I didn’t jump . . .
Can’t trust h-
Don’t tell . . .
Secrets will . . .
Help!
I gritted my teeth, willing my tears to clear, as I pushed the ring on my finger and the voices, the extreme pain in my head and shoulder, dissipated. My vision and mind cleared, and I felt like I could finally take a full breath. But when I looked around, the church service was over and people were filtering out of the sanctuary. I looked around bleary-eyed, turning to Sara-Kate, who was slowly collecting her things, eyeing me warily.
“You okay?”
I nodded. “Yeah. You?”
“You didn’t have to come with me, you know.” Sara-Kate’s eyes were full of empathy and sadness of her own. “If funerals or churches are triggering for you, I would have understood.”
It took me a moment to realize I must have sat next toher the entire service, crying softly with my hands covering my head like a crazy person. Like Ashe had done when she was escorted off campus. Like the Bosnian man in the park.
Two thoughts struck through me at once.
One, the ring had tried to warn me, to keep me from coming in here. It was something that I needed to take more seriously in the future. And that taking it off was a huge risk. Never doing that again.
Two, Ashe’s death wasn’t just the tragic end to a young, depressed person. She was an emerging Bloodwright and was killed either because of it or because she had no mentor. And I was pretty sure the Bosnian man fell into the same box. Could Michelle Nelson be connected to the Bloodwright world as well?
I felt a faint itch on my neck, my hand rubbing it absentmindedly as I searched for the right words to say to Sara-Kate.
“Sorry,” I replied lamely, willing my voice to sound strong. “Sometimes my grief just hits me at crazy moments.”
Sara-Kate nodded sadly, taking my arm as she led me out of the church, thankfully without pressing me for more information. I glanced back at the front of the church, the school portrait of Ashe smiling at me eerily. My eyes glanced towards the podium where the headmistress was currently standing, talking in hushed tones to who must have been Ashe’s parents. But assoon as our eyes met, her caring and compassionate features turned ice cold. Like she could see right through me.
I practically ran out of the church, diving into Mr. Lewis’ car when he pulled up. After dropping off Sara-Kate, we headed home, and I just wanted to wash the day off of me, the cold sweat that still clung to my skin. Though my mind was quiet now, I could still feel the voices of the dead as they had washed over me; their grief, their deaths feeling as if they had left scars all over me.
I went straight to my bathroom, ready to shower the day off and get some rest before I had to meet Alaric later. But as I started to undress, I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror. I’m not sure how long I stood there, staring at the mirror until the heat from the shower finally fogged the mirror completely and I couldn’t see what had stolen my breath, draining the blood from my face.
On the left side of my neck, starting just below my ear, snaking its way over my collarbone and down my left arm was a golden sigil tattoo, the exact same mark I had noticed on Ashe and the Bosnian man. The same marks I had seen on them before they died.
I sat on my bed for two hours, staring at my homework, unable to focus on anything except replaying everything that had happened since Ashe’s memorial service. The ring thrummed every few seconds as if reminding me it had tried to warn me from the church. I thought about texting Alaric about what happened, but decided to wait until I saw him tonight. Maybe this weird mark thing had nothing to do with what happened to Ashe and the man from the park. It could be a coincidence. Plus, I knew what was happening to me. The others were not as fortunate. I had a mentor, and I had a fancy magic ring that would protect me. I was going to get trained on how to fight this, how to keep my mind and body safe.
My thumb caressed my ring as I got ready to head out and meet Alaric. Luckily, Uncle Dan was once again working late, and Tiffany had texted me she was meeting a friend for drinks and would be home later. Technically, no one had ever given me a curfew, so I didn’t feel like I was breaking any rules by heading back into the city after dark on a school night.
I followed my phone's GPS to the spot where Alaric wanted to meet me. It was about a block from the academy, and when I saw the construction sign in front of the newly renovated athletic wing of the school, I wondered why he would want to start my training here.
I pulled my jacket closer to my body. Instead of my uniform, I was wearing jeans, black Converse, and a soft sage green sweater underneath the nice, warm coat Tiffany had given me. I walked up to the padlocked entrance, glancing around before pulling out myphone to see if maybe I got the address wrong. I felt a presence creep up behind me, then noticed a figure with green eyes reflecting off my phone screen.
I sighed, turning around to find Alaric’s smug smirk as he leaned against the door.
“Right on time,” he purred. “Excellent. So you can follow directions.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Can we just get this over with? It’s freezing out here.”
He smiled, my heart and ring thrumming in response annoyingly, as he turned to plug in the numbers for the padlock.
“Let me guess, did daddy dearest pay for this building too?” I mocked, walking into the main entrance of the wing where a long reception counter stood, and beyond it was a large space of workout equipment and an upstairs walking track that opened to the large space.
He laughed loudly, his deep voice reverberating off the walls. “Something like that.”
He led me through the sea of fancy equipment, heading to the north side of the building where the sign for “Pool” sat above the double doors. He pushed them open, and we walked into a slightly warmer space that held an Olympic-size pool complete with multi-tiered diving boards and all. The chemical smell of ammonia and other cleaning products burned my nose and eyes as I glanced at the clear, bright water, lit from beneath by lights inside the pool.
