Chapter 08: The Weight Off Her Shoulders

My breath shakes. Could the creatures be the shadow hounds? In a room where she’d never seen before…I have to go look for it. I just have to. I rummage around in my violet backpack for my to-do list and jot that down too. ‘Look for the hidden room.’ I cross off ‘open journal’ and close the striped book. My thoughts are overcorwdingm and that when I decide I definietly need to talk to someone. A knock echoes in the room and I quickly stash both the book and the journal under my pillow. I bounce towards the door, wondering if it’s Milly. Instead, I’m greeted by Janky, with the usual bored expression on her face. I try to school mine into the same, but I keep thinking of the weapons hidden in the closet. I manage to control my shiver and smile at her like I normally would.

“How’s school going?”

“Fine. Great. If you call monsters that.”

I stare at her. Does she know?

“Geez, quit looking at me like that. I meant the teachers and classes. They’re an absolute bore, I tell you. Like, who cares about atomic structure and blah blah blah, when you could just twist human logic with magic!”

I shrug and take a deep breath, debating if I should run while I have the chance or confront her.

“By the way, you know those things you found in the clos-”

“How did you know?”

She quirks an eyebrow. “Sometimes, I notice small things. Like a slightly open door. Anyways, those are for a project in ‘Curses and Hexes’. As you haven’t gone to any of the classes, you wouldn’t know about it.”

I guess that’s true. I’ll go ask Milly about it later, so I can catch up.

“Ah. Sorry, I jumped to some pretty crazy solutions.”

Janky shrugs and moves into the bedroom, opening a book for Languages. Highly detailed sketches line the border, ranging from squirrels to trolls.

“Wow. You’re good!”

Janky frowns, “I wouldn’t say that, but I did learn from the best. My dad taught me before he…left.”

I stay quiet after that. How do you comfort someone with the same pains, but you don’t exactly know or like them? Janky continues on, jotting down notes. I turn to leave, but she’s already getting up and sliding into bed with her uniform on. I tilt my head.

“I thought you were doing your homework?”

“I was. Then I finished.”

I leave her be, and wonder around the school. What now? I need to tell Milly some information and find the hidden room. My mind flashes back to Violet. That can’t happen to anyone else. Turning the corner, I crash into someone. That someone is Milly.

“Milly! How was Detention?”

She swivels round.

“Well, Principal Amara was strict as usual, but Detention was -no suprise- like a prison. Cells and all! It was horrifying, and at times, two red glowing eyes would jumpscare us. Then there would be this low voice murmuring nonsense! All throughout it, Principal Amara just had us clean the cells, which, by the way, were really old and musty.”

I gape at her. No way. That’s like the hidden room!

“Did you have to drink a potion?”

“Nope, Principal Amara just flicked a few switches, said a few words and boom! Was that how detention was like for you?”

I shake my head carefully.

“No, it was a bunch of sunshine and rainbows and beautiful things. Not at all like you just said…”

“Really? Bummer for me then, I never want to go there with her again!”

This is it. It’s the perfect time!

“Hey, Milly? Can I tell you something private?”

Milly’s ears literally perk up, her brown eyes sparkling.

“Let me guess. You want to tell me that you're secretly a superhero!”

Despite myself, I smile and shake my head.

“How about you...have a crush?”

“Not even close.”

“Ah, I’m outta ideas. Do we have to go to an isolated place?”

I nod and gesture for her to follow me down the elaborate halls. We stop in the courtyard and Milly finds a hidden corner, tucked between two twin trees. It’s getting dark and there’s no one around, the crickets chirping the only sign of life. I settle against a sturdy trunk and Milly plops down beside me. She tilts her head, arms supporting her chin as she leans forward attentively. I explain my situation. I explain the journal, the key, Janky, the weapons, the hidden room and the shadow hound. The only thing I keep to myself are the hallucinations of the creature. I guess I'm afraid that if I say it out loud...it would seem real. Instead, I only say that it was mentioned in one of the entries. Milly’s silent for a while.

“Wow. You kept all that to yourself?”

She swoops me in a hug and I can’t help but burst out laughing as she squeezes me to death. I’m just so happy that Milly’s here for me. We stay like that until Milly’s arms get tired, then we go serious again.

“Who did you say wrote the first entry?”

“I-it wasn’t mentioned. It only said she was great friends with Anna Rochelle Night.”

“Rochelle Night? That sounds eerily familiar.”

After a moment, I snaps my fingers.

“Principal Amara! She has the same name as Anna’s sister. The writer described Amara as cruel and selfish. So selfish that she wanted her grandchildren and children to be named after her!”

Milly’s eyes widen.

“Would that mean Principal Amara and Evernly are relatives of them?”

I nod gravely.

“What do you think it means?”

Silence washes over us as we think. It could mean many things, and yet nothing at all. Does it really change anything? If Evernly knows something though, it would be extremely helpful to tell her. But, we have yet to find out if she is trustworthy of such a secret. A thud jolts us away from our thoughts. I scan the small space, but there’s no sign of anything.

“Mind if we drop into the conversation?”

Lucus? I’m puzzled as two figures jump down behind us. We spin around.

Siren points to the balcony above us, connected to the middle floor of the dorms in Wishspell Academy.

“You know that’s our dorm, right?”

I share a look with Milly.

“How did we not notice that?”

Siren smiles, “Maybe because you were too busy hugging.”

My cheeks flare red.

“You saw that? That was a private moment!”

“Don’t worry, we turned away,” Lucus chuckles.

Milly and I freeze.

“Did you hear what we said?”

They both nod slowly, grins receding. Siren steps forward.

“We would like to help.”