Page 48 of Wicked Dove
Fire spreads into the room, rippling with chaos and destruction as it swirls like a vortex down to the bottom of the auditorium before barrelling toward the opposite end of the room.
Everyone screams as it heads for its target, Willow, but before I get to bear witness to her torture, Grimm snarls at the top of his lungs with the box in hand. “Defeatus!”
All at once, the fire is gone, but the fluttering of my heart rate remains.
“Holy shit, Elodie,” Ocean says in a mixture of awe and disbelief, and I don’t know whether to be proud of myself or mortified. Either way, my idea of going about The Vale as an unknown entity is not working in my favor so far.
“That’s it, Miss Elodie. You must speak to the box, offer it your rage, and let it be the decider of whether your fury is worthy of its flames,” he states as the bell chimes through the air, dismissing the class.
Everyone launches to their feet, ready to get out of here, but I don’t take a single step before Willow appears in front of me with her hands on her hips and her eyes narrowed into slits.
“You’re going to pay for that.”
FOURTEEN
ELODIE
One class leads into another and another until I suddenly find myself on the walk back to Thirteen with Ocean by my side. The first class was the peak of excitement, and I’ve had nothing but death glares from Willow everywhere I turn. I’m more than ready to eat and pass out for a bit, but the eating will have to come later because I can’t deal with that girl’s toxic presence any longer.
Taking the path that leads directly from The Vale to Institute Thirteen, I feel my shoulders ease from the tension I’ve been carrying, as if the gloomy, Gothic edges are a familiarity that offers a sense of warmth.
“Has anyone ever left?” I ask, peering at the derelict institute in the distance. I considered my chances again today, but whatever I touched has left a lasting mark, one I’m not ready to attempt again. I need another escape route; there has to be one.
“What do you mean?” Ocean asks, and I shrug.
“Like, what are my chances of seeing the back of this place?” I ask, and she grimaces. I can’t decide if it’s because there isn’t a good answer or because she’s surprised I’m still considering it.
“Well, if they’re dead, they leave,” she states, and I gulp, my chest tightening at the weight of those words.
“And once you finish the academic side of things?” I push, aware that Willow is the child of a member of The Sanctum. Surely she wouldn’t stay here forever, right?
“Well, Institutes One through Six definitely leave.”
“And the rest?” I breathe, unsure if I actually want the answer, and she shrugs.
“No one seems to have a clear answer.”
That doesn’t make any sense. “Have you seen people from Thirteen graduate?” I ask, hoping she can give me a better answer, and her eyebrows gather in confusion.
“Graduate?” she repeats, as if the word is foreign to her.
“Yeah, like finish everything they’re supposed to do,” I rephrase, and her eyes widen in understanding.
“Oh, we call that ascension.”
“Of course you do,” I grumble, wiping a hand down my face. “Are you sure this isn’t just a cult?” I mutter, and she snickers but doesn’t give me a definitive answer. Great. “So, have you seen anyone from Thirteen ascend?”
She shakes her head as we make our way down the incline, the building looming closer with every step we take.
“How long has this place been here?” I ask, redirecting my attention. I have to be able to learn something useful here today.
“Over two hundred years. More, probably, I never pay enough attention,” she states, and I frown.
“But why was it built?” I push, running my tongue over my bottom lip in thought.
“To confine us all together. Instead of having places all over the world, they created The Vale.”
Definitely a cult.
