Chapter 10

I walked out to the courtyard with Dawn. There were a few other people outside doing things like talking, eating some apples or doing homework. Jasper was sitting under a tree with Matt, eating an apple and reading a book. Matt looked like he was trying to do some homework. I glanced around and saw no sign of Ariane. That was a good sign. She was the last person I wanted to deal with right now. I had no idea where Jasper and I stood as far as our rekindling friendship. I was still thinking about it. He was fine on the trip and surprisingly didn’t start any fights with Austin. I was debating on whether or not I should walk over to him or not. Matt was there and I didn’t mind him. We were pretty good friends. We always got along and it would be nice to talk to him a little more than I have lately. Dawn knew I what I was contemplating in my head, and so she grabbed my arm and dragged me over. I thought she didn’t want me talking to Jasper anymore? Maybe she realized I wanted to talk to Matt more than Jasper. When we approached them, Matt was the first one to look up. He smiled once he saw us and stood up to give us a hug.

“I heard about what happened on your weekend trip.” He said. I glanced at Jasper and then back at Matt. Of course Jasper told him. Jasper tells Matt everything. “I’m glad to see that you’re okay.” He smiled. I couldn’t help but smile back. Matt’s smiles were infectious to everyone. I could see why girls liked him so much.

“Thank you, Matt.” I said. Jasper finally looked up from his book. “What are you working on?” Matt rubbed the back of his neck.

“Some calculus homework. I kind of regret signing up for the class. I thought it would be easy. Turns out it’s harder than I thought. I knew I should have taken geometry.” said Matt. Dawn and I giggled. Jasper stood up, keeping a finger in his book so that he didn’t lose his page.

“Skylar, it’s great to see that you’re doing okay after what happened in our training class earlier.” He said. Something told me that Matt knew about that too. Perhaps it was the sympathetic look on his face. I wanted to yell at Jasper for having to tell Matt everything, but that would be hypocritical considering I tell my best friends everything.

“Thanks, Jasper...” I said. “Let’s try not to bring it up again though, okay?” I was enjoying what little conversation this was, but the dream popped into my head again. I had to tell someone. Dawn and I were walking to the library to find Eric when we saw these two. “Well, I would love to stay and chat but we have someplace to be. Perhaps we’ll talk tomorrow.” They agreed and we walked away.

The library was empty, save for a few people still doing homework or just looking for a good read. When you walked into St. Bishop’s library, you could swear you were in a college library. It was huge. It was two stories but wide in its width. Bookshelves were everywhere with countless books. There were tables with small reading lamps, chairs and a fake fireplace to add effect. There were two black, spiral staircases leading up to the second floor which looked about the same as the first. Towards the back on the second floor was a small lounge area. On the first floor there were doors. The door to the right led into a meeting room, the door on the left led to a staff room and the door to the back led to a private lounge room. We looked around for Eric and saw no sign of him. We walked over to Ms. Sullivan, our librarian. She was in her later years, and you could tell because all of the color from her hair had gone. She looked at us with her big brown eyes behind her glasses, and gave us a warm smile.

“How are you two girls?” She asked.

“We’re fine Ms. Sullivan. Have you seen Eric in here tonight?” I asked.

“I have but I’m afraid you just missed him.” She looked at her watch. “You have enough time before curfew. I’m sure you can pay him a visit.” I thanked her and Dawn and I walked out.

We quickly hurried to the boy’s dorm; only to run into the dorm advisor. He let us by with no arguments. That was a surprise. We walked up to Eric and Wyatt’s dorm. We managed to pass Austin on the way up, and he decided to join us. It was great seeing him again after how I’ve been feeling. He gave me a kiss and took my hand as we walked through the halls. The three of us reached the room. I knocked. I wasn’t expecting to talk to all my friends about this dream, but I suppose it was just as well. They all - save for Dawn - knew about the first part of it. It only made sense to tell them the second half. Maybe one of them had the answers. I was hoping it would be Eric, but maybe the others had something to say. Eric opened up the door and we were surprised to see he didn’t have a shirt on. I’ve seen Eric with his shirt off plenty of times before, but the more he trained, the more toned he looked. Dawn certainly wasn’t used to seeing him with his shirt off. She noticed something I never noticed before. A celtic cross design was tattooed on the front of his right shoulder blade.

As if Dawn could read my mind she pointed to the tattoo and asked, “When did you get that?”

“Oh, one of my aunt’s friends did it for me sometime over the summer.” He said. We went to the beach plenty of times over the summer. How could I have never noticed it? “So what can I do for you three?”

“Well, you could start by putting a shirt on.” said Austin. Eric moved aside to let us in. He closed the door and grabbed a shirt.

“Eric, I came here to talk to you about the dream I had the other night.” I said. He put on the shirt and Wyatt sat up on his bed.

“Oh? What about it?” He asked as he sat on his own bed. I sat down on his bed with Austin, and Dawn took a seat on Wyatt’s bed. You could tell the room belonged to geniuses. There were two bookshelves and computer desks stacked with more books. It looked like their own personal library.

“Well, I had the same dream during my nap earlier, but it showed more of itself.” I explained. He nodded to show he was listening. I continued, “No one said anything throughout the whole dream, but Devitri led me outside to where a lot of Guardian Angels and friends of mine were mourning. He looked over at a tree and Roland was standing under it. Eric, please tell me it’s just a dream.”

“That’s what it sounds like to me, but it also sounds like it’s trying to tell you something.” He said.

“It’s like it’s trying to show you the future.” Wyatt chimed in. I sighed.

“That’s what I was afraid you’d say.” I said. There was a knock at the door. Eric got up and opened it. He moved aside and Devitri walked in. We shared a glance before he finally said something.

