Chapter 26

I had to go and see if they were okay, but I wasn’t allowed out of here until lunch time which wouldn’t be until at least another three or four hours. Room one didn’t even look like the grotty room one it had a few hours ago. It looked more like a retro relaxation room - courtesy of Tikaye’s boredom.

"Well, are they okay?" I asked and she nodded,

"They chilled out a bit. Maybe if Charlie had Jake’s power, things would have been a hell of a lot easier." So, Tikaye knew about their powers but I didn’t. Huh, well, shows you how important our family bonds are these days.

"Okay, so, they’re okay now?" She nodded again,

"Yeah, but Ashley really wanted to talk to you, Chase." Chase looked up from my diary,

"Yeah, I heard. He needs it. At lunchtime, we better sit at separate tables. Jake and Ash are like fire and ice." We all agreed on that and then Chase went back to reading.

"Damn, I’m a ninja!" She muttered under her breath and I agreed with her and congratulated her for turning this pit into one of the coolest living rooms in the world. "I see Chase let you read his journal," I nodded slowly, "any goss I should know?" I looked at Chase and then shrugged,

"Yeah, he wears penguin socks to bed at night," I murmured. Suddenly a pillow hit my head and Tikaye was laughing. I threw it back at Chase, who caught it instantly and put it back on the couch. I had no idea how it even got there in the first place.

We had nothing to do. We were trapped here in room one doing nothing. Chase had finished reading my diary and the three of us sat on the couch.

"Well, I want to see what Avril’s ability is," Tikaye smiled enthusiastically, breaking the heavy cloud of tension that was starting to form around us. "Don’t you?" I was shook out of my own little universe and I finally registered what she’d said. It would be fantastic to know what my ability is! Then I wouldn’t feel so useless being a lycan and doing nothing when the vampires came to take away my sister. "Well, we won’t find it doing nothing. I’m going to the library and finding some books. I might get my laptop from the confiscated items closet too..."

"Just go, Tee." Chase and I said in a perfect unison.

When she left, Chase spoke to me about my diary,

"You and those nuns really hated each other, didn’t you?" He laughed lightly.

"Oh, yes," I laughed evilly, "Bernadette was a b***h! ha, ha, ha!" We laughed about that and then he mentioned something that was slightly less comical but more intense.

"The way you describe me..." I tried to think of what I said about him to think up a response, but it would not come into my head.

"What about it?" I squeaked, hoping I didn’t say anything I would regret later.

"I’m really funny, am I?" He showed me the page and I noticed that in strikethrough, I had written that he was kind of hot. I instantly felt my cheeks heat up at that and then said,

"Yeah, you’re crack up," I didn’t mention what I had crossed out because it could make things get slightly awkward. But then of course, he had to mention it.

"Did you decide I wasn’t ‘kind of hot’ or something?" He batted his eyelashes, which only made me feel more embarrassed about the comment. I raised my eyebrow.

"I might have and did you decide that my face wasn’t ‘carved by angels’?" I made a praying motion and then he looked very embarrassed but then he regained his composure. "Ha, now we’re even." He smiled,

"I might have." Tikaye was a mouse with about four slices of cheese in her mouth. She morphed back into a human and held three books and a laptop in her hand and they were thick books.

"Well, I didn’t know exactly what I was looking for, but I figured it would be something along the lines of the encyclopaedia of lycanthropes." She handed me a book and I searched through it. It told me nothing I didn’t already know. That is until I crossed the passage that said SERENITY MAVRA: LYCAN OR VAMPIRE DEBATE.

Serenity Mavra was from a descendant from Vadim Mavra, (Mavra was the original lycan - see page 7) but she was bitten by a vampire. Some say that she was a lycan but she was trying to see how the vampires worked and others say she was a vampire because the lycan gene had skipped her. She was a girl from Skeldergate in the year 2006 and she was allegedly bitten by a vampire in her sleep at the age of sixteen. There has been some controversy about whether or not she was turned intentionally or unintentionally. A vampire’s blood was said to give lycans eternal life and because Serenity was a ‘greedy’ Mavra, she was accused of being a lycan after vampire’s blood. The vampire, a Valeska, coincidentally, turned her because of this.

The rest of the page had been burnt. Chase peered over my shoulder and his face darkened,

"The story was wrong," he whispered to me, "it was disrespecting her." I nodded as I read on. There was nothing in the book that would tell me how to discover my own lycan powers and then Tikaye exclaimed,

"I found something!" I dropped my book and ran to her side. She was researching on her laptop and she typed in her favourite online encyclopaedia finding lycanthrope abilities. It came up with heaps of results but the one that seemed most likely was a situation that requires both mental and physical strength. I thought, with that one though, why haven’t my powers come through yet? I’d been through more than my fair share of those situations.

