We walked across the grounds and back to the gym that she had shown me on my original tour. I spotted Adam cutting the grass as we marched down the gravel path. His head lifted as we trotted past and he raised a hand in greeting.
‘Such a nice lad,’ Miss Ross said as she waved back.
‘Yes, he is.’
THE GYM WAS just as I remembered it, and I couldn’t shake the feeling of being at an army training camp. Two large blue mats filled the centre of the room and there was a long staff at each corner. They were the same weapons I’d seen the girls using on the front lawn the day I arrived. About five foot long and smooth to the touch. There were two black rubber strips equally spaced along the staff for ease of handling. The way my palms were sweating, I could imagine causing additional damage to the surrounding area if that thing slipped from my grasp.
‘Grip the staff like so.’ Miss Ross flicked the weapon off the floor. She stood in the centre of one blue mat with her feet together.
I lifted the other staff from the floor and mirrored her stance on the opposite mat.
‘When you start to fight, bring your less dominant leg and arm to the front. This allows you to swing your dominant arm forward with more strength, like so.’
She lurched forward, bouncing on the balls of her feet and flipping the wooden staff forward at a tremendous pace. If I had been standing a foot closer, my nose would have been a bloody mess right now.
‘In a few weeks Hood Academy holds its annual sparring assessment. If we get your training up to an agreeable standard, there’s no reason why you can’t take part.’
‘Do I have to?’
‘You’ll be fine. Besides, the assessment is the perfect stage for taking your hunter oath.’
‘You mean the bit where I swear my loyalty to crown and country?’
Miss Ross smiled. ‘It’s a huge honour, Mia. You get to stand in front of your peers and promise to be a part of something special. A new family if you like.’
I’d had about as much ‘family’ time as I could stomach, so I shut my mouth and followed Miss Ross’s lead.
For the next hour, she taught me how to roundhouse kick, thrust, block and sweep. My arms ached and I was convinced that every inch of my body would be covered in bruises. I needed to work on my defence if I was going to stand any chance against my fellow students.
‘You learn fast, Mia. Your uncle will be proud of you.’
It felt strange to hear that. Only Zak had ever used the word proud around me and that was on the day he left. ‘You’re the best little sister anyone could wish for,’ he had said, ‘and I’m so proud to be your brother. Never forget that.’
‘I promised Sebastian that I’d try to fit in here, and if that means I need to throw myself into my training, that’s what I’ll do.’
‘It’s not all about school, Mia. Sebastian wants you to be able to defend yourself. I’m sure you wish you’d had this kind of training from an earlier age.’
She glanced over at me with a knowing look on her face and wide, expressive eyes.
‘Did Sebastian tell you about my dad?’
‘If you mean about the beatings then yes, he did. I’m sorry, Mia. No child should have to put up with that behaviour, especially not from a loving parent.’
I gave a sharp laugh and whirled the staff around in my hands.
‘Just for the record, my dad was not a loving parent. He was cold, calculating and a violent drunk. If Sebastian knew about that, why didn’t he come and get me earlier? Why wait until I had to watch my dad get his throat ripped out by a bloody werewolf?’
Miss Ross watched me carefully as if deciding on the appropriate words.
‘Your uncle couldn’t interfere even though he wanted to. When your mother died it created a rift between him and your father, and I don’t think Sebastian knew how to repair the damage.’
‘He didn’t have to repair anything, he just had to take me away.’ I could feel my shoulders slump as I caved in on myself. It was an automatic reaction whenever I thought about my dad. Like an inbuilt safety mechanism that helped me to shrink away and become invisible.
‘Sebastian didn’t realise it was that bad, Mia. Give him a chance to make it up to you at least. He cares about you and he can keep you safe.’
‘Like he kept my mum safe?’
The dark shadow that flashed across Miss Ross’s face told me she knew more than she was telling me. Should I divulge the information I’d found on the file in Sebastian’s office? Maybe she could tell me why my mother’s death was covered up.
