The Curse (H. Academy Series #1)

On the way back to the party, I checked my phone for any updates on teachers’ whereabouts. Lorenia, Lange and the rest of the teachers were in the teachers’ quarters, minding their own business. My father was in his chambers and Thar was still at the party, which has by now turned into a rave and everyone was black-out drunk.

I remembered to bring Leon’s rose back with me, knowing I would once again need it.

Another aspect of my returning to the party bothered me.

Leon and I had to walk in the same way we left – through the male dorms’ backdoor.

“It’s been an hour and a half since we left.” I murmured, walking across the dark backyard on a safe distance from Leon.

He offered a cocky grin, “Worried Thar’s going to think you had fun with me?”

I eyed him, “I doubt Thar will believe you last that long.”

“Ouch.” He grimaced. “You wound me.”

Once we approached the backdoor, I stopped, “Can I tell you something?”

“Is it a dirty little secret?” Leon faced me and leaned against the door. “If so, I’m all ears.”

I ignored that, “I think I heard a demon back there.”

That snickering sound still reverberated through my skull.

Leon cocked his head, “If all this – all the conspiracies and broken shields and lying, evil fathers – if all of it is true, do you truly think we’re far from encountering an actual demon?”

His words replaced the snickering in my head for a second.

“If you ask me,” Leon pushed the door open with his back, “I think someone wants the demon in our world, probably because that someone wants to use it for something.”

He was right.

“I’m beginning to think you’re smarter than you let on.”

Leon disappeared inside with a chuckle, “Don’t. I’m still a cliché.”

There it was again. What the fuck was wrong with me?

Once again pissed off, I followed him inside. We rushed to the second floor and then slowed down. Leon went up to his room and I needed a second to step back into the drunken whore role. I leaned against the wall. Sweat washed over me. I’ve gotten used to the chill inside the abandoned eastern building and the lust charm lingering in the air here was like a heat wave.

This was it.

Professor Darth would take care of our mess. He’d study the black ooze. All I had to do now was distract everyone in case of an emergency. I opened up my senses and focused on the magic around me.

The lust charm slammed into me; thick and sweet and alluring. Underneath it, I could feel the quiet reverberation of the school’s magic, but nothing unusual. Nothing I wasn’t used to.

Would I feel the demon as strongly as I’d felt the black ooze when it first attacked? Or would its magic cover the demon, making it easier to sneak up on us?

Leon returned with a bottle of gin then, and the sudden exposure to the lust charm made me painfully aware of our strained situationship.

“Is it water?”

“No.” He handed the bottle to me.

He held my gaze, challenging me. It didn’t take long; I took the bottle and a sip. The taste burned my tongue, but I allowed it, enjoying the feel of something other than magic overtaking my senses.

“I had fun with you today, Jade.”

“I had fun with you, too.” I said without thinking.

He chuckled, “Come on, we’ve got more teachers to distract and students to get drunk.”

I’ve decided that a demon has been possessing me ever since I came to the Academy, and for some ungodly reason, the demon was fatally attracted to Leon.

Morta was right; only an idiot would link her arms with this walking red flag and let him lead her back to the lust charm filled party. Only an idiot would think about sneaking into his room for real once the party ended. Me. I was the idiot.

The underlying chaos that plagued the party at the beginning now reached the surface. People swayed from left to right, their feet unstable, their gazes drunk, but empty. Like something dark and hopeless took over their limbs, guiding them in careless, unpredictable patterns. Even the songs switched to deeper tunes, and the beat thudded through me, pulling at my very soul.

I looked over the party, searching for anyone who was still sober, or at least having fun. But each face, no matter the emotion, wrapped in an exaggerated mask. Ugly tears. Hysterical laughter. Obscene touches.

“What the fuck is going on here?” I asked as we tried to pass through the drunken crowd to Dean’s desk.