Tikaye was looking at the same one I had been and then she smiled, "I think it’s time we have a word with Anton Trezman about this." I had him in about five hours approximately, so I could speak to him then.

"I have to see him just before dinner," I informed her and her eyes instantly lit up,

"Maybe you’ll have your powers a lot sooner than you thought." Awesome. Now I wouldn’t be left in the dark. Tikaye played some music off her laptop and they were some of my favourite bands; Panic! At The Disco, My Chemical Romance and Paramore. She has good taste. Chase liked them all except for Paramore but as long as he liked some of the bands I do, then we’d stay friends.

After about an hour of hardcore jamming and singing horribly out of tune to the music, Tikaye and I were ready to collapse - or at least pig out at the lunch table. Chase did jam with us, but that was short-lived. He took out his pen and wrote in his journal for most of the time. The bell rang and it was time for lunch. As we were leaving room one, I wondered, why would they put us on detention with no-one monitoring us? Because we could do whatever the hell we wanted without supervision. I wasn’t complaining or anything. It was just a random thought that occurred to me.

Ash’s eyes lit up when he saw Chase. I looked around for Jake, but couldn’t see him. Perhaps he was staying behind. After a very long awkward silence, between Ash and Tikaye, Jake spotted me and I suggested we go and sit at another table for the day, while he told me exactly what happened at breakfast this morning. I believed Tikaye, but it never hurt anyone to get a second opinion. Charlie found us and looked at me with an Avril, I really need your help look and so I gave her a Just give a minute kind of look. She nodded and went to get her lunch. It was chicken burgers and for the vegetarians/vegans, some random food that I didn’t really get to see. I was so hungry because of all the energy I’d burnt - you have no idea how much energy singing horribly out of tune to Panic! At The Disco is; it really takes it out of you. I got my lunch and Jake told me almost exactly the same thing as Tikaye, except he didn’t censor the profanities like she did.

"I was on my way to the breakfast table and Ashley exclaimed, ‘You’ll always be her brother, you know? You’ll never mean anything more to her. Quit while you’re ahead.’ I wasn’t in the mood to tolerate Ashley’s bullshit, so I said to him, ‘she thinks you’re an arrogant son of a b***h, but she’s too kind to say anything!’ Then he got really defensive and yelled, ‘say that to my face, a*****e!’ So, I let his face have it." He shrugged,

"So, you decked him and then what happened?" I asked. He was like me in a way - neither of us was afraid to throw a couple of punches to get our points across.

"Well, s**t went down and we had a brawl. Then Tikaye told us to ‘cut it out’ just hs Charlie had come to the table." He concluded. At the same time, we stood up and got our burgers. When we sat down, I just came right out with it.

"Jake, cut the crap and just admit it already. Are you in love with Charlease Lenusya?" He rolled his eyes and asked me if this was really necessary and I just nodded.

"Yes, I am in love Charlease Lenusya, happy now?" Now, all I had to do was get him to say that to Charlie and hope for the best. I was almost positive she felt the same way but the both of them were too stubborn to admit that to each other because it made them vulnerable. Charlie came to our table as if on cue and Jake’s eyes did a little dance of delight. It was kind of adorable to see just how much he loved her. Because she’s a lycan, I wondered if she heard Jake admitting his feelings out loud. If she did, that would be kind of good because he wouldn’t have to say anything more to her, but also, if she did, she might think he was a coward for not saying anything to begin with.

"Hey, guys. Avril, I have to talk to you. Jake, would you mind?" Jake kept his emotions concealed and smiled as he said,

"Not at all," but I knew he did mind. He wanted to know if this was regarding him or Ashley and who she may choose and it was most definitely one of the three subjects. I just wasn’t sure which one. She sat down with her burger and I told her to spit out whatever she had to say. I wasn’t one of the fruits that said something along the lines of, ‘tell me what’s on your mind and I promise I won’t judge.’ That was probably why everyone came to me for advice because I would be nothing if not truthful and whoever knew me certainly knew that fact.

"Avril, I am so confused right now. I don’t know who to choose. I know you can’t make the decision for me, but can you help me choose?"

"Jake." I said instantly and a little too quickly, "What do you think of him? Are you in love with him? Does he make you feel alive?" She was reluctant, but she nodded - that was a good sign. "And Ash?"

"I’m not really sure how to let one of them down gently," I gave her a dumbfounded look,

"There’s no such thing."

"So, I’ll just tell Ash to f**k off?" I smiled and nodded.