by Jade Frances
“I know of someone that could train Evvy. She’s had some experience with Sirens, she might be able to help.” Avetta turned slowly to look at him. Still her eyes bore no emotion.
“She is not ready. No matter who or what has had experience with Sirens, Evangeline is different.”
For a second, I had let myself get excited. Avetta had shot that down. I gave Adam a grateful smile but shook my head at him to not push it any further. We had made some progress today. My training to control the darkness wouldn’t be approved by Avetta any time soon. However, that didn’t mean I couldn’t take that matter into my own hands. She didn’t need to know everything. Talk later, I mouthed to him once she had again turned away from us.
Hours of silence later and we were stopping for a quick toilet break and to stretch our legs. I hung back, gesturing for Adam to do the same. Once Avetta had hauled herself out of the campervan, I turned to him.
“Do you really think this woman you know could help me?”
“I’m not sure, but it would be worth looking into. But Avetta won’t approve, so it doesn’t really matter Evvy.” He looked thwarted somewhat, and I wondered if that was what I looked like every time I had given into Avetta’s demands. Well, if I did, then I wouldn’t be anymore. It’s time we stopped sitting back and blindly following.
“Well, I would like to meet her, do you think you could arrange it?”
Adam peeked out of the van, making sure no one was close by that could overhear us.
“I could try. But if Avetta finds out, she won’t be happy.”
“You just heard her, Adam, she said that I could leave if I wanted to. So staying and meeting someone on the off chance they could help me, couldn’t be worse than taking off on my own. It’s a risk I’ll take. She would only give me a talking to if she found out, anyway.”
Adam nodded his understanding, mumbled that he would sort something when we were back at the academy and climbed out to stretch his legs. The new desire to take my life and any decision to do with it into my own hands burned through me. I just had to take it one step at a time. The first one would be getting back to the academy and figuring out what this attack was. I was determined to help protect it in any way I could, and this time my powers would aid me. I might have hated living in the place, but it was beautiful, full of history I had yet to learn and of course there were children there, like Ava. Jumping out of the campervan, I stretched and stood tall. A new resolve made the world of difference to my mood. The girls shot me a funny look, as if they knew something was going on. But they didn’t attempt to approach me and ask. That would also be something I needed to fix. I would earn back their trust, maybe it would take some time, but I would do it. They are an integral part of my journey of self-discovery, and their support would mean everything.
“My power is my own, time to embrace it,” I said to myself.
Our campervan rolled slowly toward the academy gates, or at least where I thought they were. A vast blanket of fog obscured our view ahead, it swallowed and surrounded the van on our approach. Wiping the campervan window with my sleeve, as if that was going to make a difference, I tried to look out.
“I’ve never seen it so foggy here,” I said to the girls. Yesterday I had switched back to our campervan, hoping I could quell some tension between us. I wouldn’t have got anything else out of Avetta, and I couldn’t have spoken to Adam openly with her in the same space. My best option was to try repairing our friendship before things would get too crazy with the impending attack.
“Open that window, Sandra,” Rose told her as she leaned forward. Sandra rolled down the window an inch and some slow-moving fog trickled in. Sandra quickly shut it again. “It’s magically induced. Must be a defense mechanism to conceal the academy’s location,” rose said.
“Makes sense, but if you already know where it is, then it doesn’t really work does it. Just makes it harder for us to navigate through the forest,” Sandra huffed.
“True, it’s not like we know what to expect. Are we coming back to defend it, or evacuate, what else is there we could do?” I asked them both. Sandra threw me an odd look, she was still huffy with me, but Rose had loosened up a lot.
“I have no idea what the plan is. Guardians line the perimeter all the time, but I doubt there’s enough of them for a full-scale attack,” She answered.
“Well, I guess we will find out shortly,” Sandra added as we heard the clunk and groan of the gates opening. Again, the campervan began rolling forward, navigating the fog expertly.
