Millennium Academy - The Fractured Shadow - Novel I

Chapter 7 - Vera Gonzalez

By the time she had come, panting, to a staggering halt in the line, Razz had already boarded the Hummingbird 8000 (supposedly made by Ms. Hephaestus) and she was left to board the next airship with Selwne and Peter. She missed Razz, but more importantly, she missed Emila. At least she could talk to Razz at HoneyDew. She had a lot to say to that girl.

"Hey, Vera!" Selene waved, and Peter grinned coyly at her. She walked up and slapped his face.

"Hi, Selene." She waved companionably at her then turned to Peter, glaring like fire in a forge. "I told you - I - am - lesbian." She punctuated each syllable with a blow. "You -" punch "little-" punch "arse!" She kicked his legs out from under him.

"Ow..." he groaned, rubbing his sore arms and covering his face with his hands.

"Get the message?" she growled.

"You should have been a werewolf. You'd make an amazing one, I bet," Selene called. 

"Not helping." she growled through gritted teeth. She finally sat down and took a jumble of wires and metal from her pocket and began to slowly untangle and tinker with it, like a cat's cradle game, or a ball of yarn.

No one talked for the rest of the ride.

_***_

By the time their airship had made it to the Institute building, Razz and the entire class had made it already, glares of disapproval etched upon every teen face.

"You're late." said lie, whose voice was like wind in the trees. They poked Vera in the chest angrily, glaring like a willow switch through their glasses.

"Yeah, Griffin. Lycaon. Gonzalez." Lilith had a habit of calling people by their last names when she was angry. Probably at Vera, since she deemed Vera responsible for Veran's disappearance, as Veran was Lilith's best friend. "By the way, Vera, where's your brother? I've been meaning to return a book I borrowed."

Vera shrugged. A couple of heartbroken girls glared at the two of them, jealous and overreacting over Veran's disappearance

Razz walked over. "Was your brother that popular?" she asked, wincing as the girls glared even harder at Razz's appearance.

Both Vera, Selene and Ellie nodded simultaneously.

"Wow."

They all walked in silence into the Institute. The walls were golden and dripping in honey, shaped like honeycomb and stretching high into the ceiling, where the topmost cls were incubators, carefully crafting the baby bees inside.

A desk, golden too, sat in the middle of the room, where a woman with a tight brown bun and round glasses stood behind it, organizing papers. Without looking up, she tapped her desk thoughtfully.

"Ah, the students. Laureen? Laureen! Oh, I swear that girl couldn't hear her voice if she was speaking- Laureen!"

A short Fae girl - a Florafay - came running clumsily into the room. "Y-Y...Yes? She stuttered.

"Oh, goodness, Laureen." The woman pinched the bridge of her nose, wearied. "Please show the academicians the Institute." Laureen nodded, and the woman caught Razz's eye. "Oh! ello, Razzberry."

"Hi, Auntie. Vera, this is my Auntie, Allianna Martiez. Auntie, Vera."

"Nice to meet you." Dark hand and tan hand collided in a friendly handshake. "Now follow Laureen, girls. She'll show you the beehive and the fermenting room, then we'll come back here for a chat about internships. Ok?"

"Sure thing, Auntie. Come on, let's go, Vera." Razz practically dragged Vera into the busy, buzzing beehive.

"Look! There's Jasper! I'm gonna go talk to him, ok? I'll see you around. You'll be fine by yourself, right?" Razz ran over to Jasper, leaving Vera alone and in the midst of all the commotion.

After a few moments of being jostled around by classmates (who earned a few bruises in return) she decided not to be a clingy little - oh, never mind, she kept walking along with the crowd, trying to catch a glimpse of the bee riders in the stadiums.

"Our Institute is not only the biggest factory of the MeadowShire," Laureen was saying, "but it is also the honey and sugar manufacturer of the magical community!" She seemed much more animated now.

As she prattled on, explaining the wonders of the bees and their Florafay, Vera wandered over to where Razz sat, a confused caterpillar scrunched between her eyebrows.

"You ok?" she asked, leaning on Jasper's fuzzy body.

"No," Razz admitted. "Jasper was just telling me about something weird. Something... paranormal. He's never, ever this serious. Ever."

"What is it?"

"Something called the Ruby Alliance. Apparently they're old acolytes of Jezeb Ruby. and they came here. Jasper saw from the hive."

Vera's eyes widened. Emila had told her about the tentacle, but did she tell Razz, too? She didn't want to frighten Razz into doing something rash like searching for the Ruby Alliance herself. But, on the other hand, Razz would kill her if she kept something like this.

She bit her lip, contemplating the disastrous results of both decisions. No. Razz's life was worth more than their friendship. Call her selfish, but that wasn't the case at all. Actually-

"What do you think we should do?" Razz broke Vera out of her confused stupor.

"I... I don't know." She said finally. "Let's catch up with the class."

She walked past Razz, who was saying her goodbyes to Jasper. She hurried on, quickening her pace, so that Razz could not see the furrow in her brow and the blood on her lip.

How could she keep this a secret?

She probably could not. In fact-

"Hey, Razz, come see this!" All thoughts of apprehension were replaced quickly with a stab of panic; she did not expect this. Not now. Not today. Not ever.

Razz quickly rushed over. There was a pale purple stain on the linoleum tiled floor, quickly fading but still marking the distinct shape of a skull. Beside the stain lay a single human hair - halfway to coarse wolf fur. There was only one student missing. One student gone. And two rubies in the eyes of the slowly fading skull.