Air Kingdom

Chapter 67-The Finale Part 3

I grabbed my backpack and opened the car door, letting in a cold gust of wind. "Bye, Daniel!" I said while getting out.

"See ya, Em. If you feel sick again, don't hesitate to call home." He replied, giving me a concerned look.

"Alright, I'll remember." I closed the door shut and carefully made my way to the front of the school. There was ice all over the ground and snow covered it, making it almost impossible detect. I readjusted my bag and walked in, moving past the other students. I spotted my locker up ahead and my only friend beside it.

Tomoyo had dark eyes almost the same color of his pupils. His hair was the same shade as chalk from a recent trip to the barber's shop. He was tall and confident yet he had very few friends. He got along with people but he told me something before.

"Just because I'm outgoing and hot," he boasted, winking at me. "Doesn't mean that I like being around people. Sometimes, I like to keep to myself."

I hurried my pace and bumped into a girl, causing me to drop my bag and knock everything out of her hands. A few people gave us looks but kept moving on. The bell just sounded and no one wanted to be late.

"Oh, sorry," I apologized, packing the things that fell out back into my bag.

She shook her head. She had long, bright orange hair and her eyes sparkled like sapphires. I recognized her as one of the new transfers. My blood ran cold when I connected the dots. If she transferred the same day Ellia and that other girl did then they must know each other.

She looked shocked but quickly hid it. "No, don't worry about it. It was my fault."

I hesitantly nodded and abruptly stood up, surprising the girl. "I have to go," I said quickly, already starting to walk away. "My friend's waiting for me."

"Wait-" She called after me but I pretended not to hear her.

I finally reached my locker with an impatient boy beside me. "Jeez, Emma, what a klutz. Mr.Arnold will chew up our asses if we're late."

"Yeah, yeah. I get it," I sighed, unlocking my locker. "Mr.Straight-A-Guy doesn't want to be late for class. Oh, what a tragedy it'll be if he'll get a black mark on his attendance record."

"A+," he corrected. "And it's not my fault teachers love me. They just can't get over how brilliant my brain is."

"Ugh, too many egoistic comments in on morning. Kill me now."

He rolled his eyes at ny dramatic response. I closed my locker after grabbing all my things. We rushed over to Biology and talked at the same time.

"So, I've been thinking about getting these insanely cool cat eye contacts I saw yesterday. How would I look?"

A strange image of a boy popped in my brain. He looked exactly like Tomoyo but he wore all black. Tomoyo usually wore sporty clothes. The major difference was the mask that covered the boy's face.

My mind shook the image off. "Great, a cat. Then you'll definitely be the teacher's pet."

He clapped his hands together. "Then it's decided! You and me are going shopping after school!"

I gave him a strange look. "Are you nuts? We have that English presentation tomorrow and I didn't start any of it."

"Don't worry, I can finish it all tonight. All you have to do is show up and read a piece of paper."

"But it's a group mark and I don't want you doing all of it."

He shook his head. "Nah, it's fine," he shot me a smug smile. "It's not like I'm going to let you do any of it. I don't need my only friend dropping my English mark."

I punched his arm for that comment. "Hey! I'm not that-"

"Tomoyo, Emma, you are late for class." Mr.Arnold cut in. I didn't even realized we reached our classroom.

"Sorry, Mr.A," Tomoyo said sheepishly. "Emma had a fall earlier and I was just helping her out."

His eyes softened and I nearly scoffed. "If that's the case then it's fine. Please take your seats. We're about to have a pop quiz."

Tomoyo's eyes brightened. "Oh, really! I love your pop quizes!"

Mr.Arnold chuckled as we walked in and joined the rest of our class. "Suck-up," I whispered to him, sitting down.

"Says the person with the lower grades," he whispered back, taking the seat in front of me.

I took out my pencil and eraser, accepting the quiz from Mr.Arnold. i started freaking out a bit. I didn't remember anything from yesterday's lesson. My mind was a blank and I couldn't understand most of what the questions asked me.

Tomoyo shifted in front, moving his elbow to give me a good view of his paper. It was already half full. Taking the chance he gave me, I copied his answers down, knowing the perfect score I'll get back tomorrow.

When he finished letting me copy down his answers, he stood up and handed it in earning shocked looks from the other kids who were still writing it. After he sat down, I went up and handed it in too. I returned to my desk and saw that we still had half an hour left of class. I took out a piece of candy and tossed it to Tomoyo.

He gladly accepted his reward and smiled his thanks. I would always give him some of my special candy whenever he helped me out in situations like this. I took out that fantasy book I found yesterday in the shop and began reading.

The next fifteen minutes passed by in a blur as I read up about the strange creatures in the book. Airians were a special race that had the ability to fly. They lived in a land called Air which was the clouds above Air. Humans are unable to see the vast land they live on and the people in there. As long as the Airians and the other races stayed up in the sky, they would be hidden from human eyes.

Tomoyo got bored and tried to see what he was reading. He reached in front of me and tugged on a few strands of hair. "What are you reading, Em? Let me see."

I swatted his hand away but he was persistent. After five minutes of him bothering me and playing with different parts of my hair and nose, I got sick of him. I stood up and excused myself from the class, asking to go to the washroom.

Since I was done my quiz, he had no reason not to let me go. I slowly walked out of class and into the empty hallway with my nose stuck into the book. My footsteps echoed throughout the quiet corridor as I took tiny steps to make it to the washroom. When I was halfway there, I thought I saw something. I looked up, confused but there was nothing around me.

I turned my focus back to the book and walked a little farther until someone covered my mouth with their hand. I dropped my book in alarm, the impact creating a loud thud.

Out of instinct, I used one hand to try to pull their hand off of me and the other to elbow them in the stomach. The person cursed and momentarily released. I grabbed my book and tried to run away until they yanked on my hair.

I cried in pain until someone else appeared in front of me. It was that same girl from earlier who I accidently bumped into. She was holding a piece of duct tape and expertly gagged me before I could let out a single scream. At this point, I started flailing around, trying to get them to release me. One tied a blindfold against my eyes only causing me to thrash even more. I felt another pair of hands wrap around my neck adding on to the number of kidnappers. I managed to sock one of them in the face, making them let out some colorful words.

They lifted me up and I instantly tried to kick them. Before any real damage could be made, I felt a pinch in my neck. My attacks grew weaker and my eyelids suddenly felt heavy. Sleep seemed like a great option and I gave one more half-hearted tug before falling limp in my captors' arms.

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Sorry for the late chapter! I've been feeling under the weather this past week and I completely forgot about the chapter. Sorry for updating two days late. Hope you like it!