Placing fingers on the hot cup, I moved it closer to me and watched Spenc intently as he put his to his lips and sipped. His eyes scrunched closed, and he made this disgusted look on his face and curled his lip with distaste. Leaning over the table, I pushed the sugar towards him as well as the caramel sauce. Tipping most of the sugar in and a squeeze of caramel, I stirred with the small spoon and lifted it to his mouth to drink. Releasing the grip, I watched him sip after a second’s hesitation. His eyes lit up, and there was no curling of the lip or disgust on his face. He honestly looked satisfied.
“This is o-d-h coffee?” he asked with delight. “Having to shove other things in so it can satisfy you?”
No, I thought. What I had done was made it into something that resembles hot caramel drink with a hint of bitterness from the coffee beans. If I had milk to give, it would cut the dense taste by a lot as well, but he seems satisfied with his sugary drink, sipping as he looked at me strangely. It made me realise that I hadn’t had a sip of mine.
The drink was hot. Burning liquid slipped into my mouth. I blew out steam with every breath before another drink. It was sweet. Very nice. It made me desire more until there was nearly nothing left.
Suddenly the cake arrived. Warm honey drizzled over the top, and that creamy darkened yellow swirled inside the slice. My eyes hungered it, and I almost grabbed the plate to drag to my side when I noticed Spenc was eyeing it off as well and remembered we were sharing.
Eating etiquettes came into motion, as I remembered how I was brought up. Curving the spoon through the tip, I slowly pushed down until I heard the small tap of stainless steel hitting the ceramic plate. I scooped the little nibble sized cake piece up and took a longing bite. Very sweet, smooth, sticky and thick. Wouldn’t say it was yum. Only satisfying.
“So, what do you do in your master’s class with, Dra . . . Lawliet?” he asked while we ate.
“Read books.”
“I heard there is a lot of rare books that even adults were not allowed to look at,” his eyes lit up a shade of brown as he said that.
“Yes, there was . . .” I trailed off and suddenly remembered the other day. I found a folded-up note between two books. “Yes,” I answered with a murmur.
How can I forget? That simple note on the table. I don’t recall seeing it the next day. Was it placed back or did the breeze that was coming from the open window flutter it around the classroom? I remember being absorbed into closing the window after it pushed open. It frightened me. My mind must have drifted for me to forget about the note. It has peaked my interest to know what is in there.
“Spenc,” a tapping came from the window, and I looked up at the clear glass to see teenage mages, oddly the same build as Spenc, outside. They grinned and waved. After waving, they walked around to the entrance and came through the door to tower over us with their intimidating bulky stance. “Dude, so you ran off from practice to go on a date with a Highborn.”
It isn’t a date, I thought bitterly.
“Shove it,” he said and then turned red. “Eileen, this is Jacob, Daniel, Henry and Allen. They are on my soccer team.”
“I see. Hello. Pleased to meet you.”
“She is cute up close,” Daniel leant in with a grin. “Pity you bagged her.”
“Uh, where are you headed?” Spenc asked. He was steering the conversation away from me as I awkwardly leant against the wall and was ready to bring up a protective defence.
“We wanted to cliff dive before it gets too cold,” Allen answered. “It’s going to be killer. I bet Henry falls in the water again.”
“Shut up! You talk too loud. And for your information, my gravity rune sucked back then. I touched it up since.”
“Sweet!” Spenc seemed excited.
“Want to come with the Highborn?” Daniel asked.
“Well, uh, Eileen?” he looked at me, and I looked down.
“You can go. There is somewhere I have to be,” I said in a small voice.
“Nah, it is cool guys. Maybe some other . . .”
“But . . .” I trailed off and flickered a look up into his eyes. “I want you to go.”
“Alright,” he responded quickly and stood. “I will see you tomorrow at lunch.”
“Ok.”
“Nice meeting you, Highborn!” they said enthusiastically and then raced outside the door. Energetic adrenaline pumping eyes that made me nauseated looking at them resonated off their faces.
