Van Helsing Academy

by Stacey O'Neale

  “Ms. Van Helsing, you haven’t presented any support for your accusations against Cassius. I don’t see any reason why this warrants a call to the high council,” he stated in a monotone voice. “All you’ve done is produce a strong case against yourself. I can promise that your parents will be receiving a stern call from me.”

  I wanted to jump over his desk and strangle him. He flat-out refused to put the pieces together. Supes were going to die, and his response was to do nothing. I sat back in the chair across from him with a glazed-over expression. I broke a lot of rules to prove my point, but I thought he’d look past that given what I’d uncovered. Cassius, and his web of lies, had fooled the headmaster.

  “You should contact my parents,” I urged. “Do it right now. Maybe they can talk some sense into you.”

  “Count your blessings that your last name is Van Helsing,” he replied with venom in his tone. He closed the laptop, slid the computer along with my tech gear inside his desk drawer, and locked the drawer with a key. “Anyone else would be in the dungeons for the remainder of their sentence.”

  I wanted to scream and cry all at the same time. It was hopeless. The headmaster wouldn’t help us, and now that he’d confiscated the laptop, we had no way of getting a message out to my parents or the high council. Cassius was going to get away with all of it. His brother’s life was in peril, and then I thought about his father. He had mentioned his father was sick, and now I wondered if Cassius was the one poisoning him.

  I rose from my chair and strode toward the door. A second before I left, I turned around and said, “When my warnings come to fruition, history will remember that you had a chance to save lives, but you did nothing. Their blood is on your hands.”

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  I rushed through the hallways, trying to make sense of what happened.

  The evidence was there. All the headmaster had to do was make a phone call, and he refused. How had this gotten so lopsided? I’d done everything my parents asked me to do. I infiltrated their network, discovered the real culprit, and reported my findings. But it wasn’t enough. My mind raced as I replayed every moment; every word I told the headmaster. Why couldn’t I make him understand?

  I found the super squad in the common room between the boys and girls dorms. They conversed on a canvas colored sectional sofa. Kiera was animated as she spoke, her hands moving wildly. Alexei sat next to her with his arm relaxed on the cushion above her head. Sacha was across from them, smiling as he listened to her story. They all seemed so happy, and I dreaded ruining the moment.

  They shouldn’t have to carry this burden. Each of them had risked something to help me solve the mystery. None of them failed. Feeling like a deflated balloon, I pivoted around and headed for the elevator. I didn’t have the heart to disappoint them. I had nearly reached the doors when I felt a tug on my wrist. I twisted around and saw Sacha. He stared at me with a look of concern, and I remembered he could sense my emotions from long distances.

  Something inside of me broke, and I pressed my face into his chest. He wrapped his arms around me and let out a long sigh. “I was afraid this might happen.”

  I glanced up at him, trying my best to hold back the tears. “He said we didn’t have enough evidence. I begged him to call my parents, but he refused. It’s hopeless.”

  Sacha put his arm around me and led us back to the common room. He sat next to me on the sofa and held my hand while I explained what happened. Alexei’s face reddened, and he said something in Russian with anger in his tone. Sacha responded quickly, using the same tone. I had no idea what was said, but Alexei closed his mouth and didn’t speak another word. We each sat there for a long, silent moment.

  Kiera was the first to speak. “We have to go to the headmaster as a group. If we each explain our role, he will have to change his mind.”

  “It’s too dangerous,” I warned, shaking my head. “The headmaster threatened to throw me in the dungeons, and the only thing that saved me was my last name.” My eyes darted between them. “He wouldn’t show leniency to any of you, and I couldn’t live with myself if anything happened to you.”

  “We cannot allow this,” Sacha insisted, waving his hands. “Cassius is going to kill Prince Orpheus. If we don’t do something, he’ll be crowned king of the most powerful vampire clan in the world. He’ll be untouchable.”

