Prologue
Surviving high school is one thing, confronting so many challenges along the way is completely another.
All Coral wanted was to unearth her memories so she can give her parents justice over their deaths, get over her panic attacks, and move inconspicuously away from the scrutiny of society and the students of Coral&Knight Academy.
Instead, she uncovers a lot more than she bargained for. And as more secrets are revealed, lies unfolded, and feelings get entangled, she's forced to tackle each crisis head-on without much preparation.
Only, when her life hangs on the brink of death will she fight and survive, or will she finally cave in like a coward?
Rousing felt like too much work, and a moan of dismay slipped out of my lips to see bright clouds in the clear blue sky through my window. Blue skies usually puts good feelings in people, so why does today feel hopeless. I’m distracted when my bedroom door is nudged open slowly, and I brought up my head slightly to see a large man push his head through cautiously. Piaget blue eyes gaze at my sprawled form in concern. “I’m glad to see you awake, you doing okay after yesterday?” Running a hand through my hair, I release a sigh and shake my head. “I’m fine Steven, a slight sense of what elemental society is like isn’t going to break me.” Yet. Slowly stepping in, he nudges the door wider and smiles. “If you say so, but just so you know you can skip school today if you aren’t feeling up to it?” “No thanks,” I immediately refuse
The rest of my day is pretty uneventful if you don’t count me almost getting into a fistfight with some platinum blonde in my first class. My first class happened to be History of Elemental’s and we got a pretty funny introduction from our student/teacher. Evan Mack, a 3rd-year earth elemental conjurer is substituting for our real teacher this semester because she’s on maternity leave. According to Evan, a few seniors will act as substitutes or teaching assistants for extra credits, which helps pave a way for students who want to work for the council to become scouted as recruit members if their results are excellent. In my first class, I made two friends, and the three of us not only bonded over our immediate dislike for the platinum blonde who had verbally bullied Lillian in class, but also on our fascination with the history behind society. One is called Lillian and she’s a beautiful dark-head whose very shy and seems like
The next morning, I unhurriedly rose to the sound of a door closing downstairs and pull open my heavy lids. Once again I didn’t get much sleep thanks to my night terrors, and I wonder why the hell they’re occurring again. Getting out of bed with an exhausted sigh, I make my way out of my room and head straight to the bathroom with my toiletries. Setting up my stuff alongside the others, I brush my teeth and enjoy a short shower under the hot spray. Back in my room I get dressed in my uniform and check the time on my I-pad, it’s 7:20 am which means I still have time to kill so I head downstairs after opting to throw my full, wavy curls into a bun. Downstairs, Eva is eating a bowl of cereal at the dining table dressed as well for school. “Good morning.” I yawn, tired and drowsy. “Good morning,” She echo’s, peering at me she studies my face with a frown. “Didn&rsquo
The hot flames surround my body and sting my skin, it's choking presence burning my nostrils. My lungs are begging for me not to breathe as it gets clogged with fuming smoke, but I can’t help it. Crawling out from underneath my mother’s desk, I look around in a panic, coughing into my hands weakly, before opening my mouth to cry for help. I can hear the shrieking alarm of a fire truck and the shrilling sound of police cars from the streets through broken windows, I can even hear the terrified screams and shouts of the people living in our apartment building, but what I can’t seem to hear are the voices of my parents. That thought alone scares the hell out of me and I panic some more. I make a move to stand to my feet despite my buckling knees, but before I can even make it up, I’m suddenly engulfed in flames as the roof above me gives out.~*~*~*~ I slowly aw
“Then what the hell was that back there?” He sighs. “I had to pacify her so she would leave,” Running his hands through his hair he lets out a groan. “Things weren’t supposed to turn out this way.” “Is she a friend of mum’s?” “Was, she was friends with both me and your mother but that used to be a long time ago.” Suddenly, I remember the photograph at his place and realize the auburn-haired female turned away from the camera must have been Miss Rosa. Though, that doesn’t explain why she appears familiar to me. “What happened?” Shaking his head, he presses his lips together. “I, honestly don’t want to talk about the past.” “But-” “Coral, if I can respect y
