The Afterlife Academy Saga

Chapter 12

12

“If there’s anything you need, just ask.” Brynhild stirred another spoon of sugar in her coffee and took a long sip. “Mmmm.”

I ruffled my fingers on the porcelain saucer, trying to figure out how to get out of her quarters. If I wasn’t going to die and the death the mark predicted was inevitable, there really was no reason why I couldn’t go about my day. If I covered up the mark.

Well, wasn’t that why Wagner had me put on the bandages?

I reached for the white cloth and adjusted the tightness.

“You’re still showing,” Brynhild noted dryly.

Tentatively, I adjusted the headband. “How about now?”

“Better.”

“Great.” That would do me then. Now I just needed to sneak out, but I had an idea. Demonstratively, I stretched my arms and yawned loudly. “Oof, I’m tired. Where’s your spare room?”

“Second door on the right.” Brynhild set her spoon down and rose from her chair. “Do you need help?”

“No, I’m fine.” I fake-yawned again and rubbed my eyes. “I’m tired.”

“I can imagine.”

I shot her a polite smile as I walked to her spare room. “Goodnight.”

Quickly, I pulled the door shut and felt around for a lock. That would really buy me some time for what I had planned. All I needed was a window. Not even the third floor was going to stop my escape. I’d been climbing cliffs and trees for as long as I could remember. I could do this.

As I poked my head out of the window, a gust of wind caught my hair. The air was clean and crisp, encouraging. With a deep breath, it fuelled the courage within me. Willing it to the surface. I had to do this. For Hyde.

I shot a last look over my shoulder, confirming that the door was still closed, and then crawled over the window sill. The stone bricks were rough under my hands, excellent for a good grip. Apart from decorative ledges scattered along the wall, there were also some holes and crumbled crevices that could serve as footholds.

Slowly, making sure to test every ledge before I trusted it with my weight, I climbed down the steep wall. The wind tugged on my hair, on the fabric of my clothes, teasing and terrifying. A rude reminder of where I was. What was at stake.

If I’d known I’d be getting in this kind of trouble, I’d have ordered some looser pants than the stiff school trousers. And a plain shirt instead of my button-down would have been welcome too.

“Really? This isn’t the time to think about fashion,” I grumbled to myself. I needed all my brainpower to focus on the climb and keep myself from panicking about all the things that could go wrong if I missed my footing.

No, I couldn’t go there. Right now, panic was my worst enemy. It would cloud my judgement and I’d make stupid mistakes.

Like looking down and realising just how high up I was.

Shit.

Why did I do that?

The ground was way down. So far down, the students underneath me were tiny ants compared to their normal size.

My heartbeat thudded in my ears, awakening the first whispers of panic. If I fell now, I’d be Ylva puree. If this was a comic, I’d make an Ylva shaped hole in the ground. But this wasn’t a cartoon. This was real.

If I fell, I’d be dead.

A little dizzy, I tightened my grip on the wall. Despite the relatively short distance, my arms and legs were already tired. Sweat coated my forehead and hands, which didn’t help with keeping a good grip. My muscles were aching, wincing in pain, trembling in exhaustion.

I had to find an open window on the second floor to climb back in because I was never going to make it to the ground. Not without ending up flat as a quarter.

“s**t. Ylva, why do you do this!” I growled, cursing myself for my recklessness. I should’ve just waited and found another way out instead of risking my life. At this rate, I’d be the first casualty of the catzel curse.

Despite the bandage headband, droplets of sweat rolled down my forehead and trickled along my nose. I desperately wanted to wipe them away, but I didn’t have the luxury of spare limbs for that. I couldn’t waste a moment, not with the fatigue setting into my arms.

I shouldn’t have done this, I shouldn’t have done this. What a stupid idea.

With a withering stare, I looked up. Could I still climb back up? Stop this madness?

But if I did that, then I wouldn’t be able to go back into the forest and for as little as I knew Var, he didn’t seem like the forgiving type. Hyde would pay the price for my cowardice.

No. I was done being a coward. My resolve tightened as I took a deep breath and worked my way further down. Just a little more and I’d be within arm’s reach of the second floor. There were some strong ridges I could use and surely, there had to be a window that was open.

Desperate to take the tension off my arms, I reached for a thick ridge. My fingers curled into the hard stone as I used it to support some of my weight. Step by step, brick by brick, I closed the distance between me and the second floor.

Just a little more, just a little…

My stomach unclenched as my foot found a window sill. It was rather narrow, but there was enough space to semi-rest and catch my breath.

Now if only it opened…

I rattled the bars, praying with all my might I got lucky. That someone forgot to close this particular window, but it didn’t look like it.

“That’s fine, Ylva. Stay calm, stay calm,” I muttered to myself, brushing my hair behind my ears and using the bandage to mop up some of the sweat.

I couldn’t try another window on the second floor, the ledges were too far away for that. But I could make my way further down. This was no different than the cliffs and mountainsides I climbed when I was a child.

Just a regular day in the village, except there was no sea breeze. Just the west wind to catch me.

I inhaled deeply and sighed. I could do this.

With renewed vigour, I left the safety of the window sill and descended further towards the ground. A small ledge here, a thin ridge there. The wall might look flat, but it had more indentations and footholds than anyone would suspect.

If it hadn’t been for my experience, I wouldn’t have managed. But luckily, I was rather good at this, even out of practice.

Down, down, down—

The ledge under my foot crumbled and my body catapulted down. I tightened my fingers, desperate to keep hold of something. Anything.

Gravity tugged on me, keeping me in its undeniable claws. The rough wall chafed against my skin, bruising my knees and cheek.

Pain and panic mingled, leaving an iron taste in my mouth as I tumbled down. My nails scraped the wall, scratching it for a crevice or a nook. A ledge, a little indentation, anything that could stop my fall.

Despair raged through me, clouding my head, polluting my mind. It erased all and any thoughts, leaving only one emotion, one feeling. Fear.

I was going to die.