by Bob Dattolo
Angelica snorted from the side, “Anything else glowing on this thing?”
We checked the entire thing over, including going under the hood, and didn’t find anything. That was good. “We have to go get our stuff and check that, then get going. We’ll have to check the truck again. Do you think he felt the spells being broken?”
Wide eyes, “Umm, probably? C’mon, let’s get the fuck out of here. We need to hurry.” Samantha yanked me up and we pretty much ran to get everything.
I cast the spell again and didn’t find anything glowing on our possessions. Nothing. Then I cast it again on the truck as we loaded it. Nothing glowed. That meant that we kept our eyes peeled for Levi to see if he appears and tries to track us or cast the spell on us again.
To make it harder for him, we drove in random directions upon leaving, watching for anyone behind us that might be trying to tail us. We did that for five hours until we were pretty sure no one was there.
Then…then we drove away. Where to? Key West first. We wanted to see it. Then we planned a trip up the east coast. Maybe spend some time in New York. We’ll see how things go for now to see if Levi finds us again. Or anyone else. We have a date with school, and we’d like to live a little more before we get shoved back into that hellhole. Here’s to being able to relax safely.
Chapter 15
Sitting in my dorm room back on campus, I can’t help thinking that three months passed way too freaking quickly. Just…wow. We had a blast, which is good. There were more highs and lows, but the lows were mostly stupid things. A couple fights in random places, usually not started by us. No deaths, which is good. No sign of Levi, which is better. No parents from LA showing up to try to kill me. Or anyone else.
Although their voice mails and texts continued.
Once we got back to campus yesterday, we turned our phones on again. They’ll know that we’re here, so there’s no use hiding it right now.
The messages got more and more vicious, then cut off over like two days. None of us have gotten a threatening message for like the past three weeks, which is freaky. I doubt they forgot, so it makes us wonder what the fuck is happening.
Which doesn’t help since I’m staring at the sheet of paper in my hand wondering just what the fuck is happening. I hate that the same feeling continues.
A knock at the door has me calling out, “Come in.” I’m not shocked to see Parece as the door opened. Nor am I surprised to see Angelica, Samantha, Paige, Riley, Gage, and Kynal behind her.
We have not decided to make a larger group just yet. We’re still trying to play it by ear and see how we need to set ourselves up. We’re worried that creating a huge ally group will cause others to join up against us. So…currently, they have their two original groups and I’m on the outside. At least so far.
They each have a matching piece of paper in their hands. That’d be why I’m not shocked that they’re there.
“Hey, everyone!” I went for a huge smile, “I see you got the news?” I wiggled the paper as they spread out and sat. None of them sat on the couches, chair, or bed for the other side of the room. The currently empty side.
I did not get a roommate yet. That’s going to change.
They all looked across each other for a bit before Samantha sighed, “What the fuck are we supposed to do with this bullshit?” She waved the page. “We had more than half of us fucking die through the trial, how can they do this? We had a shot in hell of making it through this year without some big fuckup, now this?!?”
Riley dropped her page, “I don’t get this. Why would they do this? How could they have done it at all? I haven’t found any evidence of this ever happening before. Maybe if one person moves. Something like that. Normally? No, people don’t do this!”
Angelica stood and began pacing, “The meeting is in 20 minutes for those of us back already. What do we do? I doubt we can complain and change this, right?”
A chorus of “no” responses filled the room. Many with curses attached.
“This is fucked up. I don’t get this.” She looked at the page again.
The conversation didn’t change anything. Not that we were shocked by that.
Which had us in the gathering space. 32 of us sitting there, waiting for Headmaster Anderson to join us. He didn’t leave us waiting long, which is good. He also read the mood of the assembled second year students pretty much right off. As I expected for a dragon.
Unexpectedly, two of the researchers are off on the side, looking over everyone. Especially me.
The headmaster nodded to everyone, “Good afternoon. Thank you for coming back and for joining us for this announcement.” He took a moment to look across everyone, slowing as he reached me, then moving on. “School starts in four days. The start of your second year at the academy. You all have your class schedule already. As you’ve seen, other than the smaller Admin building, the buildings for this year are mostly the same. Some slight differences, but I’m sure you won’t notice them before long.” He swallows, then nods, “And most of you don’t care about that.” He waves to the group, “32 of you are back already. I know there is betting on how many kids won’t be back. That will try to run. That have been killed over the break. I won’t add anything to the discussions, but I will say that losing eight over a break is a huge increase over what we typically expect to see. Not impossible, but if you have eight as your bet? It’s a long shot. Very, very long. I haven’t heard any reports of any deaths in the eight that aren’t here, but that doesn’t mean much. We’ll find out in four days who is considered missing and will be hunted.” He lifted the paper he brought in, “Now for the actual reason we’re together today. You all received this about two hours ago. We also emailed it to you, although I don’t know how many of you caught that as opposed to the physical pages we slid under your doors or handed out.”
