Outside of the school, there were a number of beings who’d congregated into a crowd intently watching everything transpiring between the Sentry and us. We were quite the spectacle—all eyes were on us. Great, and I thought I’d be able to get by today without being the center of anything.
While I was watching the students, I noticed the Sentries’ attention had somewhat shifted from me. They were watching the same thing as me. I guess they weren’t used to being the focal point of anyone’s attention, either. It suddenly clicked where I’d seen Heathe before. He was the nurse from the hospital when Mom and Dad died.
“I know you. You were with my parents when they died. You were there,” I said, not caring who heard me.
“I think it’s time for you to leave,” a voice said from the crowd. They parted like the Red Sea. A man stepped from the center.
He literally flew through the crowd and landed mere feet from Heathe. He was about six feet tall and had long silvery hair with streaks of blue. He didn’t stand, he hovered, which kept him at eye level with Heathe. He was dressed in white from head to toe. His pants and shirt were flowing with the air swirling around him.
What stood out most was his skin. It was the clearest color of blue I’d ever seen. His skin reminded me of the pictures you see from vacation spots boasting crystal clear blue seas.
“Herecerti,” Heathe said.
“Heathe, I do believe you’re supposed to be watching from afar,” Herecerti declared. His voice was calm and flowed as the air around him flowed, steady and continuous.
“Yes, but there’s been a development, and I believed it necessary for us to appear,” Heathe countered.
“I’m well aware of it and so are the Elders. We’ve been watching through the visionaries just as you have since the entrance at the main Bulwark. I do believe it would be in the best interest of all if you and your guard were to continue your observations—but from the same vantage points agreed upon yesterday,” Herecerti replied. “And I do believe it’s time for everyone to be getting into class, where they belong.” Without hesitation the crowd turned from us and moved in unison to the oversized front doors of the school.
I watched as some of the students disappeared within the entrance. While I was watching, one of the students who hadn’t moved with Herecerti’s direction caught my attention. It was a girl who looked to be about 17 years old. She had long red flowing hair and pearl white skin. I noticed she looked extremely annoyed. Maybe she wasn’t too impressed at being ordered to return to school. That was my assumption at first glance. Once I made eye contact with her, I realized it wasn’t returning to class that was bugging her.
Her emerald green eyes settled on me in a stare that caused my heart rate to accelerate. Her eyes glowed. Literally. It was then I realized she wasn’t annoyed at Herecerti, she was irritated with me. She looked right at me with such contempt, I took a step back.
My dumbfounded look may have been what caused her to look away, or it could have been the friends with her who urged her to get moving. Either way, I made a mental note to find out who she was, so I could make sure to steer clear of her. I watched as she and her friends made their way into the school and wondered if anyone else had noticed the visual exchange. Herecerti’s voice drew my attention back to Heathe and the Guard.
“Now, I do believe we have yet to meet Jacey,” he said, floating toward me. He acknowledged Heathe with a nod and then turned his full attention on me. Heathe said nothing, he and the Guard dispersed in a flash of light.
Herecerti halted in front of Vincent and waited for me to present myself. I hadn’t come around from behind him since the encounter with Heathe. As he waited to see my reaction, Vincent shifted to the side, leaving me out in the open. Hudson and Jen followed suit and moved from my sides to stand together behind me.
I was now face to face with the Headmaster of St. Nemele. From my previous vantage point I believed I’d have been more like face to belly button with him. However, now he was hovering only inches from the ground. It made him much more approachable at almost eye level. Once I took a good look at him, I realized who, or what he was. A huge smile spread across my face, and without thinking I said, “You’re a Hyperborean, aren’t you?”
“I am impressed, Jacey. Not many out of this realm, or the one in which you’ve grown up in, know of us. What is it that you know about my kind?” he questioned, looking genuinely interested.
“I don’t know how accurate the books I’ve read are, but I learned about your kind through Greek mythology.” I waited for his response, there was none. “I read in your world the sun never sets and the air is made of feathers. The story went on to say your kind are noble, kind, and gentle. That you try and avoid contact with humans because we’re totally unpredictable and known throughout mythology as the cause of more harm than good.” I stopped again, looking to see if Herecerti had anything to say. Vincent, Jen, and Hudson were all looking at me like I’d lost my mind. If I hadn’t been looking at Herecerti, I would have missed it. He smiled, nodded, then took on a very calm, indifferent face.
“I’m impressed, Jacey. You’re right in who I am. In some of the details, there are some mistakes, but all can be rectified in time. As you will find out, many of your folklores, myths, legends, and fairy tales are, in fact, a part of Nemele. It’s where some, but not all, choose to live. It’s from them and their adventures outside of Nemele all of your stories originate.” He gestured toward the school. “It’s now time we enter St. Nemele. Are you ready?” Herecerti asked.
“Absolutely,” I answered, more enthusiastically than I meant to.
As we turned to enter the school, a shadow in a window on the second floor caught my eye. I looked up in time to see a figure with red hair move back into the shadows. Great. Any kind of enthusiasm I’d had before was slightly tainted. The first day and I’ve already got someone to worry about besides myself. A redhead, with a definite dislike for the new girl. I guess it didn’t really matter where you went, or what dimension you were in, Hyperborean for a headmaster or not. High school was high school.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
No, you’re not dreaming…
If you were—
You’d have had your Awakening -
You’d have known of all of this…
But oh yeah…
You’d have missed all the fun.
