Under A Blood Moon (Elemental Enchanters) (5 page)

“Thomas
, it was a joke.” Jeremy called after him.

“Guess I’ll go calm him down.
” Ava groaned as she stood. “See you guys later.”

“Good luck
.” Melissa laughed.

“Thanks
.” She rolled her eyes as she carried her tray to the trash bin.

Glancing at Xavier, she noticed him reading
, legs stretched out from him. He held a sense of mystery, and instead of being lustful, like every other female there, Ava felt more wary of him. As if he could sense her, his eyes peeked up from his book. She smiled, but instead of returning the friendliness as she expected, he glared. His steely gaze made her look away. Well, that was rude.

Shrugging it off, she walked toward the front of th
e cafeteria just as the bell rang. She found Thomas outside in the wide hallway. Ava caught up to him before he emerged through the double doors that led outside.

“Are you really upset?”

He turned around.
“No. Mel gets annoying after a while.”

“Yeah
, she does.”

“
There’s something about that kid that I don’t like. I can’t explain it,” Thomas told her as he stared past her. She turned and saw Xavier coolly stride through the crowd. He seemed so out of place by how sophisticated he acted.

“
Yeah, I got that, too.” Ava looked up at Thomas. “When I returned my tray, I smiled at him, and he just glared at me.”

He finally met her eyes.
“Why were you checking him out?”

“
I wasn’t.”

“Why were you
smiling at him?”

“I was just being friendly.”

“Friendly? You have a boyfriend.”

Ava
sighed. “Forget it.” She followed the remaining crowd squeezing through the hallway to the classrooms.

The rest of the day went
by like any other. English then psychology. She took notes and groaned when they announced homework. Once the bell rang, she, like all the other students, hurried out of the building to the parking lot. She was the only one in the group who didn’t have any after-school activities so she would go home to work on homework for a couple of hours before her father arrived. Or read on the porch swing. She didn’t mind though. She loved stretching out, inhaling the sweet roses, and feeling the breeze. And she did just that when she got home.

Except
when she opened her book, Xavier’s face popped up in her head.
What was with the glare
? She thought. And Thomas, of course, accusing her of liking the guy. If he got that bent out of shape because she had been friendly with someone, how would he act if he saw her talking to Peter every day?

She remembered
Colden and Savina mentioned something about being bound and keeping the circle unbroken. But was she really bound to Thomas? And more important, was she potentially endangering Peter’s life by being his friend?

A week later,
Ava arrived at school under a black sky. Thunder had grumbled all morning. Flashes of lightning streaked across the sky. Just as the clouds released the rain, she made it through the double doors of the brick school and hustled through the disorganized crowd to her locker. Shoes squeaked all around her, and she couldn’t help but notice the somber mood of the students. Rain usually made them quiet and moody, but then she noticed the low whispers of those who gathered around a part of the concrete wall opposite of the lockers.

Ava
moved closer as some students walked away. Taped to the painted gray wall, a small yellow sheet of paper read, MISSING KRISTEN MILLER in large bold letters. Under her name, Kristen’s small face, overshadowed by her thick hair, smiled shyly back at Ava. Last seen Monday August 27. Phone numbers were listed. She gawked at the poster. What had happened? She backed away in a daze and then slammed into someone.

“Sorry,” she said
automatically. Then she looked up and met the cold black eyes of Xavier Holstone. She shuddered and jumped back.

“You should pay
more attention,” he spat. His eyes narrowed. Then he walked away.

Ava
exhaled, unaware she had been holding her breath. What was his problem? She meandered to her math class.

“
Kristen Miller went missing,” Ava told Melissa as she dumped her books onto the desk and slid into the seat.

“Yeah
. They say she never came home from school last Monday. Get a new kid, and one goes missing.” She opened her notebook to an empty page.

“Melissa, this is serious!
Did they say who she was with when she was last seen?”

“No one saw her.
She went to all her classes and vanished right after school. Her parents came to get her car today.”

Ava’s shoulders slumped.
What an unsettling thing for her parents to have to do. “What about her boyfriend, Brett?”

