The girl didn’t seem to buy it; she stood at the vanity next to hers, looking at her through the reflection in the mirror. Brie felt as if she was looking through her; that initial feeling she had when the girl first entered the restroom was back, and gaining strength.
“My name is Cora. You should sit with my sister and me at lunch.”
Brie turned toward Cora, looking at her directly. She had an athletic, toned body, warm eyes, and skin the color of dark chocolate. But Brie still felt uneasy. Cora radiated a mixture of energies, and Brie wasn’t sure which ones to trust.
“Can’t,” she said, turning her gaze to the floor. “I’m meeting someone.” Hardly true, but who cared? She could find another restroom to hide out in for the rest of lunch.
Cora scoffed and tilted her head. “Come on,” she said. “I know you have nowhere else to be and no one else to see. Besides, you can’t sit by yourself on your first day.”
She frowned, examining Cora. She smiled back harmlessly.
“Brie, you’ve gotta lighten up. You can’t avoid life at DeRosa forever.”
Brie frowned, wondering how this girl could read her so easily. Reluctantly, she allowed Cora to link arms with her and guide her out of the restroom, down the hall, and into the courtyard where everyone could see them.
In an alternate universe, one where she wasn’t more of a news item than a person, one where she hadn’t made an enemy of one of the most popular girls in school on her first day, the main courtyard would be one of the most beautiful places she had ever seen. It spanned several acres and had wide, breezy spaces with vivid tropical greens that rivaled Central Park. Picnic tables lined the more immediate vicinity where students could chat, relax, and eat. Beyond the tables, an expansive field leading to baseball diamonds, tennis courts, and a gymnasium gave students a place to lay out, practice instruments, or play pick-up rounds of random sports.
Today, though, the entire courtyard seemed to pause at the sight of her. You’re new and interesting, she reminded herself. She resisted the urge to go into paparazzi mode and instead forced herself to smile.
Cora stepped forward, but she stayed frozen in her place. The other girl flipped around, giving her a sympathetic smile. “We don’t have to eat lunch out here if you don’t want to,” Cora said hastily. “There’s Clara, I’ll let her know.” She waved to the girl who looked like a carbon copy of her, aside from the expression—where Cora’s eyes were warm and inviting, Clara’s looked like she wanted nothing to do with her.
The two girls met a few feet away from her and whispered to each other. She couldn’t make out much, aside from the word “problem,” but it didn’t matter because something she saw distracted her—a face, one that looked so familiar to her, across the quad. She looked again, but the girl had turned her head, facing in the opposite direction.
The twins seemed to reach a decision and walked toward her in unison. “We’re going to eat inside,” Cora said brightly, tugging on her arm.
She glanced back at the blonde girl who was facing her again, this time blocking her face with her hands. She couldn’t get a clear view…
Clara gave her a sterile, cold smile and scooted her toward the school doors. “Rough first day?”
She didn’t answer; she caught a full glimpse of the girl’s face at just that moment. She looked back at Clara and Cora for a split second before her brain could process what she was seeing. Cora’s expression had turned to recognition, causing her to do a double take at the girl with long, dirty blonde hair standing across the courtyard, watching her.
“Mom?” Brie whispered. It couldn’t possibly be, could it? She looked back at the twins. “Do you see that blonde girl standing there?” She gestured with her head instead of pointing so the girl wouldn’t know they were talking about her.
Clara squinted her eyes in that direction. “I see lots of blonde girls.”
“Do you see the one that looks like my mother?” She didn’t know where the words had come from or why she said them; even as they were coming out, she realized how crazy she sounded. But she had to know that she wasn’t imagining things. She needed to know who the girl was.
Cora and Clara exchanged an uncomfortable glance. Clara’s lavender eyes widened and her eyebrows shot up, as if to say to Cora, do something.
She felt another mix of emotions—anxiety, nervousness, overwhelming hunger—like a slap in the face; and for a brief second, she wondered if they were literally coming from Cora.
