by Logan Jacobs
“Do you have any other markings?” she asked with her head tilted to the side. “Ones that you were born with?”
“Ugh … ” I tried to think. Then I glanced down at my wrist, where there was a small x-shaped scar in the middle of it. I traced the mark with my fingers and desperately tried to recall if I was born with it or not. “Maybe, this one?”
I showed her my wrist, and then she smiled. It was the kind of smile that radiated satisfaction.
“I thought as much,” she said. “Now, let’s get you to bed. You have a long first day tomorrow morning.”
“But … how did you know about my scar?” I murmured and swayed on my feet.
“Tsk, tsk,” she clucked. “No more questions for tonight. You need to rest, and you need to wash up as well.”
I repressed a defeated sigh as she led me out of the banquet hall and back into the corridor. The doors closed on their own, and when we found ourselves in the middle of another hallway, Theodora snapped her fingers out of nowhere.
“Cordelia!” she called out. “Please show Cole to his room.”
I glanced wildly around and tried to spot whoever she was talking to. There was no one in here but us, until I noticed one of the paintings started to move.
At first, I wondered if it was the tea causing hallucinations, but then I remembered where I was.
I was in a place where it seemed as if anything was possible.
“Cordelia, now please,” Theodora commanded louder. “We haven’t got all night.”
I watched a portrait of a ghastly looking woman. She had snow-white hair that was pinned back tightly, pale skin, and coal black eyes. She wore a black and white maid’s uniform, and the painting began to shake violently against the wall.
I gasped as a hand shot out from the portrait and then a leg, until the woman in the picture was no longer in the frame but standing before me.
“Cordelia,” Theodora huffed, “thank you for finally joining us. Would you please show Cole to his room?”
“Yes, ma’am,” the maid replied in a thick accent I couldn’t place. “Please follow me, Master Cole.”
“Have a good night’s rest, Cole,” Theodora said before she whipped her skirts around and left me with this ghoulish looking maid.
“You, too … ” I muttered in a haze of confusion and fascination.
“Please, sir,” Cordelia said with a bow, “follow me.”
I sighed and followed the small ghost maid into another hallway and up a flight of stairs. The black iron staircase curled upwards in a spiral, and it felt like we walked up a flight of at least fifty stairs before we reached a small, plain wooden door.
The maid reached out her bony hand and raised her palm, and I heard the door unlock before it swung open on its own. Then she gestured for me to enter first.
When I walked in, I was stunned to see a magnificently decorated bedroom before me. There was a king-sized bed situated in the middle of the room, with red sheer canopy curtains draped over it. The quilt was also a crimson, satiny red and had gold embroidery all over the seams, and there was a white bear rug splayed out on the floor. This bear was the same kind that I’d killed out in the woods, and I stared at it with revulsion as I recalled how close I came to death.
“Do you not approve of the décor?” the maid asked in her shrill voice.
“No, it’s fine.” I shook my head, and the room swayed around me. “Thank you.”
“Your bath is filled, and your uniform is folded on the chair by the window,” Cordelia said as she pointed to a royal blue velvet chair by an oval, stained glass window. “Please, just call out for me if you need anything … I’m always around.”
“Err, thanks,” I said as I rubbed the back of my neck.
“With pleasure, Master,” she replied with a bow.
Instead of walking out the door, Cordelia simply evaporated into thin air, and the door closed on its own. Despite the uncanny circumstances, I was deeply relieved when I found myself alone in the room. I was sticky with blood and covered in dirt, and all I wanted to do was clean myself off and fall into a coma.
There was another door inside the room, which I could only imagine was where the bathroom was. So, I headed toward it and half expected it to open up on its own. When nothing happened, I laughed to myself and opened it the traditional way. I found myself inside a red marble bathroom, with a large black tub in the middle of the room, filled to the top with sky blue water. Then I quickly stripped off my torn white shirt, my jeans, and my boots before I slipped into the tub.
