low-flying panic attack;
❛ BRINGER OF DEATH ❜ ↷ fate
❝ she wants me to lose control ❞

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

"The closest the caravan will get to the school is ten kilometers or so. Andreas' route has him crossing the river here," Aisha pointed at a spot on the map on the tablet where all the girls have gathered around, "But according to Terra, that bridge got burned out a few weeks ago."

Terra chuckled at their confused faces and explained. "The third years had a party; a drunk fire fairy. Some said that it's a mess but nobody wants to tell the grown-ups."

"Which means we'll have to divert to this side road, which has more cover anyway." Aisha stated. "That's where we need to stop the caravan."

"I can explode it." Bloom suggested.

Aisha's eyes widened and she nodded while giving her a weird look. "Yes, or I could flood the engine."

Bloom opened her mouth to say something but ended up closing it and nodding sheepishly. "Yes, smarter. And quieter."

"Musa will let us know if anybody is suspicious."

Musa nodded with a small smile, "Human mood ring reporting for duty."

"And then it's the Stella show." Aisha smiled at the Princess, "She goes invisible, grabs the key and breaks him out. Can you manage?"

Stella squinted at her, "Of course. I just hope I don't hurt my back from carrying basically the entire plan."

Sabrina snorted and rolled her eyes. "And some people still don't know that you're a Princess. Nobody but royalty has that big of an ego."

Terra smiled, her eyes flickering from one of her roommates to another. Aisha narrowed her eyes, making an attempt at hiding her grin. "Yes, Terra?"

"I just think we should take a moment to appreciate this." The earth fairy suggested, "All of us working together despite what Rosalind is up to. The Winx suite, a team. Even Stella, who will deny she's enjoying being part of the group, enjoying being part of the group. I just want us all to remember that, no matter how bad things get out there, in here, things are good."

"Yeah." Tecna breathed out a chuckled, "Go, Winx suite, I guess."

-

Sabrina was not a particularly nosy person, but when she heard Beatrix and Rosalind's argument in the courtyard, she couldn't help but listen.

"Gossip aside, it is peculiar that ever since you came here, fairies from this school have started to go missing. Incompetent fairies, sure, but even so." Beatrix said in a monotone tone. "Keeping secrets from me is objectively stupid and a waste of my talent."

Her words were enough to make Sabrina surprised. Beatrix spent sixteen years with Sky's father in hiding and Rosalind was clearly a person she looked up to. It was obvious that she expected a bigger reward for being her secretary and the main reason that she got her freedom.

"James." Rosalind told the janitor who was cleaning graffiti from the wall. "Would you like to take a break? Beatrix can clean the rest."

Sabrina watched the Headmistress and janitor walk away and chose that as a perfect time to walk up to Beatrix.

"It's ironic." She started with a small smirk on her face. "At the beginning of the year you told me that I was the teacher's pet. It's nice to see how the tables have turned."

Beatrix's jaw clenched and she met her amused eyes with a glare. "You don't know what you're talking about."

"I don't?" Sabrina's eyes widened in fake surprise. "So Rosalind isn't casting you aside after she got what she wanted?"

Beatrix spent weeks trying to get back in her pants in an attempt to bring back the old "relationship" they had. She was beginning to look desperate and Sabrina felt sorry for her but the two never got further than making out after a few drinks. She refused to go there with her again. But she had no idea why Beatrix wanted her when she could easily manipulate another fairy or specialist in Alfea.

"She is not casting me aside." Beatrix snapped, her voice wavering a little. "I assure you that when things get bad, I'm going to be the one with her protection. Not you or Bloom."

The jealousy was painfully obvious, amusing, and a little bit sad. Sabrina narrowed her eyes but her smirk remained. "Sure. Keep telling yourself that, Bea."

Not sparing the first year another glance, Sabrina turned on her heel and made her way outside while pulling her phone out and texting.