Every school I’d ever attended always took on the appearance of being institutional. From each one I’d had the pleasure of being a part of, not one compared, even in the tiniest of details, to St. Nemele.
From the first time I saw the school with Aunt Grace, Jen, and Hudson, I’d initially thought from its outside appearance it had looked like every other school. The St. Nemele here was nothing like the one back home. Everything here was more alive, each detail of the school was mindboggling.
Each side of the walkway was adorned with foliage that imitated the mazes. It led to the front entrance that had two large oversized doors. Half of each door had huge engravings etched into the wood.
On the door to my left was a symbol which looked like the constellations of Ria and Hearte combined. Below them was a caption: ‘Beginning.’ The symbol to my right didn’t resemble any of those I’d been exposed to over the last couple of weeks. It had a caption under it as well which read, ‘Believe in yourself.’
At the top of the stairs, I experienced a fight or flight feeling which seemed to accompany all of my life-altering decisions of late. I was second guessing myself. Did I really belong here? Was I supposed to be here? How was I supposed to fit in when I’d never even heard of this place before? I was completely unprepared. What if when I did finally give in and believe I was supposed to be here, I woke up and realized it was all a dream and I’d made everything up?
My swimming analogy came to me once again. I stood there waiting for someone to throw me an imaginary life ring. The engravings on the doors interrupted my thoughts for a second. They seemed to be beckoning for me to touch them. I r
eached out and traced them with the tips of my fingers.
“This is where we all began to learn to believe in ourselves and ignore that second guessing feature we all come with,” Herecerti said, looking at me with a knowing glint in his eyes.
Vincent came up beside me, placing his hand on my lower back and giving me a thoughtful, reassuring pat. Instantly my ears were on fire. I needed to understand why his touch—heck the mere mention of his name—sent my heart rate through the roof.
I decided to shut out all thoughts other than taking my first steps into my new life – ears burning and heart pumping, I decided to do what I’d done this morning: I held my breath and jumped in—just like swimming, I thought, as the doors opened.
When we entered the school, its interior looked more like the pages of an architectural magazine showcasing a spread on old Irish homesteads than a high school.
It was made of stone and deep colored wood rather than what I was used to seeing—pale, mind-numbing, neutrally painted walls covered with trophy cases of memories, decked out with eye-sore multi-colored banners that shouted out the school’s mascot, usually some kind of animal beating its chest, playing the sport the school had been known for at sometime.
The hallways were enormous. I was dwarfed by the absolute girth of them. I couldn’t figure out how everything fit into the building. From its outside appearance, it didn’t seem possible. The interior stone mimicked the exterior, only it was much smaller. I reached out to touch the walls to make sure they were real.
I ran my fingertips along the walls as we made our way through the hall. Their textures weren’t the same. Some of the areas were smooth and cool while others were rough and seemed to have a slight warmth. The temperature differences came and went with each doorway. This drew my attention. Every one of them was closed. I assumed each led to a classroom. They all appeared to be made of the same wood the front doors were made of and each had a different symbol engraved into it.
The design resembled a basic wood door. Each one looked more like the entrance you’d see in old medieval movies about knights and dragons than what you’d expect to see in a school. I noticed not one of them had a handle. While I was trying to figure out how they’d open, I noticed the doors weren’t hanging from the frames like I thought—they were hovering. How fantastic. How do you open them?
I was so engrossed that I stubbed my foot and almost fell face first onto a stairwell. Jen was my saving grace this time. She grabbed my shoulder before I fell and made a complete fool out of myself.
“Thanks,” I whispered under my breath.
“No prob. I was pretty much the same when I first came here.” She smiled back at me.
We climbed up the stairwell. It reminded me of the plantation manor’s grand entrance in Gone with the Wind. This one was impressive. It was made up of three levels, each one separated by a large landing. Every foyer was made of smooth white flawless stone and stretched the entire length of the hallway. I peered back at the last classroom at the bottom of the stairwell from where we’d come, still trying to figure out the magic of it all.
On the second landing, an ear-piercing noise grabbed our attention. It came from the room at the bottom of the stairs. The door which had been closed was now in pieces, scattered at the base of the stairs. Both Hudson and Jen came up behind me, and Vincent placed himself in front of me. Herecerti was the only one who hadn’t shifted an inch. He merely floated there with a non-readable look on his face and stared at the entrance to the classroom.
“You need to concentrate, Phil. You can’t just change into a giant eagle without thinking it through,” a female voice called out. A female framed in huge silver feathers gracefully swooped into the hallway in time to catch in her talon-like hands a clumsy looking half-eagle half-teenage boy. She caught him before he smashed into the wall across from the classroom. I stood there, astounded by the entire scene.
“I’m sorry, Ms. Hullen. I just wanted to try it once.” He stopped short when he noticed he had an audience.
“Herecerti,” The breathtaking half-angel—Ms. Hullen—said from her crouched position, still holding the very embarrassed teenage boy within her embrace.
