Almost Dead (Blackwell Academy Book 1)

by Rae Hendricks

  My eyes followed the sound to see that a certain boy was riding around campus on a motorcycle. My father had one when I was younger, and I recognized the brand to be an Indian.

  As he passed by, I swore he slowed down, and the whole world moved in slow motion. I bit my lip when my eyes met his. I watched as strands of his hair, outside his loose ponytail, were blown back by the movement of the bike.

  Then, he was gone just like before, leaving me to scramble to figure out what in the world my friend had been saying. "Oh no. That looked doesn't seem like you're going to take my warning."

  "I've been with you all night, so no way have I seen him."

  I turned to her defensively. Then the look she gave me, over her glasses, had me deflating really quick.

  "You've got it bad. Just be careful."

  "I will." I didn't believe my own words as they left my mouth. The first crush I went after had both of us in a coma. I didn't think careful was in my nature when it came to matters of the heart. "Maybe I would be more motivated if I knew more about him."

  I tried to get more info out of her as we walked back to my room. She looked both ways in the empty hallways as if it was top secret before pushing through the door and shutting it behind us. "His name is Desmond Grey. He is in Charlock Hall. That's all I can tell you, really, but I am sure you will figure it out."

  ***

  I couldn't take the eyes on me anymore. I knew it would be hard to make friends, but I had almost forgotten all about the fact that I was a prime suspect in the death of one Brady Jerk Huntington. The staff hadn't addressed me any more about it, but the students seemed to be aware now that I was the girl who saw him last. the one whose shirt he ripped and who kicked him in the balls.

  The cold looks and whispers had lasted all day, and I almost didn't want to sit in the cafeteria with Charlotte at lunch because I didn't want to ruin her reputation.

  Apparently, my 5'3" 115 pound self looked capable of taking out a prestigious student in her first week at school.

  By the time the school day was over, my head was ready to explode as my powers grew and as I tried to take in all the new information while ignoring how rude everyone was being. I grabbed my books in my arms and rushed out, only to be shouted at by some girl I didn't know. I tried to ignore her and keep going, my head down as I walked the way if my dorm, but some friends of hers cut me off.

  I was surrounded by those who knew their powers more intimately than me, all eyes looking on in hatred. I felt dizzy as I tried to talk my way out of this.

  "Killer!" someone shouted. I couldn't tell which one was talking anymore, and the girl from behind me yanked hard at my hair, ripping out my rubber band.

  "Please, just stop. leave me alone. I don't even know how to use my powers."

  My voice was drowned out by more name calling and questions of how I did it and what kind of freak I was. Their colors were a swarm of dingy brown, black, and puke green. It made me sick to my stomach.

  The sound of a revving motorcycle engine was like a symphony to me, and when I looked up, I saw Desmond Grey barreling right into the crowd surrounding me. I backed up just in time, and he reached out his hand.

  It was cold as I took it, but I didn't care.

  He pulled me onto the back of the bike, and we were gone. I squealed as we picked up speed, whirring around the too big campus as it shut up all the colors. And best of all, when I looked at Desmond, there was nothing. No sound, no kaleidoscope or rainbow.

  Just pleasingly blank.

  13

  Choosing Sides

  I knew what I was doing was stupid, reckless, and only perpetuating the rumors that I was some kind of resident bad boy. That I would trample on girls' hearts and then eat them for breakfast. But when I saw her being attacked like that, I had to do something. I knew what it felt like to be judged, and she didn't deserve that from a school full of people just like her, just as capable of committing the crime she supposedly committed.

  I doubted the staff would have let her into classes if they had any proof she had been the one to kill that student, a student who wouldn't even be missed by most of the students. He had a reputation that just so happened to be true. But everyone was still suspicious of her. She was new blood, an easy target, and something people didn't understand. Hell, I had seen a ton of things in my life and I couldn't get a clear read on what she was, just that she was important. And I doubted it was a coincidence that when she showed up on campus, a student ended up dead.

