Academy of Deadly Arts

by Helen Scott

  "This conversation is way too deep for something over lunch," Sasha mumbled more to herself than to the rest of us.

  "Speaking of..." Gaius said.

  "We better get to our next class," Bowie said. He shot me a genuine light of the room kind of smile before he stood and took his tray over to the disposal area.

  "Your friends are, uh, interesting," Sasha observed.

  "I should probably get to my next class too," I said as I tried to remember what was on my schedule without having to pull it out of my notebook.

  Sasha waved me off as I exited the cafeteria. The rest of the afternoon seemed to slip by before I even knew what was happening. It was only when I got to Demons class that it got interesting.

  Not only was this one of the classes I had with Sasha, but Noah ended up being in the class as well. My heart jumped into my throat as soon as I saw him sitting in one of the chairs. His black leather jacket—which he wore over his uniform—combined with the tattoos and piercings that I had noted the night before looked just as delicious in the daytime as they did at night.

  I wasn't sure whether to go and sit with him or not, after all we had only met once. I hadn't even heard Sasha come up behind me when she said, "Who in purgatory is that?"

  I turned and smiled at her before answering. "That's Bowie’s roommate, Noah."

  There was no way he could have heard the words leave my mouth, yet as soon as they did Noah glanced up and smiled at me waving me over to the empty seat next to him. Sasha followed me over and sat behind me while I claimed the seat next to the man who looked like he should be on stage at a rock concert, lead singer of course.

  "Noah, I didn't expect to see you," I rushed to say, feeling like an idiot.

  "I partied too hard when I first got to purgatory and I failed Demons the first time around. I think it was mainly due to the fact that I never showed up to class, so now I have to retake it or I'll never be able to graduate." He rubbed the back of his neck when he spoke, clearly embarrassed by his previous behavior.

  "What is there to do after you graduate?" Sasha piped in.

  "Noah, this is Sasha, we met earlier and have a few classes together," I said getting a little tired of introductions.

  "After you graduate you can do whatever you want. I can be a rock star or take up painting or if I'm really lucky I can solve whatever the hell it is that's keeping me here and move on."

  "So is going to Phantom Academy actually preparing us for anything, or is it just to help us manage the change from mortal life to spirit life, if that's what you call it," I mused.

  "If you know what you're doing, you can influence the mortal world. My personal theory is that the muses from Greek mythology were spirits that had learned how to interact with the living."

  Before I could investigate his theory any further the person, or should I say spirit, that walked in was clearly the professor. The class fell silent almost immediately, as though everybody knew something I didn't.

  "Demons are nothing to mess around with. I'm Professor Matthias and this is Demons 101. While I'm sure this is news to many of you the truth is that demons do exist. In fact, they travel from the netherworld to the mortal world quite frequently. Their goal is world domination. In this class we will be studying the various types of demons and what to do should you encounter one. If this sounds interesting to you, then you might want to think about pursuing studies in demonology."

  First it was graduate-level ghostly studies and now it was demonology? There was way more to this afterlife stuff than I thought. Was it challenging for everyone or just me? I wish I knew how it all worked. In some ways I just wanted to grab the Arbiter and tie him down until he answered all my questions. That wasn't going to happen though.

  "Let's jump right in." The professor swept his gaze around the room, his eyes flinty as though he expected someone to object. "There are all sorts of demons out there. Some are what inspired the demons mentioned in various religions, some are elemental, some are scavengers. Some fit all three of the things I just listed.

  "There are demons that will never be seen in the afterlife, which we can all be thankful for. Those include demons like Beelzebub, Leviathan, and Asmodeus. They are, or were, princes in the aetherworld, at least according to the stories. They are sentient, higher-level beings. There are also princes of the netherworld, which shall remain nameless, and we will simply call them archdemons. The demons that you are more likely to see in the afterlife are temptation demons, wraiths, and sprites. They feed on your desire for whatever is a tempting sin, so to speak. What is your personal weakness? Lust? Pride? Hunger?

  "We all have our Achilles heel. The important thing is to be aware of what that is and be able to defend against it so you don't fall into a spiral of self-destruction. You should have all taken or be taking Ghostly Studies 101, and as such you will learn about the essence of being a spirit. I'm here to teach you how to keep that essence intact."

  Keeping our beings intact in the afterlife was apparently a lot harder than I had thought because the more Professor Matthias talked the more I was certain I wouldn't even survive a week in purgatory. We were basically little snacks running around trying to stay safe from hungry demons. And apparently demons were always hungry. I was a freaking pizza roll. Great.

  6

  Noah

  Getting through Demons this time around was supposed to be easy, but I hadn't counted on Avery. Sitting next to her through the whole class was just about as distracting as it could get. I thought after she left the night before she wouldn't be back, and I didn't expect to be sharing any classes with a first year. Shows what I knew. I hadn't meant to be rude to her the night before, I was just awkward at trying to be helpful. I was a much better asshole.

