The Spirit Academy

Chapter 14 - The Lady Of The Lake

Dahlia

The next day, the gardens in front of the school reminded Dahlia of a rose garden, all bright and colourful, short and tall, rows and rows in a horse-shoe shape. Surrounding the roses were long old oak trees, and in the middle was a fountain. Tuesday morning. 

Dahlia closed her eyes.

She had lost all sense of time. It had been ten whole days since Dahlia had disappeared into the mirror, but back in her world it had only been ten hours, which Auretta had explained. 

Terre had disappeared after the debriefing they had with Flint. Neither Betha or Dahlia had seen her since. 

Dahlia grabbed a white rose now, wondering how despite the cold winds, it was growing strong.

But she recoiled away from it quickly. It reminded Dahlia so much of the pale blue flower ring both Flint and her kidnapper wore. She was sure of it, the girl was so pale, everything about him was white, lacking colour, so the ring stood out. Even with flint, he had red hair, and a red beard, pinkish skin, and he wore a black shirt and black pants. The ring stood out. 

And they both seemed exactly the same.

Betha had dragged her away to the gardens. They were still in lockdown, and they weren't allowed to leave their rooms, but something told Dahlia that Betha did not care. It wasn't the same way Mishal had a love for breaking rules, the thrill she got from it, the shine in her eyes, and the giddiness she had. Betha however seemed to be indifferent to it, she didn't seem to care if she got caught or not. She didn't seem to care for very much at all. 

Betha didn't seem to notice Dahlia's discomfort as she plucked a bud from the rose bush Dahlia had been touching before.

Betha sat down on the grass and Dahlia followed soon after, crossing her legs in front of her. "First you need to feel a connection. I don't want you to see the rose, I want you to feel it. Feel the energy coming from the life around you, feel each rose, each petal, each seed."

Dahlia nodded but she had no idea what Betha was talking about. It was obvious Dahlia was a life spirit, because of her grandmother Avita.

"Close your eyes. I want you to feel the life all around you. Imagine it, believe it. Imagine every single petal opening up, imagine it growing, the colours the shapes the sizes, everything."

Dahlia opened an eye, "Is that all?"

"No," Betha snapped, "Close your eyes."

Dahlia did imagine. At least she tried to imagine. But she couldn't she felt a block surrounding her mind, she felt her mind blank, an empty black void. Lifeless.

"No. I can't."

"Close your eyes."

"I can't. This is ridiculous."

And it was true. Dahlia did feel ridiculous. 

Dahlia stood up and looked at the bud the same as it was before. At once the bud opened, full of life and colour, the white petals opening and flowing out. For a split-second Dahlia thought it was she who had done it, but then looked to Betha and realised she'd done nothing.

"It always came easy to me," Betha mused, "Like breathing sort of. I always felt it, like a real tangible object, I felt life, and it was terribly easy, roses were the easiest, it's like it's already planned out everything, the rose has the petals folded in, so you just have to push the bud open, like setting it in motion. It should be very easy... like I said... I suppose maybe you aren't a life spirit... Wait-"

Dahlia knew that Betha was talking to herself without a second thought, she turned to run. The words still hurt, and worst of all, she didn't know why. She didn't want to be a part of this world, did she?