This takes place some days after Damian told her Dean followed her parents to Di Hipsodat.

This time last year I was smoking weed with my friends, former friends, in the treehouse at Jessica's backyard. It was the weekend before we started our exam. We wanted to do something together since most of us didn't read, so instead of preparing for the exam we decided to have a small get together that involved alcoholic beverages and weed, lots of weed.

This year, I'm standing in front of Mr. Snickle. I didn't pick the name. It's the holographic magical system, the headmaster had installed before going off to Di Hipsodat with my parents. It's funny how time flies. If someone told me last year that I would be here in a boarding school for witches, I'd probably punch the person for teasing about my sanity. But here I am, living the dream... not. I'm not even human anymore. I guess I never was.

Why did they give it a mustache? I wonder. It's a fucking hologram. Mr. Snickle is just another pathetic excuse for protection and an improvement in the magic defense system of the school. The Vale isn't out to the world yet. Most people that aren't supernatural thinks this place is for troubled teenagers and some parents comes in now and then to make enquiries. The headmaster turns them away, of course. He uses the 'your child isn't troubled enough for The Vale.' I mean, come on. Who the fuck says that anyway?

To the outsiders, Mr. Snickle is a holographic tour guide that appears whenever there's someone that's not registered in the school system at the gate. It's gives them all the fake report like when the school was founded and  histories that aren't even related. While the hologram gives the play by play of the amazing lectures they give, it also scans them for threat.

How I wish the headmaster thought of that before? Maybe we wouldn't be here.

Everyone else thinks it's cool but I personally think it's a waste of effort, resources, money and time, which I know the headmaster has abundance of.

The school is silent because everyone is preparing for exam. I should be in the library studying or at least pretending to but Mr. Groff is onto me. He knows I only use the place as a hideout.

I should be grateful for the silence. I remember how annoying it was when they came back from their compulsory five days holiday.

"Can you please keep quiet, Mr. Snickle?" I cut off and glare at the glitching image in front of me. It isn't supposed to just appear but somehow it's blocking my entrance to the common room.

"Welcome to The Vale Academy, here we teac—" the stupid hologram won't even listen to me.

"Shut. The. Fuck. Up." I grit out the tone would affect it.

"-drama club, art club, science—"

"Lauf." I mutter the spell under my breath and walk through the hologram. "Sorry, Snicks."

I can't believe this happening.

"Welcome... Wel.. Wel... come... Welcome... Welcome." I walk into the common room leaving Mr. Snickle to glitch and hopefully dies. I mean crash. It should crash.

The spell I casted was just a malfunctioning spell and I haven't used it on anyone or anything until now. Mr. Snickle should be honored to be my first.

I frown when my eyes settle on the  large box sitting in the corner of the room. It's a tradition that started with some pioneer gemini witches student of The Vale. Everytime they are about to start exam, they create a large box and encourage readers to write down what they want in a sheet of paper and put inside the box. It's like a suggestion box except no one is going to open it. I've never experienced anything like this before but Nate said when it's twelve the gemini witches leader would set the box on fire.

It's student tradition. My smoking and drinking tradition is better than this.

Anyway, today people have gone extreme with the gifts they added to the tradition. I don't know what that's about but I see gift in nice wrapping papers, scattered all around the box. What is this, a recreation of Christmas? I mean it's kind of fit, the box represents the tree–fuck, what am I saying? I guess I don't understand why they'll do this at the staff's building.

"And lucky me," I saw the goodies some students left for the staff in the kitchen, which I'm going to treat myself to.

But I can't stop looking at the box and thinking about how silly all this is. Something catches my eyes as I skim. "What do we have here?" I move closer to inspect and I bend to pick up the only present with snowman wrapper. Guess this person and I thought of the same thing about how this is a makeshift Christmas theme.

I shouldn't do this. I shouldn't be touching this but I'm curious. So I do what I do best, act without thinking. I rip the wrapping paper off the box, and frown when I notice how lightweight the box is. I lift the box to my ear and shake it. Weird. I open it and furrow my eyebrows when I see a small sheet of paper.

"Jessica." I'd recognize that handwriting anywhere. Why did Jessica put this here? I can't believe she participated in this.

I bring out the paper and read what's written on it.

Hello, Camille.

You couldn't help yourself.

How did I know you were going to open this?

Simple. I know you better than you know yourself. Kidding. Not kidding. Anyway, I know you don't believe in any of this. I don't too but I know you're a curious person, that's why I made my wrapper different. I forgive you for snooping around my shit. *Wink wink*

I know I haven't been around lately because of Nate. You hate our PDAs and Nate is big on it. So I decided to spend some of my alone time with him in private, where you wouldn't be grossed by the sight of us kissing. I prepared a little something for you so you wouldn't be alone.

