Hearts of Darkness: A Valentine's Day Bully Romance Collection

by Joanna Mazurkiewicz

  My heart sank at her words. She must have seen the disappointment in my eyes, because she immediately added:

  “Your classmates are supernatural, they rarely get sick, and anyway, they heal faster.” She handed me the written note, offering me an almost apologetic smile. “I’m trying to understand,” she said. “I’m a mage myself, so I don’t know how you feel, but I’m trying.” She chuckled awkwardly. “I’ve never had a headache in my life!”

  I gave her a forced smile, told her not to worry about it, and was out of there in seconds.

  I’m different... I’m so different that no one here can actually relate to me.

  It was strange, because back home, during my first semester at the Academy in my own dimension, no one had acted this way around me. Apparently, the supernaturals there were much more inclusive when it came to humans. They didn’t make as much of a fuss about us.

  Anyway, it doesn’t matter. I have what I need.

  I spent the rest of the day in my dorm-room, doing homework, reading, and preparing myself for the night ahead. I didn’t have to go down to dinner. The dorm-rooms at Grim Reaper Academy were very different from anything anyone might have imagined. They were more like apartments than simple bedrooms. I had a huge, fourposter bed, a desk equipped with everything I needed to study, but also enough space for a couch, TV, and a small open kitchen with a fridge, a stove, and a long, tall table that acted as a sort of bar. I could make my own dinner if I wanted to, granted that when I looked in the fridge, I realized I needed to restock. I wasn’t hungry, though. I was excited and a little scared.

  “She’s not like me, but quite like me. If I’m lucky, maybe she’s better than me.” My heart ached a little at the thought. “If she can help me, if she has a solution... I don’t even care.”

  It was barely 9 PM, but I was too jittery to wait any longer. I swallowed two sleeping pills and got into bed. It was funny, but sometimes... I thought of it as my spaceship. After all, it was the one thing I used to cruise through dimensions...

  Chapter Two

  It was easy for me. Like second nature. In less than half an hour, I was deep asleep, my consciousness following the intentions I had set for myself when I’d taken the two sleeping pills. I was a natural, so I didn’t really need any kind of sleeping aid, but seeing how I hadn’t been sleeping very well lately because I was constantly worried about what I would wake up to the next day, I didn’t want to risk it right now. I needed to see Hayley – the girl with whom I’d made the exchange.

  It felt like falling for a while. As I succumbed to the realm of dreams, to what was hidden in my subconscious, I tried to find my way, tried to separate the thoughts, images, worries, and ideas from those things that had nothing to do with me at all. It took me a minute to find the right path, but I found it, feeling like an explorer making her way through the thick jungle of bits and pieces, remnants of my waking life; my will – as sharp as a blade – cutting through them to clear a path that would take me straight to my home dimension. Once I made my way out of the jungle, I stepped right through the wall of my doppelgänger’s dorm-room. It looked just like mine, except it was decorated slightly differently.

  My counterpart seemed to have a passion for drawing sketches of birds and some unidentified creatures she had surely found in some bestiary at the library. She was sleeping peacefully in her bed, and for a second I wondered whether she was traveling, and I was about to interrupt her unceremoniously. I took a few steps toward the bed, and when she didn’t seem to have noticed my presence, I dragged in a deep breath and sat down next to her. She stirred in her sleep. I reached out and touched her shoulder, and she opened her eyes, as brown and big as mine, and looked up at me. She smiled broadly.

  “This is a nice surprise. Hi! What’s up?”

  She stretched her limbs and sat up, cocooning herself in the thick blanket. I realized it was quite cold in her room. Was it possible that February in this dimension was slightly colder than in the other one?

  “Sorry to wake you up. I just... I needed to see you.”

  “Don’t worry about it. I was actually thinking of paying you a visit, too. How are things going over there? Have you settled in?”

  “That’s what I wanted to talk to you about...”

  As if sensing my sadness and distress, she furrowed her brows and reached out to take my hand into hers.

  “Oh my God, is everything okay? You look like... You’ve seen things.”

  “I haven’t seen things. What things? But I have gone through some stuff. I don’t have anyone to talk to, I don’t know whom to tell... I just thought, maybe, you could help.”

  “Of course, you can tell me anything.”

