by Hannah Wick
“This is getting us nowhere.” Other than closer to a damned heart attack.
“What if we’re wrong?” Rose asked. “What if it’s not even here?”
That was a good question, and I wished I knew the answer.
As we overturned the rest of the mattresses, I was forced to admit the question wasn’t just theoretical anymore.
“I don’t think it’s under them,” I grumbled.
We left the room and stopped to think. Where else could it be?
“What about the bathrooms?” Rose suggested.
I shrugged. I would never have thought to look in there, which probably made it a good hiding place. Then I frowned. There were a lot of bathrooms.
“Good call. Come on, we’ll have to check them all.”
Floor by floor, we went into each of the communal bathrooms, searching behind the shelves, under boxes and inside the tubes of the toilet roll. I was right. There were a lot of bathrooms. It was almost three hours later that we staggered into the last one. My eyes burned, begging to be closed. But I couldn’t sleep. Not yet.
It was cold, dark, and smelled like the academy’s cleaners had dropped the ball in a big way. We looked in every gap, hole and surface a small charm could have been hidden in. I was about to admit defeat when something caught my eye. It was faint, but I could have sworn I could see a red glow. It was coming from behind the bath panel. I grabbed a pair of tweezers from the shelf, poked it in the corner, where a small slit of a gap had formed, and pried it open. There it was, a small yellow charm taped to the inside of the bathtub. I pulled out the charm using the sleeve of my hoodie, raising it toward the light and taking care not to let it touch my skin. Never let it be said that I didn’t learn from my near-death experiences. I could see a shroud, caused by the hex placed on it. “Bingo. Now, we just need to find the last of them.”
“Are you sure there are more to find?”
“I doubt there would only be a single amulet. The room is too big.”
As the sun began to rise, casting an orange glow through the small frosted window, I clamped my hand over my mouth and yawned loudly. “We better call it a night and look for the rest of the amulets in the morning. Maybe we’ll have better luck once we’ve rested.”
Rose agreed, and turned towards the door. “Meet at the canteen?”
I nodded. “Sounds good. See you soon.”
*
I wondered why I’d even bothered sleeping. I felt worse than before I went to bed and my eyes stung with that itchy burn some evil deity had devised to punish us lesser mortals for sleeping for a mere three hours. I wouldn’t mind if our searching had actually been productive. Wait, scratch that. I felt like hell, and no amount of success would be making me feel human right now.
I glanced over at Cassandra, curled in her blankets, and took some comfort from the knowledge that when she woke, she would feel just as crappy as I did.
I threw on some clothes, trying to shake a chill that had nothing to do with the weather, and tossed another glance at Cassandra. That was weird. She wasn’t usually that still…
Ice ran through my veins and I hurried over to her, yanking the blanket back from over her head. Her face was deathly pale and icy cold. Panic gripped my stomach and dread sank to the bottom like a heavy stone. I pressed two fingers to her neck, and felt a faint but steady beat. Thank God. She was alive – but if I didn’t do something, and quickly, she wouldn’t be for long.
I rushed to the kitchen and yanked open the fridge.
“Come on, come on,” I muttered, hunting through the piles of half-eaten junk food. “It’s got to be here somewhere…”
There! I snatched it up – half a bottle of the potion I’d made for the students who’d been drained. I hoped this stuff didn’t have a use by date. If it didn’t revive her, I was going to need some real help. And a miracle.
I froze. The whole year had gone to the party. Panic punched through my stomach. Hard. This might be enough for a few students, but there was no way it would do for everyone in the academy. I swallowed hard. I just hoped that the healers had kept some in reserve. I hurried back to my sleeping friend and dripped the potion between her lips. Cassandra groaned and her eyes twitched before she slowly began to open them.
“What time is it?” she moaned; her voice was scratchy and barely audible.
“A little after seven.”
“I feel awful. I must have drunk too much last night.”
“I don’t think that’s the issue. You were drained.”
