Mystic High ✓

MH │37

In the previous chapter: Marian entered the Oculatory. Shireen went to look for help to find the Weres that might have gone missing. A hooded man found Oriane.

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CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

Darkness approached but didn't manifest into her fears. Oriane re-opened her eyes.

"Miss Moore?" asked the man in the hood. He had moved to stand directly in front of her, offering a hand to help her up. "Apologies for frightening you. It wasn't my intention. However, I had to create a Field so we may speak privately."

A Field? Oriane twisted on the grass, trying to see what he spoke of.

The man in the hood answered for her, "We are inside the Field, right here. It is a device the Council created to provide spaces for privacy. Not even the trees can hear us now."

When her head stopped spinning from the cloud of panic that invaded her senses moments before, she twisted around, while she was still on the grass, and looked around herself. Indeed, it was evident in the shadows pacing the grounds, as if trying to smother the colourful hanging lights, that it was unnatural.

The phenomenon reminded her of the storage area, where she and Charlotte had trespassed late in the evening during restricted times. Oriane recalled how there was an oppression in the air when they crossed the threshold.

This was similar. Once more, the lights cannot reach farther than their immediate vicinity. And she also felt as though she take in enough air into her lungs. Everything felt heavier.

The man cleared his throat, drawing her attention. "Come now. There are many things we must discuss we set off and time is of the essence." He bowed down further, cajoling her to take his offered hand until she couldn't refuse.

And so, she rose, dusting loose grass bits and dirt off her jeans with her other hand. When she could stay standing without her legs wobbling unsteadily on the grass, the hooded man tucked his hand under his thick cloak, which reached only to his waist. Oriane eyed it warily. It looked strangely heavy for the fabric, noticeable even in the dark and gloom.

"Who are you?" she questioned, arms curled protectively across her chest. There was a chill about that wasn't there before and she fought the urge to shiver. "How do you know me? And what do you want?"

In her mind, she prayed this man didn't work for the Rosicrucians, although, from his conduct and bearings, he didn't seem the sort. He appeared saner compared to the other members she had met so far. Not as... fanatical.

"We've met. I am Gordon Lynn and I work for Enforcer McMurphy," he stated, standing as still as a statue. Because his fabric didn't flutter or swing, the blackness and shadows of his figure made him stone-like. "According to his instructions, I must escort you to him tonight."

"Where?"

"You don't have permission to know."

With his terse answer, a heavy pause lingered then between them.

Oriane needed to make another terrible decision: to stay here, safe within the confines of the campus grounds, or risk travelling with this stranger to hopefully see Uilliam and give him her message before her time expires.

Then an idea popped into her head.

She broke the silence, "I'm not going with you."

"You must," Gordon's reply was impassive. His tone implying absolute obedience.

"No, I'm not," she insisted, standing her ground bravely. More bravely than she had ever been because she really had no business going off to an unknown place with a man she just met – at least, she didn't remember meeting him. "But I want you to deliver a message to him–" She was about to repeat the cultist's message when Gordon cut in.