CONVICTION OF THE DAMNED: SUPERNO ACADEMY BOOK ONE

by Tierney Storer

  David bent closer to me, the stench of cigarettes and booze reeking on his breath.

  “I can’t wait until you turn eighteen.” He whispered, almost like he wasn’t speaking to me directly. The filthy look in his eyes made me want to vomit up the toast he had allowed me to eat this morning, but I stayed calm, refusing to allow the pain and panic that filled me to escape its cage.

  I had two more years to go, two more tortuous years to learn everything I needed to know about David and his broken mind. And when the clock struck midnight on my eighteen birthday and he finally came to do his worst to me, I would be ready, and I would see him suffer a fate far worse than he had ever given me.

  “I can see the anger in your face little one, and you know how I feel about showing emotions.”

  His tone darkened, and every single thing inside me froze, waiting for the punishment he would no doubt deal.

  “Get on your knees Kaida, and if I hear a single sound come from your lips I'm going to fetch Laina out here and let her take your place.”

  My lips parted in fear, but I did as he asked, watching him slowly slide the knuckle dusters on to his filthy hands. It wouldn’t matter what I said now, he was intent on making me pay for whatever fucked up thing he thought I had done wrong. I wanted to protest, to fight back or to even scream into his face until I turned blue.

  But I couldn’t. I would never give in to the darkness and allow Laina to take my place instead. My little sunflower sister would never lose her sparkle, not for as long as I lived. Even Dari, who’s strength was vast, would never have the chance to prove she could handle David. Not whilst I was here.

  I was the oldest, and I was all they had. And the stars would have to rip me from the sky before I left them at the mercy of the heinous beast who called himself our father.

  “Eyes on me little one, I want to see you scream.”

  I woke up with a gasp, tumbling off the bed and crashing into the floor with a thud. The towel I had fallen asleep in fell off my body and the scars on my arms were stinging with the freshness of that particular memory. Almost like the Gods knew what I was thinking of the sounds of, shouting and footsteps shouted up at me from my open window.

  Without warning my bedroom door blew open, the hinges cracking and the wood screaming with distress. I yelled and leapt to my feet, completely unprepared for Caleb to be standing there, looking like he was terrified for his life. All manner of insults and questions came to my mind as he stormed into the room, ignoring me as he checked around everywhere like he was searching for something important that I could not see. Ember was right behind him, but his eyes were on me and me alone.

  Satisfied that nothing was there Caleb stopped moving. His gaze settled on me the same as his friend. Their eyes widening as they blinked a couple of times like they couldn’t believe what they were seeing. Ember dropped his eyes and Caleb scoured me up and down, the ice cold feeling of my own demons rising to the surface, tainted with a mixture of lust that I wasn’t quite prepared for.

  “What the fuck are you doing?!” I yelled, snatching up some sweatpants from the top of my dresser and hurriedly pulling them on my naked body.

  NO!. They’ve seen me naked. They’ve seen my scars and tattoos. Holy shit. No, no, no.

  “Laina said you were in danger.” Caleb replied emotionlessly, chucking me the hoody from his waist as he continued. “The others will be here in less than a second.” I ripped his hoody over my head without complaint, pretending not to like the way it smelt of lemons and sunshine. It hung down almost to my knees, banishing the last free parts of my skin back to the darkness I protected it in.

  Just as Caleb said, not even a second later Laina fell through the door shouting for me, Xavier, and Mikel right behind her.

  “Lainy?” I gasped, grabbing hold of her shaking body as she began sobbing uncontrollably.

  “I'm ssorry kai. I ttthought you were in trouble. I saw it!”

  “You had a vision?” I asked. Laina nodded her head as she ran her hands over my arms and shoulders, like she was confirming that she couldn’t feel an ounce of damage on me.

  I held her tight to my chest, running my hand across her hair until she got enough of a control of her emotions to explain what happened. The boys remained too.

  “I had a vision that came out of nowhere; it was so bad. The worst one I’ve ever seen.” She whispered.

  “What did you see?” My heart filled with unease before she even replied. Caleb had said I was in danger…

  If I die at least I don’t have to deal with the questions Caleb will ask me, I suppose that’s one saving grace.

  “It was dark, and there were shadows everywhere. I didn’t know where you where, but I could see that it was you. I felt the shadows take over your body, and then the agony of them stabbing you in the heart.” Her voice tripped over the last part; like the idea of me ever dying was so hard for her to comprehend she couldn’t even voice it.

  “I felt you die Kaida. And it was hell.”

  I couldn’t respond to her. I didn’t know why the shadows would be interested in me, but I knew that if they came for me I would have no choice but to die. I would put up a fight, but I couldn’t even stop a Vampire biting me, how the hell was I supposed to stop a full-blown demonic shadow from doing what it wanted?

  Almost like she could hear my thoughts Laina grabbed my hands and clutched them to her own tightly.

  “Promise me you won’t give yourself over to the shadows. Promise that you’ll fight them off if they come for you?”

  “Lainy don’t be silly!” I replied. I’d never lie down and die willingly unless it was for her, or Dari.