The next day at school, before we walked into the cafeteria, Lillian already warned me to expect the glances and murmurs because everyone is still talking about what happened in class yesterday. But I wasn’t troubled like I would have normally been. They would have murmured and stared anyway, instead I drooled over the food being served. They were a nice distraction from everything I refuse to think about. The crowded cafeteria is surrounded by freshmen and sophomores since we share lunch on our schedules, and the sophomore’s tables are arranged on a higher platform in the large oval-shaped room. I listen to the noisy chatter of the cafeteria and let my gaze wander around while eating, taking in everyone until it stopped on the platform where the sophomores are seated. I almost choke on my food when I see a raven-haired guy playfully juggling 3 small balls of fire while his friends cheered him on
Shaking my head while staring at her retreating back, I turn my attention back to my food and Lillian chooses that moment to slowly lookup. Her gaze searching as she looks over my shoulder before letting out a breath of relief when she doesn’t see anyone. “Is Bianca your sister?” My question catches her off guard for a brief second before she brushes away her hair with a sigh. “Yeah,” She shrugs, admitting it a lot easier than I expected. “She is, but we’re only half-sisters. Bianca and I come from different mothers, and because of this, she hates my guts… and my mother’s as well. My parents met in unfortunate circumstances, she and dad fell in love at the time Bianca’s mother was hospitalized with breast cancer.” “Whoa,” I blink, completely blindsided. I mean that was some heavy drop of information and she says it so matter of fact. “That’s… big.” &nb
“Hey!” I say in greeting as soon as I step into my dorm and see Eva slumped on the couch tiredly. School’s out and I just want to sleep the rest of the day away. I decided to walk back to the dorm as both Lillian and Tamil wanted to talk about what happened in debate class today. Since I haven’t been sleeping all too well lately, and with debate class being so full of animosity, I feel even more tired. I’d been warned by Rae yesterday that debate class was going to be hard to deal with, but I didn’t think it was going to be as bad as it was. Debate class in the Academy is a class taken by every student population. Two classes get to argue on a topic for an hour and a half of the day and let me just say… the. arguing. never. stops! There’s shouting, a bit of violent rage, and one guy even used his powers on a girl today just because sh
Trembling violently as she continues to scream, she rose to her feet and swung the bat widely in the air. Hitting her seat in the process and sending it flying across the room.“When I learned about you and your mother after losing my baby, you have no idea the rage I felt!” She screams, pacing back and forth as if possessed.Stopping, she stares off into space, a smile taking over her features when she points the bat at nothing in particular. I eye her carefully, slowly calling forth my powers as I continue to burn through the ropes. Only this time, I made the heat stronger before she loses it on me completely.“But then a plan suddenly came to me. A perfect plan to get revenge against everyone that messed with me.” Turning the bat my way, she grinned sadistically. “And they all ended with you being dead.”I immediately let go of my powers when she takes careful steps towards me with the bat still raised. Shutting my e
Letting me go abruptly, she walks back to her chair and settles down. “Let me tell you a story while you heal, and then we’ll continue. Okay?” She grins, winking.“Back when your parents and I were still friends, our little group of misfits was very close. It included me, your parents, and of course Dana and Kingsley. But then everything went to shit when feelings started becoming complicated."She breathes in softly, a dreamy smile on her lips. “Your father was the eye of every female back in our day. Handsome, from a wealthy elite family, tall, educated, brilliant… he was all and more of those things and it made any girl desperately want him. But, unfortunately, he only had eyes for your bitch of a mother.” She snorts, a look of disdain twisted on her face.Swallowing despite the blood in my mouth, I breathe in slowly when my sight started to become clearer little by little. Wiggling against the ropes tied around my b
Coming to, my eyes fluttered open to see a blurry figure sitting on a chair in front of me. When my vision clears, I gasp in shock at the sight of a smirking Miss Rosa. She has her elbows rested on her knees, leaning forward her lips parted to speak. “Welcome back little Coral.” She smiles sweetly, though her eyes blazed with a dark promise that sent a shiver of cold fear down my spine. Remembering all the things that happened the last time I awoke, my hands immediately fly to my throat with a gasp and I’m surprised to realize my bounds have been loosened and my throat is completely healed. Instead, my hands are bound together before me and each one of my legs is tied to the leg of the chair I’m seated on. Eyes wide, I look around and took notice of the fact that I’m in some kind of warehouse. Every window is sealed shut and taped with garbage bags. Eyes flittering around, they hesitate on a gas tank a few feet away. I hope she isn’t planning to u
