“We can share stories.” I replied, quickly taking a seat on the floor next to where he perched on a rock. “I would like to know more about you.” But why is that I wonder?
“I know you asked one of your friends why I did not hate you, if your family are responsible for the decimation of my Kingdom… and the truth is your parents didn’t destroy Arle. I did.” Ember said quietly. “My birth triggered a plague, and it wiped out most of the Kingdom…”
I didn’t say a word as he expanded on his story. My throat was too busy being tight to let me speak any of the thousand thoughts in my brain.
“Your parents were friends of mine and offered to take the blame themselves when it killed my parents too. So your father used his powers to burn Arle to ash, and your mother claimed it as an act of vengeance for her crown.” Oh shit…
“My power is the only reason I am alive; the other rulers are too scared of repercussion to act against me. Its why I often doubt if the other Heirs are even really my friends. I don’t know if they are not just there to keep an eye on me for their parents.”
Ember kept talking, explaining his fears and secret until he could no longer think of things to say other than apologies.
“I’m sorry for going on so long. It’s the first time I’ve ever told anyone the truth, and I couldn’t stop the proverbial word vomit.” He grinned wryly.
“It’s fine. I’d rather you get it out than keep all that to yourself.” I sighed, digging the edge of my shoe into the dirt below. “It sucks to keep all the bad things in your head to yourself. Even if it is the best thing for you.”
He asked me why, wanting to know more than I would usually be willing to share. I didn’t want to tell Ember anything, but I also didn’t want to lie.
“I don’t tell people my life story; I don’t want sympathy or people to think any less of me.” I mused, wondering why I thought surviving what I had would lower me in anyone’s eyes.
“That’s silly. I would never think less of you for anything you shared.”
“Even if I told you that I had done bad things, and my life in the human realm was nothing but heartache and fear?”
Ember lifted his hand, placing it so close to mine that I swore I could feel him despite the gap.
“Especially then.” He muttered, keeping his hazel eyes locked on my own. “If you have survived half as much as I think you have then you have nothing to fear. The only opinion I have of you is that you’re fearless.” And that comment was the last thing he said before I spent the next hour spilling every sordid little secret I had tucked away in my head. Not once feeling anything more than relief at finally having someone I could share it with.
It wasn’t until much later, when Ember dropped me home, did I realise the severity of what I had done. Ember now knew all my weakness and I could not tell for sure if he would ever use them against me in the future. The idea of which, added onto my stupidity, only made the happy mood inside me vanish, and my anger and frustration come back with a vengeance…
Laina
Kaida hadn’t left her room for almost two days now and I had no idea what state I would find her in when she eventually left. Dari and I had brought her food three times a day, but more often than not the plates were retrieved still full. The only thing giving me hope that Mikel’s invasion of her mind hadn’t completely ruined her, was that she hadn’t once touched her knife or broke things. It seemed she was just content with hiding out and stewing.
But with her absence it only meant that Dari and I took the brunt of the Heirs misdeeds instead. Without Kaida to bite Caleb was grumpier than usual and had taken to glaring our way during lessons and meals. Right now, he was doing it again, watching as we ate the soup that was on for lunch. Xavier wasn’t sat with him today, instead choosing to mess around and playfight with the three boys I had spotted him with a couple times.
I knew the one, a brutish Harpy called Drew, often liked to pick on kids smaller than him so it was no surprise that Xavier was his friend. Even now, when Xavier ran off to get some food, his friends made sure to ruin other people’s day too. I watched a small boy walk past hurriedly, only to be grabbed by the strap of his backpack and yanked into the throng of their game.
“Oh look, it’s Tommy the Rat.”
Drew was laughing in the boy’s face, encouraging the table beside him to join in too. I spotted the red headed Vampire girl Dari didn’t like and just knew that the entire group of the were the worst types of people.
“I’m not a rat!” The boy called Tommy snapped, trying his best to remain fearless despite the wicked way Drew was looking at him.
“I disagree; I’ve seen fae like you before. You’re all rats. Filthy, nasty rats.”
Drew shoved Tommy to the ground and kicked him, hard enough that Tommy whimpered and clutched his stomach. Dari stirred next to me, her eyes narrowing as she watched the scene unfurl the same as me. Only for once I got involved before she could.
“Leave him alone.” I shouted, raising to my feet, and cutting my eyes at the Harpy with the attitude problem.
“Or what bitch?” Drew sneered, lifting his leg to kick Tommy once more.
I didn’t answer him; Dari did. The steak knife she had been using to cut up a bread roll was hurled through the air, colliding with its target with a satisfying snap. That looks painful.
“Or I’ll carve you into little pieces.” Dari snarled, as Drew began screaming bloody murder about the knife sitting deeply in his thigh.
“Nice aim Annabella.” Xavier commented, watching the blood pour out of Drew’s leg with curiosity.
He made no move to help his friend, instead his eyes began glowing red and he twirled his hands together until a ball of fire appeared between them. He glanced at Caleb once, before nodding his head.
