Page 34 of The Scars Within (Twisted Thorn #1)

I’ve been checking Scarlet’s plant every damn day, but the Grim refuses to believe me when I report that all four stems remain green.

At least it has been easy to slip through the halls unnoticed this weekend while most cadets are gone on visitation. Being ‘away’ gives me the perfect alibi. She spends most of her time away from her dorm anyway, so the task hasn’t been that difficult.

I managed to keep tabs on her yesterday until the unpredicted events of the evening... Getting closer to her while keeping a level head has been more complicated than I thought it would be. I’ve never been one for this much chaos swirling in my mind.

All of this sneaky business is making me want to stress eat.

I don’t know what I would have wanted to happen if I was still in Rhodes’s bed when he returned, so I left before I was put in that position.

I quickly grabbed my coffee and some clean clothes from my dorm and went straight to the bathing chamber to wash away the embarrassment of last night.

The hot water eased the pressure from my eyes, and it felt wonderful.

I finished my coffee before scrubbing my teeth, and my reflection caught my eye in the mirror .

I looked… better. Better than I did on initiation day.

It hasn’t been long enough to really gain much weight, despite the abundance of food available, but I definitely looked less hollow and less malnourished than before.

My cheeks aren’t sunken anymore, and the smallest-sized clothing provided by the college isn’t as baggy on my frame as it used to be.

After freshening up, I made my way down to the dining hall to refill my coffee and grab breakfast to-go. A quiet meal in my dorm with a book sounded like the perfect start to the day, especially knowing that peace would be hard to come by once my friends returned.

As I walked down an empty hallway connecting the western wing to the dining hall, I heard voices echoing around the corner.

Not just any voices—distinctly familiar ones.

I could thank my time in the shed for honing my ability to decipher voices, a skill I developed to brace myself for whichever man was about to visit.

“Everything is in motion, Captain.” The voice belonged to the uniformed man Laney and I had passed after our first trip to the library. He was trying to keep his voice low, but the words bounced off the stone walls, reaching me clearly.

“And Lamport knows the plan?” Captain Thorne—my father—replied in a matching tone.

Their footsteps grew louder, signaling they were about to round the corner.

Panic surged through me—I had nowhere to hide.

The hall behind me was too long to run back without being noticed, and sprinting away would only make it obvious that I was fleeing from something.

I frantically scanned the historical decor and small statues lining the walls, my eyes landing on a double bookcase to my left.

It looked just wide enough to hide me in its shadow as the officers walked past. I skedaddled over to the bookcase, pressing myself into the corner between it and the wall, trying to make myself as small as possible.

“Yes, Captain. He will be on his mark when expected.”

The voices told me they had turned the corner, and I closed my eyes, leaning a little tighter into the bookcase as I took a deep breath.

But suddenly, my breath was stolen as I felt myself tipping sideways, the bookcase seemingly vanishing beneath me.

I caught myself just in time, planting one hand on the ground to avoid falling face-first and clutching my mug with the other.

I crawled backward on my hands and knees into the shadows, my heart pounding in my chest.

It felt eerily familiar, like when I ended up in the alcove-that-wasn’t-an-alcove when Shayde let me borrow his clothes.

Now, I found myself kneeling in a dark, narrow hallway that hadn’t been there before.

The bookcase must have covered the entrance, but there was no way my one hundred and ten pounds could have been enough weight to push it aside.

The sight of Captain Thorne and his officer passing by made me cringe, and my boot accidentally sent a pebble skidding behind me. Thorne halted at the sound, raising his hand to silence his officer. He slowly turned his face toward my direction, but his eyes didn’t meet mine.

I held my breath, and my heart thrummed as he walked toward me with eerie deliberation, his eyes scanning up, down, left, and right.

He rubbed his thumb against the stubble on his stern chin.

Only a few feet separated us now, and though he hadn’t locked eyes with me, I stared a burning hole through him.

I don’t know why I panicked. I had every right to be walking in this hallway; no explanation was needed. The worst that could have happened was a stare-off between my father and me.

So why did I hide?

This demon of mine doesn’t even acknowledge my existence. So why do I acknowledge his?

With a low growl, Captain Thorne turned and continued walking. His officer didn’t question the sudden change in movement, simply stepping in alongside him as they continued down the hall.

My head began to feel light, as if I were floating on a cloud.

I finally exhaled and focused on regulating my breathing, grounding myself once more.

I stood up, my mug still cradled in my arm.

Shifting my bag off my shoulder, I wrapped my extra set of clothes around the mug to cushion it, freeing my hands to investigate the mystery of the bookcase.

