Surviving Year One (Grim Reaper Academy 1)

I clenched my jaw. I didn’t have to sit here and take this. “I don’t live in a trailer, bitch.” I stood up, ready to jump over the bench if GC really refused to move.

“What did you call me?” The dark-skinned girl slammed her plate on the table and lounged at me like a cat who’d just spotted a rat. Wings sprouted out of her back, and I knew she was some sort of angel. Was it me, or were the heavenly creatures worse than the hellish ones? I didn’t have time to ponder on that, because her claws sank into my hair. She pulled my head back, and I screamed in pain, my hands latching onto her wrists. Even when I scratched at her arms, she refused to let go.

“Come on, now, Sammy,” GC said between fits of laughter. “I’m sure she didn’t mean it. Give her a chance to apologize.”

“Fuck her, and fuck you for taking her side,” the girl I now knew was called Sammy spat out.

Well, that didn’t sit well with GC. His face darkened, his blond hair turned red in an instant, and his shifting eyes settled on a deep, bottomless black. He stood up slowly, and I thought he was just going to stare the girl down, but he went farther than that. He grabbed her by the arm and squeezed until she was forced to let go of my hair. As I scrambled to grab my plate and get out of there, I saw the red, angry marks he’d left on her skin. Somehow, that didn’t make me feel any better. It was nice of him to stand up for me, but not like that. Certainly, not like that. She was hurting me, yes, but there was something even worse about a man hurting a woman. Women fought sometimes, grabbed each other by the hair, scratched at each other’s faces, and even punched each other, but it was different. Still not okay, but different. At least, they were on the same level.

“I don’t want you here, Samantha. Go away.”

“But, but… you wanted me yesterday,” she whined, her lower lip trembling.

So, they knew each other before the Academy? Anyway, I had no intention to stick around and hear the rest of their heated argument. I rounded the NDC table and went straight for the MDC, where I knew Klaus would welcome me with open arms. Maybe I could make some friends, too. I figured because they were Merciful, maybe they didn’t care

that much about where I came from or that I was a human.

“Where is she going?” I heard Sariel’s voice behind me, and I almost froze in place. “GC, you idiot, you had one job. Lorna?”

“On it,” the mage girl chirped.

I had to get to Klaus. I had to. I willed my legs to move faster, but to my horror, I seemed to have no control over them anymore. Before I could wrap my head around what was happening, I felt myself being dragged back. I dropped the plate and grabbed onto the edge of the NDC table. The Neutral Death students stared at me with wide eyes, then a couple of them broke out in giggles and full-blown laughter. The force was so damn strong that my fingers slipped, and I was now grabbing at air, kicking my arms and legs frantically, trying to get some level of control over my own body and the direction it was moving in. There was no use. A weak yelp left my lips when my hip hit the edge of the VDC table. GC wrapped a strong arm around my waist and pulled me down next to him. Sammy had vanished, but the other girl, the redhead, was still there, sitting where I’d been sitting before.

“There she is,” GC laughed. “Back where she belongs.”

“Let go of me.”

“Oh, normie, but I’m not the one doing this.”

I followed his gaze and saw Lorna, next to Sariel, with both hands in the air, her long fingers that ended in red claws pointing at me. There was a look of concentration on her face. When she wasn’t scowling or getting ready to insult someone, she was beautiful. She was doing this. She was using her powers on me.

“Tell her to stop,” I hissed at Sariel.

The archangel cocked an eyebrow and took a sip of light beer. “Who? Me? Tell her to stop? Why would I? I’m not the boss of her. She does what she wants.”

Oh, but he was the boss of her, even if he didn’t want to. Lorna followed him everywhere, and the more he ignored her, the more she shadowed him, studied his every move and listened to his every word. Besides, I’d heard him order her to seize me. So, who was he trying to fool?

“Anyway, Lorna knows what she’s doing,” he continued, an evil smirk tugging at his lips. “There are rules, kuchka, and you need to learn to respect them. You were sorted in the Violent Death Cabal. We don’t want you here, I believe that’s obvious. Alas, we don’t seem to have a say in the matter, although I’ll make sure my parents have a serious talk with Headmaster Colin. Until we figure out what to do with you, you’re going to respect the rules and sit right here, with us, with the Cabal you belong to. For now. I do hope Headmaster Colin sees reason and kicks you out. Not just out of our Cabal, but out of the school.”

“There’s no rule that says I have to sit with you,” I hissed. “If there were, then the girls shouldn’t be here.”

“Don’t you worry about them, normie,” GC said, his arm coming to rest around my shoulders. He placed an empty plate in front of me and poured me some beer. “You should drink something at least, if you’re not hungry.”

I am hungry. If you fools would just back off and leave me be…

“Oh, silly me. Of course she must be hungry,” Lorna said in a sweet, fake voice.

“Then, maybe, let me go?” I still couldn’t move. It felt as if I was stuck inside my own body. My brain was sending signals to my legs and hands, but none of my muscles wanted to respond. I was paralyzed and unable to even push GC away. His arm around my shoulders burned me through my uniform. His body emanated such heat that I could feel beads of sweat gathering at the roots of my hair.

“I can’t do that, dumpster girl,” Lorna smiled innocently. “We can’t risk you trying to run away again. But I can help you with the food. Here…”

At a flick of her wrist, a huge piece of roast smacked me right in the face. I closed my eyes and pursed my lips. The smell of grease, sauces, and spices filled my nostrils, along with a generous splash of juices. I would have enjoyed the taste and the smell in other circumstances.

“Come on, don’t make this harder on yourself,” Lorna said. “Open your mouth like a good dumpster girl and take a bite. I bet you’ve never tasted anything like it. Can you even afford to buy meat where you come from, or do you live on peas and cabbage?”

The piece of roast smacked me again, and I spluttered, trying to get the juices out of my nose and mouth. I didn’t want to give her the satisfaction. I didn’t want to give them the satisfaction. The entire VDC table was laughing now. No, the entire dining hall was laughing and cheering Lorna on. I couldn’t believe the professors didn’t notice what was happening. They were eating peacefully at their table, chatting between them and with the parents, not even sparing the students a glance. The VDC guys had started banging on the table and chanting “feed her, feed her, feed her”. The only one who hadn’t joined in was Francis Saint-Germain. Even Pazuzu, the demon, was chanting now, with Pandora doing the same by his side.

This isn’t happening. This can’t be happening. I had suffered many horrible pranks in my life. I had been bullied all through high school, and by my dad at home. But I had never been in the position where I couldn’t defend myself at all, where I couldn’t even speak because my mouth was full of food, and I couldn’t move and fight back because my whole body was paralyzed. Tears pooled under my eyelids, and I squeezed my eyes shut to keep them in. I wasn’t going to cry in front of them. Never. How long could she pull this off? How long would it take her… them… until they got bored and went back to their business, whatever that was? How long? They had to stop at some point.