The moment I saw Kate and Sunny waiting outside the noodle place we'd arranged to meet at, I forgot about the unusual circumstances that had occurred in the tunnel.
"Millie!" Kate exclaimed, giving me a tight hug.
"Hey!" I exclaimed, hugging Sunny as well. "How are you both?"
"Good, thanks!" Sunny said. "And you?"
"Good good." I said. "Are we waiting for anyone else?"
Sunny waved a hand. "Nah, they couldn't make it. Just us."
"Fair enough." I said, and we walked in.
We were greeted by a waitress, who took us over to a table at the back and left us to think about our orders. This was the place we'd come after we'd all met for the first time, and as well as being very tasty, it was cheap. When the waitress came back over, I ordered sweet and sour chicken with noodles, and a glass of orange juice.
"So, what did you guys get up to during the summer?" I asked, looking between Kate and Sunny sitting opposite me.
"Not a lot, to be honest." Sunny said.
"Yeah, neither." I chuckled.
"Speak for yourselves." Kate chimed in. "I don't think I stopped working."
The waitress came over with our drinks, and I gulped half mind down immediately- I didn't realise I was so thirsty.
"What about you, Mills?" Sunny asked. "Have you been okay? You know, since...?"
Neither Sunny or Kate knew about Haydn, or about Argent Eyes, however they obviously knew about everything else. About the stabbing, and the beating in Greenwich Park- they thought it was a mugging, and that I'd just been in the wrong place at the wrong time.
"Yeah, I've been good." I said honestly, although I did realise that I'd just seen Haydn in the tunnel for the first time since that event. I hadn't really thought much about him over the summer, or dwelled on the events, so I wasn't really sure as to why he was sneaking back into my thoughts all of a sudden. I mean, he was gone. I saw him turn to dust right before my eyes. "Still in one piece." I chuckled.
Sunny and Kate smiled. "That's good." Kate said.
Then, the food came out, and my belly started rumbling.
"Yum." I said, tucking in.
Kate and Sunny continued their conversations about their summers, and I sat listening and eating, until I saw him again. I'd taken one quick glance out the window, and there he was, walking past and looking directly through the glass at me as he did so. He had that wicked smirk plastered on his face, and I wanted nothing more than to slap it right off...
"Millie?" Sunny said, snapping me out of my trance. I looked back at her, and then at Kate, who were both looking at me expectantly.
"Huh?" I said.
Sunny frowned. "Are you okay? You look like you've seen a ghost."
I looked back at the window, seeing no sign of Haydn but just people walking and talking and getting on with their business.
"Yeah, sorry." I said, trying to laugh it off. "I thought I saw someone. What were you saying?"
"I said, did you do any of your tattoo designs over the summer?" She asked. "One of my friends might be interested."
"Oh." I said, and smiled, trying to brush off the weight that was bearing on my chest right now. "Yeah, I did a few. What kind of thing is your friend looking for?"
Tattoo designing was one of my newest hobbies, and was something I realised I could make a bit of money on the side with. In my free time I'd done quite a few and managed to sell them online.
"Something quite feminine, and florally, ya know?" She said. "She's willing to pay, of course."
I nodded. "I think I know what you mean. I'll see what I can come up with and let you know."
"Nice." Sunny grinned. "If it's any good, I might think about getting one myself."
I nodded again, before we all settled into eating our food and talking about our summers again.
I lost all enthusiasm, though, because all I could think about was seeing Haydn.
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It was nice catching up with the girls, but I wanted to go home. We said our goodbyes, even though we'd be seeing each other in the next week for uni, and then I walked home, keeping my head down the entire time with the fear of seeing Haydn's face again.
"Hey, Millie." Jake said as I walked through the door.
"Hey." I smiled, and looked through to the empty living room. "Where's Tom?"
"He went out. You wanna watch a film or something?"
I checked my watch. I had a few hours till I had to meet Ronan. "Yeah, sure."
"You going out or something?" He asked, clearly noticing that I'd checked my watch.
I nodded. "Got training with Ronan. We're breaking into Greenwich park again."
Jake laughed loudly. "That's madness."
"You're not gonna follow me again, are you?" I teased.
Jake shook his head. "Not this time, I'm afraid. I have a bed and a TV series with my name on it."
I shrugged. "Fair enough."
We sat down in the living room whilst Jake put the movie on, but all I kept thinking about was Haydn. What if, by some strange circumstance, he wasn't dead? What if I never actually killed him? Yeah, I watched him age and drift away like dust, but we're not just talking about an ordinary human. This was Haydn, possibly one of the most powerful people in the world. I hadn't even been an Argent for a year, so things were still pretty new to me. There was still so much I didn't know. Was it possible that he was still around? Or were my thoughts getting too carried away?
When the film ended, I realised I'd paid little to no attention to it.
