Cursed Academy (Year Two)

by Holly Hook

  “Head up to your dorm and rest,” Natalia whispered, dead serious. Then she went to a whisper. “I'll look into what could have gone wrong.”

  In a daze, I walked out of the room. And Wendy turned her back to me as I did.

  Chapter Eleven

  As I was supposed to do, I walked over to Olympian Academy, sneaking through the snowy woods in my plain clothes, that night. I crawled out through the basement window, avoiding the guards. I did my best to put the darkness out of my head, and crossing the line between campuses helped, too. I was starting to get sensitive to the differences I felt at each school. Whenever I walked over to the Olympian campus, the darkness within mostly vanished.

  Ronin waited near the front gate for me, complete with one of his leather coats he was holding out.

  “That's yours,” I said.

  “But I want you to have it.”

  “And you're wearing my real dagger.”

  Ronin frowned at the black handle on his belt. “Well, I'm a third year now, so I can carry weapons.” He was debating.

  “You think I should take that?” I gulped. Yeah, I'd been training over here at Olympian, but I hadn't used my own weapon. I'd only used those belonging to others. Basking in the powers of others. And avoiding my own.

  “You'd never know what's going to happen,” Ronin said. But as he spoke, he moved his hand over it. “I'm not allowed to go with you.”

  “You're not? But don't you have, like, family who works at this power plant? Who runs this power plant?” I shifted. I'd stuck my real phone, complete with its strong case, inside my shoe and it wasn't comfortable to step on. Wendy's decoy was in my pocket. True to her word, she'd come through on that.

  “Hera helps to run it, too. It's not just Zeus, and he doesn't want me and her near each other.” Ronin frowned.

  Okay. I could see that. "That's not awkward at all."

  "Nope." He leaned in for a kiss.

  "Thanks. That helps," I said, reaching around his waist and digging my fingers into the strong muscles on his back. "And that's a vote of confidence, right?"

  Ronin lifted an eyebrow, face just inches from mine. "Maybe. This is hard for me, Giselle. But I think I'm making progress. I want to talk about a little deal."

  "Deal?" My heart raced and warmth spread over my body. Maybe Ronin was coming around because nothing bad had happened for a few months now. We'd already gotten close to the halfway point of my second year.

  "Yeah. I work on my hero complex and you work on your fitting-in complex."

  His words hit me and I balked, retracting my grasp. "Fitting in complex?"

  "Yeah. Trying to be like the Olympian kids. You even copy us." Ronin winked.

  "That's the one side of my power. I didn't ask for it to be like that." I faced the gate of the school. The limo that would take me to the Marchamp power plant hadn't yet arrived and it was still freezing out.

  "Just joking." Ronin poked me in the side. "But think about it. You're eager to get over here and be like us, and it's not all it's cracked up to be."

  Yeah. Already I was feeling the pressure of high expectations on me, but it was better than going dark and turning into some destruction goddess. It was just a price I'd have to pay for getting to where I belonged.

  The limo arrived, cruising through the front gate and circling around the lavish fountain of Olympian Academy. "There's your ride," Ronin said with a frown. "Please be careful. Power plants are the Lower Order's favorite targets. And there had better not be any meltdowns when I'm there."

  "I wish you could go with me."

  He kissed me on the cheek. "Let me know how it goes."

  My heart raced and I hoped he didn't feel it. Ronin's electricity merged with my nerves, creating an odd sensation through my body as the car came to a stop. I wanted to tell him that this was going to be more than a tour. More than just some job shadowing. But Wendy's silent threat hung. Her insult. Idiot.

  I got into the car.

  Ronin waved.

  It took everything I had to wave back.

  * * * * *

  Zeus scared me more than the Lower Order ever did, and he was standing at the front entrance of the Marchamp Power Plant when the limo pulled up. The driver, a uniformed woman who appeared normal but who had to be a monster for sure, as she had no golden flecked eyes, looked back at me with a solemn nod. We hadn't exchanged any words for the entire trip.

  Not awkward at all.

