Page 5 of Gothikana

With that, she turned and left in the direction they had come.

‘Looking good, Jade,’ a blond, blue-eyed handsome boy sitting with the group on the other tower’s steps called out. ‘Didn’t think I’d see you here again after the way you ran off.’

Corvina saw Jade grit her teeth, show the boy a middle finger with bright pink polish.

‘Asshole,’ Jade muttered. ‘Let’s just go, yeah?’

Corvina nodded. She didn’t know why this girl had run away but she’d been kind to her so far and she’d become her first friend. Corvina didn’t like the idea of her feeling uncomfortable.

‘Hey, Purple,’ the same boy called out just as Corvina stepped forward, obviously referring to either her rather distinctive eyes or her sweater. She hesitated on the threshold, wondering if she should turn, especially since there was nothing else even remotely close to purple around them.

Probably not a good idea to ignore people on the first day, Corvina.

She sighed, turning her neck to see the boy giving her a smirk. ‘Be careful with that one.’ He pointed to Jade.

Corvina raised her eyebrows, clearly missing out on some history between the two. She moved to step in just as his voice rang out again, his words cutting through the dry air, giving her a pause.

‘Her last roommate threw herself off the tower roof. So, watch yourself with her.’

CHAPTER 2

Corvina

Corvina wasn’t theonly one with secrets, it seemed.

As they unpacked and settled into the room, dusk rapidly falling outside, Corvina decided to simply confront the issue that had made her one immediate friend in the place go quiet.

‘Is it true? What he said?’ she asked Jade and watched as the other girl’s pale hand trembled slightly as she unpacked.

‘Yeah,’ Jade sighed, flopping down on her bed like a starfish, looking up at the high ceiling.

Their room was surprisingly beautiful.

Spacious, much bigger than her bedroom had been at the cottage, this room had two twin-sized beds facing each other, a bedside table beside each, and huge wooden armoire cupboards at the corners. Right opposite the entry door was a large, stunning arched window that looked down at the castle fence amidst the lush green woods, and then farther down the mountain. The ceiling was high and had wooden beams she knew were a signature feature of Gothic architecture, one she couldn’t remember the name of for the life of her. Thick dark green drapes hung to the sides of the windows, tied together with a polished rope. It was beautiful and more luxurious than anything she’d known before.

And it would get draughty as hell with the wind since the tower had no heating. At least the weather was tolerable for the time being.

Corvina decided to sit on her own bed right opposite Jade’s.

‘What happened?’ she asked tentatively, still unsure if she wanted to know what had happened to the girl who’d preceded her in this room.

‘I don’t know. Alissa was happy here,’ Jade began, still looking up at the ceiling. ‘She came from a foster home like me, and we bonded pretty quickly. She loved studying here, she loved this place. She was a good student, a good person. The only rule she broke was hooking up with a professor.’

‘That’s not allowed?’ Corvina asked, curious.

Jade shook her head. ‘Absolutely not. It’s one of the strictest rules here. Students and faculty have different lives. But Mr Deverell… well, he’s different. He’s technically still a student, or at least he was back then since he’d been working on his doctorate.’

‘Wait.’ Corvina frowned, confused. ‘Then how was he a teacher?’

‘Apparently, the previous professor got a better job and the Board couldn’t find anyone to replace him in time. So, Dr Greene — she’s the department head — allowed Mr Deverell to teach the first years while he worked on his thesis, and she took on the senior classes. It’s never happened before, so he was kind of an odd one out.’

Odd indeed.

Corvina got up and started hanging the rest of her clothes as Jade went on, ‘But also, I don’t blame Alissa for hooking up with him at all. She shouldn’t have done it but Mr Deverell — there’s something about him. He’s hot but so freaking cold. Nobody knows shit about him, where he comes from, anything. Silver-eyed devil, that’s what we called him. And he’s got this premature streak of hair that just works so good for him, you know?’

No, she didn’t know. But she’d take her word for it and get her back on topic. ‘So, Alissa was hooking up with him?’

‘Yup, but I was the only one who knew about it. It’s not like they were obvious about it or anything. They actually kept it pretty low-key so I don’t know what happened. Part of me thinks maybe he’s to blame. Why the hell would she go on the roof otherwise? But I don’t know.’

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