by Avery Cross
When I was safely back in my quarters, I made sure the door was secured before I disappeared in my bedroom, locking that one too, for good measure. I never considered myself paranoid, but after what I witnessed, I was starting to wonder if there wasn’t something more happening here.
This was a military Academy at the end of the day, and they were always good at covering incidences up. They never admitted it outright, but when you had an entire family who served in the military, you tended to learn a few things the rest of the magical community wasn’t privy to. Accidents, exposures, stuff like that.
But why would they coverup students disappearing years ago? Why would they still care?
“Hey, Zach, you here?” Hunter yelled.
I told myself to get it together. “Yeah, be right out.”
“Man, you might’ve missed your chance,” he said as he neared my door. “Carter was still chatting with Briar when I left.”
I glared at my reflection in the mirror on the wall.
Course he was.
I shouldn’t have cared, but I couldn’t help it. Maybe focusing on finding a way to shut Carter down would keep me distracted from what was going on with Ivan and this robed man; but I doubted it.
Something was wrong, and I would not be a Pierce if I didn’t attempt to discover what.
Chapter Twelve
Briar
“Well would you look at that,” Carter said during one of our fire training sessions Friday afternoon. “I think you might finally be getting it.”
“Yeah, me too.”
I grinned at the ball of fire bouncing from one hand to the other and smirked to myself, knowing my success over the last two weeks had nothing to do with Carter tutoring me outside of class. This was all thanks to Zach.
I tossed the fireball high up into the air then caught it, closing my hand around it to douse it. My palm smoked, and I chanced a glance around. Nyala was chosen by water, so she was on the other side of campus. I wished we could have this class together too. She was a lot of fun, and I found myself settling more and more into the routine here at Academy.
Zach was right. The past no longer mattered, and I finally found a place I fit in. Carter was turning out to be a good friend, but when Professor Tapps announced the end of class, and he followed me to the benches to grab our things, I held my breath already knowing what was coming.
“So, they’re showing a movie in the auditorium tonight,” he said casually. “Want to go?”
“Nah, I’ve got some studying to catch up on, and there are some books I need to find in the library. It’s going to take me forever.”
“You want some help?” he offered, tagging along as I skipped going up to my quarters and instead made my way across the lawns to my next training session with Zach. “I’ve been here a few years, got pretty good at finding my way around down there.”
I smiled up at him but shrugged. “I like to do things for myself, but thanks anyway.”
“You sure you don’t want one night of fun?”
“Not really, but maybe after I survive my first semester.”
We were nearing the spirit training grounds, and Zach wasn’t there yet. I frowned, setting my tote down on the bench and waited for Carter to leave. Instead, he stayed, hands in his pockets, looking a blend between nervous and annoyed. Tough break was all I could think. I was here to learn, and he’d have to deal with it.
Besides, he was nowhere near my type, and there was someone else I’d rather have asking me to a movie. Not that it was ever going to happen. At least Jake had finally stopped sending me pics of him and Heather. Think he got the hint when I stopped replying to any texts he sent the last few weeks.
“Zach’s going to be here soon, and I wanted to start meditating.” I took a slow step toward the stone circles. “I’ll see you this weekend, I’m sure.”
“Yeah, sure,” he said, but his smile only lasted a few seconds.
I had a feeling Carter wasn’t used to being turned down, but after my breakthrough with my abilities, I was more excited to keep pushing onward with the lessons than anything else. I shook out my hands as I stepped into the circle, turning to find my comfortable patch of grass.
Raised voices garnered my attention. I lifted my head in time to see Zach and Carter, the latter throwing his arms in the air and clearly not happy. Zach looked bored and I laughed inside at whatever manly situation was occurring over there, probably because of me.
Wonder who started it? I mused to myself as I sat down and closed my eyes, letting my breathing grow steady as I began clearing my mind.
A few minutes later, I heard Zach’s footsteps as he entered the circle and sat down.
“What was that about?” I asked without opening my eyes.
“Your boyfriend seems to think I’m the reason you won’t see a movie with him.”
My eyes shot open as I glared. “He’s not my boyfriend; and is that why you look so weird today?”
The tic in his jaw was back, but he looked exhausted. I knew his classes and training were ten times harder than mine. He was training to be an aura reader for the military, and that meant more rigorous spirit sessions one on one with Professor Woods, as well as advanced fighting. I hadn’t helped much with my attitude. The past few days, though, he’d seemed strained, and possibly a bit paranoid.
“Zach?”
“I’m fine, let’s get started.” He closed his eyes.
I tried to get back to my peaceful state of mind but couldn’t seem to get there again. Zach had pushed me that first week, to get me to open up and just talk to him like a friend and now he was the one sitting there acting like nothing was wrong.
“Did Carter really get onto you for the movie thing?” I asked quietly. “I turned him down, so I could keep practicing this weekend.”
“He did, but it’s fine. Practicing what?”
