Descent
by
Sloane Murphy
Copyright © 2016 Sloane Murphy
All rights reserved.
Cover design by Steam Power Studios
Editing by Stephanie Farrant & Dedicated Ink
Formatting by Dedicated Ink
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
First Printing: August 2016
ISBN-13 : 978-1535404686
Acknowledgements
There are so many people I need to thank in here, but I don’t want to waffle on for hours.
Thank you to him, for putting up with my random moments of inspiration, where diving for my laptop in the middle of dinner became the norm. For encouraging me to do this, and to stick at it. For being my sounding board at ass o’clock, because I can’t decide whether or not to scrap something, or to play with it until it works. I’m pretty sure without that, this wouldn’t exist.
To Ali & Rose, my personal whippers and word hogs. I’m not taking sides; you can fight over him all you like, aha! Seriously though, thank you so much for taking this journey with me, reading through some absolute rubbish and telling me when to bin it.
To Jenn, for always having a supportive word when I needed it, even when you didn’t know it.
To Jade, for putting up with my random acts of crazy about this cover. I absolutely love it, and I admire your genius immensely. I swear to never put you through that again. I’d love to say that, but I’m not going to lie. Thank you for getting to know Addie and showing her so beautifully.
To Annie & Alex, for always having my back, or a shovel, whichever is needed first.
And finally, thank you to you. Thank you for taking a chance on this book. Thank you for wanting to get to know these characters. I hope you love and cherish them as much as I do.
I walk with everyone else around me holding Livvy’s hand, with my backpack on my shoulders. We just got off of the shuttle to the Academy. It's so big, but I know I'm going to love it here. It's so green, not like the Nursery. All I've ever known is the Nursery, and I'm excited to finally leave. I hope I still get to share a room with Livvy though. She's my best friend. I don't have many people in my life, but she's always been my best friend and she always will be.
"Addie! Isn't this place so pretty? It looks like a Princess’s castle! We can have your eighth birthday party in the forest! It'll be like that book Mr Montgomery read us last year, The Secret Garden!" Livvy squeaks.
"It really is! I remember Miss Evie telling us about places like this from the old world, I never thought we'd get to live in one!" I exclaim. Miss Evie taught us all about the old world, and how the humans used to be in charge, before the Outbreak. After that, only the immunes were still alive, and the old world was dying. That's when the Dark War happened, the Fairies won, and that's why they're in charge now. The Demon King lost and was exiled to the ends of the earth, his Demon army destroyed by the Fae and the Vampyrs. Other History is one of my favourites. I think I'll miss Miss Evie, she made it fun.
We're all taken into a hall and given a bag. Mine and Livvy's are black, but there's red, blue and white too. I see people from my Nursery, but we aren't the only ones who came here on the shuttle. I heard Mistress Ella talking before our shuttle left about how human children like me, from five different nurseries were going to the Academy. Something about us overtaking the species again. I don't know what that means, but she didn't sound happy about it that's for sure!
The Head Keeper walks onto the stage at the front of the hall. She's one of the Fae. The Heads always are. Even if I hadn't learned that before, I'd know she was one of the Fae. Her long black hair sparkled in the light, and her purple eyes were so bright! It was as if they glowed like fireflies. Definitely Fae.
Behind her, sat on a long table are The Eight; the Heads of the eight Vampyr houses that make up the security of our world. I'm shocked to see them all here. Only two houses look after our part of the world. The others must have travelled a long way to be here for this. I start to worry about them being here, I didn't think today was that important. The eight houses each look after the four royal Fae families. The Valoire family rules here, House Bane and House DeLauter look after us.
"Welcome boys and girls to your new home. This is where you will learn, where you will study, and where you will be evaluated for the next ten years. This will not be like your last home. It will not be all fun and games. Here you will be prepared for the real world. You will learn about the history of our world, and of the old world. You will learn the history, not only of your kind, but that of the history of the Fae and the Vampyrs, and yes, you will also learn about the Demons, and the war that gave way to the new world. You will be taught everything you need to know about the real world, and that includes defending yourselves and those around you. Slacking will not be tolerated. Anyone who is not keeping up, will be punished. You will notice you're each in different colours. These are your house colours. Do not fail your house. Now follow your house leaders, who will lead you to your new bunks. Take today to unpack and get acquainted. Your schedules will be on your pillows. Tomorrow, the rest of your life begins."
Excited chatter starts over the hall as Livvy pulls my hand in excitement. People start to move, until one of The Eight steps forward. I can't help but stare at him; he looks so different to the Vampyrs I'm used to seeing. He has kind of long black hair that falls into his eyes, but not so long it touches his shoulders. They’re the brightest blue eyes I've ever seen. He looks so cold and scary. I seriously hope I never have to speak to him. I think I'd pee my pants!
"Children. My name is Xander Bane; I am the Head of House Bane. These next ten years could be the most important ones of your lives, so do not waste them," he addresses us, and he sounds funny. His words sound different to the way everyone else says them. "Take the time to better yourself; to learn about our histories, and how not to repeat the mistakes of those that came before us. The actions you make here will reflect you for the rest of your life. Your evaluations will deem what you do for your time here on earth. As humans, that time is much shorter than most. It's limited, which makes it that bit more special. Try as hard as you can to make a difference." His voice booms across the hall, it's so quiet in here now, that you could hear a pin drop. "Remember this day. It could be what makes the difference. You're excused."
