"So..." Clara paused, then continued, "are you going to go?"
I had told her that the Head had asked me to see a special trainer for my ability. That was all. Luckily, she hadn't found the letter he'd sent me when she'd come into my room. However, I didn't care about any of that anymore, and had gotten over the shock of waking up to dream injuries.
Now, I was fuming.
"No, I'm not Bloody going, okay?!" I shot back. "They can't decide what the fuck I do with my life!"
She looked at me, wide-eyed at my sudden angry outburst. I certainly had no explanation, apart from the darkness spilling into my lungs, sticking to them like tar and clogging up my throat. They formed words, which spilled out of my mouth, destroying Clara's already imperfect perception of me.
"Jesus, Alice...you-you have problems. You know that, right? And you still haven't explained to me why you're injured!"
"You wouldn't understand."
"Then help me to!"
I had little patience for anyone right now, but if anyone could come up with a solution to my problem, it would be her. And so; I let her in. I explained my dreams from the beginning in detail, up until today, when I physically couldn't wake up.
She sat patiently until I had finished.
"...It all makes so much sense now; why you sometimes talk to yourself and have these mood swings! I thought it was just because periods hit you hard... Oh, Alice. Why didn't you tell me earlier?"
"You wouldn't have believed me even if I'd tried." I muttered. "But none of that matters anymore. I can deal with it-"
Clara interrupted me.
"-But you can't, can you?! Stop being stubborn. What would have happened if I wasn't there?"
I shuddered, and the darkness seeped out of me slowly as I thought about the fact I may have died on that evening if not for Clara.
"I...I don't know."
"Exactly."
She took me by the hands, and swore to me right there and then that she would be there for me next time I had any serious problems. I did the same.
We both smiled, happy and secure in our careless promise.
I was so naïve.
***
We both left my room on that Saturday evening, heading down to the lunch hall to grab some chips.
"Shho," I enquired, stuffing my face with chips, "wheref the gym, anyway?"
Clara giggled.
"You are disgusting." She playfully nudged me. "And it's kind of ironic that you ask that, since you're the biggest couch potato I've ever met!"
I swallowed, and pretended I was offended.
"Just answer the question!"
In truth, I was honestly curious.
"Well, that's actually a complicated question. You see, there are two gyms - one for the students, one for the teachers - and I assume you were supposed to go to the student one, because the other one is in the teacher building and apparently really scary. Once, some guy snuck in there for a dare and was never seen again!"
"What the hell!" I exclaimed. "Now I'm definitely never going in case it happens to me."
"Oops," Clara blinked innocently, like a doe, "Sorry about scaring you. My bad."
It wasn't even close to a genuine apology, but I laughed and let it go.
"Whatever," I responded lightly, "I can kick a teacher's ass easily!"
"I mean - no offense - you look strong, but not THAT strong...but then, you haven't seen the teachers fight before in the monthly tournament have you?"
"What, like Alec?"
"No, no, you silly goose. The homeroom/daytime teachers don't participate!"
I followed Clara a little way into the woods around the back of the academy, and we came out in a clearing filled with around 30 gazebos. Each one was a pale blue, with swirling flowers wrapping around the beams and ending in a domed shelter for students to sit underneath. Although glass filled in the airy gaps in the gazebos, a lot of them were filled with chatting students wearing woolly clothing. It was Christmas in a month, after all. Clara and I were decked out in our own Winter clothing. Hers was designer grunge; mine was just grunge. We opened the door to an empty gazebo and sat inside it, still eating together.
"I thought there were only daytime teachers? The academy is as silent as the grave at night, too."
"That's my point. Everything dodgy goes on at night, although nobody knows about it."
"Honestly, you are creeping me out Clara. Where do you learn this crap anyway? Surely there isn't this much gossip circulating around...right?"
It was then that Clara admitted the truth: her father was a member of the school's board, an established governor.
"What the fuck?!" I exclaimed.
