Author's note: This is just for people that have not read the message on my profile - Updates will become rather irregular now, I can't promise when the next update will be. I am now back at college and we are already getting a lot of coursework, this year is much more demanding than last year, so of course coursework is a bigger priority than writing fanfiction. I will write whenever I get a chance to but please do bear in mind that I have two other fanfics as well as this one so I have a lot to balance right now.
That doesn't mean I am not still writing! I am still writing, I'm just going to be updating pretty irregularly.
On another note... I'VE REACHED 100 REVIEWS! Guys you honestly have no idea how much that means to me. Thank you so, so much to everybody that has ever left a review for this story, I really do appreciate it.
Please leave reviews of your thoughts on this chapter too, positive or negative, they all help! :) xo
20th February 2020
It was unreal how judgemental teenagers could be sometimes. Students who had once greeted Gracie in the corridors in the morning now swerved to avoid her, looking her up and down and whispering amongst each other. From the snippets of conversation she heard, it was obvious that word had spread about her going to Killian's bedroom and emerging from the room a while later hand-in-hand with him as he walked her downstairs. Strangely nobody was mentioning Alec and Gracie wondered why he hadn't told anyone that he knew for certain they were dating. It annoyed her that people were reacting this way to something that had nothing to do with them, that they were going to ignore her and forget their friendship, simply because of who she was dating. How stupid was that? She wasn't going to lie and say that it didn't upset her because it did. But she wasn't going to cry over it and feel sorry for herself because at the end of the day, at least she was with Killian and they no longer had to hide their feelings for each other.
When she walked into the assembly hall, she held her held high and refused to meet anybody's gazes. She wasn't going to give them the satisfaction of them thinking their attitude and gossip was bothering her. She scanned the heads of people in her peripheral vision until she saw the familiar messy strawberry-blonde hair.
She walked over to the second to front row and slid into the end seat on the row, giving a smile to Killian. Due to her class being the last ones into the hall, they didn't have time to talk as Mrs Burn walked onto the stage and cleared her throat. That one little sound somehow rang out around the room and made all the students fall silent and stop fidgeting around in their seat, their attention now focused on their headteacher. It would have been comical if she had not been followed by a tall, imposing man dressed is a dark suit and tie that looked thoroughly angry. A frown marred his face, adding to the lines of age, and his dark beady eyes scanned the rows of students as if looking for somebody in particular.
Gracie vaguely recognized him. As Mrs Burn thanked the students and teachers for coming to the assembly and apologized for interrupting a lesson, Gracie leaned in close to Killian. "I know him," she whispered. "He works for the Net and the FBI. When my aunt Persephone first moved to Colorado, he was part of the team working on her protection. Andrew Walsh, he's called. He always used to scare me, there was just something about him I didn't like. Last I heard, he lost out on this big promotion when my uncle Victor got it instead. Andrew was furious and moved to England where he got an even lower rank in the division than he'd had in America. He was pretty bitter apparently and was very rude a few years later when he ran into my dad and uncle Victor."
"I wonder what he's doing here," Killian mused in a whisper.
Gracie straightened back up in her seat as Mrs Burn introduced Andrew Walsh to the school as an FBI agent that was now the head of his division. He stepped forward and cleared his throat. "Good morning, students. First of all, I would like to congratulate you all on doing such a great job working on your education and power. I can tell you that us at the savant net are very impressed and look forward to one day taking on some of you and giving you jobs within the Net's branches.
"But I am afraid I am not here to give you all positive comments. I only wish that were the case. No, I am here for a more serious matter... I regret to inform you that your teachers have been keeping something from you for your own safety. But it has come to the point now where it would be more dangerous for you not to know.
"Five of your fellow students have gone missing, presumably kidnapped by a group of people the Net have a long history with. Katie Wilson; Joe Smith; Leah-Mae Pendergast; Noelle Davis; and Allie Parker."
Gracie exchanged a look with Killian. Of course they already knew about this but the rest of the school didn't, even the parents of the kids didn't know. Why had they made the sudden decision to tell the truth? The change gave her a sinking feeling in her stomach: them telling everybody meant this was even more serious than they'd originally thought. If that was even possible.