  I needed to figure out what it was about this woman that intrigued me so much so I could get it out of my system and pass this class. It wasn't that I particularly gave a shit about demons, I just knew this was one of the classes I needed to get credit for to graduate. The only thing I planned on doing once I graduated was living vicariously through up-and-coming rock stars in the mortal world. I wasn't planning on staying in purgatory forever.

  "Hey, what are you doing now?" I asked Avery as she folded up her notebook and looked like she was about to leave.

  "Uh, I was just going to head back to my room before going to the bookstore. Super interesting, I know. Try not to be jealous." Avery smiled at me and her whole face changed. Dimples popped out as her pouty lips spread over her face, the natural red color looking even more vibrant next to her brilliant white teeth.

  "Do you want to see something cool?" I asked unable to help myself.

  Her eyes lit up like a kid on their birthday seeing the stack of presents. "Cool how?"

  "That would be giving it away," I teased with a grin.

  She glanced over her shoulder at her friend Sasha and seemed to debate a moment before she nodded her head. "I'd love to." As she edged out of her seat she turned and addressed Sasha. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

  Sasha nodded and smiled before raising her eyebrows and jerking her head toward me with an oh-so-subtle thumbs up. It made me want to laugh, but I restrained myself not wanting to make them feel awkward. It wasn't often that a girl was actually interested in me when she hadn't already seen me on stage rocking out. There was just something about being the lead singer in a band that certain women found irresistible. When I was just regular old Noah, not so much.

  I wasn't sure why I wanted to show Avery my secret spot, but I felt like she would appreciate it. It wasn't far from the building in which our classroom was located, but it was along a path that was never used, at least not that I saw. I felt sure that at some point it had led to an easier way to connect with the mortal world, but that connection seemed to have deteriorated.

  As we reached the edge of the path Avery glanced over at me. "Where are we going?"

  “It's just a little further. Bowie said he showed you the mortal world, right? How the colors are
skewed and time seems to flow differently?" I waited until she nodded at me, her wide doe eyes watching me intently. "It's kind of like that, but not. You'll see."

  "Okay..." Her voice sounded wary, but I knew she wasn't going to turn around. She was a brave little thing. Petite. Shorter than me by at least a foot and that was when she was wearing heels. Her purple hair only seemed to make the brown in her eyes look richer, and it brought out the flecks of green in them as well.

  Finally, the path butted up to a row of trees and I knew it appeared, to most people, like it didn't go any further, but there was a space that I could fit through by the big oak tree and that was what made this place special. As we approached I sensed her slow her pace and grow more cautious.

  I ducked halfway through the space and turned, holding my hand out to her. "Do you trust me?"

  "I barely even know you," she said, her eyes dancing with mirth.

  "But you already know if you trust me or not. It's a gut reaction. So, do you trust me?" I asked again, extending my hand a little farther.

  "Yes," she replied, her voice still hesitant. Her hand slipped into mine like it was always supposed to be there. Even though she had a firm grip, her hand felt like it was delicate. A piece of her that made her feel both breakable and strong all at once.

  As I stepped through the gap I helped her to follow and observed as she passed through the barrier. All the solid, cohesive feel that people have in the physical world bled from her body like water going down the drain. Her eyes blew wide as she took me in now that we had both made it to the other side.

  "What is this?"

  I'd never brought anyone here before, so I wasn't expecting the slight warble to her voice, making her sound she was talking to me under water. It made me grin for a moment before I made my reply. "My working theory is that we are looking at each other as ghosts." I tugged on her hand and moved the two of us farther out into the grassy area that was beyond the oak tree. "Look." I turned her around to see the school where we had just attended classes.

  The building seemed to haze in and out of existence with a slight bluish tone to it and not much else color wise, which was exactly how we looked to one another as well. The fact that I could literally peer through her body and see the park on the other side should have freaked me out, but it didn't. We were both ephemeral blue ghosts.

  "So I look see through to you too?" Avery asked, her attention darting between me and the building.

  "Yep. There's more, come on," I insisted as I tugged on her hand once more until she started following me through the park to another pathway. This one followed the edge of the woods and as we veered around to the left, it skirted close to one of the other academic buildings. "Look," I said as I pointed up through the trees.

  "Is that—"

  "Wilson Hall? Yep."

  "So can the living see this?" She gestured to the bluish outline of the building that seemed to hover in the air.

  I should have let her hand go so that she could gesture and talk the way she wanted. I couldn't bring myself to release her warm skin though, because even if she looked like she wasn't really there, I could feel her hand in mine as surely as I could feel my heart beating in my chest.

  "Did Bowie have people walk through you?" I asked, somehow excited by the fact that this hadn't completely freaked her out.

  "Yeah, it was the only way he could get me to believe him," she said, her voice sounding distracted.

  "Want to see what it's like in here?" Excitement zinged through me, and I felt like a kid showing off his favorite toy.

  "Do you even know where here is?" she asked as she followed me farther down the garden path.

