Iridescent

19| Someone Fancies Me. Maybe.

Her eyes were teary, but her expression was calmer than before. Slowly, she nodded, her eyes occasionally wandering to corners of the room; frightened like a spooked mare. I rubbed her back, taking my time to ask her the next question, "did they hit you?"

She nodded once and rubbed her tears away with her palm, she spoke with quivering lips, "I've never let them touch me before. Today... I was a fool. They hit me, healed me and did it again. They always have a talk with me whey they think I haven't been... good."

Maybe that's a potential way we can lure them back.

My jaw clicked but I held back my anger, "how many are there?"

"It's always the same three," she uttered and then added, "they cover their faces, I don't know who they are."

"And are they in this school?"

"I think so," Vel sniffed, "two girls and a boy. They could be anyone..."

"Anyone in this troop?"

She shook her head, "from the looks of it, no..."

I pulled her up, wrapping her jacket around her, "let's grab some of your things and head to my room."

"Are you sure about this? They'll be watching-"

"Well, clearly they're using their eyes for the wrong purpose. So, if I manage to spot them," I glared into the distance, "I will personally go and pluck their eyes out."

***

Vel and I went back to my room, where I safely shut the door behind us. It began to drizzle outside, but I left the balcony door open; the air was too stiff in my room.

I padded to the kitchen counter and prepared a cup of rose and lavender tea for Vel to sip on. She was eyeing my room with a curious gaze; it was the same gaze I saw in Jaxton.

I left Vel to sit on the window seat on her own and settled to sit on a single sofa nearby.

"This is too troublesome for you," Vel said, though I could see she was more relaxed, "I should head back soon."

"Don't worry about anything," I chuckled to try and lighten the mood, "if you feel guilty, all you have to remember is... I forced you to have a sleepover."

Vel chuckled and sipped gently on her tea, twitching back when she realised it was hot.

"Have you seen your brother recently?"

She nodded, "a few days ago. We're both keeping secrets from each other."

I oddly felt like the middlewoman. I knew Vel's secret and I knew Jaxton's secret (well, some of it). Except, I wasn't allowed to tell either party.

"I still don't like the idea of not letting your brother know about this," I sunk further into the chair, "he'll be furious when he finds out."

"That's why we won't let him know," Vel looked into her cup of tea.

"Vel," I brought her attention back to me, "you shouldn't let them treat you like this."

"I know..."

"When they come back again," I inhaled deeply, "I'll be there with you. We'll beat the crap out of them."

Vel gave a wee smile, "thanks, Cassie."

Before we could continue our conversation, I already saw Jaxton slipping through the gaps of the balcony door, holding a dark metal box that was all too familiar.