Page 5 of Hell House
“Yep, that’s what I thought.” She looks at me confused. I finish patting my body. “I’m still here, so I guess you aren’t a witch like I thought.” She scowls at me. “You’ll have to work harder than that to get rid of me.” I smirk at her, knowing I won this round. Something about knowing I rile her up has my blood pumping with excitement.
“Hey, Salem, you coming?” Her short brown-haired friend calls over and I see my girl stand up straight. She flits her sage green eyes over me in a dismissal.
Before she saunters off to join her friend, I say, “Salem? Guess I was wrong, you are a witch after all.” She scowls at me and grabs her friend’s arm.
It’s not until after they disappear into the classroom that my mind snags on the importance of her name. Salem. Shit.
My mind whirls with the knowledge of what the headmaster asked of me, and my heart stutters, putting two and two together. How many Salems could there be at this Academy?
I amble into the room that’s steadily filling with students, my eyes snagging on Salem, who sits in the front row, legs crossed as she picks her black nail polish. She’s sitting next to her short friend who’d called her over chatting about something. I notice the seat next to her is wide open. Before I’m able to grab it, a smarmy looking dude snatches the seat, leaving me with the next best option. I head up a step and settle into the seat directly behind her.
Just as I’m settling into my chair, a man in his mid 50’s enters the classroom, commanding the room’s attention with his tweed ensemble, complete with elbow pads. He plops his briefcase down onto his desk and snatches up a piece of chalk. “My name is Professor Crane and this is Intro to Business. If you are not supposed to be in Intro to Business, please leave, otherwise welcome.” He goes into detail about the expectations of the class, his wirey looking TA passes out the syllabus as he talks. The TA is of medium build and seems to have taken all his fashion advice fromHarry Potter. He even has the round glasses. I wouldn’t be surprised if I found out he had a lightning bolt tattooed onto his forehead.
“Now, if you will take a look at this last bullet point, you’ll notice the group project accounts for 20% of your grade. You’ll be expected to work as a team and come up with a business plan for a made-up company. You have from now until the end of the semester to work on it, so I will be assigning those groups now.” The class visibly shifts with unease. He counts people off into groups of four and five when he finally lands on me. He counts to four, grouping me in with Salem, her friend and the guy sitting next to her. I cock a smile and lean forward, “See, I told you, you wouldn’t be able to get rid of me that easy.” I whisper into Salem’s ear, her dark hair pulled to the side in an intricate braid. I fight the urge to yank on it as my breath tickles against the bare side of her neck. Her body stiffens, but she keeps her eyes facing forward ignoring me.
I sit back in my chair with a chuckle, not hating the turn of events this day has taken.
I push down the headmaster’s request, the Pride in my chest struggling against me. He’d have to godsdamn wait for when I carried out his wishes and I’d do it when I was good and ready. And now having met Salem, I was even more at war with what he expected from me. The girl had no idea what was coming. I’d still carry out the headmaster’s request, but I was going to have some fun with her along the way.
CHAPTER SIX
Salem
It’d been a day from Hell. Not only did I get put into a group that would determine a huge chunk of my grade with that asshole from the hallway, but I’d just found out that my credit card was maxed out. Meaning my mom hadn’t paid the bill and I needed to get to the bottom of it. Thankfully my meals were covered so I wouldn’t starve, but any other expenses…? I sent off another text to my mom, while I waited for her reply. To round out my day, I’d gone to drink out of a water fountain only to have it spray in my face. I could feel the beginnings of a headache creeping in, probably from the change in barometric pressure. Leave it to me to end up in a place with constant weather fluctuations. I let out a sigh, slinging back an aspirin and rubbing my temples.
I was expecting my new roommate to show up at any minute. I hoped to God it was someone I would get along with and I was dreading having to relinquish my privacy. I’d taken special care to leave room for her things in the small closet and dresser we were to share, making sure my stuff didn’t spill over. The box sized room barely fit the two twin beds comfortably. I’d decorated my side with a few wrought iron black shelves that I’d placed a few candles on and a handful of my favorite books. I tended to gravitate to the fantasy genre as a way to escape the clutches of reality. I’d even made sure to bring my special edition ofThe Hobbitthat my grandmother had gifted to me as a young girl. I couldn’t bare the thought of parting with it when it came time to pack.
Our room was the last one down the corridor on the top floor of the gothic building. The outside of the dormitory looked like someone had transported it from Edinburgh with its gargoyles carved into the stone façade and twisted ivy that slithered its way up and around the weathered brick. Just looking at it made me feel like I’d been accidentally sent back in time.
A tentative knock brakes my concentration and in pops a blonde-haired girl, who’d swept her hair into two disheveled space buns. She’s wearing a tie-dye crop top and bell bottom jeans that hug her curvy figure. “Hey, are you Salem?” her voice calls from the doorway.
I pop my gum giving her a once over.
“Yeah, that’s me. Are you Skye?”
She drags in a large duffle and heaves it down onto the empty bed then collapses next to it. “I sure hope this is the right room, because I cannot move another muscle.” I let out a chuckle as she breathes deeply. “Those stairs are a killer and I thought I was in such good shape.”
“Twelve flights will do that to you. I thought they’d have to call an ambulance for me when I moved in over the weekend.” Skye turns her head to look at me with a wide grin.
“You’d think with all the money that goes into this school they could have put in an elevator.” I nod my head in agreement. The building was definitely due for some major renovations.
“I better check on my dad and make sure he didn’t pass out on the stairs.” Skye says struggling to sit up from her prone position on her bed.
“Do you need any help?” I offer.
Surprise flashes across Skye’s face before she smiles shaking her head.
“I only have one more bag but thank you. I have a feeling we’re going to be good friends. I have a sense about people you know.” Her dad knocks and Skye lets him into the cramped room. He has a receding blonde hairline and seems pretty in shape for his age. Skye and her dad share the same bright smile and deep tan like they were the kind of people that spent a lot of time outdoors. He takes in the small space, his shoulders tense with the anxiety.
“So this is your room, sunbeam? Seems small even for a dorm.” He laughs uncomfortably.
I stand and stick out my hand, “I’m Salem.” I say taking pity on him. He’s obviously struggling with letting his daughter go, which is more than I could say for my own family. They didn’t so much as drop me off at the Boston airport. My mother was off on some cruise with husband number three, and my dad and I haven’t talked in years.
“Hank Dannon.” He says gripping my hand back. I let Skye and her dad go through the motions before he heads out with an unsure wave that warms even my ice-cold heart. I push down the sharp pang of jealousy I get when I see families that care for each other.
“He seems nice.” I say once he’s gone while Skye is unpacking her belongings.
“He’s the best. I’m all he has left so this is hard for him. Well, hard for us both I guess.” She says clutching a piece of her clothing to her chest before finding a space for it. “So, tell me about campus. What are you studying?”
