Chapter 22

When Tikaye and Chase were leaning against my door, I looked at them quizzically.

"Look, Avril, we know you’re a renegade and all, but you can’t get out of here by yourself. You need our help." Tikaye smiled. I raised an eyebrow. These guys wanted to come with me to find my sister. "Take my hand; we’ve got to hurry!" Chase and I quickly took Tikaye’s hand and then we shrunk and our clothes adapted to us. I looked around for Tikaye and she was a... mouse. Chase was too. So, Tikaye was a shape shifter. We three mice ran down the stairs and managed to get outside the gates of St. Rurik’s Academy for Lycanthropes very easily. There wasn’t even any security! Not that I was complaining or anything. I had no idea where to look for the vampires lair but then Tikaye told us to come closer to her and so we did and then we morphed into cheetahs. I wasn’t used to changing form all the time and still being able to think for myself. Chase looked at Tikaye meaningfully,

"I think we should start at the beach," he whispered darkly, "They’d probably be at the beach. They always choose places with water or forests." I wondered how Chase knew that but I didn’t want to say anything. We ran at full speed until we reached the beach. Tikaye let us all change back into humans. Luckily, our clothes adapted to our shape changing or else things could have got awkward. "They’ll be in the middle; that much I know." Chase said, as he took off his shoes. I looked around and noticed that it looked strangely like the beach in the simulator. When I turned around again, Chase had dived into the water and I couldn’t see him. Tikaye had transformed into a bat - how ironic - and was flying overhead and now I was left here; doing nothing. They were saving my sister and I was doing nothing. I wished I could do something to help, but I would never be able to make it. I took off my shoes and dived into the water. It wasn’t cold because werewolves are naturally hot at one hundred and four degrees if not hotter, so it kind of felt refreshing to dive into the water.

I wasn’t the strongest swimmer, but if it was to save Tegan, I could be. I swam really fast, but I swam closer to the bottom of the ocean, where it was colder and had more pressure. I could hold my breath for about five minutes before I would have to come up for air. Somehow, I didn’t know how fast I was swimming and I was getting further and further from the beach. When I was swimming, my eyes were closed but down where I was, I felt my way around. I was trying to find Tegan somewhere down at the bottom and I did. Scooping her up, I swam to the surface, gasping for air. Tikaye the bat was circling around us and then I forgot to keep swimming and I started to sink.

When I opened my eyes, we were on the sand. Suddenly, I jolted up, fully awake and checked to see if Tegan was alive. She was lying beside me, motionless and... She was already eighty-degrees. She had become a werewolf, I realised.

"Guys," I started, but then choked on some water and spat it all over the sand, "Tegan, she..." I coughed, "she’s a werewolf now," I finally managed. Chase and Tikaye looked at me and then smiled sympathetically,

"Yeah, we know. Figured that one out when you guys were sinking." Chase smiled and Tikaye frowned.

"We’d better get back, then." Tikaye smiled as she stood up. I looked at Tegan, who was regaining colour but was still unconscious. "She’ll be fine," Tikaye promised, sensing my reluctance. She touched Chase and I and then we all morphed back into cheetahs. We were pretty lucky no-one would be out at four in the morning. Then she, somehow, put Tegan on her back and we began to run back to the academy. When we came to the gates, Tikaye changed all of us into mice, even Tegan and then she dragged Tegan back into the academy, still remaining unnoticed by everyone who was "patrolling" the corridors. We crept into the emergency room and Tikaye changed all back into people. After the final change, she looked on the verge of passing out. Adrik was standing there.

"April, Tikaye, Mr. Ross," he started, "what brings you in here?" Chase picked up Tegan from her position on the floor and placed her on the bed,

"Look, Adrik," I started; the crazy doctor had lost all of my respect, "Fix Tegan Braithwaite," I demanded.

"Manners, April! What has happened to you over the years?" I looked around the emergency room and the beds had about ten people in them, including Charlie and Jake. They had not long woken up. I had to fill them in about Tegan and everything that had just happened.

"Jake! Charlie!" I exclaimed, addressing them both at the same time, "Tegan was taken by the vampires and then we had to go and save her and now she’s..." I didn’t want to overload them with information while they were lying in hospital beds. That’d just be mean. I watched Adrik inject Tegan with a clear liquid and then I demanded to know what he was doing to her and he assured me that it was just a painkiller and then accused me of being overprotective of Tegan, "Well, someone has to! She was taken away by vampires for goodness sake! She’s only ever been kidnapped twice. By you morons and the vampires! When it was just us, there was absolutely no trouble whatsoever. I knew we’d be better off without your help!" I exploded. Tikaye and Chase backed away slowly and murmured the words, ‘see you later’.

