Silverwood Academy Book 1 Read online

  When the song finished, she bowed low in front of his body. She stood like that for several moments.

  “Goodbye.” She placed a kiss on his forehead and walked away.

  Another person stepped forward, said “goodbye” kissed him on the forehead and walked away, they all followed.

  A moment passed as nobody stood on the stage, around me heads were bowed, mumbling a goodbye, I bowed my head low. “Goodbye,” I whispered.

  The minutes ticked by, and the girl came back out, the rest of the coven of third and fourth-year witches following behind her. Everyone looked up at them.

  A glow surrounded Ayden and where he lay, the magic still working. “If you may please stand as we wait for the glow to fade, signalling he is at peace,” she raised her arms and everyone stood up, silence followed.

  The time ticked by slowly, the clock on the wall said we had been standing for over two hours waiting for the glow to signal he was at peace. “Follow the light of the stars,” she said.

  “Follow the light of the stars,” the rest of the coven echoed back.

  “Find your peace,” her voice rang clear.

  “Find your peace,” they echoed back.

  She bowed low. “Goodbye.”

  The coven bowed. “Goodbye.”

  The glow started to fade until it completely vanished, a cool breeze swept through the room, caressing my body and the candles lit around the room flickered out. His body and the roses he lay on slowly started to raise from the table.

  “Now we return his body to the earth,” the girl said, she walked down the aisle, the body drifting behind her, the rest of them walked behind the floating body and roses.

  Everyone stood and followed them out, row by row. We were led down the back of the clearing, walking slowly for a half hour in one direction through the woods until we came to a clearing.

  The soil lifted from the ground and floated in the air, Ayden’s body drifted to the hole in ground and hovered above it. “We return Ayden Churchill’s body to the earth,” she spoke, her head raised to the sky. The rest of the coven raised their faces to the clear blue sky, and Ayden’s body slowly lowered into the hole. “May his body provide nourishment to the earth.” The pile of dirt lowered on top of him, as the words were echoed back.

  A hand lightly brushed up against mine and I looked up to see Sterling looking down at me with a small smile, I smiled back, turning back to the display in front of me. Dirt lay in a mound from where Ayden got buried, the girl leaned down and traced a circle over the mound of dirt where a circle of wildflowers grew from the soil, blooming instantaneously.

  She looked to the sky. “May the sky rain down and water the earth!” The words echoed back, storm cloud appeared above us and rain burst forth from the clouds, soaking everyone. The girl stood in the downpour. “May the sky light up in celebration!” Lightning lit up the sky, the rain stopped as suddenly as it started. “Now we wait until the sun has set for the feast.” Her shoulders slumped with relief.

  A Professor I didn’t know walked up to her, placing her hands on the girls’ shoulder and smiled. “You did well Harmony,” the woman praised.

  She smiled back. “Thanks.”

  “You may leave, but don’t forget to meet for the moonlight feast in the witches’ garden!” The Professor called out. Everyone started to leave, walking back through the woods.

  We shot back through the woods using our vampire speed, sitting in the lounges of the common room. My stomach burned with hunger and it was only mid-afternoon. The ceremony took up most of the morning, but I didn’t mind, it felt amazing to be part of something so special, experiencing something so pure yet so sad, somehow the witches made it less sad.

  There seemed to be a glow building from within the academy, the grass looked greener and the trees seemed taller, the witches’ garden seemed to grow thicker, the colours more vibrant and the smells seemed stronger. I shuddered and wondered if his body really was feeding the earth at this very moment.

  When the sun set and the moon rose high in the sky, we stood in the witches’ garden, globes of light floated around, lighting the place up with a yellow glow.

  Long tables sat around with chairs sitting up the sides. Large plates of food sat on the tables: giant hams, chickens, every single food you could think of. Potatoes cooked every way possible: boiled, mashed, fried, baked. People stood behind the backs of chairs, I found any empty spot next to Sterling, Isaac sat on the other side of the table, leaving a chair free next to him for Anna, who stood beside him with a smile. Sophia stood behind the chair next to Anna, which was opposite me, we were both at the end of the table.

