The Spirit Academy

Chapter 30 - You'll Die Alone

Mishal

Auretta did as she had said and took her off the tubes. They also took her off the morphine. Which meant when Azalea walked in, she couldn't pretend to be asleep or delirious anymore. 

"How are you doing, Miss Brantley?" She asked in her usual clipped voice.

"Just peachy," Mishal replied.

Mishal wondered if she could kill her with the drip stand which was the only thing in the room other than the sink and her bed. Maybe she could break the tap off and hit Azalea's head with. Maybe she could choke her-

"You're not one of the five unfortunately," Azalea's voice cut through her thoughts. 

Unfortunately? 

Mishal heard that drowning was one of the worst ways to die, she wondered if she could drown Azalea. 

Instead, she composed herself enough to say, "Have you thought of Auretta? Kenna?"

Azalea laughed, "Throwing someone under the bus won't help you out here,"

"I'm serious," Mishal replied gritting her teeth, "Auretta was top of the class. She's very powerful."

"Auretta is a direct descendant."

"Did the prophecy say it couldn't be a direct descendant? Dahlia's a direct descendant and you thought she was one of the five."

"It's not about the prophecy, Mishal," Azalea sneered, "I thought you were brighter than that."

"What?" Mishal asked, "What are you talking about?"

"The prophecy is just some bull the GloBals made up to satisfy the commoners, there is no five! We need the cells you have to replenish the earth; it works for every spirit! We drain them of their powers, and insert them into the ground, but it's only temporary."

"But you used me? And then you stopped?"

"If we'd taken much more, you would have died."

"So why don't you use anyone else?"

"The stronger each spirit is, the stronger the cells are. We had thought you had reached your full potential."

"That's what you were doing with Guthrie? Pushing her to her limits?"

"It's what the academy is for. But for Guthrie we accelerated, the program a bit,"

Mishal heard something in Azalea's voice. 

"But that backfired didn't it? She escaped your evil clutches?"

Azalea's face didn't change; she didn't give anything away. Instead she stood up looking back over her shoulder before she left and saying,

"Oh, and next time expect a roommate."

Lynn

The trailer stopped a while afterwards.

"Fo," Raven said, her voice concerned. "Fawn get up,"

Lynn looked towards Raven. "What's wrong?"

"We've stopped. They're going to experiment on us now. You understand? I'm going to make a distraction so the two of you can run off."

"No," Lynn said firmly. "Mishal and Guthrie are in there. Probably Dahlia and Roxy have been captured too. I have to help them. I'm not going to run away."

"Me neither," Fawn spoke up from the corner.

Raven groaned just as the door opened and they were dragged out by four spirits. The academy towered over them. Lynn sucked in a deep breath.

"Rave?"

Raven looked to her; her eyebrows drawn together.

"Don't fight it," Lynn whispered.

"What?" Raven asked.

"Shut up," One of the guards said shoving her forwards. "Nawra wants a special word with you, Blondie."

Lynn swallowed down the bile that rose in her throat. 

Nawra had always been like an older sister to her. She knew about this. Lynn wanted to kick herself. Of course she knew about this. Everyone she trusted had killed thousands of innocents. How many people had Nawra killed? How many people had she tortured? 

Lynn shook her head, let go of your emotions, she chastised herself. It's the only way you'll get through this.

She walked into the school and she remembered the first time she had walked in here. She had thought her parents had been proud of her. She'd gotten into the academy. She was special.

She didn't resist as they took her away from Raven and Fawn. It wouldn't have done her any good.

She tried to remember the way she was walking. 

They walked into a white hallway that Lynn had never seen before. There were little black screens every few metres or so on either side of the hallway. Lynn counted eight on the right side before the guard swiped his card and the wall slid open.

A door. 

Lynn was pushed inside, and the door closed behind her.

She saw Nawra sitting on a white chair. Her voice was sickeningly sweet. "Hello, Miss Noelani."

Lynn bit her tongue to keep her from screaming at Nawra.

"We aren't going to hurt you," Nawra continued. "You're finally safe."

Lynn looked to the ground. "I don't know why you expect me to buy that."

"Maybe because you've been buying it your whole life... Tell me what's changed? You don't have your memories back. We know that."

Lynn winced. "I don't believe you anymore."

"Why is what we want to know."

There's something Nawra wasn't telling her. Something was bothering Nawra. Something she wanted to get out of this conversation. Did she know about the crystal ball? How did she know she didn't have her memories back? Was there another spy?

The only people who were there with Lynn when she saw Lana's memories was Mishal and Guthrie. Who were both being sucked lifeless. 

And Dahlia.

"Because you trapped Guthrie in the dungeons and you're experimenting on Mishal, just like you will with me and all the others you took."

Nawra shook her head. She wasn't getting what she wanted. Lynn smiled to herself.

"I don't believe you, because you lied to me."

Nawra nodded. "Do you know what? Rosie came to me the first day you went missing. She asked about you. Yelled at the other side of the door for hours."

Lynn's breath caught at the mention of Rosie but Lynn tried to keep a straight face

"I told her you were being treated for a severe unclear mental illness, which makes you a danger to the students and a danger to yourself."

Lynn felt her eyes welling up and she pushed the tears back. 

"The next day she wrote you a note and left it under my office door. Today, she hasn't come back. She'll forget about you soon enough Lynn."

Nawra leaned forward and the two spirits heaved her up.

"You'll die alone, Lynn." She spat.