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She looked into my eyes, her face a mask of terror and concern.
"You must never speak of what you saw," she warned.
"Why?" I asked desperately. “We have missing students. I need to tell someone,” I insisted.
"The forest is cursed and forbidden. If anyone finds out about the figure you saw, they might become its next victim," she declared in a hushed voice.
I gulped, understanding her fear and holding it close to my heart. However, I couldn’t just ignore what I had seen.
“I understand that, but what if what I saw was who or what is taking the students?”
Candi bit her lip and something told me that she knew more than what she was willing to share with me.
“What do you know?” I asked, narrowing my gaze at her.
Tears formed in her eyes and she looked away from me. “Farrah, there are secrets here that aren’t mine to share. I can promise you that what you saw– it wasn’t what is taking the students,” she persisted.
My heart practically leaped out of my chest at her omission. How much did Candi know? Why wasn’t she willing to share this information with me?
I give her a knowing look, taking a deep breath. “Candi, I don’t like being lied to. I really don’t like what is going on here at the academy. People are going missing. Secrets are ringing out everywhere, and I feel lost in it all.”
I struggled to keep my composure, but my voice shook with every word spoken.
Candi’s face softened. I could see how conflicted she was, so I didn’t push it anymore. Instead, I just turned back to the desk, giving her my back.
“I need to finish studying,” I said.
“Ok, well I just came in here to grab my cell phone. I won’t be back until later,” Candi said, before grabbing the device and leaving.
Once I was alone again, I didn’t even bother opening the textbook that lay on the desk. Instead, I inched closer to the window once again.
For a while, nothing happened. Just when I was about to give up and go back to studying, something moved under the shadow of the stone wall near the garden. Running fast, a figure jumped over the wall, racing toward the treeline of the cursed forest.
Gasping, I stared. Maybe Candi didn’t want to talk about this, but I knew I needed to figure out what was going on.
Standing, I watch as the figure slows, and just as it had before, it turns, though this time its body is bathed in the silver glow of the moonlight. Like a bright spotlight, I fall to my chair as I realize the figure is Ason.
A large wolf stares up at me, yellow eyes boring into me.
I should look away.
I should scream and race to get help.
I should do a lot of things, but what I decide to do, isn’t going to end well.
Racing out of my room, I tear down the hallway and toward the stairs. Taking each step two at a time, I leap onto the main floor. The halls are empty as most of the students are preparing for the Unveiling Ceremony tomorrow.
Professors are either helping to decorate the grand ballroom or are working on the case of the missing students.
Moving toward the back doors that lead out to the garden, I hesitate as my hand lands on the door knob. We have been strictly forbidden from leaving the school.
It’s dangerous.
There is a predator taking students.
It all feels so very wrong, but yet, I am compelled to discover why Ason is outside.
I need to know why he is racing toward the treeline.
