I lay in my soft bed, sinking into the blankets, hands shaking, my heart beating quickly, my breath coming in pants.
The frustration of Sterling changing his mind every day was starting to become unbearable and toxic.
I knew in my heart that he wasn’t going to message me back if he hadn’t by now, and the realisation that this had to be the end of us. I wasn’t going to continue being emotionally tortured like this. I didn’t quite understand why I let it go on for as long as it did, but I felt drawn to him like a magnet, I think he felt it too, but now I was taking control and flipping that magnet, there was no way in hell I was going to be sucked in again.
Curling up in bed, a few tears fell, wetting my cheeks, and I willed myself to sleep, hating the fact that I let him reel me in just to push me away as quickly.
***
When I opened my eyes the next morning, I went on my run, Sterling was nowhere to be seen, and I pushed the ache out of my chest, pulling my walls up around my heart, willing myself not to feel anything for Sterling.
After my parents died in a car crash, I was shuffled from foster home to foster home, no one could handle me because I was too troubled and sad after the accident. After a while I learnt to put up walls, so I didn’t get hurt anymore when they sent me away saying they couldn’t handle me waking up at night screaming and crying from a nightmare or my attitude during the day. I persevered though.
The day I turned eighteen I was kicked to the curb with only the clothes on my back, I struggled to find work and ended up working as a bartender at a strip club in the shitty part of town, living in a tiny apartment eating noodles most nights, I stayed there for two years, unable to find another job or move out of my apartment.
I was exhausted of playing Sterling’s games, so I knew it was going to be the end. I was putting my foot down and not participating.
My hands fisted as I stomped into The Hub after my run, I made my usual blood and coffee drink, grabbed a muffin, and strode across the room and out of the cafeteria, letting the door slam on my way out, heading to my room to get ready, letting my anger bubble up inside and sit there, ready to come flooding out, stewing in it.
After getting ready for class, I walked down the stairs, holding my head high, straightening my shoulders as I looked around the room, Anna wasn’t down yet, and Sophia must’ve still been at the cafeteria, I sat down on one of the lounges, flicking through my notebook until the bell rang I headed across campus to my Enhanced Senses class.
I sat down next to Anna who turned towards me. “Hey,” she beamed, smiling brightly at me, happiness lighting her face.
“Hey,” I replied, smiling back at her.
“I have news,” she confessed, blushing as she bit down her lip. “I’ll tell you after class.”
Professor Bradshaw paced in front of the class. “Today and all of next week we will be doing revision, for your tests the following week for end of term,” he stated, clearing his throat. “I expect you all to do well.”
Just like that, the class stuck their faces into their notebooks, reading over all our notes typed out into our devices, reviewing all the feedback Professor Bradshaw had ever sent back.
My foot jiggled as I tapped my fingers on the desk, nervous over whether I was going to fail or not, I really didn’t want to.
In my Control, Professor Winters had us doing revision, and we happily did it, until he started randomly blowing the airhorn, trying to distract us, but I knew enough of his tactics by now to ignore him as I continued studying. When the shrill of the bell rang in the air, I let out a long breath, the tension left my body.
Sophia, Anna and I walked along to the cafeteria. “Guess what?” Anna asked, her eyes bright.
“What?” I questioned, curious about what she had to tell us.
Anna covered her face with her hands as she blushed. “Isaac and I had sex for the first time,” she said quickly, her voice rising at the end.
I grinned at her, happiness flooded my body and amusement at her being so shy. “How was it?” I asked, shit stirring a little. “Was he…?” I spread my hands, waiting for her to say stop but when my hands were spread so wide, I looked like I was giving out hugs I rolled my eyes. “There’s no way he could be that big without dragging it along the ground.”
Anna smacked me on the shoulder, her eyes lighting up as she giggled. “Shut up!” She blushed. “It was amazing, he was so sweet and such a gentleman.”
“Did he go down on you?” I asked.
Anna hid her face in her hands. “Stop!” she exclaimed.
