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“It’s harder than I thought.”

“It’s easier with your sand. Again.”

The second arrow went a bit further, and we practiced shooting arrows until my shoulders and arms ached.

The arrow didn’t hit the target board once, which was a bummer.

“The stronger your core gets, the easier you will handle your bow and I promise you will hit the target board, Chas.”

“Okay.” I sighed as I put the arrows back inside the chest. “Can I ask you something?”

“Shoot.”

“Do you think my weapons in Revera might be as effective as the bat in the Virtual Realm?”

“I have no idea, Chas. But for some reason you trust a real weapon more than your sand. You should really learn to trust your sand, Chas. It’s your only weapon in Revera.”

.

AT LUNCH I MET NAT BACK HOME WHERE A COOKED meal was waiting for us.

When we entered the front door, Margot pushed me hard against the wall.

“Where is it?” she spat.

“Where’s what, you crazy loon? Let me go!” I tried to push her hands away from me but she was really strong.

“Fight, fight.” Mila and her gang egged Margot on to hit me.

“I know you took it, Chastity. Where is it?”

“Where’s what? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Oh, don’t play dumb with me you little thief. Since the first day I met you, you’ve been staring at it as if it was some sort of drug. Why do you want it Chas, what are you hiding?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Let go of me!”

“Enough!” Fox’s voice filled the room. “For goodness’ sake, what is going on in here?”

Margot finally let go of me.

“She took it. I know she did.”

“Chas?” Fox looked at me.

“I have no idea what she is talking about.”

“My crystal!” Margot yelled. “The one that can tell me when a Shadow Caster is near.”

EVERYONE GASPED. I JUST STARED AT HER. SO SHE
did know what I was.

I looked at Fox. No, she didn’t.

Fox said that it was a stupid pendant Margot believed that had the ability to show her if a Shadow Caster was near or not.

My nostrils flared as I stared at Margot.

“Chastity?” Fox spoke.

“I never took the stupid thing. I don’t even know what it looks like.”

Margot started to laugh. “It’s been around my neck ever since you met me, now it isn’t.”

“Your necklace?” I gave a sarcastic laugh. “This is serious bullshit.” I looked back at Fox. “I’m no thief. I never took it I swear.”

“Okay, I believe you.”

“Are you shitting me?” Margot yelled.

“Margot! Your language,” Fox yelled, but took a deep breath. “Do you have proof that she took it?”

“No, but I know she’s hiding something.”

“That’s not enough. If you don’t have real proof that she took it, this case is closed.”

“Un-freak’n-believable!” Margot yelled and ran up the stairs.

Everyone just stared at me. They’d heard what her pendant could do and I saw it on all their judgmental faces.

“Everyone is free to leave. This doesn’t concern any of you,” Fox said and all of them disappeared.

I didn’t eat any lunch and went straight to my room.

Shades was lying on his basket that Selene had dropped off a few hours ago to make him more comfortable.

“Chastity?” the cat said.

“Not now, okay.”

“What happened, you look as if you are about to kill someone.”

“I am: Margot.” I told him the story of how she’d accused me of taking her stupid pendant. Shades just stared at me with his flat face and I swore if a cat could roll his eyes, Shades just did. “You want me to sniff around?”

“No, please, you’ll just get me into more shit if you go sniffing around.”

“Whatever,” he said and went back to lying in his basket.

I knew he meant well, but it wasn’t a good idea, trying to find who took her stupid pendant.

My first Tula class, with a Mrs. Mios was right after lunch.

I entered her classroom which looked like any other classroom, except every student had their Anitule with them, everyone stared at me again. Tulas and their Anitules. I didn’t have to read other animal minds to know what it was they were thinking, it was evident on their faces.

Hell, news travels fast.

“Good day, Chastity,” a short, rather big, woman with curly dark hair said. “Please take a seat.” She showed to the very first table that was vacant.

I felt like the only idiot without her Anitule. She introduced her Anitule, a lizard, as Greta.

The class was interesting but it still felt weird not having Shades there with me.