At least he left a few bills to pay for the cake and drinks. It encouraged me to get out from this place as well.
I was roaming the path and bricks rolled in front of me as soon as I was in destination road. My mind must have drifted to runes because it began to go down towards the tunnel. Maybe walking to the Academy alone wasn’t a good idea. My thoughts always drift to runes. By the time that I get out of here, it would be midnight.
The tunnel lit up similar to a Christmas tree. Various runes caught my eyes, but there was only one that I wanted to see. The one I put on the tunnel wall.
The protector of the tunnel gave me a once over, closed his magazine and dropped his feet from the table. Looking away, I scanned the wall so that I could find the rune that I drew.
My stomach dropped, heartfelt as if it was breaking and throat closed up, as I stared at the spot where I placed the rune. However, there was nothing but a burned mark of where it used to be.
It hurt, but I couldn’t portray how much it hurt. Inside, I felt torn, as if I betrayed my Grandfather for letting his rune be destroyed.
It wasn’t a pleasant feeling.
“I tried,” he stood from the seat to stand beside me. His wrinkled old face narrowed into a grimace “Noting I can do gainst ‘em. By law, ‘ad to get taken down. Twas causing too much emotion.”
“Commotion,” I murmured, and he nodded. “Such a pity.”
“Tis. I remember good ‘ol Gospel from school. Very social. Ang round few other Highborn. Yer grandpa, Gospel use to ang out n east tower. I member him n a few friends av a walk up there on breaks.”
“Thank you.”
The old man’s voice echoed in my head, as I stood, exhausted, breathless and tired as I searched and searched the east tower for that note. If it is true, and Grandfather came up here on his breaks, this could have been his special place to hide or escape from the others. If something was brewing underneath Mage Academy, like the betrayal, leaving subtle clues, notes or anything is worth looking at. If it is from my grandfather or about my grandfather, I would like to know it all.
The sun had set when I decided to take a break from cleaning and to struggle to move. It was hard to open and close draws. With my fragile build, I ended up breaking it with my attack rune. Wasn’t too sure as to why I was looking for the note in there. I clearly left it out in the open when I closed the window; however, I have not seen it so far.
Yawning, I straightened up and felt the knots snag together and then dropped on all fours. Looking underneath the bookshelf, I dug my hand underneath and shifted the dust that clustered into balls. I breathed outwards longingly when I felt nothing. Retracting my arm, I rolled to a sitting position and leant against the bookshelf when something light touched my shoulder. Leaning to the side, a folded piece of paper fritted down beside me suspiciously. Looking up, a darkened cloud of mist spread along the wall above the bookshelf. Averting eyes, I plucked the letter from the ground and was close to opening it when I looked up and noticed outside. It is dark, the sun has already set, and plunged into silence.
Standing quickly, well, as fast as I could, I put the note into my purse and pushed the door open. It creaked loudly with the eerie silence. Peering out, nothing but the green light bobbed in the centre of the hallway. Scurrying down, I paced myself going down the flight of stairs. The long agonising stairs that if I didn’t have this necklace, would have been having accelerated breaths, tired and limp.
In the kitchen, I walked and weaved past the clustered tables and chairs. When I got halfway, a sound t
hat resembled shattered glass smashed from behind me, not that far away with my sensitive ears. Freezing, standing in one spot in the darkened kitchen, I turned slowly to notice one of the plates stacked up in the food section broken into tiny fragmented pieces on the floor. I swallowed the lump in my throat and let my veins throb. The white light illuminated skin, joint and pulsed with magic.
Looking back at the entrance of the cafeteria, I took a step when a greyish blur flew out from the ground and before my feet. Stumbling back, my stomach done backflips as a ghost came out. He wore the uniform of Mage Academy. The emblem bright and only part of himself that wasn’t wavering in and out of focus. That and his eyes. I couldn’t look away, as they sucked me into his depression. I felt it, the pain. Severe throbbing pain punctured my heart the more I stared at his sorrow filled eyes. Not only him but also several more came through walls and floors. They floated towards me with the same eyes of sadness. It kept hitting me, the wavelength of their sorrow, emptiness and pain. It suffocated any sense as I looked on immobile at the ghosts that were sucking the energy and life out of me.
