CHAPTER 5
When the first thing I saw was a ghostly pale figure standing across the room, I almost screamed bloody murder.
A second later, I quietly cursed my stupidity, realizing the figure was my reflection.
Even so, I struggled to slow my racing heart, half-expecting the figure to leap from the floor-length mirror and attack me.
When a full minute passed and nothing happened, I stepped inside the room.
A spider web promptly smacked me in the face, and I jerked my free hand up to swipe it away.
Fumbling along the wall for a light switch, I flicked it on, but nothing happened.
Great. No electricity. I’d expected my living quarters to be bad but not this bad. There was also a chill in the air, one that had nothing to do with death’s continued presence.
Holding my magical orb higher, I began to explore the space.
Right away, I noticed the dark stone walls were curved, framing the room in a circular shape.
A small, weather-beaten desk was the first piece of furniture I stumbled across.
On its surface were a handful of candles, most of them tipped over.
I righted them and willed more heat to infuse my orb, using it to ignite the wicks.
As more light filled the room, some of my fear faded.
Until the flames eerily flickered, and a cold breeze stirred my hair.
I whirled around and immediately spotted the broken window.
Shards of jagged glass were still stuck to the frame, a frame just large enough for a person to fit through.
At the sight, my intuition went haywire, practically shouting at me that this was it.
This was where someone had jumped—or been pushed—to their death.
Before I knew it, I was across the room and standing in front of the window.
Glass crunched beneath my shoes, both the wind from outside and a phantom one only I could feel teasing my exposed flesh.
My orb had fizzled out, and before I could stop myself, I reached up and touched one of the intact glass shards.
My vision immediately tunneled, and the world around me disappeared.
Images flashed before my eyes, as if a projector screen had been placed before me.
I watched, unable to look away as a redheaded boy about my age whirled around in terror.
His mouth opened in a scream, but before he could utter a sound, something blasted him in the chest. He flew back, violently striking the window.
Glass shards exploded into the air as he fell through and disappeared over the edge.
Still unable to look away, I watched him plummet from the tower and strike the unforgiving ground below.
The second his neck snapped, the world around me returned with a jolt. I stumbled back, loudly gasping for air as if I’d been holding my breath. Bile surged up my throat, but I forced it back down, drawing in several deep breaths until my heart no longer felt like it would explode from my chest.
Trembling, terrified from being forced to watch the replay of someone’s death, I felt myself start to unravel. After all I’d endured today, knowing that the student who’d previously lived in this tower had been murdered was the last straw.
I crumpled into a heap on the floor, unable to hold back a sob. The sound wrenched from me, echoing my loneliness and despair off the unfeeling walls. Pressure welled behind my eyes, and I thought for sure it would happen this time. The pressure built and built and built, but . . .
Nothing. Not a single tear.
Frantic to release the well of pain inside me somehow, I lifted my gaze to the floor-length mirror and screamed, “You were supposed to be here. We were supposed to do this together! To keep each other safe!”
The girl in the mirror glared back at me, dry mascara smudged under her pale eyes, her black hair a hopelessly tangled mess. Her uniform was dirty and ripped in several places, her ribbon bow tie missing. At the sight, her angry expression fell.
Everyone had seen me like this. Everyone. The chancellor, the professors, the students . . .
Thorne.
Even he had never seen me look this terrible before, not even after . . .
Instead of finishing the thought, I whispered to the miserable girl in the mirror, “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry I yelled at you. None of this is your fault. I just miss you so terribly.”
No response.
Needing to talk to someone, anyone, I fumbled in my pockets for my phone but came up empty. My heart shriveled up even more when I realized that for the first time in my life, I had absolutely no one to talk to. Not my parents. Not Gran or my brother. They might as well be in another realm.
I was covenless. Friendless. Alone in a way that made it nearly impossible to breathe.
Remembering the necklace Gran had given me, I reached up and gripped it tight, hoping it would offer me a shred of comfort. When the amulet wouldn’t even warm beneath my palm, I let go with a mournful sigh and curled up on the cold floor, too exhausted to make it to the rickety bed a few feet away.
Even with death clinging to the walls and images of murder replaying in my mind, sleep beckoned to me. I should at least lock the door in case someone decided to murder me next, but at that moment, I couldn’t summon the energy to care.
As I allowed sleep to pull me under, something fluttered against my cheek. It was featherlight, barely a wisp of air. I’m here, it seemed to sigh, but I wasn’t alarmed by the sound or even afraid. If anything, it made me feel less alone.
Before I could wonder about it, oblivion swept me away.
* * *
The showers in Jade Wing were ice cold.
And co-ed.
I’d meant to sneak down earlier before anyone else arrived, but I’d slept like the dead last night. Not even a killer in the room could have woken me. At least I hadn’t been visited by nightmares or sleepwalked.
The sound of the clock tower bell chiming the hour had finally dragged me awake, stiff and sore from sleeping on the floor all night with barely enough time to take a quick shower before breakfast. Besides not wanting to face any hateful looks or comments this early in the morning, I wasn’t exactly used to the whole sharing-a-bathroom thing.
I wasn’t a prude, per se, but the only male I’d seen naked was my brother—and that was years ago back when I was changing his diapers.
As for males seeing me naked, I’d never dated, let alone slept with anyone.
My experience with guys was practically nonexistent, mostly because my parents and Gran had forbidden me from socializing with humans outside of work.
