Page 15 of Darkness Defined

“I’m pleased to see that the clothes are to your satisfaction. You struck me as a no-frills type of lad, so I kept the options fairly basic.”

I hadn’t really thought much of it. A shirt was a shirt. He glanced around, no doubt checking to see if anything was missing or broken. His eyes passed disinterestedly over the sketches that littered the floor.

“When can I leave?”

“When Miss Scry retrieves you,” he replied calmly, and left once more.

We repeated the same routine every day. The only exception was that Jeffrey began checking on me at dinner instead of lunch, and on the third day, an entire supply of sketch tools appeared. Even then, as nice and accommodating as this place was proving to be, I still tried the door every time it was opened and well after they left, all with the same lack of results.

A whole week had gone by when Vera swanned into the room unannounced. I might not have even noticed her sudden appearance except I always sat facing the door, ready to try my luck again. The freaky part was that she didn’t come through the door at all. She walked through the wall next to it.

“You’re certainly looking better,” she said as she inspected my overall appearance.

I jumped up from my seat. “How did you do that? Where have you been? You can’t just lock people up, you know.”

“I believe that’s exactly what I did. And I’ve already told you, I had additional errands to run. Still do, as a matter of fact. I just wanted to see for myself that you were doing as well as Jeffery claimed. He tends to exaggerate, but I see he was not regarding your artistic ability. I never could draw,” she mused to herself.

“Wait, you’re leaving again?”

“Of course. Oh, and these are for you.” She dropped a bag that thudded when it hit the ground. It instantly toppled over, allowing several pamphlets and brochures to pour out. “I thought you might like to know where you’re going.”

“The only place I want to go is out of here.” I kicked the bag, and she rolled her eyes.

“You don’t have to read them, but there is no reason to be rude. I’ll try to be quick. I’d hoped to provide you with some company, but things are not going well. All of my other recruits seem to disappear before I can get to them.” Concerned confusion flashed across her face, then it was gone. “Anyway, I’ll see you later. Mind Jeffery.” With that, she was gone. She didn’t even bother using the door or the wall. Not even a poof, just gone.

Chapter 6

Arminius

A

ArminiusUniversity.

Looking around, you’d never know that a full tilt battle had taken place at the pinnacle of the Rebellion when the Regency had dug into their last stronghold. The reports that had filtered out to our tiny supernatural community had said parts of the campus had been virtually obliterated. Not that you could tell. Guess that was a benefit of being a supernatural college. They probably had many spells to undo damage or roll back time.

I ran a hand over the side of the admissions building as we walked in. It even felt old, which shouldn’t have been possible. I knew for a fact that it had been completely restructured. The pictures of this place made it seem like a bomb had gone off. Come to think of it, it was entirely possible that one had.

“Lexi, do you know where we’re going?” My mother’s voice snapped me out of my reverie.

“Yes, the letter said to check in at Admissions. They’ll give me my schedule and further instructions.” I confidently led the way to the main desk, but as I got closer, my nerves took hold. They’d know why I was here, what I was. How welcome was my kind, really?

The attendant smiled at me from behind the curving mahogany desk. Everything was pristine, from the perfectly stacked admission inquiries to his checkered polo buttoned all the way to the top. Even his dark skin was flawless, providing a striking contrast to his short-cut, golden hair.

I took a fateful step forward. “Hi.”

“Good morning. I’m Marquis, Administrator of Freshman Affairs. How can I help?” His eyes looked like stars. It was both eerie and fascinating.

“I’m Alexi Roman.” I took a deep breath and handed him the letter. Everything he needed to know would be in there.

“Ah, excellent. You’re here for Vera’s class. That should be interesting.” He gave me a knowing smile, and I glanced at my mom.

She gave my shoulder a reassuring pat. “Why do you say that?” she asked conversationally.

Marquis laughed as he put together my welcome packet. “Don’t get me wrong, she’s wonderful. You’ll love her. Patience just isn’t one of her strengths. It will be interesting to see how she does as a teacher. I mean, she did put her own teacher through the ringer to hear him tell it.” He rapped the stack on the desk, straightening it to perfection, then put it in a folder and passed it to me. “There, that should be everything.” He slid a map around to face us and pointed. “This is where we are. You’ll be going across the campus to this area here. It’s the newer of the old sections.” He chuckled like it was a joke. “Orientation is not for a couple more hours, so feel free to take your time getting over there. We’re all really glad you’re here.”

“Why?” I asked as I accepted the itinerary.

“Honestly? We were really afraid no one would show. There have already been several dropouts. The class is about half the size that it was originally. If this year goes well though, I imagine they’ll re-register in the spring.”