A/N: This is the last chapter!
For the next two days, I didn't get out of my bed. My pillow and comforter were usually wet with tears on the first day, and on the second day I refused to speak. My pajamas clung to my body, and by the time the third day after my parents' death dawned, I was entertaining the notion of suicide. Kiara, on the other hand, was keeping busy. The room was filled with enchanted bronze swords and knives, and metal spheres were suspended from the ceiling. On the third day, she made a gigantic cake and forced me to eat half of it. After I did, I vomited. Tessa had been spending copious hours in the art room, and she brought a huge abstract mural of Mistress with a sword through her heart back to our room. Ella, like me, stayed in her bed. On the night of January 4, the third night, Kiara dragged me to the gym, when we trained until two in the morning. All I did was shuffle into the soundproof booth with a knife and a dummy with Mistress's face on it and scream while stabbing the dummy repeatedly. All I wanted was for the horrible thoughts to go away. My parents' faces as they died spun through my mind. My mother, smiling at us with tears in her eyes, my father, staring at us with a gaze that conveyed pride in what he saw. I screamed until my throat went raw. When the dummy was mutilated beyond repair, I started punching the wall. Blood ran down my arms and stained my pajamas red. When we were done in the gym, Kiara and I raided the kitchen. I opened one of the industrial-sized fridges and grabbed the leftovers of an cherry pie served at dinner that wasn't drugged. Since school was starting in three- well, technically two days, the Order of Chaos was weaning us back onto drugged food. I'm gonna miss this food when it's gone, I thought. I tore into the pie savagely, like it was Mistress's heart. Neither Kiara nor I spoke. I washed up at one of the large sinks and tried to salvage my bloody pajamas. Halfway through drying off, I turned to Kiara. "I miss them," I said. The first tear dripped out of my eye. Then both of us were bawling like babies and clinging to each other for dear life.
"Me too. You can't off yourself, Maya. You can't leave me. Tessa and Ella are my best friends, but you are practically my sister. And you can't leave Matt," Kiara hiccuped.
I composed myself. "What do you mean, 'I can't leave Matt?'" I asked.
Kiara's face fell. "Maya, you didn't know? I'm so sorry. I overheard Mistress telling someone that all remaining family members of students are dead."
That meant Maddie. A few tears dripped down my cheeks, but I was too washed out to feel more sorrow. "We're going to kill her tomorrow- well, today," I declared. "If it's the last thing we do."
I woke up at ten. "We're killing Mistress today," I told my friends weakly. My voice was nearly gone from all the screaming.
"My mom had a contact who can help. After we overheard Mistress, Ella and I hacked my mom's screenpage. She's in contact with someone called Gideon Whitecastle. I called him, and he belongs to an organization called the Knights of the Stars-" Tessa was cut off by the squeals of me and Kiara.
"THE KNIGHTS OF THE STARS?" we screeched.
"Our parents told us legends about them! They're the best heroes Nidus has ever seen!" I yelled.
"Come on, you've never heard of the Knights of the Stars?" Kiara said in response to Tessa's and Ella's blank stares.
"Nope. But I'll write and tell them to be on standby in case something goes wrong," Ella responded.
I took a deep breath. Butterflies were fluttering in my stomach, making me feel like I was on the crest of the tallest mountain in the world. "We'll go tonight."
The day was spent preparing. Ella went to the science room and made an invisibility potion. Thankfully, Ella was a skilled potion-maker, and she whipped up the complex potion without breaking a sweat. We raided the kitchen again and ate as much as we could for lunch. Kiara rubbed the metal wings I gave her for her birthday over and over again. Finally, night came, and at ten o'clock, when everyone was in their rooms, we snuck down to the first floor, invisible and cloaked in shadows as a precaution even though the stairway lights were turned off at night. We tiptoed into Mistress's office and Tessa picked the lock leading to the private chambers off of the headmaster's office. I stepped into the living room of what appeared to be a lavish suite. Oak and leather furniture filled the room, and a black rug had been placed on the wooden floor. Torches blazing with electronic fire lined the stone walls. Bookcases filled one wall, and a large window covered with black velvet curtains took up the other. Top-of-the-range gadgets were scattered throughout the room, including a hologram TV and computer. A wooden door was set into the wall, presumably leading to a bedroom. After scanning the room quickly to make sure that there were no cameras, I walked towards the door. Anxiety filled me as I stretched my hand out towards the brass doorknob. I hesitated for a split second, convinced that I was about to make a mistake, then ignored my worries and opened the door.
