Apprentices: Third Quarter

Trapped

Much to my surprise, I do manage to shut my eyes for some time. But when I wake up, it feels like I slept through the whole night. I don’t feel tired at all. I look for my phone in the darkness, knowing that my alarm couldn’t have rung because it’s Sunday.

However, as I see the time, I practically jump on my feet. It’s almost eight in the morning. Is this for real? I could swear it’s still dark outside. I get to the window and open the curtains, realizing that the sky is still pitch black. The only thing that lights up the school’s surroundings are streetlamps.

I draw in a sharp breath, all the memories from yesterday flooding my mind. I walk backwards, like I’m trying to escape reality, until I hit the edge of the bed and let myself fall on top of it.

I turn on the nightlamp, feeling despair wash over me. It’s just like Cyrus told me it would be. They didn’t manage to save the wards tonight. And I get a dreadful feeling that it might take them a while to even come up with a way of doing that.

Even Beelzebub seems confused as I feed her. It’s like she has this internal clock and knows that the sky should be light by now. Not sunny, it’s still the end of February, but at least cloudy, damn it! I can feel her frustration as she takes much longer to finish her food than she usually does.

In the meantime, I get ready to leave my room for breakfast, already thinking whether I should tell Marcus and the rest of the boys about what’s going on or not. Finally, I decide that there’s no harm in telling them. The truth will come out anyway. I’m sure there will be an official announcement about it soon.

On my way to the cafeteria, I already get a text from Marcus, asking me where I am. Yeah, well. I’m usually there before him. I respond by telling him that I’m on my way, when he asks me if I took a look at the sky.

I decide to ignore that text and quicken my step, knowing that this explanation is too long to fit into a single text. The moment I turn the corner to get to the cafeteria, I notice some warrior witches coming from the opposite hallway. They look exhausted and strained.

I watch them as they walk towards the Headquarters, then finally get behind them and let our ways part as I turn towards the cafeteria. Marcus’s eyes land on me the moment I get in and he breathes out in relief.

It’s so weird in here. The cafeteria is usually lit by the daylight in the mornings and during lunchtime. But now, the ceiling lights are being used and you can see that the streetlamps outside are still turned on. It gives me the creeps.

I can tell how terrified everyone is. They’re staring outside with wide eyes and there’s almost an eerie silence, hanging above the space. No one seems to be in the mood for the usual morning chatter. No one knows what’s going on yet, but they all seem to be on edge. I bet they know it’s nothing good.

I quicken my step and get to Marcus first. Tim and Dave are already sitting across him, while Gabe and Chris are still missing from the picture. They’re all staring at me with serious and a little confused gazes as I approach the table.

“Morning guys,” I greet them, then sit down next to Marcus and melt into his embrace as he greets me with a hug and a soft kiss. He then looks at me, the playful spark missing from his deep blue eyes.

“Morning. Can’t say it’s a good one, huh?” he remarks. I let out a long sigh, casting an unenthusiastic glance through the windows. I’d cut this damn black thing off our wards with a fork and a knife, if I could.

“You’re not going to like what I’m about to tell you at all,” I begin, then notice Gabe and Chris walking through the door. “Actually, I’ll get some food first and I’ll talk later,” I then add, making Tim grunt in annoyance.

“Oh, come on! You can’t let us know that you have an explanation for whatever’s happening outside, then just walk away!” he protests, but I simply narrow my eyes at him as I get up. He shuts his mouth, remembering that it’s not a good idea to talk back to me since they’ve just switched sides.

“We’ll wait. Go get food,” Dave assures me with a hint of fear in his eyes and I can barely hide a hint of a smile on my face. I walk to the counter, joining the other two boys as we wait in line.

I let them know that I’ll explain what’s going on soon and they can’t seem to contain their curiosity either. They keep begging me to tell them about it first, but I keep my mouth shut. Even if they bug me in the line, when I’m ordering my breakfast and even as I’m walking back to our table.

As I meet Marcus’s gaze and roll my eyes, he chuckles in response. Once we all finally sit down, I decide not to keep this to myself any longer. Or I’ll lose it and dunk someone’s head in their cereal.

I begin with the phone call that Cyrus received at our yesterday’s lesson, deciding to leave out the argument that it interrupted. Marcus really doesn’t have to know that my mentor dislikes him and disapproves our relationship.

