Page 17

Neith

“H ey!” River says excitedly as we turn a corner and find all of the other guys standing there waiting for us.

“Hey!” I reply, and then before any of them can ask, I launch into how the lesson went and how I actually managed to help some people.

The guys all listen intently, their smiles growing, as Griff chimes in every now and then, confirming what I’m saying or adding things of his own that make me smile.

“So I think I might,” I’m in the middle of my sentence when my eyes land on someone that I recognize, and I pause while my brain tries to figure out where from.

She clearly figures it out quicker than I do though because anger clouds her expression, and she growls, “You!”

Her angry expression jogs my memory, “Ah shit.”

“What?” Ransom asks for all of the guys as they all look thoroughly confused as the woman comes flying toward me.

“You owe me a new car!” she yells as she gets within striking distance and then swings.

I duck, but don’t retaliate. She actually has every reason to be mad at me. As she continues to swing and I continue to duck and dodge out of the way, I try to think of a way that I can make it up to her. Fuck, I have money now I can just replace it! Now, I just need her to stop swinging long enough to hear me out.

Blocking another hit, I say, “I’m sorry!”

For some reason this just angers her, and I have to concentrate on not getting hit so much that I can’t get any more words out. The guys have clearly snapped out of their shock though, because they intervene and stop her from hitting me again.

“I don’t know what is going on here, but it’s not a great example to set the students,” Evander says sternly, his eyes on the woman.

She takes a deep breath, and nods once agreeing with him, “Sorry. My emotions took over when I saw her.”

I wince, “I really am sorry. I promise that I will pay you back.”

“Damn right you will!” she replies and then storms off through the crowd that has gathered.

I grin at the guys, “That was fun! I do feel a bit bad though.”

Raiden bursts out laughing, River snorts, and the other guys shake their heads at me.

“What on earth did you do to her?” Reed asks. “I have never seen her lose her cool like that.”

I pull a face, wrinkling my nose, and say, “I may have stolen her car and then accidentally blown it up.”

They all freeze, their mouths dropping open as they look at me incredulously.

Eventually, Doc asks, “Do we want to know how that came about?”

I shake my head, “Probably not, no.”

“Come on, let’s get you to the dining hall before someone else recognizes you and starts swinging,” Doc mutters with a smile.

We all start walking again, and I say, “Can you guys make sure she gets a new car on me? I don’t think it would be a very good idea for me to talk to her for a while.”

“Yeah, that’s probably a smart idea,” River chuckles.

“You did really well dodging all of her attacks though. She wasn’t going easy on you,” Ransom adds.

I shrug, “Well, I didn’t want to hit back, not when she had every right to be pissed. I mean, I did blow her car up. I would be mad as hell if I had a car and someone did that to me.”

“Well, you certainly impressed quite a few of the watching agents and students with the way you handled it and the way that you managed to dodge everything even though you’re human,” Doc says.

“I suppose that’s probably a good thing,” I reply questioningly.

The guys nod, that it is, and I relax. It probably is a good thing, unless the woman whose car I blew up cottons on to the fact that I looked better than she did in that situation, because then she has yet another reason not to like me.

I think my best course of action is probably to just avoid her at all costs. In a place this big, that should be easy enough.

I hope.

This place is really massive, and it takes far longer than my stomach would like to get to the dining hall, as Reed called it. Fancy. Once we get there my focus is solely on the food and nothing else. They have proper meals, no weird brown stuff that you don’t know what it is. No wilted and pathetic-looking vegetables, nothing like any of that. I wish I could take forever to choose, but I am aware that I’m holding up the line, so I settle for some pasta in some kind of creamy-looking sauce and then add a giant bacon double cheeseburger because it looks too good to leave behind.

When the guys simply pick up what they want and then walk off to find a table, I walk behind them, slightly confused.

Once we’re seated, I ask, “Don’t we need to pay?”

Evander shakes his head, “No, it’s all paid for. It’s included in the student’s tuition and our employment as SID agents.”

“That is awesome,” I reply. I waste absolutely no time in digging in, and I am not disappointed, the food tastes as good as it looks.

We all fall silent as we eat, which is the norm for us apparently, and honestly, I wouldn’t be good for conversation right now anyway. I’m too busy stuffing my face like a lady. It does give me a chance to look around the lunchroom, dining hall, or whatever the fuck it’s called.

I am pretty surprised that any gazes I accidentally meet are friendly, and most either just glance away because they’ve been caught looking or give me a smile. A couple of the students from Griff’s class even wave, and I happily return them. It surprises me because there is no animosity or anything like that, and I once again have to remind myself that we aren’t at high school. It’s refreshing. My gaze lands on yet another familiar face, but this time, it’s a welcome face, and she’s already walking toward me.

