Chapter 9

" I feel so out of place..." Maddie groaned. The group of us stared up at the towering structure, which looked nothing like what we remembered. "How do we even know we're really enrolled?"

"I'm guessing the aunties took care of all that," I said with a shrug. In truth, I had no idea.

Everything was so muddled and confusing. We'd been holed up at the manor for the last week, trying to get our bearings. The guys had been pretty reclusive and mostly avoided me like the plague when they could. Unless they were glaring at me or hissing assholish names at me in the hallways under their breaths, I was still worried about them, though. I could see each of them struggling with different aspects of being stuck here, and I wanted to offer help, but I knew none of them would accept it.

Back in the mortal world, they'd been enrolled at Sunset U, while I was still undecided. I wondered if the guys were still on the basketball team. If there was even a team to be on. I wondered if Maddie would be a cheerleader. She'd always dreamed of going pro and then one day becoming an instructor. Were all our dreams and aspirations suddenly out of reach here?

"Looks like Hogwarts," muttered Freddy, a small hint of his geekiness shining through. He was trying to hide his excitement by being tough, but I could see past the disguise.

He was standing to my right with his arms folded over his broad chest, glaring up at the school. He'd been trying, not so subtly, to get me to look at him all morning, but I'd actively avoided it. After what happened in the bookshop last week, I was feeling more off-kilter than ever. What did it mean? Had he been messing with me? Was it another trick? Fuck, I could still feel his fingers on my skin. My body quivered just thinking about his talented digits and how far we'd taken things in The Wicked Quill.

I knew he was thinking about it, too. Anytime our eyes met, his gaze would heat up like a match being struck. But he was still being an ass, just like always. Norman might have noticed something was off between us because I'd seen him glancing back and forth a few times today. I decided to pretend our bookshop moment had never happened and focus on right now.

Freddy was right. It did look like the fictional wizarding school. It was brownish gray in color and made of stone archways, spiked turrets, stained glass windows, and stone bridges. The twin moons overhead only added to the fantasy of it all, and for the millionth time, I wondered if this was all a dream. A week-long dream...

Instead of the pristine white sidewalks and gardens of Sunset U, we were now standing on a cobblestone pathway lit by tall wrought-iron lanterns flickering with real flames at the entrance of Midnight U. There were trees scattered around the grounds, but they were so black that they looked charred. Their spindly branches curled upwards and were barren of any leaves, flowers, or fruits. Interspersed between the trees were statues, crumbling slightly with overgrown roots and disturbed soil. They looked ancient and grotesque.

Some were depictions of monsters, the likes of which I'd only seen in movies. There were massive minotaurs, towering werewolves, and hunched goblins. I saw witches holding broomsticks and even a few gargoyles here and there. I even spotted a few more of those near the top of the school's roof line, as if perched up there as guardians of the strange student body. I wondered if those gargoyles were simply that—stone relics meant to warn away danger—or if perhaps they were magical like everything else in this world seemed to be.

"What do you think, Coraline?" asked Jason from my other side. "Your people like this shit, don't they?" His smirk was cruel, but I was beginning to feel numb to it.

"My people?" I raised a brow, looking him up and down. "You might want to change your tune, big shot. You're going to get eaten alive if you keep running your mouth in there. Probably literally." I looked around, eyeing the student body warily.

"Oh, burn, sucka!" Jessica hissed at Jason. I saw him glare at her, so I turned away, shielding my spider with my hair.

People milled around us, looking for all the world like straight-up trick-or-treaters. I saw cloaks, horns, hooves, claws, capes, and witch hats. There were inhuman beings of all kinds mixed with regular-looking people, all laughing and chatting like it was completely normal. Just like our trip into town. I still couldn't get over it. I saw students basking in the moonlight, some of them leaning up against those spindly dead trees with old books in their hands, just minding their own business.

The guys might make fun of my newly adopted goth aesthetic, but I had a feeling they were going to be the odd ones out in this place. Perhaps it would finally teach them something. At Sunset High, they'd been top dogs all four years, but here, they had no idea what they were in for.

I grabbed Maddie's hand and squeezed, taking in a deep breath. "We stay together, okay? Our phones don't work here, so we have to be careful. Remember, we're just biding our time and blending in until we can figure out a way to get back home, so don't bring attention to yourselves."

"Says the chick with the tarantula on her shoulder," Norman sneered.