“He did!” I exclaimed. “Good on you! You get it girl!”
Anna gave me a small smile and rushed over to get her food. I turned to Sophia, raising an eyebrow. “Is she walking funny to you?” I joked. Sophia barked a laugh, her head rolling back, and playfully pushed me. I giggled.
“I heard you!” Anna shouted from ahead, turning back to look at us with a “behave yourself” face.
Grabbing a yoghurt and a thermos of blood, I perched on my seat. Anna sat beside Isaac, giving him a quick kiss and settling in to eat her lunch. “How was your night?” Isaac asked.
I smirked. “Not as good as yours from what I hear,” I teased. He chuckled and Anna blushed, kicking me from underneath the table, her heel digging into me. “Ouch!”
“Sorry,” Anna said with a smile on her face that told me she wasn’t.
Our Compulsion class was revision as well. When it finished I stood in the clearing at the gym, my classmates around me, Sterling stood in front of us. His eyes landed on me, I stared straight back, lifting my head, showing no emotion, pulling my walls around me tighter. His eyes widened a tiny bit, he took a deep breath and gulped visibly. “Start your laps,” he said, sounding unphased.
Turning on my heel, I jogged off towards the field. Pushing my legs harder, focusing on my breathing, I raced up ahead where Oliver ran, leading the group. “Hey,” I breathed out.
He looked down at me in surprise. “Hey,” he replied with a smile. “Finally managed to catch up to the big boys, eh?”
I laughed and shoved him a little, making him roar with laughter as he pushed harder, but I kept pace with him easy enough.
We ran in silence, by the time our laps finished, I trudged inside the gym, gasping for air, unable to control my breathing. A giddiness spread through me at finishing first with Oliver. He didn’t seem to be having nearly as much trouble getting his breathing under control though.
Heading over to the mats, I started working on my core, getting down on the ground into a plank and holding it for as long as possible. When my muscles began to tremble, I fell onto the mat. I did squats with dumbbells then went to the battle ropes doing jumping power slams, standing with my feet shoulder width apart and my hands clenching the ropes at my sides, I lowered into a squat, tightening my core, jumping high into the air while simultaneously raising my arms over head, and forcefully slamming them down as I landed on my feet and repeated. I alternated wide circles, pulling the ropes up and around, alternating with my hands so when one came down and around the other went up and around, working in sync. My body dripped with sweat and I felt completely wrecked and when the bell rang, I slumped in exhaustion, dragging my feet to my room to get dressed for my last class.
***
Chapter 9:
The following week passed by in a blur of revision and stress, and when Monday morning came around and it was time for our Enhanced Senses test, I shook with fear and nerves, breathing in shakily.
Apart from today, we were having one test a day for the whole week, Physical Exercise was the only class we didn’t get tested on, as it was only included in the curriculum for health purposes and not really learning.
We had two hours in the morning to complete the test. I sat at my desk taking a shaky breath as a booklet got placed in front of my desk. We were all seated with an empty chair on each side of us and were instructed not to talk to each other and no cheating.
“You m
ay flip your tests over and start in…3…2…1… go,” Professor Bradshaw announced. He was monitoring the tests, along with Professor Winters and Professor Blackwell.
I turned my booklet over, writing Natasha Marshall at the top of the page where it asked for name. I flipped the page and looked over the first question.
Question 1: If you were in a room full of people and wanted to hear one specific conversation, how would you?
I thought about the question and wrote.
Answer: I would concentrate on where the conversation is being had, block out what everyone else is saying and push out with my mind until I could hear what they were saying, so I could eavesdrop.
I continued.
Question 2: On the right-hand corner of the page is a number written, it will appear to be a dot, using your vampire sight, can you see what the number is?
I looked at the black dot, which I originally assumed was a printing error, focusing in on it, as I zoomed in with my eyesight, and the number 4 appeared.
Answer: 4
Question 3: How would you use your enhanced senses in these situations:
You’re being chased by a werewolf.