The boy jumped up and out of her grasp, all the while transforming into a completely normal looking human boy. Once he’d finished, he stood to the right of Ms. Hullen. She, on the other hand, didn’t move as quickly but did elegantly stand up. When she stood, her full stature outsized all of us onlookers. She was absolutely striking. She had waist-length lightly colored golden hair, which hung in ringlets. Her skin was as clear and white as freshly fallen snow and her eyes were the deepest color of honey I’d ever seen.
“I see Phil had more of an audience than merely his classmates,” she said with a smile as she placed her talon-like hand on his shoulder.
“You can return to class now, Phil. I’ll join you there in a minute.” She turned her gaze to us.
Without hesitation, Phil turned and walked back into the now doorless room. As Ms. Hullen stepped away from the threshold, all of the splinters began to float up and reform into their original shape. I stood there, still open-mouthed and gawking. Ms. Hullen walked, well, glided, to the landing we were on.
“I see Phil is still trying things before he should,” Herecerti said.
“He’s one of our more advanced students. He needs a little more… direction when it comes to how and when to use his skills,” Ms. Hullen replied, and then turned her attention to Jen, Hudson, and I.
“Jen and Hudson, I expect to see you both in Tinosh this afternoon.” She then turned slightly to take me into her gaze.
“Hello Jacey. I’m Hullen. All of my students call me Ms. Hullen. I do believe you will also be attending one of my classes this afternoon?” she said more in a question to Herecerti than to me.
“She will. We’re going to my office to set everything up,” Herecerti said.
While we stood on the stairwell, a déjà vu feeling overcame me. It was as though I’d met her before—like I should know who she was. Only thing was, if I’d have met her before today, I would’ve certainly remembered her.
“Well then, I guess we’ll become more acquainted this afternoon, Jacey.” She simply smiled and without warning, swooped to the bottom of the stairwell—yeah, swooped. One second she was standing beside me and the next she was at the bottom of the stairs.
My gaze didn’t leave her as she approached the now reassembled classroom door. She stood in front of it, then raised her hand to the symbol carved in the center. The symbol began the glow and shimmer and the doorway split in two and opened. Ms. Hullen entered and the door closed behind her.
“Are all of the doors like that?” I asked.
“They are. The symbols are the keys to each class,” Herecerti went on to explain. “Each student is allowed to access the classes they are assigned to. It is how we govern who is where and when while here in St. Nemele.”
We all followed him, stopping at the top landing. We proceeded down another hall, which mirrored the one we’d come from. As we neared the end, Herecerti took the lead and approached the lone door hovering at its end. He raised his hand to the symbol in the center and the door opened.
We followed him into the room. There was an oversized antique wooden desk situated in the middle of the enormous windowless room. The ceiling was barely visible. The room was decorated in dark wood and finished off with huge bronze moldings. There were frameless pictures decorating the far left wall. Each one appeared to be part of the woodwork.
Three pictures grabbed my attention. One was titled St. Nemele and appeared to be very old. The building in the picture looked nothing like the one we were standing in. It looked like an old English castle, like one from the time of King Arthur.
The second one was of Herecerti. It looked like a picture of him in his homeland. There was honey warm sunshine and feathers of all colors decorating the landscape behind him.
The third was a picture of Mom, Dad, Aunt Grace, and a m
an I’d never seen before. Each one of them was holding a medallion over their head. They all looked to be in their teens and all of them were smiling. In behind them was St. Nemele, only it wasn’t the one I was standing in now, it was the castle.
A flash of light settled near the desk as I was about to inquire about the pictures. It came from the ceiling.
“I’ve all the records and reports ye are going to need, Headmaster Herecerti. Along with them’s a copy of the classes and rooms Jacey’s gonna to be needin’ access to,” The thick Irish voice finished as she became solid in front of me.
The being in front of us was glowing and sparkly, she looked like a fairy. She was half my size and was floating at the level of the desk. She was wearing a white button down shirt and a long black flowing skirt, which covered her feet.
“Thank you, Celeste. I’ll take them with me into my office,” Herecerti replied, taking the tablet which resembled an iPad out of Celeste’s petite hands.
“Hello, Jacey, nice to finally be meetin’ ya and havin’ ya join us.” She came around from the back of the desk, floating in front of me with her hand held out, ready to shake mine.
“Thank you,” I replied. She was so small and fragile that when I took her hand into mine, I shook it as gently as I possibly could.
“Through here,” Herecerti said.
Herecerti was at another doorway which blended into the far right wall. He held up his hand and the wall opened in front of him. He waited in its archway as we entered the room.
“I’ve marked Jen and Hudson available for second and third period classes,” called Celeste from the outer room.
“They’ll be there,” Herecerti said, entering the room. The door reformed behind him and closed off Celeste’s office from his.
This office was the exact opposite of Celeste’s. The room seemed to be made up of only one wall. The entire room appeared to be framed in glass. Astounding wasn’t even an adjective that fully described it. There were crystal clear, beautifully colored scenes which made up the remaining three walls.
Awakenings (Elemental Series - Book 1) Page 21