"Now you know why nobody wanted to know me," she explained, "we're all stuck in here like rats, and yet I have special privileges."
"Like what?"
She paused for a second before replying.
"Connections, knowledge nobody else has, and most importantly, I could probably get out."
"Are you kidding me?!" A chip fell out of my mouth in shock.
"No. But Dad doesn't want me to leave, so I stay. I even get to see him occassionally." She smiled.
I frowned.
"But wait-" I went back to our previous topic, "what were you saying about the teachers?"
"Oh, yeah. I mean, there are a few teachers who work the night shift - meaning they patrol the grounds at night. Like, when we went to that Halloween party we had to be extra careful. They also take part in a monthly tournament, wearing shadow cloaks. Nobody really knows their identities, but they are all incredible fighters. You know; inbetween the trees they stalk, hunting the defenseless rabbits. Blah blah blah."
"They're not vampires. They can't be."
"No. They're not. At least, I don't think they are. I overheard my Dad talking about one of them once, though. The most badass and terrifying man he had ever met, apparently."
"And?" I was keen to know more. "What was his name?"
"Soul? Or Zoll. Yeah, I think it was Zoll."
"Ooooh, so scaaaary," I sarcastically mocked.
"It's not funny!"
I apologised, still smirking.
"But still," I persisted, "what makes this guy so abominably horrifying?"
"I...I'm not sure."
"So what's the big deal?"
"Well..." Clara stopped for a moment, staring down at her last chip on the ivory table between us. "He was assigned on watch duty to this school. Last month."
"Again, big deal. It's not like we'll ever see him. Will we?"
"No...?" Clara uncertainly spoke.
"What have you done," I sighed.
"Actually," she retorted, "This time, and in fact every time, it's about what you have done. But, I do admit to seeing his photograph. Once."
"So you can tell me what he looks like and we can avoid him! Problem solved!"
"No; we can't. For some reason, I can't remember what the picture had on it. It's a puzzle of a memory to me. Funny, because I saw it only last month..." Clara pondered her inopportune memory loss whilst I scrumpled up our empty chip wrappers.
"Well, either way, it doesn't matter."
We both got up, leaving the gazebo with rubbish in hand, and headed over to the bin by the edge of the trees. After it had been deposited, we parted ways and I returned to my dorm room, opening my window and sitting on the windowsill. I checked the time.
9:46PM.
"Come at me, 'instructor'!" I yelled triumphantly, and the night caught it, sailing my words out into the air.
The wind played with my auburn hair, blowing it and sticking it across my face. Once I had spat it out of my mouth and pulled it out of my vision, I glanced up at the moon. Beautiful. The craterous pores in it widened as I stared, meserised by its hidden secrets. It cast a holy light upon me, as though it could embellish light and happiness into my brain forever...
Crack.
Suddenly, my attention was drawn downwards to the ground. There were worms which I could see, writhing in their own dirt, struggling to survive. Branches on trees bent in on themselves, like distorted limbs of dead bodies. How had I never seen that this Hell was present on Earth? However, what concerned me the most was that there was now a broken branch below my window, a little ways from the forest. It had been splintered down the middle, yet appeared very much like live wood. It was this sound, I had realized, which had drawn my attention earlier. Immediately, I leaped off my windowsill, heart pounding, and locked my window. I then drew the curtains, then fumbled around in the dark for my desk lightswitch. My hands shook, and my heart beat faster. It was irrational; nobody was watching me, and I was in no danger.
Or was I?
That night, I slept with my bedside light on, firm in my belief that our instincts tell the most important stories. My alarm went off every half hour in order to prevent any type of malicious dream in the night, which naturally ended in me not getting enough sleep and being moody as Hell the next day. That didn't prevent Clara's pestering.
"Look," Clara told me, "are you sure you can cope with being alone at night?" Once again, we were together on Sunday.
