Knowledge: The Fifth Division Saga: Book 1 (17 page)

Chapter 10

              I paced around my room, too jumpy to hold still for longer than a minute or two at a time. Grotesque visions invaded the privacy of my mind, refusing to let the image of the shredded girl evade my train of thought for even a moment. I could see her stark black hair fanning out behind her bloody head like pitch colored feathers swimming in a pool of red. I could vividly picture the look of pure horror she wore as her eyes fell upon the stump where her hand should have been.

              I fought the sudden urge to vomit.

              Caspian and I, along with the rest of the class, quickly dispersed after seeing the wounded girl splayed across the university steps. The Seer teacher rushed everyone out of the room and through the back door of the school, keeping us away from the large group of people who now stood around the girl, talking and discussing the event, trying to figure out what to do.

Ash, Erion, and Laurel had been required to stay behind as part of the Legion. But as Caspian and I separated to go back to the palace, Ash grabbed my hand and said, “I’ll come check on you later, alright?” Caspian and I made our way back to the Elemental castle in silence, neither of us quite sure of how to react.

              So now, I fidgeted about my room, my mind racing at a million miles per hour. Back in the human world, crime shows had always been a favorite pastime of mine. I found such immense joy in solving the riddles and pointing my finger at the correct villain. Literally. Caspian often claimed I was nuts as I screamed at the television, “HE DID IT!” But, as I stared blankly out the window that overlooked the flower spotted meadow, I couldn’t help but try and figure out whodunit. Who would mangle a teenage girl like that? What was the motive? As far as I had seen, Nostos maintained a relatively peaceful and cheerful disposition. Sure, there seemed to be some sort of prejudice against Ash for whatever reason and Ash constantly spoke about the tension between the Kingdoms, oh and there was the fact that if anyone found out about Caspian and I being half Elemental and half Wielder, they would have our heads. But other than that, this place seemed essentially harmless.

              I sighed and slapped my hand to my forehead.

              A hurried knock sounded from my door. I strode over and opened it, already knowing who would be there. Ash rushed into my room with no greeting and began pacing back and forth just as I had been doing for the past half an hour. I rolled my eyes and shut the door with a steady click before walking over and sitting on my bed, watching him mutter to himself worriedly. I focused in on his words, trying to make out what he murmured and, to my surprise, I found myself able to hear everything he said as if he was whispering straight into my ear.

            
 
“Slits at the neck, wrists, and ankles…indent due to blunt force trauma in the back of the skull…missing left hand…my fault…?”

            
 
“If this is you checking up on me, then you are doing a really cruddy job of it.”

              He stopped pacing to look at me, his dark eyes glazed over like he wasn’t really there but actually in a distant land, “Huh?”

              I stepped forward, loosening the stern expression I knew I wore on my face, and placed my hand on his arm that crossed over his chest, “Maybe I should be the one checking up on you.”

            
 
“Pardon?”

            
 
“Look, Ash, I know that you’re a soldier, but seeing that sort of thing up close…”

            
 
“I’m fine,” he snarled, totally out of his reverie now. He pulled away from my touch and sat down on my bed, leaving me embarrassed and frustrated.

            
 
“I wouldn’t blame you for being shaken up.”

            
 
“’Shaken up’? Please, don’t insult me. I am merely trying to figure out why this happened is all. Just got a bit wrapped up in my own thoughts. But how are you, Miss…” I glared. “I mean Mirabelle. Sorry…habit.” He offered a broad grin that I could not return.

              I sat down next to him, leaving a couple of inches between us. Being this close, I felt a sort of gravitational pull, urging me to draw nearer, to scoot over just a tad. I could feel the alarming warmth emanating from his skin, giving a clear indication of his Knowledge. I braved a glance up at him and saw his automatic expression of apathy. He tried so hard to be numb, always unfeeling or joking. But for what? Without thinking, I reached out and placed my hand on his warm cheek. The skin beneath my palm grew even hotter.

            
 
“What?” He asked, shifting his body to face me, not bothering to remove my hand from his face. I searched his expression for any indication that he possessed any sort of emotion at all. I knew there were cracks in his exterior, I had known that since day one. They were minuscule, to the point that I almost never even noticed them. I doubted hardly anybody ever saw the real Ash Brentwood. But then again, it seemed that nobody really
wanted
to get to know Ash, with or without his cynical personality.

            
 
“I just don’t understand why you feel the need to be guarded all of the time.”

            
 
“You wouldn’t, would you? We have already discussed this, Mirabelle, and I really don’t wish to discuss it further, not today. Please?”

            
 
“Alright.” I lowered my hand, suddenly aware that I still touched his cheek. My palm glowed pink from the heat radiating off his skin. His dark eyes stared down at me and I thought I caught them flash a brief violent orange before fading back to their color of coal.

              He stood up briskly and hustled to the door like he could not get there fast enough, “Well, I’m glad you’re alright. I’ll see you tomorrow.” And he was gone.

*

              Later that night, I made my way down the twisting spiral staircase in search of some food.

              Ash brought dinner up to me like he always did but instead of sticking around to provide entertainment, he simply dropped off the silver platter and left. With everything that had occurred, sleep was not really an option. So, as I laid in bed staring at the ceiling for hours on end, my stomach eventually started to growl, a low rumbling sound. Soon enough, the edgy growl evolved into a horrendous roar.

