Night Shade Academy

by Kelly Carrero

I stared in awe as my eyes changed into black pools of evil, completely taking over the whites of my eyes, and turning me into the monster I feared, the very one I needed to control if I wanted any chance of saving my friends.

  Holding my Demon eyes, I stared into the terrifying depths of my soul, connecting with the Demon side of me, trying to embrace that part of me, but afraid of what might happen if I did.

  “Now look around,” Thomas said. “See if you can see anything different.”

  Tearing my gaze away from my reflection, I swept the room, zoning in on the message on the window, hoping there would be something more to it. There was nothing more.

  Turning back to Thomas, I sucked in a sharp breath. “I can see you.”

  “Of course you can see me. I’m sitting right next to you.”

  I shook my head. “No. I can see the real you, as in your wolf self. It’s like an apparition, molding with your body. A light.” I frowned, as I looked at it in more detail. “Actually, it’s more like a soul, connecting to you.”

  His mouth fell ajar. “You can see my wolf?”

  I nodded, reaching out to touch it. “It’s beautiful.” My fingers passed right through it, like I knew they would. Pulling back, I switched to my normal vision, and his wolf was gone.

  “Beautiful isn’t something I’d use to describe me. Fearsome and ferocious is more like it.”

  I chuckled as I climbed to my feet. “I’m sticking with beautiful.”

  Thomas stood. “You’re hurting my manhood here.”

  “I think your manhood is the least of our concerns. Now, we have to figure out what I need to use my other eyes for.”

  “It’s pretty obvious, isn’t it?” Thomas said. “To see what is now unseen.”

  I grabbed my bag from the lounge room and pulled out the mysterious book from inside. Flipping it open, I stared at the empty pages then switched to my other eyes. “There’s words,” I said in disbelief.

  Thomas stood beside me. “I don’t see anything, even with my wolf eyes.”

  I sat on the couch and continued to flip through the pages, hoping something would stand out. Some big, red flashing beacon directing me to the spell I needed to find them all. But it wasn’t a textbook of any sort, nor a spell book. “It’s a journal.”

  “About what?” Thomas eased himself down beside me.

  “Shadow Walkers.”

  38

  I wasn’t sure if I could trust the hidden words on the pages. I didn’t know the author, and for all I knew, the journal could’ve been planted in my bag as a ploy to get me to unknowingly release the monster the world feared. There were so many details in the pages, but at the same time unruly ramblings of a crazy person.

  I couldn’t trust the book. All I could trust was my sight.

  Uneasiness had settled in my heart as I continued to read through the pages, seeing through the eyes of someone close to the Shadow Walker. Then, as the journal progressed, it became darker, more vivid, giving actual examples, spells, and discoveries of the beast. Things that made my blood curdle. Things that shouldn’t be possible.

  The Shadow Walker was a man of many faces, able to slip into the form of another. He could hide in plain sight, and kill anything that got in its way. He was a danger to the world and deserved to be locked away for an eternity in the supernatural prison he was now bound in.

  The journal was his.

  I couldn’t tell Thomas the truth. I couldn’t let anyone know that I held the inner workings of the original Shadow Walker’s mind. In the wrong hands, this book could bring an apocalypse.

  Or maybe I was over exaggerating.

  Either way, I was keeping it to myself.

  Night had fallen, and it was time to meet with Bishop.

  Leaving Thomas behind in my apartment, I prayed to the Gods he would be there when I returned.

  The book was safely tucked away, a glamour spell changing its appearance, morphing it into an innate object. A glittery pink and purple unicorn hairbrush to be precise.

  Knocking on the door, I waited for Bishop to answer.

  He didn’t.

  Turning the knob, I pushed the door open, as I gave another quick tap against the wood. “Bishop?”

  Once again there was no answer. The room was empty.

  My gaze landed on the phone, temptation swirling inside of me. But as much as I wanted to call my parents, there was no way I could tell them their daughter was gone. Hell, who was I kidding? They probably only thought they had one daughter.

