Chapter 2

Xandria stared ahead of her for the rest of the lesson, her ears listening to all of the sounds of the classroom with more intent than most. She was listening for something, anything to give her a sign of who the chosen would be but, as it was, she couldn’t really tell. Other than the strange way that the boy next to her had affected her with just his voice, she was at a complete loss as she knew that it wasn’t to do with magic, it was to do with hormones. She knew that much, no matter how inexperienced she may be.

Huffing, she sat back in her chair, she thought it was stupid that she had been given this task; she couldn’t exactly go around asking people if they have a birthmark and if so, what it looks like. It’s not as if she can check if the birthmark they do have is the right one, one of the down sides of having no sight. She had no choice in the matter and neither did the rest of the covenant. She had to complete the mission or at least attempt it or she would get punished. She shivered at the thought. And it was only she that could do this one which meant the fate of the world rested on her shoulders. Her face formed into a grimace. She didn’t need this kind of pressure, her life had enough drama in it to last her a lifetime.

“Hey, are you okay?” The deep voice of the boy sitting next to her drew her thoughts back to the present. With a nod she turned her body so that she was facing in his direction. He had been nattering for the past twenty minutes about nothing important and yet she still didn’t know his name or what he had been talking about. Bracing herself for the flash that was going to roll over her, she held out her hand to the boy.

“Xandria Calibre.” Her voice was stoic and carefully diverted his attention from his question, as predicted as he grasped her hand.

She was startled colour flooded her mind and his face came into perfect focus which was most shocking to her because usually she only saw what they saw but this time it was like she had her own vision. She frowned at the boy in front of her wondering what made his so different to everyone else. He was different to what she had expected because his voice definitely did not match his appearance. His hair was a bright orange, so bright that it was mesmerising to look at and  as she stared into her eyes she was lost for a moment in his eyes which were grass green and were staring straight through her glasses into her eyes. His tone had been light and happy throughout the lesson and she was glad that she heard him before she really saw him because from his attire she would have thought he was depressed or trying to look like a bad boy as there was an awful lot of black to his getup. She avoided those types because they drew more attention, and not the right kind.

Not that she could comment, outside of the school Xandria was particular to a bit of black because it went was anything and she probably looked like a little Goth child when she actually attempted to put on makeup, the attempts to put on mascara and eyeliner resulting in serious panda eyes.  Not that she could help that but doing it blind was more difficult than people imagine.

“Colton.” He had a smile on his face as he swept his eyes over the length of her, she didn’t know whether it was a good or bad reaction he had because he released her hand in the same moment and she was once again thrown into blackness. Colton however kept his gaze on her long after he released her hand and she had turned away from him. He didn’t know what it was but he found her different and not in the obvious way, he just knew there was something different about her. He snorted and shook his head to himself, what was he thinking? He had spoken two words to her and he was already imagining that there was something different about this person, though, he had never been wrong before, that’s how his group of friends formed; they were all special in their own ways.

The bell rang signalling the end of the lesson so Xandria pushed her chair back and stood up, flicking her wrist out so the cane extended to full length. Colton blinked a few times as the tip of the cane had extended so that it was an inch from stopping him from having children. Oh crap, could she tell I was watching her? He thought frantically as a squeak of alarm passed him lips. He watched as her brows furrowed and she tilted her head looking for the source of the noise. When she heard nothing else, she started shuffling out from behind the desk. Quick on the uptake, Colton rushed forwards and wrapped her hand in the crook of his elbow like he was a gentleman and she was the lady he was courting.

“What class do you have next?” he questioned as he walked slower than his normal pace to accommodate Xandria though she could see clear as day now that she was touching him. Reaching up she brushed a strand of hair away from her face before she scrunched her nose up in concentration.

“Maths with Ms Rayburn,” she finally answered her voice sounding morose. Colton started to chuckle as he patted her hand in condescension. “What? My mum made me take maths. She said it will help me get a job, I told her who would want to hire a blind person so she hit me upside the head with a newspaper and told me I had to do it or she would stop me from eating any chocolate or having any coca cola for a month.” Colton snorted and shook his head as he carefully dodged the crowds, tugging her out of the way when big and burly boys came stomping down the corridors.

It was then that she felt it, she ducked her head and looked around but it was too faint to determine where it was coming from. She retracted her cane but kept on her glasses as she allowed Colton to tug her along.  Xandria needed to keep off the radar because evil was close but, until she was in the same room she wouldn’t be able to detect who it was. She just knew with certainty that they were getting closer tow whoever it was by the second. In the pit of her stomach dread was causing her to feel nauseous at the implications. If evil was here then it meant that they knew the chosen was here too. She knew that whoever the evil person was, they weren’t the leader, it was merely a minion as the strength wasn’t overwhelming, even mundane humans can sense the true source of evil, it’s a survival instinct.

By the time they reached the door to the maths classroom, Xandria was almost trembling; she knew she was close, too close. The door swung open and a gruff woman who looked more like an outpatient for the seniors centre rather than a teacher stood before them. She growled at them for being late and ushered the two of them into the classroom. As she met the woman’s eyes through the lenses of her glasses, Xandria’s whole body trembled with a violent shiver as goose bumps formed on her arms. Her eyes saw only dark soulless pools beyond the milky blue irises of the elderly shell.

