Episode 4 part 1
◇ Infected ◇

▪︎Verena▪︎

I release a scream of pain when Dorian press the injurie on my left side.

"Very clever to get away from us" Nicolai said in my ear holding me from behind.

I'm sitting between his legs while he's leaning against a tree.  Soldiers run around us, armed and nervous. They managed to kill three of the Burned One that attacked me.  Unfortunately, the one that did the most damage and infected me had already ran away.

"I blackedout ok?" I defend myself looking around "How was I supposed to know they would come straight to me"

"They completely ignored us. As if you were their target" Said Alina kneeling beside me making me drink some Zambaq "Laurent and the others are behind him. You won't be infected for long," she assured me with a sad smile.

She and Dorian began cleaning the injuries all over my body and placing Zambaq in the hole one of the Burned One had made in me.

We heard a phone ring making us go on alert with fright.  Nicolai takes it out of the pocket of my leather jacket looking at the screen.

"It's him again" he sighed. I squint my eyes tightly thinking of Saul "You can't keep ignoring him. Especially after the proposal"

"Shut up Nicolai. I'll deal with him when I go back"

"But it's been days, honey. He must have pulled out all his hairs" Alina said, bandaging my body.

"She's alright sis" Dorian squeezed my hand looking at me like he was judging me. Well, he was "It's going to be even worse the way you're wanting to act when you get back"

I throw my head back, resting it on Nicolai's shoulder.  He squeezes me kissing my cheek.

"Go help others. Take more soldiers. The more people hunting and covering a larger area the better. We don't want her infected for a week like Silva did"

They agree walking away. Nicolai wipes a lone tear on my cheek in a brotherly affection.

"I want this to be over soon Nicolai" I mutter hoarsely.

"They'll be quick. It'll get better soon" he tried to be optimistic

"Not that! I don't know how much longer I can keep hiding so much. Keep deceiving everyone, lying to the girls, to the people who are dying, Farah and Ben, Sky and Saul"

"You're close to exploding little sister. And I'm afraid it's going to be worse than last time."

"If you're with me when it happens, I know I'll be fine"

I snuggle closer to him, biting the inside of my mouth in pain.  Just imagining Saul's reaction if he saw me in this state.

♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤
▪︎Author▪︎

"I searched Callum's room and his desk. Found this in one of the drawers"said Dawling holding up a small bottle with some contents inside.

Silva approached, taking in his hand so he could have a better look.

"What is it?" he asked

"Nestle Amalgam. It's...." Dowling was interrupted by Harvey who was sitting at the table mixing some ingredients.

"....a fascinating substance. Now mercury, can stand in both solid or...." realizing that their friend would be excited by the explanation, they decided to intervene.

"Ben" they said together.

Harvey sighs before getting serious again.

"If someone discovered your trap on the undercroft entrance, they would automatically assume, albeit incorrectly, that it would help them defeat it"

"And you're certain Callum tried to access the door?" Silva asked

"I'm certain someone did, and Callum hasn't been seen in days. Makes him the prime suspect." said heading towards the entrance replacing the trap "But Nettle Amalgam is archaic fairy knowledge. It's uncommon. And Callam was no fairy."

"He had help" Silva concluded, understanding where she wanted to go.

"If magic was used to breach the undercroft.." said with concern.

"Well, this...will pick up..trace of element of the kind of magic used" Harvey said as he spread smoke through the entrance to the passage. "You can think of it like a sort of..magical finger.. print process"

When he finished the sentence, he waited for it to take effect. A few seconds later the image of a man appeared. His expression was one of fear and pain. His eyes were wide as if asking for help, and his mouth was open as if he was trying to scream for help. His face and neck were covered in his own blood. The three present in the room crouched in front of the image.

"Is that....." started Harvey

"Callum. Yes." finished Dowling with regret in her voice.

"He was killed by magic" Harvey picked up a little bit of the mist with a bottle

"Well, at least now we know where he went"

"And that there's a murderer in our school"

After saying that Silva got up to look at his cell phone for the thousandth time at that time. Seeing that Verena still hasn't replied to any of his messages made him even more frustrated.

A few days ago when Dawling told them about Bloom and Rosalind, a few seconds later Verena got a call from the queen. Saying that she would lead one of the teams to track down more Burned Ones. None of them liked the idea. Silva almost called the queen to say that Verena wouldn't go. But unfortunately he knew that orders were orders. He made her promise that she would keep in touch as much as possible. At least one call per day.

She didn't keep her promise. Not even a message. They hadn't had any news since she left school that night. And it was driving Silva crazy. Everyone at school noticed that he was more angry and worried than usual. And he took it out on the Specialist's training. Dawling tried to calm his nerves by saying that Verena was probably too busy. And that if something had happened they would have already been notified. But even she wasn't so sure about that anymore.

Silva, more worried every day, prayed that he would soon have his fiancee in his arms again.

♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤

Silva looked around, as did Farah and Ben. Students were scattered around the hall waiting for the queen's speech to begin.

