The scent of the cursed blood, Kenzhie Addie [red scrolls of magic txt] 📗

of Miss Brown?” He asked and arched his thick eyebrow while giving me a quick assessment. My brow furrowed and crossed my arms protectively in front of my chest.

 

“Well, um, yeah. How do you know?”

 

“Because you are the only one standing and carrying a luggage in this area, you muppet.” He grumbled and turned his heels toward the car and got in the driver's seat. Did he just call me stupid? I took a deep breath and let it go. It was my first day in London and I wouldn't want to turn it into my worst first day ever. Thinking about it, my thoughts went back to Mr. Weirdo just a while ago. He was rude to me too, and this one was another cocky asshole.

 

Why do I have to deal with two jerky English dudes on my first day here? I asked myself begrudgingly.

 

“Miss Muppet! Are you coming or not?” He called out and popped his head out of the window. I silently went toward the car and opened the door in the back seat. “Sit here, Miss Muppet. You surely did not think that I'm your private chauffeur, do you?” He said in a sarcastic manner while he pointed to the passenger seat. I sighed and closed the backseat door, then went to sit beside him. “Buckle your seatbelt, Miss Muppet---”

 

“Don't call me that.” I said with a frown and put on my seatbelt.

 

“Why? I like it. It suits you well.”

 

“English jerk...” I mumbled and gazed out of the window.

 

“Thank you very much.” He smirked at me and fired up his car.

 

“Are all English guys, jerks?”

 

“Are all American girls have no sense of style?” He asked and looked at me, up and down. I knew I didn't wear fancy clothes like the popular girls in my previous school in Wisconsin, but I didn't think my clothing style was that worst for him to look at me distastefully. I was wearing a black simple blouse with a matching black cardigan, tattered jeans, and a pair of black converse canvas shoes. I didn't see any problem with my outfit today though.

 

“Why are you being mean to me?”

 

“Because I got called to come here in the middle of having fun in an all-nighter just to fetch your bloody arse.”

 

“So, why did my aunt ask you to pick me up?”

 

“It's a long story.” He said with a sour face. A couple of minutes past, he slowed down and stopped the car on the driveway of a big and beautiful house with a wide lawn. My aunt had been a spinster, well that was what I had heard, so I wondered how she felt, living in a big house alone. That must be very lonely and I knew somehow how that felt... I sighed and got out of the car. As soon as I was out of the car, I saw a stern-looking, middle-age woman with thick glasses, waiting for us on the front porch. She must be, aunt Mary. She looked scary though... I thought inwardly. Mr. Cocky Blonde took out my luggage and carried it to the front porch and said Hi to my aunt.

 

“Thank you for bringing home my niece, Mr. Reid. I do hope you behave more properly next time. Remember, this is your last warning.”

 

“Aye, aye, Mistress!” He said with a grin and whispered something to me. “Good luck.” He said meaningfully and walked toward his parked car after he excused himself from my aunt. What's that supposed to mean? I thought to myself.

 

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“This will be your room from now on, Cassidy.” My aunt said formally after she escorted me to a spacious room, complete with antique furniture. The room was pretty, but it was a complete opposite of my previous modern room. I was completely looking out of place. It actually made me feel like a rug in a shiny, vintage room.

 

“Thank you, Aunt Mary.” I said and smiled timidly. Looking at my aunt made me really feel intimidated. She had this somewhat habitual action of giving me a disapproving look. I felt like she didn't like me the moment she saw me. That made me wonder. Do I look that unlikable? I mean, the first guy whom I bumped into, seemed to hate me, then Blonde also gave me the same reaction, and now my aunt. I just couldn't help, but felt pity for myself.

 

“Tomorrow morning, a seamstress will come here and measure your size.” She informed me, again with her formal tone of voice.

 

“Uh, um, what for?”

 

“Please do address me properly as aunt Mary when we are in this house. However, if we are at St. Claire, never forget to address me as Headmistress. I wouldn't want anyone to think that my niece is being rude to me when they hear you speak to me like that. Is that clear, Cassidy?” I nodded, feeling the tension between us. She may have delivered her words politely, but her tone of voice was cold and demanding. This was what Mr. Cocky Blonde must have meant when he said, Good luck. It was meant for my aunt who seemed to be a terror, hiding in her formal facade. “Very well. As for your inquiry, a seamstress will come tomorrow and measure your size for your school uniform. You will attend the class at St. Claire Academy starting on this Monday and I must warn you, wearing of school uniform is strictly followed in accordance with the school rules.”

 

“Yes, aunt Mary.” I complied obediently.

 

“Good. Oh, and please do remove that bothersome dark eye makeup you're wearing. That I may say, is absolutely prohibited in school.”