The sensation of the hot, lavender-scented water was so pleasant and welcoming I knew if I stayed in the tub for too long, I would probably drift off to sleep and drown. So, I eventually forced myself to get out of the water and dry off with one of the white towels that was set aside for me.
When I returned to the bedroom, I didn’t bother to look for pajamas or anything else to wear to bed. I simply slipped into the soft comforter, naked, and as soon as my head hit the pillow, I drifted off to sleep.
But my sleep was not a peaceful one.
As soon as I was unconscious, I started to see visions of the black woods. Just like earlier, I was running, panting, and bleeding through the forest. I frantically searched all around me, desperately trying to find a light or some way out, but I could barely see where the hell I was going.
In my dream, I came to a sudden stop, and as I strained to listen, I heard growling, cackling, and sharp voices all around me. They were whispering in a language I couldn’t understand.
I tried to wake myself up, but my eyes refused to flicker open. My body grew ice-cold, and there was no way to move.
“Hello?” I heard myself call out. “Who’s there?”
Deep, menacing laughter followed, and then there were flashes of faces. They weren’t ordinary faces, either. These creatures were ghastly, hideous, and terrifying, and they had eyes as black as night and lips as red as blood.
“Speak,” I demanded.
“Cole,” they whispered in unison.
“Who are you?” I asked. “What the fuck do you want from me?”
“You’ll see,” they cackled.
I tried to reach out to grab at them, but their faces vanished. Then they turned into wisps of smoke and left me standing in the woods, cold and alone.
“Cole!” shouted a familiar voice.
My eyes opened, and I shot up from the bed. I was drenched in sweat, and when I glanced down at my palms, they were bleeding. I must have dug my fingernails into my skin in my sleep.
“Oh, good,” said the same voice. “You’re up.”
I looked up and saw Vanessa standing over my bed. Today, she was not wearing a cloak, and instead she wore a black lace dress and matching lace gloves. Her long, ebony hair fell into perfect curls all the way down past her slim waist, and she looked even more beautiful in the daylight. Her piercing blue eyes were glaring down at me, but then her gaze slowly trailed down to my naked chest, and she flinched as if something had stung her.
“You sleep in the nude?” she hissed. “Have you no decency?”
“Well, do you have a habit of watching people as they sleep?” I asked with a cocked eyebrow.
“Just get up and get dressed,” she snapped and averted her gaze. “You’re about to start your first day of classes, and I’m not in the mood to wait around for you to get ready.”
“Alright, give me a moment,” I whispered and scruffed my hair to get my blood flowing. “Jesus.”
Vanessa flinched again, and then her eyes went wide with disgust and panic.
“Don’t ever use that name around here,” she whispered as if it were some horrible secret.
“Okay,” I said as I raised a hand in defense, “noted.”
She stared long and hard at me again before shaking her head and crossing her arms.
“Just hurry up,” she said before she whipped around and left the room. She made sure to slam the door on her way out as if to make a point.
What crawled up her ass and died?
I got out of bed naked and padded barefoot over to the velvet chair. There was a button-down, white collared shirt, a pair of black trousers, black boots, and a cloak. I put on the shirt, left three buttons open, and slipped on the pants and boots. I left the cloak behind, though, because I didn’t see the point of wearing it.
Before I left, I caught my reflection in the mirror that hung by the chair. I looked brand new, compared to last night. My blue eyes were clear and bright, and my black hair was clean and shiny.
It was as if nothing had happened the night before.
I rolled up my sleeves and headed out the door, where Vanessa was tapping her foot impatiently as she waited for me.
“About time,” she snapped as she gave me the once over and then hissed under her breath.
“Now what?” I asked and rolled my eyes.
“You look as disheveled as a common farmer,” she snarled. “Come here.”
She grabbed my collar and yanked me toward her, and I noticed she smelled sweet like honey as she buttoned up my shirt and then tried to tuck it into my pants.
