by Mae Doyle
I don’t need them to look and tell me. I already know.
Somehow, that asshole took my poetry portfolio, made copies, and has been handing them out. I’m not surprised, but I’m filled with a rage that I didn’t know I had before.
“Kiera, we need to go.” Caspian’s voice is soft in my ear, but I don’t want to go with him right now. I want to see what’s going to happen Asher’s yelling at the crowd and Parker and Luca have Barry by the arms. They pull him down from the fountain and are leading him away.
“I want to talk to him.” Pulling away from Caspian, I whip around and point at Barry. Tears sting the corners of my eyes, but I ignore them. “I want to know why the hell he’d do this.”
Before I can pull away from Caspian, though, he grabs my shoulders and forces me to look at him. “No, Kiera, you don’t want to do that. Seriously, nothing good is going to come from talking to him. We know why he did it. So do you.”
I can’t believe it. Even though I’ve been living in my own person hell for weeks now, I can’t believe that my aunt and uncle would have so much influence over the school and everyone who goes here that they’d all be willing to work together to try to get me to drop out.
I shake my head. “Caspian, you don’t understand! I don’t know why he’d do this.” Tears are dripping down my cheeks, but I don’t even bother wiping them away. I can barely catch my breath, but that doesn’t stop me from trying to explain what I’m feeling.
“Kiera, honey, I’m sorry.” Caspian’s trying to wipe away my tears, but they’re flowing faster than he can move. I’m sucking in air, trying to catch my breath, but it’s almost impossible for me to feel like I’m getting enough oxygen. “We knew that this might happen, remember? We knew that they would all probably turn against you.”
“I thought that that meant mean remarks in the quad! Ugly looks!” My voice is getting higher and louder, and I’m sure that I’m going to attract attention, but I don’t care right now. “I didn’t think that it would mean trying to kill me by making me trip down the stairs or stealing my poetry and passing it out as flyers. I just didn’t know!”
My whole body is shaking now and Caspian wraps his arms around me, pulling me close and snuggling me against his chest. I take a deep breath, trying to calm down, but nothing I can do seems to work.
Everything is falling apart, and even though I have my devils, I don’t know if I can make it through this.
Chapter 10
“I think that I should really consider leaving.” Sophia and I are sprawled on my bed. It took all afternoon, but the devils think that they were able to get back all of the copies of my poetry, but not before students read them.
At least they’re not still floating around the campus, and I know that I should be grateful for that. It’s just really hard to be grateful when my whole body is so tired that I feel like I was run over.
“That’s ridiculous. You know what your aunt and uncle said that they’d do to you, remember? They will literally have you killed. You don’t think that they’ll make good on the promise if you do that? If you leave, then they know that you’ll go to the police. At least here the devils can keep an eye on you.”
I sigh and roll over, pulling a pillow over my head. “But if I stay, I’m going to go crazy.”
My voice is muffled and Sophia sighs before pulling the pillow off of my head. “What did you say?”
I repeat it and wait for her response.
“I know that this sucks,” she says slowly, obviously carefully picking her words. “But I don’t think that leaving is going to make things any better for you. I think that you need to take control here, and you have me and the devils to help you.”
“Take control? You make it sound like we’re in a movie or something, but I don’t think that there’s anything that I can do to take control here. Everyone hates me.”
“Not everyone.” She boops my nose lightly with her finger and smiles at me. “Besides, you really don’t think that having the devils on your side is a good thing? I saw how pissed they were with Barry.”
“Stupid Barry.” I roll my eyes and lean my head on her shoulders. Thank goodness for Sophia. I know that I can get through anything with my devils, but having her here is a serious blessing. “What do you think they did to him?”
She shrugs and we both fall silent.
I know that Asher drug Barry off into the woods after we caught him handing out copies of my poems. I also know that Parker and Luca followed the two of them and that they won’t tell me what happened out there.
I don’t think they’d hurt him, but right now I’m not really sure what they would do. None of the devils are happy about how I’m being treated.
“Hey, don’t worry about it,” Sophia says, interrupting my thoughts. “All you need to worry about is doing a good job in class.”
“Sure, that and my meeting tomorrow with Mrs. Capps and headmistress Decker. I think that worrying about that is understandable.” Worried doesn’t really fully express how I feel. I’m terrified that something’s going to go wrong during my meeting or they’re going to decide that I no longer deserve to be at Meyer’s Grove, but I don’t feel like getting into all of that with Sophia.
“You’ll be fine. Just remember that you deserve to be here, no matter how it happened that you came here in the first place, okay? They won’t kick you out, I don’t think. They’d rather let the students drive you out.”
She stretches and yawns and then slides off the bed. “But I have to get some rest, Kiera, or I’m going to be useless tomorrow. Don’t stay up too late worrying about things, okay? Everything will be alright.”
“Thanks.” I watch her go and then get up and lock the door after a moment. She’s right. All I have to do is make it through the meeting tomorrow afternoon and then take each day at a time. How bad can it be?
