Dangerous
Element Preservers Series, Book 1
By Alycia Linwood
Copyright © 2011 Alycia Linwood
Smashwords Edition
Smashwords Edition License Notes
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
alycialinwood.weebly.com
2nd edition
Dedication
This book is dedicated to my dear friend, Gray, who has been my greatest support.
Chapter 01
Magic has always existed in every part of our planet. It is not known when and how people came into possession of it. There are many legends and stories about it, but it's hard to tell which of them could possibly contain the truth.
The best-known is the story of the God of Magic, who came to our planet many years ago and gave every human being control over one of the four main elements: fire, water, air or earth. The magic ability was supposed to help people and make their lives easier, or at least the God of Magic wanted it to be so.
People were very grateful for the God’s generous gift and agreed to follow the only rule he had given them. And that was the rule that the elements shouldn’t mix. Ever.
Ah, how I wish it had stayed like that, but no. People had to be people and ignore the rule.
A few hundred years ago, people were still worshipping the God of Magic and they were carefully choosing the person to make a family with. But the world started to change; people discovered science and some stopped believing in the God of Magic, claiming that all the stories they were told had been invented. According to them, magic is just in our nature, part of our genetic code.
But science wasn’t the only reason why people stopped following the rule. The difference between the rich and poor was growing, and people had trouble finding the right partner, because the social status became as important as the element when it came to choosing a person to spend the rest of your life with. The result of it was that only a few people could have gotten married, and that made the rest of the population really unhappy.
No matter what their reasons were, people started having families with those who had different elements. But they didn’t expect there would be horrible consequences. The children whose parents had a different element inherited only one of the elements, but much weaker than the original one.
By further mixing of already mixed elements, children who didn’t have any kind of element were born. That wasn’t exactly the worst thing in the world; the disease that was created in the process was. Apparently, some kind of genetic mistake occurred in a few cases, which made people who didn’t have any element want to have one really badly, and turned them into cold-blooded murderers.
Those people, today known as the magic disease carriers, had the urge to kill someone with an element to come into possession of it. Of course, once they started killing and felt the joy of the element in them, they couldn’t stop. And because the element simply couldn’t stay in their system for long, they had to kill again.
When the first cases of magic disease appeared, they caused panic all over the world. But it was nothing compared with what happened when it was discovered that the magic disease was contagious. People were so afraid of getting the disease that they decided that anyone who showed the symptoms should be killed.
At that time, many people were killed simply because someone had accused them of having the disease. There almost wasn’t any way to prove you didn’t have the disease, except showing your magic ability, which was a problem to those with a weak or nonexistent element. Luckily, those days are behind us, and there are special laws and police today to take care of the ‘magic disease carriers’ problem.
But 13 years ago even special police couldn’t do much to avoid a big incident when it was discovered that one of the richest and most influential families actually had the disease. Mr. Liandre, like every great businessman, managed to hide all the killings he and his wife had done during years. Maybe it would have never been discovered if he hadn’t made a mistake and killed a member of another famous family.
Even though the special police was sent to take care of that matter, people were too outraged to let it go, and went to burn down Mr. Liandre’s house. I don’t remember much of it though, but it must have been horrible. Today no one really wants to remember or mention it, and it’s better like that.
There are still many questions left about magic disease and scientists are trying to find the cure or simply find out more about the disease. Just a few years ago, it has been discovered that the disease could actually be transmitted only by sexual contact. It couldn’t even be transmitted by blood, which puzzled the scientists a lot. Well, I guess the magic disease simply doesn’t have any logic.
However, my best friend Paula is determined to change things. She has always wanted to become a scientist and discover the cure for the magic disease. For that reason she decided to take Biology and Genetics at the University of Magic. Yeah, it is the same university I’m going to, just I didn’t take anything as complicated as that, so with obligatory Magic Studies, I decided to choose History and Geography.
I’ve always loved history and tradition. Actually, my family is in 1/3 of the population that still has a pure element. I wouldn’t have gotten into the University of Magic if it wasn’t so. The university only accepts the best, and I’m proud that Paula and I are among them.
I developed my family’s element, fire, when I was sixteen. Yeah, it was a bit later than usual, but I had never been really afraid I wouldn’t develop it. Paula got her element, air, like three years before me even though she is six months younger, but she was being nice about it and didn’t show off with it in front of me.
Of course, we don’t really know much about using our element because that is what the university is for. I really hope to learn more than just setting something on fire. Like I have said before, I strongly believe in keeping elements pure and enjoying in them...
“Miss Milanez?” I heard my professor’s voice and realized he must have been asking me something and I hadn’t responded. Great, always so lost in my thoughts.
“Umm, yes?” I said. It was my first week at the university and the professor already knew my name. But that wasn’t strange since he probably knew my father or had heard of my family. My father was more than generous when it came to giving donations to the university.
“Answer the question, Miss,” he said. Yeah, I would totally answer it if I knew what it was about. Too bad that Magic Studies consisted of the theory and practical part, and we were stuck with the theory. Would they ever let us do something with that damn magic?
“I don’t know,” I said.
“The question or the answer?” The professor raised his eyebrows at me expectantly and the whole class was watching me in silence. Oh, just perfect.
“The answer,” I said. I thought it was better to say I didn’t know the answer than admit I hadn't been paying attention.
“You don’t know what happens to a person with the magic ability when one gets the magic disease?” He glared at me incredulously. Oh, crap. Of course I knew. Everyone knew that one.
“Sorry, I forgot,” I lied and flashed him a smile, hoping he’d let it go.