Answer: I would listen with my vampire hearing to see how far away they were, run in a zig zag using my enhanced speed, then either 1) roll around in mud or 2) if there was a body of water, I’d jump in, using either option to mask my scent and throw them off. When they left, I’d make a run for it and lock myself inside.
2) Which of your heightened senses is best to alert you of someone’s arrival?
a) Sight
b) Smell
c) Hearing
d) All of the above
I circled d.
Why?
Answer: Because if I don’t catch sight of them in time, or smell them I could hear them and vice versa
The more questions I answered the more confident I was starting to feel, and my frown became a smile. The book was four pages long, most questions were multiple choice, but another was simply using my hearing to search for the low sound Professor Bradshaw was occasionally making, subtly.
It took me a good twenty minutes to figure out what it was, but on queue every five minutes he tapped his left leg gently with his pointer finger, the sound of his finger brushing along his pant leg. It was inconspicuous but clever. Another question was to explain the sound it made in detail.
When I finished, I closed the booklet, laying my pen across the top of the book, signalling I was finished. “Have you finished your test?” Professor Bradshaw asked in a whisper. I nodded. He took the test booklet, holding a piece of black cardboard behind the last page so people couldn’t try to read it and use my answers. “You may go, don’t disturb the rest of the class on your way out.” I nodded, grabbing my bag, slinging it over my shoulder and crept towards the door, a few people peeked up from their tests to watch me leave.
I sat at the tables outside The Hub, reading through my notebook, brushing up on my Control notes, apparently this test would be a practical. I was feeling even more nervous about it because Professor Winters is a bit of a prick and I was almost certain he got his kicks out of torturing us. The test was after lunch.
Anna strolled out with a smile on her face, and an air of confidence. “How do you think you did?” she asked.
“Alright I think,” I told her with a shrug and gave her a half smile. “You?”
“Good.” Her eyes darted back forth nervously and she bit her lip. “I hope.”
We sat in silence, studying for our exams as more people came out. Sophia exited the building, spotting us and sat down next to us, pulling out her notebook to study.
***
After lunch we sat for our Control test, Professor Winters stood in the front of the class, a clipboard in hand, Professor Blackthorne and Professor Blackwell stood on the edge of the rooms holding clipboards as well. “We will be testing your control,” Professor Bradshaw said. “We will be giving marks for how much control you have over your emotions and hunger. We will take away marks for losing control or flinching.” He glanced over the class. “We will begin.”
I took a deep, steadying breath, holding my hands clasped together under the desk as I cleared my mind and pushed the nervousness away. Professor Winters put a glass down on the bench, grabbing a thermos out of a bag, he slowly opened it, looking around the room. The sweet, delicious scent of blood hit me all at once, I took a deep breath urging the beast back as my fangs fought to break free of their confines, watching as he slowly tipped the contents into the glass.
A deep flame arose in me, which I tried to smother. Inhaling deeply through my nose, my palms grew sweaty, and I tried to focus on anything but the smell blood. He lift the glass to his mouth, took a deep drink, sighing as he glanced around the room with raised eyebrows.
From the corner of my eye, a boys’ foot moved a fraction of an inch, Professor Winters glanced towards the boy with a smirk, turned to his clipboard and wrote something down. Another student growled slowly, then their eyes widened, realising what they did and sucked in a deep breath, a mixture of emotions crossing their face. Shock, annoyance, sadness, regret.
Professor Winters took an airhorn out of his bag, I fought not to groan, he pressed down on the nozzle and the loud screech sounded throughout the room. Biting the inside of my cheeks, as my body vibrated with the urge to flinch, but I fought against it. A girl flinched, Professor Winters glanced at her before writing something down on the clipboard.
In a flash he stood before me, looking down at me as I stared passed him pretending that he wasn’t there, not moving an inch as my body tensed up. “What are you going to do about it?” he shouted, spittle hitting me in the face, I refused to curl back my lip and say a snarky comment, ignoring the impulse to wipe it from my face.
