Chapter 9
1721 Words
It’s a cute couple at a park, sitting on a wooden bench beneath a sprawling oak tree. The girl, with long, wavy hair, is wearing a floral dress that flows gently in the breeze. While the boy, in a casual black shirt and jeans, has his arm wrapped around her shoulders. Both of them are laughing, their faces lit up with joy. In the background, you can see children playing on a grassy field and a serene pond reflecting the blue sky. The sunlight filters through the trees, casting a warm, golden glow over them, making their world seem perfect.
Almost. The boy is, without a doubt, the same Luca who bit me.
My skin turns cold as I stare at them. They look so… happy. What went wrong?
And how the hell is Luca free?
“You okay?” Ariah closes the cover of the album, hiding the haunting image from sight. Not that it makes much of a difference. It is branded into my brain for life. “You seem—I don’t know. Spooked?”
“Well.” I rub my sweating palms on my jeans. “You just informed me that I’ll be sleeping in the same spot where a girl was murdered.”
Ariah’s face pinches. “Yeah, I guess you’ve got a point. I’m sorry. I tend to get too honest for my own good.”
I don’t tell her it is more the fact that I was in direct contact with a murderer. He bit me, for crying out loud. “It’s okay.”
A long stretch of awkward silence follows, which I use as an opportunity to unpack.
“So, the Moon Festival is coming up soon.” Ariah stands by her laptop, typing in her password on her home screen. “I’ve already planned an outfit. Have you gotten one ready yet? Or are you more of a casual person?”
“I’ve never been.”
“You’ve never been to the Moon Festival?” Ariah’s eyes practically popped out of their sockets.
I shake my head as I place my folded clothes into our shared closet. Ariah’s stuff is on her side of the divided space, but it’s still a tight fit. “I’m not from a werewolf family. Humans don’t usually get invited to werewolf parties.”
Ariah’s brows furrow. “I’ve seen humans at our festivals before.”
“Yeah, well, my parents are anti-werewolf.”
“Oh. You’ve got one of those parents.” Ariah falls silent for a moment. “I’m sorry, Hailey. That must suck.”
“Things happen, I guess.”
“Hey, you can always join my family during the holidays,” she cracks a wide grin. “Then you don’t have to be stuck here with the old folks.”
I return a smile. “You barely know me.”
Ariah taps the tip of her nose with a forefinger. “Wolf senses. I can spot a bad person from a mile away.”
I bark a laugh. “Funny, since I can’t tell the difference between a bunny and a snake.”
“Every wolf has its strengths. Mine is sensing intentions.” Her shoulders drop. “Look, I’m going to cut to the chase. Are you going to be okay? Your mood is like the center of a hurricane. If not worse. Can I ask what happened?”
“I’m not sure, to be honest.” I direct my attention around the room. “This is a lot to take in.”
Ariah holds out her bag of candy. “Do you want to talk about it?”
“Thanks.” I offer a weak smile and take one of the candies before plunking down onto my bed. “My mom didn’t take the news well when I told her that I got marked. She only cared about her next drink before dumping me at the train station.”
“I’m so sorry, Hails.”
My heart constricts at the nickname Dad used to call me. “Yeah, well, life. Right?”
Ariah’s face darkens. “No, that’s not life. That’s pure unfairness.”
I nod, not sure what else to say.
“So, I know a spell that can turn a boy’s balls into icicles.” She fans herself with an empty candy wrapper, grinning. “I have yet to test it, though. Do you know any worthy subjects?”
I sputter a laugh. “You can do that?”
“Totally. I can do a few other nifty things too. But, we aren’t allowed to use these kinds of spells against other students. There’s no rule saying we can’t use them against humans.”
“So, these kinds of spells, would I be able to do them too?”
“Yes. My favorite is making the popcorn machine do its work without getting up from my bed.”
“Awesome.”
“Right?” Ariah screws up a candy wrapper between her fingers. “What’s your star sign?”
