The sparks in a dragon

Chapter 12: Figures in burgundy cloaks

BLOOM'S P.O.V.

I haven't seen Flora ever since that day at the park. I haven't even heard from her. It was Monday afternoon and I was bound to see her, though I felt bad for her. The girls were not going to leave her alone. Just when I was walking to my locker, I bumped into a miserable, restless looking Flora.

"Flora, what's wrong?" I asked her.

"Nothing..." she whispered back before slowly walking off, zombie-like. She had bags under her eyes and I couldn't feel the peace, love, and cheerfulness that she usually radiates. I came to one conclusion: Rena must have come back to bite her in the butt.

I walked to my locker and a sudden pain seized my gut: cramps.

"Ugh, I feel so terrible... Maybe I can get Daphne to lay low on the training today," I grumbled to myself.

"Training?" Musa asked out of the blue. I yelped and slammed the locker shut.

"Musa! Hi! Oh, training, yeah, I want to... try out for the tennis team here at school," I said nervously. I hated having to lie to my friends. The girls looked skeptical but still they believed me.

"Good for you! I was going to try out for basketball," Layla said cheerily. I laughed nervously in return and left to the school's library to train with Daphne.

***

Only four things went through my mind: ex-te-nua-tion. I went to the tennis tryouts since I had told the girls I would do it and Layla wanted to see me; all she saw me do was fail.

I was exhausted, extenuated, and nothing else. I was walking with Sky, who also saw me embarrass myself.

"You weren't that bad..." he tried consoling me.

"Sky. Really, I was," I responded sternly.

We were walking alone, but something didn't feel right. My senses were suspicious and they told me something was off. I looked behind me and saw the hooded person again.

They were stalking me again. I turned around and resumed walking calmly.

"Run," I whispered.

"Why do we have to-"

"No time to explain," I said and grabbed his hand once I noticed that the person was picking up their pace. We ran all over the school, turning sharp corners every now and then, but I couldn't loose the hooded person. I couldn't use magic in front of Sky either.

Suddenly, I shoved Sky into a classroom and before he got a chance to process what was going on, I grabbed a ruler, closed the door, and jabbed the ruler on the handle so he couldn't get out. He yelled and slammed the door, but I had no time for worrying about that. I sprinted outside with the hooded person on my tracks.

As soon as we got outside, I turned around in a fast motion and blasted at the person with all of my might. A cannon of fire went out of my hands, sounding like a big explosion combined with the roar of a powerful dragon. In my eyes it seemed powerful, but it only mildly inconvenienced the hooded person. After seeing that I wouldn't stop, they got annoyed and disappeared. 

I was perplexed. I gave that attack my all. It was the only thing I knew how to do at the moment, but it barely affected the person. I felt weak. My head was spinning and I collapsed on my knees to the floor. Sky ran outside after having beat the ruler.

"Bloom! What the hell! Why'd you lock me- whoa, are you okay?" he asked and kneeled to the floor beside me. "What happened?"

"Nothing, I gave them a warning and they left..." I responded breathlessly. "I feel so weak right now... they drained all the energy from me," I said faintly and buried my face in my hands. I panted and stayed still, trying to catch my breath. He watched me with worry, but I could tell his eyes were crazy with curiosity. I knew he wanted to know, and I felt bad for acting like I didn't notice, but he and I both knew I couldn't share.

"You're weak um... do you want to grab something to eat? Regain some strength?" he suggested with his hand out. I nodded and took his hand so he could help me up.

***

Needless to say, I was back to normal as soon as I ingested a fry. And a hamburger.

"I swear that thing is as big as your face..." Sky said with a grimace.

"mmm, I dowbt cawe," I answered back with my mouth full of bacon. He laughed and then pointed to my mouth. "You got sauce all over..." he then circled his finger all over my face. "Everywhere."

"Shut up," I said, wiping my face with a napkin. Yet, I couldn't help but join in with Sky's laughter. 

"My wedding's in two months," I said calmly and seriously.

Sky suddenly choked on his food and started coughing violently. "Your what!" he exclaimed after drinking water and calming down. I grinned.

"My wedding," I repeated.

"I do not believe you. You're only sixteen years old! I mean, who would you even marry!" he ranted.

"This burger," I snickered, stifling a laugh. He looked at me as if I just betrayed him. I gave in and started cackling my heart out.

"You were so mad! Oh my gosh that was so funny! No, it was high-larious."

"It's pronounced hilarious," he corrected like a sour looser. He crossed his arms and huffed. 

"Stop being so petty!" I giggled.

***

"Again, why do you need me to drop you off at school?" he asked for the fiftieth time.

"I left my stuff in my locker and I need to do something at the library," I groaned and repeated the sentence again.

"Which is?" he asked again. I groaned again; the conversation was repeating itself way to many times.

"None of your concern. Bye Sky," I said and got out of the car before he could continue with his pointless attempt to question me.

****

"Hey Daphne," I greeted once I entered the lake.

"Hi Bloom. You've been quite occupied lately," She said in a suggestive tone... she knew.

"Considering the fact that I almost gave this away and that I was being chased by a stalker in a hoodie who just magically disappears every time I catch them...  yes I've been occupied," I replied sarcastically.

"Did you just say magical hooded person?" she asked suspiciously.

"Yes..." I replied.

"We're going to magix," She concluded.

"What! Daphne, I'm not sure if I'm ready to go out to the magic world..."

"Don't worry, we are not going to the city. We're going somewhere else," She said and before I could respond we were outside of a huge, gloomy castle. There was a thundering storm overhead and the castle was placed upon dark sharp rocks. It gave me the chills.

"Where are we?" I whispered as I rubbed my arms.

"The cloudtower school of witches," she said as we entered the school. "Are these the kind of hoodies you saw on the person that was chasing you?" she asked and I saw a lot of girls with dark Burgundy cloaks that concealed their faces. The faces I got to see were either pale, packed with dark makeup, or just looked plain evil.

Then the vision of the fruity music bar appeared to me. I thought the hoodie was black, but if I remembered in detail, it was really a dark burgundy. Maybe the person tucked away the rest of the cloak to look unsuspecting...

"Yes, yes they were," I said while facing Daphne so I didn't have to face the cold glares from the witches that passed on by.

"Maybe a witch followed to make a prank on you. Thankfully that didn't happen. Now, we're going to meet with headmistress griffin so she can instruct you on witches. It's very important to know the people around you," she said.

Hours of witchcraft and evil, oh goodie, I thought.