Silverwood Academy Book 1

by Jasmaine Groth

  Control 101 was as frustrating as always, the airhorn was still getting blown around like we were at a rave and the sound didn’t completely hurt our eardrums. Compulsion 101 was fun, I finally managed to get Anna to put her hand on her head and she managed to do the same to me, we both grinned at each other and laughed.

  Attack and Defend was the same, practicing with Grace. I kept looking over at Sterling, my heart crumpled up every time I seen him, he sometimes looked back and when he did his face was hard, showing no emotion.

  I went to Gifts and Powers and put the gold medallion back on the table, but Professor Pierce told me I could keep it. We started studying Illusions in our Notebooks.

  We headed back to our rooms after class, getting out of our uniforms and into comfier clothes. I wore shorts and a singlet shirt, sitting cross-legged on Anna’s bed, her room was identical to mine except she had pink pillowcases on her window seats and a pink bedspread.

  We were drinking vodka and soda, while she pulled dress after dress from her closet, we shook our heads at each one.

  “What about that navy blue?” I asked her, as she flipped straight past it on the hanger, she pulled out the navy-blue maxi dress.

  “Really?” she asked, looking at it sceptically. “It’s a little plain.”

  “Pair it with a cute belt, dangly earrings, black pumps and you’ll be fine,” I told her, shrugging.

  “Definitely,” Sophia agreed with a smile.

  Anna looked at the dress, a smile slowly spread over her face. “Yeah.” She looked at us apologetically. “Sorry, I’m just really nervous.”

  “There’s nothing to be sorry about.” Sipping my drink. “We’re happy to help, Anna.” Sophia nodded enthusiastically.

  “If the roles were reversed, you’d be happily helping us,” Sophia told her.

  Anna smiled, seeming happy with the choice. “Let’s grab some food, I’m starved!”

  “Same,” I stood up, sculling the rest of my drink.

  We walked across campus to the cafeteria, and ate dinner quickly, drinking more. Afterwards we went back to the dorm, sitting beside one of the fires and drinking as the night went on, laughing and talking amongst ourselves.

  Saturday morning consisted of sitting on my large window seat, painting our toenails and fingernails various colours. Mine were a nude pink, Anna painted hers blue to match her dress and Sophia painted hers green.

  We had face masks on as we sat around waiting for our nails to dry. I leaned back into the pillows, I had a gold face mask on. “This is so relaxing,” I told them with a sigh, leaning my head back against the window.

  Anna laughed. “I’m glad we’re doing this.”

  Sophia sighed. “We should do this more often.”

  I laughed. “We say we should do it more often, but the truth is we probably wouldn’t.”

  Sophia and Anna laughed. “True,” Sophia replied. “But I still wish we did.”

  When it was time to take the face mask off, we took them off, rubbing the excess product into our skin, our faces glowed. We stood in the bathroom curling each other’s hair with our straighteners, I did Anna’s, and Anna was doing Sophia, and somehow Sophia was curling mine. We shook our curls out so they settled a little better instead of looking so perfect and unnatural.

  ***

  When it was closer to when she had to leave for her date, we helped do her makeup, and get her dress on without smudging her makeup, she added silver accessories and pulled her black pumps on. We left Anna to wait for Isaac alone, and she shut the door looking nervous.

  Sophia and I walked down to The Hub. “I hope she has a good night,” Sophia said with a small smile.

  I smiled. “Me too.”

  That night we sat downstairs, watching a movie on the tv, it was a comedy. I couldn’t really get into it because this knot was forming in my chest, making me feel guilty about not being happier for Anna, but being sad that I could never be with Sterling in the way Anna and Isaac could be together.

  When the movie finished, I went upstairs to my room, ran a bath and stayed in until the water got cold, then went to bed.

  Sunday morning, Anna told us about her date over breakfast, I plastered a smile on my face as she was so happy about it. I studied in my room, alone that night.