“Well, Miss Milanez, that can be a serious problem if you truly don’t know,” he said. Some students started giggling, and I frowned. What the hell? Why was he making such a big deal out of it? But I still couldn’t just let it go.
“Are you implying that I’m lying?” I said.
“Of course not,” he smiled and looked around the class for the next victim. I so hated that guy.
“Miss Arnolds? Perhaps you could enlighten your friend?” he said, looking at Paula. I had to count to ten not to get up and walk out of the class…or set him on fire. He could have said anything else he wanted, and it wouldn’t have bothered me, but asking my best friend…no, this guy totally had something against me.
“Someone who gets the magic disease loses the element,” Paula said. “The disease destroys it completely.”
“Correct!” he said, giving me a meaningful look. Seriously, he was driving me crazy, and I didn’t understand what the hell the magic disease had with this class. He finally let it go, and I went back to my thoughts, even though I knew I shouldn’t.
I wanted to think happy thoughts, but I couldn’t stop thinking about the stupid magic disease question. Well, I was glad that at least Paula had ended up looking like the smart one, because she really was a genius. I was almost sure that she would discover something important connected with the magic disease someday.
I didn’t know was it worth researching the magic disease. Many people didn’t have an element already, but some were so scared of the disease that they decided to abandon their element. Yeah, giving up of your element was actually possible. So everyone who wanted to do it could simply avoid using the element when it first appeared and let a year pass. And just like that, the element was gone. I had no idea how people managed to do it, because the desire to use the element for the first time was really strong.
Of course, thinking that soon there wouldn’t be anyone with the magic ability was crazy, but it still worried me sometimes.
“Ria! Come on!” Paula’s voice brought me back to present. I realized the class was over. Wow, that was truly a relief. I was on my feet in an instant.
“Let’s go!” I smiled at Paula, who was watching me carefully with her blue-green eyes.
“What were you thinking about?” Paula asked as we were walking down the hall.
“What?”
“In the class… you seemed to be in a completely another place,” she said.
“Oh, that,” I said. “The class was too boring, that’s all.”
“I know! I can’t wait until we get to the practical part.” She smiled.
“Yeah… wish we could just skip this,” I said, yawning. I could have lived without that class, really.
We were just about to enter the lunchroom, when I saw a guy. Ok, not just a guy; a super extra hot and cute guy. He had such a gorgeous wavy brown hair, which was cut short, and I wanted really badly to run my fingers through it. His eyes seemed to be the warmest green I’d ever seen, and the green sweater he was wearing went almost perfectly with them.
He wasn’t much taller than me, and his skin was a bit paler than mine. Oh, he was just perfect. I really wished I could just go up to him and say something, but I knew I’d be too nervous.
Suddenly Paula caught my arm to stop me and turned in the hot guy’s direction. My heart nearly stopped.
“Hey!” Paula smiled at the guy and I froze. No way. There was no way she could know him. But that was Paula; always charming and friendly.
“Hey, Paula!” He smiled, showing his perfectly white teeth. I couldn’t believe it! He knew her! And he seemed genuinely happy to see her. Of course, which guy wouldn’t be? She was tall, slim, had a long curly blond hair and her eyes were a beautiful mix of blue and green. I was just an average-looking girl with my long straight dark brown hair and dark brown eyes.
“This is my best friend, Ria,” Paula said, and the guy’s eyes turned to me. He smiled, and I felt warmth coming into my cheeks.
“Ria, this is Michael,” she said. Michael offered me his hand and I took it, hoping that I could at least shake hands with him without fainting or doing something equally embarrassing. I had no idea why I was feeling like that.
“Nice to meet you, Ria,” he said.
“You too,” I managed to smile and look more or less normal, even though my heart was doing a happy dance in my chest.
“Oh, Ria, I forgot my book! I’ll be right back,” Paula said with a smile and went down the hall. I stared after her, wondering if she had really left the book, or was it so obvious that I liked Michael. But even if it was so obvious, she still shouldn't have made such a silly excuse.
“So, how do you like it here?” he said.
“It’s fine, I guess,” I said. “Hard to tell after a few days. You’re not the first year, are you?”
I was totally guessing that since I figured I would have seen him before if he was.
“Nope, second actually.” He smiled. Now I was wondering how the hell had Paula met this guy and, more important, where had I been then?
“Oh, good,” I said. “Did you pass all the exams for the first year? I really hope it isn’t anything hard.”
“Yes, I did,” he said. “Passing Literature and History was easy since it was very interesting… and Magic Studies are definitely the hardest thing to pass, even though it doesn’t seem so at first.”
Yay, History!! We had something in common. But hey, passing all the exams and studying Literature and History proved that he wasn’t just hot; he was smart too.
“It’s the professor, isn’t it?” I said. “I bet he doesn’t let anyone pass because he’s a frustrated, old freak.”
“The Magic Studies professor? Actually, he’s one of the best professors ever,” he said, his face serious. Oops, I'd totally screwed this up, hadn’t I?
“Really?” I said, a little bit ashamed. “Maybe I just got a wrong first impression.”
He laughed then, and I didn’t understand why.
“Don’t worry, many students hate him, but that doesn’t mean he’s a bad guy,” he said.
“Yeah, right,” I said. How can someone who had embarrassed me in front of everyone be a good guy? Ah, whatever, it didn’t really matter.
“What’s your element?” he asked curiously.
“Fire,” I said. Something changed in his eyes, but his face still stayed smiling and happy.
“Oh, nice,” he said.
“And yours?”
“Water,” he said. I froze. No, it couldn’t be. I had thought he was perfect… that we could have something… but no, we weren’t meant to be… at all.
“Oh,” I said. I couldn’t say 'nice' like he had. I just couldn’t. Paula came back right at that moment, and I was grateful.