  The power plant was intimidating enough, with armed Olympian Guards standing outside its tall fences and signs everywhere warning people not to trespass. Smokestacks and building towered over me. The entrance itself was low, metal, and had windows that looked like glaring eyes. The whole place just said stay away, and from the looks of it, people did. Not a single bit of graffiti decorated the fences or the walls, and not a single piece of garbage had made it to the neatly trimmed lawn. Yeah, even the garbage feared Zeus.

  I gulped. The woman parked me in front of the entrance, where Zeus stood with his arms crossed. The air electrified and the decoy phone in my robe pocket felt heavy. If he wanted to confiscate it, then he could and there was nothing I could say. It wasn't like I was a full immortal yet.

  Sweat gathered around my real phone, which still rested under my foot. My shoe was tight and uncomfortable.

  “Welcome,” Zeus said with a stiff smile as I got out of the limo, "to the Marchamp Electrical Plant. I've made a point to be at this plant today, but I've had an important meeting come up, so I've arranged for my staff to give you a tour of the facility. It's my hope that one day you'll choose to work in one of these environments.”

  “Your staff?” Immediately my pulse calmed. Zeus was a god, but real life business still called.

  “You'll need to go through security first,” Zeus said. “You must understand that these plants are high-security places. It's a privilege to tour one.”

  I breathed in electricity and ozone. You could sense Zeus's moods from the atmosphere and he was serious. I was not to disagree.

  “Totally understand.”

  The limo remained by the doors as the two of us walked into the plant, entering a small room with a plain white desk. A woman, an Olympian Guard with golden-flecked eyes, stood. “Please submit to a search.”

  The phone was getting uncomfortable in my shoe. Yikes. If they caught me doing this, the tour was over. And maybe so was I.

  “No problem,” I said. I'd heard somewhere that the more someone talked, the more obvious it was they were lying. Few words.

  I lifted my arms as the Olympian Guard patted me down. She made her way to my pocket, plunged her hand inside, and lifted out the decoy. Meanwhile, Zeus stood off to the side, watching, and the guard placed my phone on a metal tray and then fished out my change, putting it all beside the phone. Then she got out a metal wand, waving it from my ankles to my head. The Guard nodded. “We'll keep your phone with us until you're finished with your tour. It's just a precaution.”

  “That's fine,” I said, trying not to sweat. I wondered how Wendy's mother knew about the security in these places. But I had Wendy to thank.

  “We want no photos of the plant's interior leaking,” Zeus added. The air ratcheted up to borderline lightning strike. I wanted to gulp but held back. But at least I'd passed Step One.

  “Step through, please,” he said, waving his arm. A pair of double doors leading into the main plant opened on their own while the god stood off to the side.

  The world opened up, and workers, mostly human-looking from what I could tell, milled around heavy metal equipment and along catwalks. Most people wore gray uniforms. The power plant was huge, with a wide central walkway, tubes connecting the ceiling to the floor, computer monitors, and office doors lining the periphery. My jaw dropped. The place was big and intimidating, and Olympian Guards stood off to the sides of the doors like overlords. The Guards wore green uniforms, setting them aside from the workers. Their shock sticks stood ready.

  Workers in g
ray uniforms and hard hats chatted with each other as they went about their jobs. A few people in blue uniforms milled around, and one man had a single eye in his forehead. A Cyclops. He carried a tray of coffee mugs. I hated seeing them now.

  But it strengthened my resolve to get up to wherever Zeus had a copy of the Division Oath hanging.

  “What do you think?” Zeus asked, closing the doors behind me. Manually or magically, I didn't know.

  “It's awesome,” I say. I had to make a joke. Calm down the seriousness. “So, do the Olympian Guards shock the workers when they screw up?” Then I dared to face the god with a grin.

  “Oh, no,” Zeus said with a confident laugh. “Not at all. My workers are all treated fairly and compensated well. As you can see, many who graduate from Cursed Academy get to work here as well. Elliot. Over here, please.” The god snapped his fingers at the Cyclops, and he placed the tray down on a metal box and strode over.

  I tried not to stare.

