Preternatural (Worlds & Secrets) (41 page)

“
I remember it as two hundred actually,” Liam spoke up, his hands firmly gripping the steering wheel.

“
Wait, you were
all
alive then?” Jaden asked, shocked.

“
Of course. They
are
siblings,” Jojo immediately answered.

“
Anyway, Aden, what was your point?” Robbie quickly summarised.

“
Well,” I began, slightly itching to get my answer; I thought if Robbie was alive at the time, then he must have had an answer to this, “was my father already dead when you guys were found?” I asked, surprisingly not upset but just so curious that I was unaware of what was coming out of my mouth.

Tammy’s eyes
instantly shot to Robbie and quickly shone to pink. He was about to speak when she instantly answered “no. Your father died only a while back,” she added.

“
BRILLIANT!” I lit up. So he’d be able to answer my questions. “Well you see –”

“
Aden!” Jade exclaimed disappointedly. What did I do wrong? It took me a while to acknowledge that the enthusiasm with which I had reacted was a bit inappropriate for the particular topic of the conversation –
dad
.

“
No, no, no – you understood me wrong. I meant brilliant as in,” I turned to Robbie and continued the rest of my statement towards him “you know what happened at the time. Mum said she didn’t want us to grow up here because she was keeping us ‘safe’– whatever that means. But safe from what?” At that instance, Robbie’s warm chocolate tone froze to lifeless, pale brown. I think he had found me my answer.
Finally
,
I could be rid of this burden of suspense. But he was keeping silent.
Why
was he keeping silent? Oh, not him too.

“
Well
?” I hassled.

“
The Hybrid Roundup,” he answered.

“T
he
what?
” Jaden, Jade and I instantly exclaimed.

“
The Hybrid Roundup – they captured all hybrids because the much older monarchy thought they were a danger to Vernaesce. I don’t think Mychaela’s father was king at the time. A fair few fled to Earth to carry on their lives, trying to forget about Vernaesce.”

“And…what happened to those that stayed?” Jaden asked cautiously, treading on eggshells. Robbie gulped.

“They were put to death.”

I suddenly wished I wasn
’t so inquisitive.

After a few minutes of severe pondering, Cressile stood in front of us more grand than it ever was before underneath the rain that crashed against it. My heart began to pound. I didn’t know why, but it suddenly began to thump – it wasn’t an ache, but they were strong heartbeats of fright, almost as if something about me were to be revealed or as though I were in danger. I couldn’t describe it word for word as I felt it – but I
knew
something was coming.

Several cars pulled in
. In the school grounds, gliding to the doors in the grey deluge, marched the students uniformly, underneath green, black and white umbrellas. This reminded me of a prison – how the school was so orderly and kept in line. Robbie leaned backwards and pulled out seven umbrellas that were the same as the ones the other students were carrying. Liam parked the car with a halt. We stepped out of the vehicle, lifting the umbrellas directly above our heads. We walked through the main school building hall, which felt a little plainer than usual. Or maybe it was just me.

At that instance,
I seemed to have become scared and frightened of something – but I didn’t know what. I looked around suspiciously with a deep feeling of paranoia that had rooted itself into my heart as I seemed to be constantly on my guard. But nothing was there. This feeling of constant dread and anxiety was starting to settle into more than just my subconscious now. I knew
it wasn’t just a hunch anymore. Something was going to happen but there was no possible way of knowing what.

“
A.J., are you okay?” Jaden asked me, obviously referring to my suspicious and paranoid observance of my surroundings. My eyes were opened wide and maddeningly, my hand now gripping my rucksack’s handle and my brown ponytailed hair brushing over my shoulders as I looked around every so often.

“
I just feel so…
vulnerable
. I don’t feel well at all,” I responded. The others looked at each other uncertainly. The bell rang again, signalling our separation. Liam and Jade sighed deeply.

“
Look, Aden, we have to go. But if something happens – we’re down the hall,” Liam gestured. In my dizziness, the others pulled me along with them into the class.

We
marched to our usual spot – the table still by the window. Our view of the tree remained undisturbed as it swayed in the cold rain. We slid our bags onto the backs of our seats and sat down. A bevy of girls swayed into the class screaming about unnecessary things. I put my head down on the table and tried so hard to separate these rushing feelings, these
warnings
.

A blank seat stood opposite me and I stared at it whilst the others were busily talking. Suddenly
, a boy walked into the class and looked around, trying to detect our presence. When he noticed us, he trudged over to our table, looking ragged, as he plonked himself on the seat, leaving his bag on the floor – Nicholas.

“
Urgh, you cannot
believe
the mess I had to put up with yesterday night – hey guys,” Nicholas instantly began.

“
Hey, Nicholas,” the others hummed in a low-key chorus.

He caught sight of me and was instantly shot into
confusion.

“
A.J., mate, what’s wrong?” I groaned underneath my hands wrapped over my head. Besides the strange and unprecedented feeling I felt moments ago, I began to feel extremely hot; my hair became drenched in sweat. Plus, a feeling of queasiness began to develop in my stomach – like I’d throw up if I even moved a limb.

My Aerokinesis suddenly picked up the knocking of Miss
Strottman’s heels against the ground. Promptly, whilst I wallowed in my heat, nausea and confusing mental feelings, she entered. Of course, as if she were picking on me, she instantly barked to me
first as she strode on over to her desk fiercely and seated herself like the delicate flower she falsely believed she was.