By the time we reached the main building, the fog had dispersed. Normal everyday academy life was well underway, with students milling everywhere. They must be clueless about the coming attack. Which was probably best. Panic and chaos wasn’t the ideal situation to come back to. A couple of figures standing outside our living quarters made their way toward us as our campervans drew closer.
“Darryl,” I shouted through the window. As soon as we had stopped, I pushed the door open and ran to him. Laughing, he picked me up and swung me round.
“Hey Princess.”
“I’ve missed you. Why are you here? Has something happened?” I rattled out.
“Slow down, let’s drop your bags at your room and have a quick catch up on the way. Avetta will call us all in for a meeting soon enough.” I looked at him, delighted that he was here. He looked like he had grown up overnight. Gone was the boy I remembered, and in his place was a young man. Pack life suited him. Turning to Taylor, I gave him a massive hug as well and told him that I was glad to be back.
“Glad to have you back, it’s been dire here without all of you. At least until this one showed up,” he said as he nudged Darryl’s shoulder with his own.
“Yeah, he hasn’t left me alone since I got here. Doesn’t understand what wolf time is, he even comes on our runs. Thank god you’re back, he can bug you now.” Darryl nudged him back harder.
“Nah Evangeline’s no fun these days,” Taylor said and winked at me. He gave me a kiss on the cheek as he walked past to greet the others, who were slower at getting out the campervans than I had been.
“Come on then Princess, let’s grab your bags. I need to say hi to everyone else as well,” Darryl said as he headed to the van where the girls had already started unpacking. Adam jogged over to join us and see his brother.
“Brother,” he embraced Darryl and looked elated to see him. “How has the pack been without me there?”
“Getting by, nothing much going down. How was the tour?”
“Nonsense, but me and Evvy got to snoop around here and there. So it wasn’t all bad,” Adam replied. Once we had all of our stuff together, we made a beeline for our rooms.
Opening my door with my palm, I moved aside to let Darryl in with my bags.
“Word is, you had it quite rough on the tour,” he said and dumped them in the middle of the floor.
“Had my up and downs I suppose, it wasn’t horrendous most of the time.”
“What about you and the girls? Everything straightened out with them?” I groaned about how fast gossip travelled. There was no hiding anything in this group, it seemed.
“Getting there. I should have confided in them.”
“Why didn’t you?”
I threw myself on my bed with my arms and legs splayed out. I had missed the comfort of my own room and the privacy it gave me.
“I was trying to work it out. Everything was so unclear when the dreams first started. Then they changed, only slight things at first. It never occurred to me that the guy, Cole, could be an actual person reaching into my dreams. At least not until his warning. I didn’t want to add to Rose’s troubles, and Sandra would never have understood, anyway. But yes, in hindsight, I would have saved myself a lot of trouble if I had just shared everything that was happening.” I sighed and sat back up to look at him. “What have you been told about the attack that’s supposed to be heading our way?”
I watched Darryl shuffle uncomfortably, then eventually
he came over to sit on the floor beside my bed.
“Not a lot, but the threat is bad enough that Avetta had me and some of our pack members come here. We haven’t been told why yet. We were just waiting for her, and all of you, to get back.” Joining him on the floor, we both sat with our backs against the bed. “I feel like we just got over the last scrap, you know. What are we going to be facing this time,” he added. The buzz of the bond started in my mind, I sighed, gave Darryl an apologetic look and let the girls in.
Avetta wants us in the auditorium, like now, Rosemary sent through. I heard Sandra groan before she replied.
She couldn’t have given us even a few hours, she huffed.
I looked at Darryl and told him we have to go. He nodded solemnly and stood to leave.
Me and Darryl will meet you on the way down. Leaving now, I sent to the girls and switched off.
Before we left the room something occurred to me.
“Hey Darryl, where’s Ava? Have you seen her? I thought she would have met us when we arrived,” I said a little worried, but more deflated. I had missed her.
