Chapter Text
CHAPTER ONE
MURPHY
01.09 (Thursday)
The wind was blowing on people’s backs and stirring the trees’ branches. The rain was dripping on the quad’s brick floor and bouncing off the students’ umbrellas. But no one seemed to mind the slightly inconvenient weather on such a lively day.
People were gathering in front of the Academy, with their suitcases and kitbags in hand, talking to their peers and hugging their parents goodbye before the school year starts.
The first-years were looking around nervously. Glancing over at the huge, old building in front of them, made out of elegant stone bricks with hardwood elements, whispering something to their parents and eyeing the Academy once again.
On the other hand, older students were tapping their shoes on the pavement and checking their watches every few minutes, wishing to just walk through that big, wooden door and finally start the brand new year at Dalton Academy.
Murphy was definitely less eager than his step-sister, who was basically bouncing with excitement and grinning from ear to ear at the thought of starting the new school year. Not that he hates school, he’s just rarely enthusiastic about anything. He also was staring at the building in front of him, trying to remember the location of each classroom. It's only been two months since the last time he was there, but it’s easy to get lost in a school the size of a palace .
He and his sister were starting their fourth year there, they were not in the same class though. He was in class 4A for more… knowledgeable students. Sophia, along with his roommate, were in class 4C for a little less talented ones.
“OH MY GOD! What is taking them so long?” Exclaimed the girl next to him, whose previous good mood now vanished. “Seriosly it is 10 AM already, and I’m freezing out here."
Just as if on cut, the wooden door opened and a crowd of excited students chaotically pushed their way to the entrance.
“I think they heard me,” Sophia joked and began to walk towards the door, with her wide smile back.
They entered the school. Their bags were already carried to their dorms, carried by someone employed by his family, so they went straight to the auditorium, where their melodramatic headmaster, with far too high expectations of his pupils, was going to give a welcome speech for new students.
The broad corridor with its deep brown floor stretched out endlessly, like it wanted to prevent students from entering the lecture hall. With every step forward the tension in the hall grew, some felt excited, some bored, and others were absolutely terrified. But not our older veterans, the older years were practically running to that auditorium. They thought that the sooner they got there, the sooner the speech would be over.
Murphy and Sophia finally made it into a spacious hall with a red curtain hanging above the stage, which was now pulled back to reveal the podium where the director was about to speak. All the lights were directed at the stage, which added to the atmosphere and intimidated the new students. They took their seats and waited for the assembly to start.
***
“Good morning teachers, students and staff, welcome to the new school year!” The teacher began, “I hope you all had a great time during the holidays. Whether you are returning to familiar hallways or stepping into our school for the first time, today is the beginning of a new chapter in your life. Fifty-nine students have joined us this year, let us all greet them with respect and care… ”
The head master was talking, but nobody was paying attention to a word he was saying. Students were more interested in talking to their friends about what clubs they were going to join this year or looking at their phones, texting someone, probably trying to find an old friend in the crowded lecture hall.
When the assembly ended everyone rushed out of the room. Groups of people were gathering in the corridor making plans on how to spend the rest of the day. Only the freshmen stayed for an extra lecture about the academy.
Murphy walked out of the auditory alone. Sophia was now somewhere with her friends, catching up. The hallway was raucous, with students shouting and talking so loudly, that you couldn't hear your own footsteps. He hated loud noises, so he decided to go straight to his dorm and unpack his belongings.
He had to walk halfway across the building to get there. As he got further away from the auditorium, he was meeting less and less people. Just some individuals who, like him, wanted to unpack their stuff first.
He opened his door and entered the dorm. The first thing he saw was a huge, square window from which you could see the forest and the school's pond, where the canoeing team practised.
The room itself was of average size. It had two beds on each side and two desks with a cabinet next to them, the wardrobes stood a little closer to the door. The two sides now look identical, minus the door to the bathroom on the right side. However Ivan, Murphy's roommate, would probably soon move his bed closer to the wall, so the sun won’t wake him up in the morning.