I stand up just in time to receive a hug from Navy. It is strange how comfortable I feel hugging this woman that I have met a grand total of once, but honestly, it’s probably the least weird thing that has happened to me recently so I’m just going to leave it alone and go with the flow.

“Neith!” She greets me with warmth as she steps back.

“Hey!” I reply with a happy grin and then immediately add, “The food here is fucking awesome.”

She grins, “Have you found the desserts yet.”

My eyes widen and I immediately spin around to glare at the guys, pointing an accusing finger at them I say, “That’s it you’re all in the sin bin, how could you not mention that they have desserts?”

“Shit,” River says, looking genuinely apologetic.

“Don’t worry, I’ve got you,” Navy says as she hooks her arm in mine, and we both give them disappointed looks before we turn around.

We don’t make it very far before we are both laughing.

“Did you see their faces?” I grin.

“They genuinely thought that you were pissed with them, that was epic,” Navy says.

She leads me over to a different part of the hall and one that I had completely missed when we first came in the door, and I can literally feel my eyes widen at the choices, there are so many.

“I told you it was amazing,” she grins. “Come on, you can take as many as you want.”

“I wouldn’t usually ask this,” I say seriously, “but would you like to get a few to share between us and then we can eat more and try lots?”

She smiles, “See, I knew we were going to be best friends.”

I chuckle as she leads me to where the trays are, and we start to load up a tray each. We then completely bypass where each of us were sitting before and find a table of our own so that we can spread out the sweet treats between us. We spend a long time talking and getting to know each other, and I am entirely unsurprised to find that we have a lot in common. Unfortunately, I think that also includes a fair share of trauma, judging by the darkness that flashes through her eyes every now and then. You wouldn’t see it, unless you recognized it in yourself.

When there is a lull in the conversation I ask, “How are you doing, with everything?”

She sighs, “Not great. I can too easily imagine what he went through.”

I freeze, praying that I didn’t hear her right, “Wait, what?”

She studies me really closely as if she is trying to work out whether she can really trust me or not. I don’t say anything, and I don’t force her to speak. I would never make someone talk about their trauma, and that very definitely is what this is. Her expression is dark and hardened, and I know that it was difficult for her to say that to me. Her hands are shaking.

She opens her mouth and then closes it again. I recognize what’s happening, she wants to tell me, but she can’t make the words come out.

I reach across and gently take her hand in mine, trying to soothe the shake, “If you want to, why don’t I give you my email address, and you can write it to me? Only if you want to.” I then pause and wince. This is clearly still affecting her significantly, and I want to make sure that she is getting the support that she needs. I have to ask, “Does Ty know?”

Navy nods, “Yes, he knows the majority of it, but I kept some of the worst things to myself, and he knows that, too. I asked him to wait to get anyone involved because it sends me into a massive panic attack, and with my magic, that’s not a good thing at all.” She looks away but her grip tightens on my hand, “I know that you are looking into it though, and now that I know for certain that my brother and his best friend were taken and they attempted to turn them into hybrids, I know that I can’t stay quiet any longer. I just can’t get it out.”

I nod, “I get that, I really do.”

“I know, one of my gifts told me that I was safe with you and that we’d be great friends,” she frowns, “sorry that’s probably freaked you out.”

I shake my head, “Not at all. Seriously though, the email thing means you can write it all down instead of speaking it. I found that it was a good purge as well, it doesn’t get rid of the memories and the pain, but it helps to control it.”

She nods, “Okay, I can try that.”

I pull out my phone and we exchange numbers, and I send her my email address. I hesitate over what I want to ask her, but her eyes flash pearlescent white and she smiles.

“It’s okay, you can tell the guys. I want the fucker brought down, and I know that you and the guys are the only ones that are going to be able to do that. Plus, I’ve seen a bit of the future. They’re definitely good with me.” She says.

I smile, “That’s a handy gift. I’m not going to mention anything until you send me the email, and then we will take it from there. I understand how difficult this is going to be, and I promise that I will try to keep you out of it as much as possible.”

She smiles, “Honestly, there really isn’t much information that I can give you, but I can tell you my experience. I don’t have anything to give you that will help you catch him. I don’t have a name, location, or even a face that I can describe for you.”

I nod. I am curious, but I won’t ask her now, especially since she has only just stopped shaking.

“Whenever you are ready,” I reply.