“What happened?” Paula eyed us carefully, all her cheerfulness gone. I looked at Michael and realized that he wasn’t smiling anymore either.
“Nothing,” Michael and I said at the same time. I even managed a small smile.
“Ooook.” Paula smiled again. “Let’s go to lunch!”
The three of us were sitting at the table, eating something that I wasn't really sure was food. My pizza had some strange taste to it, but I was hungry.
Paula was talking most of the time and Michael sometimes nodded or smiled, just like me. I'd had no idea that the revelation that Michael and I had different elements would hurt me so much, but it did. It was weird to feel like that about a total stranger.
“…and then he asked me the same question,” Paula said, and Michael laughed. It took me a moment to realize she was talking about what had happened today in class. I couldn’t believe her!
“Ah, so that’s why you hate him!” Michael said. “I completely understand you now.”
“Really?” I rolled my eyes, but he looked serious. Paula just winked at me when Michael wasn’t looking. She totally had some weird plan going on in her head, but I didn’t understand what it was.
“Do you know Michael’s element is water?” I said to Paula, expecting some kind of a reaction from her, but nothing happened.
“Yup, I do. It’s awesome, right?” she said. I was really surprised by her answer and even more curious about her plan.
“When did you guys meet?” I said.
“A year ago,” she said and I stared at her in surprise.
“How?”
“On the Internet.” She smiled. “Well, we hadn’t realized at first that I was going to go to this university too, but we figured it out like two weeks ago.”
“Wait, you met him on the Internet?” I raised an eyebrow. “Isn’t that like… dangerous?”
“Yes, it is.” Michael laughed. “I’m a complete maniac who wants to kill you and your friend. Be afraid!”
We all laughed. It was really hard to think of him as a maniac, especially when he was being so sweet and funny.
Suddenly I felt like someone was watching me and I looked around. I saw some guy looking straight at me, and I shivered involuntarily. There seemed to be something so cold about him… and I realized what it was. His eyes. I had a feeling like a wolf was watching me, because his eyes were a pale blue or gray color – it was hard to tell from the distance.
He was actually sitting on the table, dressed in dark blue jeans and a black shirt. His short messy hair was almost blacker than the shirt, and I was suddenly glad I hadn’t run into him in the dark. There were three guys around him, talking about something, but he didn’t pay any attention to them. He was staring right at me, and then he smiled.
I gasped and looked away. Paula and Michael both looked in the direction of the guy, and Michael frowned.
“Who is that?” I whispered to him because he obviously knew the guy.
“Adrian Liandre,” he said.
“Liandre?” I frowned. “The Liandre?”
“Yes,” he said quietly, “the son of the most famous magic disease carriers.”
“But it can’t be!” I said. “Wasn’t he supposed to be… I don’t know… dead?”
“Only his parents were killed, not him,” Michael said.
“But it’s a hundred percent sure he has the disease! Why is he here? He’s dangerous!” I tried really hard to keep my voice as quiet as possible, even though I wanted to yell.
“He hasn't done anything yet, and he’s here because they believe they can keep an eye on him easier. Besides, his guardian works here,” Michael said.
“Huh, so they are basically waiting for him to kill someone here?” I rolled my eyes. “That’s so awesome. Really.”
“It’s strange you haven’t seen him before. He should be in your Magic Studies class,” Michael said. “He’s the first year again because he failed everything.”
“Oh come on! That’s not fair!” I was getting really angry and starting to think about calling my father and telling him about this. But I didn’t want to do it. Especially because it was my father who had told me I would learn here that I couldn’t always get and do whatever I wanted. Besides, he had probably known it all along.
“Yeah, it’s stupid that he has to take the theoretical part of Magic Studies… It’s useless because he doesn’t have an element.” Michael was actually clenching his fists.
I realized that Paula wasn’t saying anything, so I looked in her direction. She was still looking at Adrian with an almost fascinated expression on her face. Ok, I could admit that the guy wasn’t bad-looking at all… but he was still creepy as hell.
“Paula,” I said, but she didn’t hear me. “Paula!”
“What?” She looked at me like she saw me for the first time. I waved my hands in front of her face.
“Who’s absent-minded now?” I smiled at her.
“Oh, sorry,” she said. “I was just thinking how I could use him for my research…”
“Paula!” I said. “Are you insane? Even if he would help you, which I doubt, no one here would let you do the research.”
“I know,” she said, a look of disappointment on her face. I felt compelled to tell her she could do her research or whatever she wanted, but I kept my mouth shut. Instead, I looked back at Adrian. He wasn’t looking in our direction because a man who looked like a professor was approaching him.
“That’s Alan,” Michael said, pointing at the man. “I forgot his surname because he wants us all to call him by his name. You go to him if you have problems or you do something wrong. Oh, and he was there when Adrian’s parents were killed, and he’s actually Adrian’s guardian.”
“Aaah, so if Adrian kills me, I go haunt that man… Cool,” I said. We all laughed.
When I looked back at Adrian, he was rolling his eyes at something that Alan was saying to him and then got up, took his things, and they walked out of the room together. I noticed some girls were watching Adrian with adoring eyes – something I completely couldn’t understand – and when he was out, they were giggling about something.
“Why are they acting like that?” I said, looking at the girls. “I have a feeling like I’m stuck in high school again.”
“Yeah well, this is not a normal university.” Michael smiled, then his face became serious again. “You’ll have to get used to the fact that Adrian is quite a celebrity here. Girls obviously love danger.”
“Yeah, they can’t wait to get killed or get the disease.” I rolled my eyes. “Well, let them try. Maybe we get rid of him sooner.”
