Apprentices: Waning Crescent

On the Brink of Insanity

“Why don’t we all just sit down?” I suggest after a few more moments of awkward silence. Katie is the first one to nod, pulling Jake with her as they sit down on the armchair I usually use during lessons. Well, Jake sits on it and Katie joins him on his lap.

The others slowly start finding places around the office too. But no one seems to dare take Cyrus’s armchair. He doesn’t either. “I’m fine like this,” he lets me know and I nod in understanding. He wants to be ready for Astrid.

So, my dad moves away from me and takes his armchair instead, leaving me standing there by myself. I glance at Cyrus carefully, but he just lets out a long breath, clearly resisting to roll his eyes at my dad.

The truth is, I had to say something to everyone, because I couldn’t take it anymore. Everyone was glancing around with interest and I could just tell they’re looking for signs that I’m sleeping with my mentor.

Well, technically, I am sleeping with my mentor, but not in the way they think. We sleep ten feet apart. So, no, they’re not going to find my sexy lace panties lying around or anything like that. Even if I wouldn’t have anything against it. Not the part where my friends find them. I meant in general.

I can’t believe I’m thinking about jumping Cyrus’s bones even in this situation! We could all be attacked in a few second and here I am, thinking about what he’s like in bed. Just like sensing my thoughts, he looks at me and our gazes clash midway.

I swallow nervously, trying not to rush over there and beg him to hold me, so I don’t become a neurotic wreck. “Evelyn, dearest, why don’t you take the desk? It looks … comfortable,” my dad suddenly asks in a meaningful tone.

It’s pretty obvious what he’s trying to do, but I pretend to be clueless. “I’m fine, dad. I’ll only get more nervous if I sit down,” I let him know without even glancing his way. I can tell he’s not satisfied with my answer. I feel it through the tension in the air.

However, he can’t control me. Not even if he tries. Like, come on. I’m a Pierce. Everyone knows that we can’t be controlled. Not even by ourselves. “I really think you’d feel better if you joined the three of us,” my dad continues in a persistent way.

It forces me to tear my gaze away from Cyrus, making me realize that I didn’t glue my eyes to his face after all. That’s good to know. “How about you tell me what you really know about my mother and not that characteristic crap you filled me with some time ago? It didn’t help me catch her. I know that you know her better than you let on. I want to get inside her head, like she slips into mine. I want to be able to read her before she even reads herself,” I attack him, not even knowing where this is coming from.

He stares at me in a serious way for a few moments, then asks: “Will you join me here if I promise to tell you everything else that I know about her?”

His question almost makes me roll my eyes. “I’ll sit on the edge of the window if it means I’ll find out what the hell she wants from me and the entire Seminary,” I remark, making a hint of a smile appear on his face.

“Now that’s what I call dedication to the cause,” my dad murmurs in response, making me shake my head at him slightly.

He pats the desk and I glance at Cyrus in an apologetic way, before heading there. “Don’t worry, mentor, I’ll take my shoes off before climbing on,” I let him know, hearing a scoff come from the other side of the office. I don’t look to see who did that, but I could bet it was Marcus.

Cyrus keeps quiet, but I can tell he’s fighting himself as I turn around to start taking my shoes off. His jaw is clenched and he has that stance when you can clearly see that he’s frustrated with something. Arms crossed against his chest, one foot slightly in front of the other. Oh, he’s not just frustrated, he’s pissed.

But I decide to let him be for now, knowing that I won’t do anything good if I try to talk to him now. I simply send him a reassuring gaze, trying to get him to calm down before hopping on the desk.

I position myself so I’m able to see Jake and Katie, my dad and also the rest of the office. Then, I turn towards him in expectation. “Well? You can start by explaining why you left out some things in the first place,” I encourage him, trying not to sound too angry. Or else he’ll never talk to me.

He sighs, leaning into Cyrus’s armchair causally. “You saw Blake was with me. Everything wasn’t for his ears. I figured the whole story would almost be considered treason, and I just couldn’t risk it with that boy,” he explains, checking his fingernails. Like they could ever get dirty. Maybe with blood, but those are royal hands. They haven’t seen a day’s work in their centuries long life.

“Then talk now. We seem to have all the time in the world,” I let him know. He lets out a dry chuckle, then purrs in satisfaction. I glance at Jake and Katie, noticing how they’re watching him with a mixture of fear and wonder at the same time.

