Time passes strangely in the closet. If I didn’t know better, I would have thought it to be another dimension. When a housemother finally let me out, I was sure I must have spent a day in there. It had only been two hours. She led me up to the top floor of the home, to the director’s office. I caught sight of myself in a mirror as we walked up the stairs. What a sight. Although I was supposedly thirteen, I had the appearance of a girl in her late teens. An early developer. Thankfully, my growth was slowing down now. My hair was a mess of locks escaping from its plait, the sleeve of my shirt ripped. Half of my face was red from Stone’s slaps, my nose had streaked blood down my jaw. I clenched my teeth as my eyes caught sight of the pale, prominent, half circle scar around my right eye. It sickened me as I remembered my father and all he had done. Of what he had taken from me. Raising my chin slightly, I promised myself that whatever happened, if he ever came for me again, I would be ready, and I would fight him. I would fight him to the death if necessary, to make him pay for taking Arellan’s life.
I sat opposite the director. He watched me over his clasped hands. He wasn’t saying anything yet, but I knew this tactic. If he waited long enough, the child would blurt out apologies and guilt. I knew the game so well. He had used it often enough on me in an attempt to make me rethink my attitude. I refused to back down, catching his eye and keeping it with a flat glare. He gave in with a deep sigh, pulling off his reading glasses and pinching the bridge of his nose. Another of his little tricks, an attempt to make the child in front of him feel sorry for him and hopefully apologise. The sigh conveyed everything I knew he thought of me. He had had enough of my attitude, of my fighting and of my ‘strange ways’. Personally, I couldn’t care less what he thought of me.
‘What are we going to do with you, Alexai?’ he asked in grave concern. I narrowed my eyes at his continued usage of a name I never wanted to hear again unless it was from Arellan’s lips. For some reason, he insisted on using it. If it had been one of the other children in the home, I would have punched them, but I couldn’t exactly do that to the director. ‘You put every family interested in you off by your glaring and your attitude. I have had numerous reports from the school about you fighting. You even tried to attack the psychologist! This is not normal, Alexai. We’ve put up with a lot of behavioural difficulties from you since you came to this home. Your attacking everyone who didn’t call you ‘Shadow’, your insults to the police force when they came to tell you that your horse was missing, your tantrums every time someone tries to talk to you about your mother, even your flippant attitude about your life. Now your fight with Stone. What is wrong with you?’ His last sentence came with such force that I flinched. There was no way I could tell him the truth. If I did, I’d end up in a mental ward, for a start. The humans didn’t really believe in demons or, indeed, much that didn’t have anything to do with everyday life. They were perfectly content to live in their little world of things that made sense and not think about anything else. I was trying to come up with a decent answer when someone knocked on the door. Another housemother poked her head round.
‘Dr Chase? There’s someone here to see Alexai.’
‘If they’re looking for adoption…’
‘No, sir, they asked for her specifically. He says he’s a teacher at the Academy and he wants to talk to her.’
I felt my mouth flop open in uncharacteristic shock. The director sucked his breath in sharply. The Academy? Every parent dreamed of the Academy. It was one of the most prestigious and select schools in Europe. They monitored every single child in the schooling system and only accepted the best. Why would they want to talk to me though? There was no way my school results or the comments from my teachers would warrant their attention. So what did they want with me?
I warily pushed open the door into the meeting room set aside for prospective parents to talk to their prospective adoptee in private. A young man sat at the table, the picture of a representative from a snobby school. Brown hair carefully combed, glasses perched on his nose, suit pressed until the deliberate creases down the side of the leg had been ironed into submission. I was glad I had taken a couple of minutes to change my shirt and wash my face. My hair, on the other hand, had refused to be tamed. I knocked on the door a little timidly before walking in. Uh oh. I recognised the thick yellowish file he was going through. My file. Everything that had happened since my admission to the home.
‘Good afternoon, Shadow, as I believe you prefer to be called.’
