by Demi Dumond
In fact, maybe it was the special stash augmenting my consciousness and reality, but I got an idea. A great one. One that would throw those kids off of their game and give me time to stop their ridiculous plan right in its tracks.
Yes, Julius my boy, it’s time for something that hasn’t happened in this academy for a very long time. I smiled. It was time for the trials. Ready or not, students, here it comes. It would mean a catastrophic death toll, but with my guards turning tail and running when they saw Keira’s dark magic, dark times called for desperate measures.
By the time the special cigar was done I was happier than I had been in ages. Pulling an ash tray out of the drawer, I stamped it out and put it down.
Then I left my office, taking a victory lap down the hallways. I nodded to students as I approached the classroom area and then kept walking right on past.
I kept walking until I was at the familiar exit door that led to the lower level. I checked in all directions, but there was nobody around.
Then I concentrated, reaching out with my dark magic to feel the creatures down below. They were there, just below the surface, waiting to be set free.
I opened my eyes. It was time. I started the incantations. The spell was simple, but it was long. Once or twice I peeked around, making sure those stupid kids weren’t sneaking up on me. And then I was done. I opened the exit door and left it ajar.
Then I waited. A whoosh of air came up from below, carrying the scent of dead fish, rotting corpses, and stale beer.
I frowned as the last scent hit me. Were the kids actually sneaking down here nowadays? It didn’t matter.
The magical wards, the barrier I had cast to protect the upper level from the creatures on the lower level was lifted.
I felt the energy from below. The monsters knew. Now it was only a matter of time.
With a spring in my step, I made my way back across the academy until I got to the classroom area where students were scattered around during lunch.
I stopped dramatically and held my hands up. “Students of Blood Moon Academy. Welcome to the trials. And my god have mercy on your souls.”
Then I kept walking. I heard the snickers and the sneers, the whispering behind my back. I knew they thought I was messing with them, or crazy, or that I was losing it.
I cherished the reactions. Soon, very soon, they would change. There would be screams and blood. Now the only question was, should I go back to my office and wait, should I stay here and enjoy the show, or should I go find Keira and make sure she has a front row seat to the mayhem that she caused?
36
Keira
I still felt a bit woozy from that last bit of dark magic, but at least I’d never have to see the smug look on that guard’s face again.
Malachai, Ian and I made our way through the hallways until we got back to the classrooms. As we approached, students were out in the hallways and I could feel a buzz of fear mixed with excitement in the air. Shit, what now?
I grabbed a passing student by the shirt, one with fangs as it turned out. He had long, stringy blond hair with a skinny, strung-out Rockstar build. He hissed at me.
Ian reacted instantly and I had to jump in between the two of them in order to keep somebody from getting hurt.
“Why the hell are you so testy?” I asked the tall, skinny vampire who was at least a foot taller than me, jabbing a finger into his chest. He didn’t back up.
He looked at Ian and then at Malachai and I could tell that he was considering fighting all of us. I softened my expression and my tone. “I just want to know what’s going on. I feel like I missed something.”
His eyes flared at me. “The Headmaster was just here. He said something about the trials starting right now. He scared the shit out of everybody.”
“How long ago?” I asked. I knew it was the last thing I had time for. I could tell by his expression that he was ready to bolt.
He turned and glared at me. “Ten minutes, now get the fuck out of my way.”
I took a step back and let him pass. Then I shared a look of concern with Malachai and Ian.
“I wonder what that means?” What it meant right now was that students were running panicked down the hallways and screaming. Some looked genuinely concerned judging by the looks on their faces, but some of them were laughing and enjoying the craziness. Now I was even more worried for Rafe and Ivy.
I fought through the tide of students leaving the classroom area. “We have to get to Professor Smyth’s class!”
Maybe in all of this craziness with students screaming and walking out of their classes, Professor Smythe had left too. Was that too much to hope for? That Ivy and Rafe were in there already and had the box?
I’d find out soon enough. We got to the door and it was open, that was a good sign. He always closed his door when he was lecturing or eating.
I ducked my head inside. That’s when I knew we were screwed. Of course, it could never be easy.
Professor Smythe had Ivy. His arm was around her and she was facing away from him. She was facing Rafe, who was pacing and snarling. A glint of steel caught my eye. Did Professor Smythe have a knife to her throat?
The whole scene looked crazy. Professor Smythe stood there calmly threatening Ivy’s life in his old-fashioned robe, stupid slouchy green hat, and faded brown loafers.
Anger bubbled up inside of me, right there at the surface, ready to explode. It was getting harder and harder for me to contain the dark magic within.
“Whoa,” I said as Ivy, Rafe, and Professor Smythe became aware of me, Malachai, and Ian. Talk about a standoff. “That doesn’t look like lecturing, Professor Smythe. Why don’t you let Ivy go?”
“I caught these two snooping around in my classroom with forbidden magic,” he spat. “You know, in the old days, you students would be executed for such behavior.”
Malachai took a step forward.
Professor Smythe moved what I could now see was clearly a blade onto the flesh of Ivy’s neck.
