Spearwood Academy Volume Two (The Spearwood Academy Book 2) (5 page)

“
Open the wall,” I
say. Maverick opens it.

I go to Bullock, a
sweat has broken out over his body and his breathing comes out labored. He’s out
cold. “We need to go, Clementine, I’m sure he’ll be fine.”

“Shut up.” I want to
help him, but how? I don’t know the magic required to heal him. I swallow hard.
I’ve used healing magic before on instinct with Mirren. I can do it now. I
close my eyes and ask for guidance, to help me act on instinct.

Something tells me
to look underneath the bed. I crouch down, sure enough, there’s a bottle of
water. I grab it and stand, now what? I break the seal on the cap and pour the
water into my hand. As it hits my palm, it forms a sphere. I stop when it’s the
size of a baseball. I hold out the bottle and Kearn takes it from me. I don’t
know how I’m doing this, but I’m not going to ask questions right now. I use my
other hand to move it over the sphere, forcing the water to elongate but still
keep a condensed shape. I take a breath in and hold it. I put my hands to his
back and spread the water out over the freshly made gashes. The water hovers
above his skin. I ease it into the cuts, he doesn’t move. At least I’m not
causing him more pain.

Once the water fills
the gashes to the top, it begins to take the form and solidify into scar
tissue, closing and making the cuts look like they have been there for months.
I let out the breath. He turns his head on his pillow and looks at me.
“Avalon?”  

I hold my fingers to
my lips. “
Shhh
, you need your rest. Sleep.” I brush
my fingers over his eyes, forcing them closed. He falls back into a sleep.

I turn back to
Maverick and Kearn. Kearn doesn’t looked shocked at all, but Maverick certainly
does. “How’d you do that? That’s a master water level healing technique.”

I shrug. “I followed
my gut.”

I move towards the
door. “I can find my way back to my room from here.”

“I’ll walk you
there, Paden would be furious if I didn’t,” says Maverick, he opens the
classroom door. I give Bullock one last look before I cross the threshold. A
headache is starting to set in behind my eyes.

Kearn closes the
door behind us. “How do you know Paden?” I ask, as we walk, trying to fill the
dense silence.

“He’s my older
brother.”

I stop walking. “You
two are related?”

He stops also.
“What? You don’t see the resemblance?”

“Not fully, I guess
you guys have similar eyes.”

He gives a laugh.
“Yeah. He looks more like our mom. I got more of dad’s looks.”

“Do you know how to
get this off then?” I hold up my left hand, to show him the ring.

He frowns. “He put a
stuck spell on it, didn’t he?”

I shrug. “He said it
would only come off if I hated him, or when one of us dies.”

Maverick shakes his
head. “I can’t help you. He infused the spell with his own blood. Only he can
take it off.”

I sigh. “I figured
you would say that.” It’s weird, being so casual with him. Back home, we would
have been ripping each other’s throats out.

“This is weird,” he
says.

“Us talking like normal
people?”

“Yeah.”

“I know.”

The silence
envelopes us again. Soon, we are standing outside my door. Enid isn’t with me,
so I knock, hoping she’ll hear it. Not even two seconds later, the door is
ripped open. Dante stands on the other side, worry etched into his face. He
pulls me into his arms and hugs me. I frown and pat him on the back. “Dante, I
can’t breathe.”

He lets go of me and
looks me over. “Are you okay, Avalon? Are you hurt? What are you wearing?”
Before I can answer, he notices Maverick. His face turns into a snarl. In two
steps he’s in front of Maverick, before I can blink, he is punching him in the
face and sending him to the ground.

“Dante!” I snap.

He doesn’t hear me.
He jumps Maverick and gets ready to punch him again. Horace and Amr come
shooting out of my rooms and grab Dante by the arms, they pull him off
Maverick.

Maverick stands and
wipes the blood off his lip. He ignores Dante and looks toward me. “I’ll see
you around, Clementine.” I give a nod.

He turns and leaves.
Kearn gives me a barely noticeable smile and bows, he leaves with Maverick.

I turn to look at
Dante. “What did you do that for?”

He looks just as
shocked as me, he pulls his arms out of the grasps of Horace and Amr. “I don’t
know. I just felt so angry.”

“Why aren’t you guys
in class? Your grades.”

“Our grades can
suffer one absent day. We were worried about you,” says Amr.

