Chapter 3
The next morning, I hear next doors alarm go off, a little re-energised, but mostly in agony with my body, my arm is the worst of all. I shower quickly before heading to the library, Mrs. Langdon is going to freak out, but I need her to help me heal my arm, growling and talking to myself, the whole way there, I walk into the library my usual way, through the back only to find, that the trio, are inside waiting for me as well,
I roll a ball that hits Mrs. Langdon’s foot, perfectly, she looks up toward the direction it came from, and I wave at her,
‘‘She is here boy’s,’’ she says, bringing them with her to me,
‘‘Ughh, stop, I need her not you three, go sit in the front, I shall be there now,’’ I shout, from behind the door,
‘‘Cassius is a much better healer than I Willow, they know what happened to you last night,’’ she calls though,
‘‘Mrs. Langdon please, I do not wish others to see,’’ I can here whispers,
But they do not listen as they all burst into the room, great,
‘‘Look, I appreciate the concerned look, but Mrs. Langdon’s magic will be enough, I shall meet you in school,’’ I say,
They do not move, so I start removing my jumper, using my teeth, and gently pulling it over my other arm,
‘‘I am sorry, I had no idea, your parents would use the wound I had given you, against you,’’ Damien said,
‘‘Neither did I, but do not blame yourself, they are the ones who have done this, now, my arm is really broken, and my ribs are killing me,’’
‘‘I wanted to come in last night, to help you when, your screams filled my ears, the boys had to hold me down, they thought you would disapprove of my interference,’’ Damien says, with a worried expression,
‘‘Look I loved we enjoyed our fight yesterday, but today is a different day, I really wanted to keep my home life away from school, I appreciate the concern, but I have lasted this long without any of your help, if it was not for the fact I cannot heal myself, I would try to avoid bothering Mrs. Langdon as much as I could, but I cannot heal myself, that is why I am here and I would like to heal and leave, less questions and more ignoring the druggies daughter,’’ I say,
‘‘We promise not to share your home life with anyone, but please let Cassius heal you, I even heard your bones breaking,’’ the vampire growled,
The taller of the three stepped forward, he was elven and I am assuming Cassius, he has beautiful burnt skin, pointy ears, slim facial features, his piercing blue iridescent eyes, looks straight through me, I notice they match his brunette long iridescent hair, he was also muscled but his strength was in magic as it hummed around me,
‘‘Lie on the table, this is going to hurt,’’ Cassius says,
He grabs my arm, his touch sends magical sparks through me, he gently rubs his thumbs over my arm, I growl, but it is at the feeling of my bones shifting and joining back together,
‘‘Where else, is broken,’’ Cassius asks,
I lift my shirt revealing a large purple bruise, they all wince, but I do not murmur until his cold hand touches under my breast, my breath hitches, as his hand sends magical sparks across my skin a feeling of pleasure fills, me but I ignore it,
‘‘My apologies, I have the coldest of hands,’’
‘‘It is fine, just a shock,’’
‘‘Alaric and Damien will hold you still, this will hurt, and I will need you to stay as still as you can,’’ Cassius says,
I nod as Damien positions himself between my legs to hold my hips down, which is a little too hot for me to handle, with so much touching, and Alaric holds, my shoulders down, I howl when he starts, I had not realised just how badly my ribs were broken, he was right the pain was horrendous, Alaric placed the side of his palm in my mouth for me to bite down on, which I used as another wave of pain filled me, and I did not want Mrs. Langdon to worry, I tasted his blood once I released him, I lay there still, when Cassius had finished, his magical sparks gone, as quickly as they came, but now I was in less pain,
‘‘It will not take the bruise away, but it will heal on its own faster now that the bones are not in your lung, we shall leave you to dress’’ Cassius says,
‘‘Thank you, I owe you one,’’ I say.
I sit up a little faster than I should have, hitting Damien in the chest, I had not realised how close he was, he just giggled and left with the other two, once dressed, we all head in the direction of the programme, everyone watches as we enter the room together, whispers flow through the air, I just sit an ignore everything Theo smiles, lightly at us and grabs out three cauldrons for the love spell, I pull out my grimoire, write down the instructions and ingredients for both potions, add some embellishments, then slide it over to Damien,
‘‘Are these the correct methods,’’ he says,
‘‘No, they are just some random things I have put together. Yes, of course they are I would not tarnish my book with fake information,’’ I smile.
