Molly sighed on the inside. “Just making sure you were safe and sound in your room. Good night.”
Isleen scoffed. “You think this place is all fairy tales and sunshine during the day, just wait until you see what happens at night. You haven’t seen anything yet.”
“I appreciate the amount of effort you put into trying to scare me. Anyway, I’ll see you in the morning.”
Molly shut the window before Isleen could offer the retort that was undoubtedly coming. She wondered what Isleen did all night since she couldn’t sleep. She wondered how exhausting it must be, yet Isleen never appeared to be tired.
Once Molly had checked on everyone, she made her way back to her bedroom. She herself was fighting the feeling of fatigue.
Once she turned the corner, she ran into Ms. Halifax. She wore a floor-length night dress and had her salt-and-pepper hair free from its usual perfect ponytail. She looked so much different with her hair down. “How is everything?”
“Everyone is where she should be,” Molly reported. Ms. Halifax nodded and continued past her. Molly got the sinking feeling that Ms. Halifax was about to check on the girls herself since she didn’t trust Molly’s work. She was too tired to care.
Back in her bedroom, Molly snuggled into her own comfy bed and closed her eyes. Even though she was tired, her inquisitive mind wouldn’t let her sleep. Ms. Bea’s words rang in her ears. Don’t leave your room once you turn in. Molly needed to know why. Even though she was disobeying Bea, she felt she had a right to know what was going on in the house she lived in.
The clock on her nightstand read 12:41. She looked through her bedroom window. There she could see Marina in the pool below splashing around. Aside from that, all was still outside. Molly padded out into the hallway. As expected, Oriana and Scarlet’s rooms were empty. They were out in the forest doing whatever they did there.
Sounds of sobbing came from Jolie’s room. When Molly peeked through the tiny window, Jolie sat in front of her mirror. This time her beautiful face wasn’t showing in the reflection. It looked as if she had put on a grotesque animal mask. Fur covered her entire face. Her beautiful brown eyes were now large and monstrous. Her small button nose had turned into a snout. Her small red lips were now gray and wide. Two sharp fangs protruded from her mouth. Molly couldn’t blame her for crying. At least no one else had to see her that way, but what kind of life was that?
Molly noticed the door to Gretchen’s room was ajar. She peeked her head inside. Gretchen was nowhere to be found. Molly checked the living and sitting rooms for her, but both rooms lay empty.
The sounds of pots banging together came from the kitchen. The kitchen was shut down and the staff had retired to their quarters, so Molly hurried over to see what was going on. There she found Gretchen. One counter was covered with all types of sugary sweets. A giant bag of opened Blow Pops, packages of Oreos and chocolate chip cookies, a plate filled with frost-covered doughnuts. Gretchen sat cross-legged on the counter, shoving a pastry into her mouth. Her face was completely covered with strawberry frosting and crumbs. She was eating as if she hadn’t eaten in days.
She looked to be in heaven until she made eye contact with Molly. Her face contorted in anger. “Get out!”
Startled, Molly hurried away from the kitchen and back to her quarters. She decided to let the girls suffer their curses with privacy and dignity.
11
Molly decided to make the most of Everly Academy for as long as she had to be there. She longed to be back in the real world—and she would get there, but for the time being, this was what she had to do. Molly loved to run. It was something she’d done every morning back at home. There had been a park across the street from her apartment complex. Every morning she would go there and run for at least thirty minutes. She decided to take advantage of the beautiful running space she had. She got up early before breakfast and put on her jogging suit. Molly planned on running along the entire estate on the outskirts of the wooded area.
The morning was brisk and cool. Perfect for a jog. She slipped in her earbuds and blasted music from her phone as she ran. She was always motivated by soundtracks from action movies. It had taken her about twenty minutes to jog the entire distance. She cooled down by walking along the edge of the pool. Molly could make out the shape of Marina gliding near the bottom of the pool.
Molly stretched, raising her arms to the sky and taking in the warm morning sun.