As if sensing my imminent questions, Miss Ross dropped her staff in the storage bucket and headed towards the door. She pulled at the handle and exposed the lush gardens beyond the gym, calling over her shoulder as she went. ‘That’s all for today, Mia. I’m happy for you to join the rest of the class for group training.’
As she marched off, leaving me alone in the gymnasium, I felt that familiar prickling sensation down my neck. Turning to the bank of windows, I surveyed the forest beyond. Nothing.
I huffed at my reaction. Clearly, Miss Ross’s input had unnerved me more than I realised.
ELIZABETH FOUND ME sulking in the common room a couple of hours later. I’d taken it upon myself to start reading through the textbooks Sebastian had dropped off early this morning. History and science hardbacks together with a volume on myth and legend. Not the kind of schoolbooks I would have had in my old life.
‘I’m impressed,’ she said. ‘I never had you down as the studious type.’
Her eyes twinkled as she teased me and I smiled. It was easy being around Elizabeth. She made me forget that I was ever alone.
‘For the record, I’ve spent my day catching up on schoolwork and learning to fling that bloody staff around. I’m exhausted.’
‘Well don’t nod off just yet. I’ve come to collect you for class. You need to survive one more staff-whirling session then you can finish for the day.’
I groaned and Elizabeth laughed. ‘You’ll be fine, just hide at the back.’
We made our way to the gymnasium with the rest of the student body and took up our positions on the wooden floor. No mats this time. Miss Ross had obviously been extra kind to me earlier.
My stomach lurched as I spotted Felicity stride to the front of the room. If she was running this group, I was in trouble. Elizabeth glanced over at me and gave a little thumbs up sign. She had obviously had the same thought.
‘We’re going to break off into pairs.’ Felicity’s voice cut through the air like nails on a chalkboard. ‘Try to pick a partner that you’ve never sparred with.’
There was a rush of movement as the girls scuttled back and forth finding partners. I stepped up to Elizabeth’s side and claimed her before anyone else could.
‘This will be fun,’ she whispered.
I doubted that my mediocre skills with a staff would be any competition for Elizabeth’s training.
‘You mean fun for you when you whip my ass.’
She giggled. ‘Exactly.’
With everyone in position, Felicity blew her whistle and the sound of wood on wood exploded throughout the room. Elizabeth thrust forward with her dominant arm, and I lifted my staff in time to block her advance. I spotted what looked like a mixture of surprise and pride flutter across her face.
We tested one another’s skills, breaking through the defensive barriers every now and then, but I was satisfied at being able to hold my own against a more experienced fighter.
As we were so caught up in our training, neither of us saw Felicity approach until she’d lunged forward with her staff, knocking both of us off balance.
‘There’s no need to go easy on this one,’ she said, tossing an icy glare in my direction. ‘If anything, we need to push her more than anyone else so she doesn’t hold the class back.’
Elizabeth tried to intervene, but I stopped her with a raised hand.
‘It’s fine, Lizzie. If Felicity thinks I need additional help, who are w
e to argue? Maybe she could teach me.’
A hush fell over the gymnasium as I took my position across from my nemesis. I knew I didn’t stand a chance against her, but if I could get at least one or two brutal swings in I’d be happy.
We circled each other like vultures around a fresh kill. I could feel everyone’s eyes on us and prayed that I could land one half-decent strike.
Felicity lurched forward, flipping her staff skyward with her toe. Distracted momentarily by the flying weapon, I didn’t see her fist coming. She punched me hard in the stomach and I folded, dropping to my knees.
Over my shoulder, I could hear Elizabeth urging the rest of the group to keep working and hustling them back into pairs. At least if they were occupied, I wouldn’t have an audience for my downfall.
Still slightly winded, I slowly dragged myself up to my full height. Felicity was bouncing on her toes, balancing her staff in one hand and grinning at me like a feral cat. If she thought she was leaving this gymnasium without at least one bruise, then she was mistaken.
