“I understand,” Sophie agreed. ”Let’s spend the midterm digging up for evidence to nail this murderer!” Sophie was surprised at the raw anger in her voice.
“You’re a good friend,” Boke said, taking Sophie’s hand into hers. Sophie squeezed back.
“You’re a good friend too. So do we have a deal? No more mopping about and eating air..” Boke laughed now.
“That’s silly,” she said with a childish giggle.
“Think about that next time you start starving yourself.” They laughed again quietly.
Sophie’s smile died as she thought of something.
“What?” Boke prompted.
“It’s midterm. Won’t the doors be closed?”
Boke’s smile widened cheekily. “When has that ever stopped us?”
Sophie grinned. “Never!”
“Let’s get back,” Boke now said, making to stand. “Good luck tomorrow.”
“You too!” Sophie said.
“I'm not participating,” Boke said stubbornly.
“Then you'll be cheering!” Sophie replied with a chuckle, imagining Boke singing some silly songs to cheer on her teammates. “All not taking part in sports are to volunteer or cheer for their teammates.”
“Why didn’t anyone tell me that?” Boke cried out in a horrified whisper.
“Your own fault for not talking to me these past weeks. I could have told you,” Sophie said with a wicked grin. “Now your face will be splattered with your team colors, and you’ll be expected to cheer. I hope red suits you!” Sophie ran off into the darkness chuckling, leaving behind a very horrified Boke.
Chapter 27
Everyone was in their best humour Tuesday morning, as they were done with midterm exams, and were not yet burdened with the results, which were due that Friday.
The olympics were a colourful affair at Drachenburg. The four colour teams of mixed supernatural races occupied the four corners of the school field, each team decorating their base with their team colours, faces splashed with paint, as they cheered or jeered. In these three days, few cared what Being they were. All wished to win, and that was all.
While a nervous Sophie paced about as she waited for the football game she’d been signed up to participate in to start, a fuming Boke, her face painted red, tried not to take out her anger and frustration on her cheerfully jostling and laughing teammates.
Sophie was still unable to explain how she’d found herself in yellow team girl’s football team, even as the referee blew the whistle for the game to begin. The yellow team captain, a senior Witch, had signed her up for three events; the tennis female doubles together with an Avalon girl, 4x400m relay, and football, insisting on how important it was to have a real athlete, rather than just power and muscle in the team. Plus, she added, there's a quota to satisfy.
Sophie was certain it was her fault yellow team lost football. Ten minutes into the game and she still had to touch the ball! She was such a mess, having never played the game before, and it didn’t help when the Werecat and Avalon girls whizzed past her so fast, that she barely had time to find out in which direction the ball was. New balls kept been thrown in almost every other minute, as the Supernatural Beings kept smashing flat the balls, all in the pursuit of a win.
The only time Sophie’s presence on the field registered was when a Werecat girl ran through her, literally, and Sophie fell, grazing her knee. The game now stopped been about the ball for the Avalons participating. All Avalons on the field stopped in their tracks and turned towards Sophie as the scent of her blood hit their nostrils.
Sophie quivered in fear, for never before had she seen them like this, ready to feed. The veins on their bodies protruded, forming an intricate network of dark veins, a great contrast to their pale skin. Those youngest and closest to Sophie opened their mouths to snarl, their upper lips curling backwards to reveal the full size of their long clear fangs.
The school nurse, a Witch, and a number of staff members ran to Sophie’s aid, forming a wall around her as the nurse quickly bound her bruise, while some freshmen Avalons were held back from bounding towards her by their teammates and LEs.
Sophie finally breathed easier when she was led off the pitch, and a sophomore Faery replaced her. The whistle was blown, and they proceeded with the game, crashing into each other with so much momentum that the game resembled rugby more than it did football.
¨Whoa! You were almost some vamps’ dinner for a second there!¨ Klaus said when he meet her halfway, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. He seemed to understand that she needed some grounding. He didn’t comment on her shaking as they walked towards the bleachers.
