Chapter 43

"I wonder how he expects you to do that. Like it's easy?" Miranda scoffed and adjusted on her seat. She had heard our conversation and she was not having any of it

"I don't know what to do, Miranda" i heard some noise at the back just then. Miranda heard it first. It was right behind us. She looked back and I did the same. Right under the back seats, we could see Lucas bent over a body on the floor and when the body raised its head, it turned out to be Maria. That'd be the second time I'd catch them making out and so openly as well. The noise had been he pushing chairs apart to create space for them on the floor. The fact that Aunty Amanda passed by and did not find their action weird validated the fact that everyone in the camp was bizarre.

We turned away again and pretended not to hear the smacking sounds they made. It was disgusting. So much for caring about the 'poor' child, didn't know she was in fact a master in flirting who didn't need my pity or affection.

"Things that happen here make me wanna puke. All the time" Miranda said fixing her gaze on the stage before her. There, Aunty Amanda took the microphone from the man who was formerly talking.

"Now everyone, we want to do the quick mating moment before we showcase our abilities" she smiled. Her smile was very creepy. "I hope we are all ready for this?" Everyone booed and cheered except me.

"That's nice. Before we do this, I want our waitresses to serve us some booze, so we can make cheers to togetherness! Waitresses! Over to you!" She said, dropped the microphone and music started to play in the background as ten beautiful girls came out of the store, all dressed in purple and black gowns that barely covered their butts. They were carrying several bottles of beer and they made a sound from their mouths as they walked towards the front row to begin sharing the drinks. It was the sound of flutes but there were no flutes in their mouths. It was impressive. In few minutes, everyone was already served, including Miranda and I. I never drank beer, so I looked at Miranda to find out that she had the same bland expression on her face. We both dropped our bottles on the floor and watched others drink and yell excitedly.

"Now it is time for a quick mating moment. We shall have everyone come out here to the stage with their mates and partners as the case might be. I guess everyone of us here has a partner, but if you don't have one, you can stay at the far end corner of the room. This is what we do every year in order to share togetherness and show everyone of us here that we need to be one. We do not have to fight we should be one we all have our powers and even though we are diversified, we should still know that we are all supernaturals despite our diversity and so, we should be one work together in love and help one another. We have been trying to create oneness and unity for years but it has not been working like we want. We hope that this year we would achieve whatever it is we should have achieved long ago so now I want us to start with the host of this location in the person of the owner the founder, the establisher, the sole proprietor of Enchanting Promises High School"

Everyone clapped as Mrs Charlotte came up to the stage with her husband who looked rather too young and sheepish. I had never seen him until then. She had on a red apparel laced with purple belt and stuff i couldn't fathom. Her husband sat there beside her, morose and with a sheepish and uncanny smile that also creeped you out. He looked better without smiling

For some reason, Mrs Charlotte looked like she wasn't really happy to be there. She was led to the high seats by another teacher from Enchanting Promises High School. Next to be called to the podium was Uncle Robinson who was led to the seat next to Mrs Charlotte and then when he was asked where his partner was he was quiet I looked away quickly because I did not want him to point at me I didn't want him to call me out or anything. I thought to myself: "Would he actually ask me to come out or would he just say he didn't have a partner?":Miranda looked at me and I locked eyes with her; we were obviously both thinking the same thing.

After a long unnerving silence, he finally responded: "I'm sorry, I don't have one" Everyone sighed. It was so loud that I wondered if there was an amplifier in their voices because how could anyone sigh and it will sound so loud as though they were singing. I sighed a sigh of relief after I heard his reply. The last thing I wanted was to be called out into that meeting. Uncle Robinson stared at me just then and shook his head, as if to say "Don't forget our agreement" I wasn't going to come out in the first place actually. I just wanted to leave that scene and I was sure that if I got an opportunity, I'd seize it.

I thought it had ended there. Little did I know that trouble had just begun. Mrs Charlotte got up and facing him, she said so loudly like a mother scolding her child for the umpteenth time: "Why are you lying? Did you forget we all could read your mind?"

