Surviving Year One (Grim Reaper Academy 1)

This was getting out of hand. I wrapped my fingers around his wrist and tried to pull my hair free. It wasn’t fun anymore. It was getting dangerous. He only tightened his grip.

“What do you want?” I spat out.

“You know what I want.”

“I don’t.”

“You’re so stubborn. A kiss.”

“Is that it?”

“No, I want so much more. But a kiss will do. For now.”

I struggled and hit him in the chest with my free hand. He caught it and immobilized it as if it was nothing. Where was that damn librarian when I needed her?! Just when I was getting ready to scream, he pressed his lips to mine, and all that came out was a muffled sound of protest. He had me in a strong grip. He pulled at my hair when I tried to push him away, and once he felt me concede, he let go of my hand and wrapped his arm around my waist, pressing me flush against him. He was hard. So hard. His cock rested on my belly, and I could swear I felt it throb when he pushed his tongue into my mouth. What was this urge I was feeling to rub myself against him and make him ever harder? Rub myself against him until he’d cum in his pants? That would’ve been some sort of victory, because there was no way I could fight him now that he had me trapped, but maybe I could turn this on him. I melted, instead. I relaxed in his arms, and his fingers soon released my blue locks. We kissed for a few seconds longer, and when he finally pulled away, I was panting, my eyes still closed. What have I done?

He was cheating on Patty, but he was Paz. He cheated on everyone. I was cheating on GC, and I was Mila. This wasn’t me. It was as if a demon had entered my body and taken over the reins. Which wasn’t far from the truth. Pazuzu was a demon.

“This is wrong,” I mumbled. I looked up into his intense green eyes and touched my lips. “I have to go.”

I ran out of there before he could stop me. Where do I go? Minutes ago, I was so excited about spending my holiday at the Academy, with no one to bother me, and now… it had all changed in the blink of an eye. Or a touch of the lips. With Paz here, I would never have peace and quiet. He’d seek me out everywhere I went, try to get under my skin. He was already under my skin…

I ran to my room and locked myself in. If there was one place where he wouldn’t look for me, hopefully, it would be my room. I got into bed with my laptop and prayed I wouldn’t get hungry too soon. The last thing I wanted was to come across Patty today and explain to her why I’d just kissed her boyfriend. Because I didn’t think I could see my friend and not tell her the truth. I still considered her my friend, even if she didn’t.

I started binge-watching some new TV show with zombies and tried to take my mind off everything. Off Paz, off GC, and off the guilt that I’d, basically, just cheated on my boyfriend. My boyfriend who’d saved me from certain drowning, made my bullies stop pulling shit on me, and called me his normie goddess. He doesn’t deserve this. I don’t deserve him. I pulled at my long wristbands. This was going to be one sucky winter vacation.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Paz had either figured out I liked to hang at the Holy Chapel on his own, or Francis had told him. Either way, the sacred place wasn’t sacred for me anymore. If I went to the dining room, he was there. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner soon turned into a hurdle. If I ate at the VDC table, Paz was there, and I’d have to keep him at a distance. I knew that Patty was probably watching us, or she’d asked her girlfriends from the kitchens to do it. If I wanted to eat with the staff, Patty would inevitably be there. At least, when I turned up. The fact that she walked out every time I walked in, made things ever worse. A few days of this cat and mouse game, and I was almost sure Paz had told her everything just to turn her against me even more. What was he hoping to accomplish?

Moving on, if I went to the Holy Chapel, he was there, too. If I went to the library, he’d suddenly turn up working on some project for extra worth points. It was as if he’d had me tagged, so he could find me anywhere. Which I hoped wasn’t true. I realized I didn’t know much about demons’ abilities, so I checked out a book on demons and demonology from the library and made my way to the only place where I hoped I’d finally get some peace and alone time. The Unholy Chapel.

As expected, the Unholy Chapel was opposite from the Holy Chapel. Such a cliché. But at least it made sense, and at the moment, I was more than fine with things that made sense, even if they were clichés. Just like the Holy Chapel, this one had two access doors, too. One from inside the Academy, and the other one from the outside. I crossed the long hall separating the two entrances and I found myself deep in the forest. Interesting. So, the Holy Chapel opens toward the ocean, and the Unholy Chapel leads straight into the woods. Fitting. It was cold, the snow had covered the trees, the bushes, and the ground in a thick white pelt, and the sky was of a dark, sad gray. We hadn’t had much sun in days, and the gloomy weather was starting to get to me. I went inside, ready to explore the house of Satan.

