I needed to do something fun today, something normal. I quickly dressed and walked down the hall to May’s room. It took her a moment to open the door.
“What’s up?” she said through a big yawn.
“Do you want to do something today? Go to town, shop a little?”
She frowned. “What time is it?”
“It’s nine.”
She turned around while smoothing back her dark hair, which she had been growing out, and looked at a clock on her wall. “I would love to, but I have to meet with Dr. Han at noon.”
“On a Sunday?”
“I know, boring. He’s having my class meet with another Fury, and this was the only time the person could come.” She shrugged. “We’re discussing what it’s like for Furies on the ‘outside.’ Maybe Kiera could go with you.”
“Doesn’t she hang out with her dad on Sundays?”
“That’s right. She does.” May played with her hair. “I wish I didn’t have this thing. I could really use some shopping time.” Here eyes narrowed. “How are you going to get there?”
“Sophie said I could borrow her car sometime. In a minute I’m going to find out if she meant it.”
“So you’re going by yourself?”
“Probably, unless—” A thought occurred to me. “I have to go, but I’ll see you tonight.”
I skipped the elevator and took the stairs to the fourth floor, where all the teacher’s offices were. My guess was Sophie was still here despite it being the weekend. She never spoke of going anywhere else.
My hunch was right, but Sophie was in her office with Abigail going over paperwork. I stuck my head into the doorway. “Hey, Sophie,” I whispered.
Sophie looked up. “Good morning, Llona. Do you need something?”
“Can I borrow your car? I’d like to do some shopping in Cold Spring.”
Sophie’s face scrunched, and it looked like she was about to say no, but Abigail interrupted her. “What a wonderful idea! You should do lunch while you’re there too. There’s the cutest restaurant right on Main Street.”
Sophie looked at her. Abigail was smiling big. When Sophie turned to me, I gave her my most eager face. She exhaled. “Fine, but be back before dark.”
I gave her a quick kiss on her powdered cheek. “Thanks, Sophie.” Before leaving I winked at Abigail. She winked back.
I left the building and walked across campus to Lambert House, where the Lizens lived. The building looked just as nice as the others on the outside, but the inside definitely needed some work. Rugs on the wood floor were frayed, and black scuffmarks scratched the pale white walls.
I crossed the small lobby to an older woman sitting on a worn, cornmeal-colored couch. Her leathered face and hunched over frame were evidence of a long, and probably not easy, life. Her right arm was completely covered in dark green scales, and her eyes, slightly covered by a few stray strands of gray hair, stared down at something on her lap.
“Excuse me?” I said.
Her head remained down, but her eyes slowly met mine. The motion creeped me out, and I shivered. “Hi, um, I’m looking for Tessa?”
“Are you lost, Aura?”
“I’m looking for Tessa,” I said again.
“Did she forget to do something for you?”
“No. I just want to talk to her. Please, do you know where she is?”
Her tired gray eyes drifted upstairs. “351.”
I went up the stairs to the third floor. The poorly lit hallway helped hide the outdated wallpaper and the holes in the carpet. I found this out the hard way by tripping over a large section that had come unglued and was curling up on its end. Why was this place in such ruins? The whole place reminded me of a poorly made horror film.
I relaxed when the door to 351 opened. Behind it, a petite woman’s green eyes widened. Definitely Tessa’s mother. She had the same dark hair and patch of brilliant scales on the side of her face.
“Hi, I’m looking for Tessa?” I said.
“Is something wrong?” she asked, with a hint of panic in her voice.
“No, not at all. I just wanted to hang out with her. Is she here?”
Her mother tilted her head, eyeing me up and down. I must have passed inspection because her face brightened. “Tessa is in her room. Come in, come in. I’m so glad you came to visit. I’m her mother, Lilly. And you are?”
