Stole It
1482 Words
The guys that were with Austin walked out after he sent a nonverbal cue to them.
Then I sat down on my bed, facing his direction. "Talk to me."
"You do know the relic has gone missing, right?." He stated and I nodded my head, getting chills after remembering what happened earlier.
"They believe one of us stole it." He continued.
I thought as much. "But...your face, why are there bruises?" You got beaten up?"
"I guess no one told you I could be a strong head," He said and chuckled. Laughing in this situation, huh?
"What happened to you too? With throwing up blood and all."
I didn't have an answer, and that was even more weird.
"Just some..." I didn't have anything to say.
"You're sick?" He raised a brow, looking concerned, then I shook my head. "Nah."
Silence seeped in for a few seconds, then a question I had always wanted to ask popped up in my mind.
"Austin? The glowing relic...what is it about?"
"Hm. "How do I explain this?" He paused and seemed to go into thinking for a while.
"It's the first medallion Ravenlake academy got during the Alpha trials in the very first year it was established. The entire students then, who are now alumni, powered the medallion with enchantments, each contributing a portion of their spiritual energies.
So the medallion isn't ordinary and yearly, selected students contribute their energies to it also. It goes beyond what you may think, you can't just box its power.
So the energy from the medallion is diverse and one of those which I learned about, is that it points out potential threats within a short period of time." Austin explained.
I furrowed my brows. "What do you mean by potential threats?"
"Hm. Take for instance, there are spies, or maybe someone who shouldn't be here, they are threats and the moment the glowing medallion is raised in the air like a banner, it points them out quickly." He said further and my heart began to pound in my chest.
I swallowed hard. "Does that probably include...females in male disguise thereabout?"
"Definitely." The response was so sharp.
"I heard of some ladies who were caught like that about two decades ago...and in their various packs, they were forced to be demoted to the very least in the pack. Ravenlake almost executed them..."
Was I supposed to be scared?
Yes!
Was I scared?
Yes!
That explained explicitly why I had that reaction during the festival earlier, why I felt that way, why I threw up blood and I had to end up in the medical centre.
My mind travelled all round and I just knew I was close to doom. It would be so bad if I got caught because what would be the point of everything?
If I'm getting stripped of my authority in my father's pack, then how do I counter Malric and avenge my brother's death?
"Rowan!" I heard Austin shout and I came back into the present.
"Yes?" I was so confused and lost.
"What are you thinking so hard about?" He asked and I went mute for a second.
"No... nothing. I'm just... stressed out." I lied.
"I won't be sleeping in the room tonight," He said to me and I nodded. After a few minutes, he picked some things from his wardrobe and walked out of the room, leaving me alone.
I laid on my bed and tried to think so hard. I needed to be more careful, but I was yet to find out who it was that knew my identity.
All of a sudden, there was a blackout, and that had never happened before. All round the clock, the lights were always on at Ravenlake. This was so weird.
"Elena." I heard a very familiar voice call out. I opened my eyes but there was no effectiveness since it was dark.
"Elena." The voice called again and I just found myself speaking.
"Rowan! Rowan, is that you?" My voice was shaky. My heart was beating so fast...I had not heard his voice in a long while.
"O you stubborn soul." He said and I could hear him laugh.
"How can you make a joke in this situation?" I wore a frown.
Then softly, I felt a hand touch my face and caress it gently. "You don't need to go through this stress... it's not worth it."
"You are worth it, Rowan. Don't talk down on yourself." I replied in a gentle voice.
There was a very long silence, one that seemed to last for ages.
All of a sudden, it was as though he was under some kind of pressure and in a hurry.
"Don't be sidelined, Elena. You have a place here!" The pitch of his voice was so high and just like that, I didn't hear his voice anymore. The touch was gone and his voice? Seeped away into the darkness.
"Rowan! Rowan!" I yelled out, crying.
"Rowan." One last call of his name and my eyes opened up to a bright room. I realized I had been dreaming all along.
My pillow was soaked with tears from my sleep and I just sniffed gently.
The lights were on and I was still the only one in the room. I sighed and buried my face in my palm, then I tried to recall all I had said in the dream.
I cried freely again for so many minutes, trying to sort out my emotions properly and lift the weight in my heart.
I was done crying, the drip bag connected to my veins was out of contents so I disconnected it from my hand, got up, grabbed a hoodie from my wardrobe and then left the room for a walk.
I could still sense some intensity in the atmosphere but it was much better than when I first arrived. There were a few people moving around also.
I got out of the dorm and walked along the dorm's exterior, not intending to go so far.
I kept thinking so hard, what do I do? What should I do? I had a limited time here, it was only a matter of time before Malric found me.
All of a sudden, I felt some hick and my instincts became alert. So I looked up at the four story building that was opposite our dorm. There was a figure at the rooftop of the building, it caught my attention for a while and I stared at the person, wondering who it could be.
To my utmost surprise, the figure jumped down from the rooftop right before my eyes.
But he control gravity at his own wish. He had a safe landing on the floor and walked up to me like what he just did didn't mean anything.
I recognized him as he got closer.
"Amazed?" Ash asked with a boastful expression on.
"On this one, at least." I responded, dipping my hands in my pockets.
"Having trouble sleeping?" He asked again and I nodded. "Right...no one should be able to sleep after what happened to earlier. Not me though." He said playfully and before I knew it, we were walking along the door together.
"Who do you think could have stolen the medallion?" I tried to build a conversation around the situation.
"No one comes to mind. Only a few are capable of doing that crazy thing... Cruz I would say but what's the point? He knows better than to cause trouble for the academy at this point. Either way, investigation is going on and all the stakeholders need is just a few hours to get it sorted, they are that crazy." Ash spoke causally with filters, then I changed the topic.
"You seem to know so much about Cruz... thought you both were sworn enemies." I probed and then I noticed his countenance changed for a second there.
"Well...I just happen to know." We both knew that response was not genuine but if he didn't want to talk about it, it was totally fine.
I had so much to deal with already than force a horse to drink water from a river. Give the horse some breathing space and let it drink whenever it wants to. That was my belief.
"You are not expected to roam about the premises at this time. Let every student return to their dormitories." We heard a voice speak loudly through the amplifiers attached to every building in the school.
"We had better turn back." I said immediately and I walked back with Ash. He walked me to the entrance and bid me goodbye.
"Brooo! You didn't hear the announcement just now?" I raised my brows, wondering if he wanted to get himself into real trouble, this time.
He shrugged. "I have to be somewhere." And just like that, he walked off while I headed back in.
- Writer
