Zodiac Academy: The Awakening
The Awakening: Chapter 24

DARIUS MARCHED ME straight into the Lunar building and swerved to the left once we were inside, heading for the gym.

“Where are you taking me?” I breathed, failing to keep the fear from my voice.

“We’re going to see some friends,” he said, not offering me any more than that.

We passed by the gym equipment and kept going to a part of the building I’d never visited before. I knew what we were heading for as soon as the warm air and scent of chlorine hit me and I frowned as Darius dragged me through a set of double doors and on through the changing rooms. He didn’t slow his pace or lessen his grip on me and I was powerless to try and fight my way free of him while his Coercion still held me in its grip.

We made it out to the huge swimming pool and my lips parted as I spotted a crowd of people there. Marguerite and her friends shrieked excitedly as Darius dragged me towards them and my heart skittered as I hunted the sea of faces for someone who might help me.

A group of Seth’s wolves started howling with excitement, jostling each other as they drank from bottles of beer and pushed each other close to the edge of the pool.

Darius steered me to the left and we skirted the long swimming pool, heading toward the deep end where a sign painted on the tiles announced that the water was six meters deep. A shiver raced through me at the thought of all that water, memories of being trapped in that car crash surfacing readily.

Three diving boards stood alongside the water and I had to tip my head back to look up at the tallest one. I’d seen divers using such things in the olympics on the TV but I’d never seen one in real life.

Darius kept hold of me, guiding me closer and closer to the diving boards where Max and Caleb stood waiting for us. Max’s face was a picture of excitement and he was practically bouncing on the balls of his feet. Caleb’s expression was set in a careful mask and he regarded me like I was someone he barely knew, let alone held any affection for.

I swallowed thickly. It was clear I wasn’t going to be getting any help from him and I hadn’t seen even one person here who seemed inclined to stop whatever Darius had planned.

Darius spun me to face the crowd of onlookers over the water and he slung an arm around me like we were friends.

“A lot of people have been talking about the return of the Vega Heirs like they’re something special,” he called, his voice bringing silence to the excitable onlookers. “But I am yet to see anything impressive about them. This one can’t even fight off basic Coercion.”

Darius tugged me against his chest but I stayed silent, unsure what my best move was here. My gaze kept travelling to the deep pool before me and the memories of rushing water were filling my ears. I’d been trapped in that car, waiting to die as it sank towards the riverbed and I fought against my jammed seatbelt.

My heart was pounding, my tongue heavy in my mouth but I couldn’t let them see my fear. I was powerless here but the one thing I could control was my own reaction to whatever they had planned.

“To rise to the top, we fight against our fears and come out triumphant!” Max cried and the ever watchful crowd cheered in agreement. “So shouldn’t one of the girls who claim to be our queens have to prove that she can do the same?”

I frowned at him. I’d never made any such claim and I knew Darcy hadn’t either. Max stalked closer, holding my eye as he leaned in to speak just to me.

“Thanks for sharing your fears with me,” he purred. “It made planning this so much easier.”

Darius looked between me and his friend and I fought to keep my expression blank. My heart was thrumming in panic and a bead of sweat was running down my spine but I wouldn’t give them my terror. I could see that they were set on this path and I wouldn’t beg them to stop. I knew it wouldn’t make any difference anyway.

Max leaned closer, brushing a finger down my arm and smirking knowingly as he absorbed some of my power laced with my fear.

“Come on then,” Darius said, taking his arm from my shoulder and giving me a push so that I started walking again.

Caleb caught my eye as I passed him and he threw me a smile which was as mocking as it was cruel. A sliver of ice stabbed straight through my chest at that smile. It wasn’t like I’d thought we were embarking on some epic romance but I had begun to believe that he wasn’t all bad. That just maybe he wasn’t determined to get rid of me and Darcy. And if I was being really honest I’d begun to think of him almost like a friend. The coldness in his gaze told me how wrong I’d been about that. He may not have been an active participant in this latest torture but he sure as shit wasn’t going to be stopping it.

Darius walked me past the two lower diving boards and stopped me by the ladder that led up to the high board. A little sign informed me that it was a ten meter jump from the tip of that board to the water and my hands started to shake just a little.

“Come on then, Roxy,” Darius growled, his breath warm against my neck as he leaned close. “Up you go.”

“I can barely swim,” I breathed, making sure he knew exactly what he was about to do to me. “I’ll drown if I jump in there.”

“Are you ready to bow to us then?” he asked. “And leave this school behind?”

I looked into his dark eyes, wondering if there was even a hint of humanity lurking in there. I didn’t glare at him or scowl or throw my hatred into my gaze. I just looked and let him see the girl I was. Let him see who he was doing this to, while wondering if he was even capable of pity or remorse. I wasn’t some long lost Heir come to steal his throne. I was just a girl trying to reclaim something that had been stolen from me and figure out my place in this screwed up world.

Darius’s lips parted and something shifted in his eyes. For half a second I actually thought he was going to back off, let me walk away with my tail between my legs and be satisfied by knowing he’d won without forcing me to go through with this.

“Start climbing! All the way to the top!” Max demanded behind us, his Coercion wrapping me in its grasp with firm talons and forcing my limbs into action.

I turned from Darius, kicked my stilettos off and began my ascent up the ladder.

Up and up and up. My palms were slick on the metal rungs and my bare feet felt the chill of them sharply as I climbed ever higher.

The crowd of assholes below me started chanting and it took me a few moments to make out what they were shouting.

“Jump! Jump! Jump!” It wasn’t an encouraging kind of chant though; it was eager, mocking, bloodthirsty.

My long black dress tangled around my legs as I climbed but I didn’t slow as Max’s Coercion urged me on.

