The one situated to my far right showed a beautiful forest with greens, blues, and browns bursting through it. The sky was a prism of colors and the sun—I should say suns, there were four in total, beaming brilliantly within the sky. As we continued to the back side of the desk, I took a closer look and noticed movement within the glass. The trees were swaying in a gentle breeze and there were things resembling birds flying in the skies, except they were enormous. They had the same appearance of birds I’d seen in my dimension, except these had feathers the size of trucks.
I peeled my gaze away from it to the center mural and saw a replica of Nevaeh, the one in the other dimension. The scene focused around The Six and Senses. There were people coming and going from both, oblivious to the fact they were on screen and being observed from another realm.
Seeing Nevaeh in that dimension and comparing it to this one made the differences extremely obvious. The Nevaeh in the mural was still the picturesque small town, but it didn’t compare to this dimension’s version and the absolute vibrancy of everything in it.
The final mural making up Herecerti’s office was focused on the maze in the center of Nevaeh—well, both Nevaehs’, entrance and exit points. It was still being used by others to come and go between dimensions and the view from this angle told me Herecerti had been a spectator to my entrance with Vincent this morning. I wonder what his thoughts were on precisely how we’d entered.
The desk in the center of the room was set up to allow him to sit, float, or whatever it was he did and watch the three spectacles set out in front of him. Directly in front of the three glass walls were four chairs. They were all angled so you could talk with the person at the desk and at the same time have a view of one of the three murals.
“Take a seat,” Herecerti offered. I followed Jen, Hudson, and Vincent to the other side of the desk. I couldn’t resist reaching out and touching the glass.
When I came into contact with it, its texture was far from ordinary. It felt more like jello. It rippled as if I’d thrown a stone into a still lake. The ripples continued from the center of my touch and continued to all four corners before disappearing into the unseen frame. So much for trying to be inconspicuous.
“Every new student has done the same, Jacey. Each one has touched them to ensure sure their eyes aren’t playing tricks,” Herecerti said as he sat at his desk. We all took our seats. I could feel Vincent’s presence beside me while I kept eye contact with Herecerti.
“Sorry,” I said, more embarrassed knowing he’d definitely not only saw what I’d done but he’d also heard about it in my mind.
“No worries. The murals are visionaries into the plains, just as you thought, Jacey. The first is of my homeland, Hurth. The second is the dimension of Nevaeh, where you came from, and the third is, of course, the Bulwark,” Herecerti explained. “And yes, I can switch the murals to display whatever I want them to, within reason. They would never intrude on any private or personal moments of any one person, as you can tell by the general public views the visionaries have now.”
“That’s amazing. How can you do it?” I asked.
“In time you’ll find out all about these visionaries. They are more common on this plain than you’d think. However, right now I’m aware from your reaction to the Sentry, Heathe is quite concerned about your presence. I, on the other hand, know we can’t simply ignore your unique gifts and the fact you’re a part of our society. Even though we can’t quite place how you’re part of us at this point, know we’re all quite accepting of you. I don’t only speak on behalf of myself, but also on behalf of the Council of Elders. They do give the Headmaster of St. Nemele some leeway in making decisions in regards to new students for our school.”
I was speechless. I knew I should be asking him a bunch of questions about this dimension and what was going to be expected of me but I couldn’t formulate a thought.
“One of the first questions we usually get from our students is, ‘If this society is so secretive, how does anyone explain not going to school with their other friends?’ Believe it or not, this is an easily answered question. Do you remember seeing St. Nemele in the other dimension of Nevaeh, Jacey?”
“Yes.”
“Do you remember seeing anything which struck you as being out of the ordinary?” he asked.
“No. I remember the exact opposite. I actually thought the school resembled every other one I’d been to in the last couple of years.”
“Precisely, that’s the notion we want others to have. It’s a private school. Earth’s mornals see the school is only attended by those who have applied and been accepted. If by any chance we have a person who wants to enter the school, the building is staffed by some of our society’s finest at dissuading people from wanting to attend. I believe that at least answers one of the many questions I’m sure you have for me.”
“As a matter of fact, it does.” I smiled at him.
“Now onto more pressing matters. For today and until I deem it unnecessary, you will be accompanied by Vincent to all of your classes. His instructors have been advised and will make arrangements for him not to fall behind in his studies. There is a curriculum you must fulfill in order to graduate. Of course, because of the special circumstances surrounding you, there will be some advanced classes in which you will participate. I believe having Vincent accompanying you will alleviate any concerns you have in regards to classes.”
“It does thank you, but I still don’t get what Heathe was so bothered about. Was it because I’m here and haven’t had my Awakening or was it something else?” I asked.
“Heathe had other concerns. One was you being able to see them…the Guard…no one other than a Guard member is able to see others of their kind… a fact I’m sure Jen has told you about.” He looked at Jen. “Jacey, I can only tell you from my limited observations, but I do believe you are the anomaly. We’ve never had a student who has not experienced an Awakening attend here. I’m sure all of the specifics of an Awakening will be explained to you in your classes. I want you to know we, and I mean all of us here at St. Nemele and those not in the school, are here to help you and want to understand exactly what is going on.”
