by G. Bailey
“It was a lot easier to sneak in when I was younger,” Tobias huffs, glaring at the window as he sits up off the floor and grins over at me as I keep laughing.
“Whatever, loser. Get in here,” Quinton says from where he is sat on my bed. Quinton has had a growth spurt recently, and the once skinny boy is now quite bulky, with wide shoulders and a six pack I spotted a few days ago when he had his shirt off as he mowed the lawn for my mum. All the neighbours paid him to mow their lawns after seeing him doing mum’s.
“Where are Oisin, Noah and Knox?” I ask when no one else comes through the window after a while, because I thought they were coming here tonight as well. We always meet up on Saturdays at one of our houses to hang out. It’s almost like a ritual now.
“I just wanted to see you, speak to you before…” he pauses and rubs the back of his head. When Tobias walks past me to sit next to Quinton, I’m shocked how he is so much taller than Quinton even now. Tobias and his twin brother, Noah, are the same age as Quinton and me. His twin brothers, Knox and Oisin, are a few months older. His parents adopted them not long after Knox and Oisin’s parents, who were best friends with Tobias and Noah’s parents, died suddenly. Even though they aren’t blood related, they are brothers in every sense. Quinton is like the brother they adopted at some point, and I suppose I’m like their sister who they can’t get rid of if they tried.
“Before what?” I ask quietly. Each one of the boys has been acting weird this week…maybe that has something to do with it.
“Nothing. Knox, Noah and Oisin aren’t coming tonight. Mum and dad needed them for something,” he mutters, not really giving me an answer. When his eyes meet mine, I know he wants me to forget it.
“Alright. Nothing serious though?” I have to ask him.
“Nope. Now come here,” Tobias suggests, patting the space on the bed between him and Quinton. I walk over and sit between them, and we all lie back, looking up at the white ceiling. I try to ignore how different it has been feeling to be close to Tobias and Quinton and the others recently. Every time they touch me makes my cheeks burn red like they are starting to now.
“You remember what we all agreed on mine and Noah’s eleventh birthday?” Tobias asks Quinton and me as I turn my head to look at him. Seeing how serious he is makes me pause. Quinton answers before I do.
“That we would protect each other, always.”
“Remember that, Sleepy,” Tobias tells me firmly. “Always.”
They didn’t even say goodbye, not really. That was the last time I saw any of them. The next Monday, they didn’t turn up for school, and when I went to their house after to check on them, it was empty. The neighbour told me they had all moved out and left the village yesterday. I don’t even remember walking to Quinton’s and crying for the next week. Eventually, the sadness turned into anger that they didn’t even say goodbye.
Now that anger is just shock and confusion. They are descendants like me…maybe that is why they left, but then that doesn’t make any sense. If everyone is given the book on their seventeenth birthday, they couldn’t have left to come here when they were fourteen. My birthday is the latest in the year out of all of us, except for Quinton whose birthday is next week. It hurts that I’m not going to be celebrating it with him, and he is going to be alone.
“Madi…you okay?”
I shake my head and focus on Tavvy, knowing that I can’t change anything. “We all lived on the same street. All of the brothers and me.”
“I guess their parents wanted them to grow up around a female descendant from a powerful line,” Tavvy muses. “Unlucky that they chose you. The Tale brothers are not who you want to know around here.”
“Why would their parents want us to grow up together?” I ask her as I eat some toast after dipping it in my beans.
“Females are rarer for us, especially ones with descendant powers. The male to female ratio is way off. I think there are only twenty girls here and a hundred and thirty guys,” she says, and I look around. She is right, there are all guys here, and I can’t see another girl in sight.
“My parents told me they marry off people here. So how does that work if there are so many guys?” I ask, curious about it. Do some people just not marry? As I want to sign up for that.
“They didn’t explain that they usually choose four or five guys for one girl? It used to be two guys until about thirty years ago when they decided to propose more males to one female,” she says, and my eyes widen in shock. An arranged marriage to five guys? I don’t even see how it could work. Wouldn’t there be jealousy? It was difficult having five male friends growing up, but luckily, they never treated me like more than a friend…except for a few times in secret.
“No, they didn’t mention that,” I say, not knowing what else to say.
“It’s not that bad, don’t look so terrified,” she chuckles. “The male descendants look like gods around here. Five god-looking guys worshipping your every move…it isn’t that bad.”
“Right, but how would one girl even keep up with five guys?”
“I don’t know, but I am looking forward to finding out,” she winks, and to my surprise, I laugh.
“Wait, even if they did that, there aren’t enough females here for the males,” I say, doing the math in my head.
“Yeah, that’s true, but you take off the twenty percent that join the Masters’ army, and then the rest are married off to the descendants that didn’t get powers,” she says. “Only weak descendants get married off to non-powers.”
“What is the Masters’ army?” I ask, my confused look just makes her sigh a little, but she does tell me.
