Thornhill Academy (By Sheridan Hartin) novel Chapter 35

The Shadows That Haunt Me.

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The door didn’t creak when it opened. The shadows swallowed the sound. Cage lay sprawled on his back, arm flung over his head, mouth slack. Peaceful. The

sight alone made my teeth grind. He’d tried to kill me. Left me to drown, broken and bleeding, and here he was snoring. I let the wraith bleed through me.

The shadows in the corners stretched long, crawling up the walls, spilling like black water across the ceiling. My skin prickled, my vision burned with red at

the edges, and when I looked down at my hands, they weren’t entirely mine, long fingers, claws curling, the shimmer of rot spreading up my wrists. The air

dropped ten degrees. Cage twitched in his sleep, breath hitching. I stepped closer, and the shadows clung to me, wrapped me in their carcass–thin embrace.

My voice, when I whispered, wasn’t human.

“Caaaage…”

His body jolted, eyes snapping open only to find the room cloaked in pitch. His sheets writhed like worms, his breath came fast, and the shadows bent into

antlers above my head, dripping with phantom rot. He scrambled, hand reaching for the lamp at his bedside, but the bulb fizzled into smoke the second he

touched it. Darkness bloomed wider.

“Pathetic,” I hissed, the wraith’s rasp curling my words. “Weak. Just like your father said.”

Cage froze. I could feel the fear spiking in him, a hot, sharp taste in the back of my throat. And then I felt it, the power sliding back into me, feeding the

wraith form instead of draining it. His terror was fuel. Endless fuel. I moved closer. The floorboards didn’t groan under my steps. They wept.

Cage’s eyes widened, whites stark in the dark. “Wh–what the fuck…”

The shadows behind him stretched into fingers, curling around his shoulders, pressing him into the mattress. He bucked, but they held firm, skeletal and cold. His screams muffled as the air pressed thick and heavy, making every breath a fight.

“You like pushing strays off ledges?” My voice split, half mine, half, the beast’s. “Let’s see how you fall.”

The shadows under his bed dropped away into a chasm of teeth and water, endless, black. His mattress tilted, sheets slithering like snakes as he clawed at the edges, kicking and sobbing. I laughed, dark, hollow, not mine, but it didn’t matter. I wanted him to suffer. Every thrash, every strangled scream sent another wave of terror pouring into me, regenerating the siphoned wraith magic. What should’ve burned out quickly instead roared higher, flames stoked by his panic. I could do this forever. The thought lit me up from the inside. I could haunt him every night. No rest. No safety. He’d see me in every shadow, hear me in every whisper, live in constant terror until he broke. I leaned close, shadows dripping from me like tar, antlers scraping the ceiling. My breath

was cold fog on his ear.

“Sleep tight, Cage.”

The shadows surged once more, dragging him under the chasm, choking him in terror until he fainted. His body went slack, soaked in sweat, chest heaving like he’d just run for his life. I straightened, flexing my fingers. The wraith’s power purred under my skin, stronger now than when I walked in. Regenerating. Thriving. A wicked smile cut across my face. This was no longer just vengeance. This was a weapon. And Cage? Cage was going to be my favourite toy.

Cage

I didn’t sleep. Couldn’t sleep. I think I passed out a few times, but every time I closed my eyes, the shadows moved. Antlers scraping the ceiling, teeth in the dark, that voice, pathetic, weak, just like your father said. I’d rip my own ears off before I admitted it, but I swear I still heard it. Even now. The sheets were damp, twisted around my legs like they’d tried to drag me under. My lamp, fucking lamp, was shattered, bulb black as ash. No reason for that. No reason except… No. I wasn’t thinking about it. I staggered into the washroom, splashed water over my face, and stared into the mirror. Golden eyes, bloodshot. Skin pale, lips cracked. I looked like shit. I bared my teeth, trying to force the smirk, the mask everyone expected. It didn’t stick. The edges trembled, then dropped away.

“Get it together,” I growled at my reflection. “You’re Cage. A fucking powerful warlock. Nobody touches you.”

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12:19 Mon, Dec 29 GR

The Shadows That Haunt Me.

Except… it had touched me. Slid into my chest, dragged me under. I could still feel the cold claws in my ribs, squeezing. I shoved out of the room, boots

heavy on the floorboards. The corridor felt too narrow, shadows too thick. Every flicker of light made me twitch. I hated it. I hated myself. By the time I

shoved through the doors of the food hall, the sneer was gone. I couldn’t summon it. People looked. They always looked. Usually, at my swagger, my smirk,

my control. Today, they just stared. And I knew what they saw. Hollow eyes. Twitching hands. A boy who hadn’t slept, who couldn’t. I clenched my jaw,

forcing myself to keep walking, head up, shoulders back. Pretend nothing’s wrong. Pretend I’m still untouchable. But every step past a shadow made the

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