Lethal Lineage

Tell Me Pretty Lies

"Something's going on," Nora tells me as we walk through the halls Sunday night. "The pure blood kids don't even talk to anyone else."

"Asena tried to recruit me to join them and 'become royalty'." I use my fingers as air quotes.

"Seriously?" Nora's eyebrows shoot up and she starts laughing. "I mean, most royal families are pure bloods."

"How many royal families are there?" I glance at our clasped hands as Nora starts to swing them between us.

"One for each species. Eventually someone falls in love with a human, but then they end up being disowned for tainting the bloodline," she casually explains.

That sounded a bit harsh. Then again, I knew there were families who disowned their children for being gay or different from what they wanted; Me for example.

Ahead of us a group of fairies stood huddled together at the entrance of the dining hall. In the center I saw Asena. Nora's comment made me wonder if Asena was royalty. She definitely acted like a stuck up princess.

Nora begins to pull me further away from the group, but a green haired fairy sees us and whispers something to Asena.

"Hey," she speaks up, looking directly at me.

We both sigh as we pause near them.

"What." My expression wavers between flat and annoyed.

Asena gives Nora a unimpressed glance. "You might want to reconsider who you associate with. If I were you, I'd choose the pure over the tainted."

Nora's mouth falls open and my blood begins to boil. I grip her hand, moving to stand in front of her.

"The only thing you are is a pure bitch," I snarl back at her. My anger begins to make me shake.

Asena's glare locks with mine. "You're going to regret th—"

Her mouth falters, hanging open as she blinks hard. All I could see were her cold black eyes. Her fairy friends look from me to her, whispering with concern.

"Asena," one of them grabs her stiff arm. "Asena!"

"Nathara, stop!" Nora yanks on my hand. She jumps in front of me, putting her hands on my cheeks. "Nathara!"

I suck in air, blinking away the haze that had started to cover my vision. My head shakes back and forth.

What was wrong with me?

•

"Nathara, right on time." Professor Elide looks up from some papers on his desk as I walk in for our practice lessons.

I hold back a yawn. I'd stayed up pretty late last night with Nora after the incident with Asena. Her friends had taken her to the nurse claiming I was turning her to stone. She hadn't been literally turning to stone, but her body had gotten so stiff she couldn't walk. Nora eventually went to check on her since I was hyperventilating, freaking out over losing control and possibly becoming a monster.

You know, normal teen fears.

"I heard what happened last night," Elide comments as I plop down in a chair.

His mention of the subject makes me groan as I lay my head on top of my arms. "I didn't mean to do it. I just got so mad and..."

Professor Elide sighs. This felt more like detention than an extra lesson.

"No offense, but you're not doing a very good job at teaching me control." I peek up, realizing I may have overstepped.

"That's what we are going to work on today." He stands and walks over to a covered box near the window. "Anger management."

I sit up to watch him bring the box to the table across from mine. Elide pulls off the cover to reveal a corn snake working very hard to move towards me. Aww..

What does the cute snake have to do with anger management?

I don't like this.

I stroke Tink before I place her on my table, her comment making me begin to worry.

"What does—"

I gasp as Professor Elide pokes a finger through the top of the cage and a spark flashes as he touches the corn snake, it's body wiggling rapidly.

"What are you doing?! Stop!" I rush toward them, heart racing.

"Control, Nathara. Remember control." Elide does it again and tears well in my eyes.

"He's in pain! Stop!" My voice cracks.

"Make me," Elide taunts.

His arrogant jab does it's job to piss me off. My eyes laser in on his hand as he reaches in to shock the snake again. The furious haze is covering my vision, everything but Elide's evil hand going blurry.

"Control, Nathara," he reminds me. His hand wasn't moving. "Breathe. Think of something that calms you down." Professor Elide's voice was tense, starting to strain.

The tower.

I barely paid attention to Tink's thought, but tried to focus. The tower.

Up in the tower was peaceful, quiet. The tiny window was a perfect spot to see the sun set behind the mountains.

Air hisses between my clenched teeth. I try to imagine I'm looking out of that window instead of watching Professor Elide torture an innocent snake.

My eyes clench shut and I steady myself with a hand on the table. After a moment I regain my senses, heart slowing down with each deep breath. So far, I wasn't a fan of anger management. It felt a lot more satisfying to let it out, which was concerning.

"Good job." Professor Elide clears his throat, massaging his hand. "You didn't even need eye contact, which is impressive."

"Excuse my language, but you're an ass." I give him a small glare as I move to check on the snake that wasn't moving very much.

I reach in the cage to carefully pick up the snake, cradling it.

Heal him.

"What?" I look behind me at Tink. Out of the corner of my eye I see Elide look between us curiously.

You can heal him.

"How?"

Just be you.

Unsure, I look back to the snake in my hands. How was I supposed to heal him?

Use your instincts.

My hands cup the snake as I close my eyes. All I could think about was wishing he would be okay, begging the world to save this innocent corn snake. It was wrong for him to have been brought into this and it was my job to protect him, all snakes.

When the snake begins moving around in my hands I look down at him hopefully. He happily weaves between my fingers.

Thank you, I gasp at the corn snake's grateful thought.

A grin breaks out on my face as I place the healthy snake back into the cage. When I turn to face Elide he watches me with a tiny smirk.

"You have an incredible future ahead of you, Nathara."

I didn't quite believe him, but the comment showed his pride.