“My name’s, Llona. Llona Reese.” I stepped into the room. Two great mirrors on opposite ends made the small living room appear much larger. An old floral sofa looked out of place next to a circular cherry coffee table. On its top, flowers in full bloom filled an antique-looking vase. With little to work with, Lilly had done a beautiful job creating a warm and inviting environment.
Lilly turned toward a hallway and called, “Tessa! You have a visitor.” She looked back at me. “I thought I knew all the Auras, but I don’t think I’ve seen you before.”
“I’m new.”
“Did you transfer from one of the other schools? In Ireland perhaps?”
I shook my head. “No. I lived in Utah and went to a public school before I moved here.”
Her eyebrows lifted. “How is that possible?”
Gratefully I didn’t have to answer. Tessa walked in, giving me the same expression her mother had just given me. “Llona, what are you doing here?” she asked.
“Just wanted to hang out, is that okay?”
She glanced over at her mother and then back at me. “I guess. Come on back.”
I followed her down the hallway to her bedroom.
“You two have fun,” her mother called after us.
“Wow! Cool pictures,” I said as soon as Tessa closed the door. Superheroes, painted or drawn on canvas, hung on her walls. “Did you do all these?”
“Yeah. I know, nerdy.”
“No way! I love superheroes. These are incredible.”
“Really?”
I nodded and continued to admire the paintings. Tessa had taken her time with each one, sparing nothing on details. “These are good.” I looked back at her. She was sitting on her bed, tugging at a loose thread on her bedspread. “Seriously, you should work for Marvel or something.”
“With this face?” She broke the string with her fingers. “No, my only job will be serving Auras, no offense.”
“None taken.” I sat on a chair in the corner of the room. “I don’t get it.”
“Get what?”
“What’s the big deal? So you have some scales on your face? I think they’re pretty. It makes you look . . . retro.”
She snorted. “Right.”
“I’ll prove it to you.”
“How?”
“Come with me.”
“Where?”
“Let’s go do lunch, wander around Cold Spring. I’ve heard it’s a really cute town.”
She practically wilted. “No way.”
“Just this once. Come with me. I bet you’ll be surprised how accepting people can be.”
She shook her head. “I can’t.”
I let out an exaggerated sigh. “Sure you can.”
“No, really. I don’t think I can even if I wanted to.”
“Are you saying they keep you prisoner here?”
“Of course not. It’s my kind, the Lizens. They don’t want any attention drawn to us. I think they’re afraid we’ll be shipped off and studied in some underground lab.”
“For having a few scales? I’ve seen far stranger-looking people than you guys, believe me.”
She shifted nervously. “I don’t know.”
I was wearing her down. “Come with me, please? We’ll only be gone for a couple of hours.”
“What will I tell my mom?”
“I’ll tell her we’re going hiking or something.” I couldn’t believe I just said I’d lie. Surprisingly, it didn’t bother me like I thought it should. Something to think about later.
She glanced up at a picture of Wonder Woman on her wall and studied it. “Okay, I think I will.”
/>
I threw my arms around her. “Awesome!”
Twenty minutes later, we were driving toward Cold Spring, the closest town to Lucent Academy. Tessa gripped the side of the car. Her knuckles were so white I thought I might be looking at bone. I placed my hand on her arm to transfer Light, but for some reason decided not to. The thought of using it like that made me feel uncomfortable. Instead, I said, “It will be okay. I promise, you’ll have fun.” She agreed, but she still looked tense.
Our short trip to Cold Spring turned out to be beneficial for both of us. It was just the break I needed. We ate inside an old, colonial-style house that had been converted into a restaurant. Black and white photos of people, probably the town’s founders, hung on the walls. They looked happy. I noticed Tessa studying them closely and wondered what she was thinking.
Halfway through lunch, I began to grow anxious. I tapped my fingers on the wooden dining table and bounced my knee up and down. My energy was off the charts for some reason. What I needed was to go running, and soon.
