by Ember Hollis
“So, Miss Ramsey,” she begins finally. “You’ve come a little late in the semester, but thankfully, not late enough that we don’t have space for you. Let’s see… here’s your timetable, a map, and our usual rule and handbook for new boarders here at Pandorax Academy. We usually try to room similar species together, but unfortunately we don’t have any other part-angels here, and so we’ve had to make do for you. But rest assured, your roommate is in the exact same situation as you, so you will at least have some common ground to bond over.”
I listen as she launches into a summary of what’s expected of me at the academy. Basically, all the classes are similar to what I had in school in the human world, or Terra, as she calls it, but with some extras added in to help me come to terms with my heritage and potential angelic abilities. I want to go further into what those might be, but Madam Wilkins just shrugs.
“No one can say for sure, I’m afraid, Miss Ramsey. There are so many possibilities, and many of our students come from mixed backgrounds. All we can do is to help put you through training that suits your lineage so you can find out and cultivate your abilities for yourself.”
“Oh, okay,” I nod, slightly disappointed. “But what sort of backgrounds and lineages are there here?” Maybe there’s some other students who have some relation to angels that I can question and get some pointers from. Like for instance, whether it would be possible for me to learn to fly like my father. The thought of it alone is enough to make me wriggle in excitement. This is no Hogwarts, but it somehow feels just as special, and I’m raring to get started on my lessons.
“It’s all in the handbook, dear,” she says, pointing to the tome she handed me that’s as thick as a telephone directory. “And speaking of training, I should mention that the whole reason why Pandorax exists is to provide you and everyone like you with a safe space to explore who you are and what you can do. Now, Professor Chiros mentioned some sort of altercation you got into this morning?” she turns around and picks up a cylindrical object with a paper stuck in it, then unfurls it to read.
I sigh. My first day has barely started and I’ve already earned detention. “Yes, I did.”
“Hmm,” Madam Wilkins says. “You had a human weapon on you that you used against some students, yadda yadda yadda,” she throws the cylinder back onto a shelf that’s littered with other identical cylinders, then steeples her fingers and leans forward to stare intently at me over them.
“A lot goes on here at Pandorax, Miss Ramsey. You can’t put a bunch of supernatural teenagers in one place and expect them to play nice with each other. In fact, even when they do get along, it often comes with a host of other problems, like unwanted pregnancies, mortal injuries, and so and so forth. Which is why,” she parts her fingers and snaps them, causing a glowing green image of the whole Academy to appear on the surface of her table, “We keep things here under tight control.”
I stare as she curves her hand over the image, causing a dome to appear over the compound. Below the castle on the mountain top are caves, lakes, waterfalls, forests and marshland, and also a small village at the very bottom of the mountain, all of which are included under the dome.
“Hardly anything permanently bad can happen to you while you’re here, except death of course,” Madam Wilkins says as she stands up and walks over to my side of the table. She sits down beside the image and lovingly caresses the surface of the dome. It’s colorful like a bubble, and like a bubble, there are swirling colors that seem to move over it with no discernible pattern. “But we do our best to make sure that doesn’t happen. However.” She gazes pointedly at me.
“There is a limit of course. Some things cannot be healed even by our best healers. And these things can and often do happen right here under our roofs. They may make you or break you, but at very least, they will definitely change you for the rest of your life. But it’s up to you how to decide how and what the outcome will be. We are only here to educate you, not to protect every delicate little snowflake who crosses our halls. There are powers in the world, lines we can’t cross, borders we can’t breach, that tie our hands in dealing with certain people and certain circumstances. Understand?”
I frown in confusion. Was she trying to say that whatever happened to me here was my own responsibility and that the teachers would just turn a blind eye to it unless I got really hurt?
Madam Wilkins quirks a brow at me. “I don’t give this speech to everyone, so you’ll have to excuse the rustiness. But you’ve come straight from Terra with no knowledge of how supers like us truly live. I can’t in good conscience let you out of my office until you understand what I’m saying. So do you?”
