The Black Pawn • The first book of the Black Academy Series

Prologue

SHE WAS BARELY 7 years old when they came, she had been living with her foster family till then. They weren't exactly that bad, they seemed to care about what she said or did. But that didn't mean that she helped them with her fostering. No siree, she didn't make it easy for them at all. Most of her bad behavior was classified as being a troubled child, and she didn't mind the label.

What made her tick was the fake smile her foster parents always had. As if they could not have stopped fostering her at all. Turns out her suspicions were correct. She found that out when people clad in black entered the living room one night. They didn't say anything until a lady sharply dressed, clad in a dazzling white dress emerged from beyond them. The white dress clung to her figure, it had splatters of red which looked as if they were blood splatters... but blended in as only as design.

"Hello darling," The woman greeted her, she was looking at the lady with wide eyes. Her foster father, Adam, cleared his throat before starting — as if afraid to speak. "Uhm — I thought that you'd... you'd be coming later Victoria."

"It is time Adam, for Azalea to know her heritage, "The lady said with a smile that looked genuine and ever-present but scared the seven-year-old sitting on her couch. "Don't tell me that you've gotten attached to her."

"N — no." Her foster mother, Amy, said in a whisper. Something too soft escaped her throat, something of a cross between a strangled sigh of relief and fear. "Azalea come here please."

That was how it went. As the night progressed the seven-year-old's world turned upside down. As time passed the red spots on the woman's dress started to look like blood and even the woman's smile started to seem sinister.

To the young child suddenly everything seemed suspicious. From her foster mom and dad to the leaking tap in the kitchen. For the young brunette, life had been most cruel. But the woman in white was bringing in a new phase of cruelty. The woman in white was bringing the Black Academy into the young girl's life.