Silverwood Academy Book 1

by Jasmaine Groth

  Sterling walked away, in the opposite direction, I turned back to watch him leave, a knife slicing through my chest, tears prickling at my eyes.

  I made my way to my room, shoved my key in the lock and turned, I sighed. My room was just how I left it, except cleaner. The bed was freshly made with clean sheets, more linen at the end of the bed, for the new approaching season. I unpacked my suitcases, putting my shoes and accessories in the closet, putting the worn clothes in the hamper, putting the unworn clothes away.

  Pulling on some underwear and changing into some booty shorts and a shirt, I climbed in bed for a sleep, exhausted from the flight and the lack of sleep, and my emotions were a mess.

  ***

  When I woke up, I carried my basket of washing to the tenth floor, emptying my clothes into one of the washing machines, turning it on and sitting down in one of the chairs, waiting for it to wash.

  “Did you hear about what happened to that slut Natasha Marshall?” Selene’s voice came from just outside the laundry room, my head snapped up and I groaned.

  “Did you see her bruises?” Dawn asked. “It looks painful.”

  The door swung open and Selene came waltzing in, her posse behind her, they were all bright red from sunburn, except for Dawn, her skin just glowed a deeper and even more beautiful bronze. “Oh great! She’s here,” Selene said sarcastically, her eyes rolling. “You know you deserved what my Olly gave you?”

  “Excuse me?” I questioned, shock filling me.

  “You heard me, you’re a filthy little whore that has no self-respect, prancing around men that clearly could do better than you,” she told me, rolling her eyes.

  I stood up from my chair, storming over to her, getting in her face. “At least I have more respect than you, you can’t seem to get the hint when a guy doesn’t even like you!” I sneered, punching her in the face.

  She stepped back, screaming, her eyes went wide with rage and she punched me in the stomach, right where all my bruises were. I screamed out in pain, my ribs felt like they just got rebroken from the pressure of her punch on them. I keeled over in pain, my mouth wide as I looked at her, pain radiating through my whole body as I fell to the floor, stars bursting from my vision. “You are a low bitch Selene,” I muttered to her. “You better be ready when I come for you, you won’t see me and you won’t hear me but you’ll feel me, and I’ll rip your fucking throat out and feed it to the cockroaches!”

  Selene kicked me in the stomach, storming off and down the stairs, her friends followed. Dawn looked back at me, her brows knitting together delicately as she looked like she wanted to check on me, but she turned around and walked off. I screamed even louder, tears falling. “What the hell?” someone at the door asked. “Oh fuck! Are you okay?”

  “What’s going on?” another voice asked.

  “Is she alright?” another asked.

  I clutched my sides. “I’m going to kill that bitch,” I grounded out between my teeth, everything went black and I passed out.

  ***

  Waking up, I found myself laying in a soft bed. “She’s awake,” a soothing voice said. Opening my eyes, I looked up at a white ceiling, white walls and Eliza from the Health and Wellness Centre, Sophia and Anna were beside her.

  “What happened?” Anna demanded.

  “Fucking Selene happened,” I ground out. “Bitch fights dirty.”

  Anna sighed. “Bloody hell.”

  “I’m going to get her back for this,” I told her. I sat up. “I need to get out of here.”

  “You should stay,” Eliza told me. “I gave you a mild sedative for the pain, it should help you heal. The witches also healed most of the damage, but you’re still really bruised.”

  I shook my head. “It’s fine,” I told her, swinging my legs over the bed and getting up, the room spun a little.

  We headed across campus, back to the dorms. “I have to get my washing and put it in the dryer.”

  Anna looked at me ashamed. “Well when you were brought here, we weren’t allowed to see you at first, and when I’m anxious I clean. So… I did your washing and put it away. Then I colour co-ordinated your wardrobe,” she spoke softly.

  I laughed, “Anna! You didn’t have to.”

  We got back to the dormitory, Sophia went to hang out with Nic, Anna went to find Isaac, so I went back to my room. I half expected a message from Sterling, asking how I was, but I didn’t get one, I probably wasn’t going to. I couldn’t shake the feeling it was done, and I bit my lip, feeling sad.

