The Curse (H. Academy Series #1)

They made us eat in the main hall. Apparently, the cafeteria wasn’t safe enough. So, during our lunch break, Amma and I met with Morta in the main hall, where we sat yesterday.

“I don’t think I can face Dean.” Amma whispered, she half-hid behind me as we slowly walked over to the spot.

“Just pretend like you’re completely fine with it all. Confuse him, make him wonder if you even paid attention to him during.” I advised her. One of my favourite strategies when it came to dealing with people I didn’t want to see, or was too embarrassed to see, was to simply pretend like nothing was aloof.

“I think awkwardness is written all over my face.” Her silver, floral earrings jingled as she walked. And in her wide-hemmed, white dress, she didn’t look like someone who had a one night stand last night.

“Push it away and replace it with fake confidence. Works like a lust charm.” I winked at her and her face reddened immediately. We approached the table, welcomed by two pairs of shy, awkward eyes and one wide grin. The grin belonged to Morta.

Other people’s misfortune seemed to make her happy.

“Hello, fellow students. Jade, Amma.” Morta emphasized our names.

“What’s gotten into you?” I asked.

“Nothing, I’m just happy to be hanging out with such troublemakers. Makes me proud.” The sly smile replaced the grin.

“Is it true that you punched Bella in the face?” Eugene turned to face me and I took a moment to admire his fashion choices as I scanned the black tweed pants and the tight, light blue turtleneck sweatshirt.

“Uh, I didn’t punch her. I broke her leg last night, but you saw that.” I frowned, realising what he said.

“Hmm, I’m less proud now. I knew it was just a rumour.” Morta returned to eating her pasta. Amma was still hiding behind me and Dean smiled shyly, his lime-coloured eyes trying to get a peak at her.

“Okay, so you two slept together.” Eugene broke the moment. “It’s okay, it happens, lust charms are tricky. Can we pretend it’s all normal?”

“It’s fine, Amma, you won’t be the only one with an awkward one night stand.” Morta waved away with her hand and a huge smile spread across Dean’s lips.

“It’s all cool, girl, we had fun.” He kept the smile on as he spoke to Amma, and finally, she stepped out of my shadow.

We sat down and the group engaged in a conversation I listened with one ear. My mind was elsewhere and my eyes kept darting to the teachers’ table, where they talked in hushed tones, worry written all over their faces.

“Jade, has Thar told you anything else?” The sound of my name brought me back and I looked at Eugene.

“Nothing of use.” I mumbled even though I didn’t hear what they talked about. Involuntarily, I looked at Thar. Almost as if he sensed me, he lifted his gaze, locking eyes with me. So many emotions swirled across his face and it was strange how much I relied on him. Perhaps it was the fact we were the only ones using black magic in the school. Maybe he relied on me, too, hoping my presence would somehow help.

Deciding I wanted to offer any sort of comfort I could muster, I opened up my senses, trying to send a wave of magic his way.

My magic buzzed suddenly, sending shock waves through my body and I frowned. Almost like I hit a bump in the road on my mental way to Thar. An oozing, slimy feeling crawled down my magical shields.

The realisation hit me like a tsunami. Without hesitation, I stood up.

“Thar-”

A deafening noise spread through the main hall and those huge windows broke. Screams followed, scattered through the noise of glass falling on the floor in pieces. Dread, icy cold, gripped my veins and I let out a shriek. Thar grabbed his head and collapsed on the floor. Students began running around, bumping into the doors, hoping to leave.

Panic spread through the room. Teachers spread their hands. Thar was on the ground. I scanned my surroundings, feeling the adrenaline kick and scream for me to move. My friends were on the floor, covering their eyes. Glass shone on the floor and flew through the air.

The door was locked.

Unrelenting horror replaced the panic as we all caught sight of the black, oily liquid that entered the main hall through the broken windows and the cracks in the locked doors. My heart thudded against my ribcage, begging to jump out. The oily liquid spread across the walls, devouring plants that decorated them, eating them alive.

Everything died in its way.

One scream was louder than the others and I saw the redhead that asked questions in the class. A drop of black, oily liquid touched her hand and burnt through the skin. The girl shrieked like it was the last sound she would ever utter. I ran towards her.

“Don’t!” Professor Lange blocked my path and spread her hands, chanting. The liquid ate through the girl’s skin, filling the air with a stench of rotting meat. Sheer panic glistened in her eyes, panic of a person realising this might be her last moments alive.

A protective shield spread out of Professor Lange’s hands, waves of purple and grey and silver enveloped the girl. A wave of relief washed over me.

And than the black ooze ate through the magic, devouring every last silver sparkle that touched it. Professor Lange turned to me with an expression of absolute terror. The expression was the same in the eyes of every other teacher.

Students formed a circle in the middle of the room, a patch of floor where the black ooze hasn’t come yet. But it was shrinking. Wind howled through the open windows, sending the crystals of glass flying, making the students and teachers block their eyes. The ooze crawled over the floor, devouring wood, and metal and human flesh in its way.

“The magic’s not working.” Professor Lange shook her head, her eyes so wide I thought they would pop out. As my last hope, I tried to find Thar. His hands covered his eyes as he blindly chanted in any direction he could.

“Thar!” I shouted through the screams, focusing on our last chance of survival. His head followed the sound of my voice, as he circled with his hand around him, repelling the black ooze.

“Jade!” He shouted back. “White magic’s not working! I have glass in my eyes!”