  “This is Giselle Bowman. Take her on tour, please,” Zeus said, stepping away. “I need to go to the conference room as I have an important telecom meeting. When you're finished, she is to return to the front desk to retrieve her items. Report to me how it goes.”

  “It's no problem,” Elliot said with a rehearsed nod. He seemed friendly enough, though bored. Then he faced me and his brown pupil narrowed at me. I felt dizzy and suddenly nauseated, and not because of Elliot himself. Elliot's forehead was slightly raised around his single eye, and the spaces where his two normal eyes had once been were smooth. Made of bone. His changes had disfigured his whole face into nightmare fuel. And none of it was his fault. Before he'd matured, Elliot must have looked like an exotic, attractive man from the Caribbean. Maybe he'd even been attractive.

  “Giselle. Nice to meet you.” He thrust out his hand.

  I shook his hand, now able to breathe. I hadn't realized I'd been holding my breath. Beyond the single eye, Elliot sounded like a normal person you'd meet on the street.

  “Well, ready for the grand tour?” Elliot asked.

  “Sure. Show me the way.” I looked back to see Zeus walking towards one of the side doors. Conference. Maybe I had a chance.

  Elliot led me around the work floor, down the side corridor, pointing out every tube and smokestack on the way. He explained how the plant burned coal and said something about how many towns it covered. We slowly made our way closer to the central control area, a raised platform where workers pored over computer screens, making sure everything remained in order. “...and here is where we manage our waste. Since we're a coal-fired plant, one of our big goals is to cut emissions...”

  I started to zone out. Elliot, though he seemed nice enough, was super rehearsed like he'd given this tour before. He waved to a couple of human-looking workers but lowered his head whenever he passed a couple of Olympian Guards. “Do you have any questions?”

  Oh. He had stopped speaking. "Let me think." We were standing near the central work area. My gaze shifted from the workers at the screens, mostly god descendants judging from their golden-flecked eyes, and upward to the catwalk. A lavish, wooden door overlooked the whole plant, and it was clear from the security panel that it must be Zeus's office. The one where he spun in his leather chair and brandished his letter opener.

  And something in the back of my head was bothering me.

  “Elliot, did you graduate from this Cursed Academy campus?”

  “Why, yes. Funny you should ask,” he said, tone darkening. “Now, let me introduce you to our central team. Aggie. Stephen. Lin. Say hi!”

  Three people in blue uniforms looked up from their computer screens, ignoring Elliot. The woman whose name tag read Lin narrowed her eyes in disgust at him before turning a plastic smile to me. “We don't normally see students from Cursed Academy during their second year.”

  “Giselle's a special case,” Elliot said, sounding sheepish. It was clear he was not near the top of the totem pole here.

  Lin looked back down at her screen and the Cyclops waved me away from the unfriendly control team. I tried not to look at the locked office. “So I see the social structure is the same after you graduate.” I had to force the words out.

  We were walking back down the central walkway now, and even though Elliot had been talking for about half an hour, Zeus still hadn't reappeared. Time was running out. “Yes. They are, unfortunately. I didn't win the genetic lottery. But hey, I have a job, and I'm mostly accepted here. It pays enough for me to rent a small apartment. Without this plant, applying for jobs might be a bit difficult. I'm alarming.” Elliot offered an encouraging smile, but it was a mask.

  I had broken through a wall. My throat dried. “I go to school with a girl who's probably going to become a Cyclops, and she's awesome. Smart. Funny.”

  Elliot turned to face me head on.

  For the first time, I read his name tag.

  Elliot Vasquez.

  Maria's last name.

  Elliot's single eye widened. “Funny. I have a daughter who I haven't seen since she was a baby. Had to leave when I fully matured for her and my wife's sake. I wonder if you know her?”

  Chapter Twelve

  I flinched. No way. Sadness filled Elliot's eye for a moment before he put the happy mask back up. Elliot didn't look human anymore, but he had Maria's dark hair. Her complexion. Even her smile. My mind hadn't wanted to make the connection until now.

  “I...I might.”