  I took a deep breath, sorted my thoughts, and did my best to describe my situation to her without making her feel guilty that the people in her dimension were treating me like crap. I wondered, for a brief second, whether Jace and Ivor were torturing her, too. But she looked fine, almost happy, so I doubted she was going through the same shit as I was.

  “It’s been tough. I don’t have many friends there. I mean... I tried, but no one seems to like me that much. I feel like in your first semester there, you were more popular than I am now. The good thing is that everyone understands that you are you and I am me, so they’re not confusing us or anything. The supernatural world in both dimensions seems to have gotten used to dream jumpers and the way we travel and exchange places.”

  See chuckled lightly. “Well, they did have two hundred years to figure things out.”

  “Yeah.” I hesitated. She really did look like she was doing great. And here I was, ready to complain about my pathetic life and burden her with my problems. Anyway, I was here now, and there was no point in beating around the bush. I was miserable, and as I saw it, she was my last hope. “I don’t know what to do, Hayley. They hate me. Last semester, in this dimension, they seemed to be fine with me, mostly ignoring me. But in your dimension... They are just so awful to me. They bully me at every step, sometimes going as far as following me around just to make every minute of my life a struggle.”

  Anger flashed in her eyes. “Who is bulling you?”

  “Jace and Ivor. Were they ever nasty to you when you were there?”

  She shook her head. “No. Not at all.” She shrugged. “We didn’t interact much. I mostly hung out with my friends, and they minded their own business. I know that Jace and Ivor are basically inseparable. Although, that’s mostly Ivor. Sometimes I felt like he was all up in Jace’s personal space, and Jace didn’t always enjoy it. I would have never thought they would... do such things to you. In fact, I wanted to talk to you about them, too.” She ran her hand through her black hair and scratched the back of her neck awkwardly. “But my situation is very different from yours.”

  “How so?”

  “Well, let’s say it’s exactly the opposite.” She giggled in a way that made me think she was feeling embarrassed. “I want you to know that if there was anything between you before this whole exchange thing, I respect that and assure you that everything is fine. I’m staying out of their way as much as possible, and I am not a threat to you and the relationship you have with them in any way. I know they like you. Oh, they like you a lot! I’m doing my best to remind them every day that I’m not you, and that you won’t be gone forever. One semester away is not the end of the world. I really think they will wait for you, and as I said, you have nothing to worry about.”

  My eyes must have grown as wide as saucers. I couldn’t believe my ears. There was no way we were talking about the same guys.

  “Who are you talking about?”

  “Jace and Ivor, of course. This is all so strange... You’re saying they are being awful to you, and I’m over here, trying to keep things as chill as possible. Because I must admit... I like them too.”

  I jumped to my feet and started pacing the floor. This wasn’t happening. This couldn’t be happening... Nothing made sense anymore. How could two dimensions on the same timeline
be so enormously different?

  “There was nothing between us. I told you, my Jace and Ivor were perfectly neutral toward me when I was here, and your Jace and Ivor are anything but. It’s like their special mission is to make my life a living hell!”

  Hayley looked confused for a second. “I think we should redefine who is mine and who’s yours.”

  “You know who is who. Mine are here, in my home dimension, and yours are there. And they’re being very nasty.”

  “I don’t understand... If what you’re saying is true, then it means they want me, not you.” She let out a breath of relief, as if a huge burden had been lifted off her heart. She shuffled out of the bed and came up to me, grabbed my wrist, and stopped my compulsive pacing.

  “Do you know what this means? Your Jace and Ivor like me, and my Jace and Ivor like you.”

  I stared at her as if she’d grown a second head. Hadn’t she been listening to me?

  “No, Hayley. They don’t like me. They hate me.”

  “You know what I think? I think they are both crazy about you, and this is their way of getting your attention.”

  I pulled my hand free and crossed my arms over my chest. “You’re not doing this. You’re not telling me that boys are boys, and they are just pulling my pigtails because they like me. You know what? Nevermind. I thought you of all people would understand and be on my side. I was obviously wrong.”

  I made to leave, but she stopped me.