“I can do that,” I said as I pulled away.
“Then do it,” she huffed. “Now … follow me.”
I sighed and trailed after her down the spiral staircase. We headed toward the direction of the classrooms, and when I looked around me, it wasn’t just the eyes of the paintings following me.
Today, there were women, or rather, witches scattered in the hallway. Some were more human-looking than others, but they all whispered and stared in my direction. The astonishment and disgust were evident on each of their faces. Even one witch, with ginger-colored skin and horns, was so shocked she dropped her books as soon as her eyes landed on me.
To say that all this attention was off-putting would have been an understatement.
Vanessa finally came to a halt and pointed to an open door.
“Here we are … Blood Magic,” she sighed, “your very first class, which I will be teaching, so you better pay attention.”
When I looked up, I saw words scribbled in red that hung over the frame of the door.
The feral she-wolf emerges at night, with only the moon to guide her way. Hide the lambs, the children, and the weak – because she will only leave blood and bone in her wake.
So, that’s why she said those words last night.
Vanessa turned her nose up at me and then waltzed inside, and I could still feel all these eyes on me before I took a step into the classroom and mentally prepared myself for one hell of a class.
Chapter 3
As soon as I stepped inside the classroom, all eyes were on me.
Five witches were already seated, with their books and tools out. They were all dressed in the same uniforms, which was a white button-up shirt, small black and white checkered skirts, and black knee-high socks.
The classroom itself, like much of the castle, had sleek, black walls and one small, silver candle chandelier that hung high above the class. The long white candles were lit because there was only one tiny oval window that barely allowed any sunlight through. Not that there was much light out there. I could spot one steel gray cloud outside, which indicated the weather was probably just as somber as the classroom. As I looked around, I realized the ambiance and style of the room reminded me of a church.
If the church had been decorated by a group of hardcore Satanists.
The witches were still staring at me as I stood there. I was unsure of what to do, so I cleared my throat and wondered if I should make a public introduction, but Vanessa beat me to it.
“Class, welcome to Blood Magic,” she said as she strode to the front of the room. “Before we begin, I’d like to introduce you to Cole … our first-ever male preschooler at Scholomance.”
The room was massive, and the awkward silence that followed was deafening. As I stood there by Vanessa, I could feel it weighing down on me, and it was practically crushing my shoulders.
“Hey,” I muttered after I couldn’t take the quiet any longer, “nice to meet you all.”
The women simply stared at me, and Vanessa sighed under her breath.
“Just take a seat next to Akira,” she instructed.
Vanessa pointed to a long, black desk, and I sat down next to the witch who must have been Akira. She had chin-length black hair and pale skin, her eyes were as dark as coal, and her lips were painted black. She was gorgeous, in a dark and mysterious way. Her features were perfectly symmetrical, and she probably knew it. I also noticed a raven tattoo on her neck, and when she caught me staring, her dark lips curled with disgust.
“Does it have to sit next to me, professor?” she growled.
“It?” I echoed and arched an eyebrow.
What the fuck was her problem?
“Unfortunately, yes, he does,” Vanessa sighed, as if she were dealing with a group of real, four-year-old preschoolers.
“Can’t you make him sit next to Faye?” Akira grumbled and averted her eyes. “And Morgana can sit here instead? I wouldn’t feel comfortable with him breathing down my neck during the entire class.”
“Fuck you!” snapped a voice from behind me. “I’m not sitting next to him. I might catch something.”
I turned around to see whose voice that belonged to, and it must have been the pretty redhead with her arms crossed across her chest. Her greenish-gold eyes were furrowed in my direction, and she was fuming.
The witch next to her was covering her mouth and trying not to laugh. She had long, dark hair that fell into loose curls over her shoulders. Then her blue eyes caught mine, and she instantly stopped laughing and scowled in my direction.
“Oh, so it’s fine if I catch something?” Akira snapped as she glared over her shoulder at Faye. “Is that what you’re saying?”
