Kamine cried out, water funneling down her throat. Her body ached, her limbs frozen. Kamine fell deeper and deeper into a pit of cold darkness. This was it. She couldn’t tell up from down anymore. It didn’t matter.
Something warm swam by her. Something moved. She didn’t react, however, nor feel scared. Let the creature eat her. Let it relieve her despair.
It grabbed her and lifted her up, up, up—until she gasped as she broke the surface of the water.
“You idiots!” a male voice yelled. The presence forced her down onto her back and pumped at her chest. As she coughed, and heaved, and vomited all over herself, she didn’t have it in her to be embarrassed.
She could hear an intake of breath from somewhere near. Zoya, she thought through the fog as she came back to her senses. Her body shivered, and her hair clung to her face, cold water dripped down her skin, onto the tiled stone.
“What the hell were you doing?” the man asked her. But even if her frozen lips could muster a word, her mind was incapable of constructing a coherent sentence.
Thankfully, Janina responded, her voice a whisper. “We were trying to help. We thought it would nudge her powers.”
“What idiots would think that would work?” He gritted. As he held Kamine, he shook her like he needed to physically relieve his growing frustration.
For some reason, that angered Kamine. This man had no right to reprimand her friends for trying to help. Because that is what they had become even in such a short time. Her friends—whodidn’t judge her for her lack of powers, and who only wanted to help her reach her potential.
Kamine finally opened her eyes, and registered exactly who it was. She narrowed her eyes at Professor Grimot. “Get away from me!” She weakly shoved him back from her, the stones on his clavicle poking at her skin. “Don’t you dare touch me without my permission.”
His usual lightly-tanned face looked practically ashen, and his shoulder-length black hair was a soggy mess.
“You were seconds away from dying, and you’re angry that I touched you so I could save you?” He sounded exasperated, his tone condescending.
Janina stepped in, kneeling beside Kamine and sliding her glasses back on. With Kamine’s vision no longer blurry, she could see everyone’s reactions clearly now. Janina looked disturbed by the whole scene, but she brushed Kamine’s hair from her eyes. “I think she might just be in shock.”
“No.” Kamine said clearly. “I don’t want him anywhere near me.”
He squeezed the bottom of his shirt, water trickling down. He was avoiding her gaze, or he just didn’t care. What Kamine didn’t expect was to see the outline of his torso through his damp shirt. His muscles rippled under the see-through fabric, his long torso beautifully formed, with a sprinkle of dark hair that covered it. She didn’t allow herself to stare too long.
“You’ll be stuck with me for the next few months. You can’t get rid of me that easily,Kammy.”
“Kamine,” she corrected, her eyes hard as stone. “And what were you even doing in here?”
He rolled his eyes. “Contrary to what you might think, the whole school shares this bathing room. Even professors need to clean up after a long day.”
Oh, Kamine thought. She supposed that was a simple enough explanation, even if the late hour suggested that sleep eluded him like it did her.
“Go to bed,” he ordered. “All of you.”
Zoya unraveled her body from the small ball she had been in. She was shaking, and Kamine felt guilty for scaring her.
Janina and Zoya helped her up unto unsteady legs.
“Do you think you can walk back to your room?” Janina asked.
Professor Grimot remained kneeling, still looking down at the ground. It was as if he was waiting for her to answer, waiting to hear if he would need to assist her to her room.
“I’m fine,” she choked out, her voice raw.
Kamine used both her friends as support, wrapping her arms around their shoulders as she walked off the ordeal. She would surely regret this during class tomorrow, where she could almost guarantee Professor Grimot would punish her for taking such a foolish risk.
Five
Grimot would kill her, if she didn’t kill herself first. If she really cared so little about her own life, then he would remind her exactly why dying was a coward’s move.
He stormed into the classroom, and abruptly halted when he saw Headmaster Dritoria. She was leaning against the wall, chatting with some of the students. Her hands moved animatedly as if she were telling a great story on a stage, instead of being encased in a large hole in a mountain with no sun. He may have his own personal issues with her, but she was clearly a good leader who was passionate about her role.
“Professor Grimot,” she smiled when she noticed him. “I’m excited to observe the students today. See where they are starting from, and how they’ll improve under your care.”
