Hillcrest Academy

by Cassie Pierce

  “After the Great Fall, as angelic history calls it, the two angelic races were divided based on which side they fought with in the heavenly war. They were split into houses, and each house was placed under the rule of the angel that held the most rank.”

  I sit up straighter in my desk, intrigued by this story. Maybe I somehow know that any and all information about angels will be vital to my survival.

  “The first house was named the House of the Fallen, after the angel Xavier. Xavier was first lieutenant to Lucifer himself, and it is believed that he is the angel responsible for letting the wards down around the gate to Paradise. You see Xavier was prideful, and hated that angels had to serve humanity. He wanted to show the Creator that his plan was not perfect, but in doing so he destroyed the Garden of Light. As punishment, the Creator cast all those who followed him out of the angelic realm, and cursed their offspring’s to never reach true grace. Giving life to the Fallen race, and making him the most powerful source of dark magic on Earth.”

  I shiver, a little unsettled by his words. I thought angels were supposed to be good.

  “The second house born from the ashes of the holy war as most of you know is the House of the Divine. This house was founded around the angel Gabriel, who just like Xavier was cast from Paradise. The exception is that he went willingly. You see, the Creator wanted to give the Fallen a chance at redemption. He wanted them to earn back their wings. So, he selected his favorite angel Gabriel as well as a group of twenty volunteers. Their task was only supposed to take a few years, but something went wrong. Once they touched the dirt of the earth, the same curse that afflicted the Fallen was transferred to them, and the door to Paradise was sealed, denying them entry.”

  I risk a glance over to Jaxon, frowning when I notice the tight set of his jaw as he stares at Mr. Rothe like he wants to do him bodily harm.

  “Each house is ruled by their equivalent of a royal blood line. As most of you know,” Mr. Rothe says eying the class. “The Fallen House is ruled by the Bacida bloodline, and though it is rumored that King Xavier has many illegitimate children; he has only one true heir. Bianca my dear,” Mr. Rothe says, his eyes searching the room and landing on his target with a smile.

  “Please raise your hand for those who don’t yet know you.”

  Like a scene out of a nightmare, the girl that I basically tackled and insulted five minutes ago rises to her feet and gives the class a movie star smile. When her eyes turn to me, that smile turns into a snarl.

  I swallow, resisting the urge to hide behind a curtain of my hair. Great! Just freaking great! Not only did I make an enemy, but she turns out to be a real-life evil princess!

  Just awesome! This day just keeps getting better!

  “Then as everyone here is well aware,” Mr. Rothe continues, like he didn’t just drop a bomb of what-the-fuck on my life. “The Divine blood line is ruled by King Gabriel and his consort. He is followed in succession by his three sons— Prince Braxton, Prince Jaxon, and Prince Ryker of the House Lux. In that order.”

  Prince? Did he say Prince?

  My eyes snap to Jaxon’s, only to find him studying his phone like the tiny device somehow holds the key to the universe.

  Mother-freaking-Prince! Well...that explains a lot. It all makes sense now. How everyone does everything that he asks, including the head mistress. He technically outranks her. Hhhuuummm......

  It also explains why it is such a big deal to him that he isn’t a warrior. He is a freaking prince! He was born to be a warrior. Getting assigned by whatever fate is up there to play baby sitter to a dysfunctional high school girl....yeah. Not quite as glamorous.

  “No wonder he hates me,” I whisper to myself as a tear makes a track down my cheek. I quickly hide my face in the shelter of my arms, resting my head on the desk. I will not be weak. I won’t. Crying is for babies, and I am not a baby!

  I almost fall out of my desk when the bell chimes, signaling the end of class. Thank the lord! I jump to my feet and make a mad dash to the door before Jaxon even moves. I can’t face him....not yet.

  I have just successfully disappeared into the sea of students when his voice whispers into my mind. It is raspy and soft, and feels like coming home after a long vacation.

  “I could never hate you,” he says, and a flood of warmth radiates from the center of my chest at his words.

