Before her mood could turn sour over the thought, Teddy had, while Emmy hadn’t been paying attention, led her through a part of the forest and into a little circular clearing behind the school. A couple dozen other teenagers were practicing their flying as well, a few of them walking on air while holding onto what appeared to be a pair of floating gold rings. Teddy pulled out a pair of them from his pocket and waggled his eyebrows.
“Now, since I have no idea if you’re capable of flying or not, I’m going to get you to use these. Don’t let go of them, or they’ll float away on you. They’ll hold your body weight up. These are solators, otherwise known as your best friend.”
Emmy took hold of them; they stung her palms with cold. Her heart nearly beat out of her chest. She was suddenly a little kid again, whose greatest wish was to be able to fly.
Teddy moved in front of her, and with one foot he kicked off the ground and into the air. Emmy jerked her head up towards the sky, her eyes following him, seeing a palewraith stretch out of his back and take the form of wings, keeping him levitated.
“Would you like to try, or do you want me to carry you up?”
“No, I’ll try it,” she called. Mimicking him, she kicked off with one foot, gripping the gold rings until her fingers were sweaty. She glided upward a few feet, her legs wobbling in mid air.
Teddy dipped down and floated beside her. “Perfect. How do you feel?”
“Like my organs fell out.”
“Nice. Do you want to keep going on your own, or would you like some help?”
She looked down, a sense of vertigo making her feel faint, and then looked above at the other students who were several feet overhead.
“I’d like to go up a bit more.” Either Alex was going to kill her or Jade was going to kill Teddy. Or both.
Without another word he flashed a devilish look, darted behind her and gave her a push. She flew upwards, feet first, not being able to contain a bloody-curdling scream along with a streak of her favourite French swearwords. As she should have guessed, Teddy was a few feet away, laughing and clutching his stomach in midair.
When she swung back into a position of head first, her body was swinging back and forth like a pendulum. She should have been embarrassed, but she was just furious.
“You could have killed me!” she shouted over his laughter.
“I wouldn’t have let you fall! Relax, Rookie. Okay, now that we’re so high up, how about something a little easier?”
Emmy tried to flash him a rude gesture, but her hands were too preoccupied with the solators.
“Like what?”
“How about you just take a few steps towards me?” he suggested, floating away from her. He made a “come hither” motion. Emmy could not believe she was actually letting herself be manipulated by this dimwit. It had always been a weakness of hers, letting herself to be goaded by boys daring her into doing stupid, dangerous things. She had once climbed into a sewer and nearly froze to death, trapped for several hours, all because Joey had said she was too scared to do it.
She had clearly learned nothing, she realized, as she tried to make her way towards Teddy. She subconsciously tried to put her foot down to steady herself, but of course this didn’t help, making her swing again.
“Think of it like you’re a trapeze artist,” he suggested. “You’re walking on a thin rope that’s barely holding you up.”
She stared, concentrating on him, and suddenly the distance between them seemed to grow. She closed her eyes and attempted it again, just as he said. She tried to walk in a straight line, standing on her tiptoes like a ballerina, but she slipped backward through the air.
“Maybe if you just –” Teddy said, when his eyes shifted focus from Emmy to something behind her. Emmy followed his eyes to see a pretty blonde girl, practicing her gymnastics in the air.
“Hey Rookie, keep trying okay?” he said, walking past Emmy without even looking at her. “I’ll be right back, I’ve just got to go check something.”
He headed straight over to the girl, and Emmy rolled her eyes to the point it was painful. Well, she was on her own; she might as well try to accomplish something. After a few more tries to move forward, without any success, she attempted to force herself into a higher position.
She heaved her body upward, getting a few strange looks from the onlookers, who moved through the air gracefully without effort. She ignored them. Emmy let out a tiny yelp of joy when she did it; she was a foot or so higher than she was before. It seemed to be the only thing she could do; she clearly had no flying ability whatsoever. She repeated this motion again and again until she was on level with the rest of the fliers, high above the trees and around seventy feet in the air.
