Page 46 of Gothikana

MACBETH

DOCTOR FAUSTUS

He turned to the class, tapping the first title with his marker. ‘A tragedy about the political ambition of power.’ He tapped the secondone. ‘A tragedy about a man who sells his soul to the devil for knowledge.’

The girl from the front who always raised her hand, Ria, caught his attention. ‘Why two tragedies, Mr Deverell?’

‘I’m a tragic kind of guy,’ he quipped with a straight face, and Corvina snorted, slapping her mouth with her hand when his eyes swung up to her, along with those of half the class.

‘You find that particularly amusing, Miss Clemm?’ he asked her, his face expressionless.

Corvina felt her face burn at all the eyes on her, and looked down at her notebook, willing herself to disappear and everyone to simply resume the class and ignore her.

‘I asked you a question.’ His deep voice echoed in the classroom and Corvina took a deep breath, ignoring the flush she could feel on her face. She equally loved and hated when he used that tone on her. She just didn’t want to be around people when he did.

‘No, Mr Deverell,’ she said quietly, keeping her eyes on her notebook before looking up. ‘It’s just that I prefer happier endings. Tragedies are beautiful, but they always take more than they give. A story can be tragic, but it doesn’t have to end as one.’

‘Ah, a romantic.’ His silver gaze gleamed on her as a corner of his mouth twitched. ‘I see.’

Corvina gripped her pencil, wanting to throw it at him as he turned to the class again.

‘Those who want to study Macbeth, raise your hands.’ A few hands went up in the air.

‘Those for Doctor Faustus,’ he said, and Corvina raised hers, along with the majority of the class.

Mr Deverell went to the other side of the board, writing under ‘CLASSIC’:

PRIDE AND PREJUDICE

DRACULA

He looked at the class, pointing to the titles. ‘They’re both extremely well-written classics that established an entire subgenre of literature. I’m sure you must have heard of them both.’

Almost everyone in the class nodded.

‘So, which one?’

Same as before, a show of hands followed.Draculawon by a majority.

Corvina lowered her hand just as Mr Deverell’s eyes came to her, his tone level. ‘It doesn’t have a happy ending, Miss Clemm.’

Corvina stared him in the eyes, knowing he would understand the subtext of her next words. ‘It has a devil in an ancient castle falling in love. What can be more interesting than that?’

His eyes blazed. ‘Indeed.’

The bell rang soon after and he left, taking whatever air was in her lungs with him. Corvina slumped slightly in her seat to find Jade watching her in concern. Giving her a reassuring smile, Corvina picked up her bag, ready to get through the entire day without thinking about him.

‘The tower, Vivi.’

Mo’s voice made her hand pause over her notebook, her muscles tensing. She looked up and around Dr Kari’s class. It was her last class on Monday, and most students were jotting down notes as Dr Kari gave his lecture, the sunlight muted as evening approached.

Something was wrong, more wrong than it had been before.

Corvina didn’t know how she sensed any of these things, she just did.

A shadow flickered in the corner of the room near the door, floating along the wall toward the exit, and paused. Corvina blinked, shaking her head, trying to clear the trick of the light. It had to be a trick of the light.

‘Can you hear me? Help him.’

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