Marked: Black Water Academy: Book One

by Murphy, Sloane

  “There you go, maybe you’ll keep making better choices.”

  “This again?” I roll my eyes.

  “No idea what you’re talking about,” she laughs. “Now, are you coming to History, or are you waiting for the final bell?”

  “I’m coming, just as soon as I’ve figured out this goddamn maze map.”

  “Oh my god. Really, Eden? It’s not that complicated. Come on,” she sighs and spins on her heel. I stand and straighten up my skirt and follow behind her.

  “You’re a pain in my ass; you know that, Ruby? What happened to your Little Miss Perky routine anyway?”

  “I just realized I don’t have to be ‘on’ all the time here. So I’m still perky, and I’ll still talk your ear off, but I’m kinda enjoying the quiet, ya know?”

  “Oh don’t I. How do you know where you’re going anyway?” I ask as she weaves through the roaming students, barely paying attention.

  “Well, after you disappeared last night, a few of us decided it would be fun to explore the school. I mean we got caught and I have detention for like the next four weekends, but I don’t need my map anymore, so small wins.”

  “Oh God, that sucks. Who caught you? And why the hell four weekends?”

  “Mrs. Hale found us… and four weekends because we might have been caught doing more than sneaking around,” she blushes, and I slap her arm.

  “You little minx you! Who was the lucky guy?”

  “Andddd, we’re here,” she winks as she walks through the black wooden door to her right.

  “Ladies, nice of you to finally join us. Please take your seats, your names are allocated to a desk. Quickly now.” I spot the last free desk as Ruby slides into hers on the other side of the room, and walk as quickly as I can make look dignified and quietly take my seat.

  “Now, as I was saying. My name is Professor Alcott and I am the Head of House Phoenix. I am a descendant of the first Fae known to us, which is what I suppose triggered my love of history. I am also the Head of the History department, and your teacher for first year History of the Supernatural.” I write her name on the front of one of my empty notebooks along with the class title when I hear a snigger to my left. I ignore it and continue to take notes as Professor Alcott continues.

  “This year we will be covering the recent histories, such as the fall of the original families in line with the Uprising, and studying the differences on each of the species with the power change. We will also be covering the ancient histories, including the first days of our kind.” I continue scribbling and the sniggering beside me rises again.

  “Mr. Jackson, is there something you would like to share with the class?” the professor says as she stares in my direction, but I quickly notice she’s looking behind me. I twist and see the sniggering culprit, now red as blood having been called on.

  “N… no, nothing, Professor.”

  “Then I suggest you quit your sniveling, pick up a pen, and actually attempt to learn something, hmm.”

  “Y- yes, of course, Professor.”

  “Now, Mr. Jackson. Pen out.” He scrambles to reach for his bag and there is a light laughter in the room.

  “Bloody Shifters; all bark and no bite,” a blonde Vampire girl to my right says to me with a wink, shaking her head. I swallow the laughter threatening to burst free and take a deep breath before refocusing on Professor Alcott.

  “As I was saying, if you’ll open your textbooks to page fifty-eight, we’ll start with the reign of the original families. Now, who can tell me how the families came to rule the supernatural?”

  I look around me and the only arm in the air is Ruby’s. I smile and shake my head, of course she knows.

  “Yes, Miss Cheveyo?”

  “There was once a time when our kind had no ruling. We kept to ourselves, separated, isolated, and that is when the human hunters discovered our kind, and began their slaughter. To them it was a noble cause, the select few who knew of our existence, chosen to protect the humans from us. The Shifters were the first attacked, but then it spread to all four of our species. The Vampires, then the Mer and finally the Fae. It was around this time, the original families banded together, with the leaders of the Fae, the Mer and the Grand Alpha. A meeting was held to decide the best way to protect ourselves, and to stop the humans from their killing spree.