  Technically, I was doing everyone a service. Maybe I could find out what was going on and what had happened to that Huntington kid, but it was only a poor excuse to get close.

  Too close.

  I parked in front of the pool house and helped her off the bike, ignoring the jolts that went through me as I touched her hand. I was sure to let go as soon as possible.

  She followed me inside, and I quickly blocked the main door so no one would try to follow us in. As aggressive as they had been with her, they could easily bring the angry mob our way once the fear of me wore off.

  A set of stairs led up to bleachers that were filled during game times. In fact, the whole place would be packed, even the lawn, during a swimming match. Supernaturals loved to show off in the water.

  I motioned for her to sit down, and she did, her eyes meeting with mine, forcing me to look anywhere else.

  "When I was doing the tour, I was told this held a pool, but I thought it was a joke. I mean, this is Washington, how sustainable is that?" she asked.

  "Yeah, swim teams in the Pacific Northwest sounds ridiculous, but it is a real thing. If it makes you feel better, the pool can be heated. Though, some of the teams like to show off that they can handle the frigid water in winter for bragging rights."

  She looked at me in horror, and her eyes were saucers. I couldn't help but laugh. Her expressions were so animated, so human. I wondered how long she would keep feeling like she could be human in this place. "I guess this whole thing is a shock to you. I am sorry that the rumor mill is making it even harder on you, but something about these old buildings perpetuates whispers and secrets. Everyone can feel it, and they forget their manners." I was only half joking. There was a darkness in the walls, one that could not be wiped clean no matter how many years had passed by since the Reign of Terror that began the school’s long history in infamy.

  "So, you mean you don't believe it - that I killed Brady?"

  The questions were so innocent, there was no way in hell she hurt a soul even if she was something powerful. "I think that Brady had plenty of enemies, and you were probably just the last on that long list. Though, I don't even know if that part is true, that you were the last ones to be seen with him. I have been here long enough to know not to believe anything I hear."

  "Ah, so it has nothing to do with what your powers are." She narrowed her eyes at me, and I smirked at her. So, she had been warned about me but had no idea who or what I was. I would be lying if I said that it wasn't a little refreshing to have a clean slate. Every time a new student came through Champion Hall, the most populated of the dorms, they already had my whole story. At least the one they had been told. Chief Hall was almost entirely made up of those that knew nothing of supernatural powers or what this school was about. It just didn't take long for this place to corrupt them. The pretty halls and money thrown at the place hid a lot of truths from starry eyed new students.

  "I don't exactly have Spidey sense, if that's what you mean." I got a laugh out of her, and it was brilliant. Not some girl, chimey thing, but completely exuberant, like the sunlight was being emitted from her throat.

  What had gotten into me? Was she turning me into some emo poet?

  "You know, you haven't denied killing Brady yet," I teased her, though my eyes bore into her with seriousness. I wanted to know the truth so I knew what to expect. Even though I suspected she had nothing to do with it, I needed to hear it from her. But it meant using my glamour - what the new age supernaturals ofte
n called my power to compel people to say or do things they may not normally. But my nudge to her was gentle.

  "I didn't do it. Nobody deserves to be murdered, but I can't say I am so sorry he is gone." Maybe I had pushed her a little too hard for honesty. Her bitter tone caught me off guard as she began to spill the sordid details of what had gone down the night before Brady was found dead.

  My anger overwhelmed me, and my fangs protruded as she relayed to me how he had got her into his dorm, pulled her hair, grabbed her, ripped her shirt... If he hadn't have been dead already, I would have killed him myself.

  I tried to turn away so she couldn’t see, but she reached out as they dropped, as if to touch them. "Sorry, emotions tend to make them do this. The curse of being me. Are you afraid?" I didn't know why I even bothered asking. Of course, she was afraid. I was a monster. No amount of teen fiction could snuff out the fact that those like me were natural born killers.

