Silverwood Academy Book 1 Read online

  Silverwood Academy

  Book 1

  Jasmaine Groth

  Contents

  Title Page

  Chapter 1:

  Chapter 2:

  Chapter 3:

  Chapter 4:

  Chapter 5:

  Chapter 6:

  Chapter 7:

  Chapter 8:

  Chapter 9:

  Chapter 10:

  Chapter 11:

  Chapter 12:

  Chapter 13:

  Chapter 14:

  Chapter 15:

  Chapter 16:

  Bonus Chapter

  Natasha Marshall's story continues...

  Chapter 1:

  My feet pounded against the cement, my heart thumping so hard and fast I thought it might explode, my chest felt heavy with every breath I took, my mouth coated in a thick substance that made it difficult to swallow. My hair whipped around me, covering my burning eyes from the cool air, but I couldn’t stop running.

  The footpath was dark, I could barely see the large brick warehouses that had broken and or boarded up windows.

  The streetlights weren’t helping fight off the dark, they were either too far apart, broken or flickering like they were about to go out.

  This part of the city was known for break-ins, drugs and violence, which was why a lot of businesses packed up and moved, leaving closed signs in the window. The odd business stayed, but if they didn’t have bars and locks on the windows they got broken into and raided at night by the riff raff.

  Why didn’t I just get a taxi home? I pushed harder, ignoring the way my muscles ached and the burning in my chest that begged me to slow down, as my breath came in pants.

  I knew I shouldn’t have walked home with all the people going missing lately. Please, someone just drive past! Anyone! But it was all just wishful thinking because no one came down here, and if they did, they didn’t care.

  Tilting my head back and peering through my hair, I seen him. He was wearing all black and running fast.

  My foot clipped a jagged edge of the cement, coming down at an odd angle, and a shooting pain radiated from my ankle to my thigh. I gasped from the pain, my heart skipped a beat as the world rushed by in a blur of darkness and cement, I hit the ground with a loud thump, pain radiating through my whole body as black dots danced across my vision.

  Blinking away the black dots, I watched as he stepped into the light, seeing his features for the first time; his jawline was sharp beneath his short beard, his lips set into a scowl, intense eyes that were slightly downturned, straight nose, dark hair that was perfectly styled even with all that running.

  “Stop running!” he shouted, rolling his head back, like he was cracking his neck, his eyes focused on me the whole time. That’s when I noticed them, fangs! Two sharp, long teeth sat next to a row of straight, glistening white teeth.

  Nuh-uh! Nope! Not happening! Scrambling to my feet, my ankle throbbed like it had its own heartbeat, but I kept running despite the stabbing pain shooting up from my ankle with every step.

  Ahead I could make out an alley between two buildings, and I turned down it quicly. My eyes slowly adjusted to the lack of light as I glanced up at the old, smashed window to the building.

  Grabbing hold of the windowsill, I pulled myself up, using the grooves in the brick as leverage with my good foot, climbing up, shimmying through the window feet first.

  Dropping down into the building with a light thud, pain radiating throughout my ankle as I landed. Dust hit my nose, tickling it and I got the sudden urge to sneeze, I wrinkled my nose, forcing it back.

  Looking around the large room a few boxes lay strewn all over the place like someone left in a hurry, desks, old machinery with cobwebs and dust lay on every surface, and a door to the far right that led out to the back of the building.

  Drip, drip, drip. The small sound seemed to echo throughout the room, and I glanced down as blood dripped down my arm, hitting the cement. Pain ran up the back of my forearm and I was guessing that the jagged glass had sliced it open, but because of the adrenaline I hadn’t noticed and now that I was paying attention, I could definitely feel the pain.

  The sound of thundering footsteps slowing to a walk on the pavement came from just outside the window of where I was hidden, which sent fear coursing through my veins as I held my breath.

  “There's nowhere to hide, I can smell your blood!” he shouted, sounding so close that I flinched, hoping he couldn’t see me.

