Chased by Darkness: A Reverse Harem Academy Romance: (Four Kings Academy Book 1)

by Taylor Spratt

  TAYLOR SPRATT

  Chased by Darkness

  All Rights Reserved © 2019 Tiffany Bent. First Printing: 2019.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical review and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

  Author’s Note: All characters in this story are 18 years of age and older, and all sexual act are consensual.

  Dedication

  Dedicated to my parents, sister and cousin Mandi. Thank you for believing in my dream.

  CONTENTS

  Chased by Darkness

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  CHAPTER TWENTY -THREE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  CHAPTER ONE

  Aria

  The banging. Please, God. Make it stop. The dinner table quaked as bowls of turkey and mashed potatoes went tumbling to the ground, shattering over the wooden floor.

  My parents braced the door, holding on for dear life.

  They can’t come in here, they just can’t, but the way the door was tearing off its hinges, it wouldn’t be too long before the gates of hell opened and life as I knew it would burn to cinders.

  “Aria, get in the corner!” my mother screamed, tears streaming down her sweat-drenched face.

  I ran, every squeaky floorboard crying under me as I pushed old furniture out of my way getting to the corner by the dusty old fireplace. Crouching down didn’t make it any better; the racket was inescapable, targeting my huddled body like a bullseye. I sunk my nails into my arms, deep enough that blood now dripped onto the ground. I couldn’t help but do this, when things got too scary. It didn’t even hurt; I couldn’t feel anything anymore. I didn’t deserve to.

  “Is this how you were raised, is this how you treat a little girl?” My father yelled.

  “Leave us alone!” my mother said, her voice cracking. But the banging only increased. She screamed, the fear of God in her eyes. Then she flung herself against the door and wedged her frail form against it as it shook, almost ripping off its hinges.

  My dad braced with her, his face hard from strain, as he shouldered most of the force. Our brave protector still no match for the hoard.

  The world blurred through my tears as I sunk to my quiet place. The only place I still felt safe, the world before this terrible curse, my memories.

  ***

  Food stalls lined the busy streets of Hallendere Village. Apples and plums sweetened the air, bringing a smile to the face of every passing villager. Their clothes were raggedy, but the colors shone clear and bright.

  “Hello, Mrs. Kolgrim,” an old woman said as she passed us, my mother returning a cheerful greeting, smiling the most beautiful smile in the village. I wanted to smile that pretty when I grew up too.

  One hundred greetings, two pretty plums, sixty sweet berries, and two yucky chickens later we left the market to go back up the dusty trail home.

  The purply pink hue of a summer dusk hung in the skies like a color show of magic and wonder.

  The houses were small and rustic, but birds loved these homes. Hundreds roosted on each roof; what a pretty song they made.

  My mother would say the world had left us behind, that life was better in the cities. But I wouldn’t know because we weren’t allowed to go there, we were ‘different’ from others. I thought she meant it was because we were magic.

  The sun was falling fast and moonlight covered the street making it hard to see where my mother and I were going. She held my hand tight as she maneuvered the fallen rocks in our path.

  “Aria baby, look,” my mother said, pointing to a patch of light ahead. It came from a greenhouse with a pointed roof of shimmering gold. Inside was buzzing with activity; there was music, with tons of grownups drinking and laughing. They rallied around a kid with a huge birthday cake in front of him…

  Oh my god! Presents were everywhere!

  “Mommy?” I asked, tugging on her dress. “What are they doing in there, can we go too?”

  “No, Aria,” she said with a laugh, smiling down at me. “Today is his eighth birthday. Today he becomes a real wizard and gets his powers.”

  I’d seen my parents cast all sorts of spells around the house. Spells for invisibility, strength, healing, and tons of other cool stuff.

  “Wow! So… when do I get mine?” I asked as I jumped up and down taking my mother’s skirt with me for the bounce.

  “Aria!” She grabbed her skirt, pulled it down looking around in every direction, her cheeks turning pink. “You’re seven now so you only have a few months to wait,” she said with a pinch to my cheeks, and we continued our walk.

  ***

  My half-eaten unicorn birthday cake lay forgotten on a table in the corner of the room along with the remnants of my favorite foods and drinks. All eyes were on me now, boring into me even more harshly than the overhead lamp.

  “It’s time now baby,” my mother said standing off to one side, a smile gracing her face from ear to ear as my father stood by my other side beaming at me with pride in his eyes.

  I stretched out my hands to cast my first spell, but instead of the ceremonial green sparks, a dark substance emerged from my palm and globbed its way to the floor. Every smile in the room vanished, a deafening silence taking over as we all stared.

  I looked to my mother with a million questions in my eyes as the amorphous black blob grew, tripling in its size every second that passed.

  “What is that thing?!” the next-door neighbor yelled out, clutching Billy to her chest.

