Page 112 of A University of Betrayal

The professor...

A warm feeling settled on my chest, and I didn’t know whether to push it away or allow it to corrupt me.

I had just found a family photo of that unpredictable man who didn’t seem even close to being a family man and who would probably kill me if he found out I was holding something so intimate of his.

Tick.

Heart pounding, I looked up. First to the window, where once again a raven was hopping around, then to the wall, where a golden clock showed me that it was already twelve noon.

The seminar was over. The professor would be back here soon. And Grace was probably already looking for me again.

Crap. I’d wasted my time getting lost in the first file, and now I couldn’t think of anything better to do than sympathize with complete strangers in a family photo?God, Julie.

Shaking my head, I shoved the picture back into the file and was just about to close the drawer to get out of here when I spotted the black runes on the next folder in the drawer.

Goosebumps spread across the back of my neck.

Forbidden magic...Umbra.

Mesmerized, I stared at the black ink symbols. Curved, jagged and with elegant serpentine lines. Yet not as lovely as fairytale runes. The symbols on the parchment in front of me seemed complex, mystical, dark; like an ancient, long-forgotten language.Dangerous...

Clack.

My head shot up. I stared at the door.

Clack.

Rhinoceros

Tony Morales

My fingers began to tingle. I hastily stuffed everything into the drawer and, to my horror, ice crystals spread across the paper.

“No, no...” I gasped in panic, but I pressed my hand over my mouth, pushed the drawer shut and hurried to the wardrobe where I had hidden the last time.

The moment the door opened, I closed the closet door.

My heart was racing far too fast and as I touched the wood to hold on to something, I felt more ice crystals forming under my fingertips. Quickly, I pulled my hand away and stared through the slit in the cupboard, my heart pounding.

Mr. Suspicious entered the room and let the door fall into the lock. But when he turned around this time, he didn’t walk to the desk. He stopped, stared at the window, then at his desk.

The panic in my chest grew rapidly, and I looked to see if there was anything there that wasn’t the way it should be.

My heart jumped.The photo.It must have slipped out of the file again.

No, damn it.

My hands began to tremble, as did my knees.

The professor walked slowly toward his desk, walking around it like last time, without taking his eyes off the family photo. His pressed lips automatically made me press mine together as well.

The wall clock ticked menacingly slow and all of a sudden far too loud.

He reached for the picture, looked at it, and then... he pulled on his desk drawer. It opened. But he paused.

No... I had forgotten to lock it again.

I prayed to the non-existent gods that this would end well for me, but his eyes were glued to the open drawer. He seemed frozen.