MEOW! a cried call, and to my surprise, Shades made his graceful entry through an open window and jumped into my lap.

“A bit late, aren’t we?”

“Shush, I had better things to do with my time but felt it was probably necessary for me to make my appearance.”

“Thank you so much Your Highness for showing me this courtesy.”

“Chas,” Mrs. Mios said, and both of us looked at her. “Please tell Mr. Grey that class started 15 minutes ago and that next time there won’t be an open window for him.”

“Okay,” I said as her lizard, sprawled on his log behind her desk staring at both of us.

“He looks absolutely yummy,” Shades said and I had to suppress my laughter.

“It’s a she,” I whispered.

“Doesn’t matter, it will make my stomach full.”

“Way too much info, dude.”

“I’m a cat, not a dude, Chas.”

“Whatever.”

“And to be quiet.” Mrs. Mios interrupted our conversation.

“Sorry,” I apologized.

“Who spat in her milk this morning? I’m out of here.”

“Don’t you dare,” I whispered at him but was too late to grab him. He walked out the way he’d entered.

“Cats,” Mrs. Mios said and everyone laughed.

“Sorry about that,” I said and wished that I was a bird that could just fly away.

I felt left out with the assignment. Nat and Charlie won as they knew each other really well plus she could hear him the way I hear Shades.

He was her eyes when they blindfolded her, everyone was in awe at how she got the answers right to everything Mrs. Mios asked her to point out.

Not a lot of Tulas could hear their Anitules the way we did and these exercises were supposed to help make that connection.

I guess Shades wasn’t wrong when he said it was a waste of his time. We heard each other perfectly and he would’ve probably told me the wrong answers anyway for that very first night.

I walked alone through another hallway, far from my classmates so as not to see the judgmental stares or hear the gossip about what I was.

I looked up and couldn’t remember ever being in this hallway. A set of stairs were to my left and I took them, but paused as I heard harsh whispers below.

It was a quarrel between two people.

“I have my eye on you Dingle. You might have fooled Selene but you don’t fool me. I know what you are and it’s only a matter of time before it will show. My advice, bring back Margot’s pendant.”

Dingle laughed and I knew that Leigh was wrong about him. If Fox could still sense the dark in him, then that was good enough for me.

I found another route out of the Institute and back to the House of Lords. I guessed now that everyone had made up their minds about me, Natalie wouldn’t want to be my friend anymore.

When I got back home I was attacked again the second I took my first step through the door.

“Really, Chas.” Margot was five inches from me.

“What is…”

“If it isn’t your long fingers that take my stuff it’s your cat!” She had one of her tops in her hand covered with thick long grey fluff. Mr. Grey.

“How do you know it’s him? And I didn’t take anything from you.”

She gave me a sarcastic laugh. “Don’t even try to deny it. WHAT ARE YOU HIDING?”

“I’m not hiding anything, you crazy lunatic!” I yelled back.

“Enough!” Fox barged into the lobby. “What is it now, Margot?”

“It’s Chastity’s cat. Look at what he did!” She pushed her top into Fox’s face.

“It’s just hair, Margot. We can deal with it.”

“No, she put him up to it. What are you looking for this time, Shadow Caster?”

“Enough Margot, now go to your room.”

Everyone was in the lobby now, thanks to Margot’s little outburst and was staring at me again. If it wasn’t clear before, it was clear now.

“All of you, go to your rooms.”

Margot glared at Fox before she stormed off in the direction of her room. I couldn’t help but stand there. I knew that Margot would figure out why I never wanted to show my sand inside the Virtual Realm. Even if I never knew that it was the Virtual Realm. Still, to blurt it out like that, she had no right.

“Chastity…” Fox looked at me.

“I never took her stupid pendant,” I replied.

“I know, but please, you need to try and keep Mr. Grey out of the other students’ rooms.”

“It’s Mr. Grey, Fox. The cat never even listened to Selene, why on earth would he listen to me?”

“Just try, please.”

“Fine, I’ll speak to him tonight.”

