Decimate

by Sheridan Anne

  Hands start raising as questions are shouted out. “Please, keep your questions to the end, the reason you are here is still to be discussed,” he says, shutting them all up.

  “It has come to light that Kaylee Neill,” he continues, indicating towards the woman in question. “Is part-fey and was behind the kidnapping, putting the events in motion. Some of you will remember her. She is my half-sister and was dismissed from The Guard nearly 10 years ago.”

  “Following the rescue, she spoke of the Fey’s plan B, had the initial plan failed,” he says, glancing around the room to ensure he has every single person’s attention. “The Fey have built an alliance with the vampires who have, over the last year, been creating an army in order to take out The Guard. Their plan is to start with The Academy, they plan on a mass murder, then will move on to our communities and eventually headquarters,” he says. “We believe, due to recent events they plan to move soon. We must be prepared.”

  At this, he allows for questions to be asked. One man in a dark suit and silver hair stands as Rylan directs his attention to him. “You mentioned, they have been creating this army for a year. Why is it believed they will make a move soon?”

  Rylan straightens himself out, looking directly at the front row of suits. “Because last night, I shot and killed the Fairy Queen.”

  The room erupts. Some in shock, some cry out in glee. Questions are thrown all over the room and it becomes impossible to make out just one voice. People stand from their seats and the room turns into a flurry of activity. The fighters from the front lines, all immediately get up and leave the room as a few linger behind, hovering near any exits and windows.

  “What’s going on with the front line?” I ask Daniel.

  “I’d say they’re putting The Academy into Lockdown,” he says. “It’s standard procedure when our people are under threat.”

  Damn it. I should have known that. “Right,” I answer. “Was pretty impressive that they just got up and acted, nobody needed to say a word or even give an order. They just knew,” I say in awe.

  “Yep,” he agrees. “That will be us in 6 months,” he smiles.

  It takes at least 10 minutes for the noise to die down and for the crowd to begin taking their seats once again. Rylan lets out an ear-shattering whistle that has the last of the crowd paying attention.

  “We don’t have time for all your bullshit arguing and mindless chatter. A plan needs to be put in place as to how we are going to protect the children in this Academy and our communities. Now does anybody have any further questions that will actually be helpful?” he asks as I stare at him in shock for the way he has just spoken in front of The Guard, even more shocked that they haven’t called him out for it, though, this is The Rylan Neill.

  “Ye,s” one man responds, standing up to be seen amongst the crowd. “I am curious why the part-fey was brought along?” a few murmurs are heard around the room, all in agreeance, all wanting to know why Rylan hasn’t disposed of Kaylee yet.

  “Good question,” he starts. “As part-fey, Kaylee possesses the gift to sense when her Fairy relatives make decisions. As such, when the fey have decided to move against us, they will call for their brothers and sisters to join them. Kaylee will feel this call and I believe we should keep her around and exploit this gift to give us an advantage.”

  “How do you know she won’t lie to us or send a message back to the Fairies about our plans. I mean, after all, she seems like some kind of criminal mastermind,” another person asks.

  “We don’t know that,” Rylan responds coldly. “But at this moment, it’s all we’ve got. As the kidnapping was Kaylee’s idea and I, being her brother was the one who infiltrated the Fairy Kingdom and killed their Queen. She is currently on their radar and has been ‘missing’ since the rescue mission, it is more than likely she will be labelled a traitor by the Fey and killed upon sight. She cannot leave this academy without her life being under threat, by us or the Fey. I believe she has nothing to lose by remaining honest with us.”

  Rylan gets a few nods of agreement from the crowd as he continues. “I believe there is not much for us to do at this moment until The Guard, The Council Members and the Front Line make a decision on how to proceed,” he says dismissively. He gives a nod and begins to clear away from the podium.

  A tall man, with broad shoulders and dark hair, sitting directly in the very centre of the front row stands. The most impeccable suit covering his body and I know immediately that this man is extremely important, every eye in the room follows his movements. “Rylan Neill,” he calls out.

