Called by Darkness

by Sean Fletcher

  “Nowhere we need to know,” Jen emphasized. Demarcus snickered.

  Sylvia was giving Mia and me a strange look. I saw her double check that the rest of the common area was mostly empty, but there were only a few other students chatting at a table across the room.

  “Not to pry…but you never really told us,” she said in a conspiratorial whisper.

  “About what?” Mia said.

  “About…you know…”

  “What the heck happened to you guys?” Demarcus blurted out.

  “Nice. Real subtle,” Sylvia said.

  “What? It’s what you all wanted to ask. I just said it.”

  I saw Mia shift uncomfortably. Even I felt a little apprehensive. I’d tried to push all I could of our little adventure out of my head, trying to focus on getting things back to normal. And I definitely didn’t want to bring back any rough memories for Mia.

  “Sorry, it’s probably not easy to tell, we get it,” Sylvia said quickly. “There’ve just been a lot of rumors.”

  Rumors? What kind of rumors? “I don’t think it’s a good idea…” I started.

  “It’s all right,” Mia said gently. She was looking at me like I had her permission.

  I gave them the brief rundown, leaving out the gritty details. No need to create more rumors out of nothing.

  Demarcus let out a low whistle when I’d finished. “That’s…intense.”

  “Intense? Really?” Sylvia said. We waited for her to come up with a better word, but she just shrugged. “Actually, it is pretty intense.”

  I listened to them banter back and forth about the Society and what the United Coalition might be doing to find them, but one thought kept rising to the surface: I hadn’t tried to connect with the Dark Prince since I’d been back, or learn anything more about him. I was becoming a pro at avoidance, but the longer I did that, the more it dug at me, ate away at my peace of mind. I was stumbling in the dark without a map and without a way to know what I was dealing with.

  It was time to change that.

  “Have any of you heard about dark magics?” I said.

  The others stopped talking. Jen’s brow wrinkled. “Not much more than what we’re taught in basics. We learn more about those next year, I think. Master Siphos’ class.”

  “What kind of dark magic?” Sylvia said.

  I bounced the question around in my head, trying to word it just right.

  “Curses,” I finally said.

  Mia was frowning at me, a mixture of worry and confusion on her face.

  “No clue,” Jen said.

  Sylvia shrugged. “I got nothing.”

  “I can barely remember the stuff we’re learning now,” Demarcus said. “Don’t ask me to look ahead.”

  “The library might have something,” Jen said. “But I’m pretty sure those books are restricted until next year. Keeps us from doing magic we’re not ready for.”

  “Maybe you’re not ready for,” Demarcus said, flexing his arm.

  Sylvia thumbed at him. “Example A for keeping them on lockdown. If you really want to know, Skylar, you might ask Master Siphos.”

  “I was just curious,” I said, almost instantly regretting bringing it up. “No big deal.”

  They returned to chatting, and Mia, after giving me another prying gaze, joined them. I tried to listen, but kept getting distracted. The desire to know more about the Dark Prince still tickled the back of my mind.

  Sometime later I felt a subtle shift at my back. I turned and almost jumped at finding Penny sitting ramrod straight in the chair beside me, eyes peering deeply into mine.

  “The Midnight Club,” she said.

  I just looked at her, unsure how to respond, until Penny cocked her head. “Did I…say the words right?”

  “No…I mean, yeah, you did. What’s the Midnight Club?”

  “Do you not remember?”

  “I…wait…” I slowly recalled where I’d heard the name before. “Is that the undead club Logan’s part of?”

  “Yes. I believe they might have idea for you. Most are older and have studied the magics you seek.”

  The more I thought of it, the more I believed they actually might. I was kind of annoyed I hadn’t remembered it earlier. Because what better place to learn about dark curses and other shadowy stuff than the undead emos of the school?

  “Thanks, Penny. If I can’t find anything in the library, I’ll for sure check them out.”

  But before then, I had a date with some books.

