River of Blood

Chapter Six

Sarafine holds Zelda tightly in her arms, feeling the girl's body shake from all of the tears. No one realized how attached the two seemed, but in that moment it was obvious that Zelda cared. A lot.

Sarafine gently strokes the girl's hair, trying to calm the poor girl down. Her tactics don't seem to be working as the girl only cries harder against her chest.

Judi glances towards the pair, her honey eyes seemingly distant. Sarafine notices that the other girl had been crying as well, and her guess was because of the wolf lying at her feet. That wolf, however, had been trying to kill an innocent.

The question lingered on Sarafine's lips, one that she was dying to ask. No one knew the answer, of course. None of them had seen what happened.

Did Evangeline kill the wolf?

Zelda eventually collapses onto her knees, glancing towards the wolf as if to make sure that it's real. Her gaze has continuously gotten more and more distant, which kind of scares Sarafine half to death.

"What is our next move?" Annalise finally asks, breaking the silence that had overcome the group.

"There is no next move." Zelda's voice is broken.

"Of course there's another move. There's always-"

"There is no next move!" Zelda's anger cuts through the trees, causing Annalise to fall silent. "Evangeline is gone who-knows-where, the president's daughter is constantly getting attacked, and we are sitting next to a deceased wolf!" The girl's breathing rises as her fury rises. "None of us know where to start in tracking Evangeline, so we're out of options. Until her body turns up, we have no way of finding her."

"She could be alive." Sarafine whispers.

Zelda glances at Sarafine, her gaze white hot. "Don't give me hope of something that is likely false."

With that, the girl turns on her heels and races back towards the front of the hall. The other girls sit in silence by the lake. Judi eventually gets up and leaves, leaving Aquila, Annalise, and Sarafine alone with their thoughts.

Annalise throws a stick towards the water, breaking the silences. "There has got to be some way to find Evangeline."

"Unless you failed to mention you are secretly an excellent tracker than Zelda is right. Evangeline is on her own." Sarafine sighs deeply, her red hair being blown out of her face by a small breeze.

Annalise frowns before glancing back at the shimmering lake. Sarafine feels bad for shooting down the girl's hopes, but let's face it. There is no way to find the girl. Unless Sarafine is in her griffin form, she doesn't have the ability to pick up the sent and track Evangeline down. These girls next to her aren't any help either considering they're human.

Aquila leaves next, leaving Annalise with Sarafine. Annalise picks up a blade of grass, her green eyes focused on the trees.

"I have a question for you." Annalise begins, her voice soft.

"Ask away." Sarafine glances at the slight girl, her brows raised as she awaits the question.

"Why did you choose Burnwood University?"

Sarafine smiles. "I needed a change."

Annalise glances back down at the lake. She scratches at her ankle where Sarafine catches sight of what looks to be a birthmark. The outline seems to be a heart made out of...vines? Vines with thorns sticking out of it. "My parents forced me to come here three years ago. I was worried about leaving home but they decided it was time for me to get out of my comfort zone."