Apprentices: Third Quarter

Fear. Terror. It feels like my world is crumbling around me, while I can do nothing but stand there helplessly, watching the pieces as they burn to the ground. I should’ve known that my life would shift sooner or later. It was going into a too good direction to stay like that. I’m standing in front of the main gate to the Seminary, along with a big group of warrior witches, Hugh and Cyrus. I try not to panic, but the sight in front of me is too horrifying. The wards, the transparent dome that hangs over our home, the one that keeps us safe … No, the one that has been keeping us safe for about a century … It’s pitch black. It’s like we’re trapped inside a black hole. When we got outside, I at first thought that the sky was simply so dark. It was almost nighttime after all. But as I realized that it should be a full moon night, an eerie feeling creeped itself up my chest. We walked towards the wall with flashlights, not knowing what’s awaiting us. We didn’t expect that this darkness didn’t only overtake the sky. Our lights are directed into the stained wards, and we all stand there in shock as we try to make out the forest behind. But all we see is an endless blackness, that is threatening to suck us in if we touch it. One of the warrior witches walks forward, but a warning shout stops her. “Don’t! The ones that ran after her are nowhere to be found … The wards … I think they sucked them in,” Hugh speaks up, making the young witch turn around with fear glistening in her eyes. I hold my breath in shock, unable to believe my ears. I turn towards the man, but he walks forward and picks a stone up from the ground, oblivious to my scared gaze, following him. I watch as he throws it into the wards, dozens of flashlights directing themselves to the spot. In the next moment, gasps can be heard all around me as the stone bounces off the membrane. Then, just as it starts falling to the ground, it gets pulled closer to the wards, before the blackness sucks it in. I cover my mouth with my hand, unable to believe my eyes. I finally glance at my mentor, who’s watching the scene with surprising calmness. More than shocked, he looks … angry. Just then, he turns his head towards me, his dark eyes boring into mine with such intensity that it knocks the breath out of my lungs. “Go back to your dormitory,” he instructs me. I widen my eyes, shaking my head immediately. I don’t know what’s going on, but I sure as hell aren’t leaving until we figure out how to break apart this killing cage that my mother locked us into. I can’t help but feel responsible for her escape. Even if I know I had nothing to do with it. “Not until we solve this,” I turn him down. He lets out a long, frustrated breath, clearly not in the mood to deal with a rebellious teenager right now. But I can’t help myself. I want to be here, where I can help. I can’t sit in my room and wait for a solution. Not if I can be useful here. “Evelyn, for once … please listen to me,” Cyrus murmurs, staring directly at me. I already open my mouth to protest, but I don’t get the chance, because he places his hand on the top of my back and leads me to the side. “I’m not a child. I’m turning eighteen in less than a month,” I let him know, narrowing my eyes at him. “I can handle whatever you’re worried about. You know that I’m doing well. You know how powerful my magic is, so just let it be useful for once,” I continue, still keeping my voice down, because I know he doesn’t want anyone to hear us. My mentor stares at me with the same unrelenting gaze, clearly not convinced by my words. Oh, come on! What exactly is he trying to protect me from? It’s not like I’ll go jump into the wards! And I won’t be any safer inside the school, the whole Seminary is trapped inside the same darkness! “Please, Cyrus, let me help,” I practically beg him as he says nothing more. But despite his gaze softening, he still shakes his head at me, making a heavy feeling sink into my chest. “There’s nothing you can help with, until we can find a way to treat the wards. She sickened them with dark magic,” he finally speaks up, while I stare at him with a mixture of fear and anger. “The truth is, it can take days to fix this,” he then adds. My jaw drops as the wheels start turning inside my head. I glance towards the main gate again, watching as the flashlights dance along the pitch blackness beyond it. When I realize what this means, I look at Cyrus again, feeling anger stir up inside me. “Does that mean that she’s getting away?” I ask. He doesn’t want to respond. But I can tell he doesn’t want to lie to me either. He nods, seeming almost defeated. I stare at him a moment longer, before realizing that my magic is going to act out if I don’t release the negative tension inside me. I let out an angry roar that I just know makes all the head by the gate turn towards our direction. But it’s not enough. I jam my fist into the tree we’re standing by, feeling the violent impact with a flash of pain that cuts through my hand as my skin gets ripped apart by the bark. Cyrus gasps and grabs my hand carefully, like he’s trying to prevent me from continuingly hitting the tree. I pull away the moment I realize what he’s trying to do next. He looks up from where he was just holding my hand in shock. “It’s okay. I’ll heal you. Give me your hand,” he encourages me, speaking to me like he’s trying to appeal to a wounded animal. My knuckles are throbbing with pain as I feel a warm liquid ooze out of them, but I shake my head at him stubbornly. “No. I need a reminder of what I did. This is all my fault,” I say, refusing to let my lips tremble in front of all these people. My mentor’s eyes widen in surprise as he stares at me, trying to process what I just said. Finally, he frowns. “Don’t