“At least Vanessa isn’t here. If he saw her, he’d know everything.” And just when Shang said that, someone appeared out of cold flames from behind him and fell on him. They both landed on the floor. Shang’s father just sighed while shaking his head.
“Oh, sorry Shang. I haven’t mastered this yet. There’s a lot I need to learn since I’ve just started using my dragon…” It was Vanessa.
“Just get off me…” Shang said painfully as Vanessa got off his back.
“It’s not broken, is it?” she asked innocently.
“Huh?” Shang got up and gave her a questioning look.
“Your back bone,” Vanessa told him smiling.
“Of course not! Are you trying to make fun of me?”
“Alright, stop it you two. You act like a bunch of kids fighting and teasing each other like that,” the headmaster said, and then to Vanessa only, “I believe you came here for a reason. You didn’t seem to do your job properly tonight. Did something happen?” He was eyeing her but not suspiciously. He never did suspect her; ever.
“Well, yeah. I did run into a little trouble. I didn’t see the person’s face but it was like he was being controlled or that is what I sensed from him before he tripped and all of a sudden all the evil just vanished from his mind. It was like that one wrong step snapped him back to his own consciousness.” Vanessa lowered her gaze towards the floor, “I don’t know what to make of it. He did mention Gale… he seemed to be on his side. I can’t help but wonder if… if it would’ve been Gale instead of this boy…”
The headmaster placed a gentle hand on her shoulder and spoke, “Don’t think about it. The important thing is that you’re safe now. I am very proud of you for being able to handle a tough situation like that. And I’m afraid that if that is what you sensed in that boy then… maybe…”
Suddenly, Brawley moaned in his sleep. Vanessa’s eyes were wide with shock as she gasped. She hadn’t expected to see Brawley lying on a couch unconscious. She could tell he was hurt since there were burnt patches on his skin and rope marks on his arm. Vanessa exploded.
“Shang, you idiot! You couldn’t think for one second to stop fighting, could you? You were just eager to beat him so much that you didn’t realize how much you’ve wounded him. And now you think you can help by bringing him to your house? Do you know what will happen if he finds out where he is… or worse, if he sees me here as well?!” She was so infuriated that without thinking, she released all her anger on Shang. Shang, on the other hand, just stood there with a confused look.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Why would I want to beat him up?” was what he said. This exasperated Vanessa even more.
“Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten your little battle with Brawley? I could sense you two from miles away. You’d gone deep inside the northern woods where it’s always so dark no one can see a thing; even at daytime.”
“Oh so that’s where I was… No wonder it was so dark…” Shang trailed off, still having no idea what Vanessa was talking about.
“I think Shang may be telling the truth here,” the headmaster interrupted their conversation just when Vanessa was about to hit Shang, “He might be under a dark spell as well. I sensed the darkness inside him while he was leaving the house but I don’t sense it anymore. You said that the boy you fought was also under a spell. This must all be Gale’s doing.” Vanessa cooled down after hearing that.
“That’s got to be it because I don’t remember walking out of the house at all. And I must’ve snapped out of it and gained consciousness when I was on the tree branch.” Shang said when suddenly, Brawley moved and groaned again. This time, he seemed to be coming around. He couldn’t see Vanessa here; her secret might get revealed.
“Vanessa, hide!” Shang whispered.
“What? Where?” Vanessa was glancing around with a panicked look on her face. She didn’t know which way to go. She’d never been here so she wasn’t familiar with the house. She was standing still at one place, wasting time. Shang rolled his eyes and sighed,
“Oh, forget it, this way,” he didn’t wait for Vanessa to respond and just grabbed her arm and led her out of Brawley’s sight, “I can’t trust you to hide but can I at least tell you to keep quiet here?” Vanessa silently nodded and looked around. It was a broom closet but it was a little too big to be called a closet. Shang left her there, closing the door while she wondered why the closet was so big; not that her own closet was any smaller but she had a mansion and this was a house.
Outside the closet was the rectangular lounge. Brawley was now sitting on the couch, looking around in every direction and wondering where he was.
“Where on Earth am I? Am I dead? This must be the place where the people go before they are sent to heaven or hell…” but before the headmaster could speak, Brawley went on, “Cool! So how long do I have before my fate is decided? Are you my guide here… to show me around, I mean. It’s a nice house you have here.” Brawley stood up and strolled around in the room.
