The next day, I sat in the classroom for my penultimate class, and I patiently waited for the other witches and the professor to arrive. I was eager to see what this class was going to be about, especially since I was walking in blindly, but that only made it more exciting.
I looked around as I leaned back on the rear legs of my chair. This room was vastly different from the Shadow classroom. Instead of deep blue walls, stars, and a white marble floor, this room was painted blood red. The desks, which were long enough to seat two people, were also tinted a deep brownish-red. The floor was black as night, and two small stained glass windows had caught my attention as soon as I stepped into the crimson-colored room.
I studied them carefully now. The windows portrayed a small graveyard and a pale moon hanging above the graves. A naked tree loomed over a hole in the ground, and a group of witches surrounded the empty tomb with their hands hovering over the earth.
Like everything else in this academy, the image was ominous and foreboding, and it sent a chill coursing through my body.
I waited in the classroom for about another minute, and then the first witch to show up was Vesta. Her loose green hair tumbled in messy curls over her shoulders, and her silver eyes were filled with exhaustion as she stepped into the classroom. Her black and white uniform was also wrinkled as if she had slept in her clothes all night.
“Why must you always insist on being the first one to class every morning?” she grumbled as she sat at the desk behind me.
This morning, she seemed even more irritated and hostile than usual, and I guessed she had been up all night searching for the Blood Pact. Now that we only had two more classes left, I knew the witches were squirming with nerves and desperation, and I tried to imagine their distraught faces when they searched the library and found nothing.
It brought me a strange sense of satisfaction, and a small smile spread across my face. The time to let them in on my little secret would come soon, and I couldn’t wait for it.
I turned around to face Vesta before responding.
“You seem a bit cranky,” I started. “Maybe you need something to relax? I could help you out. You just have to ask.”
The lavender-skinned witch slammed down her book with a heavy thud and glared at me, but I just shook my head and chuckled. Then she pretended to read her textbook, and I could see her chest moving up and down with heavy, impatient breathing.
Getting on their nerves was too damn fun.
The classroom started to slowly fill up, and we all quietly waited for the next professor. Faye ended up being the last one to arrive, again, and she scowled before she took a seat next to me once more. Then she tossed back her long red hair, opened up her textbook, and avoided looking at me.
I still hadn’t acquired my own book, so I glanced at Faye’s copy. The cover was deep red and made of velvet, and the front of the thick textbook had a marking of a skull and dead roses surrounding it. Like the others, it was at least a thousand pages long.
“Mortuus Libro,” I muttered as I read the title.
“Book of the--” Faye started to say, but I already knew the translation.
“Dead,” I finished.
My skills of premonition were growing stronger each day.
“That’s right,” she huffed in annoyance.
The redhead opened her book and started to read, but I just leaned back and folded my arms behind my head. I was calm and collected, while these witches were twitching nervously in their seats.
Several minutes later, we all shot our heads up when we heard the sound of light footsteps approaching the room, and I kept my mouth from falling slack when the next professor stepped inside.
She was a tall, gorgeous witch. She wore a bright red cloak, and her long wild hair was a shade of bright, fiery cherry red, far brighter than Faye’s hair. I immediately recognized her from the banquet hall, since I’d seen her dining with Luna and Vanessa a few times. She was just as beautiful as the others, and her bright red eyes burned like embers in a fire. When she stared at me, she smiled a sharp-toothed grin. She had a pair of small vampire-looking fangs, and her nails were long, red, and sharp.
“Good morning, everyone,” she said in a sultry voice, “and welcome to Necromancy. I’m Professor Crimson. Now, I’m sure you’re all excited to commence as soon as possible, and I assure you that we will. But first, who can tell me why Necromancy is such a crucial skill for all witches to possess?”
“It allows us to raise the dead and use them to obey our will,” Akira recited, and her coal-black eyes glinted with dark anticipation.
“Yes, that’s correct, Akira.” Crimson smiled and made a full circle around the desks before she stopped in front of me with a mischievous smile. “And do we ever raise Wiccas from the dead, Cole?”