“This. What we’re doing here. I’m so close to being able to astral project—”
“You can’t try that on your own.” His eyes shot open, darting around like he was worried we were being watched. “That is something you only do with either me or Professor Woods around.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s not safe. And you’re supposed to be meditating,” he scolded and shut his eyes again. “Briar, I can hear your breathing; you’re clearly annoyed. Just close your eyes so we can get to work.”
“No.” I crossed my arms.
His eyes opened again, and he mirrored me. “What’s wrong this time?”
“Oh, I’m fine. You’re the one that’s been acting strange the past few days. Care to share?”
“It’s nothing for you to be concerned about,” he said firmly.
“So there is something wrong.”
“That’s not what I said,” he argued.
“No, but it’s how you look and don’t tell me it’s your classes. I can already tell you never let school bother you.” I held up my hand to stop him from saying that exact thing.
His mouth clamped shut, and he shrugged.
I waited.
“I’m your mentor, not the other way around. I’m not the one who needs guidance.”
“And what if I’m asking as a friend?” I tried not to sound hurt he was acting exactly like a mentor instead of a friend would when he was upset. “I talked to you, remember? It’s a two-way street.”
For a second, the worry lines around his face grew worse, and I thought he was going to answer me, but instead, he got to his feet. “If you’re not in the mood to train today then that’s fine. I have work to do. Work on your meditation, and I’ll see you Monday again for training. Have a good weekend, Shroud. Maybe you should go see that movie with Carter.”
Wow, was he really upset because Carter was flirting with me? “You’re kidding, right?”
“No, actually I’m not.”
“Then what’s the problem?”
“I don’t appreciate being used as an excuse—”
My laughing cut him off a
s I rose to my feet.
“What’s so funny?”
“I never used you as an excuse. I said I wanted to work on my training this weekend. For me. I don’t want to spend time with Carter, not in the way he clearly wants. Why does he bother you so much?”
He ground his teeth, and that tic was jumping so hard in his jaw, it had to hurt by now. “I told you before, I don’t like him.”
“And as I just told you, I’m not planning on being around him except for training.”
“Good, that’s good.” He stared at the grass, hands on his hips, and didn’t move. Didn’t speak. A few students called out nearby, playing frisbee, and Zach jumped. Actually jumped as if startled by the nose. “I… uh, I’ll see you later. Just take the afternoon off. You’ve earned a bit of a rest,” he mumbled, then hurried off before I could ask him anything else.
“Ok then.” I stared around the circle and debated on trying to meditate a bit more at least, but without Zach here, there really wasn’t much else I could do on my own.
Deciding I might as well get a head start on my workload for the weekend, I gathered my things and headed to my quarters for my shower kit. Might not have worked out during this last session, or half session, but hand-to-hand and fire training always made me work up a sweat, and the weather inside this mountain never seemed to vary temperature-wise. At least on the bright side, I might not have to deal with snow.
I had just stepped out of the bathroom, running over my to-do list in my head, and ran right into Carter. “Oh, sorry.”
“That’s alright. Are you back from training early?” he asked. “Something happen with Zach?”
The way he said it made me grit my teeth as I smiled. “No, nothing.”
“Huh, well then, guess I’ll see you around.”
“Carter, you do realize it wasn’t Zach who said I shouldn’t have fun, right?” I said as he walked away. “That was all me so do me a favor? Lay off my mentor, alright?”
He held his hands up, but the look on his face was far from friendly. “Sure, only because you want to do it instead.”
Several students close by stopped to listen as my mouth dropped open.
“I’m sorry, what?” I managed to snap. “Did you… did you seriously just say that to me?”
“It’s obvious you want him. Unless of course you already have him—”
I slapped him, and a few gasps echoed down the hall, but I didn’t care.
“You’re a d-bag, that’s what you are. I’m not sleeping with my mentor. I’m trying to focus on my classes, so sorry if I don’t want to get it on with you. Maybe you should stop being such an arrogant jerk and just lay off when someone says they’re not interested.”
I stormed off toward my room, stopped, and spun back around.
“And for the record, I might’ve considered dating you down the road once I got through my first semester, but now… no probably not.”
He rubbed his cheek and looked ashamed.
I turned around and disappeared into my room. I paced around the space until the door opened and Nyala walked in.
“Want to tell me why the entire hallway is whispering your name and saying you smacked Carter?”
“Because I did.”
She sighed as she tossed her bag on her bed. “And here I thought we were making progress.”
I relayed what happened earlier and what he said to me in the hall. She blinked a few times then patted me on the shoulder.
“Yeah, that’s what I thought,” I said as she laughed.
“He’s taking it hard, huh.”
“Just a bit. I mean Zach’s my mentor, I’m not about to what, jump into bed with him?”
He said it was obvious I wanted him. I liked Zach, and the notion of him and I being more than just friends at some point did cross my mind a few times, but I was content with him being my friend for the moment. Or at least I thought he was my friend until today.
“Whatever, I’m starving. Dinnertime? With extra helpings of ice cream?”
