Natalia’s P. O. V

“Thanks.” I waved at the men as they got into their van. One waved back as they drove off.

Smiling, I returned to my room. Three days ago, I’d attempted to find the members of one of the packs on the list. That had proved difficult since I had nothing to go on but the name of the pack so I’d decided to set up an internet broadband to aid my search.

It was my job to find members of the disbanded packs on the list and make allies of the low ranking ones. After that, I’d create my own pack and we’d lay low, silently gaining other allies and climbing up the ranks before confronting the Lightwood pack.

Kirstin was the intel, I was the force. And I was going to make us one to be reckoned with.

I just wished she’d added the location of the packs to her intel. I hadn’t thought about it at the time but I really needed a way to contact her. I couldn’t waltz back into the Lightwood territory to talk to her and I didn’t know how to contact her friend, Danny, to get him to contact her for me.

I’d just have to remember to set up a mode of communication with her next time we met. That was one of the few things I needed to talk to her about.

I sat at my new laptop and googled Killdrain. I didn’t really expect to find anything. I doubted people wrote articles on getting excruciating migraines when they step into the premises of the most prestigious college in the world.

After an hour of searching, I concluded that I’d been right not to get my hopes up so I switched to searching for the packs on the list but that was also a dead end. I got up and stretched out two hours of sitting at a desk and achieving nothing.

‘I’m hungry.’ Candy yawned, having woken from her nap.

‘Me too. I think I’ll make granola bars.’ I left the library and made my way to the kitchen. I took the ingredients I needed out and looked over them.

‘Something’s missing.’

‘What is it?’ asked Candy.

I scanned my eyes over the ingredients again, ‘I’m missing honey, raisins and chocolate chips.’

‘Can’t you make it without them?’

I ran to my room and shrugged on my flame jacket over my red spaghetti top, pocketing my wallet in the back of my black jean skirt, ‘I could but I want to run.’

‘Just be careful.’ She warned.

I slid into my shoes and left my house, locking it behind me, ‘Yeah, yeah. I know.’

I took off, speeding to my usual grocery store. Following my routine, I ran into the alley next to the building before walking into the store, picking a basket on my way in. Humming along to the song lowly playing in the background, I scanned the shelves for the things I needed. Fifteen minutes later, I had everything I came for, plus a few things I thought I might need later and made my way to the checkout till.

I handed the bored looking twenty-something-year-old lady my purchases and she scanned them.

‘What are we gonna do about Killdrain. The search is obviously going nowhere.’ Candy asked as I handed her the last item.

“That’ll be fifty dollars.”

I handed her the bill, ‘I don’t know. It’d be great if we could go there without almost blacking out.’

As she took the money from me, her fingers brushed mine and I felt a current of energy flow from her. We simultaneously stiffened at the touch. I quickly let go.

“I think I can help.” She blurted

“Excuse me?”

She shook her head, as if to clear her thoughts, and leaned in to whisper, “I’m sorry. I’m Kaesha. I heard your conversation with your wolf about not being able to get into Killdrain. I’m a witch so I can help you out.”

I took in her appearance. She wore a dark blue, sleeveless, halter neck top and black ripped jeans. Her box braided hair was a light chocolate brown that matched her eyes and skin. She wore no makeup and around her neck was a pentagram choker.

I decided to take my chances, “Alright,”

“Great.” She smiled and handed me my receipt, “Meet me at the front gate of Killdrain and bring something you don’t mind wearing constantly. I’ll need it for the spell.”

I nodded and gathered my bags from the counter, “What time?”

“Tomorrow, twenty minutes before dawn.”

“Okay. I’ll be there.” I assured with scepticism heavy in my voice then left the store. Looking back, I saw her attending to another customer, like we hadn’t just had a conversation about witches, spells and wolves.

On my way home, I contemplated her motives. Why would she suddenly decide to help a random stranger upon touching them, causing her to hear their internal discussion with their wolf counterpart about being unable to go into the premises of the best school in the world without experiencing intense pain for some currently inexplicable reason? The answer to that was beyond me but I was willing to cooperate with her if it might prove fruitful.

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‘I don’t know about this.’ Candy stated uneasily as I put the things I wasn’t going to use away.

‘What’s the worst that could happen?’

‘She could be sent by the pack.’

I sighed, mixing everything in a bowl, ’I’m not going to live in fear of the pack finding me. Kirstin is the only one that knows I’m even alive.’

‘And what if she lets it slip that you’re not dead? What if she told them the moment she found out you’re still breathing? What if they never thought you were dead?’ She insisted.

‘They think I’m dead. She hasn’t told them and she won’t. We have a plan and I can’t go doubting her loyalty if we’re going to start a pack with her someday. That kind of paranoia will make us no better than the Lightwood pack.’ I explained as I pressed the mixture into the pan then put it in the oven.

‘All I’m saying is you need to be careful. I don’t trust anyone.’

I shook my head, ‘What did I say about paranoia? Of course I have a healthy dose of scepticism but I can’t go around thinking everyone is out to get me.’