  Rylan stops mid-step, his back straightening as he turns his sharp gaze on the man. I notice a slight tightening in Rylan’s body, the only tell that whoever this man is, it is not ok for him to be addressing Rylan. A desperate need to rush onto the stage and stand by Rylan’s side to offer my support and any kind of assistance fills me, but a nagging voice in my heads tells me that probably isn’t the best idea.

  Rylan’s eyes narrow at the well-dressed man. “You have led the very first successful rescue mission into the fairy Kingdom, taken out one of The Guards biggest threats, managed to save the girl and come out alive to tell us about it. I would be interested in hearing what your thoughts are on how to proceed.”

  Rylan turns his body to directly face the man and takes the few steps back to the podium. He lets out a breath then quickly glances to me. I give him the quickest nod, letting him know he has my support and love. I watch on as he addresses the crowd.

  “I believe our smartest course of action would be to take the fight to them. We wait until they have made the decision to attack. It will take a little while for them to gather their vampire army. Then we make our move. They believe they have the element of surprise, but they are wrong, that lays in our hands. We draw them out, the vampires cannot teleport the way the Fey can, so they will need to travel here. We will meet them at the time and place of our choosing, with a great show of force and take out the threat before they know what is going on,” Rylan nods to show he has finished his explanation. Murmurs fill the crowd once again.

  The very man who had asked the question steps up to the stage and takes the podium as Rylan subtly makes his exit. He comes and stands by me, not touching or acknowledging my presence as any professional instructor of The Guard would.

  “Thank you for calling this meeting and bringing this matter to our attention,” the man nods to Rylan, who studiously ignores him. The man takes his dismissal in stride and faces the crowd. “Rylan has given us all a lot to think about and discuss. I would like to now excuse you all to have a closed meeting with The Guard, Council, and front lines to discuss our options. Please exit the great hall in a timely and appropriate manner, making your way towards the guest housing. All students please go immediately to your dorm rooms as the Academy is now on lockdown. Thank you.”

  The room immediately erupts into loud buzzing noise as people begin to scatter around me. “Who is that?” I ask Rylan who hasn’t yet moved.

  “That’s Brett Norrington,” he scowls.

  “Whoa… as in current Leader of The Guard, Brett Norrington?” I ask, picking my mouth up off the floor.

  “Yep,” he answers, staring straight ahead at the very man in question.

  “Ok…,” I say cautiously. “What’s with all the grouchiness and death glares you’ve been sending his way?”

  His eyes finally focus on mine as he lets out a breath. He attempts to remove the scowl from his face, but it just doesn’t work. “You should get back to your dorm before you get yourself in trouble. I’m going to stick around for the meeting,” he says dismissively.

  “Rylan,” I say, sending him a look a mother would send a naughty child. “What’s going on?”

  He stands up and takes a step into my personal space, towering over me. I look up into the dark, gold speckled eyes I have so desperately fallen madly in love with. His eyes soften as he gazes down at me and I watch as his lips press into a tight line. “Bret
t Norrington is my father,” he says, ever so quietly.

  For the second time in just as many minutes, I’m picking my jaw up off the ground. What the hell? His father? Who would have ever known? I spin on my heel and take in the man still standing behind the podium, who I find is currently gazing at me with the same curious eyes. Eyes that I now notice, seem quite familiar, as does the striking jawline and beautiful dark hair. Holy cow. This man is 100% Rylan’s father.

  Brett’s eyes flick between me and Rylan, clearly coming to some sort of conclusion about our relationship. I give him a tight smile and a quick nod, hoping he understands that on a personal level and turn to face my still brooding man. “Can you come and let me know how the meeting goes?” I ask, hoping I’m not crossing some sort of imaginary line.

  “Yeah,” he whispers with a quick nod. “Now get out of here before I have to get you out of yet another detention,” he says, a small smile returning to his lips.