  He doesn’t get it. He never will. I am too broken to love. All the pieces of me are bent and scattered, and haphazardly arranged to make a shell. Inside I am empty. All the good stuff. All the stuff that I was before that night bled out slowly on the side of the road with my best friend. Loving me would be toxic. I kill everything I touch...everything good.

  “You will,” I whisper, even though I know he can’t hear me. At least I don’t think that he can. I plan to ask him tonight, if he can read all of my thoughts or just certain things. Either way, he will figure it out soon enough.

  I walk away. I don’t look back to see if he follows. My heart can’t take it if he does....it also can’t take it if he doesn’t.

  ∞

  I don’t know a soul in my second block class, but I have always been sort of a loner, so that’s ok. The teacher, Mrs. Abner, is a pretty blond lady with a quiet voice that reminds me a lot of my mom. Well....my mom before her ambition turned her hard and cold.

  Basic principles in immortality is a lot like the name suggest, and the entire one hour and fifteen minutes is basically a huge lesson on what it means to be un-killable. I should probably pay attention. I mean, knowing how to not die seems important, but my heart is too heavy to listen.

  This is too much. All of this is just too much. This can’t be my life. I can’t be this...this...Nephilim thing. This has got to be some cosmic mistake.

  I opt to skip lunch, too cowardly to face the entire student population. Instead, I seek sanctuary in the one place that I don’t think anyone will bother me. My dorm. Which is where C.J. finds me, eating stale potato chips, and drinking lukewarm water.

  Hey....no judgement. Desperate times.... desperate measures.

  She rolls her eyes but says nothing as she takes a seat beside me. I offer her one of my stale chips as a peace offering. She laughs but accepts, making a strange face as she bites into the chip. Still, she says nothing, reaching out for another one. That is when I know I have a friend for life.

  I do not share food with just anyone. Sharing food... that is love. Even if the food in question are nasty potato chips that have been sitting on my dresser since I arrived. We eat our meager rations in silence. She never complains, or questions why I am choosing to eat this horrible lunch when they have chef prepared food downstairs.

  She just eats with me, knowing that I need this.

  Which is why I don’t protest—much— when she drags me back to class. Third block is the only class that we share, and I find that I am grateful for her company. She makes this place tolerable.

  Mr. Lopez is an old Hispanic dude with salt and pepper hair, that talks...a lot! Mostly about himself. I find that I don’t like him much, a sentiment that C.J obviously shares if her eye rolls are any indication. Seriously.... she rolls her eyes every time he speaks. Which kind of makes her look like she is having a seizure.

  I find myself laughing at her dramatic antics. C.J. is proving to be the one bright spot in this otherwise dark place.

  We say a reluctant goodbye after class, promising to catch up more before dinner tonight. With a heavy sigh, I make my way to my fourth and final class of the day. I would rather eat nails than go.

  Not only is it a class that I share with Jaxon— who I am not ready to face yet after he released a floodgate of emotions inside of me that I did not even know were there, but it is also the one class that I have been dreading all day.

  Fight and battle training...also known as my own personal hell.

  Just the name promises pain, something that I would rather avoid. Not to mention the small little fact that I have never been in a fight in my enti
re life, and now they want me to hit someone.....for a grade?

  Yeah.....I don’t think so.

  I stand outside of the double doors that lead into the gym, watching through the small glass panel for a ridiculous amount of time. It would be so easy to just go in. To walk in there like I do with everything else in my life, like I totally have it under control.

  Too bad for me that my calm demeanor is just a mask. The sad truth is, I have no control....over anything. I talk big, and act bigger, because I am scared shitless, and the only thing worse than fear, is showing it to other people.

  Normally, I would throw the doors open and stroll in like I own the place, but that fear I was talking about....it can be a tricky little thing. My feet refuse to carry me inside.

  “Screw it!” I say aloud as I turn to run away for the second time today. I don’t make it far.

  “Uuummpphhh!” I exclaim, as I plow full speed into a wall of immovable muscle. My hands go up on instinct, landing on his rock-hard abs.