"Says the guy with the fangs and a pet bat," I snapped back, meeting his eyes head-on. "Keep it up, Vlad. You're in my world now."

He stepped forward, towering over me. "You think you're tough now, zombie girl? You think because you've suddenly found a town even more fucked up than you that the last year doesn't matter?"

"I'm not saying that," I said, realizing he was now very close to my face.

"You're lying," he hissed. I felt his breath on my lips. Maddie was squeezing my hand, but I knew she'd let me fight my own battles. "We might need you and your family's help getting back home, but that does not make us friends. You gave all that up a year ago when you decided we meant nothing to you. So I suggest you keep your freaky mouth shut until we get out of here."

" I'm…so…Can't she see how much? " His inner words filtered into my mind, and I shook my head back and forth, not wanting to hear them.

"Uh, guys… Now might not be the best time to hash this out," Maddie said. I could feel her watching our little st andoff warily. "You've had an entire year to pick each other apart, and we can't afford to do this now."

"Maddie's right," said Freddy, surprisingly, walking over to his brother and pulling him backwards by the shoulder. "We can settle this later, man."

Norman backed off, and once he was out of my headspace, I felt like I could breathe a little bit easier. He still glared at me, but it was no longer stifling. Sometimes, Norman was a little scary. I wasn't afraid he'd do something, like physically hurt me or anything, but there was just something about the darkness I knew lurked inside of him that put me on edge. And now, with his newfound condition, he'd be more volatile than ever.

"October!" came a smooth, deep voice from across the yard. I whipped around and saw Calvin slowly jogging towards us with a handsome grin stretched across his thick lips. "Hey, I was hoping to catch you before class." He slowed to a stop in front of me, raking a hand through his midnight hair when it fell in his face.

Calvin looked good, I suppose. His eyes were ringed in that dark liner again, highlighting their amber glow, and his dark hair was parted to the side as it fell in loose waves to his shoulders. But he did nothing for me. He was hot as sin, yeah, but there were already four faces that overshadowed the one in front of me. But it didn't mean I couldn't appreciate the view or ignore the fact that he seemed to have some sort of keen interest in me, particularly something that made zero sense.

"Hey, Calvin," I said with a smile. It was a genuine smile, surprisingly.

"Call me Cal. All the pretty girls do." He winked, and his white teeth gleamed in the moonlight. Normally, I would have rolled my eyes, but the line was delivered with such suave perfection that I could only laugh.

There was a snort from over my shoulder, and I tensed. Jason didn't sound amused. It was sort of pathetic how I could tell it was Jason, even before he said, "Is this guy for real?" He looked at Freddy to back him up, but Freddy was staring at Cal with all the fires of Hell burning in his stare. I shivered at the stark violence I saw on his face.

Cal met Jason's eyes over my head with a friendly smirk. He stuck his right, ring-clad hand out for a shake. "Hey, man, we didn't really get to meet yesterday. I'm Calvin."

His hand hung there in the air, even past the point of being awkward, but he held his ground. I whirled, pinning Jason with a glare. "Stop being a dick. Remember what I said about getting eaten alive?" Jason wouldn't look at me, keeping his gaze fixed on Cal.

I turned back around as Cal said to me, "How about I give you a tour?" He lowered his hand and stuck his elbow out, indicating that I should loop mine through.

I considered his offer for a moment, weighing my options. I wanted to stick near the guys, but they were being dicks, and it was only our first day here... I didn't know how much more of their taunts and jabs I could take today. Maddie nudged me when I was taking too long to respond.

"That sounds great," I said, looping my arm through his.

I felt Jessica crawl out from under my hair, and she made her way towards my ear, whispering, "Wolf boy looks like he's about to lose his lunch." There was a giggle in her voice, but it made me flit my eyes over at Freddy. Wolf boy?

"That's not happening," Freddy grumbled, stepping forward and squaring his shoulders.

"Excuse you?" I asked angrily.

"You're not going anywhere with this fucking creep," he said without looking at me. What was it with these guys talking to me as if I wasn't even there, as if what I wanted didn't even matter?

"What's your problem, Freddy? I thought you'd jump at the chance to get rid of the freaky girl," I said sarcastically.

Cal cleared his throat. "I believe the lady can make up her own mind, as I assume none of you have claimed her for yourself yet."

Freddy looked ready to argue but never got that far. I practically choked, but Maddie didn't even try to hide her sudden cackle. I shot her a glare as she slapped a hand over her mouth.