“How long was I
gone?”

“Less than a day,”
says Horace.

“Well, come on in.”
I beckon them into my living room and close the door behind them. Mirren is
sitting on one of the loveseats, but Triton is nowhere to be found. “Where’s
Triton?”

“He got called away.
He’ll be around later,” says Horace, as he takes a seat next to Mirren.

I nod and pull one of
the chairs from the breakfast bar over to the living room. I take a seat and
sigh. Today has gone on forever. I kick off the heels, my feet feel like they
are being stabbed in the soles.

“Why are you wearing
that, and what did they do to your hair?” ask Mirren.

I look at him before
I finger my straight locks. It feels so foreign. “Paden decided to give me a
rich makeover, thought I would like it.”

“Did you?” asks
Dante.

I give him a roll of
my eyes. “No. He only thought I would like it because—” I stop myself. For some
reason, I don’t want to tell them about the fact that Paden probably knows
everything there is to know about me.

“Because?” asks Amr.

I shake my head.
“Just that I would like it.”

“Did they hurt you?”
asks Horace.

“No, I had lunch
with them, that’s all.”

“What’s that on your
finger?” asks Mirren.

I look down at the
serpent ring, once more I try to take it off. It doesn’t budge. “It looks like
an engagement ring,” says Dante.

I nod. “He put a
stuck spell on it. Hansen says he probably infused it with his blood. I can
only take it off if I truly hate him, or one of us dies.”

“That bastard!”
snaps Dante.

I nod. “Problem is,
I don’t hate him. Not yet, at least.”

“So what happened to
your other problem?” ask Amr. “These guys aren’t acting insane.”

I reach into the
tiny pocket in my dress and pull out the small canister. “It’s suppressed as
long as I take this, once a day for the next week. No more running from crazed
boys.”

Both Dante and
Horace become sheepish. “We’re sorry about that. I said some things that I
wouldn’t say to you in a normal mindset,” says Dante.

He must be referring
to the shower comment. My cheeks flush, as the memory comes back to the front
of my mind, which then leads to a shower and him involved.

I shake my head. “It’s
okay. I get that you guys weren’t in your normal minds. Listen, I’d like to
call my father and take a nap before dinner. I’m exhausted.”

Amr nods and stands.
“We’ll come get you for dinner later. Sleep well.” The others stand with him
and they leave. A part of me is glad that it was so easy to get rid of them.

I walk to my
bedroom, and flop down on the fluffy white bed. It’s softer than I imagined.
Like a cloud. I look to my night stand. Enid’s card is sitting on it again.

“Enid.” I wonder if
she’ll come to life.

On command the card
flies through the air and transforms. “Yes, Avalon?”

“Please call my
father.” I know I’m calling for the second time in one day, but I’m sure he
won’t care. It’s nearly seven in the morning there. He should be up. I wonder
how he’s
feeling?

The dial tone rings
throughout the room once, twice, four times. I frown. Finally, the line picks
up.

“Finally, did I wake
you?”

“Avalon?”

I frown, that’s not
Edgar’s voice. “Yeah, who is this?”

“It’s Pete Marsh.”

Pete is one of the Orchard
hands. “Oh, hey, Pete. Nice to hear from you. Can you put Ed on the phone?”

He goes silent for
too long.

“Pete? You there?”

“I’ve got some bad
news.”

My heart sinks.
“What is it?”

More silence.
“Edgar’s, Ed’s, Edgar’s.”

“Yi-yeah, what about
him?” My mouth has lost all spit.

“Avalon, he passed
away this morning.”

“
I’m sorry? I don’t think I heard you correctly.” The
pins and needle sensation breaks out all over my body. He didn’t just say what
I think he said. No, it’s not possible.

“He passed away. I’m sorry.
Didn’t your school tell you?”

I’m so cold. I swallow hard.
“What?”

“Your school. There are
people here that say they are from your boarding school. They’re packing things
up. I figured they—”

“Pete?” the line has gone
dead. I sit up. People from the school are there, touching our things?

“Avalon, I have lost the
connection. Would you like for me to try calling again?”

I shake my head and stand. I
need to speak to Perlow. The room spins and I fall back onto my bed.

“Do you need medical
attention, Avalon? I can call Dr. Quinn.” Enid takes a step closer to me.

