Page 9 of The Last De Loughrey Dynasty

CHAPTER FIVE

DOROTHEE

My first realmorning at Aquila Hall wasn’t much different from every other school I’d attended over the years. Several times, my mother had forced me to switch schools after incidents, like the time where I screamed in the girls’ bathroom. I didn’t always get along with other students. Walking around paranoid about everything made me an easy target. Since even my mother believed I had issues, she never bothered to speak with my teachers or the parents of the other children. She blamed me instead, transferring me to another school each time and telling me tobe betterthis time.

She never saw how hard I tried to be the perfect daughter she wanted. In the end, I was just a burden.

The students here, however, were kinder. I wasn’t particularly interesting to them because we all had one thing in common: our parents had paid a lot of money to send us here and get us out of their way. They were as much a disgrace as I was.

I’d seen a few of Maisie’s friends again, but they’d only looked at me from afar. This morning, before we went off to our respective classes, my roommate had asked if I wanted to eatlunch with her and her friends. In a hurry, I’d agreed, but now I was rethinking my decision. They hadn’t seemed as fond of me as Maisie had yesterday. It might have just been the situation, but I had a feeling they wouldn’t want me around anytime soon. However, Maisie had asked so kindly that I couldn’t decline her invitation.

Before all this, I had a session with my psychologist, which I couldn’t miss, especially after what had happened yesterday.

It didn’t even take thirty seconds for him to open the door. He must have been waiting for me because there were two teacups already placed on the coffee table by the sofa and the chair.

“Dorothee,” he greeted me with a welcoming smile. “How was your first day?” Chadwick motioned for me to come in and then closed the door behind us.

His office was nothing like the others I’d seen. Those had been clinical and cold, with attempts at comfort that felt staged. But this room was different; it was busy, full of personality. The walls were covered with golden frames, displaying pictures of the school and an old photograph of him with a boy and a girl standing in front of the gates of Aquila Hall. They must have been my age. Candles flickered on the windowsill, their light dancing to the melody of autumn rain tapping on the glass.

“I hope you like tea,” he chuckled softly, lowering himself into the chair and taking one of the cups. “There’s nothing better than a hot cup of Earl Grey on a cold autumn day.”

I placed my bag beside me on the sofa and took the cup meant for me. It was still hot, so maybe he hadn’t been waiting long after all.

“How’s your first day been? Have you settled in a little?” he asked again, noticing I hadn’t answered the first time.

Sometimes, when my surroundings overwhelmed me, I forgot to speak. It happened often.

I set the red cup back on the coffee table and swallowed. After a long night alone with my thoughts, I’d decided not to tell the full truth. It would be too risky. If I told him everything, they’d send me away to some place where I couldn’t be a danger to myself. I couldn’t let that happen.

“It’s a lot, but my roommate is nice,” I said, knotting my fingers awkwardly.

Chadwick smiled. “Mairead is truly a positive soul. I recommended to Headmaster Shaw that you room with her, hoping her lively energy might help you cope with the sadness your situation brings.”

I narrowed my gaze, picking at the hem of my blue skirt.

“You’re aware I’ve read your medical records, aren’t you?” Chadwick’s voice was gentle, “Dorothee, I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable, but we need to start from where it all began to find a solution.”

“You’ve already read my records, so you know what my mind is capable of,” I said quietly. I’d never read my own records, but judging by everything that had happened over the years, and everything the professionals had said, I was a hopeless case.

The man in front of me nodded, leaning back with his teacup in hand.

“We won’t start at zero, all right? If you don’t want this, I won’t force you to relive all those terrifying memories. I’m sure, in time, you’ll want to talk about what triggered everything. For now, though, how was your first night at Aquila Hall? Did you have any dreams?”

Anwir Chadwick was patient and kind. I appreciated that he wasn’t like the others who had pressured me to recount my story, as though that would somehow make it easier.

Maybe he could help me because I couldn’t keep living like this—living in fear of myself, unable to explain what washappening in my head. I hated not knowing. I needed answers, explanations.

“I had a dream about a girl,” I began, hiding my trembling hands under my knees. “I didn’t know her, but I saw everything from her point of view.”

“How do you know it was a stranger and not yourself in the dream?”

“Because I caught a glimpse of her hair. It was longer than mine and brown. I’ve never even dyed my hair before. And she wore a white dress that looked like something from the sixties or seventies.”

Only now did I realise the details I hadn’t considered earlier, during my sleepless night.

“Were you at home in the dream?”

I shook my head. “No, I was in my dorm room. She—well, I—walked towards the balcony and climbed onto the railing. There was nothing I could do. I couldn’t move, like my body wasn’t connected to my mind at all.” I swallowed the lump in my throat and sipped my tea before continuing. “There was a boy on the ground, begging her to come down, but all she did was turn. Then she fell.”

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