Chapter 6: The Academy

I felt awkward as I silently followed the 3 other girls out the door and down a long, winding, lonely road. Nora and Piper were ahead, giggling and gossiping about who knows what, and I'm a little ways behind them, looking anxiously around at my surroundings, and Amber is behind me, looking down at her black leather boots.

I swallow hard, sweat dripping down my back as I slow down a little, allowing Amber to catch up. And once she's beside me, I clear my throat. She doesn't even look at me, she just stares down at her boots.

"Um, hi." I say softly. Still doesn't even react to my shaky words. "Um, so, my name is Maddie Vega, uh, I'm new, and..."

"No fucking shit." I widen my eyes as I look away, suddenly thinking frightening thoughts. Maybe she has a knife in her pocket right now, maybe she's got secret bodyguards surrounding us in the trees that are just waiting to attack me...

"Um, don't you think it's kind of dumb that Master Wilson just trusts us enough to like, you know, not run away as we're getting to the bus stop?" I ask, trying to make her forget my moment of stupidity.

"No." Her voice is low, threatening in a way. "That bastard doesn't need to worry about shit. If we run away, he finds us."

"For sure?"

"God, you're annoying, huh?" Amber looks at me directly then, and as our eyes meet, I feel my whole soul leave my body. Her eyes are so dark, and her face looks so pale, and her heavy eyeliner and her black lipstick make her look ghostly.  "For sure. I can guarantee you. I've tried it many times, and it always results in me getting beat like a dog."

I didn't say anything after that.

The academy is much different than normal school. It's all girls, like Landon explained, and most are either nice or quiet, some are snobbish and mean, like Nora and Piper. They have a blood bar in the cafeteria for all the girls that transformed into vampires from their masters, or even others, and the teachers are very strict, and teach you about the System of Sovereignty, vampires, etc.

I learned that Amber was a vampire. Nora and Piper, no. Most of the girls were non-vampires. I even made friends with one, and her name was Leah Russell. The teachers weren't really friendly, especially this one woman, named Mrs. Caren.

"I expect new girls like you to be the most grateful." She said in her strict voice as she slammed some classroom documents in front of me, a whole announcement in front of the whole class. "Grateful that with your stay in Galea, you still have the opportunity to be taught, in mannerly ways, much and far better ways than that wicked American country." I grimaced at her judgemental words and voice. I hated her already.

I follow the girls off the bus and back to the mansion. I make sure to keep my distance from Amber. The first thing as I walk into the front door is I begin looking for Master Wilson.

I walk into the living room, and sure enough, I see him, sitting on one of the couches, having a glass of wine with one of the servants, a much more formal one than Ham. Master Wilson looks over at me as he's taking a sip of his wine, and then he quickly sets it down, mumbles something to the servant, and the servant gets up and leaves.

Master Wilson stands up shortly after, his intense, dark eyes watching me closely as I slowly approach him, and hand out some documents one of the office people from the academy gave me, which verifies me as a student.

"The academy wants you to sign this." I say quietly, and Master stares at me, almost judgemental as he takes the papers from my trembling hand, and looks at them, kind of carelessly. I stand there, sweating as I look down at my toes, afraid to look into his eyes.

"Follow me." He mumbles, pushing past me and walking down some hallway, and I start following a little ways behind him. He leads me up some stairs and into some hall far from the others, and there's a door at the end, and I realize that he's taking me to his room. I began breathing out my mouth, having to take big, hopefully calm breaths.

He opens the door, and I walk into this grand fortress of a room, with an expensive, yet small living area, a huge bed, a private, large bathroom, a fireplace, everything. My whole house wasn't even as big or expensive as his bedroom.

There's a desk in the corner, and Master Wilson sets the documents down, and grabs a pen and begins signing them, with me standing silently behind him patiently. Once he's finished, he turns and hands them to me, his eyes still staring deeply into my face.

I look up at him, trying to show a confident look, but I know in his eyes I just look like a lost puppy. He gazes at me for the longest time, and I'm in the middle of trying to read his expression, when he says, "Our relationship is going to be far different than the others."

I'm of course taken aback from his words, and I open my mouth to respond, but find out I have nothing to say. Master Wilson watches me for a while longer, and then bends his mouth super close to my ear, and whispers, "You won't be spending your night alone, tonight." And then, he walks away.

His voice sends shivers down my body. Not only that, but the thought of spending my first night alone, with Master Wilson, scared me. I make my way slowly to my room, and lay back on my bed, and stare up at the ceiling, wondering what I'm going to do with my life.