Page 13 of Venomous Lies
Grimacing, I fluffed my hair, trying to get it to sit right so I could go to the dining hall. As soon as possible, I’d need to figure out how to color my hair since my brown roots were showing up.
Most people never noticed it.
But I did every time the black dye began to grow out even a quarter of an inch.
Ever since I was fourteen, still a student at the academy, I’d been dyeing my hair. A random girl had said I had mud for hair since I liked to play around in it so much. After being told to fuck off, she and her minions decided to “help” me understand my place.They’d tied me up and poured a bucket of shit, stolen from the familiars class, on my head. The group of girls and boys said the manure suited me better than the mud.
Especially for an orphan with a mixed-breed family.
The professors hadn’t stepped in to stop the bullies; hell, I even saw a few of them pointedly turn away, snickering as I got free and ran away to take a shower. I’d neverforget the burning rage and shame I’d felt—from both myself and even Cassius.
But revenge is best served cold… and that’s just what I did.
Over the course of a few weeks, those students had disappeared one by one, and their true fate had never been discovered. I smiled softly to myself, finding pleasure in the pride that filled me, even now, with the memory of what I had done and done very well.
That was filed under the list of incidents my moms had never found out about—the shit the bullies had doneandwhat I had done after.
Mom and Ma just chalked the hair dyeing up to a phase or some teenage whim, but I couldn’t look at my natural brown hair without thinking of the incident… Plus, the black hair just fit me better.
’Those students were assholes.’
‘Very much dead assholes,’I replied tartly, a small smile curling my lips.‘I don’t even think they found everyone.’
‘Not all of them at least.’He chuckled darkly, without a single hint of remorse.
At the beginning, I had underestimated the academy staff, but after that, I ensured that the rest of my tormentors wouldn’t be found so easily.
Catching a glimpse of the sun setting through the windows, I made myself focus on finishing up so I could grab dinner before the hall closed. Grabbing my makeup, I carefully applied my black lipstick before doing a light smokey eye. It went perfectly with the black dress that I had on. Although it was a tight fit that highlighted my curves, it was super easy to throw on and it felt great.
My stomach growled as I snagged my favorite ankle boots and grabbed my laptop bag. Food then library to tryto get a hold of my moms. If I was lucky, I could use their computers to do a video call or something. I’d tried it on my laptop earlier, but my internet connection kept going in and out.
If anything, I’d send them an email since that was better than nothing. Or a long ass letter on the paper, though I knew they’d rather see me.
Lost in thought, I was out of the dorm and on my way to the dining hall before I became aware of my surroundings again.
The quad was empty, eerily empty… The hair on the back of my neck stood up as Cas stirred in my mind.
‘Beastie?’
‘Something’s wrong.’Even though we spoke in my mind, I still whispered, unwilling to disturb the stillness.
Cas’ powers unfurled, searching for the source of the emptiness, but he seemed nothing but confused.
‘Another lockdown?’I guessed, but I was unconvinced. Could I have missed a lockdown warning?
‘Something is watching you.’
‘Something or someone?’
‘I don’t know.’He answered slowly, as if he were testing out each word like he was surprised by his lack of knowledge.
Right as I was about to ask Cas if I should feign ignorance and keep walking or hit the ground running, a flare of magick slammed through the air, soon followed by a piercing alarm.
“All students report to the closest building and lock yourselves in. Donot,under any circumstances, open the door to anyone until the lockdown is lifted. Anyone who does not comply will be seen as a threat to the school’s safety and will be treated as such. You have three minutes.”
Then the flare of magick rippled through the air again.
Shit.I wasn’t anywhere near my dorm anymore.