  I woke up Monday morning for my run, there were fliers all over the place, warning people of the coming full moon and to stay out of the woods. Sterling didn’t run with me, and I tried to ignore the ache in my heart. Classes passed by quickly and I lay in my room after dinner, Oliver messaging me about the lot of us going out on Friday night and doing a group thing, I agreed and fell to sleep.

  The next few days passed by in a blur, Sterling still didn’t show up for our runs and I started to think he wasn’t going to, so I stuck my head into my classes and studies, ignoring my swirling feelings for him.

  ***

  Sterling chased me under the streetlights, I ran away from him, my heart beating hard in my chest, I turned to look back at him, he wasn’t there. I turned around and gasped in shock, he stood directly in front of me.

  He pushed me against the wall, caging me in and his mouth dropped to mine as he kissed me, I kissed him back with a fierce passion, his hands grabbed my waist, I ran mine up his abs, chest, over the stubble of his jaw and to the back of his neck fisting my hands in his hair, pulling him closer as I deepened the kiss. He picked me up and I wrapped my legs around his waist, locking my ankles together, he pushed me harder against the wall. The bricks digging into my back as my shirt rode up and more of our skin touched. I ground myself against his arousal and we both moaned, electricity blazing from his body to mine and everywhere he touched felt amazing.

  We were lying in a large bed, our clothes coming off quickly until we were naked, our bodies colliding as he pushed me down onto the bed, kissing me more fiercely, my arms running over his bare abs and up his chest, as he hovered over me on the bed.

  ***

  I woke gasping for breath, my flesh hot from the dream, it was etched into my brain, making me feel foggy. It was midnight. I wasn’t going to be able to get any sleep after that dream.

  Standing up on shaky legs I walked to my closet, changing into my running gear, pulling on some black bike shorts and a crop top that matched, pulling my running shoes on, stuffing my key in the pocket at the waistband of my pants, locking my door and pulling it closed.

  Heading down the stairs and out onto the grass out the front of the dormitory, I stretched my limbs. My body felt hot, a flush crawling over my skin, my dream flashing back in my mind.

  Shaking my head, trying to clear my mind of it, I took off into a steady run. The twinkling lights lit up the path, an occasional owl hooting somewhere deep within the woods, the whole place was quiet and dark, the starts winked at me up ahead as the moon shined bright and full, casting light around the whole place, making it look magical.

  Instead of taking the path that led down to The Hub, I continued straight, heading down to the lake. A howl sounded in the distance, an echo of howls replied, thundering footsteps running behind me. I had forgotten about the werewolves, the full moon and keeping out of the woods tonight.

  They took up the chase, howling excitedly in unison as their paws pounded against the ground in the woods behind me somewhere. I screamed, running faster, pushing my body. I was too frightened to use my vampire speed, unable to concentrate.

  “Help!” I shouted, turning back to see a white wolf running out from beneath trees, howling to signal to its pack that it found their prey.

  A whimper escaped my mouth, the wind was sharp and crisp on my face. “Help! Please! Someone!” I was too deep into the woods to run back out onto the academy grounds, so I had to keep following the path to the lake, my thundering footsteps beating rapidly against the ground.

  A blur shot towards me, strong arms grabbed me, speeding off in a flash back the way it came from. When the world stopped speeding by I found myself standing in water to my chest, a hand c
overed my mouth, my back pressed firmly against a strong body.

  “Don’t move,” Sterling whispered in my ear, terror coating his voice, we were standing underneath the pier in the lake.

  Paws pounded on the pier above us, multiple wolves ran along the bank, the grass crunching beneath their paws, a loud howl pierced through the night, making me freeze in fear. The wolf was right above us, scratching at the wood of the pier, its wet nose pressed against the crack between two boards as it sniffed. Another wolf howled far away, and they all bounded away.

  My heart beat heavy in my chest and I closed my eyes, sighing in relief. Sterling turned me around in his arms, looking me in the eyes, his face all serious. “What the fuck were you thinking?” he whispered.

  I shook my head, heat rising to my face. “I wasn’t,” I told him, looking him in the eyes, biting my lip as the memories of my dream returned. “I had a dream, and I couldn’t sleep so I decided to go for a run, I forgot about the full moon.”

