There was no full moon to unnerve me this time, so I climbed onto the smooth rocks and took in the view. Fields, wooded glens and paddocks of grazing horses stretched out below me.
‘Beautiful, isn’t it?’
I jumped at the sound of a voice behind me. Scurrying to my feet, I half expected to find Elizabeth or Miss Ross. Instead, I was looking into the bluest eyes I’d ever seen.
A boy stood in the clearing, his hands shoved deep into his jeans pockets. His hair shone like brass despite the cloudy sky. He couldn’t have been much older than me, perhaps seventeen.
‘Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you. I’m Cody.’ He gave me a lopsided smile.
‘Mia.’ I lifted my hand in a lame half wave.
‘Can I sit with you?’ He motioned to the overhang and I jumped back, giving him room to manoeuvre.
He walked to the edge of the rocks and lowered himself down, his long legs disappearing over the ledge, the lightly tanned flush to his skin deepening as he glanced back at me.
I hesitated for a moment before joining him, making sure I was a safe distance away.
‘I love it here,’ he whispered. ‘It’s always so quiet.’
‘Why would you need to find a quiet spot?’ I asked, wondering if he attended a boys’ version of the academy.
‘My family can get a bit loud so I like to escape.’ His smile lit up his entire face, and I couldn’t help but smile along with him.
‘Do you have a large family?’
‘My parents are foster carers and over the years we’ve grown as a family.’ He laughed out loud. ‘At the moment, I’ve got four brothers and two sisters.’
‘Wow, that is…loud!’
He laughed again and I felt my shoulders relax with every second that passed.
‘Your parents must be amazing,’ I said.
‘They were,’ he replied softly. Unfortunately they were killed a few years ago.’
I mentally kicked myself.
‘I’m so sorry. How did it happen?’ I scolded myself a second time for asking such a personal question. It was none of my damn business, but I felt a strange bond with this boy. We were both orphans who had been touched by tragedy and looking for an escape.
Cody didn’t seem to notice my discomfort.
‘It was a car accident. They were here one minute and gone the next. My brothers have looked after me ever since it happened.’
‘I’m sorry to hear that. My mum was killed in a hit-and-run, so I understand that pain, but it sounds like your parents did a wonderful job of raising all those kids, if they’re still here for you when you need them.’
I didn’t mean to sound so envious, but it slipped out in my tone. Cody must have noticed as his eyebrows lifted slightly as he looked over at me.
I didn’t want him asking about my tragic past, so I jumped in with another question.
‘Do you live in the woods?’
He nodded, his fair hair flopping into his eyes.
‘We live in a farmhouse deep in the woods. Luckily there’s a lane that leads us to the outskirts of town so we’re not totally cut off. My parents ran a vegetable store and sold all the produce they grew in the fields. We’ve kept it running ever since they died.’
‘You don’t look like a farmer.’
He laughed again and the sound melted something inside my chest.
‘What do I look like?’
I could feel my face burning as I thought about an appropriate answer.
‘You know, don’t answer that. I don’t think I want to know.’ He smiled and tilted his head to the side. ‘Want to see something cool?’
I grinned and he took that as a yes.
We left the outcrop and ventured further into the woods. Somewhere deep inside my subconscious I knew I shouldn’t be wandering through the forest with a strange boy, but my gut told me a different story. I had the oddest sensation that I knew him—on an emotional level. We’d suffered the same tragedy and our grief united us.
The smell of the earth and woods filled my senses and calmed my nerves the further we walked. The trees began to thin out as we reached a clearing with a huge oak tree in the middle. It was like no tree I’d ever come across. The trunk was immense and someone had chiselled a seat into the wood.
‘My dad carved this for me when I was little. I used to come here after they died so I could feel close to them again. This tree and the overhang are special places.’
I could understand that. After my mum died, I would sit in the bottom of her wardrobe soaking up the scent of her clothes and the lingering smell of her perfume. Loss is hard, but when you are so young it is life-altering.
