Chapter 2.
The next few days pass uneventfully. Just the same stuff, school, feeders, sleep then repeat. I mean I guess you could say that Princess Dragomir and Hathaway are the interesting topics, not that I really care. Ever since my episode outside the feeders room with my, what would you call it, visions? I guess, I can't get that history lesson out of my head, you know, the one with the war, the Strigoi, the destroyed houses and that book.
I feel like the book I saw has something to do with it but I have no idea what. I can't make sense of the visions either, there's no record of any sort of power like that for an air user, at least not one I know of. Maybe it was just a onetime thing, I hardly think it will happen again. As I'm walking through the quad to the library I notice max scouring through the ground like a bird looking for worms.
"Max, what in the world are you doing?" As I ask I notice dried mud on his trousers and fresh mud on his hands and knees, looks like he has been here a while.
"I'm looking for my ring, I was walking to the cafeteria and I lost it here and now I can't find it, please can you help me, if my parents find out, they will kill me" The look on his face was the only thing that actually made me want to look. He looked so desperate. With a sigh I knelt down beside him.
"God, could you pick a better place to lose it?" Kneeling down I can feel the mud seep through my jeans. Pushing and pulling the mud through my hands, I can't feel anything.
"Are you sure you lost it here? You have obviously been looking here for a while and can't find anything?" I ask with a sigh. This is so not what I want to be doing right now. I just wanted to go to the library.
"Yes it is," An exasperated note in his voice, "I was walking and I felt it…Oh I found it!" he holds his hand up like he's just won a trip to the Mediterranean.
"Great, now I'm all muddy." I sigh and stand up trying to shake the mud off my hands. The jeans I wear are no longer grey, they are brown. Fantastic. "Ok well I'm going to go back and get changed, can I meet you at the library?" I ask.
"Yeah, sure" He says as he turns his back to go to his dorm room.
On my way back to the library the second time, I spot Lissa Dragomir walking with Natalie Dashkov, and once again, I'm bombarded with visions. Red eyes, again, more jail bars, an animal, I think it is, laying on a red bed sheet, someone is in hysterics, I try and concentrate to see who but I can't, then all of a sudden, I can't breathe, like all my air has just been taken away, I claw at my throat trying to somehow find relief and then my visions change, I'm in a dark room that looks like it has been burnt out but the only thing left is a grey metal safe that has dents in the side of it, like someone has tried to forcefully open it. Looking around the house again, I notice the walls left standing are slightly green and decaying, what I think was left of the carpet is pretty much non-existent. There is two large stone pillars beside what might be a door to another room but the door is no longer there, only the hinges. It looks like this house had been abandoned for years. Walking over to the safe again, a plume of ash rises up in front of me and looking down at my ash covered boots, there's a piece of paper, perfectly white, intact, with no indication of burn marks I bend down to pick it up, hesitating only a little before I do, and when I touch it something makes my body freeze. Words rush through my head in a language I can't understand. It might be Latin. Whispers arise in my head and I look around to try and find the source. Five words are continually being repeated but I don't understand, "Occulta et ipse…vivet vinctum. Occulta et ipse vivet vinctum, Occulta et ipse…"
With another flash I find myself standing back in the quad looking at Dragomir right before she walks through a door. It felt like the vision went for hours but I can tell it's only been seconds. I stand frozen, rooted to my spot and cast a glance at my hands. They are balled together and so stiff that my knuckles have turned white. With a deep breath I try to calm my racing heart. It's happened again. But it's different this time, I heard a voice. Was this directed at me? It was only 5 words but they are fleeting. Occulta…something. Well, this is interesting. This is the second time it's happened and I don't know why. Looking to see if anyone saw me, I turn back around towards the classrooms to find my magic teacher, Ms. Carmack.
Of course now that I needed to get somewhere fast, everyone had decided to walk like they were 90. I had to push past multiple people, hearing grunts, and other words I won't disclose, on the way there. It was only when I knocked on the door to Ms Carmack's classroom that I decided to take a breath. The look on my teachers face was the only indication that she was surprised as I was to be here.
"Vienna, how are you? Can I help you with anything?"
"I'm sorry to bother you, I just have some questions about air users, if that's ok"
"Of course, what do you want to ask? Have you mastered any skills yet?" of course she knows how lacking my powers are.
"Uh, yes, um, have you heard of any reports of air users having, like, visions? or something like that. I've heard people say that air users can get them and a friend of mine read it in a book that said air users can have visions about people, and places." Obviously I was making this up, I haven't even told Max about my visions.
"Through my knowledge no. Of course there are certain people, say, psychics, who say they have special intuitions through voices in their head, most often just go through tarot cards and the alike. Why such the interest?" her voice is slightly edged with curiosity.
"Oh, just a project, I have a fascination. Anyway, thank you for the information!" I rush out the door hoping to avoid any more curios questions.
So the voices, I guess that is sort of safe purgatory, but my visions are through my magic, so where the hell do they come from?
"Hey stranger, I waited for you at the library, where were you?" I turn to see max jogging up to me. Crap, I forgot about the library. Honestly with all this stuff going through my head I forgot he even existed.
"Oh, I'm sorry max, I forgot I had to go see Ms Carmack about an assignment and I totally forgot, I'm sorry."
"Its ok, do you want to go there now, or…?" I glanced around, without even realising it I was walking towards to feeders.
"Sure, but can we go to the feeders first I haven't had mine today." With a quick nod he stepped beside me with a cheery look on his face like he didn't have a care in the world. If only he knew what was going on in my head.