Her pride was short lived. Everyone else assumed she could fly since she was up there, so they flew around her, just about hitting her because they expected her to move out of the way, which she couldn’t. She tried jerking sideways, succeeding in nothing but loosening curls of hair out of her knot and onto her sweaty face. She lowered her head and took in a few giant gulps of air, and when she raised her head to try again, the air was knocked out of her completely.
Something flew by her in a blur, in a perfectly straight line. He was so fast she barely got a glimpse of his face, but it was enough.
She felt like she was punched in the stomach. Her body froze, dots sprung in front of her eyes, but most significantly, she felt as if a hand, made of fire, had reached inside her, took a death grip on her ribcage, and attempted to rip it out of her body.
He didn’t even see her, flying past her in a split second.
The sensation took her by such surprise she had forgotten what she was doing and more importantly, where she was. Her fingers slipped out of the solators and she began to fall.
Her terror was unexplainable. There was no support, no balance, just gravity. Just as she sucked in a breath to scream, she plummeted into someone, the two of them tumbling to the ground in a heap. The other person, a girl, thought quickly, slowing their descent so by the time they landed, the fall was unpleasant rather than fatal.
They rolled in separate directions once they reached the ground, both groaning. Emmy nearly fainted when her head rammed into a jagged rock.
Oh hell, Emmy thought. I could have killed her! Where is she? Is she moving? I’m so stupid. Oh, hell!
“ROZELYN!” shouted a boy’s voice filled with worry.
Emmy rolled onto her side, a sharp pain blossoming in her arm, growing worse by the second. Was it broken?
Someone whizzed past her onto the ground a few feet away from where the girl was. Emmy looked over to see the girl, who was apparently named Rozelyn, and exhaled a sigh of relief. The girl seemed to be fine. She was already sitting up, a boy leaning over her and checking her for injuries.
“What happened? You were right behind me –” he said.
Emmy stiffened. There was something about that voice.
“I’m fine!” the girl said, sounding as frantic as Emmy felt. “There was a girl, I think she fell – I hit her –”
Rozelyn looked in her direction and the boy’s eyes followed as well, right onto Emmy’s face. Her eyes widened in horror; it was him, the one who made her fall.
He got up and rushed over to Emmy, placing a hand on her forehead. She grimaced, both from the pain pounding in her head and the uproar deep in her chest that had ignited again. The pain was all-consuming, as if her body was thirsting for something that her life depended on. She would have satiated it if she had the slightest idea of what it wanted.
Something was very wrong with her, she figured, because despite the possible concussion, possible spinal breakage, a definite broken arm, mixed with pain in every inch of her body, and a pang of humiliation to top it off, all she could do was stare at him.
It suddenly seemed crucial that she take in every inch of him while he was leaning over her, trying to stop the bleeding cut on the side of her head. Why was she reacting this way? Not only was he average-looki
ng, he was odd looking. He embodied all the extremes of crafter appearance, yet somehow, unlike Emmy and the rest who appeared predatory, he managed to appear harmless. His thin, pale face, framed with thick auburn hair, was like a child’s with his little mouth, and wide, concerned eyes that were dark but bright green. Only his wiry body suggested that he was older.
“Do – do I know you?” was what came out of her mouth.
He took his hand away from her head. “I don’t think so,” he said. That voice. She knew that voice.
He jerked his head over his shoulder. “Rozelyn! Help me!”
The girl – Rozelyn – was at his side in an instant.
“I am so, so sorry,” she cried. “I didn’t see you, you came out of nowhere.”
Emmy shook her head. “No, my fault.” She tried to keep her focus on the girl. “Please, I think my arm is broken, I need to get to a hospital.”
Rozelyn turned to the boy. “Take her to the hospital. I’ll try to find an emergency contact. Who do you live with?”
“Sol and Vera Woodworker at the moment.”
