Nothing's changed. The hierarchy, intact. Seraphina still trusts him. He's still a "cripple". But for how long exactly? John wakes up from the worst nightmare of his life only to find it wasn't just a nightmare. Now he must put aside differences and...
He yanked at the fabric, and it fell loose, revealing a large map.
❃❃❃
"Shiiii-t," Isen said, gaping at it. Blyke turned around, visibly upset.
"What's this supposed to be?!" he said, trying his best to keep the hurt out of his voice.
"It's, well-" Remi stammered. "Fine! I was working on EMBER! So what? It's not like you guys wanted to do this! You even got Arlo to lecture me!" Blyke and Isen glanced at each other before looking back at Remi awkwardly. Blyke was the first to speak.
"Don't be stupid. We only wanted you to stop because chasing EMBER is dangerous and could get you in trouble. If you were gonna keep doing it then we're happy to help," Blyke sighed. "It's just, you come back after your brother's funeral and suddenly you're obsessed with EMBER. We don't know what to think."
Isen blinked, confused. "Wait, say that again."
"You come back after your brother's funeral and-" His eyes widened with realization.
"So this is what she's after... revenge."
❃❃❃
The library was nearly silent, the only noises being the clicking of keys and soft flipping of pages. Seraphina's fingers drifted over the spines of thick books as she searched for the one she was assigned to read. She mentally repeated the titles of each one in her head, moving from row to row, yet her mind felt clouded over. "What was that back there with John? I didn't feel the way I normally do. Something was different, unless... could I be-" She shook her head, flustered. "No, of course I'm not. That's stupid." She turned the corner around a shelf and noticed her roommate scanning a shelf. She was instantly filled with rage.
"Elaine! That sneak almost got John and me in trouble! I'm sick of her meddling." She walked over to Elaine who was humming softly and hadn't noticed her. Seraphina took a short breath to calm herself and tapped Elaine on her shoulder. She turned her head and jumped, letting out a slight shriek. The librarian looked up from her desk and gave the two a disapproving look, before returning to her typing.
"Ser- Seraphina," she whispered, shaking nervously. "Is there something I can help you with?"
"Can I speak with you? Outside," she replied coldly, her voice teeming with anger. Elaine nodded and followed her out the door trembling.
Seraphina let the door swing closed and turned to look at Elaine. "Earlier, when I was called to the main office, why were you there? Did it have something to do with me?"
"Shoot! She noticed!" Elaine's eyes travelled back and forth between the door and Seraphian's wrinkled sleeve, unable to look her in the eye. "Nooo, of course not! I was, um, there for family reasons. That's all!"
"Don't lie," Seraphina said, leaning forward to glare at Elaine. She shuffled backwards.
"EEEK!" she flinched and Seraphina rolled her eyes.
"It had something to do with a particular book, am I correct?" Elaine guiltily faced her, indicating that it was true. Seraphina huffed, annoyed. "How'd you find out about it?"
"Well... not too long ago I was heading up to the rooftop. I always go there to get fresh air, you know? And well, you and that cripple were there. I was about to leave but then you... he... mentioned a familiar book. I guess I was curious and I looked it up. But you don't understand! It's... it's il-"
"Illegal, I know. Why would you eavesdrop on that conversation? Elaine, that was a private conversation. Why didn't you leave?" She blinked, uncomfortable.
"Because..."
"Because of John," Seraphina finished. "I don't get it!" she exclaimed, surprising Elaine. "What do you have against him? He's done nothing to bother you, he keeps to himself, he's... he's my best friend," she said, tilting her head back. "Why can't you just let me have this?! Do you and everyone else here need to control everything in my life? I'm tired of it!"
"Seraphina, please! I was worried. That book has resulted in so many strong people to mess around with bad people and die! I didn't want you to end up like them! You're strong but we don't know what's out there! It's all because of John. HE'S the one that let you read it and HE'S the one who's ruined you. You used to be perfect! Arlo just wants-"
"Arlo?" Seraphina cut her off. "You're following Arlo's orders?" Her anger doubled. "Oh, I see! You BOTH have nothing better to do with your lives than to mess with mine! Elaine, if I were you, I'd worry less about me and more about you." Elaine's eyes widened. She moved her lips to speak but was frozen. Her gaze fell upon her arms which were gray and still.
"If you think this little charade that you and Arlo have will continue then think again," she snarled. "I'm moving out."
"Seraphina, wait!" she tried to say, but she was still under the effect of Seraphina's ability. Elaine's eye's followed the back of Seraphina's head as she stormed off. As soon as she was out of sight, the freeze wore off and she sank to the ground burying her head in her arms.
Seraphina's eyebrows furrowed as she walked off angrily. "How was I unable to see this earlier? Elaine is way too much of a pushover to keep pursuing me and John after I told her to drop it! It definitely has to be Arlo making her snoop around." She stopped walking and shut her eyes, trying to clear her head up a little more. "Arlo. When I get my hands on you, you're done for."
❃❃❃
John scrolled through the rest of Claire's Instagram. There weren't many pictures, but he noticed that she was smiling in them and seemed to be doing much better. "I'm glad she's moved on." He smiled, seeing Adrion, another one of his old friends in one of the photos. The two of them were still friends, even after his ordeal at New Bostin. He scrolled to the rest of the contact info and pondered his next decision. "Soon. I promise."
Chapter 8 (1030 Words)
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
anna's A/N: hey everyone! this update is a little late again. both EZ and I have started school again, and honestly, I'm swamped in work :( don't worry though! we'll still be updating, though we might not be able to guarantee weekly updates. we'll try our best though! thanks for keeping up with NIGHTMARE, we're almost at 10k so start leaving questions!