“Tonight? He’s not here?” she asked, worry lacing her tone.

“No, he only comes back from his rendezvous at night. Who knows what mischief he does? I can’t be held responsible for his actions Fox.”

“Then let him know that his actions reflect badly on you.”

I nodded and went straight to my room.

Dinner was quiet and Nat kept to herself. I knew that she didn’t want to be my friend anymore.

Even if that wasn’t true, all of them would label me as the girl that had an agenda and that I might be hiding something, which I was, but they didn’t know that for sure.

I didn’t ask to be a Shadow Caster. Heck my mother tried her best to guard me from this world, and I knew if my Grandfather found her, which I was pretty sure had already happened, she would pay with her life for what she did.

By nine, my eyes didn’t want to stay open anymore and I’d tried so hard to stay awake to speak to the stupid cat about making everything even worse. Why had he gone and messed around in Margot’s room? He knew how much she had it in for me, why go and make things worse? I told him not to.

I still thought he had another agenda, one that was going to get me into more trouble.

The pendant would come back when she was tired of searching for it. That was what lost things did and then she would feel guilty for saying all those awful things about me.

When I couldn’t open my eyes anymore, I got up, and went to sit on the sill of my window. I opened the window more, trying to get the cold breeze to wake me up.

I’d seen many nights in my life but none of them were quite as gorgeous as Revera’s. The huge moon with its million stars was simply lovely. Then right before you fell asleep, the evening sky became filled with golden beams, like the northern lights. They flew in every direction and believe me, I didn’t think anybody saw how it ended as one breath of sleeping dust was enough to knock you out.

My dreams were filled with Leigh, lately.

I knew why too, I would die if he ever found out how I felt about him. He didn’t look like the type of guy that would go for a girl like me. He was more of ….Margot’s type.

Still, dreams were there for the impossible, and I knew Leigh fell under that category.

I wished that I could share this with Mom. I remembered how she used to scan guys at my school and ask plenty of questions to find out if there was one that I liked, but I always gave her the raised eyebrow or lip, which made her laugh every time.

She would’ve liked Leigh. I was glad that I’d told her about him, still she would never know that he was my first real crush. Well secretly in my case.

A girl could dream, even in a dream world. I lay my head on my knees and slowly my eyes started to close. It was dark for a few seconds and then a meow made them fly open.

I found myself staring at a plastic horse, not my stupid grey cat.

It was a weird feeling.

At first it was just the plastic horse and then the entire picture came to life and expand. The horse was moving, followed by more horses turning around in a carousel, until all the other plastic pieces of a carousel with an old eerie tune played, was fully in my view. I turned to my left and saw other rides. Hot dog stands and people, plenty of people that moved around.

I place my hands in my hoody’s pockets as a cold finger traced up my back. I knew I’d been here before, in my Initiation dream, with Leigh. But the only difference was that this fair wasn’t in ruins like the one inside that dream.

A part of me felt uneasy, even though I knew the tests were over, I still felt like this dream tried to betray me, to show what I really was.

I started to walk away from the carousel and past a vendor who sold popcorn, cotton candy and other treats. A hot dog stand was across from him and something about those two vendors looked familiar. I just couldn’t put my finger on it.

Their heads shot up and they stared at me. A pair of black eyes, the same kind I’d seen once on Mom when she’d turned back into a Shadow Caster.

I knew what these men were and why they were in this dream. They wanted me and were probably searching for me as I dreamt. I didn’t stay to find out if my instincts were right. Instead I ran as fast as my legs could carry me.

Screams filled the entire theme park as objects near me exploded before dark sand took their place and fell in heaps to the ground. For some stupid, unknown reason the only escape route I could find was the House of Horrors.

Who would’ve thought that I would become the bimbo who chose the House of Horrors to lose her dark pursuers?

I jumped as a skeleton with a long sword fell on me with teeth chattering inches from my face. Adrenaline flowed through my veins and black sand formed in my hand. I didn’t care if it was not natural anymore and destroyed all the art created to scare the living jeepers out of a human.