I headed to my last class with an armful of the new Literature books when I was tugged sharply around a corner. Books and loose notes tumbled from my arms onto the floor, making a clutter that echoed through the near-empty corridor.
I looked up, surprised to see a teary-eyed Rhea glaring at me.
"What is going on?" She begged, her voice cracking.
I scrambled to pick up the books. "Uh, I thought I was heading to Literature class." She clearly had something else in mind.
"I want an explanation." She demanded.
"What do you mean?"
She scowled. "You know exactly what I mean! Lila, I lived in a household full of secrets and gossip for seventeen years. I can spot a liar a mile away. I know you're hiding something." Tears trickled from her emerald eyes, and my heart cracked at the sight.
She beseeched, "Please, I can't stand this. Everyone's either getting kicked out, or becoming a pod person, like you and Lisa. Why?"
There was no point denying the truths she'd surmised; it would just be an insult to Rhea's intelligence. Her face looked so stricken- and it was exactly why I'd been avoiding her. Lisa and another boy passed their final tests in an assembly a few days ago, and now there were only seven scholarship students left in the dark. Rhea, Alanah, another girl, and four boys. They must have been utterly terrified for what was coming next.
I stuttered. "I can't tell you. I wish that I could. But- you wouldn't believe me."
She grasped my hand, her eyes somehow growing even wider under her dark lashes. "Of course I would. You believed me when I told you that I saw a monster in the forest that night. Just give me the chance to trust you in the same way."
I pulled away from her grip, unable to speak. When I turned back down the corridor, she continued, following me.
"I know that something weird is going on in this school. That much has always been clear, from the howling and those gym rooms... But you were always there with me, on the outside, so I didn't mind. But now..." She gestured me up and down. "Your dorm door is always locked, and none of the other scholarship students will even talk to me or the others anymore. Lydia always speaks to us in this grave tone, like it's the last time she's ever going to see us. Even Jackson is acting stranger than usual... We haven't talked since that night they threw us in the river." Her cheeks blushed at the memory, but she quickly shook herself out of the colouring. "And who is Lucas? He's obviously the guest you were instructed to show around, but there's more to it than that, isn't there? Not just the way you act around him, but everyone. It's as if... he's some sort of royalty."
She had no idea how close she was to the truth. Lucas had visited the school a few times after classes, and most of the time we were content to simply hang out around the school grounds. It was a little amusing; he was acting like any other high school boyfriend, even though everyone treated him like a god.
I had to bite my tongue. "I promise, everything will be explained soon. I just can't be the one to do it. It's against the rules."
What a hypocrite I was, to say such a thing after Jackson divulged all his secrets to me. But he'd refused to include Rhea- and now it was clear that his feelings had played some part in that, whether it was to keep her around, unfrightened, or to hold her at a safe distance.
Either way, Jackson had told me that Rhea was meant to meet her soulmate in a few days, at another assembly. I couldn't do anything to risk compromising that.
She didn't try to follow me again as I hurried from the hall, refusing to let tears spill over into my eyes, too.
***
I stayed up late the next few nights to try and catch up on the new reading list. I'd finished Dracula, and was about a third of the way through The Northern Lights when I first heard the howling.
My first instinct was to climb out of my window and make sure that Jackson and the boys were safe. But I knew that would probably get me killed, so I forced myself to stay still. The longer I listened, the stranger it became to think that it was Theo and Jackson and however many others in the woods, creating those animalistic echoes. Or maybe it wasn't Jackson- maybe he'd had to stay tied up tonight in the school. I prayed that his control was growing, improving. Maybe once I accessed my powers, I could help him- but for now, all I could do was listen.
The next day, Jackson wasn't in his classes. I assumed it was because of the full moon the night before, and didn't think much of it. But the day after, when his disappearance was a little more noticeable, the stern professor of our shared class enquired after his absence.
Gabe volunteered a reluctant explanation. "He's sick. Can't get off the toilet long enough to catch his own puke in the sink."
