One wrong step, p.17
One Wrong Step, page 17
“Don’t look so petrified girly,” He chuckled, dipping to squat before me as tattooed fingers whipped blood off his chin. “This is your own fault. You have no one to blame but yourself.” He tilted his head with a lopsided grin, showing a pair of sharp, pointy teeth.
“My fault?” I hissed, feeling the blood on my neck cool. “My fault…?”
Rage exploded in my gut, visceral enough I slammed my foot into the guy’s junk with perfect precision. He buckled, cupping his crotch with a high-pitched wail. But I was already moving. Shoving my feet into the dirt, I pushed myself away, bouncing from tree to tree for stability. Lifting a hand, I clasped it over the bite, the skin still hot and sticky. I raced like a fire burned at my back until a gaggle of laughter broke through my terrified senses.
Through thinning trees, I saw a building that shone like silver, glowing in blue torch light. Bursting free of the woods, I almost sobbed in delight as I saw other students milling around. Yet, growing closer, heads turning to me, they didn’t look in horror or cry out in worry. Instead, noses turned up and lips curled with sneers. One girl even laughed.
Spinning, searching for a helpful face, I stumbled as a familiar monster growled from behind a curtain of purple hair. “Bad move, Princess.” The vampire hissed, stalking closer with a slight limp.
“I’m not a princess.” I wheezed past my chattering teeth, like that was important.
As more students gathered, I circled on the spot, finding myself surrounded and noticed what I’d missed before. Used to the rich, earthy tones, I now saw their uniforms were black, shirts still white, while the red ties and bows around their necks were midnight blue. Pinned at the girls’ throats and on the guys’ lapels, silver moons, not suns, and my stomach bottomed out.
“You’re the Night Court.” I breathed to myself, feeling my hands tremble. What had Briar said: a place where the vampires were fast, the dragons were strong, the witches had spells, not to mention the others I hadn’t heard about.
“Well, what did you find here, Nic?” a girl from the crowd asked. She had stunning long braids wrapped in silver charms, and a dark mocha complexion. Looking me up and down with eyes of pitch, her lips pulled back in a vapid smile. “Not one of us, I see.”
“Indeed,” Nic, my purple haired monster mused, a flash of anger still in his eyes. “I found the little lost lamb alone in the woods. I was offering her some help when she attacked me.”
“You attacked me!” I snapped, feeling a rush of dizziness. “You bit me!”
“Force of nature.” He shrugged as I stepped away, only to find the ground wasn’t quite where I thought it would be.
“I think she’s going to faint.” One boy chuckled; his cheekbone pricked with sharp scales.
“Oh, she is.” A small girl whispered, her hair flowing silver, her hands hidden under a baggy jumper.
“Do you think I can have a quick taste when she’s out?” Another asked, licking some sharp fangs. “I’ve never had a princess.”
“I’m… n-not a princess.” I whispered, but no one was listening as the blood in my ears roared.
“Sadly, I don’t think I left enough.” Nic mused; his gaze turned from angry to critical. “But you could always practise a few spells, Angelica.”
The girl from before clapped, her braids swinging past her waist. “Chilton and I need a volunteer for our arca terrores jinx.”
“N-No. Don’t touch me.” I wheezed, stepping away from her only to find my knees like jelly.
With a final wobble, I tripped, and everyone squealed in excitement. Yet, as the ground rushed up to meet me, muscular arms suddenly caught my fall, wrapping around me with a scorching touch. I gasped as heat burnt my icy skin; I wanted to reel away yet bury myself deeper.
“You took too much, Nic.”
Blinking at the spinning world, eyes of burning coal met mine, and the scent of cedar smoke engulfed me. Powerful and deadly, I felt the voice slither under my skin, blend through my bones and root itself in the depths of my soul.
“D-Don’t eat me…” I whispered.
A sharp grunt rumbled in a warm chest, and it was the last thing I recalled before my head lolled back, and my eyes fluttered closed.
◆◆◆
Frowning deeply, my nose wrinkled at the stench of lavender and cloves, as well as the constant sound of someone huffing. “Surely, it should be working by now?” someone whispered.
“How should I know?” A familiar voice drawled as I came to, the softest of taps sounding beneath the shuffle of a chair.