"Pretty damn sure," I replied absentmindedly, daydreaming about a good night's rest.
I yawned.
"Cut that out!" Clara demanded. "Try and listen to me at least."
I mumbled an awkward apology, and she carried on talking to me, although I wasn't listening. So much had happened recently. Too much. And why to me, I wasn't sure. Maybe I attracted trouble or was too self-centered to notice everyone else's problems. Probably the latter. Clara was still speaking to me, yet I tuned into her chatter as what she'd been saying needed judgment. And I was the one to deal it.
"-and then me and Kye met yesterday for breakfast and more!" Clara excitedly recalled.
"Wait, WHAT?!" I screeched unattractively. "I told you to stay away from him, not to make the situation worse!"
"But it's bad business!" She whined. "How else am I supposed to make money in this hovel?"
"I don't care. This is now a matter of life or death. And you are honestly pushing it! Jesus, and you say I don't listen properly..." I reprimanded.
Clara pouted.
"Fine! Ruin my fun then!"
"I will! Because I'm soooo sorry for caring!"
She stalked off towards the academy and I let her go, once again fearful for her and yet also not giving a damn about what happened to Clara for a second or two. After all, she had been so ignorant even though I'd warned her!
"That's right. She deserves it for not listening," Manna cooed in my head. "I like it when you get angry."
"Fuck off!" I whispered fiercely.
Manna obliged. For now.
I stalked off into the woods near to my dorm, losing myself between the trees. Right now, I didn't care where I ended up, as long as it wasn't related to my current life. The trees tangled around me, ensaring my body tightly in a sweet caress. I was lured into the woods, further and further and further...
And that was how I eventually ended up in the grove I'd been to at Halloween, around two hours later. The Tree smiled warmly at me, before unravelling its core and beckoning me through its archway with a gnarled branch for a hand. It was then that I knew that The Tree had called upon me, although to go where I wasn't certain.
"Where will I end up?" I enquired.
"Not knowing is part of the journey," The Tree boomed. "Trust me. My branches will not allow harm to come to you."
"I trust you," I told it, and stepped through the archway, closing my eyes.
The wind created a protective whirlwind around me as I was warped through a black hole, and it eventually lowered me onto the ground. From what I could tell, it was late at night, and my dorm could be seen. Or rather, the side facing my room. I could also see myself, gazing up at the moon longingly. I'd been teleported back to the previous night! But, why?
I heard a rustle to the left, and spun cautiously, slowly, and quietly to see what was there. In the cracks of the leaves, there was a silhouette, also peering up at Alice(or me) who was staring at the moon. All I could make out were glowing amber eyes, focused on the Alice in the window. They merged into the darkness, going in the direction of my dorm room.
I felt uneasy, yet waited to hear the crack which would cause me to close my window and lock it. After waiting for about two or three minutes, and hearing the rustling grow closer to my unsuspecting old self and no crack, I searched near my feet for a twig. There wasn't one.
"Oh, Goddddd," I panicked, afraid of what would happen if the amber-eyed threat reached my window.
Glancing around wildly, I caught sight of a live branch, freshly half-snapped off of a tree beside me. It must have broken when I'd landed here, torn by the wind. After tugging it and cutting it off from the tree clinging onto it, I raced towards my dorm window, then stopped, snapped the branch as loudly as possible over my now-aching knee, and hurled it at my window; at myself. It didn't quite reach, and fell short nearby, outside the forest.
I sighed in relief, as it caught Alice's (or my)attention, and as she sought it on the ground, gave it a disturbed glance before leaping off the windowsill, locking it, and drawing the curtains. I sighed in relief, yet it was short-lived, as the amber-eyed shadow caught sight of me and headed -with great speed - towards my location. Whoever it was, they had inhuman dexterity and I instantly feared for my life. Shocked, all I could do was stare in horror at the approach.
It was now just metres away.
Oh no, no!
"No!"
It leaped, and I screamed.