Brush With Death: Death's Doorstep, #1

By Mia Hall

My first year at the Dreadmore Academy. What can go wrong? How long do you have?

The list of stuff that can go right is much, much shorter.  I'm probably going to fail right out in the first week. I'm supposed to be a necromancer. That's right. You heard me. A necromancer. But I can't seem to do a thing to reanimate dead stuff. Not one bit.

The next thing that's likely to go wrong? I'm shy. Painfully so. And I've been known to stutter. I'm a social catastrophe just waiting to implode.

So how can I explain that one of the cutest guys in school—also a necromancer—likes me? I can't. I also can't explain the murders that are happening on campus. No one can. Until those closest to me are targeted.

• Language: English
• Publisher: MiHaP
• Release date: Nov 7, 2022
• ISBN: 9798215222249

Book preview

1

Keira’s eyes darted back and forth as she watched the beetle, which was a little bigger than her thumb fingernail, fly back and forth before her. It kept beating against the back window of the car, desperate to escape the moving vehicle as it carried both it and Keira from her home in a small town in Idaho to Dreadmore, a magic academy two hours away. The car was filled with the scent of cleaner, her dad’s cologne, and her mother’s coffee sitting between the seats. Tall pine trees zipped by as they sped down the forest road toward the school.

The creature made a slight buzzing sound, then smacked itself against the window to her right the final time. Keira gasped as it fell to the seat, dead. It must have hit the window too hard.

Was that you or the bug, Keira? her father asked from the driver’s seat. His dark eyes glanced at her in the rearview mirror, concern wrinkling his brow.

It was the beetle, Keira answered, pulling her black hair into a ponytail before reaching for the dead creature. It was green and shiny—quite pretty when it wasn’t buzzing around her head. Perhaps if she could use her magic to save it from death, they could stop the car and release it.

Throw it out the window if you can, her mother added. Her voice was high and quick from the stress of taking Keira to this new school for magic wielders and necromancers. Keira was to become a necromancer herself and had barely made good enough grades to qualify. She could tell her parents were worried the slightest grade drop or issue would cause Keira to be suspended, and she’d be sent right back to a regular school. That meant her years of extra studying would be for naught, as well as the magical blood she inherited from her mother. Unfortunately, Keira was barely smart enough to get through a regular school as it was, so the chances of her being dropped from this one felt high.

Hesitantly, Keira pressed her pointer finger against the beetle’s back, then struggled to remember the healing spell she’d have to speak. Memorizing English words were hard enough. Remembering words in a language she didn’t understand was even harder.

Her lips barely moved as she muttered the words under her breath, stumbling over them and nearly biting her own tongue. She’d heard this and other spells spoken aloud before, and they’d always sounded so fluid and smooth. Why couldn’t she do it like that? She sounded like she was trying to imitate a whale instead of a magic wielder.

The tip of her finger began to glow slightly, emitting a gray light and her heart leaped as she trained her gaze on the beetle’s body. Would it move? Had she healed it?

The car swerved suddenly, making her actually bite her tongue mid-sentence, and the glow disappeared. A moment later, she saw the shell of the creature blacken instead of bringing it back to life. She didn’t even know what she’d recited wrong to turn it black like that.

Sighing, Keira leaned away from the corpse and crossed her arms. She was shivering now, either from the spell or her nerves or both.

I’m not cut out for this, she admitted aloud. If she couldn’t even save a beetle, how was she supposed to resurrect whole mice and squirrels by the end of the year? That was the test she’d have to go through to graduate out of 12 th grade. The most she could handle using magic on right now was a tiny ant.

Oh, honey. Her mother turned toward her. Her pretty blonde hair swung with her, the curls nearly smacking her in the face. You’ll do great. You’re a hard worker, and all your studying will pay off in the long run.

Besides, her dad added, I hear they like to teach with practice and experience rather than listening or reading. He knew Keira struggled with both listening and reading in the classroom. The words often felt wrong on the page, like they were backward, and it was hard to pay attention to an instructor if they spoke for too long. Her father was the same way, though he got away with it because he was just a normal human with no magic in his veins. Her mother was the one who had an affinity for magic, and she didn’t have the learning difficulties Keira had.

Just take it one day at a time, her dad continued, smiling brightly at her in the mirror. And if something does go wrong, you can call your mother’s cell phone or my landline. Her parents were divorced and lived separately, but they’d come together to drop Keira off because they knew how important this was for her. We’re only a few hours away, okay? So if anything goes wrong, anything at all, you can give us a call, and we’ll come get you.

I know. Keira glanced sadly at the beetle. She couldn’t save it from death, but maybe she could at least try to bring it back to life as a zombie. That was one of the other spells she’d need to master for the test. She’d been able to do it once, although it was on a fly, and she also had the spell book open before her.

