Surviving Year One (Grim Reaper Academy 1)

“I don’t know who you are,” I said between gritted teeth, “And I don’t know what you want from me, but I’m done. I’m done playing your game.”

“No, wait. I’ll leave you alone,” she whispered, her voice choking. “Just one thing.” She reached in her back pocket, and I froze. “Just one thing…”

She was moving slowly, or maybe the sheer shock and fear growing inside me made me see everything in slow motion. She pulled something out of her back pocket, her hand moved round her hip. A flash of metal. The sun reflected in the sharpness of the blade, and I reacted on instinct. It was small, so small between her fingers, but more dangerous than a shotgun.

“Let me show you,” she said, a bitter smile playing on her lips.

My right hand reached back, and my fingers wrapped around the first scythe I touched. The handle felt warm in my grasp. Goosebumps ran up and down my skin, and a soft buzz traveled up my right arm as I squeezed the handle tighter. I felt safe again. No, I felt safe for the first time in my life. Safe and powerful. As long as I held on to the scythe, there was a place for me. As long as I swung the scythe… I belonged.

One swift move. My arm moved as if of its own accord, swung back, then forward, and the long, curved, graceful blade went right for the blue-haired copy’s throat. “You’re not me,” I hissed as the blade cut her head off her shoulders. Clean. Quick. Perfect. As her head flew to the side and started its descent, her wide blue eyes stared at me with shock and surprise. Her body, now headless, remained paralyzed. The hand holding the thing she’d wanted to show me relaxed and let go of the object. Another sunray was caught into its metallic edge as it fell to the ground. But nothing touched the soft forest bed. Not the severed head, not the crumbling body, not the shiny object. They all dissolved into shimmering dust, and then the wind took the dust away, and spread it far and wide until nothing was left of it.

I looked at the scythe in my hand. I propped it firmly on the ground, next to my right foot. It was taller than me, its handle exaggeratedly curved, its blade sharp, the top part of it covered in a long line of runes. It still sent a nice, soothing buzz through my arm. Now, the warm feeling had reached my shoulder, moved down my chest, and was starting to nestle pleasantly in my heart and stomach. This scythe was mine. I could feel it. It adhered to me like a new limb that I’d never known I missed. And the blade… The beautiful, mighty blade. It was the first time when I could look at a blade and not feel that overwhelming mix of fear and temptation that was too much, too powerful to handle… that would make me want to throw myself over its edge and fall fall fall until I couldn’t feel a thing anymore. Not a thing.

“Congratulations, Mila Lazarov.” The professor who’d been watching me all this time stepped forward and clapped lightly. He was tall and handsome, with dark brown eyes and gray streaks in his once dark hair. He must have been in his fifties. “Welcome to Grim Reaper Academy. I’m Headmaster Mason Colin.”

Oh, the guy who I had to congratulate for the Academy going downhill. Instead, I simply said “thank you.”

CHAPTER FIVE

After they all saw me swing my scythe at the shimmering dust, the other candidates rushed to be done with the ghosts in front of them. Ghosts, copies, or whatever they were. I made a mental note to ask Klaus later what he saw. Apparently, the supernaturals didn’t like that the human had finished before them. I felt rather proud of myself.

The professors ushered us down a narrow path through the forest, toward the main building of the Academy. Klaus caught up with me. He was holding a scythe himself, and even though he still looked a bit shaken, he managed to muster a smile.

“You nailed it back there! See? Told you you’d be alright. Next time, do me a favor and trust me. No need for drama when you have me to tell you you’re gonna slay it.”

“Slay it. Hah!”

The irony wasn’t lost on me. Side by side, we walked through the gates of the Academy. Now that I felt a bit more confident and relaxed, I could take in the gothic architecture, with the tall, harmonious arches, long spires, and the gargoyles guarding the top balconies. The front court was wide and large, with a round fountain in the middle. A strange looking sculpture – an entanglement of snakes, tree trunks, and thick branches, – sprayed water through a dozen hidden nozzles. A few sleek, expensive cars were parked in the front of the stone stairs, but I was, apparently, the only one impressed. As we walked past them, all the other students ignored the vehicles and followed Headmaster Colin to the front door. I, on the other hand, had never seen such impressive cars in my life, and I stopped for a second to admire them. Klaus grabbed my arm and pulled me along.

“Stop staring,” he whispered.

“What? Why?”

“You’re attracting unwanted attention.”

I looked at those ahead and spotted the redhead from before giving me a menacing look. She’d been crying over her mystery box just an hour ago, but now she looked fine. More than fine. What had I ever done to her to deserve that level of scowling?

“Pandora. That’s her parents’ car. Some of the candidates’ families have come to see the sorting.”

“Pandora?” I snickered. “What kind of name is that?”

“You wouldn’t be laughing if you knew.”

“So, tell me.”

“She was named after a powerful, famous demoness. The original Pandora was her mother’s best friend. She disappeared a long time ago. To honor her memory, Lilith named her only daughter after her.”

“Lilith?! You mean… that Lilith?”

“Yeah, that Lilith.”

“And Pandora’s father is…” My eyes grew wider than saucers.

“Satan himself.”

“Wow!”

“But it’s no big deal. Satan has spawned so many children that trying to count them all would be an impossible task. See that guy?”