Turning around, I was stunned. This wasn’t merely a strange, short alcove like before; it was an actual hallway swallowed by darkness.

No sconces or lights illuminated the space, leaving only a faint glow from the main hallway to pierce the gloom.

As I ventured further into the abyss, I noticed an ancient plaque hanging on the wall.

I brushed the dust off with the sleeve of my tunic, but the darkness made it impossible to read the words engraved on it. I backstepped towards the bookcase and hurried to the main hallway to grab a lit torch from the wall. But when I turned back around, I sucked in a sharp breath.

The bookcase had reappeared, blocking the entrance as if it had never been moved. What in the elements is going on?

My nerves began to tremble as I raised a shaky hand to touch the spine of a book on the shelf. To my astonishment, there was only a slight resistance before my hand passed through it as though the book was an illusion. I yanked my trembling hand back in shock.

Maybe Rhodes did poison my coffee.

Ignoring that unsettling thought, I braced myself against the shelf, trying to understand what was happening before anyone caught me looking like a fool.

My entire body gradually slipped through the books, vanishing into thin air.

As my head passed through, I glimpsed the mysterious hallway to my left, and my body precariously balanced on one foot to my right.

The approaching footsteps were the final nudge I needed to retreat into the dark space fully.

I stood at the threshold, facing the hall I had just come from but hesitant to cross the invisible line. Surely, the lit torch in my hand will catch someone’s attention if they happen to pass by.

Right?

The footsteps grew louder, accompanied by a throat clearing.

Then, the sound of boots tapping across the stone floor echoed around the corner.

It was Professor Scrivens, skipping down the hall with her arms outstretched.

She twirled gracefully on her toes, humming softly to herself as she danced past me without a care in the world.

I. Am. Jealous.

I returned to reveal what the plaque said, using the torch to illuminate it. Brushing off more dust, I carefully uncovered the engraved words. Leaning closer, I softly read them aloud to myself.

In the veiled echoes of Mareki’s grace,

When the past unfolds anew,

The truth will come face to face,

As scattered elements entwine in the few.

The splintered shards will become whole again,

Once the forgotten realm is due.

The key lies within the Crimson Wraith,

Whose flames will guide what shadows pursue.

“Hm,” I grunted, turning back into the dark passage and walking softly.

The torches flickering light guided me about twenty feet into the hallway, where the only sounds were the crackling of the flame and the echo of my footsteps.

The air grew colder, and I could see my breath fogging in front of me.

After another ten feet, I reached a large, round archway that opened into a circular room.

I slowly entered the room. Goosebumps prickled on my skin, but I felt an odd pulling sensation forward.

Like it was... calling to me. Dark stone walls swallowed the light from my torch, but the shadows weren’t dark enough to hide the sparkling reflections on the floor.

I looked up to find the domed ceiling covered in what looked like obsidian crystals.

Their glittering texture was projected across the room thanks to the light of my torch.

I could feel the cold floor through the soles of my boots. It was made of polished marble, with no imperfections that I could see. A series of torches remained unlit around the room. And in the center was an eerie pedestal crafted of a material that I couldn’t pinpoint.

The sensational calling was coming from the pedestal. I crept closer, and my torch lit a corner with a symbolic rune indented into the surface. I held my torch over another corner to reveal a different rune and walked around to reveal two more runes etched on the pedestal.

Holding the torch above the pedestal, I traced the indentations from the rune before me to the center, forming a complex pattern entwined with the other three runes.

I squinted through the dim light and noticed faint writing beneath the one closest to me.

I leaned closer and let my fingers trail along the carving.

Moving around the pedestal, I examined each rune in turn.

All four bore the same markings, etched deep into the stone as if someone had carved them with a blade—deliberate, jagged strokes that hinted at urgency or perhaps something darker.

“Past unfolds anew”

“Scattered elements entwine”

“Become whole again”

“Crimson Wraith”

The air around me hummed with ancient, arcane energy so thick it was almost palpable.

I gave into the calling and laid my hand flat on one of the runes.

A subtle vibration pulsed through the floor beneath me, rushing up my legs and to my fingertips.

A shiver snaked down my spine, and I jumped back.

The moment I lifted my hand from the pedestal, the sensation vanished, leaving behind an eerie stillness as if the energy had never existed.

Officially spooked, I bolted back to the main hallway. As soon as I escaped the concealed corridor, I returned the torch to its sconce, only then realizing that my hands were trembling. I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and exhaled slowly, trying to steady myself.

This was turning out to be a weird-ass weekend.