  "No. You haven't given me a reason to be."

  I stared at her for far too long, and finally, my fangs retracted. But I was left with a hunger still ... and a thirst to find out more about Brady and why he had so publicly and blatantly caused a scene with Anastasia.

  "I think we should get you back to the dorms. I am sure you have homework."

  "Oh, yeah." She stood up, tucking her skirt behind her with her hands. The trance was broken, and I took the steps two at a time, not waiting for her to catch up. We rode the bike in silence up to Chief Hall, and when she climbed off, she mouthed a thanks over the sound of the roaring engine.

  I pulled away and didn't look back. I had things I needed to think about.

  That thinking led me into the office after dark, specifically down into the basement file section where they kept all paperwork on students past and present.

  The security was rather lax for a magical school, but most didn't dare come near the office like this anyway, and certainly not down into the basement. Even though the humans on campus all had supernatural abilities, the idea of cobwebs and hauntings still scared most of them.

  I passed by the thick layers of dust covering the many shelves until I got to the back, seeing that the newer files were arranged there - very clever on the part of the deans.

  In truth, I should have known more information about Brady already. I had been on campus for longer than anyone would believe and had seen everything there was to see. But I had rarely paid attention to the goings on of the other students and had only heard bad things about Brady and his reputation because so many of the girls complained about him, and the boys praised him.

  Finding the H file, I thumbed through until I found two names. Both had attenuated in the last seven years, as this was the length of the current records before they got moved into the archives. The other name I did not recognize - not until I saw inside the file.

  Michael was the name. A student that had gone missing four years ago now. Looking through his file gave me more than I needed to know, such as the name of his mother and a picture of his family. Both his parents had been alumni, and his mother, once known as Regina Porter, had been a known supporter of bringing back the Circle. The Porters had been around for centuries, even the first iteration of the academy.

  I put the files back where they belonged and made it out without incident. My questions had been mostly answered, and it was time for me to choose what I would do with this very deadly information.

  Pulling out my cell, one of the best contraptions of the 21st century, I hoped the number I was texting was still in service and registered to the name I had it under.

  It's time to come out of hiding. We need to talk. I know about Brady.

  It was only a moment before I got my reply.

  See you before sunrise, vampire.

  I didn’t even bother going back to my room for the night, knowing that within two or three hours, the person I had contacted would be arriving on the edge of campus. Bringing someone like him so close to staff and students would be risky, but as long as we stayed on neutral ground, neither of us would end up facing consequences we would regret fiercely.

  It was a little after four when I saw a figure approaching the grounds around the campus. The neutral zone was thought to be a way to protect the school, either luring enemies into a false sense of security or giving a space for peaceful negotiations. I didn't know if it would ever be useful in those instances, but it served my purposes now. I could not leave, and he could not enter, so it put us at a perfect impasse.

  “Well, if it isn't Blackwell’s resident vampire. I can't believe they haven't staked you yet.” Archie’s voice was a high pitch and had always reminded me of what a mouse like sound like in a human body. He didn’t look much more appealing either, but he had some things going for him – connections to the Porters by blood and a penchant for not being able to keep his mouth shut even when his life depended on it.

  “Don’t mock me, Archie. There isn't time for catching up. A boy was killed, a boy I can link right back to the Porters. Tell me, what's the Circle’s next move?”

  “Now, what makes you think I have anything to do with the Circle or that it is even active anymore? People do die on occasion, vampire, or have you forgotten?” he sneered.

  I shook my head, bearing my fangs. My eyes flashed with the satisfaction when I saw the slightest of flinches from the weasel before me. “You are a Porter. You know the information even if you don't actively participate. I know patterns when I see them. All the new enrollments. A dead kid who can be traced back to the Porter family in some way, his cousin missing for four years. Something is starting, and I want to know what.”

