The Dawnvel Druids - - (little red riding hood ebook TXT) 📗

Chapter Eight- A Choice

Bobby didn’t think things could get any stranger, until he woke up that morning to find a green man looming over him.

“Whatthafoo,” he yelped, scrambling feverishly with his duvet as the green man drifted away from him, his curious expression unchanged. He was tall, with long dark hair, but what stuck out most was the suit of medieval armour he wore. Worse, what looked like a wooden stake poked out of his chest.

As Bobby sat bolt upright, he realised the stranger was not only translucent, but floating several inches above the ground. That, combined with the green tinge to his skin, made one word crash through his mind. Ghost!

His suspicions were confirmed as the armoured man moaned faintly before gliding out of Bobby’s room by simply melting into the wall.

“Tell me that didn’t just happen,” he mumbled to himself, exhausted by all the madness he’d seen since setting foot in Dawnvel.

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He’d spent a couple of hours googling druids on his phone before he’d fallen into a restless sleep. He’d read some articles that described druids as a peaceful people in tune with nature and animals, but other articles depicting them as an evil cult who took part in human sacrifice.

Bobby hastily got dressed and unlocked his door, jumping once again as he found Mo leaning against the wall waiting for him, apparently filing down his nails to pass the time.

“Don’t mind Vlad,” said Mo.

“You what?”

“The ghost that just passed through here.” Mo grinned widely.

“So he was a ghost?”

“He is now, yeah. Was a vamp before that. Old Vlad doesn’t know he’s dead.

Still tries to suck on people’s necks when they sleep. Most people just feel a slight breeze or nothing at all. If he annoys you, just fling some garlic at him.”

“And the ghosts can’t hurt us?”

“Not these kind,” Mo replied. “Lots of others, sure, but Vlad the Lad and Dawnvel’s other permanent ghosts aren’t gonna hurt or possess anyone.”

“Apart from the phantom neck biting?”

Mo shrugged. “The animal ghosts come in handy sometimes. We can communicate with them better.’

“There’s animal ghosts?”

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“Of course, why would humans be the only ones whose spirits remain?” Mo looked over to the empty bed across the room. “Hey, where’s your roommate?”

He shrugged. “No idea. He’s hardly ever here. Freddy usually rolls in hours after curfew.”

“Hmm, very interesting.” Mo twirled an imaginary goatee. “My spider senses are tingling. What you need to learn around here Bobby is that everyone’s potentially up to something. This Freddy could be a gorgon or even a mermaid in disguise for all you know.”

“Well, I didn’t see a tail, but I suppose he could be hiding one.” They shared a grin.

Mo assured Bobby as they got ready to leave that only one in a hundred poor sods became ghosts after death, and that was usually because they had unfinished business.

“And there’s vampire ghosts?”

“Just one at Dawnvel. All the others were mortal before.”

“Others?” Bobby asked, locking his door behind him, not that it would stop Vlad from gliding back in again.

“Course. This place is full of them.”

“How come I haven’t seen one in Dawnvel before now?”

“Your powers are burgeoning,” said Mo, continuing to casually file his fingernails. “I’m guessing it started when you first saw that Shade on your way here. Every day you’re getting stronger, until one day the sorcery makes you go

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off like a bomb, killing you and maybe innocent bystanders nearby. Unless you complete the Joining of course.”

“What! I might explode? You left that part out last night.”

“Did we? Oops,” Mo sniggered. “Don’t worry, you’ll be fine as long as we do the Joining.”

“You know this is like, emotional blackmail or something,” Bobby said as they walked through the building.

“Hey man, it’s just the unfortunate truth.”

“What were you doing outside my room anyway, stalker? Please tell me you weren’t there all night.”

“Naa, you’re not that important.” Mo chuckled. “I arrived about ten minutes ago. Simone ordered me to check you hadn’t skipped town. She’s deemed you a flight risk.”

Bobby couldn’t deny he’d thought about it. He’d spent half the night making plan after plan of how he could get out of all this.

“You like her, don’t you?”

“Wh-what do you mean?” Bobby spluttered.

“I saw the way you looked at her, completely enamoured.”

“I was not. I mean, she’s beautiful, everyone can see that. But so are Lana and Niamh, as well as a load of other girls here.”

“A fair few guys too,” Mo added. “Maybe it’s something in Dawnvel’s water, eh.”

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“What, like a spell?”

“No, I was joking.” Mo said. “I don’t think it’s possible to magic yourself pretty. Illusions are only temporary, otherwise I’d spell myself gorgeous daily.”

“So, I really don’t have a choice with this druid nonsense?” Bobby asked as they left the dormitories and set off through campus.

“Not with the Joining I’m afraid. You could willingly give up your magic though, if you’re dead-set on not being a druid.”

“Really, then I can do that, can’t I.”

Mo nodded grimly. “It’s possible, but not recommended.”

They passed by the Perfects house now, where Dreg was hanging out of the window, his arm flung out. Bobby’s mouth fell open as the raven swooped down from the clouds to land on Dreg’s arm before he disappeared back through the window.

