Fractured Soul (2 page)

From Denelle Hall, a steady line of people headed toward my building. I took a deep breath. That was a lot of teenagers. Just then, one of the girls’ faces turned up in my direction. I quickly ducked back in my room and away from the window.

Already the fresh air was making a difference on the smell. Either that or I was getting used to it. I sat down at the vanity and ran a brush through my hair. Maybe someone at Lucent could show me how to change it, I hoped. I was tired of its blonde, almost white, color. I always thought I’d look better with brown hair, like May’s, but dye never worked on my hair.

A tinkling sound, as if someone had waved a magic wand, chimed. I assumed it was the dinner bell Sophie had talked about.

I swept my long hair to the side of my neck and examined the two small holes where Mr. Steele had bitten me. They were still there, as if it happened yesterday. The red, swollen edges around the wounds made them look like eyes. I quickly applied concealer. I hated the way the marks stared at me, accusingly.

I leaned back in my chair, thinking. How could I have not recognized that something was wrong with Mr. Steele? Every time he came near me, I got all dizzy-headed and confused. At the time I’d thought it was because of some weird attraction, but, looking back, I could see how stupid that was. For months Mr. Steele secretly terrorized me, forcing the Light within me to mature early just so he could steal it from me like he did when he’d killed my mother.

The Light in an Aura’s blood was the one thing Vykens wanted most because it gave them many powers, including the ability to change their appearance. But Mr. Steele had underestimated my abilities. With the help of Christian, I learned to use my ability over Light as a weapon—a weapon that ultimately destroyed Mr. Steele.

However, my victory came with a price.

Mr. Steele had bit me, and ever since then I felt something growing inside me. It was dark and contentious, and its evil pressed on me from the inside out. I’d never felt dirtier, like I’d been touched by the worst kind of monster imaginable.

I turned away from the mirror and pulled a pink beanie over my head. Enough of the past. I stood and was about to open my door to go get May when I saw something move out of the corner of my eye. I glanced to my left, to the corner of the room where it was the darkest. There was nothing there—only an old dresser. I waited a second, but nothing happened. Strange.

May opened my door, startling me. “What’s with the weird chimes?” she asked.

“I don’t know, but if I have to hear that every day, I think I’ll go crazy.”

“I know, right?” May turned to the mirror and adjusted her hair. She was wearing a different outfit—it looked brand new—and she had reapplied her makeup.
She must be nervous
, I thought. I never considered how hard this must be for her. She had guarded her secret of being a Fury for so long that to all of a sudden be surrounded by people who knew the truth might be overwhelming.

“Everyone is going to love you, and I’m not just saying that.” I wrapped my arm around her shoulder. “Come on. Let’s go be the new kids,” I said.

May, with her easy-going personality, would fit right in, but I wouldn’t, nor did I care to. I was here for one reason only: to learn as much as I could about my ability, then I was out of here. I didn’t want to be a part of the Auras’ strange culture that didn’t allow us to reach our full potential. I wanted more.

We were almost to the end of the hall when a door opened and four laughing girls appeared, but when they saw us they stopped. May said, “Hi, guys!” as we passed. They said nothing—just stared like we were a new zoo exhibit. But before we turned the corner, my sensitive ears, which I’d inherited from my Guardian father, heard one of them whisper, “I can’t believe they put her in that room. I’ll bet she’s dead by the end of the month.”

I paused for just a moment, wondering if I’d heard correctly, but when May glanced back at me, I ignored the cold chill rooting itself in my spine and continued downstairs.

The dining room wasn’t at all what I expected. It looked more like a grand ballroom inside a five-star hotel. Ten chandeliers hung from a white-trimmed ceiling, and in between square moldings were paintings of what I imagined heaven would look like. It should have made me feel all ethereal, but instead I felt unworthy.

Positioned perfectly throughout the room were dozens of circular tables, each decked out like Martha Stewart had decorated them. Even the tall glass vases in the center of the tables held real flowers. I glanced down at my attire—jeans and T-shirt. “Do you think we should go back and change?” I asked May.

“No, we’re good. Everyone else is dressed casually too.”

