Page 33 of Dead End

I suddenly felt like I could breathe for the first time in years. It was creepy, dark, and spooky, but honestly, I kind of dug the whole aesthetic. Something about it felt right, from the perpetual night to the eerie creatures and the double moons. I couldn’t put my finger on the feeling, though. It might have been the fact that I’d spent most of my preteen and teen years reading Harry Potter, Narnia, and any other fantastical story I could get my hands on. This place felt familiar, like home.

We wandered the halls, and by now, I was pretty much trailing along behind Maddie and Cal. She was snuggled up to his side, holding onto his muscular arm for dear life, and I couldn’t help but shake my head. Maddie was such a flirt. It seemed the guy from the bookstore was a memory for another day, as her eyes filled with stars and hearts. I hoped Cal realized he’d gained an admirer. I saw the way he kept looking down at her, unable to stop staring at her lips as she chatted.

He showed us a few classrooms, but really, they looked more like theaters. Each room was made of the same dark charcoal stone as the rest of the castle, and there seemed to be no electric lights anywhere. Every wall was filled with crackling torches and lanterns that dangled from the high ceilings. Instead of desks and chairs like I’d expected, I kept finding rooms filled with mismatched upholstered lazy boys and chaise lounges. Students lounged around on plush velvet furniture, scribbling away with honest-to-god quills and parchment, while professors casually surveyed them from the head of the room.

And the professors—they were something entirely different. I thought I was prepared for more weirdness, but I didn’t have a fucking clue what we were in for. When we passed the realm history class, which would end up being my second stop of the day in a few hours, we encountered a professor who appeared to be stitched together with a needle and thread. His skin was a patchwork of gray and green that resembled a quilt, and his eyes were milky white but slightly yellow. He was taller than any human being I’d ever seen in my life and lumbered around the room like a zombie.

“Now, to crack the skull open...” His terrifying voice was loud and gave me goosebumps as he held a skull with his long fingers.

I quickly bypassed that classroom, leaving that mystery for a little while later while Cal waxed on about the school’s history. Apparently, the entire castle had been around for thousands of years, and some of the greatest creatures in history went here. I’d even heard of some of them—Dracula, even though he was more human than anything that had a taste for blood,;the Sandman; and even Bloody Mary. Yeah, apparently she was a real person. They all were, and at some point, they had crossed over to the mortal world to wreak havoc. There were so many things I wanted to know, and the longer we wandered around the school, the more giddy I became.

We reached a huge room with gigantic double doors carved in what looked like a wooden depiction of a gnarled forest, with jack-o’-lanterns sitting in the trees instead of fruit. The eyes and mouths, though made of wood, still glowed bright orange. Cal pushed them open, revealing a sprawling dining area lit with thousands of candlesticks and more jack-o-lanterns. There were circular tables spread out all over the room, but Cal made a beeline for the food as he rubbed his hands together. A massive spread was readily available buffet-style. I was impressed, but I wasn't sure how it all worked. Did I need some kind of meal plan, or was it free?

“We don’t have time to sit and eat.” Cal grabbed Maddie’s schedule from her hand after tossing her a surprisingly normal-looking donut and took a look at her classes with a furrowed brow. For some reason, the expression looked forced. “You guys have potions in twenty minutes, but if you get back here in time for the lunch special, I’m pretty sure candy apples are on the menu.” He winked again, and Maddie blushed.

“Candy for lunch?” I asked skeptically. “No snake and spider stew?”

Jessica hissed under my hair, “I resent that.”

“Sorry…” I whispered with a dark chuckle and a feigned cringe.

Cal hadn’t heard her, so he kept on with a low laugh. “Afraid not. Aggie makes a mean frog leg stew on Thursdays, though.”

He nodded to where an arched window sat in the center of the wall. Inside, I could barely see what looked like an old woman flipping a disk of dough in the air, but when she looked up, I startled back a step. She had only a single eye in the center of her face. Aggie, apparently, was a cyclops of some sort. I covered my reaction, awkwardly pretending I’d been looking at something else, but I didn’t miss the way the woman rolled her eyes. Now I feel bad.

Something caught my eye as we turned to leave the room. It was a metallic flickering by the doors. There was a poster on the wall, and from here, I could see elegant, scrawling handwriting. I went to it, presumably with Cal and Maddie on my heels. The closer I got, the more I realized it was parchment, not a poster. The writing was metallic, as if someone had dipped their quill into liquid gold.

“Solstice Festival…” I read out loud. Turning to Cal, I asked, “What’s the Solstice Festival?”

“It’s a holiday we celebrate at the start of a new year. I believe mortals have something similar—New Year's Day, I think. Not a very original name, if you ask me.”

“So what do you guys do during the Solstice?” I was curious now. Did these people celebrate the same way mortals did? Did they have a Christmas, an Easter, or a Valentine’s Day? I assumed not, as most of the mortal holidays were religious in some aspect, and they wouldn't have much use for Halloween here since apparently a ton of creatures crossed over to the mortal world on that night.

Cal came closer, and Maddie reluctantly dropped his arm. I had to take a step back as he invaded my space. “I’m probably the wrong person to ask. I never really go to the festival. It’s mostly just a bunch of town officials throwing themselves a party.” He smiled widely. “But if you’re thinking about going, maybe I’d make an exception this year.”

“Oh, we’re most definitely going!” Maddie said excitedly, bouncing on the balls of her feet as she shoved between us.

“Isn’t that just what we need?” a high, sharp female voice cut from over my shoulder. Mortals are ruining the Solstice celebration.”

I turned around and had to stop myself from staggering back a step. I needed to learn how to reign in my reactions. A girl stood three feet from us with her arms crossed over her chest. She wore a black cheerleading uniform with blood-red lettering. Her hair was green and in two high pigtails, but that’s not what caught my attention first.

She was a clown, with a red-painted nose and everything. Her face was beautiful, but it looked to be painted white, with triangle shapes under her eyes and a wide painted smile that didn’t really look like makeup. Oh man, I was sort of looking forward to Jason meeting her.

It took me a moment to realize Cal was speaking. I missed half of what he said to the clown girl. But I didn’t worry too much about her feelings. The first sentence out of her mouth let me know she wasn't ever going to be my friend.

“October, Maddie, meet Payton. Resident bitch.” He grinned as Payton scowled. Her eyes had an odd purple hue that made me want to look away. But I didn’t look away because I’d been dealing with girls exactly like her my entire life. I used to be one.

“Classy, Calvin. What are you doing hanging around the mortals? Did your daddy put you up to it? You know how he loves his charity work.” Her smile was sickly as she looked Maddie up and down. It was like cheerleaders had some sort of sixth sense and could sniff each other out.

“Oh, you know,” I said, stepping closer slowly, “just clowning around before class.” Cal and Maddie both snorted, but Payton suddenly looked murderous.

“Think you’re funny, new girl?” she hissed.

I shrugged. “You’re the expert on funny, so why don’t you tell me?”

By now, a few of the other students in the room were snickering. I should have felt bad, but she had it coming. I’d never met this chick in my life, and already she had some sort of bone to pick with us. This was not the fucking week to test me.

“Come on, Toby, we’re going to be late for potion class,” Maddie said, grabbing a hold of my upper arm and tugging. She mumbled under her breath, “I can’t believe that just came out of my mouth.”

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