“I don’t think you’re dead yet but you could have been if you would have stayed a second longer in that forest fire–” the headmaster was saying but Brawley interrupted again.
“Oh right, the forest fire. It wasn’t so scary, you know. Any longer and I would’ve gotten myself out, no problem.”
Just outside the room, hiding behind the wall, Shang couldn’t help but chuckle silently. It was getting a little harder to keep himself from laughing. I wonder how Vanessa’s doing in the closet. I can’t hear a thing from there, he thought.
“Hahahaha…hahaha!” Vanessa was laughing like crazy inside the Broom closet, “That genius Shang, he made me hide inside a room which is sound proof. I can shout here, laugh here, all I want but no one outside will be able to hear me… it is strange though, I guess it’s because of my expanded senses that I can hear Brawley and the headmaster clearly.”
Vanessa heard a small squeak somewhere deep inside the dark corners of the room. She tilted her head sideways to see what it was. That’s when she saw a pair of red eyes glaring at her from the darkness. They were small and reminded her of something she’d seen just recently. Vanessa gasped as she backed away, sensing the evil radiating from it; just like it had been from that boy. While backing away without any sense of where she was about to step, she bumped into the brooms which had been kept leaning against one wall. They fell onto one another and the last one almost fell on her…
Brawley was standing right in front of the broom closet with his back towards the door. Shang’s sharp senses picked up the sound of things falling and he made a run for it.
“No wait! Don’t stand there!” He pushed Brawley out of the way just in time because the next second the closet door sprang opened and Vanessa fell out of it, along with several broomsticks.
“I’m alright… that’s strange. I didn’t get hurt…” Vanessa wondered out loud, sitting up.
“That’s because you landed on me…!” Shang spoke in a painful voice again.
Vanessa got up quickly, pushing the brooms off her, “Oh, I’m sorry. Did I break–”
“Don’t even start with it,” Shang cut her off while getting up and brushing the dust off his shirt.
Vanessa didn’t smile or laugh this time because there was something watching her every move. Something inside that closet had frightened her. It seemed like the same rat with the patches on its skin she had met inside her own store room. Vanessa was still staring into the dark corner silently where the red eyed thing had appeared. She didn’t realize everyone was staring at her.
Shang looked at her hands which were shaking and then looked at his father who was just shaking his head in disappointment.
This time, Brawley almost exploded,
“What on Earth are you doing here, Vanessa?” He asked, shocked and then looked at Shang, “Hey it’s you! I know you. You’re the one who set fire in the forest. You said that once you’ve took care of me, you’d go after Vanessa; to kill her. You must’ve captured her and kept her inside a small dark room but she managed to break free. That’s why you pushed me because I was too close to finding her. You guys aren’t good; you’re evil and you’ve trapped us.”
Vanessa was trying to explain but she never got a chance since Brawley was going on and on and on about it. Then at last, she got mad, “Oh would you stay quiet for once!” She shouted at him and at that moment, her trembling ended. Brawley fell silent. Shang stepped a little away from Vanessa since she was radiating too much heat; it was unbearable to stay near her. He knew almost too well that when Vanessa gets angry, her hair start vibrating slightly in small waves. Heat radiates from her body; a warning to anyone who treasures his life that he’d better stay away. “It’s just like you to keep on talking and talking and thinking things by yourself which have nothing to do with reality. And then you make up your mind about things without even realizing the truth. You never give the other person a chance to explain things; ever!”
“Nice self control, Vanessa…” Shang mumbled but stopped the instant Vanessa looked at him coldly, then sighed and apologized to both of them for being so rude,
“Look, guys, both of you. I’m sorry about the way I’m acting right now… It’s just that there was something inside the broom closet. It had a pair of tiny red eyes and it was from the dark lands. I could sense that and it just freaked me out.”
“Wait a minute… what?” Shang asked confused.
“I think it was the rat; the same one I told you about, remember? The one which appeared at my house,” Vanessa elaborated. Brawley just stood there silently, confused.
“Would anyone please tell me why Vanessa is sided with the enemy? He tried to burn me alive, and you’re still not accusing him of anything.” Brawley was questioning Vanessa.
