One wrong step, p.1
One Wrong Step, page 1
One Wrong Step
by Kathryn Knight
Copyright © 2024 Kathryn KNight
Copyright ©2023 by Kathryn Knight
All rights reserved.
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away other other people or platforms. If you would like to share this book with another, please purchase an additional copy for each receipt. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or was not purchased for your use only, please return the digital copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author. This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or used facetiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
ASIN: BOCQWR6P8G
Cover created by the Author.
Internal divides from the public domain as of November 2023.
All fonts provided from the public domain of November 2023.
Warning:
Though the novel has a murder mystery element, I am not Agatha Christie or Holly Jackson, so please don’t tell me ‘the murderer was so obvious. If I wrote a murder mystery, ya’ll wouldn’t have bought this book. This is a highly descriptive fantasy erotica, dark bully romance, with strong why-choose and dark fantasy, dark academy aesthetics. It also has murder mystery elements. This novel may have triggers readers find distressing. It’s also important to note that triggers can be very individual and varied. I wrote this novel with the intent of pure fiction and pure fun.
To those who dreamed of falling into their own fairytale.
Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Chronicle Academy Map
Azariah Heart's Timetable
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Alaric
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Killian
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Nicholas
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Ryujin-Lee
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Fyzel
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Jade
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Briar
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Epilogue
Terminology
Author's Notes
About The Author
Chronicle Academy Map
Azariah Heart's Timetable
By Kathryn Knight
Trigger Warnings:
(Some will be major; some will be minor)
Talk of suicide and victims
Bullying
Sexual Harassment /Shaming
Student /Teacher Romance
Blood
Intense violence
Brutal injuries
Death / Homicide
Graphic language
Sexual activities/nudity
Addiction/drugs
Cheating / Infidelity
Classism
Manipulation / Gaslighting
Pornography
Victim blaming
Homelessness
Self Harm
Chapter One
There was something sticky in my hair, probably dried cola, which wasn’t the sticky I wanted. Not that several flirtatious smiles hadn’t made the offer all night. But at a blackout party where everything glowed like fairy cum, getting the human variety on me was ill-advised. That’s why David was currently on his knees, his hand grasping the tight undercut of my ass while his luscious lips did all the talking.
“Umm, babe. You taste so good.” Too much talking. “I just… Ugh, I wanna make you feel good.”
My teeth snapped together with a silent groan as the bastard disturbed his rhythm, stuttering my release to a mellow purr. Digging my sharp nails through his blonde locks, I pushed his head close again.
“Yer?” I bit my lip as I enjoyed the fine physic of his broad shoulders, searching to find that edge again. Heavy bass thudded through the walls, and the sound of laughter and joyous screams followed. “You going to make me cum, Davy?”
His tongue licked up the centre of me, rolling me to my tiptoes. But what success he’d had earlier suddenly departed as I felt his fingers creep further along my ass. He did it subtly, kneading my flesh with his baby-soft fingers. I knew his intended destination. He always tried.
Driving my hips back, I released an Oscar-worthy groan, crushing his hand between my ass and the dresser edge. He released a strangled squeal. But it did the job. His fingers snapped away, squeezing a little too hard as they went. Releasing a sigh, I threw my head back and tried to keep the ecstasy that only fizzled in my gut.
His tongue returned, and I was grateful for it. It was the one thing he was good at I wasn’t going to waste it. Tightening my thighs around Davy’s head, I rolled my hips and fucked his face.
There it was, that glorious sensation of heat and light that raced down my spine. I held my breath, waiting. A second more… just to reach… that… moment…
“Uh, babe?”
“What?” I snapped, tumbling away from that edge so fast I got whiplash.
“You’re vibrating.” Davy looked up at me, his hazel eyes dull with alcohol and his lips puffy from use.
“Like I’d be so fucking lucky.” I snarled under my breath. Shoving him away, I wrangled my phone from the deep pockets of my oversized leather jacket. Warn and warm, it was my favourite accessory; mostly because it pissed my mother off.
The screen flashed, TrinCross, under the shaking phone icon that looked to be having more fun than I was. Gritting my teeth, I debated letting it run to voicemail. I could. I had no obligations to answer, and this was my party…
But even as my finger hovered over the ignore button, I imagined Josie’s face when I saw her next. Haggard, with black rings under her eyes and a soft smile that was slowly dying. I’d ask her what the call was about, apologising for missing it, and she’d just laugh. Say it was silly, and I’d missed nothing.
Of course, the last time that had happened, someone robbed the Clinic of its one semi-decent computer, a half-used bottle of paracetamol and the bloody desk plant.
Sliding the green symbol across, I shoved a finger in my other ear as I braced for the sound of crying on the other end. “Josie? Is that you?” I asked, knowing full well it was. No one else worked her hours.
“Hay Z’,” Her voice was light, hopeful. Exhaustion had yet to take hold. “Are you at a party?”