“They fight the dark fairy tales that love to kill us. Look, you’re going to learn a lot today, and not one bit of it is going to be good, but I’ll tell you one thing,” she says.
“What?” I ask.
“I’ll be there, and at least you will have a friend in this hell hole. I didn’t have that when I started here and no one would speak to me once I fell out with Ella,” she says, smiling at me. “Life as a descendant isn’t easy or safe without friends.”
“Are we safe here? From the dark fairy tales?” I ask quietly, because I feel anything but safe in this academy.
“For now, Madi. They are getting stronger, and that’s why you need to learn everything you can here,” she says and carries on eating her food in silence. I pick at my food, waiting for her to finish her food and wondering how dangerous it actually is in this world I’ve been thrown into.
Chapter 8
“Please take a seat over there, and it’s lovely to meet you, Miss Dormiens,” the teacher says when I walk in the room, following Tavvy closely. This whole place is a complete maze, and I couldn’t be more thankful for Tavvy right now. The teacher doesn’t seem surprised to have a new student, though when I think about it, she must have new students turn up all the time. The teacher looks about seventy, with a wrinkled face, grey hair up in a bun, and a long yellow dress on with a brown belt around her waist.
“Hi, it’s nice to meet you too,” I reply to her with a smile, and she nods with a strange look. I quickly pull my gaze away and shut the door behind me before looking around the classroom. The class only has ten people in it, all guys, and my eyes catch Noah’s straightaway as he sits at the back of the classroom, spinning a pencil on his desk. Noah never used to be able to sit still when we were younger, and it seems like that hasn’t changed at least. I wonder what fairy tale he is from; his looks don’t give me any clue. Noah just looks like your typical hot boy next door, but it is clear he isn’t exactly normal. No one in this room is.
“Here,” Noah says as I walk further in the room, reaching a hand out to hold out a seat next to him. I look over at Tavvy who sits at the desk nearer the front of the class, who has empty seats next to her. I mouth “sorry” to an annoyed looking Noah before going to sit next to Tavvy instead.
“You chose me over the hottie,” Tavvy says, flashing a surprised smile my way.
> “The hottie knows where I am if he wants to move,” I reply, shrugging a shoulder as I take my bag off and push it under the desk.
“You think I’m hot?” Noah asks, making me jump a little, and a few guys in the room laugh around us. Noah pulls out the seat next to me and sits down, pushing his bag under his seat next to mine before focusing all his attention on me.
“Only a little bit hot,” I reply, making his lips twitch.
“I’m offended. I was your first kiss, and I’m only a little bit hot?” he says, reminding me of the time we decided to practice kissing because everyone at school was doing it.
“We were eleven, it hardly counts. None of us knew what we were doing,” I say, ignoring how he leans close, so close I can feel his warm breath across my own lips when I turn to look at him.
“Should we practice kissing again? I will make sure it counts, Madi,” he whispers seductively in a way that I’m sure most girls would fall for.
“If we follow that rule, I’ll have to kiss you all. As I remember having five first kisses,” I whisper back, and he grins in a teasing way.
“Touché, Sleepy,” he chuckles, crossing his arms and leaning back in his seat, making me feel like I can breathe again.
“I see you haven’t changed all that much since we were kids. You always teased me with things back then,” I reply, and he nods.
“Though I’m better at it now. How is Quinton?” he asks me, but I don’t get to answer him, even though him just mentioning Quinton makes my heart ache and the smile on my lips disappear.
“So, class, we have a new student. Everyone, this is Miss Dormiens, and I’m Miss Cata,” she says, and I look away from Noah, thankful for the distraction. What could I tell Noah anyway? That I left Quinton just like they all did? That he is alone, and I miss him so much? “As we have a new student, I believe it would be best to have a refresher class on the very basics of our history. It will be good to see if any of you were listening,” she says, and there are several groans from other students around the room.
“Great. She does this every time someone new comes here,” Tavvy mutters next to me, crossing her arms and resting back.
“Who wants to go first?” Miss Cata asks, and most of the class sinks down further in their seats. Noah puts his hand up, and Miss Cata nods for him to speak.
“There are good and evil descendants, just like there are good and bad humans. We are descendants of the good fairy tales’ characters, though the villains in our stories are what are known as dark fairy tales. Every one of us has a dark fairy tale enemy whose powers can destroy us. Just like our powers can destroy them,” he says, and Miss Cata nods. In my fairy tale, there was an evil fairy who could transform into a dragon. That doesn’t sound good.
“Yes, and that is why the Masters’ army was created. The Masters’ army fights them every day to keep ourselves and humans safe. The Masters’ army is free for any descendant to join, but there are rules for joining. Does anyone want to say them?” she asks, and a guy near the front puts his hand up.
“Relationships are forbidden. You cannot leave once you have joined. The only way to leave the army is death or a great honour. Once you enlist in the Masters’ army, the army protects you no matter what, and you do whatever they tell you to do or face death,” the guy solemnly says. That sounds like a crap deal.