  “No, wait! I’m sorry. I know I sound crazy and it’s also unfair to you, but hear me out, please. The parallel dimensions are not that different. The dream travelers who have been studying them for the past two hundred years have all come to the same conclusion: some might be in the past, others in the future, but they are all essentially the same. I mean, not the same, but versions of the same thing. So, if Jace and Ivor like me, I mean you, no... me... in this dimension, then it means things are roughly the same in all parallel dimensions. I’m sorry, it’s all so complex and confusing even for me.” She fixed me with a hopeful, intense gaze. “Do you understand what I mean?”

  I sighed. She was right. Well, it wasn’t her that was right specifically, but the decades of research that had been accumulated by the dream travelers. Still, how was that supposed to help me in my current predicament?

  “It’s all theory. My problem is not. In fact, it’s very much real, present, and palpable. I came to you because... I don’t know. I thought you would get me.” I chuckled bitterly. “As you said yourself, we are essentially two versions of the same... thing?”

  She nodded eagerly. “I do get you. I don’t know what to say, though. They do seem to be so different. I’m sorry you’re going through this. I can’t even imagine...” She went to the fridge and grabbed herself a bottle of water. “Grim Reaper Academy can be tough. I know that Mila Morningstar herself had a tough life here. And no one ever helped her. You can’t go to the professors with this because they will just argue that you’re supposed to be a Grim Reaper one day, the bringer of Death itself, so how are you going to perform your duties if you’re not able to take control of your own life? It sucks, I know. It’s so stupid. And the other students...” She shook her head. “The tough competition does horrible things to people. There are only twenty-two Grim Reapers in the world, and exactly one hundred students are fighting for those privileged positions. This whole thing that the strongest, the smartest, and the most cruel and heartless will prevail is downright toxic. The whole culture Grim Reaper Academy is based on is toxic.”

  My shoulders slumped. Not that I had ever stood up straight. “So, you’re telling me I’m all alone?”

  “No, no, no, honey!” Hayley rounded the kitchen table and came to give me a tight, comforting hug. After a few seconds of just standing there frozen, I finally relaxed and hugged her back. Who would’ve thought I needed a hug so badly?

  “You have to stand up for yourself. You’re stronger than this. You can’t let them bring you down.”

  “That’s easier said than done,” I sighed.

  “It’s all I have...”

  “It’s okay. Thank you. I guess all I needed was for someone to listen to me, tell me what’s happening is not okay, and that it’s not all in my head.”

  “Of course it’s not all in your head! Why would you ever think that?”

  I pulled away, suddenly feeling like being so close to her was a little too much. “I don’t know. It seems I’m the only one who is being bullied, the only one who doesn’t belong there. Everyone acts like it’s not even happening, like my feelings don’t matter.”

  “Your feelings matter, Hayley. You matter. Forget about them. Stand up for yourself. You have to make Jace and Ivor understand that what they’re doing is not okay. And, anyway, that’s not true... that you’re the only one who is being bullied. I mean, have you seen what some of the girls in the RDC are doing to Yolanda? And she is Yolanda fucking Aleksiev! She’s a hero, a star! And they are being such bitches to her.”

  “Are you serious? Maybe she’s bullied in this dimension, but I haven’t noticed anything in the other one. She keeps to herself a lot. I tried to befriend her, but she didn’t seem very interested. She doesn’t even participate in a lot of activities and is mostly in her room when she’s not in class.”

  “And you never thought this might be the reason why she doesn’t participate much?”

  “I guess that makes sense...”

  “It doesn’t matter. This is about you, not her. She can take care of herself. Now you... you have to take care of yourself, too. Promise.”

  She sounded honest and genuinely concerned. Even though things were completely different for her, she believed me. A pang of jealousy shot through my heart like a burning arrow. They liked her. Jace and Ivor liked her, while in the dimension I was stuck in, they despised me. I didn’t believe for a second that her theory about them trying to get my attention was true, or at the very least relevant. It was bullshit! The world simply didn’t work that way. Or it wasn’t supposed to work that way.

  “I will do my best. I have never been very good at standing up for myself, but then again, I’ve never dealt with this before.” I gave her a smile that I hoped looked at least a little bit sincere. “Maybe I’ll discover some strength and courage I didn’t even know were there.”

  “Of course you’re strong and brave! You can do this.”