"You guys are all on drugs if you think any of that shit makes sense. Nobody is claiming me." I looked at Cal apologetically. "Ignore them. They actually hate me and love to torture me whenever they possibly can. I'd seriously love a tour." I went to move forward, but a strong hand caught my upper arm.

" Over my dead body, I'll eat…alive. " Norman's tone was scary enough, but when his lips didn't move, I realized he was definitely holding the real violence back. His mind was like a raging hellfire right now.

Why me? Why did this keep happening to me?

"Oh, boy, here we go..." Maddie mumbled, circling around to Cal's other side. I saw her loop her arm through his and smile. I could tell she thought he was hot, and secretly, I hoped her charm would get him off my back. Four guys to worry about were more than enough.

I looked up into Norman's darkening green eyes. His jaw was ticking, and the muscles in his forearms were straining. Something about him just looked...feral. "You're not going off with him, October."

I sucked in a sharp breath. He must be upset if he was using my actual name, but he was being ridiculous. "What's wrong, vampy? Scared of being alone in the big bad castle?"

"You know that's not what I meant," he warned. "You don't know him."

"Exactly. Maybe I feel like fixing that." I tried to tug myself away, but his fingers only tightened. "Let go, Norman. You have no right to tell me who I can hang out with. Apparently, this is all my fault, right? So why don't you start acting like it?"

"I know what we said was..." He frowned, tripping over his words. "He's dangerous," is all he ended up saying.

"And you're not?" I raised a brow, my eyes fixating on the little black veins that started to creep under the skin around his eyes. "Look at yourself, Norman. Look at Jason with his fucking tongue, and Michael with the snake and... I don't even know what's going on with Freddy." I gave Freddy a wary glance.

"What the fuck did I do?" he growled, but we ignored him.

"That's different," Norman said.

"I don't think so." I laughed, jerking my arm from his grasp. He let go before I hurt myself. "Leave me the fuck alone, Norman. I'll see you guys in class. Try not to start any brawls with the locals. I know it's hard for you to hold in that much testosterone."

Maddie snorted, and Jessica giggled. Looking up at Cal, he looked positively delighted. I turned away from the four seething men and let Cal lead Maddie and me away towards the looming castle—I mean, school.

Cal showed us around campus, and the journey took about an hour. Thank goodness we'd been early for the school day—or was it a school night? Whatever it was, we were early, and it gave us time to really take it all in.

We started on the right side of the campus, where most of the core academic classes were apparently held, and when I say core academics, I don't mean math, science, and grammar. I must have read and reread my schedule at least fifty times, but the words refused to morph into something I recognized. I saw things like potion class, hex readiness, combat arts, creature taming, and realm history—at least that one sounded somewhat normal, I suppose.

I couldn't believe I was standing here trying to convince myself that any part of this was normal. Not the town, nor anyone in it. It was a quaint little place, if you overlooked the ghosts and ghouls. Still, it wasn't the Sunset Hollow I'd grown up in. We'd been here a week, and I was still having a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that this was our new reality. I was pretty sure the guys were convinced we'd be going back home, but I knew better. The aunties were setting us up for the long haul. The truth was, I didn't think I could ever go back to living with the mortals, knowing all of this was here.

I'd never tell the others this, but I was sort of... excited? Yeah, I was, actually. I was excited to find myself out of the hellhole that was Sunset Hollow. That town had been a nightmare for so long that I hadn't really let it sink in just how miserable I was. Midnight Hollow seemed to be the polar opposite of my hometown. Everything I used to be ridiculed for loving is now considered normal and expected.

I suddenly felt like I could breathe for the first time in years. It was creepy, dark, and spooky, but honestly, I kind of dug the whole aesthetic. Something about it felt right, from the perpetual night to the eerie creatures and the double moons. I couldn't put my finger on the feeling, though. It might have been the fact that I'd spent most of my preteen and teen years reading Harry Potter, Narnia, and any other fantastical story I could get my hands on. This place felt familiar, like home.

We wandered the halls, and by now, I was pretty much trailing along behind Maddie and Cal. She was snuggled up to his side, holding onto his muscular arm for dear life, and I couldn't help but shake my head. Maddie was such a flirt. It seemed the guy from the bookstore was a memory for another day, as her eyes filled with stars and hearts. I hoped Cal realized he'd gained an admirer. I saw the way he kept looking down at her, unable to stop staring at her lips as she chatted.

