by Eva Brandt
Outside, my irritating visitor was still panicking and pounding on the door. “Alyssa!”
I let out an exasperated breath. “Oh, for fuck’s sake. Hold your horses. I’m coming.”
Well and truly annoyed, I shot to my feet and made my way to the room entrance. As soon as I opened the door, Gemma pounced on me, her eyes alight with dread and ferocity. “Do you have any idea how long I’ve been looking for you? I thought Stefan had eaten you yesterday.”
Did she mean that literally or figuratively? At this point, I was beginning to think nothing was impossible in this place.
“He didn’t eat me,” I said. “I barely saw him. I left TB with Mikael, and then came back to the dorms. It took less than ten minutes. Didn’t Adolf tell you?”
Gemma scowled at me in visible confusion. “Who?”
“Adolf. The imp at the entrance? The dorm guardian?”
She stared at me blankly, as if she couldn’t process what I was saying. I wondered if she was still sleep-deprived or if the stress had just short-circuited her neurons. Maybe it was better to not discuss it further. “Anyway, did you want something, or did you just mean to check I was still alive?” I asked.
The change in topic snapped Gemma out of her trance. “Of course I wanted something!” she shot back, outraged. “You do realize you’re not just here to socialize with the school princes, right? Class is getting started.”
What? Already? I hadn’t even begun to look around yet. I hadn’t put my clothes away, packed a bag, retrieved my school supplies. I didn’t have my books. I didn’t know where I was supposed to go today. Fuck. Fuckity, fuck, fuck.
Then again, I’d had plenty of time to do that the day before and instead, I’d delivered a snake to his companion and then fallen asleep like an idiot. I tried very hard not to panic and focused on completing the tasks on my mental list. “Okay. I need a shower and I’m on it. I don’t suppose you—”
“Here,” Gemma cut me off, producing a piece of paper from… somewhere. “I picked it up from the dean’s office earlier. You owe me.”
The paper turned out to be my schedule. I browsed through it in a mix of excitement and anxiety. As much as I hated to admit it, I was kind of looking forward to my classes.
My first class was apparently Demonology, but the list didn’t provide any information on how to get to where it was supposed to be held. Gemma must’ve noticed, because she groaned in something akin to resignation. “You really are helpless, aren’t you? Don’t worry. I’ll take you there, just this once.”
It was weird that she was being so nice, but I decided to not question it. She’d already explained that the school had a ‘cruel to be kind’ policy, so she was most likely going to turn this whole thing against me in some way. In the meantime, I had to use the information and hope I didn’t get myself killed or expelled the first day.
The rooms of the Sloth Dorms each had individual, attached bathrooms, so it was easy enough to rush through a shower. Giving Shiro his bath took longer, but he was more cooperative than he usually tended to be, perhaps sensing I was freaking out.
Still, by the time I was done, at least half an hour had passed. An agitated Gemma shoved a dress into my arms and said, “Quick, put this on.”
The black gown was identical to what she’d been wearing the day before. “Err… Thanks, but I’m not really into clothes that are so… elegant.” Also, so revealing. Was it just me, or was the material slightly transparent?
Gemma rolled her eyes at me. “It’s the school uniform for girls. You have to wear it.”
I took a deep breath and struggled not to have a panic attack. Gemma had mentioned the uniform before, during the fondling incident. I’d forgotten. The leather pants-black shirt combo must’ve been the boys’ uniform. It made sense that The Academy of the Devil would have girls wear something unusual too. That didn’t really help set my mind at ease, but I didn’t have a choice except to go through with this insanity.
Fortunately, Gemma waited outside without being told to, so she didn’t have to witness me struggling to get in the damn thing and still keeping my bra from showing. In the end, I had to do without, because every bra I had covered more of my breasts than the fucking gown and ended up visible from beneath the so-called uniform. On the bright side, the black material made sure my nipples wouldn’t be visible, so there was that. I also had just enough time to give Shiro a little food, although my own breakfast would have to wait.
