#1 Welcome to Gravemire, Bitch

Isandra POV

Stepping through the portal felt like getting sucked into the universe’s coldest mouth. Wind screamed past my ears, my stomach dropped like a rollercoaster straight to hell, and my skin tingled in a way that screamed this isn’t natural. Then it all… stopped. Silence. Stillness.

And in front of me, rising like something ripped from a horror movie set, was a castle. A massive, looming, gothic nightmare of a castle, complete with spiked towers, creeping ivy, and black stone that shimmered faintly in the twilight like it was made from obsidian and hate.

“Oh. We’re doing this,” I muttered under my breath, hugging the cloak tighter around me. It still smelled like burnt air and ozone. “Of course the magic prison school is a fucking vampire mansion.”

My boots crunched on crushed white gravel as the magical cops, sorry, the “Arcane Order of Balance”, ushered me forward. I was still cuffed like a felon, soaked to the bone, and I couldn’t even remember my own damn name. I tried. Hard. My brain was like a TV stuck on static.

No birthday. No parents. No first kiss. Just… panic. A blood moon. Lightning. Screaming.

And a name I might have heard once. Is… something.

I clenched my teeth. “Okay, brain, you can kick in any time now.” Nope. Just more static.

“Come along,” the silver eyed enforcer ordered, guiding me past a gate shaped like skeletal fingers and into the inner courtyard. “You’re to report for admissions.”

“Oh, great,” I snapped. “Do I also get a school tour and a commemorative wand up my ass?”

He didn’t laugh. Rude. We passed glowing lanterns that floated mid air, hissing softly with blue flame. Students milled around the stone pathways, some humanoid, some not. One girl had horns curling from her temples. Another was literally translucent.

I stared. “What in the Lisa Frank demon zoo is this place?”

No one answered. Inside, the castle was worse. It smelled like old books, dust, magic, and… was that wet fur? They led me to a domed room labeled “Admissions.” The stone door groaned open on its own. Inside, everything was sleek and glowing with faint sigils, like a futuristic DMV run by warlocks.

I sat when I was told. Mostly because the chair moved under me like it had its own agenda.

“Hold out your hand,” said a thin elven-looking clerk.

“Excuse me?”

“We need a blood sample.”

“Okay, rude,” I said, but extended my hand anyway. “At least buy me dinner first.”

A sharp prick jabbed my fingertip and I shrieked. “Godsdammit!”

“Calm down,” the elf muttered.

“Easy for you to say, you’re not leaking!”

A glowing holo screen flickered into existence above the desk, spinning and shimmering before displaying bold text: ISANDRA HADDOCK

Species: Werewolf (Lineage: Haddock Alpha Bloodline)

Memory Status: Locked

Enrollment: Full

Suite Assignment: VIP Castle Suite - East Wing, Tower 3

Meal Plan: Covered

Books & Materials: Covered

Network Access: Granted

I stared. “Isandra Haddock,” I whispered. “That’s me?” Apparently so. Because the cuffs clicked and vanished.

The cloak tightened around me like it understood modesty now mattered. I sat there, stunned and dripping, while the elf shoved a black leather backpack into my arms and handed me a thick ass envelope.

“Contains your class schedule, a castle map, magical regulations, and campus resources,” he said in a voice as dead as my memories.

“Oh, sure. Because nothing helps a bitch with amnesia like a welcome packet.”

Before I could blink, he handed me a palm-sized glass tablet, sleek and glowing with icons I didn’t understand.

“That’s your N.O.V.A. Pad, Network Operational Virtual Assistant,” he said, clearly bored with my existence. “It connects you to the internal magic grid. Check schedules, navigate halls, post on the Gravemire feed, or message instructors. Do not drop it.”

I nodded slowly, my eyes wide. “So… magical F******k and G****e Maps had a baby and now it lives in my hand.”

“Correct.” He gestured. “Orientation begins now. Move along.” Like cattle. Like property. Like I belonged to them. I clutched the bag and my smart thingie and followed the shuffle of students down a glowing hallway.

We poured into an auditorium the size of a cathedral, with glowing runes carved into the stone walls and chandeliers made of bones. Yeah. Freaking bones. I sat between a girl with feathers instead of hair and a guy with midnight blue skin and no visible pupils. Both ignored me.

A hush fell over the entire room. A slim, terrifyingly beautiful blonde woman walked onto the stage. Her power hit me like a slap in the face. Her eyes glowed. Her heels didn’t make a sound. Her voice cut through the air like glass when she spoke. “Welcome to Gravemire Academy.”

No applause. No smiles. She continued. “This school is alive. It breathes. It sees. And if you disrespect it, it may decide to eat you.” I blinked.

Eat. Us. What the FUCK. The woman paced slowly across the stage, her cloak whispering behind her. “You are not here to be loved. You are not here to be coddled. You are here to learn to control what you are, so that you may survive in magical society or return to the mortal world with at least a sliver of usefulness.”

No one laughed. I looked around. Dozens of students. Different shapes, species, sizes. And yet I felt… singled out. My skin prickled like something was watching me. No. Someone. I scanned the room. The crowd all stared ahead. Focused. Except for one shadowed figure in the far back row.

Leaning forward. Watching me. My spine stiffened. Before I could move, speak, or even think, the woman spoke again.

“Your House Selection begins tomorrow at nine a.m. sharp. Do not be late. Gravemire doesn’t like tardiness.”

House what now? I frowned.

“Wait… what the fuck is House Selection?”