Chapter 7 None

Chapter 7

Evangeline's POV

Friday morning feels like a funeral march.

The sky hangs low and gray. The kind of color that swallows sound. Every breath burns cold in my lungs as I walk to school. My hands shoved deep in my pockets to hide the shaking. My body feels heavier than it should. Like I'm dragging invisible chains behind me.

The binding stone's power hasn't loosened. If anything it's worse. My wolf is nothing but a whisper now. Sometimes I think I hear her breathing faintly in the dark corners of my mind. But when I reach for her she's gone.

Still I keep moving. One foot after another. Because if I stop I might never get up again.

By the time I reach the school gates, the chatter and laughter of other students feel like background noise to a nightmare I can't wake from. They don't see me anymore. They walk past as if I'm air. Maybe that's easier. Maybe I deserve it.

I move through the halls like a ghost. The lights are too bright. The laughter too loud. And I'm trapped inside my body watching the world continue without me.

In first period my pen slips from my fingers three times. Each time I bend to pick it up the room tilts sideways. Professor Kane's voice fades in and out like a broken radio. The board swims. The letters twist into shapes I don't understand.

When the bell rings I don't move.

"Miss Cross?" Professor Kane's voice cuts through the fog. I look up and find him standing by my desk. Concern creasing his brow. "You look pale. Are you feeling alright?"

I want to tell him no. Want to scream that something inside me is dying. But my throat closes and only a faint rasp escapes.

"I'm fine." I whisper.

He doesn't look convinced. "Perhaps you should visit the nurse."

I shake my head. A nurse can't fix what's wrong with me. There's no medicine for a curse that eats your soul.

He hesitates. Then lowers his voice. "Professor Blackwood would like to see you after school. She asked me to pass along the message."

Professor Blackwood. I've heard her name before. Whispered in the hallways. A woman who teaches the upper level classes. A little strange. A little feared.

"Room 237." He adds softly. "She said it's important."

Important. Everything feels "important" lately except me.

The rest of the day passes in fragments. Second period, my eyes slide closed without meaning to. Third period, I can't remember sitting down. The world comes and goes in flashes. At lunch I don't even bother entering the cafeteria. I can't watch Ronan. Can't see that stone around his neck glowing faintly against his skin while he laughs with his friends. Alive and bright and untouched.

So I find an empty classroom and sit in the dark. My forehead rests against the cool surface of the desk. I focus on breathing. In. Out. The silence presses close. Almost comforting.

If I stay still long enough maybe I'll disappear.

The bond in my chest flutters weakly. Like a dying moth against glass. My wolf's voice is faint now. Slipping further away each hour. The thought of losing her completely should terrify me. But part of me is too numb to feel anything at all.

When the final bell rings the sound startles me awake. My body aches from sitting too long. I drag myself out of the chair and into the hallway. Every step echoing. The school is mostly empty now. The air thick and stale.

Room 237 waits at the far end of the corridor. The door is cracked open. Golden light spilling into the dark hallway. My heart beats slower. Heavier. As I approach.

I knock once.

"Come in." A voice says.

Inside the air smells different. Like sage and smoke and something wild. Shelves line the walls. Stuffed with books and jars filled with strange things I can't name. Crystals hang from threads in the ceiling. Catching the light and scattering it across the room in fractured rainbows.

Professor Blackwood sits behind an old desk. A faint smile curving her lips. Her hair is streaked with silver though her face is youthful. Her eyes storm gray and unsettlingly sharp.

"Evangeline." She says. Somehow the sound of my name makes the air hum. "Please, sit."

I obey. Too drained to question.

"You look exhausted." She observes gently. "Tell me, child. How long have you been feeling the pull of the stone?"

My breath freezes. "You... you know about it?"

"Of course." She stands. Moving to a shelf lined with black leather books. "The Nightbane family has used that cursed artifact for generations. They call it a binding stone but I prefer its real name. The silencer."

Her words hit like ice water. "Silencer?"

"It suppresses a wolf's spirit. Cuts her off from her host. Do it long enough and the bond severs permanently. You become..." She pauses. Her eyes softening. "Empty."

My chest tightens. "Can it be stopped?"

Her expression darkens. "Not easily. The Nightbanes have perfected this kind of cruelty. They use it on those who threaten their power."

My anger flares. A faint ember but still alive. "Why doesn't anyone stop them?"

"Because the Nightbanes own half the world." She replies simply. "And because most people no longer believe in the kind of magic they wield."

