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Cinder
Cinder shivered in the cool night air. The full moon beamed down at her menacingly, like a warning light for what creatures it brings. Its light seemed to taint even the ever-perfect grounds of Artemisia, except for the grasses around the Star Tree, which were bathed in a warm golden glow. Cress had done her job well. Cinder just hoped she could manage to do hers.
It was the last phase in Operation Assassinate Aimery, and what Cinder had to do was simple: lead Aimery deep enough into the forest that the werewolves would notice him, make him laugh because (for some bizarre reason) Jacin thought that would make him a more preferable target for the werewolves than her, and don't die. That last part was probably going to be the hardest part for Cinder. Who knew how many werewolves would be running through the trees tonight? And Aimery was only one human. She was pretty sure the werewolves who didn't get a bite of the teacher wouldn't just whine in disappointment and leave the other human morsel to go about her business. But when Cinder had brought this up to Jacin, he'd said: "Some of us will hide in the forest to help protect you. You'll be fine."
Well, she hoped the werewolves appreciated the fact that they were basically giving them an all-you-can-eat human buffet.
The soft rustle of grass pulled Cinder out of her bleak thoughts, and then immediately shoved her back into them again. What could she say? The sight of Aimery Park strolling towards her with his signature smug smile didn't exactly inspire happiness.
She feigned a fearful shiver and glanced at the forest, hoping that he would think her wide-eyed expression was fear, and not her trying to impersonate a startled owl.
"Can't I do the detention tomorrow night?" Cinder moaned, "What if there are werewolves in the forest? I don't want to die!"
"You are being overdramatic Miss Linh." Aimery said calmly, "There is only one werewolf in the school and he is being properly contained. You are perfectly safe."
"But what if he gets out?" Cinder wailed, "What if he escapes and bites me while I'm picking leaping toadstools? What if I get turned into a werewolf? My life will be ruined!"
"I will be with you the whole time Miss Linh." Aimery assured her, "I promise, you will emerge from the forest unscathed under my care."
Cinder had to bite back a snort.
In the Black Woods, Cinder made sure to act as terrified as possible. She jumped at small noises, she shuffled towards shadows, she shook like a leaf in a hurricane, and waved her wand around like a maniac. Occasionally, she would crouch in the shadows of a tree, curl into a little ball, rock back and forth, and lament on her misfortune. Aimery took a special kind of pleasure in making her get up and get back to work, usually by musing aloud how bowtruckles would gouge out the eyes of people who they thought were threatening their trees. Cinder was sure she was going to have nightmares about that for the rest of her life, assuming she survived this night at all.
Finally, there came what Cinder had been waiting for. A large sound. Maybe it was her friends carrying out their part of the plan, maybe it was some large monster traipsing through the woods on a midnight stroll. But it was what she needed.
As soon as the crash rang through the night air, she shrieked and ran off, pushing aside low-hanging branches and stumbling over roots in her haste to get deeper into the forest. As Cinder ran, she tentatively reached out with her gift, feeling for Aimery's mind, and gave him a bit of a nudge to reluctantly chase after her. She tried to ignore the icy ball of guilt settling in her stomach. For Merlin's sake, this was Aimery! If anyone deserved to have their mind controlled it was him. And she was going to be a murderer by tomorrow anyway, why not add mind-manipulator to that list? Still, Cinder couldn't seem to shake her nausea as Aimery jogged after her, unwittingly heading towards his death.
Eventually, Cinder found a clearing which, judging from the dried blood on the grass and claw marks on the trees, was a popular hang-out for werewolves. So she collapsed to her knees, panting for breath, feigning exhaustion.
Aimery walked up to her, a slight frown tugging at his features. "Well, I hope you're pleased with yourself Miss Linh. We must be near the centre of the Black Woods now. I expect you already know that all the worst creatures that inhabit this forest live around here?"
Cinder forced myself to whimper and curl up into a shivering ball. She reached out with my gift again, pulling on Aimery's thoughts. You find this funny, you find this so, so pathetic and funny.
The teacher started chuckling, quiet and muffled at first, but it soon grew loud and cruel, his slippery voice filling the woods with his cruelty. Cinder scampered away, trying to look hurt and bewildered at this sudden burst of hysterical laughter. There was a mad light in Aimery's eyes as he looked at her.
"How ridiculously cowardly can you be?" He gasped, "I have known first years who would sneak this far into the woods and run around, yelling for the monsters. They never lasted long of course." he added, his mirth growing without Cinder's help, "But you… you're shrieking and jumping is probably going to get you killed even faster than those idiot children!"
Cinder turned away so he couldn't see her lip curling with disgust. She was feeling much better about this whole killing thing now, she had to admit.
A low growl snapped her attention away from the hysterical man to where a pair of malicious yellow eyes gleamed in the shadows of the trees. Soon they were joined by another pair, and another, and another, till Cinder felt she was surrounded by the evil glowing golden lights. And they were all fixed on Aimery. Looks like Jacin was right about the laughter-thing.
As the first hairy clawed paw stepped into the moonlight, Cinder tried to scoot away as subtly as possible, trying to ignore the short snouts filled with giant sharp teeth, or the gleam of dagger-like claws in the moonlight. One of the wolves let loose a particularly loud growl, and Aimery finally noticed the malicious beasts slowly closing in around him. Cinder frantically grasped for his mind, trying to force him to stay still, but Aimery was quicker. He whipped out his wand and pointed it at Cinder, yelling, "Petrificus Totalus."
Instantly, Cinder's arms snapped to her sides, her legs practically glued themselves together and her lips firmly closed. All she could do was watch as Aimery ran off into the woods, and the werewolves focused on easier prey.
A/N: Sorry guys! Gotta keep ya interested in this story somehow!
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