Witchling (Chronicles of Witchood) (7 page)

Chapter 7

Monday eventually arrived and the water drenched sky poured with rain. The mad dash from the parking lot and into the door half soaked my clothes and those around me were no better off. I went to my locker to unload my books and found that Lydia had decided that it was time for her to return to school. She wore a turtleneck to hide her almost healed wounds and her hair was down to cover the marks that ran at the base of her face. Karen stood with her as they chatted away about something.

I walked over to them while my eyes darted around searching for the surprise that Ethan spoke about. I already knew that Lydia was coming back today,
but I was sure that wasn’t he talked about.

“Hey,” I said to them.

“Hey,” said Lydia. She noticed my jitteriness as I shoved my hands into my jacket’s pockets. They had turn cold with nervousness. I didn’t know what Ethan meant by surprise. Was it going to be another murder? Or was he going to turn up Angels Fall High? It would have been nice if I was given some sort of clue.

“The
Winter Dance tickets are on sale,” piqued Karen. In her cherry state, she didn’t notice anything different. “Should I go and get them?”

“Sure,” I said. Karen always loved to go to dances and parties and I couldn’t im
agine her life without them.

“We haven’t got our dresses yet,” said Lydia.

“But we will, eventually, this weekend, as Amy promised not to bail out on us. So no excuses are allowed and all homework must be completed. Come on.”

Karen hooked her right arm around Lydia’s and her left arm around mine. We walked together down the crowded corridor towards the front office where the tickets were sold by one of the seniors. As we walked, I thought I caught sight of Ethan in the crowd, his dark blonde head stood out like a beacon for attention as much as his handsome face. But when I turned my head, he had disappeared.

“Hey, I need to go to the ladies room. I’ll catch up with you guys later.”

I tore away from Karen’s hold and before she had time to say
anything, I was out of her reach. I slipped into the crowd and pushed through them, searching for Ethan. I was certain I saw him. He’s not one to be mistaken so easily. What was he doing here at school? Perhaps he was going to tell me what he is, or better, what was going on.

But Ethan was no
where to be found and soon, the bell rang and I was forced to go to class. I found Karen and Lydia seated in Mr Grimm’s history lesson and I went and joined them at my usual seat. Mr Grimms started the day by writing out the date of the Civil War but his lesson was interrupted when the door opened and it froze my world.

Aiden stepped in looking like a young god. My heart quickened at the sight of him as surprise and wonderment exuded from my soul.
Aiden wore his usual leather jacket and dark jeans, his dark hair tussled to complement his impossibly wonderful face. Unlike Ethan, Aiden held a calm expression, his emotions guarded and thoughts hidden, which added to his charm. Even from across the room, I could feel his old world allure and despite his up to date clothes, I sensed that he was much older than he appeared. The class seemed to also hold their breath upon his entrance.

Aiden handed Mr Grimms a piece of paper.

“A transfer? Very well, welcome to the class, Mr Aiden Winters. Take a seat.”

Even the boys were in awe by Aiden’s good looks and I saw them follow him with their eyes. Aiden sat down and Mr
Grimms continued with his lesson. I wanted to talk to him, but he was on the other side of the room, his face adverted from mine, as if he wanted to avoid looking at me. And yet, there he was, seated in my history class, by the window and allowing the light to contour his face in such a way that made me want to swoon. I caught my thoughts and felt embarrassed by them. So this is what Ethan meant when he said surprise. More questions sprouted up in my head like unkillable weeds. What is Aiden doing here? Why is he in my class? He could have picked any other year level, could have passed off as a senior if he wanted to, but he didn’t. Instead, he took the part of a freshman and even looked younger than I remembered him to be, it was as if he used magic to help him play the part.

Then another thought came into my mind.
Is Ethan here to? Was it really him that I caught a glimpse of in the hallway? Is he in different class? Whatever the answers to these questions maybe, I knew that things were about to get serious now that Aiden has finally revealed him to the world.

When class was over, I wanted to go and talk to him, but Karen and Lydia took up my arms.

“He’s hot,” she whispered in my ear while her head turned in his direction.

“He’s the one,” I told her. “You know, the one I’ve been telling you about.”

“Your dream?” Lydia said with raised eyebrows. “Come on, I thought you said he was blonde.”

“No, that’s his brother.”

“Don’t be silly, Amy,” said Karen, “Mr Hotness? No way.”

Aiden walked passed us without a word to me. He didn’t even spare me a glance or any sort of indication that he knew me. I frowned, annoyed by his actions. I tore myself away from Karen and chased after him. If he was here to give answers, then I will have my answers.

But Aiden didn’t loiter about. He went straight to him next class, which also happened to be the same one as mine.

Aiden had already sat down and made sure to surround himself with filled seats. I was forced to sit on the
other side of the room. He avoided me for the rest of the day, and yet, I felt that he always stayed close by. His actions annoyed and baffled me as I could not understand his true intentions are.

It did not take long for the school to notice the new transfer and Aiden was immediately elevated to star status. The girls pined for him while the guys wanted to be his friend. Aiden was a people magnet and although he kept to himself, he did not attempt to push people away. They buzzed around him like a shield, asking him questions about where he’s from and where he lived. Although he managed to keep private about those matters, I sensed that there was something else at play.

By the end of the day, I felt exhausted in my attempts to talk to him. It was clear enough that he didn’t want to talk to me. Karen and Lydia was no use. They have already made up their minds that I was madly in love with him to make up stories of our previous encounters. I didn’t know what came over my friends. Then I remembered what Ethan had told me about wiping their memories and I wondered if he somehow also changed them in the process. Karen and Lydia seemed different, although I couldn’t quite place my finger on it.

