At first, Emmy thought he was staring at her, but then she realized his gaze was slightly to the right of her, directed at Cyrus. Cyrus looked oblivious to it, but she had a feeling he did know Breckin was staring, and just chose to ignore it.
Breckin didn’t stop the intent gaze through the whole team picking, and only looked away when Babbage blew the whistle, sending the teenagers to scatter into the woods.
Besides Cyrus, Emmy didn’t know any of her teammates’ names and only recognized a few. She did the only thing she could do, and that was to follow Cyrus, doing her best to use him as a shield. As ragged as her nerves had been during her first peacekeeping lesson, it was nothing compared to this. The eleventh graders only had one more year’s experience than the people in her grade, but they were twice as fast. The insane thing was, Cyrus, on top of this, was better than most of them.
He would shout out a word now and then, such as “trip”, “fall” or “turn”, and whoever he was fighting with would do just what he said. Emmy figured out pretty quickly he was a driver. When he was opponent-free for a few seconds, he turned his head to the side, his eyes on her.
“If you’re going to use me as a shield, at least cover my back, will you?”
She was already irked with him for taking away her opportunity to fight with Alex, but she did as she was told.
Soon she realized she had no choice. Babbage and Flin whizzed by every few minutes, grading the entire time. If Emmy did nothing, she would probably do just as badly in her evaluation as she would if she got taken out. Her attempts at defence were feeble, especially with her dominant hand in a cast, but maybe she would get some marks for effort. Despite her annoyance, she had to acknowledge her incredible luck at having Cyrus to hide behind. The nurse had said Cyrus wasn’t from Methelwood, but Methelwood had the best peacekeeping program in the orbs – where was this boy from?
Halfway through the class, she didn’t care anymore. She felt half smug and half guilty, eyeing her fallen pupils in the vicinity. The dirty looks they threw at her indicated they were not happy the rookie had gotten farther than they had.
Just when Emmy was starting to wonder if Cyrus was unbeatable, something threw him backwards, nearly knocking him over, causing Emmy to wobble as well. Emmy looked over her shoulder and saw Breckin, green fire in his eyes.
“You are so predicable, you know that?” Cyrus said, throwing a ball of palewraiths in his direction which Breckin smoothly sidestepped.
Breckin didn’t reply, but instead did a back flip onto a tree, hanging on with just his feet. He threw another blow at Cyrus.
Emmy took a few steps back, certain this wasn’t going to end well. She saw several other students in the distance heading their way, growing closer by the second. She figured the best thing she could do at the moment was get out of there. Cyrus couldn’t protect her anymore, and she didn’t stand a chance against a group.
Without looking behind her she made her way down a clean path without any marks, considering it was her best bet to get away from everybody. A few minutes later she realized that also made her incredibly easy to find, having left the only trail of footsteps in the snow, and came to a halt. She was surrounded by oak trees – it was probably best if she climbed into a tree and hid from the rest of class.
Just as she was about to take her first step up the tree closest to her, she heard a soft growl from behind her. She froze and turned around, expecting to see a student to fight – instead, she let out an involuntary scream.
Standing maybe twenty feet away from her, white as the snow itself, was a lion. He was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen: enormous, with luminous fur that reflected the sunlight. A thick mane framed his face. The only colour he possessed was in the eyes, which were pure gold without any pupils. Despite the lack of pupils, she knew he was looking straight at her, in the same eerie way the raven had, with its white eyes. That otherworldly wrongness.
It lunged at her just as she screamed. Emmy dropped to her stomach, rolling to the side. The lion raced passed her, digging his heavy paws into the snow to stop himself, and turned around.
Her brain was frozen, not knowing what to do. Was this some part of the test? No, that didn’t make any sense. This was a lion. What sort of lion lived in a forest in winter?
He let out a roar and headed for her again.
The palewraiths. She needed the palewraiths.
With her one good hand, she summoned all her will to conjure one, and threw it at the lion. It hardly slowed the beast down.
Closing her eyes, she did it again, throwing one after the other without relent. The lion whimpered, thrown onto his side. This was Emmy’s one chance to run. She got up and bolted back the way she had come. She didn’t hear the lion come after her, how far behind was he –?
She ran straight into something solid, causing her to wobble backwards. Emmy looked up and saw Cyrus Crow, staring down at her without any expression.
“Where did you go?”
Her chest ached, but she was determined to get the words out. “A ... lion ... in the woods –”
“What are you nattering on about?”
“It was right behind me,” she panted, turning around to point behind her, but the beast was gone. There was a clear indent in the snow where she had knocked him over, and paw prints that led in the other direction. “It was right there, behind me,” she repeated.
“I needed you to guard my back.”
Emmy flipped around and glared at him. “Did you not hear me? I just said a lion attacked me.”
“As in a large feline?”
“Yes! I almost died.”
“Well, I think you’ve had a little bit too much excitement today. Come on, let’s get you back.”
If Emmy hadn’t been so shaken she would have hit him. He had been right there, in clear sight of the scene. She had just gotten up to run when he appeared –
He had been right there. Emmy examined Cyrus, who was already bored with the situation, and decided to head back towards the school.