“I think she moved.” Briar breathed, her vanilla scent drifting over me in a comforting wave.
“You said that last time.” Jade growled on my other side.
Blinking, I got the briefest glimpse of a beamed ceiling, plant covered walls all dappled in sunlight from a stained window, when suddenly, wide blue eyes hovered over mine. “I did! She did… I mean, she’s awake!” Briar cheered with a squeal, threatening to send me back under.
“Ugh,” I turned away, hissing as the skin of my neck grew tight. “What happened?”
Briar opened her mouth, her bottom lip already trembling when a pale hand shot out between us. “Don’t even think about it, Briar. You’ve only just stopped crying from the last time we talked about it.” Jade snapped; her expression furious if you ignored the concerned gleam in her eyes. “I’ll tell her.”
“Tell me? Tell me what?” I tried to sit up in the single cot, but the limp cushion at my back was proving troublesome. Fully awake, I found myself in a temperate jungle, overflowing with sweet flowers and shelves stacked with glass jars, full of herbs. A stack of books sat on a table at the end of my bed, and I could see a scroll unfurled before it like a patient chart. On my left, Briar fidgeted in a deep chair while Jade sat on my right.
“Nothing super worrisome.” Jade breezed, falling back. “Just that you disappeared after Silas sent us on that run. Everyone assumed that because you were last, and you’d fled back to the castle in shame. At least, that was until the smug bastard, Ryu-Lee, walked into the dining hall and dumped you, unconscious, on our dinner.”
“I - He – who?” I frowned, trying to recall any of that, but drew up a blank.
“It was so romantic.” Bee gushed beside me.
“Being dumped in gravy and potato is romantic?” I checked; sure, I’d hit my head.
“What, no?” she gasped, horrified. “No, the princes and knights. They all leapt to your defence, drawing swords, ready to take down the beastly dragon.”
An ungodly snort left my nose. Darting my eyes to Jade, she confirmed my suspicion with a droning voice. “They were more interested in adding a dragon’s head to their walls than anything.”
Unsurprised, I felt my strength returning and pushed until I sat upright. “And before the dinner dump, I was where?” I still rubbed my neck, remembering being cold, frightened of the storm, the taste of dirt on my tongue, and how my heart raced as I’d run away from…
“Someone bit me.” I emptied my lungs of air. Running fingers over my neck, I found it perfectly smooth.
“Oh, you remember.” Jade cocked a brow, almost surprised. “Most people just lie rather than admit a vampire bit them.”
“Bit me?” I snapped, my boiling anger almost throwing me from the bed. “The bastard almost chewed my neck off.”
“Key word being almost.” Jade shrugged as I gaped at her. “You really shouldn’t have run from him. From all the rumours flying around, you were begging for the hunt.”
“I- you… begging?” I gasped, furious that the blame was falling on me. “So, this is my fault? How?”
“Because you ran from him.” Jade raised her brows like the answer was obvious. “Honestly, you’d think you would have learnt by now. Larc said you did the exact same with his pack when you arrived, and they had to chase you down. It’s like you’re purposefully poking all their hunting instincts.”
My mouth flapped once, twice, three times before I could find my words. “He attacked me! I did not poke at anything.”
“It was a scratch.” Jade pulled out her tome, like she needed to check the time. “You shouldn’t have run. It’s your own fault.”
I saw red, balling the sheets into my fists. “Get out!” I screamed, feeling a pounding behind my eyes. “Get out. And keep your victim-blaming bullshit away from me.”
“Zara…” Briar tried to calm me, her voice light. “You have to understand…”
I wheeled on her with just as much venom. “You can leave too if you’re taking her side.”
Briar’s pallor paled. Instantly I felt bad, but I didn’t let it show. I was done. Battered and bruised, blamed, and ignored, I was done with this bullshit school. “Get out! Get OUT, both of you!”
“Come on, Briar.” Jade stood swiftly, the flicker of an expression crossing her face, but it was gone before I could read it. “Don’t waste your breath.”
“But…” But my expression must have said enough.
In the tense silence that followed, the room felt like a battlefield strewn with emotional wreckage. Briar sniffed back her tears, while Jade strutted without a care. The frosted glass door closed behind them, leaving me alone, as demanded. Yet it wasn’t enough. I tried to calm myself down, breath through the torrent within me, but couldn’t.