Read out the spell below, and before you frown and tear this paper, the spell is going to keep your company or what's inside will keep your company.

Lla fo my lefi I vea nid nid yob kightin herft lar gan ot eth dong eki na leppa ot ah eospurp

Enjoy.

Yours Sagey Mage, Jessica.

"Really, Cruz?" I shake my head. "You're starting to lose your touch," I roll my eyes and say what's inside the sheet.

I fold the paper and put it in my back pocket, waiting for what's will keep me company but nothing is happening. If her plans was to make me feel less lonely, her plan just went south because I feel more alone now.

Turning my heels, I walk out of the common room and head straight for the kitchen. I stop at the doorway when I notice electric bulbs twitch.

Weird.

Not wasting my thoughts on it. I shrug and continue walking into the kitchen, my boot thud heavily on the wooden floor as I march to the fridge. "So sick," my eyes roam the new stickers on the fridge. This wasn't there this morning. Those staff would be pointing fingers at me, thinking I did it. That's the only thing I have to worry about while being the only student living with the staff.

I freeze when I sense something behind me. Call it an animal instinct. I tighten my grip on the fridge handle and turn my head back slowly to find nothing. I frown, I could have swore I heard a sound.

"This is what happens when I'm left alone." I bring out fruit cake, and my mouth water. "This looks yummy, too bad you are going to my tummy," I close the fridge and walk to drop the cake on the counter.

"That looks tasty," my head snaps to the doorway at the sound of an unfamiliar voice.

I shiver when I see no one there. It's been a while since I've felt like this. "Who is there?" I demand and remove my hands from the counter.

I hear a sinister laugh behind me, I turn around quickly, bumping my hip with the edge of the counter in the process. Fuck!

There is no one there.

"Who the fuck is that? You don't know who you are dealing with, I—"

"Hello again, Camille Stark," I freeze when I hear the voice say my name. In a slow manner, I turn around and meet Roman's gaze.

"R-Roman?" In Santa Outfit.

My hands shake as I press them together and take a step closer. "How—why?" I sigh. I don't even know what to say, I have so many questions. "How are you—"

"Alive?" He finishes and drops his gift bag on the ground before stepping into the kitchen. "You look like shit for someone I died for," nothing about his tone is understanding, it's accusing.

I shake my head frantically. "You didn't die for me, Roman. I never asked you to do that. I didn't tell you to jump in front of the fucking bullet." I swallow the lump in my throat.

He stops in front of me and looks down at me in his sad green eyes that plagues my dream. "I know, and that's why I'm here," he tells me in a serious tone. "To settle the scores."

What?

"What are you—"

I'm cut off by my own gasp as my eyes widen, I look down to see the sword that goes through me. I look at Roman again. "I–" I can't make a sentence.

I suck in air when he removes the blade, and gasp when it goes into me again. "Now we're both dead," he removes the sword and raises his fist.

I don't see the blow coming as his fist slams in my face. My legs give out, and I fall down, my face collides with the floor.

The rest is darkness. This is it. I think I'm... dead.

****

With a sharp breath, I open my eyes and quickly get up from the floor. I shrug off my leather jacket and pull my camisole up to check my stomach. "I'm fine?" I don't know why this is surprising. My palm presses against my stomach. There's no scar or—

"Oh oh oh!" I pull down my camisole and walk out of the kitchen. Okay, I just heard a jolly sound right now.

I stop when I see— "Santa Claus?" Making himself comfortable on the couch next to the box. Oh my God! What the hell is happening to me? Is this another dream? Wait... Have I been dreaming? Is this a false awakening? what the hell is going on?

"Camille, my child," He smiles—well I can't say if he smiles because of his white beard, it's hard to make out any expression. "You looked confused, what's wrong?"

I frown and look around the common room. Something is not right here. I move closer to the Santa Fraud. "Who are you? And what the fuck are you doing here?!" I demand. I don't mind my tone.

"A very vulgar word for a very young lady, come on and let me get you a gift to cheer you up." He bends the top half of his body over to open the big red bag on the floor.

Something strange happens when he puts his hands into the bag. Everything turns green, his red and white outfit becomes green and white.

"For fuck sake, what are you?!" I scream when he raises his head up, and he looks exactly like the grinch.

"You love Christmas, don't you, Camille?" He asks and throws a green knife at me. I dodge it and watch the knife hit the wall behind me. "We are going to have so much fun," he promise and reveals a shotgun.

Shit!

I turn around and head towards the entrance. I run past the dorm rooms to the exit door but before I can step out, the door slams shut. I turn the doorknob but it won't open, I slam my body against the door using all my weight but it won't fucking open.

