Chapter 94 CHAPTER 94
I don't know what I was expecting and against the backdrop of my time with Zade, maybe I was a bit too optimistic.
But I walked into the hostel with high hopes but before I made it into the building itself, the stares started, followed by whispers and pointed fingers.
It was like that first day all over again, only this time, I smelled like Zade, had his mark under wraps and I had a different soul.
Outside the calmness and peace he provided, I still felt the impact of the leech and I had questions now about how I was able to do all of that.
Kill something so terrifying it nearly killed me.
But on the other hand, with its death, I lost the heavy bag of guilt I'd carried on me all my life.
It felt liberating to say the least, but I still worried about people's opinions of me, which was a lot as I headed upstairs.
When I opened the door, the girls were all dressed up and they all paused mid-action as I opened the door, mouth agape as I walked in.
“Where have you been?!” Erin screeched, anger coating her voice.
“You snuck off to go bond with the Principal and didn't think to let us know? And you were gone almost the whole week,” Mira added.
“Come on girls, don't be harsh, if I had the Principal working my pipes, I wouldn't remember the rest of the world. Especially the fact that I have people who give a fuck about me.”
“What are guys talking about?” I gasped.
“Don't even try to play dumb with me right now,” Erin snapped, “he came here talking about how you were attacked and needed time to rest and now you're here, reeking of sex and a Soul Tie mark! I don't have a problem with you bonding with him, you need the protection but why keep it a secret from us?”
I took a deep breath, realising they can't figure out who I smelled like exactly, just that I have a lot of sex oozing from me.
Good.
“Well? Still trying to deny it?” Akua snapped.
“I didn't have sex with the Principal and I did get attacked by a leech –”
“Don't even go there Alira, we're not stupid. If you had been attacked by a leech, you wouldn't be able to move your eyes for at least five days. Do you even know what a leech is or that's a lie that he fed you to feed us!?”
As she yelled, anger, an old, forgotten friend recoiled back into me, sharp and aggressive.
But my voice wasn't loud, quite the opposite.
“I do know what a leech looks like Erin, I still feel its slimy, black texture on my face, nose and skin. I can still feel the sensations of it pushing into my consciousness, attacking my chi and sucking. Again and again for what felt like hours. I can't forget how it twisted my memories, called me names I didn't know I could ever be called and tried to basically kill me. Somebody saved me after I'd killed because killing a leech isn't something anyone considers normal but I've come to realise there's nothing normal about me. Or tell me Erin, how many people do you know that fell from the fucking sky? I killed the leech and I nearly died afterwards. The Principal saved me and then Styx his horse took me elsewhere and that's where I recovered in the hands of a loving family. I had sex afterwards, I'm an adult, why the fuck do I have to explain that to any of you?!”
By the end, I was screaming as loud as they were.
“Oh –”
“Shit we didn't know –
“It was such an easy conclusion with the way he was acting and then you came in and –”
“How does a Soul Tie bond work?” I interrupted their mumbling, struggling to get back my cool before I do something rash.
Because fuck if it didn't feel horrible that I wanted it to be true, I wanted to bond with the Principal and even though I didn't, they still accused me of it so aggressively I nearly cried.
“You begin to crave their presence,” Mira provided.
“You want to spend time with them and–”
“She's asking about physical signs you butt head,” Akua retorted, “and it's the scales.”
“So I heard,” I nodded, “and what's the colour of the Principal's dragon?”
“Black.”
That was Mira.
So I pulled back the sleeve of my gown on my arm and pushed it in their face.
“Asher's?”
“Ew, fuck no. Does he have a dragon yet?” I asked Erin with confusion.
“No but he has gold scales and will probably have a golden dragon.”
“It's not Asher and it's not the Principal either so can we get over this?”
“You're not going to say who it is?” Mira gasped.
“For now, no. I still don't know what is happening and I fear I might be pregnant and -”
“Pregnant?”
“Shit, I said that aloud.”
“Well? You are on your blaze cycle?” Akua asked, pulling me to herself and turning me around.
“What's a blaze cycle? Is it like an ovulation phase?”
“I don't know what you're talking about but you can't get pregnant unless you're in that phase. I mean it would make sense since you met this man a few days ago and already went ahead to fuck him without any sort of courting but I'm not seeing any other signs.”
“She's not in her cycle,” Mira said with more surety, “look at her eyes. And her temperature looks normal to me. Also, even though she smells like she's been fucked six ways to Friday, if she were in her cycle, we would still smell it even after it's sated. So you're safe, go and take another shower and then come join us for class. We're sparring today, you've missed a chunk of school work by the way so brace yourself.”
Relief and tension warred in my chest as they left.
I fought so hard to get this close to everyone else on the curriculum.
Well, I'd better get ready and go see how much this leech has taken from me.