The silence was more unnerving than the lack of attendees. When the door slammed shut behind her, she let out a startled yelp, spinning around and almost tripping over her suitcase on the floor behind her. The door barely had a seam, and when she reached for the handle, if only to check that the door would open- it wasn’t there.
No handle, no latch, no lock.
“Shit,” she hissed as she looked around.
The inside was dated, ss if it hadn’t been renovated since the 80’s. It was dark, but in the moonlight and the residual light from the mansion across the street that broke through the windows, she could see puke green carpet with some sort of regal design and walls with enough crown molding to make Chip and Joanna Gains fall over in a fit of interior design happiness.
But her attention was quickly pulled away when a gust of warm wind from the hallway in front of her returned her to the present. Something was there, and it was calling to her. It wasn’t audible--she knew she couldn’t hear anything-- yet still the sound echoed through her mind like an annoying mosquito or a song that would never end. Dragging her suitcase behind her, she made her way through the entryway and down the hall where the wind increased, the temperature grew warmer and the internal buzzing became more annoying.
The wallpapered hallway led to a parlor, and through its doors whipped a wind that had her shielding her eyes to allow her to see through the gust to the source. Before her was a maelstrom of blue fire, its flares creating the wind that whipped her hair across her face, its heat making her skin sweat the closer she stepped.
And she kept stepping closer.
Maybe it was the humming in her head that called to her.
Maybe it was her stupid curiosity that had gotten her that far.
Or maybe, just maybe, it was her own clumsiness that tripped her up, causing her to lose balance and propel into the swirling vortex.
Whatever it was, Eve was engulfed by the flameless conflagration as its flares wrapped around her limbs and torso. Like a fly caught in a spider’s web, she had nowhere to go, no way to struggle. As the fire swaddled her, the incessant humming in her brain almost sounded familiar before the vortex swallowed her.
Chapter Three
“We were beginning to wonder when you’d show up.”
The ground was hard and cold against Eve’s back, but the room was warm and bright, through the lids of her closed eyes. Slowly, she blinked them open, adjusting to the onslaught of sunlight that seemed to permeate the solid walls. She swore it was nighttime when she had entered the gentlemen’s club-- had she even left?
Above her stood a rat-faced man in early Victorian era dress, complete with a rather comically large top hat with curly black hair shooting out from underneath. He leaned back against a desk with his arms folded, one hand holding an antique-looking pocket watch. He appeared rather smug for someone whose appearance looked so ridiculous.
“Excuse me?” Eve questioned as she patted her arms, legs, torso, making sure all her appropriate body parts were still in place. What she couldn’t find, however, was her suitcase. “Shit,” she hissed as she stood quickly, maybe too quickly, and looked around on uneasy legs. Had she left it behind at the club?
Rather than address her inquiry, the man tucked his chained pocket watch into the breast pocket of his vest and rose from the desk. “I’m Henry Osborn. I’ll be your…” He paused, smiling in a way that told her he was enjoying creating a sense of unease and anticipation way too much. “Your guide to the magical mania that is known as Faust University.”
Despite his strange dress, he spoke with a modern accent. If she wasn’t mistaken it was closest to a Midwestern accent than anything else. At any point she could imagine him saying “ya know” with the clipped vowel sounds she’d heard others use on television.
Henry bowed at the waist and offered her his arm. “We may want to get moving. We have quite a lot of ground to cover, and you are fairly late to the party, Evangeline.”
“How could I be late? I just got here! I took the free flight and the driver brought me to that seedy gentlemen’s club, and then that raging hole of fire--”
“A portal.”
“What?”
“It was a portal. Magically conjured and the only access to the realm of Faust University.”
Eve blinked. “So, you’re telling me we’re in another realm?”
“Where else would you expect to use magic and not be detected?”
“Magic?” she sputtered.
Henry’s only response was that same, arrogant grin. “Come with me, Evangeline. I’ve much to show you.”
Without waiting for her, Henry moved from the room, which appeared to be some sort of office with a desk, chairs and very large windows. Eve wasn’t allowed much time to see more than that as what Henry wanted to show her was much more appealing than looking at a wooden desk.
They emerged from a cluster of buildings, all of them multi-storied and Victorian influenced in appearance. “These are the academic buildings,” Henry informed her as she struggled to keep up with his hurried pace. “This is where you will meet your advisors, choose your classes, and if you pass your exams, attend those classes.”
“Exams? You mean like a sorting ceremony?”
Henry gave her a cold glance.
“You know, to determine which House I’ll be in.”
He pursed his lips. “The exams will occur over a week’s time to determine your future course of study.”
“So what, no robes? No wands?”
“This is not the movies, Ms. Revere.”
The tone of his voice and use of her last name told Eve she wasn’t the first, and most likely wouldn’t be the last, to make the insinuation, one that obviously pissed him off. She tried to stifle a grin.
He continued talking as they walked through a hedge maze of bushes and statues. “The tests are to determine your aptitude in certain types of magic. There are five major courses of study here.”
He pointed to a statue of a woman dressed in what appeared to be leaves and twigs. “Herbalists can use plants to create potions or salves.”