“I’m telling you,” I said to my two best friends, “I swear that I’m not making it up. He’s not normal.”

“Of course he’s not,” said Karen, “I mean look at him, with a face and body like that, and Mr Hotness is definitely a vampire.”

“Stop calling him that,” I chided. “And he’s not a vampire.”

“How can you be sure?” said Lydia with a mischievous grin on her face. It was good to see her smile again, despite it coming out at my expense. “You keep telling us about his super speed and super strength and I mean, look at him, he’s got the charm of a prince.”

“He’s hardly a prince, Lydia,” I said.
“And vampires are blood sucking monsters. They’re not prince charming.”

“Look, here comes Rick. He’ll drop you off,” said Karen as her brother moved the car to pick them up from under the oak tree that kept us dry.

We dashed to his car and in the front seat sat Flora. She looked
radiant as ever, her gold hair shone like daylight in the morbid, cloud covered day. Karen, Lydia and I  took our usual spot in the back seat. Flora turned around to face us.

“Did you see that new freshman?” she asked. From the expression on her face and enthusiasm of her voice, I suspected that Aiden’s power extended to all the girls in the school. “The one called Aiden, what’s his name?”

“Winters,” Karen answered without hesitation.

“Oh no,” I groaned, “not you too.”

“Looks like the new boy’s got the entire school talking,” said Rick.

“He’s in all of Amy’s classes,” Lydia reported.

“Lucky you,” said Flora. Rick cleared his throat. She sat back in her seat and reached out to touch her boyfriend’s face. “Oh, don’t worry. You don’t have any competition. Besides, he’s a freshman, way out of my league.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” said Rick with a false offended expression.

Lydia and Karen giggled. I was not amused as I should be. Aiden Winters had taken the school by storm and he had done everything in his power to avoid me. It wasn’t fair but then remembered that Ethan hadn’t said anything about answers. I could feel my phone pressed against my leg in my pocket and I wanted very much to call the elder Winters brother, but not in a carful of people. Even though Karen and Lydia had full knowledge of my dream and Ethan’s supposed existence, Rick was driving the car and Flora seated in the front seat next to him.

No, I decided, I would call Ethan later, but after I’ve checked out a book on vampires. Although it was only meant to be a joke, Karen and Lydia had brought up the theory again and perhaps Ethan had something to do with it. He did wipe their memories about Saturday and it seemed that he also did the same to Rick and my parents. As for Luke, I wouldn’
t know. Perhaps he was spared, considering that Luke spent most of his time in his room with his ears clad in headphones. He wouldn’t have seen or heard a thing.

“Hey, Rick, can you drop me off at the library instead?” I asked.

“Yeah, sure. But how are you going home?” Rick peered out of his windscreen, his eyes up towards the sky. It didn’t look like the rain was going to ease up any time soon.

“I’ll get dad to pick me up. I know he gets off early today.”

“Alright,” said Rick and indicated left instead of right at the intersection.

The library was almost empty, except for the librarian, who sat behind her desk reading a newspaper. Rick dropped me off in front of the entrance and drove off with my best friends and his girlfriend still in the car. I rushed inside to avoid getting splattered by the rain.

The lights were on, except for the back section where the janitor hadn’t gotten around to changing the bulbs. I walked amongst the shelves and books and could almost hear the words printed on the pages whisper to me. I found myself walking back to the blank book I found yesterday but did not feel compelled to open its covers. I stood in front of the small volume and starred at it, uncertain what to do. I shook my head and thought myself as silly. I was here for a book about vampires, not this book where all the pages have faded with time. And yet, as I tried to walk away, I felt as if it would not let me.

A shadow moved behind
the shelves and when I turned around, I saw a glimpse of Aiden. He moved to remain hidden, as if he had accidentally bumped into me at the library but didn’t want me to know. I turned back to the empty book and held my breath. Perhaps it was some sort of destiny that I should come back to this book, perhaps the book was meant to be taken away by me. I didn’t where the thoughts came from and the sudden jump from Aiden to the empty book felt strange. I took it from the shelves and shoved it in my school bag. It was an act of theft that I was willing to take. Besides, it had no barcode to stop me. In fact, the book looked like it didn’t belong in the library at all, as if it had been left there to hide it from someone.

I could sense Aiden’s presence a few shelves away. He was much quicker
than I am and it was clear that he didn’t want to talk. Chasing after Aiden was hopeless. He wouldn’t let me catch him unless he wanted to. After fifteen minutes of the cat-mouse game, I gave up.

“Fine,” I whispered. I knew that he could hear me. “If you don’t want to talk, don’t stalk me.”

I left the library and as I did, I felt Aiden following me. In the car park, I spotted his car. The black mustang seemed to wait and I could see that it was unlocked, perhaps on purpose. I inhaled deeply and wondered what, exactly, did he want from me.

“I’ll take you home,” said Aiden. The sound of his voice so close to my ear made me jump. He appeared out of nowhere and stood behind me. I spun around to face him and saw that he didn’t avoid my eyes.

“Just like that?” I said, “And you’re not going to leave me stranded in the middle of nowhere again?”

“I apologise again for my actions and I did not mean to bring you injury. How are your feet?”

“I could have died,” I hissed. “I could have gotten kidnapped and no one would have known. You left me and then you knocked me out. And there is the matter of your brother messing with my family and friends’ memories. He promised me answers, are you going to give them to me?”

Aiden did not let his stoic expression slip. “From what I’m informed, I don’t think he went that far.”

I stared at him. “What are you?”

“It best that you don’t know.”

“Why?”

“Because knowledge of my existence already endangers you.”

“What about the rest of the school?”

“They do not know what I am.”

“Well, neither do I. Unless…” I paused and continued to stare at him.