  Laina continued staring up at me, her gaze darting across my face as she searched for something in my expression.

  “Promise me! I can’t lose you.” I did as she asked.

  “Laina, I swear to you that I won’t ever leave you. I don’t care what you saw; so long as you draw breath the shadows will never be able to take me. I’d never allow them to.” Not unless they were going to take you in exchange, then I would hand myself over willingly and die happy. But you don’t need to hear me say that.

  ***

  It was almost midnight when I was brave enough to leave my room. Laina had passed out on my bed, tears still staining her cheeks from the vision of my death. I had figured nobody would be awake still, especially not a certain Vampire that I would be avoiding from now on. Ember already knew my secrets, so he was not the once i was concerned with right now.

  But I forgot to worry about the other creature who tormented me; the one with fiery wings and an ego too big for his shitty personality.

  “Oh look, Kat’s finally decided to leave her cave.” Xavier was lying down on the couch, an arm under his head for support as he ate an apple.

  I didn’t want to rise to his bait, but I was done with his shit.

  “My name isn’t Kat.” I didn’t want stupid nicknames and have another person try and tell me who I was. All I wanted was to make a hot chocolate and try to get some sleep. It was bad enough Caleb and Ember had seen my scars; I didn’t need to be worrying about another Heir on top of that.

  Xavier did not get the message and continued riling me up whilst I did my best to ignore him. It wasn’t an easy feat, but I managed to bite my tongue until the last second, when I put the milk back in the fridge and Xavier decided simple name calling wasn’t enough.

  “So do you wanna talk about your daddy then if you’re not interested in answering my other questions? Or maybe we can talk about your oncoming gruesome death?”

  “Excuse me?”

  My hands stilled and I couldn’t breathe. Xavier couldn’t know about our father, there was no way he could have found anything out. Dari had got a friend from the Scarlett Angels to bury everything that connected us to him.

  “Oh, so that did get your attention.” Xavier rose to his feet. “And if you’re wondering how I know anything then just ask your sister. Laina was more than happy to sp
ill all your secrets.”

  I was pissed at Laina for about ten seconds until I remembered that she was my sister, and there was no chance in hell she had spilled anything about our childhood or me. If Xavier did know anything it was because he, or more likely the sanguisuga, had forced her into telling them. And the idea of them doing that to her only turned the temperature up on my fire even more.

  “You don’t know shit about me, and I know Laina never said anything of her own volition. So how about you fuck off and stop trying to start a fight you won’t win?”

  I knew what was coming and ducked down just in time, as Xavier threw a small ball of fire towards where I had stood. He had a temper like I did, and I knew that ninety percent of our arguments would end with him trying to cook me.

  “You missed stronzo.” I snapped, rolling out from behind the counter and swiping Xavier’s legs out from under him.

  I didn’t know how we hadn’t ended up doing this before, fighting with more than words and little bouts of magic. Something inside me was broken, even more than before, at the fact that Caleb and Ember knew one of my secrets. Because if they knew, then the rest of the Heirs would too. And I could no longer be fussed with being nice to anyone who still chose to pick on me when they knew what I had been through.

  Xavier was clearly fighting through his own issues, as he gave as good as he got. The pair of us were quite literally beating the shit out of it each other as we made our way around the room, trashing everything in sight. He was a far better fighter than Caleb; he had definitely been trained. Everything I did he either countered or did something similar in response.

  The only difference being he didn’t touch my face. He kept his blows to my body, no doubt not wanting to actually see the damage he was causing. I had no issues with that though and proceeded to punch him hard enough in the face that he stumbled, catching himself on the coffee table. He kicked his leg out and took me down with him, the pair of us crashing into the table and shattering the wood and glass.

  The shards cut through the thin material of my shirt, nicking my skin, and sending my blood down my arm in a small trickle.

  “Oh look, KittyKat does bleed.” Xavier snarled, as he elbowed me in the gut and rolled me under neath him. “I thought you would be immune to something as simple as a cut.” I bucked my hips but got nowhere; Xavier was pinning me to the ground with his weight I could not shift.

  “Stop pretending you know me.” I snapped.

  My right hand snaked under my hip, finding my knife in the back pocket of my jeans. I yanked it out and whipped it round, holding it against Xavier’s throat as I laughed.

  “You’re so predictable bella.” Xavier sighed, not even blinking as I dug the blade into his olive skin.

  “Fuck you. You’re the one who’s predictable stronzo.”

  With a spurt of strength, I brought my knee up to his stomach, using the leverage to flip him off me, before I rolled into his place. My knees were either side of his hips and my knife remained right against his neck.

  “You think I’m predictable?” He mused, as his hand wound its way around my waist, and another painfully in my hair.

  Xavier pulled on my braid, lowering me right to his face. I could smell the mint of his toothpaste, and the faint scent of his lavender bodywash.

  “Did you predict this?” He asked, before capturing my mouth with his own.

