Autumn Burn

Chapter 14

Agent Pipe asked questions for almost two hours, always circling back to the main questions. Where were you, how did you get there, who are the people you were with? I pretended to not know anything, playing dumb and answering their questions with different variantions of ‚I don't know what you are talking about'. They were fucked up, I was fucked up and after the hours passed, I decided to end the questioning. It had been optional, otherwise they would have arrested me. But they didn't and I also knew why. They hoped I would lead them to Prythian, even though they didn't know that it was Prythian they were asking for. After they left, my mother told me they said something about some sensors measuring something unnatural and detected it to me. It disappeared when I did too and came back when I returned hours ago. It was the magic, I realized. There was always magic around when Nesta came to pick me up and when I came back the magic probably clung to me, making the sensors go off. The first thing I did was burn the magical paper Nyx had gifted me. I didn't want them to figure out a way to communicate with them. Restraining myself from writing a message because I was too scared they were watching me precisely, I felt a twinge in my heart when I watched the paper burn. Now I had nothing left from Nyx. The only thing I had from Prythian was the necklace around my neck. I took it off, too scared that Eris would try and talk with me, but I always kept it on my body, not trusting anyone right now. And to be honest, I was fucking anxious. Because when I went to school the next day, I noticed them shortly after I left the house, thanks to Azriel's training. They were indeed following me and keeping an eye on me.

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In school I was distracted by Yana and a new student that transferred to us. Her name was Elizabeth, but she wanted to be called Lizzy. And I adored her curls. I had never seen hair so curly in real life, the color a bright red that reminded me a little of Eris. And she had adorable freckles all over her hands, forehead, nose and chin and with her open personality, she was a distraction that I welcomed. I volunteered to show her around, talking about everything that I knew about in our school.

„I know our cafeteria is closer and it's tempting to just go there when it rains, but trust me, the bakery tastes so much better." Lizzy grinned at me as we walked past the cafeteria. The building actually looked pretty nice, with big glass walls and pretty places to sit, but the quality was just better in the small bakery. As we walked over the schoolyard to leave the school ground, I tried to ignore the black car with two women inside stalking me and instead concentrated on the girl next to me. Her curls bounced with every step.

„If you want to have good grades, you'll have to be nice to the teachers. Sadly, the grading system here depends on whether they like you or not." Lizzy's smile dropped.

„That's some bullshit." she said and pushed her hands in the pockets of her winter jacket. I already wondered why she was wearing that thick thing since we still had over 10 degrees outside and my leather jacket kept me warm enough. But then I just shrugged it off and figured she just froze easily.

„You look rather friendly." I said and offered a smile.

„Just smile at them, do your homework and laugh at their jokes." Lizzy snorted but grinned anyway.

The second we entered the bakery, she seemed to relax into the warmth.

„Are you really that cold?" I grinned and Lizzy bit her lip but smiled anyway.

„I know, it's so annoying!" She ordered a hot chocolate and I got myself a sandwich.

„You know," I said on the way back, my mouth half full. "I am so glad that you transferred here."

„Because you've got to skip maths, right?" she laughed and I joined her.

„Totally!"

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