Page 149 of Academy of the Wicked, Year One

25

BURN IT ALL AWAY

~GWENIVERE~

"Stupid," I mutter under my breath, remembering how Darius would repeat those words over and over again.

The man I thought would be my forever, who started as every girl's romantic dream before revealing the monster beneath.

The noise of the cafeteria fades as I walk down the hall, but the stench of piss lingers, taunting me with memories I've tried so hard to bury. The scent triggers something primal and terrifying – that instinctive fear of being trapped, being helpless.

Suddenly I'm there again – the brittle submissive Gwenivere on her knees, tears streaming down my face as the same putrid smell clings to my trembling frame.

Darius's voice rings in my ears, his mockery cutting deeper than any blade ever could.

"Look at the little witch, thinking she deserves love."

"Stupid bitch can't even defend herself properly."

"What's wrong, princess? I thought you liked getting wet."

Their laughter echoes through my mind, a chorus of cruelty that had lasted hours. The memory of rough hands forcing my head under water, holding me there until my lungs burned, only to pull me up just long enough to hear their taunts before shoving me back under.

The way Darius had watched, smoking his cigarette with casual indifference as his friends "taught me my place." How he'd smiled when I'd begged him to make it stop, telling me this was for my own good – that I needed to learn what happened to defiant hybrids who didn't know their place.

Who dared to think they were worthy of a vampire's love.

Something grabs me, yanking me from those spiraling dark thoughts. It takes everything I have not to flinch, every muscle in my body tensing with remembered trauma.

I force myself to remain still until I hear a quiet noise.

"Gree?"

Slowly, I look over my shoulder, my dull eyes finding Nikolai's breathless figure with Mini Grim perched on his shoulder.

But what draws my attention is what's happening to our tiny companion.

He's fading.

Little pieces of him dissolve into nothingness, like ash carried away on a breeze. His energy seems to have suddenly run dry as if he can no longer maintain this form in our realm.

Despite his hollow eyes, I can see the sadness in his demeanor as half his body has already disappeared into the ether.

Yet he pushes off Nikolai's shoulder, using his last bits of strength to float to my face. He presses himself against my cheek, catching the single tear threatening to escape my widened eyes.

The gesture reminds me of the man I thought would be my forever – how he’d wipe away my tears after Darius, promising me that someday things would be different.

To think I was so naive to see the good right before me. Despite the nerdy appearance with those big glasses or his chubby cheeks that I always called cute for pinching.

I was such a judgemental bitch that I couldn’t be with the man that would have surely given me the world, even with our paranormal differences and similarities.

He vowed that no one like Darius would hurt me again…

And he meant it…which sent him to elite jail for psychotic paranormals.

"Gree."

The sound carries meaning I can somehow understand, the words translating in my mind and leaving me speechless.

---