Oh. So that's why they all sighed. Miranda adjusted on her seat. She looked uncomfortable. I noticed that she was bent over to the other side such that I couldn't really see her face. I peered into her corner by stretching my neck like a giraffe and I realized that she had a phone in her hands. Not only did she have the phone; she was also texting someone, and it looked like it was very serious. I didn't realize until then that she also had a phone.

"No I am not lying" Uncle Robinson defended himself.

"What happened to Anita?" Mrs Charlotte asked again with a voice that gave you chills. Her eyes were turning bloodshot. Uncle Robinson hung his head low and looked straight at me, and I wondered if he was going to confess about her murder, or ask me to-- because why was he staring at me this deeply? I looked away and adjusted several times on my seat. Just then, some people appeared from the back of the hall and walked up to the podium. They looked serious. It was Nick, Vera and one other guy I have never met.

"Oh no, this doesn't look good" I thought and looked at Miranda's side. She seemed carried away by whoever she was texting. I tried to talk to her but she was totally distracted. I didn't want to watch a fight ensue. I knew Nick was grossly mad at him for killing his girlfriend, Anita, and also mad at me for losing the competition to me. Vera was mad at me as well. That was definitely enough to start another war. I didn't know what the management of Enchanting Promises were thinking when they thought getting together like this by camping every year could make vampires and werewolves friends, alongside the other supernaturals. I was sure that was how they did it every year, and it has never worked. Why didn't they think of something else, something different? It always ended in war. The last war had killed a lot of people including Anita's father. Maybe Anita could have lived if she obeyed her father and stayed away from the vamps, because it was her relationship with Nick, the vamp that cost her life. The war didn't kill her, but in a way, the war did, if you think deeply about it.

It felt like a movie I wanted to watch and at the same time pause or completely stop watching. It looked like dangerous fun and that was because things like these only existed in the fantasy books I read back at home, and the ones Mike read to me, at home, in Kangaroo Estate.

I actually felt like I was lost in a trance. I didn't believe it was real. I needed a distraction. Only God knew if a war could be avoided at that moment.

"What happened to Anita?" Mrs Charlotte asked again.

"Tell the world what you did to my girlfriend before I slit your throat!" Nick thundered. Vera was behind him, supporting him.

"I wonder why you think this get-together will get us together! We can't be friends! Okay at least we could be distant acquaintances but now you've ruined every chance of that happening.

You murdered Anita!" I could see that it hurt him because he couldn't do anything to save her. He sounded like he really missed Anita. Of course, that was normal. She was his girlfriend. Everyone in the hall made some disturbed noise. It was obvious that everyone was waiting for what would happen next

"Miranda, look what's going on before us" I said, facing her again but she was still texting this person. "Miranda!" I tapped her forcefully and she reluctantly turned to me. "What is it?" She asked with a scowl on her face

"Why are you carried away? Who are you even texting?" I yelled. She was being annoying. She totally acted like nothing was going on around her or everything was all right. She wasn't even looking at what's going on at her front.

"You won't understand, Ariana. I need some time alone please"she said and turned back to her phone. I couldn't read her expression. She had ecstasy coupled with criticality, and apprehension written clearly on her face. I didn't know which one was more dominant. I couldn't complete my sentence because at that very moment, I heard my name being called. I didn't realize it had got to our turn, we must have been discussing for a really long time.

"Ariana Peyton, please come forward"

I heard it again. It sounded like ice in my ears. I wanted to freeze in my chair because bolting was not an option. Most people turned towards me to see why I was not responding. Most of the students were already on the podium, which was now looking wide enough for five hundred people or did they supernaturally expand it? They all had their partners seated beside them. All, except about twenty of them, including Uncle Robinson.

I thought about what Uncle Robinson told me. He had said I shouldn't show them my ability. He hadn't asked me not to go forward during the mating session. So, an idea occured to me, I didn't want Miranda to be made uncomfortable like they've made me. So , I quickly got up, whispered into her ears: "Follow me, act like you're my mate" I said and we both got up, holding hands as everyone clapped for us. They all clapped with their palms inside out. Weird.

"Where's your mate, Ariana? Where's your mate, Miranda?" Oops. There we go! They didn't think we were mates. Maybe it was expected that we had opposite sexes as mates.

"I don't have one" I blurted out without thinking twice.

"He doesn't want me" Miranda said almost as soon as I responded. Mrs Charlotte looked us over and asked that we join the other students who were mate-less.

