Page 33

ice cold water

C elestine and I had been training together after school nearly every day for over a month now, switching from the dojo, training, and assignments.

I’d also go with her to the ice-skating rink, but I didn’t always skate with her.

Her stamina and strength were what I mainly focused on when we were in training, and they had improved quite a bit since we first started.

She was also opening up more in the dojo, slowly, very slowly, but I was starting to pick up and understand the subtle, micro expressions on her face.

Assignments were the most difficult for us to adjust to.

I figured since I’m training her to become independent, I’d just go with her and step in if she needed me.

In theory it would have worked, but for some reason, the very thought of anyone touching her pissed me off and realising this made me want to stick needles through my fingernails for being so… protective of her.

Gross.

Lin bumped me and I came back to chemistry class, lab coat and goggles on, paired with Lin, Iri and Jamiel across us.

We stood at the very back corner of the room near the door, trying to put chemicals together to create some sort of reaction, I’m not sure, Lin knew though.

I squinted my eyes at the instructions, why are there so many unnecessary words?

It's like they are purposefully trying to confuse us.

“What are you doing here, shouldn’t you be in your lab?” Lin asked .

I snapped my attention to Celestine standing between us. She ignored his question and pointed at the main flask with the mixture of chemicals we were concocting. “What’s in here?”

As if I know.

Lin replied and as much as I tried to listen to what he said, his words went through me like a ghost. The teacher didn’t notice Celestine, she’s so small, even if the teacher looked over, our bodies hid her well.

She picked up one of the bottles and since she didn’t have her glasses on, pulled it close to her face and squinted to read the label. She twisted open the cap and didn’t hesitate to pour the whole thing in our mixture.

“Woah, woah, woah.” Lin put his hands out, his eyes wide with fear, but it was already too late. She quickly slipped out of the room right before the chemicals exploded in a mushroom of blue foam, splattering my friends and me. None of it was toxic… I think.

It’s decided. “I’m going to kill her,” I muttered, wiping the foam off my face, taking off my goggles. We might somewhat get along during training, but she's still a menace to me at school.

“Galinthias, Hyacinth, what did you do?” the teacher barked from across the room.

“These instructions are hard to read,” I said.

“Detention, both of you.”

“Lin didn’t do anything. It was my fault, miss, I read it wrong.” Lin couldn’t afford going to detention and I’m not a snitch.

“Fine, Hyacinth, you’ll be getting a double detention then, for not discussing with your partner or at least me. All of you, clean yourselves up.”

“Thanks, Cinth.” Lin gave me a thankful pat on my shoulder.

I shrugged. “Don’t worry about it.” We took off our coats and goggles and headed towards the bathroom, Jamiel and Iri shooting glares at me .

“What?” I snapped at them.

“This is your fault, if you just stopped messing with Cel–”

I held up a hand, to hush them, spotting Celestine at the end of the hall, still skipping her class. “Let’s get our revenge first, yeah? Then you can lecture me.”

They nodded in agreement.

I picked up my pace and grabbed Celestine’s shoulder, pulling her back and pushing her between all of us. “And where do you think you’re going?”

“I almost got in trouble because of you,” Lin snarled at her.

“Yikes, you three were collateral.” She attempted to push through us, but we kept her in the centre.

“I told you before,” I said, sternly. “My friends are off limits.”

Celestine met my eyes and for a moment I thought she would listen and apologise. “You know I have a bad memory.” She gave me this smile that made my face warm and I suddenly forgot why I was mad at her.

Jamiel nudged me, snickering.

“Angels above.” Iri shook her head with a laugh.

“Need to sit down, Cinth?” Lin mocked. “Think you may be having another one of your heart attacks.”

“Excuse me!” A teacher patrolling the hallways barked from the other end. “Are you four meant to be out of class?”

There's five of us ? But when I looked down, Celestine had disappeared along with the pack of smokes from my pocket. My friends and I looked like lost ducks as we turned our heads side to side to look for her.

“What are you all looking for?” the teacher snapped. “And what is all this blue dye on you?” She continued to babble about whatever, and I disregarded it, allowing my friends to step in and explain the situation .