‘It’s also a great climbing tree.’
He winked at me, extending an unspoken challenge, and strode off across the clearing until he stood beneath its branches. He reached up and grasped the lower bough, then swung one of his long legs up and over until he was perched in the tree.
‘Come on up.’ His voice was teasing as he began to swing higher and higher.
I hadn’t climbed a tree in years, not since the days when Zak had taken me to the park as a kid. It came back to me in a rush of adrenalin and I scrambled up the branches, catching up to Cody in no time.
‘Ah, an expert in tree climbing, I see. What other talents does the mysterious Mia hide beneath her grace and beauty?’
I couldn’t stop myself from laughing. He had a way of making it feel easy.
My T-shirt clung to my back as I moved from branch to branch. I knew I looked like someone had thrown me in an oven and finished me off in the swimming pool, my mediocre run through the forest adding to my not-so-glamorous appearance. Cody, however, didn’t seem bothered by my frizzy hair and blotchy cheeks. By the time we reached the top I was wheezing, but I felt fearless. Cody nestled into the crook of two branches and I did the same, our feet planted side by side.
‘I can understand why you like coming here,’ I said, trying to catch my breath.
Through the top layer of leaves we could see for miles. The houses and shops down in the valley glinted in the sunshine and the faint outline of the peaks framed the horizon. It was a breathtaking view.
We talked, mostly about our likes and dislikes, favourite music and authors. It was nice. Apart from with Elizabeth, I’d never really experienced the joy of a normal conversation without there being an ulterior motive. My dad always managed to twist my words, leaving me with an incessant fear of saying the wrong thing. His way of picking a fight. However, Cody was easy to talk to, and I was about to tell him this when he spoke up.
‘So then, Mia, are you going to tell me what you were running from?’
I flinched slightly as suspicion flooded my senses. Had I misjudged my bad boy radar? I didn’t think so. Cody didn’t give off that homicidal maniac vibe, but how did he know I’d been running? Had he followed me to the outcrop? Realising that I’d done nothing wrong and was merely on a training exercise, I relaxed my shoulders.
We stared at each other across the branches of the tree. My mind whirled with possible scenarios that I could share without divulging too much. I opted for part truth in the hope that it would pacify his curiosity and spare me from the fear I felt at opening up.
‘My dad recently passed away and my uncle brought me to live with him. He has this strange opinion that family should stick together.’ I laughed, nervously.
Cody’s head automatically dropped to the side in the universal language of sorrow and I glanced away. I didn’t want to see the pity shining in his beautiful blue eyes. I omitted to tell him the part about the werewolves and the gore. It seemed safer sticking mainly to school-related topics, so instead I told him about my new life amongst the spawn of Satan, who happened to have red hair and her own set of bodyguards.
‘Felicity and her crew are determined to make my life a living hell, but all I want to do is melt into the background and get on with my studies.’
‘Are you talking about Hood Academy?’
‘
Yeah, I arrived yesterday, and I’ve already run away twice; doesn’t bode well, does it?’
He smiled but his features were tight, not the open, warm expression from earlier.
‘Is something wrong?’ I asked.
‘I’ve heard things about that school—bad things.’
‘What kind of things?’ I was starting to feel uneasy. Cody didn’t seem to be talking about schoolgirl bullies. Did he know about the werewolf hunters? Could I ask him? I only realised at that moment that the academy might be a secret society, and here I was telling the first guy I stumbled across.
‘I think I better go,’ he muttered.
He began climbing down the tree, slowly at first and then much faster. I struggled to keep up and worried that he would run off and leave me. I didn’t play the damsel-in-distress card very often, but I was lost in the woods and I kind of needed him to guide me back in the direction of the school.
I sat on the lowest branch and steadied myself to jump, but Cody raised his arms to help me down, and as I leapt he caught me.
His hands felt solid at my waist, and our bodies were so close I could smell the tang of his shower gel. I looked up into his bright eyes and saw a flickering of pain there.
