Blackmoore Academy (On Hold)

Chapter Eight

The room stifled with a force of malevolence so pure Hades Himself would have burned. Gwendolyn cringed mentally, but refused to back down.

"Very well," Dalia mused. She glanced sideways at Gwendolyn. Whore of Hades! The outburst frightened Gwen, but she pretended not to hear. "If you wish to journey about, then who am I do deny you that right? Feel free to explore."

Dalia stepped to the door, knocked twice, and stood aside as it swung open. Gwen didn't bother looking at Dalia as she stepped past her.

"But not," Dalia added as she gestured at a girl at the end of the hall, "without a guide." The words had a cruel malice behind them that made her shiver. "And stay away from forbidden halls."

Gwendolyn forced herself to speak past the lump that had formed in her throat. "How shall I know which halls are forbidden?"

"You shall know."

Gwendolyn didn't push for more; she ducked her head and hurried down the hall. Her guide joined her, walked behind her like a wraith - silent, as if her feet never touched the ground.

Desperate to break the silence Gwendolyn asked, "So, you must be a student then?"

Silence echoed through the halls, and Gwendolyn turned to gaze upon her guide - fed up with being ignored. Detachedly, she felt her heart hammer in her chest. Cold flooded her veins and turned her to stone.

"You," she muttered.

"Me?" the guide finally said. Rhaen lifted her head. "What about me?"

"I-I know you! You tortured me." Gwendolyn backed up until she was pressed up against the wall. She wanted to bolt, but she'd managed to back herself next to a statue of Death. Her only other escape route would be around Rhaen. "You and your sister...used souls-"

"I've never tortured anyone in my entire life!" She clenched her fists. Her chest heaved as she struggled to control her breathing. "I can't even channel the dead." She wrapped her arms around herself. "I won't." Her eyes became cloudy and distant.

Gwendolyn's eyes shifted between Rhaen and the statue, she didn't know which made her skin crawl more. "But you did! I felt it! Your touch-"

"How do you know that?!" Rhaen demanded. She hugged herself tighter.

"It happened," was all Gwendolyn could manage.

"It never did! I've never laid eyes on you! Much less my powers."

The stale air in the hallway threatened to suffocate them. *Then how do I know your face?* Gwendolyn had to bite her tongue to keep the words from rolling out of her mouth. "We should move someplace else," she said instead.

Gwendolyn pushed past Rhaen and moved away from the statue. She didn't care so long as she escaped the evil that pressed down on her; it was everywhere - the halls, the air, even her thoughts. She could feel something clawing in her mind, like something trying to break out. Gwendolyn feared it would flood her if she wasn't careful to keep it locked in her memory.