“Ah. This armchair is amazing, Cy. You have to share where you got it later,” my dad suddenly remarks, opening his eyes to look at my mentor in a provocative way. I glance into his direction, noticing the way his face seems like it’s made of stone now. Well, if you ignore the lightning bolts that seem to be shooting out of his black eyes.

I roll my eyes, turning back to the vampire. “Dad, focus. I don’t want your explanation to get interrupted by a raging warrior witch, who’s being controlled by a murderer at the moment,” I make him snap out of it.

But it seems like there’s no such thing as snapping out of it for him. He smirks, still staring at my mentor in the same way, making me stiffen. Seriously, I’m really curious to find out what these two have amongst each other.

“Fine,” my dad finally says turning towards me with a calm expression. “Your mom wasn’t always a psycho. She used to be … Well, she reminded me of you when I first met her. She was studying in the warrior witches’ program at college and I met her at one of the wildest parties that I ever attended,” he sighs, clearly falling into old memories.

The story’s beginning leaves me uneasy. She’s been studying the same thing I want to study. That’s a comforting thought. Not. The more I listen to my dad, the more I can’t believe he’s talking about the same person that I have in mind.

“She was wild. Just like you. One thing lead to another … And we started hanging out a little more. She had this obsession inside her. She kept telling me she’ll find a way to get rid of soulthieves once and for all, so we’d all get to walk around freely again,” he continues talking.

I swallow nervously, not sure how much more I can take without my emotions getting the best of me. “But what she didn’t realize is that it was impossible. After a while, she started to see it too. Then, she became obsessed with wanting to control them. You know, the person I was describing to you that time you asked me about her … Well, that was the person she became afterwards.”

I stare at him in expectation, realizing that everyone is listening to his words, not just me. Viktor Strigon simply is that way. He can even charm his enemies. “Afterwards?” I encourage him, realizing that I only know part of the truth.

“Well, she wanted to learn how to control soulthieves. And when nothing known helped her, she threw herself into drastic measures. She … She started experimenting with magic. Creating her own spells,” he reveals, making my breath hitch in my throat.

I meet Cyrus’s shocked gaze against my will, making me realize that he didn’t know about that either. And I notice the way his gaze flickers as he tries to regain his self-control. I turn my gaze back to my dad, wanting to know more.

“The person you know now … Is the person she became when a made-up spell went wrong,” he then finally says, making me feel like I’m sitting in front of a puzzle, putting in the final pieces. That’s where her madness is coming from.

I watch him for a few moments, waiting for him to continue. “Is that when she became evil?” I ask him, wanting a confirmation, a denial. Anything. I need it. I need the whole truth and I need it now.

He tilts his head at me, watching me with a neutral expression. “That’s when she got insane. She told me that she found out the truth. She accused me of being part of it. That I created soulthieves along with other leaders of the Seminary. And when I finally convinced her that I would never do that, she was sure that others still took part in it,” he tells me next.

My jaw drops from the surprise and I know everyone else is just as shocked as I am. I can tell it by the deafening silence that takes over the room.

“Wait, that’s not the best part. I was still seeing her, because I felt sorry for her. I thought the effect of the spell will go away, but it only got worst. She now wanted to figure out, how to let a soulthief keep their soul. Want to know why?” he asks in a cynical tone.

I watch him quietly feeling tension rise inside my chest. “I’m sure I don’t want to know, but you’re going to tell me anyway. Not because I want to, but because I have to,” I murmur quietly, barely even hearing myself.

My dad watches me in silence, then puts his hand together. “She started to play around with the thought of immortality. She thought that if she found a way for a soulthief to keep their soul, she could turn into one and become immortal. I told her that she’s crazy, but she told me that she’s a genius. And that when she’ll manage to figure out that part, she’ll become invincible,” he reveals.

I cover my mouth with my hand, unable to believe my ears. I thought there was a limit to her insanity. I didn’t understand it until now, but if she started experimenting with magic … It’s no wonder she lost her mind. Still. That’s no excuse to go killing innocent people and then pile their bodies in a den. She didn’t just cross the line, she skyrocketed through it.

“But wait, where do I come into the story?” I ask, blinking in surprise. My dad stares at me with a dark expression on his face. The centuries finally seem to show on his face and I can feel shivers running down my spine as I stare into his murderous gaze. I know it’s not meant for me, but it’s still terrifying.

