Frozen Fire - Volume One: Fragments

8: Three's A Crowd

PLEASE READ THERE IS SOME IMPORTANT INFO HERE!!!

WOOP IM BACK! I AM SO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG BUT GUYS... THIS CHAPTER WAS LOOOONG LONG

So long, in fact, I had to cut it down! The chapter is almost finished, so I decided to instead post the first three scenes as a separate chapter. I can't promise pt. 2 in a week but it will be uploaded soon! Maybe it'll take another two weeks at most?

ALSO I've decided here to include a ret-con section. I think there will be a few over the course of the story, and every time it happens I'll post them in the latest chapter so as to not confuse everyone too much. Academy Years work like this now: there are five year groups, First Years (16-17), Second Years (17-18), Third Years (18-19), Fourth Years (19-20) and Fifth Years (20-21). The ages are like sixth form+undergrad uni if you're in the UK. But elsewhere, just think of it as very late high school plus early college/university years. The setting itself is supposed to be a mixture of these forms of education after all kinda.

Anyways, I don't want to stall too much, so here's the chapter!

Twitter/X: @ leslayrafim || IG: @ angel.writess || Tumblr: @ angelwritess

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"You didn't have to help me out, you know." Sylvie muttered, sitting on the porch of Sophie's house as the man let out a boisterous laugh.

"Pretty sure I do," In one swift movement, he managed to throw two more boxes in the back of the moving van. "We did promise Headmaster Andromeda that we'd help out in any way we could." Sylvie sighed, getting up and walking over as he effortlessly picked up another box.

"They couldn't just hire regular moving people? Are you sure they're not just overworking you..." Sylvie raised a brow, her voice monotone and vacant, "...detective?" The man grinned.

"Please, just call me Benny." Sylvie leant against the truck, watching as he continued.

When the detective had shown up rather than the expected moving crew, Sylvie had to call Andromeda to make sure this was authorised. Apparently, Andromeda didn't know if they could trust hiring a crew of unfamiliar moving people, where any of them could secretly be aligned with HELIOS. Instead, Benny offered to go help the girl instead. The thought that anyone could be working for them sent an unnerving shiver down the girl's spine.

Two professors had also come to help, but Sylvie could sense they were far too scared to even approach the girl's belongings and boxes, instead busy conversing with Sophie and Jade.

Sylvie's attention turned back to Benny, who pulled a face eyeing a box with 'FRAGILE' marked over the taping. He gingerly picked up and placed the box, disappearing into the van to 'make sure it's secure'. Sylvie recalled meeting Benny for the first time, when he and his partner came to interview her over her attempted kidnapping. His first impression made him seem kind, friendly.

That still seemed to ring true now. The man seemed imposing at first – a ball of pure muscle with scarred and calloused hands. Yet he kept a comforting smile on his face at all times, continuously checking in with Sylvie, asking how she was or how she was coping with the recent onslaught of stress in the young girl's life. Nothing about him made him seem like an immediate threat.

"I think that's the last of them," he muttered, "Hop in the front, the other two will sit in the back with your stuff to... I guess keep an eye on it?" The man shrugged with a smile, "Don't know why they're back there," He admitted, unlocking the passenger door for Sylvie. "But Headmaster Andromeda said I needed to keep you in my line of sight, and I'm the only one licensed to drive trucks out of us three." He said, gesturing for Sylvie to enter the truck.