Once he’s finished speaking and steps back, the hall erupts into movement as we're taken to our houses. I'm in house black with Livvy, thank goodness! I don't know what I'd do without Livvy. She's my Livvy!
Once we're in the common room, we're split into four groups and taken off down different corridors by the head of House Black, Keeper Kaylee, she seems nice enough. Livvy clings to my arm. I think she's as scared as I am that they'll separate us. I don't even think I could sleep if she wasn't in the room. It would just be... weird.
"These will be your dorm rooms for your time here at the Academy. These rooms and the common room will be your home. Respect them. Other than that, decorate them how you like. You will be sharing rooms, two to a room. Your names are on the boards on the doors. I'll leave you all to unpack and get to know each other. You might not be paired up with someone you already know, so use this opportu
nity to get to know each other. Tomorrow is when the hard work begins," Keeper Kaylee says to us, then leaves us to find our rooms.
Livvy is holding my hand so tight as we wander down the corridor, looking for our names. We come to the last three rooms, one is the communal bathroom, and two are dorm rooms. We squeal at the same time, we're together! Yes! We throw the door open and walk into the room. It's so big! There's a window directly opposite the door, with a window seat that looks over a green and out onto the forest behind the Academy. On each side of the room is a big bed, much bigger than the ones we had at the Nursery. At the end of each bed is a desk, and a chair. To the left of the room are two double wardrobes, and to the right is a small sofa, table and TV. We have our own TV! We had to share at the Nursery! I love the Academy. Livvy walks over to the window seat which is covered in cushions, and sinks onto the nook.
"Can I have the left Addie? Just like before?" she asks, her big green eyes looking up at me. I've always felt like I had to look after Livvy, she's so small. I mean I'm small, but she's tiny.
"Of course you can Livvy. You can have whatever you want."
"Not everything." Her eyes start to water and I walk over and hug her, I know she's thinking about her parents. They died last year, leaving her all on her own. Well, except for me of course. I was sad when they died too; they were like parents to me. They made me feel loved, and since my own parents had not loved me enough to keep me, and abandoned me, it was nice, but I already knew that people always leave. The day her parents died, I vowed I'd never let Livvy down, that I'd always protect her from the bad people in the world.
"At least we'll always have each other. You're my sister and my best friend."
"You promise Addie?
"I swear it Livvy. I'll always look after you."
There's a knock at the door, and two boys are standing in the doorway. One is taller with dirty blonde hair, he looks like he's up to no good, and the smaller one has brown hair with dark green eyes.
"Hi," the taller one says. "I'm Tyler, and this is Logan. We're in the room across the hall from you, and we decided that we should all be friends. After all, girls need looking after," he says, looking proud of himself, though Logan looks like he wants to be anywhere but here.
"Oh really? Because I think girls can look after themselves just fine, thank you very much. Maybe we don't want to be your friends," I say back to him as I cross my arms, then stick my tongue out.
"Addie! Don't be so rude! I'm sorry, Tyler, Logan." Livvy looks at me like I just stole the last cookie from her. Stupid boys.
"Ugh, fine. Come in. I guess we can be friends. I'm Adelaide, and this is Olivia, but you can call me Addie, and this is Livvy. If you hurt her though, I'll bite you." I cross my arms and stare at them, so they know I'm serious. I'm not scared of them.
"You have really bright eyes! I've never seen anyone with eyes like yours," Logan blurts out, then blushes.
"And?" I say, I don't know if he's trying to be mean.
"Nothing, I just, sorry I just blurted it out," he stammers.
Tyler laughs at me and comes in and sits on our sofa. Logan is still standing in the doorway looking awkward, so Livvy goes and brings him in and sits with them on the sofa too. I sit on the floor on my pillow because the sofa is full, and they tell us all about their Nursery. Tyler tells us all about how he wants to be part of the Red Guard when he grows up, just like his dad, and how he wants to protect us from the Demons and the Shades. I think I might like to be part of the Red Guard too. That way I could keep my promise to Livvy, and always keep her safe. The idea of Demons and the bad Vampyrs scares me, but that's what the Academy is for; to teach me how to fight them.
"I want to be in the Red Guard when I grow up too!" I announce to them all. Livvy looks horrified, and so does Tyler.
"But you're a girl!" Tyler says.
"Addie, that sounds really dangerous. Maybe you should be a teacher, that's what I want to be, like my mommy was," Livvy says to me.
"Nope, I've decided. I want to be in the Red Guard too. Just you watch, all of you. I'll show you I can do it!" I almost shout at them. I hate being told I can't do something. It makes me want it more. I'll prove them wrong. Stupid Tyler. Just because I'm a girl, doesn't mean I can't be in the guard. I mean, yeah sure, there's no girls in the guard now, but that doesn't mean I can't change the rules!