“Though I wonder if you have the same brazenness to attack me like that?” Xavier flicked his hand towards Dari and there was an explosion, though not one I expected.
All the bowls of soup on our table and the ones near bubbled and blew up. Soaring through the air and preparing to drop down across the poor souls we sat nearby. Only they didn’t move the way they were supposed to; they came towards us. All the soup converged into one giant gloopy ball and my sight was drawn to the smirking Vampire in the corner of the room, using his air magic against us.
There was nothing me or Dari could do as Caleb dropped the soup bomb over our heads. It dropped down and covered us, leaving no inch of skin untouched. It was thick and gloopy, filled with vegetables of some kind. Dari cursed but I said nothing, too busy trying not to get upset at the raucous laughter that filled the Green Room.
“Come one.” I whispered, grabbing my sisters’ hand, and escorting her from the room as she prepared to pounce, “it’s not worth it. They’re not worth it.”
***
Being sent out of Mind lessons to work on my visions wasn’t exactly the best thing to happen with my day, not when I was already still a bit sore about the escapades of yesterday’s lunch fight. The campus was huge, and I didn’t know my way around it still. Most days I followed alongside anyone I had a lesson with, too engrossed in talking to Tory or Allie to even care about where I was actually heading.
But that had backfired and now that I was completely alone I had no choice but to wander aimlessly, hoping to find the right path and not get lost somewhere. I made my way towards the dorms but took the scenic route, careful to stick to normal woodland and not the whispering woods. I did not want a repeat of what Kaida had experienced here to happen to me.
The sky was dulling with the setting of the sun, and I wondered briefly if that meant winter was truly on its way. I had never been a fan of the colder months; the summer was my favourite. The late afternoon was warm, a cool wind washed around me filling the air with the fading scent of flowers.
The way we had grown up meant we had rarely gone outside, let alone somewhere with as much free-range nature as this, so my desire to lie down under a nice tree and watching the sk
y was sounding rather good to me. I decided to find a nice spot to hang out in for an hour or so.
I glanced around to make sure I wasn’t being watched by any nosy students; the last thing I wanted was to be disturbed by Bette or one of her ridiculous friends. My feet carried me along the winding paths, deeper into the trees until I was surrounded by nothing but the perfect serenity of nature.
There was a huge oak tree that had fallen down towards the back of a small hill, and the bark had been bent slightly almost like a seat. It was private enough that people wouldn’t see me straight away if they happened to walk past, but also allow me the ability to see them coming. I took the chair with a happy sigh, settling into the next hour of my life a bit less annoyed than I had been at the start of it.
The views around me were beautiful, a combination of pink and lilac flowers, with the occasional yellow daffodil thrown in. there were bees, butterflies, and the occasion bird dipping in and out my vision and the whole thing looked like something out of a Disney film. Even the sun shone through the tree canopy in a brilliant shimmer of gold.
I stayed there in contented silence, far longer than I probably needed to. My eyes grew heavy with the weight of the peace, and I lay back into the tree a little more, almost lying down completely. After what felt like eons I heard the sounds of familiar laughter and braced myself to make a hasty exit. If I wasn’t mistaken Mikel was heading my way, and there was no chance I wanted to meet him or any of his friends in the woods on my own. I wasn’t an idiot.
Just as I adjusted my head to check the weight of a truck hit my skull and I was catapulted into a vision. Usually I could feel them coming, or at least had a few seconds of warning, but the force of what I was being showed was so strong and visceral that I had no time to prepare.
I dropped out the tree with a thud, hitting the ground and letting out a small gasp of fear as the sight of my oldest sisters’ anguish filled face filled my head.
“What are you doing hiding out here little Princess?” Caleb said, his voice barely reaching me. I didn’t respond – I couldn’t. I was too busy being filled with the devastating fear of something seriously wrong to even care about the presence of the Vampire.
I couldn’t breathe anymore, too busy choking on something that wasn’t really there. The vision of Kaida inside my mind was bad, really bad, and I couldn’t do nothing to stop it playing out and breaking my heart.
“The shadows call to her, and she calls back. The darkness in her soul is a mirror of my own and for as long as she remains I am trapped.”
Kaida was somewhere quiet, a shadowy darkness clinging onto her skin as she let the demons take her power. For the first time in a while, she didn’t look scared or angry, she looked really damn peaceful. Like the shadow was doing her a favour by stabbing its filthy claws into her marked skin.
“Laina?” A different voice said my name, someone else who had found me, “Can you hear me?”
“She’s still in a vision Ember; she won’t hear you until it’s finished.” Caleb replied.
My hands dug into the dirt, and I screamed, the agonizing sensation of fire shooting through my veins as I felt Kaida dying from the shadows poison. My sister never made a sound, her motto to never scream sticking true even then, but I was yelling bloody murder and rolling about the ground with the intensity of it. I had never felt pain like this before and I knew I would never want to feel it again.
“The Shadow Queen claims her soul, and she will take what is owed. The Darklight curse shall be broken, and the land shall be mine to ruin.”
