The Haven High Book Series (Wattys2017)

Chapter 34

The council had them return from the 'school trip' Monday evening.

Zach dads were waiting for him as the busses pulled into the school parking lot. Lauren had nearly cried when she spied him quickly hide his tears when they both grabbed him in their arms and held him close.

She hadn't meant to overhear their conversation, but she was passing just as his dads asked how his trip went. She tried to hide her sharp intake of breath when Zach responded in the coldest tone she'd ever heard him use. "Oh it was very enlightening."

She was disheartened by the change in his usually warm friendly voice, but if his dads had notice they didn't act like it

Chris had grabbed his decoy duffle, le Fay had conjured, and threw it over his shoulder. They stopped just briefly to ask her if she'd like a lift, but she declined making the excuse that she needed the walk after the long ride.

They had pulled away with Zach sitting in the back seat of the Range Rover his dad Chris behind the wheel. Both his dads were talking animatedly while Zach seemed to sit in a sullen silence in the backseat.

Lauren was getting worried. He hadn't even acknowledged her on the way back on the bus even though thanks to California rush hour traffic, it had been a four hour trip from the NASA Ames Research Centre in Silicon Valley to San Francisco. A weekend space camp had been the best cover the council could come up with on such short notice.

Now, he'd left without even saying good bye. How long was he going to stay mad at her?

The council had teleported them to the location straight from their detainment area. Zach had quickly boarded the bus and promptly sat by Quinn. She had given him a look as she passed and found a seat three rows down from him, but he hadn't uttered a word to her or anyone else the entire drive.

He'd only curled up his long legs on the back of the seat in front of him and pulled down his ball cap to either sleep or do a very good imitation of it.

In fact, most of the kids had chosen to spend most of their time looking out the windows or sleeping. The few that did choose to stay awake had headphones in their ears totally engrossed in Youtube videos or Instagram . Everyone was doing anything and everything not to have to deal with the mixed emotions of what had happened to them, and the guilt of being one of the kids to make it home.

And if they felt anything like she did, they were feeling that and a whole lot more.

Lauren stood around watching as parents collected their tired and stressed-out kids and sighed when the last of them pulled away from the parking lot leaving her by herself in the empty lot.

Lauren couldn't get the song from Bridget Jones Diary "All By Myself" out of her head as she kicked a stone sadly, threw her decoy bag over her shoulder, and struck out for her home.

She thought sadly to herself can it even be called a home as she made her way do the lonely street if there is no one there to greet you?

               ***********************************************

The kids and their parents woke up the next day to the news of a fatal car crash involving two students of their school. It was a major news event and CNN had talked about it all morning.

Apparently, the children had missed the final bus during a school trip and were being driven home by a chaperone when they lost control and slammed into a support beam under an over pass. The authorities did not suspect foul play; in the end it was deemed a senseless accident, a tragedy that such young lives were lost.

School was cancelled on Tuesday out of respect for the lost lives and the school held a memorial service for the students when the kids returned on Wednesday.

It was all the un-enlightened could talk about, but you could tell the enlightened wanted nothing to do with the subject. The school district had provided grief councilors for the students, but the only ones that went to them were the un-enlightened attention seekers.

The enlightened were told during training at the end of the day to vent their feelings through extra effort in training -- Which was bullshit! The kids were reeling and no one would be there to catch them when they fell.

Zach was still not himself; he was totally zoned out in all his classes. The only good thing to come of the tragedy was Knight's change of heart about Zach.

He'd stood up in training after meditation on Wednesday and announced how ashamed he was for misjudging Zach.

He went on to say, "It has been intolerant of me to judge Mr. Reis by his lineage. He has shown himself to be a true hero, therefore, "I Sir Galahad, Knight of the Roundtable and Seeker of the Holy Grail would be honored to have him as my squire.'

Which supposedly meant that he would be a real mentor to him now.

Zach's response nearly made them all cry.

Zach strode up to Knight at the front of the training class with a look of sheer determination on his face and said, "You know what Sir," he spat out the 'Sir' like it gave him a bad taste in his mouth and continued," You can shove your apology. I couldn't care less about your sudden change of heart. Your refusal to train me properly over a petty grievance that happened millennia ago nearly cost us all our lives."

Zach had looked around the room then, making eye contact with everyone of his fellow classmates.

No matter how much Lauren disliked Knight she noted that at least he had the decency to look ashamed in that moment.

Zach's voice broke through her thought as it rang clear and true across the gym.

"'Sir Galahad most honorable Knight of the Roundtable," He addressed the teacher, locking him in a death stare, and announced with the deepest convection. "I'll train with you, but not because you asked so nicely, but because I now realize that we Halfbloods don't have the luxury of being unprepared in a fight, because our next fight may be our last."

"But believe me when I say this the next time any teacher treats another student like you treated me. I promise I will be the avenging Angel you accused me of being."

Zach looked toward his fellow students and suddenly his eyes were molten silver and blinding white light burst from his shoulder blades and transformed into a pair of luminous wings.

His voice boomed with his next words as he addressed the crowd, "And my fellow Halfbloods I promise you this: we will be prepared the next time, we won't lose another soul under my watch"

With that being said the entire student body erupted.

They stood up then and started clapping and cheering.

They were in that moment a unit. No longer would their cliques matter: whether they were Shifter, Wielder, or Practitioner, first or final year; they would fight to the end to not lose another of their ranks.

Each one of them had faces that shone with determination. Since the events of Saturday night they had all become intimately aware that their training was never really about them controlling their powers but to prepare them for an eventual battle, one that could mean the difference between life and death.

She could see by the look on Zach's face that he meant to make sure they were all prepared to face whatever the magical world had to throw at them.

And she loved him for it.

THE END

Up next Part 2 of Enlightened Book One: Lauren's Story

********************THANKS FOR READING***************

If you liked this chapter Vote, Comment, add this book to your reading list, or suggest it to a friend. I want to remind my readers that the Wattys shortlist will be decided in the next few days and the greater the interest in the gang of Haven High, the greater the chance that it'll be added to the list. So please share the hell out of it if you can. Thanks guys.