She turned to head back for the house when she felt a sharp prick on her ankle. Pain surged through her foot. Before she could even turn to see what was causing it, she was flying off her feet and plunging into the pool. Every inch of her stung as her body hit the water. Molly had always been a great swimmer, but when she tried to use her arms and legs to propel herself upward, she quickly discovered that she was being dragged to the bottom of the pool. She caught flashes of brown arms, an aqua fin, and black, fanning hair. It took her a moment to realize what was happening. Marina had dragged her into the pool and was holding her down.
As she struggled to escape the mermaid’s clutches, strong arms pulled her toward the surface. For a few seconds Molly’s body was in a state of tug-o-war, but then Marina finally let go. Molly realized it was Owen who had saved her. He brought her to the surface of the pool where she clutched the edge with shaking fingers and coughed. Her entire body shivered. Once she was able to catch her breath, she took in her surroundings. Marina was a few feet away from her, bobbing in the water. A line of blood trickled from the girl’s lips—Molly’s blood. Isleen sat in one of the pool chairs laughing hysterically. “Bad mermaid!” she scolded Marina jokingly.
Owen helped Molly move away from the pool as Bea and Ms. Halifax came hurrying from the house. Bea clutched a purple towel. She attempted to wrap it around Molly’s shoulders, but Molly pushed her away. “That’s it! I was willing to help these girls break their curses for as long as I have to be here, but I draw the line where one of them tries to kill me. It’s bad enough you tricked me to get here, but enough is enough. Let me out of here now!”
Several of the other girls had emerged from the house to see what the commotion was all about. They were supposed to be preparing for breakfast. Owen stood a few steps behind her soaking wet.
Bea held up her hands. “Ms. Halifax, will you have the kitchen staff make us a nice pot of chamomile tea? I do believe that’s Ms. Dillinger’s favorite. Ms. Dillinger, why don’t you change into something dry, and then we’ll have a talk in my office.”
Molly wanted nothing more than to get out of those wet clothes and out of the cool, brisk morning air. She stormed past everyone and into the house without bothering to answer Bea. It only dawned on her once she was inside that she hadn’t thanked Owen for saving her life. Who knew what would have happened if he hadn’t been there?
She turned and looked through the glass double doors. Owen was already gone, probably to get out of his own wet clothes. She was going to have to thank him later.
Molly didn’t care that she was leaving a trail of water as she made her way to her room. Once there, she turned on the shower, allowing the warm water to run over her shivering body. Her ankle throbbed. She bent over to examine it closer. There were two small marks there. Did Marina have fangs? Molly definitely remembered seeing flashes of sharp, pointed teeth. It still stung like hell. She would have to visit Dr. Meyer so he could check it out. Molly slid into a comfortable cotton top and some black capris before making her way to Bea’s office.
She barged in, not bothering to knock. Manners had taken a backseat to her anger. Inside there was a cup of piping hot chamomile tea waiting for her along with a plate of sugar cookies. Molly didn’t touch either. She was tired of being wooed with delicious food.
“Are you going to let me out of this prison or not?” she asked. “Obviously I don’t belong here.”
Bea folded her hands in front of her and smiled calmly. “I’m sorry that you were injured. It’s my fault. I should have warned you.”
&n
bsp; “It’s your fault? How do you figure that? You didn’t bite my ankle and try to drown me.”
“As I said, I should have warned you about going near the pool so soon. Mermaids can be quite territorial.”
Molly didn’t know how to respond to that. Since she’d always believed mermaids to be fictional characters, she had never researched them much. She only wanted to know one thing. “How are you going to punish her?”
Bea frowned. “Punish her?”
“Yes! Punish her. For assault? Attempted murder? I think that would call for at least a detention.” The last part had been sarcasm. Molly had no idea how punishment worked at the academy.
“I’m sorry you were harmed, Ms. Dillinger, and I will speak to Marina, but I can’t punish a mermaid for simply being a mermaid. Do you understand?”
Molly couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “I understand that she tried to kill me and you’re going to let her get away with it. Because she’s a mermaid? So, mermaids can do whatever the hell they want with no consequences?”
