Heaven's Fall: A Paranormal High School Bully Romance (Pandorax Academy Book 1)

by Ember Hollis

  Except that as my Dad, he sort of does… and I’m sort of glad he cares enough to do so. Plus, he’s an angel. No matter how badly the students here hate angels, I still can’t shake the fascination… the awe, that’s come over me at the thought that I’m born of something divine.

  Wasn’t it up to me to live up to my heritage? To face these bullies and prove to them personally that good would prevail? That I could prevail?

  “It is,” I find myself saying. I repeat the words, finding strength in them. “It is. And I can do it. I’m Heaven Ramsey… and I’m born of an angel. I’m angelic, and there’s nothing anyone can do to make me Fall,” the words flow from my lips, making me smile. No matter how tough things might get in the future, I know that nobody can take my heritage away from me. The only one who can jeopardize my future is myself and there’s no way I’m going to do it, no matter what they do to me.

  “I’ll show them who I am. I’ll show all of them.”

  Chapter 11: Heaven

  When I head back to my room, I find that someone is waiting for me.

  “Hello,” the boy waves, smiling awkwardly when I stop short in the hallway. “I’m Noah, your guide for the day.”

  He’s tall, with brown hair that falls haphazardly into his hazel eyes. I purse my lips, noting the tight muscles under the sleeves of his rolled up shirt, and the relaxed yet alert way he leans against the wall by my door. He’s cute enough to be one of the popular kids in school, and nothing about him spells loser. So why is he so happy to show me around?

  Unless this is a trick.

  “Nice try, but I don’t need a guide,” I say, faking a smile as I rummage for the key to my door. It takes me a while to fish it out of the narrow pocket sewn into the skirt of my new uniform—why do girls’ clothes always have such tiny pockets?—and when I’m done, he’s still by the door. “You can leave now.”

  “No I can’t, not unless I want Madam Wilkins annoyed at me,” Noah shrugs, still smiling. “Come on. It’s a big campus. Let me show you around it.”

  “Let me guess,” I cock my hip and stare at him. “Sometime during this grand tour, you’re going to stuff me into the nearest laundry chute, or push me into the lake, or dump rubbish on me, or find a way to humiliate me in front of the whole school so I learn my lesson and leave. Well, no thanks. You can consider the message delivered, and you can save yourself the effort. No matter what you do, I’m not leaving.” After Sibyl’s abandonment in the cafeteria earlier, I have no illusions that other students will stick their heads out to be my friend.

  “Hey,” Noah holds up his hands. “I’m just here because I need the extra credit to make up for missing classes. I’m not involved with whatever you think I’m a part of. It’s your first day, I’m not going to make it any worse for you than it probably already is.”

  Something about the way he says that makes me pause and rethink my initial impression of him. “You’re telling the truth?”

  “I swear it by the Moon,” he curls his fingers loosely, then presses his hand against his chest over his heart.

  I frown, still hesitant. “What’s up with that salute?”

  “Wow, you’re really brand new to everything aren’t you,” he lifts a brow at me.

  “Fresh off the boat from Terra,” I lift my chin, daring him to say something about it. “I arrived here this morning.”

  “Well, then you’re in luck,” he chuckles. “Since that was me just a year ago.” He does the claw thing again, only this time when he holds his hand up in front of me, his nails shift into wicked claws. “I’m a werewolf. Turned, not born.”

  “Wow, how long ago?”

  “It’s just been… what, fifteen moons?” he shrugs. “So I know all about what you’re going through. The confusion, the not-fitting in… the disbelief…” he releases a soft laugh. “Trust me, unlike most people here, I’m not out to get you. You’ve got more than enough on your plate.”

  “Really? Even though I’m part-angel?” I ask, still worried.

  “Hey, my roommate’s an ice demon. When I disturb his sleep at night, he grows razor sharp icicles over my bed so I’ll stab an eye out in the morning. I think I can do with an angel or two,” Noah grins while I grimace in sympathy.