There had been no time, she realized, for him to stand watching for any period of time without seeing the lion. She had knocked it over and ran into him in a matter of seconds.
It was also worth noting that he hadn’t looked surprised by her panic, or when she had told him she had seen a white lion in the middle of the forest.
Plus, it was clear Breckin was going to beat him in the one-on-one combat, so that would have meant he was out, and that he had traveled through the forest and watched her get attacked. And he didn’t do anything to stop it.
Emmy shook her head. She needed to calm down. Between the voice in her head and the strange event that afternoon regarding the dream downloader, she was losing it. What she needed was to go home and clear her head of paranoia.
Chapter 10
The Morrison’s Spot
Emmy found herself going quiet the next few days. It seemed there was little she could do about these several difficult situations, and she felt the energy slowly seeping out of her. She robotically did everything she was supposed to do; going to school, training with Alex, and she had even started working at The Noir Beanery fairly efficiently considering she only had one arm.
The only hope she had to hold onto was getting to that dream downloader. Willow refused to meet her, but she remembered the counsellor saying it would take about a week to fix the machine, and it had been a week now. She could not wait any longer. Unfortunately for her, Jade, like always, saw right through her.
“Is something the matter?” she probed, as they loitered in between classes one day.
Either Emmy’s stoic face was one of the many things she had lost upon arriving in Methelwood, or Jade was especially intuitive. She wished she could have told Alex what was going on but the closeness they had shared when they were children had been severed by the separation. His role had been reduced to Protective Big Brother.
But she had to tell someone. Keeping it in was killing her.
“Don’t freak out,” Emmy murmured as they pushed their way through the crowds of students in the halls. “But I’m going to break into Willow’s office.”
“WHAT?” Her voice reverberated off the high vaulted ceiling.
“Relax, I’ll do it at night when no one’s around.”
“Is that really the point? If you’re spotted, you’ll be suspended.”
“The voice is getting worse,” Emmy said as they entered their classroom. Persephone waved at their saved seats in the far back. “I’ll end up in a politically incorrect asylum they call the House of Troubled and Disturbed if I don’t. I’d prefer prison.”
“At least then you’ll get to see your mom,” Persephone said, hearing only the last part of the conversation.
Jade threw her a glare and then looked at Emmy with a pleading expression. Persephone was Jade’s best friend, and she wanted to tell her everything. Hopeless anyway, Emmy just sighed and nodded. Jade proceeded to tell Persephone the whole story.
“Break in, huh?” Persephone said when she was done. “See, this is what happens when you listen to the voices.”
Emmy was exasperated with her nonchalance. “The voice didn’t tell me to do anything! I’m doing it. I’ve had enough.”
“If you’re going through with this,” Jade said, “then I’m going with you.”
“If Jade’s coming,” Persephone added, “then count me in as well. I’m not risking her expulsion over this little prank.”
“No one is coming with me!” Emmy said. “Jade, thanks for looking out for me, but I can’t let you do this. I know why you’re helping me, because you have a crush on Alex. Persephone told me.” As Jade’s face turned pink, Emmy paused. “Did I just break a girl code by outing Persephone?”
“Yeah, a bit,” Persephone said through gritted teeth.
“Oh, for goodness sake, I don’t care about that!” Jade said. “Alright yes, I was trying to help Alex out, but I don’t mind watching out for you, and I can’t let you do this on your own.”
Emmy didn’t know whether to be touched or horrified. A selfish part inside her was relieved she wouldn’t be alone in this if she were to say yes. Jade would never take no for an answer, and Persephone even less so.
“Fine.”
Persephone grinned and made a clucking noise. Emmy frowned, knowing she should’ve expected Persephone not to be upset by this development, but excited. She wrote notes in class of ideas they could use to sneak in. Emmy wrote back, pleased how nice Persephone was being to her for a change, but Jade stayed quiet, paying close attention to the lecture.
That week Emmy spent more time with Persephone than she had in her whole time knowing her. They bounced ideas off each other, finally having something to talk about on the way to equestrian class.
The voice in her head continued on, but she had learned to ignore it most of the time. Whatever thoughts got through were usually inane, and he never seemed to address her directly. It was very bizarre getting to know him, but never actually being around him. She had learned a lot of pointless details, like his favourite colours and foods, and learned to detect his genial personality. At least he didn’t get angry enough to connect them again, making her see through his eyes. She also learned that contrary to popular belief, boys didn’t really think about sex every seven seconds of the day.
She didn’t see him again until the end of the next week in the cafeteria during lunch hour. The pull inside her tugged, so she knew he had to be close. She looked around and, sure enough, he was at the next table. It was curious seeing him since she so rarely got to. She knew so much about him yet he was a virtual stranger.
Although he was surrounded by a group of boys, it looked from the outside like he was alone. They all talked with grand hand gestures, except him and Gabe sitting beside him. It wasn’t that he wasn’t listening to the conversation, but he didn’t speak. His back was straightened, his eyebrows raised in a polite attempt to appear engaged, but it just made him look worried. His expression was far off with his body shrunken inward, so reserved he came across standoffish. For someone who looked so young, he was so serious.
