The Black Pawn • The first book of the Black Academy Series

25. Soul

THE BODY THAT THUMPED to the ground had the face of a friend for Azalea Selene, but she couldn't be bothered with the body or the blood. Or the fact that she had been duped by the blonde that was a shapeshifter. Instead, she was focused on the feeling in her body. She felt the power behind her eyes. The air seemed to be electrified around her. The gold she had accessed during the struggle appeared around her once more. It turned shimmery. It became darker and darker until it turned black. The black was tipped with the gold shimmer but it felt more dangerous somehow.

Azalea's eyes flashed black for a moment. And then the change began. Her brown locks turned a deep black. Her skin seemed to become paler. Her lips stood out more against her skin, they were blood red. She looked like a beauty straight from the books. The trident in her hand turned darker, the same ebony as her hair. The blood turned barely noticeable against the dark surface.

Azalea looked down at the redhead, the hair turned lighter. It turned blonde again. She looked down, the rush of memories in her head. All relating to the blonde who she'd valued as a sister.

"No attachments whatsoever in the Black Academy." Azalea murmured, her face emotionless, "They pull you down and keep you from greatness."

The emotionless mask stayed on her face. She let a breath pass through her lips as she turned away from the body, "Thank you for making me understand, Omega."

She walked a few steps away from the body. Towards the door. Her hand opened letting the trident fall. But the clatter didn't sound. The trident turned into mist once her fingers stopped touching the smooth surface of the weapon.

She sank to her knees as everything finally hit her. Her tired knees met the lighted tiles. Green eyes glimmering with water, the sinking feeling in her chest. The breathing turned from relaxed to crazed. Sobs racked her body, her throat constricted as she remembered everything. Every moment she had spent with Elizabeth. Every moment she had thought of saving her. Her hands fell onto the lighted tiles. She hit the tiles with force. Screaming out.

The first time she had talked to Elizabeth had been when the girl had just suddenly come up to her, a grin on her face and her hand stretched out. Now she could only see the sickening smirk of Omega, the clawed hand that dipped into her chest with the intent of ripping her heart out.

The first time she had met Elizabeth was when she had successfully done a maneuver against Avaria. Back then Azalea had thought that Elizabeth had been amazed by the movement. But, now— she only saw the malicious glint in Elizabeth's blue eyes. She only felt the sinking feeling of not being able to see her again. And then the suspicion that maybe even Anna wasn't her friend.

After her first meeting with Elizabeth, the brunette had been introduced to a redhead that had her nose stuck in a very old book. They had been recruited before her, and they knew a lot about the castle that had supposedly become Azalea's new home overnight. Anna and Elizabeth had made her stay up the whole night. To make her overcome the fear of the darkness that seemed to seep from everywhere in the castle.

She felt so very alone. Something she thought she wouldn't feel after she had reached the Black Academy. Something she thought she wouldn't know after she had met Anna, Ben, and— Elizabeth. She screamed again as she cried.

"Why?" She asked out loud, her voice quivering with pain, "Why can't I forget that feeling? Why can't I just not feel alone again?"

The emotionless mask had shattered into pieces long ago. There was no point fixing the broken pieces, just like her. She got to her feet and looked back at Elizabeth. Her green eyes filled with tears once more. Her hand reached out towards her, "Why did you have to do this to me Elizabeth— all the time that you spent with me and Anna—"