I could immediately tell she didn’t want me to answer correctly. Her smile told me she would love to see me fail. Just like the others.
“No,” I guessed, “you do not.”
“And why is that?” she questioned.
“Because we would never tear a Wicca from hell where she can be at peace, unless she committed a heinous crime while she roamed among the living,” Faye interjected. “Then, that would be the only exception.”
I knew Faye didn’t jump in to save my ass. She just knew the answer and wanted to show off, I could see it in her smug smile.
“Very good, Faye,” Crimson responded. “Looks like you’re going to have to do a lot of reading to catch up, Cole.”
I didn’t bother to point out Faye didn’t even give me the chance to answer. Instead, I just leaned forward and flashed the professor a confident smile.
“I’m sure I’ll catch up with no problem,” I said. “There’s no need to worry about me.”
Crimson forced a smile as she walked over to her desk and pulled out a copy of the Book of the Dead.
“Who said I was worried?” she chuckled. “It’s your life that will be on the line during the exam, not mine.”
She dropped the book onto my side of the desk and then returned to the front of the class.
“Since the final exam is coming up, you will all have to pay very close attention,” she began. “I personally do not care who does or does not make it out of the final alive, but I do cherish my time, and I hope I’m not wasting it on weaklings. So, I only expect the best, understood?”
“Yes, Professor,” everyone replied in unison.
She nodded and gracefully headed to a small door toward the front of the classroom. I didn’t even notice it was there until now. It had been painted the same shade of red and blended into the wall.
Crimson stepped inside the small dark room, and we all listened as she began rummaging through the mysterious closet. Finally, she found what she was looking for and emerged from the closet with a small cage in her hand. Inside, there was a little, white, albino rabbit, and it sniffed and hopped about.
The professor placed the cage on her desk and then lured the small animal out of its cage. It hopped on her desk, and its little pink nose twitched as it smelled the air.
“Now everyone watch closely,” she instructed. “This is not the easiest of spells to conduct.”
The rabbit’s ears perked up as Crimson rummaged through her desk.
“Hmm … now where the devil did I put it?” she hummed. “Ah, here it is!”
I watched with wide eyes as she retrieved a large butcher knife with a red wooden hilt from her desk.
Crimson smiled at us before she slowly raised her hands high above her head. Then she swiftly brought the blade down and plunged it into the rabbit’s back.
Over and over again.
The poor animal let out a series of terrible cries as blood splattered all over Crimson’s desk. Red drops flew up onto her beautiful face, but she didn’t seem to care. She just licked off the blood that had reached her red lips and moaned with pleasure as she tasted it.
Finally, the bunny stopped twitching entirely, and the air smelled tangy and metallic. Crimson looked down at the small dead animal, with her hands still wrapped around the hilt of her weapon, and frowned.
“Seems I’ve made a bit of a mess,” she sighed as she pulled the dagger out of the white and red fur. “Oh, well.”
When I looked at the other witches, none of them seemed fazed. In fact, they had hungry expressions on their faces, and I knew they were bloodthirsty and eager to learn.
I turned back to watch as Crimson’s hand hovered over the dead rabbit’s body. It was now on its back, with all legs extended upward into the air.
“Now, it is important that you resurrect the creature as soon as you’ve killed it,” she instructed. “Understood? Otherwise, it won’t be as powerful.”
We all nodded and watched as Crimson closed her ruby red eyes and extended her hands. Then she took in a long, deep breath, and she began to recite the spell.
The desk started to shake, and it was like the room was vibrating.
“Resúrgere habent cum sceleratis mihi benedictionem,” she intoned.
Rise again with my unholy blessing.
The rabbit’s small body began to convulse on the desk, and its tiny red eyes started to glow with life. Its stab wounds slowly sewed up on their own, and its legs were gently beginning to move again. Then the rabbit turned around and stood upright in front of the entire class. It almost looked the same. The only difference now was that its red eyes were illuminated, and its fur was more gray than white.
