12:24am, Friday

I watched as the numbers on my HOL slowly ticked by. I knew I should go to the party, if only to make an appearance, but I couldn’t seem to move. I need to go or else it will count as a social demerit…I need to maintain my social standing.

I let out a harsh laugh.

Social standing? I’m leaving tomorrow for five years. By the time I return, most of these people won’t even remember my name.

“…Garett would make a good General…” Gary’s sly voice seemed to come out from the shadows of my room to whisper in my ear again. I shivered in the cool night air.

I knew I should be overjoyed to hear those words, but I’m not. What was wrong with me? If Garett became a General, I wouldn’t have to ever worry about becoming a Mistress. I would finally be free…

I sigh.

12:25am

Seriously? Only one minute has passed? I got up and started to walk. The moonlight flittered through ribbons of clouds that lazily passed in the night sky. The night flowers in the hedges bloomed in bunches around me, their sweet nectar willing the air as various insects buzzed and chirped in the shadows of the night. To my left were the hedges. To my right was a small cluster of trees whose leaves added to the symphony of the night. I had chosen this spot because it looked offered the most seclusion. The most privacy from the watchful walls of the Akademy behind me…even if the shadows reached out at me like hungry fingers.

I don’t want to spy on Kirosh for the next year. That isn’t what friends do. And I am his friend. Just friends, despite whatever Lena or Yaiya may think. I rolled my eyes.

What is wrong with me? I sighed again and sat on one of the many benches lining the avenue.

“So many sighs.” Came a raspy voice suddenly.

I jumped up, my heart pounding. I turned in a complete circle, but no one was around. “C-come out.” I tried to command, but my voice wobbled.

A snicker filled the air.

“That wasn’t funny. Come out or else I’ll report you.”

The gravel crunched behind me and I turned to find a girl no older than 12 or 13, roll out from under then bench.

“Who are you?” I demand, my heart still pounding. “And why were you under the bench, you freak?”

The girl cocked her head to the side and just watches me. “My name is Sola. Who are you?”

“None of your business. Why were you under the bench?”

“None of Your Business.” Sola repeated slowly, feeling each word in her mouth like a newborn. “I will call you NYB…Nice to meet you, NYB.” The girl broke out into a wide smile and stood up. “I didn’t mean to surprise you. I was hiding.”

“From whom?” I didn’t smile back. I was shaking.

Sola looked around as if to make sure no one was listening then leaned in close and whispered in a loud voice: “A person.”

“A person? That’s all?”

She nodded with wide eyes as if she had just told me her biggest secret. She’s must be in her first year here. I let out a long sigh. “Fine, whatever. What’s your room number? I’ll take you back before you get caught.”

“I don’t want to go back. I want to stay here.” Sola looked at me with big round eyes. But her gaze was just slightly off, as if she were looking behind me.

I look quickly over my shoulder. But no one was there.

“Can stay, NYB?” Sola asked with such hope in her voice that I smiled thinly and just shrugged.

“Yay!” Sola jumped up and down for a moment before she suddenly froze and stared off into the darkness.

“Is there someone looking for you?”

Sola didn’t answer. Her eyes kept searching the shadows as if she could see through them. “Why are you here, NYB? Are you trying to hide too?” She suddenly asked without turning.

“…Something like that.

“Why are you hiding?”

“I wasn’t really hiding, really…Just thinking, I guess.”

“What were you thinking about?” Sola twitched her head sideways to look at me. The movement was unsettling.

“A-A person.”

“Oh…Has the person done something bad?” Her eyes looked black in the moonlight. Like two black pools taking everything in.

Creepy. I shuddered. “No…not yet.”

“What might this person do that’s bad?”

“Hurt a friend…maybe.”

“Oh…” Sola nodded, releasing me from her unrelenting stare.

“You should tell the person to not do the bad thing that will hurt a friend.”

“They already know.” I sighed.

Sola hoped over to me and patted my hand. “Hyanna always says that sighing means that you have something to say but don’t know how to say it yet. So, practice on me. That way when you see that person again, you will know what to say.”

“Is Hyanna the one your hiding from?”

“No. She is my friend. I never hide from her. But you are trying to change the subject.”

I sighed. “I can’t practice with you. I need to go to a party…”

“Oh…” Sola’s face fell.

“…But…but there are these two girls who think I like someone that I only think of as a friend, but I don’t know what to say to them to get them to believe me.” Why am I rattling on about this? “Do you think you can help me with that?” I should really just go to the party.

