It was the hand around her waist that woke her up.
Corvina blinked her bleary eyes open on an unfamiliar pillow, disoriented. There were wooden beams on her ceiling. Why were there wooden beams on her ceiling? And a chandelier? Since when did they have a chandelier in the room? And why was the morning light coming from the left of the room instead of the right?
As her brain tried to process the new details, she became aware of the solid, warm weight against her side, a muscular arm around her stomach keeping her pinned to the bed. Corvina looked at the arm with ropes of muscles and a smattering of dark hair. It was a forearm she recognized, having fantasized about it often enough during class when he leaned on the table with his sleeves pushed up.
Heart thundering, she turned her neck to the side, seeing the arresting face of the man who had somehow buried himself under her skin. He was tensed, even in his sleep, dressed in black sweatpants and nothing more, his hair mussed in his slumber. Corvina traced his face with her eyes, those full lips and the powerful eyes hidden behind his lids, and looked out the window at the grey sky that marked the early morning.
She had slept in his bed the entire night.
She didn’t even remember when she fell into the exhausted slumber. But she hadn’t slept so well during her entire time at the castle. No idea when he came in and decided to sleep by her side, not understanding why he would sleep beside her, especially if he knew about her, Corvina felt a lump in her throat.
Human contact was such a precious thing. Only people who had been starved of touch knew the value of it, knew to never take it for granted, especially something so intimate like sleeping beside someone. As someone who had always slept alone, even when she’d lived with her mama, Corvina hadn’t realized how hungry she had been for the prolonged contact that made her feel so belonged. She’d always wanted to belong, to be loved, to be cherished by someone despite every baggage she came with. The sheer degree of that desire made something hollow inside her chest gnaw and ache. She wanted to stay right there, letting him hold her safe.
Hands trembling, eyes burning, she gazed at him, silently thanking him for giving her this, another beautiful first, another memory she would keep safe in a corner of her heart that would remain untouched by her mind.
But she knew she couldn’t stay and bask in the moment as much as she wanted to.
For one, she needed to get away from this man who had somehow learned more about her than she’d ever expected to reveal. She didn’t understand that, how a man who was teaching part-time and still studying could have accessed confidential records about her or her mother. Who the hell was he?
Second, she needed to get back and see what was happening at school in the aftermath of Troy. Corvina closed her eyes, her nose twitching as the thought of never seeing Troy again tightened her throat. But Jade would be worse, and she needed to be there for her friend. She needed to get back and get away.
With that thought in mind, carefully peeling his arm from around her, Corvina slid out from the bed, placing the pillow she’d been sleeping on under his arm. In sleep, his hand grabbed it and pulled it close, and Corvina hesitated, wanting nothing more to get back there and have him hold her like that, and surround herself with his scent and his warmth.
God, how she wanted him.
Which was exactly the reason she needed to leave. Lust was one thing, but emotional attachment would only end up breaking her, especially to a man who had told her clearly he wouldn’t get attached. She was already in too deep if her panic last night was anything to go by.
Straightening her clothes and pulling her bag over her shoulder, Corvina crossed the room to the door while undoing her messy braid, pulling her hair back into a ponytail, and took a last look around the room, committing it to her memory.
Then, just as quietly, she escaped the room and the thankfully quiet building, running out into the cold, misty morning. She was surprised that she hadn’t seen a single teacher in the building, not when she’d snuck in and now as she was sneaking out. It could have been that they’d been busy at the castle after Troy’s tragedy.
Her hair whipping behind her, she climbed the foggy stairs up the mountain that led to the main castle grounds, emerging out on top of the path to run into none other than Kaylin Cross.
The older woman, clad in neon running attire, huffed in surprise at seeing her, before suddenly frowning. “What are you doing here, Miss Clemm?”
Corvina froze for a second, her mind going blank. “Um, hi Kaylin.”
Kaylin frowned even harder. “Were you in the faculty wing?”
Corvina denied hard. “No, I just went for a walk. I needed to clear my head after yesterday.”
The older woman studied her for a minute, before nodding. “Just so you are aware, any faculty and student mingling outside class is frowned upon at Verenmore, unless there are special circumstances. You’ve already had one of those. As your point of contact, I highly recommend not having another.”
Corvina gripped her skirt. “I just went for a walk.”
Kaylin began to head on her way. “I find that unlikely, Corvina. Especially given the slept-in state of your very distinctive clothes, the same ones you were wearing yesterday. Watch your step,” she gave her a meaningful look and left.
Shit.
Hurrying back to her tower after the encounter, Corvina saw a few students already outside. Thankfully, none of them paid any attention to her as she slipped in and went up to her room. It was empty, Jade probably still in the medical room.
Corvina threw her bag to the side and collapsed on the bed, staring up at the ceiling, wondering what she was going to do. If she wanted to stay at the university, she couldn’t risk being with Vad again outside of classes, no matter how tempting it was. Moreover, she couldn’t be with him again, not after knowing what he found out on his own. But how did he do that? The Institute had assured her that all the patient records were confidential. They hadn’t even shared them on her university application. So who was this man, this twenty-eight-year-old part-time professor of literature who got them? She didn’t understand.