  I glanced up at Sterling quickly, he was watching me and we both turned away before anyone noticed. “You may sit!” Harmony called out to everyone, she was wearing a long flowing gown and her white robes, she sat down with other witches from the ceremony, dressed just like her.

  I sat down. “Now if we turn our heads up to the stars and follow me,” she said, her voice carrying through the garden. I lift my head to the table. “Thank you for our blessings.”

  “Thank you for our blessing,” we all said in unison.

  I eyed Sterling from the corner of my eye with a small smile, he was looking back with a small smile, I looked back to the food sitting on the tables as everyone grabbed everything they wanted.

  “Wine?” Sterling asked me casually, lifting a bottle of red wine.

  “Yes please,” I replied, grabbing the wine glass from the table that sat in front of my empty plate, holding it up to him and he poured some into the glass. He turned to Anna and Sophia, pouring some into their glasses, they both blushed and said thank you, passing the bottle to Isaac and he poured the last of the contents in his glass.

  I took a large gulp and the alcohol hit me hard as I hadn’t eaten all day, sitting the glass back on the table. I grabbed some chips from a bowl and put them on my plate, hunting down some chocolate cake, placing it on my plate, I grabbed a slice of cheese pizza and sat down. I started eating the chocolate cake first, moaning at the first mouthful.

  Sterling turned to me, his eyebrows raised. “You know dessert is meant to be last?”

  I smiled at him. “If they wanted me to eat it last, they wouldn’t have put it with everything else,” I told him, after swallowing the mouthful of chocolate cake I was chewing. I dipped a chip in the chocolate frosting, stuffing it in my mouth, sighing at the delicious flavours: the saltiness from the chip mixed in with the sweetness of the chocolate.

  Sterling made a choking noise as he watched me in horror. “What are you doing?” he asked sounding horrified.

  Anna laughed. “She always does this,” she told him, Sophia nodded her head in agreement.

  “I had the exact same reaction when I first seen her do it, now it doesn’t phase me,” Isaac told Sterling.

  I dipped a chip in chocolate frosting and held it up to him. “Try it,” I insisted.

  He took the chip, giving me a questioning look, he put it in his mouth, chewing it quickly and shuddered. “That was gross.”

  I elbowed him. “You’re lying,” I told him, he smiled down at me and shook his head.

  We continued eating, Sterling’s hand rested on my thigh beneath the table, I tried not to blush and give anything away. I sipped on my wine until it was all gone and opened another bottle and poured myself some more.

  “How amazing was the ceremony?” Anna asked, looking around at all our faces. “I don’t even think you could even call that a funeral.”

  I smiled at her. “It was incredible.”

  Sterling’s hand rose higher on my thigh and my smile grew wider as the electricity of his touch sizzled through my entire body, my heart beating in my ears loud and fast.

  “I didn’t even know stuff like that even existed,” Sophia replied, her voice small.

  Sterling smiled and shook his head, his fingers rubbing small circles, and he turned towards the professor sitting next to him as they spoke to him about
something. I bit my lip nervously.

  After a while people started to leave and head back to their dormitories, Anna and Isaac excused themselves after a while, and they headed back to the dormitory, talking with his arm wrapped around her shoulders, she leaned into his side, resting her head on his shoulder.

  Sophia stood up shortly after, “I’m going to head back and go to bed,” she told me, looking at me. “Are you coming?”

  I took a sip from my glass, Sterling’s hand tightened on my thigh. “I think I’m going to stay,” I told her smiling. “I want more cake.” I shrugged my shoulders.

  Sophia laughed. “You and cake,” she shook her head, laughing as she walked away.

  Slipping my hand beneath the table, I reached for Sterling’s hand, he turned his over and laced his fingers through mine and we sat like that, holding hands under the table as my heart thundered wildly in my chest. “Did you actually want more cake?” Sterling asked, turning to me when the lady talking to him finally got up and left.

  I looked up at him with a small smile. “No.”

