Oath Breaker

by Shelley Wilson

  ‘Yes, get some sleep, I know Elizabeth was worried about you, so she’ll be glad to see you’re back safe.’

  I smiled to myself as I walked through the front door. It felt nice to know that someone cared.

  ‘Mia.’

  I looked back over my shoulder. Sebastian was standing with his back to me, looking out over the grounds and into the woods.

  ‘I don’t want you to take a walk in the forest at night again. Do you understand?’

  He couldn’t see me nodding as he was still staring at the trees, but I knew that walking in the woods at night wouldn’t be on my to-do list any more.

  ‘Sure, whatever. Goodnight, Sebastian.’

  ‘Goodnight, Mia.’

  THE LAMP WAS on in the bedroom when I crept through the door. I had thought that Elizabeth would be sitting up waiting for me after what Sebastian said, but the long wait had clearly exhausted her. She was fully clothed and propped up on her pillows, fast asleep and surrounded by masses of stuffed animals. She looked incredibly young as I checked her sleeping form, but she was the same age as me. Maybe the dark circles under my eyes were a side effect of a lousy life.

  I slipped into my sleep shorts and T-shirt and climbed between the clean sheets. The bed was soft and comfortable, and I was suddenly aware of my aching limbs. Running wasn’t an everyday occurrence for me, especially at the breakneck speed I’d fled the woods. My mind wandered back to the wolves. Despite Sebastian’s warnings, the animals hadn’t attacked. Did they believe I was a hunter and could destroy them? Somehow I didn’t think so. There had to be another reason I had been spared—twice—and I intended to find out why. Sebastian’s office was the best place to start. Tomorrow. First, I needed to get a good night’s sleep.

  There was a light tap at the window and then another. Something struck the glass. Elizabeth stirred and I was just about to open my mouth to warn her to be quiet when a male voice called her name. Elizabeth’s eyes flew open and she grinned at me in the pale moonlight streaming through the curtains.

  ‘It’s Adam,’ she whispered, bouncing off the bed.

  ‘The groundsman?’ I recalled the handsome, dark-skinned gardener I’d seen during my tour of the grounds earlier.

  She nodded enthusiastically and climbed on the desk. I raised an eyebrow as she unlocked the window latch.

  ‘We’re two floors up,’ I hissed. I knew I was stating the obvious but I worried that in her euphoria Elizabeth had forgotten this simple fact and would launch herself into mid-air.

  She giggled. ‘I know, silly.’

  There was a light tap and the top of a ladder appeared against the frame as Adam’s face appeared at the window.

  ‘Come inside, quickly.’ Elizabeth grabbed his arms to help steady him.

  With his dark skin and black clothing, Adam was perfectly camouflaged against the night sky. He swung his long legs over the sill and jumped down to the floor.

  Elizabeth laced her fingers through his and glanced in my direction. Her expression was one of delight and also apprehension. Was she worried that I’d disapprove?

  ‘Mia, I’d like you to officially meet Adam.’

  I climbed out of bed and extended my hand to the handsome young man who fidgeted on the spot.

  ‘It’s lovely to meet you.’

  Adam’s posture relaxed as he took my hand and shook it. His palms were rough to the touch, no doubt from working in the academy garden, but his smile was genuine and I found myself warming to him.

  ‘It’s great to meet you in person, Mia.’

  Elizabeth grinned at me and bounced up and down on the balls of her feet.

  ‘I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you about him sooner, but with everything that’s been going on I didn’t get a chance, and then you weren’t at dinner and…’

  I put my hand up to stop her chattering.

  ‘It’s fine, really. You don’t need to tell me your business.’

  ‘Oh, but I do; we’re friends and roomies. We must share our deepest secrets.’ She turned to smile up at Adam, then added, ‘And he’s mine.’

  I suddenly felt the urge to flee. Soppy looks and romantic gestures were for romance novels and chick flicks and I didn’t have the first clue how to be around that.

  ‘I’m going for a walk,’ I said, rather too loudly. ‘I’ll give you guys some privacy.’