We eventually made it to the bathroom to wash all the blue foam off us, thankful it didn’t stain our skins, only our lab coats, and didn’t splatter onto our uniforms. I ran my black eyeliner under my eyes, smudging it to my liking and double checked that all my piercings on my face were clear of the blue dye, before joining my friends back in the classroom.

***

I groaned spotting Celestine at my locker after school. “Stop talking to me during school hours.”

She rolled her eyes, leaning against the locker next to mine. “We're going to the same place.”

“And when did I say we could be seen leaving school together?”

“Just hurry up, you’re so slow.”

Now I was going to take my time.

“Why is she talking to him?” A few of our classmates whispered as they passed us.

“Do we need to save her?”

“Hey, Cel.” Eloise stepped towards her but I didn’t bother turning to look at her. “Some of us are going to the cafe across the street, do you want to come?”

Celestine shook her head. “I’m busy.”

I could feel the girls staring at me and I wanted to squeeze my body into my locker. “With Hyacinth?”

“Maybe,” she replied.

They exchanged a few more words before taking their leave.

I let out an annoyed breath, popping a pill into my mouth. “Get away from me, Celestine.”

She leaned her weight on me. “No. ”

A few teachers looked our way, muttering to each other, and I quickly pushed her away. What will it take to get her away from me? She drew so much attention.

“Hyacinth, you have a detention today,” one of the teachers reminded me, undeniably curious about Celestine’s closeness with me.

I glanced back at her. “I'm serving it tomorrow.” Niko wanted to meet Celestine and I after school, so I texted him about my detention and he talked to the principal for me.

“Yes, that's correct,” the principal said, approaching us. It really is crowded now. “I see you and Celestine have sorted out your differences.”

I let out a scoff, shutting my locker. I didn't look at anyone as I walked out of school, Celestine following behind me.

We rode the train to the West side and after a bit of a walk from the station, I turned the corner into a dark alley.

At the end of it were stairs that led underground, where it was too dark to see the door at the bottom of it.

I was surprised when Celestine fearlessly walked down the steps, she didn’t even know what we were doing or what this place was. I quickly grabbed her arm. “Do you just carelessly walk into a place all the time?”

“Is there a reason I should be afraid?” she asked with cold eyes.

I released her. “No.” Not if I’m here. I took a pill before knocking on the door. A large brute woman opened it, recognising me. She wouldn’t dare question who I brought with me and stepped to the side, allowing us to enter.

This place was a small underground bar–Not the infamous Underworld Bar, but similar vibes and similar people.

Less classy, more chaotic. Skol was open all day and all night, no time for any cleaning and because there were no rules on weapons or fighting, it was normal to see people on the blood-stained floor unconscious among vomit and spilled beer.

The cops avoid this place, the whole West side really, and if they did decide to come in here, I doubt they’d be allowed to leave without some sort of blackmail hanging on them .

When we entered, nearly all heads turned towards us, normally they would quickly look away, but they seemed to be more captivated by Celestine than scared of me. She might actually be more powerful than me.

I spotted Niko arm wrestling another man, much larger than he was. People around them were shouting and placing bets on who would win, but Niko looked incredibly bored while the other man was struggling. It was obvious what the outcome would be.

As Niko picked up his drink to take a sip, his eyes met mine. “Ah.” Without much effort, he quickly finished the man off. “Better luck next time.” He patted the man’s back and downed the rest of his drink before turning to us.

Celestine gave him a bow and Niko laughed at how polite she was.

“You never bow to me,” I grouched.

“You’re only supposed to bow to those who are superior to you,” she mocked me and I squinted my eyes at her.

Niko rolled his eyes at our childish banter. “Silias specifically asked us to teach you something.” Then he nodded for us to follow him to the back.

In the back of the bar was a room, and due to the roaring noise outside, it was basically soundproof.

Inside a man was tied to the armrest and feet of a wooden chair.

He sat in the centre, stripped down to his underwear, his back turned to us.

On one side of the room was a table, a bunch of different tools displayed, and two men stood on the opposite side.

“What are we getting out of him?” I asked, already knowing what this was, but was it really necessary for Celestine to know how to do this?

“Undercover cop. He and his little buddies are planning an assassination on one of the clan leaders, but he refuses to tell us the names of his friends,” Niko explained.

I could have shown Celestine how to do this without him, he didn’t need to be here.