“Enough,” Vanessa barked, and the room went deadly quiet again as all the girls bowed their heads. “Now, let’s get to work … everyone pull out your books.”
Everyone grabbed a mud-brown leather textbook that looked as if it were at least a thousand pages long. Akira’s clunked loudly as she set it down on her side of the table, but I didn’t have one, and I doubted Akira was willing to share.
“Uh … Professor?” I said before I raised my hand. “I’ll need a copy.”
“Oh, right,” Vanessa sighed.
“Why bother giving him one?” Faye’s voice muttered from behind me. “It’s not like he’ll learn anything, anyway, with that thick-headed male mortal skull of his.”
I rolled my eyes as the rest of the witches snickered at her remark. Meanwhile, Vanessa marched over behind her large, black desk and violently yanked open a drawer. Then she pulled out a rough, beaten-looking textbook with a ripped leather cover and a loose spine, and it was also stained dark red in some spots.
“Here,” she said before she tossed the moldy tome on top of my desk. “Sorry about the blood … it belonged to the last student who failed the finals.”
“Wait, what?” I gasped, and shock flooded through my veins like ice. “What happens if we fail the finals?
“If you fail the final exam,” Vanessa echoed with a flat expression, “you will die. Apologies, but that is pure common knowledge to the rest of us here, and I’m not in the mood to waste class time explaining it to you and only you. Perhaps I’ll explain the finals to you toward the end of class, but do not be rude and ask questions until I say so.”
I heard a small snicker next to me, and when I turned to look at Akira, it seemed like she was doing her best not to laugh, but she was failing miserably as her shoulders shook.
“Fine by me,” I muttered as I opened the book.
On the first page, there was an ink drawing of some kind of goat with a pentagram surrounding it. Writing of some sort surrounded the image, and when I touched it, a strange shiver coursed through my entire body.
This place was so fucking weird. How the hell di
d I end up here?
“Now, everyone turn to page six hundred and sixty-six,” Vanessa ordered. “We’ll start at the beginning. Now, who can tell me about the origins of Blood Magic … yes, Vesta?”
I followed Vanessa’s gaze and turned to see a strangely beautiful woman with light lavender skin, long sea-green hair, and molten silver eyes. She was sitting directly behind me, with her hand raised, and her ears were pointed and pierced heavily.
I tried to stop staring at her, but it was a challenge.
“Blood Magic has been used since the dawn of Wicca time,” Vesta said with her chin raised, and her slightly husky voice made goosebumps rise across my skin. “It derives from our sisters who were persecuted by the elder gods. They needed to use magic powerful enough to perform sacrifices for power. Not only did they conduct sacrifices, but they also learned how to use the blood of various creatures to concoct potions.”
“Correct,” Vanessa said with the first genuine looking smile I’d seen since I met her. “Now, what other skills can be acquired when one learns the mechanism of Blood Magic?”
“Possession,” Akira said without raising her hand. “We can use our own blood to possess, charm, and manipulate others.”
“Well done, Akira.” Vanessa nodded. “Now, we just have one more ability no one has mentioned.”
“Crafting weapons,” growled a deep voice from behind me.
I slowly turned and did my best to discreetly look at the demonic-looking witch who sat next to the stunning lavender skinned beauty. I hadn’t noticed her before because her head had been bent down, and her long, dark red hair had been hiding her face, but to my horror, I realized she barely had any face at all. Her skin was heavily scarred with hideous gashes across her nose and lips … but perhaps the most terrifying thing about her was the fact that she had no eyes. There was just scarred skin in place of where her eyes should have been, and it briefly made me wonder how she would learn anything at all if she couldn’t even see.
I quickly turned around so I wasn’t staring at her.
“Excellent, Sweeny,” Vanessa said with a proud smile. “Now, let us start by reading and practicing the pronunciation of the first incantation. Who would like to go first? Perhaps our newest addition. Cole, would you start us off, please?”