As for Tessa, her whole countenance seemed to have gotten brighter, especially after the waitress complimented her cool “tattoos.” She relaxed after that and opened up, telling me of her challenges as a Lizen. She admitted she wanted to go to college, like actually go and not get an online education like many of the other Lizens. I admired her bravery and told her so.
* * * * *
“Can I tell you something?” Tessa asked me when we returned to Lucent.
The lobby of Chadni Hall was empty, but I could hear girls playing in the recreation room not far away. I thought about joining them, maybe beating someone at a game. I wouldn’t mind beating something. “Sure,” I said, looking past her.
“I don’t want you to take this the wrong way, but you remind me of her.”
“Who?”
“Britt.”
I looked at her, eyes narrowing. “The girl who killed herself?”
She nodded.
“Talk about a mood buster,” I said. “I’ve been compared to a lot of things, but never a suicidal freak.”
“There you go again. That’s what I mean.”
“What?”
“Sometimes you say horrible things. Things an Aura, or even a normal person for that matter, would never say.”
I rolled my eyes. “I’m just kidding.”
“No, you’re not, and even if you were, there are other things too. Britt was short-tempered and moody, like you, especially at the end. She lied too.”
“So what are you saying?”
“Something’s going on with you, and I just don’t want to see what happened to her, happen to you. You’re not being yourself, and it worries me.”
I stepped closer to her, heat burning my gut. “How would you know? You don’t know me.”
“Maybe not, but I do know Auras, and you are not acting like one.”
Every nerve ending vibrated within my body. “And you’re not acting like a Lizen. Shouldn’t you be making a bed or something?”
She stared at me for a moment, then blinked as if holding back tears. “Right. See you.”
After she left, I stormed up to my room and slammed the door. Why did everyone think I had to be such a goodie-goodie just because I was an Aura? Did being at Lucent mean I couldn’t have any fun? I took a deep breath. The smell of my room, a rich, metallic blood odor, no longer made my stomach roll. It made my mouth water.
I slumped against the wall and slid to the floor. I stared at the window, waiting for the inevitable night to come. Hours passed. I was practically willing the light from my room. I was so transfixed that I didn’t answer when I heard May knock on the door and call my name. And then, slowly, as the sun set, darkness crept toward me. I smiled.
The moment my room was entirely black and I could hear no movement from within the school, I opened the window. The faint sound of hundreds of heartbeats rose from the forest. They seemed to be calling me. The creatures of the night.
I leapt from my window and hit the ground running. I kept to the shadows, avoiding light at all costs. After jumping over the rock wall in one bound, I tore through the forest, searching for the one thing my body seemed to want. The desire was so strong, it overrode the voice screaming warnings in my head. I thought of Christian, but I couldn’t stop.
A strong heartbeat lured me to the left. I stopped and listened. The rhythmic beat betrayed a large animal hidden within a nearby clump of trees. I stealthily made my way to its secret spot. Within ten feet a deer bolted, but I was faster, spurred on by the new and powerful force within me. I tackled it to the ground, my knee on its gut, my hand pressing its head to the ground.
I stared at its struggling body beneath me in both awe and horror. I had taken it down. I had the power to destroy its life. The vein in the animal’s neck pulsed. I wanted to stop that pulse.
I closed my eyes tight. I don’t want this, I tried to convince myself. This isn’t me. But . . . if it wasn’t, then why did every part of me want to destroy the life in my hands?
My eyes opened. What did it matter anymore? With both hands I lifted the deer’s head and prepared to twist.
FOURTEEN
I screamed a terrible cry to prevent myself from hearing the sound of the deer’s bones breaking, but my scream was cut short when something slammed into me, knocking me to the ground. I tried to get out from under it, but whatever had pushed me off the deer was much stronger. I swung my legs up to try and kick at it.
“Hey!” a deep voice said.
I continued to fight much like the deer had beneath my grip moments ago.
“What’s wrong with you?” the voice said.