Ivy flinched and sucked in a breath. Malachai stopped moving.
“Sounds like you have something to hide, Professor Smythe. Otherwise you wouldn’t be attacking students in your classroom,” Malachai said.
I knew that Professor Smythe was in on it with the Headmaster. What I didn’t know was what he was getting out of the deal.
I hated him from day one when he loosed a mob of students to kick my ass and I hated him even more now. But I had killed the burglar guard with my magic just a little while ago. I couldn’t risk getting sloppy and having Ivy caught in a blast in Professor Smythe’s direction.
“Why are you covering for a murderous Headmaster?” I asked. “What are you getting out of selling out everything you’re supposed to believe in as a teacher.”
“Girl, you have no idea what forces you’re messing with here. It didn’t used to be like this anyway. Oh no. Things didn’t revolve around students. Back then the world revolved around power. Still does, for those of us who remember.”
“How the fuck old are you, anyway?” Ian asked. He took a step away from Malachai but not toward Professor Smythe, but the result was that we had him even more hemmed in.
“If you hurt Ivy, you’re not leaving here alive,” I said.
Professor Smythe raised an eyebrow at me. “Threatening Professors now, are we?”
“Only a corrupt, asshole professor,” I spat back. “You know what we’re here for, Smythe. I’m not bothering to call you professor anymore, you’re just a selfish, evil sellout. But your time is up, so just free Ivy and go.”
“What are you talking about?” he asked.
I now knew that Professor Smythe had dark magic, I could feel it radiating off of him. Then I felt something else. I closed my eyes for a moment, listening for what I feared was coming. And then it was confirmed.
I opened my eyes. “The Headmaster opened the gateway to the lower level. In a few minutes, we’re all going to be up to our eyeballs in monsters.”
I watched Smythe for a response. When his expression turned to surprise, it was my turn to raise an eyebrow. “He didn’t tell you?”
“Lies.”
“They’re coming whether you like it or not. Reach out and feel them, see if I’m lying.”
He looked from me, to Malachai, to Rafe. “Don’t try anything,” he said, closing his eyes and holding Ivy closer. For him, it was more of a blink, and then his eyes shot open again. His expression changed to concern.
Rafe cleared his throat and then growled. A deep, threatening sound. “We’ll let you go, for now. Just leave Ivy.”
Smythe sneered and then clapped his hands, sending a torrent of smoke through the room so thick that I couldn’t see anything.
I felt something swish by me, knocking me over. And then the room cleared of smoke and Smythe was gone.
My eyes scanned the room for Ivy. She was there and she looked okay. We all ran over to her.
“I’m fine, guys,” she said. “It’s okay, I still have the rock. And the object we’re looking for is close.” She glanced at me, a worried expression on her face. “Thanks for getting rid of him, Keira. But please tell me you were bluffing just now, about the monsters.”
I shook my head. “Afraid not. Apparently, the Headmaster stood out in the hallway and told everybody ‘Welcome to the trials, here come the monsters.’”
“Really?”
“Yes, and I can feel them, so let’s get a move on.”
“That bastard,” Rafe said. “We have to hurry. We still have to get this box and then get all the way across the academy to Professor Kiln’s room to get that book of spells.” He didn’t finish his thought. Because that was the direction the monsters were going to be coming from.
37
Keira
We followed Ivy around the classroom until she found a spot at a corner wall underneath the window.
Rafe knelt down and grabbed a nearby pencil and pried open a loose piece of wood in the wall. There it was another small gross box.
I wrinkled up my nose. I didn’t want to even know what was in it. “Who does this to themselves? Hacks themselves up and hides the pieces all over the place?”
Ian shrugged. “The whole thing is creepy as hell. At least we’re done with it.”
I turned toward the door. “Okay, let’s get out of here while we still have time.”
A moment later all of us were tearing down the hallways, darting around freaked out students. Word traveled fast.
“Move!” Malachai yelled, resulting in a little more room for us to dart through. The good news was they were all running away from where we were going and soon the crowds thinned out.
When we finally turned down the hallway to Professor Kiln’s room was, I knew it was too late. I was staring at a horde of monsters tentatively slithering their way down the hallway toward us.
We stopped running. They stopped approaching. And then we were at a standstill. I took a few steps forward until I was past Professor Kiln’s door. The monsters didn’t back up, but they didn’t advance either.
Assuming my magic stance, I pointed at the door. “You guys go and get the book. I’ll hold them off.”
They ran inside. Well, everybody except Malachai. In their excitement, the others slammed the door. I flinched at the noise, eyeing the monsters to see what they would do.
Nothing, as it turned out. Not yet anyway. I stared at the eyeballs and the tentacles and the fangs. None of this felt real.
Seeing them up here, in the light, on the main floor of the academy like they belonged here sent a shiver of fear all the way down to my toes.
Malachai inched up toward me. “You can’t use your magic yet. Ian and I had to carry you after the incident with the guard. You have to let me do this.”
He was probably right. I did still feel a little woozy from before. But my dark magic bubbled just under the surface, it wanted to get out.
