Polarized

The Rescue

TW: Some horror/disturbing content in the middle of the chapter

Meanwhile, as Noi was cleaning the house:

“Uh… hello?” Skye mumbled after knocking on the wooden door of the white-brick building that housed Avriya’s council three times, her hands clamming up and her knees trembling. She hated how weak and unsteady her voice sounded, but she forced herself to speak up because she hated the uncertainty that was gnawing at her mind even more. 

Skye couldn’t focus on her schoolwork since she heard that cryptic announcement over Silver Run Academy’s PA system proclaiming the Shrine Scorcher has been “eliminated.” Not that she had ever been that good at focusing on her schoolwork in the first place, but today was far worse than usual. Math and English and chemistry and history be damned; what happened to Lucian?!

Skye did, however, have a sneaking suspicion on who could be behind Lucian’s disappearance. After finding the council of Avriya’s contact info online, she decided to send them an email requesting details on Lucian’s supposed elimination during her lunch period. To her disappointment— but not to her surprise— she got no response. She knew she could also write and deliver another letter, but that would take way too much time, and this was urgent. Also, between Lucian’s elimination and the lack of response from Kai Dalton, Skye was beginning to doubt if writing a letter was effective at all. 

So this time around, Skye decided to confront her suspect directly. If it meant she had to give up anonymity or risk retaliation, so be it. Anything was better than losing Lucian for good. Bracing herself for the worst, she swallowed and waited for someone to open the door.

“Hello. What brings you here?” 

Skye jumped. A man wearing a sweater and jeans, who had teal eyes and wavy hair streaked with different shades of brown and white, was standing in the doorway, holding open the door for her. After asking his question, he looked at Skye in anticipation.

“I… I’d like to speak to Mr Dalton, please,” she requested.

The man nodded. “Go to the back of this room and turn right. He’s in the office down the hallway at room 104,” he instructed. “Do not waste time. Kai is a very busy man and does not take kindly to dawdling.”

“Thank you,” Skye said before making a beeline to the back doors of the lobby.

Once she arrived at the location she was sent to, Skye knocked on the door again, and the High Mage opened, stepping aside from the doorway. “Greetings. I hope you’ve had a good day today. What brings you to the High Mage’s office?” He asked her. He exuded formality, his tone of voice seemingly polite— but it was a cold kind of politeness, one that raised the suspicion of it all being fabricated. It stirred up a strange feeling in Skye’s gut.

Skye gave a nervous smile and waved. “Hey.”

“Please inform me as to why you are here,” Kai requested.

“I’d like to ask you a question,” Skye replied.

“You know, the council of Avriya has a list of frequently asked questions that you can refer to on our website. If your question happens to be on there, it is better to check www.AvriyaCouncilFAQ.org for answers than waste time by going up to us in-person,” the High Mage told Skye. 

“Actually, my question was not on the website,” Skye clarified. “I wanted to ask a question about Lu— I mean, the Shrine Scorcher.”

Kai gave Skye a suspicious glance. “Were you going to say “Lucian”?”

Skye’s breath caught in her throat. “Maybe?”

“Don’t “maybe” me. Give it to me straight,” Kai ordered. “Do you know the Shrine Scorcher personally? Tell me, yes or no.”