SWNOVELS Chapter CHAPTER FOURTEEN
DREAM OF REALITY PART II
Fina heart accelerated wildly as she watched the horror in her sister’s eyes.
She knew how she looked like. Blood on her.
Roslyn wanted to run to her but Jessica dragged her back.
“Fina!” Ros cried in horror.
“The book and I’ll let your sister go. She’s asleep right now but if she die here, she will never wake up and whose fault would that be? Her own dear sister” Tyrell said
Roslyn tried to struggle out of Jessica’s hold and bit her hand.
“You snake” Jessica said and hit her sister’s face with the back of her hand.
Roslyn fell on the floor with a thump.
Fina could only watch. None of this was real except it was real.
Death here means death over there.
“Give me the book, Clark. I don’t understand what you want to gain with the book. You can’t even use it” Tyrell said
Coco Bell watched in amusement at what was unwrapping in front of her.
Fina wanted to wipe that expression off her face forever.
No. The book might not be useful for her but she had heard Carly Brooklyn’s.
Loud and clear.
She head heard their anthem.
“How could you? They trusted you. Everyone trusted you” Fina said
“Not everyone, since my roommate wanted you to help him escape. Not everyone.”
“No one could ever believe this”
“That’s right. No one. They will think you mad too. Just like Xiana. You committed suicide and one of the students found your body. Everyone forgets soon enough” Tyrell said
Her sister groaned in pain on the floor.
“You are the faceless one the trees talked about. You were the shadow following our every footsteps. You were the one putting on Zedler’s appearance. You were the one with the past”
“You forgot one thing. I did put on Ozias Black appearance too”
Fina took a shaky step back.
Her eyes moved to Coco and Jessica.
“You are the one with the ivy” Fina said to Jessica.
“Actually Clark, I’m behind that. A little dose here and there. I will say, I do fancy reapers a lot. They are hot” Coco said.
Insanity.
“You made me do the sentimincus spell. You acted like a friend!”
“Since we are talking about crimes now, I did do so many things. The book?” Tyrell asked
“Were you behind Xavier’s sickness too? Of course you were. Coco did that. You’ve been making your friend sick everytime until you didn’t need him anymore” Fina said
“Sweetheart, I know you are overwhelmed right now, but if you don’t want your sister to die, give me the book” Tyrell said in anger.
All trace of the friendly one completely gone.
“And then what? You are going to leave Elfina? Or you are all going to stay and keep deceiving everyone?” Fina asked
“Just kill her already, Ty. Xiana wasn’t this difficult” Coco said
Tyrell laughed.
“Welcome to my world. Where I come from, we pledge with our blood. We bathe in blood. We drink blood. Are you curious about that also? It’s a world different from yours. It’s a world better than yours. We see you. Amenix. But you can never see us. Your Queen is weak. She’s not strong enough to protect you all. The Guardians wouldn’t save you from the horror that is coming. Amenix will be destroyed. It will be told as a victorious win where I come from” Tyrell said
“Xiana wanted out so you killed her” Fina said
She didn’t know whose time she was drawing on, her time or her sister’s?
Zo whimpered on the floor.
“When entangled in a web, you do not get out easily. When you know too much, you die. Xiana was a bitch. She made us look like we are the evil one. She wanted to tell Bryce Parker our secrets. Mélanie stuck her nose in the wrong direction. She was curious about us. She wanted to know about us but you don’t get to know about us without us getting to you first.” Tyrell said
Jessica dragged Roslyn up and wrapped her hands around her throat.
“Give me the book, Fina” Tyrell commanded.
Jessica skin began to change and in the wink of an eye, turned to the spider she feared the most.
Fina took an unintended step back which didn’t go unnoticed by Tyrell. His eyes watched her every movement.
Jessica took Roslyn in her spidery hands and began to twist.
Roslyn screamed and screamed but Fina didn’t let go of the book. She was stunned and feeling out of place.
She had to save Roslyn first.
“Give me the book, Clark” Tyrell whispered softly.
Fina brow furrowed together in anger.
Roslyn scream seeping into her bones.
Her sister doesn’t deserve this.
She wrapped her hand in a fist and smashed the book on the floor.
That distracted them.
They all ran to get the book like bees drawn to a nectar.
Fina kicked it into the glass and it slipped into another room.
She ran to her sister and picked her up.
“What did you do?!” Tyrell screamed at her.
The fifth wall was where the book had disappeared to. Fina walked backwards until her back was touching the wall. Then, she disappeared.
She knew she was still there. But Roslyn was gone. The spell was broken for her.
