Page 20 of Poison

“Shut it, scales!” Adrenaline rushes through my body and my muscles feel like they’ve expanded within my skin. Lightning flashes then, illuminating the whole bedroom as I glare at the son of a bitch. I’ve sat for hours wishing he was here with me, begged the gods for an answer as to why they would put me through the torture of this ordeal, constantly asking why they hate me so much to take him away and leave me alone! But he was here the whole fucking time!

“P, I’m—”

A shrill shrieking sound rips through the area, forcing me to cover my ears as the sound gets louder. Yells fills the air along with it from the other clan houses, and I turn with wide eyes to Kevin. Something vibrating echoes through the room and then another warbling sound rings out. This one sounds like an air raid siren, and my tablet flashes relentlessly on the bedside table. I rush over and grab it from its charging spot, a huge red banner flashing across the screen with a warning.

“Students and faculty of the Academy, this is your headmaster.” My eyes lift to Kevin’s again as he slithers closer. “This isn’t a drill, all students must stay in their clan house until it becomes safe or a member of faculty gets in touch to move you to a safe zone. Remember, this isn’t a drill, stay inside.”

The emotions from earlier dissipate instantly as I stare wide-eyed at my friend. I see a group of people running through the Academy grounds outside, tearing their clothes off and shifting into different animals as they run. What the hell? The movements were fluid, they didn’t break a single stride. Seeing them on the move like that has me throwing the shower curtain off myself and grabbing the closest items of clothing I can find. Once dressed, I move on autopilot.

“Good job it’s those you’ve put on,” Kevin sniggers. I turn on him, eyes narrowed as I glower.

“Huh?” I cock my head to the side, watching.

“You’ve got sweats and a tank on,” he says. My head drops to evaluate my clothes and I’m shocked that he’s not pulling my leg for once.

I’m surprised that I’m managing to function at the moment. Watching the group move through the grounds had me feeling exhausted for some strange reason; I think I’m going to have to go to the infirmary again at some point because I want to get to the bottom of this.

I make my way down into the kitchen, surprised that it’s pristine after Kevin’s meltdown earlier. Everything is back in its place and all the broken items are no longer in sight.

“Thank you for tidying up.”

No matter how pissed off I am with him, I won’t be rude about this. He did tidy up like I asked, which is unusual for him, but then he did scare the shit out of me. I can see some Vasi members running around outside the window, wondering if they have any part in what’s happening. Because I’ve heard on the grape vine that not all the Vasi train at the same time. So that explains the amount of people moving through the Academy, unless it’s other students? But Mr Skullmyer told us to stay put, they wouldn’t be that stupid, would they?

The pounding of a door reverberates through the night, and I roll my eyes at Kevin which has him smirking at me. I try my best to ignore the incessant sound as I continue to make my drink.

“P?” Kevin says, and I see him moving closer out of my peripheral. “That’s your door.”

I lift a brow in confusion, the noise building rapidly like someone’s panicked. I put the cup down, leaving the kettle to wind down from boiling. I grumble as I grab hold of the door handle, the knocking becoming more frenzied. I pull and my mouth drops open.

“Why did you open the door?” Ajax growls from the threshold, glaring down at me with his arms folded across his chest. The rain is beating down after the thunder and lightning earlier.

“Because you were knocking on it?” I smirk as his eyes narrow.

“Did you not hear the alarm?” he rumbles, stepping closer, forcing me to tip my head further back to look at him. I nod in acknowledgment to his question. “The Academy is under attack so don’t answer the door to anyone.”

“But you knocked on it,” I say, turning and walking back to the kitchen to get my drink. “What’re you doing here? Shouldn’t you be out with the Vasi?”

“I wanted to make sure you were okay, the other students have heard the sound before when we’ve done training for it, but you’ve not been here long enough.” The concern is clear, which makes me soften a little. I watch him as he looks around the kitchen, it should be weird having him here but it doesn’t feel it. He jumps like something has just touched him.

“Who’s Hotty Mc Hot stuff?”Kevin grins as he expands his size behind Ajax and speaks inro my mind. I’m glaring at him as he continues to grow until he’s practically breathing down the poor guy’s neck.

“Are you okay?” Ajax asks with a concerned look on his face. I ignore him, continuing to glare at the psycho behind him who is sticking his tongue out, shaking with silent laughter as the forked tip gets closer to his neck.

Ajax’s hand whips up to touch the back of his neck as he spins around to look behind him, “Is someone here?” he asks as he finishes his appraisal of the empty room behind him.

Well, so Ajax thinks.

If looks could kill, the arsehole would be six foot under by now, that’s Kevin’s little parlour trick that people don’t know about—he can choose to make himself invisible to anyone he wants to. That’s why I’m so annoyed at myself for not realising Casper was him.

“No, there’s just me. It’s haunted,” I blurt out as a way of explanation, and Ajax looks me over like he doesn’t believe me. Can I blame him? Not one bit, but how do you tell someone they have a psychotic Basilisk behind them, when they can’t see them? Because I’m pretty sure that’s one way to get my arse hauled off to the supernatural loony bin.

“I think they all are, to be honest, it’s the Crawstrike house that gives me the creeps,” he smirks as my brows hit my hairline.

“So you came here…”

“To check on you. I know this sort of thing can be a little scary for some, don’t answer the door again and wait for the alert to tell you it’s safe,” he commands, eyes narrowing on me as he slowly backs up towards the door.

I nod in response, because really, what more can I say? Plus, I’m still confused as hell to why he really is here. It can’t simply be that he wanted to make sure I’m okay?

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