I looked up, seeing the other girls for the first time. Most of them were already seated, but they were so still and quiet, it’s no wonder I had missed them. I would’ve thought they were statues if it hadn’t been for their eyes, which were darting around the room meeting the gazes of other girls as if they were silently communicating.

“Where should we sit?” May whispered. We were standing in the doorway, off to the side.

“Let’s go sit—”

“Can I have your attention, please?” Sophie’s voice boomed through a speaker nearby. I jumped and grabbed May. Everyone turned to the front of the dining room. Sophie was standing at a podium speaking into a microphone.

“I know we normally don’t interrupt your dinner,” she said, “but we have a couple of new girls we’d like to introduce.”

I moaned.
Nice, Sophie. Couldn’t you have waited a day?

Sophie eyed us huddled in the doorway and motioned us over. May and I looked at each other.

“Come on now, don’t be shy,” Sophie said, like we were first graders at a new school. I could strangle her.

May moved first; I followed her lead through the maze of tables up to the front. The hard stares of the girls drilled holes right through me. When we reached the front, Sophie said, “This is Llona Reese, and this is May Cellini. Llona is an Aura, and May is a Fury.”

A unison gasp broke the silence. Their eyes moved to May, relieving me of their cold stares.

“Let’s make them feel welcome,” Sophie continued. “It’s not often we get new girls.” She turned to us. “Welcome to Lucent Academy!”

A polite applause, like the gentle pitter-patter of a spring rain, echoed across the great room. I bowed my head slightly in acknowledgment, but wondered if I should have curtsied or something. As soon as their clapping slowed, I dived toward the nearest seat. May followed.

The table was almost full. I smiled at the other girls, who I just now recognized as the ones who’d joked about my room and me turning up dead inside it. Awesome.

The girls didn’t say or do anything—just remained in their statue-like stance—but then the magical chimes sung their song, and it was as if the sound woke the girls. The room burst into an array of sounds all at once: girls chatted and laughed, dishes clanked together as many poured water into their glasses, and doors at the side of the room flew open, letting in a steady stream of people in uniforms, carrying platters of food. From where I sat, I smelled chicken and broccoli.

A girl across the table said, “So, May, Llona,” there was contempt in her voice when she said my name. She’d obviously heard something about me she didn’t like. “I’m Ashlyn and these are my friends, Valerie, Anna, Jan, and Katie.” The girls smiled and said hello.

“Welcome to our school,” Ashlyn said. “It’s always nice to have a Fury among us.”

Ashlyn was very pretty with petite features and long strawberry-blonde hair that fell past her shoulders in big curls. I wondered how she was able to get curls that big. I reached up and tugged at my own hair.

“Where are you from?” Valerie asked May. Valerie’s blue eyes were the same navy blue color as her baby-doll T-shirt.

May looked at me. “We’re from Utah. We both went to the same school.”

“Really?” Valerie said. “I wonder what the odds are of that? A Fury and an Aura.”

“How did you discover each other?” Anna butted in. Her voice was small and mousy, matching her short dark hair and upturned nose.

“It was by accident, really,” I began.

“Anna was asking May,” Ashlyn interrupted.

I visibly jerked. “Oh, okay.”
And so it begins.
I grabbed my glass and took a sip of water.

May looked uncomfortable, but she continued where I’d left off. “We were lab partners. I accidentally exploded a beaker of oil and it caught her hair on fire.”

A couple of the girls giggled.

May ignored them. “Llona had seen me start the fire, and I noticed her hair grow back, so we both knew we were different. We were pretty much best friends after that.”

Ashlyn tilted her head. “What do you mean her hair
grew
back?”

May glanced over at me nervously, hoping I would answer, but if they didn’t want to talk to me, I wasn’t going to start.

May hesitated before she said, “Her hair can’t be cut or colored. It’s always the same. Isn’t that how all Auras’ hair is?”

The girls paused and looked at each other before they burst out laughing. I took another drink; my eyes settled on Sophie sitting three tables over. She gave me an encouraging smile. I didn’t return it.

Ashlyn was the last one to stop laughing, unfortunately. The sound hurt my ears—it was loud and high pitched, sounding more like a chipmunk on crack than an actual laugh. I stared at her coolly.