But she needed to speak to Dr. Detta. Somewhere on this campus, there had to be a phone for emergencies, and she needed to find it. The fact that Troy would’ve known a detail like that sent a pang through her heart.
Shaking off the gloom lest she stayed in bed all day, Corvina took her towel and toiletries, ready to take a shower before the bathrooms got occupied. Unzipping her boots and taking off her clothes, she stripped down, wrapped the big towel around herself, and went out of the room to the common showers.
There were eight of them and a large common area with the sinks in white and beige tiles that matched the walls. It was still pretty early so the stalls were all empty, only a night light on in the space.
Corvina turned on the main lights from the switchboard on the side of the door and moved to the shower stall she always used, one at the very end. The plumbing inside it was old and the pipes groaned when she turned on the faucet. A steady diagonal stream from the nozzle came a few inches above her head.
Locking the door, she hung her towel and tested the water, satisfied. The reason she liked this stall was because the water was never too hot or too cold in it. It automatically came out just at the right temperature. Standing underneath the spray, Corvina tilted her head back and let the water cleanse her, soothe her, replenish her, washing away all the stress down the drain.
Her wet hair reaching her waist, she picked up her herbal shampoo from the basket on the slab just as the lights suddenly went out. The sound of glass shattering echoed in the wide space.
Corvina paused, blinking a few times to let her eyes adjust to the darkness, and turned the shower off. Wrapping the towel around herself again, she opened the door slightly and looked out in the area. Only a little light filtered in from the single arched ventilation window at the side.
She crossed the communal space to the switchboard, surprised to see all the switches were on. It must’ve been a blackout of some kind. Her eyes went to the mirrors above the sink. There were four of them, each one wide above two sinks, in an ornate, antique metallic frame that just looked extra fancy to be in a communal bathroom.
One of the mirrors had shattered and the pieces lay splintered around the sink and the floor underneath it. Curious to investigate the cause, she stepped in front of the sinks and looked up at her reflection in the beautifully framed mirror beside the shattered one.
Wild, pitch-black hair surrounded an unusual face, with natural sun-kissed skin, high cheekbones, a wide mouth, a silver ring glinting on a short, straight nose, a long neck, petite shoulders, and prominent collarbones above an ample pair of breasts. And tilted eyes, a shade of purple so odd to others who had never seen it before. They were her mother’s eyes and her father’s hair, from what her mama had told her once.
“Hair the blackest of black like feathers of the Raven,” she’d said, telling her why she named her Corvina.
Shaking her head at herself, Corvina stilled as she saw something in the mirror. Her eyes in the reflection slowly turned black, the whites dissolving into the black holes that expanded from her pupils and crept to the edges. Heart thumping, she watched, her grip on the towel tightening as her reflection stepped closer to the mirror with those terrifying eyes, a tear falling down the reflection’s face.
‘I know you can hear me,’ came the feminine voice with the rotten scent.
She took a step back, shaking, unable to believe whatever she was seeing. It wasn’t real. It was her brain. But even if it was her brain, the illusion was terror-inducing.
The reflection stepped closer to the mirror, and suddenly the whole thing cracked like something had smashed into it from the other side, the mirror bulging in the shape of someone’s hands trying to get out.
A scream left her throat as she fell back, sliding away from the mirror, her hands cutting on a few fallen shards of glass on the ground.
“Corvina!” a loud shout from the door had her eyes flying to find Roy and another girl standing there, watching her with concern. They turned the lights on, and Corvina looked up in surprise, her heart running a million miles a minute, sweat drenching her already wet body.
“What the hell?” Roy came into the bathroom, her eyes on the sink. “What’s going on? Did you break the mirror?”
Corvina shook her head frantically, swinging her gaze up to the mirror that had smashed with her reflection.
It was intact.
Trembling all over, she somehow managed to get up to her feet, her knees locking in place as she saw the only broken mirror was the first one. What had happened to the second? Had she imagined the entire episode? She was sure the light switches had been turned on without any electricity.
She needed to get out of there.
“Hey, hey,” Roy snapped her fingers in front of her face. “What happened? Did someone do this?”
Corvina swallowed. “I don’t know. I was just taking a shower when the lights went out.”
“Maybe it was Alissa,” the girl with Roy joked.
“Shut it,” Roy glared at her, turning back to an ashen Corvina. “Grab your stuff. We’ll wait here.”
That was nice of her to do, really nice.
Securing her towel tighter around herself, she went back to grab her basket from the stall and joined them again, walking out the bathrooms with them. She headed to her room, her mind messed up over the entire incident and felt Roy accompany her on her way to the stairs.
“Roy,” Corvina began, biting her lip as the other girl paused. “What did she mean about Alissa?”
Roy rolled her eyes. “You know the rumor mill. Give a bunch of kids a castle and a death, and they like to think everything is haunted.”
“Dude,” the other girl retorted. “This tower is totally haunted. I swear I’ve seen felt someone behind me so many times, I have a permanent crick in my neck from looking over my shoulder.”
