Scholomance 1

by Logan Jacobs

  So, I took in slow, deep breaths as I cleared my mind and just focused on the air around me. I could feel something running from the tips of my fingers, up my hands, through my arms, and coursing through my entire body. The energy entering me felt electric and powerful, and I simmered and drowned myself in the dark forces that had surrounded me.

  Then I slowly opened my eyes and stared back at the bones, shells, and wood on the desk before me.

  “What do the bones say now?” Theodora murmured.

  “Progress is near, but it will take time and energy,” I replied without thinking.

  “Good.” She smiled in a satisfied way. “Now, you will all get a chance to read bones, but as I said, you must first practice clearing your mind and--”

  I didn’t catch what she said next, because suddenly, everything faded into black.

  The next thing I knew, I could feel myself falling.

  I was falling down something, and I couldn’t understand or make sense of what the hell was going on. My stomach dropped as I continued to descend into darkness, and I reached my hands outward, trying and failing to grab on to anything, but it was useless because everything around me was pitch black.

  It felt as if the drop was endless. I squeezed my eyes shut and prepared to hit the ground with a hard, bone-crushing thud, but instead of landing on the ground, my body started to slow down. I was still descending into nothingness, but instead of falling down, I was now floating.

  “What the actual hell?” I whispered to myself.

  I flinched as my voice echoed loudly around me. My words vibrated through the darkness, and finally, my feet slowly came into contact with something sturdy.

  Even though I was relieved I’d made it safely to the ground, I was still surrounded by pitch-black darkness.

  “Hello?” I called out.

  Where the hell was I? I was in class just a moment ago, and now I was engulfed in darkness. Was I in a room? It was hard to tell. The air was deathly cold and thick as if I were in a cloud of dense smoke.

  I coughed and struggled to breathe. My coughing grew more violent, and within moments, I was hacking and trying to stay conscious.

  Just when I thought I was going to choke to death, a small light glowed all around me, and the air turned clean and clear.

  I adjusted my eyes to the sudden light, and to my shock, I realized I was alone in a corridor. The same corridor that led to the forbidden library.

  How the hell did I end up here? It didn’t make any sense. One moment, I was sitting in class, and now I was in the same hallway Theodora had shown me on my first night here. I knew it was the same hallway, too, because I recognized the paintings on the walls.

  I took in a deep, steady breath and tried to make sense of what was going on. When I glanced at the paintings, their eyes were not focused on me for once. Instead, they were all glancing down the hallway, and it was as if they were trying to tell me to go in that direction.

  So, I followed their eyes and my own instincts and slowly walked toward the library. I could hear faint whispers and cackling as I headed down the dimly lit corridor. The candles burned down to the nub along the walls, wax dripped onto the floor, and the air grew colder as I got closer to the library.

  When I approached its door, I was shocked to see the golden lock had been picked open. Then I gently pushed the doors open and scanned the inside of the room.

  My mouth fell open when I stepped past the threshold. There were probably hundreds of thousands of books in here. Some of the books, which weren’t on shelves, towered from the floor all the way up to the ceiling that was at least three stories tall.

  It seemed as if there was no order to the chaos in here. Books were scattered everywhere, and it looked like a madman was in control of the organization.

  As I continued to marvel at the beautifully bizarre room, I heard a book hit the floor. At first, I didn’t think much of it. Books were probably always falling from piles.

  But then I heard it again, and again.

  Someone was in here.

  “Hello?” I called out. “Who’s there?”

  There was no response.

  I shivered from the cold as I walked deeper into the library, and I reached down into my waistband to retrieve my bone-hilt dagger, since I never went anywhere without it now.

  But when I reached behind me, I couldn’t find it.

  “Shit,” I muttered.

  That was strange. I remember tucking the dagger into my waistband this morning before my Premonition class, but then again, a missing blade shouldn’t have surprised me.

  It was the least surprising thing about this entire out of body experience.

  I continued to follow the noise through the library, and soon, I came upon a hooded figure. Whoever it was, they had their back turned to me, and they were tossing book after book onto the floor. Clearly, they were searching for something.

  “Hello?” I called out. “Who are you?”

  Whoever it was, they ignored me and continued to drop books to the floor. Finally, their finger landed on a spine, and they pulled out a massive, blue textbook. It looked as heavy as an encyclopedia, and I took a step closer.

  “Hey,” I said, this time in a more impatient tone. “I’m talking to you.”

  The mysterious figure ignored me and just kept their head lowered as they flipped furiously through the book until they landed on page six-hundred-and-sixty-six.

  Finally out of patience, I reached over to grab the person by the shoulder, but I nearly fell over because my hand went right through them as if they were made out of smoke.

  “What the fuck?” I whispered.

  The figure slowly turned around, and my mouth dropped open when I saw who it was.

  I was face to face with myself.

  I watched as my mirror-self continued to read the page with heavy concentration. My thick, dark brows furrowed at the page, and I could see myself mumbling as I read. Then I watched as this alternate version of myself walked over to the fireplace and took a seat.