“Drained? By the vampire thing? But how? I didn’t see anything unusual.”
I grabbed my coat and slipped on my shoes.
“I don’t know,” I said. “But that doesn’t matter right now. Get some rest. I’ll be back soon.”
“Where are you going?”
“Well, unless it was a one-person party, I doubt you were the only one who got drained.”
I raced over to the healers and filled them in as quickly as I could. They wasted no time grabbing as many of the potions as they could carry.
“Let me help,” I said. Alice shook her head.
“You look exhausted. You need some rest. We’ll take care of this.”
I wished I could. But if they had this in hand, then I needed to find Rose and catch her up on what had happened.
My heart pounded as I strode down the deserted hallways, checking for reflections in every window and on every polished surface, making sure that my path ahead was clear. I watched for shadows, so I wouldn’t be taken by surprise by any ghosts, ghouls, or students that might have taken a disliking to my continued ability to breathe. I ground my teeth in frustration. Honestly, a stroll through a haunted house would have been safer. But this was no haunted house. It wasn’t a trip to the middle of the cursed triangle. Or even a trip to my parents' house. It was an academy. A place of learning. A place of safety—or at least it was meant to be. Right now, it was Aurora Academy, a place of shadows and hexes. And it wasn’t right. We shouldn’t have to be afraid in our own academy.
Sure, I thought wryly. And the whole world should be made of puppies and kittens and sunshine. I rolled my eyes at my own naivety and pressed on.
As I drew level with the next window, a light moved past the glass. I drew back, pressing myself against the wall, and listened hard, straining my ears for signs of someone coming towards me. A footstep, a voice, a creak. I could hear my pulse in my ears, banging like a drum. It was deafening. I waited. And waited.
The door was open, just a crack. Against my better judgment, I crept forward for a closer look. I pressed my eye to the gap, and clamped my hand over my mouth to stop myself crying out in surprise.
Inside, a guy was chanting, and around his finger was a glowing yellow ring. He turned and the dim lighting fell across his face. For the second time, I buried a squeak. It was Devron!
He finished his chant and slipped the ring from his finger. He glanced around, then stowed it inside a small wooden box and set it on the top shelf of the supply cupboard.
I pulled back as soon as he turned away again, and hurried away as fast as I could. As soon as I was out of sight, I slumped to the ground. What was I going to do now? He was a dick, but I couldn’t imagine him being capable of this! I licked my dry, cracked lips nervously, and retreated to my dorm room before someone really did catch me. The last person I wanted to run into right now was Devron. And now that I knew he was involved, it was time to come up with a plan. He was going to regret ever messing with my friends—and with me. But first, I needed to tell the dean what I had discovered.
Chapter Eighteen
When I got back, Cassandra was sitting up and eating a slice of toast. “How are you feeling?” I perched on the edge of her bed, scrutinising the colour of her face. She wasn’t as pale now. “You look better.”
“I’m feeling much better,” she replied, taking a mouthful of her toast.
“Good. I told you to be careful, didn’t I? Every single one of you was dr
ained at that party. Well, almost everyone.”
She looked up at me, swallowing her mouthful before she spoke. “What do you mean, almost?”
I coughed, clearing my throat. “Everyone was drained, except for Devron.”
“Surely you don’t think Devron was involved in this, do you?”
“Actually, yes. I do.”
“Just because he’s in better shape than us?” Cassandra argued. “It was a party, remember?”
“No, because I saw him,” I told her in a matter-of-fact tone. “I saw him casting a spell.”
“A spell? That’s your proof? You do realise you’re in a witch academy, right? Everyone here is casting spells.”
“The spell made his ring stone glow,” I said. “I know what I’m talking about.”
“You know that for a fact?” she demanded abruptly.
“Why don’t you believe me?”
“Because he was the one who saved you, remember?”
She looked furious.
“Yes, but that doesn’t explain his ring. And I almost died, I’m not being irrational!”
