Page 108 of In Between Darkness
“Oh. Thank the Gods you’re okay. Charlie and I have been looking for you all day.”
“I’m sorry,” I apologise, not wanting her to worry about me. I know we said no more secrets, but there is no way I am putting her in the danger of this mission. I almost lost her once, and I will not be losing her again.
“Where have you been?” she asks as worry lines form on her forehead again.
“I was with Ryder,” I reply as nonchalantly as possible, knowing Nala will most likely be excited at this information.
“Okay, no explanation needed!” She raises her hands as if to stop me from adding any more details, and I laugh. “All I need to know is whether it was good.” Her eyes sparkle as she raises her eyebrows in an innuendo-type way.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I feign innocence, but my cheeks contradict my words as they blush a rosy red. Nala walks over to me with her index finger pointing at me, becoming even more giddy at my previous expression.
“I think you do!” she says.
“If I tell you, will you give me some privacy?” I laugh at her as she nods her head frantically.
“It was the best night of my life,” I smirk and involuntarily bite my lip, thinking about our steaming bodies colliding.
“That sounds about right,” Nala chimes as she closes the door and leaves me in peace. Thinking about the immense way Ryder made me feel takes my mind off the Moons for a brief moment. A gentle knocking rearranges my thoughts as Nala opens the door again, and I sigh at my lack of privacy.
“Sorry.” She scurries in with a guilty look on her face. “Just thought you should know, Miss Worthington was looking for you.”
That name makes my stomach flip, but I do my best not to react.
“Oh, did she say what it was about?”
“No, but she came to History and knows you weren’t in class. I told her you weren’t feeling well.”
I nod my head slowly, but my heart is beating much faster than it usually does.
“Thank you.” I respond, and she smiles at me before closing the door behind her again.
This can’t be good.
***
The smell of freshly baked bread, vegetables, and roast pork sausages tantalises my senses, but I can’t even think to eat. I feel so sick to my stomach at the thought of Miss Worthington looking for me. What could she possibly want from me? What if she saw me dreamwalking or spotted me and Ryder spying from that neighbouring mountain? My mind spirals, and Nala gives me a worried look from across the table.
“Are you okay?” she asks, and Charlie looks over at me from beside her, equally worried.
“I’m just not that hungry,” I say, moving my food across my plate with my fork. I don’t make eye contact, but soon look up at them to force a small smile.
“Maybe take a few bits to eat later, you already missed first and second meals today.” I give her a nod to ease her worries and start placing a single slice of toasted granary bread, a packagedcube of butter and some sausages in a brown paper bag before folding it up neatly and laying it on the table beside my plate.
“Happy?” I ask sarcastically, and she smiles back at me with a similar expression.
“Extremely!” She matches my sarcasm, making me smile, and Charlie laughs at our strange communication style.
My stomach almost settles, but then I see a short, plump figure with ginger curls walk through the double doors into the dining hall. Her head sways as if she is looking for someone, and I am not waiting around to find out if it is me. I grab my tray, startling Nala and Charlie slightly, then stuff the brown bag into my pockets, waving it in Nala’s face beforehand so she knows I plan on eating it.
“I’m going to go back to our room,” I state to them both, and their heads nod simultaneously.
“Is everything alright?” she asks, and I just nod my head slightly and exit the room as quickly as my feet will carry me, plonking my tray onto the cleanup table before I go and infiltrate myself into a crowd of students leaving at the same time as me. I turn my head back in the stampede, and my eyes catch hers ever so quickly, signally me to pick up my pace, and I lose her in the crowd.
My head keeps snapping back to check for Miss Worthington behind me; thank the Gods she is nowhere to be seen. I have seen what torture she performs in the mountains when she thinks no one is looking, but my eyes have seen her cruelty; they are tainted with this image of her, and I’m afraid if I am alone with her, I may slip up. I exhale a breath of relief as Damien Solice comes into view. Finally, I can relax in my room and wait for Ryder’s signal. My hand connects with the door, but I do not have to twist the handle like usual, the door is already unlocked, ajar. I recount my past few hours and specifically remember Nala and I closing the door as we made our way down to thirdmeals. A cold shiver runs down my spine as I take a slow step towards the open door. I push it, and it swings open. The air retreats back into my lungs as I gasp.
Drawers from my once organised dresser lie scattered across the floor, my clothes spilt like entrails, and a once pristine bed is now a chaotic mess of tangled sheets spewing feathers out of a sliced mattress. My desk and schoolbooks have been tossed around like a toddler’s plaything, their insides ripped out and torn like confetti. I take another step forward with trepidation, not knowing what is lurking around the corner. My legs tremble as I see through the chaos. This is not just destruction. I am almost one hundred percent sure this is targeted destruction. I imagine a frantic and desperate search for something specific, tearing the place apart in a relentless pursuit. My mind runs just as frantically as I rush to the suitcase under my bed and slide it out, hoping to see its red fabric unscathed.
Oh Gods. My contraband is gone. The suitcase, which once filled to the brim with secrets, now lay empty and misshapen on the chipped wooden floorboards. The Soldark, the photo of my parents, and the newspaper article. All missing. Taken. My mind doesn’t let me grieve those items for long because there is one question on my mind: Who now knows all my secrets, and what are they going to do with them?
