Nocticadia: A Dark Academia Gothic Romance

Two weeks had passed since I’d received the invite to Dracadia. Unfortunately, the prospect of going was no closer to my reality than pink unicorns swooping down from the sky. I couldn’t figure out a logistical way to make it happen, and no doubt the stress of that and everything else had gotten to me, because I’d begun to see visions of my mom more frequently. Ever since Wilkins had told me those worms were real, my brain went haywire trying to convince me. Consequently, I’d grown overly exhausted, sleeping in class on occasion, only to startle awake, humiliated when I’d call out for her.

I’d avoided my last microbiology lecture for the summer, not only for the embarrassment of having been awakened in class, but because I’d feared Professor Wilkins would ask me about Dracadia. Fall semester was due to begin in a week, and I hadn’t done anything to secure my enrollment there. As if my finances weren’t enough of a stressor, Connor had begun cleaning out my mother’s room for a new roommate. Thankfully, he’d given up on the notion of Angelo moving in, a small sliver of light in the chaos. He must’ve teased out the stupidity of having a man like that around all the time. I hoped that was the case, anyway.

I’d left for work that evening without a word, while he stacked boxes of what personal belongings of my mother’s I was willing to part with. Having put off going through her stuff long enough, Connor had finally threatened to toss everything, if I didn’t separate what I’d wanted to keep. So I’d made a stash for Bee and me–albums, jewelry, paintings, and some of Mom’s old clothes.

The sight of her empty room left a hollow ache in my chest, and as much as I knew we needed the cash, I couldn’t stand the thought that a stranger would eventually be filling that space.

Exhausted with stress, I entered the staff lounge and crossed to the lockers there, forcing myself to meet Jayda’s bright-eyed smile with my own. “Hey,” I said, twisting the dial on the lock.

“Hey!” The enthusiasm in her voice seemed a little off, and I glanced back to find she’d moved in closer.

Still smiling.

“Is everything okay?” I turned back toward the dial, pained from having to hold a cordial expression so long, and clicked open my locker where I tossed my bag inside.

“Yes. I got something for you, but … I want you to know, giving it back isn’t an option, okay?”

Head muddled with new curiosity, I pressed my locker door closed and turned to face her, noticing her arms hidden behind her back. “What is it?”

“Just a little congratulations.” From behind her back, she drew a purple envelope about the size of a card and handed it to me.

“For what?”

Her face pinched to a frown. “What do you mean, for what? Why do you have to act like getting a scholarship to an ivy league school is no big deal?”

I suddenly wished I’d never told her about Dracadia–as if my guilt hadn’t already reached peak levels, as it was. “I can’t afford to just up and leave.”

“So, you’re going to let that opportunity languish?”

“I don’t want to, no. But my options are shit at the moment.”

“Open the card, Lilia.”

At a cautious pace, I pulled open the envelope to find a congratulations card inside. Flipping it open loosed a stack of bills. Hundreds. Fifties. Twenties. Tens. I didn’t even have to count to know there was at least a thousand dollars inside.

My heart kicked up.

The sting of tears burned my nose, and I shook my head.

“I told Danica about you getting accepted into school.” Danica was our lead manager for the department, with whom I’d always had a decent relationship, so it didn’t trouble me that Jayda had told her. “Anyway, she rallied all the docs and nurses to pitch in for some extra cash. About a thousand and some change.”

Enough to cover two months of Bee’s tuition. My cut, anyway. Plus a little extra. It’d give me a head start, let me find a job and possibly save up a couple more months.

“I can’t accept this. It’s …. It’s too much, Jay.”

“Non-negotiable, baby. That money is yours.” She threw up her hand in a dismissive way and shook her head. “And you don’t have to pay it back, so don’t even go there.”

“But classes begin Monday. A week from today. I don’t even know if they’d let me enroll this late. I missed orientation and registration.”

“I don’t know anything about that school shit. But I will say, you better hustle to see if you’re still good to register.”

Holding that thick stack of bills in my hand, the impossibilities from before seemed … well, possible. I couldn’t imagine a world where the only thing I had to worry about was school. “I don’t know what to say. No one has ever done anything like this for me before.”

“What you say is simple. Repeat after me: I, Lilia Vespertine.” Brow winged up, she paused, waiting on me.

“I, Lilia Vespertine.”

“Am going to fucking Dracadia University.”

I released a tearful chuckle. “Am going to fucking Dracadia University.”

A beam of pride glinted in Jayda’s eyes, as she folded her arms and smiled. “And there you have it. All the thanks we need.”

I wrapped my arms around her, desperately holding back a sob, because goddamn it, she didn’t have to do what she had. And there was no way I could pay her back. Not until I finished my degree in a decade’s time. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Would it be selfish if I asked for one more favor?”