“Come on,” Cora said. “They run out of chocolate chip cookies if you don’t get in line right away.”
Brie didn’t respond; she was still focused on the blonde girl, who had ducked behind a crowd of students that were standing in a circle. She had to speak to her, even though she knew that she should not pay attention to the girl, that she should not cause any more trouble at school, that she should not think the girl was her mother, of all things.
She thought back to the sprinklers that morning, to the look on her brother’s face when they arrived at school… She needed to keep her head down for the rest of the day, no matter what.
But while her mind knew one thing, her body moved toward another. “Wait!” she shouted as her legs stepped in the direction of the girl.
“Brie, don’t—” she saw Cora grasp at her arm out of the corner of her eye, but she was already out of reach, tearing across the courtyard after the girl who looked exactly like a younger version of her mother.
The next several seconds passed in a blur. Brie felt her legs pumping underneath her like a well-oiled machine that wasn’t attached to her body. She couldn’t believe she was running, couldn’t believe she was running in three-inch heels, couldn’t believe she was running in three-inch heels across the thick grassy blades that covered the dirt her heels kept getting stuck in. But she was. She could feel the confused eyes coming at her from all directions, but she didn’t look up; instead, she pushed on, toward the blonde girl, her ruby necklace slapping across her chest on each side as she ran.
The girl’s eyes widened when she saw Brie barreling toward her. She took off around a large group of kids praying and zigzagged through a flag football game, rushing toward one of the entrances to the school.
Her reaction only spurred Brie to run faster; now she knew there was something strange going on. She tripped over an uneven mound of dirt and grass and nearly spilled in front of a group of upperclassmen who looked a lot like people Pilot would be friends with. They cat-called after her, but she ignored them and pressed on. She heard Cora and Clara shouting at her from behind, but she kept going, following the blonde girl all the way into the school.
A small voice at the back of her brain nagged her. Clara and Cora are part of this, it told her. There was no other explanation for their odd behavior just now, how they were trying to keep her away from the blonde girl. What was their part in all this? Was she walking into a trap? Was Sheila, the ringleader, setting her up for embarrassment?
No, she told herself. It was something else, she could feel it in her gut.
She pushed through the school doors and looked around, barely able to breathe. Her heart raced wildly as she found her bearings within the school. Since her mother’s death she had had a million questions, questions about how the accident had happened, why strange things kept happening to her, why she was in Honolulu, why the media wouldn’t leave her alone, why her father could barely look at her without cringing. Everything over the last several months had been mixed up and blurry in her mind. But this girl looked so much like her mom that a part of her, however illogical it might be, thought that if she could just get to the blonde girl, she could finally get some answers.
She sprinted past several students at their lockers, ignoring a teacher who yelled after her to not run in the building. She spotted her target at the very end of the opposite hallway. The girl glanced back at Brie just as Rykken stepped out in front of her.
“Whoa!” Rykken exclaimed as the blonde girl crashed into him
and spilled onto the hard floor.
He bent down to give her a hand up. “Are you okay?” he asked. She took his arm and let him pull her to her feet.
He looked at her face and his expression changed from kindness to confusion. “Do I know you?”
The girl shook her head and without a word, tore down the hallway.
Brie watched the scene play out like a movie in front of her before realizing that she was about to lose the girl. She started forward just as Cora and Clara came clamoring down the hallway behind her. “Brie!” one of them shouted. The other one said, “Wait a minute. We’ll explain.”
But Brie couldn’t lose the girl. She quickly tossed off her heels, leaving them there in the middle of the hallway, and resumed her chase.
The blonde girl reached the back doors and glanced back once before pushing outward and exiting.
Rykken rushed in front of her, taller than she had remembered, with puzzlement in his eyes. “Where are you going?” he asked, blocking her way and slowing her down. “You can’t leave the school grounds.”
“I have to go,” she said, trying to swing around him.