***
“Explain again how Mr. Winters happened to be in possession of your poetry portfolio, please, Miss Lampley?” Mrs. Decker is staring at me from across her desk with a bemused expression on her face. Mrs. Capps is sitting right next to her, looking like a happy toad.
I hate them both.
Gritting my teeth, I dig my fingernails into the palm of my hand. My hands are pressed into my lap so that the two women won’t be able to see them and won’t be able to tell just how upset I really am right now.
“I turned in my portfolio,” I tell them, trying to make my voice as level and calm as possible. “And yesterday Mrs. Capps alerted me to the fact that it wasn’t in her pile of projects, so I imagine that Barry took it off her desk after I turned it in.”
The two women look at me like I’ve lost my mind and they don’t believe me.
After a moment, Mrs. Decker clears her throat. “You are aware that accusing a student of theft is a major charge at Meyer’s Grove, right, Kiera? It’s not something that we take lightly, and we certainly don’t like our students to throw around accusations without any proof.”
“You think that I’m wrong?” I can feel my blood pressure going up, but I try to look and sound as calm as possible. I know that my parents wouldn’t want me losing it on these two women, no matter how wrong they are.
“I think that it’s possible you became mistaken and that Mr. Winters simply picked up the poems, made copies to find the owner, and was handing them out to help you.” Mrs. Decker somehow manages to say this shit with a straight face, which is probably deserving of a medal or some crap, but I’m not in the mood.
“My name was on the portfolio. If he could read, I don’t think that Barry would have a difficult time figuring out who it belonged to,” I snap back, forgetting the fact that I’m supposed to try to stay calm and polite.
Mrs. Capps gasps and actually grabs her necklace, which is something that I didn’t think women did in real life. “How dare you insult another student like that! You know, this school did a favor to your aunt and uncle by allowing you to come here, but I can’t believe how you’re acting! So un
grateful!” She turns to Mrs. Decker, who is looking at me with a sly smile on her face.
“Are you going to allow that insolence to go unpunished?” Mrs. Capps is practically peeing herself thinking of me getting in trouble, and I shift in my seat.
Maybe I crossed a line.
I think I’m about to find out for sure in just a moment.
Mrs. Decker doesn’t answer for a moment, and I stare at her, trying to keep from blinking. Finally, she picks a pad of paper and a pen off of her desk and turns back to me.
“Kiera Lampley. Normally, in cases like this, we would contact your parents and have them come in for a meeting so that we could all determine what we were going to do with you. But seeing as your parents are dead, and I don’t want to bother your aunt and uncle, I’m going to handle the punishment on my own.”
That seems like something that a headmistress would deal with normally, but I keep my mouth shut. I’ve already pissed them both off, and there’s no reason to remind them how angry they are with me.
She taps the pen on the paper for a moment and then starts to write. I have to wait until she’s scrawled out a full letter, folded it and put it in an envelope, and finally sealed it before she looks back at me.
“These are the instructions for your work study program. It seems to me like you have a little too much time on your hands if you’re able to enjoy such a vivid imagination and make up vicious lies about the other students here. Every afternoon after class you need to be in the library ready to work, do you understand?”
I hear what she’s saying, but that simply isn’t going to work for me. “I have math tutoring in the afternoons,” I tell her, but she just shakes her head.
“You had math tutoring in the afternoons, Kiera, but I’m more worried about saving your soul than whether or not you succeed in math class. You can take it up with Mr. Fletcher if you aren’t able to make your grades, do you understand? That is not my problem.”
My rage is boiling under the surface and I can barely breathe. I’m sure that my face is bright red, which is something that always happens to me when I get this angry. I nod at Mrs. Decker and stand up to leave, but she stops me, slamming her hand down on her desk.
“Did I excuse you?” Her voice is a thin razor, and she stares at me until I sit back down. “Take this letter to the library, Kiera. You start work this afternoon.”
Even though I want to argue, the look on their faces pins me in place and makes me shut my mouth. There’s no way that I’m going to be able to get out of this, so the best thing that I can do is take the stupid envelope, do my work study, and hope that everyone will leave me alone.
“I understand.” When I reach for the envelope, Mrs. Decker pulls it back with a twitch so that my fingers close on empty air.
“I didn’t hear you thank me.” She smiles at me, her sharp little teeth making her look a bit like a rodent.
The rodent and the toad. What the fuck kind of messed up school is this?
“Thank you.” My teeth are gritted and my voice is flat, but she grins at me like I just fell and prostrated myself in front of her.
“For what?” She’s drawing this out and she loves it.
She’s not a rat. She’s a demon.
She’s Satan.
“Thank you for this opportunity?” I can’t keep the question out of my voice, but it must be the right thing to say, because she nods and releases the envelope.
“You are so welcome, Kiera. At Meyer’s Grove, we do everything that we possibly can to make sure that our students have the best experience while they are here. Being able to give you this gift of work study in the library is amazing for us and we can’t wait for you to start. Perhaps it will be exactly what you need to get your life under control, what do you think?”