be ridiculous. Give me that hand,” he demands, but I still don’t give in. He sighs as he realizes that I’m still being stubborn. His expression softens and he takes a careful step closer. “None of this is your fault, Eva. You’re not responsible for any of her actions,” he continues in a much gentler tone. I stand there, staring at him, while I’m trying not to let my own traitorous hand shoot out to him, the moment he called me Eva. Ugh. I hate myself. “But I feel like I am,” I whisper in the last attempt to stand my ground. The throbbing in my knuckles is getting worse with every moment, but I need it there. I need it, I tell myself. I have to remember that none of this wouldn’t be happening, if I didn’t run away from the Seminary that time. She would never be able to get her hands on me. No, that’s not true. She told me. She told me that I was planned. My magic was planned, because she only wanted a tool to do who knows what. But the very thought of it is terrifying. Cyrus hold his hand out for me again, watching me with a pitiful expression on his face. I don’t want that. I don’t want him feeling sorry for me. Unable to fight anymore, I reach out, offering him my hurt hand in defeat. “Thank you,” he murmurs, leading his other hand to hover above mine, before closing his eyes. He doesn’t utter a single word, making me realize that he’s … Well, showing off a little. Not many witches or wizards can master spellcasting with their minds, but the ones that do, are said to be the most powerful of our kind. My face sours as I realize my mother is one of them. I close my eyes too, until I suddenly feel the pain sharpening. My eyelids jump up as I almost move my hand away from Cyrus, but he holds it in place, opening his eyes as he focuses on healing me. I know that healing can be unpleasant for the wounded person, but I never thought it would be so painful. By the time we’re finished, I’m breathing heavily, grinding my teeth together as I try to endure the pain. But as quickly as it came, it suddenly vanishes, and I’m left with a perfectly smooth skin, covered in blood. I raise it towards my eyes, inspecting it more closely as I aim my flashlight directly towards my skin. It’s gone. I’m perfectly fine now. “I’m sorry, the rougher the cut is, the more difficult it is to heal … And that more painful,” Cyrus explains in an apologetic tone. I lower my hand, looking into his eyes defeatedly. “Thank you. It’s … It’s okay now,” I murmur, then unwillingly turn my head towards the direction of the school. “I’ll … I guess I’ll go now,” I add, already turning around to walk away, but I get stopped by an arm in front of my stomach. I quickly take a step backwards, not wanting this to look … wrong. “Wait. I won’t let you go alone. For all we know, she could be hiding in the woods, waiting for a chance to get her hands on you,” Cyrus tells me, before letting his arm drop to his side. “Hugh, can you spare a warrior or two?” he shouts out towards the gate. The man responds within a short moment, despite being wrapped up into a conversation. “I can’t, sorry! I need all magical arms here!” he shouts back, then continues talking from where he left off. My mentor doesn’t respond. Instead, he simply turns around and starts walking towards the school. He realizes I’m not following him after making a few steps, so he turns around and flashes the light directly into my eyes. “Come. I’m not risking you, staying out here another second,” he lets me know, before directing the flashlight into the ground. I blink furiously, as I try to make the colorful shadows, that the light left, disappear from my sight. But finally, I grunt in defeat and join my mentor, knowing that he won’t let me walk back to the school alone. No matter how hard I try to assure him that I’ll be fine. And that my mother surely isn’t in here anymore. But the thought doesn’t give me any peace. I swallow nervously, glancing at my mentor as I try to make out his face through the shadows. “Do you really think she could still be in here?” I ask, feeling uneasy, just saying those words out loud. He stays quiet for a few moments, like he’s trying to come up with an answer that isn’t going to scare me to my bones. “I’m not so sure … It’s highly unlikely, considering that no one can get out. This was probably her escape plan all along,” he finally explains, making me breathe out in relief. “But we can never be too careful,” he then adds. “I agree with you,” I add with a heavy heart, feeling creeped to my bones as I glance up, where I was supposed to see the night sky. The stars, the full moon, none of it is up there. Just pitch blackness that makes me feel even more nervous. I expect Cyrus to leave me at the front door, but he walks with me straight to the dormitories and only stops when I stop. And that’s in front of my room. I turn towards him, our surroundings blissfully making us forget about the state outside. There aren’t any windows on the hallways. I turn towards him, not knowing what to say. There are a million questions on my mind, and I don’t know which one to ask first. “Lock the door and stay safe,” Cyrus finally beats me to it, before turning around and leaving. I stare after him, realizing that the weight of our earlier fight is still hanging on our shoulders. Is this why he accompanied me here? Is he feeling guilty? I push the thoughts aside, unable to think about why Cyrus doesn’t like my new boyfriend. It’s completely unimportant, compared to the fact that my mother trapped us all in here. As I get inside, I do as my mentor instructed me. I lock the door and close the curtains on the window, so I can’t see the pitch blackness outside. I have a feeling that another sleepless night awaits me. Ah, well. Just a normal day in the life of Evelyn Pierce.