I covered myself a little better with my long hair, unearthed my school bag from my trolley, shoved a notepad and a few pens inside, and then left the room. Naturally, my now-fluffy, but clean Shiro followed. There was a key in the lock, and I remembered to lock the door behind us.
As soon as she saw me, Gemma gave me an approving nod. “Excellent. Now you look less like a Sacrifice and more like a real student. Now hurry up. We don’t have much time left.”
Gemma unerringly led me through the corridors of the dorms, toward the exit. I didn’t see Adolf, but a few other bleary-eyed students were also stumbling out of their rooms, so it was obvious that I wasn’t the only one who’d overslept.
A sudden suspicion niggled at the back of my mind. It was very strange that I’d succumb to exhaustion like that. I had regular sleep patterns, because I needed to wake up at certain hours to take my pills. Then there was Shiro, whom I never forgot about.
But these were The House of Sloth Dorms, in The Academy of the Devil. That couldn’t be a coincidence. “Say, Gemma… I don’t suppose this place has some kind of… sleep-inducing effect on its inhabitants?”
“Of course it does.” Gemma laughed lightly. “In fact, you’d do well to find another house soon. Some people who aren’t good enough to be accepted just… pass out one day and never wake up.”
Fuck. Okay, then. Priority number one: I needed another place to sleep. I wasn’t going to bed in a building that was enchanted to turn people comatose.
“You should’ve maybe mentioned that sooner,” I grumbled.
“I couldn’t have even if I’d wanted to. You have to adapt to these things yourself.”
There was no point in arguing with her. My time was better spent following her advice and preferably not having to rely on people who might not have my best interests at heart.
I couldn’t see the school building from outside the dorms, but that turned out to be yet another weird spatial distortion. As soon as we left the Sloth Dorms, Gemma dragged me onto a path that slithered through the orchard of apple trees. She snagged one of the crimson fruit from a low-hanging branch and tossed it to me. “Eat. It’ll help.”
After my experience the day before, I felt very leery about consuming odd foodstuffs that were in any way related to demonic plants. But thinking realistically, staying at the school would involve exactly that sooner or later. Besides, the apple looked very good, nice and juicy, just the way I liked it.
Still, I had no intention of going along with everything Gemma said, just like that. “This isn’t going to poison me, will it?” I asked.
“Don’t be silly.” Gemma snorted. “This isn’t one of your stupid, human fairytales and you’re hardly a princess. It’s just that the orchard here stems from the original apple of knowledge. Without it, you can’t see the school and everything else properly.”
I ate the fruit very quickly after that. I’d always found the whole story about The Garden of Eden a little outrageous, because I’d never thought knowledge could be bad. Maybe in that sense, I was very similar to my ancestor. He’d pursued that belief no matter what, even if it had meant making a proverbial deal with the devil.
When I looked at it that way, I found that I felt less resentment over it than I had before. And as the sweet flavor of the fruit hit my taste buds, I could understand Sébastien Michaelis even better.
The world around me shifted and a massive building popped up in front of me, apparently out of nowhere. I wouldn’t have called it a castle, not exactly. It was a fortress, but one u
nlike anything I’d seen before. It didn’t have walls around it. Instead, it was surrounded by a massive dome made of something that looked like clear glass. In the dim sunlight, the dome shone like a blinding star, and despite the apple I’d just eaten, I had trouble seeing the structure in more detail.
“Not quite what you expected, is it?” Gemma asked knowingly. “I bet you thought it would have a more… traditional look.”
That was one way of putting it. So far, the academy had held a lot of surprises, and I suspected that would keep happening. “I actually didn’t know what to expect. To be honest, I had my doubts my cell phone would even work here.”
The look of horror on her face would have been hilarious had she not displayed her very sharp fangs again. “Of course our phones work! How else would we log into Pornhub? I mean, there are always the PCs, but those are all in the school building, and we can’t access them for leisure.”
My brain just about stopped at that reply. “You guys have Pornhub accounts?”
