Chapter 10

VALERIA I stare at the spot where Stefano was just a few moments ago, not believing what happened. Hell, I don’t even know how it got to this point, why he’s so angry with me. I believe I didn’t do anything wrong to deserve that kind of dismissal and rage. “Are you okay?” The sudden question from Eden makes me turn around. I want to tell her that no, I’m confused as hell and I need answers, but I just nod. “Yeah, I’m okay.” She smiles awkwardly and holds out her hand for the piece of paper I’m holding. I give it to her, and she starts to read it. “Your first class is Physical Fitness with Mr. Murdock,” she says with a wince. “Okay, this is going to be rough, so be ready.” “Why? What is it like?” “Well, it’s not going to be your usual physical class.” Eden beckons me to walk with her as we head back to the dorm room. “I presume you do human sports in the school where you came from, but we train for battle here. We use weapons. Do you have any background in that?” I shake my head, sitting on the edge of my bed and noticing the sudden appearance of two big trunks sitting in the corner. They both have a very clear label with my name. “Those are mine?” “Your uniforms and other necessities should be there,” she says simply, giving me another smile that looks more like a grimace. “I will get going now. Leave me a note on my bed if you need anything.” I look up to thank her, but before I can even open my mouth, she’s gone. And that gives me the feeling that she doesn’t want to be with me. That’s perfectly alright, of course. I never expected special treatment, even from Stefano. It’s still not right that he turned sour so suddenly and without reason, but I do get it. But is it wrong of me to hope that things will be different here somehow? That I will be getting more warmth here, especially since they’re supposed to be supernatural like me? Not wanting to break down on my first day, I decide to just open the trunks and see the content. Like what Eden says, there are five sets of uniforms here: two maroon track suits with the school emblem, which depicts a sword and a torch crossed over a shield, then three sets of a maroon skirt and jacket with a white shirt and a black necktie. There’s a hygiene kit as well, along with some maroon pajamas, underwear, snow wear, and much more. There are even pairs of shoes at the bottom that are perfectly my size. I’ve never really had this many clothes since Mom and I moved a lot and she encouraged me to always pack light. So having this much stuff in my possession now fills me with a bit of joy, especially since I remember that Mom went to this school too. “I hope I make you proud,” I whisper as I think of her, running my hand over the trunk. “I hope you’re still out there, and I can find you.” * * * Only when it’s time for me to find my room do I realize that Eden left me to my own devices in a completely new place full of completely new people, and I don’t like that. My schedule says that I should be in class at eight, but it’s already a quarter past eight. I still can’t find the classroom. I’ve been going around and around the building, but the hallways are blissfully empty. My schedule says that I should be at the amphitheater, but I can’t find an exit. I don’t know where I am. I’m simply just lost in the labyrinth of maroon bricks. I look at the big clock in the middle of the hallway. It says twenty minutes past eight. I wonder what will happen if I— “Lost?” The echo of the male voice at the other end of the hallway makes me flinch and turn, only to see Auric. Flashbacks of the little prank he pulled come rushing back to me, so I speed walk to the other end of the hallway. But he just closes the distance between us in three big strides and takes my arm. “Let me go!” I spit out. “I swear, if you—” “Can we just talk about that later?” he asks patiently. “You need to get to class, and lucky for you, I think we have the same schedule. Come on.” With that, he holds onto me tighter and leads me to this narrow path that I swear wasn’t there before. Before I know it, we’re already outside with the sun shining brightly over a gigantic amphitheater surrounded by lush gardens and tall trees. We rush inside, and a big burly man wearing a black track suit meets us along the way. I assume that he’s our teacher, Mr. Murdock. He’s middle aged with a perfect resemblance to a bulldog, and he’s glaring at us both like he’s about to bark. “Thirty minutes late,” he says in a gruff voice. “Detention, both of you.” “I’m so sorry, sir,” I begin to say, but Auric just nudges me and leads me to one of the benches. I notice that as we walk past, every student there is looking at us. There has to be at least eighteen of them, and all of them look annoyed. As we sit down, the others focus back on Mr. Murdock, but a pretty blonde girl keeps staring, especially at me. When I look up at her, she smirks then looks away. “Who is that?” I ask Auric, but before he can answer, Mr. Murdock turns to me. “Hey, you. Come over here.” I jump to my feet so fast that I stumble, sending a low ripple of laughter in the theater. My cheeks heat up and my stomach sinks, but I just make my way to Mr. Murdock, who is standing in the middle of the theater with a crate by his feet. He opens it when I get close enough, and I almost get blinded by the flash of gold beaming from it. Inside the crate are heaps of golden swords, all looking sharp enough to slice through anything. I open my mouth to ask what he wants me to do, but before I can even phrase the question, he dives into the crate and retrieves a particularly big sword with a leather handle, tossing it to me. Instead of catching it and risking impalement, I step to the side and let it fall, causing more laughter. Mr. Murdock glares at me with his beady eyes. “This is what you get for being late, Miss Valeria Marcus. You missed the lesson, and now you have to improvise fighting with a sword.” My heart drops right into my shoes. He wants me to fight? I've never even touched a sword before! “Sir,” I try to reason, but he already turned his back on me, looking at the rest of the class. “Sir, I don’t—” “Miss Celeste Andrich,” Mr. Murdock calls out, and the pretty blonde girl who was glaring at me gets to her feet, meeting my eyes and smiling coldly. “Pick a sword and show Miss Marcus how it’s done.”