  “K,” I say with a wink as I turn and leave the great hall.

  ----------

  As I make my way out of the Great Hall I take a quick look around for Jacinta and after a few short moments, I realise she must have taken off without me. I make my way across campus and head straight for my dorm, pushing through the door to find Trey and Jacinta making out on her bed. “Ugh… You guys, I don’t want to see that,” I groan as Jacinta breaks into a fit of giggles.

  “Well you better turn around, cause it’s about to happen again,” Trey warns as his hand slides down her body and his head ducks back down to meet hers.

  Ewww. I rummage through my wardrobe as quickly as possible and hastily make my escape into the bathroom. After not having a proper shower and having Rylan attempt to wash my hair and on top of that, wearing someone else clothes, I’ve been dying to get into my bathroom, with my own shampoo and body wash and scrub myself silly.

  I strip off in front of the mirror taking note of the ugly bruises and cuts that cover my body and remind myself just how lucky I am to be alive. To get to experience yet another day with Rylan and my friends by my side.

  I step into the shower and give myself just what I need. I scrub and scrub until I am squeaky clean, every tiny slither of dirt, out from under my nails, the dried blood washed completely from my hair, hell, my teeth brushed with my own toothbrush.

  I climb out of the shower and wrap my wet hair up in my towel and make sure to rub creams into all my injuries. I get dressed into my workout gear as all classes have been cancelled until further notice, which means, after not working out since Friday afternoon, I have just a little bit of energy to burn.

  I throw my hair up in a bun and make my presence known to the occupants of my room before stepping out of the bathroom.

  I grab my shoes and socks and sit down on the edge of my bed to tie them up.

  “You’re not seriously going to workout, are you?” Jacinta asks in the most disapproving tone imaginable.

  I send her a smirk and a look that say ‘duh’ as I reach for my iPod.

  “No way,” she scolds, pushing Trey off her, who groans in objection. She jumps to her feet in front of me. “You can’t, not after everything you’ve been through. Your body hasn’t healed enough,” she scolds.

  “She’s right,” Trey says. “As much as I would like to be alone with Jacinta right now, there is no way I’m letting you go out for a workout.”

  “I’ll be fine,” I assure them. “I’ll keep it light and be back in an hour.”

  “Rylan is going to kill you,” she warns.

  “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, right?” I ask with a smirk.

  “Are you seriously quoting Kelly Clarkson to me right now?” she huffs.

  “Yeah,” I laugh. “Rylan is at the meeting, he will never know that I was working out, I’ll be back and dressed way before that meeting lets out.”

  “Rylan always knows,” Trey warns.

  I roll my eyes at them. No amount of ganging up on me is going to work. Not today. I’ve been through hell and back and if this girl wants to go for a quick run in the gym, then that is what this girl is going to damn well do.

  I put my earbuds in as I flick through my iPod, searching for something to get my blood pumping. I pull the door open to leave and walk straight into a petite body. “Whoa, sorry,” I say on auto-pilot. I pull my earbuds out and glance up at the poor person I just attempted to bowl over.

  Nora. Great. “Can I help you?” I ask, cautiously, wondering why in the hell she is hovering outside my dorm room.

  “Ah… yeah,” she responds equally as awkward as I. “I um… bought you these,” she says raising a handful of bags in front of me which I immediately recognize as mine and Jacinta shopping. Score.

  “Thanks,” I say taking the bags from her.

  A guilty look passes over her face. “Don’t thank me,” she says. “I was on the shopping trip on Saturday and noticed the bags on the bus and when nobody claimed them I realised it must have been yours, so I took them out of spite,” she confesses.

  “Ok…,” I say. “So… Why are you giving them to me now?”

  “I was just talking to Daniel, he told me everything that happened. I just assumed you were late getting on the bus or something. So… um… yeah, I figured after everything you’ve gone through, you should at least have your shopping.”

