Chapter Fourteen

Reunion

LYDIA LYCHEE

We stood in the shadows under the trees. They air was filled with tiny fireflies. The silence held us. Our last night was spent in silence. We just sat there. No one wanted to mention what was about to happen. Aimee was the one who broke the silence.

“We have to go,” she whispered. Simon and Adam nodded. We stood up and brushed all the grass off our legs. I hung onto Liam. “I suppose I had better tell you what we have to do,” Aimee continued. All eyes were on her. Her eyes were distant and she was even more pale at night. “We will enter the school from the front and then cause a fire drill. This will get all of the school into the surrounding tunnels. We will then have the opportunity to get into the head teacher’s office and attempt to get onto the school’s database. They will have something on the book and possibly its whereabouts, it will also have information on what has happened in the past months and what is going to happen.”

“Liam will take Lydia, Katie will take Ellie, Tanya will take David, Henry will take Jessica, Aimee and Adam will run there and I will carry James,” Simon smiled at the last comment. I laughed as James shot him a warning glance. “We will meet at the entrance to the underground tunnel,” Simon continued. We couldn’t go straight to the school as it protected by a magical field that stops any magic leaving or entering it.

Liam’s arm wrapped his arm tightly around my waist. I held onto his neck. I felt the air lift us up and then drop us. I looked around us and saw that we were all there. James looked very funny, his face was a picture as Simon dropped him on the pavement. Aimee had already opened the manhole. We climbed down the ladder and I recognised the dimly lit passage from last year. I didn’t feel much different than I did last year. There was still a chance that someone would die. We walked down the tunnel. The puddles splashed around our feet. I kept turning into a mermaid because of it. Liam had to carry me in the end. We finally arrived at our destination. The school looked exactly the same as it had when we left it. There were still six separate dormitories and one large school building. It was eerie at night. The bars that once kept us safely in now seemed to trap the innocent children. Aimee walked up to the pad at the front gate.

“How do you know the password?” Katie asked. Aimee smiled.

“It is handy being a vampire you often see people typing things in, pin numbers, passwords, “OK, don’t forget the gate will only be open for a few minutes you have to run in, I will try to keep it open.” Her delicate fingers tapped an elaborate password into the pad. The door shot open. Simon grabbed Katie ran into the school grounds, he was followed by Adam, then Jessica, then Henry, then David, then Tanya, the Liam. I was last. I hesitated. As I tried to slip through the door closed on me crushing my shoulder. I heard the bones crack as the door tried to cut through me. I saw a small white hand grab the door and pull it back. I collapsed onto the cold concrete. Two sets of hands lifted me. The pain throbbed in my shoulder. My top was soaked with blood. I looked down at my arm. I could see the bone jutting out of my shoulder. There was a land straight line of blood where the door had crushed me.

“Adam, stay away,” said Aimee. Her small arms took my arm.

“Are you sure you can handle this amount of blood,” whispered a worried Liam. Aimee gave him a black look.

“Yes, now do something useful and hand me your shirt,” muttered Aimee. Her hands we cleaning my wound. She was using the water leaking from my hands. The white hands flashed quickly and soon the shirt was in shreds. “Now this will hurt a bit, but it will numb the pain,” she whispered. I saw her draw her lips back.

“You are not biting her!” whispered Liam. Aimee snarled at him and placed her teeth into my wound. The venom rushed through my veins. The shirt was soon wrapped around my shoulder. I was slowly slipping away.

“Liam you’ll have to carry her,” Aimee murmured. The pain was dying. Liam’s arms lifted me off the ground. “We have to keep going,” Aimee said. I let my eyelids close.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

KATIE BILLING

Lydia’s lifeless body was a shock to Liam. He could barely bring himself to lift her up. Her arm appeared to barely attached to her body anymore. The blood was still gushing out of it. Her hair was stained with blood. The golden locks hung off the floppy head. Her grey eyes closed.