  His words seared into my chest like a branding iron. From the start, I made one mistake after another. I could’ve avoided this entire mess if I had listened to my team leader. If I had followed Damien’s order, Cassius never would’ve gotten to me. Our group was too large. We could’ve taken them out. But I thought I knew better than everyone else. Even when Caroline tried to talk me out of it, I refused, and now she was fighting for her life.

  It was time to accept the truth. Cassius would be king, and I was the one who placed him on the throne. He would’ve never succeeded without my help. I trusted him even after he admitted to using compulsion on me. That should’ve been the first sign. My parents told me to lay low. They wanted me to find the evidence to clear my name and prevent an all-out war between the factions.

  But that wasn’t enough for me. I had to be the hero and inject myself into a clan issue without a proper investigation. I could’ve told Tony everything I knew when I saw him in the infirmary, but I held back. I wanted all the glory for myself. And thanks to my vanity, I was tricked into framing Prince Orpheus for a crime he didn’t commit. I was the fool who gave Cassius everything he needed.

  I stood. “The headmaster was right.”

  Kiera blinked twice as if she wasn’t sure she heard me correctly. “You can’t be serious.”

  “The evidence I gave him was circumstantial, at best,” I explained, fighting back the tears that welled in my eyes. “A shadow in an image and a memory only I could see. I was stupid to think he would help us.”

  “This isn’t your fault,” Sacha insisted, slipping his hand in mine. “You can’t blame yourself.”

  “I can’t blame myself?” I laughed as a tear ran down my cheek. “I am entirely responsible for what happened.” I snapped my hand back. “Cassius played me like a fiddle, and I refused to see what was in front of me the entire time.”

  “He compelled you,” Sacha reminded me. “You had no control—”

  “Cassius found me by the river because I refused to follow a command,” I admitted. “Because I thought I knew better. Because I am the spoiled rich brat, you think I am.” I backed up to put distance between us. “Don’t you get it? I could’ve avoided all of this if I’d followed instructions.”

  Kiera moved toward me, but I held my palm up in warning. “None of us are blaming you, Mina. Cassius is the one who committed the crime. Let us help you. We can work through this together.”

  “You’re going to help me?” I chuckled. “You were only nice to me because you had no friends; because you’re an outcast among your kin. There’s nothing you can do to help me.”

  “Okay, that’s enough,” Alexei announced, as he came to stand in between Kiera and me. “You’re upset, and I get it, but Kiera is trying to be your friend. You need to back off.”

  Sacha grabbed him by the collar and spoke something in Russian with an angry tone. I pushed him. “I don’t need you to take up for me. You’re not my boyfriend, and even if you were, I don’t need you. I don’t need anyone. I can stand on my own.”

  “I wasn’t trying to—”

  “I don’t care what you were trying to do,” I replied, and then met eyes with each of them. “This was a huge mistake. I don’t know what I was thinking. I should’ve never involved any of you in this. It’s over.”

  Before any of them could respond, I raced toward the stairwell and pushed the door open. I flew down the stairs in record time. I didn’t know where I was going, but I knew I had to get out of there. Guilt washed over me in waves, settling in the pit of my chest. I regretted everything I said to them, and I wanted to go back and apologize, but I couldn’t. They wo
uld find a way to forgive me, and I didn’t deserve their friendship.

  I continued to make one mistake after another. I was an embarrassment to my family name, and I didn’t deserve to call myself a reaper. I glanced around when I came to a stop. I was so overwhelmed with grief and humiliation I hadn’t realized I’d gone to the stables. Subconsciously, I must’ve come because I knew I’d be alone. No one else would be here during the day.

  I made my way down the walkway until I got to the guard’s sitting area. I sat down, placed my elbows on my knees, and my hands over my face. Somewhere in the middle of all of this, my memories fell into place. I saw it all. The weeks I’d spent chained to a wall, abused daily by Cassius and his friends. All the bruises and cuts came from their assaults. He had compelled me not to fight back. It gave him a sick sense of pleasure watching me suffer.