Roslyn was already awake in the other world.
But no one could save her because she was already dying in an unknown place.
Now that her sister was gone, she could breath.
Not so long.
She saw Jessica’s spidery hand and made a run for it since she had no where to hide.
Fina ran so i fast even she knew how stupid that was.
It was the wall of distraction. And the wall of distraction will keep you here forever if you aren’t smart enough.
Jessica ran after her. Hard.
She chased Fina like her life depended on it.
Fina entered different rooms. Different glass room.
When she found nowhere to escape to, she stopped. Her back to Jessica.
Jessica lunged at her but Fina jumped out of the way, hitting her head on the glass. Blood slipped down her forehead.
Jessica grabbed her with her long hand and tried to start a cocoon.
Fina forcefully removed her hand and ripped one leg off.
Jessica screamed in pain and dropped her.
She hit Fina with her hand and she stumbled.
Bryce Parker’s wand.
She had Bryce Parker’s wand with her.
She never felt connected with her wand before. She always ignored the fact that her life have changed.
Fina reached for Bryce wand in the air but nothing came out.
Jessica beady eyes fixed on her and Fina rolled to the left when she wanted to trample her.
Jessica shot silks at her.
One caught Fina on the leg and dragged her on the floor.
Fina reached for the silk and wrapped her hands on it, pulling it to her.
The silk broke and she ran into the glass.
The glass held a pattern. Not everyone have a way out.
You calculate and watch. The one that turned the palest is the one with the way out.
But not applicable to focus when in danger.
Another room. Another enemy.
“You’re strong.” Coco said behind her. “Elfina raises few strong students. You never compare with dark students”
Fina watched her for any slight move.
Coco took out a red liquid vial and gulped it down.
“We’ve been here for years. Adapting to your world. Getting closer to the best of the best. We were getting close. And then you appear. You were never supposed to come to Elfina. Whatever Frida saw, must have gotten her scared. She knew the book was missing. Her Guardians were smart. They searched in secret. For years. But they never found the book. Xiana was a great dark student. She was praised highly by the Masters. The Masters trusted her and she obeyed. Then, we came here and she changed. Walker changed her. Parker, Black, Starr, Faye, Osborne and Rose changed her. She was one of them. She stopped being one of us.”
Fina looked at her through half closed lids.
“What are you?” She asked
“We? We are your nightmares. We are coming. For everyone of you. The world will worship us. They will bow at our feet. Our years of sorrow will come to an end”
“You sound confident” Fina said slowly.
“You told Tyrell about the Queen. That was your mistake. The Queen must have seen something. And whatever Frida saw, it’s always the truth”
Coco cut her palm with an invisible blade and drank her blood. Her tongue lapped the remains slowly with her eyes fixed on Fina.
“Xiana wanted to be free. Since she had a relationship with Swift, she wanted them to stop. She wanted us to stop. But she had forgotten she had made a deal with the devil. The Masters know. They know everything. They watches Amenix. And what the Masters want, the Masters gets. Even if they want your Queen”
Fina took a step back.
“So, they ordered her death. The same way Carly’s was ordered centuries ago. Xiana never left. She must have been waiting for you. How stupid she must have been thinking she would give Frida the most powerful book in the world. That book, can wipe the whole world. That’s how powerful it is. It belonged to us but they took it from us. And they’ll revenge. When Tyrell knew Xiana’s still appearing, he found a way to get rid of her. Xiana’s gone. Forever. And so will you”
Fina’s eyes searched quietly for the palest wall but Coco was perfectly watching her every move.
“Swift became your shadow. Shelly Jefferson” Coco laughed wickedly.
“She never knew she was playing with fire but we couldn’t kill her because everyone will know. No matter how hard we try to wipe everyone’s memory the way we did to them, we’d never be able to wipe hers.
“I really want to piece the puzzle together for you so you’d be free with your job when you are gone. Time flies when you are here.” Coco said sadly. “Xavier was smart. He started to get suspicious so we start giving him the poison. Little by little until his body will adapt. Every drop wipe a part of his memory. But the idiot couldn’t stay away from books. He remembers whenever he grabbed something to read. Xavier doesn’t read for fun. He read to remember. And Bryce Parker always made sure he remember. Those two are closer than anything.”
“You’ve been poisoning him for years. He thought he was sick”
“Pity. An advantage. He started to shut Tyrell off and if he fights with Tyrell, everyone will know our secret so we decided to give him the last dose.”
Coco looked at Fina.
