"Emery..."
Where have I heard that voice before?
"Emery, wake up," I feel myself being shaken.
God my head is killing me. What happened? I can't remember.
"Crap we are so dead," another voice said.
"We! You did this, not me."
"I didn't even hit her that hard."
"Have you seen her bruises?"
"Okay so maybe I hit her hard but like I didn't think she'd run away and pass out."
I force my heavy eyelids open and wait for my vision to come into focus. I see a curtain of black, no wait... it's just her hair falling down on one side of her head as she stares down at me.
She has pretty eyes.
"She's waking up," the girl said.
"Hey, naptimes over," Dariyah lightly slaps me on the cheek a few times. "Come on get up."
I hear a door open with a loud creak sound.
"Did you find her?" a voice says.
It sounds like Nerissa.
I feel the hairs on my arms stand up.
"She's fine. See," Dariyah forces me to sit up by yanking my arm.
I can feel the blood rushing through my body and I nearly blackout again. Ugh, why do I feel like crap?
"Whoa there," Dariyah's evil friend catches me before I fall.
"Move, get away from her," The same poofy haired girl from earlier pushes them away and helps me sit upright.
Nerissa kneels down next to her.
"Emery, you okay?" The girl asks.
"What happened?" I rub my head.
"We need to take her to the infirmary," Nerissa says.
"She's fine, stop being a goody-two-shoes," Dariyah says.
"If you think for a second, I won't report this, think again," Nerissa threatens her.
"You are such a bi—"
"Relax," Dariyah's friend cut her off. "Emery won't tell on us, right Emery?"
I glance at her in confusion and her eyes flash pink for a second. It disorientates me and makes my head hurt even worse.
"Stop it!" Nerissa's friend shields me from her.
"Let's help her up," Nerissa said.
She and her friend slowly help me to my feet. My legs shake and my head throbs, I have to sit down in the pew to try and collect myself.
"Oh, come on, I didn't hit her that hard. She's totally faking," Dariyah complains.
"Shut up you little—"
"Ro, enough, don't stoop to her level." Nerissa cut her off.
"I'm just saying, someone should really give you a taste of your own medicine for once," Ro grumbles.
"And who would that be, you?" Dariyah snorts.
"Don't tempt me," Ro mumbles.
"Everyone shut up! My head hurts," I complain.
"See, I didn't even hit her in the head," Dariyah says in triumph.
I groan and hold my head, I see flashes of a burning building, of myself. I don't understand it. What happened to me? Why do I feel like this? Don't trust... Don't trust who? Why do I feel like I can't trust anyone?
"She needs to go to the infirmary," Nerissa said.
"No, I—" I try to stand on my own but I feel weak and once again crumble to the ground.
"See she's a total faker."
"Hold on, somethings not right," Ro kneels down next to me.
Ro grabs my right hand, for some reason I have to fight the urge to yank it away immediately. She closes her eyes and concentrates. I feel a tug inside of me, there really is no other way to explain it. After that my nose starts bleeding.
"Her energies are really low and all out of tune. She's... She's dying." Ro said.
"What!" The other three girls said in unison.
I try to deny it, but at that moment the world went black again.
As I came to again, I open my eyes and find I am in a chamber of some sort. Like a coffin but not quiet. It has a clear top and air is being funneled in. A woman is looking over me. Our eyes meet. She has moss green eyes and I don't recognize her at all.
She writes something down on a paper pad she's holding. Then she presses a button and the lid comes up.
"Hi," She smiles.
I sat up.
"Take it easy," She steadies me.
"What happened?" I ask.
"You tell me, what do you remember?" she gently rubs my shoulder. There is a warmth that comes from her touch and it makes me feel like I could trust her. But then I remember the words.
Don't trust.
"I don't remember anything," I lie. Well, it's only a half-lie, I still don't remember much, but it's slowly coming back to me.
"Nothing?" she looks me in the eyes.
"Nothing."
She frowns and writes something down.
"What happened?" I ask again.
"You got into a fight with your roommate and then they found you in pretty bad shape. Did anything happen after you left your dorm?"
"I don't know."
"Hmmm," She writes more stuff down.
"Where am I?" I ask.
"This is a makeshift energy pod, it was made just for you. To get your energy back in tune with the worlds. I'm Cyrene. I'm a star caster just like you. I'm going to be your mentor from now on."
"Oh," was all I could think to say. Because let's face it, nothing she just said made any bit of sense to me.
"Do you think you can walk?" she asks.
I nod. She steps back to let me try. I move my legs and slip out of the pod. A mind-numbing pain hits me full force, and I fall to the floor in agony. She is by my side in a flash.
"Listen to me Emery, whatever it is you did upset the energies in your body they are no longer in tune with the ones around you. You have to focus and let the outside energy into you. Let it change your flow."
"What!?" I say in confusion.
"Let the energy in."
I feel like the energies or whatever are trying to squash me like a bug. The weight of the world feels like it is literally on my shoulders.
"Come on Emery! Push, accept your power, fight! You can do it," She urges.
Accept my power, what does she mean? I already know I have freaky powers thanks to them. How will that change anything?
I cough up blood and my body starts convulsing.
Her hands start to glow white and she set them above the mark on my chest.
"Accept your truth or die. Let the energies in," She whispers.
I grab at her arm. I'm scared. I'm dying, again.
"Accept it Emery, declare it. You must," She begs.
"I can't!" I cry.
"Trust in your light!"
Trust in my light? Where have I heard that before? I close my eyes and try and think. There is no way this can be happening to me right now. What is going on!? I feel a warmness inside of me but I try to push it away. I don't want to be a Caster; I don't want to be a freak.