  I nodded. She was a good influence. The more I talked to her, the more I started believing that I had it in me, and that I could handle the situation and come up on top. I stayed with her a while longer, chatting about classes, professors, and the hottest topic at all Grim Reaper Academies, across all dimensions – Yolanda, the human who was somehow immortal while still remaining human. No one knew what her secret was. Humans didn’t and weren’t supposed to live for more than one hundred years at most, but Yolanda had already been around for over two hundred years. There was a secret there, and if anyone in the supernatural world knew it, they weren’t making it public.

  It was three in the morning when I finally decided to go back and get some real sleep. Hayley had been very helpful, and I was grateful. Now it was up to me to take control and turn my luck around. Starting tomorrow, things were going to be different.

  Chapter Three

  I woke up energized. Having a real friend really helped, even when she was dimensions away. After a quick shower, a fresh pair of clothes, and some makeup to cover the dark circles that betrayed I hadn’t actually slept much the night before, I was ready to head out the door to breakfast. My hand was on the knob, but I hesitated. With a sigh, I changed my mind and decided that having breakfast in my room was a better idea than facing my two nemeses in the dining hall.

  “It’s okay,” I told myself. “It’s not that I can’t face them, but I’d rather just start the day on a positive note.”

  I rummaged through the fridge, found some eggs, cheese, and cherry tomatoes, and proceeded to put together a clean, healthy breakfast. It wasn’t
much, but it would do. Once I was done, I grabbed my scythe, took a deep breath, and finally got out of my room.

  First period today was PE with Professor Wyvern, who was an Unseelie. Of all the supernatural people I had come to meet since starting at Grim Reaper Academy, I found the fay the most fascinating. There were two species of fay – the Seelie and the Unseelie, – and even though they didn’t look very different physically, they were like night and day when it came to their personality, culture, preferences, and quirks. From what I had heard, the Seelie were passionate about the arts, and they liked living a simple, almost bucolic life. The Unseelie, on the other hand, were dedicated to anything that had to do with war, weapons, and battle strategies. It made sense that our PE professor would be an Unseelie warrior. He was good with the scythe, but I was pretty sure he was even better with other types of weapons. He was hot as hell, too. I would have loved to see Professor Wyvern dressed in a warrior’s outfit, wielding a sword, or maybe an axe. Wielding whatever he liked – I wouldn’t care.

  As we gathered in the gym, Professor Wyvern was waiting for us patiently, his back straight, his gaze intense and unmoving, his scythe held proudly at his side. We formed a semicircle around him. To my chagrin, I always had PE with Jace and Ivor. I tried to find a spot at the end of the semicircle, as far away from them as possible. Yolanda was at the other end, which meant we were facing each other. I noticed that, just like me and most of the girls in the class, she was staring at Professor Wyvern. I couldn’t blame her. He was tall, perfectly built, and so unnaturally handsome that I sometimes wondered whether he was real and made of matter like the rest of us. Well, if his harsh, annoyed reproaches when we did something wrong were anything to go by, he was as real as they came.

  “In Anatomy of Souls,” he started in a grave voice, “you’re learning about auras. How to see a person’s aura, how to read it, how to identify the string of life, and how to decide whether it’s time to cut it or not. Auras are immaterial. Bubbles of energy each of us is encased in.” That was a strange comparison, but I’d heard worse. He made it sound like we were trapped or something. “My job is to teach you how to physically interact with something that is materially nonexistent. You will cover a lot of it in Anatomy of Souls, too, but it’s all going to be theory. In practice, as future Grim Reapers, you will have to develop the skill to gently cut the string of life with your scythe.” He proceeded to show us the position he wanted us to take to start practicing today’s movements. Left foot back, right leg slightly bent at the knee, and scythe held with both hands. He swung gracefully, the scythe cutting through the air diagonally. “Your turn. Leave some distance between you. These scythes can cut through matter, if you’re not careful.” He was right. It was all about how the Reaper programmed his or her own scythe – to cut through matter or energy. We were getting the hang of controlling that, but we were nowhere near perfect. “Remember: gently. Merciful Death, Neutral Death, Righteous Death, Violent Death – it makes no difference. We always cut the strings of life gently. The people whose souls you’ll reap will have suffered enough in life, and death is a scary thing. Never make it harder than it has to be.”