“Sorry we’re late miss, I was just showing the new girl around.” Colton was trying to act all nice and charming but this woman wouldn’t know nice and charming if it came up and slapped her in her face. Her beady eyes flittered to Colton for a moment and then back to Xandria, her dark and corrupted mind calculating before in an obvious sign of dismissal she slammed the door shut and went to resume her position at the front of the classroom.

                Colton, used to his teacher’s normal mood swings, rolled his eyes and escorted Xandria to the back of the class where there were two free desks. There was a seating plan in class but lucky for Xandria she didn’t have to endure relentless questioning from a stranger as the only available seat was next to Colton’s. When they reached the back of the room, Colton released Xandria’s arm so that he could pull the chair out for her, he waited for her to take a seat which after a bit of awkward fumbling she managed to find the chair.

                “Thanks” she mumbled as she turned to face the front of the rom unsure how she would be able to endure the lesson. It was bad enough that she hated maths but the irony of her current situation failed to impress her. She had always assumed her teachers were evil but now she had living and breathing proof in the form of her new maths teacher, she couldn’t wait to tell her mum about this one. The only problem was, how do you get rid of an evil henchman without the mundane ones noticing? This particular minion held a position that would make it highly noticeable should she disappear which meant a dilemma for Xandria, it looked like the evil henchwoman would have to stay. For now.

                Without Colton’s touch, Xandria was forced to spend an hour in darkness, she liked that he had escorted her to her lesson the way he had, and it was comforting to be able to see where she was going instead of being bombarded with flashes of colour and pictures. It was even more bizarre because when she touched him it was like she had her own eyes but with the mundane humans, she just got pictures of what they were seeing and in crowds that was usually confusing and disorientating, it was one of the reasons she never ventured to the town centre on the busy market days.

                After the rather dull and monotonous lesson, the rest of the day flew by for Colton and Xandria, she got to meet his friends but they only mumbled greetings to her before they immersed themselves in conversation and ignored her completely. They even tried to draw Colton’s attention away from her but he waved them off and continued to listen to her talk and stare at the strange creature before him, enraptured by her whole presence. There is definitely something different about her, he thought as he walked her towards the school gate at the end of the day.

                Most of the students had left already by the time they got to the gates but there was still no sign of Xandria’s mum and the green Volkswagen. The two of them sat at the edge of the curb and talked about of all things, the cheesiest and most horrific songs they had ever heard. There was a lot of90’s pop to get through and as they sung the lyrics loudly and rather out of tune like a bunch on dying cats, they drew a lot of unwanted attention from the remaining students. The pair of them were too engrossed in the game though and instead laughed until tears streamed down their faces.

                With a sigh, Xandria removed her glasses and dabbed at her eyes with the edge of her sleeve trying to get rid of the moisture that was trailing down her cheeks. She was just about to return her glasses to her face when she heard Colton gasp from beside her. Alarmed she looked all around her for the source of dangers, her ears would be standing on end if she was a dog, twitching and turned as they searched for the source of Colton’s distress. She relaxed though when Colton started laughing, probably from how serious she took everything, something he had poked fun at all day. He had at one point said she looked like she was on the run and that she looked ready bolt in case someone came to kill her. He just didn’t realise just how close to the truth he was, only thing was she couldn’t run, not from this town anyway.

                Pouting at the fact that he was laughing at her, she slid her glasses back onto her face and turned her body away, dropping her arms from her face and crossing them over her chest.

                “Your eyes?” Colton’s voice was soft and just above a whisper as he grasped her arm and tugged her around to face him. She was grateful the glasses were back on or she might have had to explain why her eyes suddenly looked exactly the same as his, her natural eyes were enough to either frighten the average person away or peak their interest in the weird and creepy. “They’re extraordinary. I don’t think I have ever seen anything like it, but I must say they are the most beautiful eyes that I have ever seen.”

                Xandria sat there gaping, her mouth almost touching her folded arms. Did he really just say that? She thought as she tried to come up with some type of response. Saved by the horn, the familiar sound of her mum’s car horn beeping drew her attention away from the flame haired boy before her and she turned her head towards the sound. Her mum was sitting behind the wheel of the car looking disapprovingly at her and Colton. Then she was back in darkness as her new friend let go of her arm and shuffled awkwardly beside her before pushing to his feet.

                “Yeah, I should be going.” If she had been watching, Xandria would have seen him run a hand through his hair, a nervous habit he picked up from his dad, before he waved a farewell and turned on his heel, his retreating footsteps on the tarmac the only clue to Xandria that he was leaving.

                Once she was safely inside the car, Xandria felt her mother’s gaze upon her face as the engine rumbled to life once more and the car lurched into motion.

                “Any luck?” her mum questioned, deftly avoiding the awkward conversation that was waiting to happen. Twirling a lock of her blonde hair around her finger, Xandria let out a breath so that the window that her head was leaning on misted up.

                “No but…” she trailed off reluctant to finish her sentence. Her mum however wasn’t one to let anything like that go.

                “But what?” She pressed when Xandria remained silent for over a minute. Bringing her head off of the window, Xandria turned her head in the direction of her mum and her naked eyes bored unseeing into the side of her face.

                “They’re here.” That one word was enough for her mum to press her foot to the brake to that the car skidded to a stop. Whipping her head around to her daughter, Xandria’s mum stared at her daughter in fear.

               “What did you say?” Her mum’s words were whispered but in the sudden stillness of the car, it was as if she had shouted the words at her. Regretfully she leant back in her seat and gave her own whispered reply.

 “The darkness is here.”