‘Follow the trail to the right and it will lead you back to the academy. Stick to the path and you shouldn’t get lost again.’
‘I feel like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz,’ I said quietly, trying to lighten the tension that was evident on his face and in the tightness of his hold.
He smiled, a fraction of that warmth returning to his eyes. If I had given some serious thought to the situation I would have said that Cody looked scared.
‘Stay safe, Mia, and be careful who you trust.’
With that, he turned away and jogged off into the woods, leaving me reeling from his words and his touch.
BEING THE FIRST to return back from the ultra-marathon should have been a memorable occasion. However, as I strolled across the lawn I could just make out Miss Ross’s outline through Sebastian’s office window. She threw her hands in the air and disappeared from view, only to reappear with Sebastian by her side at the main door, rushing down the front steps of the academy and heading my way.
‘What’s wrong?’ It was Sebastian who spoke first, worry etched in the frown lines across his forehead.
‘Nothing. I got totally lost when I missed a green flag, but I managed to find my way back.’
I’d been proud of myself for following Cody’s vague directions but the look of horror on Sebastian’s face made me wish I’d stayed lost for a few more hours.
Miss Ross waved him away and herded me towards the school, wrapping her arm around my shoulder like a protective mother hen.
‘You appear to have an aptitude for getting lost in these woods, Mia.’
‘It was an easy mistake,’ I told her. ‘I was far too busy enjoying the scenery, and I must have missed a couple of flags.’
‘Hmm, I doubt that very much.’
‘Miss Ross, we don’t know that Mia didn’t get lost of her own accord.’ Sebastian strode alongside us, his jaw taut.
‘Sebastian, you know as well as I do that young Felicity had a hand in this. In all the years we’ve been doing these exercises, nobody has missed a flag. Felicity is behind this because she is unruly and petulant and…’
‘Bitchy.’ I waded in with my opinion and Miss Ross cackled.
‘Indeed.’
Sebastian paused on the top step and rubbed his hands over his face. He looked tired.
‘She is still a student and I have an obligation to protect her as much as anyone else in this academy.’
‘With all due respect, Sebastian, you do everything you can for these students, but your talents lie in the management and structure of their education rather than their emotional welfare.’
Well, that explained his lack of paternal instincts. I’d wondered if his coolness towards me had been down to the distant relationship with my dad but now I understood. He didn’t know anything about teenagers, especially teenage girls.
‘Mia, could you wait in my office, please.’
I nodded at him and thanked Miss Ross for her kindness. Pushing open the front door, I wandered through the foyer to Sebastian’s office. The store room door was closed and I couldn’t resist trying the handle as I went by. Locked. How did Felicity have a key? I made a mental note to ask Elizabeth if her friend Adam had a set of keys to the academy’s many rooms.
The lights were blazing in Sebastian’s office and there was a fire roaring in the grate. I warmed my hands before ambling over to his desk. Documents and open books littered the surface. He had obviously been in the middle of something when I strayed out of the treeline. I glanced at the papers filled with data that made no sense to me.
I was about to flop into the chair opposite the desk when a Manila file caught my eye. The label in the top-right corner read ‘Private & Confidential—Fatalities’. Taking a quick peek through the window, I saw Sebastian and Miss Ross were still deep in conversation, so I risked a look at the file.
There were lists of names inside the folder, dating back to the 1970s. Three column headings stood out on the crumpled page. Name, Drug Trial Administered, Date of Death. I ran my finger along the long list of names until I reached the bottom of the page. My heart froze. The last name was Cassandra Roberts. My hands began to tremble as I read the information alongside her name. Trial notes: Prototype 0118 failed. Subject fell into a coma. Bite site infection. Unable to resuscitate. Date of Death: October 11th.
My chest was tight as I fought against the tidal wave of tears that threatened to fall, and I found it difficult to breathe. The back of my throat burned, but I refused to allow myself to cry. Sebastian would be here any minute and I was reading his private files. His files. Files that contained information about my mother’s death.