  “The hunters were killed by the Vampires, and because of their superior speed and how lethal they are, they were chosen to be the protectors of the supernatural. And so, the ten original families spread across the earth, each taking a territory, making treaties with the supes in those areas. They ruled their areas, made sure that no supes revealed themselves, that there were no suspicious deaths that could lead back to us, and that is why the humans for the most part forgot about us, thinking us no more than myth. There are still families of hunters, but since the Uprising, they have mainly gone quiet.”

  “Well done, Miss Cheveyo. Can anyone else tell me anything about the original families?”

  “They’re all dead?” a voice behind me sniggers.

  “Mr. Jackson! This is your second warning, and it is only your first class of the year. Do you want to be exiled and sent to The Forsaken? I mean really, boy, if you have nothing decent to say, keep your mouth shut.”

  “Yes, Professor,” he mumbles from behind me. I shake my head and refocus on the front of the room.

  “As Miss Cheveyo explained, there were ten original families. Those originally cursed with the Vampire curse of blood lust. Most of the things in the human myths are just that. Vampires are not weakened by sunlight or garlic. They most certainly do have reflections, and a stake through the heart may slow them down, but it will not kill them. The original ten families were thought to be immigrants, settlers from a land far from here that stumbled onto witchlands. They attacked the witches, not knowing who or what they were, but they were hungry and desperate.

  “Of the thirty men who attacked, ten survived and were cursed to walk the earth for eternity with a thirst for blood that would be unquenched, along with their loved ones. The witches sent them back to their families, only halfway through their transformations. By the time they reached their camp, some of them were mad with blood lust and killed loved ones before they realized what they were doing. Others held out, trying to survive on goat’s blood or horse’s blood, but grew weaker each day.

  “It was a few days later that the remaining family members started their transformations. Thousands of humans died that first year as the families travelled, trying to find a way to cure themselves, but having no real idea how to control the monster that lived inside of them. It was after many years of this destruction, when the guilt became too much, but the cravings continued, that they came across some of the first Fae who used their gifts to help ease the vampiric lifestyle. While they couldn’t stop the bloodlust, they created a spell to help the Vampires control it, and helped them learn the complexities of what they now were. It was during this time we discovered that we cannot work as cross-species couples. The monstrosities created from these experiments were killed, and the evidence buried.”

  I see Ruby’s hand shoot in the air, and she’s practically bouncing out of her chair trying to gain the professor’s attention.

  “Yes, Miss Cheveyo?”

  “If the Fae were the ones to help the Vampires all that time ago, why did they not build an alliance back then? Be preventative rather than reactive?”

  “Honestly, I don’t think we’ll ever know. The Fae and the Vampires always had a very tentative truce, mainly because the original Fae helped the Vampires in the ways they did. But once the Vampires discovered how to ‘turn’ others, as well as being able to birth new Vampires, that bond became strained even further. As you all are probably aware, reproduction for the Fae and the Mer is a difficult task. Some thought it was due to the longevity of the races, but then the Vampires came along, cursed with eternal life, and able to create more of their kind with such ease. It was a bone of contention for sure,
though this fact is also another reason the Vampires took reign when they did. Their sheer numbers were enough to overthrow the three other races if they wanted, and their numbers meant they could be in more places to ensure the laws put in place were followed.”

  Ruby nods her head. “Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. There’s a much bigger time gap between the original Vampires and them taking charge, than since the Uprising, so it’s easy to see how things could spiral so easily.”

  “Exactly!” Professor Alcott smiles before launching into the rest of her lecture on how the original families came to be, and the extraordinary powers they each had; so much more powerful than the majority of Vampires today.

  “So tonight, I want you to read the next six chapters, and write me a paper on the missteps of the original families during their early reign, okay? Good.” She says as the first bell rings. “That will be all for today. Do not forget anything we discussed today as you might find it important for your papers.” The class groans as we start packing our stuff away and leaving the room. Ruby bounds across the room, barely able to hold in her excitement.

  “Next up, Runes! Then after, a whole double session of defense before lunch. Man, I’ve been so excited about starting here.”

