ANIMA

33. Close call

Kenzie

“Oh my god! Did you see that? Our plan worked.” Ava says doing a little happy dance.

“What can I say, we are geniuses.” I reply.

Tomas gets some wolf whistles as he leaves the dance floor.

As soon as he nears our table Ava says, “I am so happy for you guys. Now tell us everything.”

“Don’t even think of leaving anything out, little bro.” I tease him.

“Oh my god, I need a drink.” he says moving towards the refreshments table.

We watch him as he grabs a drink and checks out the food on display. I guess he is trying to buy some time. Then I see Cassie approach him.

“What does she want?” Ava asks eyeing their interaction.

“Maybe to throw another tantrum. Tom said she threw one at his room last time.” I say.

“She has a boyfriend.”

“Right?!” I say getting ready to step in at any moment.But a few moments later she walks back to her friends.

Tomas returns to our table.

“What did she say?” I ask.

“She actually apologized for her tantrum last time. She wished Mason and me the best and even pointed out the best food here.” Tomas replies.

“Really?” Ava asks.

“Yeah”

It’s hard to believe Cassie would do something like that but maybe she has finally moved on.

“So where is your other half?” I ask.

“Huh?”

“Mason, silly” Ava replies.

“He’s not…he went to meet Aiden.” Tom says.

“The source must have made contact.” I say.

“I wish I could have gone too.” Ava says.

“I can’t breathe.” Tom says.

“They will be fine.” Ava replies.

But Tom starts coughing clutching at his throat.

“I can’t…breathe” he says again.

Oh my god, he must be having a reaction. When we were kids he had a bad peanut allergy. He is usually fine around them as long as he doesn’t ingest it.

“Do you have your EpiPen?” I ask. He shakes his head, no.

“Stay with him, I will be right back.”

Removing my shoes I run out of the ball room towards the lobby. I grab the first staff I see, the receptionist.

“Please find me an emergency kit, I need an epipen.”

She finds a kit and checks that it has an epipen.

“Lead the way.”

We run back to the ballroom. We find Tomas in even worse shape, he is wheezing and has a rash now. Our classmates look on as a helpless Ava and Sierra stand guard. Someone turned off the music.

The receptionist wastes no time and administers the EpiPen. A few moments pass and his breathing improves.

“Is he okay?” Sierra asks.

“He should be fine.” The receptionist replies.

“If you feel any further discomfort, see a doctor okay?” she says to Tomas.

“Okay” he says, his voice still sounding rough.

After thanking the receptionist profusely, she leaves.

Someone turns the music back on, though not as loud.I look around and see some people have gone back to dancing. Over at Cassie’s table, Shaw is recreating Tomas struggling to breathe.

“Tom, what did you eat?” I ask.

“Just these.” he says pointing to the plate in front of him, “Cassie said they were the best thing here.”

“She must have found out about your allergy.” Sierra says putting two and two together.

“That bitch!” Ava says.

Not bothering to put my shoes back on, I walk to where Cassie and her friends are dancing. She turns to watch me approach. As soon as I reach her, I slap her across her face.

“What the hell?” Brad says grabbing me by the arm, I elbow him in the gut and he doubles over.

“Pull a stunt like that again and I will expose every one of your secrets.”

“What secrets?” she asks nervously while trying to act brave in front of her friends.

I lean close making sure she is the only one who can hear what I say next.

“Should I tell everyone here who your birth mom is?” I ask.

“You wouldn’t dare. You would be exposing yourself too.” She says, though I note her face has turned ashen.

“I don’t care what any of them think about me. Besides they might actually start treating me better once they find out I am Serena’s real daughter. How sure are you they will still treat you the same once they find out you are not?”

I walk back to our table.Putting my shoes back on I say, “How about we go outside and get some air?”

“That’s sounds amazing” Tom says.

“We can also check on Mason and Aiden. Where did they say they were meeting the source?” Ava asks.

“Aiden said it’s by the fountains.” Sierra replies.

We take our time walking towards the fountains, enjoying the night air after being in a stuffy room the whole night.

“It’s so peaceful here.” Sierra says as we finally here the sound of bubbling water.

“Do you guys here that?” Ava says up ahead.

“The water?” Tom asks.

“No, that.” She says then takes off running, we run after her.

The scene before us stops us in our tracks; Aiden sitting on ground holding an unconscious Mason in his arms. He is on the phone.

“Please, please hurry...there is so much blood” he says.

That’s when I notice the expanding dark spot on the ground around Mason and all over Aiden’s clothes.

****
A/N

Thank you so much for reading ANIMA. Your support means the world to me!

Any thoughts, comments or critiques?

PS: The story will continue in the 2nd and final book in the Wellington duology, ANIMUS.

- Oli 💌