Chapter 3

I found my trunk among everyone else's, half submerged on the muddy shore. Gods forbid the luggage handlers push them back five feet to a sandy area. Hissing my frustration through my teeth, I grabbed the handle on one side of my trunk, and when I hefted it, broken glass clanked inside.

Sonofawitch.

I angled myself in the direction of the academy, even though I couldn't yet see it through the thick forest, and dragged the trunk behind me along a worn path into the copse of trees. The other passengers had taken their luggage and had swept toward the beach. Other than the academy, Eerie Island was known for its fishing industry. I suspected those people I'd almost killed were here for jobs. Honest to gods, I hoped my healing spell gave them a boost.

As I walked, I wondered why there weren't other students cutting across the island like me. Surely I wasn't the last one to arrive.

The trees towered above me, their oversized green leaves blocking out the already meager sunlight. A chill seeped into my wet clothes, and before long, my teeth clicked together loudly. Eerie Island wasn't big, though, and soon, I spotted a pair of large gates ahead. They were open but not inviting.

Beyond the gates, warped trees twisted at odd angles, the bark on them shadowed black. Or maybe they really were black. Some had spindly limbs while others were about as wide as the trunk I dragged behind me. All of them looked long dead. A stone path wound through them, and the last curve disappeared into darkness. 

Unease dragged down my back. I'd had no idea what to expect, but when I imagined Necromancer Academy, I envisioned...life. Undead life, but still life. This was not it.

Hardening my will, I stepped through the gate and onto the path. Immediately, it struck me how quiet it was without the buzz of insects or the skitters of wildlife. Even the sea breeze had died. Maybe it was this way on purpose, an eventual assignment for students once classes started.

The path led around a few bends, and then a monstrous nightmare towered above me. Necromancer Academy. It was unlike anything I'd ever seen. Made from drab gray stone, it spiked toward the boiling clouds overhead and spread two wings to either side, but the angles were all wrong. There were too many cutting in and out in irregular intervals all across the top, the sides, even the foundation. Slabs stuck out from the rooftop like turrets, but they weren't shaped like the structures. The worst thing of all? No windows. None. Just a large arched double door at the front.

Staring at the building unsettled me, and if I didn't have a valid reason to be here, I might have run. Instead, I stepped toward the towering staircase leading to the closed doors and pulled one open.

Inside, I received another shock. The place bustled with life. Students zipped around the entryway carrying books, laughing, calling out to each other. And they looked...normal. All of them wore black cloaks, which was standard, but some had added their own color flares. A few even wore hats or scarves like I used to or had sparkly charms dangling from their wrists, ears, and necks. In my all-black cloak, dress, and boots, I was the one who stood out.

The architecture inside was similar to the outside with all wrong angles and two more towering staircases that zigzagged up the stone walls to a black abyss above. Across the expansive entryway floor, all sorts of symbols were etched into the stone. They pulsed with movement under the torches lining the walls, and if I stared too long, I was sure I would lose my balance from dizziness. The whole place made me want to squeeze my eyes shut.

"Name," a bored male voice said from my side.

I glanced up. Not the guy I was looking for. He was older, taller, with patches of facial hair on his chin.

"Dawn," I said. "Dawn Cleohold."

He consulted his roll of parchment in his hands. "Well, Dawn Dawn Cleohold, your room is on the second floor, room 2B. Drop your things there and then go to the Gathering Room."

"The Gathering Room?"

He pointed with his furry chin to my right and through another pair of massive, arched double doors. Torchlights flickered from within, brighter than out here, but I couldn't see what was inside.

He turned and said over his shoulder, "And hurry. We're about to start."

"Start what?" Not classes, unless we had late-afternoon classes? The only information I'd gotten was that I'd been accepted, where to send tuition, and to be here today.

He didn't answer and I didn't actually expect a response. I was on my own...but where was I going?

"2B, 2B," I repeated, scanning the two sets of stairs, as well as people's faces. 

He was here, somewhere. I'd imagined what I'd do when I first saw him, and what he would do once he saw me too. We would likely find out soon enough.

A set of stairs led to each of the two wings but with no indication of which one I should take. 

I grabbed the elbow of the nearest student to stop and ask, and a pair of green eyes met mine. Their owner's mouth curved into smugness.

"You must be new here," he said, sweeping his gaze down my front.

I ducked down so he could find my eyes again. Poor thing had gotten lost at the swell of my chest. "Freshman," I admitted. "Where's 2B?"

"Fresh meat goes that way." He pointed right.

Fresh meat? Really?

"Thanks." I walked away from him, feeling his eyes follow. "I guess." 

I started toward the right staircase, but a bunch of older girls burst through a door of the left staircase. Of course, separate male and female wings - even though we were all of age - and of course, the guy who couldn't keep his eyeballs to himself wanted to lead me astray. Figured.

As I started up the correct staircase, dragging my trunk behind me with a loud thunk-thunk, movement fluttered from the high ceiling. Ravens, I thought, used to deliver letters. And not a speck of poo anywhere in this strange school.

I quickly found room 2B and deposited my trunk next to an empty bed. The other was occupied with a pile of clothes from an open trunk. Colorful ribbons had already been strung above it from the ceiling to make it look like a circus tent. I hoped she wasn't a total flake who asked too many questions or who'd get in my way. I wasn't here to make nice, and soon, I wouldn't be here at all.

Wishing I had time to change my wet clothes, I made my way down to the Gathering Room. Inside, my next breath hung in my chest as I stared around at the most darkly beautiful sight I'd ever seen. The rough walls looked like they'd been carved from black mica and glittered with the abundance of torches floating in midair. Four tables stretched the length of the room, and over each one hung three torchlight chandeliers made from skulls and other bones. Some of the skulls were even talking to the students down below. A fifth table sat near the front of the room in front of a wide stage, the only table that was empty. The rest were packed full, maybe thirty or forty students to each one, though I was terrible at guesstimating. While the rest of the school so far had rubbed against my skin like sand, this room was warm and welcoming and magical.

"Freshmen over there," a man by the door barked and pointed to the far right table.

The loud chatter wound down while the students stared expectantly at the stage. A woman strode across it, mid-forties maybe, with her brown hair piled high on top of her head and no lips to speak of. She had a mouth, sure, but her lips had disappeared or something, especially when she smiled out at the crowd. She wore a long red dress that made her appear to float like the torches.

"Welcome, necromancers, to a new school year," she said, her voice carrying loud and clear.

The students cheered. But not me. As I turned to slide myself onto the end of the freshmen bench, I froze. There he was, all the way across the room at the junior table.

My brother's killer.