Unfamiliar (Unfamiliar Series #1)

Chapter 43

"Kara?"

I startle at the sound of Eleanora's voice and I realize then that my eyes have been closed. I open them to see that I'm still in the alchemy lab, but instead of Lilith, it's the other members of the Coven of Midnight who are in the lab with me.

"Yeah?" I ask as my heart flutters in my chest, the memory of the panic in Lilith's eyes enough to make my heart pound as I almost expect the door to fly open at any moment.

"Are you okay?"

It's Violetta who speaks and I force myself to nod.

"I'm fine."

My hands are still shaking when the meeting comes to a close a half an hour later, I myself deciding not to have my affinity tested as Eleanora instead wraps up the meeting quickly, like she's sensed my unease.

Once I'm back outside of the gym and away from the others, I pull out my phone, only to hesitate.

Why should I call her?

I wonder about the thought for a moment to myself, but then again, Lilith mentioned Unfamiliars.

I dial the number and hold the phone up to my ear.

"Hello?" the voice on the other side is slurred, like she's been sleeping and I kick myself for possibly being rude as I realize that it's extremely late.

"I...I think I need to speak with you," I say in a low voice, suddenly feeling embarrassed about calling her but I push on, "I've-, I've seen something important."

"I'll be there in fifteen minutes, meet me in the nearby park in the neighborhood on Eclipse Lane," the voice clips on the other side of the line, suddenly alert and awake. "Be careful, Kara."

"I will," I promise.

                                                           ****

It takes me less than fifteen minutes to hop the fence and walk over to the intended meeting place, which is relatively isolated even though it's in the middle of a neighborhood. Once I reach the park I spot her sitting on a bench under a pine tree, a nearby streetlight casting her in a yellow glow. The air is cool and I shiver as I shrug the collar of my coat closer to me, my shoes crunching across some fallen leaves as she looks up when she hears me. 

"Kara," Officer Marshall greets me and smiles as I walk up to her.

"Officer Marshall," I say in a low voice as I dip my head.

"Please, I'm begging you this time, please call me Diana, Officer Marshall is what everyone calls my mother," she pleads. "Look," she gestures to her side as she picks up a disposable coffee cup that is sitting next to her, "I even brought you hot chocolate."

I can't help but smile as I accept the cup from her and take a sip of it. The hot chocolate is warm and has a pleasant, sweet flavoring that soothes me for a moment. Tears briefly sting my eyes at the gesture of kindness, but I keep them in check as I nod and take a seat on the bench next to her, the wooden boards creaking restlessly.

"Okay...Diana," I relent and she grins.

"That's better, now, what did you need to speak with me about? You made it sound like it was urgent," she observes as she takes a drink from her own cup.

I take another sip and swallow before I speak, "I...well, I had a-, a 'vision' I think, I saw something."

"Like...?"

I can see her lift an eyebrow as she draws the word out expectantly.

"The Coven of Midnight took me down to the founder's private alchemy lab, and while we were down there, I touched one of the grimoires and...and I saw a memory, I think," I explain to her.

"What was in this 'memory'?"

"I saw the founder-," I start to say.

"Lilith Moriarty?" Diana asks and I startle at her saying the name aloud.

"Yes, there were two women in the vision and one of them called the other woman Lilith," I say as her lips press into a line. 

"So there were two women, where were they?"

"They were in the alchemy lab and it was just them, the cauldron was burning and Lilith threw a book into it," I pause as I try to recall what happened. "The other woman, her sister, called it a ledger and Lilith said that it was stupid of her to have made the ledger," I tell her as the details come pouring back to me. "I think that it had the names of who was Unfamiliar in it because she had said that 'they' were after the Unfamiliars and that 'they' can't know who the Unfamiliars are, whoever 'they' was."

Diana takes a moment to process this as her eyes tick back and forth restlessly, like she's filing the information away before she speaks.

"What happened to the ledger?" she asks at last.

"It burned, she also said a spell so that its 'secrets shall not be revealed, but instead, they shall burn'," I shrug helplessly, "and then the door to the alchemy lab came open and that was it."

"Nothing else?"

I shake my head, "She only said that, 'one day, Unfamiliars will be safe, sister, my wand will guide the way for all'."

A slow smile spreads across Diana's face as I say this and she nods thoughtfully, "Well, Kara, I'd maybe pay a visit to the gallery and check out the founder's wand tomorrow, it sounds like the founder has cast a couple of spells to keep memories."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, they didn't have cameras back then, think of it like that, she obviously wanted someone to see her memories, so she kept it hidden by casting the spell onto the grimoire," Diana explains as she takes a sip of her hot chocolate.

"But students go down there all the time," I protest.

"Yes, but you're an Unfamiliar, Kara, there's something bigger than the murders going on at the academy and I think that she wants an Unfamiliar to see it."

"You may be right," I say softly, though I can't help but wonder, what could the founder of the academy want only Unfamiliars to see?