Rykken stepped to the side, blocking her again. He grabbed her arm gently but firmly. He had never touched her before, and her heart skipped as his fingers grazed across her elbow. “Please,” he said. “Think of your brother. Your family.” His tone held a warning that she couldn’t help but take note of.
She knew her behavior could hurt her family more, knew that her actions were illogical and she shouldn’t be risking her future at DeRosa to chase after an unknown girl. What lengths would she really go to to satisfy her hunch? How much further could she take this wild hunt for answers?
She shook free from Rykken’s grasp and held her hands up in surrender. “I have to go.” His eyes widened, and in that split-second, she dodged to the side and flew past him. Rykken shouted after her, but his words didn’t register. She had already lost precious time speaking to him and couldn’t let the girl slip away without finding out who she was.
She reached the school doors and sprang through them into another green field, this one empty of students.
Something that Rykken had shouted at her finally crystallized in her mind; that students weren’t allowed out the back during school hours, that it counted as skipping. Brie caught a glimpse of the blonde girl far ahead of her. She picked up speed, thankful that she hadn’t lost sight of her completely. With a little luck, she might be able to catch up. She zeroed in on the girl’s hair, using it as a marker to focus on, and ran as fast as she could.
She felt a deep chill, one that shot through all her bones. She was so focused on the back of the blonde girl’s head that she barely noticed the scenery change around her. The hot sand under her feet jolted her from her mission; suddenly, the surrounding beach and ocean whooshed toward her in one quick swoop. Disoriented, she slowed down, catching her foot on the sand and tumbling forward on her hands and knees.
She looked around dizzily, but the blonde girl was nowhere to be found. To her left, the ocean waves purred and lapped onto the shore; to her right, a thick jungle of greens wove a tight knot around itself, forming an unruly tropical forest. She caught a blurry glimpse of a sign that said, “Sandy Beach: No swimming.” Though she didn’t know the island of Oahu very well, she knew that Sandy Beach was outside of Honolulu limits and home to local surfers, not tourists. She also knew that DeRosa Academy was nowhere close to Sandy Beach.
She looked up to find the twins hovering over her, their faces like two large globes blocking the sunlight from stinging her eyes.
“She’s stronger than we thought,” Clara said.
“How did we miss this?” Cora asked.
Clara sighed. “Thessa is in for a surprise when she gets back.”
“What happened?” Brie asked.
“Here.” Cora extended her hand. She lifted her to a standing position. “Are you okay?”
Brie held the side of her head, still reeling from her fall. “Are either of you going to tell me how we got here?”
Chapter 6 - Brie
“We have to get out of here,” Clara said, ignoring Brie's question. “Come on.”
“But—”
Clara started jogging away before Brie could protest.
“Wait a second,” Brie called after her. She glanced down at her feet. “I don’t have shoes.”
“Oh, right,” Cora said. She held up the pair of heels that Brie had kicked off earlier. “I grabbed these on our way out.”
She took the heels from Cora hesitantly, just as a wave of dizziness passed over her. “I’m still confused—”
“Not now,” Cora said, grabbing her arm again. Brie immediately felt a wave of calm roll over her, and she knew—somehow—that Cora was making it happen.
“How do you do that?” she asked, as the three of them made their way toward the parking lots.
When they reached the parking lot, a cab was already waiting there for them.
“That’s weird,” Brie commented.
Clara smirked. “There’s an app for it, actually.”
She got in the cab with the two girls, who said nothing as the cab driver took off.
Brie sat between the two of them, with Clara on her left and Cora on her right. Clara draped her arm over the driver’s seat, one finger on the driver’s back.
“How does he know where we’re going?” Brie whispered. “Is there an app for that, too?”
“Nope,” Clara said. She nodded toward her finger. “That’s the good old-fashioned Hallow way.”
Brie stared at her incredulously.
“Also,” Clara added, “You don’t have to whisper. He’s not paying attention to us.”
Brie looked closer at their driver, realizing that Clara was right. The native islander bobbed his long, wavy black hair to music that Brie couldn’t hear, though she didn’t see headphones. He appeared happy and occupied, though, and not at all interested in their conversation.