  "I really do think it's the mortal world, the real world, whatever you want to call it. It's like looking through a window into a house versus what Bowie showed you which was like peering through a window to the outside of the house. Noises and color can change based on how clean or dirty the window is." We spilled out from the park onto a sidewalk and immediately there were people coming at us. "Watch their reactions as they pass through you."

  There was a young mom pushing her stroller coming toward us and I didn't move out of the way, didn't budge an inch. As soon as she'd passed through me I looked over my shoulder and saw her shudder before glancing back over her own shoulder searching for whatever had caused her body’s reaction. When she saw nothing she shook her head and kept moving forward. The same thing happened over and over again, and each time Avery watched with rapt attention, looking for the slightest indication that they could see her.

  It was a little early for me to share my theories about when ghosts could and could not be seen by the living, so I kept my mouth shut. Didn't want to scare her any more than I already had. As the light started to wane I figured we should head back.

  "Do you know where we are?"

  Before I could respond to her question she was pulling me along as she went to the street corner and began looking around for clues as to the city or country we were in.

  "I'm not sure. Sometimes the path opens out onto different locations, so it always seems like it's changing. I think we’re still in the US, at least this time. We don't have much time to explore though. Sun's going down," I pointed out as a way of explaining.

  "And demons come out at night?" Avery asked as we turned and began walking back to Phantom Academy.

  "Something like that. Some students just call them nightmares because that's what they will give you, if they don't kill you, or seriously injure you." As I spoke I felt like we were being watched, as though by talking about them in the open I had summoned them somehow, or drawn their attention. Urgency filled my veins in the form of adrenaline at the thought that Avery could get hurt because I’d wanted to show her something special.

  The sky seemed to grow darker and darker as we went, the urge to break out into a run filling my head, but I didn’t want freak Avery out. She already looked nervous enough as it was. By the time we made it back to the oak tree it was completely dark out. There wasn't a hint of orange or red left in the sky.

  We slipped through the opening and scurried along the path, and all the while I felt Avery's tension mounting. Before we made it out of the woods branches began snapping all around us. Chills ran up and down my spine. "Come on. Keep moving forward and don't look back," I hissed as I pushed Avery in front of me.

  I glanced over my shoulder and saw a black mass forming on the ground. A shadow wraith, or nightmare, began to form and I pushed Avery more firmly toward the open area. It wasn't until she screamed that I realized why she'd been so slow. I had been too focused on what was behind us and almost missed the fear sprite that had popped up in front of her. Thankfully, my mental walls were strong enough to block the fear sprite's manipulations, but only just. With Avery being so new she had nothing to defend herself with and was probably seeing her worst fears come to life.

  We were stuck between two demons and the only way out was to get past the fear sprite. I plastered my hand over Avery's eyes and tried to get her to move forward but that move only seemed to terrify her more. I was left with no other choice. I scooped her up into my arms and made a run for it, jumping the two of us over the fear sprite, before running until we were clear of the woods.

  If only we were out of the metaphorical woods as well. Unfortunately, we weren't. We still had all of campus to cross, and while it was rarer for demons to attack on campus proper I'd also never seen a shadow wraith and fear sprite join forces either.

  7

  Avery

  What the hell were those things? One was like a weird congealed mass and the other looked like the most fucked up spider I'd ever seen in my life. Legs seemed to come out of everywhere, and it had way more than just eight. They all pointed toward me, looking for me. That was when I screamed. I couldn't help it; the sound just burst out of me.

  The next thing I knew I was flying across the area where the mega-spider had been, and I was encased in the comfort of Noah's arms. I wasn't sur
e whether to thank him for getting me out of there or yell at him for putting me within reach of that thing. All I knew was that I wasn't going to be able to sleep, or at least not without the lights on.

  Noah kept running even as we made it out of the woods. It wasn't until we were next to a building and standing under a streetlight that he stopped and put me down. I knew I should release him, that he'd put me down to gain some distance, but I couldn't seem to find the strength within myself to put space between us. Everything seemed to be nonexistent around us, because all I could focus on was him and the things we'd just left behind.

  "Are you okay?" Noah cupped my face in his hands as he looked down at me. His stormy blue eyes were almost navy at the edges and lighter, like the sky on a summer day, closer to his pupil. Even though I was scared shitless in that moment, there was enough concern and warmth in his gaze as it flitted over my face that I couldn't focus on anything else. The dark slashes of his eyebrows came together in a frown when I didn't respond.

  "I'm..." I was going to say I was okay, just out of habit, but that would have been a lie. "No, I'm not. I'm scared," I admitted quietly.

  "That's pretty understandable," Noah said with a sigh as he looked around us. "Why don't we pop into this building? Get off the streets until we know everything is safe?"

  I nodded frantically. Putting walls between myself and those things sounded like the best possible idea. We scurried out of the light, like mice fleeing a cat, and as soon as we were close enough Noah reached for the door, yanking on the handle to open it. I wanted to be cool and collected, but the terror I'd felt when I was looking at the mega-spider wasn't something I'd be forgetting for a while. Especially not when I knew it was still out there.