Remember, Keira. Antonio Rodriguez also had trouble learning, and he became one of the greatest wizards of my generation, her mother said, noting how Keira kept averting my eyes. I know you’ll be able to find what works for you. It’ll just take time. I’m sure there will be other kids in your class also struggling, so maybe you can work with them on strategies and try studying together.

Sure, Mom. Keira didn’t disagree but thinking about the struggles of making friends made her even more stressed out, not less.

As her parents started listening to music again—they’d run out of comforting things to say, probably—Keira refocused on the beetle and ran the spell for reanimation through her head a couple of times to make sure she had it right. Then she touched the beetle again, more hesitantly this time since it really was dead now, and whispered the words.

When it didn’t work, and nothing happened, she tried a second time. She was sure she had it right. Why wasn’t it working?

Then she remembered she’d forgotten some components. A bigger spell like this needed a few items, like a drop of blood, a piece of flesh, and a pinch of bone dust. There was a chance the beetle might be able to substitute for those objects, but it would make everything a lot harder.

Feeling the drain of magic on her body, since it used some of her skills and mental capacity even if the spell didn’t work, she leaned back in her seat again and watched the trees zip past. They’d left their small town back home where both her parents lived and were now in the land of forests and mountains, tucked safely away from civilization.

Ten minutes, her mother reminded her. We should be coming up on the gate soon.

Ten minutes to prepare for a total life change. Keira’s chest burned from nerves, and she felt the tips of her fingers start to numb. So many things could go wrong. She could fail a test in the first week or not make friends, or even get bullied because she sucked at casting spells! Dreadmore was a prestigious academy. What if they insisted Keira leave so she wouldn’t bring down their reputation?

Panic set in as they reached a gate and showed their IDs to the man stationed next to it, who only let them through once they produced both identification and proof of Keira’s enrollment. The gate was made of iron and steel, connecting to walls tall and thick enough to keep out any unwanted magic users. Keira felt like she was entering a top-secret government facility as her parents slowly cruised through.

You’ll be fine, her father assured her as they rode past the black gate and the white pillars on either side of it.

But Keira didn’t feel fine as a huge, red-bricked building came into view. It was at least five stories tall and had tall brass doors with dragon knockers on the front. The walls of the building shimmered as though the bright red color was an illusion. Perhaps it was.

She could already feel a sense of doom and dread. This was the school she’d be attending. It was grand and intimidating. Maybe coming here was a mistake.

2

As they pulled in front of the main building, comprised of reddish-orange bricks, black steeples, and huge doors five times Keira’s size, her eighteen-year-old heart dropped down into her stomach.

The building was huge, and this was just the first area where the meeting and staff rooms were held. There were still the four student dorm buildings, six other educational buildings, a rec building, a dining hall and auditorium, and combat training areas for wizards planning to become soldiers in the future. No wonder the grounds were huge! If all the buildings were as big as this one, they needed the space.

Keira tried to be sneaky as she opened the door and dropped the dead beetle behind the wheel of the car. Hopefully, it would get run over and turn to residue once her dad backed up. She assumed she’d cooked the bug somehow or turned it to ash, which would explain why it turned black.

Then both of her parents got out to hug her and tell her goodbye. There were more assurances from both of them, but all the words went over Keira’s head as she studied the other students getting dropped off.

Some of them looked normal, like her, wearing simple jeans, sweats, and tees. But others already had on the black and white school uniform or expensive clothes their wealthy parents must have bought for them. Keira wouldn’t fit in with that second group.

A few girls walked past who had to be wizards since they were so beautiful that it felt almost fake. Sure enough, there was a slight ripple around their faces, like a filter being exposed, and Keira could spot their real faces if she squinted at just the right angle.

I can tell you’re excited to get in there, her mother said with a smile as she handed Keira her backpack full of books and a suitcase full of clothes. Be good and call me every night, okay? Especially on the weekends.

I will. Keira hugged her again, then waved goodbye to her dad.

Then they left, and she was alone, expected to walk through this huge building and find her way to the dorms alone. It should be easy—she could just follow the crowd—but part of her was already wishing she was back in that car or had the ability to vanish as skilled wizards did.

Someone else must have had the same wish because a second later, she felt someone bump into her, but when she turned around, no one was there.

Sorry, the air muttered, and she realized one of the students had turned himself invisible so he could sneak in unnoticed. Smart. That was a high-level spell, though. Keira would never be able to do that, especially since necromancers didn’t learn much about invisibility. Her friend Ben might learn to do it eventually. He was a wizard, so that was his area of expertise. Or would be. Someday. She’d have to go out of her way if she was to learn it, though.

As she struggled to carry the heavy, overloaded backpack on her back and drag the suitcase with its broken wheel behind her, she noticed a few more oddities she would never have seen back at her regular school.

There were