“But you came along. You ruined everything Fina Clark! You weren’t supposed to be here!” Coco shouted. “The girls hates you so I wanted to be the nice one and make you my friend”
“Why kill them?” Fina asked, her eyes flickering from the wall to Coco.
“Rituals. Sacrifice. For the book. It was important. Their blood bring us closer to the book. Their blood brought us closer to you. You found the book. We made you and Xiana talk. Even in death, she was close-lipped. Even in death, she was loyal. In dreams does it all lay. If you die here, you are never getting back.”
“Carly cursed you” Fina said
“Carly cursed herself. The Masters took care of her. Remember, the Masters watches” Coco said “Think carefully, when I came to see you in that room when you were hallucinating, I remembered the deaths and no one remembers”
Fina looked her straight in the eye.
“So? That makes you smart?”
Coco beamed.
“Yes. Enough of the bed time stories”
Coco touched her jaw and removed her mask.
Every part of her changed into spines and her eyes became one.
The red eye.
Fina didn’t wait. She went straight to the palest glass and disappeared.
She felt something piercing her skin and looked down at her side to see seven spines in her skin.
She didn’t need to be told twice it was poison.
The room began to tilt wildly and she struggled to keep herself standing.
Her body jerked as she felt another presence in the room.
Tyrell.
Tyrell looked down at her.
Fina glanced at his hand and smiled when she didn’t see the book in his hands.
“Even walls of distraction bested you. You haven’t found the book”
“I wouldn’t say that. Even the hardest wall can be brought down”
Tyrell made a silent spell and the whole walls darkened.
“Tetsiya Sentimincus!”
******
Fina had said she was going to Walker. That had been hours ago.
Zo head swarmed with thoughts as she ran out of the castle.
Fina have been gone for hours.
She picked up pace as she went straight to her destination.
Walker.
Is she with Walker? Is she being punished?
She was out of the castle when Nancy and her minions attacked her.
“Who is going to help you now, Midget?” Nancy spat.
Zo glared at her.
“Oh… The kitten wants to fight” Carrie said and poked Zo on the shoulder.
They poked Zo with their wands, teasing and making fun of her.
Zo fell down when they pushed her.
She had to get to Fina.
She hurried up to her feet. No time to be weak.
As Carrie tried to poke her again, she took a deep breath and punched her hard on the face.
Nancy screamed and lunged at her.
Zo closed her eyes, ready for the hit but it never came.
She opened her eyes to see Shelly Jefferson winking at her.
“Hey friend” Shelly said “Miss me?”
“You are supposed to be on room arrest” Nancy said, trying to free her hand from Shelly’s grasp.
“I got out” Shelly said
“On whose order?” Nancy asked in disbelief.
“Mine” Shelly said “Get out of my sight”
Shelly jerked her hand away and she yelped.
Nancy and her minions scurried away.
“Where’s Clark?” Shelly asked
When Zo shook her head, Shelly’s face lost all colour.
“She said she was going to check on Xavier. And that was hours ago.”
“Let’s go to Walker then”
They didn’t walk.
They ran.
Fast.
People gave them looks but they didn’t mind.
They raised their rings for inspection and walked right in without permission coming to a halt.
Walker wasn’t alone.
He was with his favorite students.
And so he always talks about.
Bridget Faye rolled her eyes.
Walker was leaning on his desk, which wasn’t a surprise.
The rest was standing in different places.
Ozias and Bryce were standing close to Walker while others was at a distance.
“What a pleasant surprise. You are here?” Walker said
“I’m not good at rules although I’ll try to serve my punishment later? The best of the best are here only some are missing. That’s mind bogling” Shelly said
“Tyrell’s sick.” Kit said, looking up for the first time since they’d stepped into the room.
“Yeah. He’s definitely sick. Right. Splendid” Shelly said mockingly.
“Aside from breaking school laws, what are you doing here?” Walker asked.
Ozias glanced at Shelly but quickly looked away.
Kathleen, Camilla and Bridget all had an annoyed look on their faces.
Bryce Parker watched Zo.
And so was Mr Walker now.
“Why wasn’t she punished?” Shelly asked “No. Don’t answer that. Never mind”
Fina wasn’t here.
Nor Coco nor Tyrell nor Jessica.
Shelly willed herself not to think about it.
If they are with Fina, then-
No.
“Is something troubling you, Miss Alvarez?” Mr Walker asked
Zo looked at Shelly with horror. Everything seeping into her head.
“Fina said she wanted to talk to you” Zo said shakily
“I haven’t seen her today” Mr Walker said
“She was on our way out of the castle the last time I saw her. Hours ago?” Bryce Parker said “I saw her with Ian”
Silence.
