Dark Waters (Elemental Book 1) (26 page)

He had found her. The shadows waited, eagerly
watching the hunt draw to its close. They were ready to take every drop of
blood left in her. He closed in on her, wary of witnesses, even though he truly
believed what he was doing was right.

Her eyes closed and she slumped against the brick
wall, unable to hold on any longer. Her hand dropped from her abdomen and blood
spilled into the dirty water faster. He moved in with practiced ease. This was
what he did, and he was the best of his kind.

The shadows shuddered and danced with anticipation.

He knelt in front of her, not minding the frigid
water soaking his jeans. It was another sensation to recall later, when he
thought back on this kill.

I could see into his mind as easily as I could see
into hers. He put the muzzle of the gun to her head slowly, savoring the
moment. But she wasn’t dead. I felt the shot as the bullet exploded from the
gun.

The last thing that came to my mind was a circle with
intricate designs and symbols in it.

*          *          *

“Astrid!” My own scream startled me. I reached up to
feel that there was no gaping hole in my forehead, but I had never felt a
migraine so bad. Something dripped on my bare chest. Blood. I pinched my nose
to try to stop my nosebleed.

My palm burned like I had been branded. I studied my
hand, from the wrist to my fingers. No raised skin, no redness, no mark, but it
felt singed.

I was in my room, still at the school, alive and
unhurt. Henry and Darwin were both woken from my scream as well. As they asked
me what was wrong, I wanted to be relieved to see it was just a dream. I wanted
to believe it wasn’t real.

Except it wasn’t just a dream, and it wasn’t my
roommates or me who was hunted down and shot in an alley. But most importantly,
I knew it hadn’t happened yet. No, it wasn’t a dream. This was more vivid than
anything I had seen in anyone’s minds.

Astrid was in trouble.

“We have a problem, Mr. Sanders,” Hunt said gravely.
He folded his hands over the blue folder. Remy was just as somber on his left.
Alpha Flagstone, who had taken the seat on Hunt’s right, seemed more frustrated
than upset.

We were in the same room where all of this had
started, except there wasn’t a table in front of me. Over the course of the
semester, I worked hard to learn what I could. The more I read of Vincent’s
book, the more there seemed to be to read. I spent more time in the libraries
over the sixteen weeks of the semester than I had in my entire life collectively.

I stopped trying to figure out the mystery of
Heather’s note or find the lost pages about Heinrich Baldauf and the
Englishman. Instead, I worked my way through the semester without raising any
suspicions. I was ready to start my second semester, where I could learn magic
and use the distraction of the vampires to uncover some of the darker secrets
of the school.

Of course, with the case closed, I refused any more
money from Vincent. He said he wanted to at least help pay for my education,
but I told him I had all the money I needed. It seemed to me like he was trying
to be the uncle I never knew I had, but I was hesitant. Over the months that
followed John’s death, I started to trust the wizard a little more, but knowing
he was my uncle made me keep him at more of a distance. A part of me was afraid
that if I cared about him at all, he would become another murder victim.

“You have not passed all of your classes,” Remy said,
taking the folder from under her father’s hands and opening it. Professors
Roswell and Langril were on her left while Professor Nightshade and
Tanaka-sensei sat to the right of Alpha Flagstone. “As your schedule stated,
not all of your classes are weighted equally,” she said.

“
Metals
and
Magic in Everyday Life
were
each worth three points,” Hunt explained. “
Fundamentals of Potions, History
of North American Magic
, and
Laws of Magic
were each worth four.
Martial
Arts
was only worth two.”

Remy took it from there. “Obviously, the loss of
credits due to Professor Hans’s murder was nobody’s fault, but had you passed
your other classes, you would have had plenty of points to graduate.
Unfortunately, you did not pass
Metals
. Thus, you only have fourteen
points. You must have fifteen to graduate, and we cannot allow you to repeat.”

“I’m sorry, Mr. Sanders,” Professor Roswell said.
“You were a good student and did well on your assessments, but you missed more
classes than I could forgive.”

