Tyler stood beneath the eaves of the oldest, most intimidating building he'd ever seen. It looked as if it had been built in the mid-1800's, judging from its gothic architecture and spindly, peaked towers clad in coppery-green shingles. Moss grew over most of the roof and tall trees arched above its six stories. Tall, narrow windows peered out like a hollow eyes upon the campus. Between them, ornate cornices and elaborate lintels were carved with strange, unknown symbols. Granite gargoyles perched on each corner glared down at passers-by. Over the main door, framed between a pair of pentagrams, was a bronze plaque declaring it the "Metaphysical and Ancient Studies Classroom Building".
The small, purple dragon swallowed heavily. It was something straight out of Bram Stoker's "Dracula". The fact that he could see some students hurrying in and out of the building without a care made him feel a bit more at ease. If all those other students had no problem with a creepy building on the edge of campus, it shouldn't be a problem for him. He’d written down the name of the class, "Experimentation in Bio-Mass Labs”. Glancing down at the note in his hand and then back up to the arched entryway, he steeled himself.
He folded his wings tight against his back and walked up the granite stairs to enter.
The main hall was enormous. Rising high overhead, it pierced four, twenty-foot-high stories of the building. Stairs in the main entry hall rose from ground-level to each of the four exposed floors, above, meaning that five and six were probably only accessible from other stairways, elsewhere. If the outside was creepy, the inside was downright disturbing.
In the center of the entry hall stood a giant skeleton of a Neolithic bear. Wired together, and only partially evolved like a contemporary, modern ursus sapiens, the creature stood at least twenty feet tall. It was easily four, nearly five, times Tyler's height. On each of the ancient bones were inscribed tiny, pencil-tip-thin etchings. Each was a different rune or symbol that the dragon had only seen in bad horror movies or comic books that dealt with the occult.
This was a classroom building on a modern campus or a throwback to the Dark Ages?
The "Metaphysics" building wouldn't have been out of place near Hogwarts.
Well, an adult, scary version of Hogwarts.
It didn't take him very long to find the admissions office. It was on the first floor, beyond the entry hall, and around a corner next to a broken drinking fountain. He stepped up to the window and rang the tiny bell next to the sign "Ring For Assistance".
A deep, rumbling voice from inside, intoned, "Be right there..."
The words sent a chill down Tyler's spine and his wings half-unfurled.
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