Markus was a comically disturbing creature. His eyes were filled with concern, though it was clear he’d been affected by the scent of her blood, as his skin was covered by those angry black veins thickly intertwined, and though he didn’t snarl, his eyes were black as tar. Sophie shuddered nervously under Klaus’ arm, and may have even instinctively drawn closer to him.
¨Take a walk addict!¨ Klaus said sharply to Markus. He hesitated for a second, but then quickly scampered away, a number of disgusted Witches and Faeries in Sophie’s team shoving him and the other young Avalons off the bleachers.
¨Run around a couple of times. It helps,¨ a senior Avalon called after them, keeping himself planted on his seat. His presence scared Sophie a little, but the concern and kind words from the rest of the Witches and Faeries in her team was comforting.
¨Don't worry, the first time it happened to Fiona she pissed her pants!¨
¨I did not!¨ The Faery argued, attempting to shove her Werecat boyfriend off the bleachers. He was too strong though, managing to overpower her and tickle her instead while trying to kiss her neck.
They spent the rest of the day watching the other field games and cheering for their teammates. Sophie’s tennis match was scheduled for tomorrow, which gave her enough time to heal.
Her wound was healed by the time they got back to their dorm apartment to shower before dinner. Her Faery nature helped with the quick healing, as did the balm the school nurse used on her.
“Are you okay?” Keira’s voice was hesitant and small as she leaned against the door frame to their room. Sophie pulled her head from her wardrobe and turned to her cousin. It wasn’t the anger of these past few weeks, but concern that covered her face.
“I’m certain it was a very traumatising experience. I was scared too,” Keira said. “Are you okay?” Unable to find the right words to answer her, Sophie ran into her cousin’s arms.
She expected resistance, but rather she met with openness and warmth. Keira held her tight, and Sophie squeezed back.
“Please don’t be angry with me,” Sophie whispered. “You’re the only family I know beside my parents, and my parents aren’t here.” The words tumbled out of Sophie’s mouth. Keira stiffened now, but kept holding her for a moment longer, before pulling back.
“She is a Wailer!” Keira reminded her in a sharp half-whisper.
“I know,” Sophie found herself whispering back. “But- she’s my friend.”
“She can’t be trusted. How can you be friends with her?”
“She wouldn’t. She’s.. she’s here for a whole other reason. Do you honestly think I’d be friends with her if she had ill intentions?” Keira pursed her lips, but said nothing.
“She tried to help you,” Keira said reluctantly.
“What do you mean?”
¨She practically flew off the top bleacher and was walking towards you fast, chanting something. I-I think she wanted to protect you, because the Avalons around her began bending over and groaning in pain.” Keira was in red team with Boke, and would have easily witnessed all this. “I had no idea she was so powerful already. But she is a Wailer afterall.¨
¨Really? She tried to help me?¨ Keira ignored her question.
“What are you two doing?”
“I can’t tell you that.”
“It’s a dangerous game you’re
playing, cousin,” Keira said with a sigh, before turning to leave the room as the dinner warning bell had gone off a few minutes back. They found Aimi waiting for them outside.
¨I was so freaked out when I saw how the Avalons reacted,” Aimi began, settling on Sophie’s other side, taking her hand, and squeezing it. If she’d overheard Sophie and Keira’s conversation, it didn’t show. “And yet you were so far in the field. I didn’t even know you were hurt until I saw the nurse’s convoy. To think they could smell your blood from that distance!¨ She shuddered, and Sophie wrapped a reassuring arm around her as they made their way down the stairs, which made for a rather awkward attack on the stairs, but none of the three girls let go.
¨I was so scared, seeing their faces transformed into mini-monsters,” Aimi went on. “But I heard rumours that Boke helped in keeping them from attacking you.” Both Keira and Sophie nodded, neither of them ready to have Aimi know that Sophie and Boke were friends.
“You can never trust Wailers,” Keira recovered to say.
“How do you know she’s a Wailer Witch?” Aimi asked.
“Can’t you tell she’s a different kind of Witch? What else can she be?” Keira asked. “Plus, she’s a Maiga.”
