Risen

{08}

~Winter: January 9, 1703~

I AWOKE TO THE FEELING OF someone rousing me awake. My eyes fluttered open and I saw the blurred image of Stefan hovering over me.

His dark brown curls were flattened on top of his head, leading me to believe he hadn't woken up too long ago, and his bright blue eyes were studying me carefully. I read that he was sad, tasting sea salt in my mouth, and found myself giving him a quizzical expression.

"Something wrong?" I asked, easing into an upright position. Somehow, I was sitting on top of a blanket on the floor, which wasn't where I remembered falling asleep the night before.

"Nope," he said, offering me a gentle smile. "It's 5 am. We need to prepare for the journey back."

I stood up, feeling my dormant muscles creak as they awoke. I smoothed the rumples in my clothes and patted down my uncombed hair.

Rose was preparing something in the kitchen, the mouthwatering aroma of a homely dish filling the air. Stefan's friends were helping put away the blankets and supplies from the night before. The girl acknowledged me with a small smile as she approached me.

"I'm glad you're awake," she said as she reached down to grab the blanket and pillow I had slept with. "My name is Jasmine and the other guy is my twin brother Donovan, Donny for short."

"I'm Mina," I said, even though she'd probably picked up on that by now. "So where's Aaron?"

"Getting fresh clothes. Rose's cabin looks like a crime scene was his bloody clothes lying around." For the first time, I noticed she had a bit of a British accent.

I snorted, failing to hide my amusement. She grinned at me, playfulness flashing in her eyes. Finally, some light-heartedness for a change.

"Ah, Mina, you're awake. I hope Stefan didn't wake you too abruptly," Rose said, popping her head inside the living room.

"Not really," I said politely.

She walked over to me and handed me a bowl of steaming soup and a spoon. "This should fill you up. It's just some chicken broth with vegetables."

"Thank you," I said, feeling my stomach growling in anticipation. I wrapped a blanket around the bowl to insulate the heat as tendrils of steam rose and curled around my face.

"Eat quickly. We need to leave soon if we want to get to training in time," Jasmine said.

I placed a spoonful of soup in my mouth, the sweet taste of the warm chicken broth satisfying my taste buds. "How're we going to explain where we've been?" I asked Jasmine.

"We'll figure that out on the way," she said with a sigh, her own worry flitting across her face.

Suddenly, Aaron entered the room through what I assumed was the bathroom door. Now he was wearing a thick brown jacket that hugged his broad shoulders and a plain white sweater underneath. The color had returned to his cheeks and the cuts on his face had been bandaged and treated.

As he ran a hand through his slightly damp hair, his eyes landed on me and our gazes locked. He tasted like tangy grapefruit, which meant he felt relieved. I guess the feeling was mutual.

"Hi," I said, breaking the silence.

"Morning," he replied awkwardly. "Are you okay?"

"Are you okay?" There was another beat of silence between us.

"Stop staring at each other. Mina, we're all waiting on you to finish eating so hurry up." Jasmine said impatiently.

"Sorry," I mumbled, shoving another spoonful of soup in my mouth. I ditched the spoon and tipped the bowl directly into my mouth, drinking the warm liquid in large gulps. When I looked up from the bowl, I saw Aaron turn away quickly and walk into the kitchen.

"Was he looking at me?" I wiped the remnants of the soup from my mouth with my sleeve. "I probably looked stupid doing that." I shuffled over to the kitchen with my empty bowl and handed it to Rose, who insisted on washing it.

Once we were all ready to go, we gathered at the door. Rose gave each of us one last hug, her motherly embrace making heart ache with a strange longing. "Be careful on the way back," she said as she opened the door for us to step outside.

"Thanks for everything," Jasmine said.

"Of course. Safe travels." She closed the door behind us, leaving us outside on her porch in the early winter morning.

The land was still shrouded in darkness, the sun yet to rise. It was no longer snowing, but the snow seemed to have accumulated more since yesterday, suggesting it had snowed overnight.

We started the journey back to camp, enjoying the peaceful atmosphere of dawn. This time around, we knew all the right routes to take to get back to the academy the quickest.

"So what even happened last night," Stefan asked, surprising me from my daze. Truthfully, I didn't really feel like talking about it right now. The last thing I wanted to do was relive the events of last night when I could hardly even make sense of them.

"I have questions for you too," I said, shifting the spotlight onto him. "How do you know Rose?"

"That's not important right now," Stefan grumbled in frustration. "I just want to know how my friend ended up almost getting killed by a coyote during the thirty minutes that I left you two alone."

The edge in his voice ticked me off and I had to bite the inside of my cheeks to stop myself from giving him a snarky response.

Aaron interjected, his words slicing through the tension in the air. "Let's save all the questions for later." I glimpsed at him in silent gratitude, but his eyes didn't meet my gaze.

The moment passed and we continued in silence. After another forty-five minutes of walking, we saw the academy in the distance.

"We made it," Jasmine said.

I let out a nervous breath and shivered slightly in the chill of the air. "Let's go then."

Aaron insisted we go through the trapdoor to avoid being caught, so we followed his lead to the left side of the building where it was hidden underneath the snow.

He uncovered the trapdoor and swung it open. I cringed as it creaked loudly on its hinges. He held it open as everyone descended down the ladder. I was the last to go before him.

"Thanks," I mumbled, lowering myself through the opening.

A minute later we were standing back in the foyer for the first time in 12 hours. Seeing that the coast was clear, we split up to our dorms to take care of business and freshen up. I was in desperate need of a shower and a change of clothes, but there was no time, so I just splashed my face with water.

Once done, we regrouped and headed for the training rooms. As we approached the grand double doors, a sickening sense of dread washed over me and my heart jumped in my chest.

I wasn't ready for whatever awaited us when we opened those doors.