  “I’ll see you in defense,” I tell her as we reach my locker. “It’s my birthday at the weekend, so I’ve got to go and see Laney to be paired with my ‘buddy’.” I roll my eyes and she snickers.

  “Oh, how fun for you. At least your powers will unlock sooner rather than later.” I follow her to her locker where she exchanges her history book for her book of runes, which is the biggest monstrosity I’ve ever had the privilege of seeing.

  “I’ll meet you back here before we go change for defense?” she asks with a smile, before turning and walking away not giving me chance to answer.

  Shaking my head, I turn and head down the hall towards the entrance hall so I can get to Laney’s office, when I see Ethan walking ahead of me. I keep walking but try not to pay attention to him, because stalker is not a term I want to be associated with. I tip my head down and try to pay attention to the floor while trying not to walk into people as the final bell rings. There’s a stampede of feet on the stone floor before I’m drowned in a deafening silence. That’s when I notice that Ethan has disappeared. I try not to focus on it and rush to Laney’s office, dashing up the stairs and giving the password, making the door open with a whoosh of air.

  I push the door open the rest of the way and discover that Laney isn’t alone.

  “Eden, I’m so glad you’re here, and right on time too. I thought long and hard about who your buddy should be, given that you’re a Vampire. I had two people in mind, but then you didn’t fall to either of their houses. Ending up in House Dragon confused things a little, especially because it means you could potentially be more powerful than other higher year Vampires we have, and so I decided to stick with my gut, and give you two buddies!” She claps her hands together, as if this is the best news ever.

  “I believe you’ve met Ethan Beaumont. He is one of our rising stars here at Black Water. Top of his year for strategies and defense every year since he started here; he looks to have his path set in stone, a path of glory.” Ethan turns to me with a tight smile, nothing like the one he gave to Laney just moments ago. “I think you two will get along just fine!”

  “I’m sure I will learn a lot.” Of course it had to be him. It couldn’t be someone I hadn’t already managed to annoy. But no, I get teachings from Mr. High-and-Mighty himself. He grunts in agreement when the door breezes open again.

  “Ah, nice of you to join us, Gus. I was just explaining to Eden how she would be having two buddies. I trust that you and Ethan will be able to work together to work out whose strengths lie where, to most help our new student.” She raises an eyebrow at him, which he answers with a mischievous smile.

  “As if we would do anything less. I am sure the mighty House Lion would never want to disappoint, even if it does mean working with a Scorpion.”

  “Now then, boys, you leave any macho competition outside of this teaching, do you hear me? I will not have any of that in-house rivalry BS ruin what I hope will be a very fruitful plan of mine. Eden has a lot to learn.” I roll my eyes; if only they knew.

  “You boys have this day to work out Eden’s schedule, and I expect to have a written copy of at least this semester’s workings on my desk by tomorrow morning. Is that understood?”

  “Yes, ma’am.” They say in sync and I can’t help the giggle that rises at these two powerhouses being put in their place.

  “Well then, you are both excused, but Eden, if you can stay please.” I swallow the lump of foreboding that threatens to choke me as the boys practically run from the room.

  “If you’ll have a seat please,” she points me to the chair in front of the desk she now sits behind. I take a seat and she waves a hand in front of me, and a glass of water appears. I chug it down trying to refresh myself and to settle my stomach. What on earth could she want with me?

  “Now then, there have been some… unusual queries after your housing ritual, Eden. Can you tell me a little more about yourself?”

  “I’m sorry. I have no idea what happened. I just did what I was told, or I thought so. I’m just a simple girl really. Grew up as an only child with my mother. We moved around a bit until she died two years ago. I’ve been in a group home since then.”

  “And what about the rest of your family? Your father?”

  “I don’t know,” I splutter, the lies choking me. “My mother never spoke of him, and because of her reaction the one time I asked, I never asked again. All I know is that he was a waste of breath and blood. My mother was also an only child, and her parents passed just before I was born, but I get the feeling their relationship was estranged anyway. There were no pictures or keepsakes kept in the house that I ever saw.”