I nod slowly, deciding that I do. This is a new world I’m stepping into, but there’s no way to go except forward. “I understand, Madam Wilkins.”
“Good. Now if you follow the map, it will lead you straight to your dorm room. It’s almost noon so you’ve missed all your morning classes. I’ll send a guide to you to give you a tour of the grounds. Otherwise, you can sit in on the afternoon classes if you prefer. Either way, you’ll only formally begin classes tomorrow.” She smiles at me while I reach down to gather the heavy handbook I’d let drop to the floor.
“I expect great things from you Miss Ramsey. Now, please do have a nice day. Oh and if you happen to see Christian again, do remind him of his appointment with me.”
As I straighten, Madam Wilkins uncrosses her legs, accidentally flashing me with what’s under her short skirt. She’s not wearing any underwear and the sight I see instantly causes my face to turn as red hot as a pepper. Madam Wilkins clearly enjoys whatever protection the dome gives her, I think, as I stammer a thanks, shake her hand, and scurry from the room. Even my mother had a bit more decency, come to think of it.
Chapter 7: Heaven
I’m following the map to my dorm when the tinkling sound of laughter and cutlery distracts me. According to the three-dimensional diagram which popped up—a really handy bit of what I can only assume to be magic—I’m nowhere near the cafeteria, so I look around, wondering if I’ve lost my way.
But the map is right. I’m in a hallway somewhere in the east wing near the indoor swimming pool and gym, passing by an empty meeting room. Or so I think, until I glimpse the sight before me through a crack between the slightly open door..
Boys in gray vests and blue jackets and girls in blue and green plaid skirts and tight fitting white blouses lounge about on huge pillows scattered all about the candlelit room. Music fills the air and food spills from plates piled high like cornucopias. Everyone looks gorgeous and happy, giggling and talking and laughing as they feast.
And do other things.
I blush as I glimpse a beautiful girl on her back, her skirt hiked up around her waist and her legs spread.
A boy is beside her, alternately kissing her and feeding her wine and cheese while a familiar tousled honey blond head bends between her thighs. There’s a large plate of grapes beside him and as I watch, Christian plucks one with his lips, then bends down and… feeds it between her other lips.
I gasp, unable to help it. The debauchery is shocking and I freeze, heavy books in hand as I peer at the room more closely.
There are no adults nearby, and those three aren’t the only ones getting it on. Here and there are people making out in groups as they eat. There’s even a couple in a corner who have ignored the food in favor of each other, writhing together as they rut on a velvet pillow in a corner. The sights and sounds they make sends heat pooling straight to the bottom of my belly as my cheeks burn, from embarrassment on their behalf… and from something else.
Before I know it, I’ve taken a step forward, then another… and another, until I’ve touched the door, causing it to swing open even wider. Nobody’s noticed me yet. I’m half hidden by the fronds of a palm and multi-tired display of cupcakes. I know I should leave, this is obviously some sort of private party. But my feet just won’t obey me and my eyes… well, I can’t stop myself from looking.
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Christian has moved on from ‘feeding’ the girl to kissing her, deeply and thoroughly, while the other boy silences her moans with his lips. I watch her legs tremble uncontrollably, pressed firmly apart by his forearms. She’s like a butterfly, pinned and splayed open for his pleasure, and the sight of him plundering her make my belly tighten. I want that to be me, I realize with a faint horror. Me, with his strong sinewy arms curled around my thighs and his face buried in the juncture between my legs.
I take a step further into the room. My throat is so dry with longing, it feels raw. There are glasses of pink juice further along the table so I grab one, swigging its contents down like my throat’s on fire. The sweet fragrant taste of pomegranates soothes me, but that only focuses my attention on another need that’s plaguing me. My fingers pluck at my jeans, as I press my legs together, feeling wetness in my panties.
Prickles run down my neck and I find myself turning to the side. There, not six feet from me is a boy with jet black hair and emerald green eyes sitting on an ornate ebony chair like he’s a king on a throne. He’s the only one with no one else beside him and no food in his hands, and he’s staring at me like I’m a strange little creature he’d like to dissect.