I whipped my staff up so fast she failed to see it until it connected with her chin. The loud yelp she made when my weapon found its target filled me with hope.
She snarled at me. ‘You’re going to pay for that.’
I didn’t doubt it, but I allowed myself a small moment of pride.
She pushed forward and I blocked her advance. She tried again but I was there to prevent the strike. This carried on for a while, and her frustration was evident in her angry cries. Relentlessly she attacked and I continued to defend myself. Her eyes blazed with pure hatred.
An eerie hush fell over the room as the other students watched our exchange. One of the girls called time, telling us that the class had finished and it was time to leave but nobody dared move.
During the short distraction, Felicity advanced once more and the staff flew out of my grasp as she flipped her own weapon with ease. She swept her leg out, cutting me down at the knee until I was sprawled on the floor, my staff clattering beside me.
I lifted my chin and steadied myself to stand but the butt of Felicity’s staff struck me on the side of the head. Stumbling backwards, I landed on my backside.
‘Hey, that’s not allowed.’ Elizabeth’s voice splintered the silence.
I waited for the spinning sensation to pass. The last thing I wanted was to throw up in the middle of the gymnasium with everyone watching.
Elizabeth barrelled her way to my side, pushing the girls out of the way until she reached me.
‘Leave her alone, Felicity!’
‘I’m fine, Lizzie, honestly. It was just a tap.’ The spots that swirled across my vision told another story.
Felicity laughed and whirled her staff around her arms like a baton twirler in the middle of a parade.
Grabbing onto Elizabeth’s arm for support, I let her pull me up and tug me towards the exit. I didn’t want to make a scene. Sebastian had warned me to stay away from Felicity, but I hadn’t been able to resist the opportunity to get my own back on her. Maybe it was time I started listening to him. Even if it meant ignoring the smug bitch. As I brushed past her, she hissed in my ear. ‘You should be used to getting a smack around the head. Think of it as a cure for homesickness.’
Somewhere on the other side of the hall, I heard someone suck in their breath. The air whooshed out of me as Felicity’s words punctured my heart. I felt like I’d floated out of my body and was watching the scene pan out in slow motion below me. The hunter and the hunted.
The clock above the door ticked painfully on to the next second as if the effort to move was too much. Elizabeth’s eyes widened and her mouth began to open in readiness to shout something, but I never got to hear what she wanted to say.
From deep within my gut, the rage built up and bubbled over. My fingers tensed and curled into fists as a red fog descended over me, blocking out all sound. The image of my dad’s face steamrolled through my mind, and I let out a choked sob. All I could think about was squeezing the life out of the redhead who stood in front of me.
It all happened so fast. My fist connected with Felicity’s jaw with such force that we both fell. She crashed to the gymnasium floor with a loud yelp and I landed on top of her, crushing her to the wooden floor.
She squirmed and bucked in an attempt to throw me off, but the anger that roared through my veins held me firmly in place. I straddled her body so that I was sitting on her stomach, my knees pressing into her ribcage, pinning her to the ground as I pounded her face with my fists, repeatedly, left then right.
Her arms flailed as she tried to block my advances, but something had taken over me, a darkness that I’d never felt before.
Then it was no longer Felicity’s face that I saw, it was mine, bloody and broken and begging for my father to stop.
With a rush of noise, the world came crashing back down. I could hear the screams and shouts around me and felt Elizabeth’s hand pulling at my arm and shouting my name. I looked up into her face and saw the panic in her eyes, then I felt the warmth coating my hands. I flinched as I realised I was still sitting across Felicity, who was screaming hysterically and using her arms to protect herself. The warmth I’d felt was blood, her blood. I’d punched her until her nose bled and her eye began to swell.
‘I’m…I’m so sorry.’ I jumped up and fled from the gym, Elizabeth right behind me.
