Black Star

Chapter 15

Chapter 15

School. The baby. Ian. Ella. My friends. So many things to worry about

just because of the relative. Apollo’s relative. Arthur.

Didn’t Arthur realise that he was the one killing innocent people? I bet that Apollo was now disappointed. And I bet that Artemis trusts me as much as the rest. As much as Ian. And the desperate…

Hologram.

I still had no idea who or what that hologram back in the school was. I could’ve sworn it was Menodora but it wasn’t her. Would Colin Travis know? Maybe. It could’ve been a spirit. Colin Travis’s dad was Hades. Maybe he knew something.

But that wasn’t what was on my mind that day. It was school. Today was Friday, so we had the weekend soon. Was I supposed to be happy? Usually, I was. But now, I wasn’t even sure that there was going to be weekends. What would be the point?

-Diana?

Menodora and I were in the library. She was sitting on the same red couch. I was reading a manual on the Greek Gods to learn more about them. Menodora was still reading her book King Agamemnon:

king of Mycenae.

I turned to get my mind out of the book and saw that Menodora did the same. She cocked her head and gently patted Faith.

Oops.

- Where did you find that? she asked me, keeping her eyes straight into mine.

I put the book on the desk and watched the fairies take it away.

- A gift, I said.

I ran out of the library, making sure that Menodora wouldn’t follow. And anyway, it was already school time. I remembered to get the knives out of my bag because I wouldn’t want any unlucky surprises, and anyway, I had my two most trusted companions. Artemidoros and Faith. I put them both on my right hand. Tomorrow was Saturday. I had diving class tomorrow. It seemed like so long ago. I reminded myself that tomorrow was the last day of the diving session.

As I walked by Arthur and Aurelia, she waved at me. I ignored her even though it was the wrong thing to do. The rest of the Circle of Dawn snickered and laughed once I left. And Aurelia was part of them.

I shouldn’t have done that. I shouldn’t have left her alone with Arthur. Now, he’s influenced her to hate me and to hunt down the Black Star. I had a feeling that if she’d find out about me, she would try to kill me as soon as possible. I knew that now, because of me, I already lost a friend to the enemy. If she’d known sooner what I was, she wouldn’t have done that. I should tell them now. Ismania and Cecelia. Before Arthur does the same thing to them. And Cecelia…she is part of the Circle of Dawn. It would be easier to convince Ismania to fight Arthur alongside me, but Cecelia was going to be harder.

Again, that old habit of rubbing my ring. I have a feeling of anxiety. People shouting: OOOH!

I turn to see Aurelia kissing Arthur.

Cecelia and Ismania—especially Ismania—were as disgusted as me. We walked out of the crowd and Ismania commented on my bracelet. I thanked her and changed the conversation as quick as I could.

- I wish I’d been to the meeting, I told my friends.

And I meant it. I should've went to understand a little more. A little more about me and about them. About everything.

- You wish? You were lucky. Arthur had to take a blood test to each and everyone of us to make sure we weren’t the Black Star, said Cecelia.

Blood test? What blood test?

- Why would he do a blood test? I asked Ismania.

- The Black Star supposedly has black blood. You know, ‘cause she isn’t actually human. She’s some thing made by magic, explained Cecelia for Ismania. And she’s immortal to everything. Except magic, naturally.

Ismania just nodded. She looked away and locked her gaze on the school.

She missed old times.

I couldn’t blame her, I did too. So did Cecelia. We all missed the past. Even if we were the losers of the school.

Then, my thoughts went towards Ella. She was still chained up. I watched her everyday, struggling to get free. And I let her suffer everyone of these days. I had to save her. Even though I still didn’t like her, I had to do it. For Ian. For the boy whom I owed dearly.

So if I had black blood, I had to make sure first. As soon as I go somewhere alone, I’ll scratch myself to see if I was in danger. And if it was true, if I truly had black blood, then I was in deep trouble. I’d have to make sure that Arthur wouldn’t see it. And that alone was hard enough.

But that wasn’t what bothered me the most. Cecelia said that the Black Star was immortal to everything but magic. Did that mean that I was like a vampire that could only be killed by the sun or a stake? I didn’t think that as cool as it sounded. No, on the contrary, that sounded horrible and unfair. I’ve read enough books about immortality, and in all circumstances, they all hated it. But I didn’t want to die by magic either, as long as it’s not Arthur who does it. I didn’t want to end up like Menodora, Colin Travis or even Ian. I couldn’t let that go away. I wouldn’t do like them, wait everyday hoping for some miracle that doesn’t even exist and watch the days go by while people grew old together. Nobody should suffer like that.

Then, a thought came over my mind. If I was to die, would I go to heaven or to hell? That remained a mystery. But I knew that if I died, Ian would have no hope left. I couldn’t let him go through that.

- Have you heard about that explosion in the restaurant downtown?

Me and my friends got into a conversation which lasted until I realised that my phone was buzzing. I picked it up, swiped the keyboard, and the message appeared.

From: Menodora

What did she want now? Couldn’t she bother me another time, when I wasn’t actually getting along with my friends for once since the Black Star business.

You’ve go to come now, Diana. I got a vision with Kyle in it. And you.

-Menodora

Another message came as soon as I started to rush out of school. Menodora’s visions weren’t something that came often. Only when something bad was about to happen. But they were one path of life. The worst one, usually. It meant that the future could always change. But that depended on us, on our actions.

…Another vision…

About Ella and Arthur.

They’ll betray you. All of them.

-Menodora