“What should we do?”
“Burn her.”
“Bring the magistrate.”
“Throw her out of the orphanage.”
“Stop it!” Esme roared. “Are you stupid? If she is a witch … we could become rich. Richer than Richmond and his slut of a wife.”
The cat reached the space between us. It stopped there, unaware of everything that was going around. Did it really heal my face the last night? This stuff about witches was hard to believe. The world was a crazy place, full of unexplained phenomenons, but magic? Seriously?
And then it happened. The black cat shivered as if some invisible, cold hand stroked it and out of nowhere he carried an envelope in his mouth. Another two sisters fled, they squeaked on their way to the orphanage.
“That is it!” Esme laughed darkly. Her brown eyes gleamed with triumph. She moved faster than I anticipated a person of her girth could. She reached the cat in two heartbeats, snatched the envelope from his mouth, and without regard for my protests, got the letter out. Her gaze stuck to the content as she consumed it greedily.
Halfway through, I fell silent awaiting her comments. Esme was slow to peel her eyes off the letter. The other sisters nagged her, asking what did it say. I looked down, hoping for a copy of a letter, but the cat was gone. It wasn’t fair. I was tied to a pole. The letter could be important!
“This is some true bollocks,” she finally announced, shoving the letter back into the pocket and turning away from me.
“Hey!” I shouted. “The letter was addressed to me. It doesn’t belong to you!” I didn’t exactly know that. I presumed that the cat came with the letter to me because it was for me, but I could be wrong.
Some of the sisters whispered, reduced to something inferior in the presence of Esme. The head of the orphanage had never shown so much hostility before. She was a type to stay in her office and focus on whatever the heads of orphanages focused on. This was new and it put everything in a different perspective.
“You dare to speak to me, orphan?”
“The letter is mine,” I said and a lie just popped inside my head. I couldn’t help it, not that I wanted to. “Give it to me and I won’t cast a curse on you.”
Chapter 3 – Strange Invitation
The head sister Esme glanced at the letter and when another two sisters parted their group, she lost her confidence. Did she really believe my lie?
As the sisters started whispering, Esme approached me with a letter. She was careful to not come too close, fearing that I might attack her.
“So, it’s true then. You’re a witch,” she said quietly.
I extended my hand toward her, expecting the letter. I didn’t know where the confidence and audacity came but it worked. Esme put the letter on my palm and as she did it, electricity jumped between us.
The head sister squeaked and started, though she mustered enough strength to stay in place. At least she let go of the thick paper. It tingled as I held, strange but pleasant feeling.
DARKMOON ACADEMY
*
*
Welcome, Avery.
I am pleased to invite you to attend your last year at the dark fae academy.
Sincerely Headmaster Earl Desmond
*
It obviously was a joke. I knew nothing about the Darkmoon Academy and I wasn’t attending one for sure. All my education has been carried out by the sisters. What is dark fae? I’ve never heard such an expression. Maybe it’s James playing a prank on me? There’s no other explanation. It must be him.
I turned the letter and saw the address on the other side: Park Lane 111. Pearl Village.
Since when the village had an academy? I traced the surface of the paper with my index finger, it discharged little sparks, leaving a trail of burned paper. It quickly faded away, making the paper pristine again. The thickness of the paper seemed extensive, beyond any reasonable joke James could pull off. It can’t be genuine, can it? My heart filled with a mixture of doubt and hope. I feared to wake up and find out that it all has been a dream. It had to be a mistake. ‘Your last year’ didn’t it mean that I should have attended the previous years? Even if it was an error and the postman got … it was the fucking cat. It must’ve snatched it from another house and bring here. Yes, this is the only explanation that makes sense. But why does it have my name on it? No. No. There must be another Avery in the village. Still, I couldn’t back off now. Esme believed me and this was the only thing that could save me.
“I have to go there, to this academy,” I told her.
Esme shivered, watching the letter intently, “what’s the address?”
“Park Lane 111.”
She muttered something under her nose. It was too quiet for me to pick up a single word. Then she came to some decision, as she turned to the rest of the sisters and said, “get back inside. Make sure the orphans attend their duties. I can see them standing idle. Go!”
The sisters dispersed with relief, leaving me and Esme.
“This village has no Park Lane 111. The last number on this street is 110 and beyond that street is an old forest infested with wild animals.”
