“You leave for Marrowton tomorrow. I want all your shit out of this house. Whatever is left gets thrown in the furnace,” His voice fills the room as I turn my back to him.
While making my way back up to my room I can’t help the butterflies that are assaulting my stomach. I know I should be feeling sad, angry maybe even distraught to be pushed aside like I mean nothing. But all I can keep thinking is how after this task I will finally be free.
TWO
RUELLA
“Here,” Reluctantly, I tear my gaze from the window. Outside, fields unfurl in every hue of wildflower imaginable. Soft pinks, vivid golds, cool violets, all blurred into a painter’s dream by the movement of the car. The sun spills across the hillside in ribbons of gold, and for a moment, I let myself imagine slipping out and vanishing into that warmth. Running. Disappearing. Starting over somewhere no one knows my name.
But then my eyes find Silas, seated across from me, his dark blue gaze already waiting. He lifts a brow, quietly amused, maybe even hopeful that I might try. That he might have a reason to follow.
We’re in the back of one of my father’s cars, drawn from one kind of prison and delivered to another. But at least the view is pretty on the way.
Marrowton Academy.
An exclusive university for the filthy rich and extremely powerful. A place I had no interest in going, even after Marlowe begged me to go with her.
Silas lifts his hands between us, a black phone lying in his palm.
“No thanks, I have my own phone,” I huff.
“Take it,” He orders again. “This one is secured. Your father will contact you on it,”
When I don’t move fast enough Silas grabs my hand roughly and slaps the cold metal into my palm before throwing it away like I am diseased. I often wonder why I ever let him touch me, then other times I thank the stars for sending him my way, to give my lonely existence a little reprieve.
The crunch of tyres on gravel snaps me from my haze. My breath catches as the iron gates loom into view, tall, black, and spiked like they were designed to keep things in, not out. Beyond them, there’s no sign of the school itself, only a wall of towering trees, twisted things that stretch endlessly in either direction, their bark gnarled and their shadows long even in daylight. They crowd the perimeter like sentinels, branches clawing at the sky, whispering secrets to the wind. The forest presses tight against the wrought-iron fence, as if conspiring with it. Together, they form a boundary that feels less like protection and more like a warning.
No welcome signs. Just the unmistakable promise that whatever lies beyond them, does not intend to let me go.
Holy shit. This really is like a prison.
Silas whistles next to me. “This looks worse than back home” he chuckles, and it makes my stomach drop. I knew Marrowton Academy wasn’t going to be all sunshine and rainbows, but I never put much thought into it possibly being worse than my father’s house.
A darkness shadows over the car and when I glance up, I see the sunshine no more, that inviting field of flowers is in complete contrast to the view before me. Grey clouds almost as thick and foreboding as the forest around me hovers above, I wish I packed some tan because it seems I won’t be getting any UV rays. Large drops of rain start to fall as the driver lowers his window and presses a button on the speaker beside him.
I feel my heart start to race with nerves, but I try not to let Silas see my silent panic. I was so desperate to get away I didn’t think about what I would be running into. What are the people like here? Are they going to see right through me?
If I am going to be here for a while, I need to try and blend in. I need to make friends before I start to dig a little deeper and that makes me the most nervous.
“Stop with the fucking tapping,” Silas snaps. “It does my head in,”
I glance down to where my hand is tapping against the sliver of skin showing between my skirt and thigh high socks. Unfortunately, in trying to control my raging emotions, something must give, and my damn nervous tick gives me away every single time.
I snap my attention back to Silas who has his arms crossed over his chest as he glares back at me.
“You are a real dick you know that,”
“And you’re annoying as fuck. Get over it,” He grins.
The crackling of the speaker and a gruff voice breaks the growing tension and I decide to ignore Silas for the rest of the drive. He will be gone in a matter of minutes anyway. Good fucking riddance.
“Name,” The voice loud and clear.
“Ruella Griffith,” The driver replies.
“Straight up. You only have fifteen minutes for drop off,” Then with a bleep the black gates open, the creaking echoing through the empty forest like in a horror movie. As we glide past, my eyes catch on the wrought-iron gate’s design, at first glance, all elegant swirls and curling vines climbing skyward. But the longer I look, the more the truth reveals itself. Twisted among the flourishes are grotesque faces, mouths stretched open in eternal screams, and serpentine devils sinking theirteeth into writhing, naked figures. It’s a silent tableau of torment, so expertly woven into the ironwork that it almost disappears…almost. Whoever crafted it didn’t just want to impress. They wanted to haunt.
“Lovely,” I whisper as a shiver runs up my spine.
