A Series Of Short Stories (Complete ✓)

Ridgewood Academy

Only real people show their true demons.
Jaxsen Reed ~

My life was as ordinary as it could get. I had a younger sister, a dog, and two parents. Life was great until they decided to ship me off to boarding school at Ridgewood Academy.

Then my life got fucked up.

The first second my parents put in an application for me to go there, I had to go to the school for a screening. They took my blood, made me do exercises, and a multitude of tests. After two weeks of waiting I had been accepted.

I moved in during the middle of the first semester. It was a dreary day, the clouds looking down on everyone ominously. I stuck out like a sore thumb. Wearing crisp clothes when everyone else wore sweats and laid-back clothes.

Well, this isn't what it said on the brochure. Even so, they helped me to my dorm room. A guy my age, named Nixon, helped carry all the boxes to my room. He was tall, well built, and had the dreamiest gray eyes I had ever seen.

Once I had unpacked everything I collapsed on my bed, my roommate wasn't there. Then the kid just appeared, out of nowhere. I blinked and rubbed my eyes, pinched myself, but he was still there. The blonde whipped his head around and cursed to himself.

“Um… let's forget that shall we? I'm Magnus but I go by Hale.” He smiled and extended a hand to me. I shook it and he went back to whatever he was doing on his bed.

Following that incident two people walked into the room. It was Nixon and another guy that looked to be 12, but Hale and I were both sophmores. Nixon looked over at me and gave me a wink before sitting down in a chair.

“So, Jaxsen, you know why you're here?” The guy asked while Nixon was smirking at me. I looked at them and shook my head no. The guy sighed and took a seat across from me.

“Ridgewood Academy is not for humans,” he said simply. The room got quiet, you could hear a pin drop. I raised an eyebrow, confused.

“But I'm a-” the guy interrupts me, and Nixon snickered.

“You're not, you wouldn't have made it through the screening if you were.” My mind thought back to the screening. It wasn't that weird, I knew plenty of people had to get one before moving to a private school.

“There's nothing interesting about me. I can't shapeshift, drink blood, fly, or um… teleport?” Immediately after I said that Hale flushed and looked away. I shook my head and clutched my hair.

“Well you could be like Nixon here. He's ¾ Incubus and a ¼ angel.” He looked at me, before looking back at the guy.

“Aiden here can manipulate objects and their properties.” The guy smiled and looked back at me. “You don't necessarily have to shapeshift or fly here, it's just an added bonus.” Nixon finished and leaned back.

“That still doesn't apply to me, I'm still 15. My sixteenth birthday is soon, though. Even so, I'm not the same as you guys.” I mumbled, leaning back on my bed. I felt Nixon sit on the end of my bed, and against the pole.

The rest of the night was not nearly as tense. We played truth or dare for a while before Nixon and Aiden had to head back to their wings.

“Watch out for the Midnight Man.” Nixon whispered in my ear before leaving. His voice didn't have the teasing tone it usually did, which concerned me. Hale went to bed later than me. As I was falling asleep I heard him locking the door. My one eye opened and I noticed all the locks on the door.

That night answered any thoughts I had about the so called Midnight Man. At 3:00 in the morning a shriek echoed through the halls. I shot up in my bed, looking at Hale. He was already gone. I followed the commotion but it soon got too crowded and I went back to my room.

That morning at breakfast I heard the loudspeaker come on. The crackling made me cringe and I rubbed my ears. I noticed a group of students who whimpered, and one of them had wolf ears and a tail.

“Students, I am in great disbelief that we have lost another student. May, the siren, was killed last night by the Midnight Man.” Someone was sobbing behind the mic before the loudspeaker cut.

Nixon looked over at me, his face pale. “Last night I had to report to the principal that his own daughter had been the tenth killed. The damn investigators have found nothing!” He growled while clutching his tray.

I looked away, but patted his shoulder in a comforting manner. No one said sorry, we could tell he didn't want any pity. I bit my lip and took a few bites of my sandwich before speaking.

“Why haven't they closed down the school?” Aiden rolled his eyes and Hale kicked his shin. He glared at Hale before kicking back. They started to fight before Nixon answered.

“A lot of students in this school got kicked out of their wolf packs, parents deceased, their parents donate tons of money, or they're just like regular students. They can't close down the school because a lot of the students would have to then go into foster care.” I just nodded.

-

“Shit, come on Hale. Don't leave me hanging.” I was on the gym climbing rope and Hale was my spot below me. He was vigorously shaking the rope, making me slip. I glared at him and he immediately steadied the rope when the gym coach came over.

Hale innocently helped me down but continued to get dirty looks from the coach. He rubbed the back of his head before the coach told him to run laps. His innocent look disappeared before he sighed and took off.

Later that day I was back in the dorms with Hale. Hearing some fighting outside I poked my head out. Aiden was pinned against a wall and one of the werewolves from lunch was going through his stuff. He smirked before his bag's straps started to wrap around the wolf. They squeezed him, and he let out a growl. Noticing blood starting to stain his clothes.

I sprinted out of my room. Aiden looked at me and gave the wolf an evil grin. He only tightened the straps around his legs more before the wolf let out a howl. Before I could reach them I screamed.

”STOP IT!” They did, everything did.