Emperor of Destruction [EDITING]

i.

AUTUMN

"Your father couldn't make it to see you off. However, I trust you will be on your best behaviour. If and when the Headmaster calls Stephan's phone, informing us you've been unruly and disruptive, I will not hesitate to have you shipped to an all-girls boarding school on the South Coast. Is that understood?"

Evelyn has her brow cocked at me like I'm still a dense fourteen-year-old girl for not having anything to say. I'm torn between saying my goodbyes to her or wanting her to leave so I can finally start my new life.

We're standing in front of Darlington Preparatory Academy, and one building looms over us, casting our shadows on the posh pavement underneath my ballerina flats, a gift from Eve.

If I had to be completely honest, it looks more of a castle than a school. I'm not joking when I say there are turrets on the four moats surrounding the eight buildings around us. There's a crystal statue of a late soldier in the middle of the blossoming rose bushes, sitting next to the giant ancient clock tower.

This school was built in the late 1700s and boasts many presidents and political savants as alumni. It has a near-perfect college acceptance rate from the students who walked these halls, and the waiting list to get in was the stuff of legends. I felt intimidated just by staring at the building. I couldn't imagine how the students here act.

A tingle runs down my spine at the thought of being sent to a boarding school for troubled teens. I turn back to my mother. She's watching me warily with the same exact chocolate eyes I inherited from her. Her red-painted lips curved down into a frown, her arms crossed over the other as she glanced at the massive building in front of us, then back at me.

"You know me, Mom." I corrected instinctively. "I'm not a disruptive teenager." Truth be told.

A scoff leaves her mouth, followed by a sarcastic laugh. "Mother." She corrects me, eyes narrowed, and I flinch back almost instinctively. "And your behaviour at your last school would beg to differ." Have you ever thought that maybe I was acting out because of what went on behind closed doors? Of course she didn't. All this woman cares about is herself and money. She would've left Stephan if he wasn't swimming in money.

"I'll do better, I promise."

"You've disappointed me your entire life, Autumn. Now that Stephan graciously got you enrolled in this fancy school, I trust you're on your best behaviour." She doesn't talk to me like a mother because she doesn't acknowledge me as her daughter, but more of a burden she finally gets off her shoulders.

I nod because there's nothing I can say without getting under her skin. I think about giving her a hug but decide against it and instead I give her a small wave.

I watch her get in the back of the car and drive away through the entrance gate. For a second, I feel a flare of panic in my chest, but I quickly push it away. For the first time in forever, I feel as if I can finally breathe without Evelyn punishing me for it. I'm alone now - I don't need anyone other than myself because in the long run, I'm the only one I can fully trust.

I've learnt that the hard way. If my life so far has taught me anything, it is that I am strong enough to survive anything.

Once the car is no longer in view, I grab the straps of my bag containing all my belongings and head up the Victorian path toward the main buildings. I look around, taking in my surroundings. This place looks like a fairytale and if I weren't forced to be here, I would probably fawn over the fact.