“I heard they were all dead..”
“Maigas?” Sophie asked.
“Yes, Maigas… and Wailer Witches.”
“I heard so too,” Sophie’s cousin said, “but clearly we must have heard it wrong.”
“I won’t believe it until I have proof.”
“Your funeral!” Keira exclaimed.
¨Anyway, she fits the mold- I think she hates Avalons,¨ Aimi added in a whisper. ¨Have you noticed how she makes sure to sit as far away from Markus as she possibly can at the dining table, and yet they’re neighbours?¨ She chuckled now. ¨And every time an Avalon comes close to her, she starts muttering to herself, like warning spells. They are all scared of her. So cool!¨ Aimi hero-worships.
“I wonder what your family would say to hear you speak in so much awe of her!” Keira rebuked her sharply.
“Well, my family isn’t here now.” Aimi responded just as sharply, and Sophie bit back a smile, glad that Boke was already winning some of her critics over. “Plus, vampires are scared of her. I already love her.”
¨I don’t think they like to be called vampires,¨ Sophie pointed out.
¨Whatever! I'm not scared of them now. I’ll just make sure to be a little more friendly with Boke so that she can protect me too, should they try any funny business on me. Maybe- maybe she can curse my blood and make it a repugnant to them!¨
“Aimi!” Keira and Sophie both checked her, looking around to ensure no one overheard her.
Chapter 28
Sophie’s tennis match went splendid, and they managed to win despite playing against two Werecats. The Avalon girl was very fast and a good player, and Sophie had the skill. Together, they demolished their pumped up opponents. Use of too much force in tennis was disadvantageous, as it mostly ended up with destroyed balls or rackets, rather than a win. The yellow team was ecstatic at their win, and Sophie was glad to have finally redeemed her athlete status in their eyes, without even tapping into any supernatural abilities.
Though they lose in the finals, while playing against the blue team, the Witch she lost against in Hamburg and her Werecat partner, a girl Sophie had seen at tennis practice but never talked to, second place was still a welcomed position.
After lunch, they head off to watch the swimming competitions, where Sophie’s team performs dismally yet again, dampening the morning session’s excitement.
Sophie found it difficult to get up on the third day of the Olympics. These games were taking a toll on her. She loved sports, was a great outdoors person, but competing against people a hundred times stronger and faster was taking everything from her.
“I should have just settled to being a cheerleader like you two,” she grumbled as she dragged herself into the bathroom, leaving them laughing. They were having it good, for each night they spent hours rehashing the happenings of the day, while Sophie couldn’t get to her bed sooner.
The last race before lunch found Sophie waiting beside the tracks. The gun sounded, and the runners in position set off, the starters. When all in the lineup had taken off, Sophie stepped in with the rest of the second lappers, half jogging in place as she waited to receive the baton. All those aligned with her from the other three colour teams were Faeries, so she guessed that the second lap was the position normally left to them.
When the yellow team Werecats rounded the three hundred metre mark, Sophie’s heart picked up speed. Closer and closer she came, and Sophie started running along the track her hand stretched back to receive the baton, just as the Faery in red to her left broke into a run with her baton in hand.
The baton stroke her hand painfully when it was thrust with force at her. Lacking the luxury to think over it, Sophie broke into a sprint in the opposite direction, but not fast enough as the two other Faeries sped past her, using their wings to propel them forward with each step they took, so that they were half flying, half running.
The rules of Drachenburg Olympics allow for the use of supernatural powers as long as the basic rules of the sport were followed. This was a relay race, the main rules were to run- your feet must touch the ground occasionally- within your track with your team baton in hand, which is what they were doing. Their feet were touching the ground, only each time they lept to take the next step, they took longer strides than a typical human would.
Sophie had no wings though, and therefore didn’t have a chance to keep up with them. Before she knew it, she was behind the third Faery by what could be a hundred metres. It was embarrassing, not only to finish last, but to be miles behind.
