Gothicana

CHAPTER 2

Corvina

Corvina wasn’t the only 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 a huge wooden armoire cupboard at the corners. Right opposite the entry door was a huge, stu

And it would get drafty as hell with the wind since the tower had no heating. At least the weather was good 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 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.”

Jade pressed her eyes with the heel of her palms and Corvina felt her heart ache at the pain rolling off her friend. She started to get up to comfort her but sat back down, unsure of what she could do. The sweater in her hands twisted between her fingers.

Jade’s green eyes came to her. “I was in the gardens with Troy – the blonde asshole from downstairs – and his group when I saw her on the roof. I hope they’ve locked it up now. We kept trying to call for her, to get her to listen. She didn’t even look down. No hesitation. No flinch. Just walked off the roof like she could walk on air.”

The setting sun cast an eerie glow in the room as Jade spoke. A shiver wracked Corvina as she listened to her friend talk.

Something shifted in her periphery. Her eyes suddenly went to a corner of the room where light flickered. Blinking, Corvina focused, trying to see if she’d seen something, but it looked like nothing.

Heart pounding, she stood up and walked to her cupboard to set everything in, focusing on the conversation.

“Her body fell right in front of me. Her head cracked open on the impact,” Jade told her, her voice shaking. “I just couldn’t take it. So, I ran away.”

Corvina took in her words, her eyes going out the window, taking in the view. A grotesque gargoyle on the top right corner of the wall outside perched with its mouth wide open. She knew it was just a drain pipe but it looked terrifying. She couldn’t even imagine how creepy it would look at night. 

“Didn’t they investigate?” she asked her new roommate, pulling out a drawer for her underwear. Not that she liked wearing them. Bras and Corvina were not friends. Having grown up the way she had, all alone with just her mother for company, bras had seemed necessary only once in a while. Panties she wore every day except when she just didn’t want to.

“Nobody called the cops,” Jade replied, bringing her attention back to the topic. “They said the school board would handle it since it was a clear case of suicide. They may have had to report it to the police. I don’t know.”

It was very bizarre though. Not at all what she’d been expecting on her first day in this new place. While she’d been slightly nervous about a new school and new people – both environments she’d never really tested herself in – she hadn’t imagined this. She didn’t actually know how to respond or react to the situation, so she opted to stay quiet and simply unpack her stuff.

“Can I get a hug?” the voice from behind her made her turn to see Jade standing there. They were almost the same height. “My foster family always told me to ask for hugs when I got sad.”

Corvina blinked, a little thrown off. Her last human contact had been years ago, her gripping her mother’s hand before it was let go. Swallowing, Corvina stepped forward and put her arms around the girl, blinking back the sudden tears in her eyes. Jade was sweet. She smelled of strawberries and happiness and something a bit dark as she embraced Corvina, they both let out a breath as though the weight of the world had been removed from their shoulders.

“I can sense you’re sad too,” Jade told her. “But you’re good. And if the thing with Alissa taught me anything, it was to talk about shit if it was hurting us. I just want you to know I’m here for you. Anything you want to talk about. No judgment.”

Corvina’s eyes burned. Her nose twitched as it always did when she got close to tears, and she nodded. “Thank you. I’m here for you too.”

Jade pulled back and went to her suitcase, rummaging through a portion and throwing clothes out. “Anyways, I need a change of subject. Boys. Yes, let’s talk boys. You like boys, right? Totally cool if you don’t. I just want to know so I can dish out the right kind of info.”

Corvina chuckled, unpacking her suitcase. “I like boys. Very much. But I don’t really have much experience with them.” Make that any experience.

Jade gri