Michael just smiled at me, and Paula didn’t look very approving of my comment. I just shrugged and continued eating my already cold pizza.
Chapter 02
I was sitting on the bed in Paula's room, waiting for her to collect all her books and notebooks that she needed for class. Mine were already in my black leather bag, which I had thrown on the orange round carpet as soon as I had come in. I was a bit disappointed that we were having Magic Studies again, but at least I got to go with Paula.
Last week had been really crazy, even without the big revelation about the magic disease carrier at the university. I hadn’t seen him since that day and I was glad, but something was telling me that he’d be in today’s class. I simply wasn’t feeling lucky.
“Have you talked to someone about changing your room?” Paula said, putting the books in her blue backpack.
“No,” I said, “I wasn’t sure who to ask. Besides, I don’t feel like doing anything today.”
I still hadn’t gotten used to living at the university. It was kind of weird not to be in my old room in my parents’ house. We had our own rooms here, and they were pretty big and nice, but the one I got was on the completely opposite part of the building from Paula’s and, umm, Michael’s too.
“Talk to Alan, he’ll help you,” she said.
“Alan? Adrian’s guardian?” I said in surprise.
“Sure! Don’t look at him as Adrian’s guardian, because he’s not just that. I’ve already spoken to him. He’s quite nice.” She smiled.
“You actually spoke to him?”
“Yes, this morning. I wanted to ask him something about my research,” she said.
“And?” I wondered had she really asked Alan about something as delicate as the magic disease research. But I guessed she couldn’t have asked him that directly anyway.
“Well, I asked him if I could use the laboratory sometimes for some homework tasks,” she said. “I said I might want to test some theories and things that we’d be learning about too.”
“Wow, you never fail to impress me! And he believed you?” I laughed.
“Sure. He said he would ask my professor about it and maybe if I proved to be a great student and really interested in learning more… they might allow me to use the laboratory outside class.” She couldn’t help but smile.
“That’s awesome!” I went to hug her.
“Oh, we’re going to be late! Come on!” she said after a few moments. I let go of her and went to pick up my bag, thinking about Alan. Maybe I should go talk to him… or maybe not.
Paula and I made it to the class just in time. My favorite professor still wasn’t there, and I felt relieved a bit because at least I wouldn’t be getting any of his lovely comments about coming late. I didn’t know why I'd assumed he would do such a thing.
But I didn’t even need the annoying professor to make my day worse… My nightmare was here. Adrian Liandre was sitting on one of the desks near the window and obviously flirting with some blond girl.
She was smiling so sweetly and innocently at him that it was making me sick. Seriously, what was wrong with this girl? Wasn’t she afraid the disease could choose this very moment to show and she would be the first in danger? I found an empty seat as far away from him as I could, and just then the professor stormed in. Oh yeah, this was going to be a loooong day.
Adrian jumped off the table and casually slid into his chair. Of course, he didn’t miss the chance to smile at the blonde, who was sitting two desks away from him. Damn, I felt like I was in some kind of a twisted soap opera.
The class was boring… again. I didn’t care what Michael had said about the professor not being so bad because he was wrong. But every time I thought about Michael… Well, that was another story. I still thought he was insanely hot even though he couldn’t really be my romantic interest. And despite everything, I still hoped to see him again and find out more about him.
“Miss Milanez?” I heard the professor’s voice. I think I cursed everyone and everything in my mind at that moment. This so couldn’t be happening again.
“Yes?” I said, bracing myself for another catastrophe.
“Could you set the paper in this bowl on fire, please?” he said.
“What?” I was completely taken aback.
“If I remember correctly, your element is fire. So, could you, please, set the paper on fire for the demonstration?” he said, placing the bowl with the paper on my desk.
“Umm, okay,” I said, concentrating on that part inside of me which contained my element. It was hard to explain how I was doing it, but I felt warmth all over me and focused on the bowl with the paper. A few seconds later, reddish flames were coming out of the bowl, and it made me smile.
Everyone in the class was looking at me curiously. I guess I would have been looking at someone else using their element too, because there was simply something special about an element being used around you. I had felt this strange tingling sensation before when Paula had been demonstrating her powers in front of me.
I looked up from the flames I had made, and the professor continued talking about something connected with fire. I was still slightly smiling, proud that I hadn’t embarrassed myself again. But my smile faded as I saw Adrian staring at the flames from across the room. There was some awkward grimace on his face, like he was barely containing himself… and then his eyes met mine.
I was completely sure at that moment that the look in his eyes made me feel colder than I would have felt if someone had thrown icy water over me. I wanted to look away, but I couldn’t. He didn’t smile at me this time; he just angrily pressed his lips together.
I didn’t know what to do, and I guess I panicked. It must have shown on my face because the professor was addressing Adrian next.
“Mister Liandre, is there a problem?”
“No,” Adrian said through his teeth and finally looked away from me. A huge wave of relief washed over me, and I could finally relax in my chair. But I was still feeling like some icy cold fingers were pinching my skin. I wanted to get out of the class as soon as I could, and that was what I did when the professor told us we could go. I didn’t even wait for Paula.
“Ria!” Paula was calling my name, but I didn’t want to stop walking… At least not until I was safe in my room and out of Adrian’s sight.
“Ria!!! What is wrong with you?” Paula yelled as she was closing the door of my room. Good. I was feeling much better here, sitting on my bed. Paula was looking at me for a long moment, expecting an answer or maybe even an apology.
“That was… scary,” I finally said, and she sat on the bed next to me, putting her hand on mine. I looked at her, and some kind of a realization flashed through her eyes.
