How much time as passed? I wonder once more. A few hours...a few days? Shit what if years have slipped by and the men I love are now old and frail waiting for a girl who lost herself in the rings of hell?
“Miss Castillo.” A disappointed voice leers out my name and it’s then that I realize that years have not passed.
And I am very much still in the shit hole prison of Academy of Six under the watch of Headmaster Willms.
Great.
The joy I feel at finally beinghomeoverrides any wariness or trepidation. I can’t even despise the Academy right now. I can't even despise him. I’m back. I’mback, and I can see Saint, Phoenix, Malek, and Syko again.
His hazel eyes bare down on me from behind his old square glasses. He adjusts his suit and I suddenly feel very much like a bug that he might step on at any moment.
I certainly didn’t miss his judgment during my little hell-trip.
“Come inside, Miss Castillo. You’ve missed many classes. You’ve broken several rules in the past four weeks and I’m much too tired to stand here all day discussing them.” His shoes scuff the sidewalk as he heads toward the entrance building without looking back to see if I’m following.
A heavy puff of air exits my lungs and flutters the dark hair in front of my face. Ash, sweat, and the drippings of demon booze clings to body and against my slick, shining leather outfit. I somehow find the strength to shove myself off of the ground and follow after the old Headmaster.
The building is quiet when I enter and my dear friend, Miss Warren gives me a tight smile that feels slightly more genuine than it used to. Shit. I wonder if she missed me, then I feel bad because I didn't think about her at all.
“Morning, Izara,” the secretary whispers on a mousy tone.
Willms cuts her a cold glance, and she rushes to turn back around and begin her endless typing at her old black typewriter.
My leathery wings ruffle against my back as I slip into the Headmaster’s office and they only become even more on edge when he closes the door soundly behind us.
Nerves claw beneath my skin in a new way that I’ve never experienced. I feel trapped now that the door is solidly closed and I know it’ll open again but I hate the way the room feels like it’s pressing in on me.
I force a breath in my lungs and calm myself by listening to my inhales and exhales.
“It seems you’ve taken a nice adventure recently. Do tell me about that, Miss Castillo.”
Tell him. About my trip through hell?
No, I’d rather not. I doubt he'd believe any of it anyway. If he didn’t believe me when I'd been choked on my first day—with the bruises to prove it—then he wouldn’t believe I’d been kidnapped by my father and sent to hell.
I know perfectly well what I look like. Tight full body leather, long unkempt hair and fiery spread out wings.
I likely look like I went to dominate hell. Not been kidnapped and tortured by it.
“I don’t know what you mean,” I say and as I sit down, I notice a ripped off and bloody pixie arm tangled through my hair. I discreetly tug it out and drop it beneath his desk.
“Miss Castillo, you’re just slightly out of Academy of Six’s jurisdiction when you enter hell.”
That’s surprising. I always assumed hell and Academy of Six were one in the same.
I say nothing instead of telling the aging Headmaster my petty thoughts.
“You arenotallowed off campus property. Do you understand?”
It takes me just under a second to realize...I’m not in confinement. No guards are here. It’s just me and him. And he’s warning me rather than punishing me.
Why?
“I understand,” I say slowly. But I really don't, and the room feels smaller as the two of us stare one another down in a silent showdown of who might crack first.
Surprisingly, it’s Willms.
Get fucked. I didn't spend hours in the second circle of hell without coming out with a few tricks up my sleeve.