He draws in a sharp breath, his left eye twitching. “Later. When I told her we’re done. She infiltrated my mind and controlled me. I suppose that was the moment you came into the story. Or the other few times she repeated that control thing. I didn’t realize she was doing it on purpose, so she’d get pregnant,” he grits through his teeth, forcing himself to look away from my face. The face that reminds him of how he was being used. “She disappeared after. Didn’t see her for a few years.”

I keep quiet, contemplating his words in silence. It sounds like I wasn’t the only person, who my mother used. She kept grabbing everything she could, from everyone that made the mistake of coming too close to her. And then, she disappeared with everything, leaving you with nothing.

“I really didn’t know about you until I saw your face up close. She never told me. And she kept coming back every couple of years. I never understood why. She wasn’t the same person that I cared for,” he murmurs, sounding like he’s talking to himself. “But now I know. Now I do,” he continues.

I watch him with a worried crease forming between my eyebrows. “Now you know what?” I ask, making him turn his head towards me with wide eyes. He seems to be contemplating my words for a few moments, before shaking his head like I’m stupid that I don’t realize it.

“She was coming back for you,” he says, making an eerie silence fall upon the office. I’m just about to ask him more, when Cyrus jumps into the conversation.

“Okay, that’s enough scary stories for one day. It’s not like we’re sealed in here to catch a person, who is being mind-controlled by her murderous mother,” he speaks up, glaring at my dad in a warning way. I glance between the two of them, noticing that silent stare-off again.

Then, I turn my head towards my best friend helplessly. But she seems to be just as clueless about what to do, as I am. “What’s the matter? Can’t you handle a scary story?” Marcus remarks from the other side of the office, making us all turn their heads towards him.

He gets up from the couch, strutting over to my mentor with that snarky expression on his face. I jump off the table and place myself between the two of them, before they manage to get too close to one another.

But they look like they’re not even seeing me. They both get closer to each other, forcing me to reach out with my hands, placing one on Cyrus’s chest and one on Marcus’s. What the hell are they playing at. “I didn’t call you here to cause trouble, I called you here to keep you safe,” I bark at the werewolf angrily.

He doesn’t even look at me. He keeps staring at my mentor like he’s the obstacle on his way towards my heart. As I glance at Cyrus, I realize he’s watching him in a similar way, making me tilt my head with curiosity. I thought he didn’t … I thought he didn’t want me.

Finally, I hear a sigh coming from my dad. I freeze as I look at him and realize he’s resting his feet on Cyrus’s desk. Uh-oh. He’s not going to like this. I widen my eyes. And he won’t like the cigar in his hands either. “Need some help, Evelyn?” he wonders, making my expression harden.

“No, thanks, they’ll quit this nonsense now and move apart,” I tell him, then glance between the two guys I’m trying to keep apart angrily. “Now!” I bark at them, pushing my arms against their chests roughly, to make them budge.

They barely move an inch. I can feel their hearts racing asynchronously underneath my palms, making me realize that they’re both pulsing with adrenaline. “You sure?” my dad provokes me, and I just snap at those words.

I turn towards Marcus, grabbing him by his neck and pulling him down enough, so I can look straight into his eyes. “Stop molesting Cyrus and get back to the couch!” I order him, enhancing my words with a not so innocent measure of blood magic.

As I let go of him, my ex-boyfriend straightens up calmly and walks right back to where he came from, sitting down again. I can feel everyone’s gazes on me, while I stand there, breathing heavily.

“You shouldn’t have done that,” Cyrus murmurs behind my back, making me turn around with my eyes narrowed at him. I’ve had it with these two.

“You’re welcome,” I remark, then see the way Jake and Katie are both staring at me. Even my dad is staring in surprise. Great. I did an insane thing just after my dad told that story about my mother losing her sanity, right? But that was because of a spell. I’m not experimenting with magic. Wordless blood magic is just a little … difficult.

I look back at my mentor, realizing he’s just about to say something, when a familiar sound cuts through the air, making most of us flinch. Cyrus’s jaw clenches and he pulls his phone out of his pocket, answering while still staring into my eyes. Ugh. Is it bad that I don’t even care that my dad is watching me?

But all of that becomes completely unimportant, as my mentor’s eyes widen in horror and he ends the phone call with a silent thank you, telling whoever was on the line, that he’s coming soon.

He puts the phone away, making me feel the need to grab his shirt and have him spit out what’s happening. Once he does, I realize that you really have to be careful what you wish for. “Astrid is dead. They found her hanged by her neck from the rooftop,” he reveals, making my gut twist from the sickening news.