  It just kept on growing as everyone in the room watched in horror, no jaw more open than mine. It was almost triple my size when a loud boom rang out. Darkness descended in the tiny cottage, and the smell that came with it made me nauseated.

  I stood, trembling in fear while my friends and neighbors sped out the door, covered in the infinite black slime.

  My parents pulled me into their arms, reassuring me it would be okay. I was so confused, but something told me that for the first time in my life, my mom and dad were lying to me.

  ***

  At school the next day my best friends had looks of pure horror burned into their faces as I approached them in class.

  “L-l-leave us alone, monster!” They stammered, petrified at the mere sight of me, before turning and running away. Tears streamed down my cheeks but I couldn’t say a word.

  Why did I have to be born this way?

  The once bright classroom with pink walls and shiny silver desks was now grey, dark and eerily silent. Glancing to the side, my eyes met a few of my classmates. Six of them leapt from their seats and crammed themselves into the corner, cowering away from me. They looked petrified, as if they were staring d
eath in the face.

  My mother told me I was what they called a Void User; and that someone like me could only curse, jinx, or hex. But she assured me that it wasn’t such a big deal, promising people would get used to me and forget I was different.

  But that never happened.

  When my mother and I made our usual trip to the market, everyone gave us strange looks as they whispered? My mother clung to me, bending her head down so low you could barely see her beautiful face.

  Our leisurely walk turned into a near run as the villagers shouted, “Dark walker!” and “Plague!” at us, throwing fruit in our direction.

  Were they talking about me?

  Years passed but things never get better. Especially at school. I wished my classmates would still run from me, too afraid to come too close. Now I would give the sun, the moon, and the stars to get one minute alone.

  “Hey, Void User! Void User!” One of my classmates called out as I walked out to the schoolyard. I didn’t answer, I never did but I increase my pace.

  “Where you going?” Another voice called out. There were three of them, beating the dirt towards me. Not again.

  I sprinted out of the school yard and tore down the empty, country road, taking turns down random streets as we entered the town.

  Please don’t let them catch me, my scars haven’t healed from the last time.

  The path ended, fences surrounded me on three sides with bullies on the forth.

  “Leave me alone!” I cried as they sprang for me, pummeling me to the ground.

  The air left my chest. The pain; there was so much pain. Curse the stars, I can’t do this, not again.

  They kicked at me, using language so foul it shouldn’t be coming from ten-year-olds, but neither should this level of evil.

  The pebble laced soil tore deep into my side, scratching my skin a little more with every blow. Then, dulling my senses, a cool sensation settled in my core as a dark pressure began expanding from inside me. Within an instant, it shrouded the little bullies in a dark miasma that seemed to roll right off my arms, attracted to them like a magnet.

  “Ahhhhh stop!” They cried, tearing back down the path, batting frantically at the black cloud as their hair slid from their scalps and blew away with the wind.

  I lay on the ground, my heart racing, unable to comprehend what had just happened. Right now, only two things were clear. My power had a mind of its own, and I had just cursed three boys.

  I’d just cursed three boys. I’d just cursed three boys. God, how could I be so stupid?

  A loud bang brought me from my memories.

  The door, close to shattering, was now completely off its hinges. My father was the only thing holding it in place as my mother left the door to spring toward me. She knelt beside me and shielded me with her arms, her shiny blonde hair the only light in the cold, desolate cottage.

  “Get away from the door!” A woman outside demanded, “she hexed my son!”

  “It’s just some hair, it’ll grow back!” My father yelled back, losing his grip on the door.

  “It’s not just the hair! Our crops are failing; we all know it's her,” Mr. Damion the village head said, with a deep ache in his voice. “She can’t help but be evil, John. It’s her nature.”

  “That's our child you’re talking about,” my mother shouted, still holding on to me for dear life as she outstretched her wand to the door.

  Crops?

  “They’re lying, Mommy. They're lying!” I cried, clenching my mother’s arm and shaking it. “I didn’t go in the fields.”

  “Shh shh, baby, don’t worry about it. Stay quiet now.”

  Boom!

  The remaining parts of the door flew off, slamming into my father like an angry train and knocking him to the ground. The mob swarmed the tiny cottage like an ant army, trampling my father unconscious.

  They were almost on top of us, when a beam of the purest, bluest light burst from my mother’s wand, washing the room in a blinding blur.

  Time seemed to freeze, and I clenched my eyes shut, squeezing my mother’s arm till my fingers burned.

  The light faded to show a quiet room, covered in shadows. Bodies littered the floor, still and lifeless. Not even a twitch.

  My eyes gaped open at the sight and my mother cupped my cheeks to look me in the eyes. “Don’t be afraid, baby, they’re not dead, they’re only unconscious. We don’t have much time.”