Silky fingers danced up my inner thigh, tracing rings in a sad attempt at a distraction, but with a hard slap, I knocked David away. “Not a very good one. What’s up?”
“Oh – I thought… I mean when Clara mentioned you’d planned it…”
And I had, and it still sucked. “Well, unfortunately, you can pick the venue, the food, the drinks and the music, but you can’t pick the crowd,” I muttered darkly. Somewhere, distantly, I heard something smash and cringed. My mother would not be pleased. Bonus. “Now, what’s up, Josie? Is it Doctor Pears again?”
“Oh, no, no. Doctor P and his innuendos are still on holiday with his wife.” A soft laugh of relief crackled down the phone. “No, actually… I know it’s a Sunday and I wouldn’t normally call, because you know I will help anyone, but… well, he’s back.”
Something flopped in my stomach, and I bit my lip. “Are you sure, Josie? Last time it was an alley-cat chomping on a fish bone.”
“I know, I know.” She breathed, “But I saw him this time and he spoke to me. Said he had to see you and only you.”
The flop turned into a flip that sent my skin cold. Glancing at the glowing clock on the nightstand, it read almost eleven-fifteen. The party had barely started. I’d not seen Max yet, though she was always late, and I was pretty sure my parents had caught on to tonight’s plans. They could be back any second. To bail now would be rude…
“I can be there in fifteen,” I answered, planning the route in my head even as I grabbed my car keys off my dresser. “Can you tell him that, so he knows?”
“Yer, of course. I mean, only if you’re sure. I don’t want to drag you away from anything…”
“Don’t worry,” I smiled bitterly, scooping up my discarded underwear as I stepped over a snoring David. “I’m not missing anything.”
◆◆◆
My car purred with pleasure as I pulled out of my drive and weaved between the drunks and delayed arrivals. It was late spring, so the sun was still setting and brushed the sky with a deep, lustrous orange. My house was one of many historical buildings, built on a large road, with towering beech trees planted down its length. That’s what my parents loved about it, the grandeur of it all.
Yet as I pulled around two bends and crossed under a train track, that’s where all grandness ended. Houses shrank, the cars slowed, while the trees had stopped sprouting any greenery as if they’d forgotten colour. A divide as solid as a wall ran down
Jerking to a stop outside the Clinic ten minutes later, I jumped out and slammed the car door with extra effort, knowing it would piss Dad off. Treat things how you’d like to be treated. However, if how he treated my mum – like a glass ballerina, and thus fucked the maid instead– was a proof of concept, it was not a life lesson I’d be taking on.
The boarded glass door of Trinity Crossroads Free 24-hour Clinic opened as I jogged up the mobility slope, and the muted scent of bleach greeted me. People sat on uncomfortable plastic chairs, all as drained as the out-of-date table magazines, and the buzzing TV.
Reaching the desk, I found Josie in deep concentration. Pencil between her lips, she scrutinised a fat textbook, the pages dog-eared and stained. Her bobbed, chocolate brown hair framed her pale, almond skin, and a delicate gold cross around her neck. “Be right with you…” she chirped, running her manicure nail to the sentence’s end, before smiling up brightly. “Welcome to Trinity Cross. How can I- oh, Zee-Zee, it’s you?”
“Yes, it is I. Pleased to be here, I am.” I grinned, speaking backwards, and drawing that familiar scowl.
As expected, she rolled her eyes. “You realise, since your movie marathon, Derek only answers like that little green thing, right?”
I gasped. “Green thing? That is a Jedi Master you’re talking about.”
Josie pursed her lips. “Don’t. Derek has memorised and repeats all of those damn movies.” Yet her smile dropped, remembering why I was here. She swallowed hard. “He’s, ah- still out back.”
Looking down the hallway, the examination rooms and store cupboards were closed, with the staff lounge and back exit around the corner. “How’d he seem?” I asked, stepping around the desk. Leaving my bag with Josie, I opened the top drawer, pulling out two pairs of sterile gloves and the emergency padding and bandages she kept in there for crawl-ins.
“Crazy.” Josie breathed, and I shot her a frown. Catching it, she sucked on her bottom lip. “Sorry. I know. If I want to be a practising Nurse, I can’t judge. But Zee, he’s … odd.”
“He’s not that odd.” I defended, though I’d admit, there weren’t many others who had an all-access pass to the revolving door of the puzzle house.
“Why do you defend him?” Josie asked, following me down the hall as I stretched out the gloves. “You only volunteer here, and even then, you only have to answer calls, file paperwork and stuff. You don’t have medical training. If something were to happen….”
I sighed, bumping open the disabled fire door, done so for Doctor P’s smoke breaks. “I’m aware I have the medical skills of a prairie dog, Josie, but do you want to treat him?” Josie scrunched up her nose. “Then I shall continue. Besides, it’s not like I do anything more than what a first aid kit provides.”
Stepping into the cold alley, I looked around the litter-filled street: the rubbish bin, the stacked pallets, and abandoned kitchen appliances. Not so much as a shadow breathed.
