Olivia POV
After waking up with Atlas the next week at school was weird. He kept glancing at me. He also acted like he wanted to ask me something. I was not about to say anything about what happened .The door swung open while I was putting away clothes.
"How many people know about them?" Brenda demanded
" Know what?" I asked, peering around the closet door."
" The scars that you have?" She asked
" How do you know about them?" I demanded
" Atlas asked me about them." She said slamming the closet door so we were face to face.
" How many people know about them?" She demanded again.
I sighed " Only three. Atlas was not supposed to see them, But I was too hungover to get out of bed in time."
" And they are?" She demanded
" The one that inflicted them, my doctor and your dad."
" Why wouldn't you tell me? I am your best friend right?"
" You are, But you know how hard it is for me to trust people, much less open up to them."
" And yet the person that hates you had to ask me about it."
I just gave her a look. Talking about it all was hard. It brought up feelings that I thought were long gone.
" I am your friend, what else am I going to have to find out from others."
I shook my head. My heart was going crazy. The last time I told anyone everything I got sent back to my father. The nightmare that I had the other night was playing through my head.
Tears started to stream down her face as she asked " Why can't you trust me?"
" The last time I trusted someone it backfired on me." My voice hardened as emotion threatened to spill over.
" Do I look like them?" She cried
" No, But I will not go through that again." I snapped " While I consider you a friend my past is going to remain my past and nothing is going to change that. Not even you can change that."
She slapped me and then stormed out of the room. Atlas was standing at the door looking lost. I shot him my best death glare and went back to the clothes. After I was done I decided I should get rid of some of this anger. As I was leaving Atlas started to say something.
Interrupting him mid sentence I said " Don't say a fucking word. You just ruined my friendship that I was working so hard to maintain all because you could let things be."
I walked out before he could reply. I headed towards the club. Erin was in his office again. He looked up at me to ask a question but he must have seen something on my face. He stopped and walked over and hugged me. Tears started to flow as I told him everything that happened. He stroked my head as I cried.
" I am just so frustrated. I am working so hard to keep her as a friend." I said finally.
" Let me talk to her. If she knows about your past she might be more understanding. I know that it is hard for you to talk about it, So please let me talk about it." He said gently
" Okay." I whispered.
" Why don't you go down and join the fight that is going on in the basement to see if you can get rid of some of that anger. We don't need you transforming into a dragon."
I nodded and headed downstairs. The basement of Cepheus is not a typical basement. While The top half is three stories, the basement is at least five. There are a few that I don't have access to. My favorite floor has to be the fighting arena. It was the one place that rank does not matter. The only thing that mattered was how hard you can hit and how well you can take one. Most of the time the place was used to help train the new blood. It has always been the place that I came to when I needed to vent and get some anger out. I will never forget the one time that I just let my anger build up. It was when Erin first took me in. Brenda was upset that I would not tell her something, so she said something that made me mad. I let it all build up and I ended up transforming before Erin. That was how he found out about my dragon shift. After that day we always found a way to get out whatever emotion I was feeling. In the ring Lukas and Vanessa were trading blows. The eye could barely catch some of their movements. They were the only two vampires that I actually liked. When I first started to show an interest in Cepheus' darker side, I went with Erin to an enclave meeting. Most vampires are stuck up thinking that since they have lived for so long that they are better. Lukas and Vanessa were not like that. I was glad to hear that they joined the Lunar branch.
" What are y'all doing here?" I asked as they fought.
" We had a meeting with Erin and now we are trying to figure out who gets to control tonight." Vanessa said.
" Control on what?" I asked.
" In the bedroom." Lukas said as he slammed Vanessa on the ground.
" Gross." I said, " When you are done with that let me know."
It was about ten minutes before Vanessa appeared in front of me and said " We are done with the ring. Is everything okay?"
I sighed and said " School has been tough. I am just trying to get all the frustration out."
" I know a better way than that." She said, smirking.
" Oh really and what is that?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.