  Throwing me over her shoulder, my mom tore out through the front door.

  Once outside, she stumbled over body after body of unconscious villagers.

  We left the village, walking uphill till the moonlit trees of the Horetia forest came into view. The foliage was so densely packed all you could see was infinite black. Light itself could get lost in here, but my mother didn’t stop.

  Is she really taking us into that scary place?

  “Mommy?”

  Boom!

  The roar of an explosion filled the air and my mother put me on the ground, both of us turning to look down at the village.

  My heart sank to my stomach. Daddy was sprinting in the village square, two dozen men hot on his trail.

  My father drew his wand as they crowded around him, barely giving him an inch to breathe. Beam after beam flew from his wand’s tip, but those evil men didn’t look like they even felt it. The swarm thickened, pelting him with blasts of their own, and my father staggered back and forth.

  He cried out, blood rushing down his side like a river, washing away any hope of things ever going back to normal.

  “Daddy!” I screamed at the top of my lungs, and my mother’s hand flew over my mouth. She moved her face to mine, her eyebrows drawn.

  “Baby, listen to me. I need you to go in the fore—”

  “No, I can’t. I can’t leave you. I’m scared!”

  “Shhh, sshh. Your father needs me. Run into the forest and we’ll come for you. I promise,” she said, with a smile bright enough to light up the night.

  I clung to her dress with all my might and it tore as she turned to run back down the hill. Sobbing, I whirled around and peered into the quiet forest.

  After a moment’s hesitation, the dark foliage engulfed my body as I ran into the trees.

  That was the last day I ever saw my parents.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Aria

  10 years later

  So, this is how I die? Taken out by the march of the pinheads?

  Were there twenty out there? Or two hundred? It didn’t matter. Either way, I was screwed.

  Bang! Bang! Bang!

  “Open up or we’ll kick it down!” a deep voice outside barked as they continued pounding at the entrance. I didn’t care, Hercules himself couldn’t tear my butt off this door.

  “Go ahead, I dare you. Asshole!” I screamed.

  The door was rattling now. It wouldn’t be long till the pathetic enchanted lock I used on it broke.

  My breathing slowed and my legs trembled. Ten years I’d lived in peace in the Horetia forest, you’d think I would have gotten used to this little hut of mine. These old dusty shelves were lined with bright jams, sweet jellies, and the most delicious root crops mother nature had to offer. They all mocked me with flavor I’d never taste again.

  The stuffed bears, rag dolls, and toy brooms from my childhood littered the dirt floor. Even in the shadows they sang to me. A farewell song to the only mother they’d ever known.

  In the corner was a pile of leaves, bound by a red blanket. The soft and protective place where I slept and dreamed the most spectacular dreams of the most amazing life. Now, what have my dreams brought me?

  Crack! The door hinges jerked out of place as the banging continued, my back now numb to the pressure.

  Tears slid down my cheeks. Please God, just twenty minutes. I had to go find my friends and say goodbye.

  With a final bang the door flew off its hinges, and I went flying across the hut and into the shelves. The jars crashed to the ground, throwing glass in every dir
ection.

  “Are you trying to kill me?” I snarled, scraping myself off the floor and staring daggers at the two tall men shadowing the doorway.

  Enforcers. They wore jumpsuits the color of gangrenous toes and towered over me with scowling faces. One was a redhead, the other a blond, but they both looked like Frankenstein’s ugly stepbrothers.

  They stalked toward me, wands pointed at my face.

  “There’s been a report, Void User. Keep your hands down and slowly walk toward us,” the redhead commanded.

  “I’ve done nothing. Get out!” I said, pressing my back into the wall. Ignoring my cries, the men came at me. I clenched my hands into fists and bent my knees, readying for a fight. If they wanted to play, then I’d play. A cool sensation erupted in my core and black orbs of dark energy formed in my palms.

  The enforcers’ eyes widened, and their jaws falling open.

  “The Void is activated! The Void is activated! Prepare to stun the target!” the redhead bellowed, and he lunged, grabbing my arm.

  “Let me go!” I reacted and launched an orb. It hit his jaw and sank in, spreading.

  His screams echoed off the walls, his face twisting with pain. He thudded to the ground and his jaw line swelled to the size of a black tennis ball.

  “That’s what you get, asshole.”

  The blond, eyes fixed on me with trembling fingers, looking like he’d seen a ghost, fumbled to pull something from his pocket. He held a small black box with several sharp spikes on top.

  If he thought I was going to let him stab me with that thing, he was dumber than he looked. I crept toward him, orbs raised, glaring at him.

  “Stay where you are, Void User!” he commanded. Coming at me, he jabbed the device in my direction in three quick stabs through the air. I twisted, narrowly missing them all.

  My last dodge landed me hard against the fragile wall.