My breathing hitched; my ears pricked at every sound. A chair scraping across tiled floors. A door squeaking. The clip of shoes. My heart hammered while paranoia flooded my mind. I had to get out of here, with or without that bitch of a headmistress’s permission. I’d just go the way I’d come in.
Tossing aside the covers, I found my muddy clothes gone, as too were my boots. Someone had dressed me in a cotton babydoll that did nothing to hold up the twins. Glancing around, I strode over to a wardrobe, flinging the doors wide in hopes of a dressing gown, or even itchy scrubs. But the cupboard was empty even of dust mites. I ground my teeth.
“Oh, you’re awake.”
Spinning with a cry, I yanked the doors around me like shields. Adrenalin burned through my veins as I feared the worse. Yet, with a blink, white flowers bloomed around a head of tight curls and eyes that danced with an equal amount of fear as my own. “Are you alright Zara?”
“Olli?” I breathed, my heart slowing considerably. Dressed in his uniform, I noted the khaki pants, blue knitted vest, and the red tie, allowing in an inch more of breath. No Night Court monotone. No shiny silver moons. “What… what are you doing here?” I almost left the safety of my doors until I remembered what I was wearing. Promptly, I kept one door covering me.
“I -ah, thought you might like a get well soon gift.” He smiled, the little white flowers blending to pink as he held out a slim white tablet.
“My Opus?” I grinned only for it to sour, as I had no intention of using it. I swallowed. “Right, well, thanks. But I don’t suppose you brought some clothes, did you?”
“Umm, no. I didn’t realise…” Frowning, he looked around before placing the Opus onto my bed. “Hang on.” Pulling the V-neck vest over his head, he waved it between us like a parlay. “Best I can do?” he grinned sheepishly as I slipped it on.
Only then did I comprehend how tall Olli was, feeling the vest drop just below my ass, the fringe of the babydoll sticking out the edge. “Thank you. Now, I just need shoes and I can go.” I breathed in my positivity.
“Go?” Olli frowned, picking my Opus back up. “Go where? I’m sure Jade will be along shortly with some real clothes and shoes. She is your ally, after all.”
“Not bloody likely.” I remembered her cold, calculated face as she left. “It doesn’t matter. I’m happy to go barefoot.”
“Wait, Zara?”
But I slipped past Olli, checking the corridor once before darting out and down the hall. I’m sure I needed to be discharged or some nonsense, but I had a tree to meet, and I would be nothing but punctual.
◆◆◆
“Zara, where are you going?” Olli panted behind me as I thundered around stairs and down to the grounds. By luck, or karma, or the sweet taste of wishful thinking, everywhere was clear of any students and I took every corner on a breeze.
Reaching the castle’s front, I saw the sun had just reached the tips of the forest as night took over, bleeding dusky tones across the clouds. I’d been out for most of the day.
“Bastards.” I snapped to myself, that anger still pumping in my chest.
Not slowing, I raced towards Hick Village, but stalled as the castle bridge ended. The ground had started to dry from the heavy rain, but the path was still a patchwork of mud, puddles, sharp rocks and painful gravel.
“Zara? Wait,” Olli puffed, finally catching up with me. Lifting a hand, he held out a pair of shoes, his white socks spilling out of it. “Here, wear these.”
Glancing down, I saw his bare toes squelching in the mud and shook my head. “No, you need them. I’ll be…” But I trailed off as I watched his toes elongate, bend and twist. His skin darkened further until two tiny tree stumps and a mass of curling roots poked out from beneath his trousers.
“I have a second set.” He smiled awkwardly, shoving the shoes into my grasp before burring his hands deep into his pockets.
“Oh, right…” I forced out, shaking my head free of the surprise. After all, I had seen his lower body as a tree right as I’d arrived. “Thanks.”
Slipping both on, feeling I was wearing boats, I hurried around the village and past the training grounds, ignoring both. Olli, now with a louder, heavier thump, kept pace with me, even when I spotted the gnarled tree and sprinted towards in.
“Phew,” He breathed, swiping his brow as he gazed up it its crooked, reaching branches. “So, what do you want with the Life Tree?”
