Unearthly, The (3 page)

“Kind of hard not to when you’re shouting up a stairwell.”

Doris tilted her head. “It must suck to know this is the closest you’ll come to Andre, eavesdropping on a girl who actually has a chance with him.” The insult wasn’t aimed at me, but it didn’t matter; I was offended.

I stood up and opened my mouth, about to defend my roommate, when Leanne cut me off. “Funny you should mention your chances with Andre,” Leanne said, getting up, “seeing as how an hour ago Andre asked Gabrielle”
—
she motioned to me
—
“and
not
you on a date.”

Doris’s attention was suddenly, startlingly on me. Her eyes roved me over, head to toe, and then back up again, lingering on my face. The haughty set of her face flickered for a moment, and behind it I saw jealousy, intimidation, insecurity. I had that effect on some women.

And then the mask was back in place. Her lip curled. “I see Andre’s standards have lowered.” Her insult didn’t sting. It didn’t affect me at all. I shrugged, unfazed.

Leanne, who was busy relishing the moment stood up. “His standards still got a long ways to go before he’ll look twice at you,” Leanne said.

I raised my eyebrows. Leanne and Doris must’ve had some sort of history. This confrontation was too personal.

Doris turned on Leanne, leaning in close. “Just like you and Collin, right? Because that’s what he told me after we made out
—
how unimpressive you were. Remind me, was that before or after you two broke up?”

Oh. No wonder the anger ran so deep. I saw Leanne’s hands fist and knew this was going to get messy really quick. I eyed Doris’s roommate, who was backing up down the hall. She was the smart one.

“Right, that was before you two broke up.”

I saw Leanne’s fist twitch, and I grabbed her as she lunged at Doris. Doris drunkenly staggered away, laughing. “You two deserve each other,” she said, looking from me to Leanne with her unfocused gaze. “Losers.”

Reflexively I loosened my grip, and Leanne nearly broke free. I grabbed her again as she began to slip away.

“Leanne, don’t let it get to you. She isn’t worth it.” Despite how cliché the advice was, I meant it. My heart ached for my new friend, who had been betrayed by this venomous girl and an ex.

We watched Doris’s retreating form. She was cocky to have her back to us; if I were a lesser person, I would’ve let Leanne pulverize her.

“I hope she turns into a frog at the Awakening,” Leanne spat.

I shook my head. “Leanne, what are you talking about?”

Leanne stared down the hallway even after they’d gone into their room, perhaps hoping Doris would walk back out. “Stupid nymph.”

“Leanne, seriously, what’s this about toads and nymphs and blood fetishes? And what’s the Awakening?”

She reluctantly pulled her gaze away from the hall and looked at me. It took her a few seconds to react.

She cocked her head to the side. “Gabrielle, you don’t know what the Awakening is.”

“No, that’s what I just said. Should I?” That’s it. I must’ve missed an email. Of course this would happen. These things always happened to me.

Leanne let out her breath slowly, staring off into space. She nodded to herself, and then pulled out her phone.

“Hey Oliver, it’s me. Meet me in my room. Gabrielle doesn’t know what the Awakening is, and I’m not sure how to phrase it without totally freaking her out.”

***

We walked into my almost-unpacked room. Oliver pushed ahead of us and plopped himself down on my bed, managing to stretch his body out so that no one else could sit down.

“Really?” I looked at him.

“What?” He huffed and rolled his eyes. “Oh, don’t get your panties in a bunch.” He scooted over so there was enough room for me to sit. Barely.

“What about me?” Leanne demanded.

“My God, there’s another bed three feet away,” Oliver said to her.

“Move.”

Under his breath he said, “I give an inch, and they take a mile.”

Once we were all sitting, the room fell silent. For a few seconds Leanne stared at me. Seemingly lost, she glanced at Oliver. He shrugged his shoulders in response.

“Would you please just tell me?” I was getting uncomfortable with their silence.

“Listen Gabrielle, this is … difficult to explain to someone who has not grown up knowing,” Leanne said.

“Knowing what?”

“The truth about what we are.”

“
What
we are?” The conversation was becoming cryptic.

“Oh, Leanne, you are doing a monstrous job of telling her.”

My roommate gave Oliver a dark look. “Fine,” she huffed, “you tell her.”

Oliver took both my hands in his and looked me in the eye. “Honey, we are all supernaturals.”

Chapter 3

“
What?” I could
feel my eyebrows knitting together even as I smiled. I looked back and forth between Oliver and Leanne, waiting for them to tell me they were kidding. They looked serious. “What do you mean you’re supernaturals? Tell me you guys are joking.”

After a moment of tense silence, Leanne spoke quietly. “Of course we’re serious Gabrielle. You don’t get accepted into Peel unless you’re a supernatural.”