" Come to the club. Let someone else make all the decisions. You don't have to think you can just be."
" While I appreciate the offer. That is not for me. I have to be in control."
She nodded and then handed me a card and said " If you ever change your mind give us a call. We can show you a fun time."
I watched as she walked over to Lukas. I shook my head and stepped in the ring. A big burly man named Bruntis stepped in the ring with me.
" So the daughter of the head has decided to grace us with her presence."
" I have been down here many times." I replied.
The bell rang before he could say anything else. He charged in like a bull. Shifting on the ball of my feet I was able to doge him. While I could have landed a blow on the back of his head that would have made this over too quick. He turned and charged again, I felt a lot like one of the people that waved the red flag in front of a bull. This time as he charged I stuck my foot under him and tripped him. He face planted the ring. His face turned a shade of red. Someone shouted from the side.
" Stop toying with him and just beat him."
Bruntis charged yet again screaming " Just go down."
I stepped again and said " Stop doing the same thing each time. Use your size to your advantage. I know that you were trained in several different fighting styles. Use that knowledge. Don't run in."
He smirked as he charged again. Just as I was about to step to the side again. He pivoted and hit me square in the chest. The hit was enough to empty my lungs of air.
" How was that?" He asked
" Better." I grinned as I wrapped my legs around him.
It was tough but I was able to flip him to his back and said " But not good enough. Let's see what else you can do."
We kept trading blows. I coached him through all of his weaknesses. He helped me see where all my blind spots were. He also showed me where I left myself open. Soon we were both sweaty and breathless. The anger and frustration that I was feeling before was gone.
" I surrender." I said breathlessly " That was a good match."
" Thank you for helping me. Normally I am able to beat people with my size, but you showed me that I can be beaten with my size." Brunits said
" Just remember there will always be someone stronger than you."
I left without hearing his response to that. I walked into Erin's office and sat on the couch. He was arguing with someone on the phone. Whoever it was hung up on him.
He looked up at me and said " Brenda is going to need some time to process everything. She is having a hard time understanding. I explained the best I could but she got mad at me for not telling her anything."
" I am sorry that the two of you are fighting." I said
" It's okay." He said " Things happen. I know this is hard on you . You are not the type of person to open up."
He got back to work and I ended up falling asleep on the couch. I was jared awake as he shook my shoulder." I am about to head home for the night you should head back to school. You have class first thing in the morning."
I nodded and headed back to school. Atlas was laying in bed reading a book when I opened the door. He looked up and asked " Are you okay?"
I shook my head yes and was too tired to reply. The fight took more out of me than I thought. I spent the rest of the night in a dreamless night. These were far and few between. My alarm rang. Looking at it I decided to do something that I have never done before I slept in. I shot the teacher a quick message and set my alarm for later. I walked into combat class still feeling terrible. It was like I had not slept at all. Every part of my body ached. I am in shape and have spared like that a million times and I have never been this sore before. Brenda glared at me when I walked in.
Right as class started Brenda raised her hand and asked " I read that the school allows official duels to settle disagreements, Is that true?"
" Yes miss Stonehill. To get one set up you have to go to the school administration office."
She shot me a look but did not say anything. The class went terribly. We were learning which weapon suited us the best. While I am good at daggers and a sword he wanted us to try a new weapon each class to see if we find one that we like better. This time I was trying a spear. I could not keep a hold on it. Each time I went to hit the target I would miss. A few times I saw two of them.
"Looks like miss perfect is not so perfect." Trey said
Brenda's looks turned from a glare to one of concern but swiftly went back to a glare. By the end of class I was sweating like crazy, hating the fact that I had to wear long sleeves. As we left Brenda grabbed my arm and said " here is the deal. I am going to set up a duel. If you win I will not ask you a single thing about your past but if I win then you have to answer all of my questions."
" Fine but I will only answer questions for two hours." I said, sighing, " The past is hard for me to talk about."
She nodded and walked up. Atlas stepped up beside me and asked " Are you okay? You don't look good."