Maybe it was because he wasn’t talking, but she suddenly had a wild curiosity to know what he was thinking. Why he wasn’t paying attention. He was calm now, but usually thoughts came through because he was either late, busy or stressed.
For the first time ever, she closed her eyes, and willingly tried to get inside his head. Unlike trying to resist him, her mind seemed to gladly accept her want – falling into his head was the most natural thing in the world.
Urgh, are they almost done? What time is it? Only half past twelve or something? I’m not even going to be able to do a proper peacekeeping lesson today, having to go with the tenth graders ...
Ah, he was strung up. She could see that now. Her eyes lingered to his hands, which were tapping to a beat like they had in the coffee shop. His feet swung back and forth under the table, aching for some physical exertion. His eyes, like a bird’s, were bright and quick, darting around the room.
Emmy felt herself being bumped from beside her. Teddy.
“Hello, there,” he said.
“We’re fighting with the eleventh graders today,” she said.
“How do you know?”
“I know,” she said, taking a bite of her sandwich.
***
Flin clapped his hands together, a broad grin on his face.
“Okay kids,” he boomed. “Today, as you probably realized already, we are going to be guided by the eleventh graders. You’re going to be divided into groups, but instead of a last-one-standing game, we’re instead going to go on a scavenger hunt. Somewhere deep in the forest we have placed an unusual object that you must find and bring back.”
“That’s sort of vague,” Persephone said.
Flin glared at her for interrupting. “That’s the point. Use your imagination, Miss Nassar. There are only so many things buried in the forest that point and glow. Now, the rules state that once the object is found, it is perfectly fair for the object to be stolen – the group who hands it to Babbage and me will be the ones rewarded the top marks. Like last time, we’ll pick the top five most improved students to choose the groups, this time from tenth grade.” He pulled out a small piece of paper. “Evangeline Rathers, Jade Woodworker, Lennox Elway, Jacques Bishop and Timothy Fowler.”
If Emmy hadn’t felt Teddy clap her on the back and heard Jade let out a chuckle of surprise, she would have thought she heard wrong. Still, she followed Jade up to the front of the cluster of students on the edge of the forest, knowing Babbage didn’t like to be kept waiting.
Since her name was said first, she got the first pick. She couldn’t choose Jade, so she shouted out, “Breckin” before her brain had realized what she said. He made his way over to her, his expression a mix of surprise and politeness.
“So, then, is Lana like a nickname or something?” he said lowly, while the others picked their first members.
Why did he keep trying to be friendly with her? Was the black hatred not rolling off her obviously enough? “Something like that,” she said, not looking at him.
The next three rounds Emmy picked Teddy, Ivory and Ebony, but after that she pretty much just picked people she saw that were decent on the field. After about ten minutes or so the groups were picked, and Flin blew the whistle, commencing the hunt.
Emmy figured she would ride coattails as usual, but the members she had chosen all seemed to be looking at her to tell them what to do. It was ridiculous; just because she had improved the most didn’t mean she was any good. She had improved so much because she had started from nothing a few weeks ago. They had the future Eldoir in their group and they were turning to her?
“Um, okay,” she said, the group of them just standing in the middle of the forest alone. “I’ve never done this before, so, are there some landmarks we should be looking for to find this thing?”
“We’re near the orb’s wall,” a voice shou
ted in the crowd, not visible to Emmy. “We could search around there for a while.”
“I don’t know, that sounds like it would take an awfully long time,” Teddy said.
“What about the tunnels?” shouted another member.
“What tunnels?” Emmy asked.
“There’s an underground labyrinth someone built a few decades ago,” Breckin said. “They used it to hide in.”
“I think we should split up,” Emmy said. “How many of us are there? Twenty? That’s enough to cover a lot of ground, right? Let’s go to the wall first. We’ve got an hour and a half, so if we don’t find it in half an hour, we’ll meet up and move on to the tunnels. How many of you have some useful crafts?”
Four hands raised. “Perfect. Including Breckin, that’s five, so we’ll split up into five groups of four. I want every group to have a member with a specialty craft. You can choose your own groups; however, I want Teddy, Breckin and that guy in the back. And I know this’ll be hard for you, but please avoid fighting the other teams as much as possible.” Her group stared back at her like she was speaking a foreign language. “Okay, go.”
Emmy was amazed at how efficient they were. Within ten seconds they were off in all different directions, heading towards the wall. She and the three boys moved on to their section.
“I don’t think I’ve ever heard you talk so much, Rookie,” Teddy said as they ran.
“Shut up,” Emmy said, but she was smiling. She turned to Breckin to see how he was taking this, but his expression was blank.
I should have offered to go down there, I saw him heading that way.
“Is something wrong?” Emmy asked.
Breckin jumped at being addressed. “Um, it’s just,” he looked over his shoulder, “there’s another point I want to rummage around, if it’s alright with you.”
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