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“It’s okay, Sir. I know this is what she wants,” I declare with a strong voice. A feeling of pride sweeps over me at how well I am playing this off like it doesn’t hurt.
“I feel okay now. Can I be taken to my room, so I can get settled before tomorrow?”
Both adults look at me like I’m about to lose it or something. They just stare, dumbfounded. There’s nothing else I can say to ease their minds, the only thing I can do is get ready for what awaits me. I just wonder if it’s going to be days or weeks? Neither one of the adults answer me as I find my shoes next to the little bedside table. I push my feet into them as I wait; minutes pass and still nothing.
“My room?” I ask again with a little more growl than I intended but, thankfully, it has the desired effect.
“Yes. Sorry,” the headmaster says with a sheepish look on his face. “Miss Furnell, would you mind showing Miss Draken to her room, please?”
The biggest smile I have seen since I woke up here takes over her face, and with a nod to Mr Skullmyer she ushers me out of the infirmary.
CHAPTERTHREE
The clopping sound of our feet on the stone flags echoes throughout the hallways. It’s quiet, almost eerily so, but Miss Furnell mutters to herself that it’s nice because when the pupils are around it’s chaos.
“Are you nervous for your classes, Miss Draken?” she asks with a hint of emotion in her voice.
My anxiety spikes out of nowhere at the thought of what I will have to study while I’m here, my hands wringing together in front of me as we continue down another corridor.
“First thing, can you please call me Poppy?” I ask. I don’t want to sound like I’m being awkward, but every time someone calls me Miss Draken it’s like they’re talking to my aunt and I hate it.
“I’m sorry, Poison, I’ll remember in future,” she replies with a soft smile. Well, that’s a start, I’ll just have to work on it. “Now, how are you feeling about starting classes?”
“Well. I. Um…” I stutter, trying to think of words to explain how I’m currently feeling but they won’t come, they’re on the tip of my tongue but it’s as if something is keeping them lodged in my throat.
“It’s okay,” she reassures me with another warm smile. Gently she places her hand on my shoulder, giving it a firm squeeze as if that will help me with my words. Unfortunately, it has the opposite effect as my anxiety spikes even further and my heart rate skyrockets. It sounds like an aeroplane engine has just turned on. My vision becomes distorted as everything starts to spin; I gasp as I try to pull air into my lungs, but I can’t, the shortness of breath leaves me light-headed. It has to be the start of a panic attack coming on.
Not for the first time, I really wish Kevin was here with me because he would be able to pull me out of it with a snarky comment which would have me laughing my arse off. My heart feels like it bottoms out into my feet as the picture of him shimmers to life at the front of my mind. I can’t believe he’s gone. He’s been my one constant since I can remember, and I don’t know how I’m going to get through this without him.
“Oh, honey, what’s the matter?”
My head whips to the side, finding Miss Furnell standing in the corridor looking at me with concern. Something wet slides down my cheeks, and my vision blurs as I try to see through tear-filled eyes. Quickly I wipe it away, trying to lock down my emotions and control my breathing as my aunt’s words play in my head. “Drakens’ are the strongest clan in thousands of years and that is because we do not show our weaknesses. We do not allow emotion to rule us.”
I know if she saw me, at this moment, I would have to undergo the rehabilitation—as she calls it—from one of the witches. I shudder at the memory of the one and only time that happened to me. It’s not rehabilitation when she has one of the witches torture you by removing your senses until you become numb. The torture continues repeatedly until you become a shell of who you were and any sort of emotion is locked as deep in the recesses of your being as they can be. I swipe my hands across my face, removing all the evidence of my emotions as I set my shoulders and hold my head high.
“I’m okay; I think I’m tired, that is all.” I smile sweetly at her as I try to reassure her everything is okay. I giggle when I see one of her brows shoot up towards her hairline as her eyes narrow on me. “Honestly, Miss Furnell, I’m fine,” I say again.
Her brow wrinkles and she crosses her arms, the left side of her cheek hollowing into her mouth as she chews on the inside of the gum. Miss Furnell stares at me for another minute before she unfurls her arms with a huff, and with a wide sweep of her hand she motions for us to continue down the corridor.
For the rest of the walk we don’t say a word to each other, me purely because I have given too much of an insight into my life to a total stranger already. The only sound breaking the deafening silence is the clap of our footsteps against the stone flooring as we make our way down yet another long corridor. The cold stone reaching high up to the ceiling looks like a toddler has built it with mega blocks, but it’s obvious these stones have been here for hundreds of years from the wear and tear on them.
The tingle of the cool night air brushes against my skin from under the wooden door as we head down a stairwell. We step out into the darkness and the night air, and I’m surprised when my eyes don’t have to try and adjust due to the lanterns surrounding the pathways, lighting them up. I take a deep inhale, allowing the chill to penetrate my lungs, and the freshness has a smile spreading across my face. I’ve always preferred the night to the day, it’s the time I feel most content.
“The infirmary is located in the main building where the majority of the classes are held—if they’re classroom based,” Miss Furnell says as she looks over her shoulder. My head whips around to see a huge gothic-style building standing like a temple in the middle of the grounds.
“Wow. This place is beautiful,” I murmur, taking the building in with awe. It really is something out of a fairy-tale.
“The training grounds are to the left of the main building, this is where all the physical side of your lessons will be held,” she says, and my eyes nearly bulge out of my head in shock.
“You mean…?” My words break off as I make out the outline of some pretty terrifying apparatus scattered around the grass.
“Battle class and shifter physical training is mainly taught there.”
“Oh,” is the only noise I can make.
“The clan houses are located behind the assembly hall, where we have all important meetings with the students.”
Okay, now that doesn’t seem as daunting. I have to hold back a snort of laughter; I never thought a school for supernaturals’ would have assemblies, it is a very human thing, after all, and everybody here is far from it.
