Evading The Dark

Chapter 3

"Hurry in, hurry in. Let's go, close those doors."

Last minute arrivals shuffled through the quickly shrinking gap. Within seconds, the ancient oak doors were closed and barred; those who didn't make it in were late, and forced to miss class. Those of us who made it on time were stuck in here until the end, no exceptions. Ms. Snow spelled the doors to stay closed until the bell rang. It's been told that even when a freshman nearly had his arm burnt to a crisp, he still wasn't allowed out until the last chime of the bell faded. By the time he made it to the infirmary, he lost the lower half of his arm. But it was probably just a rumor ... I hoped.

"Come on people, this isn't your first day! Separate into your elements so we can get started." Snow's voice echoed around the room and seemed to drill into my head.

A shiver of unease gripped my spine as gaps between the students grew larger. Too soon, four groups representing each element were standing in their proper corners, while I stood smack dab in the middle of the room, across from Ms. Snow.

The room was quiet as she surveyed each corner, checking to see who was absent and that everyone was in their proper place. And then she turned to me—the only student she didn't like—the only student who was forced to be in this class, even though I didn't have an element to work with. Pinning me with her steel-gray eyes, she began to stalk toward me, with a million different insults on the tip of her tongue poised to strike, I'm sure. She didn't look any different than the first night I met her, no less scary.

"Well? What are you doing standing there like an idiot? You're in the way." She waved her hand toward the back corner of the room behind those with the fire affinity. "You know where to go."

I forced my face into a neutral mask, hoping it would be unreadable as I heard the whispers and snickers from the other students. I don't know why I still let this bother me; it was nothing new, the same routine every day. I come to class, the students are grouped into their elements to practice, and I get sent off to sit in the corner to read textbooks. I have to make this walk of shame amidst the harsh teasing of the other students over and over.

The one time I sat in my desk early so I could avoid it, Snow called me to the middle of the room to test me for an element, knowing I still didn't have one, and then sent me back. Nothing like having a teacher openly hate you to give approval for the class to do the same.

As I passed through the fire group, I received more jokes and taunts from Tony and his lackeys, but they were quickly shut down by Cedric who came up behind them with his hands full of flames. He shot me a friendly wink as I slumped into my seat.

The earlier stress of this morning caught up to me about halfway through drills and I drifted off.

"She is Carina's daughter?"

The voice came from the small, white haired woman, nearly hidden by the other adults in the group. Her voice was like ice and it made me shiver, as if a thousand little icicles were poking me repeatedly down my back and arms. When she turned those gray eyes to me, my shivering increased tenfold.

"Are you sure?"

"For Luthos' sake, I found her near Carina's—" Eli abruptly cut off. He made small choking sounds before resuming in a quieter tone. "She was holding onto her hand."

They're talking about me, about when Eli found me. But why are they talking about Mommy? I know she said I had to be a secret and no one could know about me, but keeping a secret is bad. Is Mommy in trouble? I shook my head, as if the action would make that thought go away. She had a good reason for keeping secrets. She did.

"Easy, Eli. We believe she is who you say. No one is saying otherwise." The older man had his hand on Eli's shoulder and was trying to calm him down. It seemed to work until the cold woman started to speak again. I really didn't like her.