“In nature, when you enter a mermaid’s territory, that’s what they do. They will attack you. I should have told you not to go near the pool while she was in it. It’s been so long since we’ve had a new person that it slipped my mind. But don’t worry. Once she gets used to you, she won’t do it again.”
“Gets used to me? I am not staying here. You’re going to let me go right now.”
Bea shook her head. “I’m afraid I can’t do that. My previous offer still stands. Once you help us break the curses, then you may leave. Not a minute before then. If I were you, I’d get busy. The girls will meet you in the great study after breakfast.”
Molly had never felt so angry and dismissed at the same time. Bea was acting as if Molly hadn’t been minutes from death out there. She wanted to crawl underneath her covers and block the world out, but she had to see Dr. Meyer just in case mermaid bites were poisonous.
Molly knocked on the door of the doctor’s office. It would be her first time visiting it. “Come in,” a voice said from the inside.
She pushed the door open and stepped inside. The walls were painted a deep tan, and a huge mahogany desk took up the area before the window. Large green plants with beautifully colored flowers occupied each corner. The room held a light scent of mint and eucalyptus.
Dr. Meyer stood from his desk, wide-eyed. He adjusted the collar of his crisp white dress shirt. “Ms. Dillinger. This is a pleasant surprise. What can I do for you?”
She looked down at her bare feet. “I had a little incident a little while ago, and I’d like you to take a look at my ankle.”
Dr. Meyer gestured for her to take a seat on the couch as he crossed the room to her. “What kind of incident?”
“Well, a certain mermaid decided to sink her teeth into my ankle and then pull me under the water.”
Dr. Meyer looked surprised for a moment, and then the emotion faded. “Oh, this place does take some getting used to. I’ll clean and bandage it to make sure it doesn’t get an infection.” The doctor made no mention of how a mermaid shouldn’t be biting people, so Molly decided not to keep talking about it. People acting as if it were normal was only going to make her angrier.
The doctor poured some peroxide onto a cotton ball and rubbed it over Molly’s wound. She winced at the searing pain it caused her. This pain made her feel even more agitated than she had before. What was she doing there? She should have been at home looking for a normal job at a normal school. Even if it took her months to find a position, she would have preferred that to this.
Once Molly’s ankle was clean and bandaged, Dr. Meyer took her right hand and squeezed it. “Hang in there. It gets better. I promise.”
Molly swallowed hard. “Did it get better for Ms. Pruitt and the teacher before her?”
The doctor smiled tightly. “Once they accepted their fates, they were generally happy here.”
That was the last thing Molly wanted. She wasn’t accepting anything, and she would never be happy until she was out of Everly.
12
With a sore ankle, Molly joined the girls in the great study. She wasn’t sure how to feel. She was angry, but at the same time she wanted to get past it. A huge part of her was afraid that being bitten and pulled underwater was just a taste of the dangers that lurked at the academy. Why was it so important for her to keep her bedroom door locked at night?
The room quieted as she walked in. Molly took her seat and stared over the girls’ heads instead of looking at them. She only made eye contact when Marina spoke.
She approached Molly holding a dozen yellow roses. Her eyes brimmed with tears. “Ms. Dillinger, I would like to apologize for what happened this morning. I don’t know what came over me. It was sort of like a reflex or something. It wasn’t personal, and it won’t happen again.” She gestured for Molly to take the flowers. “Jolie says yellow roses mean you’re sorry.”
If what Bea said was true, then Marina couldn’t really promise that it wouldn’t happen again. Molly hoped that Bea was right when she said that Marina had only done it because she didn’t know her very well. Still, Molly took the flowers and accepted her apology. The girl looked sincerely contrite.
“Thank you, Marina. I appreciate that. Now where should we start today?”
Marina took her seat, and Scarlett took the floor. “The girls and I were talking, and we think it’s best that we tell you what the real deal is.”
