Chapter 13: A Deal to Help

Lucas lay in bed, his eyes glued to the phone screen as messages from his team flooded in. The information they provided about Silva's fate was grim---the former teacher was to be escorted to the frozen north, a harsh and unforgiving place. It was a sentence that sent a shiver down Lucas's spine, despite his complicated feelings towards the man. He did know that Rosalind had plans in course to save him, but even then, spending time in that place even for a little would probably change a man for life.

He checked the time, noting that the escort was set to depart in a few hours. Part of him wondered if Bloom and her friends were even aware of what awaited Silva. The thought of enlightening them crossed his mind, but he quickly pushed it aside. His relationship with Silva was strained at best, the tension between them palpable whenever their paths crossed.

Lucas couldn't help but feel a twinge of bitterness at the stark contrast between Silva's reputation and his own. Silva had spent years cultivating an image of righteousness, while Lucas's past was an open book, his association with The Cursed Ones forever tainting him in the eyes of others. But if one were to look closer, to examine his actions objectively, they would find that Lucas himself was not all that bad, sure he killed a few people here and there, but like, who hadn't done that in a position of power?

Tossing his phone aside, Lucas sat up, running a hand through his messy hair. His mind raced with thoughts of the impending rescue mission, of the deal he had struck with Bloom. His entire stay at Alfea depended on Rosalind, and he was honestly slightly worried about her find out he was part of the group that decided to screw up one of her plans.

A sudden knock at the door jolted him from his thoughts. "Come in," he called out, his voice sounding steadier than he felt.

The door swung open, revealing Bloom, her face etched with worry. "It's time," she said simply, her tone urgent.

Lucas nodded, rising to his feet and grabbing his jacket. "Let's go, then," he replied, hoping his voice didn't betray the nervousness he felt.

As they made their way through the halls of Alfea, Lucas's mind drifted to his parents, to the void their absence had left in his life. He was not completely sure why, but whenever he looked at Rosalind, he had an inking that this was not their first meeting. Had his dad known her, he did remember his dad having many people over, basically all the time back when he was still a child. Rosalind was a big figure back then, so it would make sense.. then again the timing did not really match up, she should have been in the prison thing Dowling had made for her...

The thought weighed heavily on Lucas's mind as Bloom and him entered the courtyard. He continued to walk alongside her as they reached the car where Musa, Terra, and Aisha were already waiting.

It was clear that the girls hadn't expected Lucas to join them, as they fell silent when he approached the jeep. With a subtle motion, he indicated for Musa to scoot over to the center seat in the back, making room for him. Musa glanced at Bloom, who nodded in confirmation, and she reluctantly moved, allowing Lucas to take a seat.

Bloom took her place in the front passenger seat, next to Terra, who was behind the wheel. This left Lucas in the back with Musa and Aisha, an arrangement that felt slightly awkward given the tension in the air.

As they waited for Stella to arrive, Lucas stared out the window, choosing to ignore the hushed conversations of the girls. However, he couldn't help but overhear them mention Grey, a name he knew all too well. In fact, Lucas was suspect of Grey was a blood witch, a detail he kept to himself, knowing it wasn't his place to reveal such information. His team did however show that Grey had connections to Aster Dell, and if the reports about the people living their all being blood witches was true, it would make sense for Grey to be one as well, or at the very least some what connected to them.

Lost in thought, Lucas tuned back in just in time to hear Bloom speak, "Front of the car would like to weigh in, details?" Her question was met with a frustrated response from Aisha, who snapped, "Don't we have enough going on? Now this?"

Intrigued, Lucas listened more closely, realizing that the girls seemed to have forgotten his presence. From what he could gather, it appeared that Aisha had taken a liking to Grey. Or Grey took a liking to her, it was all very complicated... Bloom was right... he needed details.

As the girls continued to chat and send messages in their dorm group chat, urging Stella to hurry, the tension in the car grew. Eventually, Bloom spoke up, her voice firm. "We have to go now," she said, buckling her seatbelt.

Aisha's worried reply came quickly, "We can't without Stella. She is the plan."

But Bloom was resolute. "We'll figure something out on the way."

Deciding not to interject, Lucas remained silent as Terra started the car and they set off. The drive to the forest near the academy, where they planned to intercept Silva's escort, was relatively short.

Once they arrived, Terra proposed an unusual plan: using her powers to blow pollen at the cars, giving the guards allergy attacks. Lucas refrained from commenting, finding Terra's innocent nature rather endearing. Despite how stupid he deemed her plan to be.

Clearly stressed, Bloom spoke out, "I'm going to check if there's another way to cross the river." She sat off after speaking, and without a second thought, Lucas followed her, flashing a smile at Musa, Terra, and Aisha, who watched him curiously and with suspicion as he walked away.

As they made their way through the forest, Bloom remained quiet, and for a moment, Lucas wasn't even sure if she knew he was behind her. Eventually, they reached the bridge that would be used for the crossing of the river.

It seemed that Bloom had been aware of his presence for a while but had chosen to stay silent. That is, until they discovered what appeared to be blood on the stones beneath the bridge.

Bending down to get a closer look, Lucas tilted his head in confusion. "Why the hell is it purple?" he muttered, more to himself than to Bloom.

"I think someone was attacked here," Bloom responded, straightening up and surveying the area.

He wanted to respond with a 'Nooooo really?' but thought better of it, deciding to play nice. "If they were, the blood is still fresh, so it would have been quite recent," Lucas added, his words doing little to ease the growing sense of unease.

Without hesitation, Bloom plucked a leaf stained with the purple blood and turned to head back to where they had left the other girls.

As they rejoined the group, Bloom wasted no time in sharing their disturbing discovery. "We think someone was attacked near the bridge recently," she explained, holding up the leaf with the bizarre purple substance that both of them had deemed as blood.

Terra took the leaf, examining it closely. "I'll take a look at this later," she said, her brow furrowed in concern.

Meanwhile, Aisha had been working on a new plan, or rather, a slightly modified version of their original idea. Lucas noticed that he wasn't privy to all the details, but he chose not to press the issue, trusting that the girls had their reasons for keeping him partially in the dark. Well that was a stretch, he did not trust their reasons at all, even if they did not trust him, he was already here, if he wanted to screw them over he didn't need to mess with a specific part of the plan... he could just call Rosalind...

As he watched them prepared to put their plan into action, the air was thick with tension and anticipation. Thinking back on it... Lucas started regretting now coming up with a plan on their behalf... if they screwed this epically, and Rosalind found out... wouldn't he be in deep shit...?