“I’m really sorry, I had a pretty crazy weekend,” I confessed truthfully.
“That’s okay,” she said with a sweet smile. “Listen, I wanted to ask you something, but I just need to know first, you’re not like with Gabriella are you?”
The name cut through me like a hot knife. God please be okay. “Um…Alex?” “No,” I snapped. Grace filched from my harsh reply. Her smile crumbled. “Fine, if you’re going to be like that-”
“No, wait Grace, look I’m sorry. I’m having a bad day, that’s all.” In the friendliest tone I could manage, I said, “no, I’m not with her.”
Some of the smile returned. “Okay great. Well then, I was wondering whether you’d given any thought about who you were going to take to the Christmas Ball.”
With everything that had been going on, the normal world felt completely surreal, as if it no longer properly existed. Her words made no sense at all.
“Huh?”
“You know…the Christmas ball that the sixth form is having?” Her voice was losing confidence by the second. I carried on staring blankly until the cogs in my stressed out brain finally turned.
“The Ball!”
“Wow, you are having a bad day aren’t you?”
If only you knew. I gave a fake laugh. “To be honest I haven’t given much thought to who I wanted to take.”
Grace glanced at her friends, who were eagerly sneaking glances over their shoulders. “Oh right. Well I was wondering, you know, if you weren’t going with anyone…then maybe…” she flicked her hazel eyes up, “you might want to take me?”
I let the information register and tried to think of a reply. If she’d asked me a few weeks before, I would have jumped at the chance. In fact it was more likely the universe would have imploded from the anomaly. But still, things had changed. If I went at all, there was only one person I wanted on my arm. And I don’t even know if that person ever wants to see me again, or even if she’s okay, I thought miserably.
I didn’t want to be nasty. After all, Grace was a really sweet person — even if she’d only chosen to speak to me after learning about my new car.
“It’s really nice of you to ask, but I’m not even sure I’m going to be able to go. Can I get back to you?” I said, trying to look as conflicted as possible.
Grace exhaled in a deep whoosh. “Uh yeah okay. Well you’ve got my number so-” she half laughed and then turned and returned to her desk, where her friends leaned over in search of gossip.
I groaned and flopped my head onto my bag.
My phone rang.
I was lying on the bed, staring at the picture of my father. Gabriella’s phone had refused to go beyond ringing tone all afternoon. After an internal battle, I’d left a deeply apologetic message and pleaded with her to call me. The dread gnawed at the pit of my stomach, each bite telling me that something was definitely wrong. The number came up as unknown. My heart skipped about fifteen beats. I dived across the bed and scooped it up to my ear. “Hello?” I breathed. “Alex? It’s Mum.” A surge of disappointment rushed through me. I collapsed down onto the bed. She sounded panicked. “What’s wrong?”
I paused. Pretty much everything. “Nothing Mum, I’m fine. “Oh I’m relieved, you had me worried for a second. Is Mikey okay?” “He’s fine Mum. Everything’s fine.” “Good. Well things aren’t so great here. I’m calling from the hospital.” I tensed up. “Is it Connie or Edgar?”
“No, no they’re in top shape. It’s John. He’s come down with some kind of food poisoning. Nothing too serious, just lots of vomiting and uh…the other end, but the hospital want to keep him in for observation for a few days just to be sure. It means we won’t be able to fly back tomorrow though.”
I nodded. So this is what Faru had in mind to keep them away. It was wrong, but I couldn’t resist a brief smile. “Don’t worry about it Mum. Tell John to rest up and come back when you’re ready.” “I will honey. Use the emergency money if you need to. Depending on flights, we should be home by next Friday at the latest.” “No problems. I’ll see you then.” “Alex, are you sure everything is okay there? I had an odd feeling.” “Honestly Mum, we’re doing great,” I lied. “All right then. I’ll speak to you soon. I love you Alex.” “Love you too Mum. Bye.” The phone clicked and she was gone.
I didn’t allow myself to sleep that night for fear that The Sorrow would be in my dreams. I went into school Tuesday morning tired and bleary eyed. Mikey didn’t even bother to ask, he knew he wouldn’t get anything out of me. Maths dragged and I fled the room as soon as the bell rang, heading for Science and praying that at least one of them would be there. I took my seat, nervously tapping a pen against the table. After a few minutes, people began to filter into the room.
Neither Gabriella nor Rachel came through the door.
About a quarter of the way through the lesson, a jaded looking Miss Cleveland came in and informed the class that Miss Steele was ill and that we would be watching a televised lecture on physics instead. The caretaker wheeled in a TV and activated the DVD player, before switching off the lights and shutting the door behind him. As expected, no one paid the slightest bit of attention to the TV. An absent teacher meant a licence to talk. Not having any desire to participate, I sank my head into my bag. I heard Elliot say something to me from behind and I just grunted a muffled response.
There was a click of the door, followed shortly by a thud next to my ear. I lifted my head up and I almost cried out for joy when I saw that it was Gabriella’s bag making the noise. But it was replaced by dread when I noticed how dishevelled and drawn she looked. Her hair was tied back but several strands were loose, sticking out at various angles. There were dark bags under her eyes and her face looked pale. I knew without asking that my bad feeling had been justified. “Ella, what’s wrong? Are you okay?” I whispered as she slumped onto the seat. She shook her head. “What happened?”
“Not here.” She pointed towards the door and stood up. I clambered off my stool, almost knocking it over in the process. People looked ready to start making suggestive noises, but cut them short when they noticed how distraught she looked. We walked to an alcove in the corridor. Gabriella’s eyes were brimming with tears. She took a deep breath. “It’s Sophia. She’s really sick.” I didn’t know how to correctly respond. My mouth flapped open and shut a few times before I could speak. “I don’t understand.” “She’s been bitten.” “Oh my god. By what?” “A Bloodseeker.” My brain was spinning with questions. I tried to grab hold of them one by one. The first one was obvious. “But she’s a Chosen. I thought we were supposed to be immune to bites?” “We can’t be turned. But she’s contracted Heptacemia.”
Haven’t read it. “What’s that?” “It’s an extremely rare blood disease that we can catch from Vampire bites.” “Is it curable?” “Normally. But because she’s so young and only half Chosen, her immune system is too weak to fight the infection properly.” My mouth gaped open. “But she’s going to get better right?”
Gabriella’s shoulders slumped. “We don’t know. She’s in so much pain. And she looks so frail.” Her voice cracked. “Alex, I think she’s going to die.” Tears slipped down her face. I pulled her into my arms and smoothed her hair. I shut my eyes and thought about the poor little girl, with the sweet smile and rosy cheeks, writhing in pain as an infection slowly killed her. I forced the images from my head. It didn’t bare thinking about. Gabriella pulled away from me and wiped her eyes with the palms of her hands. “Can’t the Coven cast a spell or something?” I suggested. “They’re going to try. Rachel’s gone through the Veil to collect some ingredients for it,” she sniffed. A sudden fear gripped my chest. “But what about The Sorrow, isn’t that where it’s heading?”
Gabriella gave a weak smile. “I told her everything. I think her actual words were The Sorrow can piss off, I’m going anyway. As far as I can tell, Faru hasn’t sealed it yet. I guess he will once she’s back.”