  I slipped my feet into my grey pumps, grabbed a hoodie and the small book Sebastian had given me and headed for the door.

  ‘You don’t have to leave, Mia.’ Elizabeth’s brow creased as she watched my fumbled attempt at escape.

  ‘I know,’ I said, smiling at my roommate, ‘but I fancy exploring and hopefully I’ll be able to avoid a certain redhead at this time of night.’

  ‘Be careful,’ she said.

  I DIDN’T WANT to think about the teenage romance that was unfolding back in my room. No matter what Elizabeth said, it was her business and nothing to do with me. I was, however, pleased that Adam seemed to be a decent lad. The boys back home had been cruel and relentless in their bullying. Zak had taught me at a young age who to avoid and how. A tip I should remember when trying to stay out of Felicity’s way.

  The redhead pushed her way into my thoughts as I crept along the first-floor corridor towards the staircase. Why did Felicity hate me so much? Why did I care? It wasn’t that I wanted us to bond and braid each other’s hair but she possessed a deep-set vindictiveness that involved my entire family and that bothered me.

  There was no-one around at this time of night. Sebastian’s office door was closed and no light shone through the glass to indicate he was up and still working. I realised I didn’t even know where his bedroom was. He had failed to share that with me. Clearly I only had access to him during office hours. The cafeteria was in darkness and the heavy wooden doors that I’d sprinted out of earlier today were now shut and bolted. I curled up on one of the many sofas hugging the wall in the entrance hall, flicked on a small table lamp and pulled out the green leather book Sebastian had given me.

  The pages were well worn and yellowed, their edges marked in gold. A handwritten inscription on the first page read: ‘Never stop searching, love C x.’ I recognised the handwriting instantly from the rescued pages of my mum’s poetry, and my pulse quickened as I thought about my mum, Cassie Roberts. This message was from her. I raised an eyebrow as I turned the book over in my hand, searching for some other message sent from beyond the grave. The book had come from Sebastian’s bookshelf, and judging by the number of photographs of my mum in his office, they obviously had a deeper connection than anyone realised.

  The book covered every topic from the history of hunters to weaponry through the ages. It was the strapline on the title page that caught my eye.

  To every pack, a cub is born.

  Unleash the hunter to protect and serve.

  The author, a man named Dr P.S. Neale, had written a long-winded introduction, dated 1862. He waffled on about the importance of hunters and how they were necessary to correct the balance of nature, of creatures so vile and brutal that Queen Victoria herself had assigned him as a master hunter to the realm.

  Impressive. Not only was I now a member of an elite werewolf hunting academy, but apparently we were to report directly to the royal family.

  According to Dr Neale, it was the birth of a child to a werewolf mother that triggered the hunter gene in a human child. Mother Nature’s way of balancing good and evil. For every werewolf that gave birth to a cub, a hunter was born to kill it.

  Closing the book, I rested my head back against the wall. Did I believe that all this supernatural crap was true? Sebastian believed in it. He ran a school dedicated to that principle. I certainly couldn’t deny that werewolves existed, but hunters being born for the sole purpose of killing them? I wasn’t so sure about that. Besides, there were hundreds of girls in Hood Academy. Surely there weren’t hundreds of werewolves hiding in the surrounding woods.

  From somewhere upstairs I heard hushed voice
s and the sound of people approaching. I switched off the light and slid off the sofa to crouch on the floor, hiding myself away behind a large mahogany dresser.

  Felicity’s voice was clear and harsh. ‘It’s a privilege to see what I’m about to show you. Nobody else in this godawful school even knows about the lab.’

  The two girls walked across the foyer oblivious to my presence and headed for the door beside Sebastian’s office. It was the one I’d seen yesterday, the one Elizabeth had thought was a store room. From the pocket of her jeans, Felicity produced a key and quietly unlocked the door, swinging it open. She glanced around the dark foyer and I crouched lower, curling myself up so as not to be seen.

  Satisfied that they were alone, Felicity ushered her companion inside.

  I raced across the carpet, catching the handle so the door couldn’t click shut behind them. A torch light bounced off the walls, and I waited until their muffled voices had faded away before following.