"Now that the recognition is over, we are going to have a twenty minutes break. Each one of you should have some time with your mates. We'll come back at midnight for showcasing of our abilities. Thank you"

"Miranda!"

"Leave me alone Ary."

"Do you even see what's going on before you right now? Nick is attacking uncle Robinson!" I said. "Why are you acting like this?"

"They fought last year, and it led to a war. This is going to lead to a war too but it'll be tamed. I mean it won't last long, although it'd have visible effects on the pack. Other packs will join the blue wolf to fight the Vicious Vamps but it won't work"

"How do you know?" I asked, even though I knew she experienced déjà Vu every year. I still couldn't bring myself to believe this already happened last year, and that was how she got to know.

"Mash told me" she said quickly with a quick big grin on her lips. It disappeared almost as soon as it appeared.

"Mash?"

"That's who I'm texting. He's telling me facts about what's happening right now. I don't have to look; I already know because he's talking to me right now" she said and turned her whole body towards me. I quickly stole a glance at the podium. Things had died down a bit. Mrs Charlotte and a couple of other teachers were pleading with Nick to be calm, and not cause chaos at the party, and that both of them--he and uncle Robinson, the culprit, could settle their differences one on one, later.

"You don't have to transfer your aggression on the whole pack, please. I lost my baby last year, I can't afford to lose another this year. Please be calm"

"Don't tell me to be calm, it makes me wanna fight!" Nick said. His father was behind him now. I didn't know when he re-entered the hall. He looked like he had a bad plan in mind. He was grinning evilly.

"But I'm pleading with you. Let's just have fun at this party and not fight. I know Sword has done something wrong, although I do not know what it is, but can we address it later? We are here to showcase our abilities and have fun. So, please be calm" she said. Two or three other teachers were on their knees.

"I said stop! Don't tell me to be calm!" Nick said and stretched forth his hands with unexplainable dexterity and pose. His eyes were turning red and there started to appear some cracks in his temple as he grumbled and growled.

"Stop, Nick!" His father shouted. I could notice many of the students whispering to one another. Most of them had terror written on their faces. So, vampires were this terrifying?! For some reason, they started to interest me, not in such a way that I want to be associated with them, but like a cinematic interest kind of.

"Leave them be, for now! Let's go, we have a meeting right now. We'll talk about this in the meeting, okay?" he said and reluctantly, Nick dragged his feet and followed his father. I could see Nick respected his father a lot. I didn't know supernaturals had something called respect in them. Vera followed too after making faces at the people on the podium. The other guy, the third of the trio shook his head, and said with all seriousness, "Prepare for war!" And vanished.

Now everything was peaceful again.

"Ariana, would you listen to me or keep on watching whatever it is you're watching so attentively?" Miranda drew me back to my senses.

"I'm sorry. So who is Mash?" I asked, turning towards her again. Just then, my phone rang. It was mom.

" I have to take this, Miranda. Please" I said, but she acted like she didn't hear me, or care if I took the call. I talked to mom for a bit. Mom told me the new development at home, she and Jack had something planned to get Cameron to sign the divorce papers. The twins were hale and hearty, and every other thing was fine. I wanted badly to go back into that world where my family lived and belonged.

Enough of this weirdness I faced everyday at the camp, but it wasn't possible to leave, until the camp was over. I couldn't wait for it to be over.

I dropped the phone in my pockets as soon as I said bye to mom, and listened to Miranda.

"I met Mash online, about two months ago, but he hasn't been online for the past one month. But now he's back. Turns out he's also a student like me, and pretty young too, but he's a undiscovered controller yet"

"Controller?'

"That's what he calls himself. Mash has a lot of features and qualities that beat everyone in this hall put together, but he chose to remain anonymous, so he's undiscovered for now because he hides his speciality. He asked me to keep his identity anonymous. I'm telling you because you're my friend and I trust you" she explained, beaming with smiles that weren't wide enough to look real.

"Wow. Are you sure he's not trying to impress you? Is there anyone whose powers supercede these weirdos in this hall?"

"Yes, Ary. He told me a lot. He can turn into whatever he imagines himself to be"

"For real?" I exclaimed. Now that was new to me.