“He’s just as lost as her parents. He was the one posting the pictures up this morning. I think she’s turned to drugs.”

“
Drugs?” Ava echoed. “In a week? She was fine that night, with the exception of you and Thomas making fun of her.”

“We’ll see.
”

“
There’s no way she’s on drugs. She’s too good. This is something else.”

“
Maybe she forgot where she lived and got a ride from a stranger.”

“Melissa, stop.”

“I think it’s drugs. Care to make a wager?”

“You can be so insensitive.”

Melissa shrugged. “Twenty bucks says she’s doing drugs.”

“
Why do you think that?”

C
oncern flashed in her green eyes. “Because I’d rather it be drugs than something worse like being kidnapped. Or her lifeless body dumped somewhere. Now, are we placing a bet?”

Ava sighed.
“Fine.” She felt completely ashamed of herself.

Things like this
were a rarity at their school. The police would find Kristen. Nothing bad had happened to her. But Ava knew she was only trying to make herself feel better. She looked down at the empty page of the notebook on her desk and silently hoped Kristen was okay.

After class, they squeezed through
the crowds to Melissa’s locker and found Gillian sobbing.

“
What’s wrong?” Melissa asked.

Ava turned
Gillian around to face them and she and Melissa blocked the onlookers with their bodies. Mascara ran down Gillian’s smooth face in dark watery lines.

“It’s my fault,” s
he choked through her tears.

“What
is?” Ava asked.

“Kristen.
She ran away because we were so mean to her.”

Melissa
lifted an eyebrow. “I highly doubt that, G. Why would you think it’s you? They don’t even know if she ran away.”

“
Whatever. You told me to use my power on them that night. I tried to change their minds, but it didn’t work.”

“
You didn’t do this.”

Her chin quivered
, and fresh tears sprang from her eyes.

“W
hy’d you tell her to do that?” Ava asked Melissa.

Melissa
gave an exasperated look. “Come on, G, let’s get you cleaned up.” She put an arm around Gillian and led her to the bathroom.

Ava
knew it was a bad idea to use their powers. Not that she believed Gillian had anything to do with Kristen’s disappearance. She took a deep breath and then went to chemistry. She took her seat next to Peter.

His lips curled into that smoldering smile that reached his eyes.
“Good morning.”

“Hey.
”

“Can you believe that about Kristen?”

“No.”

“
She sits in my English class. It’s really weird seeing her seat empty every day. She never misses a single day of school.”

“I can’t believe that
no one has a clue,” she said. “There’s a ton of people walking out of these doors to their cars after school.
Someone
must have seen her.”

“I agree.
Some people say she started talking to Xavier the day she went missing.”

“Xavier? Why would Kristen ever talk to someone like him? Are they suspecting
that he has anything to do with her disappearance?”

Peter shrugged. “You know how rumors start.
People don’t like the guy, so they’re probably trying to make it unbearable for him.”

“I hope they find her.”

“Me, too.”

The bell rang and students settled in their seats. Ava opened her book and notebook. But she thought about Xavier. What could he possibly want with Kristen Miller? Maybe she was overanalyzing. It was a rumor after all.

“Hey, do you wanna hang out Friday night?” Peter whispered.

Ava turned her head and gave an apologetic smile. “I can’t. Football game.”

“Oh, right. First one of the year. I might go.” He turned back to his book.

She wanted to hang out with Peter, though. They hadn’t hung out since he’d gotten back and she hated football games.
But there was no way she could be with Peter instead of watching Thomas play.

Chemistry went
by just as sluggish as it normally did, where every second seemed to drag. The bell rang, and everyone hurried for the door. Peter walked Ava to her locker, a new tradition, she guessed, but she liked it.

“Wanna sit with me today?” h
e asked in a hopeful tone.

“I’m sorry. I gotta sit with my friends today.”

“You have to?”

“It’s just, I have to see if Gillian’s okay. That’s all.” She sifted through her locker.

“What’s wrong?”

“She’s just really sad about Kristen.”

“Oh. Were they good friends?”

