“Yes, it’s strange there are no other ghosts, but I actually like it. Seeing ghosts and being the weird kid isn’t fun,” I tell him, and his one eyebrow raises.
“Do you help the ghosts you see?” he asks.
“Help them how exactly?” I angrily question.
“Oh, I see it now,” he pauses with a knowing smile. “You are scared of your powers and of the ghosts you are blessed with seeing.”
“I’m not scared; I’m talking to you, aren’t I?” I snap.
“We both know I’m different and that’s why you talk to me,” he replies. Asshat.
“I talk to you because you’re always in my room like the stalker ghost you are. You should leave,” I suggest, trying to swallow my rising anger. If he was a real person, I’d throw something at him.
“Only if you promise to ask about vampires. What could the harm be?” he replies with a big grin. “You might want to ask what a fallen angel is. Oh, and add how you’re best friends with demons while you’re at it. I’m joking, of course.”
“Demons are real?” I ask with wide eyes. I don’t know why the idea that vampires exist doesn’t freak me out, but demons? An image of a red-skinned demon with horns makes me shiver as I ignore Ren. I knock the bathroom twice to make sure Vesnia isn’t in there before walking in and heading to the bath. The bathroom is super modern with an oval shaped bath on white tiles, a walk-in shower against the grey exposed stone walls, and a toilet tucked away in the corner. The one wall has a row of cabinets and two sinks with mirrors above them. I start running the bath and sit on the edge, fascinated as my blood drips one drop at a time into the water.
“How long were you a vampire? Were you born a vampire or bitten like in movies?” I enquire, knowing Ren is in the room with me without needing to look away from the water.
“Born. Vampires can be turned with a bite, but only a master vampire has that skill to turn vampires, and I was the last living master vampire in existence,” he sadly tells me, his voice full of longing for something I can’t imagine. “Now my race will die and disappear before long. Newly changed vampires only have a ten per cent chance of surviving when they aren’t in a coven with a master vampire near. Eventually my people will give up.”
“I will ask about vampires as you wish,” I reply, because for some silly, deep down reason, I want to give him something. Something to think of in the loneliness of the dark he is in.
“Thank you,” he whispers, his voice so close to my ear that for a moment, I think I might be able to feel his breath on my cheek, but when I turn, he is gone, and I’m left thinking about the hot vampire ghost I know is going to get me in trouble.
Chapter 10
“What’s your favourite colour?” Ves asks me as we head through the greenhouse on our way to Tuesday lessons. History of Angels is our morning class with Master Gabriel, and in the afternoon, we have Herbology with Professor Louton. For once, I’m actually a little bit excited about our day. Thankfully, when I woke up, my wounds had all healed like they never existed in the first place. I know I have Henry to thank for that.
“Green, and not a particular shade of it. I love the green of a healthy leaf on a tree to the green of the moss it falls on,” I explain to her.
“I thought you’d say violet,” she says around a chuckle.
“The only thing wrong about Parma Violets is that they aren’t green,” I say, and we both laugh. “What is your favourite colour?”
“Red,” she mutters, lifting a strand of her curly hair and letting it bounce back into place.
“I could have guessed that. Okay, what question next?” I ask, as this was Ves’s idea to get to know each other a little better.
“Which boys do you have a crush on?” she asks, and my mind betrays me by flashing images of Thallon, Henry and Ren into my head. Not that I can tell Ves that I see ghosts and have done since I was a kid. Oh, and that I’m crushing on a vampire ghost who haunts my room. Yeah, totally normal.
“Wait, you’re lucky and off the hook. This is our room.”
“Lucky me,” I grin and push the glass door open. Master Gabriel sits at the front of the class in a leather chair, a large desk right in front of him, and it is covered in bits and bobs. Ves and I find an empty table two rows back and sit down as the rest of the students pile into the room. When all seventeen of us are in here, Master Gabriel stands up and closes his hands in front of him.
“Do any of you remember the first time you were told about angels?” he asks, and there is silence for a reply. I can’t remember, but Ves puts her hand up, and Master Gabriel nods for her to talk.
“I was seven, and there was an angel statue outside our local church. I remember asking my dad what it was, and he told me angels are the protectors of us all,” she quietly says. “Oh, and that they have cool wings.”
“A lovely story, and I’m sure in everyone’s minds, there is a similar one. Angels have been in humans’ lives since the dawn of time, since their earliest memory. We are unclear where our race truly began, but it is clear we were sent here to rise above human emotions and wants in order to do the right thing,” he says, folding his hands together.
“And what is the right thing?” I ask.
“To steer humanity in the direction of good and not evil, of course,” he replies. “In this class, I will teach you the history of the great angels who sat in the seats you are in and walked the same corridors of this academy as you do. I will teach you their names, their actions in life, and hope that when the time comes for you to shape history, you will look back to them and make the right choice,” he says and sits back down. “Now come and gather a book off my desk and start reading. We have a lot of ground to cover before we can talk of the great stories.”
Each of us gets a dusty book and sits back down before we open it to find it’s not in English at all.
“Master Gabriel, we don’t speak Latin,” Vesnia says.
“I’m well aware. The Latin translation books are at the back of the class. I suggest you get to work rather than asking me questions,” Master Gabriel replies, and I all but groan as I slide out my seat.
This is going to be a long class.
“Hopefully, Herbology is going to be better than that. I nearly fell asleep in my dusty book,” Vesnia grumbles, wiping dust off her hoodie sleeve. “It’s a good thing your sneezing kept me awake.”
“I don’t do dust,” I mumble just before I sneeze once again. I pull out my map from my back pocket and see that Herbology is in the greenhouse with Professor Louton. Vesnia hooks my arm in hers as we head down the corridor and to the greenhouse where most of our class is already waiting with Professor Louton.
“Welcome, class, to your first Herbology lesson. In this class, we will teach you about herbs and plants that have magical qualities such as healing humans who have been poisoned or drawing metal out of a human body. These things will be useful when you finish The Angel Academy and have to look after a human of importance,” she says. “It is very important you study hard for this class, because one mix-up when making a healing lotion could result in death, and I do love for my students to try out their own work on themselves.”