“Depends on the favor,” she said in a flat voice that made me smile.

Releasing her, I stepped back. “Can I stay with you this week? Conner’s cleaning out my mom’s room. Just … not really interested in sticking around for that.”

“You absolutely can. Pack your bags and do what you gotta do tonight.” From a shelf beside our lockers, she grabbed a head cap and wound her long braids into it–a practice she’d put into place after having haphazardly dipped her hair into a dirty bucket of water. “I’ll bring Quentin along to come pick you up.”

“Are you sure?” I pulled my hair back into a loose ponytail at my neck. “I don’t want to put you guys out. I can take an Uber to your place.”

“I insist. You don’t need all that weight on you right now. You got shit to plan for.”

Again, I found myself trying to wrap my head around the possibility that I might soon be walking that mystical-looking campus.

At break, I used one of the staff computers to shoot Dean Langmore a quick email, asking if it was too late to register for classes. At a little after ten, I didn’t expect a reply, but when his name popped up in my inbox just before I closed out, my tongue damn near fell out of my mouth.

Absolutely, Ms. Vespertine. I’ve attached the link for registration, as well as the welcome packet you would have received at orientation last week.

The attached file read: Welcome to Dracadia University.

Biting my cheek failed to contain the smile itching to break free. Because I, Lilia Vespertine, was going to fucking Dracadia University.

My shift flew by, and before leaving for home, I’d made a point to both thank and chide Danica. As I sat on the subway, clutching my bag, I stared through the window, desperate to hold back a smile so I didn’t look like a weirdo smiling at my own reflection, while I imagined myself as an ivy league student. My campus. My school.

Life felt unreal. A dream.

I’d left for my shift that evening, weighed down by hopelessness and disappointment.

Suddenly, I had a plan.

The moment I entered the apartment, I quieted my footsteps, eyes scanning for Conner in the dim light. No doubt, he’d have given me a hard time about leaving, and I just couldn’t afford that when my head still grappled with the decision. I headed straight for my bedroom, the knots tightening even more as I turned the knob and dashed for the closet to grab my suitcase, pausing to nab a few sweatshirts. I hoisted the suitcase onto the bed and twisted for the dresser, sloppily piling in jeans, a couple of skirts that I’d bought for job interviews, dresses I’d taken from Mom’s old wardrobe, sweaters, underwear, socks, my trinket box. I tossed in my favorite blanket, a picture of Bee, Mom, and me, and my mom’s painting. A charger and toiletries. From my desk, I grabbed the invitation to Dracadia and stuffed it inside my bag. Everything fit perfectly inside the suitcase, and it was only when I grabbed the zipper that I felt an ominous presence at my door.

“Think you forgot something.” The distressing sound of Angelo’s voice skated down the back of my neck, and I turned to see him clutching a pair of my satin panties to his face.

Lowering my gaze, I reached out a hand. “Give them to me.”

“Think I’ll keep them as a souvenir.”

Hiding my irritation with him, I finished zipping up my suitcase. “Do what you want, Angelo. I’m done with you, this town. All of it.”

“Tell me where you’re going, and I’ll give them back.”

“Don’t you think you’re a little old to be playing games?” I hoisted the suitcase off the bed. No way I planned to stay in the apartment with this walking shitstain. Even if I had to wait on the street for an hour until Quentin arrived, at least there’d be witnesses to whatever bullshit he tried to pull. “What the hell are you even doing here, anyway? How’d you get in?”

“Tell me where you’re going,” he said again, ignoring my questions.

“No.” Muscles straining, I carried the suitcase across the room, halting in front of the door he blocked. “Move.”

He didn’t budge so much as an inch.

A rush of something shot through me–fear, adrenaline, I couldn’t tell, but the potency of it vibrated my bones. “Get out of my way, Angelo. I’m not playing games.”

He still didn’t move.

“Fuck you,” I said, ready to plow into him.

He clamped his hand over mine and pushed down on the suitcase that I struggled to lift, weighing it down until it was too heavy to hold. “You’re not going anywhere, little girl.”

God, the stench that wafted off of him. Who’d have guessed a man could smell like a literal grave? Pretty sure cutting him open would’ve sent a corpse spilling out.

“Lil! Angelo! Brought some coneys home! Come on an’ eat!” The sound of Conner’s voice stoked a turbulent mix of relief and alarm. I’d hoped to be gone before he got home.

The note I’d written was a sad and inadequate exit, but I couldn’t take a chance he’d try to guilt trip me. Or that we’d fight, and I’d end up pissing him off enough to withdraw Bee’s tuition.

“Sounds delicious!” Angelo called back, his lips curving to a smile. “By the looks of things, you weren’t planning to tell Connor, either.” He pushed off the wall and headed down the hallway toward the kitchen. Much as I had the urge to slip out the window of my bedroom, I owed it to Connor to at least tell him what was going on.

