Ashwock Academy ✓

C H A P T E R - T W O

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Mr. Barla lead the group up the stairs near the back and they all gaped in awe. The spiral staircase wound up the wall so many times it was hard to see the end, and every once and awhile there would be a break in it where another door was. The twelve students followed Mr. Barla and awed at the sights. The people that had rolling suitcases grabbed them and carried them up the stairs, trying not to delay the rest of the group. Ella was constantly snapping pictures of the walls, even some of the students and Mr. Barla. Whenever someone she was taking a picture of looked directly at her, she put down her camera and tried to pretend like she didn't do anything. She wanted to remember this school for the rest of her life.

Mr. Barla reached a door on the right side of the staircase, and introduced it as the girl's dorm room. The six girls shoved past the boys and went into their new bedroom. It was far larger than they had expected. Inside was six beds circling around the room except for one door that supposably lead to the bathrooms. There was one window in between two of the beds, red velvet curtains draped in front of it. The walls were lined with graphics depicting magic against humanity, and the floor with a renaissance-style carpet. 

"Now this is my type of room," Jessica exclaimed, jumping into the bed closest to the door. Without hesitation, Rafe, Marisa and Raven fought for the beds by the window. Marisa and Raven got there first, and Rafe picked up her pillow and hit Raven with it, for she got the bed she had wanted. Raven and Marisa laughed, and Rafe threw pillow onto her face, leaving it there with the laughing girls.

Rafe went to the other side of the room to the middle bed. She was not going to sit next to the bathrooms. Teony and Ella took the beds next to the bathrooms. They didn't really mind, but also would have liked the bed next to the window.

All the girls put their stuff under and beside their beds, and got ready for their classes. 

Everybody came out at relatively the same time to see Mr. Barla standing near the end of the staircase. He smiled, and greeted them. "Now that we're settled, let's get started, shall we?"

"Where's the rest of the staff?" Damien asked. He had so many questions that he wanted to ask that they were filling up his brain.

"Patience," He almost interrupted. "You'll see it all. We can't see everything during first impressions, can we?" He started walking, and the rest of the group followed him.

Trevor walked by Rafe, whispering to her. They were near the end of the line, so barely anyone heard them. "I don't know why, but he scares me."

"He's nice," Rafe whispered back, signing for him as well. "Even with the occasional creepy remark."

Jessica and Marisa marveled at the walls, and Jessica resisted the urge to start telling her all about the architecture of the house. Fox strayed at the back. Out of everyone there, he was definitely the least social. He wasn't there to make friends, rather to learn how to shield himself from the magic that spread like a plague. He had seen it before and he didn't want to again, and especially not to experience it. 

When Mr. Barla took them all the way down the staircase and through the halls, Jackson wondered if he would ever be able remember his way around. They weaved through each door, making Raven question why they were even there. Some rooms were so pointless in a school, like an indoor swimming pool that was always out of bounds, a workshop filled only with wood and no tools, and even a meat room. It was questionable what the school was actually supposed to be because of all the different rooms.

The group entered a tight hallway and quickly got into a single file line, which is all it could fit. Chandeliers hung over their heads, and more tapestries were draped across the walls. On the left side were humans with weapons like guns and knives overcoming demon-like magic, and on the right was the exact opposite. Magic was overcoming souls, making people mad and in the background people were crying as black mist spread around them.