“Hallow,” Brie repeated. She looked at Clara, then at Cora. “Is one of you going to tell me what's going on? Where are we even going?”
“We’re going to an access point,” Cora said. “And then, we’ll be able to answer all of your questions about the Hallows—about who your mom was, and now, who you are.”
Brie’s ears perked up at the mention of her mom. “You know about my mom?” she asked. “Like, more than what you’ve read in the media?”
“Yes," Cora said. “We both met your mom many years ago. I’m so sorry for your loss.”
Brie shook her head. “That’s impossible. We’re all the same age.” Anger bubbled under the surface, but the calming wave kept washing over her, making it impossible to get mad. She breathed out in frustration. “If this is some elaborate prank, I will—”
“It’s not,” Cora said quickly. “We’re Hallows, Brie, and so are you. We age much slower than earthlies."
“Oh, come on now,” Clara said. “Why did you have to tell her so quickly? I was looking forward to hearing what she was going to do to us.”
“Stop,” Cora said, though a smile formed at the edges of her lips. She turned to Brie. “Excuse my sister, she thinks sarcasm is funny.”
“Someone needs to start explaining,” Brie said. She hadn’t spotted any paparazzi yet, but by now, the news of her leaving DeRosa Academy campus might be spreading, reaching her brother’s circle of friends.
“We should probably get back, too,” she added. “I can’t get kicked out of DeRosa for skipping class. My brother will kill me.”
“Yes, your brother,” Cora said softly. “We need to talk about him, but later.”
“In the meantime,” Clara said, “I’ll handle your absence the same way I cleaned up your mess this morning."
“You mean with the sprinklers?” Brie asked, before covering her mouth. She hadn’t meant to say it out loud; she could get in a lot of trouble if people thought she had purposely damaged school property.
“You d
idn’t know what you were doing,” Cora said. “But yes, you’re transitioning into your Hallow powers, and your thoughts—the very energy you put out—are stronger and more powerful than you know.”
“Was my mom powerful, too?” Brie asked.
“Milena was the most powerful Hallow I’ve ever seen,” Clara mumbled, staring at the window. “Though I sense that someday you’ll rival her.”
I can’t believe you guys know my mom. My mom,” Brie said. “I still don’t believe—”
“We’re here,” Clara said. The car slowed to a halt.
Brie slid across the seat, exiting the car and shutting the door behind her.
She looked up. A massive building with four pillars at least six times her height towered over them.
“Is this a church or something?” Brie asked.
“Yes and no,” Cora said.
“It’s whatever you want it to be,” Clara added mischievously.
“We’ll be safe to vibe here,” Cora said.
"Vibe?”
“It’s how we access our higher powers,” Cora explained. “This particular church is an access point, so it will be easier to access the other dimensions.”
“Dimensions?” Brie asked.
“There are seven total, layered above the reality you know. Most Hallows and Nephilim don’t access them so consciously, but rather hone their powers through vibrations to certain dimensions and only use what they need. But again, at an access point, it’s much easier to to feel the differences in the layers.”
“I’m going to scout the grounds,” Clara announced.
“For what?” Brie asked.
“Anything weird,” Clara said, as if that much were obvious. She disappeared around the corner of the building.
“Ignore her,” Cora said with a smile. “Whenever supernaturals use their powers, our vibrational patterns leave a residue. She’s checking to see if there is any recent residue, possibly from the blonde girl… or maybe from someone else.”
“What would that mean?” Brie asked.
“Well, there aren’t many Hallows and Nephilim out here on the islands. Not enough infrastructure for most, and they prefer to live in the city centres all over the world where they don’t have to hide their powers. We’ve been monitoring the access points to see if anyone from the Archworld is coming or going. Ideally, we have few visitors. The fewer Hallows and Nephilim, around, the easier it is to protect you.”
Instruments of the Angels (Hallows & Nephilim: Waters Dark and Deep #1) Page 4