The pain gets worse. My limbs fail me and I fall flat on the floor.
"Come on Emery, let it in!"
When I close my eyes, I see nothing but pitch darkness. What a weird way to die. Who would have thought witches would do me in?
I can feel myself slipping away, arms picking me up.
I see myself; her lips are moving but I can't hear what she's saying.
Then I can.
Break the cycle.
Trust your light.
I see a tiny flicker of light and I reach for it. Instantly the pressure is gone and I gasp for air like a fish out of water.
"Whoa, easy, I gotcha," Cyrene cradles me in her arms.
I can feel the pain slowly fading out until it is completely gone. I cling to her trying to collect myself, shaking in her arms.
"You're okay now, it's okay. I got you," She pets me like a dog.
A door opens somewhere and next thing I know Kenshin is crouching next to me taking my vitals. His glowing red hand waves over me and I instantly feel a little better.
What the heck just happened?
"I'm going to need you to come into the infirmary, do you think you can walk?" Kenshin asks.
Cyrene helps me up. I'm weak but with each passing second, I start to feel better. We walk out of the strange room and I find out I am in the main building again. Just in a different part of it. We walk to the infirmary and I sit on the crystal table.
"You've been out for three days," Kenshin said as he took my temperature.
"Three days!"
"You almost died," He removed the thermometer.
Cyrene wrote down the reading on her pad of paper.
"Can you tell us what happened?" He asks.
"Dariyah hit me, we had a fight."
"After that?" Cyrene asks.
"I was hurt so I went to hide. I, I don't remember anything after that, it's all fuzzy."
"Hmm," she wrote that down.
"Can someone please explain what the heck just happened to me?"
"Your energies became out of tune," Cyrene said it like it was self-explanatory.
"What?" I look at her in confusion.
She raises an eyebrow at me.
"Okay, let's just pretend I don't know anything about wit—err casters and start from there," I say.
She lets out a deep sigh.
"I certainly have my work cut out for me," she said more to herself than me.
Kenshin chuckles lightly.
I glare at him.
Just then the curtain moves and in walks Asherah. She has on a variation of the garden dress she wore last time I saw her. There are tiny little white flowers on her lashes and little yellow roses wrapped around her ears. If mother nature was a real person, I'm pretty sure she'd be Asherah.
"Emery, glad you are awake," Asherah strode over to me.
"Maybe you can explain what is going on," I say.
"You didn't tell me she literally knows nothing about Casters," Cyrene frowns at Asherah.
"Is that going to be a problem?" Asherah raised an eyebrow.
"Not, not at all," Cyrene says through gritted teeth.
"Emery," Asherah turns to me ignoring Cyrene. "Let me be the first to apologize for the horrid display of behavior towards you. Our academy prides itself on the thriving and welcoming environment we create. What happened to you is intolerable and inexcusable. An announcement has been made to the whole school reprimanding everyone. Those involved with your earlier assault in the dining hall have been punished and put on academic probation. As for your rooming situation, your roommate has moved rooms and is on academic suspension. She should be out of that room completely by the end of the week. You will no longer have to worry about her. From now on we hope your experience here is a pleasant one. Cyrene will be your mentor, think of her as your personal tutor. She will teach you all that you need to know and get you back on track with everyone else who is attending classes here."
I glance over to Cyrene and she looks like she wants to strangle Asherah but then catches herself and smiles at me. I smirk, I don't know why but I feel like I am going to like her. Kenshin waves some type of crystal in front of me and it lights up. He nods in approval.
"Well, it looks like you will make a speedy recovery. I suggest resting for a few days to let your energy restore itself," He advises.
"I can escort Emery back to her room," Cyrene offers.
"Very well," Asherah nods.
"But no one explained anything," I point out.
"We can go over energies and the basics tomorrow," Cyrene said.
I sigh in defeat.
"You can start on your own by reading your student handbook," Asherah suggests.
God, I hate reading. Ugh.
"Fine," I groan out loud.
Everyone looks at me with questioning looks and I avert my gaze.
"Emery," Asherah says.
I meet her eyes.
"Try and be more... open-minded. Although what happened to you was unacceptable, it wasn't totally one-sided either. I am giving you the benefit of the doubt. This is a very prestigious school and everyone here has come here on their academic achievement. Everyone except you. Think of this as the Harvard of the Caster world. Now, if I were you, I'd be very grateful to be attending such an accomplished academy and try to make the most of the opportunity. Any future incidents will end in more than just a slap on the wrist," she warns.
I narrow my eyes at her, like I freaking asked for this. I would be more than happy to go back to my normal school with my friends and family. They are the ones keeping me prisoner here.
"Say what you want to say," she says.
I avert my gaze and keep my mouth shut.
She narrows her eyes at me.
"Give her a break Ashy, she's been through a lot in such a short time." Cyrene said.
"It's Asherah," she clips the words.
Cyrene rolls her eyes.
"Mark my words Ms. Ellison. You won't make it very far here with that kind of attitude."
With that, she turns dramatically and walks out.
My stomach turns and I look down to the ground.
I want to go home.
"Hey, come on. Let me walk you to your room," Cyrene puts her hand on my shoulder.
I nod weakly and force myself to stand up.
My legs are shaky and my body aches. Not to mention I'm starving.
"Here, take this," Kenshin pulls out a wheelchair for me.
I sit down and Cyrene begins to roll me to my room.
Hopefully, I won't run into Dariyah and her evil friend anytime soon.
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