I shake my head. “No, I need
to speak with Perlow.” I stand again. This time, I push through the dizziness
and stumble toward my open door. Enid follows behind me.

“Avalon, your heart rate and
blood pressure are reaching dangerous levels. I really advise you to see Dr.
Quinn, immediately.”

All the hair on my body is
standing on end. A hot tear trails down my cheek. “I need to see Perlow. Where
is he?” I look to her.

“I’m sorry, Avalon. His
whereabouts cannot be tracked by me. I do not have the appropriate security
clearance. I can send him an email if you would like. To request a meeting time
that will work for the both of you? Perhaps, tomorrow, before dinner?”

I shake my head again. The
heat of bile moving up my throat propels me forward, to the kitchen trashcan.
The little food that was in my stomach from tea time with Paden comes up.

He can’t be dead. It’s not
possible. He’s Ed. He was supposed to be one of those people who live into
their hundreds. The tight pain in my chest makes it difficult to breathe. A sob
erupts from me. I fall to my knees, taking the trashcan with me, it topples to
the floor.

“Avalon, I’m going to call
Doctor Quinn now. You are in need of medical attention.”

I shake my head, but my
crying doesn’t cease and I can’t form the word ‘no’ to make her stop. She’s
already calling him.

“I’ll be right over,” Quinn
says, his voice resonating throughout the room.

A voice eases into my mind.
‘He’s
not dead. This is all just a bad dream. Like the ones you had when you were
little.’

My sobbing eases, and I wipe
the tears away. Yes, this is all a dream. Edgar wouldn’t leave me without
saying goodbye. He’s not the type to be taken down by a common cold. An unreal
calm overtakes me. I’m floating. Looking down, my body is still firmly on the
ground.

I crawl over to one of the
white loveseats and get on it. I’ll close my eyes. When I open them, I’ll find
out this is all just a horribly messed up dream.

As soon as my eyes close, a
knock sounds at my door. My eyes fly open, I’m still lying on the couch in the
living room.

“I will get the door for you,
Avalon.”

I sit up. Why am I still in
my living room? It was supposed to be a dream. Enid opens the door and in walks
not only Dr. Quinn, but Perlow and Roseman as well. Perlow and Dr. Quinn look
at me like they are approaching a scared and wounded animal; Roseman keeps his
eyes to the ground.

“Is it true?”  My voice
comes out scratchy, as if I have swallowed sandpaper.

Perlow takes the first real
steps toward me and starts to raise his hands, as if I’m going to lash out him.
His eyes tell me the answer before his mouth does. “I’m sorry, Miss
Clementine.”

The tightness in my chest has
come back, my heart hurts. I swallow hard. I don’t want to cry in front of
them, but my body doesn’t seem to care. The tears flow regardless of me trying
to hold them back.  “I want to see him. I want to see the Orchard.”

Perlow frowns. “I’m sorry, we
can’t do that.”

What? “
Wa
-
why?”

Roseman looks up now and
gives me a smile. “Because you won’t remember any of this, or your adoptive
father.”

“I don’t understand.” It’s
the only thing that falls out of my mouth. My mind is too blurry to fully
comprehend the meaning of his words.

I blink, and Dr. Quinn
disappears before my eyes. A hand touches my shoulder. I look behind me in time
to see Dr. Quinn standing there, holding a syringe. He frowns, as he tilts my
head to the side. The needle goes into my neck with a slight pinch. I try to
move away, but he has a firm hold on my head. He leans his face close to my
ear, his breath cold against my skin as he says, “I’m sorry, sweetie. I don’t
want to do this, but my hands are tied.”

The liquid into my veins,
like sludge, it takes over my body. My eyes are open, and can blink, but I
can’t move. The sludge moves down into my fingers and toes. I’m thinking about
the words I want to say, but my mouth doesn’t move in order to form them.

“Avalon, stand,” says Roseman.
Like a marionette, I stand. What is going on? How is he controlling me? “Follow
us.”

“Do you wish for me to go
with you, Avalon?” asks Enid, stopping Roseman from walking out of the room.

He turns to look at her and
glances at me. “Tell her that she will not be needed right now.”

My body is as stiff as a
board. I turn to look at Enid. I want to say something else, I want to tell her
to find the boys and tell them what is going on, but instead, I say, “I do not
need your services right now, Enid. Thank you.” Fear grips me as I watch her
fold up into her card form and fall to the ground.