Scholomance 3: The Devil's Academy

by Logan Jacobs

  “Well done, Faye!” Vanessa clapped. “A diminishing hex, another personal favorite of mine.”

  “Thank you, Professor,” the redhead replied, and her green-gold eyes shimmered with pride.

  Vanessa couldn’t stop smiling, and I could tell she was thoroughly enjoying this.

  “Alright, Vesta.” She grinned. “You’re up. Don’t be afraid to pick a difficult one.”

  The purple witch took the book from Faye, and I watched as her large silver eyes darted over the pages. She chewed thoughtfully on her bottom lip before she pointed to a spell and nodded to herself.

  “Whenever you’re ready,” Vanessa said.

  Vesta took in a deep breath and narrowed her large silver eyes at her victim. He was a freakishly tall man with a gaunt face and a fuzzy shadow across his cheeks and chin, and his large dark eyes stared at Vesta as she pointed her wand and parted her lips.

  “Soluta genua erigite!” she said.

  A quick bolt of light hit the man in the face, and he howled in agony as his knees buckled beneath him and snapped in two. Fragments of bone were sticking out of his skin, and he went crashing down onto the floor. Blood pooled around him, and he trembled and whimpered for mercy.

  “Oh, another of my personal favorites,” Vanessa cackled as she used her wand to shove him back into his tiny cell. Then she slowly turned to me, and the corners of her red lips tugged into a small smile. “And last but not least… Cole? Would you like to give it a go?”

  “Of course.” I grinned.

  The last man in the row stood there, and as his deep gray eyes bored into mine, it took me a moment to realize he was not like the others. He did not cry out or beg for mercy. In fact, there was a challenging look in his dark eyes. He was daring me to do my worst, and I would show him exactly what I was capable of.

  So, I took the book from Vesta and looked through the spells. A few looked interesting, but I wanted something that spoke to me.

  That’s when I spotted the perfect hex. It was designed to give your victim a series of fever dreams until they collapsed from the trauma.

  I cleared my throat and adjusted my feet, and the prisoner glared at me as I slowly raised my wand and maintained eye-contact.

  “Allucinatio!” I recited.

  A bright yellow light hit the man in the chest, and his mouth slowly started to twitch. He didn’t move much at first, and I was beginning to worry I didn’t recite the spell correctly. But then, his body began to convulse, and his steel-colored eyes rolled into the back of his head. Then he collapsed down to the ground, and his body shook like a leaf. He finally cried out in pain and tried to raise his hands to place them over his head, but it was no use.

  I thought that was the end of it until his head started to quiver uncontrollably and finally exploded. Blood and bone flew everywhere, and speckles of gore splattered on the witches.

  “Satan!” Akira cried out in disgust. “You didn’t have to make a mess!”

  “You killed him?” Morgana said with wide blue eyes. “How did you manage to kill him? These spells are solely designed to cause immense harm, not immediate death.”

  “I didn’t mean to kill him… ” I replied, and I frowned in confusion.

  “Morgana speaks the truth, normally a plaga curse doesn’t kill your victim,” Vanessa mused as her eyebrows furrowed over her sharp eyes, “but I suppose with you, Cole, we never know what to expect. So, with that being said, I suggest we stop for the day. Well done, everyone.”

  I looked down at the book in my hands, and I felt even more drawn to its power and control. I squeezed it until my knuckles turned white and forced myself to look at Vanessa, who was staring at me with this unusually devoid expression in her cold eyes.

  “Professor,” I said, “I’m going to keep the book.”

  I said it as a statement, rather than a request, and she arched a dark eyebrow at me before she smiled slowly.

  “Very well.” she shrugged. “You were the one who found it after all… I’d just be careful if I were you. Clearly, these spells are more powerful than you think… especially when you’re the one wielding them.”

  I nodded, and we followed the professor out of the dungeon. As soon as we were back in the warm corridors, she turned to look at each of us. She flicked a chunk of brain matter off her cheek and then gracefully folded her hands in front of her.

