Chapter Twenty-Two

Gabriel got to his feet, the corner of his lips still lifted. He walked past her and headed for the classroom door. She heard the lever being turned over and the door unlocking. He opened the door and left the classroom, leaving her on the stage with all her clothes lying on the stage around her. Her hands reached out to her clothes to gather them towards herself as more tears rolled down her cheeks, her heart racing in her chest.

Had she done something wrong? Said something wrong? Why were things like this? She cried and cried, her topless body feeling cold in the dark classroom. Hastily, she tried to cover herself with her clothes, not even bothering to dress herself properly because her mind was in such a frazzled state.

Collapsing to her side, she brought her knees up to her chest and sobbed there. Her shirt was covering her breasts, and she felt some wind grazing against her bare spine. Closing her eyes, she willed for time to pass, to end.

Over the next few days, she chose to not attend Gabriel's classes on purpose. He didn't check in on her to ask her why she was missing his classes, nor did he contact her to say anything other than that. Part of her missed him, but part of her wasn't ready to talk to him again.

She attended her other classes and did well for them. And she made more friends after she joined an art club. During the sessions, she realised that she actually had some talent. She was unable to draw on her own, but if she did so observationally with an object placed in front of her, she was able to draw fairly well. She couldn't come up with things purely from her imagination, but when she had references in her mind, the drawings conveyed onto the paper well.

Unfortunately, being in the art club meant less time for her other three friends, and they gradually grew apart. Saddened by the prospect of losing contact with the friends who welcomed her in the beginning of her journey with Ravenspire, she set out to find them.

But finding them proved to be harder than she thought. They weren't in contact anymore, and she was starting to miss them. Most of all, she missed Abbie, because she felt like there was a heart of gold hiding behind her gloomy facade. Somehow, there was something inside Lucianne that told her to head to Glacier Forest to search for them, and she decided to listen to her instincts.

Leaving Ravenspire again was easy. The guards let her through since she left with faculty the last time she took a trip outside the school. When she was well on her way to the woods, fog collected near the sides of the road, creeping its way into the asphalt.

When she reached, the forest was silent and still. There were no signs of any crows, nor was there any sign of human life. She was walking through the foliage when she came across some traces of human activity.

There was a red ribbon tied around a branch on a tree ahead of her. It was clearly a marker of some sort and the last time Lucianne visited this spot, it wasn't there. Thinking that meant someone was nearby, she followed the red ribbon and looked ahead. In the far distance was another branch with a red ribbon tied to it. She followed the trail until finally, it opened up to a meadow. But she wasn't prepared for what she saw.

In the middle of the open field was a bonfire that reached up towards the sky. The firewood stacked up high towards the sky, and flames licked the air almost to the height of some trees.

But what bewildered her the most was how Jonas, Abbie and Harper surrounded the bonfire, dancing about in circles. They were all dressed in capes with Dalmatian prints, with tribal hats on top of their heads and totem poles in their hands. Circling the bonfire were poles of fire sticking outwards, and the three of them chanted after one another in some alien language.

What the fuck was going on?

Abbie froze all of a sudden and the other two raced to her. She fell back and they opened their arms out to catch her. In their arms, Abbie trashed uncontrollably, as if she had been possessed or something. They placed her on the ground and Jonas fetched a pole of fire to hover over her thrashing body while he chanted repetitive prayers.

Harper bowed down to the ground repeatedly, gesturing obeisance to Abbie and Jonas. He waved the pole of fire to and fro, eyes rolled to the back of his head as he screamed nonsensical words.

Lucianne wracked her brain. Truly, what the fuck was going on? She thought they were normal, but clearly they were not right in their heads. This was some sort of ritualistic dance, not your typical party that people their age would host. Shock coursed through her, and she felt as if she had discovered something she wasn't meant to be seeing. If they knew she was there, what would happen?

Well, Lucianne thought to herself, this was definitely the time to leave. If they wanted her there, they would've invited her. Even if they had, she was sure she would've turned them down anyway. It was better to leave them to whatever they were up to. She took a step back, intending to turn around.

But her feet connected with a twig on the floor, causing a loud snap to echo through the forest.