  I loomed over my own shoulder to read whatever this Cole was reading, but before I could even see what was on the page, he, or rather I, tore it out of the book and stuffed it into my pocket.

  He then headed into another direction of the library, and after a couple of minutes, he pulled out another copy of the book. He turned to the same page and, again, tore it out and stuffed it into his cloak pocket.

  I held my breath as I watched him, and he repeated this process five times. Why would there be five copies of the same book, and furthermore, what was so important about this particular book?

  Before the alternate Cole returned the final copy back to its spot, I read the spine.

  Libro Superessendam.

  I couldn’t say how I knew for sure, but I knew this translated into The Book of Survival.

  Suddenly, the vision undulated, and the next thing I knew, my doppelganger was nearing a fireplace, but we weren’t in the library anymore. This fireplace was the one in my bedroom, and I watched in a mixture of confusion and awe as my doppelganger took the pages he’d stolen and tossed them into the fire. He, or rather I, stared down at the crumbling, burning pages, and his eyes glowed as a small, satisfied smile spread across his face.

  I took a step forward toward my mirror self, but then I sensed a strong pull whisk me away. Everything faded into darkness, and again, I was falling.

  My stomach did flips as my body flew downwards, and I closed my eyes and waited for whatever was going to happen next.

  When my eyes opened, I violently jolted forward in my seat and looked around, confused as hell.

  I was back in the classroom as if nothing had happened. Headmistress Theodora was standing in the exact same spot, and she was smiling at the class with her jar in hand.

  “What the hell is your problem?” Morgana hissed by my side.

  “What?” I snapped back, and my heart pounded in my ears.

  “You practically flew out of your seat,” s
he replied with an annoyed and confused scowl. “Fucking freak.”

  “Would you just shut--” I muttered, but then the headmistress turned to us and raised a suspicious eyebrow.

  “Is there a problem, Morgana?” Theodora asked.

  “No, Headmistress,” the brunette replied with her head down, “no problem at all.”

  “Good,” the older woman said in a firm tone. “Now, Morgana, see if you can give the bones a reading. Try asking a question as you toss them and make sure your breath hits the bones.”

  The color drained from Morgana’s pretty face as she took the jar in her creamy white hands. She was nervous, and she wasn’t doing a very good job of hiding it, but I could barely focus on what was happening. I was too confused and astounded by what had just happened.

  As the rest of the witches took their turns with the bones, I discreetly flipped through the book until I came across a chapter that read “visions and the gift of foresight.”

  There was a sketch of a skull with a pentagram surrounding it.

  I quickly scanned the introduction, and my mouth hung open as I read the passage. According to the text, only a select few witches with a direct link to the Devil were able to have visions at random times.

  How was I linked to the Devil?

  I sat there and tried to understand what the hell was going on. I was so immersed in my own bewilderment, I didn’t even notice the classroom was empty around me until a voice drew me out of my thoughts.

  “Cole?” Theodora asked. “Are you alright?”

  “Umm,” I replied slowly, and I blinked up at the headmistress. “Yeah, I think so.”

  “Well, the class is over,” she said. “You should probably head down to the banquet hall and grab something to eat. You look rather pale.”

  I considered telling her about my vision but then decided against it. Whatever I’d seen, I had a feeling I needed to keep it to myself.

  “Sure,” I muttered as I slowly closed the book.

  I stood up and headed to the doorway, and then I left the classroom and slowly walked down the empty hallway. I had no intention of going into the dining hall, though, at least not yet.

  I planned instead to return to my room, where there was peace and quiet, and read more about foresight within the solitary confinements of my bedroom.

  Even though my vision had been muddling and slightly murky, I knew deep down that I needed to break into the library and find those books. It felt as if my life depended on it.

  But I couldn’t go look for the books now. I had to wait until the dead of night. That’s what the vision had shown me, and I knew I needed to listen to it.

  Now, I just needed to find a way to get through the rest of today. It was going to be difficult, though, because all I could do was think about breaking into that library and discovering what deep dark secrets laid within those books.

  I knew my fate laid within those torn up pages, and I was hellbent on retrieving them tonight.

  Chapter 8

  I did my best to get through the rest of the day, but it sure as hell wasn’t easy. Not after experiencing that living nightmare in class. It was one of the most intense experiences I’d had so far.

  I tried to behave normally in front of the witches, but it was difficult. All I could do was think about breaking into the library. It made no sense, but deep down, I knew I needed to get in there and locate the books that my alternate-self had stolen.

  As I thought about the vision, I pushed my food around my plate. It was dinner time, but I seemed to have very little appetite, even though I’d skipped lunch to study. Eventually, I sighed, set my fork down, and rubbed at my throbbing temples.

  I couldn’t eat another damn bite.

  “You shouldn’t be wasting your food,” Faye sneered from across the table.

  “Why do you care?” I grunted without looking up.

  “He can’t eat because something’s wrong with him,” Morgana said.

  “What the hell do you mean?” I asked and shot the brunette witch a glare. “Nothing is wrong with me.”