I did well despite missing class, but I wasn’t
good enough?
I was even able to keep up with all the notes. “I understand,
Professor,” I lied.

I felt like I had drunk ten cups of coffee; jittery
and a bit sick. Just when I found something to try for, something to make my
life better, I was getting kicked out. I couldn’t fail at something I was good
at! But I would suck it up and smile and pretend I wasn’t going to puke as soon
as I was alone.

“Only fourteen, Ms. Hunt? I think that’s a mistake,”
Professor Langril stated. Everyone looked at him.

I was only paying half attention at that point. Part
of me— a large part of me— wanted to reach into Professor Roswell’s mind and
change his verdict.
I could do it.
I had that much power and I knew the
professor would never suspect me, because he didn’t know what I could do. Hunt
and Remy would know.

But where would it end?

I didn’t think Professor Roswell’s grading system was
fair, but he wasn’t a villain. He had not physical hurt anyone or killed. If I
could use my power to control him, what would stop me from using it to get my
way in everything?

There had to be another way.

Professor Langril pulled his red foam ball out of his
pocket and started rolling it between his palms. “Mr. Sanders has graduated my
class with honors, which I believe, if you check the handbook, means that he
receives an extra credit point for my class.”

Professor Roswell looked at him like he was nuts.
“You can only pass one student a year with honors, and you have to be able to
support the decision.”

“Unlike you, Professor Roswell, I am not trying for a
record on how many students I can fail. Mr. Sanders, what color does a sleeping
draft turn when a tester solution is added?”

“Dark purple.”

“What is the melting point of mercury?”

“Negative thirty-seven point something Fahrenheit.”

“Why is a scream-worm named that?”

“It puts out an echo-location call that is too high
for us to hear. It drives shifters nuts, though.”

Alpha Flagstone narrowed his eyes in agreement.

“What are the symptoms of aconite poisoning?”

“Other than death? Try extreme nausea, stomach
cramps, foaming at the mouth---”

“Yes, yes, I know why he passed your class,”
Professor Roswell interrupted. “How did he earn honors?”

“Devon, on the first day, when I told you to light
the cauldron, what was the first thing you did?”

I thought back. It felt like a year rather than
sixteen weeks. “I put my jacket over it.”

“Why?”

“I didn’t want it to explode on me. My jacket could
be washed or replaced.”

“When I pulled out the ingredients and said we were
going over them, what did you do?”

“I put my gloves on.”

“When Becky put conium maculatum in her luck potion,
what did you do?”

“I poured it out and told her it was hemlock, which
is poisonous.”

Professor Langril turned to the other professor with
a self-satisfied smirk. He looked proud. “I have always stated that safety is
imperative, but I have rarely had a student who put safety first as much as
Devon. Therefore, he is graduating with honors in my class.”

Remy closed the blue file and passed it back to Hunt
with a smile. “In that case, Devon Sanders, you have passed your elemental
circle with flying colors and you have fifteen credits to graduate.
Congratulations. We will see you back here in five weeks.”

Rain Oxford is a teacher who has been writing for more than half of her
life. The Asian-influenced cultures she creates were inspired by Japan, where
she attended Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto. She does most of her writing in a
secluded cabin in the woods with a four-pound Maltese as a companion. When
she’s not teaching or creating worlds, she usually enjoys cooking, playing the
piano, or photographing exotic wildlife.

Facebook Page:
www.facebook.com/pages/Rain-Oxford/705026086262892

Website:
https://sites.google.com/site/rainoxfordauthor/

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Thanks for reading!

Elemental
Book 1:
Dark Waters

Elemental
Book 2:
Hungry Earth

The Guardian
Book 1:
The Guardian’s Grimoire

The Guardian
Book 2:
The Dragon’s Eyes

The Guardian
Book 3:
God of the Abyss

The Guardian
Book 4:
The Demon’s Game

The Guardian
Book 5:
The Wizard’s War

The
Awakening