The Charm (H. Academy Series #2)

Chapter 14: Sink Another Drink

The torment during next five nights turned more difficult to handle.

The demon has grown stronger, or I've grown weaker. Either way, the lingering in the shadows behind me turned into whispering and inexplicable thuds and thumps. Every time I turned off the lights, I could almost feel the presence in my room, so close to snatching me from my bed and making me disappear forever. 

In my dreams, I could see the shadow creeping around me. I could hear its voice; a muffled sound of wind carrying words. When I awoke, I found messages on my window-sill, on the wooden door, on the floor. Each time a different letter was written in the strange demonic alphabet. And every day the messages became more private, more dangerous, and more elaborate. 

Like the one I received this morning. 

I hear Dereck Montgomery's favourite pastime is traversing through hidden levels of the library. I wonder what he might be looking for there.  

Two sentences were almost completely written out in already familiar demonic alphabet, but the letter F was new. I took a photo and sent it to Amma. We almost had all of them. 

I tried not to address the demon, despite wanting to scream at him from the top of my lungs. I wanted to ask him what the fuck he wanted with me. But communicating with it was acknowledging it, and my fight against it lately consisted of solely ignoring and hoping he would go away.

My own passivity made me lethargic, apathetic, detached. Nothing helped anymore. Not being in the school, nor being with my friends. Not even Thar's presence shook the demon anymore.

He wouldn't fucking leave me alone. My fucking head was going to explode. 

I dragged myself out of bed and to the living room. It was noon. 

Was noon too early to have a drink? 

Well, I didn't care. 

My father left three days ago to attend to some Arch Mage business and was due to return today, two days before the meeting in the Veiled Hall. The meeting I, despite Thar's promise he'd try, probably wouldn't get to attend. 

I opened the bottle of red wine and poured myself a glass, ready to spend the entire day in this very living room, watching Netflix. 

Exams were starting right after Valentine's Day, and my dad still hasn't told me I could return to school. Right now, I felt like I might have imagined that was even a possibility. It was because Thar said he'd try to convince him, but he was closer to getting his job back than I was to becoming unexpelled.

I sipped the wine, my mood hanging somewhere between apathy and anger. Between the two, I'd rather choose anger, but there was no one around to be angry at. 

My phone rang, displaying Amma's name. I answered. 

"I called the moment Darth let us out." It sounded like she was in a rush. "I have five minutes before Potions, what the hell did that message mean?"

"You're going to class?" I smiled for myself, then immediately hoped she wouldn't note the surprise and relief in my voice. 

"I wanted to skip Potions today, but there's something about moonwort that I don't understand..." Her voice trailed off. "I think I just figured it out. No, never mind. I wanted to talk about the message. The library? The old library, the one beneath the new library?"

"Yes, Amma." I let out a sigh. "The demon wants me to go to the library."

"Should we do it?"

"Of course not." I frowned over the rim of the glass.