Blood and Water (Blood Trilogy)

Chapter 4

The rays of dawn streamed through the curtains and Acacia awoke to the chirping of the birds outside her window, she rubbed her eyes and blinked hard. They were slightly swollen from crying the night before and she couldn't recall how she had gotten from the room of documents to her bed. She let her legs dangle off the edge of the bed before propping herself steadily on her two feet and heading for her half opened closet. The scent of fresh grass greeted her as she pulled the door open, so she reached in, quickly pulling out a black tank top and a pair of grey tights, slipping them on comfortably. She then helped her feet into the only pair of clean white shoes in the cabinet before checking her appearance in the mirror. She poked her swollen eyes a few times and groaned in frustration at how unsightly they were. Knowing that they wouldn't subside too soon, she headed to the bathroom to wash up, and following Seth's instruction from yesterday, went to the dining room to have breakfast.

Most of Acacia's trip there was submerged in thought of what she had discovered the night before, but soon a distant sound of giggling interrupted her thoughts and from a corner emerged Hunter and Lydia walking particularly close together. Lydia had a smile spread on her face as the pair walked ahead of her. Hunter was dressed in a grey shirt and white shorts accompanied by the same shoes he wore yesterday, while Lydia was dressed in a deep purple tank, black tights and the same pair of shoes as Acacia. Hunter must have noticed someone behind them as he turned around to see Acacia quietly following behind. He stopped in his tracks, greeting her with a bright smile. Lydia pivoted to see what he was looking at, and as soon as she realised that it was Acacia, she scowled, grabbed Hunter by the arm and trudged forward towards the dining hall. Acacia did nothing, and continued to walk to the dining hall alone.

The hall was brightly lit as the sunlight streamed in through the coloured glass panes, projecting colours on the wooden floor. A strong smell of waffles and maple syrup wafted into Acacia's nostrils and she felt her mouth start to water in response. She scanned the room for where the smell was coming from and saw Seth sat by himself with a plate full of waffles and maple syrup. He was wearing a black shirt and burgundy shorts accompanied with a pair of sneakers. Before she could take a step in his direction, Martin appeared in front of her.

"Morning, Acacia!" Martin greeted her cheerily. "May I give you a tour of the dining hall?" Still dazed, she half heartedly agreed and followed him to a long table where all the food was laid out, waiting to be chosen. "This is the table we lay our food on every morning, afternoon and evening for breakfast, lunch and dinner respectively. There's a washroom in that corner of the room." Martin gestured to many different places but Acacia was slightly distracted in trying to see what Seth was doing. She thanked Martin after he finished and turned around to see if Seth was still there, but he had vanished from his seat. Acacia then strolled back to the front of the table to collect a plate to put her food on. As she was putting a waffle on her plate, an arm reached from behind her for the maple syrup, she turned her head to see Hunter smiling down at her.

"Morning." Hunter said cheerfully, taking the maple syrup and dousing his waffles in them. Lydia was close behind, eating part of her waffle while engaging in a conversation with Martin.

"Morning." Acacia replied hesitantly as Hunter passed her the maple syrup.

"How was your sleep?" he asked before Acacia could walk away. Her attempts to avoid any encounters with Lydia that morning was slowly turning to dust.

"It was great." she replied quickly as she saw signs of Lydia and Martin's conversation coming to an end. "Excuse me." she scurried away from Hunter, her palms becoming sweatier by the second.

"Hey, wait! You should join us!" Hunter exclaimed, clasping onto Lydia's hand and pulling her along after Acacia, with unhappiness spread across her face. Acacia bit her lip as she set herself onto the nearest table, Hunter and Lydia across from her. "C'mon it'll be fun. I insist." He winked at Acacia who looked back down at her food in dismay.