  I let out a wailing scream that burned my chest. I fell to my knees and remained there with no desire to move even an inch. The tears poured out of me in streams, leaving behind an emptiness I could never fill. I’d never felt so horrible, so broken, in my entire life. I wasn’t the fierce warrior I pretended to be. I was weak and reckless and bursting with privilege. That was why Cassius chose me.

  He saw me for what I was: a fool.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  I heard a loud bang that pulled me out of sleep.

  The side of my face pressed against something cool, and when I opened my eyes, I saw that I was on the cement floor. I sat up and tried to get my bearings. At some point in the night, I’d fallen asleep in the stables. Sunlight shone through the windows, and I squinted at the bright light. It was morning. I wiped my eyes with my fingertips and hissed. They were still sore, swollen, and likely red from the hours I spent crying.

  Kiera was probably wondering where I was, or maybe she didn’t even care.

  I didn’t know how she felt about me after I snapped at her last night. She might be hoping I never return to our dorm room. I wouldn’t blame her if she did. I didn’t deserve her friendship or the rest of our super squad. They were better off without me. When I finally rose to my feet, I dusted myself off. I tried to stretch out my back, but after spending the night on a cement floor, every bone in my spine ached.

  I startled when I heard fast-moving footsteps. They got louder and sounded like they were heading my way. I bent down into a crouched fighting position. I didn’t have any weapons, but I’d fight whoever came around that corner. Kiera was the first to appear, breathing heavily like she just crossed the finish line of a race. The next one to appear was Alexei, holding something rectangular in his head that looked like a video game controller.

  “What are you doing here?” I asked.

  Kiera waved her hands wildly. “What are we doing here?” she repeated. “What are you doing here? We’ve been looking all over campus for you.”

  Guilt washed over me. “I’m sorry. I was upset, and I fell asleep in here. I didn’t know you were looking for me.”

  “Of course we were,” she shrieked. “You ran off, and we had no idea where you were going or if you ran away. You scared the hell out of me.”

  It never occurred to me that they would look for me. I just assumed they were angry and needed to blow off steam. One more failure to add to my growing list. “After the way we left things, I figured you would never want to speak to me again.”

  “Why?” she asked. “We were all upset over what happened. I’m not going to throw away our friendship over a heated conversation. That’s just childish.”

  When she explained it like that, I had to agree. “Does that mean we’re okay?”

  Kiera crossed the room and wrapped her arms around me so tightly I could only take in small breaths. “We’re better than okay, we’re awesome.”

  After everything we had discovered, we were far from awesome. “How is that possible?” I managed to get out.

  Realizing I wasn’t breathing well, she let me go and turned to Alexei. “Show her.”

  The object I saw in his hand was one of the portable keyboards officers, instructors, and administrators wore on a utility belt. But there was something different about the one he held. This one had new wiring and gears along with a second keyboard device attached. If I had to guess, he used his hacking skills to re-construct the device into something he could use. Sacha said he was some kind of computer genius, so I wasn’t that surprised.

  My hand subconsciously touched the spot on my neck, where the headmaster had injected the potentially lethal control device. “Where did you get that thing?”

  “I borrowed it from one of the guards a few months ago,” he shrugged, with a mischievous smile growing across his lips. He pointed to the new equipment he attached. “I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with it until I saw the tech you used to break into the network.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “What did I inspire you to create?”

  “A new pathway into the academy’s network,” Kiera chimed in with excitement. When she realized she interrupted Alexei, she added, “Sorry, this spy stuff is really cool.”

  “I don’t mind,” he replied with a prideful expression on his face. “I like it when you get animated.”

  Her cheeks visibly reddened, and I realized there was a lot more going on between them than a mutual love for comic books. Seeing them together made me think of Sacha. I thought we had something special, but after my dramatic outburst, I was sure he’d changed his mind. Kiera forgave me because we were friends, but Sacha and I had a different kind of connection.

  A connection that I inevitably ruined.

