The Black Pawn • The first book of the Black Academy Series

17. Plan

THE FIRE CRACKLED and burned, the different shades melting together. The colors bounced off the shining dark-colored surfaces in the room. A lone figure sat, turned away from the raging fire and towards the inky night sky just outside the window's glass. The figure was female.

The lady's hand lifted a glass to her lips as she continued to look out of the window. Her eyes were bored as they traveled across the spotted night sky. There was a clicking sound of click in the room. The woman turned away from the window and towards the clock. It was time. She finally moved away from the window.

She swung her chair back to the way it was. She faced the fire. Resting her glass on the table. Her olive-skinned hand found the handle of her second drawer. The drawer slid open, the contents of the drawer sticking out like a sore thumb, it may have been the white covering the box's surface, or the red handprints littered on the pristine surface.

She brought the box out onto the table. Pushing the small handle on it, to open the top, revealing seven vials with a red liquid in them. She smiled down at the vials. A smile that would've made even the strongest mountain crumble. But, why? Why did the woman in white smile at the vials?

Because they weren't blood-filled vials. These were game-changers. The woman shut the box, setting her glass down after emptying its contents. She held the box with its handle and strutted out of the room. Her door closed behind her as she walked out. She passed the different floors. Traveling deep down into the castle.

The air grew colder as she ventured deeper. She found cobwebs littering the walls more often. Found the wind to blow more. The sounds turned darker and more ominous the deeper she went.

She soon found herself in front of a room, people moaning in pain, chained to beds hanging from walls. . Red was the color of their skin, not the peach color that was normal for humans. People.

She smiled cruelly as she watched the people writhing in pain. She set her box on the weathered table that stood in a corner. She clicked the box open. The glass vials in the box glinted from the light cast by the raging fires. She lifted one vial out of the box and picked up the surgical injection gun from the side. The vial was set in.

Some of the liquid squirted out as she held it up. She smiled once as she turned to the first body of the moaning writhing people. She set the needle on the person's arm. Looked up at the contorted face before injecting the red liquid into the sweaty, hot arm. The pain increased, and the intensity of the scream rocketed with it.

She turned away from the first person and looked at the others. She wasn't done yet.