𝗦𝗮𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗮:
𝗬𝗼𝘂'𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗶𝗹𝘃𝗮 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘀 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁?

She nervously bit her lip while waiting for a reply, which she received less than a minute later.

𝗥𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗻:
𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗵 𝘄𝗲'𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘃𝗲
𝘄𝗵𝘆

Sabrina sighed and started typing.

𝗦𝗮𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗮:
𝗝𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴
𝗚𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗹𝘂𝗰𝗸

She saw him typing for a couple of seconds before he replied.

𝗥𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗻:
𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗸𝘀
𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗼𝗼

A scoff of disbelief left her lips before she chuckled to herself. Riven knew her better than anyone, of course he knew what they were planning. And she wasn't doubting his ability to stay quiet. He cared about both her and Silva enough to let her and the girls do what they had to do.

-

"Terra, can you move your seat forward?" Aisha whined as all of them except for Stella and Tecna settled into the car. The latter was not there because she decided not to go since all of them could not fit in the car and her powers weren't crucial to the plan. But they were all still waiting for Stella who was running late.

Terra rolled her eyes, "Your legs aren't that long." Her eyes narrowed at her through the rear view, "Can you not eat in here, Dad is really funny about it."

"I'll be careful I promise."

"Music we need music." Musa said as she entered Spotify on her phone.

Bloom turned around in her seat and corrected her, "No, we need Stella."

Aisha's phone rang and she pulled it out while muttering, "That's probably her." She turned her phone off and was silent for a second before she whispered to herself, "Grey? How did he . . . ?" Her mouth fell open in disbelief and she glared at Musa over Sabrina, who was sitting in the middle of them. "Wait, did you give Grey my number?"

Musa flinched. "Okay. Don't be mad at me."

"Grey who?" Terra asked as she and Bloom turned around while Sabrina awkwardly squirmed between Aisha and Musa while the former glared at the latter. "Who's Grey?"

"Remember when you introduced me to Sam? I'm just returning the favor." Musa defended herself.

"This is so much different!" Aisha argued with wide eyes.

"Distinctions and similarities."

"The front of the car would like to weigh in." Bloom chuckled, "Details."

"Don't we have enough going on?" Aisha retorted, clearly uncomfortable. "Now I have to deal with this."

Sabrina gave her an unimpressed look. "Deal with a guy you like texting you? How horrid."

Bloom gaped at her in surprise. "You like him?"

"No!"

"Yes."

"Obviously."

Terra pointed at Musa while her eyes stayed glued on Aisha. "Never bet against a mind fairy."

"He asked Sam for your number and Sam asked me." Musa explained.

"Wait." Terra held her hand up. "This is Sam's roommate? Grey the Specialist? With the abs?"

"Abs?" Bloom exclaimed, chuckling when Aisha groaned and leaned back in her seat.

Sabrina laughed and pulled out her phone. "I'm texting Stella. We have to get going if we want to catch up to them before it's too late."

-

Ten minutes later, Stella was still not answering their texts and she was nowhere to be found so eventually, Bloom spoke up, "We have to go now."

"We can't. Not without Stella." Aisha shook her head rapidly, "She is the plan."

Bloom shrugged and fastened her seatbelt. "We will figure something out on the way."

Sabrina sighed and swallowed anxiously as Terra started the car and they started going down the road that the specialists and guards took with Silva. She quickly typed out a text to Stella and then leaned back in her seat.

𝗦𝗮𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗮:
𝗪𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘃𝗲
𝗜'𝗺 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂
𝗧𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝗺𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻

-

They arrived at the burned down bridge faster than Sabrina expected but their problem was that they still haven't managed to come up with a plan that did not include Stella.

"What if I bloom a bunch of pollen and give all the guards allergy attacks? Okay, no, ignore that. That wouldn't work." Terra rambled while they were all getting out of the car. "Okay, no  wait. I've got another ─ no, wait. This is good, okay. Or, um . . . oh, no, this is good. What if Aisha makes them all pee at the same time? How brill would that be?"