‘Alright, but promise me you’ll leave the moment things get fishy.’

‘I promise. Happy now?’

‘I’m satisfied.’

I rolled my eyes. I loved Candy like a sister, despite the fact that we fought from time to time over certain topics. Even though I’d only really been able to talk to her once before I was rejected, I knew she only wanted the best for me, but sometimes, she could be extreme about it, seeming more like an overprotective mother than my wolf counterpart that was born the very moment I was.

I set the timer on the oven and left the kitchen, returning to the library. I busied myself with filling out online application forms for good colleges here in New York and cities nearby, just in case Kaesha didn’t come through with what she said she’d do tomorrow. In each of them, I requested to start in September. I couldn’t stand spending the rest of the year doing nothing to achieve my goals.

I completed the last form just as I heard the timer go off. Clicking the submit button, I got up and made my way to the kitchen. I put mittens on and brought the pan out of the oven and set it on the cooling rack. Smiling at the aroma, I took the mittens off and cut the granola into twelve equal bars.

After eating, I spent the rest of the day lounging round and half-heartedly searching for the hidden door around the house. Having nothing to do was annoying.

Finally, once it was late enough for me to go to sleep, I took a shower and brushed my teeth then changed into some pyjamas before sliding into bed.

‘Are you sure you want to meet with her tomorrow?’ Candy asked, trying to dissuade me one last time.

‘Yes, I’m sure.’ I replied with finality, rolling my eyes.

She sighed, probably realising that I wouldn’t change my mind on this with her probing alone. ‘Just be careful, Nat.’

‘Haven’t we already had this conversation? I already promised to leave the moment I get suspicious if it comes to that, what more must I do before you’re happy?’

‘I’d be happy if you didn’t go at all.’ She muttered.

I rolled my eyes again and snuggled into my comforter, ‘I’m choosing to ignore you now. Good night, Candy.’

‘Night, Nat.’

I wasn’t tired in the least. I actually felt wide awake but I knew there was a chance that Kaesha may need to channel me for her spell so I’d probably need every bit of rest I could get. Using a self-taught trick to shut out my consciousness, I put myself to sleep.

The next morning, I got up early enough which wasn’t a problem anyway since I was used to waking up before the sun. Under fifteen minutes, I’d brushed my teeth, showered and gotten dressed, ready to set out. I shouldered on my flame jacket and stepped into my shoes then left the house.

Through all this, I could feel Candy’s consciousness and knew she was awake but she strangely stayed silent, even on the run to Killdrain. I didn’t bother striking up a conversation with her, knowing it would most likely lead to her trying to dissuade me from going, so I maintained the silence.

I stopped by the front gate and waited all of twelve minutes for Kaesha to show up. Smiling, she approached with a small satchel.

‘No backing out now.’

Candy remained silent.

“Hey, you’re early. I hope you weren’t waiting too long.”

I shrugged and looked pointedly at her bag, “Not really. So, what are you gonna do?”

She led me round to the side of the college so we were next to the area of the fence covered with a tall hedge. Squatting low, she emptied her satchel onto the grass. Out fell a variety of herbs, precious gems, different coloured candles and a box of matches.

“I’m going to transfer the properties of some of these herbs and gems into a personal item of yours, depending on the type of spell used on the school.” She replied and placed her palms on the hedge.

Closing her eyes, she got started with what she needed to do. Her brows furrowed in concentration and after some time her forehead creased.

“That’s odd.” She commented, dropping her hands back at her sides.

“What is it?”

She rummaged around the things on the grass, looking for something, “I can’t get all the specifics of spell. I know it’s an offensive barrier type with an identification spell woven into it but that’s about all I can get.”

She picked the diamond up and held it in one palm, placing her other hand back on the hedge and closing her eyes again. This time, she seemed to focus harder, even chanted a little in what I recognised as Latin before she huffed in frustration.

“Nothing?”

She shook her head and dropped the stone, “Nothing. That doesn’t mean there’s nothing I can do for you though. Since it’s an offensive barrier, I can still cast a spell that can help you. I was just hoping to narrow it down. I need your personal item.”

I took my jacket off and handed it to her to which she raised an eyebrow at me.

I shrugged.

“Alright then.”

She got to work, placing herbs and gems around the jacket and lighting a candle. She concentrated on the items for some minutes before burning the herbs and touching them to the gems then waving them around the jacket so that the smoke circled it.

She put the herbs down and blew the candle out, packing her things back into her bag then handed me my jacket, “All done. Put it on and see if it works.”

Nodding, I put my jacket back on and walked back to the front gate and into the courtyard. I waited for a while, smiling when I felt no searing migraines.

“Thank you so much. Is there any way I can repay you?” I asked as I returned to a smiling Kaesha.

“No problem. I offered cause I don’t get many chances to use my magic so I always jump at opportunities to do things like this. You don’t need to do anything.”

“Still, I would like to thank you with something. How about breakfast? My treat.”

As if on cue, her stomach growled, “Alright, if you insist.”

“Great. I think I saw a place on my way here.” I said, walking in the general direction of my house with her beside me.