  “Going somewhere?” he says with a laugh as his baby blue eyes size me up. There is nothing about his stare that turns me on. His eyes are hard like ice, and something tells me that his insides are not much different. Something about the oldest Lux brother scares the living daylights out of me.

  “Uuuummm.....I don’t have a uniform,” I say lamely, indicating my school issued skirt and blouse. It is a lame excuse I know, but it is at least the truth. I watched the others in class, and they all had on athletic gear. I can’t do kicks and such in this.

  His ice blue eyes twinkle with amusement, and something darker as he looks me up and down. I don’t like it. The way that he looks at me, much like a predator does his prey before taking a bite out of them.

  Still...I don’t back down. I won’t. Something tells me that backing down to Braxton Lux will get you eaten alive.

  “Lucky for you I help teach this class. I know exactly where we can find you the perfect uniform. Come,” he says turning in the opposite direction of the double doors.

  Yay..... Lucky for me.....

  Of course he helps teach the one class where it is encouraged to make people bleed. I can’t see how this could possibly go wrong?

  ∞

  Kill me....

  Kill me now.

  “Hurry up in there new girl,” Braxton shouts through the locker room door. I swear, there is a tint of laughter in his voice.

  I take a deep breath and let it out slowly as my eyes rise to meet my reflection in the mirror. I swear, Braxton got my gym uniform from the elementary pile. It is that tight. The red tank top squeezes me so tightly that you can see the lines of my abs beneath. My bra plays peek-a-boo up top, showing a hint of lace. My black shorts might as well be boy cut underwear.

  “I can’t go out there like this,” I fume as the door behind me bangs open. Braxton stands there, arms folded over his chest, looking every bit the badass that he is.

  “You can and you will. Trust me kitten, you do not want to see what happens to those who break the rules. Now let’s go,” he booms, grabbing me by the arm, and pulling me into the gym.

  Asshole!

  Maybe they won’t notice? I mean, they are all busy sparing with their own partners. Maybe I can just fade quietly into the background....

  “ATTENTION CLASS! WE HAVE A NEW STUDENT.” His voice booms out across the space, and as one every head turns in my direction. I push my shoulders back. I refuse to show weakness, even when all around me the boys openly ogle me and the girls giggle.

  I turn my attention to Braxton’s profile, secretly plotting his murder in my mind. That’s right asshole. You pissed off the wrong girl!

  “Class. Meet the half-breed. Half-breed, meet the....”

  I gasp as a solid punch to his ugly face cuts off his sentence. The room erupts into a frenzy of gossip and disbelief as Braxton staggers back a step from the blow. I turn, shocked to see a furious Jaxon standing over his brother with a look of murder on his face. Without taking his eyes off of his bleeding sibling, his voice rips across the room, leaving no room for argument.

  “CLASS DISMISSED! EVERYONE OUT!”

  They scatter. Like seriously.....in the span of two seconds not a single student is left on the mat. Now it is my turn to gawk. Huh.... Must be a prince thing. Looking at him though, chest heaving in fury as he stands protectively in front of me, I am starting to think that it is just a Jaxon thing.

  “What the hell Brax?” Jaxon growls at his brother, who has now risen to his feet and is just watching everything with that shit-eating-grin of his that I really hate. Jaxon turns his back to him, not even waiting to hear whatever crap answer I am sure he is going to give.

  His eyes run over me with hunger, before he slowly shakes his head. He doesn’t say a word as he pulls the soft red T-shirt that he is wearing off, and gently places it over my head. I can only watch as his soft fingers slowly untuck my hair and tuck it behind my ear. My heart is beating a million miles a minute, as time practically stands still.

  His hands blaze a fiery trail down my sides, not stopping until they reach the end of the t-shirt, which rest about mid-thigh on me. My gaze snaps up and when it travels the muscular planes of his chest and stomach all thought is forgotten.

  Jaxon Lux is absolute perfection in human skin.

  He is all tanned skin over ripped muscle, and there isn’t an inch of him that isn’t hard. Call me old-fashioned, but a man that is willing to fight to protect a girl’s dignity is pretty damn hot to me.

