Gothicana

CHAPTER 3

Corvina

A clap of thunder shook the castle walls.

Corvina stood under the awnings of the Admin Wing, just having collected her books and some stationery items, her hands full as she watched the breathtaking view from the top of the mountain.

Even after a week of being at Verenmore, she couldn’t stop herself from halting in her tracks and admiring the view every chance she got. It was unlike anything she could have imagined before. Growing up, she didn’t watch a lot of movies or access a lot of the internet to see sights such as the one before her. That was one of the reasons why not having a phone or internet at the university didn’t really bother her. She’d never had them. There had been one telephone line for emergencies and to order supplies. All other business she’d done through the town library once a week. Her mama had taught her self-sufficiency.

She hugged the books to her chest at the pang the thought of her mama sent through her, and then she shook it off. It wasn’t the time to get nostalgic.

Wearing one of her black full-sleeved tops and brown maxi skirts, a black ribbon choker around her neck, brown lipstick on her mouth, black liner outlining her odd violet eyes, hair in a fishtail braid, silver danglers hanging from her ears, silver ring piercing her nose, and the multi-crystal bracelet on her left wrist she never took off except to recharge, Corvina felt most like herself. Sure, people stared at her as she walked by. But at Verenmore, their gazes were more curious than antagonistic like they had been her whole life.

Over the last week, she’d learned through observation, limited interactions, and her greatest sources of information – Jade and Troy – that most students at Verenmore had some kind of a past, more tragic than not. They all had their secrets, which was why they mostly respected that in others. Sure, there were some shitty students, but they were far and few in between. On a whole, students minded their own business and kept to their friends.

And she loved that.

She loved the acceptance she felt there every day in the single nod the lady in the common dining area gave her, or the toothy grin Troy the Asshole gave her every time he saw her or the affection with which he or his friends had taken to calling her ‘Purple’, or the random hugs Jade gave her out of nowhere every day.

Life had been looking up and for the first time, Corvina was excited for the possibilities in her future. While she still wasn’t as open with them, she doubted she ever would be or trust anyone enough to tell them everything, she was learning to accept their hand of friendship with grace. Even though a part of her wanted nothing more than to find someone who would take her secrets without her having to make constant choices.

It was exhausting being alone.

It made her think of the man playing the piano. She never told her roommate about her little adventure that first night to the tower room, as she was calling it in her head. There was no reason. She’d not seen the silver-eyed devil since that night, and though classes were to begin in an hour, and she knew she’d inevitably cross paths with him, there was no reason for Jade to worry about it, not after what had happened to her previous roommate.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” the girl in question came barrelling towards her, her own books hugged to her chest, wearing a yellow top and jeans shorts (as Corvina had discovered was her favorite), her green eyes wide.

“What?” Corvina asked, frowning at the apprehension on her face.

“I fucking forgot!”

“What?” Corvina asked, confused. “What did you forget?”

“It’s the year of the Black Ball.”

Corvina felt her brows pinch together. “The what?”

“God, you don’t know,” Jade shook her head and began walking towards the Academic Wing, cutting through the gardens in between. Corvina had not been to that particular wing during the week, even though she’d seen it from afar while going to the dining hall or the Main Hall as they called it here.

The entire Academic Wing was the largest part of the entire castle, right at the back of the grounds, nestled on the highest point of the mountain. Troy had told her during di

“I don’t know the exact details,” Jade’s voice from her side broke through her musings as they made their way to the classes at a steady gait. “It happens every five years. It’s a masquerade ball tradition that’s been a part of the university history since its foundation.”

“Okayyyy,” Corvina drawled, willing her to go on. “And that’s bad because?”

“Because every Black Ball, someone goes missing.”

Corvina paused at her words, glancing sharply at her friend. “What the hell?” she whispered, gauging the seriousness of Jade’s statement. She looked somber as fuck.

The other girl started to walk towards the building as clouds rumbled in the sky, casting a gloomy grey over everything.

“From what I know,” she continued after Corvina joined her, “the first noted disappearance was about a hundred years ago. They said the guy went into the woods and got lost. Until the next disappearance that happened on the same night five years later. It’s been like a hundred years and almost twenty people have gone missing on the same night. It’s just really spooky, okay?”

It was spooky and really weird.

“Wait,” Corvina shook her head. “Haven’t the police investigated?”

Jade gave a humorless laugh. “What can they investigate? There’s no evidence of foul play from what I know. Girls, boys, faculty members, even town people all go missing. No bodies have ever been found. And because it’s spread out over so many years, people just assume they’re either runaways or lost. But trust me, I know from experience ru

“Yo, freaky eyes,” one of the girls from her tower, Roy, called out to Corvina. Yeah, not all people were nice.

“Fuck off, Roy,” Jade yelled, giving her a middle finger as they rushed to their class. God, she loved this girl. 

Her mind still on the conversation, Corvina asked the most obvious question. “Why didn’t anyone stop the Black Ball?”

“Let’s get to class first,” Jade said as they entered the Academic Block. Corvina stopped for a moment to take in the sheer beauty, the magnitude of the castle. It stumped her how something this extravagant, this ancient could still exist in the real world.

The entryway was grand, with sculptures on both sides of angels weeping and looking up at the enormously high ceiling supported by numerous pillars. A huge set of double wooden doors were straightforward, and two sets of wide, low stone staircases leading to the higher levels on either side. Jade turned to the one on the left and Corvina followed behind, her eyes roving over the enormous pillars supporting the weight of this part of the castle. A big antique metal chandelier with over a hundred slots for lights hung from the center of the ceiling, looking so ancient Corvina would bet it had been hung there by some medieval warlord.

They came to a landing with a corridor leading to the left and another set of stairs leading up. Jade entered the corridor and walked to the fourth door on the right. A bronze plate with curved edges hung on the door, with a label on top that simply spelled ‘English – Year 1’.