Leon already had a cigarette between his lips, “You pour a whole bunch of alcohol over the realisation that we’re all going to die and this is what you get.”

“Fucking wonderful.”

We reached Dean. His bright eyes widened at the sight of us, and he immediately stood up.

“Did you do it?”

“No, Darth came.” I lowered my voice although no one could hear me through the music. “He’s taking care of it.”

“In a good way or a bad way?”

“The jury’s still out on that.”

“What now?”

Leon shuffled the tarot cards, a cigarette hanging off his lips, “Magic.”

“We need magic.” I said. “Lots of it. To distract my father.”

“What about the lust charm?” Dean asked.

“Not enough.” I shook my head. “We’re activating Plan B. Darth is casting a spell.”

“Yay, fireworks.” Leon mumbled, the cigarette twitching.

“On it.” Dean walked away from the table to the DJ’s booth.

My gut twisted again once I felt something tugging at my senses. Somewhere in the eastern building, a spell was starting, and we had minutes before it became strong enough to alert my father.

I caught sight of Thar, leaned against the wall in the corner, a drink in hand and eyes on the dancefloor. He did not look at me. He appeared relatively calm, which meant that either his senses were dulled due to alcohol or he simply did not pay attention to his senses.

The music stopped abruptly. Dissatisfaction gained a My gaze jumped to the DJ’s booth, where Dean grabbed the microphone and cleared his throat.

“Good evening, everyone!” He spoke into the microphone, but his enthusiasm ran into drunken shouting. “I hope everyone’s having fun, and if you’re ready to keep this party going, you’ll play a game with me!”

The DJ, a scrawny blonde kid, pushed a cart full of medium-sized colourful balloons. The shouts now turned into drunken excitement and the crowd came closer to the booth, cutting off Thar Adara on his way to me. Fuck.

I pulled at Leon’s sleeve, “Problem.”

“Ah, shit.” He looked to the crowd. “Act drunk.”

“Dude, I’m being bombarded with every ounce of magic in this school. I feel drunk.”

“And here I thought you were just a great actress.” He winked at me.

“Now, before Professor Adara kicks us out of the school, we better go to the backyard.” Dean said, making Thar stop in his tracks and look up.

“Come on.” Leon grabbed my arm and dragged me behind the crowd gathering around the booth, out of Thar’s reach.

“Once outside, I want you to gather these.” Dean pointed at the cart with balloons. “Now, these are not just regular balloons. One of them contains Professor Darth’s secret instant-pass question!”

The crowd now went wild with excitement. Through the jumping heads and bumping fists, I caught sigh of Thar. He did not look pleased, but I still seemed to be the target of his frown. He searched for me through the crowd. I ducked, hiding from his gaze.

“But, there’s a catch!” Dean said, shushing the crowd. “The balloons can only be pierced using magic.”

A bunch of ‘ooh’s’ spread through the crowd.

“Let’s go!” Dean shouted and the crowd began to move, leaving us without a cover.

“Fuck.” I murmured when Thar’s gaze met mine.

He marched towards us, anger sparking in his dark eyes.

“Fuck, indeed.” Leon was looking at his phone, then showed me the message.

Morta texted: teachers are restless, I can feel the damn magic, what the hell is going on?

“Jade.” Thar stopped in front of us. “Explain.”

Act drunk. Act drunk. Act-

“Oh, relax.” I leaned against Leon on purpose. “They’re just having some fun.”

My senses went wild once the students started the game. Colours flashed through the window glass; fire, water, earth, wind, spirit. Different energy swirled inside me, making me dizzy, and left a sizzling trail on my skin. Euphoria enhanced the lust charm, and suddenly, I was completely overwhelmed with magic.

“This is dangerous.” Thar stared straight at me, not bothering to look at Leon. “Someone could get hurt.”

“Someone will get hurt.” I brushed it off. “We’re all going to die anyway.”

“What-” His eyes searched my face. “What’s gotten into you?”

