Starlight Academy #2: Darkness Rising, page 1
Darkness Rising
A STARLIGHT ACADEMY NOVEL
Charity Williams Smith
Starlight Academy 2: Darkness Rising
Copyright © 2023 by Charity Williams Smith
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner including Internet usage, without written permission of the author.
This is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, or events used in this book are the product of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual people, alive or deceased, events or locales is completely unintentional and coincidental.
Cover Art by Cole Smith
ISBN: 9798394459085
To my fire signs.
Your energy lights up the world.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
CHAPTER 18
CHAPTER 19
CHAPTER 20
CHAPTER 21
CHAPTER 22
CHAPTER 23
CHAPTER 24
CHAPTER 25
CHAPTER 26
CHAPTER 27
CHAPTER 28
CHAPTER 29
CHAPTER 30
CHAPTER 31
CHAPTER 32
CHAPTER 33
CHAPTER 34
CHAPTER 35
CHAPTER 36
CHAPTER 37
CHAPTER 38
CHAPTER 39
CHAPTER 40
CHAPTER 41
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
FROM THE AUTHOR
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
CHAPTER 1
“LAST SEMESTER, WE FACED some of the biggest tragedies in Starlight history. One of our own, Barry Star, committed four murders and an attempted murder in the name of our biggest enemy, The Order of the Serpent.”
Professor Middleton stood in front of the pond. The cold afternoon was darkening. Professor Sybil, our Celestial training instructor, stood to her left and Luke, the campus’s healer and Taurus instructor, stood to her right. The other nine professors, who represented the other nine types of Celestials, stood with her as well. My favorite professor, Professor Ellis, was standing off to the right. She was near the parents of the murdered girls, and her swollen blue eyes indicated that she had been crying.
Behind the professors was a table with four pictures on it.
I rubbed my hands over my arms and shivered. My dad's Christmas gift was a thick and cozy parka, though the chill still got beneath the fabric and right into my bones.. It was early January, so it was freezing outside. The bonfire they had set up in front of the pond was the only thing providing us with warmth. Most of the school gathered for the memorial service. Seeing the mournful crowd in black and seeing the dead girls in front of me made my skin crawl.
I stood next to Felicity, my roommate and best friend. My other friend, Claire, was standing on the other side of me.
Barry didn’t do this, I thought as Professor Middleton spoke. My stomach twisted at the lies coming from her mouth.
The only reason that all of this happened was because of me. My grandmother, who was an Ophiuchus, had risen out of her grave by using a murder-powered Starstone to find me and convince me to be a vessel for the god of darkness. But Professor Middleton couldn’t say all of this. One because she didn’t know the latter part and second because the cemetery that some of the dead Ophiuchans were buried in was a secret. They were hidden in the deepest parts of the dark wood, which was forbidden for students. I had found it because my grandmother, Belinda, had tricked me into trusting her and had used that trust against me.
Telling anyone that the cemetery was actually real and not a rumor would cause chaos. Professor Middleton had done a surprisingly good job at covering up Nova’s death, which meant there were all kinds of rumors circulating about what happened to her. The most popular rumor was the one that had Barry sneaking back onto the campus and me and Nova teaming up to take him down with our super powerful Celestial magic. Nova had died during the fight.
But that wasn’t what happened. And the truth was a lot sadder.
That’s why Professor Middleton created this lie. It seemed to convince the others. I hated seeing the knowing looks on their faces, as if Barry killing those girls made perfect sense. If only they knew, he had come back to Edisto Island to try to help us. To try and save me. He wasn’t some assassin.
Trying to convince anyone else otherwise would be futile though. Even though Professor Middleton knew who really killed those girls, she still believed that Barry was dangerous. And I mean, why wouldn’t they trust our respected headmistress?
So, I would just have to go with what everyone assumed was the truth. That Barry was a Celestial hunter, and he’d tried to kill me. Even if I knew it was wrong.
“Thanks to her training and quick action, Lapras Tennsley was able to defend herself against Mr. Star and helped lead authorities to his location,” Professor Middleton continued. “Barry was captured and is being held in a Celestial prison for the murders of Lucy Park, Amelia Hastings, Mira Bradshaw and Nova Goodwin.”
Another lie.
My stomach twisted tighter. I chewed on my bottom lip to keep myself from making any pained expressions. Although Felicity knew everything that had happened, Claire did not, and I wasn’t sure if I was ready to tell her yet.
In all the lies, Professor Middleton had been telling the truth about some things.
I did have quick action once finding out Barry was a part of the Order. After falling into bed with him, I learned the truth after seeing the Order’s signature mark of a serpent on his chest and that was the only reason that I had stopped myself from taking things further with Barry. But in our fight, Barry had escaped.
Professor Middleton had only given me a small bit of information at a time. She’d said it was best if I tried to move past the incident and focus on school, but I was a semi-curious person, so from time to time I asked her about Barry’s whereabouts. From the most recent news, they still hadn’t found him.