  Or did they?

  Picking up the phone, I dialled their number then placed the phone against my ear. A second later, Mom answered. “Hello?”

  “Mom,” I said, my voice catching, as my eyes pooled with tears.

  “Zali? What are you doing calling? Is everything okay?”

  I nodded then realized she couldn’t see me. “Yeah. I’m fine.”

  “And Kayla?” she asked, stealing my breath away. “She’s not hurt, is she?”

  I swiped my eyes just as the tears spilled down my cheeks. “She’s fine.” I took a few deep breaths, holding them briefly before releasing them, as I tried to get my crap together, so I didn’t freak her out. “I know I’m not supposed to call, but I saw the phone and I miss you. I miss Dad.”

  “We miss you, too, sweetheart. But you better get off the line before someone catches you. You know you’re not allowed phone calls during your first year.”

  It wasn’t just first years that weren’t allowed contact with the outside world anymore. The whole academy was in lockdown.

  “I know,” I said. “I love you.”

  “I love you, too,” she replied. “Tell Kayla I love her, and she better not be wasting her time climbing the social hierarchy. She’s not a child anymore. She could learn a thing or two from you.”

  A laugh bubbled up my throat. “Kayla’s doing just fine.”

  “Good to hear. Now go. I love you both.”

  “Love you, too, Mom.” I disconnected the call before I completely fell apart.

  Whatever was happening in Night Shade wasn’t happening in the outside world. They weren’t all completely forgotten.

  People remembered. That meant that whoever was doing this was right under our noses.

  And I was going to find them.

  I grabbed a pen and scrawled a note to Bishop on a piece of paper I’d gotten from the printer, asking him to come see me as soon as he got back. Then I left it on his desk and headed back to my apartment, where I hoped Thomas still waited for me.

  Arriving in the foyer, I hit the button to call the lift then stood by waiting. Just as it arrived, the doors to the school burst open—and so did my heart.

  Bishop stumbled into the foyer carrying Kayla in his arms, blood dripping from a slash across her wrist and throat.

  “No,” I mouthed, the words caught in my throat, as my whole world came crashing down.

  His panic-stricken gaze landed on me. “She’s still alive, but we need to move fast.”

  The next few moments felt like an eternity as we raced through the halls and into the infirmary where he placed her onto a bed.

  “What happened?” I asked, my gaze sweeping over her limp body. “Where did you find her? Who did this to her?” I was going to kill the son of a bitch who was responsible.

  I had never felt fear and rage like I did in that moment. And as much as it scared me, there was a greater part of me that wanted to embrace it.

  “I don’t know,” he replied, ruffling through the medical supplies. “All I know is that if we don’t heal her wounds and get some blood into her, she’s going to die. Call Ann,” he instructed. “Tell her it’s an emergency…” He stopped when he realized I wasn’t listening.

  “I can do this.” It was what I’d been training for my whole life. Now, I had power running through me that was unparalleled. I wasn’t going to entrust my sister’s life to someone else’s hands.

  Placing one hand over her wrist and the other over her neck,
I released the power within me, healing her without knowing the magic words.

  Within seconds, her wounds were completely healed. But she needed blood. She’d lost too much, and the evidence was all over Bishop. Her savior. If it weren’t for him, she would’ve died.

  “You’ll need to sit down for this,” Bishop said, pushing a chair toward me with his foot, his hands occupied with needles and tubes.

  I grabbed the chair and manoeuvred it beside Kayla then planted my ass on the seat. Every second wasted was another second closer to her death. “Get it in me now.”

  “I’m moving as fast as I can.” Bishop hooked me up then jabbed the needle into my arm, my blood spilling into the tube, flowing all the way into the bag.

  “Can’t you make this go directly into her? We don’t have time for this.”

  “We don’t have the materials needed. This is our best option.” He inserted another needle into Kayla, grabbed a trolley for the IV, and changed over the bag catching my blood. There wasn’t much in the first one, but it was a start.

