Zodiac Academy: New Gen

Tarin Chapter 22

As everyone walks out of Gabrielle's house, I run over to Caleb and Seth, who are talking in their car. "I'm going with you!" I say, standing before them. They both look at each other before turning back to me. "Tarin, I know that you want to help, but I think it's best if we do this alone," they say, looking at me. "Please, I cannot sit here and chase dead ends," I say, begging. "I need to go with you guys!" I plea, looking back and forth between them. "He's not going to let us go without him," Caleb says, turning to Seth. "Okay, but you need to listen to us," Seth says, rolling up his window.

I had never even seen Vampire Academy or knew where it was. Sitting in the car's back seat, I stare out the window. We pull down this long dirt road before approaching this dark grey building. "Is this the Academy?" I ask, looking around. "No, we needed to make a quick stop first to check out a lead," Caleb says, unbuckling his seatbelt. I look back at the building, wondering what this place could be. We all hop out of the car. Seth looks to Caleb and back to me. "You sit this one out," Seth says, pointing back to the car. "No, I'm coming with," I say, stepping forward. "Whatever," Caleb says, not spending any mind between us.

We walk into the building, and it's freezing. A woman is sitting at a lone desk inside the room, which looks like an abandoned doctor's office. She doesn't even look up at us. "How can we help you?" she asks, typing on the computer before her. " My name is Caleb Alteir. This is my Husband, Seth Capella; we went through the surrogacy program 21 years ago and had a daughter; we need information on the name of our surrogate, please." Caleb says, placing his hands on the desk. She looks up at him and back down to the computer. "I'm sorry we cannot give information like that."She says, clacking away. "You see, I'm asking nicely right now, but if I don't get the answer I want, we will not be asking nicely for long," Caleb says, tightening his grip on the desk. Before she can respond to us, the door opens. "Genuine, please leave us." A shadowy figure says from the doorway behind the receptionist. The receptionist stands up without hesitation and walks out of the building. "Mr. Alteir, please come in." The voice continues, turning around.

The three of us walk into the office, which is entirely white and has nothing but a desk and a computer. "How can we help you today?" the now completely lit-up elderly woman asks as she sits back in the chair, folding her hands. "We need the name and location of Elaras surrogate," Caleb says, grabbing the seat in the middle. "Now you know we can no longer provide that information, Mr.Altier." She says, leaning back. "Doris, we need this information," Seth says, leaning forward. The woman doesn't even spare a look his way. She keeps her eyes on Caleb. "Doris, please, someone took Elara," Caleb says, choking back tears. Doris looks down at her hands and back up to Caleb. "this is against the vampire surrogacy protocol." She starts saying. "But Elara is one of the sweetest girls I have ever had the pleasure of bringing into this world." She continues leaning back forward, typing on her computer. I ease my body, looking over to Caleb and Seth, who have appeared to do the same thing.

"Okay, her name was Violet Brightlers; she came to us as a surrogate and passed all her background checks. She lives in Alestria in a house towards the edge of the Brotherhood territory. She has appeared to have gone underground, and for the most part, there is no recent information on her." Doris says, looking back to Caleb. She prints out a paper and hands it to Caleb with what appears to be an old profile on Violet and her current address. We stand up and walk out of the building without another word.

Caleb hands the paper to Seth as he backs the car up and leaves. "Stupid Vampire order. You guys keep everything so pure blood," Seth says, looking at the paper. "Okay, Violet Brightlers. She is 5'4" and has blonde hair and blue eyes. She is 50 years old and lives on the edge of Alestria." Seth says. "Is there a picture I can see since I saw the woman who took Elara?" I say, looking at the front. Seth hesitates before handing the paper back to me. I look at the picture taken the first time she came to donate. There are elements of Elara I can see within her. "This definitely could have been her, but she had more grey hair now," I say, still looking at the paper.

"let's go to the Academy first since we are almost there, and then we'll go to Alestria," Caleb says, speeding ahead. Within the next 5 minutes, we pull up to these gates; these giant buildings are standing behind the gates, towering towards the sky. The gates have a giant crest that symbolizes the vampire order. Caleb looks into the eye check, and the gates open immediately. We parked the car right in front of the building marked as office. We walk up to the door, where Caleb has to scan his finger this time. The door buzzes open with us in tow behind him. "Mr. Altier, how can we help you?" A woman asks, sitting behind a desk; this one seems more friendly than the last one. "We are here to get some information from the school our daughter is missing." Caleb says, placing the paper from the surrogacy agency on the desk."Elara?" The woman asks with shock in her face. "Please look at the woman in this picture; she was 30 when this pic was taken. She is now 50, so she would have grey hair. Does she look familiar?" Caleb asks, pointing to the pic.

The girl stares at the photo for a minute before shooting out of her chair with vampire speed and back within seconds, holding a book. "this looks like one of our Professors who recently left here." She says, pulling out a yearbook for the school. She opens the book, flipping through the book and scanning it with her finger. She stops as she gets to a page, grabs the surrogacy sheet, and compares them. She turns the book back to us and points at the picture where a woman who looks just like the one in the picture but has grey hair stands with the other faculty. "That's Ms.Acruxias, but she doesn't go by the name Violet; she goes by the name Liona." She says, looking at us. I look over to Caleb and Seth, who are now staring at each other. Before we say another word, Caleb turns and walks out of the building. I run to keep up as we all hop back in the car. "Liona Acruxias," Seth says out loud. "Like Lionel Acrux," Caleb adds in. "FUCK!" Caleb shouts, hitting the steering wheel. "What does this mean?" I ask, confused. "This means that she is a delusional follower of Lionel Acrux," Caleb says through his teeth.

"So we go to her house and get Elara," I say, buckling up my seat belt. "I don't think she will be there; that's too easy. We need to go back to the group and explain what we have found," Seth says, looking at Caleb. "I agree with the kid; we need to go and see if they are there first," Caleb says. The car falls silent before Seth says, "Okay, let's go."

We drive for another hour through different places within Solaria until we reach Alestria. We park down a little from the address provided by the surrogacy agency. "What is the plan?" Seth asks, turning towards Caleb. "I don't think we can just knock on the door." Seth continues. "I think we need to take every entrance," Caleb says, looking around. "I'll take the front door. You and the kid go around the back." He says, pointing to me. "Alright, and if she is in there?" I ask. "Tarin, you grab Elara, and we will handle the woman!" Seth says, turning towards me.

We close the doors as quietly as possible and get into position around the house. We kick in the door to the house and run in. The house is empty. We look through every room and end up back in the living room. "I knew they wouldn't be here," Seth says, running his hands through his hair. As we are talking, the fire in the fireplace lights up, making us turn towards it, ready to fight. All that spits out is a note. 

 Dear Dads,

The only way to free me is to let me be. Leave the Acrux manor and give me my peace. I have spent my whole life trying to figure out my purpose, and now I have found it under the surface. Beneath the moon's full glow,We'll reach the place where souls let go.I remain within, though fading slowly; with each passing day, my grip less so.Under the moon's bright, silver light,We'll find the end of this long night. 

Love,

Elara

I look between Caleb and Seth, trying to figure out what this note means. "We need to get back to the others," Seth says, turning and leaving the house. I stand there for a minute, looking around and trying to find anything of Elara, but I cannot pick up her essence. I turn and follow the guys out of the house.