  Walking into my bathroom, I showered and got dressed, wearing a slinky black dress, and black pumps, I planned on getting drunk in town and dancing the night away at a club to take my mind off Sterling and why he didn’t text me already. I blow dried my hair, curled it and then shook the curls loose, doing my makeup, grabbing my clutch, I put my notebook and door key in it, heading downstairs.

  When I got to the foot of the stairs a black- haired guy with ice blue eyes sat at the lounge on the bottom of the steps, I didn’t recognise him so he must’ve not been in my year. He had a sharp jaw, piercing eyes, a straight nose and full lips pulled up into a smirk. He wore a black shirt, with a leather jacket over top and dark jeans. His blue eyes looked up and down at my body, devouring my flesh, making heat course through my veins and my heart thump wildly.

  When I hit the bottom step and went to walk passed him, he stepped in front of me, blocking my way to the door. “So, you’re the girl who took a bunch of vampires to Bora Bora to get sunburnt,” his voice was deep and smooth, his mouth turned up in a small smile. “That’s fucked up.” He laughed, the sound was warm and deep, his eyes sparkled with amusement.

  “I’m glad you think so,” I told him, rolling my eyes, going to step around him.

  He stepped in front of me. “Where are you going?” he asked.

  “Out,” I told him, trying to step around him.

  “Let me come,” he told me, with a smirk.

  “No.”

  “A beautiful girl like you shouldn’t have to go anywhere alone,” he replied.

  I put my hand on his chest, feeling the firmness of muscle underneath, pushing him back, walking past him. “That might be true but that doesn’t mean I have to go anywhere with you,” I told him, smirking, pushing the door open and left, walking down to the bus stop, taking the next bus to town.

  I got off the bus heading for the club across the street, it was in full party mode, music blaring from speakers inside. A sleek black motorbike pulled up in front of the club as I stepped onto the sidewalk, pulling off his helmet was the handsome black-haired guy from school. He smirked at me, shrugging. “I decided to come anyway,” he told me.

  I shook my head, he darted in front of me using his vampire speed, opened the door for me and I walked past him, rolling my eyes, heading to the bar. “Two shots!” I yelled to the bartender.

  “Make that four!” A voice called behind me and I turned to see the guy who was stalking me, the black-haired guy from earlier.

  The bartender lined four shot glasses down on the table, grabbing a tequila from behind the bar, pouring the contents into the clear glasses.

  “Who the hell are you?” I asked him, folding my arms over my chest. “If you’re going to keep stalking me, I better know what to call you.” I grabbed a shot, poured the contents into my mouth and swallowed. He grinned at me, watching me the whole time.

  “Ace!” he told me, with a smirk. “I already know who you are, Natasha Marshall.”

  His hand made its way around my waist and I flinched away. He raised his eyebrows at me. “What’s wrong? My touch turns you on or something?” he chuckled. He grabbed a shot, pouring the contents into his mouth and swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbed up and down.

  “No,” I told him.

  “Really?” his smirk widened.

  “Yeah get your hands off me,” I told him, but his hand just slid further down to my hip. I rolled my eyes, pushing his hand off me, stepping away from him. I grabbed my
last shot off the bar, swallowing the contents of it quickly, putting the glass back on the table.

  Ace grabbed the last shot and swallowed it. “Playing hard to get,” he smirked. “I’ve always loved a challenge.

  I laughed. “I’m not playing anything. I’m just not interest,” I told him, turning away and making my way to the dancefloor.

  Putting my hands in the air, feeling much more drunk than I should have I started to sway my hips back and forth, my head tilted back. I kept dancing throughout the night, feeling more and more tipsy without actually drinking more.

  Hands fell on my hips and a body grinded with mine, it was strong and muscly, I opened my eyes to find Ace’s blue ones, smirking down at me. “Get off,” I told him, trying to turn around but he pushed me further against him. I gasped. I grabbed his hands and pushed them off me, stepping out of his grasp and away from his body.

  “Do you have a boyfriend?” he asked.

  “Yes,” I answered, then bit my lip. “No… I don’t know… Maybe.” Looking up into the second storey that looked over us I seen Sterling looking down at me, his brows furrowed, he was standing next to Melissa. I felt like my heart had just been punched, tears brimmed my eyes and I forced them back, turning to Ace, wrapping my arms around his neck, stepping forward, I shrugged. “I guess not!”

