The Elemental Night School, The Dawn of Echoburne: Book 4

Chapter 1

Chapter 1:

~James~

I take my room key out of my pocket and toss it to Rhiannon, who catches it swiftly with one hand. I turn to look at her, my hand still gently placed under Valarie's jaw.

"Rhia, go into my room and get the liquid in the pale orange bottle. It's in the third draw down on the left side of my desk. Be as quick as you can." Rhiannon doesn't ask questions, merely nods, turns and races in the direction of the boys' dormitory, using her air element whenever she can to propel her forward faster.

"What did he do? Tell me what he did!" Valarie exclaims, pulling away from me as she starts to grow more and more worried. "Is it a burn? I did not feel anything." she continues as I regard her with a cautious glance.

~Valarie~

"Calm down, Valarie, you're going to be fine," James says softly. "Aidan has this substance of his that he can rub on people's skin and it acts as like a barrier to delay the effects of a burn when he touches people after heating up his fingers. It means he can hurt people without getting into trouble because it doesn't happen until after he's already left and it leaves no proof. But I have managed to come up with another substance than can remove it and won't let you get burnt." He tentatively steps towards me and places his hands on my shoulders to try and get me to look him in the eyes. "You're going to be okay," he tells me, his tone firm. "Now, if you start to feel a tingling sensation, I need you to tell me straight away. I don't know how much time we have left, and that's the indication that we're running low on time."

"Oh okay." I say, sighing as I nod my head. "That boy is going to be taught a lesson someday." I remark, wrinkling up my nose. "Boy I am glad that you developed that formula. Has he ever used it on you?" I ask.

James nods. "Yes, someday he will," he agrees with a sigh as he takes his hands off my shoulders, his posture beginning to return to normal as he starts to relax a bit now that Aidan is gone, but he is still very wary of me and making sure that I am all right. He nods. "He's used it on both me and Rhiannon before. Mine wasn't so bad, but Rhia's was...." he pauses, "it was particularly nasty. That's when I got inspired to come up with something to combat it." A few moments later, Rhiannon appears within our line of sight again as she turns the corner, jogging towards us with a pale orange bottle in one hand.

I look up as Rhiannon approaches us with an orange bottle in her hand. "So, am I just going to rub it under my chin?" I ask James.

James shakes his head lightly. "It's better to wipe it off using a cloth," he answers, holding an arm out as Rhiannon approaches so she can place the bottle in his open hand. With his other hand, he reachea into his pocket and draws out a clean rag. I guessed he always had at least one on his person, ready to use when he was tinkering away in the school workshop. He pours some of the liquid onto the cloth and offers it to me. "Wipe it off with this, and then tilt your head back towards the light so I can check to make sure that you've removed all of it."

~Iris~

I don't say anything as Toby and Aidan throw useless comments back and forth, but to be honest, I wish I hadn't. I wish that I could stand up for myself, I wish that I had the guts to give people what they deserved without fearing the consequences... Maybe my life would have turned out so much different.

"Thank you Toby, for standing up for me." I say, deciding not to tell him what was on my mind. I didn't want to worry him with my childish behavior of change and fear, so like I always have, I will suck it up and pretend it's nothing. That's the first way to deal with fear, right?

~Toby~

"You're welcome, Iris." I say, smiling at her before my attention is abruptly pulled to something else way in the distance. "Oh I can't believe they have it!" I exclaim delightfully as I approach the candy store. When I look over to find that Iris has followed me, a confused expression on her face, I pick up the box that I was focusing so intently on,. "Rock candy." I explain, raising my voice to a squeaky, jolly pitch. "I am going to buy this. If you have not already tried rock then you must today!" I exclaim gleefully as I approach the front desk and pay for it. I then approach a nearby table and take a seat, hardly waiting to open it up.

Iris smiles, "no, I actually haven't tried rock candy before," she says. "I think my only childhood food was s'mores. Have you had s'mores before?" Iris asks, "they're a camping food, and they are delicious!"

"Yes! Of course! Hey tell you what, Why don't we go out tonight and roast some s'mores, and I will also have you try some rock candy." I say, waiting for her approach towards the opinion.

~Rhiannon~

James bends down slightly so he can thoroughly check Valarie's chin, before straightening again and giving her a thumbs up. "All clear," he says, managing one of his signature grins.

My expression is still looking rather sombre as I turned to Valarie once James has finished examining ourr new friend's face for any more signs of Aidan's tricky substance.

"I'm sorry you had to deal with Aidan so soon after arriving," I say, my tone a little quieter than usual. "I was hoping you wouldn't have to encounter him for at least a little longer. He's just a nightmare." I shake my head slightly, before adding, "and a bad representation. Pretty much all of the other students here are nothing like him."

"I can definitely see why! If I had the option, I would have absolutely nothing to do with him." Valarie says, wearing a facial expression of relief.

"We had to live with him and his family for a while after our parents died. It was probably the worst six months of our life," I say dryly, shaking my head slightly. "It's times like this that I feel glad that we have nothing to do with the rest of the family these days."

James nods. "What that Toby guy said....I don't really know him...but he's right in the sense that Aidan doesn't really care about school or whether or not what he does will hurt people. But he's still very cunning in his own way, and he can be dangerous when he knows what he's doing, as we've just seen now with that chemical of his."

~Valarie~

I nod to both of them as I listen to them speak about their history. I agree with you." IU respond, as I take a sudden glance at the window outside, which reveals that the day is coming to an end, with the darker skies. "So, do you guys want to go somewhere? I only have two more hours until my bedtime and I want to out it to good use." I say as I wait for their response. "Man I am just glad he does know my room number. Away from you guys that is my only escape now." I say, sighing.

James frowns slightly and nods, his gaze thoughtful. "He does seem to have taken a particular interest in you for one reason or another," he tells me. "It's possible that he might just be having a bit of fun poking at the new kid, but until we know for sure, we'll have to be careful. If he tries to approach you, come and find me or Rhia as quick as you can." After he says this, he starts to gain some enthusiasm, wanting to try and start cheering us up after the unfriendly encounter that had occurred in that hallway a few minutes ago. "But you're completely right. We can't let one moron with an oversized ego ruin our last bit of free time before curfew! What do you want to do, Val? Newbie's choice," he says with a cheeky grin.

"I am sure it's because I am your friend, and he wants to do everything he can to make your lives wore." I say, biting my lip. "Anyways, down to important discussion. Lets go to a movie tonight" I say, determinedly shooting my arm straight up and smiling cheerfully. Despite whatever trouble Aiden had given me, I was sure that I was going to like it here.

~Iris~

"Deal," I say with a smile, then glance at the clock ticking above us on the wall.

"We better get going if we want to meet Tori near the lockers on time," I add, and push myself up from the table. "Come on, mate." I say, extending out my hand so he can get up.

"Okay." Toby says, giving his hand to me as I help him up from my seat. We turn and walk together to the cafeteria, where we all agreed to meet Tori. We see her and three other people standing nearby. "Oh hey guys." She says, waving to us. She then introduces us to the people standing nearby. Apparently their names are Darin, Selena, and Marcus. "Okay great guys." Tori says, checking her watch. "Looks like we're just waiting on Emily and Cody now." She continues with a smile. I grin at Toby and we both know we have a fun night ahead of us.