  “Meet me in the woods in five minutes,” he whispered, I nodded my head in response as my heart lurched in response. He took off in a blur, I sat there still drinking my wine, looking around the tables. Not many people were left, and nobody had noticed or paid me any attention.

  I drank the rest of my wine and stood up, walking down the path towards the woods, quickly.

  I stepped inside the woods, walking up the path a little. “Sterling?” I called out in a whisper.

  A hand reached out, grabbing me and pulled me deeper into the woods, I gaped, Sterling turned around to me with a smile on his face, he walked towards me and I stepped backwards. My back hitting a tree, his arms wound around my waist and he leant down, kissing me.

  Electricity sizzled between us, sending sparks through my veins as he kissed me sweetly, I kissed him back with a fierce passion, and he picked me up, my legs wrapped around his waist. I wound my hands around his neck, pushing my fingers into his hair and his body pressed me back into the tree, the bark was rough against my skin, but I didn’t care. His lips moved off mine as he trailed kissed to my ear, down my throat and to my collarbone, sending a shiver down my spine, he kissed all the way back up again where his mouth met mine.

  “What are we doing?” I whispered against his lips.

  He didn’t answer, he just kissed me even more fiercely, his tongue met mine and we kissed for what felt like an hour. He eventually pulled back, looking me in the eyes, the gold flecks in his brown eyes seemed to glow. “I’ve been wanting to do that for a while now,” he whispered.

  My heart soared up to the stars as I grinned back at him. “Me too,” I admitted.

  His lips pressed back to mine and I raked my nails down his biceps. His arousal pressed into me and I ground my hips in slow circles against him, heat flooding my body. A growl sounded low in his throat and he grabbed my hips, holding them steady against him so I couldn’t move. “No,” he whispered breathlessly against my lips. He pulled back out of the kiss, resting his forehead against my shoulder and breathed deeply.

  “Are you going to tell me we shouldn’t have done that again?” I asked, his eyes sparkled in the moonlight as he gazed down at me.

  “We definitely shouldn’t have done that,” he whispered.

  My heart clenched in my chest, and I swallowed thickly, a lump forming in my throat. “Are you going to go back to ignoring me?”

  “I don’t think I can,” he breathed. “All I can think about is kissing you and having you in my arms.”

  My heart skipped a beat, singing in my chest from happiness, and I grinned at him brightly. “Good, because all I want is to be in your arms.” I blushed.

  He smiled brightly, the dimples on his cheek growing and I traced it with my fingers, he kissed the top of my nose lightly and set me down, holding on to my waist a second longer. “Good,” was all he said, then he shot away in a blur of speed. Again.

  I walked to my room in silence, feeling annoyed at him and how he just always ran off like that, one day I was going to do it to him, so he knew how it felt.

  ***

  I woke up early, with a killer hangover, a blush creeping up my cheeks as I thought about our kiss. I smiled, walking into my closet and pulled on some pants and matching sports bra, running shoes, a cap, and layered sunscreen on before heading downstairs for my morning run.

  Sterling stood outside in trackpants, a tank top and running shoes, leaning against the building. My eyes automatically ran up and down his fit body and I gave him a small smile. He watched me stretch, pulling away from the wall when I jogged away, he caught up to me in a few short strides, jogging beside me at a slow pace.

  It was still early, the sun was just starting to rise over the mountains in the distance, birds chirped happily singing their morning tune, leaves rustled as a light breeze tickled my skin.

  We ran through the woods, our feet crunching against the hard ground, taking the track towards the lake, twinkling lights wound around trees, lighting the path. We burst into the clearing, the light hit the lake and light reflected off it, bursting in every direction making the water seem to shimmer, we ran across the grass on the bank in sync.

  We ran two full laps and raced back to The Hub but as usual he beat me to the door and held it open for me, I glided inside, expecting him to dart away as usual, but he followed me into the cafeteria. The place was empty, I watched as he leaned against the counter, looking towards the door every few seconds, his shoulders tense like he expected someone to burst in at any moment. I’d bet he was listening out for the sound of footsteps outside, even though it was still quite early.