I think that she just needs someone to hear what she has been through. I know that if she thought that she knew something that would help us catch whoever is making the hybrids then she would tell me. I can see that, and she made sure that she reassured me of that.

“Thanks Neith. I wish I knew something that would help,” she frowns.

I begin to reply when something occurs to me, “Shit, are you safe? If you have an experience, then wouldn’t they be after you?”

Navy shrugs, “I’m safer here than I would be anywhere else. I have friends that have made sure that I’m concealed.”

I frown, “I don’t entirely like that answer.”

Her smile is knowing as she says, “Are you safe, Neith? And don’t give me the generic answer.”

My laugh is short and sharp, as I tilt my head slightly, “Fair point, and well made my friend.”

“Best friend,” she corrects.

“Clearly, we now know shit about each other that we wouldn’t tell other people, that’s how best friends are founded right?” I reply with a smile, making her laugh.

“We need to eat this before the bell goes. You’re going to need your energy for your next class,” Navy says.

“You know, I already know not to argue with you,” I retort, and she just grins.

“Good. I can’t usually tell people what I see, but I can tell you that we’re going to be friends for a long time, so you’re going to have to get used to me.”

I laugh, “Can you see your own future?”

Navy shakes her head as she pops another bite of food in her mouth, “Nope.”

“I guess that’s a good thing,” I say as I think about it.

“Yeah, I mean, I wouldn’t want to have known everything, but there are some things that I would like to have been warned about.”

“Same,” I reply.

Navy

S aying goodbye to Neith, I have to force myself to keep my thoughts to myself for the first time, I don’t usually feel the urge to warn people. I want to give her a heads up for a lot of things, actually, but it’s not my place, and if I were to warn her, then I risk her dying. It really is that serious. It’s not like I’ll get a slap on the wrist from the powers that be, or Neith knowing may just shift things slightly in the tapestry of life. It will kill her if I tell her. So, I have to keep my mouth shut.

Fortunately, I know that she will forgive me for staying silent, actually it won’t even occur to her to be mad at me. I will eventually tell her what happened in that fucking hell hole, but now is not the right time. In fact, I know that I’m only going to see her once more, and then it’s going to be a long time before I see her again. I don’t know where I am, or what I’m doing but I do know that she is on the right path, and kicking ass as she moves forward. I will tell her when the time is right.

I wouldn’t have mentioned anything today, but I am feeling particularly raw after a night of nightmares and panic attacks. She’s safe, and one day, I’ll confide in her, and she will confide in me too.

To be honest, because it’s going to be such a long time until I tell her, that’s why I needed her to know that I don’t know anything that could help with the case, I really don’t, I wasn’t lying. I really fucking wish I did, especially after what happened to my brother, but all I remember is darkness and pain. I’m not talking metaphorical darkness either, I’m talking pitch black absolute nothingness.

You would think that it would make me afraid of the dark, and for a long time, I was, but I have now learned to use the darkness as my weapon, and I mean that in the very literal sense. I now find it comforting.

Someone once said to me, make your weakness your strength, and it stuck with me in such a way that it’s what I did. Walking the hallways to my next class, I ignore the cautious and slightly fearful looks that I’m getting. I have gotten them ever since I arrived at this place, and it’s one of the main reasons I am drawn to Neith. She doesn’t look at me like I’m scary or weird because of what I can do. Granted, she doesn’t know the extent of what I can do, but she can feel my magic, that I do know, and she’s not worried at all, she treats me how she would treat anyone else.

The only problem that I’m going to have now that I have met her, is that my visions about her are slowing down, eventually they will stop altogether. I don’t know why; I just know that’s the way it’s got to happen.

“Navy, where have you been?” Josh, my only friend here says with a frown. “We were supposed to meet in the library.”

We gravitated toward each other when we quickly realized that we were older than everyone else. I’m now thirty-one, and he’s thirty-two. For supes, it’s not a big deal. Most of us live for centuries, but supes have been living too long in the earth realm, and they see age more than they ever would if we were still in Trieneliea. It didn’t matter to us, and we quickly formed a very strong friendship.

I shrug, “I had to go and see Neith.”

“Griff’s Neith?” he asks.

I nod with a smile, “Yeah, that’s the one.”

“She’s awesome, I really like her,” he says with a giant smile. He grabs my arm and pulls me to the back of the room, “Tell me what you can.”

I grin, he knows how I work by now. Neith is going to become our best friend, along with a pink and green haired woman that's had one hell of a fucking past, but I can’t actually tell him that. He'll figured it out soon enough.