“Oh, I’m so sorry,” she suddenly said. “Adrian scared you, didn’t he?”
“A bit,” I said. “He was looking at me like I had taken something valuable from him… and he would kill me for that.”
“You’re overreacting.” She smiled. “But I’m starting to see your point about that professor being an asshole.”
“What?” I said, surprised. Was I really overreacting? And why was she talking about the professor now? It didn’t make sense to me.
“Yup, I can see it now. What he did to Adrian was simply mean,” she said. I glared at her. I had no idea what the hell she was talking about.
“Mean to Adrian?”
“Yeah. Everyone knows that people with the magic disease have it much harder to control themselves around elements that are being used. And they let Adrian take the theoretical part of Magic Studies simply because elements aren’t supposed to be used during it. Don’t you get it what the professor has done?” she said with a hint of anger in her voice. “Besides, he chose to demonstrate only fire, aware of the fact that Adrian hates it.”
“So, you’re saying that the professor tried to provoke Adrian to make him… What? Attack someone?” I said. Or maybe he’d wanted to provoke Adrian to kill me. But I didn’t want to say that in front of Paula because it sounded very silly and egoistic.
“Yes, well… I believe he was trying to get him out of control. Maybe he doesn’t want him in his class or something,” she said.
“How do you know Adrian hates fire?” I watched her carefully, wondering was there something more than just her research that made her so interested in that monster.
“They burned his house… and his parents in front of him!” she said, tears forming in her eyes.
“So? They totally deserved it,” I said. “Besides, they didn’t put them on fire to kill them. They were already dead, right?”
“Yes, but…” She took a deep breath. “It was still cruel! And Adrian had to watch that. How can you be so cold-hearted?”
“I’m not cold-hearted! I just can’t feel pity for someone who is going to turn into a killer soon. And he inherited all of his parents’ money and has a nice life. I wonder if he gets girls into his bed with that story,” I said. “Don’t tell me you’re falling under his charm too.”
“I’m not!” she said almost defensively. I just smiled.
“I’m not!!” she repeated. “But I’m going to ask him to help me with the research.”
“You’re crazy,” I said. “He is not going to help you.”
“Why not? I might find the cure for the disease,” she argued. “He’ll want to help me.”
“Alright, maybe he will. But not for free,” I said.
“What does that mean?” She frowned.
“It means that he might help you if you sleep with him,” I said. Her face paled and she looked disgusted.
“I would never do that,” she said.
“I know,” I said. “That’s why I’m sure you won’t get him to help you.”
“You really think some girls slept with him?” she asked after a moment of silence.
“Yes, I do,” I said. And yes, I did think that. Girls seemed to be very fascinated with him, and since everyone kept saying you could get the disease only during unprotected sex, they had probably figured they weren’t in danger if they used a condom. Yeah, they were really smart.
“I’m still going to ask him,” she said quietly. “Maybe he’s not what you think he is.”
What I think? So she had a different opinion about him, but I didn’t want to push it. Soon enough she’d see what kind of a bastard he was. I was sure of it.
“Will you come to the library with me?” I wanted to change the subject really badly. “I need some books for my homework.”
“Umm, I can’t. Sorry. I need to do something,” she said. “But I’m sure Michael would go with you if you asked him nicely.”
“Whoa, whoa, slow down,” I said. “If I didn’t know better, I would say you are trying to set me up with him.”
“Come on! I know you like him.” She laughed.
“But I can’t be with him!” I said.
“Why not? You can’t have a good time because of the element thing?” She smiled. “You could still date him, you know. It’s not like you have to marry him or anything.”
“I don’t see the point of it then.” I sighed.
“Oh, come on! You dated like five guys already and you didn’t get married to any of them, so where was the point in that?” she said.
“But their element was fire actually, and I believed at some point that we were going to be forever,” I said. “This would be… I don’t know… useless.”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever you say. But I still think you should go with him to the library… even just as friends. He’s really awesome,” she said.
“Why don’t you date him then if he’s so awesome?” I teased.
“Because he’s totally not my type.” She laughed.
“Oh, and black-haired dangerous guys are exactly your type?”
“No!”
“I wouldn’t agree with you.”
“Hey, it’s not funny!”
“Nope, it isn’t funny at all,” I said, jumping off the bed and grabbing my pillow. Paula realized what I was doing and she was on her feet in an instant, grabbing another pillow. It was time for a really awesome pillow fight!
“Someone is going to kill us!” Paula laughed as we sat down on the bed again, completely breathless. There were feathers all over the room and, of course, my pillows were completely unusable.
“No one is going to find out,” I said, taking a feather out of Paula’s hair. “Of course, if we don’t go outside looking like we were on a chicken farm.”
We both laughed, and I was wondering why the hell we still had feather pillows here when there were better materials. But then we wouldn’t be able to have so much fun with them.
“Oh, come on! You need new pillows and you’ll have to explain what happened to your old ones,” she said.
“I’m not going to tell anything to anyone!” I said. “I know where they keep the pillows. I’ll just throw this somewhere and steal the new ones from that room.”
“Wow, the perfect crime.” Paula laughed. “But I have to go now.”
“Heey! Don’t tell me you’re going to leave me with all this mess.” I grabbed her arm as she was getting up from the bed, but she just grinned at me.
“Fine! I’m going to find someone else to help me.” I crossed my arms in fake indignation. She waved at me from the door and left. I looked around the room once again and sighed. I had soooo many things to do and, no, I wasn’t brave enough to go ask someone to help me with this mess, especially not Michael.
It took me almost one hour to clean up all the feathers, and I was sure there were still some left under the bed. Yeah, running all over a huge room with half-ripped pillows hadn’t been such a good idea after all.
