Call of the Water (COMPLETE)

47. BROKEN TRUST

The headmaster's office had gotten so quiet. Ms. Cyan stood there, with the window behind her back, clutching her silk scarf in her hands. Her watery eyes were looking at the distance, and the scars that were hidden under the scarf just a moment ago, were now exposed.

"Are those..." Doctor Kasian stared at the bulges on her neck like a child who's trying to figure out how a magic trick was performed.

"Gills," Professor Cyan whispered.

Doctor Kasian sighed with amazement. "Gills," he repeated.

"That is why I think you can help her," I said. I looked at him with plea in my eyes. If I had only one wish, it would be that he helped her get her old life back.

He took a few steps closer to Ms. Cyan. "Gills," he said again. It seemed as his eyes were unable to move away from my teacher. "May I?" he asked as he slowly lifted one of his hands towards scared Ms. Cyan. He froze it mid-air, waiting for her permission to touch her skin.

Professor Cyan swallowed to get rid of the lump in her throat. "I suppose," she said quietly.

She shuddered when Doctor Kasian's fingers brushed against her skin.

"I think we should give them some privacy," Mr. August said, looking at me.

I nodded and we quietly walked up to the door and into the hallway.

"Discretion," he said after he closed the door to his office behind us.

"Discretion," I agreed and smiled at him.

He kept a serious face, but I could sense the smile lurking just beneath the surface. He turned and walked away from me, down the empty hall on the first floor. I shoved my hands inside my pockets and headed towards the staircase that would take me to the ground floor. Inside the pockets, I crossed my fingers, hoping Doctor Kasian's visit would not be futile.

Before my feet reached the bottom of the staircase, I spotted the werewolf. His eyes gazed at me under the lowered eyebrows, the look that was very well known to me. He was angry again.

Just as I took a deep breath, preparing myself to step off the last stair and face ill-tempered Mathias, another voice stopped me.

"You should stay away from him," the voice said. "I don't like the look in his eyes."

I turned my head to the right, towards the source of the voice. There, sitting on a bench against the wall, was Harper. Under the light brown curls, his forehead was wrinkled. Beside him, leaned against the bench, rested his crutch.

"Oh, I haven't noticed you," I said and let the smile tug at the corners of my lips. "Don't worry about me. I'll be fine."

"I don't know about that," Harper said. "He's been standing there, staring at that door ever since you and Ardea's father entered the headmaster's office."

I leaned my elbows against the staircase railing. "Have you been keeping an eye on him the whole time?"

"I haven't exactly been keeping an eye on him. I just..." He lowered his head and stared at the gray floor tiles as if the continuation of that sentence could be found there. After a moment of silence, he looked up and said, "He's a werewolf. When he fixates something with his stare like that, it cannot be a good sign."

I couldn't argue with that logic. But it was Mathias. I knew Mathias. I had faith him.

Outside, the sun was struggling to emerge from behind the clouds although the rain still drizzled. In broad daylight, Mathias' wolf side was in check. In broad daylight, he could be trusted.