Suddenly, a crack of thunder rumbled in the cafeteria along with a gush of wind. It billowed my senses back to normal with the harshness. I blinked profoundly until a mage came into focus. Warm fingers laced around my arm and tugged me forward. I moved and raced past the ghosts that turned into greyish streams of essence from the sudden noise.
Outside of the cafeteria, I whirled around and spun to the wall. Arms on either side slammed against my head and tensed. Fiery gold eyes glared down at me. His nose flared and chest was rising and falling in heavy bursts.
“Didn’t Mika tell you to make noise?” he demanded, and I nodded slowly and looked down at my boots. “Why didn’t you?”
“I couldn’t,” I whispered.
“What? Why couldn’t you? It isn’t hard to knock shit over or talk loud enough to keep –”
“I can’t,” I said again. My voice didn’t break, but it must have gotten through somehow because his arms relaxed and he pushed away from me to straighten up.
“When I was young was the first time I realised that I was different from everyone else. I fell off the top balcony. I was a little daring back then, doing things my brothers often did. I wanted to be one of them. To do crazy stupid things Donte and Nixon were often caught doing. However, I wasn’t well balanced nor have I ever perfected the art of walking across a railing, pretending it was a tightrope. Slipping, I fell to the side and landed awkwardly. I heard the snap before the throbbing pain. As my leg twisted oddly, I sat there in deep torturous pain. I wanted to scream, cry out but nothing came. The car pulled up in the driveway and Mum, Dad and Hopper got out and started towards the path to the door. Blinking slowly, my parents walked past and went inside. They didn’t notice anything wrong with me.” I stopped talking because another pain clenched my chest up as I recalled my parents doing nothing.
Hurt, wounded and distraught, I wanted to cry out for more than the pain with the broken leg. Then I felt the warmth, as a soft hand touched the top of my head and smoothed down my hair. Looking up, Hopper crouched down and smiled softly at me. He lifted my pain a little, as he carried me inside.
“I have never been loud; I can’t scream or talk as loud as an average mage would. I don’t know why I can’t, but it is merely impossible for me. I am sorry for getting you involved, but why are you here?”
“Me yelling at you has made you a chatterbox,” he smirked, and I looked away and felt my face grow red. “I knocked on your door so that I could agree with this stupid excursion. Your brothers are twisted assholes that made me run around in a mouse hunt finding you only to feel like a fucking idiot because of course, you would have gone to the classroom, nowhere near a particular dating spot where mages make-out.”
“Thank you.”
“For giving in and giving you your excursion or saving your ass.”
“Saving my ass.”
“Huh?” he leant against the wall, close to me and said in a somewhat alluring voice, “You don’t want to go on the excursion now?”
“Yes, but . . .” I looked back towards the cafeteria. Greyish blurs gone. Nothing but silence muffled the darkened room.“It is somewhat irrelevant after seeing the ones who died in the betrayal.”
Chapter 13
Eileen – Alive?
I have learned the reason why you have to be loud in the cafeteria. Ghost. Not any ghosts, but the ghosts of mages that were massacred in the betrayal. If I thought deep enough, I suppose I would have figured it out on my own without lurking in the darkness of the cafeteria and waiting for a ghost to pop out to haunt me. It was petrifying. The fact that looking at them drained me completely of whatever happiness I had and replaced it into depression and dementia to the mind. How a student hasn’t run out of the Academy has me beat.
Along with that, I stared plainly at Lawliet. He stretched his arm and waved goodnight. As he had done so, I stood at my door and struggled to understand the reason as to why he raced around to look for me. If he changed his mind suddenly and wanted to go on the excursion, he could have said it tomorrow morning when we went to class. I am grateful he saved me from the betrayal, even after I found out that they won’t harm me physically but will wound me a little emotionally. It still didn’t make sense as to why he was desperate to tell me tonight.