“Leo. Why?”
“Oooh, Leo wolves are feisty.” Her face scrunches up. “So this means your birthday is coming up soon. When? We should have a dorm party.”
“Oh, no, please.” I shake my head. “Besides, it kind of was yesterday, anyway.”
“No freaking way. The same day all this—oh.”
“Yeah.” I narrow my eyes. For some reason, I can’t look at her with this admission.
“That, girl, is awful.” Ariah leaps from her bed and snatches her mini LED digital display clock from her bedside table. She peers at it for a second before placing it back down. “Breakfast is in an hour. Hey, Hailey?”
“Yeah?”
“I’ve got something I need to take care of. Would you be okay on your own, unpacking?” she asks. When I nod, she adds, “Great. I’ll come back for you when it’s time for breakfast so you don’t have to walk alone to the cafeteria.”
It doesn’t take me long to unpack the little I own. By the time I come across the photo album filled with pictures of me and my parents, I have enough courage to toss it in the trash.
Ridding myself of the last of what I have left of my family burns like a hot poker through the heart, but it has to be done. I can’t keep torturing myself over people who doesn’t care about me.
I don’t realize I’m crying until a fat tear tickles the side of my nose.
Using my shirt’s sleeve, I wipe it away, then roll up my empty duffel bags and slide them under my bed. I knock out a loose floorboard in the process, and it gets tangled with the strap of one of my bags. To free it, I try to pull it back out, but it gets lodged under the bed.
“Oh, come on,” I grumble. After more wiggling and tugging, it refuses to come loose. “Ugh!”
I release the duffel and push the bed aside to retrieve the floorboard and put it back in place when I notice it. Something silver gleams from within the space where I knocked the floorboard out.
I fall to my knees and stick my fingers between the small gap, retrieving the item. It’s a skeletal-like key tied to a pink string. My brows knit together. I stick my fingers back in again to see if there’s anything else in there. Sure enough, I withdraw a tiny, rolled-up piece of paper. On further inspection, I realize it’s a letter. It has so many crease lines from all the times it’s been folded and unfolded. The paper is soft from wear, and as I unroll it, I discover a tear in the corner.
Whoever this letter belonged to had read it dozens of times. Curious, I read it.
Dear L,
By the time you read this letter, it will be too late. I want you to know that this key holds all the answers. Be careful how you use it, as it can either bring good fortune or unleash hell.
I will always love you.
Sally.
I reread the letter a second time, twirling the key around the string with my index finger. L? As in Luca? I pull a face. Did Sally know he was going to kill her? But if she did, why was she so loving toward him?
Something about this doesn’t sit right with me. I wonder if the academy staff had seen this note when they cleaned up the scene. If they did, they’d have taken it, right?
I eye the paper, contemplating what to do with this little discovery, when out of nowhere, at the bottom of the note, the words form in black ink: Help me.
An unnatural-sounding screech bursts from me, and I drop the letter. What the ever-loving hell is that? I stare at it, deciding whether I should pick it up or run from the room when the door cracks open.
“What?” I shriek, leaping to my feet.
Ariah peeks in through the doorway, her brows raised. “Uh… Did I interrupt something?”
“No, sorry.” My cheeks flush from my sudden outburst. I smooth the front of my shirt with shaking hands, forcing a smile. “I’m just jumpy. Sorry.”
The corners of her lips tip up. “Let me guess, you’re still paranoid about the dead girl?”
“I guess.” I peer down at the note, only to discover the words have disappeared. I rotate it inside my palm a few times, examining it from different angles. Maybe it was a trick of the light? Yet…
“I must have imagined it,” I murmur to myself.
“Did you say something?”
I stare at her and shake my head, fighting a frown. “No, nothing. Never mind.”
As soon as Ariah turns away, I seize the moment, quickly rolling up the letter and tucking it, along with the key, into the narrow gap between the floorboards.
“Anyway, I came to get you. Breakfast is ready,” she sings.
- Writer