  I’m not much of a reader. I’ve always preferred my learning to be of the hands—or fists—on variety. Even still, the Academy’s library had to be one of my favorite places to escape to if I wanted a quiet moment to think.

  I let the entry door close softly behind me with a quiet whoosh, sealing me into this realm of silence. It was already late. Nobody was here. Only advanced students were allowed to stay after hours, but I was sure if I tagged around too long even I’d be kicked out.

  I needed to make this quick.

  I slid into the stacks. The gentle sound of parchment rustled above me. Scrolls and texts were flapping overhead like literary birds, finding their way back to their respective shelves after being left out. Magically lit lanterns gave everything a dusky glow as I wound between the four pillars of bookshelves reaching toward the ceiling, bisected by a second floor landing full of reading nooks.

  I wasn’t quite sure where to start, but I knew more of the advanced texts were upstairs, so I took one of the curling staircases up and began checking each one. Almost a half hour later and the lanterns had dimmed even more. I spied the head librarian doing his closing rounds below and quickly ducked out of sight until he was gone. I wasn’t any closer to finding what I needed. The most I’d come up with about potential curses was a commentary on spells of the far East and Hexes for Exes, a collection of jinxes for scorned lovers. No thank you.

  I shoved another text back into its place, rubbing my eyes. I knew there were even more advanced writings on the first floor, behind a pair of statues depicting two scholars, but only Masters could access them, and I was beginning to doubt whether even that had what I needed.

  I turned the corner to go search the final reading nook and froze.

  Asher sat at the far table, engrossed behind a stack of books.

  I hurriedly backed up, pressing against the other side of the bookcase, hiding like a girl with a schoolyard crush. I knew I was being stupid, but I really, really didn’t want to deal with him right now. Or have to explain why I was here in the library. He knew my reading habits, or lack thereof, about as well as I did.

  I pushed apart a pair of books at eye level and peered between them. Asher methodically flipped through each page in his current book before closing it and grabbing another. He looked…tired. Exhausted, even. I hadn’t been paying too much attention to him since we’d gotten back except to avoid him. When had he gotten so worn down?

  I must have watched him like a total creep for another ten minutes until Asher let out a long sigh. He slammed his last book shut with a resounding thump and lay it on the stack as he stood and stretched. I quickly ducked around the other side of the bookcase as he walked past, then waited until I was sure he was gone before going over to where he’d been sitting.

  The books had started to flutter away to re-shelve themselves, but I caught the first one in midair and the rest settled back down.

  “Magellan’s Book of Advanced Spells, Volume Three?” I turned the next book over. “Fairchild and Roth’s Handy Dandy Guide to Impossible Spells for Morons?”

  This didn’t make any sense. Asher was number one in our class, and these were subjects we wouldn’t be covering for the next couple years. Why was he looking at them now? What did he have to prove? He was already so good.

  Another title poked out beneath the rest: Double Trouble: Interviews with Famous Supernatural Duos and Secrets to Their Success.

  Okay, now I was really confused. For some reason, Asher felt the ne
ed to look into spells that even most advanced students would think was overkill, and now he was reading biographies?

  I held up the interview book and stared at it. Why did he need to know this stuff? If there was one thing Asher Dunadine had a lot of, it was confidence that he knew what he was doing. Now that I thought about it, I’d barely ever seen the guy in the library at all…not that I’d spent as much time in here as I should have, either.

  Still, he was…puzzling. I guess that was the word. Out of all the people I felt needed to work extra hard to excel, Asher was pretty far down on the list. Heck, he wasn’t even on it. He had enough natural talent and charm to go around.

  I sat there for long enough that the books hesitantly picked themselves up again and started to drift away. I let them, staring at the bookcase across the table, trying to sort out my thoughts.

  It might have been crazy…but what if I had been wrong about Asher? What if everything he was doing was just a mask, a part he had to play? There’d been that moment, just a brief moment, outside that diner, where I thought I’d seen his normal, cheery self drop away and glimpsed the real Asher beneath. Uncertain. Scared, even.