A thin figure dressed in black appeared on stage. As soon as they realized who the hall was, there was silence and the students started to sit down. Verena walked with her head held high and confident. And the sound of her heels on the floor filled the silence of the hall. She was dressed in a sleeveless turtleneck and pants that felt like leather but comfortable enough to move around. The two pieces well glued to her body marking her curves. Her boot went halfway up her thighs.

But what surprised Silva the most was her hair. The last time he'd seen her days ago, her hair had been long, past the middle of her back. Now, it was short to her chin. He felt his heart race at the sight of her again after what seemed like an eternity to him. He looked at her like she was the only one in the world. He felt like he was seeing her for the first time again. Like he was falling in love all over again. But all good thoughts were gone from his mind when he saw the bruises spread across her face. Also including tiredness and evident exhaustion.

There were also some cuts and scratches on her arms. He also noticed that her posture was stiff as if she was in pain. Lowering his eyes a little, he noticed that under her clothes there was a volume on her left side, a bandage, which seemed to cover her ribs to her waist. This worried Silva.  Since he had no idea what had happened in the last few days. Verena looked around the room but her eyes didn't quite go where he was. When she saw that the hall was in order she motioned for the queen to appear. Luna walked to the center calmly but firmly and used her powers to adjust the light above her.

"There we are" started with a delicate smile on her lips. Verena wondered how far Luna's falsehood would go. " I, uh, always had a love-hate relationship with assemblies when I was at Alfea. Loved getting out of class. Hated being lectured. But I'm not here to lecture" looked at the students before taking on a more serious tone "I'm here to treat you like the adults you are. To talk about the Bured ones. It's only natural that some of you aren't very interested in what happens to our realm. It had been years since the last one was sighted."

As the queen continued Silva looked at the brunette beside her expecting her to look back. But Verena kept her head forward in a perfect soldier's posture.

"For decades, families and villages suddenly torn apart by one of these monsters that left our world in chaos." As she spoke, she motioned for Verena to come closer. "Conflict is on the horizon."

When she finished speaking, she signaled with her head for the brunette to speak. As she spoke, she gripped tightly where the bandage was. She seemed to be struggling to speak.

"Two days ago my team and I found four Burned Ones. And besides them, we are tracking at least five more scattered around Solaria.- with that students looked at each other and began to whisper. Before, they were calm and hardly paying attention, but now they were anxious and afraid.

The uproar increased as Verena's eyes darkened and she leaned forward a little, letting out a pained grunt.  Dark veins ran up her neck. Silva lost the air in his lungs when he understood. She was infected.

Nicolai came over to help her straighten up.

"The threat is serious and growing. It's time for all of you to pay attention" said the queen, ending the speech.

The salon began to empty but the speaking echoed through school. When the queen went away too, Saul began to go toward Verena, but stopped when Dorian approached her first. The three of them began to whisper between each other and none of them seemed to be happy with the conversation.
She snorted rolling her eyes and seemed to agree with something. Laurent and Alina also arrived near her with the concerned countenances. They went down the stage going towards the exit. Not yet looking at Silva, Farah or Ben who had approached too.

When she passed close enough to them, Silva finally noticed that she wasn't wearing her necklace. Or the engagement ring.

♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤
▪︎Verena▪︎

"Here, drink this" I say after being able to do Jean wake up. He was a good guard. I almost felt bad for Beatrix to have knocked him out.

"Verena" I turn to see Dawling, Ben and Saul approaching. They went to other cars getting ready to leave. Just behind them some guards followed them, getting ready as well.
"Looking better" Dawling analyzed me

"My friends killed The Burned One. So yeah, I'm better" I shrug.

"So you're coming?" Saul looked hopeful. He was rooting for me to say yes. He wanted to talk to me.

How I missed him.

"No. There are enough people already." He looked at me not understanding my behavior and my cold tone.

He approached me pulling me away from my companions.  When we stopped, I looked from his face to his hand with a raised eyebrow, hoping he would understand that it was to take it away from me. He got the message. But he decided to ignore it with a frown.

"What's going on with you?" he asked me.

"You should worry about going after the girls" I say trying to get away. But he pulls my arm again, stopping me.

"Can you talk to me right? We haven't heard any news for days and now you act like that and don't even look at my face" he asked low, squeezing me tighter.

His grip was strong but not to the point of hurting me.

By the corner of the eye I see the boys trying to get closer. Luckily Alina managed to hold them.

I turn my gaze to Saul making him let go of me.

"No, Silva. We can't talk. You have more important things to worry about now and so do I" He took a step back and looked at me in a strange, hurt way. If I stayed close to him one more second I would make the mistake of kissing him and apologizing.

I turned back to the school. I still had things to do.

I just hope they don't dare hurt Beatrix and Viperine. Just because I saw bracelets that prevent magic in Dawling's hands, I was irritated enough to want to burn this school down.

♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤

kisses and I hope you like it♡♡♡

Don't forget to vote and comment ♡.
(Updates everyday)