  I heard Alexei clear his throat, and I realized I’d gotten lost in my depressing thoughts. “After you left last night, Sacha asked me to keep combing through the network to see if I could find anything that would point to Cassius’s guilt, and well, we found something.”

  “You found something,” Kiera corrected.

  He smiled. “I found something.”

  A sliver of hope bloomed in my chest, and I tried to push it down. I didn’t want to set myself up for another humiliating disappointment, but I couldn’t stop myself from asking. The curiosity was overwhelming all my senses. “What did you find?”

  He tapped on the keyboard at a record pace. He held the device out once he finished so we all three could see the screen. “This is a copy of the visitor's log. The academy keeps a record of every visitor who comes here.” He pointed to a copy of an identification card. “You can’t enter the academy without proper ID.”

  When I spoke to Tony in the infirmary, he told me that all of the logs were now electronic. I assumed he was talking about the blood bank, but he must’ve meant all the records in the entire academy. I felt a little stupid for not putting that together. “How will the visitor log help us prove Cassius’s guilt?”

  “The day that Cassius procured the laptop for you, he had a visitor,” Alexei explained with excitement in his tone. “I compared that name to known associates, and I got a hit. The man who came to the academy that day is a member of his clan. I’d bet every comic book I own that he provided the laptop.”

  I put my hand over my mouth as my eyes darted between Kiera and Alexei. “Can you prove he smuggled in the laptop?”

  “No,” he shook his head. “But this proves that Cassius was lying when he told us he feared for his life. That his clan sided with his brother and sent assassins to kill him.”

  Alexei was right. That was the excuse Cassius used when he compelled me. He said he couldn’t trust anyone, including his clan. He claimed he was running for his life when he found me in the woods. “Do you have any proof that they were together? Something we could use to prove our case in front of the high council?”

  With a cocky smirk, he typed on the keyboard. When he found what he was looking for, he showed us the display screen once more. “This is a surveillance video from the training area. You can see them talking, and there’s nothing about his composure that suggests he feared for his life.”

  I stared a
t the paused picture of Cassius and the member from his clan, and my stomach soured. The headmaster would dismiss this video. There was no way to prove that this clan member provided the laptop, or that anything nefarious was happening. Cassius had never told anyone but us that he feared for his life. As far as the headmaster was concerned, this was a visit from a clan member. Nothing more, nothing less.

  My shoulders sunk. “The work you did was incredible, Alexei, and I deeply appreciate it, but this video is circumstantial. The headmaster will never go for it.”

  “Who says we have to go to the headmaster,” a husky male voice asked.

  I pivoted around. Sacha stood beneath the door frame with his hands tucked in his jeans pockets. My mouth opened to say something, but no words came out. Apologizing for the way I acted didn’t seem like it would be enough. I felt like I had to make some grand gesture like some hero in a young adult novel, but what would I do? I had nothing to lose, so I strode over to him and asked, “Have you ever made a series of stupid decisions that made you feel like a total ass in front of the best people you know?”

  The corner of his mouth curled upward. “At least once every few weeks, but who’s counting?”

  I closed the distance between us. “What did you do to make up for it?”

  He reached for my hands and placed them around his neck. “You can start with a kiss and see where it goes from there.”

  A second later, Sacha crushed his lips against mine. His arms slid around my waist, removing any air left between us. The whole world melted away, and all that was left was the two of us. I wasn’t sure how long we stayed like that, but I felt like I was floating. All of the pain and hurt washed away, replaced by the same feeling Sacha always gave me: a sense of comfort and security. If I died at this moment, I would’ve had a happy end.

  Sounds of coughing and throats clearing woke me up from my heavenly bliss. That was when I remembered that Kiera and Alexei were still there, witnessing the entire thing. My cheeks had to be crimson. I released Sacha from my hold, and put some distance between us. There was zero guilt on his face. Mine, on the other hand, was filled with it. All I wanted to do was cover my face with my hands.