“Katie can you set off the fire alarm from here?” asked Aimee. I nodded. My eyes were torn off Lydia, “The only way we can save her is by doing this,” she whispered. I looked at the button outside the fire starters dorm and I lifted the little hammer and smashed in against the glass. The bell was ringing loudly. I heard everyone wake up and start to leave their beds. Simons arms dragged me into the shadows. I watched as the students left their dormitories and walked out of the cage. They didn’t even notice the blood stained gate.

We remained in the shadows as we slowly made our way to the main building. I watched the familiar walls disappear behind me. The posters with the rules slipped away. I saw our history room. It felt like that was a different lifetime, I was a different person. We arrived at the head teacher’s office. It had been easier than I thought. The door flew open. I looked at the room that I feared. I had hated coming here. Aimee was at the computer before any of us had the chance. Her fingers started to type. She hacked into the files with ease.

“Wow, they are very clever,” she whispered, “The book is under the school.” She smiled and stood up. The chair flew back. “Let’s go.” She approached the door.

“You didn’t think it would be that easy did you?” laughed a voice. A figure stepped into the light, it was Alvin Matthews, he was a were-wolf that was once part of class, he and Aimee hated each other.

“Get out of my way,” spat Aimee. Alvin smiled and shook his head. If you didn’t know Aimee you would have probably thought that Aimee would be crushed in a fight with Alvin, but knowing Aimee you’re not quite so sure.

“Aimee, you made me do this,” he laughed. Alvin’s body was sent flying back into the hallway. Aimee walked out of the door. She grabbed his body. She hurled him against the wall. The blood trickled down his face.

“No Alvin, you made me do that,” she snarled. He small foot kicked his stomach. She turned back. “Hurry up, more must be coming,” she whispered. We ran out of the room and down the hallway. Sure enough stood in front of us were two more were-wolves one of which was Alvin’s sister Hattie. Aimee sighed. She shot at Hattie and stunned her before the other had even noticed. The other was large and he growled at Aimee. She laughed and stunned him too.

“I’m so glad that I never got on the wrong side of you Aimee,” I whispered. Aimee looked at me, her eyes were dark and she was positively terrifying. She kicked the two stunned bodies out of her way. She guided us out of the main building. The lights were on and we were in clear view of everyone. I heard the screams erupt as each student and teacher saw us and as they realised who we were.

“Let me carry her Liam,” said Simon. I saw Liam carefully hand Lydia over to him. Liam’s hands were covered in blood, it dripped onto the grass. Adam was too close to him. There was nothing they could do. Aimee saw it too. She pounced on him. His body hit the cage, on his neck was the clear sign of two teeth marks. His eyes were close and Aimee urged us on. She walked up to the part of the cage closest to the vampires. She placed her lips against the bars. The group of young vampires huddled together their eyes were shining in fear.

“Which one of you has seen what happens next?” she growled. The little children shook. One of them walked forward. His hair was bright red and his eyes were large.

“I did,” he whispered. The teacher almost went to restrain him and then decided not to.

“Where is it?” Aimee smiled. The little boy walked closer to the bars and whispered something to Aimee. Her smile dropped and she walked back. “All he saw was that it was in the main building.” We walked back to the building. I didn’t understand why no one had tried to stop us. We walked down the same corridors. “Something about what he said doesn’t make sense,” she whispered, it was clearly thoughts aloud, “You have an interesting history.” She dawdled along the corridor. A large body shot out from around the corner. The body was sent back in the same direction. As we turned the corner we saw a large group of people blocking our way. They were not all from the same group. I watched as a fire ball came inches away from hitting Ellie. Tanya threw a fire ball back, but they weren’t as lucky. Aimee ran forward, attack anything within reach of her tiny hands. I saw more and more people from our group get involved. I was dragged into the fight. Fire balls flew in all directions. A root came and grabbed my leg. I collapsed onto the floor. It was soon removed by Jessica. Aimee stopped and gasped her small body still fought off everything close. She ran into our history room. I followed. Not many noticed where we went. She ripped the white board away and behind it was a large book. It was the Elliptical book. Aimee took it out. The door slammed. I saw that everyone had gathered in the room. Simon was still holding Lydia.

“They are all unconscious but more are sure to come,” whispered a breathless Henry. Aimee nodded and placed the book on the table.