  “You finally want in? After all these years?” he asked, much more interested than he was moments ago. They would kill to have me on their side of the fight. Literally.

  “I am still undecided. I need more information.”

  He smiled at me so wide, I was certain it wrapped around his head. “Alastair is not coming back from beyond the grave. He won't know what side you chose, Desmond. Besides, wouldn't you like to get out of this curse that has kept you here all these years?”

  “Are you telling me the Circle has a way to get me out?” This many years in one place was too long. There was nothing in the world I wanted more than my freedom. I didn't want to be the oldest student at Blackwell Academy any longer.

  “Yes, they very much do. So, what do you say to –“ He stopped, and I turned to see why just in time for Ms. Aberdeen to transform, her dragon flame burning me into submission. I had been caught red handed.

  14

  No Judgment

  Thrown into a seat in the small room belonging only to Principal Brown, I was surrounded by him, Ms. Aberdeen, Dean Andrews, and Dean Simmons - my dean. I knew I was in trouble for what I was doing, and it was highly unlikely I could bluff my way out of this. Archie Porter had been a past student - the only reason I knew him. He had made himself too obvious not to notice during his short time on campus, and he had become an informant of anything going on in the outside world I wanted or needed to know until I stopped caring years ago. I thought I would never see it again, so it didn't even matter.

  But the good thing about being a vampire was it was easy to play it cool. To lie. To use my powers of persuasion. The staff had defenses against such things, but they weren't fool proof. There was always a way to sneak through a tiny suggestion here or there.

  "Don't even think about using your glamour on us, Desmond."

  I raised my eyebrow at Dean Andrews, knowing how much it irked him that my status as the undead made it near impossible for him to penetrate my real thoughts. "Sorry to disappoint you, but I was actually thinking about how uncomfortable this chair was." I didn't care about the looks of disdain I got from them over this. There would be new staff in a decade or so anyway. And me, I would either still be here or dead by staking, unless what Archie had said about the Circle was true.

  "Previous administration has granted you leniency, Grey, but don't think that I
will," Principal Brown warned me, and though there was nothing intimidating about the look of the man, I knew he meant it. If anyone would drive a stake through my heart, it was him. "I suggest you start telling us why you left the school grounds to meet with a formerly expelled student."

  So, Brown knew his stuff. Interesting. "I think the Circle is back. They are working on something, and Brad’s death has something to do with it. I thought he would give me answers,” I deadpanned. The silence that followed told me all I needed to know. If they truly believed me, they would already be in action. The Circle was serious to all supernaturals. The worst of scary bedtime stories that had children believing the things that went bump in the night were still being controlled by Constantine.

  "I am sure you mean well, Desmond, but this is an internal matter. I have no suspicions about the Circle and have not heard any inkling that they still exist in the last several years. We will look into it, but you need to step back. This is the last thing you need to get yourself involved in." Dean Simmons' voice was coaxing, but I wasn't buying it. He had been trained to calm down the monsters in his care. A lot I hadn’t been a part of when I used to reside in Champion Hall.

  "None of you are going to take this seriously, are you?" They all looked at each other and not me, showing me just how disorganized and vulnerable this year’s staff was. The Circle could penetrate them in minutes. "Pitiful," I whispered as I stood up and stormed out, the sun coming up over the horizon. That dull ache in my head began instantly, but I filed that back there with all the other unimportant things. The only important thing right now was to find out what the Circle wanted now and if it was any closer to reaching its ultimate goal.

  ***

  My eyes met with her as she made her way to her next class, whatever it was. Instead of focusing on the blonde in front of me that was trying to make a conversation out of our...transaction, I followed Anastasia with my eyes as she moved across campus. She did the same with a coldness in her gaze. It had admittedly not been the first time she had seen me chatting it up with some other girl. And while she didn't have a right to be jealous or angry, and I was delusional to think she might be, it did seem to contradict the fact that I had told her I was not like the rumors portrayed me.