I raised my eyebrows, catching on to what she was implying. “So
I’m
a supernatural?” I couldn’t believe I was actually entertaining the thought. “I mean, what even
is
a supernatural?”

“You’ll find out what you are soon,” she said hesitantly. “Your powers will surface at the Awakening.”

“
That’s what the Awakening is
?”

“Yes, and that’s why only juniors and seniors attend Peel,” Leanne said. “We’ve all reached puberty, and we’re considered adults within the supernatural community; we’re biologically and socially ready for our powers to be Awakened.”

Her brow furrowed. “It’s strange that you wouldn’t know this. Everyone who attends Peel has usually known about his or her true nature since childhood.”

“I was adopted at the age of five. Any ties I had to my biological parents were severed then.” I didn’t know why I said it. I wasn’t entertaining these thoughts. Except that I couldn’t help but consider it. Maybe that’s why I saw the man in the suit. Maybe I
was
different.

Leanne and Oliver exchanged a troubled glance. I looked between them. The first seedling of belief sprouted. This wasn’t the way two people would act if a joke went on for too long. In fact, it might explain why everyone knew more than I did. Or maybe I’d accidently joined a cult, and I was as crazy as everyone else.

“But how would the school know I was a legacy?” I asked. “I’m an orphan. Even I haven’t been able to track any relatives, living or dead, and I’ve had over ten years to search.”

“I don’t know,” Leanne said. “Someone must have informed them of your existence. But who?”

***

I slept restlessly that night. The wind whistled outside my window, only adding to my nightmares. The man in the suit was at the back of my dreams, calculating. At some point the dreams dissipated, and I took comfort in the dreamless sleep.

I woke up to midday sunlight streaming through my window and a rapping on my door. For one blissful moment I lazily stretched my limbs, happy. Then I remembered the events of last night.

I briefly wondered whether I could actually be a supernatural. Impossible
—
but perhaps true. The thought, however, was soon eclipsed by another that had nagged me.

It was Leanne’s final question that I couldn’t get out of my mind. Did someone from my past know of my existence? Why hadn’t they contacted me? Who were my parents, and where did I come from? These were all questions orphans asked themselves, but now answering them seemed vitally important. My future appeared to rely on it. I promised myself that as soon as I was settled in, I was going to do some sleuthing.

I heard the door open and a sassy voice chastise me. “Girl, get up! I know you are jet-lagged, but geez, it’s almost 3:00 p.m. Even I don’t sleep that late.”

I sat up and rubbed my eyes. “Why can’t you be like every other guy
—
hopelessly banned from the girl’s dormitory?” I asked.

“Because I’m amazing.” I felt Oliver remove my blanket and the pillow covering my face. “Now get your
ass
out of bed and get changed.”

I groaned. “Why do you care?”

“I
care
because I don’t want you to look like a homeless person tonight on your date.”

“I’m not going.” I threw my pillow at him.

He caught it and threw it back at me. “And I’m not leaving until you agree to come with me
—
unless you’d truly prefer to stick around and hang out with all the other
supernaturals
.”

He had a point. “Okay, okay. Just give me five minutes to change.”

I noticed Leanne was nowhere in sight; she had probably scrammed as soon as she could.

Oliver perched himself on my desk, arms folded.

“Let me clarify,” I said. “Give me five minutes to get changed
privately
.”

Letting out a melodramatic sigh, Oliver left the room.

I quickly threw on some clothes, brushed my teeth, and checked my reflection in the mirror. The blue-eyed, black-haired creature staring back at me looked wild and lovely. Sometimes I didn’t recognize myself in her.

My gaze didn’t linger long. I slipped on some sandals and headed out with Oliver to my version of hell
—
shopping.

***

Four hours later Oliver came back with a pair of shoes and three shirts, and I came back with nothing but a full wallet.

Oliver threw his bags down and stomped over to Leanne’s bed. For hours he had tried to get me to buy this or that revealing top, but he’d met his match. I was more stubborn than a mule, and proud of it.

Leanne came out from our room. “Hey,” she said to me. She looked over at Oliver. “What’s with you?”

He pointed a finger at me. “That one killed my shopping buzz.”

I shrugged. “I’m broke. Plus, what’s wrong with my clothes?”

Oliver raised his eyebrows. “Girl, are you for real? You need a new wardrobe like a werewolf needs a wax.”

I rolled my eyes. “You’ve only known me two days, how could you possibly
—
”

Oliver pointed to my open closet and shuddered at the clothes sticking out. “The horror, the horror.”

“Oh, get over it.” I moved towards the door. “I’m going to pick up my schedule and some books.”

“Oh, so
now
you want to spend money?”

“
Library
books. I’m going to pick up library books.”