              Therefore, I was forced to creep down the dark hallways, trying to ignore the pressing fear in the back of my mind whenever a shadow flickered or a floorboard creaked. I pulled the thin scarf that wrapped around my shoulders tighter to my body. I licked my salty lips, the fresh blood filling my mouth. My lip biting had reached a new level of excessive since my arrival in Nostos.

              I entered the kitchen area silently and scoured the counter tops for any food that hadn’t been stored away. But of course, the palace staff proved to be impeccable at upkeep and the counters were spotless. I sighed and stepped toward one of the many cupboards, my stomach on the verge of howling.

              I reached for the handle and…

            
 
“What are you doing?”

              I yelped and spun around to see Caspian walk into the kitchen, “You scared me.”

            
 
“Sorry. I heard you coming down the stairs. Is everything alright?”

            
 
“You heard me?” So much for being silent. “I can’t sleep, thought I would eat something.”

              He nodded understandingly and approached the cupboard, swinging the wooden door open to reveal containers upon containers of canned fruit. He snatched a jar of orange substance and motioned for me to sit down with him at the bar. I plopped down on the stool beside him and dug into the orange stuff once he popped the lid. The fruit didn’t taste like normal oranges, they were tarter, but no doubt delicious. I checked the label reading, Soles Fructum.

              We sat in quiet for a few moments before I needed to break it, “I’m getting tired of all this not knowing.”

            
 
“I think it’s just one of those things that will come little by little. It sort of seems to be how these people work.”

            
 
“Yeah, well I don’t like it.”

              He sighed and stretched his arms above his head tiredly, “What I do know, is that no matter what, we got each other, you and me. Right?”

              I grinned and stuck another candied soles fructum into my mouth, “Always.”

*

              Caspian trudged up the university steps, his stomach pleasantly full from lunch, with Mira slouching at his side. He dared not ask her about the problem when she when she seemed to be traveling into a depressed mood. And by the way her and Ash bickered that morning, she was most
certainly
in a mood. Caspian, with a small grin, thought back to earlier that morning. He had still been rubbing sleep from his eyes downstairs in the foyer when he heard a loud crash sound from the top of the spiral staircase.

              Mira’s screeching voice followed, “What is your
problem
?”

              Caspian heard her door fling open and Ash’s relaxed tone drift down the stairwell, “You mean other than being way too attractive for my own good?”

            
 
“You’re an idiot.”

            
 
“An idiot who has personally delivered every meal to you since you got here just because you are too stubborn to sit at the table like everyone else!”

            
 
“I never asked you to do that!”

            
 
“Well don’t be expecting special treatment from now on. Happy?”

              With an irritated huff, Ash marched down the stairs, hands shoved in his pockets, with Mira following a considerable distance behind him.

              Caspian would never admit it aloud, but with all of the time those two had been spending together, he had begun to wonder if something more than friendship might be developing there. Not that Ash was a bad guy, he just couldn’t be called good. Nostos remained completely new to them and in Caspian’s eyes, snuggling up to magical creatures felt peculiar, even if he happened to be one himself.

              Only yesterday the girl’s limp form had been found on the front steps of the school. As he walked up those same stairs, he was not all that surprised to find that all of the blood had been cleaned up, not a single drop in sight. Even with the lack of gore visible, Caspian could not get the image of the black-haired girl out of his mind. Her blood curdling shrieks echoed in his ears. He shuddered unwillingly.

              Today, they would actually be attending the All Kingdom class, since yesterday the session had been so rudely interrupted by a gory attempted murder. Just another typical day in the magical realm of Nostos.

            
 
“We don’t know anything about Nostos.” Caspian muttered to Erion as they walked through the front door.

            
 
“They won’t expect you to.”

            
 
“Won’t people start to wonder why I don’t fit a specific Knowledge?” Mira questioned, her lips puckering with frustration. Caspian knew she must be dissecting, once again, the strange matter of her unknown powers. 

              Ash responded, “Well, you are from the human world, so people might just figure something about that makes you different. And, as you have pointed out, just one glance could tell a fool that there’s something odd about you.”

            
 
“Nice.” She growled.

              A flare of anger lit inside Caspian as he glared at Ash, “Watch it.”

              All he got was an eye roll and a shallow smirk.

              He walked beside Mira while she scowled ahead. Eager to lighten the mood he said, “Hope we don’t see anyone be brutally injured today.”

              She clearly wasn’t listening to him, “This is so ridiculous. Everything here is. I’m some sort of freak, I get it, and I’m tired of everyone pointing it out.” Caspian knew that by ‘everyone’ she meant Ash. A small flare of irritation rose in his chest. Mira had been constantly complaining about her lack of self discovery since their arrival in Nostos. Caspian had loyally stayed quiet and listened to her ranting. But she had yet to shut up and listen to him and his confusions, because, by golly, he had them. He pushed the unusual anger away, baffled at himself for being so selfish. Mira had a lot more to be wondering about than he did, he was aware of his Knowledge while she still wandered around in the dark trying to figure hers out. It took a few minutes but he eventually excused the feeling away and out of sight.

              They filed into the classroom of stone walls and elaborate paintings. Caspian spotted two empty chairs side by side in the front row and yanked Mira along with him to snatch them before they were taken. He ended up on the end, Mira beside him next to a Wielder boy with white blond hair. Caspian shifted in his seat to talk to Mira only to see that the Wielder had already started up a conversation with her. Uncomfortable and awkward, he began to face the front again when he spotted the midnight hair and bright green eyes that stole his breath every time he saw them.