“You weren’t invited and yet you drank from my table,” he says.
I open my mouth to object, but then remember the glass in my hand. “Oh… uh… I’m sorry,” I stammer. “I didn’t mean to gatecrash your party…”
His gaze doesn’t leave mine, and I shift awkwardly under it. “Is it your birthday?” I ask lamely. “If so, happy birthday!”
Still nothing. Except an empty feeling deep within me. Suddenly it occurs to me that I haven’t eaten anything since lunch yesterday. I hadn’t missed breakfast, but now the sight of all the food awakens a gnawing hunger that makes my stomach rumble like an earthquake.
The boy cocks his head at the sound of my tummy, then gestures. “Eat if you must. You can pay me later.”
I open my mouth to say thanks, but something makes me hesitate. There’s a measuring to his gaze that sends warning bells ringing in my head. I look around the room and note that Christian is looking our way now, the girl he was pleasuring now tucked away with the other boy. He doesn’t seem to care though. His eyes are trained only on me, and there’s a look in them that rings all the warning bells in my head.
“Uh, that’s okay,” I say, following my instincts. “I just came because Madam Wilkins asked me to tell Christian she’s waiting for him.”
I lifted my voice so he can hear me, and a few other heads swivel towards me too. The attention makes me uncomfortable. “That’s done, so I’ll just leave now.”
“Eat,” the black-haired boy says. “You might as well.”
“Uhm,” I set the glass down on the table, suddenly very sure that this is a trap of some kind. The look he’s giving me is as unfriendly as Malek and Bane’s had been earlier, and for all the charm in Christian’s grin, the glint in his eyes makes me doubt this black-haired boy’s invitation. “That’s okay, I need to get to my dorm.”
“Aren’t you hungry? I heard your stomach earlier,” the boy continues. He stands up and walks over to me, his body lithe and slim like a runner’s. Now that he’s closer I can see the hollows in his cheeks and the feverish glint in his deep set eyes. They hold an intensity that draws me in, and his narrow lips curl into a dangerous smirk that reminds me of that trickster, Loki.
“No thanks, I’ll eat later,” I say firmly, sure now that this is a trap.
His lashes flicker as his eyes narrow. Then he reaches out a long finger and strokes it down my cheek.
Immediately, a burst of craving flares within me. I reach out to grab a grape from a nearby platter that Christian’s holding to me, then press it to my lips. I can feel its taut skin, bursting with juice. My teeth ache to press into it, to feel its sweet flesh slide down my throat. I open my mouth to take a bite, then stop.
Behind the boy’s shoulder, I glimpse the girl Christian had been making out with. She’s still with the boy who had been feeding her earlier, but now instead of quivering with pleasure, she’s arched over his knees, her arm lying slack and his lips at her neck. Something about the image looks wrong to me, and gives me pause.
I frown. “I don’t think I… I feel…”
“So hungry,” the black-haired boy says. Behind him, the girl seems to grow paler by the second. I feel faint, so I slip the grape into my mouth and roll it around my tongue. The black-haired boy smiles triumphantly and I open my jaws to chew.
Then the other boy lets the girl drop from his arms. He leans back, and sighs in satisfaction, his mouth open and his fangs dripping with blood. He’s languid now, but I see his eyes already roving for his next victim.
Vampire.
The word hammers through the fog in my mind, causing me to choke on the grape. I thump my chest hard and splutter, sending it shooting out of my mouth to smack against the black-haired boy’s cheek. He rears back and swears in disgust.
Shit.
Christian’s eyes widen in tandem with mine, but while he’s looking at me, I’m scanning the room. Suddenly, I see it all now. The sex, the food… and the depravation. The couple on the velvet pillow are still now. The boy is gray and stiff as a board but the girl is rosier than ever, her cheeks plump with health and vitality.
More than half the room is no longer moving, while the other half shifts around restlessly looking for fresh meat.
“You dare insult me!” the black-haired boy hisses, straightening.