Another long look, “The page is correct.” He held up a hand as some voices rose, “Please let me finish. This is not a decision that I made. Not in the slightest. My complaints and arguments went precisely nowhere. I’ve been arguing the past two days over this, reaching out to everyone I could, and my complaints went nowhere. As the notice states? We will be gaining more second year students. We will also be gaining first- and third-year students, but that’s immaterial and not something you care about. First year students don’t know any different, so that’s one thing. Third years students are in the same boat you are. I’ll be talking to them after this. For you, though? As we noted, children of Americans that have been attending the other North American academy, those attending the Australian academy, those attending the British academy, and those attending the academy in India are being repatriated to the US.” More raised voices that didn’t quiet down until he flared magic around the room. “I understand your complaints. I do. However, none of us can change this. We have no control over this. India is currently experiencing fighting between the normal humans and the mages and dragons. The government can no longer assure safety for the kids in the academy. That means they’re being sent home. While they may live there with their families, they are Americans and will be joining us. Some of you will be asking why we are gaining students from the other academies? Australia has had some signs that the turmoil in India may bubble over to them, so they are taking steps now to up their security. The British are following suit. As for the second North American academy? For them it is just coincidental timing that the storms hit them and damaged their site. They are consolidating and can fit most students. Just not all of them. So we are gaining some students that are from the mainland but reside on the islands with their families due to their jobs or businesses.”
He took a deep breath, “I know how distressing this is for you. Trust me, I understand it. I know there were difficult dynamics in place going into the trial. I know that those dynamics have not disappeared over the break. Some have gotten worse. Some better. I know that. You know that. Yet here is the reality; we have no choice. That’s it in the starkest form I can ma
ke it. You loaded those buses for the trial with 88 kids. You came back with 40. Now you learn that your numbers for this year are swelling to 121. You have to make the best of this.”
He looked across us again, clearly picking up our sour faces. As you’d think for a dragon. “I know this is hard. This is why none of you have been placed in a room with someone from your first year. Our goal, our hope, is to forge a connection between you original students and the incoming students. Had we not done that, there would be clear lines drawn between the various academy students. We would have an ally group of 40 from here, with the same happening from the other schools. I would have expected kids to begin dropping like flies within the first week at that point. And we do not want that to happen. While we accept that the academy is dangerous, we do not want to exacerbate the situation. Not at all.”
Paige’s hand went up and he nodded to her, “You have a question?”
“What if we don’t get along with our roommate? Can we ask for a change?”
He shook his head, “You cannot. While that was allowed within the first day last year, we are not allowing that this year. I know that almost all of you would have submitted a change request. Just know this? You would not have gotten someone from this class. You would have been shunted to someone else from the incoming students. As a result, we decided not to take that step. Making the request may create bad blood where it’s not needed and may make the situation worse.”
Another hand went up, “We don’t have anyone we can complain to?”
With a shrug, he held up the page, “Feel free to have your parents make calls. I highly doubt it will help things. I’ve been told that complaints are being made by the parents of the students coming here. They feel that their kids are being thrown into a threshing machine. They’re coming into a school where the 40 of you already know each other. You already have your connections. There are more of you than any of the other groups. We are receiving 8 students from the islands, 21 from Australia, 22 from Britain, and 30 from India. This group has the highest number of kids, so their parents are necessarily upset. So, make your calls. Have them call. Write letters. Send email. Whatever they want to do. I’ve been told that this is done and there is no going back. It’s not our decision, it’s the decision of the countries where the academies are, and unless the students choose to bypass their second year?” He nodded at our reaction, “Precisely. My recommendation? Feel free to make your calls, but don’t expect any results from it. Beyond that? By all means, strengthen your groups. Your allies. But don’t, and I can’t stress this enough, don’t lock out the new students. They will be worried about things. They will be nervous. They will be prone to latching onto their fellow students and creating their own groups. If you do that? If you allow that to happen? This year will be horrific. Reach across the divide. That’s why we’re placing you with them. Don’t allow the divisions to solidify. Just…don’t. You all experienced a vicious trial that had far more losses than the other students experienced. I’m sure some of you are jaded. Please don’t let that rule you. Allow them in. Create stronger groups together.” Another look. “Now, what other questions do you have?”
I’m so tempted to raise my hand, but Gage beats me to it, “When will they be arriving? The paperwork makes it sound like tonight and tomorrow?”
“At this point, we should expect the groups to arrive tomorrow. We thought one would be here tonight, but their flights were changed due to the storm damage.”
Another hand went up, “What do we do if they start crap with us?”
“The same thing you do if someone in this group starts something. Challenges exist. We will be reviewing them for legality. Watch what you do and say. They will be on edge just as much as you are, so please, please back off. Try to greet them and be friendly. Just…watch yourself. Some of these kids will be coming here with allies already in place. Guaranteed. Some that were formed last year. Some that are being formed right now as they travel here and expect to be tossed to the lions.”
