Safehaven

Chapter 18

Dong! The sound of a bell echoed through the air. I jerked up, wincing as I heard something crack in my neck. Stretching, I looked around. In the past 4 hours, I guess I fell asleep! Gwindol leaped down from his pearch. He stretched like a cat, slinking low to the ground. "Well, bud." I said, glancing at my pal. "Ready for lunch?" Do you even need to ask? I smiled and led Gwindol through the door and out onto the landing. Everyone was coming out of their rooms, soul mates at their sides. Even though Jada clearly didn't like it, her fwen stuck by her side. We all slowly made our way down the stairs and out the door of the common room. As we made our way to the mess hall, we attracted some odd glances. Murmurs followed us, along with pointed fingers. After loads of whispers, stares, and mocking, the 6 of us, plus beasts, made it to lunch. There were already lots of kids there talking and laughing with each other. Animals of every sizes scampered around the tables or sat with their masters at the table. At one end of a table, a group of girls all in white sat together while their cats, mostly tigers and leopards, lounged by their feet. Another table sat a posse of boys in yellow with all some sort of dog. All around, groups with varying colors sat together with their similar animals. They must have categorized themselves by their creature. Gwindol's voice reverberated through my mind. They bond together as a close knit family, a team if you will. Having no such group but ourselves, my friends and I quickly sat at one of the back tables, alone. But still, stares followed us. I decided to ignore them and focus on the food. I wish I had been hungry, because this castle knew how to serve lunch. Platters laden with all kinds of meat sat beside steaming bowls of soup. There were sandwiches, fruits, and all kinds of food from every category! For desert, ice cream, tarts, pies, cakes, and other sweets sat together in a collage of colors. Beside me, Quinton sat piling as much as he could onto a plate. Sage and Antigone were not much better off. Holly and Jada were eyeing everything, as if deciding what they should start off with. Gwindol gnawed at a piece of ham next to Fai, who was shrieking with delight a gobbling up all the turkey he could find(I had thought that griffins wouldn't eat poultry. Cannibalism!) Anyway, everyone was happy. Hours seemed to go by as we all stuffed our faces like there was no tomorrow. Finally, it all came to an end and everyone started to drift out of the hall and back to whatever they had been doing before. As I was finishing up my third slice of cake, I happened to glance over at Holly. Creeping out from under her rolled up sleeves, thick, red fur had started to make its way down her arm. "Ah, Holly?" I pointed. The girl looked down, then froze. She suddenly shot out of her seat and ran out the mess hall, Rinal at her side. I looked at Sage, Antigone, Quinton, and Jada. They were about as clueless as me. Trying to act casual, we all calmly got up from our chairs and began to head back to out rooms. As if sensing the urgency, our beasts followed suit. We eventually got the poster. "There were two sisters. The first was born of the second, whereupon the second was born of the first. Who were to two sisters?" The riddle appeared upon the paper. Antigone whipped out a pen and scribbled on the page. "Day and Night." She said as she wrote. The door appeared. We all stepped inside. Sitting on the couch by the eternal fire, Holly still shivered. The red fur now covered both her arms and I could see it crawling up her neck. "What is happening to me?" She whimpered, glancing at us. I wanted to scream. Her eyes were those of a feline, all yellow with slit pupils. "Holly..." The words died in Sage's throat. Holly placed her head between her knees and sobbed. "I'm a monster." She wailed. Rinal curled up beside her, calmly watching the flames like everything was normal. "Holly," I managed. "It's going to be alright. I mean, it can't be all that bad..." The girl cut me off. "Look me in the eye and say that!" She screamed. I froze. "Holly, I can't." The fur had quickly spread to her face. And as soon as it had covered her entire body, Holly had disappeared, clothes and all. "What do you mean you can't?!" Holly's disembodied voice demanded. Antigone shifted her weight. "Look at yourself, Holly." There was a pause, followed by a shriek. Holly momentarily materialized, a look of panic painted her feature. She quickly vanished again. "I get it!" Quinton shouted, out of the blue. "Holly, you need to relax. I've read loads of books with stuff like this. Your emotions trigger your affliction. Just calm down." We all looked at the boy. "Since when do you read?" Sage smirked. "Just shut up." Was all Quinton could manage. Ever so slightly, Holly came back into focus. Wherever the fur receded, she became more solid. As the remainder of the fur seemed to melt into her skin, Holly was as good as new. "That's your gift from Rinal." Jada breathed. "Invisibility." "Plus," I smiled. "The power of glimpsing into the future." The girl looked dazed. "That's cool..." Holly crashed back onto the couch, unconscious. "Figures, she passed out." The 5 of us chuckled. Rinal, too, lay next to her master, out cold. I wondered it whatever happened to the master also happened to the creature. Hmmm... "Well," Sage cleared her throat. "Anyone up to a game of cards until beauty queen wakes up?" Having nothing better to do, we all obliged, though Kai was not allowed anywhere near the new cards. Together, we laughed as the time passed. After a few games, I looked at Gwindol, and stopped. What gift would he give me? As if reading my mind, which I'm sure he could, the dragon seemed to smile. I did too. So what if I didn't know now. There was always tomorrow to fret. And with that, I enjoyed the company of my friends. Laughing, joking, flirting, and all.