Only something weird started happening. The next stride she took was wider than naturally possible. It kept happening, and she felt an unnatural wind propel her forward, lifting her way off the ground with each step, so that her strides were more than five metres long. She was half flying too.
It was an odd sensation, and she was scared at first, but then she assumed that a yellow team Witch was helping her.
Thank you! Sophie whispered to the wind as she flew past two very perplexed Faeries, and managed to hand over her baton to the next Witch in her team, just as the fastest Faery handed over hers.
¨You, for lack of a better word, flew through that course!¨ Klaus mocked as he met her by the tracks to hand her a towel. Sophie laughed in response.
¨I just have powerful Witches in my team,¨ Sophie joked, winking his way.
Only Kluas didn’t smile back. Instead he shook his head.
“What?” She asked.
“It wasn’t anyone in our team.”
“Are you sure?”Sophie asked puzzled.
“Positive,” he said. “In fact the whole time you were half flying around the field, no one could do any magic. At least, no one in the student body.”
Oh no! Sophie thought to herself. There was only one person capable of such power.
“Boke,” she whispered, and Klaus nodded.
¨The rest of the Witches in other teams are pissed. When they saw you tearing across the field they too decided to help their teammates. Somehow Boke blocked their magic, and helped you to win. I think her own teammates hate her even more right now.¨
“Of course, oh Boke!” Sophie sighed.
¨I had no idea how strong she is,¨ Klaus exclaimed, as they arrived at their bleachers, and Markus stood to pull her up.
¨Boke?¨ Markus asked.
¨Yeah. She blocked every other Witch's power here. That's bound to make her a target among the students' Witch society. Witches tend to take such things very personally.”
“No one likes to feel powerless or belittled,¨ Sophie agreed, as invisible hands clenched at her heart and squeezed. ¨She had good intentions though,” Sophie advocated for her friend. “She did it to help me. I doubt she was entertaining the notion that others would take it persona
lly..¨
¨Relax. I am not one of those offended or feeling like my ego’s been bruised. It isn’t me to want to flex my muscles. My powers right now are so weak anyway, all I can do is cause tiny sparks with my fingers, and it’s exhausting.¨ The three of them laugh as he snapped his fingers continuously, showering tiny sparks around them that went off almost instantly.
¨You need to watch the kind of friends you make,¨ a Witch from one of the many older students around them snapped. Sophie was about to explain that the two boys had nothing to do with it, but Klaus spoke up first.
¨It isn't your place to tell us with whom we can be friends with. We reserve the right to choose,¨ he said, unintimidated by the older students.
The Witch that had spoken out seemed momentarily at a loss for words, hesitant on what to say next.
¨Your bed,¨ he said finally.
¨And we choose to lie on it, thank you!¨ Markus snapped back.
¨You guys!¨ Sophie exclaimed in a whisper. ¨She isn't even your friend!¨
¨Now she has to be,¨ Klaus joked. ¨And it better be worth it. So I’ll be needing her magical services to give me a good grade.¨
¨Me too. I completely spazzed out in Trig,¨ Markus added, rubbing his chin in feigned seriousness.
¨Shut up both of you. If there is anyone she is helping with grades, it's me. I didn’t even study!¨
The lunch warning bell sounded soon after.
¨So, do you want to officially meet her, now that you have been snubbing her the whole first half of the semester?¨
¨I’d love to,¨ Klaus said.
¨I tried talking to her before, but she wasn’t interested,¨ Markus said, as he agilely jumped off the bleachers to land on his feet four metres below.
¨Yeah, she is not a fan of vampires,¨ Sophie told him when she finally made it down.
¨I'm not a vampire. I’m an Avalon,¨ he said in a huff.
¨Point taken, vampire!¨ Klaus joked, and the two of them laughed at the pale boy's frowning face.
They found her by the red team's bleachers; her back pressed against the steel frames holding them up, her head turned to face down. Sophie ran over to her when she noticed the wet t-shirt stuck to her body, and the water dripping from her hair, and trailing down her face in thin streams that washed down some of the red paint on her face.
A Different Kind of Witch Page 15