Ten Years Later
I literally cannot wait for this year to be done. I have a month of my Evals coming up, and then, I hope to any sort of power that’s listening, that I make it into the Red Guard. I have worked my ass off for the past ten years to be the top of my Defence, Strategy and History classes. I’m fully aware that this makes me an outcast, but screw everybody else. Just because they want to colour in the lines, why the hell should I? The only people that haven’t abandoned me are my three closest friends. Livvy, Tyler and Logan have been my best friends for longer than I can remember, and they don’t care if I want to break the rules, they love me anyway. Hell, Tyler has even trained with me every single day pretty much since we first met, so that we could be the best we could possibly be. I’m sure he regrets it now that I’m top of the class, but a girl’s got to do what a girl’s got to do! This in mind though, just the thought of my Home Economic Eval gives me shivers. A cook, cleaner or seamstress I am not. I have to pass it still though. Holy cheesits, that’s going to be a sucky day.
“Cheer up buttercup, it can’t be all bad.” Livvy floats into the room and drops onto the bed beside me. She’s always so happy and cheery, that it’s normally infectious. But before six thirty in the morning and with no coffee in sight, I’m about as cheery as I’m going to get. I groan as she opens the curtains, and drifts around the room, getting her things together. She has her standard black Defence uniform on, but somehow she makes it seem so girly. It’s a black bodysuit with grey highlights for crying out loud. I’m just thankful we’re the black house. Wearing red, blue or white every day for Defence would seriously get to me. I like black, it’s stealthy. Plus, underneath it all, I’m a girl, and black hides stuff!
I get up, grab my shower stuff and head to the bathroom before undressing and heading into the stall, the hot water is glorious and is the only reason I get up at ass o’clock. Sometimes the hot water runs out, and I do not do cold showers. I wash my long dark hair, and then condition it. Thank god some things are still available from the old world! Once I’m done, I just stand under the hot water letting my muscles relax for a while. I took a beating in Defence yesterday, Noah finally got the upper hand he’s been dying to get for the last five years, and pinned me. It’ll never happen again. I let him do it, so I could see his technique. He’s narrow-minded, he does everything the same way every time, he doesn’t alter his technique depending on his opponent. That’s why he’ll never be in the Red Guard. He’s too predictable, too arrogant, and that’s why I’m going to kick his tall ass today.
I begrudgingly leave the stream of hot water as I hear people start filtering in. I wrap myself in a towel, then my hair in another, and head back to my room. Thankfully it’s next door, so I don’t have to wander far in just my towels. I don’t know how some people do it. I dash into the room and close the door, then head over to the dresser that Livvy turned her desk into. She works at mine if she has actual work to do. We’ve accumulated so much stuff over the years, it’s not perfect but it works for us. I sit down and start to blow out my hair. It’s naturally wavy, but I’ve learned that the old world was brilliant with some of its inventions. Thank god for the vanity of the Fae and the Vampyrs, for making sure that hair dryers and straighteners are still a commonplace object. Once my black hair is dry I straighten it, before putting it up in a sleek ponytail. It’s gotten so long now, that even up it hangs down to my waist, but I don’t want to cut it off. Livvy trims it for me, but I love my hair. It’s probably the only girly thing about me. I look at my reflection in the mirror. My eyes are so big, they’re my favourite thing about me, other than my hair. They
’re a bright grey, almost silver, which is unheard of for a human, but they pop against my ivory skin. At five foot three, everyone thinks I should be a pushover, another reason I work as hard as I do. I get dressed in my jumpsuit, and am thankful for my petite but curvy frame. Thanks to all of my training my legs are lean, as are my arms and stomach.
I do my morning stretches and realise Livvy has disappeared. She’ll be back before we have to head to class. We have Basics this morning, which is dull as dull can be, but she enjoys it, plus we have our Eval for it this morning. Then Defence class after lunch. Defence is the only class not taught by a human Keeper. Dimitri is a Vampyr, and one of the Elite Guard Enforcers from House Bane. He is by far the coolest and most down to earth Vampyr I’ve ever met. I have no idea what he did to end up teaching here, but he’s been here since the beginning, and encourages me to try for the Red Guard, the official enforcers made up of everyone; Fae, Vampyrs, humans and the wolves. There aren’t many wolves in the ranks, the packs tend to keep to themselves on the outskirts of the cities, or so I’m told. I’ve never actually met a wolf, but the Red Guard is the highest honour a human can be given. We’re made equal to one of the higher races. Protectors of the Keep. I have no idea what I’ll do if I don’t get in. I mean, I know I’ll just be given my career path and marched off, but I don’t know if I have it in me to do anything else. I don’t exactly like being told what to do.
“Addie, come on it’s time to go. I got you coffee”
“I love you Liv, don’t you go anywhere, I don’t know what I’d do without you,” I joke, but it’s true. She’s been around forever, she’s like the other half of me.
“I’m not going anywhere silly. You’re my soul sister. I couldn’t function without you. A bit like you don’t function without coffee,” she laughs at herself, and probably at me too. “Now come on, we’re going to be late if you don’t shift!”
Descent (The Immortal Chronicles Book 1) Page 1