  He looked at me, brows furrowed. “They could have torn you to shreds,” he whispered, looking around. “We need to get out of here. Now!” He grabbed me by my shoulders, getting down to eye level. “Run as fast as you can through the trees. Do not stop. Not for anything.”

  I gulped, the knot of worry growing in my stomach. “Okay,” I whispered. He grabbed my hand, leading me out to the edge of the pier, he stuck his head out from beneath, checking to see if it was clear.

  He held me closer to him, pulling me towards the edge of the lake, the moment our feet hit the grassy bank, he let go of me and we started running as fast as we could through the woods, dodging trees. I burst into the clearing, The Hub sat in the distance looming over the grounds and I kept running, unable to stop. Sterling ran behind me closely even though he was faster than me.

  I stopped in front of The Hub, a sob burst free from my chest as tears streamed down my cheeks, the adrenaline and fear had been all-consuming and now I felt completely overwhelmed.

  Sterling, grabbed my hand, pulling me inside and I followed behind him not really seeing anything as tears blurred my vision, walking up three flights of stairs, Sterling unlocked a door, leading me inside where he shut the door and immediately wrapped his arms around me, pulling me to his bare chest as I cried.

  When my tears stopped, I looked up at him embarrassed about my emotional breakdown, I wiped my tears away with the back of my hand. “I can’t believe I just did that.” A blush crept across my face.

  He down at me, rubbing his thumb over my cheek, wiping away a lone tear. “Don’t be embarrassed,” he told me gently, his voice rough as he looked down at me. “What did you dream about that made you come out here in the middle of the night for a run?”

  I bit my lip, my blush deepening and skin grew hotter. “I can’t tell you,” I whispered.

  Looking down at me questioningly, then recognition crossed his features as he realised why. “Oh,” was all he said.

  I gulped, looking back at him. “How did you get to me so quickly?” I asked.

  “I woke up to your scream, then you started shouting for help and I just ran to you,” he said. “When I heard you running through the woods…” he trailed off, a dark look in his eye.

  I gave him a small smile. “Thanks.”

  “For what?” he asked.

  “For coming.”

  He looked at me, his eyes spoke so many words. “I’ll always come for you.”

  My breath caught in my throat, his arms tightened around me, he leaned down towards me, I held my breath as his lips brushed mine, sending a surge of electricity that burst through my body from where his lips touched mine. His kiss was sweet, a million emotions wrapped in one kiss.

  His arms tightened around my waist, pulling me closer towards him, my hands ran up his muscular chest and stayed there, the kiss deepened, a fiery passion replacing the sweet kiss. He picked me up, my legs wrapped around his waist, my ankles crossed behind his back, pushing me up against the wall, his body pressed firmly against mine as he kissed me like he wasn’t supposed to. My hands ran up his chest over the stubble of his jaw, tracing where his dimple usually sat, and moving to the back of his neck.

  His body touched every inch of mine as his hands trailed down to sit on my hips and he gripped me so tight, igniting my body in flames. His arousal pressed into me through our clothing as I ground against him, wondering how far our kiss would take us. He growled, a sound so low and deep in his throat, heat pooled between my thighs and I ground against him again, enjoying the taste of his kiss.

  It felt right, being in each other’s arms like this, I didn’t want it to stop. His hands moved to the waistband of my pants, his fingers dancing along the inside, sending my sensitive skin aflame, lighting up with need.

  I leaned into him, giving him permission with my body for them to travel further, but they didn’t move further than my waistband, tickling the skin. I kissed him harder, pressing my body to his, hoping he’d get the signal, scraping my nails along the stubble on his jaw.

  He pulled out of the kiss just as quickly as it started, his hands frozen still where they sat, my fingers gliding along his jaw, his body pressed against mine sending sparks flying through my veins, he looked conflicted for a moment. He seemed to have made his decision and he pulled back, I unwound my legs, placing my hands on his shoulders as I dropped down to the floor with a light thud, pulling my hands back.