More questions flowed, with none really sticking with me. Most of them were tied to how to complain. Who to complain to. All of which got the same sort of response from him. Complain to anyone and everyone. Just don’t expect any success.
The researchers watched me warily through the end of the discussion, and I wasn’t shocked to get asked to stay behind. Dillon and Ira waited for me to join them, then gestured for me to follow them to a small side room. As soon as we entered, Ira cast a silence spell, which wiped out the listening spells that were up. Both men stood together, looking me up and down, “You had an interesting break it seems?” Ira smiled, which was a bit shocking to me for some reason
“I did? Much quieter after we left Miami, though.”
“I imagine it would be.”
Dillon nodded, “We wanted to talk to you about what’s taking place.”
Ookay? “About the others coming to join us?”
“Yes. Given what took place last year, we were worried about you coming back. Now with so many others being added, we’re even more worried that something may happen.”
“You don’t want to lose your prize research subject?”
Serious nods from them at my flippant question. “Maddie? You are an example of something that we never thought could exist. Not only do you have an unprecedented affinity, but you’re integrated. That’s ignoring your shifted form. We simply don’t know what benefits we can gain as a society if we can determine how and why you are able to do what you do. What you’ve done.”
“I take it you can’t pull me out?”
Shakes from both of them, “No. We’ve pushed again and again, but we’re running into walls from every direction.” Ira’s frustration came out as a strong scent that started to fill the room. “We have fought for it, but they refuse. Given that, we’re asking for you to please be safe. We are hoping to be able to conduct more studies on you during the year, but none of us are expecting miraculous results.”
“Please be safe. We can offer you money for holding back from the others if that would help?” Dillon’s hopeful smile makes me want to accept just for the heck of it.
“Don’t think I won’t accept money; I just can’t guarantee that I’ll hold back. I’ll try really hard not to walk into a challenge again. I won’t push for one. But if someone comes after me? I’m not sure I’ll be able to hold off.”
Sad looks from them, “We understand. We know how dangerous the academies are, so please be careful.”
Ira touched Dillon’s arm, getting him to hold off adding to his response. “One thing? Your roommate? She’s very powerful.”
“Is that a warning to watch out for her?”
“Watch out for everyone. She’s a mage and comes from a powerful family. Watch for her. She will more than likely already have some allies lined up. Watch for them as well. If you can, get in with them. If you cannot? Protect yourself.”
Dammit, I don’t need this. Like at all.
“Thank you for your warning.”
“You’re welcome. You could very well be the precursor to fantastic changes for our species, so please don’t throw it away if you don’t have to.”
“I’ll try not to.”
Ira patted my shoulder on the way by, with Dillon following suit a step later. That left me in an empty room for long minutes as I tried to absorb everything.
God, this is fucked.
No one was in their rooms, so I wandered over to the caf and found most of our class there. Shockingly enough, they’re not spread out and protecting themselves from everyone. There’s a rather robust conversation going at each of the tables about this and what it means.
Instead of joining in, I grabbed a milkshake and sat at a table near them and listened in. There are comments about attacking them as soon as they arrive. Letting them join up and then killing them later. Letting them join up and fit in like normal students. Then a mix of other things. Including making their planes crash before they even arrive.
> Two different people came up with that approach. They weren’t even at the same table. Thankfully, they didn’t join up and try to put something like that into place. That’d be fucked. Their approach was crushed under the avalanche of other things, and I think they even started moving on too since they both came up with other questions or ideas.
The conversation lasted until dinner, then through eating. Two more kids arrived during that and were brought into the conversation.
By the time nightfall came, we had it all worked out and how we would be handling this.
Can you sense the sarcasm? We’re not even close to having a clue.
The next day dawned bright and early for me like it normally does. Unlike during the school year, there aren’t any kids in the caf, so I had it all to myself. That allowed me to get in a good workout, which felt fantastic. I love being able to use a weight room. It means my exercises don’t take multiple hours each day to get done. It’s way harder to get a good workout from pushups when even using a bench press takes a crazy amount of weight to feel the burn.
No one was out and about, so I wandered the buildings and sniffed things out. No Levi. No word about him coming back. At least so far. I was just exiting the dorm building when I caught a familiar face arriving with his boxes. He stuttered to a stop at seeing me. “Uhh…Maddie.”
“Hey, Ryan. How was your break?”
“Umm…good? It was good.”
“You go see family?”
“I did. I…uhh…”
“I’ll let you get unpacked, I guess? Just so you know, no Levi yet or word on him.”
He blinked rapidly, “I, uhh, haven’t heard from him? He left some rambling messages at the start, but then that’s it.” He fell silent for a second, “Umm, I never…I never really thanked you for what you did. You could have killed me several times. You didn’t. You made me more powerful. You saved me at the end. Thank you for that. For everything.”
“You’re welcome.”