Chapter 19 I´m serious baby, you could be... mine
Izabella was sitting at her desk. The blinds weren’t drawn yet and she could see that it was slowly getting dark. The light was disappearing, slowly dying out, as lamp lights took over. She was still weighing whether or not she’d go to the library, which was open until midnight anyway, allowing students a place of peace and quiet for studying or just casual reading. Izabella had a few assignments to finish, as they were all due in the next two weeks. However, at the same time, she knew she had to do her own research.
Right now, she felt like there were too many distractions. She kept meeting new people, new faces, who prevented her from focusing on what mattered the most: researching the resources she had here on campus, so she knew what she could rely on if the meeting with Dante went wrong. What bothered her the most, was the fact that she had no idea what to expect of it. She didn’t know if he knew who she was. Of course, he had probably heard of Izabella Peyton, but she was here under a pseudonym. Also, she had slightly changed her physical appearance. She’d cut her hair and died it black, which was a big change from her blonde curls but apart from that, there was little else she could do or change. She couldn’t change her height or body constitution. So, she knew that when the time came, she had to be prepared for the worst.
At that moment, someone knocked on the door. Izabella turned to it, then shouted.
“Come in, it’s open!”
Reeba pushed the door open, grinned at Izabella, then entered. She approached the desk and offered her what appeared to be a plain white envelope.
“Here.”
“What’s this?” Izabella asked, accepting it.
She turned it over in her hands, then back again. There was nothing on it. No name, no sender, no recipient. It was just a regular white envelope, like any other, with no indication that it was meant for Izabella.
“I don’t know,” Reeba shrugged her shoulders. “It was on the floor in front of your door. I’m assuming it’s for you.”
“Maybe someone dropped it,” Izabella wondered.
“Right in front of your door?” Reeba asked. “It was almost pushed underneath. To me, it looked like someone placed it there carefully.”
Without answering, Izabella tore it open. At least this way, they could see who it was addressed to and if it wasn’t for her, she could just give it to the rightful owner who might have lost it. She extracted a folded piece of paper.
Be careful. They’re watching.
Izabella read it again. Was it a threat? A warning? A friendly piece of advice?
“What is it?” Reeba inquired.
Izabella thought about it for a second. She wasn’t sure if she should show it to her.
After all, Izabella was a slayer in a place packed with vampires. None of these people could ever be her friends, fighting on the same side. Or could they?
Her fingers started to shake. Her mind was racing. This was the determining moment which would either make Reeba her friend or it would forever seal their relationship as that of mere acquaintances or even enemies. Reeba would probably take it personally if Izabella chose not to share the contents of the letter.
But, Reeba already knew something. She suspected something. That much was obvious, ever since that night when Izabella stumbled onto them in the woods and, yet, she hadn’t mentioned it to anyone. So far, she had done everything in Izabella’s favor. She behaved as a real friend would: keeping secrets, being there, helping out. Maybe opening up to someone here would be a good idea.
“Here, see for yourself,” Izabella finally said, deciding to risk it.
It wouldn’t be the first, and probably not the last, risk she took while here, so she figured, why not. Obviously Reeba wanted to find the book, too, and keep it safe, so they shared the same cause. That alone was enough to make them look out for each other.
Reeba took the piece of paper and quickly read it.
“What does this mean?” she wondered.
“I have no idea,” Izabella shrugged her shoulders. “I had a weird encounter with the bully twins in the bathroom today, maybe someone is warning me about that.”
Izabella doubted that was what the letter referred to but it was a plausible cover story.
“Oh, crap!” Reeba pressed her palm against her lips. “What happened?”
“They thought I was hitting on Raphael.”
“What?” Reeba frowned, “but he came over to you. I was there. I saw it with my own eyes.”
“I know and I told them that but they didn’t believe me.”
“Those two are really horrible,” Reeba shook her head, “I would just stay away from them if I were you. I mean, I try to do the same, just don’t look in their direction, don’t address them, don’t even breathe loudly in their presence, and they might leave you alone.”
As Reeba was giving her monologue, Izabella gazed at her sadly. Was that really how things functioned in this school? There was a reign of terror? Izabella hated the idea. She wanted to show those two girls what it really meant to get your ass kicked but that was too much of a distraction right now. She couldn’t allow herself any distractions. She needed to focus on the upcoming meeting with Dante and, before that, the Witches’ Sabbath on Halloween.
“You should really try and stand up for yourself,” Izabella advised her. “You can’t live your whole life in fear.”
“Oh, it’s just for now,” Reeba tried to explain. “I’m sure things will be better when we leave Zeadore Academy.”
“Don’t you get it?” Izabella continued. “There will always be bullies out there. There will always be something or someone you are going to be scared of. The point isn’t to constantly keep out of sight. You should stop being afraid.”
“Easy for you to say,” Reeba looked down.
“Why?”
“You aren’t afraid of anything. That night, you were in the woods all by yourself.”
“You were there, too.”
“But, I was there with the rest of the girls. We were there together. You saw the light and decided to investigate on your own, in the dark. You couldn’t have known it was us there. It could have been something horrible, something deadly.”
“But, it wasn’t,” Izabella smiled. “It usually isn’t as bad as you imagine it. Your fear makes that something seem more powerful. I think the twins are so scary, exactly because no one wants to stand up to them. So, they have this fear working for them. As soon as you tell them no, I’m not afraid anymore, they won’t know what to do. Trust me.”
“Is that what you told them in the bathroom?”