  I bit my lip, knowing what was going to happen. “This…” he ran his hand nervously through his hair. “Can’t happen again.” He spoke through clenched teeth.

  I nodded, unable to argue, looking down at the ground as my heart twisted painfully, he suddenly grabbed me by the shoulders toward him, pressing a kiss to my lips, then pulled back to look at me. “Never again.”

  I nodded. “Okay.” I still couldn’t get over the shock of him kissing me again after telling me it could never happen again.

  He walked towards the door and I followed him as he led me down the stairs and out of The Hub. “I’ll walk you back,” he told me.

  We walked across campus, taking the long way to avoid the woods, to the vampire dormitories. I bit my lip, unsure what to say as we stood in front of each other. “Fuck it.” He grabbed me, pulling me towards him, pressing his lips to mine as he kissed me with just as much passion as before, my body got over the shock and I kissed him back, grabbing hold of his arm to keep myself upright.

  My head spun over him constantly changing his mind, but I didn’t care if that was how he was going to kiss me afterwards.

  When he pulled back, he looked down at me, pain flashing in his eye. “After tonight this can’t happen again.”

  “I think you’ve said that three times now,” I whispered, looking up at him. “And each time you’ve kissed me again.”

  “I’m serious,” he insisted. “I’m your teacher.”

  “I know,” I replied. “You love to remind me.”

  “And that is exactly why this has to stop,” he insisted.

  “Okay.” My heart felt as if a dagger had pierced it and his brows knit together, looking at me longingly, but he turned and walked away. I headed up to my room, showering and getting in my pyjamas, crawling into bed and fell asleep, thinking about Sterling Blackwell and the way he kissed me.

  ***

  The next morning, I woke up early, not wanting to get out of bed, but I threw the covers off me and walked into my closet to dress for my morning run. When I got outside, I did my usual stretches, then took off into a run. Sterling didn’t join me, which I kind of expected, but it still didn’t stop my heart from pinching.

  ***

  The next two weeks passed by quickly, I sat in bed studying at night, attempting to use my enhanced vision, the more I practiced the easier it was starting to become, I found if I thought of it as binoculars and zooming in slowly then it worked.

  Control 101 with Professor Winters was horrible…still. I don’t know how he manage to do it, but it was like the classes were get
ting more torturous.

  Compulsion had us working on trying to get each other to jump around the class, then make the person forget what they had been doing. It was quite difficult. I hadn’t gotten Anna or Sophia to forget yet, and every time I made them jump, they flushed in embarrassment.

  In my Physical Exercise classes with Professor Blackwell were okay, the first part of our class had us running laps, but the last half we were in the gym, lifting weights to build our strength, I caught him looking at me a few times, but not as often as I looked at him.

  In Gifts and Powers, we were researching gifts that vampires had in the past, and how to use them.

  Night Vision classes were okay and had us working outside to try and see in the dark, it was proving harder than inside a classroom, apparently there was much more darkness to push away. Attack and Defence had us wrestling each other, I occasionally caught Sterling looking at me in this class too.

  Anna and Isaac had finally become an official couple after weeks of going on dates and flirting with each other. I was so happy for her but there was a little spark of jealousy, that I tried to put out.

  Over the weeks one of the guys in my class was starting to look paler and paler as the days went on, which made his orange hair appeared more vibrant, he looked like he was starting to come down with something. He developed a cough and started failing his classes.

  One Thursday afternoon we had Physical Exercise, I noticed the sick guy lagging, coughing, as we jogged along the field. A pinch of guilt sat in my stomach, twisting. I was taking third in our morning runs now, finding I wasn’t so out of breath anymore and could run faster.

  Suddenly the boy doubled over coughing, his body shaking with every cough, blood poured from his eyes and ears. I sped up to him in a flash, grabbing hold of him as he started to collapse. The grass was coated in blood that he hacked up, and it trickled down his mouth. The smell was putrid, like it was off or something. He fell limp, the coughing ceased, his breathing grew shallower and shallower until it stopped. People gathered around, watching the horrific scene.