Kaida changed again, her dead body replaced by just her face. But it was off somehow, like she was older or had changed her hair colour just a bit. I couldn’t figure out what was happening before the vision of her face opened her mouth, spewing out the last words in my vision.
“The Darklight Queen will die before she takes her throne. The Shadows and the Light have willed it so. She will not escape the clutches of the Shadow Realm. Haziel claims his blood right.”
With a final scream the pain vanished, leaving me breathless and terrified in the dirt. It took me a moment to come back to reality, even longer so to realise I was being helped to my feet by Ember.
“Did you guys hear that too? She said the Darklight Queen would die.” Ember muttered, his voice a little foggy in my ears.
“I know. But she didn’t specify which one and you know visions are subjective.” Caleb said, his blurry face coming into view a little better now. “Maybe she means far into the future?”
Xavier, whose features were twisted up with what I could almost believe was concern, was the first I could properly hear without the ringing in my ears.
“Laina, can you hear me? Are you in danger?” The second he asked me the weight of my vision came back, all signs of my weakness and drained power gone. No, I won’t let it happen. I can’t.
“Kaida.” I gasped, before running towards the dorms faster than I ever had before.
The only thought in my head was Kaida and knowing if I didn’t find her right now she was as good as dead at some point. And the idea of living in a world without her in it was a good enough reason for me to forget anything else. I barrelled through the trees, somehow managing to stay up right despite the constant barrage of roots and leaves.
“Laina! Is Kaida in trouble?” Caleb asked, his Vampire speed catching up to me despite the head start. He was talking normally, like he wasn’t running alongside a maniac and instead standing completely still. Ember was only a few steps behind him – Harpies really are fast.
I nodded at him, unable to articulate what I saw until I had my sister alive and in my arms. But Caleb didn’t need anything else from me, and with a grim look he sped away with the full speed of his class, leaving nothing but dust in his wake. Ember followed suit.
I tried to keep up with them as best as I could, but I had never been much of a runner. All I could do was keep going all the way along the path and push myself that last little bit up the stairs of our dorm. Xavier and Mikel were right behind me, neither one trying to go faster than me.
They either didn’t care about Kaida being slaughtered by a shadow, or figured that Caleb and Ember getting there first was good enough. I on the other hand had absolutely no trust in the Vampire, and only minimal in the Harpy, so took the stairs three at a time until I reached the top landing, and half threw myself through the broken door to my sisters’ bedroom, praying to whatever Gods were in the heavens that she wasn’t dead inside there.
Kaida
My lip was busted, and the pain as I spoke was quick and deep.
“Fuck you.” I hissed and David snarled, his lank hair hanging down his face as he dripped in sweat. I panted for air, my chest heaving with the anguish of my bleeding skin. The pain made me feel both dead and alive; it was a strange juxtaposition.
The razor blades my father carried in his hands had cut my bare arms open, no doubt in me that they would be added to my ever-growing collection of scars.
“Did I say you could speak?” He roared at me, swinging his large fist down against my cheek, sending me flying across the lawn once more.
My battered knees hit the cold hard floor and I gasped as the wind left my body. I ached all over and would have loved nothing more than to lie on the dirt and surrender to my fate. But I couldn’t do it, I never would. I lay there, choking on my own fear and keeping it locked up inside me where it could never escape.
Every spiteful thing this man had ever done to me, on the claim of making me tougher and grateful for his care, had been to protect those I loved. If he weren’t here with me, he would be with my sisters, and there was no chance I could allow that. I clambered back to my feet, ignoring the bruises, cuts and ailing joints inside me, and faced my enemy dead on.
I could not show fear; ever. He would never hear my pain.
“I'm glad you seem to be learning little one. Showing weakness is not a good trait for anyone.” David muttered, his cold hand hanging down in front
of my face. I forced myself not to flinch at his proximity, knowing he would only hurt me more if I did. For a long moment I stared at his outstretched hand, wondering if I had the strength inside me to tear it from his arm.
David leaned down and yanked me upright, his huge body towering over me as he set me on my feet. I whimpered a little inside at the weight I was putting on my newly sprained ankle, but I refused to say a word.
“Do you know what day it is?” David asked suddenly, my hope that he had forgotten vanishing as he did.
“Yes.” I gritted my teeth, careful to keep the anger inside me bottled up beneath my skin.
“Good.” He span me around towards the house, his dark gaze piercing into the deepest depths of my soul. “And as you are sixteen now, I will give you sixteen minutes of peace to decide your answer.”
As much as I would have loved to take his offer of peace, I knew it would only have dire consequences down the line. But even if it didn’t, my answer wouldn’t change. Every damn year, every damn birthday that he asked me since I turned twelve, my answer never changed.
“I don’t need time. I know my answer.”
David raised a brow, what almost looked like pride almost shining on his face.
“Go on then, tell me; you or one of your sisters as Heir to my empire?”
“Me.” I replied without emotion. “You can have me. I’ll be your Heir.” I would take his punishments, his training and his so called parenting any day, so long as he kept those filthy paws off of them – my family.
CONVICTION OF THE DAMNED: SUPERNO ACADEMY BOOK ONE Page 22