I continued to struggle until I felt the entire weight of my attacker cover my whole body. His strength felt like a concrete wall bearing down on me. In my ear, I heard, “Stop fighting. I’m trying to help you.”
I gasped for air. If I stopped moving, then I’d have to face what I’d almost just done. “Please just kill me,” I whispered.
My attacker sat up, legs straddling my waist. His arms pinned my hands to the ground. “What did you say?” he asked.
I opened my eyes. Liam, the Vyken who’d turned into wind, stared at me in shock. I turned my head away. “What do you want?”
“I was stopping you from doing something stupid. What is wrong with you?”
Tears stung my eyes. “I don’t know.”
He moved off my body and sat next to me, still staring. “What’s your name?”
Before I could stop myself, I whispered, “Llona.”
Liam waited a few seconds before he said, “From the moment I met you, Llona, I felt there was something different about you.”
That was the last thing I wanted to hear, especially from a Vyken. “I have to go.”
“No way. We need to figure out what’s going on.”
“What does it matter?”
“You’re not a full Aura, are you?”
“Of course I am.” How could I admit that I might be something else?
Liam frowned. “It’s not possible. A Vyken wouldn’t dare.”
“Dare what?”
“Come here.” He reached for me.
“No.”
“Quit being difficult. Come here.”
“Don’t tell me what to do!” The anger, always at the surface, bubbled over. I turned to leave, but suddenly Liam was behind me, his arm around my chest, and with the other he was trying to force my neck to the side.
“No! Please! Don’t bite me,” I yelled. I couldn’t move from his crushing grip.
“I’m not going to bite you, fool. Just hold still.”
Because I couldn’t do much of anything else, I did as he asked. His grip relaxed. With his free hand he swept my hair back and drew in a breath. “I’m so sorry, Llona.”
The way he said it, all sincere-like, made me sick. No one was going to feel sorry for me.
“We have to talk,” he said. “You need help. You’re turning into a Vyken, but you can be
at it if you let me help you.” His eyes were big, and he looked frantic.
“I will never need the help of a Vyken.” My hands balled tight.
“Its poison is in your blood. It’s changing you.”
I fixed my hair back over my neck. “You’re lying.”
“Am I? You’re in denial, Llona. You can feel the evil destroying you, making you do things you wouldn’t normally do, say things you wouldn’t normally say.”
I stared at the ground, not wanting to believe.
His voice lowered. “I’ve been where you are. It’s a dark and lonely place.”
I looked up at him. “I won’t listen to your lies.” I turned and ran away.
His voice carried into the forest behind me, “I’ll be here!”
I don’t know how long I ran, but I didn’t stop until my legs gave out. I fell hard; my knee smashed into a rock hidden within the tall grass. I gritted my teeth and immersed myself in the pain. It was a welcome distraction from an even greater torment. But after several minutes, the pain subsided, and all I had left were Liam’s words. I rolled over and tried to throw up, but nothing came out.
I dropped onto my back and stared into the night sky. As much as I didn’t want to believe Liam, he was right. I may not have known that I was turning into a Vyken, but I knew there was something inside me, taking hold. A dark and dirty seed had been planted, and its roots had begun to grow.
* * * * *
I lost track of time, lying on the cold ground, when the sound of a snapping twig made me sit up. The forest was quiet, except for . . . I listened closely. The soft rustling of leaves and grass. Something was coming my way. I scrambled over behind a nearby tree and waited.
After a minute I peeked around the trunk. Not far away a form moved in and out of the shadows. I couldn’t sense if the thing was Vyken or human, but the moment it stepped into the light of the full moon, and I saw its face, I knew it was a Vyken. And by its slender form, I guessed a woman, but I couldn’t tell by the face, which was missing half of its leathered skin. The other half was a rotted skull with a green, moss-like substance clinging to the cheekbone. The bone was a dirty yellow, the same color as her two rows of broken teeth.
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