Molly’s belly plunged. What did Scarlett mean by that? Molly was already completely overwhelmed by everything she knew already, and now there was more? “What’s the real deal?” she asked although she didn’t really want to know.
“I know Ms. Bea’s told you that there’s five elixirs left, and obviously there’s ten of us. Even if we get the elixirs, some of us will be doomed. Therefore, it’s in our best interest to break the curses altogether, at least that’s what Ms. Bea wants us to do so everyone can be saved.”
Molly didn’t follow. This wasn’t anything she didn’t already know.
Isleen sighed impatiently. “So, what the new girl’s trying to say is that there’s more to the story. Did you know that there are two cursed girls who’ve already earned elixirs? Two girls that have saved themselves?”
“No. I didn’t know that,” Molly admitted.
Isleen’s green eyes flashed with annoyance. “Of course not, because she didn’t tell you. That’s the part she doesn’t want you to know.”
“Why wouldn’t she want me to know that?” Molly asked.
“Because,” Jolie said, “there’s only one difference between those girls and us.”
“What’s that?” Molly asked.
“They’re out there and we’re in here,” Jolie replied.
Interesting, Molly thought to herself. “Tell me about these other girls.”
Tress had a dreamy, faraway look in her eyes. “One is my favorite fairy tale, Snow White. I’d even met her once before—way back then. She’s as beautiful as they say. We don’t hear much about what’s going on in the outside world. Bea does. She leaves here a lot to get updates on things, but she doesn’t tell us. Jack told us about Snow White. She goes by the name Neva now.”
Molly shook her head, trying not to be confused. “I’m sorry, but who’s Jack?”
Isleen ran her fingers over a jeweled brooch on the belt of her dress. “You’ve heard of Jack. The idiot from Jack and the Beanstalk.”
“He’s not an idiot!” Tress snapped. Molly had never seen her angry, especially toward Isleen, who didn’t seem surprised by Tress’s reaction.
“Oh, that Jack,” Molly said. “Of course. Okay. Keep going.”
Gretchen took over the story then. “Snow White, Neva, or whatever, killed another cursed kid and delivered the heart to one of the witches of the Moonhaven Coven. She was able to free herself from her curse, and now she’s really living happily ever after. She can grow older and everything.”
“Yes,” Isleen said, “but why don
’t we let Wolfy tell Ms. Dillinger about the second girl?”
All eyes went to Scarlett. Several of the girls shifted their body positions and groaned so Molly knew this was a conversation they’d had before.
Scarlett swallowed hard. “Okay. The other girl was Ella as in Cinderella. I killed a witch. It was strictly to protect myself though, and she’d killed my grandmother. There was another cursed girl—she was one of the princesses from the Twelve Dancing Princesses. I killed her to protect Ella. See, Ella and I had become friends, and that girl was going to kill her. I earned myself an elixir, but I gave it to Ella. I saved her.”
“Wow. That’s very heroic of you,” Molly said. She had a whole new respect for Scarlett.
Isleen scoffed. “You mean very stupid. She could have taken it for herself, and she could be out there living a real life right now instead of being stuck in here with us. As far as I’m concerned, she should be out of the running for an elixir since she earned one and gave it up.”
Dru scowled at Isleen. “Well then it’s a good thing it’s not up to you. I think Scarlett deserves an elixir even more for being selfless.”
Molly silently agreed.
“Thanks, Dru,” Scarlett said. “That being said, maybe you can talk Ms. Bea into letting us out of here. Not for good, but just some of the time so we can see what’s out there. We’re never going to solve anything being cooped up in this house.”
Molly laughed even though she hadn’t meant to. “I can’t even get her to let me out. I doubt she’d listen to me.”
“Couldn’t you try?” Jolie asked.
Molly took in all the looks of desperation, and she couldn’t possibly say no. “Yes, I suppose I could.” If Bea agreed to let the girls leave the house, it might bring Molly that much closer to her own escape. Allison had been strangely quiet this whole time, staring at the ceiling. Molly was also going to ask Bea about the medication the first chance she got.
Everly Academy Page 10