He copies down the information while I prepare the ingredients and start making it, I pour the love potion into the heart jar and the remedy in the upside-down one, which is only charcoal added into the mixture a good neutraliser, in seal them and Damien grabs the potions too place them into the glass magic proofed boxes,
‘‘Which other potion and remedy would you like to add next,’’ He asks,
I place my hand on top of the book, fill it with all the potions, remedies and elixirs I could think of, which made the book triple in thickness, then slid it over to him showing, that I have already filled it with all the ones I know, I even added embellishments and my name to the front of it,
‘‘Now that is a clever trick,’’ he says,
‘‘It is the same trick Cassius has used to do his own,’’ I point too Cassius large book, ‘‘I can do yours for a fee, it will match all that mine holds, in your own writing and font,’’ I smile,
‘‘Fine, what do you want,’’ he says sliding his book over to me,
‘‘I am not sure yet, I will think of something though,’’ I say retuning the book to him filed, a few claw marks and fur, between the pages to add to its authenticity,
He smiles, ‘‘you better be healed by tomorrow, we are having a party in our house and would love to have you over,’’ he says,
‘‘I would love to come, but I would risk being seen through the window, so I accept your offer, and I will try to heal to my fullness, so we can fight again,’’ I say,
‘‘You can come over earlier to help out if you like, at least that way no one will see you coming from next door,’’ Cassius says leaning in closer to me,
‘‘Sure, that would be great thanks, Cassius,’’ I turn to Alaric, ‘‘will you be okay with my presence,’’
He turns to me his piercing red eyes looking up and down at me, he was the middle tallest, the scar that perfectly cuts over his eye adds to his dark look, but I bet he is the softest of them all, ‘‘I am happy knowing you will be safe within our house,’’ he says, taking my hand and kissing it like a Knight would, I blush as his icy sparks run over my skin, I am glad when Mr. Pukk, speaks, pulling our little gesture to a finish,
‘‘Good morning all, I see the potions are coming along well, in such short notice as well, if you have not already done so, then you need to know your potions are due by the end of the day, you may work through lunch, but after you have physical training, no magic or no shifting is allowed just pure raw strength, I cannot wait to see you all later,’’ he says, before leaving,
Lunch is a baguette, with meat and salad, I choose the filling, the canteen lady hands me some crisps and a cookie,
‘‘Have you had a subway before,’’ Damien says,
‘‘And how does one have a subway,’’ I ask,
‘‘It is the name of a fast-food restaurant, they do exactly what is on offer for lunch today,’’
‘‘There is a place you can buy sandwiches from?’’
‘‘Yes, there are many, but this one makes them fresh in front of you like this one,’’ he says taking a massive bite out of his,
I end up sitting on their table, accidently following Damien as he spoke to me, Alaric sat with an adult juice box, and a smaller sandwich, while Cassius ate like a bird with his seeds, nuts berries and other various fruits, I am just glad Damien had opted for the larger sandwich, just as I had, making me feel like I was not being a glut,
‘‘Have you invited the entire year group to the party,’’ I ask, beaming with excitement, as I eat my cookie,
‘‘Yes,’’ they say,
‘‘Have you been to a house party before,’’ Alaric grumbled,
‘‘Nope, you will be my first, I growled at too many people in human studies, so they never invited me, seems to be the going invitation here though,’’
Cassius giggled, Alaric nearly chocked and Damien growled,
‘‘See, just on que,’’ I say stroking Damien's hair, ‘‘I do have to ask though, do you usually sit this close to people,’’ looking at the non-existent gap that I had left between me and Damien,
‘‘Sorry,’’ he says sliding his chair, over slightly, but not nearly enough, ‘‘is your arm healed enough to spar later,’’ he moves the subject off himself,
I pull my sleeve up revealing where he had bitten me yesterday, Cassius grabbed my arm,
‘‘These cuffs are strong magic. Who put them there,’’ he asks,
‘‘They have been there as long as I can remember, no mage or potion can remove them, only the caster can, but I do not know who that is, so I burn every time I use magic,’’ I reply,
‘‘Your shifting spell was a nice touch, you will have to teach it to me, I cannot quite master the hold, I was utterly amazed with how fast you cast it, I did not even see your mouth move,’’ Cassius says,
‘‘I have a unique skill, at least that is what Mrs. Langdon seem to call it, once I have cast the spell the once, I never have to do it again, I am able to recall the memory of doing so, which insights the spell to start over,’’