He smiled and wrote something on the clipboard, my heart rate picked up as my brows threatened to pinch together, wondering what he was writing something, refusing to bite my lip out of nervousness. He sped off somewhere else, knocking a students’ chair over, the student fell back onto the ground ignoring him as if nothing happened. I didn’t think I would be so calm if that were me, I’d probably had screamed or flinched.
Professor Winters sped to the front of the classroom in a blur, pressing down on the airhorn again, longer than he had ever before. My ears began to ring and I fought to not clench my jaw, ignoring the sound of the airhorn.
I imagined I were on a beach instead where hot men with tans rubbed lotion on my back, massaging my shoulders, back and feet, bringing me big pink fishbowl drinks as the waves crashed along the sand, the smell of the sea and sun. The way the wind would rustle my hair slightly, I could practically feel the cool breeze on my skin, the way my hair waist length black hair would dance in the breeze, the smell of the ocean would be carried over in the breeze, I felt as though I could really smell it. A thrum of energy ran beneath my skin, pulsating in my veins and moving around inside me separately.
I was brought back to reality as someone gasped, wind was stirring around the classroom as the smell of the ocean and sand filled my nostrils, the sounds of waves crashing in the breeze.
My eyes widened, my daydream became semi-reality and from the looks of it, the class were experiencing it too. I bit my lip, Professor Winters was looking at me with wide eyes, his dark hair rustling in the breeze. I blinked and it all fell away suddenly.
“I guess I failed?” I questioned, biting my lip.
“The test finished,” he responded, raising his eyebrows as he eyed me in what appeared to be disbelief.
I sighed in relief, the tension leaving my body. The rest of the room was dead silent. I quietly grabbed my bag from beside my desk, everyone moved silently as they walked to the door, eying me as they left.
My heart raced, my brows pinched together as I nibbled on my lip, confused at what happened. I wasn’t sure how I did it, I wasn’t quite sure if I did do it. “Miss Marshall may we have a word?” Professor Winters called from where Profess
or Blackthorne and Professor Blackwell stood together, obvious that they had been discussing something.
Sophia and Anna paused, looking at me with their eyes slightly narrowed, lips pursed in interest. “Alone,” he hinted, looking at Sophia and Anna. They simultaneously blushed and raced to the door.
Walking to the front of the classroom as my heart pounded loudly, my shoulders tensing, and nervousness travelled up my spine. “Yes?” I asked.
They all looked at each other, brows furrowed as they waited for someone to speak. Professor Blackwell turned to me, took a deep breath. “How long have you been able to do that?” he questioned, his brows knitting together.
I frowned. “That’s the first time something like that has happened. I’m not sure it was actually me,” I admitted.
Their eyebrows shot up. “It was,” Professor Blackthorne said, her voice soft. “We could feel the power radiating from you.”
“Oh,” was all that came out of my mouth. I frowned. “What’s that mean?”
“We don’t know yet,” Professor Winters muttered, he gave me a small smile, “Good work on managing to tune out the airhorn enough to get into a trance and somehow conjure a wind.” He gave me a light slap on my shoulder, that was probably the closest anyone has ever gotten to getting a compliment from him before.
Professor Blackthorne gave me a smile. “We’ll be discussing this with Professor Pierce and Headmistress Nightwing,” she stated. “Prepare for extra classes next term.”
I nodded. “Is that all?” I questioned.
“You may go,” Professor Winters said.
I swept away from them and left, closing the door gently. What the hell is happening?
I could still feel the thrum of energy below my skin, separate to my vampiric powers. This new power seemed to swirl and grow, but every time I tried to reach out and touch it, it recoiled away from me.
***
The rest of my tests passed in a blur, and after my run on Friday morning I found a message from Headmistress Nightwing to come to her office, well more like demanded. So, I walked to her office, dressed in my uniform, even though technically we had no classes and I could wear whatever I wanted, but it just didn’t seem right to show up to her office dressed in booty shorts and a singlet.
Silverwood Academy Book 1 Page 14