  Of course, that was a lie. My mind was murky, and I was completely drained. That vision had sucked all my energy dry, and at this point, I was just running on fumes and trying to push through the rest of the day.

  But these witches were making it complicated.

  “You practically fell out of your seat in premonition class,” Morgana scoffed. “Don’t act as if I didn’t notice. I saw you.”

  “I was just tired,” I lied. “I guess I nearly fell asleep, and my body jerked itself awake.”

  I looked at each witch and tried to read their expressions, but after a long moment, I realized none of them believed me.

  Finally, Akira snorted and rolled her coal black eyes. “Sure you did.”

  “Sounds like troll shit to me,” Vesta snickered.

  “Yeah, I don’t buy it,” Morgana said as her ice blue eyes bored into mine. “Why don’t you just admit to what really happened?”

  “I already told you,” I replied as calmly as possible, but my patience was wearing thinner by the second.

  “You’re nothing but a liar,” Sweeny muttered under her breath. Her red mouth pulled back into a sneer, and I could see her sharp, bloodstained teeth peeking through. “Why would we believe a word you say, mortal?”

  “And you’re nothing but a pain in my ass,” I snapped. “You can believe me or not, I really don’t care either way. You all can just fuck off.”

  I just couldn’t take it anymore, so I stood up and left the witches to eat the rest of their meals. There was no way I could continue to sit with them while they bitched at me. Normally, I found it amusing, and I entertained it, but I was not in the mood today, not after what had happened in Premonition class.

  I thought about heading to my room to rest, but I knew I had to study for my next class. There was a lot of information to retain, and I needed to get as much reading done as possible.

  Now that everyone was eating, I could have the study hall to myself, so I marched down the corridors while the portrait eyes followed my every step. My footsteps echoed as I walked along the black wooden floor, and the stained glass windows allowed a small bit of pale sunlight to peek through and cast a warm glow on my skin.

  I paused to take a deep breath and let some of the tension roll off my shoulders. I loved when the hallways were empty. It almost felt peaceful, especially when it was sunny outside like right now.

  As I made my way to the study hall, someone called out my name, and I turned around to see Headmistress Theodora standing there in the corridor. She was wearing a long black and white checkered dress with a lace collar, and her dark hair was pulled back into a high bun.

  Where the hell did she come from? She wasn’t here a moment ago.

  “Cole.” She smiled. “I’m glad I caught you. May I have a quick word?”

  “Sure.” I nodded.

  “We can walk and talk,” Theodora replied before she placed a hand on my back and led me onward.

  “Okay,” I said as we walked. “So, what did you want to speak about?”

  “How are you getting along with your classes so far?” the older woman asked.

  “Has Vanessa not reported back to you?” I questioned with a confused frown.

  “No, not yet,” Theodora chuckled. “She’s been quite the busy bee lately, and I haven’t had a chance to discuss it with her yet, so I thought I’d just ask you directly.”

  “Well, everything is going fine,” I replied with a shrug. “I think I’m really getting the hang of everything.”

  “I had a feeling you would.” The headmistress’ mouth twitched with the beginnings of a smirk. “You’re a quick learner. I can tell.”

  “Is that a feeling or a premonition?” I flashed her a crooked smile.

  Theodora tossed back her head and laughed.

  “Nice try, but a witch never tells,” she said before she stopped in front of the study hall.

  “So, I suppo
se that means you won’t tell me how you knew I was going to the study hall?” I asked with a smirk.

  “I’m afraid not,” she said and nodded to the door.

  I was about to head inside, but there was a question I was dying to ask, and now was the perfect opportunity to do it.

  “Headmistress,” I said, “I have a question for you.”

  “Fire away,” she replied.

  “Are visions common?” I asked.

  “You’re going to have to be a little more specific,” the older witch laughed. “Visions are a tricky subject, and I mean that literally.”

  “Well, I suppose what I meant to ask was, do witches have random visions?” I clarified. “I mean … even if they haven’t acquired all the necessary premonition skills, is it still possible to have a vision?”

  “It is.” Theodora nodded. “But it’s very uncommon. Only a select few can do it.”

  Again, only a select few. What the hell made me so special? I was dying to ask her, but I had a feeling she would just give me another ominous and vague response.

  So, I decided to ask another question instead.

  “Will I be able to read minds?” I asked out of plain curiosity. “Eventually, I mean?”

  “Time will tell, but I’m sorry, Cole,” she said as she shook her head, “I’d love to continue this conversation, but I must get back to my office. I have a lot of work to get through today.”

  “It’s alright,” I told her, “I understand.”

  I was a little disappointed, but I could always get more answers from her later.

  Theodora smiled again before she twirled her long-checkered skirts and headed back down the corridor.

  I watched her go until she disappeared around the next corner, and then I went into the study hall. The walls were painted a deep, bark brown, and just like the corridors, the room was filled with portraits that liked to follow my every move. There were also rows of black iron chandeliers that were illuminated by long, ebony candles.

  I dumped my premonition book on one of the octagon shaped tables and took a seat by an oval window. When I peered outside, I saw a sliver of gray sky and thick, smoky clouds, and I sighed.