As I walked, the street I turned down that was marked Nebula Avenue was blocked by a wide line of bollards, the high posts thick with brass and adorned with lantern tops with a large archway overtop that said Miskatonic University across it in stately letters. As I walked, the road wasn’t really a road, it was uneven small cobblestones in creams, browns and gray tones set in an ecru grout, a yard of thick, dark grass to the sides adorned with sculpted topiary and statues, just past that were these high fencing of ornate wrought iron set in gray cobblestone pillars with lanterns at their apexes which had a strange green tint to the glass. As I walked, the wrought iron fencing shifted to dark green tinted gray bricks, the fencing everywhere covered with these sprawling, crawling vines of dark ivy and snowy white wisteria, these tall growing dogwood trees studded the gardens to either side of the pathway covering the archway with these hanging perpetually falling white blossoms and leaves, large hanging green tinted lanterns were hanging over the edges of the road off thick wrought iron posts. I couldn’t really see the school beyond the walls of flora around me, but above me far the sky was this wash of overcast clouds tinted golden with sunlight, but there was an almost…unnatural tone to the sunlight, while the same golden tint I am used to, there was a staleness to the sunlight, a dimness and a dullness that made it vaguely seem…artificial.
“What is this place?” I asked, the air was crisper and colder than outside, I could guess that all the plants around here would be frosted over in the early morning, it was a strange environment…not just this school, but this entire town and all. The thick boughs of the trees gave way to this…large school campus, though it was minute compared to Paradise Academy, the large front gates were open allowing me to walk ahead, this huge open courtyard was in front of me, flanked by tall stately dark stone buildings with white thin fluted pillars and huge windows with overflowing window boxes, but…there was something off too about the gardens and plants…all of the flowering plants were stark white, there was no shift in color, no different colors…only snowy white, the grass almost seemed painted it was a deep rich green tone and central to this giant courtyard was a large fountain with a towering statue of a woman of justice in sweeping robes and blindfolded, but instead of scales above her head she held a huge golden gyroscope with a blue orb in its center as the water poured out of it. The air was thick with the smell of all of the flowers blanketing wherever they could: heliotrope, petunias, spider mums, scabiosa, wisteria, roses, lilies, calla lilies, tulips, carnations, gerbera daisies, even hibiscus studded the grounds alongside hydrangea, daffodils, magnolias, jasmine, lily of the valley, camellia, anemone, periwinkle, trumpet flowers, dahlias, amaryllis, delphiniums, moonflowers, hyacinth, peonies, foxglove, columbine, lilac, lupin, dianthus and sweeping dogwood trees, potted hellebore and plotted marigolds, window boxes stuffed with cosmos, begonias and primrose along with these large almost randomly placed ponds edged in gray stones where matching stark white waterlilies and snowy white koi lazily swam about.
The air was this pungent, but cold perfume that was like smelling something absurdly heavily mentholated where it nearly stung your nose, but the air still had that weird almost stale quality that just felt…weird and off.
All these buildings are these tall, blocky, and stately buildings of either dark stone blocks or deep maroon brick, symmetrical dark shingled roofs with large dormers and window boxes, lots of windows, but nowhere close to as numerous as Paradise Academy nor were they as weirdly shaped. There were three large central buildings to the left, right and back of the huge courtyards. I saw a larger building off to the side of the dark stone blocks and almost right past the gate, it had Lovecraft Library across the front on the large façade. I noticed various other buildings about the grounds and the students who walked around were all dressed in a…almost stereotypical “academic” style, lots of dark colors and rich fabrics, everyone had this…almost snotty air. As I walked towards the back building was the huge building was situated, made of the dark stone blocks, and looked a lot older than a few of the other buildings, the façade has Un Sacrificium Parvid ob Adagitio across it.
“A small sacrifice for knowledge?” I questioned as I looked around, “Excuse me…” I said as I walked towards a student, she looked up from a very old looking tome, her dark hair pulled back in a bun and glasses low on her nose, dressed in a cardigan and dark boots with a scarf draped around her shoulders and neck.
“Can I help you?” she asked but sounding like I was interrupting her from her book.
“Do you know where…Professor Ashmore’s office is?” I asked, stopping myself for a moment as I almost called him Aden, thinking that I should probably use his title. She sighed as she closed her book before standing as she tucked the book into her briefcase…who uses a briefcase as a backpack.
“Down that pathway, the building on your left, Estella Hall…third floor, far down the hall at the end, double door with the flanking silver statues of snakes.” She said before walking off as this droning bell sounded out.
“Thank you”
“Whatever” she said as she opened her book again. I don’t know why, but…everyone seemed to be not looking down at me, but…they were giving me a little bit of space.
I walked down the path she pointed me down towards as I looked around at the buildings before I saw this four-five story wide building of matching dark stone, a few large windows and the same dark shingled roofs, pairs of dormers with brightly colored stain glass windows and a few chimneys poking past the roofline, the ends swept into curved short walls made entirely of glass that you couldn’t see through with a heavy greenish tint to them. A large marker was centered on the front of the building with a very large and complex looking silver star with Estella Hall marked right under the star. I walked ahead towards the huge open dark wooden doors before walking into the building. Inside had that same slightly creepy, incredibly dark, and richly toned style: dark hardwood made the flooring, the bottom half of the walls were a pale stone with the upper halves this deep, rich purple covered in a slightly darker tone of purple demask covering the walls, mirrored pairs of sconces and thin dark wood half-pillars in matching mirrored pairs down the halls, higher ceilings than I was expecting with small light fixtures in the ceiling. The main classrooms had these large double door sets with a room number set above it in brass numbers, a single door set at random intervals with a plague with a professors name on it, there were all sorts of strange paintings, statues and various other artwork covering the walls or nestled into various nooks about the halls.
I found the staircase as I walked up to the third floor, the floors upper half changed color with each floor, though the stairwell was solid pale stone with paintings and pieces up the walls, the second floor had navy-colored walls with paler demask and the third had a deep crimson color with a deep blood colored demask pattern. I walked down the hall as I heard people walking about within the rooms to the sides or up and down the stairs. Luckily, I had timed by happenstance of getting here as the next classes were starting so I only were ever passed by running students rushing to get to their next class. Aden never did tell me what class it was that he taught. I bet that he is quite the popular professor, seeing him probably dressed in a nice suit as he teaches whatever subject he does…maybe he’d roll his sleeves back as he gets into a specific topic he is particularly knowledgeable about, seeing those broad muscled shoulders of his causing a dress shirt to strain a little as he flexed his shoulders or righted his posture, maybe letting his hair down at some point letting it hang in what I’m guessing was these tussled beachy waves that would make anyone swoon…that low, slow and methodical voice of his enunciating all sorts of subjects…I could guess that there were probably some students who took Aden’s class purely to ogle him…and suddenly I realize why there’s all of that porn about people trying to get “extra credit” from their professors. At the end of the hall was two sets of double doors, one set flanked by silver snake statues with another set of doors to the right, but the sign on the door said Professor A. Ashmore. I breathed deeply as I stood in front of the door before I reached up a knocked on the door.
“Enter.”
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