Hidden within the words he didn’t say, I could tell Herecerti knew more about me and what was going on with me than he was willing to reveal. I remembered the picture of my parents in Celeste’s office and believed it had something to do with it. I knew now was not the time or the place to be asking, so I made a mental note to bring it up to Hudson when we got home. He had to know something.
“Vincent, I take it you have no concerns in taking Jacey on for the next while?” Herecerti asked.
“None,” he responded.
“Hudson, are there any concerns you would like for me to address?” Herecerti asked.
“No, sir. I know Jacey will be all right as long as she’s here with us.” He turned and looked at Jen and then at me and smiled.
“I know there’s going to be some, let’s say, growing pains, as we all learn what needs to be done with you, Jacey. However, from what I’ve seen today, you are a force to be reckoned with.” He got up from his desk and opened the door to his office.
Jen, Hudson, and Vincent exited first. While I was passing Herecerti, he grabbed onto my right hand and flipped it palm up. He stared at the Seeker’s mark still branded in my palm and said, “I need for you to be hyper-vigilant of this today. If your hand starts to have any type of glow, or anything else, for that matter, I need you to come directly to me, understood?” he told me more than asked me.
“Sure,” I answered, not feeling very sure of anything.
“Should I be looking for something or someone, or maybe be waiting for something?” I asked, now a little nervous as I remembered what my last two encounters with my onyx-eyed ‘friend’ were like.
“There’s nothing you need to worry about in those respects here. It’s merely a precaution I wish you to take,” he said, sounding more sure than he looked.
“The
n I hope not to see you later,” I answered with a smile.
“You’re going to be fine, Jacey. You remind me a lot of both of your parents. You’ll learn all about them and everything else jumping around in your mind.” He tapped a gentle blue finger to my right temple.
“Thanks,” I said, turning to enter Celeste’s office and meet up with the others.
“We have our schedule and I’ve compared it to yours and Vincent’s. It seems Herecerti made it possible for all of us to have our breaks together, so Hudson and I’ll meet you in the concourse out back at first break,” Jen said.
“All right,” I said apprehensively. I was worried about the classes I was going to attend, but I was more worried about how I was going to respond to Vincent for the remainder of the day. I knew some of my thoughts were neon-sign readable, so I needed to find a way to hide most of them, sooner rather than later.
Along with my Vincent dilemma, another thing gnawing at me had to do with the color red. I definitely hadn’t forgotten the chill I got from the redhead earlier today. Note to self, find out who she is and avoid her at all costs. I needed to get Jen alone before she took off with Hudson and ask her a few things before I was left to my own wits for the next couple of hours.
“Do you think you could show me where the washroom is before you guys take off?” I asked Jen, praying she’d catch the ‘hey I need to talk to you’ look in my eyes.
“I have a copy of our schedule and I can get us to class on time if you want to go to the washroom first. Hudson and I can wait for you guys in the hall,” Vincent said.
“Thanks,” I said.
I grabbed onto Jen’s hand before she could protest and pulled her out into the hallway. I had no idea where I was going, but Jen didn’t pull away, so I figured I was heading in the right direction. When we were about five doors down from the office, Jen spoke up.
“Spill it.”
“Spill what?” I asked as I continued down the hall, waiting to see if the universal sign for the male and female washrooms were the same in this dimension.
“I know you don’t really have to go, so I figured you needed to talk about something,” Jen said, stopping both of us dead in our tracks.
“I’ll tell you as soon as we find the washroom,” I said, sounding kind of pathetic.
“Look up,” Jen said, pointing to a sign on the door directly in front of me.
Who would have guessed—the universal signs were the same. We were standing directly in front of the girls’ washroom. Jen held her hand up to the door and it opened instantly.
“I don’t think I’m gonna get use to that any time soon,” I said, going inside.
It was set up like any other school washroom I’d been in. There was a row of doors with toilets behind them. Across from them was a wall-length mirror reflecting the stalls. In the center of the room was an all-purpose tub.
I walked over to the sink and turned the water on, pretending to wash my hands. Jen caught on and came over beside me, joining in on the hand washing.
“Spill,” Jen said.
I kept my voice low, just above a whisper. “I can handle the class situation. I’m sure Vincent will funnel the brunt of the questions and anything else flowing my way to a reasonable level—so right at this moment that isn’t what I’m really worried about.” I looked at Jen, expecting her to be able to just figure it out. From her silence, I knew she was completely clueless.
“Did you notice a redheaded girl at the beginning of school hanging out in the front with a bunch of people?” I really hadn’t figured out yet if the people-beings who attended here didn’t mind being called people. Mental note to self—I needed to find out what the proper word for them was.
“No, I didn’t,” Jen answered.
“Well, I noticed her and she noticed me, and let’s say if looks could kill, I think she’d be quite happy if I was pushing up daises.” From the look on Jen’s face, I could tell she caught on to who I was asking about. She was about to answer me when we heard a toilet flush. We both shut up and looked at one another like two kids who’d been caught with their hands in the cookie jar. A bathroom stall opened and the redhead I’d been trying to get some info on sauntered out. Before the uneasy silence became completely unbearable, Jen broke it.
