Chapter 22.
My world spins and freezes for a moment. They know about me. They know who I am.
More panic rises but all I can hear is mumbling around me. I feel arms close around my shoulders and shake.
"Vienna, hey, Vienna, what's going on? What's happened?" it's Max shaking me. I register the world again.
"Um, Danahi, uh, Dan…he's dead, they took him." I stutter out.
"Who? Who's Danahi?" Max asks. I need to get out of here. I have to run….and I'm taking Max with me.
"We have to go. We have to leave." I abruptly stand and head to my wardrobe. I know Max is standing there watching me but I don't care. I shuffle out of my dress and quickly put on my jeans and a black top. I shove my boots on and then I turn back to Max.
"Vienna what's going on?"
Someone might have been watching me when we came in, they could still be there.
"Ok, we have to leave or they will kill me. When we leave we have to pretend we are going to a party ok? You can't say anything else." Max looks at me incredulously.
"Vienna wait! You have to tell me what's going on first. Why would they kill you?" he asks desperately.
"Because I'm one of them." I whisper to him. He still gives me a confused look but I don't have time to explain any further. My anger is rising since reading Danahis note and it's now reaching a dangerous level. If someone confronts me, I will find a way to kill them.
Max follows me out the door and I take hold of his hand, I try to look around the hallway as inconspicuously as I can but I don't see anyone. They would make sure I couldn't see them. We are walking down the hallway, almost reaching the door, its then I hear footsteps.
They may be Guardians but they can't be all that quiet all the time. I take a few more steps but a Guardian intercepts me and steps in our path to the door.
Everything happens in slow motion. The Guardian leaps towards me, Max is being pushed away, guns are out and more Guardians surround us, but it's in a single moment that I hear whispers.
"Altius flamma" I hear and in a moment of panic I repeat them. A small explosion comes from the side of the hallway and the Guardians fall back in shock. I quickly side step them and start running with Max.
As quick as they jumped us, the Guardians are up and coming at us again.
"Hey Max, care to help out and do some magic please?" I say with gritted teeth.
I look to Max who is white as a ghost but he nods. Without looking back he shoves his hand behind him and sends a blast of air at the Guardians who are knocked down. We head into another dorm hallway, we duck and weave in and out of rooms to try and loose them. I'm hoping Max's air magic was enough to slow them down.
We stop inside one of the abandoned lounge rooms and quickly hide in one of the supply closets. I try to calm my breathing as I wait for us to be found. Soon after I hear people running in, checking the rooms.
Every now and then we hear someone yell "clear!" then move on.
My body tenses in anticipation as I wait for them to approach the room we are in. I glance behind me and see boxes stacked in one corner, with quick thinking I quietly shove the boxes forward a little and beckon Max to hide behind them with me.
Our ragged breaths are the only thing I can hear. It isn't long before we hear footsteps approach the same room we are hiding in. I immediately hold my breath, and Max does the same. By the sounds of the footsteps, there are at least two Guardians. A few moments later, the closet door opens and a flashlight lights up the room. I try to sink further into the corner as quietly as I can, Max follows my lead and does the same.
We duck our heads down and hope for the best. A few heartbeats later, the Guardian retreats and shuts the door. I hear the usual "clear" and they leave. I let out a deep breath and fall against the wall, putting my head in my hands. How can this be happening? Not long ago I was a non-royal girl who no one noticed or cared about. Now I'm a royal witch who is being hunted because of my last name.
"Vienna, please tell me what's going on. What did you mean when you said you were one of them?" Max asks me slowly. Well I guess with the situation where in, there is no use lying.
"My last name and birth right is Nesahla. Do you remember when I was telling you about the visions, the book and how I told you it all stopped? Well it didn't. The guy you met, he is, well….was, one too. He's been helping me, apparently the Nesahlas are an ancient family line but we aren't supposed to exist any longer. The Moroi council has a secret group of Guardians that hunts people like us down."
The words rush out and its only when I see Max's face do I realise how ridiculous that all sounds.
"Yeah yeah I know, it all sounds stupid and whatever but I don't have time to explain everything right now, we need to get out of the school" Max is still stunned but he nods to me and we cautiously move out from behind the boxes.
When I open the closet door I take my time coming out, looking in every direction just to make sure there no Guardians lurking around in here.
"Wait Ve, how exactly are we going to get out of the school?"
"Um, well. I have no idea. I guess we can figure that out when we get to the gate."