Malachai assumed his magic stance. “Go! Help them hurry up before we’re all dead.”
I knew he was right, so as calmly as I could manage under the circumstances, I headed inside. Calmly and quietly, so that I didn’t rile up the monsters any more than they already were.
“What is the holdup?” I asked, remembering not to slam the door.
Ian had the spell book. “It’s huge and it started falling apart. Something’s happening to it. We have to find a bag or something to keep it together.”
“Does this woman have no tote bags?” Rafe asked, returning from her bedroom.
They had a point. We needed the spell book. And it would help if it was in one piece. Because any minute now, if we were lucky, we’d probably be on the run.
I got an idea. I ran into Professor Kiln’s bedroom and then went to her closet. Rafe followed me. As I suspected, there were tons of sweaters on hangers. Any of these would do.
Rafe’s forehead wrinkled in confusion. “Why are we looking at sweaters when we’re supposed to be looking for bags?”
“We’ll just tie off the arms.”
Rafe grabbed a sweater. “Good idea.”
I took it back out of his hands and put it back. “Purple plaid and green? Are you crazy?”
I grabbed a blue one and tied off the sleeves.
Then I ran back into the living room and threw the book into it.
“Smart,” Ivy said, eyeing the fuzzy blue sweater with the black squiggly stripes. “Ugly. But smart.”
I heard Malachai’s voice through the open door. “Hurry!”
“Ian, give me the disgusting boxes we have so far.”
He dug the small boxes out of his pockets and threw them into the sweater bag. “Ugh, there.”
I ran through the door. “Let’s go, people.”
“I’ll hold them off. You guys move,” Malachai said.
I turned back to face him. “I’m not leaving you behind.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll be right behind you.”
The sound of footsteps echoed down the hall as we made our way back toward the classroom part of the academy. That’s when I realized I needed a plan.
When and where were we going to be able to pull off this spell? It was lengthy, and tricky. And unlike my forbidden magic, it was very specific. It wasn’t something I could just call forth. Something like that would need privacy, time, and most of all, a safe space from monsters and the other creatures that were currently trying to kill me.
When we got to a crossroads, I paused for a moment. A brown-haired guy with jeans and a blazer ran down the hallway, eyes wide, screaming. He ran into a group of girls making their way toward the dorms, knocking several of them down. It was clear that panic was taking over.
“What are we going to do about them?”
Ian skidded to a stop next to me. “Um, we’re out of time here, Keira. Besides, if we don’t do this spell, we’re all dead anyway.”
“Yes, but if we don’t even try that makes us as bad as him.”
Malachai raised an eyebrow. “We’re the same as if we used dark magic to imprison and kill people?”
“You know what I mean!” I was still struggling with my uses of dark magic and what it meant.
I felt myself changing. Right now, I had a handle on it, but I didn’t want to lose myself and go down the same path as the Headmaster. As crazy as that sounded.
I shook my head. “We have to get them out of here.”
“We could try to herd them through the double doors,” Ivy said.
“No good,” I answered. “The fountain was damaged. That water will be everywhere. They’ll walk right out into another dimension.”
“That just leaves the front entrance the Headmaster blasted through. We’ll have to go straight past his office. Again.”
None of us were looking forward to going in that direction. But it looked like we had no choice. “Fine, we’ll get them out through that entrance. And once we’re outside, we can go into the forest and perform the spell. Tor will cover us.”
It was a good p
lan, except for one thing. I heard the double doors open and close. We were already too late for some of the students.
“Oh shit,” Malachai said. “This is only going to work if we block off that exit again.”
He took off running and the rest of us followed. Then he got into his magic stance and let out a quick blast. There was an orange glow that was fierce but short lived, and then the double doors were melted together, once again sealing them off.
“That ought to hold them for now,” Rafe said.
“Wow,” I said. “Somebody has gotten better at dark magic.”
Malachai shook his head. “I’ve felt it ever since I turned Tor back into a dragon.”
I stared up into those golden eyes and his face looked worried. “The magic feels different now. It’s more accessible. Or always lurking, depending on how you look at it.”
“Trust me. I get it,” I said as I went back into the hallway, heading off several students who were heading toward the double doors. I saw the panic on their faces when they saw the condition of the doors.
“There’s another exit,” I said. “Follow us.”
Shrieks sounded around us now. One glance back the way we came revealed the monsters on the move.
I led the group of students through the building with Rafe, Malachai, Ian and Ivy helping. As I hoped, we were picking up more and more students as we went along. They now understood that this was the only option.
I clutched Professor Kiln’s sweater with the book of spells and the items closer as we neared the part of the academy where the Headmaster’s office was.
I reached out with my magic, hoping to feel nothing. Maybe the Headmaster was somewhere else.
No such luck. I could feel his magic immediately, and it was stronger than before. How could it be stronger? I felt a knot in my stomach and swallowed.
“What is it?” Malachai asked.
“Nothing,” I answered. I didn’t want to freak out the students around me that didn’t know what was going on.