A part of me was glad. Despite him being a member of The Order of the Serpent, I didn’t want them to catch him. That’s because I knew what would happen once they did. They would probably kill him. I still wasn’t convinced that he was some sort of evil Celestial hunter. But I couldn’t say that out loud. Once again, I was in the minority of the group who thought Barry was innocent.
I refused to look over at Nova’s parents or any of the other parents. If I saw them, it would remind me of what happened. How I was responsible for their deaths. What I was.
An Ophiuchus.
A type of Celestial that had been banished from The Twelve Houses because of our necromancy powers. Others feared our dark magic. We could raise the dead and ourselves. It’s what Belinda had done.
It seemed like all of this had happened yesterday, but it had been over a month. Today was the start of a brand new semester, and I hadn’t heard from Barry. I had so many questions that only he could answer. I wasn’t sure what I would do if I saw him, but I really wanted to.
At the thought of him, my mind replayed the moment everything changed between us. It had been our first kiss. The thought of Barry’s lips all over me had me grow hot for just a second. I shook it off and tried to focus on what was going on around me. But distracting was Barry’s middle name.
“And now, we honor the lives of these four students and may they spend their eternity in the stars,” Professor Middleton finished her speech with, “Girls, Anapáfsou en eiríni.”
Felicity reached out her mitten covered hand for me to take, and I squeezed it. When I glanced at her, I saw her eyes were watery. Unlike me, Felicity wasn’t scared to show her emotions.
Before all of this Barry nonsense, Felicity had been the number one suspect of the murders at first. It was only because she was a Cetus. A dying breed of Celestials who would ultimately transform into sea monsters. She had been framed simply because of how she was born and fallen into a deep depression out of fear of being kicked out. She was much better now. I decided to come back for the spring semester because I didn’t want to leave her here alone.
Claire placed a gentle hand on my shoulder and whispered to me. “You okay?”
I nodded. I had met Claire on my first day at Starlight. She was a freshman too and a Cancer so we stayed in the same dorm. We had taken Celestial training together. She had been one of the few people who believed in Felicity’s innocence. It was how we had bonded and after my fight with Barry, she and her boyfriend, Ezra, had come to my rescue. She and I weren’t as close as me and Felicity, but I trusted her, even though I kept so much from her. I felt bad about that.
I looked around at the crowd, watching others as they sniffled and rubbed tears out of their eyes. Although Nova and her crew hated my guts, I didn’t want them to be murdered, especially in such a brutal way.
I let one tear fall. I couldn’t stand to let others see me cry. Plus, I had already cried enough.
I fought back tears. Felicity, Claire and I stood watch
His dark eyes were soft as they landed on my face. He didn’t always display this much emotion towards me. Most time it was anger. He was a bit antisocial despite the girls around campus practically drooling over him. Luke was the hottest professor here and the youngest. He was particularly icy when it came to me. But there was something different now. Maybe seeing how broken I was when he found me next to Nova’s dead body made him realize that I wasn’t what he thought I was. Although Barry was the one I had my eye on all last semester, Luke had come into my thoughts sometimes. He was such a mystery, and I fought the urge to want to figure him out.
I sucked in a sharp breath and forced myself to look away from him as Felicity began tugging me forward. Claire walked behind me. I followed Felicity to the front of the crowd, where I saw Kaitlyn, a fellow Scorpio, placing a rose in front of Nova’s picture.
Kaitlyn glared at me. “This is all your fault, you know. You screw her boyfriend and then manage to get her killed.”
The words stung, but a little part of me felt like I deserved it. After what happened between me and Barry, Nova had found out how I saw Barry’s serpent tattoo on his chest. It hurt her, and it wasn’t long before the entire campus knew how I found out that Barry was a Serpent. Most people hadn’t taken pity on me. Kaitlyn, for instance, was one of them.
“Kaitlyn, just leave her alone,” Claire said to her roommate and step cousin.
Kaitlyn scowled at her. “Of course you would take up for her. You little half-blood.”
Claire sneered. “Go to hell, Kaitlyn.”
Kaitlyn continued to glare at me. Another reason Kaitlyn hated me was because of who my mom was. My mom was the leader of the Celestial’s governing body: The Twelve Houses. Kaitlyn’s uncle was on The Twelve Houses as well, but he wasn’t a staunch supporter of many of the rules that my Mom had enacted. The biggest one being-letting Cetuses attend Starlight. But Kaitlyn didn’t spew anymore vicious remarks and walked away from us.
We all stood silently in front of the girls’ pictures. Claire placed a flower on the table. We stood there for a little longer and mourned.
Part of me wanted to look over at Nova’s parents. I wanted to see their faces. Did they think I was responsible for their daughter’s death? I felt the need to apologize, but a part of me didn’t want to face them.
A woman standing among the parents sobbed loudly. I’m sure she was one of the girls’ mother.
My heart ached.