Nyala changed out of her jeans and threw on a fun skirt and top, telling me she was probably heading to the movie tonight. She always looked cute; I’d never say it aloud, but sometimes I envied her.
“Something tells me there’s more on your mind than just Carter being a guy.”
“You know I liked him.” I pouted. “Thought I was making a friend and the second I turn him down, everything changes.”
She slipped her arm into mine as we left our quarters. “Welcome to college, right?”
We walked to the hall, talking easily as we always did. Nyala was like the sister I never got to have. We’d bonded in our short time together, and I’d opened up to her a lot more about my life growing up. And Jake, and everything else that bothered me. I really meant to thank Zach again for pushing me that day, but now it seemed he was the one in need of being pushed.
“You sure you don’t want to go to the movie?” Nyala asked after we finished off two huge bowls of chocolate fudge ice cream. “Might get your mind of Zach.”
I’d confessed halfway through dinner that I did like him but doubted there was a relationship anywhere in the cards. “Nah, I have to find some books in the library, but have fun.”
She half-grimaced, tugging on my hand.
I shrugged.
“Fine, be a bookworm.”
“Hey, at least I’m being a happy bookworm,” I threw back over my shoulder. “Night, Nyala.”
I’d brought my list with me and pulled it out of my back jeans pocket as I walked. A few students smiled at me, most people here were pretty nice, but several of the girls shot me dirty looks then whispered behind their hands.
I recognized them from my floor and wondered if they’d been up there to witness my slapping Carter. I met each glare with an even brighter smile and kept on moving until I reached the library. The first time I came here at night, the place freaked me out, but I was finding I enjoyed the quiet solitude of the endless stacks and floors of books. It was dark, but not scary dark, at least not anymore. It was warm, cozy. I would’ve been in there more if my classes and training didn’t keep me away.
I checked the list again and meandered my way through the main floor, wondering where I was going to find books on spirit summoning. I was trying to catch up on the reading materials Zach had given me at the beginning of the semester.
“Alright, where are you?” I mused aloud and started to turn down a promising aisle.
Several books hovered overhead as they returned themselves to their proper places, when I caught a brief glimpse of someone moving past the shelf.
I frowned, wondering who it was and went to check it out. I spotted the back of the person’s head and stopped.
“Zach?”
What was he doing in here and why did he look like he was trying to run from someone? I rushed down another aisle then paused, listening for his footsteps, then turned right. I wound up in the center of the main floor near the large fireplace that was always burning, but there was no sign of him. Crap. I spun around in a full circle. Nothing.
“Great, now I’m seeing things,” I mumbled as I took one more look around—
He took off way down the aisles, and I sprinted to catch up.
“Zach. Hey, slow down a minute.”
He stopped and whipped around so fast, I couldn’t stop in time and ran right into him.
“Shroud? What are you doing down here?” He glanced around me, still holding my shoulders from my bumping into him.
“I was going to ask you the same thing,” I said softly, turning around to look behind me. “What’s going on with you?”
“It’s nothing.”
“Will you stop lying to me—p”
He suddenly clamped a hand over my mouth and dragged me deeper into the shelves.
I wasn’t scared, but I sure was confused. I was still trying to talk to him through his hand when he bent down and hushed me, close to my ear, nodding toward the shelves.
I was just
beginning to think he was losing it when a figure appeared out of nowhere. Out of nothing.
He was robed and looked around intently, as if searching for something—or someone.
I nodded, and Zach let his hand fall from my mouth, tugging on my hand to drag me deeper into the library. I kept my eyes focused ahead of us until he tapped me on the shoulder, pointing down the set of stairs he’d brought us to.
Carefully, we crept down until we reached halfway, then we sprinted, ran to the next floor’s landing then to the next set of steps, and didn’t stop until we’d reached the lowest level of the library, out of breath, sucking in mouthfuls of dry, stale air.
There was less light down here, an oil lantern on the wall every few yards or so, and it was no longer nice and cozy.
“Care to explain who that was and why he was chasing you?” I asked, shoving at Zach. “What the hell is going on? What is this place?”
He paced back and forth in front of me. The calm, cool, collected Zach was gone.
I reached out for his arm to stop him. “Seriously, you’re freaking me out here.”
“This part of the library is called the catacombs.”
I shivered. Great, just great. Nothing spooky or scary about that.
Sorry,” he muttered. “Look, after that night I asked you about a sister or something and who you really were, I put the disappearances and all that crap behind me, right? Told myself it was nothing to worry about, even though when I brought it up with Hooke, he dismissed it a bit abruptly.”
“You… you told Hooke?” That was new. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I hadn’t meant to, but it was strange, alright?”
“So why are you telling me this now?”
He hesitated, but when I shoved him again he blurted out, “Because I overheard Ivan talking to some tattooed robed man on the driveway two weeks ago. They were talking about covering up something… something about student files. And I swear they mentioned more recent ones, not just the ones you told me about. Then the man left. And Ivan, he stopped to talk to me, think he knew I was listening.”