Striding out of the elevators with my arms linked around Lillian and Tamil’s, we practically skipped as we walked.Neither one of us found a match, and formost of our classmates, that was something to be sad about.We, on the other hand, are thrilled we didn’t embarrass ourselves in front of the company’s newest set of trainees who had been present in the room taking notes while our tests were conducted.Spotting Rae and Micheal, I waved to get their attention as we headed their way, but they weren’t looking. I was just to call out to them when a series of gunshots were fired from various directions.I heard them before I saw them, and my instincts immediately kicked in.Suddenly, I was in front of the girls with my hands up in the air and a shield of fire surrounding the three of us. The flaming glass blocked the gunshots like a shield of metal and sent them in various directions.People ran a
“You owe me a hundred bucks.” I stare at my cousins with an expression of irritation, glaring at the hand Rae held out to Micheal with a triumphant expression on her face.Grudgingly, Micheal drops a handful of bills on her outstretched palm with a look of annoyance.The two of them had made a bet on whether or not I would bail on taking the test, and obviously, Rae won.Shaking my head, I wonder why I didn’t just come along with my classmates.Ever since it’s been revealed I’m an Elementalist, I’ve avoided confrontation and I’ve been hiding out at Steven and Dana’s. My I-pad is switched off and the guys are banned from letting me know what people are saying on the elemental splash.Next week, final exams will begin and I’m so not looking forward to it. Especially since I promised both Tamil and Lillian that we’ll study together long before this whole incident. “We’re here!&rdq
I’ve gone and gotten myself into deep, shitting trouble.Hands placed before me, I bite down on my lower lips as I nervously awaited judgement from Steven.He gazed at me, seated behind his desk in silence, his hands crossed in front of his chest with a hard penetrating glare. After crawling my way back into the utility closet, imagine my surprise to find my father standing right in front of those doors waiting for me, with a sheepish looking Liam standing a few feet behind.Now you’d think that would be the end of my problems... Unfortunately, it's not.Thanks once again toLiam, my video, thevery video he used to threaten me is currently being viewed by every elemental within the society. When he realized he couldn’t get back to me after an hour of waiting for a reply, he panicked and hurried his ass over to Steven to tell him what we’d done.And, in his haste to get to Steven, the blo
Crawling forward, I couldn’t ignore the cobwebs, dust, and possibly dead insects I may have touched with my hands.The hole is thankfully not long, and there’s a metal ladder cemented at the edge. Looking down, I couldn’t see anything but darkness. Pointing my torch down I could barely make out anything except the fact that the ladder is pretty short, and there’s no way of telling if there’s anything beneath.Leaving my chances up to fate I carefully make my way down the rusty ladder, and once I got to the last stair, jumped down. I landed in a crouch below before rising to my feet. Pointing the torch to the walls, I found 2 light switches and turned them on, and to my surprise, the tunnels lit up immediately.The tunnels are a lot larger than I expected them to be, built with clay and plaster that filled the interstices and revetted the entire face of the sealing walls. Over the sealed covers, incised as coverings are plastered bricks for closure.
Unhurriedly striding down the darkened hallway, I follow her steps and make sure to keep mine as quiet as possible. Nervous perspiration rolled down my spine, soaking my silk blouse, and it coated the skin of my upper lip.Wiping it away, I halt and quickly hide behind a wall, pressing my back against the cool surface to make sure she doesn’t see me when she hesitates for a short second to take a peek around.Arriving back at the academy, I didn’t expect to catch the little rat sneaking into school grounds like a thief. I have no idea what she plans to do, but I for one plan on using this opportunity fate laid in my hands to finally end it all.She narrows her eyes, before shrugging and continuing forward. I wait for a few minutes before pushing off the wall to follow after her, but I get distracted by the feeling of my phone vibrating in my pocket and quickly pulled it out of my jacket.Lifting my head, my eyes widen in disbelief when I realize I’ve lost sig
“Little Ray’s back!” Camille yells into the room as soon as she opens the front door and sees me, motioning me in with a beer she wraps an arm around my neck as soon as I step through the threshold, staring down at me expectantly.“Heard you were practising all alone with the stud you kissed, how did it go?”Frowning, I wonder when that incident is ever going to leave the minds of everyone. “It went fine., I mumble, my eyes fluttering from one bright face to the other.Camille steps around me to settle on the couch and I glance from the crowded living room to the kitchen in confusion. “Why the hell are you guys holding beers, and where did it come from?” I ask, my gaze directed at both Tiffany and Beatrice in accusation.They’re moving run around the kitchen counter with an 8-pack in each hand, a pack of beer which shouldn’t even be here since the academy prohibits alcohol on school grounds.“Relax Coral, it’s just light beer.” Tiffany shrugs as if that