“Here it is,” she whispered, the cover was brown and so were the pages, “Right well use all of your powers then,” she continued, signalling at the book.

“We only have one water being,” said Liam, his eyes glanced at Lydia. Aimee nodded.

“David,” she answered, turning to face David, “Do you know how to channel your sister’s power?” David smiled and nodded. “Right then let’s do this.” She placed her teeth into the marks in the book, Simon did the same. David used his and Lydia’s power on the book, Tanya and Henry burned it, Jessica and James ‘grew’ stuff on it and Liam and I blew on it. The book glowed and opened. Aimee rushed to it and started to flick through the pages. Her eyes frantically scanned each page.

The door bashed against the wall. More people entered the room. The fighting began once again. Aimee grabbed the book. She protected it from any attackers. I went to go and help her when I felt something slam against me body. I heard my head crack against the wooden desk I had once sat behind. The cool blood trickled down my face. My eyes wouldn’t close. Aimee’s eyes were terrified. I felt Simon’s hands holding me. He was trying to save me, but it was too late.

“Run Aimee!” I screamed, “Save us all!” I gasped for air. I saw Tanya, Henry, Jessica, David, Ellie and Simon fall. They were all dying. The pain shot through me. Aimee watched me. I saw her grab Liam and run. Then I let the pain take over. Then I died.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

AIMEE STANDER

Katie’s eyes were blank. I saw her take her final breath. Just one week ago we were still in New York, she was still alive. Only Liam and I were left. I was trying to run at the same speed as Liam. He was too slow, if we kept this speed up we would be dead within a few minutes. I turned to look back at him. His eyes were raw with tears. I needed him to save them.

“Liam, I need to carry you,” I said breathlessly. Liam shook his head. He still had tears rolling down his cheeks.

“No,” he whispered, “I can’t, we can’t,” he looked at me helplessly, “I won’t.” I took him and locked him in my arms. He squirmed, but I was too strong. I ran out of the building. I heard the gasp as the students saw us. I hadn’t realised how bad we looked. I heard another gasp as they realised that we were the only two left.

I ran into the vampire dorm. I went into my old room. Nothing had changed it was still my room, they hadn’t put anyone new in it. I locked the door. I placed Liam on the bed. I sat next to him and held the open book on my lap. I gazed into the mirror. My hair was a mess and pieces of my skin were missing. I glanced at Liam. Blood was oozing out of his wounds. I flicked to the spell. I screamed in fury. We needed one of each element to say the spell. We only had me and Liam. I almost threw the book on the floor. I kept flicking through the pages. I found the spell that I had used one too many times.

“Liam come on we have to read the spell,” I yelled. I placed the book in front of him. His eyes turned to me. They were like stone.

“No, Aimee this was the last time,” he whispered, “I am not watching them die again,” his voice was harsh, “I can’t.”

“So you’re just going to give up. You were the one in the field! You said you would do it a thousand times!” I screeched, “We were so close, we almost saved them.”

“No we didn’t Aimee,” he muttered, “How can you be willing to watch them die again? We have already gone back five times, I can’t . . . no I won’t, watch the people I love die.”

“They live longer each time, each time almost winning the battle,” I cried. He glared at me.

“Yes, but wasn’t it you who said that maybe this was the way it was supposed to be? We can’t stop fate Aimee,” he yelled, “I have had enough, you have forced me to watch them die over and over, I won’t do it anymore,” he scowled, “I’m going to hand myself in and stop history repeating itself again. I will work hard with the magic council to stop any other students falling for the same trap as we did.”

“So, you think that falling in love with Lydia was wrong,” I questioned. His eyes fell to the ground. He had clearly been thinking about this for a long time.

“Yes,” I breathed. My gasp filled the hollow silence that followed the statement. His cold eyes watched me, “I think that if I hadn’t tried to make it work she would still be alive and if your filthy brother . . .”