‘Yes, sir,’ I replied quietly. I had to be on my best behaviour here. This was a chance to get out of the home, and I wasn’t about to let it slip through my fingers, especially since this man seemed to accept the fact that I didn’t use my Synari name any more.
‘Sit down.’
I took a seat opposite him, trying not to look at the papers he had taken out of my file. They didn’t look good. In fact, my psychological reports read like a nightmare, especially after I had attacked one of the psychiatrists. The sessions had pretty much gone downhill from there. The man set the file aside, looking at me over the tops of his glasses. For a moment, he simply surveyed me, then he started to speak: ‘My name is Alexander Heath, professor of magical manipulation and recruiter for the Academy.’
‘Pardon?’ I asked, unable to believe my ears. A professor of magical manipulation? He had to be pulling my leg. There was no way anyone could know! Professor Heath chuckled to himself, obviously amused by my expression of disbelief.
‘You heard me right, Shadow. We know what you are. That’s why I have come to offer you a place at the Academy. We select our students very carefully, not for academic results, but because they are not quite human. We teach them to blend in with normal society while also giving them the academic tuition they need to go out into the human world and get a decent job. The spiel about being an elitist school is simply a cover story.’ My hand automatically went to my pendant, making sure it was still there.
‘Don’t worry, the illusions work on humans. I have a gift called True Sight. I can see who you really are. That’s why I’m a recruiter. Think about it, Shadow. Would you rather stay here and be shuttled around the children’s home system until you turn sixteen, or would you rather have a formal education at the Academy, with other people like you?’
I didn’t have to think about my answer. It was staring me in the face.
It didn’t take me long to pack. Professor Heath was going to take me to the Academy right away. I hadn’t gathered much in the way of possessions other than what I had to start with. My spell book, Armen’s letter, the toy wolf Arellan had made for me and my clothes. It all fitted in one bag. I got into the car, looking out of the window to take in the home one last time. I felt no regret at leaving it, and the sorry beginnings of my life on Earth, far behind.
The drive to the Academy was long and uneventful. Professor Heath wasn’t the most talkative of companions, but it didn’t bother me. I was still trying to get over the shock that the Academy was actually a school for mythical creatures. As we neared the Academy, I perked up, wondering what the school would look like. How would the people there accept me? Would it be just like the haven I imagined when I needed to escape, a place of acceptance and joy, or would they shun me and keep me hidden like the Synari had done, scared of what I could do?
The gates were black iron and imposing, the walls high and thick, but the grounds inside were a boarding school director’s wet dream. Ancient trees lined the long driveway, giving way to extensive grassland. On one side, the grass had been separated into paddocks where horses and ponies grazed. The other side was dotted with students in uniform. All the boys in their smart black trousers and blazers, the girls in perfect skirts and ties. I sank a little lower in my seat. Nerves were starting to kick in. What if the others rejected me? The driveway opened out into a circle with a huge pine tree in the centre. A sprawling mansion filled my vision as we pulled up. The main building itself was impressive, even without being flanked by two wings that
were longer, but not as high as the house. I grabbed my bag, slipping out of the car and looking around nervously. The other kids were staring. They looked normal, until you looked a little closer. A hint of scale, strangely coloured eyes, and a woman with wings walking towards me. I bit my lip. Walking behind the woman was a sight I was delighted to see. Head bobbing as she walked, wings visible and tucked into her sides, Merlas paused long enough to whinny loudly.
‘Merlas!’ I yelled, running forwards to throw my arms around her neck. I had grown since I last saw her, now reaching halfway up her shoulder. Standing at one metre eighty, I wasn’t likely to grow any more. She still bested me for height though, standing at an even two metres. I didn’t mind. It meant I’d never outgrow her. The winged woman coughed politely. I felt my face turn red, turning to look at her, realising that I hadn’t even acknowledged her presence. So much for trying to be polite.