“Yes. I get that someone put you in a coma, but I hardly think Devron is capable. He’s our friend.”
“I don’t think dismissing him is a good idea. I know what I saw.”
“I spent a lot of time with him at the party, and he didn’t try to drain me or have an amulet hiding in his pocket.”
“I can’t believe this.”
“Look, I don’t think it was anyone at the party,” she said, tossing her corner of toast back onto her plate. “It’s got to be someone else. Not one of our friends.”
“Like who? The lecturers?”
“Of course not! But no one at the party was waving an amulet around, playing god.”
“No,” I ground out. “But I bet Devron was wearing a ring with a yellow stone in it.”
“Yeah, it’s a nice ring,” she replied tersely. “His mother gave it to him before she went into the hospital.”
Unbelievable. It was literally right under her nose, and she couldn’t see it. She needed to wake up and see him for what he was.
“He’s lying. I’m your friend, why aren’t you listening to me?”
“Because friends don’t accuse other friends of stuff. Stop looking for enemies, or you’ll lose what few friends you have.”
I stared at her numbly. My expression fell flat. I swallowed hard, hardening myself against her. Hiding my hurt. “All right. You don’t want to believe me, go ahead. Either way, I am going to find out what Devron’s deal is, and why he is stealing people’s energy. He almost killed me, and I’m not going to let that go.”
Cassandra turned her head, facing the wall. “This is why people think you’re paranoid. The authorities will find out who attacked you, so stop looking for trouble before you really do get yourself killed.”
I couldn’t walk away even if I wanted to. There was too much at stake. I needed some air. I shoved my way through the door, and stalked along the corridor. I had lost a friend, seemingly overnight. Worse, Cassandra seemed determined to see the best in Devron, and it wasn’t just me getting hurt anymore. It wasn’t just her. It was bigger than us both. The entire academy was in danger. And no-one was listening to me.
Head down, I almost walked right into the figure before I saw her. Sally. She pulled her black leather jacket closed and straightened the belt on her long black skirt.
“Are you all right?” she asked.
“Why would you care?” I scowled at her. “I thought you were recovering from the party, anyway.”
“We both know it wasn’t the party that left me feeling…” she glanced up and down the corridor, but we were alone. “Drained.”
My breath caught in my throat.
“You believe me? About the link between the party and being drained?”
She nodded. “I do.”
My best friend didn’t believe me, but she did? I shook my head with a dark chuckle, and she raised a questioning eyebrow at me.
“Never mind. Cassandra thinks I’m making it up, and even the dean thinks I’m paranoid, seeing connections where there aren’t any. Everyone is in danger, but half the academy seems to think that Devron is some kind of saint. Even when he tried to kill me. Now they think that I was making it all up!” I slammed my hand into the wall behind me. “It was Devron! I need to make everyone else see it.”
“Sounds like you need some proof,” she said.
“Sure. If you’ve got any suggestions…”
She shook her head. “If you’re right, he has the whole academy fooled.”
“I think it has something to do with that ring he is wearing.”
“Well, that’s easy then, isn’t it? All we have to do is steal the ring and get it to the spells lecturer to check it for enchantments.”
“Except he’ll just say he didn’t know it was enchanted, or that we spelled it after we stole it. We need another way. Or to catch him in the act.”
“Catch him in the act?” Sally asked. “How do you plan to do that without getting sapped?”
I blinked, forcing myself to re-focus. She was right. I couldn’t afford to be drained a second time. There was no way I’d be able to get close without some kind of protection. “If I can just knock the amulet away from him… and have the authorities see it for themselves... that’d be at least some proof,” I commented, voicing my thoughts out loud.
“He won’t give it up without a fight,” Sally warned. “You could be hurt.”
“Not if I can help it. I’m sure there’s a spell somewhere, to dampen the vampiric power over me,” I said. “Cassandra and the others will all know the truth.”