Gemma nodded, her temper settling as she realized I hadn’t meant my question as an insult. “I do. Others have different tastes, different subscriptions. But that sort of thing is a bit of a must here. We far prefer feeding on one another, but that becomes a little tough during exam week, so we’re forced to resort to touching ourselves.” Her eyes narrowed and she peered closer at my face. “Wait. Are you by any chance…”
She trailed off and snapped her mouth shut with an audible click. I was immediately alarmed. “What?”
“Never mind,” Gemma said, shaking her head. “Now’s not the time for that. Besides, even if you are, it won’t be a problem for long.”
The mysterious ‘it’ was a problem now, if she’d reacted that way. But no matter how much I pushed and prodded, Gemma refused to say anything. I was very tempted to sic Shiro on her again, just out of spite, but I refrained for his sake. We’d gotten away with his attack on her the day before, but that didn’t make me any less wary about what would happen should the incident repeat itself.
To be fair, Gemma wasn’t wrong when she said we had other priorities right now. The school building was a good distance away from the Sloth Dorms, but we’d made the trip in record time. As we passed through the dome, a wave of bright, fierce magic rushed over me. It didn’t hurt, but it did make my skin itch and tighten uncomfortably. I felt as if a set of claws was traveling up and down my skin, not quite drawing blood, but still putting me on edge and making my nerve endings oversensitive.
“It’s just the magic of the school, settling over you,” Gemma said, having obviously sensed my unease. “Don’t worry. It’ll pass.”
I acknowledged her words with a nod but didn’t reply in any other way. I should’ve thanked her for her kindness and assistance, no matter what reasons she might have had for it all, but I’d been rendered mute by the fiery magic of the academy. I suspected the apple might have had a detrimental effect on me too.
From up close, the academy looked even more breathtaking than its surroundings. There were no more apple trees nearby, but one of the first things I saw was a row of crimson rose bushes that seemed to drip blood onto the cobblestone path. In a way, the buildings were the same, as their frightening, surreal beauty stunned me. Terrifying, but beautiful spirals of black onyx floated above us, the impossible architecture defying all sense of gravity. Square, well-balanced structures stood next to an almost shapeless, amorphous mass that could only be identified as a building because of the dozens of doors visible from every angle.
In a way, it was suitable, since nothing here could possibly be plain or simple. I suspected the amorphous mass was inhabited by one of those infamous symbiotes and hoped I wouldn’t have to go there for my first class.
Shockingly, my wish came true. I ended up in a somewhat more secluded side tower that adjoined the center mass, but was closest to the square building. Inside, the air was humid and stuffy, and every single object within view—from the decorations to the floor—was in a shade of brown.
After the explosion of chaotic beauty outside, the sight was a little disappointing and depressing. I reminded myself I hadn’t come here to sightsee and prayed things would continue being bland and boring.
Gemma dragged me through neat, identical corridors, up to a door that already had a group of students waiting in front of it.
“Hey, Darling,” she said as she approached them. “I see I got here just in time. No sign from the Lioness?”
An ivory-skinned girl with deep black eyes looked at us in a mix of annoyance and disinterest. “Not yet, but it’ll probably happen any moment now.” Her gaze slid toward me and she sneered in distaste. At that moment, she reminded me a lot of Cruella de Vil, and not just because half of her braided hair was white and the rest of it, black. “I see you found the Sacrifice. She didn’t get eaten.”
“Not yet, no,” Gemma answered. She sounded almost put out by my enduring survival, but I knew that wasn’t the case, since she’d been genuinely worried earlier. “Take her, would you? I need to get to class soon, or Professor Faust will do something very regrettable.”
“Is he really that bad?” a boy with blue skin asked from behind the girl. “I heard his assignments are super tough.”
“You’ll see for yourself, next year,” Gemma answered. “I’m pretty sure he’s bitter as fuck about being forced to spend eternity here, and he’s taking it out on us.”
