Secrets and Seduction: A Dark Boarding School Romance (Preston Academy Book 1)

I trudged out of the class that was supposed to have been taught by Mr. Preston. He wasn’t there, was avoiding me or had better things to do. Maybe he and his aunt were handling the murder case. His case?

Don’t jump to conclusions, Avery, I warned myself, couldn’t help but water that little seed of doubt.

My eyes were glued to the black tablet, and I was reading the latest posts. Apparently, some people had noticed that there was an unusual smell of blood in one part of the school, and once again, dozens of rumors started.

I looked at my formerly wounded palm. Only a tender scar graced the pale skin.

Do you want to die? Leilah’s words crossed my mind again. The question was far too odd. If you followed her logic, then the truth would kill me. That would only mean that the truth was so macabre that outsiders could not know about it under any circumstances.

A shoulder crashed against mine and I stumbled back two steps. Annoyed, I looked up; a student, probably around fourteen, was looking at me with a blank expression on his face.

“Watch your step,” he said curtly.

I knew him from somewhere, have seen his dark blond hair in the hall before. He always sat in the front row, his features a mixture of tortured and bored to death. I couldn’t blame him.

“Sorry,” I replied, and was about to walk past him when he took a step closer.

That’s when I felt it: the danger, the disgusting feeling I had felt several times at this academy. My body screamed at me to run, to put as much distance as possible between us.

“Avery, isn’t it?” I didn’t intend to answer him, just wanted to remove myself from this situation.

Without wanting to, I opened my mouth. It was almost as if my body no longer obeyed me.

“Yes,” I returned between gritted teeth.

“I’ll join you for a bit.” A grin that was anything but charming crossed his lips. No, certainly not.

“Okay, that way.” What the fuck is wrong with you, Avery?

I had to get some papers from my room before I left for my tutoring session. Alone. Still, this creep followed my every step.

“Don’t you want to know my name?” he asked with a blank look, not an ounce of life in his eyes.

“No.” The answer came out harsher than intended, but I cared quite little.

He was the one who had clung to me like a leech. Was he that bored or just lonely?

“Flavian.” Okay, Flavian, fuck off. “Flavian Arden,” he added, and my eyes nearly fell out of their sockets.

Arden, as in Penelope Arden? A relative? They’d have the same hair color, even the aristocratic features.

I didn’t answer. If this guy was going to tell around that I was disrespectful to him, I could kiss my place here goodbye.

“Your hair smells so masculine. What shampoo do you use?” I didn’t know if he was joking or if he was seriously interested in my grooming products. Or rather, Mr. Preston’s grooming products.

The corner of his mouth twitched barely, the only emotion I had noticed from him.

“I can’t remember.” That wasn’t a lie.

“It almost seems like I’ve smelled it before.” Can this guy finally shut up?

“I’ll send you a picture as soon as I figure it out,” I returned dryly.

“I insist.” Yeah, better insist you fuck off already.

He had the charm of a roadkill squirrel and was pushy as a missionary. Not a desirable combination.

A turn later, the hallway now less well lit, my room came into view, and I exhaled in relief. Soon I was rid of this odd kid.

He said nothing, and I was not eager to make conversation. His aura was just too repulsive.

“I have to go now.” I was about to turn away from him when he grabbed my shoulder.

The same feeling I had with Olivia washed over me. Eyes wide and pulse racing, I stepped back. The fight-or-flight reaction kicked in, but something stopped me from screaming and running away.

“Will you let me in?” He came toward me, fixing me with his lifeless gaze. No, no, I’m not letting you in. I pressed my lips together, trying not to say anything. My body would betray me, I knew that.

“Open your mouth, Avery.” I shook my head. Not today, Satan, not today.

Another step and the tips of our shoes touched. He smelled of…darkness. I shuddered. “I’ll count to three.”

That’s probably as far as he could, anyway. Not a good time to crack jokes about him. Not when this kid disturbed me more than the most brutal horror movie.

“One…” My throat tightened. What the hell? I couldn’t breathe, clutching at my throat, but felt no strange hands or ropes.