  He smirked. “You don’t sound too sure,” he replied, his hands found their way around my waist and he continued dancing with me, our bodies swayed, grinding against each other.

  I faked a laugh. “I guess,” I told him.

  His hands roamed my body. I looked up to the balcony, Melissa had her hand on Sterling’s arm, telling him something, he was glaring in our direction, his jaw tight. I ignored him, the same way he’d been ignoring me. I felt so drunk and angry. Looking back at Ace I gave him a seductive smile, stepping up on my tippy toes. “Take me back to my room,” I whispered in his ear.

  He pulled back, smirking at me. “Let’s go then,” he replied, grabbing my hand and pulling me to the door, I stumbled at the threshold and giggled, I was drunker than I thought, but he kept my upright. He swung his leg over his motorbike, straddling it between his legs, I threw my leg over the bike, he handed me the helmet and I put it on wordlessly as he kicked the bike stand off the ground, starting it. I wrapped my arms around his waist, letting my hands wander over his abs and chest. I felt him chuckle and suddenly we were speeding off.

  “Woo!” I called out into the night, laughing. Ace raced around corners, taking turns a bit too fast but I didn’t care, I giggled wordlessly, enjoying this feeling. The night air was crisp against my bare arms, and I felt like I was high and drunk at the same time.

  When we pulled up to the academy parking lot, I jumped off the bike, “That was amazing!” I told him, smiling, I took the helmet off, shaking my hair loose.

  “The ride or me?” Ace teased.

  I giggled. “The ride.”

  He barked a laugh. “How about I take you back to your room and show you how amazing I actually am?”

  I laughed. “I just wanted a ride on your bike,” I told him, passing him the helmet and shot off to my bedroom in a blur.

  I stopped outside my room and hands grabbed me around the waist and a growl in my ear as I looked up, spotting Ace. I giggled. “Down boy,” I joked, unlocking my door.

  Ace turned me around in his arms. “No,” he told me, pressing his body against mine. He leaned down and kissed me. I kissed him back for a moment, then my spine straightened. I pushed him off me, turning around, stepping into my room, shutting and locking the door behind me.

  I heard my notebook pinging, message after message, my heart jumped into my throat as I seen I had messages and missed calls from Sterling, I opened it.

  Sterling: What are you doing? You told that boy Ace, you didn’t have a boyfriend! What’s going on?

  Sterling: Did I do something wrong? Answer my calls!

  Sterling: Just call me back, I need to know what’s going on.

  I ignored it, shutting my notebook off. How dare he ask me that when he was there with Melissa? I knew he wouldn’t want to be with me when we got back to the academy. I was just some girl to fuck while on vacation, and I let him, I opened my heart up just for it to get broken. Well that’s the last time I open my heart up to Sterling Blackwell.

  Tears slid down my cheeks and I stripped off, getting into the shower where I let the sobs burst free as I sat on the floor of my shower. I was so stupid, incredibly stupid. I wasn’t going to be stupid anymore. My tears eventually dried up, my eyes felt heavy and sore from all the crying, I walked to my bed, dropping down into the covers and closed my eyes, letting sleep taking me over.

  ***

  When I woke in the morning, my head throbbed, I turned on my notebook, a notification popped up Natasha Marshall you’re new timetable is ready to be viewed!

  I groaned, locking my notebook, I pulled myself out of bed and got dressed, pulling on a shirt and some pants, pushing my feet in a pair of sandals, I headed out across campus to The Hub.

  Shoving the door open, I made my way to the cafeteria, grabbing a cup of blood and downed it, sighing as it hit my mouth, my hangover vanished, my head no longer throbbing. I made a coffee and sat down in one of the armchairs in the back corner of the room.

  The door opened to the cafeteria, Sterling came walking in with sweatpants on and a shirt, he looked over at me, I looked back for a moment, not feeling anything, he turned away from me, making himself a coffee, I turned away from him. Refusing to feel hurt, I locked those emotions away and refused to feel them again. I knew he was going to go back to ignoring me, I had felt it deep in my bones, my stomach nagged at me. At least we always had Bora Bora but now it was over.