“Maybe you should wait inside.” I smiled back at Josie, who shivered in the doorway. “I’ll come and say goodbye when I’m done.”
A fierce look told me I had better, just as proof I wasn’t dead before she tucked a red brick into the fire door and stepped inside. Turning back, I walked confidently forward, not slowing a step, nor cowering in unease. “Harry?” I called out, hearing my echo. “It’s Zara. You okay?”
It was like a spider’s web, floating on a breeze catching on my neck. A shiver ran down my spine, but I turned steadfast and didn’t yelp as a looming shadow hung over me. “Good Little Sunshine. You didn’t flinch this time.”
I chuckled, “You’ve done it enough times, I’d hope not.”
Harry frowned. “Humm, maybe I should ask others to do it then, so you are more prepared.”
Allowing another foot of breathing room, I angled Harry’s face into the light. It was pale, shockingly so, his eyes sunken and cheekbones raw with their hollowness. Blue eyes, cold as ice, darted above my head, while greasy, grey hair hung limp around his ears. Stubble coated his chin, which was a step up from the beard he had last time.
“You shaved.” I half cheered, indicating to our usual spot – myself on a stack of pallets, Harry on a large, over-turned mayonnaise tub.
“Yes. The itching stopped, as you said.” He nodded as I shuddered, remembering how I scrubbed to make sure I hadn’t brought home any fleas. “You now call me Harry?”
“You won’t tell me your real name, so I pick a different one each time. And you call me Sunshine, which you know isn’t my name.”
“No names. Not safe.” Harry muttered, using the same excuse as always. “You will need to be ready, and they can’t know I helped. But I call you Sunshine because that’s what you are.” Slowly, he reached out, rubbing the ends of my hair between his fingers. Dyed a rich burgundy at its roots, it faded into a strawberry blonde like fire. It was an apt nickname, if not a little strange.
“Right.” I smiled. Too many times I’d tried to squeeze information out of Harry. Whom was he hiding from? Why I needed to be ready and for what? Only for him to talk to me in circles. Placing the bandage down, I held out a gloved hand, already seeing the problem. “And what did I tell you about your pets?”
“They’re not pets,” Harry growled, his chest almost seeming to rumble. “I just… I like them. And they like me. They chose to sleep with me.”
I hummed, non-committal. “And the crumbs you leave behind when eating; that has nothing to do with it?” Slowly inching off his woollen gloves, blackened nails poked out the end, and I bit back a gasp at the bloody nibble wounds. “Harry…”
“They’re just hungry.” He defended as I started cleaning the wounds. “Hungry like me.”
“If you need food, Harry, I’ll feed you. You don’t need to eat with the rats.”
“I don’t mind. They heighten the meal.” He just shrugged, missing my point as his eyes drifted up the walls, giving me a view of his profile. Once again, his youthfulness struck me. Under all that dirt and grime, Harry couldn’t have been much older than thirty.
Shaking my head, I finished cleaning the wounds. “You need proper treatment, Harry. You need antibiotics, replacement bandages and an entire load of other stuff I don’t even know about.”
Harry’s head whipped around so fast I squeaked in surprise. But he didn’t call me out on it. “No! No one else. Only you.”
Throwing up my hands, I nodded once. “I know, I know Harry. But…” I sighed. “I’m not always going to be here.” My mind drifted to the stack of university applications waiting for me. I’d had my gap year to ‘find myself’ as my mother called it, but I was almost twenty now. It was time for education, and boy was that a psalm they would not drop.
It was then that Harry deflated, too. “I know. So soon. There’s hardly any time at all. It’s why I came.”
Wrapping the last of his fingers up, I patted them softly and tilted my head. “You know, Josie is lovely, too. She’ll look after you if you let her.”
Harry shrugged, his eyes wandering up the wall once more. “Maybe. She… she gives me hot coffee and biscuits. She thinks I don’t see, but I do.”
Yep, that sounded like a Josie solution. “There you go. Maybe start there and see where you get. I promise, she’s nicer than me.”
Harry nodded and surprised me as his eyes clashed with mine. “But she won’t taste like sunshine.” My heart stilled in my chest, my blood pounding in my ears. I wanted to run, to not turn my back, but… this was Harry. Friend was a far stretch, but I didn’t fear him.
Setting my jaw, I scowled, hitching a brow. “Tell me I taste like sunshine again and I’ll find the Pied Piper to beg for a favour.”
Harry nodded, unamused by my joking threat. “I knew him, the Pied Piper. Good man. Knew how to play.” I scoffed a laugh, but Harry’s expression didn’t change, and my laughter died on my lips. “We had dinner once, but he plays with his food. Threw a tiny foot at me, all the toes still attached.”
I gasped, disgusted. I vaguely remembered the story: rats, music, debts unpaid and then, I was sure the Piper ran off with the village children too, but he wouldn’t… “I don’t think that was in the story.”
