Page 9 of Poison

“All students are allowed into Ravenshard on a weekend when they have the free time, the only rule with this is you have to make sure you’re back on school grounds by curfew,” she says with more assertiveness than I thought possible for a slight woman.

“What’s Ravenshard?” I ask, I’ve never heard of it, and that’s saying something because I have all the maps for this world memorized. I know the Academy is set in Draven falls, which is close to the sea, allowing the clan children easier access to the Academy from the twelve islands.

“It’s the human town twenty minutes away from here. There is a dock there which is also where we get all of the mundane supplies we need.”

I’m lost in my surroundings, trying my best to take everything in at once. I do give her a swift nod so she knows I am listening, but there is just so much for me to see. Further back, there is a massive ring of houses that are equal distance away from one another.

“Clan houses?” I ask with interest.

“Yes. All twelve clans have their own houses on the grounds. It just makes it simpler. Trying to get everyone to co-exist isn’t the easiest of things to do given the history of our world,” she muses, rubbing her forehead as if the thought gives her a headache.

The gravel crunches beneath our feet as we pass the assembly hall, it has a modern twist to it that the main building doesn’t have. Huh, it must have been a recent build with the differences between them.

The houses come into view, and I suck in a shocked gasp when I realise they look like manor houses. My mouth hits the floor as I look around. Each one is a replica of the other, but the most distinguishing feature is the clan names on the front of the overhang on the porch stairs. We break off from the path between the Hale and Crawstrike clan houses in the middle and I stop, drawing in a breath as a house bigger than any other comes in to view. The sheer size of it must make it at least three of the smaller ones we’ve just walked past.

“Welcome to Draken house,” Miss Furnell says with a weird look on her face that I can’t quite work out.

“This is my clan’s house?” I ask dumbfounded as I take in the building.

“It is.”

“Erm…” I rub my palms together as I look back over my shoulder to the other buildings then back to the one in front of me. “How come it’s so big?” I ask.

A bark of laughter fills the air as Miss Furnell looks at me.

“Well, only the best for the strongest clan,” she says as a way of explanation, but I hear the snarky undertone hidden within that comment.

“But aren’t I the only Draken to be attending the Academy?” I question as I try to count all the windows on the front of the building.

“That you are.” Her tone borders on an underhanded sneer; everybody has that reaction to the Draken name.

“It has to be haunted,” I blurt, trying to process my surprise when another bark of laughter fills the air.

“No, dear, it isn’t, but the Draken’s are the rulers of the area, so it is only right they have the best house here.”

“Look, Miss Furnell. I fully understand the resentment for the Draken name and, unfortunately, I have that name—much to my aunt’s displeasure—but I am not one of them. They have all made that perfectly clear my entire life,” I say with a strong tone.

Her mouth opens and closes like a fish out of water as she just stares at me, like she didn’t expect me to say something like that. I look over the house as a feeling of not belonging sweeps over me. What am I supposed to do now? This doesn’t look like the room I thought I would be getting here. Oh no, this is my own personal mansion that looks to have too many rooms to count, and I’m the only one staying here.

Yeah, because this isn’t going to add to the crap I know I’m going to get anyway with being a dud.

“Run along, dear. I bet you’re just bursting with excitement to go off and explore inside, aren’t you?” Miss Furnell says. I grimace because I would rather be anywhere else but here at the moment. “Oh, Miss Draken?” she says with a cheery tone, and I look at her with a scowl on my face. “I’m sorry…Poison. Your things are already in the entrance hall waiting for you.”

I lift a brow as I look over my shoulder and realise she’s halfway down the path.

I turn my attention back to the god-awful house and a shudder washes over me. Yeah, this doesn’t look like something out of a horror movie.

With a deep breath, I walk the rest of the way up the path, taking in the other houses closest to it. Well, they’re not that close, but I can still see the curtains twitching. I scoff at this. Supes… they’re just as nosey as the humans are—well, I’m guessing so from the stuff I’ve read in romance books. My feet thud against the wooden steps and my head drops back to get a close-up of the imposing building. My brow furrows as I look up; why does this place look like something out of an American horror film? With a wraparound porch and shutters on the windows…

I bet my aunt was the one that designed this. She’s got such weird taste in everything, and I remember overhearing someone once ask her if she wishes she stayed in America. I never did get to hear the reply as she caught me eavesdropping and the phantom hand turned up again against my throat. Since then, she has always been cautious with what she says around me, so I never got any more insight into her than what she offered.

“Well, looks like I best get a look at the Adams’ family home.” I chuckle to myself and push down the handle under my grasp. Dust coats my fingers—looks like I’ve got some cleaning to do too. Now why doesn’t that surprise me? I bet when others from the clan came here, the house was pristine, but now that it’s just me, she doesn’t bother.

The door even creaks as it swings open, and the unease already gathering in my stomach sets off like something radioactive. With a deep breath I step through the threshold, the hallway is huge, with a grand central staircase that looks like something that belongs in a movie setting—not in a house where a teenager lives on her own. There’s a living room on my left, then a huge sprawling kitchen to my right that looks to have appliances I’m likely to chop something off with.

Note to self, don’t use anything in there other than making myself something to drink.

Oh, I wonder if we can order food here? I pull my phone out of my pocket, my eyes bugging out of my head when the food app won’t load, then I notice there isn’t any signal. What the hell am I supposed to do now? Teach myself to play chess?

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