An Expected Betrayal |TBATE

Chapter 11

KATHYLN GLAYDER

I woke up to knocking on my door. I opened the door–still in my nightgown– to see Curtis on the other side, he had dark rings around his eyes. He had those ever since Arthur left. "Tessia wants to talk to us," Curtis said with a tired smile.

My eyes lit up in excitement, no one had talked or even seen Tessia since that day. She would only talk to her close family, not even Lilia could get her to open up. "How is she doing?" I asked, my voice emotionless.

"I don't know, it was Elder Virion who told me. Virion told me Tessia is in her training room. We also found traces of Arthur," said Curtis.

I felt my chest become heavy, "He's not lying right? Have they really found traces? But if it's only traces..." anxiety grasped my lungs and I started to hyperventilate. Curtis's eyes went wide in concern so he pulled me into a hug. "Calm down, it's going to be ok. We'll find him," Curtis comforted me. I calmed down and pushed him out of my doorway. "I'll be there in a minute, let me get changed first."

Curtis nodded and left, his previous charismatic and energetic self was nowhere to be found. He now was always tired, he did still try to keep everyone happy though. Had he not, I might've gone crazy.

***

Everyone was sitting in Tessia's training room. I looked at Claire and Elijah, they haven't changed much on the outside but if you talked to them you'd hear the sadness and regret in their voices. They had put all of their time into training, probably to escape from the reality of what they had done.

Feyrith's normal cheerful expression was now one of anger. I wouldn't say he hated us but he also didn't like us. If anything, I'd say tolerance is what he has. I didn't blame him.

But, if Feyrith is this bad, how angry is Eleanor? From what I knew she was Arthur's sister and she absolutely despises us. I hadn't spoken to her, and frankly, I'm afraid to. I'm also trying to run away.

"Thank you all for coming," we all turned to see Tessia who had just entered. I looked at her horrified. Her voice was cold and devoid of any sense of self. She was normally the girl next door, the friendly face that everyone knows and loves. A good friend, a true friend. Her once happy eyes held no life and her face had a permanent thousand yard stare. The girl I once knew was now just a shadow of her old self.

"Tessia, what happened to you?" Claire asked, her voice laced with concern and fear. "Nothing happened to me, I'm perfectly fine," Tessia replied.

"You're obviously not fine!" I yelled, hoping my friend was still in there.

"No, Kathyln, I'm fine. I'm just still coping with everything," Tessia replied, her voice not changing.

Lilia ran up to Tessia and hugged her. "Don't you dare keep your emotions locked away! You heard what Arthur told us about his past life and how much it hurt him! P-Please don't become like that!" Lilia cried into Tessia's chest.

"I won't, don't worry. This is just a very efficient way to train," Tessia responded. None of us took that as an answer, but we couldn't do anything. I then looked at Sylvie, Arthur and Tessia's adopted daughter. She was looking up at Tessia with pity. The little thing must be so hurt after Arthur left her. He probably doesn't want to remember us at all.

"Elder Virion told me they found a lead on Arthur," said Feyrith, his face was angry but his tone and eyes betrayed him, showing his concern for Tessia.

"Yes, I have good news and bad news. The good news is the fact we found a trace of him, the bad news is that the trace is as old as his disappearance," said Tessia. I shrunk at the news, if it's that old we'll never find him.