  “Well done,” she praised. “As I said, I’d be cautious with that book. Study it carefully and keep it safe.”

  She turned to go, but Morgana stopped her before she could leave.

  “Professor,” Morgana said in a small voice. “Why are you letting us keep the book? Aren’t we breaking the rules of the game by keeping it and studying it?”

  Before she could respond, I had another question to add upon that one.

  “Also, why did you choose to help us instead of turning the book into the headmistress?” I added.

  “And why would I do that?” Vanessa scoffed. “You found it… I was simply doing my duty as your teacher by showing you how to execute the more complicated spells properly. There’s no need to turn it in, and I personally do not see this as cheating. You just happened to have a slight advantage, be it luck or skill. Anyway, you should learn the spells listed in there, they will come in handy during the second game.”

  With that, she twirled her skirts around and headed down the hall.

  As soon as she was out of sight, Akira glanced at us with eager, dark eyes. She still had blood and gore splattered on her white shirt, but she didn’t seem to care anymore.

  “That was fucking awesome,” she breathed. “I still can’t believe she took us into the forbidden dungeons!”

  “I can’t believe she helped us,” Vesta muttered.

  “She’s certainly full of surprises, there’s no doubt about that,” I replied. “She didn’t even bother to ask me where I found it.”

  “Speaking of,” Faye said with a frown, “weren’t you going to show us this mysterious room of yours?”

  “Yeah, and now that I think about it, it’s actually a good room to study these spells without anyone barging in on us--” I started to say.

  “Well, before we do that,” Akira cut me off with a raised hand, “let’s clean up first… and in the traditional sense. I’m not walking around with mortal brains all over my top.”

  “Agreed.” I nodded.

  So, we headed to the common room, and we all split up to wash up. By the time we were cleaned and dressed, I was ready to show them exactly where I’d found the books and the mysterious painting.

  “I’m so excited,” Akira gushed as we rushed down the corridors. “I’ve been dying to see this place since you mentioned it this morning.”

  “I still think it’s a bit strange,” Morgana commented. “You just happened to come across a secret room, thanks to Theodora… but have you even talked to her about it since she sent you down there? What does she know that she’s not telling you?”

  “I don’t know.” I shrugged. “But I intend to find out… eventually.”

  It was true. I’d planned to talk to the headmistress about the strange painting, but in between classes and training, it was hard to find even a single moment to spare. So, I shook my head and just focused on showing my coven the secret passageway. We headed through the empty study hall, and I pulled back the two books. The coven was awed as the bookcase pulled open, and we headed down the stairwell. Then, as soon as we were at the bottom, I ran over to the covered painting.

  “Are you ready to see something strange?” I said before I prepared to tug the cloth off.

  Their eyes widened, and they nodded eagerly as I ripped the fabric off the portrait, but then my coven turned to me in confusion as soon as the cloth hit the floor.

  “What are we looking at, Cole?” Akira asked.

  “What do you mean?” I wondered, but when I turned to look at the painting, my stomach dropped.

  The woman from my dreams was gone.

  Chapte
r 11

  We stood in front of a black, empty painting that was surrounded by a heavy wooden frame, and I felt as if the wind had been knocked right out of me.

  She was gone, and I didn’t understand.

  “What are we looking at, Cole?” Vesta whispered. “There’s nothing there.”

  “Yeah, what the fuck, Cole?” Akira demanded. “Have you been smoking dragon breath?”

  “No…” I said as I shook my head slowly. “I don’t understand…she was here last time.”

  “Who was?” Morgana asked.

  “The woman from my dreams,” I replied.

  “As in a literal woman from your dreams… ” Akira said with a stifled laugh. “Or as in--?”

  “No.” I shook my head impatiently. “There was a painting of a woman yesterday, and I’d seen her in my dreams several times before.”

  “Ah, well,” Akira huffed. “Paintings just don’t up and vanish, Cole. Maybe you imagined it.”