“Not exactly, but Gillian is just a very emotional girl. She cries when someone kills a roach.” She closed her locker. It was the truth, but she couldn’t exactly tell Peter the real reason.

Peter chuckled.

Ava bit her lip. “This whole Kristen thing has gotten to me for some reason.”

“I can understand that. It’s not every day someone from our school goes missing.”

Something hard collided into Ava’s back, making her lose balance and stagger forward. Her books
slipped to the ground, but she found herself in Peter’s arms instead of sprawled across the concrete floor.

“Hey,
” Peter called.

She looked up to see Xavier walking
past Peter. “Hey, what gives?” She shouted at him, but he didn’t turn around.

“Are you okay?” Peter asked as she steadied herself.

“Yeah. What the hell was that?”

Peter bent down to pick up her books and then handed them to her. “I don’t know. He just
pushed
you.”

“Thanks for catching me.”

“You’re welcome. I guess I’ll talk to you later,” Peter said.

Ava knew he s
aw Thomas nearing. “Okay, see ya.”

Peter left
as if on cue.

“Why is he always talking to you?” Thomas wrapped his arm around her and escorted her to the cafeteria.

“We’re friends. We have chemistry together.” She hoped he didn’t read into that statement too much.

His jaw tightened.

“Don’t be jealous.”

Thomas shrugged.
“It won’t last long.”

She narrowed her eyes.
“What do you mean?”

“I
just find it odd that he’s talking to you. Knowing you’re my girlfriend. Doesn’t he realize that’s automatically off-limits?”

“
You can’t tell me who I can and can’t talk to.”

Ava struggled against his tight grip on
her, but he refused to let go. Getting angrier, she pulled his thick arm away and released herself from him, with ease.

“Damn, have you been lifting weights or s
omething?” He stopped, stunned, searching her eyes.

“No.”
But it was strange to be able to pull his arm away so easily. Maybe he just conceded.

How dare he tell her she couldn’t talk to
Peter? What was this? 1950? She could be friends with whomever she wanted. But Ava was fooling herself. Thomas could still seriously harm Peter.

The day
started with another thunderstorm. It had been pouring for almost two weeks straight. Ever since they found out Kristen Miller disappeared. It never rained this many days in a row, but it wasn’t the only weird occurrence going on. Not only had Kristen vanished, Nicole Eckrich and Scott Tingle had also gone missing without a trace. The police of course were doing everything they could, but that still didn’t quell the worries of parents and even students.

Ava
pulled into her parking space and shut off the car engine. She hated the rain. The more it came down, the more she thought about her mom and the streaks of lightning that looked like brilliant white veins. The memory permanently seared her mind. The heavy rain soaking her as she cried for her mother…She shook her head but it didn’t erase the images.

She jogged
out of the cool rain and into the school. Her hair had probably ballooned into some big frizzy mess now even after she had straightened it this morning. Just as she opened the second set of doors, Thomas was there waiting. She hated how he always waited for her. She could walk to her locker on her own.

He smiled down at her
, licked his lips, and then gave a quick kiss. “Good morning.”

“Morning,” she mumbled.

“Someone’s grouchy.”

She immediately felt defensive. “It’s raining. And I hate mornings.”

“True. I hope it stops. For both our sakes.”

Ava
looked up at him. Had Thomas actually remembered why she hated the rain? It impressed her. But she had to be sure. “What do you mean?”

“It sucks playing in
this stuff, and I can imagine sitting in the bleachers watching must suck too. I’m tired of practicing in the mud. And if we don’t win tomorrow…” He shook his head.

The
impressiveness quickly vanished. Of course, he was more concerned with football than anything else. Ava wondered what her mom would say about her still being with Thomas.

“Ava! Thomas!” Gillian ran toward them.

“It’s happened again,” she cried. “Something’s going on.” Her body shook while tears leaked from her large blue eyes, and her chin quivered.

Thomas grimaced. “Damn, calm down.”

“What’s wrong?” Ava asked.

“Link Harris.”
Gillian caught her breath. “No one had seen him since Sunday. Jeremy said he missed basketball practice this whole week.”