Everyone shuddered and offered gagging noises at his words. Professor Mendis gave Gabe a stern glare. "Thank you for that description, but if Jackson will be missing a third day, he will be required to explain his absence to the headmistress or one of his professors in person. However, if it is related to his struggle to-"
"It's not." Gabe cut off harshly. "It's just a flu."
The professor raised a dark eyebrow. "It's awfully coincidental timing, Mr Park. I expect Mr Moran to be in class tomorrow, or I'll be forced to pay a visit to his dorm."
Gabe nodded sinisterly, and Mendis turned back to the chalkboard. As soon as his back was turned, I sent Gabe a questioning look. He seemed to avoid my eyes, but eventually returned a look implying a later explanation. Unfortunately, the moment class ended, Gabe bolted from the room like a mouse fleeing a cat.
At lunch, each of Jackson's friends were missing from the cafeteria. Theo had been in class, but he remained uncharacteristically quiet. I sat with Gabby and her friends after grabbing a sandwich, but made sure to find Theo that afternoon. I staked out the football field to see him after practice, but an hour later I'd had to jog to catch up with him as he hurried from the grounds.
The afternoon light was waning, and shadows hung under Theo's hollow cheeks like caverns. I knew it was common after a full moon or a shift, but it was still a startling sight. His blonde hair had lost its sheen, and his brown eyes had faded from their usual eager alertness.
He didn't even seem to notice my presence until I pulled at his bag strap. "What?" He asked accusingly.
I didn't let his tone phase me. "I heard that Jackson is sick. Is he alright?"
Theo hesitated. "That's kind of a loaded question."
"Is. Jackson. Alright?" I pressed.
Theo looked around at the quiet lawn. The only sounds were his heavy breathing, and the crickets. A minute later, he let out a long sigh. "No, he's not. Not this time." He paused. "Come with me."
Looking around himself once again, he gestured for me to follow. We walked swiftly across the lawn and to his dorm wing, where I assumed Jackson also rested.
The interior looked much the same as my own dorm, with a few personal touches that the boarders must have added. A handful of figures laid sprawled across couches, and glanced up as they heard the front door close. They saw Theo, and didn't bother looking to me before returning to whatever it was they were watching on the plasma screen.
Theo led me up the cold stairwell. "If the professors found out that he was still having this severe of a reaction after full moon transformations, they'd send him to a special development institute for our kind. We're trying to play it as a stomach bug, but I don't think they're buying it this time."
Theo pushed open a door that I presumed belonged to Jackson. Dylan was inside, sitting in a black desk chair beside the large bed. He looked up with a weary expression at our entrance, as if pausing mid-sentence. Gabe leaned against the window, shoulders hunched.
When Theo moved aside, I saw the figure in the bed. I forced myself not to gasp as I moved closer. Where Theo and Dylan looked a little gaunt, Jackson was absolutely ghastly. Almost skeletal. He looked as if he'd lost about fifteen kilos, and he hadn't exactly been a large, muscular guy to begin with. The covers were drawn up around his waist, and in the spacious bed, he looked even tinier. Stubble lined his jaw, and his hair looked like it had been shorn off and haphazardly glued back to his scalp. I knew that it took a physical toll to transform, but I had no idea it could be like this.
Jackson smiled weakly at Theo and I. "Hey, what are you doing here?"
"This little matchstick cornered me and demanded answers." Theo explained.
"Are you ok?" I asked, panicked. "Is this what it's always like for you?"
Jackson shook his head, and tried to sit up from his slouch. "It's not usually this bad. For some reason I just had a harder time controlling it this month..."
I wondered absently if it had anything to do with Rhea's soulmate's imminent arrival, and the emotional toll it was surely taking on him.
I sat lightly at the foot of the bed. How do you usually fix it?"
Theo piped in, "Well, he's usually all healed up by now. Believe it or not, the gauntness isn't so bad. It's the wounds that'll attract Professor Mendis' unwanted attention."
Something lodged in my chest. "Wounds?"
Jackson groaned weakly in protest when Gabe yanked the covers down. This time I couldn't hold back my gasp.
The moved covers revealed tousled clothes and the shredded, bloody remnants of skin beneath.