"The five students were kidnapped from school grounds. Their parents have been informed and we are doing everything in our power to find them, I can assure you of that," Andrew Walsh continued in a deep, emotionless voice. "But things are now going to be a little different around here to ensure your safety and make sure this doesn't happen to a sixth person. There are a few changes: your curfew will be changed from 8pm to 6pm, all students must be in their dorm by then and there will be teachers checking that; you may see police officers, agents of the Net or security guards walking around the campus- do not be intimidated by them, they are simply there to help and do patrols of the grounds; and your weekend privileges of being allowed to leave school grounds and go into the village are temporarily cancelled."
A protesting murmur spread through the hall as the students complained about how unfair that was and how it was like the school had become a jail. Gracie agreed with them mostly, even if they were being a little melodramatic, and she couldn't believe the school were going to such lengths to protect the students from The Illusionists. But she didn't protest because she still had nightmares of the night Allie was taken and she dreaded to find out that had happened to another student. She was thoroughly glad the school were finally taking measures to protect the students.
"Quiet!" Mrs Burn shouted over the racket. It took a long minute but finally the voices hushed down and their attention fell back to their headteacher. "I am disappointed that you all have reacted this way! We are doing this for your own welfare and protection. Do you really want to hear about more of your classmates being kidnapped and disappearing? No, you don't. And neither do we which is why these new school rules are temporarily in place. This is the end of this discussion and I will not be making any exceptions for anyone."
She started to dismiss people class-by-class and Gracie's class was second to be called out to leave. She quickly turned in her seat to Killian and said, "meet me in the stables at dinner, okay?"
"Sure," he nodded. "I have something to tell you about anyway, about you know who."
Knowing that he meant The Illusionists, Gracie nodded and stood up to leave the hall. She wondered what he had to talk to her about that she didn't already know but couldn't linger on the thought too long. As she joined the crowd of students leaving the hall, a girl in one of her classes bumped into her. She looked down at Gracie and sneered before turning to her friend and speaking loud enough for Gracie and those around her to hear. "Did you see her sat next to that freak?" She laughed. "I can't believe she comes from one of the best savant families there is, they must be so ashamed of her-"
She cut off abruptly as she was shoved backwards, stumbling into other students. Sam stood in front of her and said in a clear voice, "give it a rest, Bethany. At least Gracie hasn't slept with half of the guys here like you have. If anyone's family should be ashamed, it should be yours." She spun around and came over to Gracie, hooking her arm with her roommate's.
"Sam, what was that about?" Gracie asked as they started to walk again, shocked. "You've been ignoring me for days, I thought you were like them and didn't want anything to do with me because of Killian..."
"I did feel like that," she nodded. "But in assembly, when I heard that Allie had been kidnapped... God, I can't believe it. How did I not know? I'm her best friend, I shouldn't have believed that she'd leave without saying goodbye to everybody. It just doesn't make sense." Gracie had the sudden urge to tell Sam the truth: that she did know Allie had been taken, she just didn't remember it, but she managed to keep her mouth closed and not say anything. "Anyway, it got me thinking. You, me and Allie were such good friends and why should that be any different now just because you were stupid and ignored our warnings about Killian? Allie didn't like the guy but she had a feeling something was going on with you and him. I thought she was crazy but she insisted there was something there. And she didn't care. She knew about the rumours but she trusted you. She said something along the lines of 'if Gracie can see the good in him, then I trust her judgement.' I think that if she were here, she'd be sticking up for you and she'd expect me to do the same. So here we are."
Gracie paused for a moment before squeezing Sam's arm and grinning. "I'm really glad that you see it that way. I missed you, Sam. I'm glad that I have my friend back."
Killian had told Gracie about the note that had been slipped under his door the night before in a huge rush, barely taking a second to breathe. He just wanted to get it out of his system, to finally tell someone instead of keeping it bottled up inside. Now he found himself sat on the floor of the stables with Gracie, her leaning her back against a gate and him resting his head lightly on her chest and the top of her breast, her running her fingers through his hair and him tracing patterns on the leggings she wore, his soft touch against the inside of her thigh.
"What do you think it means?" Gracie asked him quietly. Killian got the feeling that she didn't know how to talk about the subject with him, as if she wasn't sure how he would react. He was grateful for her consideration but it also made him feel weak, like she thought he couldn't handle it.