“She keeps to herself, not sure she is fitting in as well as she had hoped. Maybe ask Tay, I think he’s seen her a couple of times,” Darryl shrugged his shoulders and replied. I made a mental note to catch up with Taylor a little later and opened the door for us to leave.
Five minutes later, and we were all bundled into the auditorium. I took in the room; I had never been in here before. We entered at the top of the many rows of seats that cascaded down on a sloping floor toward the centre stage. Avetta was stood at the podium, facing a crowd similar in numbers to Theodore’s clan. They must be all of the teachers. The atmosphere in the room was heavy. I bet that most people in here either knew nothing of what was to come, or had only heard whispers. We hovered at the back, waiting for everyone else to take their seats. Most of them congregated in the middle section, with only a few making their way to the front. Once they were all seated, we slid into the back row just as Avetta began speaking.
“I have called you all in here today to inform you of the imminent attack on the academy.” Gasps escaped a few people that were sat in front of us, confirming my original thoughts. “I do not wish to cause panic or fear, however a plan has had to be put in place.”
“What plan?” I mouthed to the girls, but they both shrugged back at me. We didn’t have to wait long to hear what it was, Avetta jumped straight in.
“We are evacuating students and some teachers who have daughters and sons here. Those that remain will aid us in defending this academy.” My god, we are going to defend. I don’t know if I’m ready for this again. But I have to be. My heart began thundering in my chest as mental images of our last battle flickered through my mind. I could sense the girl’s unease, as well as my own.
“What’s coming for us?” One teacher shouted out.
“Unfortunately, we are unsure, the places that have been attacked thus far have all come across various races of the gifted. We cannot know for certain what is heading our way. We need to prepare for anything.” Avetta was confident, showing no emotion as she controlled the room with her rigid stature and precise answers.
But it didn’t take long for the murmurs to start running through the crowd. I heard one teacher mutter that he wasn’t paid enough for this and he would be leaving for safety. Another said it had been too long since he had seen a decent fight. The scars down the side of his face made me think he was only too willing to be front row of a battle. Avetta hushed everyone with a loud wolf whistle.
“There is no reason for panic, we are more than capable of this. The students whose settlements and homes have already been attacked will remain here. Their family members have the option to join them if they wish. We will barricade them in one living quarter. Those who do not wish to be on the grounds can volunteer to stay back and protect them.” A few people welcomed that news. I counted at least ten of them nodding in agreement, eager to volunteer for the position. I switched off when Avetta started getting into the logistics of the evacuation, I figured I would just get told what to do in the morning when it began. Scanning the crowd, I looked for Taylor. He hadn’t walked in with us, so my best guess was that he would be somewhere near the front. Pearce caught my eye just to the left of the stage in the shadows. Only now did I notice just how many guardians were with him.
“Taylor?” I mouthed. He shrugged his shoulders and began scanning the crowd with me. Only minutes later he was pointing behind me. Turning, I saw Taylor slinking in through the main door. I waved at him and beckoned him over.
“Did I miss all the fun?” He bent down next to my chair and whispered.
“Nothing fun about this Tay, where were you?” I replied.
“Just had a few things to sort out.” His eyes were darting around the room as if looking for someone. Odd.
“Have you seen Ava? Darryl mentioned she might not have been doing too well.” Taylor shrugged, then looked at me and sighed.
“Yeah, she hasn’t been getting on great. I’ve tried helping her here and there, but she isn’t interested. Says she can handle it on her own. I don’t know if it’s the other kids or she’s ostracising herself. Sorry young one, I don’t know any more than that.”
“Thanks anyway,” I replied with a small smile. Taylor shuffled along to take a seat next to Sandra who, for once, looked happy to see him. I settled back in my seat, blocking out the meeting that was still in full swing and thought of Ava, or more worried about her. Ostracising herself, something was definitely up with her. I’ll have to find her and check in in the morning.