  The small space looked like a typical store room until I moved further in. Shelves covered the walls from floor to ceiling with stacks of paper, printer inks and dusty exercise books, but beyond the shelves was a long corridor hidden from view behind the shelving unit. A faint light glowed in the distance, and I could see shadows moving about. Felicity and her companion disappeared through an opening to the right.

  My heartbeat was rapid as I tiptoed after the two girls. Maybe this was an unknown route to the science classrooms. Somehow I didn’t think that was true. The same feeling of dread I felt earlier, coming face-to-face with the wolves, trickled back into my veins.

  A low moan filled the darkness and I dropped to my knees. It didn’t sound like Felicity or her companion. The sound was masculine. The moaning ceased and I was about to creep forward when a scream filled the air. The hairs on the back of my neck rose at the desperate sound. I was close to the entrance where the girls had disappeared. Hugging the wall, I skulked closer until I was alongside the opening. I risked a quick look around the corner and saw that it opened up onto a staircase that went to a lower floor. The screams were coming from below.

  Felicity’s wild laughter floated up the staircase.

  Although they were faint, I could hear her words clearly.

  ‘Do it again. That’s right, hold the knife in your right hand and press down. Don’t worry, nobody in the school can hear us. The lab is soundproofed.’ A dreadful howl followed, and I felt bile rise up in my throat. Whatever they were doing down there, it wasn’t good.

  ‘You deserve to die.’ Felicity’s voice filled the darkness and her friend laughed.

  I spun on my heel and ran. The entrance hall was still empty when I emerged from the store room. Nobody heard those terrible screams because the rooms were secure. Did that mean Sebastian knew about the lab, or the prisoner? I knew that I should run and tell my uncle what I’d heard, but my gut instinct told me not to trust him. Not yet. I pushed the door closed behind me and rushed to the stairs, taking them two at a time. I needed to get back to my room. I wanted to feel safe, but I doubted that I’d ever feel that way again.

  The morning sky was overcast as the student body filed through the huge wooden doors and assembled on the front lawn. Miss Ross stood on the top steps surveying the bleary-eyed girls like a kestrel watching its prey. I spotted Felicity and her squad congregating by a tall flagpole stuck in the grass and steered Elizabeth to a stop at the furthest possible point from them.

  ‘Avoidance tactics,’ I mumbled when Elizabeth gave me a quizzical look.

  When I returned to our bedroom last night Adam had left and my roommate was fast asleep. Something I was grateful for. I wasn’t sure if I could, or should, confide in Elizabeth about what I’d seen and heard in the secret store room. I didn’t want to get her mixed up in any trouble.

  Miss Ross punctured my thoughts as she called for silence.

  ‘Today’s assignment is our boot-camp training run,’ she said.

  A rumble of discord filled the air.

  ‘Yes, yes, I know how much you love these runs, but our stamina, strength and agility are what make us deadly. The only way to maintain the high level of fitness that Hood Academy is famous for is to push ourselves to the limit.’

  ‘What’s a boot-camp training run?’ I asked Elizabeth who was stretching her calf muscles out.

  ‘We’ve got to run through the woods, loop around the town and return before dark.’

  ‘Doesn’t sound so bad. Why does everyone look like she just cancelled Christmas?’

  ‘It’s about fifty miles.’

  ‘Whoa, fifty! That’s really far. How often do you do this?’

  ‘We run regular circuits once a week but Miss Ross likes to spring the ultra-marathon on us at least twice a year.’

  ‘Terrific,’ I mumbled, grabbing my ankle and bending my leg back in a vague attempt to warm up my quads. ‘There’s no way I’ll be back before dark. Do they send out search parties?’

  Elizabeth laughed. ‘The route is marked with green flags. Just follow them and you’ll be fine. If you’re not back at the academy by nine, Miss Ross collects the stragglers in the minibus.’

  ‘Well, that’s a relief. Maybe I could just take a book with me and lounge around at the final marker until it gets dark.’