She was testing me. I knew it in my bones. Maybe initially she’d believed me, but now, doubt flooded her. I had no idea what to tell her. It could be a good chance to escape their clutches but if I wouldn’t convince her now…
“It’s there. It’s just hidden.” I almost believed in my own lie. But it did work. Esme nodded, then told me to turn around. Before she untied me, her cold words touched my neck.
“I’ll take you there, but I want gold. Witches can do it, can’t they?”
I had no idea. “Of course, they can … we can, I mean.”
Esme untied me, then gestured me to follow her. I stood rooted in place for a little more than five heartbeats, wondering if I should run away. Esme would never catch me, the fence around the yard was too high for her. But then, like a breeze, the notion of fleeting was gone and I followed the head sister. I didn’t remember the last time I’d been in the village and didn’t know how the villagers would react to my presence. In my current state, I didn’t look trustworthy. What if they caught me and returned here? It was a terrifying possibility.
Esme touched the handle and stopped.
“Don’t you have better clothes? You can’t go out there like this.” What she didn’t add was that someone might ask a question of why an orphan is wearing no shoes and torn clothes. Why didn’t I see it earlier? Their greed was blatant. They weren’t good sisters, they were evil sisters exploiting orphans. James, you knew it. Why didn’t you tell someone? And why the magistrate woman didn’t appear this year?
We entered the building and Esme barked orders to other sisters. She told them to bring me shoes, pants, and a white shirt. I almost refused, but when the sisters appeared with clean clothes my heart lodged in my throat and tears forced their way out. Esme sniffed, unmoved.
“Quickly, change your clothes.”
“Esme, what are you planning?” the sister Maria asked, then she added. “Does the witch control you?”
Surprisingly, the head sister didn’t have the answer to that. Too bad, it made me look worse. What if they didn’t let us out, convinced that I somehow controlled Esme’s mind? Not even children were so gullible, weren’t they?
After a brief pause, Esme scowled at Maria.
“No one controls me,” she said, but I picked up a note of hesitation. These women were insane to believe that I could control anyone’s mind. I was no witch, though in their book the decision seemed to be already made. All I could do was to follow the flow.
The sisters moved away for a private conversation, while I put on the new pants and shirt. Having a bra would also be handy. My breasts weren’t the largest, but their size substantially increased since the last year. As the sisters used to say, I was becoming a full-fledged woman.
“Let’s go.” Suddenly, Esme peeled off the other women and headed for the main door. It’s really happening,
I mentally slapped myself. But it’s all built on a lie. Upon arriving at the address, all this witchcraft-bullshit will blow up. I must be ready to run.
Squeezing the letter harder in my hand, I realized that the dried pear was gone. I didn’t have a chance to eat it, nor the sister found it. That black cat…
I couldn’t care less though. Being outside the building without fences around felt amazing. A huge relief descended on me even knowing that I’d have to escape Esme.
The sun got higher and the clouds dispersed offering the first proper summer day. It was getting hot as well. The orphanage lay two miles from the village and though the dirt road passed an occasional house or a field, it was rare to meet anyone. At least it was when orphans were allowed to leave the building. Something has happened at some point and the sister has gotten stricter and harsher and the rat plague cemented the unfair rules further.
The new shoes were too small and I asked Esme if I could take them off, but she didn’t want to hear about it. As we left the orphanage behind, the old woman started to wheeze and slowed down.
“Fucking plague,” Esme snapped. “If not that shit we’d have a carriage and such a trip wouldn’t be a path to hell.”
I said nothing to that, though I wanted to rush, run, dance, all at once. The freedom burned in my veins, or maybe it was the beautiful day? I didn’t know.
We stopped by the first house. An old, bent by time man padded out of the dwelling and handed Esme a cup of water and bread. She eyed it coldly but eventually consumed the bread greedily.
“You’re growing stingy, Ernest,” Esme noted.
The old man raked his bony fingers through the clam of his gray hair. His dim blue eyes noticed me for the first time and he started. Did my ‘invisibility’ charm work on him too? Not that I believed in it. Maybe the universe affected people in strange ways and it happened that I got the short end of a stick. Who could say?
He muttered an apology and disappeared inside the house. The building looked as if it had the best days far behind. The orphanage looked well-tended in comparison to it.
When Earnest appeared with another cup of water and bread, Esme was already getting up. She noticed him and extended greedily her hands. I swallowed, realizing how hungry I was and the old man noticed it.