My hands shook as I sat in the armchair facing Sebastian’s desk. I hadn’t had time to clean myself up before he whisked me into his office. Felicity’s blood had dried over my knuckles and I frantically rubbed at it as if this simple act would erase the memory of what I’d just done.
‘I warned you to stay away from her.’ Sebastian had been shouting at me for the last ten minutes. He hadn’t stopped pacing his office and waving his arms in the air.
‘She provoked me,’ I said again.
Sebastian held his hand out to shut me up, the skin at the corner of his eye twitching as he glared at me in anger. I recoiled involuntarily and his expression softened slightly.
‘Felicity’s family will demand your expulsion, and I don’t know if I can prevent it,’ he said, folding his arms across his chest and slumping against the wall.
‘I thought you ran this school. So much for family loyalty, eh?’
‘You really think they care that we are related? That just makes things worse, Mia.’
I shrugged my shoulders. ‘Maybe it’s not such a bad thing. I could go to school in Ravenshood but still live here, with you.’
He stared at a spot over my right shoulder for what seemed like an eternity then resumed his pacing.
‘No, I need you to remain here and continue your training. It’s important.’
My ears pricked up at his words and I felt a rumbling of unease.
‘Why is it so important to you that I stay here and train to be a hunter? Is it because a werewolf killed my mum?’
He stopped suddenly and spun around to face me, a startled expression on his face.
‘What did you say?’
I squared my shoulders and sat up a little straighter in the chair. It was time to test my uncle and his loyalties.
‘I saw a list on your desk with my mum’s name on it. The cause of death was an infected bite not a hit-and-run. Why didn’t you tell me?’
Sebastian sank down into the chair behind his desk and rubbed a hand over his face. He looked exhausted.
‘It’s true, your mother was killed by a werewolf. You were far too young to understand, and so it was much easier if you thought it was an accident.’
‘But you let all of us believe it was a car accident. My dad. Zak. We were together when the police came to the door and told us. How could you do that to us?’
I analysed my uncle as he hung his head. Any fear I may have had about standing up for myself vanished and I felt angry. What gave him the right to decide what we knew?
‘Were you having an affair with my mum before she died?’
My direct
question obviously shocked him as he spluttered an incoherent jumble of words before resting his elbows on the desk and holding his head in his hands.
‘I loved your mother very much, but no, we weren’t having an affair.’
‘Why did you love her? It wasn’t your job to love her, it was ours. Me, Zak and Dad. I don’t understand how she could be involved with werewolves unless you put her in harm’s way.’
‘Mia, there is so much you don’t understand, and that’s why it’s important that you stay here and train. Werewolves murdered both your parents. Surely that’s enough motivation to behave and trust in my judgement.’
I stood up, curling my blood-encrusted fists into tight balls. I’d had enough of people telling me how to behave, and I was fed up of the bullying and all the lies.
‘You don’t get to decide what’s right for me. As you say, werewolves killed my parents and that should be enough motivation to stay the hell away from them.’
Sebastian burst from his chair and was around the desk in a heartbeat. He stood over me and hissed menacingly into my ear. ‘I have every right to decide what’s right for you, Mia. I’m the only family you have left. Stay here until I work out what to do with you.’ With that, he stormed out of his office, slamming the door behind him.
I lowered myself into the chair, afraid that my wobbly legs wouldn’t be able to hold me up for much longer. It appeared that my dear uncle Sebastian was more like my dad than I’d first realised. It wasn’t long until the tears began to fall. I curled up in a ball and sobbed for a long time.
CONFINED TO SEBASTIAN’S office, I pulled a couple of books from the shelves and busied myself by reading. The rain hammered at the picture window and the fire popped in the grate. For such a big school, full of hundreds of girls, it was extremely quiet.
At three o’clock I heard the rumble of footsteps as the students made their way to the last lesson of the day. Only one hour to wait and then I’d be in for another slanging match with Sebastian. I briefly wondered if he’d starve me to death as part of my punishment. My stomach rumbled as if to confirm my suspicions.
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