Grimalkin Academy

Chapter 3

Chapter Three

I can't believe I'm here and standing in front of the building that's going to be my home for the next three years. It's kind of imposing, but that may not be the building, but the witches and vampires within it.

It's impossible to forget how much vampires in general hate me. I've destroyed so many of their lives, and I'm not even twenty-two. I push the thought out of my mind and remember that I want to be here. This is what I asked for, I can't back out now, not without looking like a fool.

"Come on," Bryce grunts, pressing into my shoulder and encouraging me to move forward.

I shoot him an annoyed glance. Is this how our interactions are going to go? With how he's acting, I'd have thought I killed his mother or something.

Oh eek. Perhaps I did. It's not like I checked the vampire family trees before I performed a hit. That would have made them too human. And my job too hard.

I stop dwelling on the past and follow Bryce inside the building. I try to stay close to him, not because I want to, but because there's no choice. No one seems to have thought about the fact I'm human, nor that it means I don't have the same senses as the vampires around me. Which means I'm stumbling around in the dark trying not to trip over.

If my guild instructors could see me now, they'd roll over in their graves. Unless they're still alive, and then they'd probably not say anything at all in case it outed them as what they used to be.

Once we're inside the building, it gets a little easier, though now there are students to contend with. I can feel their eyes on me, and even though I don't have anything as obvious as a wheelie suitcase, it's like they all know who I am.

I swallow my nerves. I need to keep my wits about me, that's for sure.

"Is that who I think it is?" one of the girl's sneers, though I'm not entirely sure which one of them it is.

I ignore her and hold my head up high. There's no way I'm going to let some snooty little vampire get the better of me. I've seen far worse things than any of them can possibly imagine. Ravi wasn't a kind man, and what none of them seem to understand, is that they're not his only victims. He made me watch him t*****e vampires. And then he'd kill them. After that, I got to leave the room, but I know what he did to the bodies. I shudder just thinking about it. The only way I've been able to stay sane is to pretend it doesn't bother me. One day that'll change, but I need some more time.

"Aren't we stopping at the front desk or something?" I ask Bryce, mostly to distract myself from my other train of thoughts.

He grunts, clearly put out by the mere gall of me asking him a question. "We don't want to draw any more attention to you than needed," he admits.

I scoff. "So what, they gave you the keys in advance and told you where our room is?"

"Yes." He doesn't stop walking, but he does pull a keychain from his pocket and dangles it in front of me.

"All right then," I mutter. Am I going to end up with this special treatment the entire time? Because I'm not sure I like the idea of that.

"We're here," he says eventually, standing in front of a door that glows faintly blue.

"Is it supposed to be like that?" I ask.

"It's the spell to stop you leaving the room." He doesn't sound like it bothers him at all. He slips the key into the lock and twists it.

I'm not sure how I feel about stepping into the place that's going to be my home for the next few years. I know I wanted this, but a small part of me definitely wants to reconsider the idea. Why did I ever think it was a good one?

To my surprise, Bryce holds the door open for me.

"Thanks," I say and step inside. I may not like the man, but he's going to be my keeper for at least a little while, it seems like a good idea to at least try and stay on his good side.

It's more spacious than I thought, and nothing like the vampire quarters I've heard about that are nothing except a room. We've been given something more like a flat with a small kitchenette-s***h-living-space and three doors. I assume two of them are bedrooms and the other one a bathroom.

Papers lie on the table in the centre of the room. I assume I'm supposed to read them. Perhaps it'll include more information on exactly what I'm allowed to do here.

"That's just your timetable," Bryce says when he notices my interest.

The door clicks shut behind him, locking the two of us into the room.

"Is it bad that I'm disappointed?" I ask.

"Yes."

I roll my eyes and stop paying attention to him, searching the rest of the room. The fridge and cupboards are well stocked, and some of the food there even seems like it's my favourites. Did Ashryn remember from back when we were at the guild? Or did she guess? The only thing I'm sure of right now is that she's behind this.

Abandoning the kitchen, I check in one room and then the other, deciding that the one with blue wallpaper and a matching bedspread is mine. I make my way inside, then notice the suitcases next to the bed. I slowly unpack, examining the clothing and other things I've been provided with. Some of it isn't my style, but other bits are. Overall, it's a decent haul and will help me fit in at the academy.

I snort. Why am I worrying about fitting in? I'm the only human at an academy full of witches and vampires. There's literally no way I'm not going to stand out. It's one of the unfortunate facts about this situation.

But at least I have a small amount of freedom, and it's far better than I could have imagined a few months ago. When I look back at my life, this is going to be the moment it started. Free of the guild, free of hunting. I can finally be myself.