  ‘I’ll run with you and we’ll take it slow.’ Elizabeth beamed at me and my mouth tugged in something resembling a smile of gratitude. She was really sweet and so far hadn’t given up on me. Maybe I wasn’t so unlovable after all.

  MISS ROSS WAS now standing next to the tall flagpole with a whistle in her hand. The students spread out across the lawn in varying degrees of panic. There were the ultra-sporty girls bouncing on their heels as they eagerly awaited the shrill screech of the start whistle, and then there were the rest of us. The I can’t believe we have to do this brigade, loitering near the back.

  ‘Remember to follow the markers, girls. The green flags are there to keep you safe and protected. We can’t venture into unmapped territory, and I wouldn’t want anyone to risk their lives for a training exercise.’

  I spun to look at Elizabeth who quickly held her hand up as if expecting me to have something to say about this latest revelation.

  ‘It’s just a precaution,’ she said. ‘There are huge parts of the forest that even the tutors don’t know about. Just stick to the path that’s marked. No need to panic.’

  ‘Panic! Who’s panicking? It’s my second day at this place and so far I’ve risked my life three times…’ Elizabeth’s eyebrow rose. ‘Well, you’ve tasted the food here!’

  She chuckled and I released the breath I’d been holding. It wasn’t the right time to reveal my extracurricular activities or my run-in with the local werewolf pack.

  The whistle sounded and everyone swarmed forward, jostling for elbow room. Miss Ross nodded at me as I passed her, giving me a pity thumbs up. She knew I wouldn’t be able to breathe after the first mile. Maybe that thumbs up was her way of telling me she’d meet me soon with the minibus.

  ELIZABETH WAS CLEARLY using all her energy to stop herself from running at a half-decent pace and I felt a pang of guilt.

  ‘You should go ahead,’ I rasped, already struggling to talk let alone suck air into my lungs. ‘I’m fine, honestly. I’ll meet you for dinner.’

  ‘It’s okay,’ she said. ‘I promised to look after you on this run.’

  ‘Lizzie, I insist. You can look after my blisters when I get home later.’

  She giggled. ‘If you’re sure.’

  ‘Hundred per cent, now go.’

  She gave me a sympathetic wave then shot off up the path, overtaking the other girls who were also striving to survive this physical assault Miss Ross had forced on us.

  As I rasped my way further along the path the hairs on the back of my neck prickled, and I turned to look behind me, half expecting to see a few stragglers, but I could no longer see any of my fellow students. Even the most unfit girl in the school had overtaken me and disappeared into th
e trees. I was alone once more, and yet I had the strangest sensation that I was being watched.

  I slowed down to a fast walking pace and wiped the sweat off my face with the bottom of my T-shirt. The sound of the birds high up in the branches filled the air, and I could hear the distant trickle of a stream. My breathing steadied, and I felt a deep sense of belonging. Zak would love it here. The small dell back home had been our sanctuary but these woods, with their endless paths and beautiful clearings, would have kept us amused for days at a time.

  The path ahead split in two directions; the western route seemed to be the more obvious track as I knew the town was that way, but the green flag stood further along the eastern path.

  I veered right and picked up the pace again heading away from town. The further I ran, the more uneven the path became. The compacted earth of the running track had given way to moss and weeds. Tree branches dangled across the trail making it difficult to run without bending to avoid a twig in the eye. There hadn’t been a green flag for about half an hour, and I worried that I’d somehow missed a turning.

  Sweeping aside a beautiful willow tree, I stepped into a clearing and froze. I knew this place. The same sandy-coloured rocks hugged the edge of the overhang where I’d marvelled at the view under a full moon.

  Shit.

  My heart began to race as I looked around the clearing. Not twenty-four hours ago, I’d stood here, face-to-face with four huge wolves. How could Miss Ross lead her students through woods that the enemy had claimed? My mind wandered to the uneven path and the lack of green flags.

  ‘Felicity.’ I said her name aloud as if looking for confirmation from the trees that she had something to do with this. It had to be her. She was the kind of person who would change the flags and send me into danger. But I didn’t feel like my life was in danger. In fact, I felt calm and comfortable. Finding this place again was like discovering silence in a storm.