“I don’t mean to bother you all or anything, since I have a job to do and all, but I thought I would give you an update on what’s going on in Hollywood. Luckily, we were able to find where a majority of the Dark Angels are capturing their prey. However, they haven’t been able to locate their Hollywood headquarters.” said Devitri.

“Well that’s some minor good news.” Eric said as he sat back down.

“Unfortunately, we managed to lose some guardians and humans in the process.” He said. My heart stopped. I think he could sense the sudden change in my aura. He looked at me. “Don’t worry, Skylar. Your father is just fine. Also, we luckily managed to keep all of our healers so Eric, your parents are fine too. All of your parents are fine.” Skylar? No ‘little sora’?

“Well, I should get going. Don’t want to forget about my job.” Devitri waved goodbye and walked out. I looked down at my hands. I was beginning to feel really bad for what I said, and I had the slightest feeling that he was trying to make me feel even worse. Dawn gave me a look that said “You should go talk to him”, but I didn’t want to talk to Devitri. Not now. She continued to give me the look. I groaned.

“Guys, there’s something I have to do. I’ll see you all tomorrow.” I said. I kissed Austin and hugged my friends before I left.

I managed to catch Devitri out in the parking lot, smoking as usual. I wasn’t sure how to start this conversation. I wasn’t ready to apologize or fix anything. And what if he hated me now? All of this would have been pointless. My unease must have been obvious to him. All he did was glance at me and then look straight forward. I walked over to him with my arms crossed, trying to keep a distance away so I wouldn’t get a face full of smoke. He still paid no attention to me. I sighed.

“I’m sorry.” I said.

He still didn’t pay any attention. Instead he blew out some smoke and said, “Apology not accepted.”

“What? What do you mean apology not accepted?” I asked. He chuckled. What was so funny?

“When someone walks up to you, sighs and says ‘I’m sorry’ in the least sincere voice, they obviously aren’t sorry.” He said. This time he looked at me. “Come back to me when you actually feel sorry.”

“I really am sorry...” I started. Was I? “I was just upset that I was having an off day in training class. I didn’t mean to take it out on you. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I don’t have the best temper in the world.”

“Neither do I, little sora.” Devitri said.

“You don’t? Last I checked, I haven’t seen you blowing up on anyone. Hey, you called me little sora. Even though I still don’t know what that means.” I said. I thought I could see a small smile appear on his face.

“I’ve learned to control my anger. You should do the same.” I put my hands on my hips.

“You don’t think I’ve tried that? Eric’s tried to help me. Obviously it didn’t go so well.” He chuckled again. I must have been really amusing to him.

“Perhaps I can help you. Oh but I almost forgot, my job is to stay in the shadows.” He said. I crossed my arms again.

“I don’t appreciate your sarcasm.” I said. He shrugged. “I’m sorry for what I said. If you think you can help me, then by all means. But it’s not going to be easy and my friends will tell you the same thing.” Devitri put out his cigarette and put his hands into his pockets.

“Yeah well, I don’t exactly have to listen to a bunch of teenagers, little sora. We’ll talk more tomorrow. Oh, and apology accepted.” He patted my head gently before walking back into the school. I let out a sigh before walking back into the school.

I sat in the dining hall during lunch the next day. Eric and Wyatt were playing the simplest of card games. War. It looked like Wyatt was winning, but the game usually went on forever. You never knew who would end up winning. Lucas decided to visit Dawn while he skipped school, so they sat in courtyard during lunch. Devitri sat on one side of me while Austin slid down onto the other side. I wasn’t really paying attention to my surroundings. I was lost in my own thoughts. My main focus was the dream. I still had to tell Devitri about it. Another thing on my mind was Roland. There was also Devitri. I still barely knew anything about him. His voice broke me out of my thought. I looked at him and said, “Huh?”

“I said that I was thinking we could work after school. You know, on controlling your temper?” He said. My friends laughed.

“Good luck with that.” said Wyatt. “Not even Eric could fix her.”

“Yeah well, I’m sure I can.” countered Devitri.

“What makes you so sure?” asked Eric.

“Let’s just say I understand her better I think, and I also have my ways.” There was that excuse again.

“Good luck.” I was glad Eric had such faith in me.

After school, I met Devitri in his room in the staff dorms, located in a separate building from the main school building. They looked like the student rooms - save for a bit more space. I wasn’t sure how all of this was going to work out. What were his plans? I was hoping to maybe find out more about him. He had me do a few breathing exercises, and tried to get me to meditate. Meditation wasn’t easy for me. I started to get frustrated that I couldn’t focus, and that I didn’t feel relaxed. Devitri just laughed at me and said, “You’re not trying hard enough.”

“Of course I am!” I shouted. All he did was sit on his bed, eating some chips or an apple or something. He didn’t even bother trying to meditate with me. All he did was watch and laugh whenever I got angry. He shook his head and tsked me.

“Try to focus on something that makes you happy. What on earth could be going through your mind that’s causing you to lash out at people?”

“I’m worried about my father, Devitri. I’m also still trying to figure out who you are, and the fact that my dream might be predicting the future.” I said. That last part caught his interest. I remembered that I hadn’t said anything to him yet.

“What are you talking about?” He asked. I let out a sigh.

“During my nap yesterday, I had the same dream from Manhattan Beach. Except that this time it showed me more.” I said. I began explaining everything the dream told me, and about what my friends had mentioned about it. He seemed very intrigued by it. Almost as if he knew something and wasn't telling me.

“I must say that’s quite odd,” He started. “But I’m sure it’s nothing. Look, put all of that aside and think about something that makes you happy. What makes you happy?”

“My friends make me happy, my boyfriend, my father...” I took a deep breath and tried the meditating again. I still felt nothing. This wasn’t going to be as easy as I thought, and it was certainly going to take longer than I expected.