‘I’m sorry,’ I said apologetically, ‘I haven’t seen her for years.’
She waved off my apology with a lazy flick of her hand. ‘My name is Meredith Featherstone. I’m the headmistress of the school. Now, the tradition here is that you are assigned a student similar to your own age to explain the rules. We found that it gives the new students a better insight into how we work, so I’ll let him give you the introductory speech. Follow me, let’s go and save your guide from class. I’m sure he won’t complain.’
I followed Miss Featherstone into the main building, into a place that looked as if it had been furnished from a couple of centuries before. I was surprised that they managed to keep so many antiques here and in impeccable condition with scores of teenage mythical creatures learning to control themselves. Miss Featherstone swept up the central staircase up to the third floor, along corridors I was sure rivalled those in Aspheri. I would never learn my way around here! She knocked on a door, pushing it open. A classroom, with a nervous looking boy standing at the front holding a pile of notes, obviously about to give a presentation on something.
‘Mr Carton’s charge has arrived.’ The boy at the front of the class looked relieved, racing to pack up his notes and shoot out of the classroom. I took a good look at him. Floppy brown hair fell into dark eyes as he grinned at me. He looked to be an energetic, playful kind of person, the kind that all the girls fawned after in school. In what was now my previous school, I might have been among those girls that adored the cute guy, but none of them had ever given me the time of day. No one had wanted to be associated with the weird girl from the home.
‘Thanks for the great timing. You saved me from giving a presentation on the relations between unicorn herds,’ he said, flashing a grateful grin at me. I found myself speechless, unable to formulate a reply. I opted to smile and nod. ‘I’ll take you to your room so you can dump your stuff.’
I turned around to speak to Miss Featherstone, only to find that she had disappeared, the only trace of her left being an open window. I frowned slightly in confusion. The boy laughed at me, shaking his head.
‘You’ll get used to that, trust me. I’m Jamie, by the way.’
Jamie escorted me to the dining room that evening, making sure I knew how everything worked. I never believed that Earthen food could taste so good! After the frozen, precooked stuff I was used to back at the home, my taste buds felt like they were in heaven. I tugged absent-mindedly at my pendant, feeling the need to take it off, but with eight years of pent up magic lingering under its protection, I was scared of what might happen. Jamie seemed to notice.
‘Do you need to let it out?’ he asked. I looked at him quizzically. ‘I get fidgety when I need to cut loose on my magic. What kind are you? Demon or angel?’ I blinked, trying to figure out how he knew. He sighed. ‘The profs always pair newbies with someone who has similar powers or species. I’m half demon and half angel, so it makes sense that you’re at least one of those.’
‘Demon,’ I murmured, looking down at my plate. ‘Half demon.’ Jamie must have sensed my discomfort at the admittance. He reached out and touched my hand, his expression soft and understanding.
‘It’s okay, you’re not alone here.’
At his kind words, a wave of unfamiliar emotion washed over me, leaving me feeling weak and a little confused. For the first time in years, I felt accepted for who I was. Here, I was no longer an outsider. Here, there were people here who were just like me.
The next morning, I looked in the mirror in the tiny bathroom attached to my room in the girl’s wing of the school, the angel pendant lying next to the sink. For the first time in eight years, I was looking into my own purple eyes instead of the blue irises projected by the illusion charm. They seemed a little weird and alien on me now. A second white streak had grown in my hair alongside the first, contrasting with the deep violet. My appearance seemed strange to me now, as if I was staring at a familiar stranger. I had once more donned a cloak like I used to in Synairn, hoping that it wouldn’t be sneered at here. I touched the brooch holding the garment around my neck. An intricate spiral of white metal holding in place a purple gem, upon which was etched the likeness of a dove. It had been Arellan’s. She had used it to hold up her own cloak. Now it was mine. Swallowing hard, I tore my eyes from the strange reflection in the silver glass and grabbed my books, heading for Miss Feather’s office. I was supposed to report to her secretary to get my timetable.