“What the hell is going on?” Thomas
demanded.

“
I don’t know. There’s more.”

“What?” Ava and Thomas asked together.

“Kristen and Link are back. Unharmed.”

Ava shifted. “What about Nicole?

“I haven’t seen her. But apparently Kristen’s parents claim they forgot she was with her grandmother.”

Thomas lifted his eyebrows. “
Yeah, okay.”

“I’m not lying.”

“How do you just
forget
your daughter is with her grandmother?” Ava asked.

“I don’t know. But you’ll never recognize Kristen.”

“Why?” Thomas asked. “Did she finally get that makeover Melissa’s been wanting to give her?” He laughed.

Gillian glared at him.
“You are such a jerk. She’s completely different. And Link isn’t nice anymore. He’s so mean. You know Chasity Waddell? He totally just pushed her out of her wheelchair!”

Ava’s mouth flew open.

Thomas laughed, probably from how uncharacteristic it was of Link Harris, but Ava knew better. “Wait, good ‘ol boy Link? Like, the same Link that does all the soup kitchens and everything?”

“Yes!”

“Just on a whim, he shoves her out of her chair? Is he trying to be badass or something?” Thomas asked. “Link Harris? What’s he trying to prove? He’s so perfectly good.”

“I don’t know what’s going on.” Gillian covered her face and fell into Ava’s shoulder.

Ava placed an arm around her. “I don’t either.”

The three of them walked to Ava’s locker, where Melissa, Lance, and Jeremy
lingered.

“You guys have to see this,” Melissa said.

The loud voices in the hallway immediately hushed. Ava turned her head to see Kristen slowly saunter down the hallway confidently instead of her usual hunched-over walk. Everyone was aghast at the sight of the new Kristen, with a grin on her face that could get anything she wanted. The boys drooled, and everyone stared wide-eyed at the unbelievable transformation that had taken place. She no longer wore the grandmother cardigans. Today, she donned a black leather jacket, a short black skirt, and black patent heels. Her brown hair, no longer bushy, was sleeked into several twisted strands that bounced past her shoulders. With a hand on her hip, she headed straight for Ava and Thomas.

“Hey
, Thomas,” her now sultry voice greeted him, and she caressed his chin with her finger. She continued walking by as his eyes followed her backside. Ava elbowed him, but he only shrugged. Kristen continued to stroll until she stopped next to Xavier. They embraced as if they’d been together forever and kissed so passionately that Ava had to avert her eyes. Several gasps resonated off the walls, and then loud chatter resumed.

“Well, new kid is into drugs
too,” Melissa said. “Pay up, Ava.”

“Shut up
.”

“And so is Link,” Melissa added as he walked up next to Xavier and Kristen.

Link had dyed his blond hair jet black and now sported a five o’clock shadow. He looked as though he’d aged in the past few days. The three of them laughed and ignored all the stares and whispers. They carried on as if they had been friends for years. Ava couldn’t take her eyes off the scene that unfolded before her.

The tardy bell rang
, and students scrambled into their classrooms, including Melissa and Ava, who interrupted Mrs. Duke’s monotone role calling. She gave them a stern look but continued. Once finished, she stood at the front of the room, slowly writing down numbers on the dry erase board and continuously sliding her glasses up her small nose.

Ava wasn’t listening to anything Mrs. Duke said. Kristen and Link’s new appearance circled in her head. How could Kristen’s parents just forget something like that?
Or was that just something Gillian said? Obviously, something wasn’t right. Could someone have tampered with her parents’ memory? Gillian? No. How could she even think her best friend was involved? Then again, Gillian did act a little too freaked out by it. Were they playing games with Xavier? He was the new kid, and no one liked him. Had Melissa and Gillian convinced Kristen and Link to hang out with Xavier? It seemed far-fetched, and it didn’t explain their disappearing act. But the way Melissa acted lately she wouldn’t put it past her.

Ava knew Melissa would be upset if she asked, but she had to know for sure they weren’t involved.
Maybe she’d talk to Thomas first.