  “Okay, Eden, that’s plenty. I’m sure there was just an error, your blood mixing on the knife or something. It’s nothing for you to worry about any further, but I had to ask. I’m sure you understand.”

  “Yes, of course.”

  “Perfect. Well, now then, if you want to come back here in two days during your next buddy session, you will meet either Ethan or Gus here, and from then you’ll be able to plan with them directly where to meet okay?”

  “Sounds good. Thanks, Laney.” I stand and wave before leaving her office, but a stone sits in the bottom of my stomach. All is not as well as she makes it out to be. I can feel it.

  I make my way back to my locker to wait for Ruby, but the bell rings, knocking me out of my stupor and I walk a little faster to reach her.

  “What happened to you?” she asks as soon as she sees me, grabbing my arm and pulling us back towards the dorms so we can change for defense. “Walk and talk, because we only have fifteen minutes to get there, change, and get the hell across campus to the defense gym.”

  “Oh nothing much. Just found out that I get two buddies, because obviously I’m super special.”

  “Two, oh you lucky devil you. Who’d you get?”

  “You won’t believe it…”

  “Will you just spill it already?” she says as she starts jogging up the stairs toward our rooms.

  I make a mad dash to my door and fling it open, rooting through my closet for my defense gear as I throw off my uniform, leaving it where it falls. Once I’m dressed, I pull my hair back into a high pony and plait it to secure it before hightailing it back out of the dorm. I arrive just as Ruby does, looking all ninja in her black and white gear.

  “It’s Creed and Ethan.”

  “What’s Creed and Ethan?” she looks at me confused as we jog down the stairs and keep the pace across the campus.

  “My buddies. It’s Creed and Ethan.” I sputter, realizing I really, really need to start working on my cardio again.

  “Are you freaking kidding me?” She comes to a stop, staring at me like I just told her I killed her puppy. “How is that ev
en fair? Dude, you are going to ace our final exams with those two guiding you! Lucky bitch.”

  I bend over, trying to stem the stitch in my side.

  The first bell rings, and the doors to the defense gym open, and we follow the rest of the students into the brightly lit hall. Professor Arrowwood stands at the front of the room, with his arms crossed. Holy freaking wet dreams. He has cropped black hair, a scar down through his right eye from brow to mid cheek, a jaw cut from stone, and I swear his muscles have muscles.

  “Sweet, baby Jesus,” Ruby whispers in my ear, and I can feel her giddy excitement. The professor’s dark-gray eyes burrow into me, the color like a bad storm, before he moves to skim the rest of the class. While he does, I try to work out what the markings on his arms mean. Like us, he’s in defense gear, which for the guys is a long tight tank top, and long tight pants, then the same soundless boots that we all have.

  “Sit. Firstly, I am Professor Arrowwood, and I will be your basic defenses professor. If you manage to graduate this year, I will go on to be your defenses professor for the majority of your time here. I was previously a general for the original families,” he says and bares his fangs at us. “I was a warrior, and I won wars even your teachers dare not speak of. You will learn everything you need to know to stay alive in this class, as well as how to disable your enemies, regardless of their race. Everyone has a weak spot. Remember that. Now stand and pair up, one boy and one girl per pair. Go!”

  We scramble to our feet and I look around the room for someone to pair with. I walk toward a group, who pair off and realize we have an uneven number.

  “Well, girl, isn’t today your lucky day, you’ll be paired with me. Now come up here and help me demonstrate.”

  Ruby looks at me apologetically, but I square my shoulders and step forward, not wanting to show anyone just how much I don’t want to do this.

  Just remember your training, Eden. Letting your opponent think you’re helpless can be just as useful as showing them just how lethal you can be. I hear my father’s voice inside my head and take another deep breath as my feet falter. I steady myself and walk to the front of the class.