Karen dangles a bottle of beer in front of Roselyn "want some?"
Roselyn rejects the offer with a movement of the hand.
"What are your plans for tomorrow?" Ben demanded, lighting up a cigarette and handing it to her.
"I don't even know where I'm supposed to stay for the night." Rose replies, taking the cigarette.
"Every Enchantress, during the first days, has to stay with Andreas. You will spend all the first week working with him." Karen explained.
"I should look for him, then." Roselyn puts her jacket on. Karen quickly reaches her, "I'll help you."
she turns to them "See you tonight."
They nod waving at the girls goodbye.
Roselyn smiles at them, walking away, followed by Karen.
"Ben is totally into you" Karen exclaimed, as soon as they walk into the open air.
"Yes, like he would be into every new girl." Roselyn giggled.
"Probably." Karen assented, laughing.
They both jolt at the view of Andreas, walking out of the school building.
Karen rushes off to throw down Roselyn's cigarette. She mumbles "He hates when people smoke.".
Andreas lifts his face and his gaze wanders to them.
He walks expeditiously, reaching them in a matter of seconds.
"Where were you?" He frowns.
"I was with Karen and her friends. We've..." Rose stuttered.
"I don't care, who you were you with, you should be careful, especially after what happened to you during the examination. You shouldn't be nonchalantly wandering around the school." He rebuked.
Roselyn rolls her eyes in annoyance.
"You have to stay with me for one week, then you'll be allocated in a room with another student. You're under my responsibility, so make sure to let me know where you are." He continues.
"It's my fault, Andreas. I forced her to come."
Roselyn looks at her puzzled, Karen shares a glance.
"All right. We have to go now, Roselyn follows me. Bye Karen, see you tomorrow in class." He says, with a straight face.
Roselyn smiles at Karen and whispers "thanks".
Andreas starts to walk, heading to the exit of the yard.
He remained silent while walking and during the drive to his home.
Roselyn attempted to converse, or at least ask him if something was wrong, but he persisted in ignoring her.
She couldn't figure out what made him alter his behavior towards her so much.
He stops in front of a huge modern mansion. He turns the keys and gets out of the car, Rose walks beside him.
His house had white walls and grey roofs.
The door was covered in gold paint. Four windows emerged from the walls, from where it could be caught a glimpse of very cured and refined furnishings. It was a huge mansion, but yet it was classic and modern at the same time.
"There are two guest bedrooms, you can pick one." He finally speaks, pointing out two bedrooms.
Roselyn nods and reaches the bedrooms, she gives a quick look to both of them, and once she decides which one she likes better, she turns to Andreas. "This one."
The room she picked was small, filled with some posters, a bed, and a desk.
She lays on the bed.
Every other girl would probably ask Andreas the reason why he became enraged unexpectedly. But her way of thinking was different, she would rather provide herself with possible answers to her questions, rather than asking people and wondering whether to believe them or not afterward. Moreover, she didn't even care much about Andreas's sudden mood switches. She had more important matters to think of, for instance, her mother, the main reason why she was there.
The following morning, Andreas woke her up at 8 am, he prepared a quick filling breakfast with toasted bread and scrambled eggs. Later they headed to school.
Waiting for them there, was Margaret. "Hi Rose, I hope you don't mind me watching you."
"It's fine." Roselyn replied.
"Whenever you are ready, press this button." Andreas shows a tissue box, which opens mechanically, revealing a black circular button.
Roselyn takes a long breath, she was conscious of the difficulty of that test since she hardly managed to survive the last ones.
She presses the button, squeezing her eyes, like if that gesture would protect her from any danger.
The sky turned an intense grey as the fog starts growing from the ground. The strong wind was pushing her energetically, making her fall several times. She clings to a rock implanted on the ground.
"What should I do?" She shouted, but not a single soul was there to help her. Even Andreas and Margaret disappeared in the fog.
Rock fragments were blown off by the wind, she tries to shun them, pressing her head down the ground.
She remains in that uncomfortable position until the wind passes. She slowly tries to get up.
As the wind becomes calmer, clouds cast away, giving the sky a lighter color.
Two people appear in front of her, while she was rubbing her eyes to wash the dust off.
As soon as her vision becomes clear, she recognizes them.
They were her real mother, standing on the right, and her adoptive mother, on the left side.
She was taken aback in shock. She couldn't believe her real mother was there, she hasn't seen her in ages. She was also immensely happy to see her adoptive mother. She wanted to reassure her that she was fine, that she didn't need to worry about anything.
Roselyn takes two steps ahead running.
She jumps when the ground cracks, generating a fissure that grows all in its length, dividing the two women.
The earthquake makes them both fall on the ground. They shout as the crack becomes bigger. They hold onto the ground "Rose help!" her adoptive mother screams, one of her feet was stuck in the crack.
Roselyn didn't know what to do, she couldn't help them because the cracks expended so much that she couldn't walk.
She could use her powers but she wasn't entirely sure to succeed.
All that she could do was pick which one to save.
"I don't know what to do" she shutters, tears were running down her face. Her voice was broken and her legs were shaking. She could save her adoptive mother, the one who always took care of her, giving her everything she needed. On the other side, there was her real mother, who left her when she was a child, but she needed her alive to finally ask her the questions, she's been mulling over for all her life.
She had to quickly make a decision.