Marked By Pain (The Marked #2)(35)
“It is good to have you back at Marked Academy, Miss Crowe,” Miss Tinder says, sitting opposite me and I can feel that not a word she just said was true.
“Your hair is growing back nicely I see,” I say with a smile, and she smacks her hand on the table, her eyes burning with hate.
“Enough childish conversations, I want to hear what happened last night and why we are missing two of our people,” Mrs Curwood says as she comes into the room, sitting at the top of the table next to Mr Lockhart. It hurts to see her, as she looks so much like Kelly. They have the same curly blonde hair, blue eyes, and even similarities with their faces. Mrs Curwood is nothing like her daughter; she is as heartless as they get.
“Two people? One of those people is your daughter,” I say, and she waves a hand at me dismissively.
“I wasn’t asking you,” she replies emotionlessly, “Mr Daniels, please tell me the events that happened and how you escaped.” I hold in the urge to snap at her as Mr Daniels puts his hand on my knee, rubbing circles in comfort.
“We escaped using the tunnels. I couldn't get Kelly or Ryan away as we were separated, and they were too far from the entrance.”
“Fine, but I want a detailed report of every event in the compound, and your escape,” she says, lifting two pieces of paper off the table.
“We have no information of the whereabouts of the rebels at this time, but we expect to have some soon, thanks to Stella's parents,” she says, putting the papers down and I stand up, watching them all turn towards me.
“They won't give up until they find me, because they want the twelfth power. Now, don't you all think it’s time I know what it is?” I say and they all look at each other, equal looks of nervousness and panic.
“I will tell you, but not here,” Mr Daniels says, standing up, and taking my hand as several teachers gasp.
“Excuse us for the night, it has been a long day as I'm sure you all know. We will discuss our options in the morning after Stella has had time to contact her parents,” Mr Daniels says, not waiting for a response as he puts his arm around my waist, and leads me out the room.
“You know what the twelfth power is and you never told me?” I ask, feeling a little hurt.
“I couldn't while we were there, not when there was a chance someone could hear and let Alaric know I told you,” he replies.
“I get it, I just feel like my life is full of more secrets and pain than anything else,” I reply. He pulls me closer as we walk outside the academy, and through the woods.
“It's not always going to be like this, I will make sure of it,” he whispers to me, a promise if I've ever heard one.
“Your cabin?” I ask.
“I asked the others to come, and stay here tonight. It’s safer than in the main buildings and we have room, but you're in my bed,” he whispers the end part in my ear.
“Okay,” I chuckle. We walk up to his cabin, where the lights are already on, and he lets me go to open the door.
“Hey, how did it go?” Locke says, stepping out the kitchen with only some shorts on and a bag of crisps in his hand.
“Good,” I reply, seeing East and Enzo step out of one of the bedrooms, with Logan following them.
“Time for some answers, why don't you start?” I ask, turning to Mr Daniels and he nods. I walk past them all and take a seat on one of the chairs, crossing my legs as they all stare at me, and then look back at Mr Daniels.
“The twelfth power is said to be the power to open a portal between Earth and Ariziadia,” Mr Daniels says, and none of us can utter a single word as he explains. “The council knows what the power can do, well those at the top do anyway. They keep it from everyone, both due to the fact it's so rare for anyone to be marked with the twelfth mark, and that the mark can cause devastation. You're essentially splitting the barrier between the worlds, and that can go wrong, causing damage to both worlds.”
After letting the fact that I can open a portal between worlds set in, I feel like I have a million questions, and no idea which to begin with. Mr Daniels takes a seat on one of the sofas.
“Are you okay, Kenz?” East asks softly.
“I'm...fuck, I have so many questions.” I turn back to face Mr Daniels. “Why wouldn't the council use people with the twelfth mark to go to Ariziadia? Why would they act like it isn't even a real place if they know there's a freaking power to get there? Is that how the marked came to earth in the first place?” The questions all seem to tumble out of my mouth in a string of word-vomit.
“Firstly, because of the risks involved, both for the marked, and for those around them. Secondly, it's much easier for people to accept it's a story. It being real generates a lot of questions that they don't have the answers too. And finally, we believe so.” He pauses as everyone else sits down to. “There's an ancient text they keep hidden in a vault underneath the main council building in London. I’ve never seen it myself, I don't have the clearance for that, but I've heard there’s a lot in there, more than they'd ever admit to having information on. One of the sections in the text includes the telling of the crossing, they spent many years working on the translation. It doesn't state how they did it, just how they prepared, and how they found the world here, but the twelfth mark is shown at the top of the page,” he explains. As he finishes, I let out a deep breath. Damn.