Venefica Academy

✨ Welcome to Venefica Academy. ✨ A school for the magically gifted. A place where nightmares aren’t just dreams… And where secrets lurk in the shadows. Claire Freed came to Venefica to escape her past. Instead, she found a school full of ghosts, mermaids, and creatures that lurk in the dark. And she’s just unlocked something she was never meant to find. 🏰 Venefica Academy 🏰 🖤 Dark Academia meets Magic School. 🖤 🔮 A cursed school where Nightmares are real. 📖 A mysterious book filled with untold secrets. 💀 A boy haunted by his past. 🦑 A girl who never belonged. 🖤 And a darkness that won’t stay buried. ☕ Read if you love: ✔ Dark Academia ✔ Morally gray wizards ✔ Magic school mysteries ✔ Found family & rival dynamics ✔ Forbidden magic & ancient spells

[aestheteasteria]

seeking, yearning, reaching hands

[ur-daily-inspiration]

[athenascult]

all those layers of silence upon silence - donna tartt

[smart-macademia]

home library so I never have to leave the house 📚

[venefica-academy]

Chapter 1 - This Is Where Your Story Begins - Part 2

"Quick, open the window!" a muffled voice shouted. Several students ran over to the girl on the other side of the glass pane, pushing and pulling at the locks and levers on the windowsill.

One student unlocked the window with a rapid flick of their wand, and everyone watched in awe as it thrust open with a loud bang. 

A girl with umber brown hair tied into a loose braid threw her book bag into the now open window. It hit the floor loudly, and the girl followed suit, flopping her body inside and landing onto the elevated floor behind one of the fifth-row desks. Moments after her foot made its way over the windowsill, a slender man walked into the room. His face was solemn and square-shaped, with a rounded chin that seemed like it was perpetually pushed in. The man's neatly combed hair atop his head was dyed a grayish-black like a sea snail coming out of its shell. His wide eyes were the color of rich soil with gold rings around his pupils and his tall stature, composed of long legs and a short torso, gave him the appearance of something other-worldly. He stared at the girl by the window and re-adjusted the navy blue tie resting over his blue checkered shirt.

"Elora," the man called out. "You're late…"

Elora stood up straight, fixed a part of her brown hair that managed to come undone from her braid and brushed the dirt off herself. "Not really, Mr. Ednill," she replied with a shrug, picking up the bag that she threw onto the floor just moments before. She effortlessly swung one of the straps over her left shoulder. "You see, I arrived 1.493 seconds before you did. Therefore, technically I was in the room before you and cannot be counted as late." She made her way to one of the empty desks in the second row and grinned victoriously.

"I won't count it this time, but don't push it, Elora," replied Mr. Ednill. His eyes showed no emotion, and his expression was stern. "We don't want to repeat what happened last year."

Would you risk detention just to make an entrance like Elora? Because honestly, we'd respect it.

[venefica-academy]

Chapter 1 | This Is Where Your Story Begins -- Part 1

An intimidatingly large building stood in front of her. The leaves shook, and the breeze and caused a slight shiver in the air. Claire’s shoes clicked against the stone floor as she hurried to the classroom entrance, her heart pounding. The last thing she needed was to be late on her first day. She could fake the confidence needed to survive here. She had done it before. But the moment she stepped inside the chattering, crowded classroom, an overwhelming sense of estrangement gripped her.

Hesitantly, she walked in as quietly as possible, trying to avoid being seen or heard. Being here was unlike any other stress she had felt in her life, but she knew this could be good for her either way—a new environment in a physical classroom.

The room was rectangular in shape with an upwards slope, which allowed all the students to see the large blackboard at the front of the room. Claire frowned as she noticed the odd placement of desks; The teacher's desk was in the front of the room, down at the bottom to her right, and the students' desks were lined in rows, each row six inches higher than the last. Steps led up to the top rows; these were required to accommodate those who chose to sit on the uppermost level, even though only five rows were back from the front. Nothing else was visible other than the lack of Mr. Ednill's presence, making the room feel uneasy.

Her heart thumped unusually loudly in her ears as she stood awkwardly in the corner, furthest away from the other students. She rested her head in her palms in an attempt to control her pounding chest and heavy breathing. It will be fine. Just like back home, just... indoors. But the certainty didn’t sit right in her chest. This place felt different. She felt the eyes of everyone in the classroom subtly glance over at her, the feeling of embarrassment and discomfort evident on her flushed face. It felt as if time had slowed down just enough to make the handful of seconds it took to go up the seven stairs to the highest desks feel like minutes without end.

Thanks for reading Venefica Academy!

Ever walked into a new place and immediately felt like you didn't belong? Claire knows the feeling all too well!

[venefica-academy]

Dedication -- Mother 

Dear Mother,

The world you kept hidden from me—the one you swore never to return to. The power, the danger, the magic of it all. Now I understand why you didn't tell me. It is the hunger for the strongest power that drives you insane. It is the definition of fear itself. But Mother, this world, it is also wonderful, full of bliss and serenity. It is magical in more ways than one. You must understand how I feel, Mother, for you must've felt this way too. You were drawn to it once. Now, like you, I feel its pull. There is a rope tied around my soul pulling me deeper and deeper into this hidden world. Your hidden world. A bond so strong that even your wisdom could not keep me away.

I'm sorry I disobeyed you. I truly am.

I miss you.

So I write this. These are the beautiful, secret, and strangely forbidden words that tumbled from your mouth like water from a waterfall. These are the stories of your magic and adventure. The lessons you learned throughout your life. The people who have forever impacted the way you saw the world.

The stories of the girls who became sisters. The boy filled with remorse, and the one who learned to love. The friends that were never meant to meet. The nightmare that haunted bodies. The closet that took people through time. The little girl who you loved as if she was your own daughter.

These are the stories you would tell me as I drifted to sleep each night. Now, you have forgotten about them. You have forgotten about me. But that’s okay. I’m used to it. 

Here are those stories, all written down so I can look back on them. For if I didn't keep these, the memory of you would be lost forever, and I could not exist.

—

L. J. Green

[venefica-academy]

Welcome to Venefica Academy!

Magic is dangerous. Nightmares are real. And someone at this school is hiding something.

✨ Follow eight students as they uncover Venefica’s darkest secrets—one mystery at a time. ✨