Chapter 48- Whispers In The Wind

“Thanks, for last night,” Levi said as he pulled up in front of the school. She had missed first period but still had to endure the rest of the day in the grey hued building.
“I hope it was worth it,” she muttered as she exited the car. He had tried to make small talk with her throughout the ride. She had shut him out. Her embarrassment from the morning was still at the forefront of her mind and Crystal had always been one to hold a grudge. She wasn’t comfortable with her body and not even her mother had seen her in her underwear for many years. The shyness that had overcome her was a new feeling to her. One she didn’t know how to handle.
She walked through the doors and down the corridor until she reached her locker. She waited for the bell to ring for second period while examining her appearance in a small mirror attached to the inside of her locker door.
She looked dreadful. Her eyes looked saggy and black, and her skin was pale. She still had a monster headache to go with her unkempt appearance. An after effect from overusing her magic, one that caused her mind to become foggy with the pain and she wondered how she was going to make it through the school day.
“Cry…st…al..” A low hum of a voice whispered as her hair blow with a light gust of wind. She spun around. There were no windows, and the corridor was empty. Where had the wind come from?
She needed a goodnights sleep. She was hearing things. The bell rang and the screeching noise made her head feel like it was about to exploded. Within seconds the corridor flooded with students and their loud chatter and squeals. Holding her hand to her head she moved along to her class.
“Hay you, okay?” Hugo asked her as she took her seat.
“Just grand,” Crystal replied.
“You look…”
“Watch it,” Crystal said giving him the death stare. She didn’t need to be made aware of how she looked. She already knew.
“I have a headache and just want to get the day over and done with,” she muttered.
Turning her eyes to the front where the teacher was writing on the white board she gasped as the last person she expected to see walked into the classroom like he belonged there. She had to blink servile times to make sure her eyes weren’t playing tricks on her. Her spine felt like it had been replaced by ice and she shuddered.
“Cry…sss.ta…l” a voice whispered, this time it sounded like it had come from the side of her.
“What!” she snapped in Hugo’s direction who gave her a concerned look. Peeking back in Drake’s direction she gulped.
Drake’s eyes found hers and he gave her a smile full of cockiness’s. The smug look on his face told Crystal she hadn’t hid the shock of seeing him.
How? How did he get out of Athens? He had betrayed them. Drake had sided with the snake woman and had tried to kidnap her. They had left him behind. Were they wrong? Or was everything she was being told just a lie? To her understanding she was the only one who could open the doorway to Athens.
Seeing Drake, only made her more determined to destroy the vortex.
She whipped her head back to the front and refused to look at him. Fear gripped her heart as she remembered his lips locked with the snake lady.
When the bell finally rang Crystal bolted from her seat in a mad rush to get out the room and away from Drake. She pushed past other students as she made her way to the doors leading to the car park. She had to get out of school and quick.
Once out the doors she scrambled to retrieve her phone from her backpack.
She hit dial on Levi’s number and willed him to pick up.
“Hello,” his deep voice answered.
“He’s here. At school! How?” she stuttered.
“Who? What’s going on?” he asked.
“Crystal!” she froze and turned around as Drake made his way across the car park heading in her direction.
“Crystal is that….” She didn’t hear the rest of his words as her phone burst into flames in her hands. Drake gave her a menacing grin. Without a thought her legs went into action, and she ran like she had never run before. He was quick, his wolf speed giving him an advantage. He gripped onto her arm and pulled her in his direction. The strength he used caused her to fly towards him knocking him over in the process. Using her head as leverage she flung it back and brought it crashing down on Drake, with a loud crack. For a second, she could see stars, but the adrenaline pushed her body to the limits and she was quickly on her feet and running once more.
He was quick and upon her once again, digging his half-turned hand into her arm with his wolf claws.
“I didn’t come all this way for nothing,” he whispered in her ear. She tried to yank her arm free, but he held strong. Clenching her hand into a fist she used all her strength and swung her full body smacking him in the nose. Blood burst from his face. Crystal jumped back and ran once more.
She didn’t look where she was going and tipped over her own feet, falling and scraping her knees. Before she realized where she had gone. She was enveloped by trees. She knew the area well and after studying her surroundings she headed deeper within its roots.
She glanced behind her. Drake was nowhere to be seen. Not watching where she was going, she tripped up and rolled down a steep banking. When she came to a stop she was face to face with a woman’s lifeless eyes and her mouth partly open in a scream. Terror was locked onto her facial features and Crystal let out a blood curdling scream as she scrambled away from the dead body. She screamed again when she noticed that her body had been slashed by what looked like claws.
***
Levi couldn’t believe what he had heard. There was no mistaking he had heard Drake’s voice. How the hell on Earth did he get out of Athens? Whatever the reason he had to protect Crystal, why else would he return?
He dashed through the woods when he paused. He picked up Crystal’s scent and shifted into his wolf form.