Touch of Darkness

Chapter 13: We Should Train

The next morning Alice, Cain, Elijah, and Chris met me in the hallway before out first classes began. I tried my best to hide the dark circles under my eyes before I left for school, but I guess they could still tell that I was dead tired. After what happened last night, no one was willing to be the first to talk. And actually, now that I thought about, why were we meeting this early? Normally we talked later in the day. My mind was too hazy to notice it at first, but when Alice tapped me on the shoulder to get my attention, it was then that I realized they were holding an impromptu meeting of their own accord. Or in other words, they were ambushing me this morning.

"You look like crap," Cain was the first one to speak and I punched him in the arm in response.

"I just had trouble sleeping last night," I said as I swiped the iced coffee that Cain was holding. He protested at first but I chugged it all before handing him back the empty bottle, "Now I feel better."

"First you wake me up in the middle of the night, and now you steal my coffee."

Chris put a hand on Cain to tell him to stop talking, "This isn't what we're here for Cain, remember?" he glanced towards me, "Victoria, I think you already know what we want to talk about. When did you and Zedd start getting so close?"

"After we all almost died," I answered, "He said he could help me understand and hone my powers, so I accepted his offer. I thought all of us wanted to do the same."

Alice spoke up, "We are trying to understand our powers and being able to get help is great-"

"But not from him," Cain cut her off, "Aside from our powers, we all also thought that Zedd and Alessia were dangerous.

"Well maybe I don't agree with that now," I said, "I don't know about Alessia, but as for Zedd, I believe we misjudged him. When we were training together, he had any number of opportunities to try something if he wanted to, but he didn't. And I've really learned a lot from just our few training sessions. I wanted you guys to be able to have the same opportunity, but you're turning it down because of some unfounded suspicions?"

"We just want to make sure you're safe, Victoria," Elijah said.

"I don't need you guys to worry about me. Maybe I don't have some super intuition like Chris but I can still look out for myself just fine. If you guys aren't going to change your minds about Zedd's help then fine, but don't gang up on me and-"

A sudden pounding in my head made me stop and put a hand over my temple. My field of vision became a black haze and that evil voice rang Yes, despise them. Throw them away. They're only holding you back anyways.

No, you're wrong. They're my friends. I might be mad at them now, but they'll always be my friends.

"-toria. Victoria!"

The sound of their voices was enough to break the darkness that was creeping into my mind.

"What happened? Are you okay?" Alice had both her hands on my shoulders.

I took a moment to take in each of their faces, all drawn with worry, and let out a sigh. Get it together Victoria. This isn't what you wanted to talk to them about. You want to protect them.

I smiled at them, "Just a little headache. It's probably cause I didn't get enough sleep. Sorry I got all of you worked up. And also...I didn't mean what I was saying earlier. You guys were just looking out for me as friends should. I'm sorry."

They all gave me reassuring smiles and hugs.

"You did make some valid points before," Chris said, "That time we were attacked was dangerous, and we could use some practice with our magic. I still don't have a handle on this teleportation power. I tried to practice by myself, but instead of my room I ended up in my front yard. Luckily no one was out there-"

"Wait is that why I saw you running into your house naked?" Cain said half laughingly.

Next to me I could see Alice's face turn a bit red and she looked away.

"Yeah, apparently practicing magic after you shower is not a good idea," Chris sighed, "But going back to the main point, I think we should be open to some help."

Hearing Chris say that made me feel a little relieved, but the expressions on the other three's faces weren't as comforting. They clearly still had their concerns about Zedd. I wish they saw him the same way I did. He isn't a bad person, I'm sure of it. I trust him. But I guess it can't be helped that the others aren't ready yet to do the same. Still, I wish there were a way we could train together without Zedd there...

"Maybe I could teach you guys?" I spoke tentatively. It wasn't a very solid idea. After all, I myself didn't know a lot about magic; not as much as Zedd at least. But I feel pretty good about the basics. And mainly I was thinking that I could ask Zedd and take notes from him, then I could teach the others with what Zedd would say to do. If they see that he's genuinely helping by just teaching indirectly, then maybe their trust in him will increase. I explained the plan to them.

"It's better than dealing with him in person I guess," Cain shrugged. He was the one who I thought had the biggest issue with Zedd, so hearing him come around to the idea gave me some hope. Alice and Elijah were also warming up to the idea.

"Great!" I exclaimed, "I'll talk to Zedd about it today when I get a chance, and then we'll work out the rest of the details later."

We all said our goodbyes. Talking things over with them made my head feel much lighter now, and I even felt a bit more energetic. See that, evil me? You're naive to think you could stop me so easily.