"No bad ideas in brainstorming, but maybe a breath?" Musa told her calmly.

"I'm gonna make sure there's not another way to cross the river." Bloom said and made her way towards the bridge, leaving the four girls behind.

"Holograms!" Terra exclaimed, "What if we use holograms? Sabrina can create shadow people that can like fight the ── "

"Can you just stop?" Aisha snapped, "Please. My first plan was good. We don't have time to come up with another one."

Musa slowly walked up to her and wrapped an arm around her forearm. Her eyes glowed purple and Aisha let out a shaky breath. The mind fairy nodded and said, "It's okay. You got this."

Aisha smiled at them, a huge contrast to her previous behavior. "I'm gonna take a look at the maps."

Sabrina watched her leave with her mouth agape and when she was out of earshot, she squinted at Musa. "What the bloody hell was that?"

"I've gotten better at taking in people's emotions when I'm around magic. I just took the edge off her anxiety." Musa said, her tone way too casual.

"Without telling her?" Terra asked, her eyebrows raised.

Musa shrugged. "If she knows I did it, it will come back. It's okay, I promise."

"Just don't make a habit out of it." Sabrina told her seriously. "Controlling people's emotions isn't a good idea and I know that it's not anything major, but doing it a lot is not a good idea."

"Come on." The Asian girl shook her head, "We should help her out."

Musa had the curse of feeling everyone's emotions all the time even when she didn't want to. Sabrina understood because she used to unwillingly channel the fear from the people around her which caused her to lose control all the time. She knew what it was like when you can barely focus on what's going on in your own head because you are too busy focusing on what is inside everyone else's heads.

Her losing control was bound to happen and Sabrina hoped that she could stop her from going too far.

-

"I think something got attacked there. There was blood with purple in it." Bloom explained after getting back from exploring the destroyed bridge. "Is that a thing here? Purple blood?"

Terra shrugged and accepted the leaf with blood on it that Bloom handed to her. "Everything is a thing here. I'll look it up when we get back."

"Got it." Aisha exclaimed, making all of them turn to her. "Minor modifications but the first half of the plan is the same. Let's go."

Sabrina was glad that they at least had someone who came up with plans. If it was up to Bloom, they would all just jump into any dangerous situation coming their way without a plan. And Sabrina never really had a moral compass strong enough to stop her.

-

They hid the car from view and then hid behind some trees and bushes so the specialists and guards would not notice them when they arrived at the bridge.

"With the bridge out, the caravan will have to go north up the river. I will flood the transport's engine. Here's where it's tricky; without Stella's invisibility magic we have to help Silva break himself out. Terra will get us the key. To keep moving, they will switch Silva to a less secure spot. Terra's vines have limited range. My water doesn't. Timing is everything. Then it's up to Silva."

Aisha's plan sounded simple but anything could go wrong at any second. And if anyone found them, they could end up in the cell next to Silva's in Polaris.

The car turned back to go north up the river, just like Aisha said they would, and the water fairy flooded their engines which caused them to stop and get out of the car. Terra got the key and they watched as the guards placed a tied up Silva in the back of the car in the open. That gave them a good opening for Aisha to let a big drop of water, that was carrying the key, follow after them.

"Nothing is happening." Terra frowned when Silva simply stared down the road as the car got further away from them.

"He can't just get out unnoticed. It will only get him killed." Sabrina shook her head, "He needs a distraction."

Bloom perked up and tapped Aisha's shoulder. "Can you pull gas from that tank?"

Aisha nodded while Sabrina's eyes widened in realization. The gas leaked out of the car and Bloom immediately set fire to it which caused an explosion that the other cars definitely heard.

"Holy shit." Sabrina gaped at the explosion before they all rushed further into the woods to try and catch up to Silva.

From a distance, they saw a man jump off of the cliff and into the river while three specialists rushed after him. They stared down at the river while the fairies hid behind bushes.