" I am fine." I lied
I decided to take the rest of the day off. I guess my fight last night was worse than I thought. Around dinner time I got a text from the school telling me that the duel between me and Olivia was set for this evening at six o'clock. I sat soaking in the tub full of cold water until it was time to head towards the arena. The school had sent me the location of the arena. When I got there the stadium was packed with people. I followed the hallway to the center of the arena. The ref was standing in the middle with a microphone. I stood facing Brenda. She was looking all confident until we locked eyes. Her look shifted to one of concern again.
" Good evening ladies and gentlemen, we are about to have the first duel of the new year, so let me go over the rules for all the new people. First off all your powers are allowed as long as you have your grimoire. Don't worry about killing each other. There is a magic barrier that stops you from dyeing. You will still feel the pain and have injuries but other than that you will not die as long as you are in this area. We have medics on stand by. Now let the fight begin."
She lunged at me and slammed me to the ground. My head started to spin. I was able to flip her over and climb to my feet. I was going to throw a water ball at her but my magic was not working for me. I could feel it stir in the back of my mind but the symbol would not appear in front of me. I knew that I had put them in right because I tested each on as I put them in. I was so out of it that I was barely able to dodge the fireball that was thrown at me.
I watched as the ground where it hit started to burn. Thoughts that I had repressed surfaces to the top. I was laying on a table strapped down. I had just successfully used my Mermaid shift without pain. He injected me with a red liquid. As it traveled through my veins it was like something was burning. My head filled with the images of fire and I felt like I was burning. I heard someone call my name. I looked up from the ground to see Brenda's worried face. She was looking at my hands. The whole arena was quiet. I looked down and my hands were scaly. My fingers were in the shape of claws. Pain ripped through me as bones started to break. A scream escaped as my skin started to stretch. My stomach twisted as another one grew filling with an acidic liquid.
The world started to take on a blueish color as my eyes changed. My screams changed into animistic growls. A shiver ran down my spine as my back opened up to let wings grow. After what felt like eternity I fully transformed into a dragon. The pain did not stop nor did the flashes of how I became this way. People were screaming and calling me a monster. Victor had made sure that this form matched my human form. So during the times that I was able to transform he would do experiments on the dragon. I was missing a chunk of my back leg that would never grow back. He even took the back part of my tail and my canine teeth. While I could still eat in this form it was hard. Things had to be on the softer side. I did not want people to look at me like this for too long. I heaved myself up and flew away from there. I flew as far as my wings could take me. Admittedly that was not very far. I was still learning how to use them. Not long after I landed I transformed into my human form.
I curled up on the ground trying to calm my nerves. Things were still painful and all my other symptoms did not stop. Some of them got worse. Soon the flapping of wings made me turn my head. Brenda was flying towards me with someone on her back. She landed with a soft thud way better than my crash landing. A blurry shape hopped off and started to run towards me. I could not tell who it was before everything went dark and I fell into an empty void.
The first thing that I noticed when I made my way out of the void was the pain. Just about every part of me hurts. Then a beeping caught my attention. It was loud and annoying. I struggled to open my eyes but when they did a bright light was right in my face. I groaned as I turned my head to look around the room. It was a solid white room with padding around it.
My heart started to skip a beat. I went to move my hands but they had a cuff around each one of them. Had Brenda betrayed me and taken me to my father. I started to struggle against the restraints. This can't be happening again I thought. The door opened when Erin walked through the door.
He placed his hand on my shoulder and said " Calm down. Everything is going to be okay. You are at the club." He reached down and undid my hands before continuing " Brenda brought you here. She also told me what happened."
" How long was I out?" I groaned as a wave of pain rolled over me.
" Three days. And it looks like you are not out of the woods yet."
" What was with the restraints?"
" You had a fever and got violent. It was for the safety of the doctors."
I clutched the mark on my chest as pain shot out from it. I screamed as it got worse. Erin said something but I did not hear him over the ringing in my ears.