Puzzlement ran across her features for a moment, and then suddenly replaced with recognition. “Oh, right! Jade told me about you, you’re Alex’s sister, the half human!”
“You know Jade?”
“Yeah, she’s my cousin. She didn’t tell you?”
Emmy tried not to look confused, but this girl could not have looked more different from Jade if she had wanted to. She had the features of an African with her dusky skin and crimped, bushy golden-brown hair that fell to her shoulders. While Jade was sort of adorable, this girl was stunningly beautiful. However, Emmy noted, the girl’s skin was not incredibly dark, so it was possible she was biracial, influenced by Jade’s side of the family. Her hazel eyes, Emmy also observed, were the exact same maple brown shade as Jade’s.
The boy leaned down to help her up and she instinctively jerked away. She knew that she must have appeared discourteous, but she wouldn’t let him touch her. He had almost killed her.
“I don’t need a lift,” she covered up. “I’m with my friend Teddy, he’ll take me.”
Rozelyn’s eyes doubled in size. “Teddy? Teddy left you alone?”
“Only for a couple of minutes.”
As if on cue, Teddy took that moment to fly down to meet her. Some of Emmy’s anger, although not much, evaporated at the sight on his face, looking close to tears. He wasn’t with the blonde girl anymore.
Rozelyn stood up and marched over to Teddy, taking her hands and pushing him on his chest, flinging him backwards. “Theodore Shoemaker, you should be expelled! She fell almost seventy feet! If I hadn’t broken her fall she would have died!”
“I’m sorry! I’m so, so sorry.” He looked around Rozelyn to Emmy. “Please, let me take you to the hospital. I’m so sorry.”
Emmy looked from his anguished face, to the boy beside her sitting so close she could feel his body heat radiating off him. She had to get away from him.
“Yes, it’s fine, just get me out of here.”
“Wait,” the boy said. “At least let me get you to the stables. You can’t walk that far, and Teddy can’t carry you.”
Before she could open her mouth to protest, he scooped her up into his arms and sped through the forest, faster than Jade and her mother combined. Another strapper, obviously.
The uneasiness inside her didn’t cease the whole trip, as hard as she tried to pretend to be somewhere else. She sucked in a breath and closed her eyes, trying to vanish, to disappear, when –
I hope there’s no permanent damage.
Emmy wriggled in the boy’s arms. Not now.
I wish she would just let me take her straight to the hospital, it would be so much faster. She looks like she’s scared of me. Someone must have told her already. Ah, here it is.
And just as that thought finished, they had reached the stables. The boy put her on the closest quarter horse to them, and placed her feet in the stirrups. He raised his head up to her, looking even more like a little boy.
And then Emmy finally understood. If she had any strength left, she would have run away.
Why is she staring at me like that? Maybe I should try to explain I’m not going to hurt her. I guess she has been through a lot –
“H – how are you doing that?”
His brow crinkled. “Doing what?”
Maybe she hit her head harder than I realized –
“STOP IT.”
His voice and the voice in her head matched. He couldn’t hide it from her. It was him.
He backed away several paces, tripping over an apology, when Teddy and Rozelyn reached them. With practiced agility, Teddy swung his leg over the horse Emmy was on, missing her head by inches, and planted himself securely in front of her. He sprung the animal into action, and Emmy wrapped her good arm around Teddy’s waist. The horse thundered out of its stall and out the stable doors towards the school and beyond, leaving the two strangers in the dust.
Chapter 7
A Pretty Bird
The motion of the horse hurt so badly Emmy was passed out for most of the trip.
By the time they pulled into Methelwood’s Mercy Hospital, Emmy’s hips and thighs were as sore as every muscle in her body. Teddy pulled on the reigns so hard she almost fell off, and Emmy bit on her lip to muffle a scream of pain. He jumped off the horse as skilfully as he had jumped on, helping Emmy down and leading her through the front door. He told her to go sit in a chair, scrambling over to the front desk to explain what happened.
