Apprentices: First Quarter

Isn’t it funny, how life always seem to have a mind of its own? You run and fight, trying to make things go your way, but the universe can play with you like a cat plays with a mouse before eating it. Everything is like a game. Until it’s not anymore. At the beginning of the school year, my life was all about parties and being the center of attention. I enjoyed being loud and see everyone either roll their eyes at me or watch me with awe, because they would never dare to be like me. But after everything that happened, I’m a long shot away from that girl. It’s been two weeks since me and my friends helped catch a traitor amongst warrior witches, who turned out to be killing people and keeping their bodies. A traitor, who taught me how to fight and even started to become my friend. I can’t even think of what would happen, if we didn’t bust her when we did. Of course, I wouldn’t be able to keep her, if it wasn’t for Kir, my mentor, who’s teaching me how to wield blood magic, my dominant element. I kept France in place with a spell that no one else knew. And my friends have been trying to get the truth out of me since the days after the incident. I haven’t said a word. But I’m not far from the breaking point anymore. I’m sitting on the edge of the rooftop, letting my legs dangle freely as I watch a very interesting scene below me. There’s a group of our people leaving the building, and I recognize their uniforms immediately. Warrior witches. To be honest, I didn’t come here entirely for no reason. Or just because I wanted to watch the sunset. If it wasn’t for Kir’s little slip yesterday, I would’ve had no idea that something’s happening today. He taught me many new spells in the past two weeks, most of them scaring the s**t out of me. My problem with blood magic is that the aggressive spells are a little too invasive for my taste. It’s not like you don’t perform aggressive spells from other elements on people, but blood magic … I don’t know, it’s just a different feeling to mess with someone’s blood. Getting back to the point, my yesterday’s lesson with Kir was going as usually. At least until I started to ask about how the investigation’s going. I keep bugging him with it and he’s been incredibly patient with me. I would already strangle me if I were in his shoes. Well, I need to keep in touch with reality. I still don’t believe that my mother could have anything to do with this, but it doesn’t hurt to hear the latest news. He is after all one of the warrior witches’ commanders. He’s the first person to know everything. He was starting to get tired from my questions, so he told me that the warrior witches found an interesting lead that they’re going to check out the next day. So, long story short, he regretted letting that information slip, while I was doing my happy dance about it. And that’s why I’m sitting on the edge of the rooftop, staring at the group that is coming through the front door. Yeah, of course I intend on following them. I might be a little more careful about what I do lately, but I still want to be the first to know if someone finds my mother. I wait for them to disappear into the Elite Residence, where they keep their Hummers, then get on my feet, ready to lower myself to the ground with a spell. But before I can do that, I can feel someone grab me from behind and snatching me away from the edge. I let out a mellow squeal, pushing away whoever dared to scare me like this. I’ll kick their sorry ass the moment I see who it is. But the moment I see my ‘savior’s’ face, I stiffen, standing completely still for a moment. “Are you insane? What were you just trying to do?” Marcus asks me, his voice sounding shaken. I stare at him with my eyebrows raised, trying to think of a way to explain what I was doing. But no matter what I say, I know he’s not going to take me seriously. “I was just sitting there for f**k’s sake. What do you care?” I hear myself say, suddenly feeling annoyed with him. He’s ruining my one chance of going on the field with warrior witches. Maybe they found my mother, but I can’t tell him that. He might act dumb, but Marcus is a smart enough guy to figure out what I was trying to do. He slumps his shoulders, shaking his head at me in disbelief. “Seriously, this is your thanks? I thought you were about to jump off the roof! Or did you forget about what Sheila tried to do just a couple of weeks ago?” he raises his voice at me, which results in me narrowing my eyes at him. “Look, Sheila lost her mate. I’m doing completely fine, I didn’t lose anyone,” I assure him, more like grit the words through my teeth, but let’s leave the details alone. Marcus is fuming with anger. “Oh, of course not. You only caught a murderer with magic no one’s seen before and you’ve been obsessed with your mother’s involvement in the crime ever since you heard she’s a suspect,” he bursts out, making me roll my eyes at him. I cross my arms against my chest, like I’m trying to protect myself from my inner feelings and from Marcus’s scanning gaze, which is threatening to expose all of my best kept secrets. The dude’s a little too good at that. It’s creeping me out. “Like I said. I’m fine,” I repeat, making Marcus let out a long, frustrated breath. “Why did you even come up here? Were you spying on me?” I want to know, trying to change the subject. If I make him forget about why he’s worried about me, he might forget that he is. And he might even believe that I’m doing good. Who am I kidding? Even I don’t believe myself. He already opens his mouth to answer me, but in that moment, a strange sound cuts through the air. Like something’s opening a big door, which keeps squealing like it’s a hundred years old. I freeze as I realize what this means. In the next moment, the sound of engines roaring cuts through the air and I turn my head over my shoulder just in time to see three Hummers driving away. f**k. I missed my chance. I turn back