The class clapped, and Crimson raised a pale hand up into the air in a gesture for us to quiet down.
“Now, that’s not even the most impressive part,” she chuckled, and her red eyes glittered with pride. “Just wait until you see this.”
The scarlet-haired witch returned to the closet and pulled out another, smaller cage. This time, there was a little brown and white hamster in there. It squeaked and thrashed like it could sense something was seriously amiss when Crimson placed the cage on her desk.
The professor pulled the small creature from its hay covered prison and then gently stroked its little head as if to calm it down.
“Hush now, little one.” She grinned with her sharp fangs. “It will all be over soon.”
She placed the hamster down on her desk, and the rabbit simply stared at it. The rabbit’s expression was neutral, while the pitiful little hamster was squeaking and trying to run back into the cage. The poor rodent sensed that something was terribly wrong.
I could feel it, too.
Crimson shut the cage to prevent the hamster from hiding, and its small eyes darted back and forth. It was desperate to find a way out. The little rodent looked at the rabbit, and then again at Crimson, and it seemed to quietly beg for an escape.
“Kill it,” Crimson whispered in the rabbit’s direction, and there was a dead look in her red eyes as she spoke.
Suddenly, the rabbit leaped from its spot, with its mouth bared open. Its sharp, brown teeth bit into the hamster with a loud crunch, and the hamster wailed in pain. The rabbit’s eyes widened as it squeezed its mouth tighter around the small rodent and chomped down into its matted fur. The rabbit’s teeth dug deeper into the dying creature, and it penetrated into the bones, skin, and organs. Blood gushed out of the rabbit’s mouth, and it started to chew harder on the hamster. By now, the hamster was dead and just meat and bones. It was a feast for the rabbit now, and he devoured the meal in front of him with immense pleasure.
“Yes, little one, you may feed.” Crimson smiled as she petted the rabbit. “Well done, my love.”
“Amazing,” Faye whispered, and her green eyes were wide and alert. “Absolutely riveting.”
I quietly agreed. As gruesome as it was to watch, I couldn’t help but be fascinated. The once docile rabbit was now Crimson’s personal killing machine.
“Now,” the professor said as she placed the monstrous rabbit back into its cage, “we will all start off with something small and simple.”
She waved her hand, and a cloud of red smoke rose from the surface of my desk. It smelled of fur, hay, and smoke, and when the colorful cloud disappeared, there was a gray mouse on my desk. Its black beady eyes stared up at me and squeaked, and I sensed that it was both confused and terrified.
I looked around, and everyone had a rodent of some kind sitting on top of their side of the desk. All the witches were smiling a bloodthirsty grin as they looked down at their sacrifices.
“Now, be creative with your kill.” Crimson smiled. “I’ll let you have a little fun with it.”
“Awesome,” Faye whispered.
I looked over at her, and she was glancing around the desk. She spotted a quill in between us and snatched it. Then she took it, and without hesitation, stabbed her mouse repeatedly with the point. Again and again, she struck the small creature, and there were about a dozen holes in the mouse by the time she was finished. Dark blood, almost black, seeped from the broken little body and spread across her desk.
I looked down at my own rodent, unsure of what to do. After a moment of deliberation, I took my blade from my waistband, and I was about to bring it down with one swift stab until Crimson put her hand on my desk.
“Now, now, now,” she cooed, and her red eyes danced with dark delight. “I said to be creative, Cole. What if you had no weapon, then what would you do? Hmm?”
I slowly nodded and placed my dagger down on the desk. Then I stared down at the mouse, and as gruesome as it was, I knew I had to kill it with my bare hands. There was no other choice, especially with Crimson staring down at me. So, I reached for the small, wriggling creature and tried not to look it in the eyes.
“Go on,” she urged. “Kill it.”
I tightened my grip around the rodent. Tighter and tighter I squeezed, and the mouse started to squeal even more as I clenched harder. I heard bones begin to break, and the rodent’s eyes bulged from its tiny skull as I squeezed with all my strength. Hot, dark blood dripped down my hand and down my wrist before the mouse stopped moving entirely, and then I placed the broken and bloody being back on my desk. Its tiny organs were spilling out of it, and my hand was covered in fur and gore.