"Mr. Snickle!" I yell and slam my palm against the wooden door. "Open this fucking door for me right this instance, Mr. Snickle. You stupid, blokehead good for nothing hologram."

"Camille, Camille. Where are you?" I roll my eyes at his stupid tone.

"This is Mr. Snickle, how can I be of service, Miss Stark?" The Robotic voice fills the hallway.

"It fucking knows my name." I mutter. "Get me the hell out of here, Mr. Snickle or I swear I will fucking fuck you up real fucking good!"

"Can you repeat the command? I don't understand—"

I roll my eyes and prepare to scream when I hear the sound of a gunshot. "Danger, danger," Alarm starts blaring in the building. "Lockdown mode."

My mouth drops open as I push myself off the door and slams it against the door. I move away from the door and kick the door with all my strength. "Break. Break," I say I continue kicking the door. "You stupid door. Let me the fuck out!"

"There you are." I freeze at sound of his voice and turn around to face him. I press my hand against my body. "I've been looking all over for you."

"Bilar Pilar," I toss a supernatural arrow at him, and quickly make a run from him as he struggles to find what hits him.

Since the whole building is on lockdown, the common room is the only place that would be opened while every room remains closed. I hope someone hears my scream and come for me. This good for nothing useless staff, did they sleep with their ear detached from their bodies? Did they really not hear me?

I rush into the common room and slam the door shut, turning the key and pressing my back against the door. "Reven nepo niamer esolc." I cast a little helping spell to keep the door closed.

"You can run, witch but you can't hide," the door rattles from his kicks. He delivers another powerful kick, causing me to fall as the door collides with my body.

I groan and push the door away from my body. The green monster stands over me with fury in his eyes. "You've been a very naughty girl this year, Camille Stark," he bends down and pushes the hair away from my face. "Now, what should I do with you?"

"How about you go fuck yourself anywhere else?" I spit in his stupid green face. It's not even Christmas.

He throws his head back and laughs, he stands up and clutches his stomach hard, finding it hard to stop himself from laughing. I frown and push myself off, I think I broke something.

"Let's play a game, daughter of El." He proposes. "I'll gladly leave you alone in peace to sulk alone tomorrow, if you win."

Maybe I just have to win because I feel like I'm in a expérience hors du corps and all I need to do is play my cards right. If there's anything I've learnt in this life especially this school, it's that everything is a game.

"You've got yourself a deal." I offer him my hand.

"You are not going to ask what I want if I win?"

I scoff. "You won't win."

"You sound confident."

I stand up and dust my jeans off. "That's because I am."

"Nice tattoos." His eyes go to the strange markings on my hand.

"The game?"

"Right," he snaps his finger and suddenly we are sitting opposite each other in another room but it still looks like the common room with cobwebs  covering almost every part of the room.

I tighten my grip on the arm of the wooden chair and cross my legs over another. "We ask each other questions, and we speak only the truth. Got it?"

I nod, and remove my arms from the chair and intertwine my finger and cup my knees with it. "Yep, I'll go first. Why the hell are you here? And did you kill me earlier pretending to be Roman?"

"One question at a time, Stark. Make up your mind," he snaps.

I roll my eyes and ask my first question. "Why are you here?"

"I can feel the sadness in your heart and the lack of joy in your soul. You are lonely. And I'm here to play with you," he answers.

"What the fuck is that? You're here to play with me. How the fuck am I supposed to know if that's the truth?"

"My turn," he says, and I drum my fingers on my knees. "What does Christmas mean to you?"

That is an unexpected question but was it though? Because of this whole setting.

"What does Christmas mean to me?" I repeat the question like I need to say it out loud before I can understand what his question is. "I've never really thought about it, I'm not much of a jolly person, I think what I like about holidays is the food and—"

I stop talking when suddenly something moves around my arms, legs, waist. I look down to find some kind of dry tentacles around my body, binding me to the chair.

"What the fuck?" I try to yank my hands away but it won't budge. "Let me go this instant, you fucking—" My mouth shut itself, like something is blocking it. I glare at him.

"You cuss a lot, Camille Stark. And you broke the rules of the game," he replies.

I hum, trying my best to speak but I can't say anything. Nobody told me there were rules. I want to scream at his stupid green face.

"But since you can't stop begging, I will let you go," he says and snaps his finger, my mouth opens but the tentacles are still around me. "Think before you answer my question, Camille. Tell me what Christmas means to you," I open my mouth to speak but shut it when he raises his hand. "You can answer me later but know that I won't leave you until you tell me the truth."

I roll my eyes. "Whatever," I scoff. "Did you kill me earlier pretending to be Roman?"

"I did kill you but I wasn't pretending to be Roman, you made him up all by yourself," he leans closer as he rests his elbows on his lap. "A little piece of advice, little one. Stop self sabotaging yourself on something you had no control over," he continues. "See, I came here to hurt you but sitting here and spending time with you made me realize something."

