The Curse (H. Academy Series #1)
Chapter 49: Media Nocte Ostium Aperit

Armed with a knife, a phone, a half-working pen and a broken chalk, I marched through the hallways. This time, I didn’t stop to draw circles on the walls, or to line them with salt. Magic blasted through me, sealing the doors shut and burning the ooze fighting to pass through the cracks.

The hallways the students passed through were full of protection symbols, and relatively easy to pass through. The building was eerily quiet, yet somehow alive. I could feel the demonic entities crawling through its very foundation.

They would never reclaim the building.

They would have to burn it all down.

Once I passed the library – its door sealed shut and guarded with dozens of spells – I stopped.

I took off my shoes and shook the pen I stole from Amma. It barely worked, but I managed to draw a few protection symbols on the soles of my shoes. Shaking it more, I drew the magic emphasizer on my palm and threw the pen away.

I wasn’t afraid anymore.

I was angry.

Dozens of students died. Maybe even a hundred. Amma lost her arm.

I turned left from the library, down the hallway that led to the cafeteria, and the cafeteria was adjacent to the main hall. Things would get tricky there.

But I didn’t care.

I would search every corner of this place.

I stopped in my tracks, sweat dripping down the back of my neck. The air changed, magic changed its course. Something was following me. Watching me from a distance. Its presence didn’t worry me nearly as much as the question of why it hasn’t attacked me yet.

There was a demon in this building, and it rather followed me than confronted me.

I breathed in, desperate for fresh air, but there just wasn’t any. We were sealed within this building, unable to leave. The oxygen level must be dropping rapidly.

Wiping the sweat off my forehead, I continued to the cafeteria.

As soon I walked in, the ooze began crawling towards me.

I flinched, but quickly regained my composure and aimed my magic towards it.

It listened to me. I followed its commands and it gave me control over itself in return. My magic had a mind of its own; it was me, but wasn’t. It was wild, and stubborn, and it followed its desires to the end of the world.

The ooze hissed and burned, shrinking into itself, until it turned to hard, metallic stone.

This part of the building had zero protection spells on it.

I walked inside the cafeteria, and gagged as soon I saw half-eaten human bodies rotting on the floor, turning into ash as the ooze devoured what was left of them. Students that tried to hide under the desks. The cook with a butcher knife still in hand. One teacher from the fourth year I’ve never had the opportunity to meet.

I swallowed the bile in my throat and moved past the bodies.

No one was alive.

The realisation made me stagger and grab the edge of the kitchen counter. I jumped as soon as I touched the cold surface. Tears choked me.

“Oh, come on.” I cried, muscles in my face twitching. “Goddess, I’m begging you. Please, please, please-”

I wrapped my hand around my throat and breathed in.

“Alright.” One shaky breath. “Alright. Let’s go.”

The need to talk to myself was strong.

Once I reached the door from the cafeteria to the main hall, I braced myself.

This was it.

The last stop.

I opened the door, which had also been covered with protection symbols and lined with salt.

The sight inside made me weak in my knees.

Tables were turned, broken plates scattered everywhere. Walls and doors had scratch marks on them. Windows were broken, but covered with black ooze. No light came from the outside. The faint flickering light of the chandelier and my flashlight illuminated the room.

Bodies lay everywhere. Somehow, each body had its own story. Its own fight for survival. Some tore their limbs like Amma did. Others cut pieces of their skin to stop the ooze from spreading. Some even reached inside their gut and cut out pieces of their organs. And then there were those that cut their throats. All were now half-eaten. Rotting.

I let my magic come alive and burned the remaining ooze, burning the bodies in the process. Maybe they’d rather be ash than half-eaten, limbless bodies forever stuck in their final moment of terror.

I searched every face I could find, more tears spilling down my cheeks with every new step.

Hope was extinguished.

Anger left my body in one fell swoop, replaced by such deep helplessness.