  “Well, actually,” Morgana mused, and her brow furrowed over her bright blue eyes, “they have been known to take a stroll every now and then, but the thing is, they must always return to their home--”

  “What about Cordelia?” I asked in a rushed voice. “She’s always hovering around in my room.”

  “The horny old maid who draws your baths and leaves us breakfast?” Akira giggled. “You just answered your own question, Cole… she always hovers, but she’s never really there. I mean, her spirit is there, but she’s physically in her painting.”

  “Wait,” Vesta interjected as she shot us a pensive stare. “When has Cole ever been wrong about something like this? He must be on to something… why would there be an empty painting down here, along with whatever else is hidden in this secret room?”

  “That’s true,” Morgana said. “Maybe we can wait for her to return? It’s impossible for a painting to just leave her home for longer than an hour. They need to stick to their portrait in order for their spirit to survive.”

  “So, we’ll check again before we leave,” I suggested.

  “Good idea.” Faye nodded. “I’m sure there’s an explanation.”

  We stood there for a long moment and just stared at the painting. Finally Akira sighed and turned to look at us.

  “Well, let’s not stand here like a bunch of squirrels waiting for autumn.” The black-eyed witch smirked. “Let’s check out the rest of this place.”

  My coven turned their backs on the empty painting, and I wondered what the hell was going on. Was Morgana right? Would the mysterious woman return?

  I shook my head as I followed my coven into the abandoned bedroom, and they immediately began searching through the mountain of books.

  “Check out all these books!” I heard Morgana squeal in excitement. “There are hundreds in here.”

  “Yeah, at least,” I muttered.

  “We should start studying them.” Faye grinned.

  The witches huddled around the textbooks, and their eyes lit up each time they snatched a different book. I grabbed a blue one, entitled Abnormal Ghouls and Goblins, and we all sat together and studied our asses off.

  Morgana used a quick cleaning spell to spruce the place up, and we ended up studying for hours. The evening quickly bled into night, and we all fell asleep reading by the dim candlelight.

  By the time I woke up, all the witches were deep asleep, and I gently pulled myself away from Vesta and Morgana, who both had their heads on my shoulders. They groaned as I scooted away from them, and then they slowly opened their eyes.

  “What time is it?” Morgana asked, and her voice was thick with sleep.

  “I don’t know,” I muttered. “All I know is it’s morning… at least I feel like it’s morning. We’ve been down here for hours.”

  I rubbed at my tired eyes and tried to massage the knots out of my neck. I’d fallen asleep at a strange angle, and I knew it would affect me all day long. As soon as I thought about the day ahead of me, though, I realized we had to get to class.

  Vanessa’s class.

  “Shit,” I gasped before I stood up. “We’ve got to go, get up!”

  “What is it?” Akira mumbled as she bolted upright, and her short hair was a messy halo around her head.

  “We need to get to class,” I replied. “Now!”

  “Oh, shit!” Morgana repeated, and now she was completely awake and alert.

  We shot up and ran out of the room, but before I followed my coven up the stairs, I glanced at the painting. The woman was still gone, and my stomach turned with an uneasy feeling as I continued to stare at the empty frame. Then my trance was broken when one of the witches started to shake me by my shoulders.

  “Do you want to be punished for being late?” Vesta snapped. “Let’s go!”

  I shook my head and followed them up the stairs, and then we ran down the corridors and sped into Vanessa’s classroom. All eyes were on us as we slammed ourselves down into the chairs and tried to compose ourselves. Vanessa was sitting at her desk, wearing a long velvet collared dress with black trimming and puffy, oversized sleeves, and she shot us a dark look before she cleared her throat and stood up.

  “Just in time,” she said. “One more minute, and you would have been late.”

  “Apologies, Professor,” Morgana panted and swept her long dark curls out of her eyes. “We--”

  “Overslept,” I cut in.

  “I don’t care,” Vanessa responded, even though it was clear she didn’t believe me. “Be quiet and sit there until it is time to begin.”

