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But the air was thick for some reason. And tastes strangely sour. Like old pennies.
It was too quiet. As I climbed the stairs, the bird sounds disappeared. Replaced, a gentle creek that repeated every few seconds.
My steps slowed and a sense of foreboding rolled through me, but I wanted to see Anna. She promised we could hang out today.
The door hung open, swinging in the breeze, but that’s not what had my lower lip trembling.
No. That would be the bloody handprint on the door.
I hesitated, unsure, before stealing myself, and forcing a frown onto my face. Stupid tenth graders always pranking us. Dummies hadn’t realised that I didn’t get scared. Still, I wiped my sweaty palms against my shorts before shoving the door open fully and stepping inside.
A whimper fell from my lips, and tears weaved rivers down my cheeks as I took in the bloody scene.
And Anna—
“No. No!” I scream out loud, clutching my head as I shove the memory back down to the recesses of my mind again.
Too out of it to take in the room properly, or to allow my eyes to touch the dead girl, I make sure the cloaked guy is gone before stumbling from the room.
I swallow repeatedly but it doesn’t help the nausea swirling in my gut.
A whine slips from my throat as I stare helplessly around the nearly ceiling height bookshelves. I have no idea how to get out of here. The realisation has genuine panic swirling in my stomach so I mentally reach for the first thing I think of.Dylan.
One moment I’m lost in the library and the next I’m in a dorm wing, in front of a door. Dylan’s scent is practically imbued into the door and I bang my knuckles against it. My head is a jumbled mess and my body isn’t faring much better, so I don’t question what the heck just happened. The same thing flares in my mind repeatedly.Get to Dylan, he will know what to do, then you can rest. Safe.
I’m not sure when I started associating him as a safe place, but I’m not going to second guess it now.
When I get no response, I slam my fists against the door again.
Chapter Twenty-Three — Dylan
Iopenblurryeyesto a dark room and my brows furrow in confusion when I read the numbers on my alarm clock.Three AM. Why am I awake right now? My body works like a well oiled machine usually, and I nearly never wake up for no reason. My head cocks to the side as I strain my ears, trying to catch any sounds that shouldn’t be present. Leaves rustling, the academy humming, rodent feet pattering outside—wait, the academy’s humming?
My face pinches as I contemplate that. It is rumoured that it was once sentient, but the magic has supposedly died off. This sound says otherwise though. Before I have a chance to think on it further a banging sounds on the door to our shared room. My heart jolts at the sound, as does my body and I leap out of bed.This must have been what woke me. I tug open the door with unnecessary force, ready to curse out whoever is at my door. I’m usually a pretty quiet guy, but if you interrupt my schedule then you clearly have a death wish.
I freeze, the anger draining from me when I come face-to-face with Nessa. A blood covered, ragged, Nessa.
Holy shit. It looks like she’s gone swimming in a blood filled pool. I take a worried step closer, my hands reaching out to grip her shoulders in case some of it’s hers, though it doesn’t smell like it. Other than the dazed expression on her face she doesn’t appear to have any life threatening injuries.
I breathe out a quiet sigh of relief and gently pull her into the main shared area of my roommate and I’s dorm. I settle her on the couch, not worried about our upholstery. Brushing a bloodied strand of hair out of Nessa’s stricken face, I whisper, “What’s happened, sweetheart?”
A low sound is all I get in response and a growl rumbles in my chest. Reaching for my phone I crouch in front of her and stroke her knee in comfort while I dial Oscar from Nessa’s phone.She should really have a passcode. The thought pops up and I roll my eyes at myself.How is that something I can even focus on right now?My shoulders relax incrementally when Oscars sleep filled voice filters through the phone.Thank the Goddess he picked up. “Nessa? Are you okay? It’s the middle of the night,” panic thick in his voice.
I clear my throat before rushing out. “It’s Dylan. Something has happened, can you please come to my dorm?”
I rattle off my dorm number when he agrees, not bothering to question why I have her phone. I hang up and meet Nessa’s blank gaze. My hands tremble as I shuffle up to sit beside her, wrapping her in an awkward side hug. I give her plenty of time to pull away, but tighten my grip when she doesn’t, instead burrowing further into my body. I’m shit at this whole comfort thing so I’m anxiously awaiting Oscar’s arrival as I send a magic signal to a professor. The blood is cool against my skin and the slippery sensation has my skin crawling with the urge to get clean, but I don’t let go of Nessa because if that’s howIfeel, I can’t imagine whatsheis, when she’s the one completely drenched in the stuff. I have no clue what’s going on, but the scent of the blood on Nessa isn’t her own, so whoevers it is must be either dead somewhere or dying.
I sense him when he gets close and I open the door with my powers. Telekinesis can be a handy power in some circumstances. A strangled sound falls from Oscar’s lips when he spots Nessa in my arms and I loosen my grip as he approaches. “Goddess, is she okay?”
My jaw clenches as I look down at the girl curled into my side. “I don’t know. She’s not physically hurt from what I can see, but until she’s cleaned up it’s hard to tell.”
But we can’t clean her up until we figure out what the hell happened tonight. As Oscar crouches in front of Nessa, two professors and a healer race through the door. My lips tug up in a snarl, flashing fang at Mr Rona whose hands start to glow when he spots Nessa, obviously having reached the wrong conclusion. There is no way Nessa hurt anyone, unless it was in self-defence. At my noise, he backs up then is pushed away completely by the healer. She’s unfamiliar, but must be pretty new as she appears to be around our age. “Back up, I need space to check her over. I can feel her pain from here. Would you please move over?” She directs the last question at me and I scooch back, but Nessa tries to follow my movements. She’s not very present at the moment, but I hush her gently and leave a hand on her shoulder, while still giving the woman room to work.
Chapter Twenty-Four — Nessa
It’sasthoughthereis a disconnect between my mind and my body as I stare at the strange woman in front of me. Her mouth moves and words filter through the haze. “Hi my name's Katrina. Can you tell me yours?”
Some of the humming in my mind recedes at the easy question. “N-nessa.”