  “So, are you going to trust me, or are we just going to stand here wasting daylight? Cos I’m telling you, there’s a lot of ground to cover,” he nods out towards the window where the trees in the quadrangle are swaying in the breeze. “Even if you could sprout two extra legs like I can, it’ll take the rest of the day.”

  “Okay, let’s go,” I decide. “I’m Heaven by the way. I don’t think I introduced myself yet.”

  “Well, I already knew,” Noah says, his eyes sparkling. “But it suits you.”

  This time, I return his smile with no effort at all.

  * * *

  It’s true what Noah said about the grounds. Even with him showing me the highlights, it takes all the rest of the afternoon and part of the evening for him to bring me to the locations I need to be for my classes. While things look straightforward on the map, everything is further than it looks, and without him showing me the shortcuts and helping me navigate, I’m sure I would have missed at least some if not all my outdoor classes the first time round.

  Once it’s over, we make our way from the Hanging Swamps down to a nearby lookout point. Below it is a funicular railway terminal with shiny silver rails that wind down the mountain to the village below. The cliffs here are lush and speckled with wildflowers, and even the mist-wreathed castle on the mountain top above us seems enchanting, now that I’m no longer trapped in it. I can’t help exclaiming over the view, and wish I could take out my phone to snap a few photos. But though it doesn’t look spoiled, nothing I do makes the camera work, and when Noah confirms what Professor Chiros said about human technology not working here, I give up and settle on committing the view to memory.

  “Thanks for the tour. I think I would have definitely ended up in the Moaning Marshes instead of the Hanging Swamps if you hadn’t shown me the difference,” I say after a while. “Or else I would have stumbled into the swamps while looking for the Shattered Forest, and been eaten by an alligator.”

  “Alligator? Nah, the banshees would have gotten to you way before the alligators. That or you’d have gotten stuck in the sentient moss and be digested alive. There are so many ways to die here,” Noah laughs. He does that a lot, I find. It’s a lovely sound, deep and hearty, and I’m actually, really starting to like hearing it.

  “Wow, is everything in this world out to kill us?” I make a face. “And here I thought that since angels and magic are real, I’d finally get to meet my fairy godmother or ride a hippogriff.”

  I meant it as a joke, but Noah actually takes me seriously. “Well, the fairy realm does exist, but the fairies aren’t really friendly or helpful unless they want something from you. And we don’t have hippogriffs, but we do have unicorns,” he tells me with a sparkle in his eye.

  “What seriously?” I exclaim. “Can we see them?”

  “I wish, but Chiros has them on lock down at the moment. You’d need special permission to see them, so it’s the only place I can’t bring you to.”

  “Oh.”

  “But it’s not all death and danger. Themis is a really nice place, full of magic and wonder,” he says, gesturing to the railway terminal. “You should visit it on the weekend. It’ll give you a taste of civilized society, since we’re clearly lacking it here at Pandorax.”

  I grin at the joke. Noah wasn’t at lunch while I was being tortured by the Four and their Harpy groupies, but I’d told him all about what had happened to me during our tour. He hadn’t been all surprised, which was disheartening to say the least.

  “If you like, I can accompany you there too to show you around?” he continues, gazing warmly at me.

  “Yes please, I’d really like that,” I nod.

  We spend a few quiet minutes at the lookout until Noah points out a funicular car com
ing up the mountain. It’s all steel and glass and filled to the brim with boxes that apparently holds supplies for Pandorax. It’s accompanied by a duo of lithe elves who Noah tells me are the native inhabitants of the mountain valley below. They wield glowing staffs and use magic to move the boxes onto a cart by the side of the terminal. I gaze at them in fascination. I don’t know yet whether I have any magic, but even if I do, I doubt it would make me as graceful as they seem to be.

  “I love that elves really are beautiful,” I say. “Are they nice too?”

  “Yeah, they’re actually one of the more decent supernatural races,” Noah nods. “And I know how you’re feeling, by the way. It takes a while to get to know this hidden magical world well enough to straighten out what’s real and what’s just misconception propagated by scifi and fantasy media. But don’t worry, it’s not all wrong. And sometimes, you’ll be surprised to see what they actually got right.”