He sighed loudly. "I guess it means they've been looking for me," he replied, trying to sound as casual as he could about it. He didn't want to let on to her how scared he was, he wanted her to think he was stronger than he was. "I have no idea what they'll do now that they've found me."
"And the part about your mum?"
"I guess she knew that something like this would happen, that they'd come looking for me," he said slowly. "So she put a shield on me to hide me from their trackers, that's what her power was."
"Do you think her shield would stay intact this long?" Gracie questioned with a tone of doubt in her voice.
"I don't know," he shrugged. "Maybe. If not, that means she's been around me and she's still alive, making sure the shield is strong. But that would also mean that she's staying away from me even though she knows how much I've been struggling and how bad my life became. What kind of mother would do that? If I found out that was the truth, I'd never forgive her. I'd never forgive any of them."
"Don't say that," she said gently, her hands moving from his hair to the back of his neck, which she lightly stroked repeatedly. It was comforting and relaxing to him. "They must have a very relevant reason as to why they haven't come back for you if they are still alive. 'Don't judge anybody until you know their full story', that's what my dad always says."
"You're lucky," he said, not spitefully but with a little jealousy. "You have a family that loves you and cares for you, and I'm really glad you have that. I haven't had a family since I was 9. I was happy at Bronagh's but I still didn't feel at home, then I lived in the children's home and you know what happened there, and now the school is the only place I have. I have no idea where I'm going to in two years time when we finish school."
Gracie surprised him by saying, "you can come back to America with me. I don't reckon it'll be hard to convince my parents. Or you never know, we both might get into a really great university and go there together. You never know what the future holds."
Killian smiled. He loved how she could turn a conversation around in a way that it didn't feel on purpose and always made him feel better. He also loved how she was thinking of his future and without any hesitation she included herself in it.
"You're my soulfinder, you know that right?" He asked as a feeling of knowing overcame him, one that said she would be in his life still in two years time.
Gracie stopped caressing his neck, her body going stiff. "What?"
Killian straightened up so that they were face-to-face and he could look into her wide, shocked eyes. "You're my soulfinder," he repeated.
"You can't know that," she said defensively, shaking her head in protest. "We haven't spoken telepathically at all, there's no way for you to know that for sure."
"You're right. I don't know for sure. But I feel it here," he rested a hand against his chest where his heart was. "I just really feel that you're the one I'm supposed to spend the rest of my life with. You make me feel things no other person has before. I know you're my soulfinder, I can feel it without even having you talk to me telepathically. And I know that you're terrified of finding out I'm not yours and that's why you won't agree to speak into my mind to find out for certain, and that's okay. You'll do that when you're ready. But for now I'm telling you that I believe you're my soulfinder."
Gracie was speechless. She simply sat there, staring at him, until she finally managed to whisper his name. "Killian..."
"Ah, I was hoping you two would be in here!" Danielle's voice made them lose eye contact and look up at her, the moment ruined. "A few of the horses need exercising, I thought I'd let you go riding again. Gracie, you ride Ruby seeing as you're the only person she likes," she smiled. "Killian, do you mind riding Frosty?"
"Sure," he nodded and stood up, turning around to hold a hand out for Gracie and helped her to her feet. As they headed over to get the equipment needed, he asked her, "are you okay? I haven't scared you away, have I?" He chuckled nervously.
"Of course not," she shook her head. "It's just that I know how difficult it is to find your soulfinder and I don't want you getting your hopes up. Yeah, it'd be great if we were soulfinders, but the chances of that actually being true are very little. I don't want either of us to be disappointed, especially if we start believing that it's true."
"Yeah but I bet you'd love to believe it; who wouldn't want me as a soulfinder? I'm amazing," he joked in an attempt to lighten the air, pairing his words with a cheeky grin.
Gracie smiled and rolled her eyes, a look of sadness in her expression that only Killian would recognize because he was the only one who knew her that well. All he'd done was tell her the truth about how he felt. He really did believe she was meant to be his and he was meant to be hers. A part of him was wishing for her to take a chance and let him find out for certain whilst another part of him was wishing that he hadn't spoke too soon and that he wasn't going to lose her like he lost everybody else that he loved.
And that was the moment Killian Ashe finally realised he was madly in love with Gracie Benedict.
A hint about the next chapter: The two new boys in their second year of sixth form oddly seem familiar to Gracie.