The Curse ✔️

Chapter 12: Beginner lessons

I tapped onto the floor with my knee-high boot, feeling the nervousness grip my soul. Dealing with my father was never easy, not even when I was a kid. His methods always seemed inappropriate for a child, like that time he locked me in the basement for the entire day because I accidently displayed magic in front of our neighbours.

Did I resent him? Yes. Did it teach me how to deal with bullies? Also, yes.

I didn't want to think about the potential trauma he caused me, or the trust issues that had to be boiling somewhere deep underneath my skin. The tendency to push people away already showed, in small details like the fact I didn't contact any of my high school friends since I came to the Academy. Some people turned soft and vulnerable, I turned cold.

But despite my issues, this was something that had to be done.

Because no matter how much I resented my father, he knew stuff I didn't, and there had to be a way to find those things out. Even if it meant I would have to lie and cheat.

They would not keep me in the dark. I looked far better in the bright lights.

"Come in." My father called out and I opened the door in front of me. I kept my head low as I walked in. Of course, they gave him his own office. And it was by far the most luxurious I have seen in the entire school. Rich colours gave life to the wooden structures. The mahogany table was massive, too big for one person. The best, shiny quills and ink rested on it, next to the wooden box full of cigars and a crystal bottle full of brown liquid, probably whiskey. My father was a sucker for whiskey.

Books were hidden behind the glass on a lacquered shelf, seemingly well preserved. Silken, red curtains covered the windows, letting in just enough light on the table where my father wrote in his notebook.

"Father, I wanted to apologize for my behaviour this morning." I plastered the most submissive smile I had on my lips and hoped he wouldn't see through me. He lifted his dark gaze from the notebook and closed it. His eyes penetrated through my skin, making me feel exposed.

"I am used to it by now." He murmured. "Anything else?"

That was it? Not even a pretence of love and worry?

"How's mom?" I asked, wanting to keep the conversation going. My father was a busy man and I knew he would try to shoo me away as soon as possible.

"Call her and ask her." He began to tap on the table with his pen and with his other hand, he clutched his phone tightly.

"I'm asking you." I countered. I wished I knew a spell that would make him even more impatient.

"She's fine, Jade, as fine as she can be." He sighed, looking at me like he expected me to leave. But I did the opposite, I sat down in the leather chair on the opposite side of him.

"I thought we could catch up." I glanced at the clock, I had twenty minutes until my practice with Thar. Trying to look as inconspicuous as possible, I checked whether my own notebook was in place. My heart hammered loudly and his gaze was so protruding that I was worried he could hear it.

"I have a lot of work to do, Jade. I have to save this school from whatever is going on and I'd appreciate if you'd have enough respect for my work to leave." He really didn't care how his daughter felt about him, how much he pushed me away.

But in this moment, neither did I.

"Can I at least borrow a book? I have to try out a spell." I lied swiftly, keeping our eye contact intact. My father's eyes trailed over me like I was something he pitied.

"Which book?" He glanced towards the book shelf, as if something was there that I shouldn't see.

"Intro to Elemental Magic." I tasted the words on my tongue. "I have trouble transmitting messages through the air." Transmitting messages was one of the first spells I learnt, but of course, he didn't remember that.