I was a little put off by the secretary to be honest. She was a sort of humanoid dragon and more than a little scary. I cast an eye over the timetable. At the top, my class and species had been written, but it was the species that caught my eye. Demon/Angel. I took out the note that had been attached to the timetable.
Angel is the closest thing we have to your ‘Synari’. Enjoy!
I was the same as Jamie! That thought made my heart swell up in joy. A passing girl raised an eyebrow at me. I quickly quietened down my emotions. I had to remember that I wasn’t the only empath here any more. And an even more sobering thought: I couldn’t let anyone get close to me. Not with Karthragan still out to get me. I could sense him searching, seeking, hunting me. Putting someone else in the line of fire between him and me was not going to happen. Not ever. I was going to have to live a solitary life until I was sure I could defeat him on my own. I wouldn’t put anyone else in that kind of danger ever again.
The Academy encompassed both junior and senior school, all seven years. I had been put into the third year. Classes started at nine o’clock and finished at five to give us plenty of time to relax and eat before the night students came out to play. According to the rules, day students are allowed to mix with the night, but for our own safety, it was better not to. Student knowledge was that some of the vampires in the night class weren’t really in control of their blood lust. I didn’t care. I spent most evenings in the library, researching every single thing I could for my school work. I desperately wanted to succeed here. I also wanted to avoid Jamie, and the library was one of the rare places he wouldn’t venture into unless he had no other choice.
I managed to keep this up for a month before Jamie started to follow me even in the library. He and an orange haired girl about the same age. She was the reason I knew Jamie was following me. She just couldn’t keep her mouth shut. I soon learned that her name was Holly, a hurricane on a sugar-high in human form. In the silence of the library, I could hear her comments all too loudly, and it seemed to annoy the other half demon.
She came to me once, in the canteen, sitting next to me as if we were friends. I edged away as she attacked her food like a starved bear. She started to speak, a never-ending stream of questions while shovelling rice into her mouth. I gaped at her, trying to keep up as she asked me about every single personal detail under the sun, from name to favourite colour to species to family. Strangely enough, despite rocky beginnings and personalities that were so far apart they were polar opposites, she became one of my best friends. A friend I will always hold dearly in my heart.
Holly introduced me to Natalie, who she affectionately referre
d to as her ‘smarter’ half. Both were sorceresses who used wands to channel their energy. They were blissfully unaware of exactly what I was. I, for my part, was perfectly happy to let them continue on in their delusion that I was completely human, like them, just a sorceress on a different level. Only Jamie knew, but he kept it as a secret. He regularly hung out with us, getting up to the same shenanigans. I was glad he did. It saved several awkward questions, but ultimately, it would lead to their downfall four years later, but, for now, they were my best friends.
Holly was a prankster. Thankfully, Natalie warned me about this early on, so I was always on the lookout for her tricks. Of course, this doesn’t mean I didn’t get caught out from time to time, but hey, she could have done a lot worse to me than adding Tabasco to my food. To her credit through, it was hard to keep a straight face around her. We stuck together like glue, the three of us. Even though she was deathly terrified of horses, she came to watch Natalie and me in our weekly pegasus class. Natalie stood next to Merlas and I on a pretty brown pegasus she had fallen for as we waited for the teacher to arrive. Holly leant on the fence, waving at us. Nat and I grinned, waving back. The teacher arrived, and the class groaned. We had two teachers for pegasus flying: Mrs Fletch, who was nice enough, although she could be a little absent-minded, and Mrs Steel, who was pretty much a drill sergeant and was unable to believe that her ‘baby’, a really nasty piece of work for a pegasus called Snowdrop, could do any wrong. Merlas had already told me about a run in she had with the white pegasus. Thankfully they had both escaped unscathed, although I was sure that Merlas would have won any fight she got into with Snowdrop. After all, pegusi like her hadn’t been chosen as war mounts for nothing.
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