  What if everything he did was just an act?

  Had I been judging him wrong the entire time? Instead of thinking about how he was judging me wrong, was I doing the exact same thing?

  The last book picked itself up off the table and, after a few more moments of silent thought, I rose with it. I wound my way downstairs and out, more confused than I’d been before.

  I’d nearly made it back to my room when I spotted a shadowy figure again.

  This time I didn’t hesitate, taking off after them without a second thought. I also didn’t yell at them to stop since, you know, that had worked so well the last couple times I’d used it.

  I kept to a quiet jog as I shuffled around corners, my ears listening for guard gargoyles and anyone else who was up this late. The shadowed figure always kept just ahead of me. The next time they rounded a corner I sped up. By now I was pretty sure whoever this was wasn’t exactly a model student. Maybe not a let’s-sound-the-alarms kind of guy, but there was only so much lurking around at night that I could handle. Not that I hadn’t done the exact same thing myself more than once.

  I came around the corner and stopped. I was in Remembrance Hall, the great oak tree stoic and silent in the center. The figure was gone. Again.

  I bit out a growl, cursing myself. My track record for catching people I was chasing was getting worse by the day.

  I walked a little farther into the Hall, looking for any clue of where they might have gone. I peered up at the oak tree, having the crazy thought that maybe they’d Tarzan’d up into the branches, but the Hall was well and truly empty. Had someone from the Society managed to break into the Academy without us knowing? They’d done it once before, but still; the Academy had powerful protection charms, pretty much everyone knew that, layers and layers of them to keep dark magic out.

  Except the charms had been breached once. That meant it could happen again.

  I searched a bit longer, but it was clear I wasn’t going to find anything else tonight. I returned to my room, closing the door as quietly as I could.

  Mia was sleeping on the couch. I heard Asher’s door open behind me.

  “Someone’s back late.”

  My stomach flip-flopped. Guess I was dealing with him tonight after all.

  I tried keeping my expression unconcerned as I pulled the blanket off Mia’s bed and gently draped it over her. Asher was still standing outside his room, arms crossed. I tried to pick out from his expression whether he’d seen me in the library, but he simply nodded to Mia.

  “I didn’t hear her leave her room. Bad dreams?”

  “Maybe,” I said, keeping my voice low. “She’s had nightmares since she came back.”

  Asher nodded, but he didn’t try to justify it or belittle what Mia was going through. I felt a small tinge of gratitude. He pulled his gaze from Mia and rested it on me “Where were you?”

  “Nowhere important.” I had the urge to tell him that I’d seen him in the library, like I was divulging some dirty secret of his. I got you now, Asher, I caught you studying! But that wouldn’t accomplish anything, and I didn’t want him getting the wrong idea. Because I hadn’t gone there for him. He’d made it clear that I’d pissed him off somehow and he was going to stay cold and annoyed at me. I didn’t need to tell him anything.

  “Nowhere important,” Asher repeated.

  “That’s right.”

  I poured myself a glass of water. I could feel Asher still staring at me, standing there as though, if he did so long enough, I’d give in and confess everything. Stupid boy. As if he could get me to do anything I didn’t want to. Two could play the quiet game.

  After another few moments of tense silence, I heard Asher shift. “Fine.”

  His door closed. I let out a quiet sigh of relief. We’d talked. Somewhat. It was better than the standoffish cold war between us.

  I finished my drink and leaned against the sink. Despite the late hour, my mind was getting its second wind. Between Asher, whoever I kept failing to catch wandering around the Academy, and still having no more clue about the Dark Prince, I wasn’t getting to sleep any time soon.

  Which made it the perfect time to go visit a certain club.

  Chapter Fifteen

  I hadn’t spent much time in the underground passageways beneath the Academy; the “other Academy”, as some called it. For one, I liked sunlight, thanks. Two, it smelled as though a cleaning service hadn’t been down here since…well, ever. And three, it was so cold I was pretty sure I’d already lost three toes to frostbite.