I don't give him any time to answer because I'm already leaving the lounge. I stop at the door to check the hallway but I can't hear or see anything. I don't know if that's a good or bad thing. I nod to Max and he follows me out into the open. We slink through halls and rooms until we reach the main doors and then take off at a run. I relax slightly when we reach the gate, we haven't been followed by any Guardians, none that Im aware of anyway.
I'm surprised when we reach the gates to find two black SUVs lined up with their doors open. A single Guardian patrol the cars but no one else seems to be around.
I creep around one of the corners surveying the scene before me. God, Guardian training would have been helpful right now, I could have tried to knock some of these guys out, though I probably would have found myself hitting the pavement first.
After a few more moments I come up with what I hope to be a solid plan. But I don't know how well it will work. I turn back to Max.
"How good are you at compelling people?" I ask him seriously. He starts to smile and then he giggles. When he sees my face his smile drops and swallows deeply.
"Um, I have no idea, I've never compelled someone, and we never learnt it! And it's forbidden!"
"And I really don't give a shit if anything is forbidden right now, I'd rather stay alive, how about you?" I ask him, my voice dripping with sarcasm. I'm trying to channel my anger towards the Guardians but I can't keep myself from snapping at Max.
"You can do it Max, if you don't, I will die and you will too for helping me." His face goes white, his jaw tenses but he nods and then stands up.
He heads over to one of the cars but the Guardian stops him in his tracks.
"Hey, stop, what do you think you're doing?"
I see Max tense slightly, he takes a deep breath and then starts talking.
"You're going to let me and my friend hide in one of your cars," he says calmly, at first the Guardian doesn't budge but Max repeats the sentence twice again forcing his will a bit more and I see the guardian falter a little.
"You're going to hide us in one of your cars and not tell anyone." He says even more forcefully and this time the Guardian's expression is just blank.
"You won't remember us when you reach your destination, and you won't ask questions." The Guardian nods and turns around, heading towards the first car.
Oh my god. I can't believe it worked. Max actually compelled someone. He straightens up and returns to my hiding place to get me, completely surprised by his accomplishment.
"Please don't ever make me do that again." he says pleadingly.
"Well if we get out of this alive, I won't have to." I tell him. I have a plan for Max.
We follow the Guardian whose name is Stephen, to the car and he opens the door at the back and beckons us forward. In a monotone voice he tells us to stay hidden behind the seats and then returns to his post once we are safely in the car. I can't believe we are going to make it out of the school. A few moments later I hear footsteps running towards us.
All I can think is Oh no, we are going to be caught any second now.
I hold my breath as I hear people running up. The Guardian Max compelled seemed to have his voice back.
"Where is Mr Dashkov?" he asks. Mr Dashkov? Someone mumbles something but I can't hear because he is further away. "And the Princess?" he asks again. The Princess? Did I miss something? What's going on? Max looks at me, questions swimming in his eyes but I just shrug, I'm as lost as he is.
A few more moments pass and I hear more footsteps approaching us. I grow nervous thinking that the Guardians know we are here. Im sure that they are just moments away from opening the doors and dragging us out, but nothing happens.
We sit quietly, tucked in the back of the car as we feel people pile in. The car jolts and I hear the engine start. My muscles tense in anticipation, can we really make it off the school grounds? The second car starts behind us and then we begin to move.
What feels like hours pass but its only seconds then the car picks up speed and I know we are out the gates. We take a turn and we slide around the back of the car. We continue to pick up speed as we drive down the highway and I can't help but feel some satisfaction that we are off school grounds and I'm alive.
The more I think about it though, the more my fury darkens, completely submerging me in anger. My vision tinges red but this time it doesn't go away. Those people tried to kill me. They killed my friend, my family because of our lasts names. They took my book, my family's book! Now they can look through that book freely, have all the information they want. They can find out everything. I bite on my lip, hoping to calm myself down but it doesn't work and I can taste blood in my mouth from biting too hard.
We travel a fair distance until we eventually make a number of turns, all in quick succession and the car slows to a halt. I hear the doors open and feel people getting out of the car.
When I hear the doors slam shut and inside the vehicle remains silent, I feel it's safe enough to peek up from behind the seats. It's empty. I turn to open the door and get out as quietly as I can, pulling Max with me, my nails digging into his arm.
"Vienna, where are we going? What are we going to do out here?"
"We have to find some where to stay." I tell him, marching in the opposite direction to driveway in which we entered.
A small cabin resides beside us but we can't stay here, whoever occupied the car maybe inside and we can't stay anyway near here. We head into the forest directly in front of us and just keep walking.