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⊹ Book 1 of the Aldergrove Duology ⊹
After being told he has only six months left to live, Clementine decides to track down his sister's murderers, leading him to Aldergrove Academy, a place...
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They gave Clementine six months. Seven at most. Colligo-interitus became terminal in its later stages. The black bile that had seeped from his mouth could have been caused by several things where he'd grown up—why would anyone think it was a disease that had disappeared over a hundred years ago?
The meds helped. As long as he choked down a little white pill three times a day, not only could he avoid the throwing up and dark splotches on his pale skin, but he'd have the strength it would take to kill those responsible. At least he hadn't lost his hair—his wavy, blonde hair. He ran his fingers through it, leaving smudges of thick crimson. And as he stood over the convulsing body of Harrison Darby, a flicker of delight gleamed in his piercing blue eyes.
Harrison's black tweed blazer stained red as his life oozed from his chest, where Clementine's silver dagger was lodged. The boy gagged, spraying blood through his gritted teeth as he tried to curse his fellow, a look of horror on his face. There was nothing he could do.
The cramped library in which he lay would become his grave, and as Clementine uttered a phrase of banishing through his pouty lips, creaking, cracked fingers made of tree roots and entwining vines seeped through the dark floorboards and dragged Harrison's twitching body down into the earth, leaving not a trace. Nobody would ever find him.
Five months, two weeks, five days; that was exactly how long Clementine had left to find the rest of Harrison's society. And no matter what it took—no matter what lengths he was sure he'd have to go to, he would find every single person responsible for his sister's murder.
An eerie scream then rattled the shelf-lined walls, shaking the dust from the books that sat upon them. Clementine frantically searched his surroundings for a witness, and when he didn't find one, he realized the sound had come from outside.
The thumping of balmoral shoes against oak flooring echoed through the halls, and as hushed voices of panicked students grew louder, Clementine tucked a gold ring he'd taken from Harrison's finger into his trouser pocket and hurried over to one of the library's windows.
A thin, murky mist warped the evening air, but it wasn't enough to hide the horrified face of the girl that lay bleeding beside the marble fountain. She gasped for air, grasping an oozing slash in her stomach. A flicker of something dark snatched Clementine's attention; his vigilance led him to watch as the distorted figure fled into the darkness of the alder forest that surrounded Aldergrove Academy.
With a frown of curiosity, his gaze reverted to the girl by the fountain. Her brown-white sweatshirt had been torn, blood seeping through the fabric, and as a flurry of gasping, uttering students surrounded her, a rumble of thunder shook the flooring.