I tried to inhale, but it was almost as if I had no lungs at all.

My back slammed against the wall, his amused expression on me. Is this what suffocation felt like? My chest ached; everything inside me squirmed.

Stop it, stop it, stop it, I screamed at him in my mind, but he didn’t hear me.

My sight was slowly darkening, and I knew I was about to pass out.

“Get out of the way, weirdo,” a feminine voice said beside me and pushed him away, causing his eyes to blaze.

For a millisecond, I imagined finding the same black veins under his eyes, but before I could even blink, they were gone. Lack of air, that’s what was driving me crazy.

The tightness in my chest dissipated, and my lungs filled with sweet oxygen. God, I was on the verge of collapse. My heart was hammering so hard I was afraid it would tear through my rib cage.

‘Why are you still standing here like an idiot? Piss off before I wipe the floor with you,’ she hissed at him and he clenched his hands into fists, turned his back on us and disappeared.

If I wasn’t in such shock from almost choking, I would have even laughed.

“What the hell was that?” I almost screamed, and she looked at me worriedly. “And don’t ask me if I want to die, Leilah.” My tone was harsh, unyielding, and she exhaled slowly.

“Let’s go inside. I can only tell you the bare minimum. Come.” She wrapped her arm around my shoulder and steadied me as we silently strode to our room.

I dropped onto the bed and Leilah handed me a glass of water, which I chugged in just a few gulps. My throat burned as if someone had choked me. The bitter aftertaste of the ordeal was still stuck in my mouth, and I couldn’t help but grab my throat every now and then, making sure the invisible ropes were gone.

This thing he had done had changed everything, had changed all my beliefs and made me tremble to the core. I closed my eyes, but the boy’s face emerged from the dark, his smile diabolical.

“Tell me,” I begged my roommate, and she sat down at my feet, playing with the hem of her skirt.

“There are some things you could never understand. And that’s the way it should be. But there’s also a lot you need to know. It’s dangerous here, far too dangerous, and humans are so fragile.” I didn’t miss the way she pronounced the word human. “There are people in this academy who want to harm you, who want to harm many students like you.”

“That doesn’t explain what that psycho did to me earlier in the hallway,” I returned harshly, and bit my tongue, not wanting to offend her.

“Penelope’s brother is strange. He loves to torture people, to play with them. He can be very creative and has the…power to do what he wants as long as some of us aren’t around. I’m older than him and much stronger, but you…” A moment of silence arose. “You’re easy prey for him.”

My lips parted, bewildered by what I just heard. I had expected something like hypnosis, but never bizarre powers. I framed my next question more hesitantly, careful of my choice of words.

“And you know so much about this because you can…do the same thing to people.” Not a question, but a statement.

She didn’t answer, but that was answer enough.

“You can’t tell a soul what happened. Never. Not even Noah or Caleb, and certainly not the faculty.” Mr. Preston included, I understood between her lines.

I let her words run through my mind, but I couldn’t sort out my thoughts at that moment. Defeated, I nodded, and she closed her eyes in relief.

“Avery?” my friend asked, bringing me back to the here and now. “You can always feel safe with me.” I pressed my lips together, ignoring the tingling sensation that welled up in my eyes.

Feel safe… Rationally, I should have screamed, raged, or run away. But right now, I wasn’t a rational person. Instead, I did what a friend should do. I stroked her hair and nodded. “I know.”

Leilah had taken me back to my professor’s office. She had insisted on not letting me out of her sight for the rest of the day.

Finally, I hurried her away and knocked. Mr. Preston was probably angry that I had been late, but it wasn’t my fault that I had been attacked by a mad fourteen-year-old with some kind of alien powers.

My roommate had flatly refused to tell me more, had insisted that I stop probing for the rest of my life.

Of course, I would not let her words stop me. I was still in shock, had not gotten over what had happened, and was just waiting for when all the impressions would finally hit me. Then I would still have time to scream and run away.

I wasn’t an overly fearful person. This side was washed away after the accident and for a long time, I couldn’t feel anything at all. I was still not the same, but every day I tried to take a step forward towards the woman I once was.