He showed us a few classrooms, but really, they looked more like theaters. Each room was made of the same dark charcoal stone as the rest of the castle, and there seemed to be no electric lights anywhere. Every wall was filled with crackling torches and lanterns that dangled from the high ceilings. Instead of desks and chairs like I'd expected, I kept finding rooms filled with mismatched upholstered lazy boys and chaise lounges. Students lounged around on plush velvet furniture, scribbling away with honest-to-god quills and parchment, while professors casually surveyed them from the head of the room.

And the professors—they were something entirely different. I thought I was prepared for more weirdness, but I didn't have a fucking clue what we were in for. When we passed the realm history class, which would end up being my second stop of the day in a few hours, we encountered a professor who appeared to be stitched together with a needle and thread. His skin was a patchwork of gray and green that resembled a quilt, and his eyes were milky white but slightly yellow. He was taller than any human being I'd ever seen in my life and lumbered around the room like a zombie.

"Now, to crack the skull open..." His terrifying voice was loud and gave me goosebumps as he held a skull with his long fingers.

I quickly bypassed that classroom, leaving that mystery for a little while later while Cal waxed on about the school's history. Apparently, the entire castle had been around for thousands of years, and some of the greatest creatures in history went here. I'd even heard of some of them—Dracula, even though he was more human than anything that had a taste for blood,;the Sandman; and even Bloody Mary. Yeah, apparently she was a real person. They all were, and at some point, they had crossed over to the mortal world to wreak havoc. There were so many things I wanted to know, and the longer we wandered around the school, the more giddy I became.

We reached a huge room with gigantic double doors carved in what looked like a wooden depiction of a gnarled forest, with jack-o'-lanterns sitting in the trees instead of fruit. The eyes and mouths, though made of wood, still glowed bright orange. Cal pushed them open, revealing a sprawling dining area lit with thousands of candlesticks and more jack-o-lanterns. There were circular tables spread out all over the room, but Cal made a beeline for the food as he rubbed his hands together. A massive spread was readily available buffet-style. I was impressed, but I wasn't sure how it all worked. Did I need some kind of meal plan, or was it free?

"We don't have time to sit and eat." Cal grabbed Maddie's schedule from her hand after tossing her a surprisingly normal-looking donut and took a look at her classes with a furrowed brow. For some reason, the expression looked forced. "You guys have potions in twenty minutes, but if you get back here in time for the lunch special, I'm pretty sure candy apples are on the menu." He winked again, and Maddie blushed.

"Candy for lunch?" I asked skeptically. "No snake and spider stew?"

Jessica hissed under my hair, "I resent that."

"Sorry…" I whispered with a dark chuckle and a feigned cringe.

Cal hadn't heard her, so he kept on with a low laugh. "Afraid not. Aggie makes a mean frog leg stew on Thursdays, though."

He nodded to where an arched window sat in the center of the wall. Inside, I could barely see what looked like an old woman flipping a disk of dough in the air, but when she looked up, I startled back a step. She had only a single eye in the center of her face. Aggie, apparently, was a cyclops of some sort. I covered my reaction, awkwardly pretending I'd been looking at something else, but I didn't miss the way the woman rolled her eyes. Now I feel bad.

Something caught my eye as we turned to leave the room. It was a metallic flickering by the doors. There was a poster on the wall, and from here, I could see elegant, scrawling handwriting. I went to it, presumably with Cal and Maddie on my heels. The closer I got, the more I realized it was parchment, not a poster. The writing was metallic, as if someone had dipped their quill into liquid gold.

"Solstice Festival…" I read out loud. Turning to Cal, I asked, "What's the Solstice Festival?"

"It's a holiday we celebrate at the start of a new year. I believe mortals have something similar—New Year's Day, I think. Not a very original name, if you ask me."

"So what do you guys do during the Solstice?" I was curious now. Did these people celebrate the same way mortals did? Did they have a Christmas, an Easter, or a Valentine's Day? I assumed not, as most of the mortal holidays were religious in some aspect, and they wouldn't have much use for Halloween here since apparently a ton of creatures crossed over to the mortal world on that night.

Cal came closer, and Maddie reluctantly dropped his arm. I had to take a step back as he invaded my space. "I'm probably the wrong person to ask. I never really go to the festival. It's mostly just a bunch of town officials throwing themselves a party." He smiled widely. "But if you're thinking about going, maybe I'd make an exception this year."