  “You mean like ripped werewolves who run around tearing their clothes off?” I tease, reaching out to poke at his shirt. It’s barely buttoned and gapes open at his chest, revealing a tantalizing display of muscles and taut stomach.

  Noah blushes and rolls his eyes at me. It’s naughty of me to flirt, but I’m glad to see I haven’t quite lost my touch. Mom would’ve been proud to know the charm I inherited from her still works on supernaturals, I think, before I sweep the thought away along with the accompanying sadness.

  “Well, I certainly don’t mean sparkling vampires who look like they sweat body glitter,” he makes a face and I laugh with him. Of all the things that fiction got right, the rivalry between the two species is one of them, to my utmost amusement and satisfaction.

  “I never did read Twilight. But you know, when I first found out about Pandorax, I kind of hoped it would be like Hogwarts more than anything else,” I admit. “Not anymore of course.”

  “Oh, well, doesn’t everyone,” Noah gives me a sympathetic smile. “But don’t worry, it’s not that bad. Just give it time.”

  I raise a brow at him. “I know you weren’t there, but Malek seriously wanted to kill me just for daring to come here. He shot an arrow at me and tried to stab me at lunch.”

  Noah shrugs. “Malek wants to kill everyone. You’re nice, I’m sure the Four will come around once they get to know you.”

  I still doubt it, but I don’t really want to argue. After all, Noah’s been here for much longer than I have, and he’s the only person who’s actually been nice to me all day.

  So I just nod and give him the sweetest smile I have in my repertoire, then lean back to lie on the grass. Though Noah looks away at first, I notice that he keeps glancing back at me, unable to stop himself from checking me out.

  Hmm. Weren’t werewolves supposed to be extremely strong and fearsome? If the Four really are after me, perhaps a powerful ally or two wouldn’t be amiss, I muse.

  The next time Noah looks my way, I smile and gaze up at him from under lowered lashes, making sure our eyes meet. He blushes slightly, and looks away, but not before I notice his eyes flicking quickly down my body in the process. Thanks for the figure, Mom.

  After a few moments of silent seduction, I get up onto my elbows and reach for his hand, intending to ask him whether he’d eat dinner with me in the cafeteria tonight. Perhaps if he’s there, everyone else will think twice before harassing me.

  But before I can open my mouth, the last bell of the day rings. Both of us look up at the tallest spire of the castle, where a set of bells swing. Behind it is the moon, pale but full, like a silvery white wheel of cheese.

  “Crap, I didn’t realize how late it was getting,” Noah says, climbing to his feet. “You should get inside.”

  “What about you?” I frown as he hurries me to my feet and starts pulling me along the pathway down to the castle. “Shall we have dinner together?”

  Noah grins a toothy grin at me. “Not today, Heaven, I can’t. There’s other things on the menu for the others and me.”

  I watch his canines lengthen and suddenly realize what he’s talking about. It’s the full moon… and he’s a werewolf.

  “You’re not going to hunt here, so close to the school?” I splutter. “Are you sure it’s allowed?”

  “It usually isn’t, but something has been lurking around the school and disturbing the unicorns. The Headmistress started a curfew recently, and the other Weres and I help enforce it,” Noah tells me. The words sound garbled, but its not surprising, given how wolf-like his teeth and jaw are now.

  “Don’t worry, the Change isn’t as bad as it is in the movies. I still remember who I am when I’m a wolf. But if you’re worried, I can put off the transformation long enough to drop you at the gardens. From there, you can enter the castle via the back gate. It will close soon, but you should be able to make it back in time.”

  We hurry across a meadow until I see stone walls surrounding what looks like an orchard.

  “Here?” I turn back to ask Noah, whose glowing golden eyes stare back at me. Noah nods inaudibly and pushes me forward, then drops to his hands and knees. His shirt has already slipped off his chest, revealing thick gray fur that’s begun to sprout on his back. A part of me really wants to watch him turn, but my self-preserving instincts make me turn and run. The sound of my footsteps and pounding heart aren’t nearly enough to drown out the sound of his trousers ripping, but I resist the temptation to look back and keep going.