Emmy almost fell asleep in the short few minutes she was there, groggy from exhaustion and pain. A nurse came over and using a palewraith, lifted the chair she was in and led her to a room. Teddy ran behind them.
“I’m sorry dear, it’s hard to find a room so quickly,” the nurse explained.
“These hallways seem to go on forever,” Emmy said. Her head was getting dangerously light now.
“Yes, the hospital is the biggest building in Methelwood.”
The building that dealt with injury was the largest in Methelwood. What a surprise.
The room she was taken to was nothing but white, so much so it made Emmy’s eyes water. She was placed in a bed with the help of the nurse, and moaned with relief at the comfort of the bed as she sank deeply into its starchy sheets.
Without warning, the nurse began to examine her, using strange equipment and poking her with needles. “We get a lot of Urquhart students coming through here,” she said. Emmy had nowhere to look but her dark, rough face. “It’s your second day, eh?” She let out a guttural laugh. “Not bad, but you didn’t break the record.” She tilted her head to the left and Emmy noticed for the first time she was not in the only bed, nor was she the only patient, in the room. “This boy here just went through his first day.”
“Yes, well,” came a dry voice from the other bed. “It’s not my fault a deranged bird landed on my face and attacked me now, is it?”
The nurse waved her hand dismissively and said to the other patient, “A little bit of paste and you’ll be out of here in no time. Now, I better get a doctor for you, girly. You,” she said, snapping her fingers at Teddy. “I need to ask some questions regarding what happened. Come with me.”
The two of them took off, leaving Emmy and the boy alone.
“What happened to you?” he asked. His flat voice echoed off the bare walls.
“I fell,” Emmy said. She turned to look at him and when she saw his face, tried not to gasp. A red gash extended from the left side of his forehead to the right side of his chin. Despite the ugly scratch, the boy seemed completely unfazed, and seemed rather bored at having to sit and wait for attendance. He noticed her staring.
“Nasty buggers, aren’t they?” he said. “I’ve never seen a bird act like that. I’m going to have the vermin exterminated from this damn orb.”
Emmy wanted to point out that birds weren’t vermin, but she figured that was the least helpful thing to say. “Does it hurt?
”
“Of course it -” he sighed, calming himself. “It’s not too bad. I’m not going to acquire a lifelong fear of ravens or anything.”
Her ears perked up. “A raven? You said a raven attacked you?”
“Yes,” he said, adjusting himself into a more comfortable position in the bed.
“Was it a silver one? With weird glowing eyes?”
“Maybe. What’s it to you?”
How was she supposed to explain to him what she meant? That a bird had been stalking her since she had arrived in Methelwood? Apprehension bubbled in her; if it was the same bird, and it attacked this boy, did that mean it was dangerous and had the intention of causing her harm?
She thought too long on the matter. A different nurse bustled through, handing the boy a vial of a thick, puce liquid.
“Here you go, dear,” the nurse said. “I’m still not entirely sure why you asked for a room when this was all you needed.”
He threw his long legs over the side of the bed and jumped down, adjusting his jacket. “I didn’t want to wait in those plastic chairs you have.” He headed towards the exit, only to stop in the doorway. He turned around, staring at Emmy intently with gray eyes. “My name is Cyrus, by the way. Cyrus Crow.”
“Emmy Rathers,” she replied.
He smiled, charming and superficial. “I’ll see you soon,” he said, and turned the corner.
She closed her eyes and leaned back on the pillow, trying to forget why she was here. She knew Vera and Sol would find about this, which by extension would mean Jade would find out, and then Alex. She was already humiliated enough; the last thing she wanted was the inevitable fretting that would occur.
A few minutes later a young handsome doctor in a long black robe walked through the door with a clipboard, along with the rough-faced nurse and Teddy.
“My name is Dr. Stockwell,” he said, wasting no time. He jerked her head back in order to examine her bleeding forehead. “But you can call me Milo.”
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