  My blood flowed into hers, giving life to her dying body. I’d hoped her eyes would snap open, and she would be miraculously recovered, but she remained unconscious.

  “Is her heart still beating?” I asked, my head swaying with the amount of blood loss in such a short time, so much so that I almost fell out of my seat.

  He nodded. “But we need to slow down your flow.”

  “No,” I snapped, trying to keep my head up straight. “Keep going.”

  “Kayla has enough for now. I’m sure she doesn’t want to wake up to find out her sister unnecessarily died saving her life.”

  “Okay,” I mumbled, leaning my head against the mattress. “As long as she has enough.”

  “She has enough.” He removed the needle from my arm then hooked up the new bag to the IV.

  The color slowly returned to Kayla’s cheeks, allowing me to breathe. She was going to be okay. She had to be.

  As much as I tried to fight the darkness creeping into my vision, it was too strong, pulling me into a deep sleep filled with Demons being tormented by those I loved. It was a bloodbath.

  Everyone was dead. Carved up as sacrificial offerings in some demonic ritual. Witches stood before my slain friends who were positioned around a pentagon, their blood flowing through the intricate line work, pooling in the center where a Demon was on its knees, bathed in the blood of my loved ones.

  I coughed and sputtered, fighting for breath as my eyes snapped open, ripping me away from my nightmare and placing me back in the infirmary with my pain-in-the-ass sister who was pinching my nose with her fingers.

  For a second, I was going to murder her—not really—then I remembered her injuries, her lifeless body we were trying to save.

  I stood up and threw my arms around Kayla, who sat with her legs dangling off the bed, laughing at my reaction to her annoying habit of waking me up.

  Her arms wrapped around me and she sighed, her body trembling slightly.

  Pulling back, I looked her over. She appeared fine, as if nothing had happened to her. “Do you remember what happened?”

  She nodded. “I remember everything.”

  39

  “It was Bethany, wasn’t it?” I asked, hoping to the Gods we were finally going to get some concrete evidence as to who was taking everyone.

  Kayla shook her head, as her gaze darted around the room. “Where’s Bishop?”

  That couldn’t be. What little proof I had pointed to Bethany. She was the only other person who remembered Hunter. It had to be her.

  “Where’s Bishop?” Kayla asked again.

  “I don’t know.” I grabbed her hands and shook them to bring her attention back to the important question. “Who was it?”

  Her gaze locked with mine, her fingers tightening around my hand. “It was Bishop.”

  Stunned and unconvinced didn’t even begin to describe my reaction. “That can’t be,” I said, shaking my head. “He’s the one who found you. He’s the one who brought you in. He’s the one who helped me save you.”

  “I wouldn’t have needed saving if he hadn’t slashed my throat and wrist.” She let go of my hand and showed me her wrist, a thin, red line running from one side to the other. “He did this to me. And I think it’s because of your blood that he wasn’t able to make me forget.”

  Seeing my sister this way set off a fit of rage inside of me. But just as quickly as it ignited, it diminished, being drawn on by my little buddy. Although I wasn’t sure it was needed now when I wanted to find that bastard.

  Then again, doing that would probably get everyone killed. We needed to be smart, and I needed to control myself if we had any hope in bringing him down.

  If my sister told me it was Bishop, then it was Bishop. I didn’t doubt her for a second. Okay, so maybe for a second. But I quickly jumped on board, knowing she would never lie to me about something so serious.

  What I didn’t know was if Bishop was merely a pawn, or if he’d orchestrated this whole thing.

  I swallowed hard, trying to get my mind out of my head and back into the game. “We should get out of here.”

  “Agreed.” She hopped off the bed.

  As much as I wanted to stride into Bishop’s office and burn his ass against the wall, forcing him to confess, we headed back to our apartment to get Kayla cleaned up and come up with a plan that wouldn’t get anyone else killed.

  Opening the door, I stilled for a second at the sight of a grown man sleeping on our couch, head on one armrest and feet donned in unicorn socks hanging over the other.

  “Thomas,” I whispered, feeling ashamed I had forgotten about him being here last night.

