Page 45 of A Blackened Bond

Without a second thought, I dash in the opposite direction at full speed, moving away from that area in seconds and following the treeline until I can see the girl’s dormitory building.

The sun had set during the fight with Dean and Leon, and night had blanketed the sky.

I hide behind a large tree, listening for sounds around the dormitory before moving toward it. A group of students exit the dorm, laughing and chatting together as I watch from the shadows.

I wait for another couple of groups to pass, making sure no one is around or near as I slink into the shadows and make my way into the dormitory through the back door.

I creep into my room and glance down at my messed-up clothes covered in small splatters of blood and dirt. The wound on my arm is thankfully healing already as I make my way toward the bathroom and twist the old shower faucet on.

The water spurts out a cold spray before turning lukewarm as I strip off and enter, my mind racing over everything that happened in the forest: the beast tracks and trails coming from the mountain, the thoughts of who was involved or whether it was in some way connected to The Facility. Also, Dean and Leon’s little ambush: What the hell was that little black pill, and how did it make them stronger and faster?

I guess it didn’t improve their healing or recovery, though.

A smirk tilts my lips with the memory of them both unconscious and pooled in their own blood. They deserved worse for what they had planned for me last time.And this time.

Hopefully whatever faculty member found them would have taken a while to get them back to be healed. The assholes deserved to suffer.

I gently scrub myself and notice the wound on my arm is almost fully healed.

I step out of the shower and begin drying off, taking the discarded clothes I threw onto the ground earlier with me as I move.

I’m making my way into the room when something falls from the dirty bundle of clothes I’m holding.

A small clang rings out in the silent bathroom as it hits the floor.

I pick the tiny black oval object up, the feeling cold and hard on my palm. What the heck was it and why was it in my clothes?

I had a strange feeling I had seen it before or something like it.

The small oval was half the size of my nail and felt smooth to the touch—almost like a bead or small piece of metal.

A loud knock rings on my door, pulling me from my thoughts as I approach it.

“Interviews for the third years will be held tomorrow,” Mr. Aldeir’s voice booms from the hall. “Make sure you’re early and ready, Ms. Bane.”

An interview with the Council's representatives in the morning.Just what I needed.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

MICAI’S POV

Itoss and turn in the bed, my thoughts fluttering back and forth before I drift off to sleep.

I wake up in a cold, damp cell. The cool cement wall behind me sends chills down my arms and back as I lean against it. No shred of warmth to be found anywhere in the tiny room I’ve been imprisoned in.

I was thrown in here a couple of weeks ago, or was it longer…itfeelslonger.

Time has blurred, each day seeming longer than the last. A decent night’s sleep has eluded me, my body only able to manage a few minutes or an hour or two at a time.

My mind is constantly on alert, hoping for a way out of here while praying someone will come and take me from this hell. Each time I close my eyes, I pray that when I open them again, I’ll be back home in my bed and that this will have all been some horrible, long nightmare.

I had thought—at first—that this was some sick joke, a prank that someone from my past had planned to make me miserable like in my academy years. But as time passed, I realised that wasn’t the case. This wasn’t some horrid form of bullying or harassment. This wasn’t some sadist joke by bored, over-privileged teens. This was on a completely different level from what I had experienced before.

But then, who had taken me? Why hadIbeen taken?

I wasn’t someone worth kidnapping. I didn’t have any magic or power of my own. I had no status, no money, or anything of value to anyone. So why me?

What did they want from me?

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