His bags were already lying on the right side. On his desk there was a note. It read:
“All your things are already here and even more. Open the top drawer, there is a present for you. It’s a very special one, you will definitely like it. Hope you’ll have an amazing school year.
Love,
Mom”
He didn’t say goodbye to his mother before leaving, so he expected to get a letter or a note of some sort. For him it was a sufficient contact with his mother, if she called he probably wouldn’t answer. So writing him a card was the safest choice, because there was a better chance that he would open and read it.
He opened the drawer and saw a beautifully wrapped box. He wondered what might be inside, his mother always had a strange taste in gifts, so it was hard to predict what she could give him.
He was about to reach for it when something stopped him. For some reason he just froze in place and didn’t move his hand any further. He was now looking suspiciously at the box, like his body just didn’t let him touch it, but he tried to reach for it again.
Then he felt a shiver run down his spine. It was cold and paralysing, the one that makes you feel like you’re in a horror film about to run from a bloodthirsty monster. He lost the sense of his surroundings, everything around him began to spin and blur, as if it was moving away from him.
He was focused only on that box, he saw it clearly, more clearer than before, as if he saw something beyond it. It was small, wrapped in red matt paper, with a gold ribbon on top, which reflected the sunlight pouring into the room. He couldn't look away from it, no matter how hard he tried. His head was spinning, he couldn’t think straight. Whatever was inside was longing for him, calling him, whispering, trying to get him to open it, to see what’s inside.
But Murphy didn’t give in to its demand. With the last shred of his self-control he slammed the drawer shut.
He inhaled sharply, he didn't notice that the whole time he was staring at the box he held his breath. He leaned against the desk and then fell onto the bed. Murphy was looking around the room. He didn’t know what just happened. Was it a prank or did he have a panic attack?
***
A few minutes went by. Murphy was now looking at the desk like it had just killed his cat. He wanted to open the drawer again, to make sure that he imagined the whole thing, and the gift he received was just a normal box with something in it.
Something stopped him once more, this time it was his subconsciousness that was telling him he’s insane for wanting to open it again. So he didn’t and started to unpack instead, eyeing his desk from time to time. Murphy didn’t know what to think about it, whatever just happened was disturbing, to say the least. Was he really so tired that he was hallucinating? He thought while organising his textbooks with trembling hands.
Just then someone walked into the room. It was Ivan, carrying his bags, smiling as always. He has grown since the last time Murphy saw him. Unlike him, Ivan’s previously blonde hair darkened a bit over the summer. But his gaze didn’t change, warm and friendly as always. Murphy was quite happy to see him, they weren’t super close but they always got along pretty well.
“Morning Murphy!” the boy exclaimed.
“Hi,” Murphy replied, more emotionless than he intended, but he still couldn't shake off this weird feeling.
“Oh, I see you’re in a good mood,” Ivan quipped.
“Not really.”
“I know… I was being sarcastic,” he said, slightly surprised, “what happened?”
“Nothing really, I just didn’t sleep well,” admitting to your roommate that you just had some kind of hallucination attack on the first day of school, somehow didn’t sound appealing to Murphy. And maybe he was just tired, that would be the most logical explanation.
“Wellll, you should probably take a nap after we’re done unpacking.”
“I will.”
There was a moment of silence.
“Alsoo, I hate to bother you like that since you're tired and all, but can you pleassse help me? I have SO much stuff, and I have to move this bed,” The boy said imploringly.
After they were done with it was already 3 PM, Ivan went to the cafeteria for lunch alone, because Murphy wasn’t hungry. He spent the rest of the day looking through his books and thinking about the gift from his mother. He even considered calling her just to ask what was inside, but he gave up on that idea. He didn’t go for dinner either, he wasn’t hungry at all, it was like the energy just drained out of him completely. He went to bed early that day.
***
The next few days were going, as you may expect from the first week of school, a little messily but not too bad. The school began to operate at full capacity, classes began in ernest, and interest clubs slowly opened. Everything was perfectly normal. Murphy was still feeling strange, he didn’t have more episodes like the one with the gift. But ever since, he felt like something was wrong. Ever since he saw that box. Or maybe even before that minor accident. He wasn’t sure.