I squatted in the middle of the main hall, hugged my knees and shut my eyes. Tears dropped on my cheeks. A muffled cry left my lips. I allowed myself five seconds. Only five.

Then, I breathed in and stood up.

I traced the hall with my eyes. The only way out was through the main door, which led straight to the library. That path was completely covered with ooze. One staircase led to the second floor, though, and I walked over there. We haven’t even reached the second floor. We had no idea if someone was alive up there.

I moved up, burning the ooze in the process.

The view from the balcony was no better than downstairs. The main hall was a graveyard from every direction.

A loud bang made me stumble back and almost hit the wall. I buried my feet in the ground and remained standing. Another bang.

It was the clock in the main hall.

Another bang.

It ticked midnight.

“Fuck.” Another bang.

Media Nocte Ostium Aperit. The door opens at midnight.

Bang.

I pulled up my sleeve, realising I haven’t checked the symbol on my wrist since I entered the building.

Bang.

Cold sweat washed over me.

All five points were black.

The feeling of being watched made me stagger back. There was a demon in this building, and it might have been waiting for midnight to attack.

Bang.

The building shook with magic. Deep pulses echoed through the empty hallways. I braced myself for an attack, my heart pounding in my chest.

I took another step back-

Fire burst behind me, its tendrils licking my spine. I screamed out and jumped away, my gaze colliding with the hissing ooze only inches away from the nape of my neck. It burned to nothing, red and orange and blue tendrils splitting it open, tearing its substance until it turned into stone.

I traced the fire to where it came from.

“You really should watch your back.” Leon stood a few feet away from me, his fists squeezed. “These things are tricky.”

I couldn’t think. Or cry. Or laugh.

“You’re alive.”

“More or less.” He shrugged, gaze falling to his arms.

First and second degree burns covered the skin up to his elbows. His white shirt was charred and dirty. His face was bruised. Lip cracked. But he was alive.

I was going to kill him.

“Why-” I was in front of him in a second. “Why didn’t you answer your fucking phone?”

“Hey, hey. I was in a hurry.”

I clenched my fist and hit his shoulder.

“Ouch!”

Then, I kicked his shin with my foot.

“Goddess, alright, alright!” He took a step back. “I called you, but you weren’t picking up.”

“I left-” I hit his other shoulder. “My phone-” First shoulder. “In my room!”

Leon grabbed my arms and put them down, “I’m sorry, alright? Amma called me once, and I thought I’d call her back, but I was busy fighting demons and uncovering university conspiracies.”

I would never recover from this feeling. Thinking he was dead. Finding him alive. I’d dream about it for years to come. All variations and possibilities would collide in my tired brain. It would haunt me forever.

Tears stung my eyes, “You’re a fucking jerk.”

His expression flickered with surprise. He let my hands go.

“Is there a way go get out of here?” He asked. “The way you came from?”

I wiped the stray tear off my cheek, “I came through the cafeteria. Lorenia escaped with the students through it, and it’s mostly free from ooze, protection spells are all over the walls.”

“And where are they now?” Leon glanced around, checking if we were still alone. “Can we go there? Can we get out of here?”

I nodded, “Thar’s training room. Darth has probably finished taking off the curse. They should be strong enough to free us from the building.”

“We should go.” Leon cocked his head towards the staircase. “We’re not alone.”

His words made me focus on the magic around me again. He was right. That same feeling of being watched followed me through the main hall, creeping beside us, acting like our shadow. It moved in the corner of my vision, but I could never quite catch it, get a good look at it.

I moved closer to Leon and hurried through the main hall, even though I knew I’d feel it everywhere.

“Thanks for clearing the main hall.” Leon walked into the cafeteria, and I almost didn’t catch his words. “I was stuck on the second floor. Couldn’t move until you came.”

He didn’t look at me as he said it. He made sure his back was turned to me.

“What happened to you?” I asked. “Where have you been?”

