The Curse (H. Academy Series #1)

“Mr. Anderson doesn’t like when students go down there.” Eugene leaned against the doorframe. “There’s no electricity and boxes full of books are scattered everywhere. At least that’s what he says.”

Amma came closer; flashlight in hand, eyes wide.

“It’s a whole other library.” She said. “With books no one knows about.”

“No, it’s books everyone knows about.” Eugene remained at the door. “Seriously, there’s nothing down there.”

“Let’s go.” Amma pushed past me, stood on the first step, and faced me. “Coming?”

I grinned, “Is there a place you won’t go into if it involves books?”

“Probably not.” Somewhat tentatively, she descended into the darkness.

“Eugene, keep watch.”

“You know, Bella can only keep Mr. Anderson distracted for so long before she has to flash him.”

“She’ll be fine, she’s good at flashing.” I followed Amma, stairs creaking under my weight.

“If anyone sees us, I’m going to tell them you put a spell on me.” Eugene said.

Amma and I ignored him, the faint light of the upper floor of the library dimming significantly once we reached the bottom of the stairs. A shiver ran down my spine; the air was cold down there.

An area, perhaps just as huge as the upper floor, appeared in front of me, illuminated only by our flashlights. Rows and rows of dusty bookshelves spread before us. Before my flashlight, dust particles floated in the air.

“Holy-.” Amma gasped.

“Yeah.” I stood beside her. “We’ve got ten minutes, fifteen at most.”

She walked ahead, surprisingly courageous, and I followed her.

I flashed some of the titles on the bookshelves, and indeed, they were mostly old editions of familiar books. Intro to Demonology from the 1950s, The history of curse cleansing from the 30s, and all possible versions of Latin. Some were obscure manuals that weren’t used anymore, or have been proven inaccurate. Dissertations, theses, research papers. Some classics were there too; Dostoyevsky, Poe, Pushkin, Shakespeare.

As I moved deeper into the darkness, the titles became unfamiliar, and weirdly vague. Historia. Evocati Daemoniaci. Balvadar: Mythos vel Realitas.

“Jade.” Amma’s whisper was loud in the silence of the library.

I followed it down the hallway, and found her staring into even thicker darkness.

“What?” I came closer.

Her flashlight pointed at another staircase.

“Think it’s another floor?” Amma’s voice was thick, choked.

“Probably.” Mine sounded the same. “More books.”

“How deep does it go?”

“Who knows.”

Some inner instinct made me open up my senses.

Fuck.

Magic was crawling all over the place. Energy licked my brain and overwhelmed my insides.

“Amma-”

“We should get out of here.” She agreed.

Slowly, almost as if scared to make too much noise, Amma and I turned on our heels and retreated through the hallways. There was no fucking way I’d try to find out what was down there, even if I wanted to know. I had way too much on my plate right now. Weird, magic-filled underground libraries would have to wait for better days.

As I moved, I realised Amma stopped somewhere behind me.

When I flashed her with the light, she hid something in her skirt.

“Seriously?” I arched my eyebrow. “You’re stealing a book?”

“Something tells me Mr. Anderson won’t give us permission to take it.”

“You’re hanging out with Morta way too much.”

“I’m hanging out with you too much, Jade.”

“Ha.” I mumbled. “Fair.”

“Come on.” She moved. “I’ll tell you later.”

The air became much easier to breathe in once we reached the staircase that led to the main floor. The relief disappeared quickly, because Thar waited at the top of the staircase, hands behind his back, face frowning and hard.

“What?” I raised my voice. “We can’t go to the library anymore?”

Thar showed me the jar containing a white flower, “Devil’s trumpet? Why?”

I reached the top of the staircase and took in a sharp breath, “Have you got a bell attached somewhere on my person?”

“Jade.” His voice was rough. “What are you doing with this plant?”

Eugene leaned against the wall, his satchel closed, “I told you, it’s for protection.”

Thar probably caught him staring at the plant, and hasn’t seen the rest of what we got.

“Yes.” Amma jumped in. “We found the spell in Intro to Potions. We’ll put it in our rooms.”

Despite being caught red-handed, I couldn’t find it in me to feel fear or shame. I was just angry.

“I’ve already given you a protection spell you can use.” Thar’s gaze briefly snapped to Amma, then returned to me.

“So?” I put my hand on my hip. “We wanted to do more. Is that so bad?

“We’ve already talked about this-”

“Well, we’re talking about it again.” My heartbeat quickened. “We just wanted to do more.”

“You were about to meet me for training.” He said. “I would have taught you protection-”

“I don’t always want your help.”