  Cradling my arm to my chest as I crept towards the door, hoping my footfalls weren't echoing as loud as they were to my ears, turning the door handle but it wouldn’t move, stepping back I scanned the room, my eyes fell on one of the desks on the far side of the room and I limped over to it, crouching down and sitting under the desk. I sent a silent prayer that whoever it was would give up and I could get out of here.

  Bang! Bang! BANG! The sound of metal hitting brick filled my ears as I watched the door fly from behind me and hit the wall. I clamped my mouth shut before my scream could make its way out of my throat, cringing further back into the desk, wincing as pain radiated from my ankle and arm.

  Crack! The sound of wood splintering took my attention away from trying to steady my breathing, one of the desks was lying shattered in pieces in front of the wall. Crack! Another desk hit the wall, shattering to pieces, another desk.

  I couldn’t remember how many more desks there were before mine. I fell backwards as the desk I was hiding under was pulled off me, a scream left my mouth as the desk was flung across the room and the man stood in front of me.

  Scurrying backwards on my hands, ignoring the pain in my arm and ankles as I tried to escape. “Go away!” I cried, my voice breaking with fear. Please, no. I don’t want to die like this! “Help!”

  “Nobody can hear you,” he told me casually as if we were talking about the weather. His eyes glistened with a feral look. He bent down, looking me in the eyes, so close I could feel his warm breath on my face, he grabbed me by my hair and jerked me up off the ground, pain radiated from my skull and a scream left me so loud and shrill it vibrated through my skull. He flinched.

  My head jerked back as he pulled me by my hair, licking his lips, staring down at my bloody arm. His other hand reached down, wiping at the blood dripping from my painful wound, I hissed in pain watching in horror and morbid fascination as he brought his finger to his lips, seeming mesmerised by the scarlet colour, licking the blood from his fingers and sighing as his eyes glazed over.

  My stomach did a backflip, the taste of acid on my tongue as bile rose, the rancid smell of vomit filled my nostrils, and I gagged. Ew! What a freak!

  His eyes opened flash with an animalistic look, he bent down, leaning into my neck, taking a deep breath, a second later a twinge of pain hit my throat and his hands let go of my hair.

  One of his hands grasped the back of my neck, supporting my head, while his other hand ran down my side, sending sparks of electricity through my veins, and he gripped my waist. He moaned.

  The room started spinning, my brain becoming foggy, my head was throbbing, the pain from my ankle and arm becoming too much. It was all I could feel. The world became blurry, blinking didn’t change anything.

  My knees shook as my weight became too much, and I was no longer able to keep myself upright, his arm tightened around my waist, making my heart flutter. Then everything went black…

  ***

  My head felt fuzzy, like I had too long of a nap, blackness filled my vision. What a weird dream. It had to be a dream because nothing hurt and I’m alive. A dull ache in my head from the after-effects of too much sleep.

  My eyes started to adjust to the darkness, the fuzziness wearing off as I realised
that I wasn’t in my bed, I was lying on a cold, hard floor. Cement flooring. Stone walls. Scratches along the walls and floor. Distant screams filled my ears and I sat up quicker than I thought possible.

  A door opened on the far side of the wall and a young blonde woman came walking through the door, with big pouty lips, and kind brown eyes. She was smiling in a way that seemed kind, but it was hard to tell as she also had long pointy teeth that looked like fangs, she was holding a glass with dark red liquid in it.

  The door slammed shut behind her, the sound echoing throughout the room, vibrating through my skull, and I flinched away from the sound.

  I stood up quickly, my head spinning a little from dizziness. “Where am I?” I asked.

  She glided across the room to me in black strappy heels, looking really graceful. “Don’t worry, everything will be okay,” she spoke in a soft voice. “My name is Melissa.”

  A calm washed over my body, although I should have been anything but calm. I didn’t understand why, but I knew I should have been freaking out or having a panic attack. I’d been abducted!