You wouldn’t think that doctors could issue you with a detention, but there you go.

I did have a point, even he couldn’t deny that. The doctor had put me in detention in room one. This was the most horrible classroom in the whole building. In the room, there was festering, grey wallpaper, the desks were all rotten, the chairs about to fall over from the rusted metal that was supposed to be supporting them and the florescent light that shone too brightly down on all of the desks. The chalkboard had scratch marks on it and the carpet was stained an ugly grey colour. I sat on the floor; the safest place in the ugly room to sit. Mr. Russia entered the room, Chase and Tikaye following him.

"You went off the school grounds after hours without any permission or supervision. I am yet to decide upon your fate as your actions would be worthy of expulsion, however it is strictly unorthodox to expel you all from Saint Rurik’s Academy as we would be losing three valuable students. I think that it was highly inappropriate for you to leave the school grounds at such a late hour."

"Inappropriate?" I snorted, "We took all of the right actions that you should have taken. It’s not like you were going to get off your lazy a*s to find my sister, so we did it ourselves and got a better result than you would have." Mr. Russia looked at me and sighed impatiently,

"We had a search team sent out to find Miss Valeska and Miss Braithwaite. It was their duty to find them both and now you have hindered their progress!" I raised an eyebrow. He did not want to get into this debate with me. I would destroy him. Tikaye was making gestures, telling me to not argue anymore, but I was upset and Mr. Russia had to taste my fury.

"While your "search team" were having their coffee break, Tegan Braithwaite, a new lycanthrope was drowning in the middle of the ocean, about to sink to the bottom. It’s a wonder she’s still alive so DON’T YOU DARE GIVE ME A LECTURE ABOUT DUTIES!" I shouted at him and he looked at me, his eyes of hatred burning through my own. My friends didn’t speak. They were either too dumbfounded or too impressed that I would shout at the head honcho of Saint Rurik’s Academy like that.

"I cannot expel any of the students from this school and so, I hereby sentence you to detention in room one every day for the next two years and you are banned from any extracurricular activities. All of you. You cannot do something like this and expect to get off lightly."

"Colvin, if I may," Anton Trezman interrupted; yes, he was definitely Jesus. "As you know, Avril is a Mavra and she cannot afford to miss out on the extra classes she puts in with me. She is also an important asset to the lycan race." Mr. Russia stared at him with a glare that said something like careful now, or you’re fired. Anton shrugged it off and then Russia exclaimed,

"This is precisely why she cannot afford to go on insubordinate quests in the middle of the night; she is too valuable." I rolled my eyes; this just keeps getting better and better!

"Look, how about she does my extra classes but in all other spare time, serves her detention that way?" I looked at him sadly. I supposed it was reasonable because there was no way that Mr. Russia would be influenced by Anton. Mr. Russia nodded and then we were left in the classroom to think on our sins.

"Thanks guys," I smiled; I was thanking them for so many things and I didn’t know where to begin. "Thanks for just... being there for me, letting me ruin Chelsea’s dance committee, helping me save Tegan and... For saving me. I really couldn’t have asked for a better group of friends." Of course there were many more things that I wanted to say to them, but I couldn’t find the right words. We’d have two years for me to gather my words apparently because we were in detention for a long time. I made a mental note that tomorrow, when I to come back to this room; I should bring my diary or at least a pen and some paper. I liked to write things and because I was just given a whole lot of free time, why not use it? "So, who’s bringing what to detention tomorrow?" I asked, trying to lighten the mood and Chase was the first to respond,

"I’m gonna bring my journal and a few pens. I’ve been kind of neglecting it lately," he shrugged. Tikaye smiled and said,

"I’m going to bring energy drinks so that I can practice my shape shifting. I need to do an experiment. I need to see if when I have more energy I can fly better or run faster. Room one is a brilliant place to practice combat or lycanthrope abilities because no-one else can be injured or no-one can put you in detention or anything." I smiled at that. It would be a perfect place to actually discover what my lycanthrope ability was because I had no idea. Maybe I could like turn invisible or something equally as awesome so that could be why it’s taken me so long for my power to actually kick in. I wasn’t sure and then Tikaye went up to the chalkboard. "Alright, here’s the plan. Because we’re banned from the dance committee, I’ve organised a thing with Anton, Blaze and Scarlett. They’re going to take our place and carry on with the gothic theme much to Chelsea’s disdain and we are going to come to detention and brush up on our ability skills, combat and strategy skills. Sound like a good plan?" Chase and I saluted,

"Ma’am, yes, ma’am."