Spending time with my ass. This asshole almost killed me with a knife and a fucking shotgun, and actually killed me with a sword.

"What?"" I snap.

"I can't destroy Christmas for you," he says.

I resist the urge to roll my eyes. "And why is that?"

"Because you already destroyed it yourself," he winks.

"What in the world are you talking about?"

"Think about the answer to my question before making your mind up," He sticks his tongue out at me. "See you next year, Camille," He snaps his fingers, and disappears.

"Hmm Grinch, are you there?" I ask moments later

No reply. He fucking ditch me in this alternate reality.

****

I have been waiting, sitting on the same chair, same spot for the past two hours. No way or plan of getting out. It's would have been all right if I wasn't bound to this stupid chair. He said this is a game, and the only way for me to leave is if I tell the truth about what Christmas means to me.

How am I supposed to answer a question I don't even understand? I mean I've always hated Christmas because my Mom—adoptive Mom is Jewish and my adoptive Dad is the one that celebrated Christmas.

We would get trees, Dad and I would decorate it but at the end of the day, they both would argue and fight over the stupidest thing. The truth is I've always been jealous of my friends and neighbors that exchange gifts with their family when I don't get any. So I would sneak out to visit Jessica, since she comes from a very big family, they always have a big party every year. My friends and I would get drunk and smoke until we passed out.

Christmas means nothing to me, it's just another day for me.

I look up to see the room clearing up and I'm back to the real common room.

Now I know what Grinch was talking about. This whole thing was never about Christmas. I know this because I told Jessica two days how lonely I would be this Christmas. She wanted to know why and I told her that I miss my parents, and I also see the other side of them during Christmas time. If I wasn't thinking clearly I would say this was about how I'm a grinch, not just for Christmas but for everything good but I know better.

This is the work of Jessica.

My hand goes to my back pocket, and removes the sheet.

Hello Camille,

I guess you figured it out. There are still some things you have left to figure out.

Don't spend the rest of your life blaming yourself for something you have no control over. None of what happened is your fault. You don't say it but I know you blame yourself. I know because you haven't talked about what happened since that day. You didn't even mention it once and anytime I try to bring it up, you leave the room or change the topic.

I'm sorry you had to go through all that. But you don't have to be alone. I'm here for you.

Always.

Yours sagey mage, Jessica Cruz.

"You didn't think I'd let you be alone after the mind game, did you?" I smile when I hear Jessica's voice.

I turn around to see Jessica, Nate and... "Damian?"

What is Damian doing here? He said he wasn't going to see me until after exam.

"Hello," he keeps his greetings short and formal.

"My sweet baby," Nate pouts when he gets in front of me. "You were afraid, weren't you?" My gaze falls on Jessica, who just rolls her eyes.

"Don't make me knee you in the sack, Nate," I threaten and he raises his hands up in surrender.

"Whatever you do, just keep your knees to yourself, who's going to continue the family business?" He huffs and walks away, leaving Jessica in front of me.

"What happened?" I ask her curiously.

She shrugs. "It was Damian's idea. I was worried about you. We all are."

"You don't have to worry about me, Jessica. I'm fine, I promise."

She shake her head. "No, Camille, you are not fine. You were murdered by a figment of your imagination, and you say you're fine."

"You created that fantasy. I just lived it." I'm pissed but I keep it in.

"We prepared a feast while you were gone." She tells me.

I let out a sigh and close my eyes. She's not getting it and I'm not in the mood to argue.

"What kind type of feast?"

She smirks nudges her chin forward. "Come on and find out."

"Thank you." I whisper.

She smiles and wraps her arms around me. Not long after Nate makes his presence known. "Make some more room for me." His hand comes around us.

My eyes moves around the room until it stops on Damian. He's already looking at us with an expression on his face I'm not used to. He's going soft on me. I look at the plant dangling on top of his head, I smirk. I guess there's some perks to Jessica's spell.

I wriggle my way out of Jessica and Nate, who pull each other together after my departure. I don't mind them as I walk towards Damian.

He clears his throat and face down when he sees me coming. "Hi." I bend my head to look at him. He raises his head and stares at me without saying anything. "You've been on earth for a very long time, which means you know what happens when two people meet under the mistletoe."

He looks at me in confusion. Great! He doesn't even know what it means. I mutter from inside.

"How about I just show you," without thinking twice, I stand on my toe and press my lips to his.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

This is it guy, we are at the end of book one.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank each and everyone of you that took the time to read The Vale from the beginning of the bonus chapter. I know the book isn't perfect and it has some grammatical errors but it means a lot that you finished it.

Book Two, The Transference is available. You can find it on my profile.