, Mistress?” Stone Knight asked.

  “Not now. Patience,” I murmured.

  “I don’t know who is scarier. Eileen or her brothers?” Lollie giggled.

  “Definitely Eileen’s brothers,” Kent said. “The stories they tell us at lunch break are always horrific. And now they are buying an excessive amount of glitter. That’s suspicious.”