Memories of my brother’s arms wrapped tightly around me barrelled to the front of my mind. He held me as I wept, both of us listening to the police officer who told our father about the hit-and-run driver who had left our mother by the roadside. Zak’s strength had kept me glued together over the weeks that followed.
He was fifteen and I had just turned six. Our dad had lost it, drinking more than usual in a miserable attempt to blot out his pain. The shouting was too much for me, and I would sit on my bed with my hands clasped over my ears, blocking out the sounds of Zak and Dad screaming at one another. Zak left me a year later. Mum’s death hit our family hard. A tragic accident that tore us apart. And it was all a lie.
By some miracle, Sebastian was called away to deal with a parent and Miss Ross excused me for the rest of the day.
‘The other girls should be at the halfway marker by now and won’t start returning until dinner,’ she said. ‘Go get a shower and enjoy your free time.’
I avoided eye contact as she happily chatted about having the school to myself. If I raised my head, she’d know I was upset. It was torture keeping my emotions in check as she prattled on. A loud crash in the cafeteria attracted her attention and I used the distraction to shoot off up the staircase.
The corridors were deserted as I’d expected, and the silence hit me with such force that when I finally reached the bathroom, I slid to the floor and sobbed. I was still crying when I stepped under the hot stream of water and washed away the dirt and sweat from my unsuccessful run.
Why had the police lied to us about Mum’s death? The strange file on Sebastian’s desk referred to an infected bite. A sense of clarity settled over me as I realised what that meant. A werewolf killed my dad, his throat ripped out in front of me, and now it seemed that my mum had also died because of a werewolf bite. Becoming a hunter suddenly made absolute sense.
Sebastian was somehow involved, but I couldn’t figure out if he was covering for someone or being protective. The photographs of my family in his office could be a sign of guilt or love. Whatever it was, I intended to find out. I made a vow to myself that as soon as Elizabeth returne
d from the marathon, I would confide in her. My stomach churned as I thought about opening up to someone new, but I wanted to tell her everything. For nine years I’d dealt with life alone, and now I knew it didn’t have to be that way. Zak was the only person I’d ever spoken to about things that mattered. He was my best friend and brother rolled into one. Until he left. Then I didn’t have anyone to share my pathetic dreams and stories with.
‘Be careful who you trust.’ Twice in as many days those words had been spoken to me, first by Terry, at the motorway services and earlier this morning by Cody. Although I couldn’t trust my uncle or Miss Ross, I could turn to my friend. I needed her help. Someone had to know about the academy. Cody said he had heard bad things about this place. Maybe his brothers knew more.
Determination powered my actions as I threw on my jeans and jumper, pulled on my tattered old Converse and dragged my wet hair back into a ponytail. Cody had mentioned that even though he lived deep in the woods, he often visited the town, and Miss Ross did tell me to enjoy my free time. She didn’t specify I had to stay on school property.
MY DARING ESCAPE plan was going smoothly until I bumped into Adam as I skulked around the side of the building heading for the animal cages and the tracks beyond. Feeling flustered, I made up some lame story about exploration.
‘You want to explore the forest?’ he asked with some trepidation in his voice when I voiced my hastily hatched lie.
‘Well, it’s such a beautiful day and I love being in nature.’ We both looked up at the overcast sky and the grey storm clouds rolling in as the words passed my lips.
‘Uh huh.’ He wasn’t convinced.
Shit.
‘Okay, truth is I need to escape this place for a few hours. I’m going stir crazy and Elizabeth won’t be back for ages.’
His eyes twinkled at the mention of Elizabeth’s name and I couldn’t help but smile.
‘You want me to keep you company?’ he asked.
‘Thanks, but I think I need some time alone.’ I was genuinely touched that Adam was willing to give up his time for me, but I was on a mission, and nothing would deter me.
Oath Breaker Page 5