Exhaling a sigh, I left my bag in the bedroom and made my way through to them.

Coney in hand, Connor frowned as I stood in the doorway. “Hey, Angelo says you’re heading out. Where to?”

“I’m staying at a friend’s. Why the hell was he here before you?”

“We were having a meeting. I ran out to grab dinner. He stayed.” Brow winged up, he stared back. “What friend you staying with?”

“Someone from school,” I lied. “You don’t know her.”

With a shrug, Connor bit into his coney, dribbling sauce down his chin.

Angelo tapped his finger against the table, while his uneaten coney sat in its paper tray in front of him. “That’s it?” he asked, not taking those creepy eyes off me. “Aren’t you gonna ask who?”

Frowning, Connor wiped his chin across his forearm, taking the bit of sauce with it. “’The fuck do I care? She’s twenty years old.”

Relief uncoiled some of the knots in my gut, so much so, I didn’t want to dare disrupt the mood by telling him about Dracadia. I’d call him. Leave the note in his lunchbox. Send a carrier pigeon. Or owl. Something that didn’t involve Angelo.

“Ahh, there’s something else, though, isn’t there, Lil?” Angelo’s face stretched to a wicked smile that I could’ve slapped with a fly swatter right then.

I shook my head, swallowing back the dryness in my throat.

“Oh, come now. There was something about a … Dracadia, I believe.” The theatrics in his voice grated on me, and I would’ve happily sacrificed my pinky toe to watch the ceiling cave in on him.

The asshole had clearly opened the envelope on my desk. He had been in our apartment for God knew how long and had rifled through my shit.

“’The hell is that?” Connor asked, shoving another bite into his mouth. “Sounds like something out of one of them vampire movies.”

“It’s a university. I was accepted there,” I offered reluctantly.

Conner’s brows winged up, his eyes bright with surprise. “Oh, yeah? That’s great, Lil. Congratulations. Is this, uh … another community college?”

Shifting my attention brought Angelo’s smug grin to the fore. “No. It’s an ivy league college about three hours north of here.”

“Three hours?” Conner buried his frown into a long swill of beer, and when he placed the bottle down, the frown had deepened. “And did you just say ivy league? Is this a joke? You can barely pay for two classes at Covington.”

I had to tread carefully, for Bee’s sake, in spite of the tensity simmering in my blood. Telling him that I had been gifted money would’ve been stupid–particularly in front of Angelo. “I received a full paid scholarship.”

The cluck of his tongue told me he wasn’t happy. “Well, that’s not gonna work. You got Bee and half the rent here.”

“This is my one and only opportunity, Connor. My one chance. And I’m not going to be made to feel guilty. I stayed when I didn’t have to. I helped when I could’ve left. And I never asked you for anything. Ever. But I’m asking you now to be the decent guy my mom loved all those years ago and help me out. Please.”

What I surmised as understanding flashed across Conner’s face, and he let out a huff. “Angelo, give us a moment, will ya?”

Angelo’s jaw shifted, his stare more intense. “I could use a smoke.” With that, he pushed up from his chair and, never taking his eyes off me, strode out of the room.

At the click of the door, I let out a relieved exhale. “Thank you.”

Arms crossed, Conner stared down at the floor. “So, this school. Wow. You think you can handle all this?”

Finally, a real conversation without all the show of dominance. “I’m gonna try.”

He rubbed his jaw and blew out a resigned breath. “Fine. I’ll figure out rent. I got some applicants for the room. Callaghan mentioned some interest in it.”

Jesus, I’d take lady Callaghan any day over Angelo, that was for sure.

“So long as you can still help me with Bee?” he asked, and I smiled, glad to know that was still a priority for him.

“I’ve got … a little cash saved for it. I’ll get a job at school. They have work study, and maybe I can get another evening gig.”

Lips thinned to a straight line, he nodded. “You were always a smart kid, Lil. From the time you was little, you know? Smart little shit. Your mom …” With the back of his thumb, he scratched his nose. “I know she’d be proud.”

“Thanks.”

“The room will be here for ya. And Bee. I won’t rent it out, or anything.”

Not that I planned to come back for any great length of time, if I could help it. Even if things didn’t work out at Dracadia, I intended to use the move as an opportunity to be on my own. Still, it was decent of Conner. “I appreciate that.”

“When do you go?”

“I’m leaving right now. Staying with a friend for a few days, then she’s going to take me to the train station.”

“All right.” He rubbed his jaw again and stepped forward, as if to hug me, but hesitated and stepped back again.

Lips pulling to a half-smile, I held out my hand for a shake, to which he reciprocated. “Take care, Conner.”

“Yeah. Take care.”