The short exchange gave me a hint on what I could expect from the teachers. Clearly, they’d be as weird and crazy as the students, if not more so. I wished I’d taken the time to ask Gemma or Callum more details about that. It was too late now. Gemma was already leaving, abandoning me with the other group of students.
I didn’t like the cheerleader from hell, but at least I’d been sort of familiar with her. These new people were completely alien to me. The situation was made worse by the fact that they all knew one another, whereas I was on my own, a stranger to them, an outsider, and a human.
It was awkward as hell. I’d always hated being the center of attention, so standing in front of a crowd made me almost as nervous as missing a dose of my pills. I was left with nothing to do except lean against the wall, clutch my bag to my chest, and hope class started as soon as possible.
I would soon learn that, when it came to my new home, the sentence ‘be careful what you wish for’ was some kind of unwritten law. Not ten seconds later, the door opened, allowing me and the others to enter.
I rushed into the classroom, more than a little eager to escape the staring students. It was only then, when I was already inside, that I realized the huge miscalculation I’d made.
Every single person I’d met so far had looked at least a little human. The demons in the village might have had weird appendages, but their general body structure had been the same as mine. Even the imps had been humanoid in form. The Demonology teacher was nothing like that.
Gemma had called her ‘the Lioness’, and while I could see why, I didn’t deem the name all that suitable. With the head of a crocodile, the torso of a lion and the rest of her body shaped like a hippopotamus, she looked like an escapee from The Island of Dr. Moreau. She stood in front of something that looked an awful lot like a pool of lava, staring into the crimson, hot substance like it was the most fascinating thing in the world. This meant that she paid my rash entrance no heed. I took shameless advantage of this, and when the other students entered the room, I mingled with the crowd, hoping I wouldn’t stand out too much.
I had no idea how seating was assigned here, but since the rest of the students didn’t move to claim chairs for themselves, I assumed the process wouldn’t be as straightforward as the one in the Sloth Dorms. Then again, I could hardly expect everything in the academy to be slothful and disorganized.
Finally, the so-called Lioness lifted her head and fixed us all with a sharp, reptilian gaze. “Welcome to Demonology. I am Ammit, Devourer of the Dead. In this class, you will learn the very basics of what you are and
what you are meant to become.” Her eyes drifted toward me and at that moment, I could’ve sworn she could see straight into my soul. “Some of you might not be prepared. Be advised that should you fail, there will be no second chances. I will take your hearts, consume them, and throw your remains into the abyss.”
That explained the fiery pit, I thought with a dose of hysteria. And here I’d been afraid of the coma-inducing dorms. Maybe I was better off falling asleep and never waking up again. That sort of ending would surely be more painless than having to be ‘consumed’ by my Demonology teacher.
Ammit tapped the floor with her right paw, and the stone lit up with a bright inner flame. The magic flowed all over the room, into the chairs and benches. The scent of burning wood filled the air as names popped up on the each individual table. Books manifested next to them—presumably our manuals.
The action was obviously a cue, and we all headed toward the chairs, searching for our assigned spot. I wasn’t surprised when ‘Alyssa Michaelis’ was on the very first bench, right in front of the pool of lava.
I’d just arrived at the school and I’d already managed to piss one of my teachers off. This was just great. Now what the fuck was I supposed to do?
Deadly Introductions
After the terrifying beginning of the class, I had a lot of expectations about its contents. As it turned out, I was once again proven wrong. Despite the scary demeanor of the teacher, the whole lesson was purely theoretical. Ammit went over a very brief classification of demonic beings, and I dutifully jotted the information down. Some, I’d already known from my fiction readings. Other things were completely new. I found it interesting that demons had their own inner ranking of evilness.
“Depending on their alignment, their relationship with the divine, and the levels of dangers they pose to us and to mortality, demons can be benign, neutral, or malevolent. Naturally, you won’t find too many benign demons at this school, as they have a closer relationship with mortals. Some scholars consider Lucifer a benign demon, although others argue his nature remains at least partially divine.”