Surviving Year One (Grim Reaper Academy 1)

Well, it has changed me, I thought. It has changed my life. Not sure if for the better, but at least it’s different from living with my parents and scrubbing toilets. I wasn’t going to say any of that when, inevitably, my turn came.

“You all know me as GC. But do you know what it stands for?” It was a rhetorical question, obviously. “Golden Calf. Because I’m a god and a shifter, bitches!” He set his cup down and shrugged off his jacket. “And I’ll prove it to you. Right here and now.” He didn’t stop there. He grabbed the hem of his shirt and pulled it up over his head. I choked on my drink.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Paz said. “Sit down. I don’t want to see you naked.”

GC ignored him and went to work on the buttons of his pants. “Sorry, mate. I like these clothes, I don’t want to tear them to pieces.”

“Seriously? You’re going to shift into a bull?” My voice sounded strange to me. I couldn’t believe I’d broken my self-imposed silence! Sariel and Paz looked straight at me, as if they were surprised I was still there.

“At least someone is excited to see your dick,” Sariel said.

I shot him a death glare. Contradicting him would’ve been like putting gas on fire. I didn’t want to see GC’s dick. What the hell?! That was so rude and disgusting! I blushed involuntarily, which probably said a lot about how I was trying to lie to myself in my head. Anyway, I did want to see him shift into a bull. A golden calf, like his name said.

“You’re not the original Golden Calf, so stop making such a fuss about it,” Paz said. He sounded displeased. He shot me a glance, which I caught from the corner of my eye. I was too busy watching GC roll his jeans down his legs. “If you take off your underwear, I swear I’ll beat you up.” Was he jealous? He sounded pretty jealous.

“Why, Paz? Are you afraid that if our normie sees my dick, she’ll be ruined for you?”

I bit the inside of my cheek. Now, everyone was looking at me, waiting for my reaction. Even Francis seemed mildly interested. Sariel was having the time of his life, that much was obvious from the constant smirk he on his lips.

“I don’t want to see your dick,” I said. “But I admit I’d like to see you shift into a bull.”

“No, for real, normie. I’m not just any kind of bull. I’m a golden calf. Just like my grandfather and my father. I’m Golden Calf Apis the Third.”

“Your family has no inspiration for names,” Paz muttered.

“It’s tradition.”

“The first Golden Calf was your grandfather?” I asked, now thoroughly fascinated with GC. “That means… Oh my God, how old are you?” When it came to the year or general time period when something had taken place, the Old Testament was one of the most unreliable sources. What I knew for sure was that the false god who was supposed to be GC’s grandfather was born way, way before Christ. Like… way before!

“Wouldn’t you like to know, normie?”

He was standing in front of the fire now, only in his briefs and leather boots. Fuck, he was sexy! His changing hair caught the light of the dancing flames, and was blond for a moment, silver, then red the next, and his eyes did the same. Deep blue now, green the next second, then brown if a shadow fell over his face. A shifter. I wondered if all shifters were like that, their features changing constantly, fluidly, as if they had an intimate connection with the sky, the sun, the moon, and everything that created lights and shadows.

“I’m older than you, let’s just leave it at that.”

“Are you immortal?”

“You bet I am!”

“Fucking hell!” Paz stood up and kicked GC’s cup, spilling the remaining contents into the fire. The flames fizzled for a moment, then rose stronger and hotter. “You’re peacocking. What? Do you think she’ll fuck you just because you’re immortal? Flash news, idiot. You’re not the only immortal around here.”

That got my attention. My eyes snapped to Pazuzu. I didn’t have to ask the question. He already knew it. For a moment, we locked eyes, but the moment was lost when GC laughed out loud.

“You’re just jealous, mate. Jealous and petty.” He walked around the campfire and stopped in front of me. He leaned in, took my chin between his fingers, and gave me the most charming smile he could muster. “He’s not immortal, normie. Paz was just named after an ancient demon who bit the dust a long time ago.”

Pazuzu wasn’t happy with the situation. He rounded the fire, too, grabbed GC’s arm, and pulled him away from me.

“We share the same powers,” he growled into GC’s face. “I can bring famine, if I want to. I can burn the forest and the fields, drain the lakes, and leave you all for dead.”

And I believed him. His black hair had fallen over his eyes, but I c

ould still see his normally green irises had turned red. Red like the fires of hell. There was so much power boiling underneath his skin, that I was suddenly afraid for GC’s life. And mine. I made to stand up, but my reaction was too slow. GC laughed in Paz’s face and pushed him away, his biceps flexing mesmerizingly.

“Fuck off! You wanna tell normie about you? Wait for your turn.”

All the VDC guys started chanting “fight, fight, fight”. Silently, though, because no one wanted to attract Mrs. Po’s attention. GC couldn’t care less about fighting. The second he’d pushed Paz away, he moved fast and removed his briefs in one swift motion. My eyes almost bulged out of my head. Oh my God, he’s big. How can he be this big when he’s not even hard? I covered my eyes with my hands, but I’d seen all of it already. All there was to see. Now, everyone around me was laughing, having already forgotten they’d wanted to see GC and Paz fight just a second ago.

Then, they all gasped, and I couldn’t suppress my curiosity anymore. I opened my eyes just in time to see GC jump outside of the circle and turn into a golden bull midstride. He was, honest to God, golden. Like, he was made of pure gold, and his eyes were now two shining sapphires. I stood up slowly, in a stupor, my mouth agape, and my eyes as big as saucers. The golden calf pranced around for a minute, letting everyone admire him. Even the NDC and the RDC students stood up and marveled at how incredible he looked, and how elegantly he jumped, like a beautiful beast who’d been trapped in a body too small for him for a long time. The MDC were too far from us to understand what the fuss was about. Before they realized what was happening, GC lowered his head, shook it from side to side, his golden horns catching the moonlight, then disappeared into the forest.