Chapter 3 A Minder

Chapter 3

My father and I took a cab from the train station to the badlands, the last outpost where cars couldn't go past and from where we would advance on horse back to the Academy, hidden in a massive forest.

Of course, no one could advance to the Academy without their approval or risk being shot down in the woods.

I didn't know whether to find that really cute or creepy.

I wondered what would happen if I just ran into the woods right now without waiting for feedback from the mysterious castle that was the highly esteemed Reaper Academy.

"Don't even think about it." My father said in Southern dialect, obviously watching as I gazed into the forest from the office where we waited to receive response from the Academy to proceed.

I'd forgotten that I had about twenty three suicide attempts under my belt.

"Aren't you worried," I replied in dialect "that I may go on and get myself killed at your beloved Academy?"

Looking away from his phone, he bared his teeth at me, a reminder that while he was a soft hearted man where I was concerned, almost meek to most of my tantrums, he was a vampire and an Enforcer.

"I am worried. But not about you hurting yourself. But about how short sighted you are to see that getting yourself killed is not going to hurt anyone in Spatos, no one but me. And maybe your mother watching you from the Beyond, seeing all the effort she put to keep you breathing, to bring you into this world go to waste. Get yourself killed, Helena. Do exactly what the Council wants without getting their hands dirty. Do what the people want. Do what you want, Helena."

"I hate you, Father." I whispered, both of us knowing I didn't mean it.

I hated that he was right. Always hated that he was right.

My father opened his mouth to speak when one of the outpost officers walked into the office.

"They will be expecting her now. Only her, Sergeant." He inclined his head to my father, who ranked higher than him in the Enforcement.

Rising to his full height, standing at six feet four inches of solid muscle, my father shook hands with the officer and turn to smile at me, his fangs purposely on display.

Stretching out his hand to me, "What will it be, Helena? Shall we turn back?"

I knew if I truly said no, my father would do everything in his power to save me. At the cost of his life. The only reason he was pushing for the Academy was because he saw it as a way for me to prove my loyalty to Spatos and earn their trust. And be treated like one of their own.

A chance at being treated like I was normal.

To turn back was suicide but forward felt like a death sentence.

Taking his hand, I rose to my feet.

If either option was certain death, trust me to take the most interesting route.

"I will return in six months, father."

With a big grin on his face, he claimed my face with his large hands "Never doubted you for a minute, my warrior."

I hoped he was right. That I was indeed a warrior.

Only one way to find out.

*************************

The ride on horse back with a carriage holding my luggage should have been comical given that I'd just alighted from a train not too long ago but this place, this wide path way in the middle of the woods truly looked ancient.

Untouched by technological advancement.

After all, technology was humanity's way to keep up with the supernatural.

"We are here." The officer that escorted me said and I merely nodded, my mouth slack from staring at the sight before me.

Reaper Academy... was a fortress.

A massive castle made of dark stone that looked like it spanned acres upon acres of land with a huge gate that made the fortresses in the documentaries that I saw of other countries look like a joke.

Academy was too demure a word for this place.

"It was a stronghold of the ancient Vampire King Eris long ago before the kingdoms merged to become one country and the Council was formed." The officer said and when I turned to look at him, I realised that I must have looked really shocked by the size of this place.

"We're going through a smaller gate. Come." He brushed his horse's side lovingly as we advanced to where there was indeed a less intimidating sized gate that could allow us in.

The officer exchanged greetings with the three guards, all vampires by the gate who took one look at me and froze.

"Mixed breed." One of them said to the other and his eyes widened, taking me in.

Well, they didn't look like they were going to lynch me.

I resisted the suicidal urge to show them my white eyes devoid of pupils that marked me as Lamia and nodded slowly, dismounting from my horse at the same time that the officer beside me did.

As we stood in the center of what was a very large courtyard, a woman wearing a black cloak, her blonde hair in a ponytail emerged from the entrance doors.

Walking up to us, she nodded slowly at the officer who bowed to the waist.

"Miss Dorian." He said in reverence.

"Rise, Connall. I told you that you need not bow any longer."

Turning to face me, she closed the gap between us and looked at me critically in a way that made my hackles rise in apprehension.

Don't attack, I warned the Lamia in me. Stand down, I said mentally as her eyes turned vampire black and that's when I heard her voice, only she hadn't spoken.

"Welcome to Reaper Academy, Helena Shaw."

She wasn't any vampire. She was a Minder, a rare breed of vampires that manifested mind gifted abilities. She was a telepath.