"Oh, we're most definitely going!" Maddie said excitedly, bouncing on the balls of her feet as she shoved between us.

"Isn't that just what we need?" a high, sharp female voice cut from over my shoulder. Mortals are ruining the Solstice celebration."

I turned around and had to stop myself from staggering back a step. I needed to learn how to reign in my reactions. A girl stood three feet from us with her arms crossed over her chest. She wore a black cheerleading uniform with blood-red lettering. Her hair was green and in two high pigtails, but that's not what caught my attention first.

She was a clown, with a red-painted nose and everything. Her face was beautiful, but it looked to be painted white, with triangle shapes under her eyes and a wide painted smile that didn't really look like makeup. Oh man, I was sort of looking forward to Jason meeting her.

It took me a moment to realize Cal was speaking. I missed half of what he said to the clown girl. But I didn't worry too much about her feelings. The first sentence out of her mouth let me know she wasn't ever going to be my friend.

"October, Maddie, meet Payton. Resident bitch." He grinned as Payton scowled. Her eyes had an odd purple hue that made me want to look away. But I didn't look away because I'd been dealing with girls exactly like her my entire life. I used to be one.

"Classy, Calvin. What are you doing hanging around the mortals? Did your daddy put you up to it? You know how he loves his charity work." Her smile was sickly as she looked Maddie up and down. It was like cheerleaders had some sort of sixth sense and could sniff each other out.

"Oh, you know," I said, stepping closer slowly, "just clowning around before class." Cal and Maddie both snorted, but Payton suddenly looked murderous.

"Think you're funny, new girl?" she hissed.

I shrugged. "You're the expert on funny, so why don't you tell me?"

By now, a few of the other students in the room were snickering. I should have felt bad, but she had it coming. I'd never met this chick in my life, and already she had some sort of bone to pick with us. This was not the fucking week to test me.

"Come on, Toby, we're going to be late for potion class," Maddie said, grabbing a hold of my upper arm and tugging. She mumbled under her breath, "I can't believe that just came out of my mouth."

"That's right, mortals, run away from the scary monsters. It's what your kind does best." I felt Payton's sneer as I turned my back on her and headed for the door.

Just be the bigger person, October.

Cal caught up to us. "Don't let her get to you; she doesn't have a lot of friends. "

"How come? Isn't she a cheerleader?" I asked as we raced down the halls.

"Cheerleaders are social outcasts around here. Most of them are clowns, and even by our standards, they're a lot to handle."

Maddie shivered. "We didn't exactly get a warm welcome from the last clowns we encountered."

Cal tipped his head in question, so I said, "We got chased by a few of them when we got into town. It wasn't pretty." I remembered the way my heart had leapt into my throat as we ran for our lives. I still had no idea what would have realistically happened had they caught us.

Cal laughed, stopping us short. "Don't let those guys intimidate you. They were probably just fucking around, and you guys were the perfect targets. Payton's family runs the Killer Clown Motel downtown. They're weird, for sure, and you really don't want to piss them off, but they're harmless. Her uncle is even on the city council with my dad."

"Huh," I said, scratching my head. "I literally have nothing to say to that."

He gave me a suave smile. "It's all right, little mortal. You've got a lot to learn. It's a good thing I'm such a good teacher."

"Feel free to teach me your ways, oh wise one," Maddie purred, sidling up to Cal again.

For just the briefest of seconds—so short I almost missed it—I could have sworn I saw a blush stain his cheeks, but it was gone in an instant. Hmm…curious.

"Well, ladies, it looks like this is your stop." He gestured to an open classroom door. Maddie giggled and brushed past him slowly, but I lingered for a moment.

"Listen," I said, lowering my voice. "I really appreciate your help. We've been so lost, and this whole situation makes me feel like I've finally lost my mind. Thanks for showing us around and treating us like..." I giggled darkly. "Well, not like we're humans, I guess."

Cal grinned. He really was charming, I suppose. Still, my belly didn't flutter when he smiled at me. My heart didn't do backflips when he leaned in for a half-hug. But I did embrace him, enjoying the soft smell of cinnamon and vanilla that wafted off of his jacket. "Anytime, October. I'll see you girls around, so please don't be a stranger."

With a smile, I turned away and finally stepped into my first class.