Then, I explain that my mother did something to the wards as she escaped and that they don’t let anyone out. “And that’s why it’s pitch black out there. She used dark magic on the wards and the warrior witches are trying to cure them. But in the past few hours, they were clearly unsuccessful,” I conclude.

I hear a spoon drop on my right, realizing that it was Gabe who let it fall from his hand. Well, it’s not my fault that he can’t even wait five minutes before eating. “Wait, so we’re all trapped in here?” Dave panics, making me nod. But before I can add anything to his statement, Tim rolls his eyes next to him and shakes his head.

“Dude, you’re always trapped in here. None of us are even allowed to leave the Seminary until the end of the school year, remember?” he snaps at his friend, making whatever words I meant to say, get lost in my mind. I still feel bad about that. I practically forced them into coming to Cincinnati. Well … It’s not like France gave us any other choice.

I stiffen at thought of her name, taking a deep breath as I speak up again. “Look, the warrior witches are trying their best. But my mentor said it can still take days, or even weeks before they’ll be able to fix the situation,” I speak up again, trying to prevent the boys from starting to argue with one another.

“It creeps me out,” Gabe murmurs beside me, making me look at him and nod. I totally understand where he’s coming from.

“I know. Me too,” I admit, both of us looking outside again, and I realize that this time, we truly have something to be concerned about. If they don’t crack this darkness apart, we might as well die of starvation. I don’t know how much food is stored in here, but for its delivery, we depend on the outside world. The human world.

The thought is so scary that I can barely eat. So much for turning a new page in my life. Well, it is a new page. It just looks a little different than I expected it would. And it doesn’t help that the exams are coming up next week.

Our future depends on how we’re going to do at these tests. And we’ll be forced to take them in this endless black hole, not even knowing if we’ll live long enough to go to college. Or if we find a way for all of us to survive without ever leaving the Seminary again, how do they expect us not to get depressed without ever seeing the sun again?

“Eat. Please. I can see something twisted going through that mind of yours. Don’t do that to yourself,” Marcus murmurs as I think about the situation outside. I look at him, unable to stay cool as that azure stares at me, making me feel like his eyes are boring through my head.

I let out a soft sigh, turning my gaze towards my breakfast. How do I eat, when I know my own mother trapped us here, willing to let us starve to death. Unless she has another plan in store. No. I’m not going to let my mind go there.

I feel Marcus’s hand travel from the top of my back, across my spine, until it stops on my right hip, resting there causally. “Seriously. Eat. It’s the exams week. You don’t think they’re going to cancel that, just because we’re trapped in, do you?” he wonders, a hint of amusement in his voice. Well, at least one of us thinks any part of this is funny.

“No,” I simply say, shoving a spoon into my mouth. I chew, not really wanting to swallow. But I need food to function. And I need it, if the warrior witches will let me help them figure out how to break apart this black membrane.

Yeah, I’m just an apprentice. But it’s my mother who did this. Maybe there’s something about this spell that I could figure out, just because I’ve started to discover how her sick mind functions.

Marcus sighs and pulls his arm back to himself, making me realize that I’m not being the best girlfriend right now. I swallow my breakfast, sending him an apologetic look. “I’m sorry … It’s all too much,” I explain, making him pull a corner of his mouth up after a moment of watching me.

He leans in, making me freeze. His closeness still makes my heart skip a beat. I didn’t get used to it just yet. And the smell of his intoxicating cologne, ugh. I’m officially a jelly bean.

“It’s alright. I have a few ideas about how to take your mind off things,” he murmurs into my ear in a deep voice, and I feel a familiar squeeze at the depths of my stomach. This is so not the time to be horny, Evelyn.

“Like what?” I ask impatiently, turning my head towards him the moment he pulls back. His face lights up with a devilish grin that I adore so much, and he winks at me in response.

“You’ll see,” he responds, squeezing my thigh on a dangerously high spot. As I look in front of me, I realize Tim caught our exchange. Or at least a part of it. Because he wiggles his eyebrows in a suggestive way, earning himself an almond in the forehead.

Marcus and I are the first to leave the table, and the rest of the boys don’t follow us. Which is quite surprising. We barely had a moment to ourselves since they decided to join our side again.

As we walk out of the cafeteria hand in hand, another group of warrior witches is coming from the corner. And as the last few pass us by, we come face to face with none other than my mentor.