I could only imagine what my dad would have done if this had been me. He’d been furious when he found out everything that transpired and immediately wanted to withdraw me from the school. I begged him to let me stay. It wouldn’t do me any good leaving. Now that I knew Starlight existed and about my family origin, I didn’t feel right to leave it all behind. Plus, I couldn’t leave Felicity alone. Although the House found her innocent, others on the campus still didn’t talk to her. They treated her exactly as they had before the murders, which wasn’t good. They would never get past what she was. What she had to feed on to survive.
When I looked up from the pictures, I froze. My eyes landed on something on the other side of the pond. My fingernails dug into Felicity’s mitten.
Out of the corner of my eye, I could see that Felicity had turned to look at me. “Lapras, what’s wrong?”
I opened my mouth to speak, but the words got caught in my throat.
All I could do was stare into those familiar cold blue eyes.
CHAPTER 2
HER ONCE PORCELAIN SKIN was now a deathly gray. Her long dark hair was disheveled, and her Starlight uniform consisting of a white button-down shirt and dark gray skirt looked worn and dirty. She stood still like a statue as we stared at each other. Even in death, her eyes were a vivid blue.
Chills ran down my spine. I couldn’t get myself to look away. This wasn’t possible. Starlight didn’t have ghosts, which meant that Nova was here because of me. I wasn’t even aware of what I was doing, but I was somehow using my Ophiuchus magic to keep Nova’s spirit from resting.
I didn’t have that much control over my necromancy powers like Belinda had, so I didn’t know what I did to bring her spirit back to me. I sure as hell didn’t know how to stop it.
Felicity’s hazel eyes followed my gaze and then looked back at me. She furrowed her eyebrows together. I didn’t think she could see what I was seeing.
“What’s wrong?” Claire asked. “It looks like you’ve seen a ghost.”
Oh, if she only knew how right she was.
I shook my head. “No. I’m fine.” I looked away from Nova to give Felicity and Claire a reassuring smile.
Claire nodded, but Felicity didn’t look so convinced.
When the memorial service was over, Felicity, Claire, and I started to head back towards our dorm. We were suddenly stopped by someone clearing their throat behind us. We turned to see two tall and regal people standing behind us. One of them was a woman with dark wavy hair that was adorned with a wide brimstone hat. There was a blue gemstone that was shaped in a heart around her neck. The man had on a nicely tailored black suit and icy blue eyes. I immediately recognized his eyes. They were Nova’s eyes.
“Lap…” Felicity warned under my breath.
I knew why she was looking so hesitant. These were Nova’s parents.
Nova’s mom looked me up and down, assessing me. “You’re the Chief’s daughter?” she asked in distaste, her lips pursed like she’d just bitten a lemon.
“Hi,” I said with hesitation. Nova’s parents were just as snobby as she was. “I’m, uh, Lapras. I’m really sorry about-”
“You must be the Cetus?” her dad asked in a clipped tone. He had completely ignored me, and his attention was on Felicity.
“It’s Felicity,” she corrected him.
“Our daughter mentioned you once,” Nova’s dad said to her.
I’m sure I could guess what Nova had said.
Nova’s mom narrowed her eyes at Felicity as her husband turned his attention to Claire.
“And you are?” he asked her.
“Claire Barnes,” she said. “I’m really sorry about your daughter, sir.”
Nova’s dad didn’t say anything. He then looked at me. “My daughter didn’t like either of you, so I’m unsure how the two of you ended up fighting off a member of the Order together.”
I was speechless. I glanced at Felicity. She had an eyebrow raised at Nova’s parents in disdain.
“Nova fought to the very end,” I said. I chose to remain as calm as possible, even though I could feel the tension in the air. It was very thick.
“I’m sure she did,” Nova’s mom said. “But something’s not quite right.”
I furrowed my eyebrows together in confusion. “What do you mean?”
“I’m a Pisces. I’m sure you’re aware of what we can do,” her mom said. “My daughter’s spirit is still here. I can sense it. She’s not at peace.”
I knew I should feel sorry for these people. It’s not like I didn’t, but there was something about Nova’s parents that made me uneasy. I couldn’t put my finger on it.
“I’m really sorry,” I said, which was about the most genuine response I could give them.
“I don’t need your sorry,” her mom said curtly. “I need you to fix it.”
“Which begs the question why is my little girl unable to rest?” Nova’s dad asked.
I sucked in a breath. They were suspicious. If they figured out that I was an Ophiuchus, being haunted by the ghost of my former enemy would be the least of my concerns.
“You’re hiding something,” Nova’s mom said as she glared at me. “Lucky for you, I don’t care what it is. I just want my little girl at peace. Bring her soul to rest. It’s the least you could do.”
I pressed my lips together. She had a point.
They walked away, and I bit down on my lip. Nova’s mom was a Pisces. I had somehow managed to use Pisces magic last semester, so I knew how it worked. Pisces’ clairvoyance only worked through touch. Nova’s mom hadn’t touched me, but I thought about what would happen if she had. Would she see what happened at the cemetery that day? And if she did, would she be able to figure out what I was? What would she think about what really happened to her daughter?
