The Young and Gifted

18. gps

Raf pushed through the crowd, searching over the herd of drunk teenagers. He caught sight of the blonde hair ahead and by the looks of it, she looked pissed. Raf didn't care. He grabbed Lizzie's arm, turning her to him and asked, "Have you see Kaura?"

He scoffed, yanking her hand away. "Trust me, when we both find the witch besties we're looking for, the devil will tell you where they are."

Raf rolled his eyes, not invested in the drama. "Have you seen Landon either?" Out of all his friend groups, he couldn't find those two. He last saw MG and outback, playing pranks on their vampire friends. Somehow, Raf knew that Landon was with Hope.

"I am not a freaking GPS," Lizzie snapped angrily and continued to storm off.

Raf sighed with frustration and continued looking out in the crowd. It's not that he was scared, he just wanted to make sure Landon was fine. After what happened at the beginning of the school year, Raf didn't want to be responsible for having a loose vampire feeding on his best friend.

He spotted Mason in the crowd, throwing back shots and swirling around with a short girl. His hands were tracing her hips and they swayed to the music. Raf shook his head. Last time he checked, Mason was with Lizzie. It must have been a fling then.

Against his will, he followed the path to the vampire, gritting his teeth as he said, "Where's Hope?"

Mason continued to dance with the music, grinning at the girl under his grasp. "Beats me."

"And Kaura?"

"Why would I know where she is?" Mason scoffed, finally turning to Raf with an annoyed glare.

Raf matched his gaze, not breaking the stare even a second. He was aware that Mason was attracted to Kaura, he couldn't blame him, she was gorgeous. But from what she told him, Mason was persistent and he knew she couldn't handle it. Raf wasn't even sure Mason could handle Kaura, not in the way he could. But if Mason overstepped his welcome, overstepped the boundaries, he would be there in a flash to snap his neck. Repeatedly. The teachers didn't need to know.

Neither of them seemed keen to back down but the loud booming broke their gazes apart abruptly. Everyone at the party glanced at the sky, the source of the terrifying noise.

Mason already had a terrible feeling. Before he could even sharpen his senses to pin where Hope was, he spotted the mighty wings flapping in the clear dark sky. Raf and Mason turned to each other and with a knowing look. Now they really needed to find Hope.

*

So as Raf told the teenagers to return to their dorms and alert the teachers, Hope and Landon were near the pier, their legs dipped in water. She blushed as he tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear and smiled at her. Before either of them could speak, Josie's running footsteps and pants jerked them apart.

"What's going on?" Hope pulled herself to her feet, wiping her pants before planting her hands on her hips.

"There's another monster on campus," Josie answered after catching his breath. "We need to get you back into the school before it finds you."

Hope's heart skipped a beat. She knew she should have left for New Orleans as soon as they figured out she was involved. Instead, she was too selfish to pursue whatever was happening between her and Landon, even though they were strictly told not to investigate further. But somehow, she was so drawn to him—

"We're trying to find the witches who cast the cloaking spelling so that my dad, Dorian and Emma can help us," she continued to say, beckoning the two.

As they followed her, Hope addressed Landon. "Find Raf, he'll tell you where to go."

"And you?" He looked worried and deep down, Landon knew that he would risk his life to make sure she was alright.

"I am going to try and ward off this monster before it does some real damage," Hope said more to herself.

Landon didn't seem to agree. "If it's after you, you need to be as far away as possible—" his words got caught in his throat when they arrived at the party scene.

It wasn't even much of a scene. It was a ruin. The fairy lights were flickering, nearly broken. Glass was shattered and tables were flipped. Thankfully, most people were deserted but there were still a couple who were struggling to escape.

Hope turned to Josie and ordered, "Help the rest of the people get away." Josie nodded and jogged to the right, helping up a small crying girl.

Hope was about to speak to Landon but the loud booming shriek of the monster itself startled her. It emerged in all its stone glory. The monster was made out of cement, big hard wings flapping behind it. Hope could spot small horns and talons descending down its lips.

"That's a freaking gargoyle," Landon gushed in awe. "Dude, that's insane."

"Landon," Hope growled. "Go."

He quickly picked on his feet, dashing through the clearing to find Raf. Hope could spot Mason and MG trying to throw rocks at the creature to grab its attention, to distract it from making more chaos.

Hope waved her hand high, screaming, "Over here." The gargoyle's gaze snapped to her with a fuming grunt and Hope swallowed, taking slow steps back. If she led it to the woods, far away from the school—

The gargoyle's wings spread, preparing to dive and Hope swivelled around to bolt towards the trees. Hope jerked her hand out, motioning to the decently sized boulder. "Volant." She flung it behind her and surprisingly, the monster dodged it fluidly.

It released a war cry and plunged down, catching unto Hope. She screamed as it scooped her up. Real fear drowned her senses when it flew up and up and up—

"Confractus et relego-" she choked on her words when the monster dropped her. Hope's eyes widened as the ground kept getting closer. "Pulvinus rui--." She had already landed painfully, her head slamming against the dirt ground. She knew she was going to have a concussion.

Hope panted, turning on her back. She tried to crawl away as the Gargoyle landed on the ground before her. She was prepared to cast another spell but the monster only stared at her, head inclined.

And then it left. Hope blinked, not sure if it truly happened. But sure enough, the monster was gone. She watched its wings flap away at insane sped.

Once she realized, Hope scrambled to her feet with a gasp. It's going for Landon.

~

"I can't have someone else get hurt because of me."

try to guess who said it and don't forget to vote ;)