  I study her for a short while. Was that a Nora form of an apology? Who could be sure? “Ok, well I guess, thanks for bringing it back?” I say, stepping back into the room to put the bags down. I turn back to the door expecting her to have left but am equally as shocked when I find her still hovering in my doorway. “Is there something else I can help you with?” I ask.

  She looks past me to see who is in the room, to find Jacinta and Trey gawking mindlessly at the events unfolding before them. She focuses her attention back on me, a slight scowl on her face. “I saw your little red lingerie you bought. Don’t be expecting to use that on Daniel,” she demands.

  I choke on my own breath and give myself a second before responding. “Nora, there is nothing for you to worry about with Daniel. Yes, I love him, but I love him like a brother, he is one of my closest friends and there is no way in hell I’d be getting together with him. That’s just kind of weird,” I say, exaggerating the truth, but I mean, she doesn’t need to know just how hot and steamy things between me and Daniel used to be.

  “Look, I love him,” she declares. “I know he doesn’t feel that way about me, but I think he could and I see the way he looks at you. It’s the way I want him to look at me. Which is kind of why I hate you so much at the moment.”

  “Yeah, I worked that out,” I admit with a smirk. “But quit stressing, he is a friend and will always be just a friend.”

  “Ok, whatever,” she says, bringing her snappy attitude back into play. “But if you didn’t buy that lace thong for Daniel, who did you buy it for?” she smirks.

  “Oh, you know,” I say. “You never know when a girl might need a teeny, tiny, red lacy thong.”

  “Ha, ain’t that the truth,” she scoffs, then suddenly looks around, realising where she is. “I better go before someone sees me here,” she says in panic.

  She leaves in a rush and I can’t help but feel that I have just sort of made a friend in Nora. That couldn’t be right, though. I turn and head back into the room, confusion rattling me. “What the hell was that?” I ask, flopping down onto my bed, my work out completely forgotten.

  Jacinta lets out a slow breath and shakes he head in confusion. “I have no idea.”

  I lay down in bed going over the last two days and contemplating what the next few might hold when a sudden thought rips through me and I realise that I must be an awful person.

  I grab my phone and dash out of my dorm room, making my way out into the quad and hoping I don’t get caught. Though, I doubt anybody has the nerve right now to tell me what I can and cannot do. I sprint across the senior campus and make my way into the junior dorm room, coming to a screeching
halt in front of my little sister’s room.

  I bang hard on the door, demanding entry when a tear streaked Millie answers the door. She gasps as she registers me before her and I realise, nobody has come to tell her I’m alright.

  “Bianca,” she sobs throwing her arms around me. I hold her tight as she cries into my chest. Vowing I will stand right here for as long as she needs.

  “I’m so sorry, I soothe. “I’m ok. They came and got me,” I add, knowing I don’t need to expand on who ‘they’ are.

  We stand in her doorway for another ten minutes while she pulls herself together.

  “Come on,” I say reaching for her hand. “I need to give mum a call.”

  Chapter 21

  After an hour of convincing my distraught mother that I’m fine and that she doesn’t need to pack a bag to make her way down here. She finally lets me go.

  Millie and I head back up to my dorm and I hope to God that Trey and Jacinta aren’t still fooling around on the bed, as my little sister does not need to get any ideas, considering the fact she is now dating.

  Pleased to find my friends hands to themselves, we enter the room and plop down on the couch where Millie blasts us all with questions about our last 48 hours. Half way through Trey’s descriptive recap of our fight for survival, Daniel pops his head through our open window. “Anybody hungry?” he asks with a panty dropping smile, holding up a bag full of food.

  My tummy rumbles immediately at the smell of the food coming in through the window and I suddenly realise it’s after 8 pm. Where did the day go? We quickly usher him into our room and dig straight into our dinner, going over all our thoughts and guesses as to what could be happening in the meeting.

  “Just so you know, you’re never allowed to go back to the mall,” Jacinta says with a change of topic.

  “What?” I gasp. “No way, I love going to the mall.”