  A sweet smell overwhelmed my senses and I looked down at the glass in her hands, my throat burned like the flames of hell were licking the insides, my brain became fuzzy and all I could think about was having a taste of it.

  My heart beat loudly in my ears, my palms grew slick with sweat as a fever heated my body, it felt as though I was standing in the middle of a fire being burned alive.

  Melissa smiled knowingly, handing me the cup in her hands. I peered down at the red liquid as it sloshed around in the glass, my breathing becoming rapid. “Drink,” she instructed, pushing the glass up to my face with one finger on the bottom rim of the glass.

  The closer it got to my face the sweeter the smell was, the more I longed to taste it, my mouth dried up and I could barely think. “What is it?” I asked breathily, not able to tear my gaze away.

  “Blood,” Melissa stated matter-of-factly.

  My stomach lurched. Bile rose in my throat and just as quickly as it rose it went back down, I could still smell the stomach acid on my breath. My stomach doing backflips and I thought I was going to be sick. Disgust rose in me for wanting to drink it. I gagged. “What the fuck?” I demanded

  “It’s fine, don’t be so dramatic,” she replied, rolling her eyes. “You’re a vampire now. Get used to it.” She turned and walked out of the room, the door slamming shut behind her, making me flinch.

  Glancing down at the red liquid in disgust, it looked and smelt so delicious, my throat burned, and the thought of drinking it horrified me.

  I was just thirsty and hallucinating. That had to be it. Maybe it was a nightmare that I’d wake up from, but if this were a nightmare, I’d have to be awake by now.

  Sitting in the empty room, my mind racing and replaying the events over and over from last night: being followed on the way back to my apartment from work, then turning the corner and running, just in case my mind was playing tricks on me, but he started running after me.

  I pushed the glass of blood away from me, refusing to drink it. There was no way was I going to give them the satisfaction of me drinking the blood.

  When door opened again, I wasn’t sure how much time had passed, Melissa came walking into the room wearing a black pant suit, grabbing the glass that I had placed as far away from me as possible in this tiny space, she lift the glass to her lips and sighing as she swallowed. A possessiveness flooded through me at watching her drink it. She drank my drink!

  “You don’t know what you’re missing out on,” she sighed, looking at me from the corner of her eye, placing another glass down filled with red liquid. She walked back towards the door, opening it, she turned back towards me in the threshold. “You’ll have to feed soon. Or you’ll die,” her voice was soft but commanding, her eyes were sincere. Flipping her long blonde hair over her shoulder and left, the door slamming shut with a thud behind her.

  Time passed slowly after that, what Melissa told me replayed over and over in my head. Will I really die? My throat felt scratchy, and a flame was burning a hole in my stomach, my joints ached and sweat poured from my body.

  The more time passed, the worst it got. I was starting to get slightly feverish, sweat beading above my brow and travelling down my face. I didn’t have the energy to wipe it away and I didn’t know if my arm would move even if I wanted it to, my body slumping against the wall was the only thing keeping me upright.

  ***

  I lay on the cool cement, heat radiating throughout my body, shivering, unable to keep myself upright anymore. My body was wet with sweat, my tongue thick and heavy, my head pounded like someone was jackhammering into my skull, or out. My muscles and joints ached, I was barely able to keep my eyes open they were that heavy, my head felt funny and light.

  The sweetest smell filled the room making my entire body aching for it as it called out to me from across the room, but even if I wanted to, I couldn’t get up to grab it. All I could do was lie there and stare at it, willing it to move with my mind.

  The pain in my ankle from tripping over returned with full force, the gash up my arm reopened as blood trickled down my arm, dripping onto the floor where I lay. Fogginess clouding my mind, as pain flooded my body.

  It felt like days passed until the door opened again. I was lying in a puddle of my own sweat and blood, shivering from the cold. I’m going to die.

  Every breath felt like sandpaper stripping away at my throat and lungs, my eyelids heavy as I struggled to keep them open and fought to breathe. Everything felt so hard to do. My head was only able to move from side to side.