  I would have liked to say I pulled away and cursed him to death for touching me. But I did nothing of the sort. Maybe it was because I was already in pain. Or maybe it was even the fact Xavier’s kiss had a little bit of his fire magic in it. But whatever it was, I did not pull away. I leant closer. I forced my lips against his with equal strength. His tongue snaked into my mouth, and I returned the favour. I was tasting him, his spicy intoxicating scent, and he was doing the same damn thing.

  Our kiss wasn’t gentle. Or careful. Hell, it wasn’t even the slightest bit romantic. It was pure, hot unadulterated hatred, sprinkled with a little bit of lust. We were kissing like our world was burning, and the second we stopped everything would be gone. Which in a way it was? This was only a onetime thing; we both knew that. It was just another way for us to hurt ourselves and each other; I was sure of that.

  Even when Xavier groaned against my mouth, and pulled me tighter to his chest, I still knew this was supposed to be painful. He didn’t really melt against my touch. Just as I wasn’t coming alive with the feel of his hands roaming over my body. When my fingers wound themselves in his hair, and the knife clattered to the ground beside us, I still knew this was all part of some game. This wasn’t real.

  Even months from now, when one of us would end up losing this war I didn’t want, I would still know that this was nothing but a false attempt at hurting each other. I wasn’t grinding against the hardness in Xavier’s jeans. He wasn’t trying to lift up the hem of my shirt and free more of my skin. Our lips were not stuck together like they had been superglued as we tasted each other entirely.

  There were a million different reasons that could have – should have – been racing through my head. And yet there was only one thing that was on the cusp of my mind. If I hated the touch of others, which I well and truly knew I did, then why was his touch so good? Why did it feel right, as though his arms where were I was meant to belong?

  It wasn’t just that he was handsome, because I had tried this with many handsome boys before. And each time I flinched and caved and retreated inside my own demons. Yet here I was, drowning in the touch of a boy who I knew I didn’t even like. Who I barely even knew? But then it occurred to me, one of those dangerous thoughts that never should have happened, that maybe I didn’t hate him after all.

  I remembered the butterflies from when we first met. I remembered the way I felt as the pair of us raced through the courtyard like birds in the sky. I knew how I felt when he healed me, when it was just the two of us after my attack in the woods, that I did not mind his healing hands. I knew how I felt when I caught him sneaking glances my way, or when his sharp tongue riled me up. Somehow I knew he wouldn’t hurt me; despite everything I had seen to prove that wrong.

  Then the worst of all the thoughts occurred to me. Our very first mind lesson, in the cave with the trust falls, had been another sign of the tricks we played. Trust, Mikel had said, trust in the person you are with. It was clear as day to me now, what I had missed all along. After Ember had a go, Xavier went next. And he had caught me; I trusted him to catch me, and he trusted me not to fall. And the idea of trusting the boy was unfathomable. He wasn’t like Ember; he wasn’t nice and kind.

  The trouble with trust, was that it was always tricky. Devious. It can always be lost or changed. I trusted Xavier, for reasons unknown. But that didn’t mean I liked him. Well, that didn’t mean I liked anything other than the way his kiss made me feel. Oh Gods.

  “Well shit this is unexpected.”

  A voice called in the darkness, shattering the entire thing in one fell swoop. Everything inside me died with the knowledge that I had betrayed my own mind. I had done the unthinkable. And my body showed that by trembling as I got back onto my feet.

  “I smelled blood and thought I would see what was happening.” Caleb mused. An evil look on his chiselled features.

  “We were fighting.” Xavier answered, his heavy breathing giving us away even more.

  He was still lying on the ground, completely shell-shocked like me. The only difference between us was that he could speak, and I was numb and could never speak again.

  “Fighting?” Caleb chuckled, “Looked more like fucking to me.”

  “As if.” Xavier replied, snapping out of his confusion, and sneering as he stood up. “I would never fuck her.”

  I didn’t say anything. I didn’t need to. There was nothing I could do or say that would change anything that had happened, or that Caleb had seen.

  “Anything you’d like to say sweetheart? You’re quiet which is not the norm for you.” Caleb was talking to me, but I could ba
rely hear him. I didn’t owe him a response, and he would not get one.

  I strode past in silence, grabbing my now mild hot chocolate off the counter and heading back to my room without a glance at the destruction behind me.

  “Care to share some details?” I heard Caleb’s voice as I reached the top of the stairs.

  “Nothing to say. It was nothing. She’s nothing.” Xavier replied. And with that wonderful sentiment I stormed into my room, for yet another breakdown of my spirit that hurt a lot more than usual…

  Dari

  I was no stranger to detention, but I never expected to get so many without really doing much. In the first month of our schooling, I had been in detention more times than I could count. One foul comment from my lips was enough for Ryder to summon me to his office after hours and join the other delinquents who had misbehaved. He never even let us do anything worthwhile, it was always the most stupid of things. The last time I had been here he had made us reorganize his bookshelves by order of colour, light to dark. And every single one of his books was black…

  Of course, we tried to change it, and make some sort of new design, but the second his Vampire eyes saw the shelves he complained and kicked us out the room with shouts of us all being entirely useless. Today was no different with his useless task, except I actually deserved to be here.