Forbidden (The Secret World Of Atlantis 2)

Chapter 5 - More Important Things To Do

As I sit there in despair, hugging my knees and sobbing like mad, I hear the door opening suddenly. Oh no, don’t tell me, that Daniel somehow found away to get inside. But as I crawl back in panic, I am suddenly met with the worried faces of Elena, Korinna and Patty. They gape at me for a split second, before rushing to my side.

“Oh Gods, Arya, what happened?” Patty asks, but I can’t bring myself to answer her question. I sob even more loudly and let myself be pulled into a comforting hug by her. I can notice Elena and Korinna exchange a look through the fog of tears in my eyes. But they don’t question me any further.

Instead, they supply me with towels, so I can wipe my face. Elena even conjures a glass and pours some water into it, then offers it to me. I drink up only after the sobs aren’t so frequent anymore. But as I get asked, what is wrong once again, my lower lip trembles and I start to cry. The girls are shocked, as they see that I’m still unable to calm down.

“Arya, we can’t help you, if you’re only going to cry. Was it Daniel? Did he hurt you?” Elena asks, making me freeze in horror for a moment, before I erupt into another session of sobs. “I knew we should’ve come up right after we’ve seen him go after you,” she grits through her teeth.

“You need to get this out. Just tell us, so we can hunt the bastard down and make sure he gets, what he deserves,” Korinna continues where Elena finished. I dig my nails into the skin of my forearm. They’re right. There’s no use keeping this inside, because it isn’t doing me any good. It only made me freeze up every time, that Daniel appeared in front of me. I close my eyes and take a deep breath. I need to focus really hard, to make them understand half of what I’m saying, since I’m still sobbing.

“H-He kissed me,” I stutter, burying my face into my hands in shame. There’s a sickening silence in the bathroom, my sobs being the only thing, that breaks it every few seconds.

“He did what?!” Elena bursts out suddenly, her voice so furious, that it makes me flinch. “I’m sorry for startling you, but I just can’t believe this! The scumbag went after you at your most vulnerable!” she continues raging.

“This isn’t the first time, that he tried,” I blurt out, before even thinking, what I’m saying. My friends all gape at me in shock. None of them seem able to respond to the bomb, I just dropped.

“Please tell me, you’re kidding,” Korinna speaks up. Another sob comes out of me, as I shake my head. I can see Elena’s body tensing at my confirmation.

“I-I wish I was,” I tell them quietly. We all jump in surprise, as Elena jams her fist into the wall. As she shakes her hand, a few drops of blood touch the floor. “Don’t, please, he’s not worth it,” I beg her, taking her hurt hand in mine, but she pulls it back and heals it herself. The girls both stare at her with their mouth hanging open.

“How are you able to do that?” Patty asks, gaping at her now healed hand in shock. Elena just shrugs.

“Guardian summer camp,” she answers in a tone, that tells us, she doesn’t want to answer any more questions. This was reckless. She’s going to give herself away about being my Guardian. Her eyes then shoot at me. “Has Daniel ever kissed you before?” she continues questioning me. I take a deep breath. I think it’s time to tell them the whole story.

“He hasn’t … But he tried to many times … The first time was the morning after the betrothal. He grabbed me and I had nowhere to run and no way of getting away from him … So I broke his nose,” I begin. Korinna’s face pulls up in a satisfied smirk. “But he healed it, as I screamed for help and the Guardians didn’t believe me, that I managed to do that to him. On the other hand … My father did believe me … But he scolded me for hurting him,” I explain, my jaw tightening as I remember the moment.

“I can’t believe this,” Elena grunts, interrupting me for a moment. “So sorry, continue, please,” she urges me as I don’t continue.

“Then at the ship … When we were travelling back to the Academy after New Year … He grabbed me that time, that I was going to the bathroom from our cabin … His friend Gabriel came to the hallway and I was able to slip away. I’m so sorry I lied to you about it at the time, but I couldn’t bring myself to talk about it … I’m still not comfortable with it, but I don’t want to keep it in, either,” I admit, fearing that the girls are going to resent me for keeping this from them. But all I see in their eyes, is pity.

“Oh Arya … You know we would never judge you … And maybe we would be better at keeping an eye on you, if we knew, that he was after you,” Korinna says softly, shaking her head in disbelief. I let out a heavy sigh.

“None of this is your fault … I was always lucky to get away from him … He also went after me, when I was called to the Headmistress’s office about keeping me safe from my father … Luckily Eros was there with me, so Daniel couldn’t even touch me … He’s left me alone after that, because the Headmistress threatened to expel us all, if there was another incident. But then he found me alone, as I was walking from the Animal Fence and told me how much he cared for me … Elena came to my rescue then … And today …” I can’t even bring myself to finish the sentence. My best friend wraps me into a tight hug, while the other two girls are watching me with compassionate gazes. Korinna’s face hardens suddenly.