Roy shook her head. “Whatever. Are you feeling okay now?” she turned to Corvina.
“Thanks,” Corvina appreciated her intervention more than she could say.
Roy and her friend gave her a nod as they stopped at her door.
“Is there any news about Troy?” she asked the girls, turning her doorknob.
“Nothing yet,” Roy informed her. “It’s truly a tragedy. He was a good guy.”
Yes, he had been.
“Never thought he was suicidal though,” her friend mentioned. “He was always so chill.”
Roy looked towards the stairs. “We can never really tell, can we? Everyone deals with their pain in different ways. He could’ve been in a lot of pain, and no one could have known.”
“Poor Jade though,” the other girl muttered. “Gotta be so hard on her.”
Roy looked to Corvina. “Keep an eye on her, just to be safe.”
Corvina nodded, already having planned to do so. Roy turned to leave and suddenly a thought struck her.
“Hey, Roy,” Corvina called as the girls were almost to the stairs. “Is there anywhere on the campus I can get a phone? For an urgent call?”
Roy exchanged a look with her friend, before turning to her. “I mean, lots of kids keep cell phones here, but the signal is dead nine times out of ten. There is a landline in the Admin Wing they use for official purposes, but students aren’t allowed to use it without permission from the Board or the faculty.”
Corvina thanked her for the information.
“Just be careful around here, freaky eyes,” Roy told her quietly. “This castle is… I don’t believe it’s haunted but it’s something.”
Corvina nodded and stepped into her room to find Jade sitting on the window ledge, her white hair hanging limply on her head as she looked out, lost in her thoughts.
“Hey,” Corvina greeted her and she jumped, her green eyes flying to her.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you,” Corvina apologized, going to her cupboard to find clothes. “Are you okay?”
“I don’t know,” Jade replied, her voice despondent. “It just feels surreal.”
Corvina understood that. “I’m here if you need to talk, okay?”
“Not right now,” Jade spoke to the window, watching the rainfall on the glass, the gargoyle on the wall outside spewing the water out. Sad to see her usually bubbly friend so dull, Corvina stayed quiet as she rummaged through her cupboard, intent on getting dressed after the incident in the bathroom.
All her woolen skirts lay in the dirty pile, and Corvina sighed. Laundry day had been yesterday, and with everything going on, it seemed so mundane. Exhaling, she browsed and browsed, realizing her only option was the one plaid red and black skirt that she’d bought on a whim once upon a time. It was short for winter. Shit. She started rummaging inside for stockings to keep her legs warm.
Finally finding one, she turned to the mirror in her bedroom, flinching at her reflection.
“What’s wrong?” Jade asked, catching her wince.
“Nothing,” Corvina reassured her. “Just spooked myself.” Yeah, there was no way she was going to tell Jade about the incident.
“This whole castle is fucking spooky,” Jade spat out. “It’s like once you’re here, it changes you.”
“What are you talking about?” Corvina asked her, watching her roommate in the mirror as she quickly dressed.
“I don’t even know,” her friend said, something passing over her face. “Troy was one of the good ones, you know. It’s so unfair.”
Jaw tight, Corvina went to her friend, giving her a tight hug. “I’m so sorry about him, Jade.”
“Me too,” Jade pulled away, and Corvina understood her need for space. She stepped back.
“Did he have any family?” she asked, wondering about what his voice had told her.
Jade nodded. “Yeah. An older brother. The medic lady told me he’ll come to take the body. Good thing too. He’s an investigator. He’ll find out what happened.”
‘Tell my brother,’ Troy’s voice had said, a brother who was an investigator? She hadn’t even known about his brother. And what was she supposed to tell him? From what she’d gleaned, these suspicious incidents at Verenmore had never really been truly investigated for whatever reason. If someone with the resources and personal vested interest could uncover even an iota of secrets hidden in these walls, it could give so many answers to so many people.
Corvina took a healing balm out from one of her drawers, putting it over the minor cuts on her palm.
“You look different,” Jade blinked at Corvina, seeing her head to toe. “Less boho witch and more chic bitch.”
Corvina tugged at her sleeves, slightly conscious. “I need to do laundry.”
Jade gave her a slight smile. “It’s so weird how the mundane things never stop, even when it seems like life does.”
“I think they’ll cancel the classes today,” Corvina mused.
Jade huffed. “Yeah, they did it for Alissa too. For the whole day. Just, go out and do whatever. I want to be alone today.”
“Are you sure? I don’t mind staying with you.”
“No,” Jade waved her with her hand. “I really want to be alone right now.”
Corvina nodded, understanding what she meant, and picked up her bag and books that she needed, pausing on the threshold of the room. “You think the tower is haunted, Jade?”
Jade turned her neck to look at her, her eyes sharpening. “Why do you ask?”
“Just something I heard the other day.”
“First Alissa, now Troy,” her friend shuddered. “I’m scared one day Verenmore will have more ghosts than people. I just hope we don’t end up as one of them.”
