Whitethorn Academy

Chapter Six

The car pulled to a stop in front of the largest building.

Inara stepped out first, but I was quick to follow her.

Taking a deep breath, I opened the car door and was immediately shocked by the wave of cold that washed over my skin. I was still dressed in the sweats and a long-sleeve shirt from my local police station, but they did little to ward off the cold that leeched into my skin.

How in the world was it so cold here? Back home, it was the beginning of summer. Just two days ago I'd been lounging on the pier with Hanna.

"Hopefully, you have some warmer clothes packed away in that suitcase," Inara said lightly. I gave a glance toward the car, where my suitcase was, hoping my mother wasn't angry enough to only send my summer wardrobe.

When Inara saw my worried glance, she said, "But if you don't, we'll get you what you need."

That was both reassuring and embarrassing. I was grateful for potential help, but I didn't like the thought of a stranger having to make sure I had warm clothes to wear. My mother surely wouldn't be so angry that she would snub me like this, right? She would have had to have known how cold it would be here. Wherever here was.

"If you're worried about the weather, we also have a beautiful spring and summer," Inara said. "It won't be this cold forever."

I gave a slight frown, but Inara didn't seem to notice. She'd avoided my question, though I wasn't sure why. Had she misunderstood? Or did my mother tell her not to tell me so that I would feel trapped here?

"Let's get you out of this cold," Inara said, ushering me into the building behind her. A sign just to the right of the building read WHITETHORN HALL in block letters. The few stairs at the building's entrance were cobblestones that felt uneven under my feet.

My breath puffed into the air in front of me and I shivered. Inara stopped just in front of the double-doors, which were wooden and carved with intricate designs. On a wooden plaque above the door, a quote in a language I didn't understand sat.

When Inara noticed where I was looking, she said, "In absentia lucis, tenebrae vincunt. It means, In the absence of light, darkness prevails."

"What does that mean?" I asked. I'd never been one for poetry or pretty phrases.

"It can mean many things," Inara answered. "I prefer it to be a reminder to our students to be the light that shines in the darkness."

As I mulled over her words, Inara opened the doors to Whitethorn Hall. When i stepped inside, I sighed a breath of relief as warmth washed over me. On the inside, the building was more ornate than I'd thought it would be.

In my hometown, my school had been rundown. Paint had chipped off lockers and the cement floors were cracked. Neither the air conditioning nor the heat worked. But Whitethorn seemed to exude opulence and grandeur.

The floors were spotless and gleamed with fresh polishing. From the domed ceiling, a grand chandelier hung, casting millions of flecks of light in every direction. In the middle of the floor, a large crest of a sword flanked by a pair of wings sat, with that Latin phrase from the doorway curving around the entirety of it.

"That is our school crest," Inara said. "It is embroidered on all our school uniforms." As if to make her point, she smoothed down her suit jacket. For the first time, I noticed the same crest, minus the Latin, over her right breast.

"Uniforms?" I asked. "My mother didn't mention uniforms."

Inara waved her hand. "It's already been taken care of. Everything you need is waiting for you in your dorm."