She froze for a few seconds. She had completely forgotten that he was going to need an explanation. Then she gave a pleading look to the headmaster who shook his head slightly and the spoke to Brawley in a calm voice,
“Brawley, you say that Shang is the one who tried to burn you alive but you have to believe us that he would never do something like that. He was controlled by a man called Gale. I’m sure you’ve heard of him,” when Brawley nodded to that, he continued, “None of us ever meant to cause you any trouble. And as far as Vanessa is concerned, she usually comes to visit us; we’re like a family to her, you see. So I usually invite her for dinner but since she ran into a little bit of trouble, she’s late.”
Brawley seemed to be taking in everything the headmaster was saying and he seemed to buy it.
“You see? Shang’s like a brother to me. And… he’s like a father to me,” Vanessa spoke in a low voice, gesturing towards the headmaster.
Brawley’s frown disappeared all of a sudden, and there was a sign of sympathy on his face. He knew that Vanessa never really got to stay with a real family; her adoptive family is mostly away and Amy makes her life miserable. So it would only be like her to hang out with people who actually care about her and love her like a real family; treat her like their own daughter and sister.
“I can imagine why she would want to come here so often…” Brawley trailed off and gave Vanessa an apologetic smile but she didn’t smile back. She just looked away towards the closet. Something was troubling her which nobody seemed to notice. Shang started speaking,
“So now that you know me… I guess we don’t have to fight anymore, right? We’re not enemies.”
“I was coming to that,” Brawley’s face suddenly returned to normal and he completely forgot that Vanessa was standing there as he spoke, “I was informed that you stole something from the mansion and I was asked to stop you from getting away with it.”
“Steal?” Shang was surprised, “No one stole anything from the mansion… we were meeting someone who was asked to deliver something very important to us near the mansion but you saw the unfortunate incident. We did receive the package, though but my grandfather had to face the consequences. He’s still unconscious. Follow me.” Shang was handling the situation quite well. He knew he just had to remove the misunderstanding from Brawley’s mind otherwise it would just lead to more violence.
Brawley followed him out of the lounge and into a hallway which led to several rooms. Shang stopped at the last one and opened the door. He led Brawley into a small bedroom where, on the bed, lay an old man who seemed to be breathing very slowly. He had bandages all over his arms and on his head as well. Brawley was just stood there watching in disbelieve and wondering how wrong his boss had been about Shang. It was Shang’s family matter and he’d interfered with it and yet they all seemed to forgive him so easily.
“I was wrong about you Shang,” Brawley said in a low voice, still staring at the old man, “I was wrong about everything. I thought you’d kidnapped Vanessa because whoever was controlling you made you say stuff like that. I guess I owe you an apology. I shouldn’t have said all those things without acknowledging the truth… and I’m sorry.”
Shang was shocked to hear the words sorry from Brawley. He said nothing for a few seconds and then smiled, “It’s alright.” He couldn’t say anything further than that since he knew Brawley might hate him if he knew he was being lied to.
Meanwhile, Vanessa was still staring at the thing inside the broom closet. The headmaster put a gentle hand on her shoulder and asked, “Is everything alright, Vanessa?”
Vanessa just shook her head silently and went into the closet to examine it, “I have this feeling that Gale knows where we all live…”
“And why’s that?”
“I think it’s got something to do with that rat which keeps appearing in front of me.” Vanessa told him about the time when the rat infiltrated her house and hid inside the store room where she had performed a spell somehow and the rat had disappeared, “And now it’s back but this time, it’s in your house instead of mine. There’s got to be a connection somewhere.” Vanessa stopped examining and finally stood up, “Just as I predicted. It’s gone now,” she said to herself.
There was a moment of silence and then the headmaster opened his mouth to say something, “Look, Vanessa, there’s something–” but he was interrupted by Shang and Brawley who had returned from the old man’s room.
“I think its best that you two leave now, it’s late and Vanessa’s aunt doesn’t know about her coming here,” Shang said, “So you have to make sure you don’t tell anyone about this.”
“Well, I guess I can do that much.” Brawley replied as he walked towards the door, “Come on, Vanessa,” he called while putting one foot outside the door.
“Coming!” Vanessa shouted as she ran outside, glancing back at the headmaster only once and then leaving.
Inside the house, Amy woke up. She looked around sleepily, “I thought I heard a door open and shut somewhere downstairs.” She whispered to herself and then slowly started to get out of bed. She glanced at Ruth who was sleeping soundlessly under her blanket. Amy approached the door, opened it and got out. She sighed with relief as she closed the door without a sound.
“I think somebody just woke up,” Vanessa whispered when she entered her mansion house.