"Yes. He has the power to do whatever he imagines. When we started to chat this evening, he complained that I was not responding on time, and I told him that I was at a party, but now, he's no longer complaining...he..."

Just then, she stopped talking because reality dawned on her. I scoffed. I understood just then too: Mash had drawn her attention totally to himself, and that was why she was carried away during the course of the heated argument going on, on the podium. He had cast a spell on her. She hadn't realized it until then.

"Wait, what?" She exclaimed and adjusted on her seat. The phone dropped from her hands but I caught it in time before it dropped to the floor or the screen would shatter into pieces. The floor was really hard.

"Yes, it is definitely what you are thinking, Miranda. You need to see how absentminded you were, I started to think something was wrong with you. You looked very serious texting him, and didn't look up for a minute until I tapped you severally. Still, you didn't stop texting, you only asked me to leave you alone" I explained in case she didn't know how annoying she had been, in the past minutes.

"Mash cast a spell on me?" She asked no one in particular.l, beating her chest slightly. I shrugged.

"What have you got yourself into? You don't chat with just anyone you see online, we always are taught to be careful. Dropping your phone won't even end the spell. I think he has ended it even because you're no longer glued to the phone" I scoffed. The mating and pairing session was still going on in front.

We were many, so not everyone was called to the podium yet, and as we were seated in the back of the hall, our names were not called yet. I still didn't know who I'd say was my mate. Neither did Miranda.

"I'm disappointed" she finally said holding her head in her hands.

"But why are you disappointed? You knew this guy had powers, didn't you? Did he say you were exempted from the people he'd display these powers on?"

"Ariana, he didn't say, but I just didn't realize it until now, so it makes me feel small now that I realized what he has done IIf he could control me like that, then he could do worse" she held her head in her palm and shook it vigorously.

"It's okay. It's over now. All you have to do is delete his number and stop talking to him. He'd never find you again. Don't worry, friend" I said patting her back and massaging her fingers, the way she did after my encounter with the spooky figure.

"Too late, Ariana" she said and sobbed into my shoulder.

"What do you mean 'too late'?" I started to get apprehensive. Did she give him some personal information about her?

"I already gave him the address of this place. He said he wanted to attend the party with me. It's an opportunity to meet him, so I said yes, and gave him the address" she looked into my face for an encouraging sentence, so she'd feel not so bad, but all I wanted to do was scold her and run far away from her.

"What do you think I should do, Ariana? I invited him here because I wanted to meet him"

"Then we will meet till he arrives. You'll meet him"

"And you?"

"I'll stay back please"

"But Ariana, don't you think we can both ask him to help us? We should tell him whatever challenge we have and he could help us combat it. Don't you think so?"

"I thought about it too, but do you think such a person would help us freely? He could control us anytime he wanted" I insisted.

"At least we could try. What challenge do you have, Ariana? Oh ,you want to stop seeing that ghost, right?"

I nodded.

"It's all right. I'll tell him. His coming could actually turn our lives around, you know" I nodded and shook my head. I didn't believe too much in that.

"Tell me more about him"

"He is young, and he's from a average family, a humble background. He is tatted in hidden parts of his body, like he told me. He says that's where his power lies-the tats. He is really strange and powerful. His parents don't even know he has these powers. He hides them because he's scared of being alienated. He is what these wolves need to combat the vampires and overcome them forever"

I sighed.

"What does he eat?" I asked quietly. I was concerned about him hunting for, and eating human flesh, like other weirdos on this camp did.

Miranda hesitated before replying: "I really don't know..."

And then, the apprehension again. Still I was fascinated by the idea of such a person like that existing. I also wanted to meet him even though I was nervous and uncertain about that.

"That's all he told me. He didn't say what he ate. But I'm sure he eats what a regular human does eat"

"He must really like and trust you to be able to tell you all these. Either that or he's just plainly lying. Who tells these deep secret to a stranger?" I wondered. Miranda scratched her head for an answer.

"Actually, Ary...

"Yeah?"

"He looks familiar. He actually told me that he has met me on two different occasions but I can't really remember, but when I look at his pictures, I feel he's familiar. I don't know...I can't decipher that"

"Okay. Don't worry too much...we .."