  I hugged myself tighter. My breath came in steamy bursts as I shivered my way down the torch-lined stone passageway. The Academy clock above had just struck midnight.

  If that wasn’t the perfect time to visit the Midnight Club, then they really needed to re-think their name.

  I ducked into a shadowed alcove of a door as voices carried down the hall. A couple ghoul students rounded the corner and lurched past. Even though we were all Academy students, I technically wasn’t supposed to be down here. There weren’t any explicit rules about the two Academies mixing, but I knew they didn’t want anyone down here who wasn’t taking classes. Nobody would hurt me (I hoped) or expel me (I really hoped) but only those with undead partners got free rein of the Academy both day and night. I’d met a girl in one of my classes with a Vamp as a partner. Her poor eyes had more bags than a year-long trip to Europe.

  Once I was sure nobody else was coming, I took a right at a fork at the end of the hallway. The other Academy didn’t have broad, wide halls or windows or any way for me to orient myself. Just a bunch of narrow passages lined with wooden doors. Not even a sign on the walls to give me a clue as to where I needed to go. What did I have to do, drop breadcrumbs?

  I let out a frustrated huff as I came across another empty hallway. Trial and error, then. At least I’d hopefully get warm from all the walking.

  But I hadn’t found anything ten minutes later. And I was still cold. Note to self if I did this again: Layer. And thicker socks.

  I rubbed the sides of my arms, trying to figure out which way to go next. “Would it kill them for a little—”

  More voices coming my way. And this time there was no place to hide.

  I frantically muttered a concealment charm and pressed myself up against the nearest door, just as a couple more ghouls rounded the corner.

  “And I told her: dog breath, of course I have dog breath! What do you think I had for dinner?”

  The pair howled with laughter. I resisted rolling my eyes. Typical ghoul humor.

  I held my breath as the pair walked right past me, close enough to cause a few strands of hair to brush over my face. My nose tickled but I scrunched it tight until the feeling went away. Something taped to the door tickled the back of my neck and it took every ounce of strength to stay as still as possible.
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  The ghouls continued walking right past, oblivious. I let out a silent sigh of relief.

  “You smell that?”

  One of them turned back to me. He sniffed, his fleshy nostrils flaring.

  “If you say it smells like dog…” the other one said.

  “No, no. Like…human.”

  The other one sniffed too. “You’re right. Probably that spellslinger Bernard’s partnered with. You know, the plump one.”

  “Yeah…the plump one. I remember her.”

  The first ghoul sniffed closer. I could see the strings of saliva glistening off his teeth.

  The clock above struck again. Both ghouls’ heads snapped up.

  “We’re late!” the first one said.

  “We’re so dead!” the other one said. They both cackled as they ran off and I relaxed, letting the concealment charm drop off me.

  Stupid ghoul humor…

  I looked back at the door I’d leaned against: The Midnight Club had been lettered to a piece of parchment taped to it.

  No way. That’d almost been comically convenient.

  I double-checked there was no one else coming, then carefully turned the handle and slipped inside.

  The Midnight Club was aptly named. I couldn’t see a single stupid thing.

  I fumbled around, cursing as I bashed my shins into furniture and nearly smashed my nose against a wall. I heard rustling movement somewhere in front of me. Whispered voices.

  “Is there anyone here—”

  Candles flared to life, casting the room in a shadowed glow. I could suddenly see again.

  And I was surrounded.

  “Oh…a new member!”

  “She’s kind of pink, don’t you think?”

  “She’s alive!”

  “And she smells.”

  “Skylar?”

  My eyes finally managed to adjust. I found myself in a cramped classroom that looked more like a dungeon than a place where any actual learning went on. All the desks had been messily shoved to the back. The teacher’s desk had been converted into a sacrificial altar. Or something like that. Candles, incense, and squiggly chalk drawings were neatly arranged on the floor, a girl and a guy—a wraith and a Vamp—crouched by the chalk lines, watching me. A ghoul lurked in one corner, shrouded just out of the light of the nearest candles.