My instincts took over and my legs ran to the table I was previously sitting on. I hopped on the chair which legs were touching the black ooze. I climbed over to the table and crawled to my beg. Without thinking, I grabbed my notebook, not minding the stuff that fell out and burnt in the black ooze. As I turned around, I was momentarily captured by the sight in front of me.

Students, piled up in the middle of the room, screamed with all they had, holding onto each other and their dear life. Some were hurt. The black ooze devoured their limbs, burning through the skin and the bone, and dripped on the ground, combined with blood. Teachers fought against it, trying their best to repel the ooze, but it didn’t budge.

The untouched pile in the middle wouldn’t let the hurt ones in and they pushed them away, straight to the claws of this unknown entity. I only took a moment to find Amma and Morta, safe in the absolute middle.

Then, I jumped across the tables, hurting my ankle as I finally reached the clear patch of the floor. I found my way to Thar, still on the ground, still repelling the ooze.

“The protection spell!” I shouted as I reached him. “It’s black magic, right?!”

“What?!” He shouted back, but I already kneeled in front of him and opened my notebook to the one thing I wrote today. The symbols Thar put on the board earlier today. I dropped the notebook on the ground, opened on the right page.

“The symbols!” I screamed. “They’re black magic, right?!” I repeated and Thar nodded, still holding onto his face, blood dripping from his eyes into his mouth.

“Jade, you have to do something!” He grunted and I nodded, even though he couldn’t see me. I focused all my energy on the notebook, trying not to get distracted by the black ooze that slowly, but surely crawled my way. I felt my magic reach the tips of my fingers, electrifying my entire body.

The sheer power surged through my veins and I directed all of it towards the notebook, hoping it would do the trick.

“When you cannot fight, you have to flee, so with all your might, please, protect me!” I shouted at the notebook, sending my magic its way. The ooze stopped in its tracks as the wave of relief flooded me. In a moments notice, Thar and I were captured in a small, clear circle, heavily protected by those small symbols scribbled down in my notebook.

“Jade! Do something!”

“You can do it, Jade!”

“Use your black magic!”

Voices reached me, some familiar, some strange, some coming from the students, others coming from the teachers. I didn’t have enough time to look at them, but I knew the only one that can save us was Thar. I simply didn’t know enough about magic.

Fortunately, I had one more trick up my sleeve.

“Open your eyes!” I commanded once I could focus on Thar’s eyes. The ooze was beginning to crawl up my shield and I knew my time was limited.

“I have glass in my eyes!” He added a slight touch of sarcasm to his voice and I appreciated it.

“I know, dummy.” I held his face with my hand while I tried to remove his hands with the other. “But you have to open your eyes because you have to save us. The students are dying, teachers are helpless and I can’t do much more.” I tried to keep my voice calm.

I tried to focus through my rapid heartbeat, feeling nausea grip my mind and bile rise up my throat. I wasn’t used to this kind of magic. Still, I called fort the particles in the air and blended them together.

“To prevent being mocked, I need my eyebrows plucked.” I whispered as I closed my eyes, feeling my hands tighten around a small, handy tool.

“What?” Thar’s voice was confused and I managed a small chuckle.

“Open your eyes.” I demanded and this time, he listened. Blood poured down his face and in his eyes as he screamed in pain. The black ooze climbed over my protection spell and I knew there was no way it would hold much longer. The screams from the outside became muffled, which somehow made it easier to concentrate. I located the pieces of glass in the whites of Thar’s eyes. Using my magical tweezers, I gripped the glass and pulled it out, while Thar grunted.

“How does it feel?” I asked after I located the final piece. We didn’t have much time, but I managed to rip off a part of my dress and cleaned the blood a bit.

“It hurts.” He blinked twice. “But the pressure’s gone.”

He looked at me, pride seeping out of his bloody, hurt eyes. And then he took in the blackness around us, only light coming from above. Immediately, he put both of his hands on the ground and hummed.

The pressure built inside the small protection field and I held tightly onto him. His magic was onyx black, almost as frightening as the ooze. Everything shivered and shook, making me close my eyes and grimace. The air was hard to breathe in and it burnt my throat. Loud, thudding sounds filled the small area and I opened my eyes against my will.

Pieces of black ooze froze on the protection field and broke down, shattering on the floor like stones, leaving nothing but ashes. Thar got up and pulled me with him. As he walked ahead, his magic followed, destroying the ooze in front of us, breaking it in pieces.

We reached the pile in the middle and I tried to ignore the burnt, dead bodies around me. My heart broke at the sight of them and my legs began to shake, once I realised Thar had everything under control.

Nausea finally hit me and I threw up on the ground, the leftover food leaving my system. My head began to spin and I felt my blood pressure rise and fall like the tide.

Hands found me and kept me steady, turning me around to face Thar while he chanted the black ooze away, freezing it in its tracks and turning it to ashes.

“Are you alright?” Morta’s quivering voice reached my ears and I nodded, knowing I was far from alright. Goddess only knew when would I be alright again. Frightened, but relieved faces smiled at me, engulfing me, drowning me.

“Jade, it’s okay, you’re safe.” Professor Lange’s voice spoke softly into my ear and I could do nothing but nod. They were all too much suddenly, I wanted piece, I wanted calmness. But none of that was available.

I stared ahead at the black ooze that covered most of the main hall. As Thar chanted, bodies froze with the ooze, and body parts broke apart under the strong spell. The stench in the air was unbearable. All that death and decay was too much to handle. Yet, all I saw was the pentagram on my wrist, with another point painted black.

My mind slipped and finally, darkness consumed my senses, making me lose consciousness.