Class ended and
Ava walked to chemistry and took her seat. The second she saw Peter, she smiled. No matter what, he always made her heart skip a beat.

“Good morning.” Peter
sat at his desk. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”
How did he even know something was wrong?

“Okay, liar,” he teased.

“Even if I told you, you wouldn’t believe a word I said,” she told him.

“Try me.”

She shook her head, knowing she could never tell him about their powers.

“Is everything okay?”

“Sure.”

Class ended, and Peter accompanied her to her locker
, where she switched out her books. She searched the hall for Thomas and waited.

“You know you can talk to me if you need to.”

“I appreciate it,” she said.

“I’ll
see you later.”

“Okay.”

Peter strolled down the hall, and she was immediately guilty for leaving it like that. The one time she’d gotten to see him today, she’d brushed him off. She was just too preoccupied.

Thomas walked up and kissed her cheek. “Hey, Babe.”

“Do you think Melissa convinced Gillian to tamper with Kristen and Link’s mind?”

“What? Why do you say that?”

She crossed her arms in front of her chest. “I know you and Melissa wanted to play games. Something is going on. I mean, don’t you think it’s odd?”

“What is wrong with you?”
Thomas seized her arm and pulled her closer to him. His eyes burned into hers. “How can you even think we had anything to do with Kristen and Link’s disappearing act?”

His stern tone and sudden hostility surprised her.

“I’m sorry, but how many people do you know who can control minds?”

He loosened his grip
, and his eyes rolled in the back of his head. He lost his balance and leaned over. Ava caught him from collapsing to the floor, and with a gasp, wondered how she was easily able to hold him. She dropped him immediately, before anyone could notice. 

“Thomas?” She slapped his face then
glanced up to see Xavier, Kristen, and Link pass by, completely absorbed in their own worlds.

Thomas groaned and opened his eyes. “What happened?”

“You just fainted.”

He sat up. “Seriously?”

“Yeah. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” He got to his feet, and Ava positioned her body as if he were going to fall. “I’m not gonna do that again, okay?”

She dropped her hands and stood upright.

“Whatever you do, don’t tell the others. I don’t need Lance getting on my case.”

“Did you get hurt in practice yesterday? Hit your head on something?”

“Ava? Come on. I don’t get hurt.”

She rolled her eyes. “Of course not. Do you think it’s your blood sugar?”

“Stop worrying. I’ll be fine.”

“You just fainted. Don’t you need to see the nurse?”

“Give it a rest,” he snapped. “You’re as bad as my mom.”

“I’m just trying to help.” Anytime his precious ego was wounded, he had to act like a jerk.

“I don’t need your help. It’s no big deal.”

Ava threw up her arms and made her way to the lunchroom. She swung open the door and stormed to their usual table. Slamming down her book bag, she realized they had all looked up at her.

“What’s wrong with you?” Melissa asked.

“Nothing,” Ava said. “I just don’t get this whole Kristen/Link thing.”

“It was my fault,” Gillian said.

Melissa sighed. “No it wasn’t, okay? You didn’t do anything.”

“You know
,” Thomas blurted. “Ava thinks you convinced Gillian to mess with their minds.”

Ava
glared at him, and clenched her teeth.

Gillian’s jaw dropped.

Melissa gave a disgusted look. “I can’t believe you would even think that.”

“I
t just crossed my mind for a second.”

“Why would it?”

“You’re the one who said you wanted to mess with people.”

“Are you freaking kidding me, Ava?
” Melissa snapped. “I was talking about stupid things, like pretending to be a ghost in the girl’s bathroom or something. None of us knows what’s going on. You’ve been acting so weird since our powers developed. What’s with you?”

“What do you mean?”

“You’re just freaking out over everything.”

“And Gillian’s not?”

Gillian huffed. “That’s not fair.”

Ava felt guilty. Did she really believe her friends had anything to do with all this craziness? Maybe she secretly wanted it all to be some prank because that lessened the fear. “I jus
t wish I knew what was going on.”

“We all do, okay?”

Ava nodded, and then looked up and met Xavier’s cold eyes. He was staring at her with a dark grin on his face.