Leanne looked at me like I was crazy. “Aren’t you supposed to be going on a hot date soon?” It was a quarter till seven.

“Yeah, that’s not happening.”

***

I crossed the sprawling lawn that separated the dorms from Peel Castle with my student ID in hand, armed to pick up my class schedule and corresponding books.

I still couldn’t decide whether everyone was seriously delusional, or if I had accidently entered into a cult. Either way, I was screwed.

The castle loomed in front of me. In the distance I could hear the crashing surf that surrounded the little outcropping Peel Castle was built upon.

According to the school map I’d been given, there were two libraries, but I was to pick up my books in the main one, which sat just to the left of the castle in an adjoining building. I opened the sturdy oak doors and walked inside.

Oil lamps burned soft and low. Couches and armchairs were placed between shelves of books, and a few sleepy-looking students lounged on these. Globes and busts of famous ancient thinkers sat on side tables, making the space feel less like a school library and more like an esteemed center for learning.

I breathed in the smell of musty books. It was one of my favorite smells in whole world.

This is surreal.
I now lived on the British Isles, attended an elite boarding school, and had finally made friends. So what if those friends claimed we were all supernaturals? All other aspects of my life appeared to be equally surreal right now.

I walked up to the main desk and collected my class schedule and another sheet of paper. On it was a list of books. “Can I pick these up right now?” I asked.

“Sorry hun,” the librarian said. “Today seniors are picking up their books, so if you want your books now, you’re going to have to hunt through the shelves to find them.”

“Sure
—
thanks. That shouldn’t be too difficult.”

The librarian raised an eyebrow and gave me a Mona Lisa smile. That couldn’t be good.

Walking away, I skimmed the book list. The first title caught my eye:
Introduction to Monsters
.

Wait. What?

***

At precisely seven o’clock, a sleek black Mercedes pulled in front of the women’s dormitory. Clad in a suit and holding a single red rose, Andre stepped out of the car. His curling brown hair brushed his collar, and he moved a loose strand off his forehead.

It had been a surprisingly long time since he was last here, but nothing had changed. A young woman sat behind the front desk in the lobby, reading a magazine. She looked up in time to see him heading for the stairs.

“Uh, sir, excuse me, you need to sign in before I can let you upstairs. …” Her voice died when she saw who it was. 

“Of course.” Andre walked to the desk and signed the blue sheet of paper.

He smiled charmingly. “A ‘Gabrielle’ lives here, and I am supposed to meet her tonight. Would you know what room she lives in?”

“Sure,” she said nonchalantly, but her hands were shaking. She was probably breaking the rules by giving him this information
—
by letting him in at all
—
but she wouldn’t stand up to him, almost no one in the world would.

The woman scrambled through some loose papers on her desk. “Gabrielle Fiori? She lives in room 305.”

He felt his composure slip a little. “Did you say Gabrielle
Fiori
?”

Santiago’s daughter.

But that couldn’t be. She died in a fire long ago. How was she still alive?

“Yes. Is something the matter?”

He composed himself. “Not at all. Have a lovely evening.” He gave her a wink, and went to the stairs. She giggled nervously behind him.

Gabrielle Fiori … interesting.

***

Andre knocked on the door of room 305.

“Geez Gabrielle,” the girl said as she opened the door, “you don’t need to
—
”

The door opened, and a girl stared at Andre with a mortified expression. Gabrielle was definitely not in the room.

He hid his displeasure with a smile. “You must be Gabrielle’s roommate.” He held out his hand. “Andre.”

She eyed his hand like one might a poisonous snake. Slowly he let it fall.

“Do you know where Gabrielle is?”

He could see the girl’s breath quicken. She was nervous. Good. “Sh
—
she’s at the library picking up her books.”

The library. He strode down the hall, leaving her stuttering for words.

A minute later the dorm’s front doors burst open, and Andre stormed out. As Andre left the building, he threw the rose into the trash.

His driver got out of the car. “Sir?”

“Take me to the campus library.”

***

Peel’s library was close to the dorms, and the car ride was short. Yet it was still plenty of time for Andre to seethe. When was the last time he was stood up? He couldn’t even remember.

The Mercedes came to a halt, and for a second time that evening Andre stepped out. Now, however, all traces of his suave manner were gone. He was pissed.

He walked up to the library’s thick oak doors and kicked them open. They slammed against the wall, the wood splintering apart.

Startled students screamed at the noise. More joined in once they saw who was standing at the library’s threshold. Andre scanned the crowd, looking for one person.

Gabrielle.

His eyes found her as she walked away from the counter, forcing books into an already overstuffed bag. Belatedly she noticed the silence. She looked around until she caught sight of Andre.

“Shit,” he heard her swear under her breath.