"Don't be afraid to fall. Your wings will catch you."
-Katie Kacvinsky

"Lisa! Wake up!" Anna shook her. Still sleepy, she waved Anna's words away. She squeezed her eyes shut against the sunlight as Anna pulled back the curtain. "I think something is going on, strange noises are coming from the hallway." She opened her eyes slowly only to see Anna's concerned face. Her hair was sticking out in every possible direction and had come loose from her braid. Lisa tried to remember what had happened last night, her head felt heavy. Anna pulled her out of bed and into the hallway, her leg hurt even more than yesterday.

Anna was right; disturbing noises came from the hallway. Together they opened the door. Jonathan was standing in the corridor, holding a floundering person in a headlock, his face pressed to the floor.

"I've caught a spy!" he said proudly to them. With his tousled hair, playful eyes, and proud expression, he looked like a child who had caught a frog.

"A spy?" Anna looked at her brother incredulously.

"That's not a spy," Lisa said uncomfortably, "that's Thomas Ashdown." Jonathan looked at her in amazement as the Centurion wrenched free from his grasp, stood up, and dusted off his clothes.

"Is this how you always receive your guests here?" he said quite irritated. Her friends looked from Thomas to Lisa, waiting for an explanation. Now Olivia and Arthur had come out of their room to listen to the apparently interesting story. Even Billy the dog sat wagging his tail next to Olivia.

When she finished the story about the Kappa and Thomas, who had miraculously emerged, everyone introduced themselves to him. Only Anna stood aside and pulled her back a little.

"I don't trust him," she whispered in her ear. Lisa rolled her eyes and turned to Anna.

"You don't trust anyone."

"Why was he looking for the Institute in the middle of the night. Why didn't he let us know in advance?" 

Lisa shrugged. "Time difference? And you know the Scholomance has only just reopened. They must be still sorting all the paperwork." Anna suddenly looked at her angrily and jabbed her finger at Lisa.

"Why were you out alone? If it hadn't been for that Centurion-"

"Then I would have saved myself. By the Angel Anna, you are not my mother." She turned her back to her and immediately regretted her words. Olivia seemed quite enthusiastic and asked Thomas about his education at the Scholomance. Jonathan rolled his eyes and said he was going to eat something, and his sister followed closely behind. Olivia watched them, with an unfathomable look in her eyes.

Arthur came standing next to her. "Did he really kill a Kappa? Underwater?" Lisa wanted to say for the umpteenth time that she really could have mastered the demon herself, but Lotte came running up to her. Arthur seemed to be frightened by her, for he headed for the hills and walked to the kitchen.

"Who is that?" she asked, pointing unsubtly at the boy. "Is he a Centurion?" Lotte asked thoughtfully. She looked again at Thomas, who was talking to Olivia. When she nodded, a big grin appeared on her small face. "He is handsome." Surprisingly, she had to agree with Lotte. "You think he's handsome too, don't you?" she said with her big eyes. Before Lisa could answer, Lotte started running down the hall. "Lisa is in love with Thomas!" She gave Lotte a deadly glance, Lisa felt her cheeks glow. Olivia and Thomas looked at her in surprise. She smiled embarrassingly and sprinted after the red-haired girl.

*

Anna could always find peace behind her piano, it helped her think. And she had to think. Involuntarily she thought back to Idris and Melissa, she hadn't seen her in so long. They were still friends, they had never been more than that.

She was unconsciously playing a melody, her fingers strumming on the keys. There was a knock on the door, Anna continued to play, expecting it to be Lisa. Suddenly Olivia was standing in front of the piano, she stopped playing, her hands floating above the keys. Somehow she felt guilty about last night's kiss, she barely knew Olivia.

"Can I sit?" Olivia pointed to the long piano stool. Anna nodded and the girl sat down next to her, fiddling with her pitch-black hair, she searched for her words. Olivia didn't seem like someone who ever was speechless. Her cool green-blue eyes looked at her insistently, she would love to paint those eyes. "Sorry I stunned you yesterday, it was stupid to think you-"

Anna had already bent over and kissed Olivia, who was clearly startled. Even Anna was shocked by her own action, this kiss was different from the one with Melissa. Less innocent. Anna heard a door slamming somewhere, but she also heard music, it must be her imagination. Olivia ran her hands through Anna's hair, which she hadn't combed yet. She lost her balance and leaned against the piano, which made a hellishly loud noise. Both girls jumped up, caught by an angry piano. Anna's face had turned red, they both looked at the piano as if they had just done something they shouldn't.

*

"Where is Anna now?" she muttered to herself. Lisa was startled when she heard a little voice chuckling behind her. She turned, ready to attack. And there was Lotte, with an innocent look in her eyes, as always.

"I know where Anna is," she said as if it were a secret. Lisa rolled her eyes and turned around. She had had enough of Lotte's lies, she just wanted to draw attention. "Why was Anna kissing Olivia?" And there she had Lisa's full attention. She turned back in horror and looked intently at Lotte. Was Lotte lying again? She couldn't take that risk and pointed at her sternly.

"You don't say anything to your parents, understood?" Lotte frowned and wanted to protest. Lisa suddenly felt sick, she silenced her and walked into the first room.

She was happy for Anna, even though she still didn't think Olivia was very friendly. Her friend made it very difficult for herself. She found herself standing in the library, talking to herself. Someone was sitting in front of the fire reading a book. She stepped closer to the fire, to see Thomas bent over a book. As far as she could tell, it was a Charles Dickens book, which she'd read so many times that the cover was creased. He didn't notice her until she was right in front of him. Lisa hoped he hadn't heard her monologue. Thomas looked up, as if he had been caught doing something.

"You don't mind me reading here, do you?" She shook her head and plopped in the chair over him. Somehow she was surprised, Max only read comics and Jonathan didn't read at all. Except books about weapons and fighting. But Thomas was of course a Centurion, he was highly educated. In the Scholomance they followed not only fighting and weapons lessons, according to her they also received history, chemistry and literature.

"Don't you want a tour around the Institute?" It seemed as if he had lived here for years, even Lisa had a hard time finding her way in the first few months after moving in. It had happened several times that she stepped into an empty room while looking for the kitchen.

"My grandmother had an old map of the Institute, not much has changed," he said with a smile. Strange, she thought, he knows every room in the Institute, but gets lost in Antwerp when he has to find the Institute.

Suddenly she felt sick again, her shoulders burned. Quickly and dizzy she stood up, without saying anything she walked out of the room. She felt like she would vomit if she tried to utter a word. And Lisa didn't want to pass out in front of Thomas again.

Fresh air, she thought stifled.

She stormed up the nearest stairs, which led to the watchtower. She clung to the railing and leaned forward. She now stood at the highest point of the Institute. Lisa breathed in and out deeply, the blood in her veins had turned completely green.

She wanted to scream, she wanted Anna to hear her. If they had already been parabatai, she would sense that something was wrong. She didn't know what to do, her legs couldn't carry her anymore. She held on to the cold stone pillar.

But somehow she knew what to do, she just wouldn't believe it. She climbed over the railing and looked down. The strong wind blew her hair into her face and she staggered. Instead of clinging to a pillar, which she normally would, she leaned forward a little more. She was yelling to herself to go back, but it seemed like she was being drawn into a vortex. Then she spread her arms and fell forward.

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What did you think of this chapter? Be sure to let us know in the comments!

Why would Lisa fall off a building? Does this really have anything to do with the poison on the dagger, or is there more to it? And more importantly, will she survive?
Find out in the next chapter -->

Also remember: trust no one