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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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Clementine felt nauseous all week. At first, he thought it was just a symptom of his decline, but the feeling worsened every time he thought about the fact his mission was almost complete. That made him suspect he felt sick because he was anxious—anxious that he was just four people away from wiping out the Ravenblood; anxious that he and Sebastien would be fleeing the academy to spend the rest of his days together, and anxious that he might bump into one of the professors and they'd notice that he was the kid who had seen them for what they really were.
He'd been doing his best to keep up with his classes and maintain his cover. Sebastien was always waiting for him when he finished and knowing he was outside art class right now kept Clementine from feeling intimidated by the fact he was one of only four students in the classroom.
Professor McMillan was sitting behind his desk, resting his feet up on the table as he took a very loud bite out of his apple every five minutes. He'd been taking so long to eat it that it had already started to brown. And every time the clock ticked to indicate another minute had passed, the professor took his eyes off the book he was reading and glanced around the class to make sure everyone was working.
The cold, empty stare in that man's eyes sent a cold shiver down Clementine's spine. Ever since finding out the truth—ever since Sebastien had told him the professors were soul-sucking demons feeding a hungry spirit living in the academy's walls, he felt a little unnerved every time he saw one of them. When they caught his stare, he couldn't help but fear they knew he'd seen...he would get a strange, ominous feeling that they knew he knew what they were and what they did. But if that were true, surely they would have killed him by now.
It didn't matter, though. He needed to stop thinking about it. Sebastien had promised he wouldn't let him die here; he wasn't going to become one of those anguished, pleading whispers that seethed through the woodwork every time the professors fed the spirit. And he wasn't here to expose that horror, either. Someone else would inevitably do that long after he was gone. The only thing he should be focusing on was taking out the last four Ravenblood.
Once the class came to its eventual end, Clementine followed the others out into the hall and was instantly met by Sebastien's concerned gaze.
"Are you okay?" he asked, taking Clementine's hand.
He nodded as they headed through the corridor. "Yeah, just tired, as always. How was forensic science?"
"We were looking into fingerprints today. It wasn't as fun as blood analysis, but oh well."
"Two more kids were missing from the class. People are dropping like flies now."