"But you do." I say.

She looks at me then. Her eyes flash gold. Wolf gold. The air in the room thickens until every breath tastes like ozone. "I don't just believe." She says. "I remember."

A low hum fills the air. Books tremble on their shelves. I grip the arms of my chair to steady myself.

"You're not human." I whisper.

"Neither are you, my dear. Not entirely."

The words make something inside me twist. "What do you mean?"

She studies me like I'm a puzzle she's been waiting to solve. "Tell me, Evangeline. What do you know of your family?"

"Nothing." I admit. "My parents died when I was little. Uncle Marcus raised me but he never talked about them."

Her lips press into a line. "And your wolf. How did she feel before the silencer?"

I close my eyes. "Quiet. Gentle. She was always there but... soft. Almost like she was waiting for something."

Professor Blackwood's gaze sharpens. "Waiting. Yes. I thought so." She moves back to her desk. Pulling open a drawer. "Your wolf isn't weak, Evangeline. She's dormant."

My pulse stutters. "Dormant?"

"Some wolves carry power that needs time. Or trauma. To awaken." She pulls out a small glass vial filled with swirling purple liquid. It glows faintly in the candlelight. "The silencer didn't just suppress your wolf. It suppressed everything. Your bloodline. Your magic. Your true form."

I stare at the vial. "What is that?"

"A counter serum. It blocks the stone's control for a few hours. Long enough to let your wolf breathe again."

The vial looks fragile. Delicate. Like it holds both salvation and destruction.

"What's the catch?" I ask. Because there's always one.

Her lips twitch. "Clever girl. The catch is that once your wolf awakens she may not want to sleep again. And if she's as powerful as I suspect, Ronan won't be able to bind her with a simple trinket."

"You think my wolf is powerful?"

"I think she terrifies them." She says simply. "That's why they moved first."

My throat tightens. "Why help me?"

For the first time something flickers in her expression. Grief. Nostalgia. "Because I've seen too many girls like you crushed under that family's heel. And because..." She hesitates. "Your mother was my student once."

The words knock the air from my lungs. "My mother?"

"A brilliant witch. A fierce wolf. She died protecting secrets that live inside you."

I can't breathe. The floor seems to tilt. "You knew her."

"I did." She says softly. "And I swore if her child ever came to me I'd make sure she lived long enough to reclaim what was stolen from her."

She pushes the vial toward me. "Drink this, Evangeline. Let your wolf wake."

I take it with trembling hands. The glass hums faintly under my fingers. Alive with power. "Will it hurt?"

"Oh, yes." She says with a grim smile. "Awakening always does."

The liquid glows as I uncork it. The scent of lightning. Metal. Wildflowers. Fills my lungs. My heart pounds so loudly I can hear it echo through the room.

"Once you drink there's no going back." She warns. "Are you ready?"

Am I?

I think of Uncle Marcus. Of his faith in me. Of Ronan's cold eyes in the cafeteria. His voice dripping disdain as he rejected me in front of everyone. Of the bond he's trying to kill. The wolf he's trying to silence.

"Yes." I whisper. "I'm ready."

And I drink.

It burns like liquid fire. Searing down my throat and exploding in my chest. My body convulses. The world disappears in a blinding flash of white. Every cell screams. Every nerve alive with pain and light.

Then silence. Thick suffocating silence.

For a moment I think I've died. Then I hear it. A growl. Low. Familiar. Furious.

"You called me." A voice whispers in my mind. Smooth as smoke. "Now I'm awake."

The floor beneath me cracks. Books tumble from shelves. The air vibrates with a deep primal hum. My body feels both weightless and too heavy all at once.

My wolf isn't gentle anymore. She's ancient and burning and alive.

Power floods me. Sharp and clean. The faint thread that connected me to Ronan snaps like it was never there.

When the light fades I'm on my knees. Trembling. Gasping for breath. The vial lies shattered beside me. Professor Blackwood stands motionless. Her eyes wide. Not with fear but awe.

"She's awake." She murmurs. "Moon help us all... she's really awake."

I look down at my hands. The skin glows faintly. Veins lit with silver light. My heart pounds and for the first time in days I feel her. My wolf. Every heartbeat echoes hers.

"I can hear her." I whisper.

Professor Blackwood nods slowly. "Good. Then listen well, child. Because the Nightbanes will feel this awakening. And they'll come for you."

The words settle over me like frost. I should be afraid. Should run.

Instead I smile. Sharp. Tired. Dangerous.

"Let them."