 

“Yes, aunt Mary.” I repeated the same words like a mantra. I'd never imagined that my only living relative would be this tyrannic. What is she like as the school principal, then? I cringed as I imagined it.

 

“Alright then. Dinner's served at seven. Don't be tardy.” She said, or rather ordered before she left me.

 

“Wow, that was exhausting...” I muttered under my breath and dropped my luggage on the carpeted floor. I glanced at the cuckoo clock hanging on the wall opposite of the four-poster bed. It said; six past forty-five. I'd got fifteen minutes left before the dinner time, so I decided to open the french door to the balcony. The night breeze instantly blew gently on my face as I gazed through the almost dark surroundings. My room's balcony was overlooking the backyard so I could see the wide lawn and the greenhouse from where I was at the moment. I started humming one of the songs that I often listened to and closed my eyes while I inhaled the coolness of the night air. It was like a habit of mine when I'd felt sad, nervous or agitated about something. Then, all of a sudden, I felt like I was being watched. The same feeling I had earlier. You could say, it was instinctive. So, I immediately opened my eyes and looked around. There it was, a dark silhouette of a tall man standing by the tree, just beside the greenhouse. I wasn't sure since it was kinda dark and a bit far, but I thought he was staring at me. I blinked my eyes to make sure I wasn't imagining things and he was gone or was never there. “Nice... Real nice. Now, I'm seeing things. I must be hungry.” I blurted and went inside the room again. I closed the door tightly and locked it. Even if it had been just a fabric of my imagination, I'd better make sure I could be safe in my room. Who knows... “Oh, shoot! The dinner!” I slapped my forehead for almost forgetting about it. I ran to the bathroom in my room and quickly washed my face and removed my overly smudge dark eyeshadow. I then ran out of the room to find the dining area. I was glad when I found it just in time. My aunt seemed pleased to see I wasn't wearing any dark eye makeup and so we had a nice, quiet meal.

 

That night, I dreamed about the strange, scary, yet gorgeous guy. He must have been in my head for me to even dreamed about him. When I woke up the next day, my aunt scolded me for making the seamstress wait. I knew blaming Mr. Weird-slash-scary, wouldn't do me any good so I decided to just forget about him since we would probably not see each other or bumped into each other in a big city such as London.

 

====####====

 

Today was my first day at my new school as the new kid, of course. Big deal. Yeah. No. Honestly, yeah, it was a big deal. I was pretty worried about people noticing me since I was new. I would not say, they would stare at me because I was pretty---I was far from pretty. Just a plain-looking girl with pale skin, lame brown eyes, and long, messy black hair that hung wildly about everywhere and covered most of my face---but because they'd think I was being weird. That was what most of the students in my previous school thought of me. The weird, emo girl in black. That was what they used to call me since I was always alone, eating lunch in the same corner every day with my hair hiding my face. Some even teased me and called me, Sadako---The famous scary girl with long black hair in the Japanese horror movie called, The ring. I must say, they had a pretty twisted imagination, but thankfully that changed when I made friends as senior year started. Now, I would be going back to first base. I sighed as I fixed my school uniform which I'd give credit to Mrs. Bailey for making this uniform as fast as one day. Though, I'd wish she didn't. Wearing school uniforms, especially since I had to wear a pleated skirt, bothered me. They seemed really uncomfortable and inconvenient. I'd rather wear my comfortable, wash-off or tattered jeans and shirt than this fancy uniform and black knee-high socks. I suddenly missed my school in Wisconsin. At least, I didn't have to wear a uniform in that school and I missed Jesse and Lea already. I sighed once more before I went out of my room. I looked at my assignment slip which my aunt gave me last night. It said my first class will start at eight-thirty and it was just seven past thirty-five. My aunt went ahead of me already since she told me she had lots of things to do as the headmistress of the school. Well, whatever that was, I'd totally be fine with it. I would surely feel tense, sitting beside my aunt in a car anyway, so, I was actually thankful that I would commute to school today or for the whole school year for that matter. I must be a bad and ungrateful niece for even thinking about such rude stuff, but I'd be lying if I would say otherwise. I shrugged my not so good thoughts off my mind as I reached the bus stop and waited for the bus to arrive.

 

=====####======

 

I arrived pretty early for my first period so I decided to just sit on a bench near the parking area, but away from many people to see. I picked a good spot beside a big tree and sat down, then I took my iPod from my backpack and plugged the headphones in my ears. I listened to the songs of my favorite band, My Chemical Romance. I reclined my head on the bench and closed my eyes. As usual, I hummed along as the music blasted in my ears at full volume. I'd been listening to maybe a couple of songs when I drifted to sleep. I wasn't sure for how long I had been sleeping when I jolted out of sleep, feeling like someone was sitting beside me and staring at me. I jerked my eyes open immediately, alarmed,