  I grabbed two cups, pouring coffee and blood into them, passing him one.

  His eyes widened slightly, his eyebrows raised ever-so slightly. “Thanks.”

  I sat down at one of the tables, grabbing a croissant on the way, taking a large bite out of it, he sat opposite me, I raised my eyebrows at him. “You’re freaking out, aren’t you?” I asked.

  He looked at me, his expression schooled. “No,” he lied.

  I kicked him gently under the table and he glared at me. “Don’t lie.”

  He chuckled and shook his head. “Nothing gets passed you, does it?” he asked, a smirk on his face.

  “Nope,” I replied.

  We sat in silence for a while. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you eat meat,” he looked at me thoughtfully.

  I shook my head. “I do, not often though,” I told him.

  “Interesting,” he said thoughtfully.

  I shrugged. “I don’t know about interesting.”

  He nodded his head. “You don’t really eat meat,” he assessed, lifting a finger, his eyebrows raised, he lifted another. “You love to dance.” He lifted another finger. “You like to drink.” He gave me a disapproving look, lifting another finger. “You’re stubborn as all fuck.” He held up five fingers. “You’re good at climbing trees, not as good at getting down.” He chuckled. “What don’t I know?” He took a long sip of coffee, looking at me as a small smile played around his mouth.

  I shrugged. “That’s about it.” I smirked

  He laughed darkly. “You’re so frustrating,” he admitted, rolling his eyes.

  “Says you,” I grumbled, giving him a look that told him I wasn’t having it. “For weeks you’ve been hot and cold with me.”

  Sighing, he ran his hands through his. Something I noticed he did when he was going to say something hard or he was nervous. “This is a horrible situation,” he told me in a low voice. “I’m your teacher, you’re my student. We can’t and shouldn’t be doing this.”

  “Then why are we?” I questioned, my brows raising. Technically, we weren’t really doing much, we occasionally went for a run, and we kissed twice. It’s not like we’ve had sex or anything like that, for the most part it was just fighting how we felt and trying not to cross boundaries we couldn’t uncross.

  “Because no matt
er how much I want to and how hard I try, I can’t stop,” he admitted. He rose to his feet right before I heard the creak of the door opening, I turned to see Sophia bouncing through the threshold, her eyes widened when she seen me with Sterling. “If you’re still having trouble, come see me and I can give you some more exercises.” He said quickly, his eyes wide.

  My heart hammered in my chest as I bit my lip and nodded. “Thanks.” He walked off quickly, the door slamming shut behind him.

  Sophia poured a cup of coffee and strolled over, her eyebrows raise. “What was that about?” she asked.

  “I just pulled a muscle earlier during my run,” I lied, with a shrug.

  “Oh,” Sophia replied.

  “Yeah.” I bit my lip, hoping she brought it. I looked up at Sophia with an apologetic look. “I have to go for a shower before class.”

  She nodded, looking at me understandingly. “That’s okay.” More people started coming in, chatting with their friends as they found tables and ate breakfast, I slipped out of the door and ran back to my room with my vampire speed, pulling my clothes off and getting in the shower. I started blow-drying my hair, so it fell in loose waves, applying my makeup keeping it looking natural, I got dressed and pulled some heels on.

  My notebook pinged, I picked it up and unlocked it, I had a notification saying I had a private message, I clicked on it and it took me to an inbox I hadn’t seen before. Sterling Blackwell sent you a message. I opened it.

  I don’t know how long we can keep doing this for.

  I sighed, typing out a reply. Are you serious? Make up your mind before I do for you.

  He didn’t reply.

  My classes passed in a blur, Sterling hadn’t replied to my message all day and I let out an exasperate sigh once alone in my room, pressing my lips together in annoyance. I huffed to the bathroom, undressing and stepping timidly into the shower as the hot water ran along my skin, warming my body.

  The more time that passed without him replying the more uneasy I became, my body trembled. I began to wonder if he was going back to ignoring and avoiding me, it certainly appeared that way, but there was a defiant voice urging me not to jump to conclusions.