Page 3 of Gothikana

As the cold, dry air whipped through the dark strands that had escaped her fishtail braid, Corvina let herself take in the abundance of deep, dark verdant that expanded below her, the little town a small clearing in the middle of the thicket. The scent of flora unknown filtered in through the open window, the sky a cloudy pale imitation of itself.

The music that had been on low through the ride crackled as they went higher. Corvina looked at the dashboard as the driver sighed. ‘Happens every time,’ he told her. ‘Signal gets worse up here.’

Corvina felt herself frown. ‘Then how does the school communicate?’

The driver shrugged. ‘They got a boy they send down to town generally. To send letters, use the internet, and such.’

‘And this is the only road up and down the mountain?’ She was quieter usually, although she didn’t know if that was a natural tendency or a lack of someone to talk to. Living alone at the edge of her small town, Skarsdale, as an outcast, she had sometimes gone days without even hearing the sound of her own voice.

‘Yeah,’ the driver nodded, steering through a bend. Corvina grabbed the handle on the side to keep from falling. The first time she had got inside a car, claustrophobia had assaulted her. She had always gone to town on foot with her mother. She had seen cars, but she’d never been inside one, not until the day they came for her and put her in one. She’d thankfully found the claustrophobia manageable as long as she kept the air circulating inside.

‘Anything else I should know about the castle?’ she asked once they were over the curve in the mountain, the fog thickening in front of the windshield, the air getting fresher, lighter as they ascended.

The driver hesitated, his eyes flickering to her odd, violet ones — she’d inherited them from her mama — in the mirror briefly. ‘There’s some rumours, miss. Dunno how much truth they got.’

Another curve.

Corvina looked out the window, breathing in the crisp, cool air, realising the view she had admired moments ago had disappeared under the thick white fog. It might have scared some people, but Corvina had always found comfort in the oddities.

With a slight smile on her lips, she waited until the driver navigated the curve safely before prompting him. ‘What rumours?’

‘Strange thin’s,’ the driver supplied, his accent heavier. ‘People killin’ themselves, goin’ missin’, and such. Now, we dunno how much truth it got. Townsfolk only get to castle for temp jobs. Cleanin’ or deliverin’ somethin’. But that’s what my mama told me, and her mama before her. Folks at the castle go mad.’

That was very oddly specific for a rumour. Although she didn’t know if it had any grain of truth in it at all. People in town could simply have made it up for amusement and to give themselves a reason to stay away from the strange place. It could be an old wives’ tale. Or maybe it wasn’t. She was going to go with an open mind. She knew better than most how false rumours affected lives. Before Corvina could go down memory lane, they went around another bend, and suddenly, a looming silhouette of a huge iron gate broke through the fog.

Heartbeat quickening, Corvina leaned forward and squinted, trying to see the shape better.

Tall.

The gates were tall, on one side walled by the mountain and on the other side plunging into the valley below. There was no way for anyone to breach it, not without falling to their death. The tight security sent a shiver down her spine. Or maybe it was the chill in the grey sky.

The driver came to a stop and rolled his window down as a guard clad in a brown uniform and holding a clipboard came from the guard’s roomon the side.

‘Your name?’ he asked Corvina, his tone completely no-nonsense.

‘Corvina Clemm,’ she answered quietly, taking the man in. He was light-haired and had a wicked-looking moustache curved at the ends and surprisingly kind brown eyes for a man with his tone. He looked tough but she sensed he was a naturally good person. She didn’t know how she always knew it about the people she met — strong instincts, her mother had always called it — but seeing that her first point of contact at the university was a good man made her feel better.

She watched as he perused through the list and came to a halt. ‘And who will you be meeting, Miss Clemm?’

‘Kaylin Cross at the Administration Office,’ Corvina said. After she had sent her letter of interest, Kaylin Cross had given her the instructions on how to get to the university and everything she’d need to bring with her. Corvina knew she’d be sharing her room with another girl from her class, she knew she’d be getting all her books delivered by the end of the week, and she knew this was a new beginning, in a place where nobody knew her and her past. It was a chance to make something better of her life, maybe even make a good friend, and perhaps, if the universe was kind, even meet a boy like in the novels.

The moustached guard nodded, breaking her out of her musings, and raised a hand to someone on the other side of the guard's room. The giant gates opened slowly, the noise like a monster groaning awake.

‘Welcome to Verenmore, Miss Clemm,’ he said to her before looking at the driver. ‘Five minutes, Larry.’

‘You got it, Oak.’ The driver nodded before starting the car again.

Corvina looked up at the tall, wrought-iron gates as they passed, and officially entered the university premises. The flutter in her belly became a quake as she put her head out the window to peer up, and finally saw the castle perched on top of the mountain. The closer they got, the larger it became. Calling it a castle was an understatement. It was a monstrosity, a beautiful, stunningly constructed monstrosity.

The vehicle came to a stop before tall wooden doors, and Larry jumped out of the car to help get her luggage. Corvina grasped her bag and hurried out as well, taking out some cash for the kind man as Larry put her suitcase and carry-on out on the cobblestoned entryway.

‘Far as I can go, miss,’ Larry told her, pocketing the cash she handed him.

‘Thank you.’ She nodded, and he gave her a little smile, jumping back in the car quickly and reversing. Corvina watched as the man hurried and disappeared around the bend that would take him to the main gates.

‘They think we’ll eat them or something.’ A wry feminine voice from behind her made Corvina turn. A beautiful green-eyed girl with a shock of super-short white hair stood grinning, a bright pink suitcase by her side.

‘Damn, girl, your eyes are freaky.’ She whistled, drawing Corvina’s gaze to a metal piercing through her eyebrow. ‘And I didn’t mean that offensively. Sorry. Hi, I’m Jade.’

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