Page 20 of Conquered

Why does it feel like I’m waiting outside the gates of Hell?

It's just a high school, the same as many others, I'm sure. Well, perhaps not exactly the same. Highgate is a private high school for the rich, privileged, and no doubt, arseholes of the western world. And this is my senior year.Dearlord.

One of the impressive wooden doors opens with a sinister creak—could this be any more like an old school hammer horror film?!—and a tall skeletal man with a hook nose and small beady eyes peers down at me. His thin lips are downturned, like I just washed up from a stagnant swamp, and not just got soaked in an autumn downpour.

Shoulders back, stiff upper lip, and all that.

“Lilly Darling, I presume?” he sniffs in a nasally voice, posture unwavering. “You’re late,” he sneers, eyes cold, before I’ve even had a chance to answer.

What a prick!

“M–My flight was delayed…” I stammer.

No!I think to myself.Don’t let this crow make you feel like shit. Pull up those lady balls and stare him the fuck down.

I straighten my spine, stand taller, and give him my best bitch glare.

“Hmph…” he scoffs cruelly. “Follow me.”

Wow. His mother clearly gave up on teaching him manners. Perhaps she left the nest he was born in when she saw his ugly maw. I mean, it’s not even a face a mother could love.

He turns sharply on his heels and walks away, back ramrod straight, expecting me to follow like the twatwaffle that he clearly is. I quickly grab my holdall and small suitcase, step inside, and gape.

Jesus wept.

This place is insane. Remember that great TV show a few years back called Downton Abbey? It’s like that, but bigger. I’m standing in a huge entrance hall with a sweeping central staircase that Crow the Cuntmuffin, as he shall forever be named, is already halfway up. I can't see much else because it's so dark, although I do notice marble floors sparkling in the moonlight from the windows, and so many wooden doors I lose count.

Scrambling to catch up, I briefly notice the dark wood doors that are running along the ground floor on either side of me are carved, although I can’t quite see what the images are. I moan aloud as my shoes touch the Persian rug, it’s so thick I swear I sink several inches.How awesome would this feel barefoot?I cringe when I realise I'm probably leaving wet footprints on it,then shrug. If Crow the Cuntmuffin has to clean them up, then it’s not so bad.

“Ahem.”

I look up, and Crow is at the top of the stairs, peering down at me like I’m dog shit. My cheeks flush a little with embarrassment at being caught ogling the carpet. Straightening my shoulders once again, I decide to screw him and his priggish ways by not hurrying.

This wanker and I are going to have a falling out soon.Fuck him and his opinions seven ways to Sunday.

I notice he keeps glancing dismissively down his beak nose at me, his upper lip curling and giving me a 'hurry the fuck up' look. So I slow down my assent even more, making sure my soaked suitcase bangs loudly against each step, ‘cause I’m petty like that.

“Hey, I hear ginger, honey, and lemon are great for sore throats. Sounds like you’ve got a doozy of one.” I smile sweetly at him, although it may be more of a baring my teeth type of grin.

His lips tighten and become so thin, they almost disappear. He clears his throat again, the snarky bastard.

As he continues on, he addresses me derisively without bothering to look back, “You were supposed to have your guide show you the way round this establishment today, then join us all in the Dining Hall for a welcoming feast. But as you couldn’t bring yourself to be on time, your guide has gone to bed.”

It’s fascinating really. It's like he’s dead inside and just waiting for good ole Grim to whisk him away. “I’m to show you to your dormitory, and you must report to the office tomorrow morning. Eight o’clock sharp.”

The look he gives me over his shoulder is one of such dismissal, it’s like I don’t exist. Like I'm not even a mote of dust.Fucking Cockwomble.

We carry on along the lavish hallway, and I notice that all of the portraits lining the duck egg blue walls are of stuffy old men. All in formal clothing with severe looks on their faces, and some even have hooked noses.

Wow. Looks like Crow here is in good company.

He pauses outside a single, dark door, carved with some sort of biblical scene. I raise a brow at what I think is Lucifer being thrown out of heaven.That's...aspirational?

“This is your dorm,” he indicates coldly as he takes out a keychain with two beautiful scrolling old-fashioned keys on it. “You share it with four others.” He’s almost smirking...hmmm...mustn’t be anything good if it brings him joy. Maybe the other girls I’m sharing with are as uptight as this wanker?

Crow unlocks the door and waits beside it. As I pass, he suddenly thrusts out his arm, holding out the keys, almost hitting me in the face with them.Dick. I grab them from him, and he turns his back, fucking off back down the hall.

Guess I’ll figure this shit out alone then, huh?With a fuck you shrug, I face the room.