  I unlocked my tablet, ignoring the feeling of someone watching me, then Sterling left. I opened up my new timetable and read through it. It was quite different from last term.

  Monday:

  Period 1 – Air Elemental

  Period 2 – Air Elemental

  Period 3 – Physical Exercise

  Lunch

  Period 4 – Advanced Abilities

  Period 5 – Advanced Compulsion

  Period 6 – Wellness Studies

  The rest of the timetable was different every day, each individual lesson was shorter than last term.

  “Hey,” Anna called, I looked up at her to see her beaming. “How’s your schedule?” She looked over my shoulder. “Oh wow! You get to take an Elemental lesson! I wish I could! I just have Vampire Studies!” She groaned.

  “True, but I honestly haven’t been able to use it since that day,” I told her truthfully.

  “That’s okay, you’ll learn to,” Anna told me.

  I smirked. “Then I’ll get Selene swept off in a tornado and dumped somewhere far away from here,” I told her, my voice sounded slightly evil, Anna laughed.

  The day passed by quicky, Sterling didn’t message me, I didn’t message him, I partied hard that night, feeling the need to drink and at night when I lay in bed I drowned in the pain as it flooded my chest and I cried myself to sleep.

  The next morning, I went for a jog, not seeing Sterling, and I refused to be disappointed or sad, just at night when I was all alone it was much harder to remember that. I jogged the whole school three times, walking back to my room, sipping on some coffee, stepping into my room, kicking the door closed behind me. I had a shower and got dressed in my uniform, heading down to the auditorium for assembly.

  I sat in a seat in the auditorium in the back row, Anna, Isaac Sophia and Nic all sat next to each other in their couples, holding hands. Headmistress Nightingale stood at the podium, smiling. “Welcome back students!” she beamed, looking out across our faces. “We all hope you had an amazing holiday! For announcements today, I have to ask that if you’re still sunburnt from Bora Bora, Eliza Hartley has a salve prepared to heal your burns! We also would like to announce that Natasha Marshall has declared to an Air Elemental and will be studying alongside the
witches in their Air Elemental class! We now have two vampire students who have declared to an Elemental. Natasha Marshall and Ace Hunter!” She smiled brightly. She continued on with the assembly.

  By the time assembly finished it was time for Physical Exercise and we headed across the academy grounds to the gym, taking the path in the forest. Apparently, it was only the first-year vampires doing Physical Exercise together this term, whereas last term it was all first years.

  I got dressed in the girls’ locker rooms, then headed out to the clearing the gym sat on. Sterling came striding forwards. His eyes met mine for a second and I looked away quickly. “You’ve all been in my class plenty of times, you know what to expect, start running!” he shouted.

  Jogging off, I followed along the usual route, my ribs were twinged a little, but it was nowhere near as painful as what it had been. Running around the laps, I finished the twentieth and followed the rest of the class inside. The class finished quickly, I headed to the girls’ locker room, showered and dressed back in my uniform, leaving. Sterling didn’t try to talk to me, and he didn’t look at me.

  The cafeteria was abuzz at lunch, the pain twinged in my side again, I grabbed some blood and chips, heading to sit near Anna and the rest of the group. Sophia and Nic chatted together, Anna and Isaac chatted together. I read through my Air Elemental textbook on my notebook, studying for tomorrow’s class. When the bell rang, I went to Advanced Abilities.

  Professor Pierce was teaching this class again, I sat at the back of the classroom. “It’s good to see you all again,” he stated. “Now this term we will be delving deeper with our gifts, we will be working on Trance’s this term! Now if you will open up your textbook on your notebooks and read through the material!”

  I opened my notebook, flicking to the index, finding the page number for Trance’s and heading straight to it, reading through the text.

  Trances are a great tool for any vampire, you can use them to get someone to unknowingly fall under your commands, it’s different to compulsion as compulsion works differently, you are aware of what is happening, but in a trance it’s like you’re out of your body watching the scene unfold. In a trance you can make someone fall into your trap, you can feed off them and they won’t scare, they’ll feed off your emotions and you will feed off theirs.