  I stared at the door as Melissa came walking back in, wearing a black dress that ladies wore to their office jobs. She picked up the glass. A low growling noise echoed through the room and with shock, I realised it was coming from me.

  Melissa smirked at me, walking over to where I lay, her cool hand touching the back of my neck, lifting it as she brought the cup to my lips, slowly tilting the red liquid towards me.

  Was I really going to do this? The liquid spilt on my tongue, it was warm and sweet but slightly salty, tingling my taste buds and soothing the burn in my throat, but the fire in my belly felt like it was being doused with gasoline.

  I grabbed her hand roughly, energy filling my body, tilting the glass back even further drinking mouthful after mouthful, moaning at the deliciousness.

  The flames in my stomach started disintegrating and my thoughts became clearer. I felt alive.

  A ripping sensation and new blood filled my mouth. A scream burst from my throat, my gums felt as though knives were slowly pushing their way out, a loud ringing in my ears, pressure building behind my eyes. The glass fell out of my hand, slowly heading to the ground, Melissa caught it before it could hit the cement and smash.

  Something sharp pierced my lip and warmth spread out from the place it had hit. I brought my fingers to my mouth, feeling something sharp and hard sticking out from my gums, next to my front teeth. I licked my lip, tasting my own blood.

  The pain in my ankle disappeared, the gash in my arm stopped throbbing and the bleeding eased until it stopped altogether.

  “Are you ready to move onto your new life?” Melissa asked. “Are you ready to join us?”

  “What?” I asked her.

  The door opened and a pretty, redhead woman walked into the room wearing a red dress and black stilettos. She looked to be in her early thirties, with a square jaw, piercing green eyes, freckles spattered neatly across her porcelain skin and high cheekbones. “I’m the Headmistress here at Silverwood Academy, which is where you will spend the next few years learning to control your hunger and abilities, if they arise.” She smiled, showing off perfectly straight teeth. “I’m Headmistress Nightwing.”

  “Silverwood Academy?” I asked sceptically.

  “Yes,” Headmistress Nightwing replied. She gestured to Melissa. “This is Professor Blackthorne, she will be one of your teachers.” Melissa smiled politely
down at me.

  “Now come along, we have much to discuss! You’re our last to enrol!” Headmistress Nightwing started walking towards the door, opening it, she turned back towards me expectantly.

  Scrambling to my feet I hurried along after her, walking out of the room and stepping out into a long stone hallway, there more doors to the left and stairs to the right.

  I followed Melissa, and the Headmistress up the stairs to a set of double doors which led out to the middle of nowhere. We were surrounded by woods, a crisp and cool air rustled my hair in the wind.

  “During school term these are used as our werewolf turning chambers. These woods are out of bounds for students on a full moon unless they want to die a horrible death.”

  I trailed behind as I was led up a long path through the woods. I still couldn’t get my head around the idea of what was happening. None of it seemed okay. I felt as though I was going to wake up any second and all of this was going to be a dream.

  “There are three factions at this school: the witches, werewolves and vampires. I’m sure you’d know by now that you are part of the vampire faction.” My mind was reeling. Vampires? Witches? Werewolves?

  “A vampire?” I asked her sarcastically.

  The trees began to thin, and I stepped out into an enormous clearing, a large stone building lie ahead. “This is where the administration, some classes, the teachers’ offices and cafeteria are held,” the Headmistress said. “We can talk more in my office and I can get someone to show you around.”

  They led me up along the path towards the large stone building that looked more like a gothic mansion, with a courtyard out front. Tables and chairs spaced evenly out between shrubs and many flowers that sat in the raised garden beds.

  Walking inside was a lot more different than I had expected. There was lots of light and it had a modern, stylish and luxurious feel. Every inch of the place oozed wealth, making me feel out of place.

  A huge chandelier hung in the doorway, and in the centre of the room sat a large wooden staircase that curved up and outwards to the second level, so it looked over the bottom level, behind the landing several doors sat around the staircase in an arc.