And being an outcast cut off from the witch community, I’d had no other prospects.
Well, except for Thorne. But he’d only tolerated me for his sister’s sake, and now that she was gone . . .
Yeah. He was the very last male who’d be interested in seeing me naked.
A towel and basic toiletries had been allotted to each first year, along with underwear and a few uniforms. None of us had been allowed to bring personal items, and I’d overheard more than one girl complain about the pitiful amount of grooming supplies in their toiletry kits.
“I got to pick mine,” I heard a familiar lilting voice say from somewhere near the sinks. “Another perk of earning first place.”
I peeked through the crack in the flimsy shower curtain, shivering under the cold water as Alma Ramirez showed a few girls her large toiletry bag. They oohed and aahed at the contents but were clearly jealous of what Alma had received.
“All name brand items. They spared no expense,” Alma shamelessly bragged, pulling a lip gloss from the bag.
A huge male body blocked my view of her, wearing nothing but a towel around his waist that hung low enough to expose a little crack. “Can I borrow your hair gel, Almie?”
“Of course, Blaze,” she told the hulking giant, who I recognized as the guy that had left a bruise on my shoulder. “You’re my roommate. What’s mine is yours.”
“Thanks, babe,” he drawled, accepting the bottle she handed him.
As he turned to leave, I caught more naked flesh, this time in front.
He was built like a heavyweight boxing champion, free of hair except for a dark blond trail under his navel.
When I realized I could see the outline of his dick through the thin towel, I quickly jerked my eyes up.
And found him staring at me through the crack in the shower curtain, his lips twisted in a leering grin.
My heart jumped into my throat, and I quickly stepped out of view. But it was too late.
“You peeping at me, stray?” he barked. A second later, the shower curtain sharply whined as he wrenched it open, exposing me butt naked for all to see.
A yelp escaped me before I could swallow it.
On instinct, I covered my breasts with an arm and reached for my towel that hung from a peg on the divider wall.
Before I could grab it, Blaze’s meaty hand got to it first. I watched in horror as the material disappeared from view, leaving me with nothing to cover myself.
For a moment, panic got the better of me.
I didn’t have to look in a mirror to know that it was written all over my face, giving away how utterly mortified I was.
My eyes met Blaze’s again, and the leering look in them was accompanied by something else this time, something that I could only define as lust.
As he raked his gaze down my front, I shivered uncontrollably, feeling violated in a way I’d never felt before.
“Wow, sombra,” Alma crooned, sauntering up beside Blaze to openly gawk at me. “A little sun on that virgin snow skin would do you good.”
Others joined them, taking in my naked body as if I were a sideshow attraction at a circus. Realizing that not a single soul was going to help me, I shoved my panic down, deep enough to fix an indifferent mask on my face and force my arms to lower.
One of the guys ogling me wolf-whistled as I exposed my breasts, but I didn’t look his way, turning to switch off the showerhead. As calmly as I could, I gathered my things and stepped from the stall, relieved when the students shifted aside to let me through.
“Lookin’ good, Mayweather,” another guy taunted when I passed by him.
I kept my gaze straight ahead, glued to the exit too far away.
Outwardly, my expression was wiped clean of all emotion, but inwardly, it felt like I was dying.
The door leading up to Jade Wing Tower was all the way at the end of the hall.
To reach it, I’d have to parade naked down the entire hallway where any number of students could see me.
Last night, the hall had been empty, but this morning, it was teeming with bodies.
My hands itched to form a portal, but I wouldn’t be able to conjure one even if I wanted to. I kept them firmly at my sides, not even allowing them to shield my breasts. As my humiliation burned hotter and hotter with each step I took, the darkness within me stirred, offering up its protection.
Use meeee.
I ignored it as usual, knowing that unleashing shadows simply to cover myself would be seen as weakness. No, I had to strut down that hallway as if being nude in front of dozens of peers didn’t bother me.
Even if doing so would inwardly tear me apart.
The moment I passed from the bathroom and into the hallway, I died a little more. The passage was even busier than before, and every time a student spotted me, they stopped dead in their tracks to blatantly stare.
“Disgusting,” a girl muttered as I swept past, instantly making me feel insecure about my body.
Several more wolf-whistles followed in my wake, along with a few catcalls, but I refused to acknowledge them.
No one touched me, yet each judgmental look felt like nails gouging into my skin.
All I had to do was make it to the end of the hallway.
I could survive that long. There was no other option.
It felt like I walked down that hallway for an eternity, but I eventually reached the door leading up to the tower. With the hallway in a buzz from my walk of shame, I opened the door and stepped through, slowly shutting it behind me.
The second the latch clicked into place, my legs gave out, and I collapsed to the floor. Feeling sick to my stomach, I gulped down air, determined not to throw up. After a minute, I forced myself to stand and make it up the stairs.
Dirty. I felt dirty.
My shame was so great that I considered skipping breakfast, but the hunger pains in my stomach vetoed that idea. I quickly dressed in a fresh uniform and decided to use a little energy to spell-dry my hair, determined to face the vultures looking put-together with my head held high.
They could take away my dignity, but I wouldn’t break that easily.
I was a Mayweather, and they’d remember soon enough why my ancestors had been leaders of our community for generations.
We didn’t bow to adversity. It might knock us down for a while, but in the end, we always clawed our way back up, stronger than before.
Time for me to prove just how resilient Mayweathers were.