“Oh.” Shelly said
Mr Walker must have read something on their faces.
“I’ll talk to you all tomorrow. You are dismissed”
The girls glared at them except Camilla, with the sickly sweet smile on face.
When Bridget got to where they were standing by the door, she stopped.
“What trouble have your friend gotten herself into now?” Bridget asked
“You shouldn’t be asking me that when two of your friends are missing” Shelly snapped
“Coco is sick-
“Let me guess? Jessica Young is sick too?” Shelly asked
Bridget scoffed at her and walked out of the room with fake friends.
The boys didn’t leave.
“I really want to hear this. I’m having a bad feeling about this” Bryce gave his excuse when Mr Walker looked at him.
And Mr Walker never deny Bryce Parker.
“Fina was going to check on Xavier and talk to you” Zo began, her hands shaking.
“What happened to Xavier?” Ozias asked sharply.
“He was sick. No, he was poisoned” Zo said
Total silence.
“Xavier has an illness that bothers him” Bryce said with a frown. “That’s not poison”
“Xavier had suspicions that Tyrell was poisoning him” Shelly said “He told us himself. He asked us to take him to Mr Walker. He wanted to be out of Tyrell’s sight. He asked for him” Shelly said, pointing at Kit. “But he brought Jessica Young instead”
Confusing marked their eyes.
“I confirmed it myself. The pills that he gave Xavier was made from Ivy. The same flower that was given to Talon. Anne took care of Talon” Zo said
No one believed them.
The door opened and Xavier walked in.
Every eyes turned to him.
He still looked sick but better than before.
“Why?” Bryce asked.
One word. And Xavier understood. “I wasn’t sure. He was strange. He began to act strange.”
“They were looking for a book” Shelly said
All attention turned to her.
“Students were killed because of it. You probably don’t remember. The memories were being erased from everyone’s head. Beau Harrison and Lia Mason was killed. A student from Gemini was killed too. Three repeated deaths. One same goal. It was all because of the book” Shelly said
“What book?” Ozias asked
“The invisible coded book. The book have been lost for years. The Guardians searched for it but they never found it” Mr Walker explained “It’s very powerful and dangerous”
“There were deaths and shadows. Someone threatened us. Someone followed us” Shelly explained
“Fina found a diary in the library. It was Carly Brooklyn’s. A student in Elfina. She hid the diary century ago. We decoded it and learned about the deaths. Ivies. And the red eye. Especially the book. We were going to stop but we got entangled in it. One thing led to another. We found out Serene Berry was Mélanie Crest” Zo said
“Mélanie is dead” Kit said “Right? Her name sounds familiar”
“Yes. Serene was murdered but the memory was erased from everyone’s head. No one investigated. Mélanie soul lived inside her.” Shelly said “The book led to a ghost. Xiana Kang’s ghost”
Everyone was alerted even Mr Walker straightened up.
The memories coming back in bits.
“Xiana took us into a secret room in the library. It was an odd room. With a painting. July 12th was written on it.” Shelly said “We followed her into the fountain of blood that led to an ugly room covered in blood. Bad words were written on the walls and we found Xiana’s ring. Somone tortured her in that room”
“The day Fina got hurt in the Telepathy room, we found ourselves in an odd place. We were chased by snakes. Fina fell from the high stair.” Zo said
“Tyrell was behind Xiana’s death and so was Jessica.” Shelly said
“No. Tyrell’s been with us for a long time” Bryce said
“He became close to Fina so she would tell him everything. He is evil.” Shelly said, glaring at Bryce Parker.
Mr Walker looked Shelly straight in the eye.
“Why don’t you start from the beginning? From the beginning, Jefferson”
“I- I’ll explain on the way. We’ve got to find Fina first. She’s in danger” Shelly said
“I didn’t know if she left the castle safely but let’s start from there” Bryce Parker said “But, if you can remember, why can’t we remember?”
“We don’t have an answer to that yet” Shelly said
Ozias was extremely deep in thought.
“If they have Clark with them, I don’t even know what to think” He said, looking straight at Bryce.
Bryce expression was unreadable. No one knows what’s going on his head.
If it’s true, their long term friendship… the pain.
Zo shook her head, Bryce Parker’s feelings was the least of her problems.
“Lead the way. And I want a thorough explanation for all of this” Mr Walker said.
Shelly didn’t need to be told twice.
She began her explanation as soon as they were out of the door while her heart pounded in her chest hoping they weren’t too late to save the one person who had started to mean a lot to her besides her thrashy family in the City of Love.