Page 33 of In Between Darkness

“Positive.” I squeeze his shoulder. “I’ll come find you later on.”

He bends down and plants a careful kiss on my cheek before retreating to the dining hall.

Miss Aloe treats my hand for me with the grium jelly. It smells like wax and grass and is clear and sticky. She slathers it with care onto the palm of my hand, and it soothes me instantly; the throbbing is shunted to a halt. She hands me some kind of thick green liquid on a spoon. My eyes dissect it as if they are judging its form. Miss Aloe recognises my reluctance“for the headache,”a gentle smile prods on her thin lips. Healers have this magical way of knowing where the pain or discomfort is on their patient just by looking at them. They can even predict the start of a disease years before it manifests, allowing them to diagnose and treat early. Their empathic nature means that they can choose to feel others’ pain to pinpoint the exact place that damage has occurred and the best plan to correct it. I force the remedy down my throat and stifle the gag that wants to erupt and show itself. Miss Aloe tells me to sit down on one of the beds for ten minutes so that she knows I won’t lose my footing on the way back to my dorm. I think the green liquid may have some unwanted after-effects for some people.

I perch my bottom on the edge of one of the beds. Opposite me and a few beds down, the curtains are drawn. Only one bed in this whole ward. That must be Alex. I’ll just have to be quiet and hope that he doesn’t notice me. A head peeks round the doorway.

“Asha, I heard what happened! Are you okay?” Nala rushes towards me.

The whole school has definitely heard about what happened by now. I hear a curtain being drawn open. Alex definitely knows I’m here now. I avert my eyes from him. Just pretend he’s not there.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Miss Aloe has sorted me right out,” I say, gesturing towards her at the far end of the room.

Nala nods her head and assesses me, kind of like River did.

“I just saw River on my way here.” A small smile spreads across her face. She knows I don’t like him like that, but she still gets giddy.

“Yeah, he was nice enough to walk me over here.”

“Bless him… How the fuck did Alex go up in flames like that?” She laughs. I know everyone has secretly been waiting for him to get his comeuppance.

“It was the strangest thing. He was trying to scare me. Burned my hand on purpose. Then… Poof! He just ignited.” I leave out the part about my hand glowing too. It wasn’t me; I couldn’t have done this. I rotate my hand, showing off my burn. Her eyes widen.

“Thank the Gods you didn’t go up in flames too.” She pulls me into a hug. “I couldn’t do this without you.”

“You’re a badass. Of course you could,” I say, my reply is muffled in her shoulder.

“Well, I don’t want to!” she says and pulls me in tighter.

“I wouldn’t get too close to her!” Alex shouts from across the room.

“Shut up, Alex. Don’t wanna set yourself on fire again,” Nala taunts.

He scoffs and sends daggers our way before closing his curtain.

Miss Aloe walks towards us. “You can start making your way back to your room now, Asha. I will excuse you from further lessons today and advise that you get some rest.”

She gently wraps my hand in a bandage and sends me on my way. Nala heads back to the hall, and I make my way to my room.

I fall into my bed, and it practically swallows me up. My headache is still present, but it is a lot fainter now. My eyes feel heavy, and I surrender to their weight as a deep slumber takes hold of me.

“Asha…”

“Asha, what are you doing here?”

“Asha…”

The voice spits me out of my slumber.

Where am I?

Chapter Twelve

My eyes blink open, confused at the image in front of me. I furrow my eyebrows and stare in disbelief. I see a person staring back at me, equally startled. His black hair is slightly ruffled from being slept on. His hands rub his dark eyes hard as if the imposer will suddenly disappear from his view. He is caressed up to his waist in black bed sheets; his torso is bare. I watch as his muscles flex and his jaw tightens.

“Asha, how did you even get in here?” his raspy voice questions as he pushes himself up towards his headboard and further away from me. His ink-veined arm lifts up, and he runs his hand through his hair, pulling at it slightly. I feel like I am in a trance and struggle to find the words to say…

“Ryder?”