Haze. Thats how you describe a life without her. Everything moves twenty times slower and seems to be sluggish with all movement. Dinah Jane was the best thing that ever happened to me. Yet she wont realise that I love her. I truely do.
After everything she believes they were forced feelings. Truth be told I fell in love with her at the waterfall. She admitted the truth and she wasnt afraid. She was so many things, beyond describle when it came to words.
When I woke up she was gone though. The scent of honeysuckle and smoke in the air. She had even left the butt of the cigarrette behind. My hair had been drenched and I walked home almost in tears.
School hadnt been something I concearned myself in but I knew one more day and my dad would be getting phonecalls. Not that it mattered. I doubt he even knew about Ally. There was no funeral. She was just gone.
Zayn and Selena stayed by my side. They didnt ask a lot of questions. The only two people that actually knew about Allys passing. Both of them seemed determined to comfort me and be there. Selena wrapped an arm around my shoulder and I rested my head on Zayns chest. A sigh sounding through the unusually quiet hallway.
"You okay?" Selena asks.
I nod, not trusting my voice.
She rubs my arm, trying to be reassuring.
"We have to go." Zayn says softly.
"Go where?"
"Cafeteria. They want all students there."
"Why?"
"What about Dinah Jane?" Selena blurts out randomly.
I roll my eyes. "Is this another attempt at trying to perswade me she was fake?"
Zayn just grabs my hand and leads me to the cafeteria.
Now I see what he meant. Every student is gathered at tables and sitting on the lunchroom floor. On the big screen above the tray area is usually where we get important school updates or things that we will be doing that day. But not today. Instead a picture of Dinah Jane is up from the news.
My breathing hitches. I remember Im still wearing her jacket she left me. The varsity style one with blue sleeves and a big D on the left side. In the photo from the news Dinah wears a low cut black tank expousing a bit of smooth skin, some battered up black jeans, and beat up Chuck Taylors. Her eyes are covered by a black and gold snapback yet you can see the knife in her hand.
They mustve all been waiting for me because when they see me a pathway is made. An official policeman is waiting at a table. His eyes are a cold black. He wears a deep blue uniform and has a notepad and pen in his hand.
"Miss Jauregui?" He asks.
I swallow hard. "Yes?"
"Please sit." Its more of a command then an offer.
After Ive sunk into the chair he begins. "You know this girl?" He points toward the screen.
"No." I lie.
He leans back, unimpressed. "A student here said one day you were rambling about murder and the death of a student who was never here by a new student. All that day you had been looking pale as a ghost. Then you suddenly dropped school for two weeks and now your back. Care to explain?"
"Ally, my caretaker, she died." I said with venom in my voice. Making is raspy like its painful yet with enough snap to make it seem like Im sensitive to this topic.
"Any other parents?"
"My dad stays in his study. He writes. My mom is dead."
The man nods. "Miss Jauregui this is important. We need to know if you have any contact with this girl. Her name is Dinah Jane. She is a wanted criminal in six countries. Shes always moving and always running."
I laugh inside at his words. Running. Of corse I knew about her running habbits.
"She is dangerous. She has weapons and we found something she left behind." He pulls out a plastic bag. It contains a picture of me. Or more precisly, five. One where Im a little kid. My fifth birthday with my parents. Another of me at the park. Then me when I graduated from 8th grade. The next one though is weird.
The picture shows me crying over my moms gravestone. On the back is Dinahs crosshatched writing which I cant decipher. The last one though makes my heart break. Its a photo of my mom, Cassandra, holding me. Im a little girl. A baby still. In the background though I see Dinah. Alexander stands behind her and theres blood on the floor. Her jaw is set tight, yet she doesnt flinch.
With a choked swallow I nod. He pulls out a charm. A necklace of charms. A small sword of gold, a baby, a bottle of blood, a star of david, and the last is a green eye charm. A color similar to mine... In fact I think its the exact same.
Then he pulls out the last thing. Its a small bottle. With a shimmering liquid inside. Its crystal clear yet everytime the sun finds it, just for a second, it glows. It glows green. Just like my eyes. I rub my palms on my jeans.
"We have reason to believe she was coming here to murder you. Still is."
"I dont understand, why would a stranger come to kill me?"
He rolls his eyes and slams his hand down on the table. "Listen here young lady! You know this girl. You have to!"
"Im sorry I dont-"
He holds up some papers. "Cassandra Starr. Alexander Starr. These two people were vaguely known and lived in a remote part of Europe. We found out this Cassandra Starr person had a child. She suffered rape and when she got married the child was born. Alexander was a troubled man and blamed his wife for cheating on him. He abused the daughter and claimed she would never be his."
There was something off about this man. He knew about Cassandra and Alexander. But not in the way the Endarkened world knew them. It was like he was translating Endarkened stuff into mundane terms.
"Dinah Jane, the daughter who in actuallity wasnt his blood and therefore left out from this family tree of the Starrs, ran away from home at age six. Julia and Chris adopted her. Yet Julia died when she was young and Chris hit Dinah. She ran again."
"So where do I come into this?" I ask. My voice is surprisingly steady.
"You, Lauren, are Alexander and Cassandras daughter. Trueblood. Cassandra ran away with you when you were young because of what her husband did to Dinah. Now we think that Dinah is traking you down and taking an eye for an eye basically. Shes going to kill you because of what you put her through."
His eyes glow yellow and for a second I hesitate. Thats when he launches across the table and grabs my throat.
"Where is she Starrs Child?" He hisses.
A shadow.
I want to scream but there is no oxygen. My vision blurs and I feel my memories begin to slip. The shadow has began feasting on my emotions and thoughts. Dinah. Hes after Dinah. I claw out for something but I realise its all an illusion.
A deadly one.
Just as it all seems about to fade everything comes back in blury colors.
"Is she okay?" I hear Selenas voice.
"Ive got her. That policeman was a criminal. Someone go call the police. I'll get Lauren here." The voice is t recongizable.
"Who are you?" Zayns voice.
"An old friend." Then everything becomes clear.
"Im Camila. Camila Cabello."
