Page 37 of Gothikana

‘They’re my mother’s.’ Corvina gave her a small smile.

Mrs Remi nodded, taking a sip, and groaning with joy. ‘My mother had my eyes, too.’

Corvina realised it was the opening she needed. She took a sip of her own brew. ‘Have you always lived here?’

‘Oh yes.’ Mrs Remi nodded. ‘Born and raised and married. My folks were the same.’

‘Were they here when the university was founded?’ Corvina asked, and felt the older woman’s eyes on her sharpen.

‘No, that was before their time.’

Corvina nodded and stayed silent, letting the older woman decide if she wanted to share more. After a few seconds, Mrs Remi sighed. ‘The school was already functional by then. I don’t know if you know about the—’

‘The disappearances,’ Corvina finished when she hesitated.

‘Yes.’ Mrs Remi shook her head, putting her cup on the table. ‘Terrible thing, it was. My aunt disappeared one night on her way back from the grocery store, never to be seen again. Destroyed my papa, bless his soul.’

‘But how?’ Corvina wondered out loud, and Mrs Remi looked out the window.

‘Don’t know, but she wasn’t the only one. Every full moon night one of the folks in the village went missing. They found out later it’d been kids up at the mountain taking them into the woods, butchering them in some kind of sacrifice, hiding the bodies. We never got answers.’

Mrs Remi visibly shuddered, picking up the cup in her shaking hand and taking another sip.

‘When did the disappearances stop?’ Corvina asked after giving her a moment to collect herself.

‘Soon after my aunt went missing.’ Mrs Remi paused. ‘My folks said kids at the school took care of those Slayers. That’s what we called them here.’

Corvina sipped her tea, nodding. ‘That’s what I heard, too.’

‘It’s sad what happened to those other kids though,’ Mrs Remi commented. ‘They just vanished one by one. It was a huge scandal back then, from what folks say.’

‘Did they say anything about what could’ve happened?’ Corvina asked, crossing her legs and leaning back in the chair.

Mrs Remi chuckled. ‘They said a lot of things back then, my dear. From murderous spirits haunting the woods to an evil monster to black magic and everything you can think of in between. But what is the truth? Perhaps we’ll never know.’

Corvina digested that, mulling over the words.

Mrs Remi finished her tea. ‘One thing I knew growing up as a little girl was this — do not go into those woods, and do not stay out onthe full moon night. Everyone in town will tell you the same. Nothing good happens in these parts on a full moon. There’s something unholy around that castle. Best not rouse it.’

Corvina rubbed her hands over the goosebumps that covered her flesh at the old woman’s words, something almost prophetic about it that made something heavy knot in her stomach.

A spear of lightning split the sky in two. A loud clap of thunder followed immediately, making Mrs Remi look out the window with worry.

‘Better get back to the castle with your professor before dark, my dear,’ the older woman spoke, her voice tense.

Corvina straightened, alerted by the heaviness in her tone. ‘Because of the storm?’

Mrs Remi gazed out, a serious look on her face. ‘That’ — she turned to look at Corvina with the wisdom of her years in this place shining through — ‘and because it’s a full moon tonight.’

CHAPTER 11

Corvina

‘We need toget back,’ were the first words out of his mouth the moment Corvina took a seat in the car and strapped herself in.

‘Because of the full moon?’ she asked, putting her bag down, her mind still lingering on the conversation she’d had with Mrs Remi.

He gave her a strange look, one she couldn’t decipher, and started the ignition. ‘Because driving up the mountain after dark is dangerous. Driving up the mountain after dark during a storm is lethal.’ He pointed at the roiling, tumultuous clouds in the rapidly darkening sky, speeding toward the mountain.

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