"What would happen if an ordinary person was stabbed with the black... oh, what's it called...?" Jake suddenly asked, clicking in the air like the word might just appear at his command.
"Prometheum?" I finished.
"Yeah, that." He said. "So say if I was stabbed. Would I become like you?"
I shook my head. "No, it doesn't work like that." Once again, this was something I'd learned from Ronan over the summer. "You have to have the Argent gene, and then at the right time, it needs to be activated."
"When's the right time?" He asked.
"Honestly, I have no idea. I think Dreamwalkers are the only ones who know that." I said. "I was later than average, apparently."
"Oh." He said. "So if I was stabbed with it then it would just be like any normal stabbing?"
"Yeah, I think so." I narrowed my eyes in thought. "Although, Ronan did say that it's possible for you to gain some elemental abilities if any of your ancestors were an Argent. But he said it's impossible to tell- you could have a grandparent who was an Argent and not get anything from it. On the other hand, you could have a great great uncle who was one and inherit some of his abilities. A Dreamwalker can barely sense an Heir, though, let alone Argent blood that distant. You'd have to be pretty lucky to firstly, get stabbed with Black Prometheum, secondly, to have an Argent ancestor, and thirdly, to inherit any powers."
Jake nodded, understanding. "An Heir is the child of an Argent, right?"
I nodded. "Yeah. Who inherited some of their parent's power."
"Oh, yeah." He said, remembering.
"Why? You thinking of stabbing yourself with my blade?" I joked.
Jake laughed. "Nah, I don't think I'd have the balls." He paused. "Although, I, uh, wouldn't mind seeing it again?"
I smiled. The last time Jake had seen my Black Prometheum dagger was when I first told him about me being an Argent. Turns out, he suspected I was up to something and followed me to Greenwich Park, where he not only saw Ronan teleport, but saw me utilise the darkness to allow me to walk through the fence like it were made of smoke.
Stella, my vicar from home who was an earth Heir, had been in the midst of teaching me how to summon my Black Prometheum when things took a turn. It was when I wasn't entirely sure of what the darkness inside me was, and when I didn't know that I was destined to wield all seven elements. At that time, I'd managed to push the darkness away, but that wasn't always the case. I'd let it out in front of David, and had attacked Ronan with it on a couple of occasions. David was my tutor at university, and also happened to be a lightning Heir- he'd known about me being an Argent way before I did, but didn't actually tell me until Ronan had to take me to his office when all the strange, elemental stuff was happening to me. Ronan always told me that the darkness situation wasn't really my fault, but I begged to differ on that. I still felt like I wanted it to manifest, even if it was amplifying my deepest and darkest thoughts.
Luckily, I had the light as well. Stella had always said to me that with darkness comes light, and I only started believing that when the light would show itself after every dark episode. It was the light that enabled me to defeat Haydn, keeping to the terms of our deal.
"I suppose so." I said, and put my hands together as if in prayer for a moment. Then, focusing on the feel the metal gave me when it was in my grip, I slowly started to pry my hands apart, watching the sand-like molecules manifest and meld together until I was able to grab the hilt of the dagger. Immediately, it glowed a pale blue under my grip, the little runes lighting up across the blade. By default, it seemed to reflect my ice element, however if I wanted it to, I could change it.
I handed it over to Jake, who was looking at it, mesmerised. Of course, the moment it lost contact with my skin, it stopped glowing and remained a shiny, black metal.
"Woah." He said, holding it. "Is it strange that even for me, it doesn't feel like an ordinary dagger? Like, if I didn't know about what you were, but I held this, I feel like I'd suspect something was off with it."
"Makes sense, I suppose." I said. "The metal doesn't technically exist to normal people."
He ran his finger along the flat part of the blade, not daring to touch the edge.
"Wanna see something cool?" I asked.
Jake's eyes widened. "Yes." He said.
Ronan had taught me that as well as summoning the metal, I could also control it after it had manifested. Mentally, I reached out, wrapping an imaginary hand round the hilt, and when I was sure I'd gripped it, I pulled it towards me.
Jake gasped when the knife seemed to yank itself from his hand, zoomed across the small distance between us, and nestled comfortably in my grip. Of course, it lit up blue again.
"That was fucking awesome!" Jake exclaimed. "So what, you have telekinesis now, as well?"
I laughed. "To an extent, I guess. But only with my dagger. I can't make other shit move." I seconded that. "Unless it's with the air element, but that's not controlled enough to make it like telekinesis."
"Awesome." He said, nodding in thought.
My phone dinged.
Where are you? Ronan asked. I checked the time, realising it was already 9pm and time for me to commence my training.
Oops. Be there in 15.
Ronan sent the thumbs up emoji again.
"I gotta go." I said. "I didn't realise what the time was."
"Alright. Hope you learn some new magic tricks." Jake smirked.
"Same." I said. "See ya later." I waved, and then left.
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