My eyes scanned the small room, my professor not here yet. This was strange, especially since he was meticulously punctual and detested such disrespectful behavior.

Sighing, I lowered my satchel to the floor, my gaze fixed on the piano. There was no one to be seen, so I did something very, very stupid and willingly sat down on the bench. You’ll regret this, said the quiet voice in my head, but I blanked it out, blocked its access to my soul.

My fingers touched the keys and high, oh so sweet tones sounded. Just once…please.

I tensed my hand muscles and relaxed them again until I was sure that the peace would last at least for a few minutes.

A melody from my childhood filled the room packed with dusty books. It was delicate, barely a whisper, nothing like the concerts I had had in the past. And yet this solo was worth more than a million clapping hands.

My muscles remembered the rhythm of the song, gentle, like little waves on a sunny day. Yes, that’s good. My chest stung, not from sadness, but from the pure happiness of that moment.

Promise me it’s forever, I heard my voice echoing in my brain. Forever, said a male voice, deep and yet full of life.

My fingers slipped from the keys. Irritated, I looked behind me. Perhaps this dark blond monster had played a trick on me, but there was no one.

I stroked my face in frustration. Pull yourself together, you were just daydreaming. I shook my head and stood up. My gaze turned to the clock on the desk.

My professor was already half an hour late, and I felt dumped. Should I just leave? I had better things to do than wait for him all day. Well, to be honest, I had nothing to do, but it was a matter of principle.

I was just about to get back into the armchair when an idea struck me. Since Mr. Preston hadn’t considered canceling, I might as well snoop around and find answers for his strange behavior.

Maybe I’d find something that would incriminate him. Olivia’s case would be settled, and her parents could finally say goodbye. They deserved to know who the killer was and since the principal had to protect someone, my first thought fell on the black-haired professor with way too many secrets.

I opened the door a crack so I could hear the footsteps in the hallway and slipped over to his side of the desk.

Rushed, I tugged at the drawers, but as I had feared, they were locked. Damn, if I were caught in this situation, I would see the cell faster than I could count to three.

I pricked up my ears, but no sound came from outside. I was running out of time and had to act quickly. Just then, a brainwave hit me.

I pulled a bobby pin out of my hair and repeated what a former neighbor had taught me. I hadn’t broken in anywhere, but sometimes the lock to the mailbox would jam and I had to get creative. These easy locks shouldn’t be a problem.

I slid the bobby pin into the hole and twisted it around until the drawer opened with a faint sound. The sight disappointed me.

All that lay before me was homework, with far too many red annotations. I rummaged through the papers briefly until the tests for history and philosophy caught my eye. It wasn’t what I was looking for, but it wouldn’t hurt to improve my grades a bit.

Without hesitation, I grabbed my tablet and took pictures of the pages. Leilah, Caleb, and Noah would love that present, I thought to myself. I put the tests back in place.

My fingers quailed as I opened drawer after drawer, but found nothing incriminating. In the third drawer, he had hidden his cigarettes, and I put two in my pocket. Maybe my roommate smoked too.

The last locked compartment called me, urging me to hurry.

How could it be otherwise, footsteps sounded in the hallway, two voices, one male and one female, talking not too quietly.

I had no time to leave, and I didn’t want to have come here for nothing either. No, I hadn’t risked this little shit torturing me even more.

The footsteps got louder, and I frantically moved the bobby pin, taking twice as long to pick the damn lock.

My potential executioners were barely a few feet from the office.

Click. The drawer opened, inviting me to snoop. The two people were so close I could make out what they were talking about.

Oh God no, it was Mr. Preston and….Ms. Arden. Shit, I was fucked. My eyes slid over the junk in the last drawer until I could make out a dark scarf in the far corner. I pulled it out and stared down; it was covered in blood.

Where had I seen it before?

I fumbled for the label where the student’s name should be. Every garment provided by the academy had it. That way, our uniforms wouldn’t get mixed up when being washed.

All life drained from my body as I looked at the name—Olivia S.