I puffed cheeks and opened the door to my home. I went into my bedroom and shuffled back in bed. Turning on the lamp, it dimly illuminated the room with its orange glow. The shadows were climbing dramatically up the wall. Unzipping my purse, I took the small folded note out and flipped it around a few times.
It is small. As big as my palm. An item that can easily be misplaced. Nevertheless, with some strange magic, it landed on my shoulder when I was almost ready to give up.
I blew a breath of air out and let a fingernail curl underneath the smooth, sharp corner and flicked it up. The tightening in my stomach confirmed that this was surely my grandfather’s handwriting. Not only that, but I knew from the outside, the paper itself was newish and the writing was fresh. This wasn’t done seventy-five plus years ago, this was done recently, and the note was addressed to me.
Chapter 14.
Eileen – Let’s play a game.
This is a game you and a friend can play.
A game that is not pretend.
A game where life is at stake.
Don’t be frightened, Eileen, I will make sure you’re safe.
Only ensure that the rules listed stay and make no mistake.
Find me in the class, where no light can be seen.
Only then can you seek rule number one two and three.
But be careful, my dearest granddaughter.
For there are mages that would like to keep this game from unravelling and coming to an end?
A game he says but with one friend, however, there is one person I can trust, but the thing is, does he trust me? The answer that comes to mind is a definite no.
Rereading the letter repeatedly, I don’t see as to why I expected words to pop out and me to figure out everything already when the demand clearly said to go to the classroom and make sure there is no light. It cannot be done now, as the slither of morning light came through the gaps in the curtain. I spent too much time sitting here and trying to figure out how to make my friend play this game.
Without sleep, almost in the form of a walking zombie, I dragged my feet out and to the bathroom. I grabbed the handle. My senses must have dulled, for it took me a couple turns to realise there was noise that was coming from the other end. Isilies thought that it was the twins were fooling around, and it made him nervous. He yelled outwards and told me he has a shield crystal up incapable of them in entering. Sadly, if he did say that and they were here, it would give them more reason to try to open the door so that they could prove Isilies wrong.
Releasing my grip, I stepped back, rubbed eyes and mechanically went to the kitchen where Hopper was flipping pancakes. He must h
ave looked at me carefully because when I slipped into the seat at the counter, he placed a small potion bottle at fingertips. The dark white liquid, similar to sand lifted in sea sloshed inside.
Hopper always has something strange hidden in his suit jacket, and I have always been curious as to know what was inside. He is very handy, honest and lovable fluffy creature that has evil tendencies of making us do things we never want to do.
Unscrewing the lid, I slipped the half a mouthful of liquid inside. The slight barely there taste slid down my throat easily, and the vibrancy of day hit me quickly. Suddenly feeling as if I had a very long sleep and energised, the pancakes resting on the plate, steaming and dripping in strawberry sauce looked delightful.
I dressed earlier and had everything ready an hour before class even starts for me. The thought of walking through the cafeteria to get to the east tower doesn’t necessarily worry me. It was the feeling of remembering those souls that haven’t been rested and was roaming around at night desperate for an escape. It was like reliving their nightmare.
“My Mistress, you came back exceptionally late last night. Were you with that boy still?”
“No,” I answered. “I went to my classroom to finish studying.”
A small lie, but a lie nonetheless. I have never lied or avoided telling the truth to anyone ever. If Isilies, Hopper, Donte and even Nixon asked where I was or what I was doing, I would oblige and answer truthfully. We were brought up that way, never to keep things from others when told. However, if Grandfather is still alive out there, I want to - even if it is for a little time - keep this knowledge to myself. I love my Grandfather and him disappearing on me with no answer hurt. Now that I have a slither of a reason as to why, I want to know more, and if I want to know more, I have to play his game. A game only a friend and I can play.
“Oh, that is a relief,” Hopper smiled.
Emotionless: (Prototype: Zero book 1) Page 16