“Yes. Yes!”

I froze. “Yes? Don’t you mean Yeh?”

“…No.” Sola looked at me strangely.

“Do you know Gary Hartfiled?” I asked sharply.

Sola’s face froze and her eyes narrowed. “Do I know Gary?” She spat. “Yes. I know Gary. I don’t like him. He is mean. He is like a snake. He is—” suddenly she stopped and studied my face. Her eyes calculating. Her face deadpan.

She looks just like Arina when she does that…

“Don’t trust him, NYB.” She finally spoke, but her voice had lost all of its emotion. “He will hurt you before he helps you. Remember that. He will hurt everyone to get what he wants and he will help no one unless he is the one that profits the most.”

I snorted. “Sounds like someone else I know.”

“Who?” Sola’s eyes were once again staring at me so intensely that I felt naked.

“N-no one.” I look away from her. “It doesn’t matter…If you don’t like Gary, why do you say Yes like he does instead of Yeh like everyone else?”

“Hyanna says Yes instead of Yeh. She says that all the ancients used to say Yes. And, I like it better than Yeh. It makes me feel like Hyanna.” Sola puffed up her chest in pride.

“I know the feeling…” I patted her head.

“If you…if you have met Gary, then you are in danger.” Sola suddenly grabbed my arm and whispered, softly this time. “Please, don’t trust him. Tell Jack whatever Gary has told you. Jack will protect you. He protects Hyanna. He is the only one she trusts, so you can trust him too.”

“Who is Jack?

“Jack the Jackal. Don’t you know him?”

“No. And who is Hyanna? I’ve never met her so how can I trust her?”

“Yyou have.” Sola looked at me like I was slow to understand something. “…but she has many names. Maybe you only know her by her other name.”

“What’s her other name?”

“It’s a secret.” Sola giggled.

“Ah c’mon. I won’t tell anyone, I promise.”

But Sola wasn’t listening to me. She was once again peering into the lengthening shadows. Suddenly she twitched her head to look at me. “I must go now, NYB. Good bye. And remember, don’t trust Gary. Talk to Jack.” With that, Sola ran off along the garden path and was quickly out of sight.

I ran after her, but it was like she had disappeared into thin air. I ran around another bend and ran into a solid mass.

into Dryden. Not surprisingly, I go flying and he barely sways from the impact.

“Tash?”

I looked up to find Dryden peering down at me, the surprise evident in his voice. He was holding his HOL.

“Hey, Dryden.” I winced at my hands as I stood up.

Dryden quickly looked down at his HOL and turned his back as if to shield something from my view. “No. no…it’s nothing. I got to go. No, I got to go. I’ll call you later.”

“Who’re you talking to?” I asked, trying to see the HOL, but all I see is a sweep of a woman’s long blond hair before the image faded out.

“It was my mom…why aren’t you at the party with Yaiya and the others?”

“I-I was just about to go, but I wanted to look at the night flowers one last time…we leave for training tomorrow.” I look at my HOL. “…or today actually since it’s past midnight.”

“Oh, alright. Have fun.” Dryden brushed past me. “See you later.”

“…Yeh…see you…” But Dryden was already gone from sight.

Now that was weird…this has just been one day full of weird. I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair, working out the knots and tangles that had accumulated somehow in the last hour.

Suddenly, a branch snapped, startling me out of my thoughts. “Sola?” I squinted into the darkness, trying to see who made the noise, but only the shadows stared back.

Probably just an animal. I turned to start walking towards the Akademy, but as soon as I take a step, another branch snapped. A movement in the corner of my eye made me look up into the trees, and for the briefest of seconds, I could have sworn I saw a face—a hideous face, scared beyond recognition but smiling. Laughing. I took a step backwards, my heart jumping into my throat. But when I blinked, the face was gone. I searched the trees and shadows with my eyes frantically, but nothing stirred. Not wanting to stay in that spot any longer, I did what any self-respecting 16 year old youngling would do: I turned and I...

“Whoa!” I let out a startled gasp. A man was standing just beyond the bend Dryden had disappeared down.

“Younglings these days.” He muttered in a deep voice, his eyes weary. “What you doing out here so late?”

“I, um—”

“Just…go to bed.” The man sighed and waved his hand as if too tired to hear any excuses. “Younglings shouldn’t be out here late at night.”

“Yeh, sir.” I say respectfully and quickly leave.