Christian’s brows quirk at me as if in question, but I don’t know what he’s asking.
“I’m sorry, it was an accident,” I begin, but as the boy’s green eyes meet mine, a terrible hunger hits me. I bite my lip, unable to bear having nothing between them, and grab at my stomach as it clenches painfully. It feels as if I haven’t eaten in a year. “I… I have to go. I’ll make it up to you.”
“You will,” he growls out, his hands reaching for me. “Oh, you most definitely will pay.”
I duck under them, then launch into a sprint. Behind me, I hear rustling and voices rising in the room, then the sound of feet slapping in the corridor behind me. A glance behind my shoulder tells me I’m being chased by pale boys and girls with abnormally long fangs and blood on their lips. The black-haired boy stays behind at the doorway with Christian, but his eyes burn into mine when our gazes meet, the dark promise in them evident even at this distance.
A finger clawing into my back sends me shrieking forward, while Christian’s laughter rings in my ears along with his taunting call, “Run, little lamb. Run.”
Chapter 8: Heaven
Being chased by vampires and getting away is no mean feat.
The only reason I manage it is because I had a head-start, and because pretty soon after I reach the end of the corridor and cross the threshold to the main wing, everyone behind me slams into a sort of barrier that crackles and sends sparks skittering across their skin.
I collapse to my knees on the floor and gasp in deep breaths of air while they hiss behind the magical force field, shouting threats and slapping at the burning sparks that singe their skin.
“Yeah, yeah, you can suck out my marrow and dance on my bones… in hell!” I yell back as soon as I catch my breath. I turn and stick up both my middle fingers, giving them a double whammy as I walk backwards. Some of them keep yelling, while others stop and just stare, striking poses and giving me sultry come-hither looks that might have worked if they weren’t covered in soot and smelling of burnt flesh.
“Give it a rest,” I roll my eyes, then stalk away.
So. There are vampires at this academy. I wonder what else there is, but I don’t even have my heavy handbook anymore, having dropped it somewhere in the corridor behind me. All I have is the map, which I’d scrunched up in my fist when I began running.
I take it out now and navigate to the dorms as quickly as possible, keeping my eyes down and my focus on the paper so I don’t get di
stracted again. It’s relatively close by in one of the northern wings that overlooks a quadrangle.
The hallways are empty in this area, and I quickly find my room. The door is heavy oak and my name is already spelled out on a gold plaque, along with another name above it.
“Sybil Deloria.” Huh. I raise a hand to knock, then open the door and step in.
The room is larger than I thought it would be, and my eyes are quickly drawn to the far side of it where sunlight streams in from tall arched windows set into the brick wall. There are two canopied beds under the windows with a large fireplace between them, and at the foot of each bed are dressers with wide oval mirrors. Closer to me and along the wall are desks and shelves, and a sitting area with couches and a box that looks like an old-fashioned tv. The room looks beautiful, and it’s bigger than most of the bedrooms I’ve had. Even if I have to share it, I can’t help but feel happy at the prospect of moving in.
“Hello?” I call out. The bed on the right is decorated with a blue canopy studded with silver stars, and the bedspread looks like a leafy bed of flowers. Whoever my roommate is, she likes nature, I surmise. I step further into the room and notice that the mirror on her dresser is covered by a reddish gray cloth that almost blends in with the brick walls. Maybe she’s not in.
I sigh and plump myself down onto the nearest couch, then close my eyes to rest a little. But though the adrenaline from my quick getaway fades, the hunger that’s been gnawing at me is still so intense, I’m unable to relax.
“I need food,” I mumble, my eyes scanning the room. A waist-high stone container beside the couches catches my eye and I hurry over to it. True enough, it’s something magical that works just like a bar fridge. Inside are bars of chocolate, yogurt, wine, and some cheese. I snatch a slice of Chamois d’Or, tear off the shrink wrap, and dig my teeth into it. The firm creamy brie hits my tongue and I moan in delight at the delicate taste. Before I know it only crumbs are left. I reach for something else, but before I can, something grabs my hand.