“Good sister Esme, the child is starving.”
“I am,” I said.
Esme’s expression darkened and she withdrew her hands. Without waiting for me to finish, she set off. I brought the cup to my mouth and it smelled fruity. The same was with the bread. Esme’s bread was the ordinary one, while mine had nuts, seeds, and dried fruits baked in it. One bite made my legs weak. I’d never eaten anything this good. I didn’t stop the tears that streamed down.
The moisture and richness of the bread reminded me that life can be worth living. I quickly downed the content of the cup. It was some sort of fruit juice and took another bite, then handed it back to the old man. The cost of such a distinctive loaf must be high.
The old man shook his head, but I insisted. There were barely any muscles on his body. He needed it more than me. I forced it back into his hands, thanked him, and darted after Esme.
The old woman’s massive hand shot and grabbed me with surprising speed.
“Let make something clear here, you may be a witch, but one word to the villagers of who you are, and this thin body of yours will burn on a pyre. Next time someone hands something to you, you hand it to me. Understood?”
Her strength was unbelievable as she easily lifted me up. I ceased struggling when her grip tightened. I nodded.
Esme dropped me on the road like a sack and continued forward. The soil beneath my fingers was already hot from the sun. We needed to hide under a roof, staying outside on a day like this was dangerous. Esme didn’t stop when we passed another two houses and she only waved away the greetings from others. As the village appeared, I understood one thing. There was only one street that cut the village in half. And indeed, at its end spread a forest that seemed a shade darker than the surroundings. I was close to calling it off when Esme’s hand gently but firmly grabbed my neck.
“Heed my warning, don’t speak to anyone.”
The head sister let go of me and picked up the pace. Villagers bustled about only briefly looking away from their duties. The village, like Earnest’s house, looked beaten by the time. Walls were crumbling, roofs had badly patched holes. I didn’t see a single villager who had clean clothes. In the middle, the main street widened to accommodate a market. I eyed everything greedily and my stomach grumbled wildly. Esme’s cold stare was so intense that two merchants decided against offering her their goods. I wondered if I could snatch an apple or a pear. Though the bread was delicious it was nowhere near what I needed. But Esme didn’t stop. Her pace didn’t allow for anything shady. People always noticed me a little too late. And when they glanced again I was too far away for their reaction.
Seemingly, it was nice to be amongst people other than sisters and orphans and yet, they made me feel like I didn’t belong here. I didn’t find any hostility on their faces, but it was plain wrong.
We passed the market and continued further alongside the street. With each house, the condition of the village in this direction degraded. Fewer people appeared on the street and most of them looked bored. Could it be that they were jobless? It was a strange concept as there always was something to do in the orphanage.
Finally, Esme stopped. The houses weren’t much more than ruins with sunken roofs at this point. The street ended here and farther away was only the forest.
Our arrival stirred something because from amongst the ruins emerged children and teens, all dirty and wearing scraps of clothes. I changed my mind about the orphanage. We might have to work hard but none of us looked like them. Still, worse were their eyes, hollow and cold.
“Ruffians,” Esme snapped. “Mayor Richmond should have picked them all up and put them to proper work.”
They seemed to possess no fear as they approach. Some held sticks in their hands. I didn’t think that Esme would defend me and I didn’t like how they gazed at us, hungry and malicious.
The Last Year
About the Author
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Victoria Mercier is a mum from rainy Scotland who has decided to challenge her fear and uncover her dreams. Fantasy worlds filled with absurdly hot males, head-scratching plots, and heart-pumping actions. But most of all, she wants to share her stories with others.
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Other Books
The Academy of Dragons
The Blood of Dragons
The Tears of Unicorns
The Flesh of Titans
The Forgotten Chains
The Darkness Unleashed
The Academy of Dragons Box Set & Bonus Story
The Dark Fae Academy
The Last Year
The Last Fey
Please, leave a review if you liked the book.
Vicky
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
; Chapter 29
Chapter 30
What’s next?
TRY THIS: The Blood of Dragons – The Academy of Dragons
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
TRY THIS: The Last Year – The Dark Fae Academy
Chapter 1 – Orphanage
Chapter 2 – The Black Cat
Chapter 3 – Strange Invitation
About the Author
Bewitched: A Paranormal Academy Romance Page 19