The Unholy Chapel wasn’t much different from the Holy one in regard to structure and design. The walls and the ceiling were covered in paintings depicting scenes from the Old Testament, noticeably darker than the ones in the Holy Chapel. The nine circles of Hell, ugly devils torturing wretched souls… the usual. Instead of statues of saints, the niches in the walls were occupied by statues of demons with hybrid bodies. Furfur had the body of a hart and the wings of an angel. Adramelech had the face of a mule and the mighty tail of a peacock. I passed from one statue to the next, my awe growing with each step I took toward the front of the chapel. The art was incredible! There were no two demons alike. Each was unique in his own way. Candles burned at their feet, the light dancing on their marble and bronze faces, making them look almost alive. In front of the altar, I stopped to look up at the statue of the horned god, with his hooves crossed at the foot of his throne, his goat head held high, and his angel wings spread behind his back. Satan? No. This must be Baphomet, the son of Satan. Just like in the Holy Chapel, where God wasn’t depicted in any way, here the Anti-God wasn’t depicted, either. Their sons stood front and center. I wonder… If I ask Paz what his father looks like, will he tell me? Does he even know?

I stayed like that for a while, simply staring at Baphomet. Just like Jesus on the cross in the Holy Chapel, he seemed distant and indifferent. Lifeless. A statue and nothing more. Eventually, I shrugged and sat down. I felt just as welcome here as in the other place. I opened the book on demons and looked over the Table of Contents. The first two chapters were on the history of demonology and the most famous contributors, then the next chapter

s were divided into a couple of loose categories: demons of war, demons of gluttony, demons of lust – which was, basically, an entire chapter on incubi and succubi, – demons that brought plagues upon the world, demons that were patrons of various sciences, demons who possessed humans, and demons who possessed animals. It was far from an exhaustive treaty on demonology, and after I turned the book over a few times, I realized it was only volume one in a collection of twelve volumes. Well, tough luck. I had no intention of studying demons more than it was necessary to give me a quick glimpse into who Pazuzu was and what he could do. I already knew he wasn’t the original Pazuzu, the Mesopotamian King of the Wind, Storms and Drought. But he had similar abilities, so what exactly did that mean? Aside from the mages, no one had really used their supernatural powers at the Academy. Okay, and aside from GC, who’d turned into a real golden calf and let me ride him to safety. But what about the other students? What about angels and archangels? They could fly, sure. And what else could they do? What about incubi and succubi? I knew they fed on sexual energy, and Kitty, at least, looked like an honest-to-God succubus who could have devoured men alive (metaphorically speaking?) if she felt like it. But Patricia was half-succubus, too, and she wasn’t scary at all, nor a bitch. I found the chapter on demons of lust and started reading. Two paragraphs in, and I heard the door open and close. I turned to see if Paz had found me here too, but it wasn’t him. It was Patty. And that was when I knew for sure that, among all the other things they could probably do, demons were, first and foremost, good with telepathy.

“Hey.”

“Hey.” I almost couldn’t believe she’d greeted me first. When she sat down next to me, I looked up at her curiously. “Is… everything all right?” If Paz had told her about the kiss, she had all the right to punch me right then and there. I wouldn’t have fought back.

She shrugged, instead. “I guess.”

We stayed in silence for a while. I felt like she wanted to tell me something but didn’t know how. I was happy to give her time. Just being in the presence of my only friend at the Academy felt comforting. It had been a while…

“I broke up with Paz.”

“What?! Why? When?” Too many questions, Mila. Keep it together!

“Last night. After…” she sighed deeply. “It doesn’t matter. It’s over, and I just wanted to let you know. I’m sorry, too. I’m sorry for pushing you away like I did. It was silly of me, and you were right.” She chuckled lightly. “We should have never fought over some guy.”

“But he isn’t just some guy.”

“He is. Was.”

“Not to you.”