“Don’t you dare accuse my brother of anything, it is hardly his fault that he and Katie were meant for each other,” I spat, “That was fate, Liam. If any of this was it was that. You can’t stop fate remember?” The silence held the air. I could hear the door hammering. The wind was expressing Liam’s discomfort. “You really aren’t going to go back again are you?” I whispered in disbelief. Liam shook his head. “Well I guess this is where we part,” I continued.

“Aimee,” Liam began, “Come with me, help me save the future.” I shook my head.

“You’re not saving it. You’re killing it. I don’t care what happens to you, but I will keep fighting until they have been avenged, and they have survived,” I whispered. Liam shook his head. A cruel smile invaded his lips.

“Then I’m afraid I will have to kill you Aimee,” he smirked, a chill slipped through me as each frozen word escaped his lips. He raised his hand and the bolt on the door was undone. Five large bodies collapsed into the room. My eyes widened in alarm. I had no time to think I just had to run.

My nimble body launched at the book. I bounded out of the window. I felt one of the figures swipe for me as I flashed out of the room. I landed on the cool grass. I saw Adam’s limp body leaning against the barrier. I sped over to him. It was only then when I realised I had given him an overdose, it was too late, he was dead.

I thought quickly about my options. I could either fight and die or run and die. The small eyes of the young air bournes were staring at me in shock. I turned to face them. Surely the figures wouldn’t kill me in front of such innocence. I turned to face the young faces. The cold venom was still dripping down my face, I hadn’t realised how deep my head wound was. The fear in their eyes grew as they counted each of my cuts. They didn’t have a teacher near them. This was my only chance. I grabbed Adam’s phone from his pocket.

My legs had a life of their own. I scrambled over to the air bourne dormitory. My body pounded against the large wooden door. I crashed into the abandoned corridor. The walls disappeared behind me. I saw Katie’s door open. Her room was untouched. It was perfect, just like she had been. I tore open her mattress, the springs snapping at the sheer force of my arms. The book fitted snugly among them. I remade her bed and rushed out of the room. The other rooms slipped out of my vision. I reached room 10C. The door wasn’t locked. It was a pale shade of lavender. The window was pushed open. I walked over to the bed. Between the sheets and mattress I slipped Adam’s phone. I just hoped this person was on our side.

My heart pounded as I heard the group emerge from the vampire dorm. I tiptoed back to Katie’s room and looked at it one last time. The room would most probably be searched, hopefully they wouldn’t look insidethe mattress. Then I realised that our future saviour would most probably need a little help figuring out what they had to do. My arm was placed against my teeth and I tore a hole out of my skin. The venom poured out of my wound. I placed my index finger in the clear liquid and then started to write my message on the wall (I didn’t have a pen or blood).

Just as expected the two mixtures fizzed and sparked on contact. Left engraved on the wall was my clear message. Hopefully this would be enough. A vision flashed in front of my eyes and I saw was what to come. My message still stood a speech to rally the students, a sign of hope, of a future to come and most importantly a warning.

‘At 10 o’clock their lives were taken and at 10 o’clock they will be reborn. If you care for the future you will help me. If not, then this is where I will have to kill. I cannot promise that you will live past the fight to come, but I can promise that fate will choose who wins, and hopefully fate is me. This is fate Liam, you know as well as I.

10 is a special number and toyed with it can produce many things. The tenth generation of each species. The tenth time of fighting. Either way it is powerful. Three is also a magic number, therefore C is a magic letter as it is third in the alphabet.

Leaving this as my last warning is something I must do. Beware, we will fight and will be prepared for what you do. Go forth in 10C. Sleep well, for there are no springs attached. I guess now there is only one thing left to say’

I had written too much and I knew it. The feet were pounding up the corridor. I quickly wrote my final statement, leaving it to fizz as I fled out the window. I arrived at the pad almost too quickly. My fingers flew from button to button. My last look at Adam brought tears into my eyes. They burned my face. I glanced at the young air bournes that were in awe of me. My index finger placed on my lips draw their eyes down and I sped down the dark tunnel.

My thoughts were still with my final statement. Had I phrased it right? I believe so. The darkness evaporated behind me. I knew what was to come. I only had one thing left to say:

‘Let the battle commence’