“So you’re telling me,” Ashlyn said, addressing me with a stupid grin, “that your hair won’t ever change?”

“Are you giving me permission to speak now?” I said.

The table grew quiet.

Ashlyn turned to Anna and said, “This is what the outside does to you, turns you into a heathen.”

I was about to show her how a heathen curses when three waitresses brought food to our table. Two of the servers looked like they were around twelve, and the older one looked more my age. When the older one set a plate of food in front of me, I glanced at her and said, “Thank—” Then the water in my throat caught, and I began to cough, making the girls at the table laugh again. I did a double take at the waitress’s face to see if what I’d just seen was real.

It was, but I still couldn’t believe it. On the side of the girl’s face and partway down her neck were light green scales. They were shinier than the rest of her skin, and if I looked at them at a certain angle, they had a rainbow glow to them. The girl met my stare but then quickly looked away, her face reddening.

As soon as the waitresses were gone, Ashlyn said, “Is that your first time seeing a Lizen?” She seemed pleased by my ignorance.

“A what?” May asked.

“A Lizen. You know, half man, half . . . lizard.” The other girls looked at her in shock as if she’d said something forbidden.

It was my turn to laugh. “Lizard people? It’s just a crazy birth deformity.”

“You really don’t know a thing, do you?” Ashlyn straightened in her seat as if she were a teacher preparing for a lecture. “Lizens have been around since the dawn of time. While other species were evolving, Lizens didn’t quite make it. Their
deformity
stuck, and when they bred with each other, it only made it worse.”

“Where have they been this whole time?” May asked, eyes wide.

“In hiding of course. Wouldn’t you hide too if you had scales on your body?” She tossed a disgusted look in the direction of the ever-moving waitresses.

Valerie looked at us conspiratorially, adding, “Their race almost went extinct until the Auras brought them here to serve us. They live on campus in Lambert House. The women work inside and the men take care of the grounds.”

“And they like this?” I wondered out loud. From what I’d seen and experienced so far, serving pampered Auras was the last job I’d ever want.

“Like what?” Ashlyn said.

“Serving Auras,” May said, apparently thinking the same thing.

Ashlyn looked at us like we’d just told her the world was flat. “Of course they like it. We’ve made their lives dramatically better. What more could they ask for?”

I glanced around, still in shock. “Yeah, what more.”

Throughout the rest of dinner, the girls spoke mostly to May. I was surprised by how boastful and prideful they were. No wonder my mother had left early and refused to be a part of their organization. Some people thought she took it too far by marrying her Guardian, a big no-no, but I didn’t.

“You should take that,” Valerie said while Ashlyn was speaking to May.

I followed the direction of her pointed finger. Next to my glass was a blue pill. “What is it?”

“It’s our vitamin. We all take it. It keeps us at optimum health.”

I picked it up and looked at it. “Really?” A memory stirred. My mother used to take them too. I wondered why my father never gave them to me. Maybe he was too proud to ask the Council for them, or maybe he had and they’d refused.

“Isn’t that right, Valerie?” Ashlyn said, interrupting us.

Valerie turned away from me and joined in their conversation. Whatever. If these vitamins were good enough for my mom . . .  I popped the pill into my mouth and washed it down with water.

My attention wandered away from the Auran girls and over to the Lizens who were lined up against the walls, hands behind their backs, waiting for us to finish. They looked like regular girls, no different than the rest of us, except for the occasional patches of scales, some more noticeable than others.

I studied them for a moment, specifically their eyes, which always seemed to be looking down. And none of them were smiling.

“Llona?”

I turned around.

Sophie was standing behind me, smiling. “There are some people I would like to introduce you to. Are you about finished?”

I glanced down at my half-eaten chicken. Usually I had a great appetite, but the atmosphere in the dining room made me ill. “Sure.” I stood up and followed Sophie back to her table.

“Everyone, I’d like to introduce you to my niece, Llona,” Sophie said.

All eyes turned on me as if in slow motion. They all looked friendly enough, smiling and nodding their heads, but something about the way they did it looked forced.