Grave Digger

Chapter 1- GrimDaughter

"Are you a savior?" I ask and the question seems to catch her by surprise, but then she smiles calmly.

"Today, I want to be." She nods her head and I feel the truth in her words.

"Ok."

"Ok?" She smiles excitedly.

"Yeah." I nod my head. "How soon until the next semester starts?"

"Two weeks."

"Oh."

An hour later I'm standing in one of the exam rooms, taking note of how similar all the ceilings look. Gold lining every corner, clean white ceilings that held extravagantly made chandeliers that glittered in the sunlight.

That was another thing. The sun.

Sunlight seemed to fill every crevice of every room I've been in so far. Abe noticed it too, saying light seemed to be coming from within the university then the other way around. After that acute observation Abe decided to run off and left me to take the exam.

I sat patiently in the exam room, the chairs and tables, all wood and glass. Eventually they came in and gave me the exam. The lanky tall professor gently placed the two extremely thick packets in front of me.

"Both should take you collectively five hours to complete, but we will give you until the day is out." He nods politely to me.

I thank him and open the novel in front of me.

Hours I sit there. Calmly flipping through page, after page, after page. Answering every question until I got to the last. Literature, arithmetic, geography, chemistry, biology, one after the other and every subject reminding me how pissed Father would be if I didn't know any of this.

Thank god all I have to do is remember.

The exam had every subject you could think of, eventually I finish just before the four hour mark. I sigh, and I feel the urge to throw the worn down pencil across the room. Instead I lean back in my seat, slowly popping my knuckles.

"A break Ms. Elias?" The professor looks up from his desk.

"No, I'm finished."

"Finished?" He angular, waifish face looking at me in confusion from across the room. "Both books?"

"Yes sir." I nod. Standing up with the test exams and walking over to his desk placing it down in front of him. "So, do I just wait?"

"Y-yes." He stutters. "I'll just grade these and hand them to Ms. Penelope. She and the board will make a decision from there. You may wait in here or outside if you wish."

"I'm gonna wander around if that's alright." I say and he nods. I turn swiping my hat off the table and walking out. The walkways lines with massive windows to let the light in. Pure sunlight once again filled the way before me and I made a mental note to buy sunglasses.

I go on walking through the halls and see only a few people scattered about. The headmistress did tell me the next semester was in two weeks, so the students must be taking a break.

I continue walking until I'm near the entrance of the building. Looking along the intricately designed walls that had sculpted designs of grape vines reaching along the perfect ivory surface. Then I see a map of the campus.

It wasn't far from a civilian zoned town. And there were apparently only five student houses. Diamond House, Ruby House, Emerald House, Sapphire House, and Obsidian House.

"I didn't think I'd find you here." The genteel voice of the headmistress drawing my eyes to see her walk up next to me. "Ah! Our Campus Map!"

"Yeah, why did you name the houses like that? After precious gems?" I look back at the map following the map lines with my eyes, my mind taking a picture of the large chart.

"I didn't. The campus was built and named by this rich heiress about fifty years ago. Madam Jacqueline, pretty vain and not very friendly. Loved things more than people, but valued education. She made this school and kept up to her reputation naming the student houses the way she did. I would change it if only the board would let me." The headmistress toddles from foot to foot as I closely inspect the map.

Noticing how far Obsidian House was from the others on the campus.

"Why is that house so far?" Pointing to the dark splotch on the map.

"Lord knows why." She shrugs. "Almost no student inhabits those apartments."

"Really?" I look to her intrigued.

In moments we are back in her office, she's looking at files in front of her and hums as she quickly skims everything.

"Out of the near twenty thousand students we have on this campus only a few hundred inhabit Obsidian House. Less than two hundred, on paper. Ah!" She hums in realization. "That's due to our Housemate laws. Many students apply to room together, many of them are in the Sapphire and Emerald house. But that could be due to mates, married couples, and such." I listen to her ramble as I walked over to her window that over looked to courtyard.

Her office being really high to view almost everything and everyone walking around. Sitting around the large water fountain in front of the school, or on the perfectly carved marble benches, a few sat on the vibrant green grass happily eating.

A few cars riding in through the shining silver gates, pulling in front of different apartments. Students seemed to be coming back early.

"Headmistress?" I call for her, in the reflection of the window I see her lift her head up and laugh.

"Elias, you can call me Ms. Penelope." She insists.

"When did everyone find out about what Avis did?" I ask looking at her through the glass. In her reflection, she's taken aback and stands upright, straightening her shoulders as she faces me.

"I think when thousands of pounds of concrete was being ordered to former pack sites that wasn't responding back to political affairs or the general public." She answers. "Is it true that Grave Digger's can adopt?"

I turn to face her.

"Is that how you survived?" Her question poked at me and I wanted to slap her for having the boldness to ask me something like that.

Like I would run off with a grave digger to save my own skin instead of dying with my family!

"I was there till the end, Headmistress." I hiss her title and she flinched, now knowing she's hit a nerve. I turn to the door but before I could make it half way across the room the skinny professor charges in.

"Professor Klein?" The headmistress looks at him in question.

"She passed." He says closing the door behind him. "She beat the highest score we have on record at this school." He says handing her the exam. She takes it and starts fervently flipping through the pages.

"Good Goddess." She sits at her large wooden desk.

"Who was your teacher?"

"My GrimFather." I state.

"Excuse me?" Professor Klein stares at me puzzled.

"Some research for later Professor Klein," the headmistress interjects. "Gravediggers, can indeed adopt and dynamics in the family are called GrimFathers and in this case Elias is a GrimDaughter."

"If you knew why did you ask me?" I look to her cocking an eyebrow.

"The information I procured was outdated and made a note that Gravediggers are infertile, but mentioned sons and daughters. But can't imagine a Gravedigger having this much knowledge to beat our highest score. Who took care of your education?"

"My GrimFather was a professor. He taught me a lot more that reading last rites and mummification." I take a seat on the large of the chair across from her.

"People still do that?" Professor Klein asks bewildered.

"You'd be surprised."