Circle Quartet: 20

Chapter 20

I skip the dinner because I need to know about the stray dog. I’m now heading to the library. I know that Abbie will be worried for I’m not coming to my room yet, after having a father-and-daughter-outing. I text Abbie as I’m on my way to the library, telling her that I’m not hungry and she doesn’t have to worry about me.

There are not so many people in the library at this time. I ask the librarian on duty about the book of stray dogs. She points at the werewolves section. The librarians here are not very talkative and sometimes they look so serious especially when somebody makes a noise. They have sharp ears and two of them are werewolves.

I go to the werewolves section and search for the book about stray dogs. But there are no books mentioning about dogs. The books are all about werewolves. I take one book about the history of werewolf and begin to read.

The main family of werewolf is the Silver. Like my clan and the others; Amber, Black and Primrose, we’re also called the Royal Blood. Those from the main family are superior to the Minors. Only the Royal Blood can join the Circle. The Minors, on the other hand, serve for the Royal Blood. But that was a long time ago. Now, the Minors are no longer serve the Royal Blood like back then. We treat them as equal and they can hold any ranks or joining the Circle.

There are many things that I should know about werewolves as I’m reading the book. I think this is one of the ways to know Stefan better. Talking about Stefan, I haven’t seen him since the blooding ceremony.

As I flip the page about Stray Dog, the annoying alarm shrieks and I nearly jump off my seat. I quickly close the book and put it on the shelves as the book can’t be borrowed. Not all books can be borrowed from this library. Some of them are considered as the artefact so we can only read inside the library.

I’m now in frustration mood. I need to know about the stray dogs. Why do I have to be aware of them? Are they meant harm to the vampires? I think I should ask Stefan. He knows the answer. He must know the answer. I look at my watch. It’s nearly 11 pm. My cell phone rings. It’s from Abbie.

“Alice, where have you been? I’ve been waiting in this room for hours!” she shouts. She reminds me of Raina.

“I’m so sorry, Abbie. I was reading book at the library. I’m going to the room now. Is there any supply in the fridge?” I ask.

“My Dad sent a lot of supplies for us. Hurry up, Alice! Or I’ll lock the door from the inside,” she’s trying to scare me.

“Okay, Abbie. I’ll be there in three seconds!” I hang up my call and ready to teleport to my room. Before I teleport, I pass the fountain. The man whom I found several days ago is not there. Maybe it’s just my imagination at that time. I shake my head and teleport to my room before Abbie driving me crazy!

The physical training starts tonight. Everyone has to assemble at the Main Hall for the briefing. I sit beside Stefan as he saved the seats for me and Abbie. That’s very nice of him. Grandma Maegan gives the briefing as she’s the Chancellor of this Academy for this year. We get the new schedule which has been sent to our D-Vice.

I take a look at my schedule. Some of the training requires mixing groups, and some of them are don’t. After the briefing session, all of us scramble to the Gym. Actually I would like to call it the Big Gym because it is big. It’s like as huge as a shopping complex! You can get all the equipments here.

My cousin, Adam, is the coach of this physical training. He wears a cap and a whistle hangs around his neck. He blows the whistle three times. Everybody gathers in front of him.

“Welcome to the gym, people. I’m Adam Amber, your coach. You guys are going to be trained for two weeks in a row. Before we start the real training, we need to warm up first. Get into your group according to your class and do the stretching. I want at least 30 minutes of stretching. Let’s go!” he blows the whistle louder than just now.

Abbie and I gather with Stefan, Dan and Helen. We stand in a circle and Stefan stands in the middle to lead the stretching. Stefan and I are used to warm up because we’re very active in sports when we’re in high school. Abbie only plays indoor game so she has trouble in stretching her legs.

After 30 minutes warming up, Adam whistles one more time and this time we just stay in our group. Adam explains about the training and the first thing that we have to do is the body check-up to make sure that our body is healthy and fit enough to undergo the training for two weeks in a row.

Abbie and I go to the medical room at the North Tower where I meet Aiden, or should I call him, Dr. Aiden, again. He greets us warmly and does the check up. And after that, we go back to our room because the real training will start tomorrow. So I think I should have a good morning sleep before I wake up the next night.

“This physical training is killing me!” moans Abbie as she lies flat on her bed. “Thank God that training is over!”

“Chill out, Abbie. We’re supposed to be strong and tough, remember? I can’t wait for the test. It’s going to be great!” I sit next to her. She’s still moaning and whining.

“How come you didn’t feel the muscle pain, Alice?” she asks.

“Let’s say that I’m used to it. You see, Dad taught me martial art since I was four,” I answer, smiling down to her.

“It’s not fair. Daddy didn’t teach me martial art but soccer,” she mutters.

“At least you’re good in kicking, Abbie. And you run fast too. Helen was so amazed when she saw you running on the track for 10 rounds non-stop,” I try to cheer her up. Well, she’s good in running. No doubt about that.

Then there’s knocking on the door. I yell at someone behind the door to come in because I’m too lazy to get up from Abbie’s bed.

“Hey, girls! So, how’s your physical training?” asks Beatrice.

“Great!” I cheer.

“No,” whines Abbie.

“Aww, poor Abbie. But don’t worry. We’re here to ask both of you to go to the spa. There’s spa of herbs to regain your energy back,” says Saffron.

“A spa? In this Academy?” Abbie and I nearly scream in disbelieving.

“Yup. And you guys are going to like it. It’s not a public spa so we don’t have to worry about the stares from the males,” adds Beatrice.

Abbie and I cheer. Abbie jumps off her bed like she doesn’t suffer from the muscle pain. We are all excited to go to the spa. We get our toiletries and dash off to the spa.