"Aisha." Sabrina spoke up, her worried gaze glued to the river, "Send him a bubble of water. He can't stay down there alive for long."

She nodded and did as she was told while the Jackson girl could feel Silva's fear flooding her senses. She clenched her fists together and nervously bit her bottom lip. After a couple of seconds, she felt that fear disappear but it could either mean that the bubble helped or that he drowned.

"He is calming down." Musa informed them, letting out a breath of relief. "We're good."

"How long can you hold him under?"

"Long enough for them to leave." Aisha told the redhead, her eyes wide as she concentrated on the bubble not breaking. They watched Riven, Dane and Andreas leave and the second they were far away enough, Aisha let the bubble disappear.

-

They ran towards the shore of the river to find Silva slowly swimming towards them. Sabrina and Terra rushed to help him out and he immediately fell down onto the ground, exhausted.

They slowly took the arrows out of his back and Terra instantly started taking care of his wounds while he stared at them in disbelief.

"That has to be the most reckless thing you have ever done." He shook his head, giving Sabrina a scolding look.

"I don't think that's very true." Terra chuckled, adding some of her cream to another one of his wounds.

"Weren't you here last term?"

Musa grinned sarcastically. "Yeah. When Bloom went crazy and let loose Evil Headmistress."

"We helped." Sabrina reminded her with a knowing look in her eyes.

"What do we do now?" Bloom asked while Silva slowly rose from his lying position.

"Take me to Blackbridge." He told them, causing Sabrina to squint in confusion. "Right off the town square, my friend Sebastian owns a store. He helped us take down Rosalind. He'll hide me."

-

While Bloom was calling Sky, Sabrina received a call from Riven that she expected. He was there and he definitely knew what they were planning before they even arrived.

"Tell me he's fine." Was the first thing he said when she answered the phone outside of Sebastian's store.

"He's fine." She nodded and shuffled on her feet nervously, "We got him somewhere safe and the wounds were not too harmful."

Riven sighed in relief. "Good. You weren't subtle. If it was Dane who looked behind him at that moment instead of me, you would have been dead by now."

A small smile tugged on her lips. "Thanks for not telling anyone."

"Who do you think I am?" He scoffed, almost offended. "It's Silva we are talking about." Riven cleared his throat and said, "Look, I have to go but I will check up on you later. Text me when you get back to school. There is something I need to tell you."

"Okay. I'll see you later."

Sabrina hung up and walked back inside just when Bloom got off the phone with Sky. The fire fairy held a tight frown on her face which caused Sabrina to squeeze her shoulder and give her a concerned look.

"What's wrong?"

Bloom swallowed and said, "Sky is not coming. He doesn't want to see him."

Sabrina's face fell but she nodded in understanding, attempting to comfort her, "Sky is still upset. His entire childhood has been a lie so I think that he gets a pass on this one. He will come around. He always does."

The redhead nodded so the two of them walked into the back of the store where Silva and Sebastian were.

"I'm sorry, Silva, but..." Sabrina sighed and leaned against the doorway, "Sky isn't coming."

His gaze fell to the floor and he nodded, not that surprised. He looked up and said, "Sky will come around."

"When you were at the Capitol, did you hear anything about Dowling?" Bloom asked him hesitantly. "Because we have been trying our best but the Solarian Army is giving up."

"I wish I knew where she went, Bloom." Silva admitted, giving them a sympathetic look. "But we are not going to give up hope just yet. Sebastian here has a knack for finding things."

Sebastian nodded with a sheepish smile. "I'm, uh, I'm like a terrier. But, like, you know, cooler. Actually, maybe a different dog. What dogs are cool?"

Sabrina scrunched her nose up awkwardly, "I'm more of a cat person."

Bloom cleared her throat, going back to the main subject, "Am I supposed to let it go? Go back to the school and act like things are normal?"

"No." Silva immediately shook his head, "No, because everything is not normal. You need to remember that because Rosalind will try to wear you down and you will forget what normal used to be like. Meanwhile, it would appear that Luna allowed Rosalind access to the Royal Archives."