“You need to go to the Headmistress about this,” she decides instead of me, but I shake my head determinedly. Elena moves away from me and looks at me, like I’ve gone mad.

“Are you crazy? You can’t let the bastard get away with this!” she states in horror. But I shake my head once again.

“I’m not going to the Headmistress. She’s made herself very clear this morning, when I refused to tell her about what happened between me and Eros. I’m not welcome to come knocking at her door, unless I’m willing to show him in a bad light,” I confess. Patty gasps, while Elena and Korinna just stare at me in horror. “It’s not like telling her would help terminate my betrothal. If anything, my father would only be ecstatic at the news,” I remark bitterly.

“But you can’t just let him get away with this! This is an assault!” Elena argues, still visibly shocked from my decision. I shake my head once again, finally able to breath normally as the sobs have stopped.

“I have more important things to deal with at the moment,” I remark, hinting at Eros, but none of the girls seem to get, what I’m trying to tell them. Korinna massages her temples, looking stressed.

“What could possibly be more important, than putting Daniel in his right place? He needs to realize, that the Gods are going to punish him too!” she states angrily.

“Exactly. I trust the Gods are going to do their job more than well enough,” I respond calmly. My friends all stare at me, like I’ve lost it, but none of them presses onto me further. They know I won’t listen, once I’ve made up my mind. “Let’s go now, we’re going to be late for class,” I tell them, picking myself off the ground already. They all share confused looks.

“We don’t have any classes today. It’s Sunday,” Elena reminds me, her worried gaze watching me closely, as I flush my face. “Are you sure you’re okay?” she asks after standing up and placing a hand on my shoulder. I look at her in the mirror, then take a glance at my own reflection.

“Of course,” I lie.

None of them mention the incident with Daniel for the rest of the day and I’m really grateful for that. They don’t even tell the boys, what happened. I asked them not to, as I didn’t want them to go beat him up. It’s not like I care what happens to Daniel, but I don’t want my friends to get expelled because of him.

I do however try my best to avoid him all Sunday and even Monday. I am incredibly relieved, as I’m packing a small bag with clothes. Now I won’t have to deal with seeing his face for a whole week. What a luxury.

I swing the bag over my shoulder and peek through the window before I head out. The less people see me, the better. At least one good thing came out of no one wanting anything to do with me, now that I’ve become a vampire w***e, as they like to call me. I wonder if they’ll still be so brave, when I bring Eros back.

I carefully slip out, locking the door behind me and placing the key in the flower trough on the window. If I’m leaving the island on my own, I might as well try to obey at least some rules. It’s not like I’ll be needing the key to my house, where I’m heading.

I don’t take the main path down to the beach. I walk right next to the fence, where there’s no windows on houses, so no one can spot me. It’s a bit more open as I need to cross the beach itself, but I arrive at my destination soon enough. The small ship, that is used for delivering mail to students is still anchored at the Port, waiting to receive the last letters.

There are five sailors, that take care for the ship, with a cloud of pixies, hovering over them. I furrow my eyebrows in confusion. Do they fly the whole way? I doubt that, no one can move for so long. This means, that I have to wait for the pixies to retrieve. It’s going to be easier to sneak onto the ship with only five pairs of eyes to distract.

I wait, hidden behind a tree for quite a long time, before one of the sailors yells out, that it’s time. This is my cue. As soon as I see the last pixies disappearing into the ship, I bring my air magic forward. The sailors are all aboard and just as they mean to pull the ladder up, I conjure a strong wind, that makes the ship sway heavily. I don’t need to watch them, to realize, they all fell over. I bolt out of my hiding place and begin to climb up the ladder.

As I peek onto the deck, they’re all picking themselves up already. Crap. I need to think of something quickly. I think hard, then pick the first idea, that comes to my mind. This time I take my water magic and rise a ridiculously enormous amount of the ocean in front of the ship. The sailors are all so stunned, that I’m able to climb across the railing and sneak below deck effortlessly. That’s when I finally let go, exhausted from the range of power, that I had to use. I can hear a few annoyed grunts, as the water splashes them.

“Let’s go, I’m not going to let some kids make fun of me!” I can hear one of the sailors complain from above. I don’t wait around to listen to their ranting. I need to find a hiding place and fast.

The luck seems to be on my side, as I find a flap, that leads to an empty space even deeper down in the ship. Wonderful. Now all I have to do is try not to make a sound, until we reach Dairelis. Then the hard part begins. Figuring out a way to save Eros. But I know I’m going to find him there. I can feel it in my gut. I just hope I’m not too late.