But cleaning up wasn’t the worst part; stealing the new pillows was. When I finally found courage to leave my room and go on a ‘pillow hunt’, I almost bumped into Michael. I think my heart got stuck somewhere in my throat at the moment I looked up into his green eyes. Damn, he was just beyond gorgeous.
“Going somewhere?” He smiled at me.
“Umm, yeah,” I said, trying to look casual and failed.
“You’re blushing,” he teased. “Will you tell me what you’re up to? Because I’m sure you’re up to something.”
“Hey!” I smiled. “Well… if I tell you, you’ll have to help me.”
“Really?” He raised his eyebrows. “Is it dangerous?”
“Very,” I said.
“Oh, then I’m in,” he said.
“Great!” I smiled. “Oh, and don’t laugh when I tell you what we are going to do.”
He just eyed me suspiciously and, for a moment, I was thinking about inventing something more interesting to do, but I couldn’t come up with anything.
“We need to steal some pillows from the storeroom,” I said, immediately feeling stupid.
“Steal some pillows?” I thought he was going to start laughing like crazy, but he didn’t.
“Yes,” I said. “I need new ones.”
“And what happened to your old ones?” he said. “Something so bad that you can’t simply ask for the new ones?”
“Umm yeah, something like that,” I said, “but not really bad. It was more like… childish.”
“Aaah,” he said, “then it must have been so much fun that people here wouldn’t understand.”
“Pillow fight with Paula,” I whispered into his ear. He immediately started to laugh.
“Yeah, Alan and the others so wouldn’t understand that,” he said, still smiling.
“Great, let’s go get some pillows!” I said and we went down the hall.
Actually, it turned out to be really easy to get the new pillows because there was no one really ‘guarding’ the storeroom, and there was no one in the hall since at this time most of the people were in class, the library or outside.
But we still grabbed the pillows and ran like crazy down the hall, afraid that someone might show up. We were breathless when we reached my room, and still high on adrenaline. It was funny how such a trivial thing had brought the hottest guy ever into my room.
For a moment, the irrational part of my brain was telling me to get closer to him, maybe even kiss him and then blame the moment. And I would have done it… if I were in a movie or something. In a movie, Michael would have kissed me back and we would realize how we loved each other forever. Unfortunately for me, this wasn’t a movie.
While I was busy thinking, Michael had moved away from the door and was now sitting on my bed.
“I see you were careful enough to keep the pillow covers safe.” He laughed.
“Yeah.” I smiled. “Didn’t want to rip that too.”
“Well, this was fun,” he said. “Anything else you need?”
“Umm,” I said, “there is this one thing… but I don’t want to bother you.”
“I’d say it wouldn’t bother me, but I can’t since I don’t know what it is,” he said, his green eyes shining like two emeralds.
“It’s my History homework, actually,” I said and immediately felt bad. What could he be thinking about me? Probably that I was just using him.
“Oh, sure. I can help you with that.”
“Umm, forget it. It doesn’t matter. I can do it alone,” I said. He got up, looking simply devastating in his blue jeans and a light blue shirt, and came closer to me.
“It’s ok,” he said. “I was heading to the library when you showed up anyway, so we could just go there now and I can show you where to find the right books. I know my way around here better than you do, ok?”
“Alright.” His kindness brought a smile to my face, and as we were leaving the room, I wondered was he really so perfect or some sick part of my mind made him look like that to me so I would fall in impossible love. Oh well, I had all the time in the world or more like four years to find out.
Chapter 03
I was sitting in the library, chatting with Michael and checking out some of the books, when I saw Paula standing at the door. She looked… horrible. There were tears streaming freely down her face, and I immediately got up, glancing at Michel. He just nodded at me in understanding, and I hurried over to Paula before anyone else saw her.
I was glad that people were mostly busy looking at their books; we so didn’t need others to bother us. I just took Paula’s shaking hand and led her to my room since it was closer than hers.
“What happened?” I asked when we were sitting on the bed.
“I… I asked him…” she whispered, “and he… he…”
Suddenly I had a moment of realization; she had asked Adrian to help her with her research. He had probably refused just like I had expected.
“Oh, Paula,” I said, hugging her, “Adrian is an asshole and we all know it. But why are you crying? You can do your research without him. It’s not the end of the world.”
“He… he said I was stupid.” She hiccuped. “…and that he didn’t care about my research anyway, but that he would help… if I… gave him what he wanted…”
“That son of a bitch! I’m going to kill him!” I said, trying to get up, but Paula wouldn’t let go of me. I was simply beyond pissed. No one made my friends cry. No one.
“No,” she cried. “No, leave it! I was stupid to think he would just…”
“No! This is not about you! It’s him!” I was yelling and I didn’t care if someone could hear it outside.
“No, it was wrong to go to him just like that and ask him for such a huge favor…”, she said, and I was glad that she had at least stopped crying, but her weird way of thinking completely puzzled me.
“Oh, that’s it! You stay here and I’m going to deal with…” I was saying as someone knocked on the door and opened it before I said it was okay. Huh, that was so not nice.
“Is everything alright?” Alan asked. Oh, perfect, Adrian’s guardian was here. I opened my mouth to say what Adrian had done to Paula, but she was faster.
“Everything’s fine,” she said.
“Are you sure?” he said, looking concerned. “Have you been crying?”
“Umm, I’m fine, really. It’s just… I had an argument with my boyfriend.” She actually smiled a little.
“Since when is…” I started saying, but Paula actually put her hand over my mouth and removed it a moment later, but it was enough to stop me from speaking. Alan frowned, but probably decided we were just crazy girls.