Leon waited for me to reach him, then glanced at me sideways, “Funny story. I was in the main hall, minding my own business, drinking beer, when I noticed Vice Mage Montgomery giving Lorenia the students’ list. The list of everyone there, you know? I thought – is he leaving? Turns out he was, so I followed him. Figured, hey, if he’s not evil, I’ll be next to the strongest mage in the entire school, and if he is evil, demons won’t be after him, right?”

I stopped in my tracks, my muscles suddenly very tired.

“What happened?”

Leon pulled out his phone, “He went to the library.”

I took the phone, which opened Leon’s gallery. Dozens of pictures of a figure standing in front of the staircase to the floors below came to light. He went to the entrance to the old library. Second picture showed him spreading his hands. The next, the black ooze hurling from the staircase and all over the library. Photos stopped there.

“This is proof.” My heart hammered. “This is-”

“Taken from the back.” Leon sighed. “You can’t see his face.”

“What happened then?” I looked up.

“I rushed out, hid behind the door until he left.” Leon continued. “But the ooze was too quick, the shortest way to the main hall was already blocked, and the only clear path was after him. So, I continued to follow him to the upper floor’s first bathroom. Couldn’t take pictures there because he’d see me, but I think he was carving something into his skin. He grunted a lot, and when he left, the sink was bloody. He also forgot to erase the protection spell around the bathroom, which was something I’ve never seen before. Weird runes, weird letters.” Leon shook his head. “Anyway, I hid inside and called you. But the protection spell grew weaker and I had to leave. Been stuck on the second floor since.”

My hands fell by my sides while he glanced around, like he was checking for demons, sure, but also like he couldn’t meet my gaze.

“The pentagram on my wrist is full.” I pulled up my sleeve and showed it to him. “Whatever door was supposed to open once the sign completed has probably opened.”

“At least it looks like a tattoo now.” He looked at the symbol. “It was kind of shitty before.”

A laugh fell off my lips, “I mean, a pentagram is kind of basic.”

Leon met my gaze, a smile pulling his lips up, “No originality.”

“Why didn’t you just leave?” I breathed.

He turned away from me with a shrug and continued through the cafeteria, “Because you called me a coward.”

I pushed all of my emotions down and focused on the task at hand. Leon had proof that someone was chanting in the library. Perhaps the photos didn’t prove it was my father, but they proved someone was responsible. A human.

“Can you send the photos to me?” I asked.

“Already have.” He passed through the door to the dark hallway.

Magic grew stronger in there. It was the part of the hallway I foolishly didn’t bother securing, and the rest of the students’ scribbles were already drained. I grabbed Leon’s arm on impulse and pulled him back. He hissed under my touch, and I remembered his arms were burned.

“Sorry.” I loosened the grip, but didn’t let him go. “This part isn’t properly protected.”

“Noted.”

Perhaps we should run through it. But moving through it quickly attracted too much attention, and I still felt that cold sweat on the nape of my neck. It filled me with anxiety from head to toe.

“There’s a demon in this school.” I whispered, the flashlight shaking in my hand, and the moving light made me see things.

“I know.” Leon spread out his hand and his fist burst into flames, illuminating the hallway.

His flesh sizzled underneath the flames.

“It’s not attacking.” I said.

“Maybe it likes to play.” Leon grinned. “You know, with its food.”

“Comforting.”

Magic flowed in its usual direction, the ooze seeking cracks in the protection spells with unwavering determination, like they had an infinite amount of energy. The ooze was crawling towards the basement, where Thar and the other teachers were hopefully fighting it. I got used to it. I even got used to the weird sensation moving through it, sideways.

Then it stopped. The demon stopped.

My grip on Leon’s arm tightened, but I continued walking.

We just needed to get out of here. Just-

The ooze changed direction.

Panic burst through me, and I stopped, magic tingling at the tips of my fingers. I looked around. Protection spells were everywhere. On all four doors we were between.

Wait-

“Run!” My muscles exploded. “Run now!”

The building groaned and the doors surrounding us burst open, black ooze breaking through the protection spells and wood and wall.

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