Pushing myself closer to its base, I began dragging back brush and grass reeds, hunting through its roots. “A hole. An enormous hole; big enough to fit me in it.” I shifted to the right, breaking back a twig.
“Oh, okay, but, you know, there are tunnels all over the Bitter Mountains? You could find a hole up there, or the Pack can show you where they burrow…”
“No. It needs to be this hole, here at this tree, because that hole will take me home.”
Yet the further I pushed back, the thicker the foliage became, dense enough I could barely part it. “Here, help me get through this,” I asked Olli, who eagerly stepped forward with a nod. Together we pushed at the branches, pulled aside thickets, but never did the stone-covered roots of the tree reveal themselves. Huffing furiously, I looked up at the tree and traced its shape to check my position.
“Grandma’s-don’t-eat-my-cookies,” I muttered, tracing the silhouette I’d name. It was the same I’d seen days ago, but circled the base anyway, in case I had it wrong. Wolves had been chasing me, after all. But as I reached Olli again, the tree was exactly how I’d pictured it, except one key feature. “Damn it! How can a hole disappear?”
“Someone could have… filled it?” Olli supplied slowly. “Or maybe you pissed off the Life Tree somehow, and it decided to not show you the way.”
“Pissed off a tree?” I snapped at Olli, who was contemplating the dark bark with a thoughtful expression. “How could I have pissed off a tree?”
“Not ‘a’ tree,” Olli sighed, “’ The’ tree, as in The Life Tree. It has feelings, you know.”
“It’s a lump of petrified bark waiting to be turned into firewood. Its feelings consist of ‘snap crackle and pop.” I shouted, to which Olli gasped.
“Take that back.” The ground rumbled and glancing down, I saw his rooted feet had burrowed deep and thorns had erupted across his brow.
Yet, I didn’t back down. Feeling the panic clawing its way back up my throat, I leaned in close, making sure my lips pulled back in a snarl. “And if it’s really lucky, it might even become the paper I wipe my ass with.”
Stood ramrod straight, Olli quivered as a wall descended over his features. His eyes dampened as his thorns slowly slid back and his feet disentangled. “I hope you find your hole, Zara. I hope you find it and live in it forever.”
Olli stormed away, and I watched for half a beat before turning away myself. He didn’t understand. I had to leave. I had to go home. Diving back into the foliage, I began scraping at the dirt. Fuck Mistress Lopez. Fuck these classes. Fuck the damn tree that brought me here. Fuck…
“Miss Heart?”
Spinning out the leaves with a gasp, Professor Sienna passed me a polite smile, her hands clasped at her front. Wearing a similar dress from her Divination class, a deep teal scarf pulled her grey hair back, the black lines on her cheekbones seemed darker. I glanced behind, wondering where the devil she’d come from.
“The cards told me I might find you here.” She continued, bemused by my confused look. “I do like it when the stars align, making my job to help you so much easier.”
“You’re going to help me go home?” I perked up, tasting freedom on the edge of my lips.
“If you mean by ‘help’ – you mean escort, and by ‘home’ you mean the mandatory academy assembly about to take place in the Ever Hall, then yes.”
Bitter dejection dropped into my shoulders. Shifting my weight, I contemplated how fast I could run to the nearby woods, when a sudden growl sent dread up my spine. Glancing back, black eyes reflected in the moonlight, peering through the brush, and the wolf’s dark nose crept forward, daring me to run.
“And when I passed Mr Heskel on my way, everything aligned, as he kindly offered to assist in finding you.”
“And if I don’t go?” I shoved a hand onto my hip, refusing to let my knees tremble as Larc prowled closer. “You, a professor and voice of authority at this school, will allow a student to attack another?”
“Oh, Inks no.” Sienna gasped in horror, as if truly offended. “However, whatever fate the stars have planned for you is one I cannot interfere with.”
“Then you, like everyone else, can fuc-”
I sensed rather than saw Larc move.
His body slammed into the back of my knees, dropping me to the floor. A growl ripped past my ear, and I flinched, my hair falling around me like a curtain. Hard teeth suddenly pricked either side of my neck, his hot breath rolling across my spine. I froze. Locked in the jaws of a beast; I didn’t dare breathe.