Sabrina's mouth fell open. "Shit."

"What is that? What's in the Royal Archives?" Bloom asked, alarmed by the worried look on the shadow fairy's face.

"Everything that we are not allowed to learn in Alfea." Sabrina started, "The kind of shit that you can't even find at the library. Ancient texts, powerful relics, and anything that can turn us into baby soldiers that she wants us to become." She laughed in both disbelief and distress. "This is insane. She is already torturing everyone without all of that."

Silva nodded, "Yeah, she is planning something. Something big."

"This is all my fault." Bloom said, her voice cracking a little. "All of it." She took a deep breath to try and keep herself from crying. "Dowling. You. Everything that's happening at Alfea, it's all because I was selfish and I wanted answers. And if I didn't let Rosalind out ── "

"She would have manipulated someone else to do that." Sabrina cut her off, "Bloom, you can't blame yourself. That isn't going to fix anything. You messed up, we all did, but worrying about what you should have done is not going to take it all back. There is nothing we can do to take what you did back but we can fix it by stopping whatever she is planning."

-

Bloom went to talk to Rosalind as soon as they got back and after taking a long deserved shower, Sabrina went to look for Riven. She walked across the school towards the Specialists' dorms and was crossing the courtyard when she heard Rosalind calling her name.

"Sabrina." The Headmistress spoke up and for a moment, she thought that she was about to get scolded for not being in her dorm. "Follow me to my office. There is someone there that wants to see you."

While she was hesitant, she knew that she couldn't exactly say no. The main difference between Rosalind and Dowling was that people didn't fear Dowling. They respected her. Sabrina could not name one person in the school who was not afraid of their new Headmistress.

She made her way upstairs and then followed Rosalind towards her office. Outside the office stood Beatrix, who was staring at her with an unfamiliar look in her eyes. Sabrina gave her a short confused look before she followed Rosalind into her office.

The sight of the woman in front of her was enough to make her completely freeze. The dark-haired woman stared down at the teenage girl with narrowed eyes and a grin that looked more venomous than motherly.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" Sabrina spat out, not thinking twice about it. She took a step back when her mother took a step forward. The last time she saw her in person she was thirteen years old. She left her when she was seven and only ever came on Christmas or her birthday. But she stopped coming after her thirteenth birthday and gave Aleksander full custody.

Katherine raised a sharp eyebrow. "Is that how you greet your mother whom you haven't seen in years."

"And who's fault is that?" She shot back. "You left me. You don't have a daughter anymore and I don't have a mother either."

She sighed and brushed her hair out of her face. "Honey, I did all of that to protect you. You were going to learn nothing about your powers with me by your side."

"Uncle Aleksander is a fucking specialist." Sabrina snapped. "How did you think he was going to help me with my powers? The things he gave me were love and acceptance. Something you failed to give me since dad died. He never pressured me about my powers."

"Maybe that's why it took you so long to learn how to use them." Katherine rolled her eyes. "But we will get there. There is no one better to teach you about how to use your powers than Rosalind."

Sabrina looked at her in pure disgust. "She wants me to lose control and I know that I'll only hurt people if I do. When I leave this office I never want to see you again, is that clear?"

"Oh, Sabrina." Katherine chuckled, amused by how stubborn and cold her daughter became over the years. "You and I are nowhere close to done. At least not until I find out what happened to Silva."

Sabrina did not blink or flinch. She refused to react at the mention of Silva and simply stared back at her mother for a couple of seconds before turning on her heel and storming out of the office. She halted in her steps when she passed Beatrix's desk and looked over her shoulder to raise an eyebrow.

"Are you coming or not?"

a/n: i'm alive and proud to present katherine jackson, the worst mother I ever wrote

thank you guys so much for 1k votes. when I started this book I didn't expect it to get so much attention but I'm so grateful for it