“
Mr Blue, what’s the matter, have you
finally
grown a conscience?” she bantered evilly to herself without so much as a laugh, smile or anything
showing she had a soul.

“
No, Miss. I –” I stammered sickly, raising my pale head with my eyes looking completely dead; drooped, sagging skin beneath them and dark bags of fatigue that contrasted with my skin that had begun turning a sickly green.

“
Sit upright when you speak, boy!” Miss Strottman barked again. I sighed and struggled as I adjusted my posture.

“
You know what, stand up and speak – I’m sure we’d all like to all know why you are like this, this morning.” It seemed like she was deliberately singling me out to torture me. She grew a tiny evil smile. I stood up shakily, suppressing my weight onto the table.

“
Well?” she asked, the whole attention of the class now inevitably on me. Suddenly, all I heard were the sudden gasps of people and a sudden hard thump at the back of my head. Ah, that’s why –
I fainted
.

My eyes rolled around in their sockets before opening to the view of the bright white ceiling. I was laid down on a bed next to a window with sunlight streaming
through. My head felt light and strangely, almost volatile, like I could fall into some sort of coma just by blinking. But the mental pain I felt was gone. Looking at the time, I had been out for an hour and several minutes – it was now first break.

I s
at upright and looked out of the window. I thought the sky was common. Beautiful maybe to Earthlings (I was becoming so prejudicial against humans), but common nonetheless. It was a simple light blue, patted in starch white cartoon-looking clouds over a hiding sun. The rain probably ceased due to me being unconscious.

“
Listen,” a voice suddenly sounded next to me. I turned my head swiftly and saw my doppelganger kneeling beside my welfare bed with more emotion and worry imprinted on his face than ever. I could hear the distress in his voice. He was wearing the school uniform because I
was, but as usual it was all in black.

“
You’ve got to go,” he instantly said, shaking his head and trying to avoid eye contact with me. It’s not like I could see anything in those jet black eyes of his in any case.

“
What?” I replied dizzily.

“
To the Cavern doors,” he swiftly answered. “You’ve
got
to go –
now
!” My heart instantly skipped a beat. I wasn’t sure if he
was
trying to help me or was just luring me to my death as a clever scheme. But he wasn’t.
He couldn’t be
.

I didn’t even trust him.

But then again, he
did
save me from the Grinner.

I wouldn’t have
needed
saving if he didn’t call them in the
first
place!

This dilemma was killing me.
I was wide awake so I could now sort out the nonsense in my head from the real and true stuff.

“
Listen, you’re confusing me –”

“
That ache you had was me in your head. I had to make a separation because for
some
reason…my mind has bonded with you.”

I sighed.
He definitely was on my side. Or maybe I was just being stupid.

“
But, how do you know?”

“
The Barons will be out sooner than Christmas. A
lot
sooner. You need to gather Aemilia, Jordan, Tarmo and Mychaela –
warn
them and close the cavern doors as soon as possible,” he spoke.

“Otherwise,
they’ll come for you. Do not take this lightly when I say they are hungry for you, Aden. I don’t know what it is about you that makes them tremble in fear. They don’t just want
to kill you. They are
obliged
to. You are the prime target, the number one person that absolutely
has
to disappear – there’s no alternative…and if you don’t do as I say, you will be destined to die.”

H
e was so sincere. Either way, this event was going to happen. I didn’t want to doubt him. And I was also better now which meant I would be fit to close the doors. I didn’t want to wait for my death to come to me.

“
Aden, are you okay?” Jade immediately asked, bursting in with the others. I looked beside me and he was gone. I swiftly got out of the bed.

“
It was a warning.”

“
What are you on about?” Jojo butted in.

“
The illness I felt; it was a warning and it’s just
been confirmed. They’re going to break out of their prison much sooner.” I was so sure now – but how was I to prove it? They wouldn’t believe the fact that I had a doppelganger. There was a minuscule chance Tammy may be able to detect something, but I was strongly doubting she’d fully be aware of him. He was a strange being.

“
Aden, how do you know?” Jade asked. She seemed so keen.

“
Let’s just say a little bird told me.” I sounded so unconvincing.

“
That could be misleading, A.J. – we
are
marked for death after all. Wouldn’t it seem probable that all means of us dying would be carried out?” Jaden rebutted calmly. If I was truly marked for death, which I knew I definitely was thanks to my double, I’m sure he wouldn’t have told me. He would have found some other conniving way to get me to go to the Barons and watch me be slaughtered. But he didn’t. He warned me. This was the part of the conversation I was least looking forward to;
the proof
. But suddenly, just when I was on the verge of opening my mouth to speak, she
beat me to the punch.

“
I believe him – we
need to gather the others,” Tammy spoke. She looked at me with narrowed eyes and looked as if she knew something about me, but
deliberately didn’t tell me. I knew Tammy would sense it. She did, after all, tell me on Samhain that she knew who I’d been seeing. Her eyes merely flashed a bright luminescent pink.

“Remember when Tammy told you there was someone only I could see?” I added.

The others looked at each other and thought hard – but it was Tammy. Her astonishing powers had never before failed them. They then sighed, forced to believe me.