Chapter 24: Comfort - Day 5
The twins awoke the next morning, unaware of the events that had happened last night. Clara was enraged that Sage had fooled her the night before, and she wasn’t scared to express her anger.
“Sage! You liar,” Clara barked as she stomped down the stairs to meet with Sage. “You made me miss a party last night, you lied about Mum being home last night, and where were you last night, huh?” Clara kept on talking to a nonchalant Sage who was sipping coffee from a tea cup on the kitchen counter.
Sage was not able to fall asleep last night. The occurrence of everything that happened played through her mind repeatedly, and more questions just seemed to pop up every time she replayed the events.
She still had to be at school today, not because she wanted to, but because she had someone who she could speak to at school.
While Clara kept on ranting, Sage took a long sip of her coffee and sighed after she swallowed.
“I see liars don’t take it well when they are being lied to,” Sage said. Clara stopped shouting when she processed what Sage had meant. “Did I mention that Ericka would be home today? If not, I'll advise you to get dressed and leave for school. You know she wouldn’t like it when she finds out you missed school,” Sage said with a nonchalant attitude towards Clara's rants.
Without waiting for Clara to say anything else, Sage walked upstairs to get ready for school.
****
The twins had gotten ready for school. They were finding it hard to believe when Sage was telling the truth or when she was pulling their legs. They knew very well how Ericka would punish them if she knew they didn’t leave for school. And they also would not want to be around when Ericka gets back and finds out her room had been tampered with while she was absent.
“Where is our breakfast?” Clara asked Sage, who was now eating toast bread.
“There’s no breakfast?” Jane questioned also as her tummy made a rumbling sound.
“Yeah,” Sage simply replied, focused on her meal and not seeming to care about the twins.
“Clara chuckled hard, unable to believe Sage's attitude towards them. “Lie to us, shrink my clothes and now you don’t make breakfast. All this because mother isn’t home, right?” Clara said, irked by how uncooperative Sage had been with them, as she usually was.
“Clara, I’m your cousin, not your servant,” Sage snapped. “If you want something to eat before leaving for school, learn to wake up early and make your own meal.”
“Clara, we don’t know how to cook,” Jane whispered in Clara’s ear after hearing what Sage said. She wasn’t going to force Sage to do anything she didn’t want to do, she was terrified of the Sage who stood before them now. As he had never reacted to them in such a way despite thier continuous abuse. Jane felt like the person before them was a completely different person.
Clara could only breathe with anger as she stared at Sage. She realized that she might not have the same power she had over Sage again.
“Guys, I’m leaving for school,” Sage said, flipping her bag over her shoulder. “If you don’t want to walk to school, I suggest you get in the car now.” The car keys had been in Sage's possession since yesterday. It was how she got to school with the rickety car still down by the roadside.
Without wasting time to think, Jane pulled her sister, who was boiling in anger, after Sage.
Sage had gotten to school with the twins. Clara, who was still annoyed, got out of the car and slammed the door behind her before walking into the school.
When Sage got into the school, she searched the hallway eager to find Clark among the students there.
She walked to her locker as his was close to hers, and she would normally meet him there before they walked off to class together.
However, Clark still wasn’t there. Disappointed, Sage opened her locker, picked up her textbooks that she would be needing for her first and second classes. She was about to close her locker when she felt a strong grip on her shoulder.
Sage took the hands on her shoulder quickly and pushed the person hard against her locker.
“Ahh,” the person grunted. He was putting on a black hood with the cap over his head. Sage, thinking she knew whose voice it was, flipped the man over. She was surprised when she saw it was Clark and even more surprised when she saw the way he looked.
“Clark! Are you okay?” Sage asked, worried about him. His hair wasn’t perfectly styled the way he always did it, his eyes were red from crying all night, and he trembled slightly from fear. “Did you have a rough night?”
“I’m fine,” Clark said in a hushed voice as he placed his hands on Sage’s cheeks and caressed them.
Sage found it hard to believe that Clark was okay. Never has she ever seen him looking so serious, sad, or scared.
Sage peeled his hands from her face and pulled him away from the hallway. “Come on, let’s go.”
The two of them had ended up in an empty class filled with instruments. Sage unzipped her bag and brought out the flute Clark had given her as a present for her birthday.
She placed it on her lip and began to play a soothing melody. Sage had wanted to talk to Clark about what happened to her last night, but it seemed like he had his own problem to deal with. The only thing Sage could do was pull him to the music class, which was empty, and play the flute.
Sage took the flute away from her lips as she was done playing it. “My uncle used to play this melody, and when he did, it brought me peace. As a depressed child then, it was my source of happiness. Clark, I hope whatever bothers you goes away,” Sage said as she gave him a hug.
“Sage,” Clark finally spoke up, looking at Sage directly in the eyes. “I don’t want to lose, and I don’t want to die, I don’t –“
“Shhh,” Sage hushed him, placing her index finger against his lips. “What are you talking about? You’re not going to lose me, and you won’t die, okay? I also thought I was going to die yesterday. But I’m here, with you.”
As Sage concluded her words of comfort, the door to the music class swung open. There was a pale-looking lady standing just outside the classroom. She had short black hair and had a long black coat on.
Immediately, Clark saw her; he stood protectively in front of Sage. Sage had to lean her head to the side of Clark to see the lady. ‘Who is she?” Sage wondered.
“Aren’t you kids meant to be in class?” Venzy asked, holding a smirk on her face. She had driven Clark and told him to act normal in school. When Clark got into the school premises and was sure Venzy wasn’t following him, he went to the lost and found area in the school and picked up a black hoodie. He wanted it to be difficult for Venzy to find him while he searched for Sage. However, Venzy was a step ahead of him. She made it seem like she wasn’t watching when she was a few distances away, keeping track of Clark's scent.
Clark had shown her who Sage was, even if he didn’t want to. “We were just about to leave,” Clark responded rudely before dragging Sage by her hand towards the door. Clark let Sage go out first, passing the lady, and then followed. As he was about to pass the door, the lady held him by the arm.
"You can't protect her," Venzy whispered into Clark's ear. Even if she had whispered, Sage could still hear her. "Now," Venzy added before throwing a fake smile towards Sage.
Clark forcefully pulled his hand away from Venzy's grip and dragged Sage away. Even though Venzy was certain Sage was the hybrid, she wasn't going to act immediately. She knew Sage's face and her address; she would have to go there at night before the demons could come out.
Sage followed quickly behind Clark, trying to keep up with his pace as he walked really fast. "Clark, who was she referring to, and where do you know her from?" Sage questioned as Clark kept dragging her through the hallway.
He didn't respond to her question and seemed to have a lot on his mind. Sage noticed that Clark only ignored her questions when he was scared, just like when he heard the news about the killings in town. She wondered what must have made him so scared.
Seeing where they were now, Sage decided to tell Clark what happened to her last night through this morning. "Clark, you would not believe what happened to me last night," Sage began, hoping Clark was paying attention to her, somehow.