When I finally reached the top, I pushed myself to my feet and stood on the long diving board which bounced slightly beneath my weight.

My legs were trembling and in my head I could hear the squeal of brakes, the screams which had torn from my throat as the car careered through the barrier and the swooping sensation in my stomach as the vehicle had dropped towards the river.

I was there again. Sinking, down, down, down and this time no helpful passerby was going to save me.

My ears were full of the terror of my memories but over the top of it I managed to hear another sound. Seth raised his voice in an excited howl as he raced into the room. His wolves howled in response to greet him and I balled my hands into fists to try and hold myself together.

“I was worried I was going to miss the show. I’ve just finished destroying the other one!” he called as he ran to join the other Heirs.

A hard stone dropped into the pit of my stomach at his words. Had he done something to Darcy? Had he hurt her? I wanted to scream at him and demand he tell me but the crowd of onlookers were chanting again and I could barely hear myself think let alone try and be heard from all the way up here.

Darius and Max moved towards the water’s edge and raised their hands as they turned the smooth surface of the pool into a simmering vortex of movement.

I stared down at the deep water in horror. If I’d thought I had no chance of swimming in it before, now I was doubly sure that I was done for. Swimming lessons weren’t exactly something that foster kids were offered regularly and aside from a few trips to the local pool, I’d never really learned how. I could get by, but I’d never attempt to hold my own in deep water, especially since the accident.

“Are you ready, little Vega?” Max called and the crowd of students started chanting louder, demanding the show they were promised as my knees locked into place.

I knew what was coming next. I threw every ounce of my power into my mental shield, hoping that I could fight off the Coercion the next time it came. It was meant to be harder to force someone to do something that could cause them harm and as I knew that this could kill me, I had to hope that they wouldn’t be able to make me jump.

“Jump!” Max yelled and I felt his will smashing against my own.

I took a step forward but managed to fight off the desire to obey. I released a shuddering breath, wondering what would happen if I didn’t jump.

Before I could get too excited about the idea, Seth raised his arms, grinning up at me as he called on his power.

I felt the wind building behind me as he directed it to throw me into the water. Panic gripped me and I made a run for it. I might not have wanted to go in at all but I knew that jumping in myself would be much better than getting tossed in by him.

My heart almost exploded as I leapt from the edge and the crowd screamed for my blood as raucous laughter rang out.

I plummeted towards the pool feet first as the water writhed beneath me. I didn’t want to scream but I couldn’t help it, the terror ripped it from my lungs as I plunged towards the water and my dress was whipped up around me.

I hit the water and shot beneath the surface as a torrent of bubbles raced from my lips. Down, down, down, the weight of my sodden dress dragging me to the bottom as it tangled around my legs.

I struggled against it, ripping the straps down and forcing it off of me as I tried to escape the confines of the material.

The water was cold, way too cold for an indoor pool and I knew I had the Heirs to thank for that.

I managed to force the dress off of me and shoved it away as I was left in my underwear. I twisted around and kicked for the surface with everything I had.

My lungs were burning, aching, demanding me to take a breath that would drown me.

My head breached the surface and I gulped down air as the water swirled around me.

I caught sight of the four Heirs standing on the edge of the pool, looking down at me with cold eyes as Darius and Max forced the liquid to bend to their command.

A huge spout of water rose up like a tower beside me and I tried to kick away from it even though I knew it was pointless.

With a flick of Darius’s hand, the column bent and slammed down on top of me, submerging me again.

I was tossed beneath the churning water like a rag doll as I tried to figure out which way was up and the water pummelled me mercilessly.

My heart was trying to beat a path right out of my chest and I kicked for the surface again with a desperate need to escape.

As I swam, the water fell unnaturally still and the temperature seemed to plummet further, wrapping me in an icy embrace.

The light above me showed me which way to go and I started kicking again, wondering how many times I would have to endure this before they’d let me out.

I scrambled through the water, aiming for the surface as my panic and the freezing temperature slowed my progress and my lungs screamed their protest.

The light was just above me and yet it still looked impossibly far away. I kicked towards it again and my hands met with a solid surface instead of breaching it.

My eyes widened as I beat my fist against the slab of ice that had been constructed to keep me caught inside this nightmare.

I was drowning again. Back at the bottom of that river with the seatbelt cutting into me and no way to get free. Except this time I was free to swim but caught beneath the ice. The air I so desperately craved was mere inches away but it might as well have been miles.

I screamed as the panic swallowed me whole and the last of my air shot from my lips in a torrent of bubbles. I could feel my tears being swept away into the freezing water as if they were nothing and my heart was thumping a rhythm which could only lead to its own demise.

My magic warred beneath my flesh, desperate to save me and I drew on it, summoning fire to my hands.

The force of my power slammed through the ice and I managed the smallest gulp of air before Darius and Max strengthened the wall of ice to combat me.

I didn’t know what to do. I had barely even begun to harness my powers and I had no idea how to shape my magic in a way that could help me. I was a blunt instrument hammering away at a wall of steel.

My magic flared again and this time a spiderweb of cracks shot out over the ice but it didn’t break.

My limbs were trembling from the cold and the panic and I could feel the urge to take a breath swelling up inside of me.

I pounded my fists against the layer of ice as I kept kicking, sinking deeper and then bobbing up again. It was no use. Any moment now I was going to take a breath.

My heartbeat whooshed in my ears and each thump of my fist against the ice was weaker than the last. I was out of tears. I was out of time.

My lungs were burning and I fought as hard as I could against the inevitable but I’d already lost that fight.

Darkness prickled on the edges of my vision.

And I took a breath.