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Authors: Christopher Mannino

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BOOK: School of Deaths

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“Come down, Suzie. The game’s over. No one’s coming to save you now.”

He paused, and a confused expression crept over his face.

Sindril dropped the scythe. He screamed, staring at his robe. Suzie couldn’t see anything on it. Sindril turned and ran away from her, yelling in complete horror. He stopped at a tall shape.

The albino grabbed Sindril and stared into his eyes. The Death shuddered, whimpering. He started to cry.

“Please, please no,” bawled Sindril.

The albino dropped him to the ground, and Sindril ran away. She heard footsteps on the stairs, and the sound of sobs growing softer. The albino turned to her and held up his hand. Then he followed Sindril up the stairs and out of the library. Suzie sank to the floor, ready to burst into tears herself. Frank and Billy arrived a few minutes later.

“Are you all right?” asked Frank.

“He’s gone?” she asked.

“That was the same Fearmonger Luc used on you,” said Frank. “He’s been living in the forest, not too far from here. I figure he owed you an apology. You remember what he can do. He followed you two into the library when he came to the open bookcase. Sindril won’t bother you anymore.”

“Suzie,” said Billy, wrapping her in his arms.

“I’m okay,” she said, wiping away the tears. She’d never been more frightened, not even when the albino had attacked her. “Thank you, Frank.”

“Is everyone safe?” asked Jason, stepping over a fallen bookcase.

“It’s over,” said Suzie. “Sindril’s gone. He told me he’s going to live with the Dragons.”

She didn’t tell them the Dragons wanted her alive, or that Sindril claimed he’d written her Final Test and she was guaranteed to fail. She didn’t believe anything he said, but he was gone now. She’d never have to see him again.

“We were helping Jason with his scythe work,” said Frank. “In case it’s on the Final Test.”

“The albino,” she said. She remembered the terror she’d felt back when he’d attacked her. “I almost feel sorry for Sindril.”

Billy raised an eyebrow.

“Almost,” she added, smiling. “Let’s go home. Right now, that’s all I want.”

Chapter Twenty-Two

Home

The party was Billy’s idea.

The night before the Final Tests, no one slept. The test meant everything. If she passed, she’d go back to Mom and Dad. Back to the Living World. She’d go home. Rain splattered outside the windows of Eagle Two. Suzie watched the water falling, picturing the tears her mother must have shed after Cronk vanished. Had they given up all hope? On the other hand, were they still waiting for her, hoping she’d knock on the door?

Thunder rumbled in the distance. If she passed, she’d never have to lift a scythe again. She’d leave this world and eventually it’d be nothing but a long, bad dream. A long dream, at any rate. Had it honestly been bad?

If she passed, she’d never see Jason, Frank, or Cronk. She’d never watch a ’Mental turn into a bush, or create visions with their mind. She’d leave the most amazing place she’d ever been to. She’d never see Billy. She blushed at the idea. Billy was more than a friend. He was…more.

“C’mon Suzie,” he said. “You defeated Sindril, and tomorrow you’ll go home. It’s time to celebrate.”

Celebrate
. But is going home worth celebrating? In two days, it’d be her fourteenth birthday. Where would she celebrate that? With her family, who assumed she was dead, or with her new friends, who made her feel alive?

Billy poured sodas. Frank passed out stolen gorgers, while Jason strung up balloons and streamers.

“I’m going to miss you guys,” said Jason. “Don’t get me wrong, I want to go home more than anything, but you guys are my friends.”

“We made a good team,” said Frank. “And look at what we accomplished. The headmaster’s fled, we uncovered a plot with Dragons, and the ’Mentals finally have a shot at being treated fairly. I’d say this has been a great year.”

“I’ll drink to that,” said Billy, raising his soda.

They played games and talked for hours. Billy and Frank re-enacted their boskery victory, breaking a lamp in the process. At one point, Frank streamed music directly to their minds, although Suzie found she didn’t like that much, and he stopped.

After a while, Billy and Suzie stepped outside.

The air still smelled of rain, but the clouds had passed. A thousand tiny spots twinkled above.

“The stars are beautiful,” she said.

“You are too,” he replied. He took her hand. “Suzie, I want you to pass the test. I do. But when you do, I’ll miss you.” He turned away. As hard as this was for her, she’d forgotten that it must be hard for him too. Billy had chosen to fail his test, but she had a family back home.

“I’ll miss you too,” she said. They hugged for what felt like hours.

* * * *

The sun shone brightly as she walked toward the black cube in the center of the campus. Its walls seemed to suck in sunlight, and it reminded Suzie of Kasumir’s dark eyes. Nearly every Death failed.

“Good luck,” said Frank.

“Good luck,” echoed Billy.

She nodded and walked to the open door. Hann stood in the center of a hallway, holding a clipboard. Jason, who’d entered half an hour earlier, was somewhere inside.

“Suzie,” said Hann, clapping her on the shoulder. “We had some rough times, but good luck. You’re in room five.” He pointed, and she walked down the hall.

She stepped into room five. The room was entirely black, yet strangely light on the inside. Cronk stood in the center of the room, holding a piece of paper.

“Cronk, are you crying?”

“Your t-t-t-test,” he said, handing her the paper.