I wasn’t sure if I could trust her yet, or even call her an unlikely friend, but right now I needed all the help I could get.
First, I needed to find a way to get close to Devron. After last night, it wasn’t going to be easy.
“I need to know where he is. Maybe I can just tackle it out of him or bait him into revealing the amulet before I knock it away from his grasp...”
“Do you really think it’d be that easy?” Sally flipped her hair over her shoulder. “It seems like you’re clutching at straws.”
“Right… you’re right…”
I let out a frustrated sigh. What else was I going to do, ask for it nicely? I shook my head, trying to force myself to think of another plan. A less risky plan. I thought for a minute, drumming my temple with my fingertips.
“You could try to bind his powers,” Sally suggested. I rolled the thought around my head a moment. It was a complex spell, not to mention probably illegal… but I could explain it to the authorities after I wasn’t dead.
“That could work. We just need to give him a reason to leave his dorm room. Then we can get something of his to use to bind his powers. Any ideas how we’re supposed to do that?”
Sally gave a sly grin and sat down on a nearby bench. “Actually, yeah. Did you know there is a rumour floating around that he has a crush on me?”
I blinked. “Really?” It was the first I had heard of it. Then again, I’d been pretty preoccupied recently, what with people trying to kill me and destroy the academy. “I know Cass has a crush on him. That’s why she spent so much time with him at the party, and why she won’t listen to me.”
Sally blinked. “She has a crush on him? How bad?”
“Enough to ignore my warnings and turn against me.”
Sally rubbed her temples. “She already hates me. I’ll live with it. I’ll keep him distracted, you just focus on finding something we can use. No one steals my energy and gets away with it.”
I looked at her. I hardly knew what to say. “Thanks, Sally. I really appreciate it.”
“Just get it done. I don’t want to be around him any longer than I have to.”
“Understood.”
Bearing that in mind, we made our way down towards the dorm rooms and went to look for Devron.
Lights flickered above us, darkening our
path as we stepped softly along the marble floor.
We approached the dorm room and peered through the gridded glass. It was empty. I glanced over at Sally, and she shrugged, then tapped the watch on her wrist. Right. Wherever he was, he might not be there long. I had to get going.
I crept inside and began to rummage around in his drawers to look for a picture or something that he owned. After looking around, I took a step back with a sigh. Then, I saw it. A small picture of him holding a football. It would do.
That was the hard part done – and it had been easier than I’d hoped. Now we needed to get the spell from the library.
I barely made it out of the corridor, when I came to an abrupt halt. Devron was pinning a guy now, with an amulet pressing against his throat.
I gasped, signalling Sally to look in his direction. Her face paled as she looked back at me.
“Just make it quick,” she whispered.
I shook my head. “Listen, we’re too late for distractions. I’m gonna dive for it. You go and get Cassandra. Tell her what happened and then come back – and bring the healers.”
Sally nodded, her face pale. Not wasting another second, I rushed in and dove for the amulet. I threw myself into him, screaming as I tackled him to the floor. I gritted my teeth, trying to tear the amulet from his grasp. He roared in anger, holding on to it tighter, refusing to let it go. I bit his hand, and he screamed again, this time in pain, then shouted in Latin.
“Enchantio absorbulite!”
The amulet glowed. Shit! Now I’d done it. I bit him harder, and the amulet tumbled from his grasp. I snatched it up with my sleeve and scrambled to my feet.
“No!” He turned to face me, his expression hardening and morphing into an expression of hate. “Why are you getting in my way?” He climbed back on to his feet, his face flushed red with rage. I stood my ground, bracing myself for an attack.
“Because you are trying to take someone’s life. And I won’t allow it.” I wished I felt half as confident as I sounded, because I had absolutely no clue how I was going to back that up.
“Why should his life be more valuable than someone else’s?” he demanded.
“His life is no more or less important than anyone else’s life. That includes your mother’s. It’s not right, and it’s not how fate works.”
