Necromancer Uprising Series

Chapter 4

My whole world narrowed in on him. My heart shattered all over again seeing him sitting there, smiling faintly, as if he hadn't killed anyone last spring. But I knew better. He'd stood not ten feet away from me, my brother's dead body bleeding out between us. His throat had been slit, the terrible wound grinning open and spilling my brother's life out all over the floor. The murderer had held the knife, still splatting blood droplets, as he stared at me with steely gray eyes. They'd been empty of all emotion except one: elation. Then he'd turned and run out into the meadow behind our house.

But I'd already memorized everything about his appearance. The cut of his jaw. The sharp angles of his cheekbones. His messy brown hair. The haughty lift to his right eyebrow. Gray eyes as dark as a thunderstorm. That was him.

I wanted to scream. I wanted to march up to him and finish what I'd sworn to do four months ago when I first saw him. Fury ripped its burning claws under my skin until it pulsed inside me, a gathering storm about to unleash.

His gaze skimmed over me for a fleeting second. Not a hint of recognition when there should've been. Because just as I'd seen him clear as day over Leo's body, he'd seen me too. But then I remembered I still had the hood on my cloak drawn up over my head. He couldn't see me. He would, though, and every begging word he said to me, every plea for forgiveness would fall on deaf ears.

"Miss," a distant voice said. "Miss, will you please take your seat."

I blinked and my surroundings flooded back into place around Leo's murderer and me. All eyes from the four tables aimed right at me, the only person frozen into a block of ice instead of sitting down with the others. Laughter erupted from several of them.

My whole body flushed as I quickly sat down with my head bowed. I hadn't meant to draw attention to myself. The plan was to melt with the shadows, not stand there staring in front of the whole school like a lunatic.

"Now, then." The woman smiled, warm as the torchlights hovering overhead even though she had no lips. I had a feeling I was going to obsess over that, and it couldn't be helped. "As I was saying, I'm Headmistress Millington, and I wanted to go over a few things before you head back to your rooms for the night. Classes start tomorrow - "

Several of the older students groaned.

"I'm not sure why that's news to some of you," she continued without looking the least bit fazed. "You'll find your schedule parchments outside your room doors. Usually I introduce your professors to you the night before classes begin, but they're busy with other things at the moment."

"Torture," someone from the sophomore table muttered, and several people laughed.

"We do have a few new rules this year."

The laughter turned to grumbles.

Headmistress Millington held up her hands. "I know, I know, but you might thank me later that we have rules in a university such as this. Number one: no wandering by yourself after the dark hour."

Louder groans this time. The dark hour meant midnight. I'd learned that this summer when I'd devoured every dark magic book I could find, though really, it was obvious since the light hour was noon. Pretty easy to keep up with the basics. It was the rest of it that had a steep learning curve.

"Number two," the headmistress continued. "No going outside after the dark hour."

Gasps swept through the room.

A blonde at the head of the senior table shot to her feet, her cheeks stained a rosy pink. "But Headmistress, Advanced Necromancy doesn't even start until the dark hour, and it's in the cemetery out back, so - "

"Not anymore, Beatrice," Headmistress Millington said gently.

"But...why?" Beatrice asked.

"That's the way of it for all of your safety. As necromancers, it's important to readily adapt to change since what we do isn't always straightforward." She nodded at Beatrice who didn't seem all that convinced as she sank back into her seat. "Rule number three, which isn't new at all: no bringing physical or emotional harm to anyone."

"After the dark hour," several students chanted and then snickered.

But the others still seemed hung up on the first two rules as they frowned and muttered to their friends. What had changed from last year to this one to bring about these rules?

"If you feel that the rules don't apply to you and break them anyway, you'll be swiftly dealt with and expelled." The headmistress cast her gaze around the room to drive that point home.

And I got the point, sharp as the blade that had ended my brother's life. I'd just have to not get caught sneaking around by myself after the dark hour to bring physical and emotional harm to Leo's murderer. Permanently.

"The responsibility of necromancers is serious," Headmistress Millington went on, "which some of you know and some of you will learn. It's the darkest of dark magic, and only those who have an iron will can make it through this academy. With that said, my door is always open should you find yourself slipping or in need of anything whatsoever."

A disembodied arm poked from the backstage area and waved at her enthusiastically.

She turned to it, and then back toward us stiffly. Even from this far away, I could see the tension lining her forehead.

She smoothed her hands along her red dress as if to compose herself. "Now, go to your rooms and be ready for an exciting new year ahead of you." She led us in a round of applause, and before it ended, she'd already bustled off the stage, her skirts swinging behind her.

The applause quickly petered out as students stared after her. This wasn't how the back-to-school Gathering Room event normally went, then. What had happened?

The students wondered the same thing as they filed out.

"Don't go outside," one was saying. "Don't be alone. Why does it sound like we're under attack?"

"It's probably nothing," a girl with short blonde hair said. "She'd reschedule the start of classes if it was something we needed to be worried about."

"But what about homecoming and Samhain?" a guy asked. "Are we just going to pretend those things don't exist?"

Their voices faded out into the entryway. So I could keep an eye on Ramsey - that was his name though I hated to think it since it humanized him - I stayed put and pretended there was a problem with the laces on my boot. I wanted to know who his closest friends were, how he interacted with others, his habits, even his class schedule. I would follow him like a shadow until he was no more.

From underneath the top of my hood, I spied him strolling out with a large group of male and female students. He was laughing and talking, with no cares in the world, it seemed. How could a murderer act so casual? I hadn't even avenged my brother yet, and already, I was withdrawn, seeking comfort in thoughts of murder rather than people. Dead inside. It was strange, but maybe I needed to take notes from him on how he conducted himself so no one would suspect me.

And that made me hate him even more. Sonofawitch.