  “What’s wrong little brother,” Braxton laughs, officially breaking the lust induced trance that Jaxon seemed to place me in. “Didn’t want to share your little pet with the class?”

  Oh.... that is it! Braxton Lux may be bigger than me, and could probably kill me just by snapping his fingers, but nobody talks crap about me. I dart in front of Jaxon, bringing my knee up, and slamming it as hard as I can into Braxton’s crown jewels. The shocked look on his face almost making this whole humiliating day worth it.

  That’s right asshole. Girls can fight too. Go for the balls. Gets them every time.

  I know I should stop. Maybe beg for forgiveness, or a do-over, but that isn’t what I do. I am more of a let’s pour some salt on it and see if it hurts kind of girl. Besides, I have already committed to my crazy. Might as well make it epic.

  “I am no one’s pet asshole,” I say, bringing up my other knee and hitting him in the balls again. Then I do what I should have done to begin with.

  I roll my shoulders back and hold my head up high, as I walk away.

  ∞

  ~ Chapter 9 ~

  I decide to wash my worries away with a scalding hot shower, because let’s be honest— there isn’t much that a good shower can’t fix. I sigh in relief as the warm water pulls some of the tension from my tired muscles. As the water makes a slow trail down my skin, I take a second to attempt to process all of the crazy that has suddenly become my life.

  The water runs cold, and I am no closer to figuring any of it out. If I am being honest, I probably never will. Maybe I should just embrace the fact that crazy is my new reality.

  I dry off quickly, throwing on a pair of yoga pants and a baby blue tank top before making my way back to my down. I open the door to enter at the same time C.J. goes to leave. We slam into each other at full force, and a semi-curse flies from C.J. as we hit the floor.

  “Sweet baby chickens!’ she exclaims, and I burst into a fit of laughter.

  “What kind of phrase is that?” I ask, rolling over and sprawling out on the floor of our dorm. Too exhausted to get up. She looks at me like I have lost my mind, before shrugging and mirroring my position. We lay like that for a few minutes in silence, and that is when I start to get really concerned. The whole time that I have known C.J. she has been a lot of things, but quiet?

  No. That is not one of them.

  “C.J.? Are you ok?” I ask, rolling over on my stomach to get a better look at her. Her eyes are red and puffy, and her normally
pristine eyeliner is smudged.

  She has been crying.

  “Want to talk about it?” I ask, leaning into her and gently nudging her with my shoulder. I know it is an innocent question, but for me....it is huge. I haven’t gotten close to anyone....talked to anyone, since Ashlee. I thought that I had slammed that door shut and triple bolted it, but there is just something about C.J. that makes me want to be her friend.

  “Yes...no....Oh hell,” she says with a whine as she buries her face in her hands. “I don’t know.”

  Hurt flashes across my face, and I do my best to hide it. I must do a crappy job though, because C.J. rushes to explain.

  “Maci....gosh girl. It ain’t you. I know that sounds cliché as all chicken shit, but I swear it isn’t that I don’t trust you. It is just.....” she trails off, her face scrunching up in concentration as she searches for the right word. Knowing C.J, there is no telling what that word will be. Let’s face it. Her descriptions are....strange.

  “My family has more secrets than pandora’s pox. Yep. That’s us— a pandora’s box of bullshit. Seriously,” she says reaching out and placing her smooth mocha hand on top of mine. “I want to tell you, but it is just that I can’t......”

  “No,” I say, waving a hand dismissively. “You don’t have to explain. Really you don’t. Trust me....secrets I get,” I whisper, feeling sort of bad for asking for her secrets when I am hiding so many of my own.

  Besides, people have a right to their secrets, despite what today’s world thinks. It is entirely her business if and when she wants to share. That I respect. One hundred percent.

  I push myself to my feet, throwing her an encouraging grin as I slowly make my way to my bed. I have just sat down and leaned back with a heavy sigh when her voice reaches me. Fainter than before, like she is trying to answer her own question even as it leaves her lips.