Page 3 of A University of Betrayal

“Don’t call me that!” she continued to sob, and I had to smile, which she automatically replied to.

Once again, I looked her firmly in the eye. “You’re strong, stronger than me. That’s why you’re going to grit your teeth, pack up the most important things, and go there.” Her expression remained unchangingly desperate. “You have my number, and you know I’ll be on campus if anything should happen. In the afternoons, you just leave to hang out with your friends.” Mia looked out the window. “It’s important to me that you have chances to get out of there.”

Mia nodded with a tear-stained face. There were dark marks around her eyes, which must have been due to the make-up she wore last night. The glitter stones on her eyes had slipped and were almost coming loose. It was strange to see my little sister with make-up on. She looked much older and somehow reminded me of Mum.

Before another painful wave of panic could rise up inside me, I got up from the bed and went to the door, not without a glance to make sure Mia was feeling better. She was just staring into the forest, lost in thought, which proved how good I was at lifting other people’s spirits.

“One more thing...” I began. “I want you to think about your circle of friends. Not Mady, but your classmates.” I turned to her in the doorway. “Not all the people who seem good for you at first glance turn out to be good for you in the end.”

When she didn’t respond, I turned to the door to leave.

I had already spoken to her about the strange connection between Ems, Bay, and me, and she had had to assure me that she would keep it to herself. However, I had needed to explain it to her, because after the scene in the parking lot yesterday, she hadn’t stopped asking questions.

Locked In A Cage

Brick + Mortar

When I arrived in my room, I closed the door and let everything out. I kicked the dresser and brought down all the picture frames from our family. A mountain of unwashed laundry kept the glass from shattering.

I was so incredibly angry again that the Quatura had so much power over us, angry at the Senseque and the pack that wouldn’t leave me alone. Now, they were taking my family away from me,too.But I was most angry at the Ruisangors. They had done so much damage. And they had almost taken the life of Bayla Adams, a human or Quatura who didn’t deserveanyof this.

I rushed to the window, listening. There it was again, her heartbeat. I had never heard anything so peaceful and calming.

Slowly, I let myself slide down the wall near my grand piano by the window and lay my head back against the wall with my eyes closed. I let the gentle pounding get as close to me as possible because it changed my own heartbeat, regulated my breathing, and calmed me down inside.

I wondered how it could beat so slowly. I wondered if it was because she was asleep or because she had almost died.

I should have been at that damn party, keeping an eye on Mia and Bayla. Instead, I’d been here, playing one song after another. What a fool I was... If I’d been there with Bayla, she wouldn’t have had to leave the party alone. And if I had been here, I could have intervened in time... but I had been in my car. No matter how I turned it around, the result was the same: the unchangeable fact was that I had been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

I slowly opened my eyes and turned my head toward Bayla’s window. And right then, I just wished she would pull the curtain away and get annoyed with me.

I didn’t know why, but I couldn’t help but think back to the day we’d been at the lighthouse. It had just been an idea to go there and show her the place where I could relax. Where I could get away from the town without actually leaving it. I had never taken anyone there before, but with her, I had felt that she needed the place just as much as I did.

And then there had been that moment when I had almost kissed her. Her eyes, the turquoise and the blue one, had shone playfully, and even after the storm clouds had covered her face with shadows, my head hadn’t considered it necessary to push the thought away.I had almost kissed Bayla Adams.But all that was left in the end was a bizarrely beautiful memory of a moment that would never come again.

She had shown me that she thought I was annoying, and had even pointed out thatEmelymight be interested in much more than our old friendship. She had made it clear that she didn’t want anything from me, and I had decided to just be there when this strange connection between us cried out for me because that had probably been the reason for my sudden emotional chaos. She had simply been in my head too often, against my will, and perhaps in a moment of weakness, I had allowed myself to sense something that had never been there.

So, I banished that memory to the back of my mind before getting up and pulling out my travel bag. It was time to pack up and say goodbye to this place. Where I would go now, I didn’t know.

Chapter 2

Julie

Alone In This World

RealTunesStudio

Sometimes you can’t describe it, but when everything suddenly gets worse, when the rose-colored soap bubble bursts, then it’s already too late. You were floating, but fell the next moment.

I wish I had fallen after I slept with Erik.Sooften, I wished I could just let go, just like I could let go with him. His kiss,my first.His touch,so intense.Warm, rough hands on my sensitive skin, on my hips, my tits... his full lips...

It had felt perfect. Until that moment when I had lost control. And there was nothing worse, nothing more fatal, for a Quatura without a control stone than being at the mercy of her emotions.

I hadn’t paid attention to that with Erik. I had allowed feelings to take over, andthathad been my mistake. He had managed to erase the right memories with his touch – for a moment. In an intense game of emotions and lust, he had given me control.

Then the brutal reminder that I wasn’t free, that I was living in Blairville, had come back... and with it, the cold. Up until that point, I hadn’t wanted to admit it to myself, but no matter how hard I tried to make excuses, I kept coming back to the same painful conclusion:I was obsessed with control. Control made me survive.

Larghetto -Piano, Celestra, Strings