Page 11 of Zodiac Hybrids

It was eerily quiet in the courtyard, outside of the distant howling of dogs and the chirps of crickets. Just normal night ambiance that was soothing in its own right. Though, for some reason, I seemed to be the only person in the entire school who was out after hours.

My nerves spiked at the realization, and I started walking quickly back towards the dorm. The last thing I wanted was to find out Graves Academy was, in fact, some kind of cult, and the full moon was part of a sacrificial ritual. Either that, or this place was haunted, which would track for such a creepy looking castle of a school.

My pace increased, covering the couple hundred yards back to the hallway faster than I’d ever covered that kind of distance in my life. My gym teachers who gave me regular Ds on the mile run would have been proud of me. Hell, I was proud of me. Well, up until I grabbed the handle and attempted to yank open the door and it didn’t budge. I jerked on the handle, over and over, hoping it was simply old and stuck, but it wasn’t long before I accepted it had auto-locked.

Shit.

Shit shit shit.

I held my breath and listened carefully, spooked and on edge for no reason other than I was alone in the dark. There were no new sounds in the distance or the immediate vicinity to imply anyone else was around. All I heard was more yipping and howling—coyotes, maybe. The soft hooting of an owl complimented the night symphony. Definitely, totally, for sure not ghost sounds. The wild dogs were weirdly active around here though. Even living in the city, I didn’t usually hear this much barking this late at night.

Stop stressing, Lila. I just had to get around to the front of the school and go through the main entrance. I’d taken the rear exit to the courtyard, and it made sense that it would lock at night to keep intruders out of the women’s dorms. Nothing to worry about. I was letting my imagination get ahead of me. That seemed to be happening a lot lately. I guess it came with the territory, considering this was my first time ever living totally on my own. I’d only been here a week. I was still adjusting. I was just being paranoid. It was okay to give myself some grace when I was getting used to a whole new phase of life.

On a scurrying step, I started making my way around the outer walls of the grand hallways, under the watchful eyes of the imposing statues, and feeling extra conscious of the thick hedges lining the old world buildings. The sound of rustling leaves had me double stepping even faster, and I cursed the needlessly large and long halls that made up the maze of Graves.

I reached into my pocket and found my phone, thankful I’d thought to grab it, then I pulled up Marcus’ contact and hovered over the text box.

I was being ridiculous, but…

Me: You up?

Marcus: Where are you?

The response was immediate, then my screen lit up with an incoming call.

I ended it without answering, not wanting to make that much noise, and I shot him another text instead.

Me: In the courtyard. I got locked out. Would you mind opening a door for me?

Marcus: Anytime, Baby Doll. I’m not supposed to go through the women’s dorm, but the cafeteria is neutral territory if you can get there.

Perfect. I shoved my phone back in my pocket and kept jogging. The cafeteria wasn’t much further.

I think.

I didn’t know the campus that well yet, but I could vaguely picture the campus map in my head. More rustling, and I told myself it was my own foot falls I was hearing. Words that I knew weren’t true, but that sounded better in my head than admitting I might have someone following me.

When I rounded the bend, the cafeteria door came into view exactly as the rustling got louder. The only thing drowning it out was my own heartbeat.

I glanced over my shoulder, but there was no sign of anyone or anything behind me. I blamed the gentle breeze, but still whipped my attention forward and shot for the entrance in a desperate sprint. If I was lucky, Marcus had already unlocked it for me.

Please let me be lucky.

Much to my relief, the latch released easily, and I slipped inside.

I loosed a breath and closed my eyes, giving my adrenaline a chance to subside. The room was near pitch black, aside from the moonlight that penetrated the space through the open door behind me. I blinked a few times to adjust my eyes, trying to find Marcus in the maze of tables.

While I expected to find my classmate standing there, instead I found someone who looked like Professor Adrian Karras, his back to me, and his gaze fixated on some unknown distance out the window. His whole body stiffened as the door fell shut behind me.

“What are you doing here so late at night, Professor?” I asked with a nervous hitch. Not who I was hoping to run into, but I was grateful he’d unlocked the door, even if it wasn’t intentionally to help me.

He turned slowly to face me. “Y-you opened the door.” His eyes were wide, and he was starting to physically shake. “Get out of here, Lila. Get out of here right now—”

“What? Why?”

“Go!”

The force of the word had my adrenaline spiking again. I took one unsteady step back, knowing the only place to run was back outside, and not feeling terribly comfortable with that option. At least in here, I knew what I was dealing with. Out there, I didn’t want to take my chances.