Underneath the coldness, I saw traces of worry. The thought of causing him pain hurt me right back, and all I wanted was to tell him I was doing the right thing.

“Jade.” Leon hissed. “Morta.”

Thar still held my gaze, “If you don’t tell me what’s going on-”

“Keep the magic alive.” I said. “Please. Just keep the magic alive.”

His expression relaxed into realisation. Reluctant to look away from him, I side-eyed Leon’s screen turned to me. Morta kept texting.

“I have to go now.” I looked up at Thar. “Just... keep the spells going.”

Leon grabbed me and dragged me away.

“Teachers are coming straight here.” He informed me as we left the party. “How’s the magic?”

“It’s-”

Energy slammed into me like a truck; no brakes and no control. I stumbled behind, Leon’s arm wrapping around my waist, keeping me steady. Darth’s spell felt thick and hot under what now seemed like a soft touch of the elemental magic in the backyard. I couldn’t even feel the lust charm anymore.

“I need- I need to switch it off.” I breathed. “It’s too strong.”

“Do it.” Leon still held me as we walked. “Everyone can feel it at this point. Who gives a shit?”

I listened to him, my senses closing to the overflow of magic.

The phone buzzed in my hand. Morta was calling. I answered.

“Jade.” She hissed under her breath. “Your dad left his chambers. He’s walking to the party right now. He can feel the magic.”

“Stop him.” I commanded, eyes searching Leon’s for a plan. “Slow him down. Do whatever you can. Leon and I are coming from the back!”

Leon raised his eyebrow, “Do you even have a plan?”

“Jade, he knows something’s up!” Morta’s whisper now sounded urgent. “You need to stop the spell. Right. Now. Or he’ll figure out it’s coming from the eastern building.”

“Call Bella and stop him!” I repeated. “Tell him someone’s dying, I don’t care. Just stop him from coming any closer to the eastern building!”

I hung up without hearing her answer.

“Let’s go.” I grabbed Leon’s hand and dragged him through the hallways.

“What do we do?” He asked, his feet picking up the pace.

We were now running.

“If he comes closer to the eastern building, he’ll discern which magic is which.” I spoke, my heeled boots clinking against the tiles. “Fuck me, why did I wear high heels?”

“How exactly are we going to stop him?” Leon pushed the backdoor open.

Delighted shouts and the hiss of magic came from the other side of the building.

“I don’t know. We’ll figure something out.”

We ran through the gardens, my heels getting stuck in the stone pavement.

Morta texted me again: at the end of his hallway, Bella will start crying in front of him, you have five minutes tops.

“Okay.” I stopped running once we entered the main building. “Okay, we need to get closer to him. I’ll throw a tantrum, or start hitting him, or I don’t know, fake an OD.”

Leon pulled my arm.

I faced him, “No time-”

“I have a plan.” He said. “But it’s a little drastic.”

Suspicion crawled through me, “Leon-”

“No time to explain.” He shook his head. “We need to get closer to his hallway.”

Did I trust him? I didn’t know. Was there time to figure it out? Absolutely not.

“Alright. Let’s go.”

Leon and I moved quietly through the main building, passing our dark and silent classrooms, until we could hear the sound of Bella’s dramatic wailing and Morta’s shouting. My father’s deep throaty voice reverberated around, as if reaching a different note. My heart thumped in my chest, ready to burst out, pumping adrenaline through my veins. Once we reached the northern end of the hallway in which my father’s chambers were, we stopped. Morta and Bella were just down there, shouting at the same time. Leon and I hid behind the wall.

Leon looked at me, “Ready?”

“If you screw this up-”

He clenched his fists and closed his eyes. Steam gathered around his fists and the air turned warm and thick. My eyes widened.

No way. No fucking way. In the second year? Second fucking year?

A few seconds later, black smoke filled the hallway, and through it, I saw fire licking the walls. Fire coming from my father’s chambers.