  I sprint along the wall, searching for the gate. Then something catches my eye, and I turn.

  It’s my mother, clad in a white robe. She’s standing beneath the shadow of a willow tree. Its soft fronds throws shadows all around her but I can tell she looks exactly the same as the last time I saw her alive. Her eyes are bright with life and her lush body filled with vigor. She lifts a hand to beckon gracefully at me and I take a step forward in spite of myself.

  “Mom?” I gasp. Her flaming hair wafts as she nods. I pinch myself. Am I dreaming? Is this a hallucination? I take another step closer, then freeze. There’s a dark mark under her arm that I hadn’t noticed before. But now that I have, the familiar pattern of blood stains on her lingerie beneath the white robe is unmistakable.

  “Heaven, don’t… don’t go back…” she calls.

  I shake my head and retreat a step. This can’t be real. Mom’s dead!

  “Heaven, please,” she pleads. “Come with me. I’ve missed you.” Her deep green eyes are soft and her voice plaintive. This is the Mom I’ve always wanted her to be, kind and caring instead of short-tempered and selfish. But there’s something terribly wrong about this picture.

  ‘Something has been lurking around the school… the Headmistress started a curfew.’

  Maybe this was what Noah meant! The moment the thought occurs to me, I’m utterly certain of it.

  I whirl around as the wraith that’s not my Mom lifts a hand to me again.

  “Heaven, don’t go!” she calls again. “Please… I’m sorry!”

  I ignore her and start running. It seems as if I hear hooves thundering behind me, but when I look back, all I see is Mom, running after me with her robes falling down her shoulders. The sight of her blood-stained figure chasing me spurs me on until I arrive at a black wrought iron gate set within an ivy covered archway.

  It’s swinging close slowly on some automatic or magical mechanism and I quicken my pace, passing through it just in time for the gate to clang shut behind me.

  I collapse onto the ground and pant. My vision is swimming and my head throbs as if I’ve been running in the depths of winter.

  Whatever is chasing me passes by the gate in a white streak that’s closely followed by a gray wolf the size of a small horse. When it reaches the gate, the wolf slows down and comes to stand in front of me, pushing its nose through the grill to huff at me.

  Noah.

  Even though I know it’s him, my heart starts pounding again. His eyes stand out against his gray fur like the burnished gold of buried treasure, and his razor sharp fangs
look almost as long as my little finger.

  Though I’m glad he chased the wraith away, I can’t help glancing nervously up at the gate. It’s not all that tall, and if he really wanted to, he could probably leap over it and bite my head off.

  We stare at each other for a short moment that seems to go on forever. Then, blood-curdling howls rise up from all around the castle grounds.

  Noah’s ears twitch, before he finally looks away from me and lifts his nose to howl. The sound is so primal, so powerful, that the hair on the back of my neck prickles in response. Whatever’s out there, I certainly don’t envy it on the other side of that gate, surrounded by wolves.

  Once the howling dies down, Noah casts one final look at me, then lopes off into the darkness.

  But though I should feel safe now that I’m back at the castle and nothing else is in sight, I can’t shake the feeling that something out there is still watching me.

  “Why, oh why, did Dad have to send me here,” I murmur as I head back to the dorms, trying my best not to break into a run as I go.

  Chapter 12: Heaven

  Though my sleep is fitful and shallow, I wake up bright and early the next day. Sybil apparently sets her alarm a whole hour before the morning bell rings, and the sound of her clock buzzing like a swarm of bees makes me jump out of bed too.

  At first I debate going back to sleep, but then I remember how the harpies tortured me again last night at dinner. Deciding I don’t want to dodge their elbows or trip over their feet again at breakfast, I wash, dress, and follow Sybil to the cafeteria a good half hour before anyone else is up and about.

  Despite her abandoning me yesterday, Sibyl seems willing to have me follow her around, as long as I don’t get her into any trouble, which is easy to do with no one around. I’m not usually such a goody-two-shoes, but I figure there’s nothing wrong with staying low for the moment until I get a handle on how things work here.