to Marcus, not even bothering to try to hide the sheepish expression on my face. He shakes his head in disbelief, a knowing look crossing his face. “Just sitting there, huh?” he wonders in a sarcastic tone. I slump my shoulders in defeat, not even bothering to deny it. He busted me. Damn, and I thought I could slip out of the Seminary undetected. I should’ve known it wouldn’t go that well. “You do realize we’re punished, right? We can’t leave until the rest of the school year.” “Don’t remind me,” I mutter under my breath darkly, trying to calm myself down. He ruined my one chance of getting out in case the warrior witches found my mother. Now he’s even going to lecture me about it? “I’m not jumping off the roof and I’m not leaving the Seminary. There, happy now? Just tell me what you’re here for,” I then demand, making him sigh. “Everyone’s looking for you. We’re supposed to be at dinner by now. Unless you want to go to bed hungry,” he remarks. I stare at him for a few moments, then nod. Fair enough. “Yeah, I’m coming. Let’s go,” I simply say, already turning around and heading towards the door, which leads off the roof. But before I’m able to open it, Marcus grabs my wrist and makes me look at him. What is he doing? “Are you sure you’re alright?” he asks a bit more quietly, and with a tone that expresses much more worry than he usually lets on. I stare at him seriously for a long moment, then give him a slight nod. “Don’t worry about me. I’ve lived through worse,” I simply remark before slipping out of his grip. Jake doesn’t look very pleased as he sees us walking into the cafeteria together. Well, what was I supposed to do? Walk behind Marcus like a puppy? Or make him walk behind me like he’s my servant? It’s not like we did anything. But Jake’s face relaxes the moment I sit down next to him and lean my head on his shoulder. Oh, that’s right. Jake and I … We’re sort of together now. I mean, not officially. But we decided not to see other people anymore. Well, it’s not like we were doing that before. Anyhow, we’re taking a step forward. And we’re not ashamed of it. Even if we’re getting some looks lately. The moment I let myself relax, I feel all the stares on my back again. I’m once again being treated like a hero for helping the warrior witches catch a murderer. Unexpected, right? I know. But after what I witnessed in Cincinnati, I don’t even care about my social ranking in the school anymore. I mean, who could? I’m not sticking my head in the sand, I’ve seen what we’re dealing with outside our safe bubble. That soulthief still keeps me awake at nights. I sometimes wake up, having dreamt that I was killed by that monster. It’s not a pleasant feeling. Especially not when I’m alone in bed and the moment I open my eyes, there’s darkness all around me. Luckily for me, Marcus doesn’t tell anyone what I’ve been doing. Or at least what I was about to do, before he came up and caught me in a weird position. If only he came five minutes later. I could already be hiding in the trunk of a Hummer, driving to wherever the warrior witches were heading. My friends still want to know where I’ve been. Especially Katie, who seems the most worried. “Why were you sitting out there in the dark? It’s cold. And it’s Halloween!” she squeals, making me chuckle. She didn’t really just say that. “So? I’m a witch, I can’t be taken away by witches,” I joke, making her cross her arms against her chest. Right, oops. I’m making fun of her again. “Sorry, it was a joke,” I quickly mumble as I see the look on her face. She relaxes a little, but still looks tense. To explain the context a little, we supernaturals don’t really celebrate Halloween. I mean, yeah, we do make fun of our holiday, sometimes even dress up like the other races to provoke some fights, but otherwise, nothing special. But there are a few witches, sometimes even werewolves, who believe the Halloween is a sacred evening, when spirits walk the surface of Earth. To be honest, I find that story a little too good to be true. It’s a kids’ tale for me. However, Katie is quite the believer. She thinks that if you walk outside after sunset on this day, you could get kidnapped by a deceased soul. Pardon me, it’s your soul that could get kidnapped. Basically, this legend’s describing soulthieves, when the supernaturals couldn’t explain what those monsters were. “Are we still meeting later?” Jake asks me. But before I can answer, he already gets answers from everybody else. “Ooh, we’re having a party?” Gabe nudges his alpha excitedly. Jake opens his mouth but closes it as Dave continues with the contagious wave of excitement. “Dude, a Halloween party? You’re so awesome!” he tells him, leaning backwards, so he can bump Jake’s shoulder over Gabriel. I can’t help but smile at how wrong this came out. Jake looks at me like he’s calling for help, but I’m enjoying myself way too much. “Sounds great, doesn’t it?” I tease him, making his face fall. I chuckle. I’m sorry Jake, but this is too good. It’s not like I won’t be available later. To reassure him, I let my hand rest on his knee for a few moments. Then, I let it travel upwards, until I reach between his legs. I can feel him hardening in a matter of seconds, making me send him a wicked smile. The moment I move my hand away, I hear him let out a long breath. Satisfied with his reaction, I get up, heading towards the counter without saying another word. As I wait in line, I turn my head, meeting Jake’s heated gaze. Oh, hell. It’s going to be wild tonight. Especially since we’ll have to wait for our friends to have enough of partying. And for me to get back from Kir’s office. I finish my dinner quickly because it’s already late. Well, in one way, it’s a good thing I couldn’t go with the warrior witches. If I missed another lesson with Kir without letting him know I won’t be coming, he would probably kick my ass. Yeah, laugh all you want, but that old man is more than capable of it.