‘‘Ohh, okay now that is a unique skill,’’ Cassius says,
I turn to face Damien, ‘‘all healed, so no biting later,’’
‘‘I cannot promise,’’ Damien groans,
We head to the training room, when Alaric had finished his slurping, the trio stood waiting for me by the assault course, I am glad for the leggings and vest top I put on this morning, a vampire stands next to the entrance of the assault course,
‘‘Welcome, behind me is a maze designed to text your natural strength and abilities, there are twelve tables which means there are twelve teams, you must help each of your team mates through the maze, if you end up the other side without one of them, you must go back through and find the last, stay calm and try not to panic, if we feel you are unsafe we will interfere, otherwise enjoy and let the race begin,’’ the Vampire shouts then blows his whistle,
I grab Theo and Sophie, the boys trail closely behind, we turned left then right, before coming to a ditch, with a rope, Damien swung across first, followed by Alaric and Cassius, I made sure Sophie and Theo made it across safely, before I swung, Damien made sure to catch me in his arms, his heat ran through me as his arms wrapped around me,
‘‘Leave go, you are making it awkward,’’ I huff,
‘‘Sorry,’’ he replies holding his hands up,
We head to the next part, which was two balancing posts side by side, Theo and Sophie go first, making it look super simple, Cassius went over with Damien, leaving me with Alaric,
‘‘I have a slight problem,’’ I say,
‘‘And what would that be,’’ Alaric answers holding his hand out to guide me,
‘‘I have no balance, at all, I can just about walk on the floor without falling,’’ I smile, rubbing my head,
I see the cogs literally turning in Alaric’s mind as he processes what I have just said, then I watch him look at the beams and at me, he shrugs before chucking me over his shoulder, carrying me to the other side,
Words escape me, as his icy sparks run through me,
‘‘Now that is what I call teamwork,’’ Theo shouts,
‘‘Thanks’’ I say, as he places me on my feet,
‘‘Any time,’’ he winks,
‘‘How long until the end, do you think,’’ ask the team,
‘‘Usually our group is first out, we take the same turnings every time, but it has been a while, if I remember correctly, we should have two more of the teamworking tasks and then out,’’ Sophie says,
‘‘Are you worried, you will turn into a pumpkin if you are out too late,’’ Alaric chuckles, low and beautifully,
His chuckle has stunned me, luckily Sophie is guiding us all to the next part, which is a weighing scale, which is hung over another deep ditch,
‘‘This is one of my favourites,’’ Theo says,
I watch as he climbs up the side closest to us, then balances over to the other side, Cassius climbs up after him, but does not follow across, the whole structure starts to rotate,
‘‘Under there is our way over, hold on to the handles until you reach the other side,’’ Damien says,
I nod, and hold onto the handles, Sophie grabs on to the underside of Theo’s then, Damien grabs Cassius underside, finally Alaric comes over, Cassius jumps off and it turns all the way back around for Theo to jump off as well, we head to the last part, I could see the exit just beyond the task,
‘‘And how exactly are we supposed to complete this one, it is just a big hole,’’ I say,
They all link hands,
‘‘Hold my hand, this is the fun part, do you trust me,’’ Cassius smiles,
‘‘A little,’’ I reply, holding his hand,
We jumped into the hole, which was the actual exit,
‘‘Well done, Team 3, enjoy the rest of your day,’’ the vampire from earlier says,
We wave Theo and Sophie off, before heading to the library, the boy’s insisted in walking with me, they even come in with me,
‘‘I shall see you tomorrow, thank you for today,’’ I say to them,
‘‘Why are you in here,’’ Damien says,
‘‘I come here, stash my clothes, read until Mrs. Langdon closes up, then go home, in hopes that the parents are unconscious on the sofa,’’ I answer,
Damien huffs saying something under his breath that made the other two laugh, Mrs Langdon came over, just as I was getting comfortable in my usual spot,
‘‘And who might these young males be,’’ she says realising I had a gathering,
‘‘This is Cassius, Damien and Alaric, Damien’s the bitter,’’ I laugh.
‘‘The witch dumped a large ball of water over a lion, what did she think would happen,’’ he grumbled,
‘‘Have you not somewhere to be,’’ I asked them,
‘‘We do, but we wanted to invite you to come with us, to have supper and a movie night,’’ Damien says,
I look to Mrs. Langdon, who nods, her approval, ‘‘sure, sounds fun, I have never had a movie night before,’’ I reply,