“Well, if you need to talk, you know where to find me.” Alan smiled. I glared at him because that was just plain weird. I mean, I knew he was supposed to be like some kind of a counselor, but to discuss students' relationships… Damn, that was just too weird.
Paula just nodded and thanked him. I hoped he would leave, because I was prepared to go out and hunt down Adrian… Even set him on fire. Yeah, I wasn’t really rational when I was mad.
“Oh, Miss Milanez?” Alan said. “I need you to come down to my office so we can talk about something.”
“Umm, alright,” I said, even though I had no idea what the hell he wanted to talk about. Maybe he wanted to talk about Paula, or maybe that asshole of a professor had said something about me. The first one was much more likely, because the professor had seemed just fine with me today.
“Now,” he added, and I frowned. Oh, come on! I had better things to do! But I couldn’t use ‘I have to kill someone first’ as an excuse, so I just got up.
“Are you going to be ok?” I asked Paula. She gave me a small smile, and then I had no other choice than to follow Alan.
Alan’s office was very small, almost claustrophobic. There was just a table, which was taking most of the space, Alan’s black leather chair behind it and two red ones in front of it. The walls were completely white and plain, and I was surprised there wasn’t even the university’s crest on the wall. Damn, this room was creepy.
“So, Miss Milanez,... May I call you Ria?” He smiled.
“Umm, sure,” I said, not really happy about it, but I guess it would be awkward for me to call him by his first name if he couldn’t call me by mine.
“Great! Ria, I want to talk to you about something that happened during the Magic Studies class,” he said. Ah, I had so known that! He was eyeing me carefully, probably expecting me to start talking, but I kept my mouth shut. Instead, I decided to look at him more carefully too.
I noticed that his hair was mostly dark brown, with a few strikes of gray hair showing. His brown eyes looked warm and kind, but there was also something else in them that I couldn’t identify. And he definitely didn’t fit in with the other professors and university staff because he was dressed in dark jeans and a light blue shirt, which was just too casual.
“I would like to know is it true that your professor asked you to use your element in the class,” he said when he realized I wasn’t going to say anything. I was surprised for a second that he wanted to know that and not something else, or maybe that was just what he had thought of as a good beginning.
“Yes, I was asked to demonstrate my element in the class,” I said.
“So it’s true.” He sighed, disappointed a bit. I didn’t know what to think. Had someone tried to accuse me of using my element without permission?
“And I thought he was lying to me,” Alan said, and I knew he was thinking of Adrian. It was about Adrian, not me. Phew.
“Well, that’s all I wanted to know actually.” He smiled again. “Maybe you have something to ask me.”
No matter how much I wanted to get out of this tiny space and go back to check on Paula, I decided I did have questions.
“Could you, please, help me with something?” I said.
“Maybe,” he said. “What is it?”
“Umm, Paula is really depressed right now after everything that happened with her boyfriend… So I’m trying to find something to cheer her up,” I said. “And since she really loves biology and doing research, I was thinking you could maybe give her permission to use the lab today or tomorrow.”
Alan just looked at me for a moment, and I was wondering had he somehow realized Paula didn’t have a boyfriend. But it was her story anyway, and getting the lab for herself would certainly make her forget that idiot. Maybe Adrian’s guardian could fix the damage Adrian had done.
“That is a good idea,” he said. “She already asked me to give her access to the lab outside class and that will have to wait… but few hours there today couldn’t hurt, I suppose.”
“That would be awesome!” I said excitedly.
“Ok,” he said, reaching for something into the pocket of his jeans. “No one uses the lab today, so I can give you the key. But you have to return it to me before eight this evening and make sure I don’t regret it, alright?”
“Yes, thank you,” I said, taking the key from him. Damn, this was good.
“Paula! You’ll never guess what I got!” I said when I was back in my room and found her still sitting on my bed. She looked up at me in surprise, and I waved the key in front of her.
“What is it?” she said.
“Lab key!” I smiled. Her face lit up immediately, but a moment later she was eyeing me suspiciously.
“What? I thought you’d be happy,” I said.
“I am. But how did you get it?”
“Well, I didn’t steal it,” I said proudly, “Alan gave it to me for you. You can have the lab until 8 p.m. as long as you’re not doing anything dangerous…”
“Really?” She was almost jumping up and down in childlike delight. “How did you do that?”
“Well, sweetie, he was worried about the depression you are suffering because of your boyfriend.” I laughed. “Even though I’m still not sure how Adrian came to be your boyfriend…”
“Shit! Tell me you didn’t say Adrian was my…” She panicked.
“No! Of course not!” I said. “I’m just kidding. I know you invented that just because you didn’t have anything else to say. No one can find out what kind of research you are planning to do. I’m not stupid.”
“Right,” she said and hugged me. “Thank you! Thank you so much!”
“Hey, that’s what friends are for.” I smiled, giving her the key. “Enjoy your time in the lab!”
“Thanks, but the problem is that I don’t know where to start now.” She sighed. “I planned to start by looking into Adrian’s DNA, which I don’t have.”
“Oh, I’ll get you his DNA… on my hand when I punch him in the face,” I said.
“Ria!” she said disapprovingly.
“What?” I said. “I’m still mad at him for making you cry.”
“Just let it go,” she said, looking at her watch. “Oh, I have to go! The lab is waiting, but I guess I’ll have to try to sneak into Adrian’s room first.”
“What?” I said, shocked. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“I need his DNA and there’s plenty of it in his room. I just need to make sure he’s away and get some…” she said.
“Oh no, you’re so not doing that!” I said. It was a bad idea because I knew how nervous she would be, and if someone saw her, or he returned… I didn’t even want to imagine that.