Eve’s eyebrows shot up. “Ah, yes. I have heard of these potion masters.”
Henry whirled on her, his full attention on her for the first time. “You have?”
The playful glint of a smile danced across her full lips. “Did you know one of the most renowned professors of potions actually wanted to teach the dark arts?”
His expression turned stone cold. “Seriously Evangeline, you must focus. There is a lot to learn in very little time.”
“You expect me to just take this all as fact and not assume it’s some silly children’s story? The only magic that exists is in fiction. Books. Movies. Fairy tales.”
“With that attitude, Ms. Revere, you won’t get very far at Faust University.”
They approached another fountain, this one featuring a man in some sort of loincloth, who was rather buff for a statue, surrounded by animals.
“Let me guess here. Animalists?”
“No, Beast Masters.”
“Well, that is a bit more epic.”
Henry shot her a scowl but continued their hurried pace.
As they passed, Eve noticed that each fountain possessed a different statue, each depicting a different figure in some strangely themed array of dress and accessories. There were five of them total, each dispersed throughout the greenery of the campus. The Herbalist and the Beast Master were joined by the Elementalist, the Magician of the Muses, and the Summoner, who looked slightly familiar.
The grounds themselves were almost unnaturally lush. She had to wonder if these so-called Herbalists had something to do with it. But other than the fountains, there wasn’t much else of note. It was beautiful, despite the whole being in a different magical realm detail. The only change in their journey was a brick footbridge that crossed over a serene body of water. Eve wished Henry would have slowed down if only for a minute-- she wanted to take it all in but was worried he’d leave her behind
if she didn’t maintain his pace.
“And this is where I leave you,” Henry stated once they were on the other side of the bridge.
He had stopped before a cluster of large three-story houses complete with turrets and bay windows on the opposite side of the campus. Students were lingering about, passing between the buildings with personal agendas that did not involve greeting someone new.
Eve peered up at the nearest building through the sunlight that refused to surrender. “This looks like--”
“It’s the dormitory,” he announced curtly before she had the chance to make another pop culture reference.
Smiling, she looked back in time to see a young man who couldn’t be much older than her walking from the furthest building, his eyes wholly focused on the book between his hands. His curly brown hair fell into his angular face, and there was a thoughtful smile on his lips that compelled Eve to watch him as he made his way back over the bridge and walked out of sight. He must be an upperclassman, she thought as she walked backwards in a futile attempt to keep him in her line of sight for as long as she could. There was something about him that made her want to watch him forever and maybe even find the courage to ask him where he was going, what he was reading, if he’d show her his room...
“Your belongings are already in your room,” Henry went on, “and because of the timing of your arrival, so too is your roommate. You can find both in Room 108, which I suggest you visit and get acclimated to because your tests begin at dawn. We’ll announce dinner, but otherwise, its best advised you remain in your room until you’re retrieved--”
“My tests?” Eve pulled her gaze away from the mysterious book reader and spun towards him. “But I haven’t had a chance to study!”
His only answer was another smug smile, a bow at the waist, and a tip of his top hat.
“Welcome to Faust University.”
Chapter Four
The hospital-like dorm rooms were a stark contrast to the ornately decorated academic halls. Shades of eggshell and dishrag-white colored both the walls and the floors. Ceiling tiles showed yellowing from age and brown water spots. Somewhere someone was burning something, but it didn’t smell like food. Something earthy and spice-like. Sage maybe? She’d read somewhere that people burned sage for spiritual reasons, but she had no clue what it was supposed to accomplish.
She approached the dorm room Henry had mentioned, a faded 108 on the pressboard door and heard faint R&B music coming from the other side. She placed a hand on the fake gold of the doorknob as Lauryn Hill crooned “Killing Me Softly” through the cracks.
Eve turned the knob and inched forward, the apprehension growing tenfold and making her feet feel heavier with each motion. The fluorescent lighting flickered for a moment and gleamed against the dark skin of a girl sitting with her legs folded under her on one of the two twin beds. Her hair was wild, its natural state of curls gone haywire with the climate of the conjured realm. When the girl looked up, her eyes were honey brown and dripping with curiosity.
“Evangeline?” the girl asked with the soulful voice of a lounge singer.
Eve stirred from the daze brought on by the girl’s beauty and moved to stand next to the bare twin bed on the opposite side of the room. “Yeah. How did you know?”
The girl picked up her phone and paused the music. Eve secretly wished she hadn’t. Killing Me Softly was an iconic song, and after catching a glimpse of that too-handsome-for-his-own-good upperclassman, it was exactly the mood music she needed.
“They said you’d be coming. They just couldn’t say when. Plus, your suitcase has been here waiting for you.”
It was an odd relief, seeing her luggage on the bed. Eve sat on the edge and began to fumble with the zipper to her suitcase. She didn’t need anything right then, but she felt like if she put something in a drawer, maybe she’d feel more at home.