The next morning I woke to the sound of my name being yelled from the other side of my door. It was Sandra, and she was angry.
“Evangeline, get your butt out of bed now!” she started pounding on the door. “Evangeline, I am not playing with you. Open this door and come get your little freak.”
Eurgh what the hell-? Rolling out of bed, I rubbed my eyes and staggered over to open the door. As soon as it was open Sandra pushed someone into the room and glared at me.
“Keep her away from me, or I won’t be so nice next time!” I held my hands up and took a step back from her.
“Woa, slow down. What is going on?”
“That little freak of yours turned up at my room uttering some nonsense in her freakish little way. Her eyes were clouded over. She was all zombified. Just keep her away from me.” Sandra turned and stormed off, muttering to herself down the hall.
Looking over my shoulder, I took a good look at Ava. She looked like she wasn’t fazed at all by Sandra’s outburst or comments. Exhaling, I made my way back to my bed and patted the space next to me. After a minute she came to join me.
“What happened, Ava? Why was Sandra so upset?” I asked gently. It’s far too early in the morning for this, I secretly thought to myself. Ava raised her shoulders and looked away from me.
“I had a vision, so I told her,” She stated blandly.
“Right, what was the vision?” I coaxed, I was aware that she wasn’t in a talkative mood.
“I only told her someone she loves is going to die Evangeline ok! I didn’t ask for the vision.” Her flare up shocked me, and I took a moment to calm the part of me that wanted to bite back. I pushed away the small bit of darkness that was ready to aid me, and reminded myself this was Ava I was talking to, not someone I had an issue with.
“None of us asked for this Ava, it’s something we all have to come to terms with in our own time and way. But you really think telling Sandra that first thing in the morning was a good idea? Did you tell her who?” I tried to reason with her but was also intrigued about her vision.
“I couldn’t care less about Sandra, she doesn’t care about me. None of them do. No, I didn’t because I didn’t see who it was.” Attitude rang through her words which I would expect from a seventeen soon to be eighteen-year-old thrust into a new world. However, her face was heated, and I could feel the anger that was simmering within h
er.
“That’s not true, it just takes some time to get used to everyone. Why don’t you eat breakfast with us today? Sandra will calm down. What exactly did you see in your vision, Ava?” Something was brimming behind her eyes that I couldn’t quite place. When Darryl and Taylor had mentioned she wasn’t doing that well, I thought I would deal with teenage drama. But this seemed to be something else entirely.
“I don’t want to eat breakfast with any of you! My vision was of Sandra crying, uncontrollably. Saying she never had a chance to show her true feelings.” She spat at me, the venom in her voice was unlike anything I had heard in her before.
“Ava calm down, talk to me. Tell me what’s been going on.” Again, I tried to reason and level out her anger. God only knows who it was directed at. Maybe all of us at the moment. She jumped off the bed and glared at me. Moving toward the bedroom door that was still open, she paused and turned.
“You know, he said you would all just use me. That I wouldn’t fit in here. I didn’t believe him, but maybe he was right, and this family isn’t where I belong at all.” Then she walked right out of the room without another glance back. Flicking my wrist, I closed the door and threw myself back onto my pillows. I let out a small frustrated cry. Why oh why can’t everyone just get along? A knock on my door pulled me from my thoughts.
“What now?” I moaned. I could sense Pearce and prayed he wasn’t here to chastise me or give me any bad news. Opening the door again, I remained where I was and told him to come in.
“Rough morning?” He asked as he sauntered into the room.
“I’ve been up no longer than twenty minutes and I can already tell it’s going to be a bad day,” I groaned back.
“Well, we have to go help evacuate some of the dorms, then I have to go give updates to the guardians on the perimeter. Thought you might want to come along.” That piqued my interest, and I bolted upright. Pearce had never given me an insight into guardian life or even suggested that I meet some of the others. My mood lightened some. It would keep me busy and my mind off of Ava at least.