Elementals: Entwined

Chapter 17: Tiffany

The walk to the assembly hall felt like a death march. Mythos members flanked me on either side, and I almost felt caged. It was with some relief that I finally pushed open the heavy oak doors.

Unsurprisingly, everyone turned to look at us as we entered. Apparently we were the last ones to arrive, since the place was pretty much packed. I winced before deciding to get over it: whether I liked it or not, it seemed I would always be stared at here.

The assembly hall was laid out like a lecture theatre with four sections, each for the separate houses. It sort of reminded me of the film Divergent, only everyone wasn't wearing the same colour and about to slit their wrists. On the stage at the front, clearly waiting for us to sit down, stood Mr Shoal at a podium. On rows of seats behind him sat the other nine main elemental teachers. I didn't recognise most of them, but I scowled at the sight of the doctor and Mrs Charles.

 Noticing that there was no clear area for people with multiple elements to sit, I went to follow Amy to the seats in the House of Air area. As soon as I did, West grabbed my arm, instead pulling me towards the House of Fire. I didn't appreciate having to sit anywhere near either Lily or Toni, but Amy shook her head at me before I could protest. Sighing, I followed West to sit in the row behind Lily.

West glanced at the spare seat on his left. For a moment a disturbed look crossed his face, and I realised that he too was noting the absence of Tom, who should have been sitting with us. I wanted to reassure him - Tom seemed like the only guy West had somewhat opened up to, even if he'd had no choice with Tom's mind reading skills. Unfortunately I didn't know my guardian well enough to help him.

 I still couldn't believe that Mysti - the shy, awkward sister of bubbly Aurelia, was responsible. I didn't have her down as the type of person who would do that to Tom. It didn't help that there was no way she could have done it by accident:  the girl wore gloves for a reason.

 It also had me wondering... was Aurelia really as powerless as she claimed? If both of them had gone missing...

 "It's nice to know that all of you are finally gathered here." Mr Shoal finally spoke, giving Amy a pointed look as he did so. I guess she hadn't been lying when she said he didn't like her too much. "We're holding this assembly in light of recent events."

 "An hour ago, Thomas Simmonds was sent to the infirmary. Right now he's comatose but stable, and from what I hear every attempt made to wake him up has failed. Until we fully know what has been done to him, we can only hope that he gets better.

 On top of this, the school's two remaining copy triplets, Mysti and Aurelia Green, have gone missing."

 Whilst the rest of the school gasped at news I had already heard, I turned to West. "Copy triplets?" The wording was confusing enough, but even more shocking was the fact that there was another Green sister. I tried to look over to the House of Air section of seats and gage my best friend's reaction, but there were too many people in the way.

 West shrugged. "Usually children of Flora come in groups with similar abilities. Sometimes people give them nicknames like 'the flower twins.' I guess the third triplet had some sort of copying power like Mysti."

 That was the most I'd heard him say all day. I studied his face as his eyebrows furrowed thoughtfully. "Are you okay?"

 He didn't look at me as he responded. "I'm fine."

He tapped his fingers anxiously on his knee. Before I could respond, Mr Shoal continued.

 "These events are obviously worrying; not only due to the obvious fact that it hints that our school be in danger, but because they have affected members of Mythos, who represent the most powerful and skilled students in the school."