so, he took another drink until his cup was empty. Fritz smiled approvingly and he smiled back. His head felt like it was on fire, his lips weirdly numb and burning at the same time, and his mind slowly pushing thoughts of his family aside so he could join in with the rest of his mates and sing. Fritz, as always, led the group in a rousing version of the alternative lyrics to Double A’s alma mater, written long ago by some student who believed that not all aspects of education needed to be revered.
O weathered kings that rot below this prison
we call home
Immoral creatures, wankers’ foes, protect us
as we roam
O’er four long years ’n more for some, with
soddin’ saints from A to Z
Guide us so we don’t return, ’til each bloomin’
one is free
From this shafted ground, this bloody place,
Archangel Academy.
Laughing uncontrollably, Ciaran and Fritz were happy to forget their problems if only for a little while. They knew they shouldn’t be drinking, they knew it didn’t solve anything, they knew it wasn’t right, but it was only a little after twelve noon and the sky looked blacker than midnight. Really, who knew what was right and wrong any longer?
Ronan did. He knew that if Amir went any farther into the blue-black water, it would be the wrong move and he would never return. When Amir paused, Ronan made one last attempt to go after him and bring him back to the water’s surface and away from places he had no right to be.
Like a missile with only one purpose, Ronan lowered his head, bent his legs, and pushed back to propel himself deeper into the ocean. His webbed feet flipped rapidly, helping him to gain even more speed, so in no time, he was able to see Amir clearly only a few feet in front of him. Amir may have felt the rush of water swoop past him, but he was too fascinated by The Well that shimmered at him in the distance to see or hear Ronan approach him from behind. All he heard was David.
“You found it!” David shrieked, watching the action alone in his anteroom. “You’ve found their damned Well!”
David’s triumphant cries rang in his ears. He was so close, he just had to get a little bit closer, he had to prove to Headmaster that he was worthy, he had to solidify his place in his people’s history, so that for all eternity the name Amir Bhattacharjee would be synonymous with victory, heroism, and the dawning of the destruction of the water vamps. Unfortunately, Ronan was not about to let that happen.
Before Amir could even move his arms, they were thrown up over his head as Ronan grabbed him in an old-fashioned wrestling hold, his arms underneath Amir’s shoulders, his webbed hands pressing against the back of his head. Startled, Amir began to twist and turn his body to free himself, but Ronan was too strong. Amir felt himself being pulled away from The Well, being forced to rise, and he pressed his arms against Ronan’s, but his lean arms were no match for Ronan’s muscled frame.
“Let go of him!” David roared.
Encouraged by David’s voice, Amir sunk his fangs into Ronan’s forearm, biting at his flesh like a rabid dog. Crying out in pain, his scream swallowed up by the ocean, Ronan ripped his arm from Amir’s mouth, a trail of blood the only thing that now connected the two boys.
Free, Amir swam with renewed energy toward The Well, David’s passionate voice pushing him forward. He was going to do it, he was going to ensure his place in history, when suddenly he felt something like a riptide engulf him, toss him to the side. He thought it was Ronan, but one quick glance behind him and he saw that he was alone.
Undaunted, he started to swim again, but felt another surge crash into him, this time into his chest, harder, with more force, and for the first time, he thought he wasn’t going to reach his destiny. Even if he thought he would die, Amir still would have agreed to this mission to ensure his legacy, but he was immortal, he couldn’t die, anyway. David would never put such a loyal, obedient follower in harm’s way. When the water started to churn at his feet, he didn’t realize that’s exactly where he had been placed.
The same voice that told Ronan to come to The Well now ordered him to stay back, to come no farther or risk death. He had done his job; he had made sure the enemy entered the hallowed ground alone, and now The Well would make sure the vampire understood he was trespassing and would have to pay the price.
Ronan watched in awe as The Well began to coil and bend in shape. It wasn’t the real Well at all, but a hallucination, a decoy, a mirage that led Amir farther into the depths of the ocean to make him think that he had found their life force. How fitting that during David’s phony Carnival for the Black Sun, it was The Well that had performed the most amazing trick, the most cunning act of deception. Yes, it was cruel; yes, Amir was about to lose his life, but first and foremost The Well and all its descendants, all the creatures of Atlantis, would be protected. Forcing himself to swim toward the surface of the water, Ronan had never felt more proud of his race.
As he was being sucked lower and lower into the belly of the ocean, spinning wildly within the grip of the whirlpool, Amir felt the sting of salt water on his tongue and soon became aware that the air in his lungs was being replaced with water. Now, David, take me out of this now, he silently shouted. He had no idea if David could hear him, the rush of the water whirling around him was so loud, he couldn’t even hear himself, but David had to hear him. He was the headmaster, their leader, he could hear everything, he could do anything. Then why wasn’t he swooping in to pull him out? Why wasn’t he freeing him and placing him where he belonged, next to David on his very own throne? Why was he letting the darkness win?!
“Because sometimes the darkness is too powerful.”
That’s what Edwige told herself. That was the response she heard in her mind when she asked why she was here in the darkness instead of at her children’s side. She wasn’t feeling guilty, she was merely curious. She knew that her place was next to her children, to try and keep them safe, help them fight whatever game David was playing, and not in a strange bed making love. But that’s where she was and she only assumed it was because the darkness had finally proven too strong to resist.
She didn’t realize it, but she physically felt just as Amir did. She felt as if she was being pulled against her will deeper and deeper into an unknown realm that she didn’t want to enter, that she didn’t want to witness, and yet it was her fate, it was a place where she was destined to go. She, however, was determined not to go there alone. If she concentrated very hard, if she narrowed her eyes a little bit more, Vaughan looked just like Saxon.
Shielding his face from the alarming vision, Ronan shot through the surface of the water. Below, Amir’s body was shredded into a million tiny pieces, each one jutting into the darkened sea like a ray of light. The explosion was so strong that it rose from the bowels of the ocean and nipped at Ronan’s feet, so strong that it reached out to everything that was connected to Amir, including David. With no warning and an unmerciful roar,