“Don’t be silly, everyone’s probably fast asleep by now.” Just when Brawley said that, he and Vanessa were both confronted by Amy.
“And where on Earth have you two been?” She asked rudely with a questioning look.
“Oh, well you see,” and before Vanessa could stop Brawley from telling Amy everything, he’d already told her half the story. Vanessa tried to cut him off once or twice but it was no use. Once Brawley starts talking, he doesn’t stop until he’s said everything.
“Oh… so you guys were at Shang’s house, huh?” Amy smiled. Vanessa didn’t like the look on her face. She knew Amy wasn’t going to let this chance go to waste, “And did he tell you about the academy? If he told you the truth, then I’m sure he told you where Vanessa goes each night to train at the night academy. She’s one of the spies, you know. The ones you fight against Brawley. She was letting you sense the dragon power inside her so you would think she’s not at all trained when the truth is that she’s one of the strongest spies in the academy and she knows perfectly well how to conceal her dragon. It was all just an act in front of us.”
“What is wrong with you?” Vanessa almost shouted in rage. She couldn’t believe Amy, being a member of the night academy, would actually betray them all like this; blowing away the secret.
“What’re you talking about, Amy? Vanessa can’t fight like those spies. She’s just an innocent–” Then it hit Brawley. He remembered that man talking about Vanessa facing some trouble while coming to their house which was why she was late. Could it be that Vanessa had run into an enemy as well?
“Amy, stop saying things like that.” Vanessa tried to defend herself but Amy never gave her a chance.
“I’ll prove it. She can fight; even better than me, sometimes.” And without even thinking she ran towards Vanessa to land a punch on her but Vanessa dodged it by getting out of the way. Amy kept on punching and kicking expertly and Vanessa just kept jumping out of her way. It went on for a while,
“Come on, attack me!” Amy shouted in a whisper.
“No!” Vanessa whispered back. They were out of Brawley’s hearing range as long as they kept on whispering like this; and they did.
“Why don’t you just let him see how powerful you are? He’ll be afraid of you and he won’t tell on you.” Amy kicked and Vanessa jumped back.
“No. That’s not what I want. Once he gets to know the truth, he’ll never trust me again. I have this feeling that you want that to happen.”
Amy snickered and kept on fighting.
“And what about you… aren’t you breaking the most important rule of the academy? Never let anyone know who you are… By doing this Brawley will know that you’re a spy as well since you know so much about me.”
“I don’t care because I’ve already quit the academy. I’m not going there anymore. Haven’t you noticed?” Amy asked Vanessa with a mocking grin on her face.
“You haven’t been coming to the academy for over a week now which is why you’ve been targeting me so that I quit as well… You came that day when I was almost late for my test but you only came to inform them that I was busy shopping, just to get me into trouble.”
“Hump! It’s good to see you finally figuring things out because I’m not going to give up until someone finds out about the academy. Then you’ll be kicked out.”
“You’re such a jerk!” Vanessa said it in her normal tone; no whispering. She was so mad by now that she grabbed Amy’s arm and twisted it behind her back. Then next thing Amy knew was that she was pinned against the wall by Vanessa. She couldn’t break free of her grip. Amy gasped in pain.
“Vanessa, let go of her. You’re hurting her,” Brawley was walking over to them worriedly.
“She deserves to be hurt after what she’s doing,” Vanessa said angrily, “She’s breaking the one and only major rule of the academy. Not to tell anyone about the academy she and I go to. And yes we do go there. Shang goes there and his father is the headmaster there. He’s the one who chose not to tell you about it.”
Brawley halted in mid-way the second he heard this. He couldn’t say anything; he was frozen with shock. Even Amy looked surprised because she had never thought Vanessa would admit it herself.
“What’re you so surprised about?” Vanessa was talking to Amy.
“Nothing. You’re in big trouble now, Vanessa,” Amy answered and smiled nastily.
“You go to a night academy? And who on Earth pays for you?” Brawley’s voice was almost above a whisper.
“The headmaster is like a father to me and I am like his daughter; I don’t pay at all. I wanted to but he wouldn’t let me. Shang doesn’t pay either but of course, he is the son of the headmaster. Do you have any problem with all of this?”
Vanessa let go of Amy’s arm. Amy was panting silently, rubbing her arm where Vanessa had held it.
Brawley was still too shocked to say anything else so he just shook his head slightly.
