The Forgotten Goddess

Chapter Eight

Milo

As we walk out of the gym towards the infirmary, I keep glancing over to Mila. She's having a hard time breathing and I can see she's not feeling well.

"What?" She asks, annoyed.

"Are you okay?" I ask in concern.

"Are you really asking me that?" She asks, not believing my words.

"Why wouldn't I?"

"Look Milo. Let's just go to the infirmary. We can talk later." She says, and I can see she's having a hard time breathing.

Mila turns her back to me and resumes her walk toward the infirmary. I follow close behind, making sure I'm close enough to catch her if anything happens.

As soon as we enter the school building, I see David coming running in our direction, and then he comes to a halt. He keeps looking between Mila and I, not knowing who he should tend to. Before he can make his move, Aunt Evelyn comes into view.

"Mila!" Aunt Evelyn screams from the other side of the hallway. "What on Earth has happened to you?" she asks between her long strides, almost running. "Your face, your ribs, your lips! Oh my dear girl!" She says between sobs. She hugs Mila tightly, and then demands, "Tell me NOW! Who has done this to you?"

My heart just stops beating. All the color of my face just fades away as David steps in front of me to take the heat, as he always does.

Aunt Evelyn is a loving woman, but, apparently, she turns into someone else when it comes to her granddaughter. Mila averted her gaze, to make sure that she wouldn't just blurt random info.

"Mila Elizabeth Walters! Look into my eyes and tell me right now who has done this to you!" Aunt Evelyn raises her voice in a way I've only heard once, when I was 5. Mila looks at her in shock and then screams:

"This is all your fault!" and dashes out of school.

David instinctively runs after her. Everyone keeps looking at the scene, not understanding why there were two students bleeding before 3rd period on the first day of school. And then, before she could reach the front office, Mila drops to the ground unconsciously.

"MILA!!!" Aunt Evelyn, David and I scream at the same time, running to her.

…

David

I'm in my first class, "Packs on Eastern USA", when I feel a pain I'm pretty used to: Milo's probably in combat class and someone's beating him up. I smirk at the feeling/thought.

As twins, we share all our feelings. Sometimes I wish we could share our brains instead. Mom says that as our bond gets stronger, and when we get our wolves, we'll be able to hear each other's thoughts.

I quickly adjust myself on my seat and quickly dismiss the pain in my stomach and arms.

Professor Xander, the dinosaur of a teacher, began his class in the most predictable manner: naming all packs in the Eastern USA, their leaders and prominent families.

I'm sitting by the window, where I can have a good view of the gym and easily get distracted by recalling the earlier events when it hits me: Mila is in combat class too! And if Milo is being hit, that means that he's fighting with her. And if they're fighting, she's gonna kill him!

I’m panicking and raise my hand, interrupting Professor Xander’s explanation.

"Yes, Mr. Brown", the professor asks happily, seeing my hand raised, and probably expecting me to add something to his explanation.

"I need to go to the bathroom." I blurt out and I hear everyone giggling.

"Mr. Brown. I started my class 5 minutes ago. I expected this behavior from your brother, but not from you," he disappointedly dismisses my request and continues with his explanations.

I'm restless in my seat. It feels like forever and time is my enemy because, for some reason, the clock stopped moving. I simply can't take it - as much as I try to dismiss the bond between me and Milo, the worse the pain. Something must have happened to Milo because my whole body aches and I start sweating.

When I'm about to raise my hand again, I see the gym's door opening. I instantly recognize my brother. And then I see Mila exiting the gym right after him. I could recognize that white hair from miles away. I can see there's something going on between them when they come to a halt and seem to be talking.

Wait! Is that blood? Why are they both covered in blood? It’s not even the third period of class on a Monday morning!!!

Next thing I know, I'm out of the classroom, running through the corridors, trying to get to my brother and the only girl I have ever loved, while I can still hear Professor Xander shouting my name from his classroom. I run down the stairs, turn left and confirm that both of them are covered in blood as soon as they enter the school building.

As I get closer to them, I try to wreck my brain to understand what had just happened to both of them. Why were both of them covered in blood and bruises since it's just the first day of school? Was this going to happen to them every Monday morning? Before I can make any move or say anything, I hear a scream from the other side of the hallway.

"Mila!" Aunt Evelyn screams from the other side of the hallway. "What on Earth has happened to you?" She asks between her long strides, almost running.

She didn't even realize that Milo was in far worse shape than Mila.

"Your face, your ribs, your lips! Oh my dear girl!" She says between sobs. She hugs Mila tightly, and then demands, "Tell me NOW! Who has done this to you?"

What was this feeling? Guilt? Shame? I look at my brother, who has his head down since the moment he heard Aunt Evelyn, and realize that these feelings are coming from him. All the color of his face just fades away and I step in front of him to explain to Aunt Evelyn what has happened - even though I was not in class with them. But maybe I should've.

When we were putting our schedules together, Milo and I decided to take our favorite classes at the beginning of the day, and then meet for "pack duty" classes after lunch. Right now I hated myself for that.

Mila averted her gaze, making sure not to look into her grandmother's eyes and just blurt random info. Not many people know about Evelyn's power. I'm one of those handful people.

"Mila Elizabeth Walters! Look into my eyes and tell me right now who has done this to you!" Aunt Evelyn raises her voice in a way I knew that made Mila's blood boil.

Mila looked at her grandmother in shock and anger as she had just used a command to make Mila look into her eyes and forcefully tell her the truth. So, she just blurted out what she had been thinking since the beginning of the day but couldn't find the courage to do so:

"This is all your fault!" She screams and leaves running.

Yup, I knew this would happen. I take a look at my twin brother and realize that he will be okay so I decide to run after Mila. I could sense everyone's eyes on us, trying to understand what had happened. As I was about to reach for her hand, Mila dropped to the ground, unconsciously.

"MILA!!!” Aunt Evelyn, Milo and I scream at the same time, running to her.

…

Mila

"Mila Elizabeth Walters! Look into my eyes and tell me right now who has done this to you!" Nanna commands me.

I hate when she does that and, right now, she has just used her powers to get to the truth. Great power, but also a curse, I must say. Maybe that's why she's the new principal. Soon these teens would figure it all out: it was impossible to lie to Nanna.

The way she looked and commanded me made my blood boil. Couldn't she see that I was hurt, covered in bruises and blood and was in dire need of assistance? Why had she stopped me instead of rushing me to the infirmary or to the hospital? So, I scream the first thing that comes to my heart:

"This is all your fault!"

Tears start coming to my eyes as I can see Nanna's eyes in shock at my words, so I just start running, forgetting about my injuries. I can feel the remainder of my energy slipping away, and I black out before I can reach the main doors.