Disgusting.
“Is everyone ready?” Crimson asked.
“Yes, Professor,” the witches replied all together.
“Then begin,” she instructed.
I could hear the others mumbling the incantation, and I watched as Faye’s mouse slowly started to come to life. The holes began to slowly stitch together, and its black eyes were now glowing red. It opened its mouth to reveal a set of razor-sharp teeth and a bloody tongue, but it limped as it walked, and Faye cursed under her breath.
“What’s the problem?” I asked. “You brought it back, didn’t you?”
“It’s supposed to be stronger,” she muttered. “This one is limping like a newborn calf.”
She then glanced down at my bloody animal and scrunched up her freckled nose.
“Why don’t you give it a go instead of asking me useless questions?” she snapped as she tossed back her long red hair. “Come on. Bring that mangled little thing fully back to life.”
“Fine.” I shrugged. “I will.”
I held my hand above the dead animal and muttered the spell, and I could feel a hot, sharp sensation coursing through my blood as my hand started to tremble. It felt as if electric currents were shooting through my veins. The mouse began to convulse violently on my desk, and I watched in fascination as the bones started to mend. The organs fell back into place, and its eyes returned to their sockets.
Then the mouse flipped over and stood on all fours.
I thought the resurrection was complete when it stood up on its legs, but then something strange happened. The rodent started to grow and grow. Now, it was larger than before, and its fur had grown thicker. Instead of a small mouse, it was about the size of Crimson’s rabbit.
Crimson had been circling the room as her long, red skirts trailed behind her. Her hands were folded behind her back, but they shot up to her mouth when she came to my desk, and her red eyes flickered from the revived animal up to my face.
“Unholy Satan,” she breathed in a low and quivering voice. “Well done, Cole. Not only did you bring it back, but now … it’s much more durable. ”
“What … exactly happened, though?” I asked slowly. “How did I manage to do that?”
“You resurrected the creature,” she said in a low voice, “and as I said, it’s stronger than before. That’s all that matters.”
I repressed a sigh. Again, I was left wondering why my magic extended beyond the other witches, but there was no point in asking. Knowing these women, I would never get the answers I was looking for.
I’d have to find out everything all on my own.
I could feel everyone’s eyes glaring at me as I stared down at my mutated, but powerful, creature. I could feel the wrath, envy, and contempt flowing from all of the witches, and when I turned to look at the rest of them, I saw pitiful little creatures on their desks. I was the only one who had brought something extraordinary back to life, and it pissed them off.
They still weren’t used to the fact that I exceeded in everything, even after all this time.
“Well done, Cole,” Crimson announced with a smile. “The rest of you, it’s passable, but ‘passable’ isn’t going to get you through the final exam. You all need to study much harder. If you want to live, that is. Maybe you should ask Cole for pointers, hmm?”
When the red-haired witch met my eyes, she stared at me for a moment too long, but I had no idea what she was thinking. Then she shook her head and snapped her fingers. Suddenly, the necks of the creatures all cracked, and they fell limply onto the desks. Brought back to life, only to die a few minutes later.
I stared down at my dead rodent with confusion. Why had she asked us to bring them back to life when she was just going to kill it again?
I heard Crimson laugh gently, and when I looked up to meet her blood-red eyes, she smiled that sharp, fanged grin of hers.
It was as if she could read my thoughts.
“You didn’t actually think I would let you keep your creature?” she giggled. “Oh, no, no, no. You will have to kill your own creature during the final exam.”
I nodded and then sat back in my seat.
Of course. Everything led back to the exam.
We left the classroom, and the five girls excused themselves from me so they could “go study.”
From the furious expressions on their faces, I knew they were really going to search for the Blood Pact, so I headed back to my bedroom to read. I read more about Necromancy, not only because I wanted to excel during my exam, but also because I wanted to learn more about the history.