His stoic expression cracked, and I felt bad. He was genuinely trying to help us, and I was flat-out lying to him. But I knew he wouldn’t approve if he found out what we were about to do. He’d repeat the same damn thing he’s been saying since the beginning of the school year.

“Alright.” He nodded. “I’ll pretend I didn’t see you in the lower floors of the library. Let’s just get to practice.”

“You know what? I think I’m going to skip it today.” I said.

Thar’s dark gaze turned warm, “Come on. We’ll talk about all the things you can do with the devil’s trumpet.”

“No, thank you.” I walked past him, leaving Amma and Eugene behind.

He did what no other teacher’s ever had managed – made me regret disobeying him. And I hated every single second of feeling this way. Hurt pounded through me. I needed to remove myself from the situation, before I started to feel more resentment towards Thar.

I stumbled out of the school through the backdoor. Fresh November air slammed into me, making me take in a deep breath and feel my heart pound under my skin. High afternoon sun blinded me for a moment. I sat on he stony staircase and stared at the green trees ahead.

Thoughts scrambled, heart confused, and nerves hanging by a thread, I just wanted to cry. Let it all out. All the death, murder, fear. Why wouldn’t someone handle this? Why did it feel like we were the only ones trying?

My moment of solace was quickly interrupted when Thar walked through the backdoor stood in front of me.

For a second, I thought he’d broken the promise he wouldn’t be alone with me, but then Morta stumbled onto the stairs, sat down, and put her earplugs in.

I faced Thar, “Seriously? This is your way of handling not being alone with me?”

“What’s going on?”

He looked tired and lost, just like I felt.

“I can’t believe you brought Morta.” I spat, lacing my words with venom. “Don’t you have any control over yourself, Professor?”

Anger flashed in his dark eyes, but he kept the control I accused him of not having.

“Tell me what’s going on.”

I glanced at the trees behind him.

“It’s too dangerous, Jade.” My voice dropped, mimicking his. “You should let me take care of it, Jade. You’re too young for this. You don’t need this on your plate.”

Thar sucked in a breath.

My eyes met his, “But calling me drunk in the middle of the night wasn’t too dangerous, was it?”

The stoic crumbled, “Jade...”

“Enough of that.” I cut him off. “You said you didn’t want to be in the same room with me alone. So, what am I supposed to do when everything goes to shit? When you’re the only person I can run to? Am I supposed to drag someone along each time I need some comfort?”

Thar composed himself, gaze hardening.

“And... the stoic returns.” I chuckled, the sound harsh.

“You’re not supposed to go to me for comfort.” He said, his lips a thin line. “I’m your teacher, and that’s all I’m ever going to be.”

Red and white and yellow dots flashed before my eyes, magic burned on the tips of my fingers.

“Okay, teacher.” I stood up, making Morta jump up too. “I’m going to tell you something right now.”

Thar’s eyes widened slightly as I pulled the sleeve of my shirt up, revealing the tattoo.

“The door opens when the sign completes.” I blabbed. “That’s what my dead grandmother told me when I summoned her spirit to my room.”

“I knew you were going to summon something.” Thar grunted.

“Instead of reprimanding me, listen to me.” I said through my teeth. “The door opens when the sign completes.”

Thar frowned. Realisation hit. His eyes widened.

“It’s a ritual.” He said.

“What?”

“The attacks...” His expression went slack. “It’s a ritual. Someone is performing a ritual.”

Morta pulled her earplugs out, “What the fuck does that mean?”

“You were listening?!”

“Of course.” She looked at me. “Did you think I would not?”

“Jade, this is...” Thar paid no mind to Morta’s lack of manners. “This is bad.”

“No shit.” Harshness returned to my voice. “See what happens when I involve myself in something that’s none of my business? When, instead of pretending everything is fine, I take matters into my own hands? I get shit done.”

He straightened his back and his face hardened. The lines that were smooth a second ago now turned harsh, rough. Teacher mode. Again.

“Sure.” He shrugged. “You go ahead and do whatever the hell you want, and let’s see how quickly you get yourself killed.”

I chuckled, bitterness burning my tongue, “Okay, and you go ahead and do things with caution and patience, and let’s see how quickly you get everyone killed.”

Thar flinched like I slapped him.

“Morta, let’s go.”

“Alright, boss.”

I pushed the door open and disappeared inside the Academy, magic burning through me with ferocity I haven’t anticipated. Yes, there was the rub.

I believed he would take care of everything, and he held back and waited like a coward. But there was a ticking time bomb attached to our cowardice, and we would soon have no other choice but to be brave.