“I’m not a bad person. Not at all. I swear. Cross my heart,” I said, folding my hands in a cute little gesture, flashing a sweet, polite smile.
“Yeah, sure, that’s what they all say. And then chaos breaks loose. Next thing you know, I’m chasing you all over the planet. And I’m not exactly in my prime anymore…” the man, who couldn’t have been older than thirty, muttered as he scrolled through my memories on a screen, flipping through them like videos on social media.
“Why don’t you believe me? Look at this—someone shoved me, and I actually apologized. Who does that?”
“Oh, plenty of people. It’s the easiest way to pretend you’re a good person. And the most common, too. Lately, folks have completely stopped being creative about it.”
“Okay, fine, but check this out. Someone set me up—slipped a strong allergen into my food, even though they knew the dose could be deadly. Do I feel anything? Not a darn thing,” I said proudly, straightening up as I stared into Belmak’s oddly reddish eyes. Or maybe I misheard his name when he introduced himself?
“And why would you? For the first few days after death, no one feels a thing. But once those emotions bubble up to the surface, the ones who wronged you are in for a rough time.”
“Hold on, seriously? I’m dead? Huh, that’s… interesting. So why am I still here?”
“Because you’ve been chosen,” the redheaded man said, raising his hands to the sky—or maybe I was already there. I couldn’t see a thing around me.
“Chosen for what, exactly?”
“See, at the party where you were poisoned, there were a few Darkens there. Some of the most powerful ones, actually. During their fight, you somehow ended up drinking a drop of one of their blood. I can’t even imagine how, but hey, stranger things have happened.”
“So, you’re saying I accidentally got Darken blood in my system?” The ridiculously absurd puzzle finally started coming together in my head. Even my being here, wherever this was, with this weird guy, started to feel almost normal. “Okay, that makes a lot more sense. I was like, ‘chosen’? Yeah, right. Since when have I ever been special?”
The man didn’t respond, too busy digging through more of my memories. I had no idea what on that screen had him so hooked, but his face looked pretty funny. I used to think it couldn’t show any emotion at all, and now there was this weird fascination… Wait, no way. Oh no, did he see my first dance class? That was a waking nightmare, and he’s laughing? Nope, I’m not about to show my irritation, but I definitely need to distract this strange guy.
“So, what, now you’re gonna tell me I’ve got some super important mission to save the world or something?” It seemed like a logical guess at the time.
“Why would I? No, no one’s forcing you to do anything. If you want to stay with us, great. If not, go wherever your heart desires.”
“No? Then why the heck am I still here? Let me go live my normal life. I can still talk like this, right?”
“Technically, yes. No one’s stopping you, but first…” Belmak hesitated in a weird way. Oh, here we go…
“How about we skip the conditions? Just let me go, and we’ll call it a day. Part ways like ships in the night. That’s better for both of us, don’t you think?”
“Unfortunately, we can’t allow that. The rules don’t permit us to release newcomers into the world. You’ve got to complete your training at the academy first, and then, well, you can sail off in any direction you please.”
“What academy? You think seventeen years of school wasn’t enough? And that’s not even counting the first six. I’m sick to death of studying. Can’t we just do some kind of crash course with training and call it good?”
“It’s not that simple. If you want to master magic, you’ll have to stick around here for a while,” Belmak said, starting to jot something down. What the heck was he writing? Though honestly, I had much better questions to ask.
“Darkens have magic? Are you just messing with me? Next thing you’ll say is all I can do is look perky after not sleeping for months.”
“Of course they have magic. Do you think I’d come here making up nonsense? For your information, I’ve still got three other newbies to check on today.”
“Well, go check on them, then. I’ll just keep going wherever I was headed.”
“I’m telling you, even a minimal stay at the academy is required. Otherwise, you’ll end up locked away for life as an uncontrolled Darken.”
“Can’t I just break the bars or bend them enough to slip out?”
“Nope. Without powers, you’re still nobody. Just immortal, same as before. All you’d do is sit there waiting for someone to take pity on you and get a special dagger with a white oak handle. But who’d even bother? And…”
“Alright, alright, I get it. Send me to this academy of yours. I’ll see what it’s all about. You’ve got me curious now. By the way, what’s it called?”
“The Academy of Blood Vengeance.”
“And you couldn’t have mentioned that sooner? I would’ve headed there right away. Man, you’re terrible at marketing.”
“I’m just a coordinator.”
“Whatever, I don’t care. Let’s go,” I said, clapping my hands, barely able to wait for the moment I’d see this mysterious academy. If someone had told me sooner, I would’ve turned into a Darken myself just to check it out.