“Chanary, how are you?”
“Fine, Jen. Who’s your little friend?” she asked, sounding much more annoyed than curious.
“This is Hudson’s sister, Jacey. Did you see Heathe this morning?” Jen asked, now causing my interest to pique.
“I did. I think your friend here caused quite a stir,” she said while washing her hands in the sink. She didn’t spare me a glance. She finished and went over to the paper towel dispenser and tore off a couple pieces in short, violent bursts.
“Okay, then, hi Chanary, I’m Jacey.” I figured I’d try and be as polite as I could, considering I felt more annoyed at this point than I should’ve. I’d dealt with girls like this at almost every level of schooling. The pretty, popular, not so nice—that is in private, overly nice in public, usually man situations—kind.
She didn’t say a word. She looked at me through piercing green eyes and nodded once. She then turned her back on me and left the washroom.
“So, I guess that answers my question on who the redhead was this morning.” I chuckled slightly, not whispering any more.
“She’s not someone you really want to mess with, Jacey. She’s known for her quick temper,” Jen said, looking very serious.
“I only wanted to know who she was so I could avoid her. I have no idea why she doesn’t like me. Why’d you ask her about Heathe?” I asked.
“Heathe’s her brother. Heathe and Vincent have been best friends for like forever. They pretty much grew up together. She kinda has this thing for Vincent.” Jen finished, looking at me like I should know what she was thinking.
“I’ve already made a mental note to avoid her and I don’t think I’ll have a problem doing that.” I tried to sound more confident than I felt.
“What’s with me and washrooms?” I asked, trying to bring some jocularity to the situation.
Jen smacked me on the shoulder as we both left, chuckling. We stopped outside the washroom and walked right into the middle of a conversation between Hudson, Vincent, and Chanary.
“Hey, Jacey, have you met Chanary yet? She’s Heathe’s little sister, the Sentry guy we were talking with earlier,” Vincent said. I guess he hadn’t noticed we’d just met in the washroom.
“Hi, Jacey, nice to finally meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you and can’t wait for all of us to get together.” This new polar opposite of the original Chanary I’d met in the washroom not thirty seconds prior said. I was sure now I’d see this version every time Vincent was around. I was also sure I wouldn’t forget the real one. I can play this game, I thought, bring it on.
“Nice to meet you, too. I’m sure that whenever Vincent and I have a spare minute, we’ll be able to meet up and get to know one another…a little better,” I said, sounding as sweet as I possibly could without making myself sick.
Jen and I didn’t miss the look I got from Chanary, but Vincent and Hudson did as they were comparing the schedules Celeste had given us. When I finished, both of them looked up with very inquisitive looks on their faces. I’m sure it was because of the unfamiliar syrupy voice I’d used while talking to Chanary. Once she noticed the guys looking at us, her mood and demeanor changed.
“Can’t wait. Well, hope to see you at lunch,” she said, more to Vincent than to me. She turned on her heels and walked away. Jen elbowed me in the ribs. I looked at her and she mouthed the words, ‘be careful’ while at the same time trying to hide a smile.
“We all better get going,” Vincent said, taking my arm to turn me around to head in the opposite direction than Chanary. Before I was completely turned around, Hudson came up to me and embraced me.
“You’re gonna be fine. I’ll see you at break.” He let me out of his bear hug and turned away
before I could even respond. He and Jen headed off in the same direction as Chanary.
“That was weird,” I said to Vincent.
“He’s worried about you. He knows you’re going to be facing a lot in the next while, Jacey. It’s quite obvious he wants to help you through everything but he knows you have to do some of it on your own.”
“But, I’m not really alone, am I?”
“No, you’re not,” he replied without the slightest hesitation.
So, this is Nemele and I survived the first hour without breaking a sweat, so to speak. As Vincent and I headed to my first ever class here, I found I wasn’t worried about all the things Hudson was concerned about. I was more worried about a certain redhead I was sure could cause me some real drama. That was something I knew I wanted to avoid, but at the same time, I realized even if I’d been able to avoid her today, there would’ve come a time where she and I would have met…so I could wallow in thoughts of what was to come with her or because of her, or I could worry about that later. I chose later. Let the fun begin.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
New Girl,
Surprise!
Who needs training?
Well obviously—
That would be me.
We walked back down the flight of stairs which had originally led us to Herecerti’s office and veered right. We came to a floating wooden door with a symbol on it which reminded me of a stick figure with a cross under it. We stopped.
“Where are we?” I asked before Vincent was able to reach up and open the door.
“At your first class,” he replied. He then tried to reach up and open the door but was stopped short by me grabbing his hand before he could touch the symbol.
The instant our skin touched, a flurry of butterflies attacked my stomach. Only through sheer willpower was I able to anchor myself while I held his hand.
“But…what class is it?” I asked, sounding a tad bit like I was hyperventilating.
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