My life is under control, but I grit my teeth and smile at her. “Perhaps it’s just what I need to get me back on track,” I agree, before I turn and leave her office.
It takes all of my self-control not to slam the door on the way out.
I guess I’m going to the library.
Chapter 11
“Hello?” My voice echoes back at me in the library.
I swear, as much as Meyer’s Grove claims that grades are the most important thing to them, there sure aren’t ever a lot of students in the library, which makes me wonder…
I’ve been in here to study with the devils before, but it’s not like a lot of students spend a lot of time cracking the books. How in the world are they making good grades?
And what the hell am I going to be doing here?
“Is anyone here?” I make it all the way to the circulation desk before I see any movement. The librarian pops out from behind a stack of books and blinks at me in confusion.
“This is a library. Why are you yelling?” She looks frustrated and I give her my best smile.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper. “I was sent here from Mrs. Decker to complete work study with you.” When she doesn’t respond, I hand her the envelope I’m carrying.
It takes her a moment to get it open, but then she reads it quickly, glancing up at me when she’s done and tossing the letter to the side. “Okay, Kiera. I’m Ms. Taylor. Have you ever worked in a library before?”
“No, this is my first time. Will I be shelving books or what?” Glancing around, I can’t see that there are a lot of books out of place that will need to be put back, but maybe I’m just missing something.
“No, Mrs. Decker wanted you put on a special assignment, so you won’t actually be up here working with intake and checking out books. I’m going to have you in the cave, okay?”
My skin crawls. “The cave?” It sounds ominous, and I hope that maybe I’m just reading into it. It’s probably just a fun nickname that Mrs. Taylor came up with on her own. She looks like she doesn’t get out much, so it’s probably just her way of staying sane.
She’d probably be cute with a little makeup on and if she’d do her hair.
Oh, god, I’m turning into my Aunt Serafina. I have to shake my head to clear the thought and instead I give her a big smile. I’m not here to pick apart her outfit. I’m here to help her out and then get back to the dorm so I can spend time with the devils.
Just the thought of being with them makes me smile, but then I remember that I first have to get through this time here in the library. I have no idea what I’m going to be asked to do, and I’m honestly a little nervous.
“Sure, the cave. It’s down here, come on, and make it fast. I don’t want to be unavailable if anyone needs my help.” She walks away from me without looking back to see if I’m following, and I have to job to catch up with her. For someone short, she moves incredibly quickly.
“What exactly will I be doing in the cave?” A little thrill runs through me when I say the name of where we’re going, but that’s probably just my nerves. I can’t imagine that any respectable school would have someplace dangerous in it, not even Meyer’s Grove.
Ms. Taylor doesn’t answer, even though I’m fairly certain that she heard me. We walk down a long hall that’s illuminated only by a buzzing light overhead, and reach a door at the end. She pulls a key from her back pocket and opens the door, gesturing for me to head down.
Nope. Not a chance. I’ve seen my fair share of horror movies, and there’s no way that I’m going to lead the two of us down there. I peek past her and wrinkle my nose at the musty smell that blows up from the staircase. The stairs themselves incredibly shallow and steep, and they look like you could easily trip and fall down them.
And, yeah, not only do I know something about that, but I have a very real feeling that I wouldn’t be able to get up and walk away if I took a tumble down these stairs.
“You first. I don’t want to crowd you by accident.” I throw her my best smile, and she narrows her eyes at me for a moment.
“Of course,” she says, through a forced smile. “Just don’t trip, okay? The last thing that you want to have happen is to fall down these stairs.”
She turns and starts down the stairs, but I’m stuck in place for a moment. I can’t tell if that was a thinly veiled threat or not, but it hits a little close to home.
Does she somehow know that I fell down the stairs in the dorm? How would she know? And what the hell would that mean for me?
I don’t have much time to think about it, though, because she’s already halfway down the stairs. I follow after her, carefully turning my body to the side so that I have a bit more room on the steps. By the time I reach the bottom, she’s already down there, walking around the room and turning on various lights.
The room is cool, which makes sense for something underground, but I can’t imagine why it would be a part of the library. No good librarian would want their books anywhere near someplace this damp. I can only imagine the damage that it could cause the books.
But that’s not what’s going on down here.
Sure, the cave is part of the library.
Sure, I’m apparently going to be doing my work study with the librarian.
But honestly? I’ve never seen anything like this place, and from the first moment that I look around the room, I’m one hundred percent sure that it has nothing to do with library books, no matter what the school tries to tell me.
There are huge tables around the room, all covered with different types of equipment. I’ve never seen some of the tools spread out on the tables, although I do recognize a few, like various pliers and screwdrivers.
The air is stifling, even though it’s cool, and Ms. Taylor turns on a large fan at the end of the room which immediately starts to blow and oscillate, helping to move the heavy air around.
“You’ll get used to it,” she tells me, when she catches sight of the look on my face. “It’s not so bad when you’ve been down here for a few hours, and after you come every day for a week or so, I guarantee, you won’t even notice it.”