Unfamiliar (Unfamiliar Series #1)

Chapter 42

I can hear hushed voices speaking in the gymnasium when I enter later in the night. The door slamming shut behind me silences them almost instantly. I am plunged into total darkness as the hairs raise on my arms. Violetta had said that the Coven could help me figure out my special affinity if I had one. Anything that could give me an edge would be helpful. 

I had to give it a try. 

The voices cut off as I walk across the basketball court and I squint into the darkness, as not a single light is on.

Why the darkness? 

Unease twists low in my stomach, a knot forming deep enough under the skin as it's hard to breathe. 

"Kara?" someone calls out from the blackness and I recognize Eleanora's voice.

I huff a sigh of relief. 

"Yeah, it's me," I confirm for her as I walk across the gymnasium toward the voice.

"We were just about to head down to the founder's alchemy lab," she says and I can hear her voice drawing closer as I catch the briefest flicker of movement in the dark.

"That sounds cool," I murmur, though the idea of going underground is something I find less than thrilling to do. 

Being underground just...felt like a trap. 

This is your coven, these are people you should be able to trust. 

And yet, I don't. Not entirely at least. I didn't even know half of their names. 

Perhaps introductions will happen at some point. 

"It is cool, it's also where we could figure out your affinity, if you'd like," she suggests in a lower voice. "No pressure though, tapping into your ability can be a bit...daunting for the first time." 

"That would be nice," I try to say not too eagerly as relief flushes through me. 

"Come on then, we can head downstairs now, everyone else is...," Eleanora trails off suddenly and I squint through the darkness trying to see her. "Everyone else is here," she finishes at last.

Everyone else is here except for those who can't come anymore.

Two members of our coven have been murdered now and I can hear the pain that threatens to break through in her voice. 

"Are you okay?" I find myself asking softly. 

There's a long enough pause from her that I wonder if I've crossed a line or if she's trying to pull herself together. I can hear her breathe out a soft breath before she speaks. 

"I'm fine," she assures me, "we have to focus." 

I nod and push the thought far from my mind. I'm here on a mission, I remind myself as I follow Eleanora across the gymnasium to the center of the basketball court which is where she summons a ball of light in her palm. The blue light casts the backboards of the basketball goals in a shimmering shade of azure as dust motes dance like glitter in the air around us. Eleanora withdraws her wand from her pocket and makes a flicking motion, like she's going fishing with her wand as she aims the tip toward the center of the floor. 

A pattern flickers on the floor, one that reveals a sigil that looks much like an embellished mandala pattern. I can read a few of the whorls and curves, noting that there is heavy silencing and obscuring magic at work.

This place isn't meant to be found by anyone unless they know what they're looking for, I realize as the wood boards on the floor begin to reassemble themselves and drop away. They creak and shudder out of place, stone steps and all revealed to us as they coil tightly down into the ground.