Chapter 1:

Arrival

The Victorian School of Demon Hunters


“This way, Miss Grey.”

Nancy looked up as she trailed behind the tall form of Ms Cavendish. High above her towered the three storeys of Greystone Boarding House. The orphanage only had two and it had still felt too large to Nancy. She was sure three were too many for any building.

There was no movement visible through the tall, arched windows above her but she knew there were dozens of girls inside. If they were anything like the children she had grown up with they would certainly be spying on her arrival, gossiping about her drab brown dress and her scuffed, hand-me-down shoes.

“Pick up your feet, Miss Grey.”

Ms Cavendish with her much longer legs had already reached the doorstep and was stood waiting. Nancy hurried to catch up but as soon as she stepped into the entrance hall her eyes turned upward again and her feet stopped involuntarily.

A carpeted staircase led up from a black and white checkerboard floor and all around her were richly carved oak doors. There was nothing to indicate what was behind each door but as she stared, gawping, a woman emerged from behind one to greet them.

“Miss Grey, this is Matron. She is in charge of House and will take care of you while you are not in lessons. Matron, this is our new starter, Nancy Grey.”

“Ah, the third year. Yes, very interesting. I have a bed ready for you. Come with me, dear.”

Matron was a round, efficient woman in a black dress and crisp, white apron. Her hair, neatly tied in a tight bun, rested somewhere between grey and light brown. Her face was stern but not cruel, Nancy thought, hoping she was right in her assessment.

With surprising speed for a woman her size, Matron led the way up the stairs. Nancy turned to Ms Cavendish who had been with her since her arrival, first showing her around the school grounds before bringing her to House. The tall vice headmistress gave her a sharp nod and said, “Go with Matron. She will take care of you.”

And with that she was gone, heels clicking sharply on the chequered floor as she disappeared. Nancy felt a strange uncertainty settle in her stomach at being left. It wasn’t as if she had particularly attached herself to Ms Cavendish in the half hour or so they had known each other but she had become rather used to her steady presence. It suddenly occurred to her that she was now in the belly of the beast. Very soon she would surely be without an adult at all and instead in the company of a large number of unfamiliar girls.

Matron waited for her patiently at the top of the stairs as Nancy dragged her feet up them. Already she was picking at her nails even though she knew it was a most unladylike habit.

They turned left, passing another staircase that led up to the heady heights of the top floor, and stopped at a less ornate door than the ones downstairs. A polished brass number three was fixed to its smooth surface.

“This is the third years’ dorm,” said Matron, confidently throwing the door open.

Nancy steeled herself to enter and have every eye upon her but when she stepped over the threshold she found the room almost completely empty. In fact only one quite small body awaited her. The dark haired, round faced girl popped up from a bed, hands neatly tucked behind her back.

“Nancy, this is Belinda. She will be getting you up to speed on things for a while. Belinda, this is Nancy Grey.”

Belinda bustled forward on small, quick feet. “Nice to meet you, Nancy.” She stuck a hand out and Nancy shook it cautiously.

The girl standing before her was an inch or so shorter but seemed to take up quite a lot of space all the same. Her face was round and moon-like, dark hair neatly and simply pulled away from it in a ponytail. Everything about her was softly rounded like she hadn’t been fully moulded into shape yet but her smile was friendly and her blue eyes twinkled. Nancy instantly felt that this girl must be as nice as she looked otherwise why would she have been chosen to assist a new girl in learning the ropes? Especially when that new girl was starting so late. Most girls started when they were thirteen in first year, not fifteen and already over a week into the start of third year.

“The rest of the girls are in the dining hall downstairs,” Matron informed them both, already turning to leave. “Come down once you’re settled and we’ll get you fed.”

Nancy’s stomach had been in too many knots to make space for food earlier but spending so much of her life in an orphanage had given her an appreciation for the structure of regular meals times.

The door shut behind Matron and Nancy took a look around.

The dorm wasn’t particularly large, not like the room at the orphanage she had shared with so many other girls. There was a pleasing familiarity to the rows of beds against the walls though. There were thirteen in total, each with a little nightstand on their left hand side. Most had a trunk at their foot and a few more shoved underneath. Nancy spotted her own little trunk with disappointment. It was smaller than the others and much more worn. Who knew how many owners it had had before her?

“Alright, let’s get this done,” said Belinda.

Nancy blinked. The smile had fallen from the girl’s face as soon as the door shut behind Matron.

She marched over to Nancy’s trunk and gestured carelessly at the bed. “This is yours. That’s mine.” She pointed at the next bed along. “Don’t put your things on it.”

She looked down at Nancy’s sad little trunk with distaste. “If you even have any things. Toilets and bathing rooms are down past the second years’ dorm. Just follow what everyone else does. It’s not that complicated.”

“A-alright,” said Nancy in a tiny voice. Belinda gave no response. She might not have even heard.

“Come on, then. I’m starving.”

And suddenly she was heading towards the door far too quickly for someone with so short a stride. Nancy bolted to keep up with her, not sure whether she was tethering herself to the wrong person but certain she had no choice. At least not for now.