  “What’s he doing here?” Kayla asked, shutting the door behind her. “And why is he wearing your socks?”

  A smirk played on my lips, knowing how she was going to react. “They’re not mine.” He’d told me he was a unicorn lover as well, but I didn’t really believe him. After all, he looked like someone who most people would be afraid to cross in a dark alley with his broad shoulders, towering body, not to mention the glowing wolf eyes, and elongated fangs when they were in-between full transformation.

  “Any other day and I’d be all over this juicy piece of information,” Kayla said, heading toward her bedroom. “But right now, I need to shower and to get out of these clothes.” She pointed to her shirt that was covered in blood, as if I needed reminding.

  “Leave the door ajar,” I called out after her.

  “As long as you keep Thomas away from me.” She turned on the shower and began humming as she got in.

  I smiled, grateful she wasn’t a complete mess after what had happened to her.

  I would’ve been.

  But Kayla was different. She was resilient, took everything within her stride.

  I loved that about her and wished I’d taken half of that attribute she’d gotten from Dad.

  Thomas snorted then smacked his lips together, reminding me I had other things to do.

  I made three coffees then carried two over to the table, setting one down and keeping the other, as I eased myself onto the beanbag. I took a sip, relishing the liquid gold as it slipped over my tongue. I tapped my fingers against Thomas’s shoulder.

  He didn’t move.

  Shaking his shoulder, I called in a soft voice, “Thomas.”

  Thomas stirred, opened his eyes, and jerked awake. It took him a second to realize where he was before he relaxed. “You scared the shit out of me.” He swung into a sitting position and rubbed his eyes. “I thought Bethany was coming for me.”

  “Yeah, about that,” I said.

  His gaze shot up to mine. “What’s wrong?” He furrowed his brow and turned toward Kayla’s room. “Who’s in there?”

  “Kayla.”

  “As in your sister, Kayla?”

  “The one and only.” I took a sip of my drink.

  Frown lines creased his forehead. “But she… I still don’t remember her. How can that
be?”

  I shrugged. “I have no idea how this whole business about people being forgotten works, but last night Bishop supposedly found Kayla outside and brought her in just as I was walking through the foyer. Her wrists were slashed and so was her throat, and I needed to give her a blood transfusion to save her life. Fast forward to this morning and she’s okay. And more importantly, she remembers everything.”

  “Hold up.” He held his hand up, as if trying to slow me down. “What’s with Bishop supposedly finding Kayla? And she remembers everything, as in everything like you?”

  I nodded. “Kayla remembers Hunter, and she even remembers who took her.”

  “Bethany?”

  I shook my head. “Bishop.”

  His brows shot up in surprise. “Bishop? Seriously?”

  “That’s what Kayla told me,” I said, as the shower turned off.

  “Bishop?” he asked again, as if he had somehow heard wrong the first time.

  “Yeah. Bishop,” I confirmed. “Which means we need to figure out a plan to find him and the others today because I’m afraid of why Bishop took Kayla only to have me save her.”

  His gaze drifted from Kayla’s room to me. “He wanted your blood.”

  40

  A shiver ran down my spine as I realized how easily I’d been played. Bishop was there when I’d supposedly let out the Demon, and for all I knew, he’d been the one to do it and blamed it on me. He knew Hunter and I were becoming close and probably knew about my familiar. He also knew I’d do anything for my sister, and when I saw her in such a state, I wouldn’t think. I’d just act.

  Which is exactly what I’d done.

  Now, he had my blood, and when it came to witchcraft and Demons, blood rituals were the worst.

  Thomas’s hand closed over mine, snapping me out of the hysteria I was quickly slipping into. “Don’t worry. We’ll figure this out.” He squeezed my hand then let go and picked up his coffee mug. “Thanks for this.” He took a sip.

  I looked down at the mug in my hand, the coffee no longer appealing.

  Kayla walked out of the bedroom, spot drying her hair with a towel. “That motherfucker is going to pay for what he did.”