“That’ll be the guild replying to us,” Mo explained. “Dreg sent them the raven last night.”

“What like with a scroll attached to the bird’s leg.”

“Yep.” Mo chuckled. “You’d think a phone would be easier, but the Elders are sticklers for tradition. So’s Dreg actually, the guy doesn’t own a phone or even a TV. I don’t think he’s ever been on the internet.”

“He’s a bit more…druidy than the rest of you, isn’t he?”

“Definitely,” Mo replied. “It’s probably because of who his family are. The rest of us are relatively normal, promise.”

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“Wait, where are we going?” Bobby realised Mo was leading him to the cafeteria.

“You get to sit at the ‘Perfects’ table now.” Mo grinned. “Other than that, it’s a regular school day. Try to act like there’s nothing out of the ordinary going on.”

He opened his mouth wordlessly. How could Mo expect him to act like last night hadn’t happened? “You think I’ll be able to focus on mathematical equations this morning?”

“Well, the clan’s got to maintain secrecy, haven’t we?”

Before Bobby could reply, he got distracted by a rabbit hopping through a stone wall. He guessed Mo hadn’t been joking about animal ghosts. Bobby would have to double-check every animal he saw was opaque or not from now on.

They entered the cafeteria, greeted by the smells of cooked porridge and bacon as Mo led him to the Perfects table. Bobby received more than a few curious glances as people saw him hanging with the elite gang.

The rest of the clan, other than Dreg, huddled together at the end of one of the long tables. As usual, no other students were seated anywhere near them.

They’d all been talking in hushed tones, apart from Niamh, who spooned her porridge silently, without eating any.

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“I’m telling you, a Legionnaire is to blame,” Warren declared as he and Mo sat beside them. He cut off to glare at Bobby. “Why’s he here again? He isn’t even one of us yet.”

“He will be after the Joining,” said Simone.

“If he passes, which I find highly unlikely,” Lana added.

“I’m just glad you didn’t try to run again.” Simone bestowed him with a brilliant smile, her grey eyes twinkling. Bobby felt his chest flutter.

He decided to ignore Warren and Lana’s jibes and asked. “Legionnaire? Isn’t that what you accused me of last night?”

“It’s the name of those who hunt druids.” Warren scowled. “Their order has been around since Roman times, and they still practice the tradition.”

“Oh yeah, because Legionnaire is what Roman solders were called,” he said.

“Well done, you know basic history.” Lana applauded sarcastically.

Simone shook her head. “Legionnaires aren’t to blame for Zander. I told you before, there were signs of dark magic.” She looked at Niamh guiltily. “But I won’t go into details.”

“It’s okay,” Niamh mumbled. “You don’t have to wrap me in cotton wool. I know none of us have been ready to question you yet, but please, you and Dreg were there just after those two girls found his bod…found Zander. What was it you saw?”

Simone took a deep breath, as if she didn’t want to talk about this at all.

Bobby didn’t blame her.

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“Zander’s flesh was grey and his veins had gone red, clear signs of dark magic. There’d also been a black line at his throat. Whatever dark spell was cast on him it…suffocated him to death.” She struggled through a sob. “I’m so sorry Niamh. I wanted you to believe he died peacefully.”

Bobby was shocked to see Niamh didn’t appear close to tears, but stared stonily into space instead. “It’s okay, Sim. There is no peaceful way to go once dark magic is involved. It’s not your fault.”

An uncomfortable silence followed, until Mo said. “At least we have a strong lead to go on, so we can catch whatever scum did this.”

“You…you’re going after Zander’s killer?” he whispered.

“Of course,” Warren snapped. “You think we’d let anyone get away with this? He was one of us. I’m gonna kill whoever did this myself and make it as painful as possible.” Warren’s massive arms trembled as he clutched his fists.

Bobby just nodded, scared to ask anything more.

“We know Legionnaires aren’t above using tools of dark sorcery to achieve their goals,” Lana insisted. “It’s still possible the hunters are behind it.”

“Listen,” said Simone. “I want justice for Zander as much as anyone. But we have a more imminent threat with this new coven in town.”

“Nothing’s more important than Zander,” Warren shot back.

Bobby couldn’t fail to notice the tension between the two of them, so many things left unspoken whenever their gazes met.

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“I didn’t say that,” said Simone, looking away from Warren. “But we can’t let them ambush us again. You said yourself it was a larger coven than normal, and probably led by someone powerful.”

“And you’re sure Cairnath didn’t kill Zander?” Bobby summoned up the courage to ask.

“Cairnath don’t have magic,” Lana replied acidly, “so how could they kill Zander with dark magic? Imbecile.”

“He was just asking,” said Simone.

“And I’m just telling.” Lana crossed her arms beneath her chest. “Stop defending him so much, the rest of us don’t care if you want to hook up with him or something. Keep it to yourselves.”

Bobby’s stomach clenched.

“What’re you talking about?” Simone frowned, evidently making her feelings toward him clear. Of course, a girl as beautiful as Simone wouldn’t be interested in him. He hadn’t really expected anything less.

“Yeah, what are