“Here, let me,” the girl, who was obviously going to be her dorm mate, said as she flexed her fingers and closed her eyes. A few moments later, not only was Eve’s suitcase open, but her bed was decorated with her comforter and sheets from home, which she had not packed. The walls were now adorned with the same fairy lights and black and white pictures as her bedroom, which there hadn’t been room for when she had stashed away a weekend’s worth of clothes in a suitcase and foolishly headed to Savannah.
“Thanks,” Eve said but hesitated. She should have used the girl’s name there, but in her haste, she’d never asked it.
“Grace. Grace Sheppard.”
Eve smiled and relaxed her shoulders. The name Grace fit this girl well. The way she held herself, the way her voice floated through the air. She was grace personified.
“I like your music,” Eve said motioning to the phone which Grace balanced on her bent knee.
Grace seemed surprised and stared at the phone a moment before answering. “It’s mostly old stuff that my dad used to listen to. At least, the stuff mom said he used to listen to.”
Her face fell at the mention of her father and Eve recognized the emotion as one she’d felt before. Her mom had only been gone two years, but it felt as if a decade had passed without her.
“I’m sorry for your loss,” Eve said. “My mom passed too.”
Grace’s eyes snapped up. “What? My father isn’t dead.”
Taken aback, Eve struggled for words before settling on a mumbled apology that completely fell short.
Grace huffed a breath before closing her eyes and restarting the conversation. “It’s just, he… he doesn’t do much of anything now. Like some sort of walking zombie. He wasn’t always this way. Mom said when they met in high school he was vibrant and full of life. He’d dance down the street instead of walking, and brightened everyone’s day for it. But something happened while he was at college.”
“Where did he go?”
“Here. Faust.”
The wheels in Eve’s head started turning and she walked over to sit beside Grace on her bed. The close proximity to the beautiful girl made it hard to breathe, but Eve tried to ignore the wonderful mix of coconut oil and perfume coming from her skin. There were more important things at play.
Grace’s father was an alumni, which could mean Grace had some sort of information on the why and the how of this strange place.
“So, you’re kind of a legacy then,” Eve said as she pulled her legs under her and leaned forward.
“A what?”
“Like in sororities. If you had a parent that was in there, you’re pretty much guaranteed a spot.”
“Oh.” Grace scoffed and looked uncomfortable as she fidgeted with the ripped hole in the knee of her jeans. “I don’t think that’s the case. I’m not even sure if anyone here knows who my dad is anymore. When I’ve asked, they shut down whenever I mention him.”
Eve raised an eyebrow, but Grace was still too busy pulling at a loose thread to notice. “So, what do you say we go explore for a bit. Someone around here has to have some answers. I’m growing very tired of being confused very quickly.”
Grace’s hair bobbed slightly as her head shot up. “I’m pretty sure we’re supposed to stay in our dorm until we’re told otherwise.”
Jumping up, Eve held out her hand for Grace to take. “And I’m pretty sure they just dropped us in the middle of a bunch of fuckery and gave us no answers. Are you okay with just following along? Because I am not.”
Grace looked at her outstretched hand with wary caution. “What if we get in trouble?”
A playful fire danced behind Eve’s emerald eyes. “What if we don’t?”
Chapter Five
Finding their way back out of the dilapidated dorms and into the common area was no easy feat as it seemed like the very garden walls and hedges seemed to move and manipulate their direction at every turn. But down in the middle of the sprawling gardens, it became obvious that without a guide they could easily get lost amongst the insane number of fountains and hedges.
As they turned the corner of one row of flowery bushes, t
hey found a group of people sitting with musical instruments. Where normal universities may have had a guy or two laying around strumming a guitar, Faust seemed to have an entire orchestra on its quad. Hell, if she wasn’t mistaken, one of them was playing an oboe and, somewhere else, the unmistakable sound of a kazoo cut through the cacophony.
“What the fuck?” Eve whispered to Grace as they studiously tried to avoid eye contact with the maniacs performing on the lawn.
Grace slid her arm around Eve’s and leaned in close. “My guide told me about this. They’re called the Marlowes. The Magic of the Muses majors.”
Eve tried to ignore the tingling sensation where their skin pressed together. “Marlowe? Like the playwright?”
“Yeah, supposedly he is one of the most famous Faust alumni. But his work got too close to exposing the University and they killed him.”
“Again I say, what the fuck?”
Their conversation was cut short by the sight of Henry barreling toward them in a state of undress. He was desperately trying to pull on an overly fancy topcoat as he closed in on them. “You,” he started between gasps of breath. “You two are supposed to be in your dorm.”
Eve looked towards the exasperated Henry. “We were bored. And how come her guide actually told her things?”
“Because she was on time.” He huffed and straightened his top hat. “Now, if you’ll let me escort you back--”
“Is this a school of higher learning or a correctional facility?” Eve asked as she stared him down.
“For your own safety, it is advisable that you do not leave the dormitories on your first day. It is easy to get lost here, and there are hidden dangers behind every corner.”
Eve cocked her hip. “Well, then maybe our guide should tell us about them instead of leaving us to rot in a cell.”
“I had another appointment.”
Eve motioned to his untied shoes and unbuckled belt. “Clearly. How did you even know we were out of our rooms?”
Academy of Magic Collection Page 28