  Elliot's jaw dropped. “Small world, then.” Fear flooded into his pupil. My imagination didn't have to stretch far to get the meaning. Don't tell my daughter you've seen me like this.

  I didn't have the heart to tell Elliot that Maria already knew what had happened, that she'd come to the conclusion herself. I looked around the inside of the plant. This situation was horrifying but I saw my chance. “Look, I won't rat on you for a favor I'm about to ask. How long is Zeus going to be in his meeting?”

  Elliot put his professional face back up. “I'm not sure. He was going to give you the tour himself today, but plans changed. He's the CEO. Travels. You have to understand.” A question burned on Elliot's face.

  “I need a picture of the Division Oath,” I whispered once I was sure no one was looking. The two Olympian Guards by the entrance were chatting it up while the lower level workers slaved around equipment. Something beeped. Lin and another woman were deep in conversation and the third had her phone out, texting.

  “Why?” Elliot leaned close to me, pointing to a smokestack. He was pretending to be giving me the tour still.

  Yeah. He was on board. “A Hades descendant wants it so she can figure out how to break out of Cursed. If I do this, she'll get me an herb from the Underworld that can slow down my friend's changes and buy her time.”

  Elliot seized my arm. “We need a distraction. I know the code to Zeus's office. I deliver his coffee and nectar whenever he's here."

  It was on.

  “So, what are we going to look at next?” I asked, loud enough for a couple of workers to hear me.

  “Well, it's almost eight,” he said with a grin. “Wait for it.”

  “Elliot,” Aggie said, snapping her fingers. “Cappuccino, please.”

  “Right away.” Elliot waved me to a side room with a plaque by the door that read break room.

  “They treat you like a servant?” I asked.

  “That's what I am.” Elliot walked quickly, waving me after him.

  We entered and no one gave us a second glance. Coffee machines hissed and a fancy cappuccino machine waited. Elliot grabbed a large cup and filled it to the brim with brown liquid and cream, so high that it was going to spill over. He grabbed a lid with a crack on the side and loosely placed it on the cup. “Hold this. When you hand this to Aggie, it needs to spill. If I do it, the accident will look suspicious. Got that?” He leaned down, locking me in his stare.

  “Got it,” I said with a gulp.

  “And aim for the panel of red and green buttons.”

  I
t seemed easy enough, and everyone knew I'd been a klutz before, so this wouldn't come down on me too badly, would it? My teeth hurt with nerves. I took the huge cup and the lid almost burst off, spilling cappuccino on my hand. I gulped.

  Elliot was a good servant. He filled two more big cups, probably for the other two mean ladies. It was obvious he could use my hand. And I was job shadowing, so why not? We re-entered the main work area. Aggie looked up as we approached. She was a petite blond with too much makeup and very proud shoulders.

  “If you don't mind, I had Giselle give me a hand,” Elliot said, every word smooth.

  I hoped that whatever he had planned worked. “Here you go.” I leaned over Aggie's desk, eyeing her computer monitor and her keyboard. Next to her were several levers, buttons, and the panels that looked important. I held the cup over the red and green buttons.

  "Careful," Aggie snapped.

  I handed her the cappuccino. Without a trace of a thank you, she reached for it.

  And right when she grabbed on, I squeezed the cup a little too hard.

  Brownish liquid and cream erupted and the cup fell from my grasp, right on target. Cappuccino spread between buttons, soaking into the cracks between them and the panels, and I watched in horror as Aggie's eyes widened.

  “Oh,” I managed. “I'm so sorry!”

  Aggie snatched a roll of paper towels with one hand as error messages filled her screen. “Get out of here,” she said, more to Elliot than to me. “Take her away.” Aggie wiped up the fluid as it dripped onto the computer tower beside her, invading the vents. A buzzing sound followed. Perfect.

  Elliot grabbed my arm. “What are you doing?” He faked anger well, and like Maria, he was strong. He yanked me back.

  An alarm blared, ringing through the plant.

  Aggie picked up a microphone. “Everyone. Suspend operations to avoid overheating.” Her voice echoed over the whole building.