She read the single sentence, written in ornate handwriting:

Kill the one responsible for your presence in this world.

“Sindril said he wrote this,” she murmured.

“To g-g-go home,” he said, handing her a knife. Tears fell down his face.

“Sindril is responsible,” she said.

Cronk shook his head.

“It w-w-was me. I wr-wr-wrote your n-n-name. I’m s-s-s-sorry.”

“If I kill you, then you cease to have ever existed,” she said.

Cronk nodded.

“You’re my friend,” she said. “I’m not going to kill you.”

“You m-m-m-must. If n-n-not, you don’t g-g-go home.”

She looked at the knife. If she left this world, she’d never get a chance to kill Sindril. There must be another way home.

Home
. Suddenly she understood what the word meant, and what she had to do.

She’d known for some time now.

She turned the knife around, and handed it back to Cronk hilt first.

Sindril was right, she couldn’t pass this test. Yet, somehow a part of her had suspected she didn’t want to.

“I am home,” she said, opening the door.

* * * *

Billy and Frank stood talking outside the Examination Room. Frank frowned as Billy tried to hide a smile.

“I failed the test,” she said.

“What?” asked Frank.

“Sindril wanted me to kill Cronk. The exam said to kill the one responsible. They may think it was Cronk, but Sindril’s the real reason I’m in this world.”

“You didn’t do it?” asked Billy. “You wanted to go home.”

She sighed. “I do. I want to go home, but not that way.” She thought of Sindril’s words. He’d told her to come find the Dragons.

“There isn’t another way,” said Frank. “Suzie, you’re a true Death now.”

They waited by the Examination room for another hour, but Jason didn’t emerge. The door closed after the final first year.

Suzie pounded on the door and Hann emerged.

“Suzie?” he said.

“My housemate Jason. He hasn’t emerged yet. I wanted to make sure he’s okay…”

“Jason passed his Final Test,” said Hann. “One of only two to pass this year.”

“Who was the other?”

“Luc,” said Hann. “Both of the boys have gone back to their families in the Living World. The rest of you have three months of vacation before training begins again. I look forward to teaching you in class next year.”

Suzie walked away, dumbfounded.

“Only two passed the Final Test,” she told Frank and Billy. “Jason and Luc have gone back to the Living World.”

“Wow,” said Frank.

“You don’t believe they had to kill someone?” asked Suzie. “I can imagine Luc doing something horrid like that, but Jason?”

“Every test is different,” said Billy.

Jason had passed. Her friend. He’d been with her as they took on Sindril, and had defended her against some of her bullies. They’d spent a year together in art class and now she’d never see him again… He had passed. And Luc had passed, too, of all people…

They walked back to Eagle Two. Suzie was too deep in thought to notice the College around her.

What had she done? She hadn’t considered. She just handed the knife back to Cronk. He had kidnapped her. Why hadn’t she ended it and gone back to her parents?

“Suzie?” asked Billy.

She paused, staring at the ground.

It wasn’t fair. Why was Jason going home and not her? Why weren’t they going home together? Why had she been weak? She’d failed. Her one chance at going back to her parents. How could she do this to them?

Billy put his arms around her and pressed his face to hers. He kissed her lightly on the cheek.

“I betrayed my parents,” she said. “I’ll never even get to say goodbye to them.”

“Suzie, you had no choice,” he said.

“I did have a choice.” She paused. “A part of me
wanted
to stay.” It felt terrible to admit, but was still a relief.

“Suzie, that’s okay. I chose to fail my test,” he said. “I’m glad you’re still here. Who knows, maybe one day we’ll figure out a way to sneak you home. Your grandfather did it.”

She nodded and reached up, touching his face. Even when it had been scarred, it was a comforting face to look at. She didn’t feel sad anymore.

“This world needs you, Suzie,” said Frank. “Elementals and Deaths face a new era. An era you helped forge. The Living World can wait. This is your home now.”

Billy looked into her eyes.

“Suzie, I can’t tell you about ’Mentals or new eras, about ways home or the choice you made. But I do know we need you here.” He swallowed and his eye glistened with moisture. “I need you, Suzie.”

“Thank you,” she whispered.

Frank started walking toward Eagle Two. Billy and Suzie followed him, holding hands.

She had something now, something she hadn’t had in a long time.

Hope.

This world didn’t frighten her anymore. Even if she never saw her parents again, at least she was where she belonged.

“I have a confession,” said Billy. “I’m not upset that you’re staying.”

She kissed him on the cheek.

“I have a confession of my own,” she said.

“What?”

“I’m not upset either.”

She laughed as they opened the door to Eagle Two.

“This is home now.”

About the Author

Christopher Mannino’s life is best described as an unending creative outlet. He teaches high school theatre in Greenbelt, Maryland. In addition to his daily drama classes, he runs several after-school performance/production drama groups. He spends his summers writing and singing. Mannino holds a Master of Arts in Theatre Education from Catholic University, and has studied mythology and literature both in America and at Oxford University. His work with young people helped inspire him to write young adult fantasy, although it was his love of reading that truly brought his writing to life. Learn more, and enjoy exclusive free content related to the World of Deaths, at www.ChristopherMannino.com

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