According to the book, Necromancy had been used primarily to raise armies. Wiccas would kill villagers and use them as a weapon against the elder gods and kings, their sworn enemies. I flipped through the book and devoured the images and words as the candle on my desk slowly started to die down.
It was getting late, and my eyes were beginning to blur, but I kept on reading. Eventually, though, my eyes slowly started to shut, and I fell into a deep sleep.
Then I started to dream.
In my mind, I was walking. I gradually started to pick up the pace, and soon, I was jogging through a deep, dark, and misty maze. The air was cold and crisp, and there was a metallic scent on the wind. A pale, full moon hung high up in the sky, and it cast a glow ahead of me. I could feel myself being drawn to the darkness. It urged me to move forward, and I could sense eyes on me as I ran through the maze. Dead debris crunched under my boots, and I didn’t even realize that I’d been holding onto my dagger with a deadly tight grip.
I held the blade outward and continued onward, and my heartbeat was like a drum in my chest. My hands were slick with sweat, my hair was plastered to my forehead, and my breathing became labored as I navigated through the maze.
Then the air grew even colder, and it felt as if something was pressing against my chest. It became more difficult to breathe, and the fog grew so thick that it obscured my vision.
I pushed myself to keep going, though, until I heard a low, rumbling growl.
There, in the darkness in front of me, were a pair of yellow snake-like eyes. They burned right through me, and then I saw teeth and claws flash in the shadows before the beast lunged. Something knocked me down to the ground, and just as I thought the creature was about to tear into my flesh, I woke up with a start.
I raised my head and looked around as I panted for breath. I was back in reality. A soft glow from my stained-glass window told me that it was morning, and sweat cooled across my bare skin.
“Just another nightmare,” I muttered as I rubbed my face.
After I took a moment to collect myself, I quickly shook my head and stood up. I didn’t bother to splash my face with water or even run my fingers through my hair. I just ran to the door, but when I opened it, I was shocked to see Vanessa standing there.
Today, she was wearing a long, black off the shoulder gown with a deep purple corset and matching purple gloves. Her ebony hair tumbled across her bare, white shoulders, and her ice blue eyes were bright in her pale face.
“Professor,” I said in surprise. “What brings you here?”
“Follow me,” she said in lieu of a greeting.
“Where are we going?” I asked as I stepped past the threshold and closed the door.
“To your final class,” she said as if it were obvious. “Come on, follow me. We have no time to waste.”
“I thought we had one more quiz to pass in necromancy before we moved on,” I said with a raised eyebrow.
“Not that I should have to explain things to you, but we held a meeting yesterday, and Crimson said she believes we should move on faster, make the exam a little more challenging this year,” Vanessa explained, and she turned away and strode off down the hall.
“I don’t think the other witches will be too pleased to hear about that,” I snickered as we headed past the classroom corridor and down a set of stone steps. “They didn’t do a great job yesterday.”
“That’s none of your concern,” she snapped. “The only thing you should be worried about is yourself.”
I stifled a snort. She had no idea what lengths I’d gone through to ensure that I would make it out of this goddamn exam alive.
“Whatever you say, Professor.” I grinned.
Vanessa led me down to an underground chamber. It was made of black stone, and there were flaming pyres placed at every corner of the room. It was cold and damp down there, and the witches of my preschool class all had their cloaks pulled over their heads. Everyone was seated along long stone tables, rather than the typical wooden desks that we had in our previous classrooms, and the witches faced the front of the room, so I couldn’t see their faces. The room felt more like a prison than a class, and a shiver raced down my spine.
“Welcome to your final class, Cole,” Vanessa said with a broad smile. “Hexes and curses … taught by yours truly.”
I knew why the professors wanted to speed up the classes. They wanted to see me fail and die a brutal and bloody death during the final. I had sensed it in my dream last night. The eyes that had been following me belonged to the professors. They wanted to see my demise, but there was no way in hell I was about to let that happen.
I was going to pass this exam and show them all how wrong they were about me.
And I wouldn’t let anything get in my way.