  “Looks like you all had a long, eventful night,” Penelope hissed from the desk next to us.

  I turned to look at our opposing group, and they were all seated neatly in their seats.

  “Why don’t you focus on your own shit?” Akira sneered. “Instead of worrying about what we do all night long?”

  “She’s just making an observation.” Beatrix smiled. “Why do you always want to pick a fight, Akira?”

  Beatrix’s lips were painted red today, and her hair was flowing over her shoulders in long, loose curls. Her cheeks were rouged, and she wasn’t the only one who was made up. All the witches at her table had perfectly done hair and makeup, and they seemed to enjoy the fact my coven had arrived bare-faced and unkempt.

  “We don’t need your observations,” Vesta growled.

  “But what we do need is everyone’s undivided attention,” Vanessa said as she cleared her throat. “So, if you would all pay attention and stop chattering amongst yourselves, that would be fantastic. All eyes up here, please.”

  “Apologies, Professor,” all the witches muttered.

  Vanessa nodded and focused on the entire class, and we spent the rest of the lesson covering the history of blood curses and advanced spells. The table beside us took vigorous notes, and every now and then, I caught one of them staring in our direction. Penelope, in particular, would continually stare at us, and I knew it was grating on my coven’s nerves.

  As soon as the lecture was finished, everyone started to pack up, and while students poured out the door, Vanessa glided over to our table and smiled at us. Then she turned to look at Penelope's group, and her smile remained the same.

  “We’ll be having our extra lesson outside, today,” she said.

  “On the grounds?” Akira asked.

  “No.” Vanessa shook her head.

  “Then where?” I asked, both curious and confused.

  “If everyone could huddle into a circle, then you’ll find out.” She smirked.

  We did as we were told, and Vanessa raised her wand above us.

  “Velut umbra,” she recited.

  Purple smoke rose up, and we all started to spin in circles. My stomach lurched as we tumbled and tossed through the air, and finally, we all came crashing down into wet grass. It took me a moment to adjust to our new surroundings, and I realized we were in some kind of swamp or lagoon.

  “Ouch,” someone mumbled beside me.

  I turned and saw one of t
he pixie-haired witches rubbing the back of her head. We were all sprawled out, and when I looked around, I noticed the mist was growing heavier around us.

  “What the--?” the twin with the blue stripe in her hair said.

  The air was thick with fog, and it was difficult to see as everyone started to pull themselves up from the gray-green grass and looked around. All I could see were marshlands spreading out for miles. It was a desolate and gloomy place, and it was clear no humans or beings of any kind lived here.

  “Where are we?” Morgana asked.

  “We’re in the stagna aquarum… or better known as the abandoned marshlands,” Vanessa replied. “As you can tell, it’s nearly impossible to see.”

  “That’s an understatement,” Penelope growled.

  “Stop complaining,” Akira snapped. “I swear every single time you open your mouth--”

  “You two better not begin arguing,” Vanessa said in a dangerously low voice. “This is a lesson, and I expect everyone to treat each other with respect.”

  “Yes, Professor,” everyone replied in unison, but Penelope and Akira were still glaring at each other.

  “Good.” Vanessa nodded. “Now, we’ll first begin our lesson… we’re going to control the weather using blood curses.”

  “What?” Morgana breathed with wide blue eyes. “That’s highly advanced material--”

  “So, consider this your lucky day.” Vanessa smirked. “Now, I want everyone to quickly line up and observe me.”

  Vanessa turned her back on us and raised both her hands up into the air. As she muttered something under her breath, her hand began to bleed, and the blood dripped down her wrist and onto her wand. Then the sky started to turn darker, and the air grew even colder. Black clouds swarmed over us, and thick droplets of rain began to pour down from the livid sky. Lighting cracked, and thunder roared, and soon, the rain turned to ice. No one screamed or shouted in protest, and just as quickly as the weather had turned unbearable, it grew calm once more. The black sky turned into a light gray, and the air became chilly but still.