“But I have to!” she insisted.
“Ah, what the hell,” I said. “You go to the lab and I’ll go to Adrian’s room.”
“No, you’ve already done enough. I can’t ask this of you,” she said.
“I’m doing it,” I said. “It would be pointless if you got in trouble, and then they wouldn’t let you use the lab at all.”
“Alright,” she said after considering it for a few moments. “I’m going to the lab, but if you can’t get the DNA, it’s fine. I’ll find another way to start, ok?”
“Ok.”
She smiled and went for the door. Damn, what had I gotten myself into?
“Wait!” I said and she turned around, looking at me. “How am I supposed to get into his room without the key?”
“Oh, he never locks his room,” she said. I wanted to ask her how the hell she knew that, but I figured I probably didn’t want to know.
“Umm, ok,” I said, and then she was gone.
Fifteen minutes had passed before I finally decided to leave my room and go near Adrian’s room. I have to admit that I was shaking a bit and my heart was thudding very loudly. I might have felt brave when I'd been angry, but that had passed out of my system already. Besides, thinking and talking about something was much different from actually doing it.
I was standing in front of the door, wondering was Adrian inside. I had no other way to check but knock on it. I figured that if he opened it, I’d just attack him because of what he had done to Paula. That was a completely reasonable thing to do, at least for me.
I took a deep breath and knocked really hard. It was a miracle that the door didn’t open by itself. After a few moments of waiting, I realized he probably wasn’t there. I looked around, and when I was sure no one was in the hall to see me, I slowly turned the knob.
It was dark in the room, and I felt like I was going into a dark forest with monsters inside. I wondered what had happened to the windows… if he actually had them. Somehow it wouldn’t surprise me if he was living in a room turned into a cave. There were high possibilities that there was a light switch somewhere on the wall on my left, but I didn’t dare to turn the lights on. Instead, I just kept going forward, leaving the door a bit open so I could find it when it was the time to leave.
Now when I was sure Adrian wasn’t there, I finally relaxed, thinking hard how to find something with his DNA. I walked farther and bumped into something. The slight pain in my leg was telling me that it was probably a desk or a bed post. I felt around for something, but there was only a flat wooden surface. Great, he wasn’t keeping anything on his desk. Not even books or notebooks. Oh, I'd almost forgotten; he didn’t care about studying.
I was trying to move away from the desk and reach the bed when I felt movement behind my back. I gasped, looking in the direction of the door and saw that it looked just like I had left it. I waited for a moment, completely still, not even breathing. I had probably imagined it all.
Just as I turned around, I had a strong feeling someone was observing me from the darkness. I felt like a trapped animal in a predator’s lair. But I was sure it was just my mind playing with me. Surely no one could have been so quiet to…
Someone grabbed me from behind into a tight embrace. A scream got stuck in my throat, and I shivered. It took me a moment to start thinking clearly again through all the fear I felt. Adrian must have returned.
“I know who you are,” he whispered, sniffing my hair. Oh, shit. Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t move. He was too strong. And if I tried to set him on fire, I’d probably get burned too. My feeling of a trapped animal returned, just this time I pictured a wolf as the predator.
What I didn’t understand, however, was how he knew who I was in this darkness. Maybe he thought I was some girl he was supposed to meet. I thought his confusion might be my chance to escape, so I tried to squirm out of his embrace.
“Don’t… do that… Ria,” he said, and I froze. How the fuck did he know? I was suddenly sure I had to escape as soon as possible, so I tried to kick him with my leg. But he was too close; close enough that I could smell his cologne, which was a mix of pine, musk and some other tree scents that I couldn’t quite identify.
“I know it’s you… I got a good taste of your element in the class,” he purred into my ear, and I felt something cold pressing against my neck. Oh, shit! He had a knife! I didn’t even have the time to think how interesting was the fact that he could not only tell which element someone had, but also make a difference between them. People with elements couldn’t do either of that.
“Let go of me,” I finally found my voice.
“But why would I do such a thing?” he said. “You came to me.”
No, I hadn’t. But I didn’t know what to say.
“I know this game very well,” he said. “There are always a few girls who accept the bet.”
“The bet?” I said, surprised. What was he talking about? I didn’t really care, but if he kept talking, maybe I could use his distraction and get free.
“Yes, don’t try to deny it. They dared you to come here and try to kiss me,” he said, “and you accepted.”
Huh? Girls really did that? They were sooooo dumb. Oh, wait… did he expect me to… kiss him? Ewww! Now I really had to get away. But the only way to get out seemed to be by playing his game. Besides, I didn’t have a better excuse to explain why I had come to his room.
“Umm, yeah,” I said. He spun me around, putting his both arms tightly around my waist. I couldn’t see his face in the darkness, but I realized I had my hands pressed to his chest. And damn, I could feel some nice muscles under the shirt, but that wasn’t the point. The point was that I could actually move my hands.
“Will you kiss me?” I said, trying to sound at least a bit sensual, but I failed. There was simply too much fear in my voice. I only managed to raise my hand and touch his face.
At that moment I realized that the cold thing was no longer pressed against my neck and that it probably hadn’t been a knife at all. I had no time to think what the hell it could have been, so I ran my fingers through his soft hair and suddenly pulled with all force.
He cursed, and his grip on me loosened. I pushed him aside with all my strength and ran for the door. I didn’t stop running until I reached the lab.
Paula looked at me with wide eyes, and I, still breathless from running, showed her the lock I had managed to pull out of Adrian’s hair.
“What did you do?” She gaped at me.
“I got his DNA.” I smiled stupidly. “And now he’s probably going to kill me.”