“Yes, all correct. Now, can anyone tell me about the Masters themselves?” she asks, and another guy puts his hand up and leans back in his seat before he starts talking.
“The Masters are a group of five descendants from the strongest lines. The Masters control the army, the homes, the schools and everything we need to stay safe in our lives. Each Master has a council of five trusted descendants, and they pass judgement on everything in our community,” the guy explains, looking over at me for a second, and I smile at him. Something seems to spook him as he quickly looks away. I glance over at Noah who has his arms crossed, watching the teacher with a smirk on his lips. Strange.
“Very good. As most of you know, the Masters took control over two hundred years ago to stop the ongoing war between our races. Only, the dark ones didn’t want to stop the war, so the Masters ended up protecting us instead with a united front. They are the most powerful of our race, and their children will take their places when they retire at the age of fifty,” she says, looking over at us for a second before looking away. “Now everyone come and get a book from the front and continue reading for the next hour. I expect you to take notes because you will be tested on this. Miss Dormiens, you need to catch up, so you are expected to do reading in your personal hours. For now, start at the beginning.”
“That sounds like a lot of work,” I groan, meaning to say it quietly, but everyone hears, and there are a few snickers as Miss Cata narrows her eyes at me.
“I have every belief that you will catch up shortly,” she replies and claps her hands. “Come on, we do not have all day.” I quickly get up at the same time as everyone else and grab a book off the front desk before returning to my seat. I open the book to the first page, noticing how Noah and Tavvy open theirs to somewhere in the middle of the book before I start to read.
The book starts off with explaining how descendants hid their powers from the humans by magically blessing islands off the coast of Ireland, and over the years, the humans forgot the islands existed. The islands cannot be found by a human anymore, therefore they are a safe place for our kind to live. Most descendants choose to bring their children up off the island so they can have a normal life, but if a child is brought up on the island, they can be told about their heritage early. I frown when a ripped piece of paper is slid onto the page in my book, and I look up, checking the teacher isn’t looking before unfolding it.
Skip the next class with me? I want to spend some time with you. Alone. -Noah.
I look over at him and shake my head when he smirks at me. I’m not skipping any classes on my first day. I slide the note into my pocket before going back to reading about how the dark fairy tale descendants have their own island. I look over as Noah rips another piece of paper off a notebook he has on his desk and quickly writes something on it. He grins at me as he slides it onto my book again. I roll my eyes at him before opening the note.
You have health class next. Everyone skips it. Come with me, Sleepy. I know you have a million questions buzzing around in that pretty head of yours. -Noah
“Go with him, I will cover you. He is right, no one bothers with that class. Most seventeen-year-olds know about sex and how to have a baby by now. They only make us go to the class to make sure we girls understand the basics and repopulate. It’s gross,” Tavvy whispers to me, and I turn to see her looking over at the note. She winks at my low chuckle and hands me a pen. I quickly scribble on the note and pass it back to Noah. I watch him open it, and I bite my lip when he grins at me before sliding the note into his pocket. I look down at my book and try to read it instead of thinking about spending time alone with Noah Tale.
Chapter 9
Noah slides his arm around my shoulders after I say goodbye to Tavvy, who looks pleased with herself before walking off. I don’t know what is going through her head about Noah and me, but I’m not encouraging her. I let Noah guide me down the corridors, towards the main hallway which is filled with students going to their lessons. Most stop to look at us or start whispering as they flash glances my way. I look over as I spot Ella with two blond guys at her side, all of them are stood with their arms crossed, watching us with serious expressions. I wave at Ella, who doesn’t wave back, but instead she narrows her eyes at me.
“Ella is not someone to be friends with in here. She has been trying to get close to us since we moved to the island,” Noah warns me, and I look up at him as we get to the doors at the end of the corridor he has led me down.
“You moved to the island? Is that where you all went?” I ask him as he lets me go to put his hand on the doorknob. I try to hide the pain in my voice, but I’m pretty sure he hea
rs it anyway.
“Yeah, our parents moved us here and told us about our heritage early,” he explains, flashing me a slightly sad look before looking away towards his hand. I gape as his hand glows bright yellow, and a burning smell drifts to me. When he moves his hand away and the glow is gone, I can see he has burnt a hole where the handle used to be, and he effortlessly pushes the door open.
“So, you glow? What is your descendant power?” I ask him as I walk into the glass house we have stepped into. Noah closes the door behind us, not answering me as I stare around the room. The greenhouse is huge, filled to the rim with multi-coloured plants and even some trees, by the looks of it. There is a yellow stone path down the middle that leads to a circle waterfall with brown benches all around it.
“My heritage is a little hard to explain, but let’s go and sit before I tell you,” he suggests, waving a hand at the benches. Purely because I want to know what his descendant power is, and just because I want to talk to him, I follow.
“I’m guessing you’re something to do with light?” I ask, waiting to see.
“Close,” he says, sitting right next to me and looking over at the water falling from the fairy statue’s hands in the middle of the waterfall.
“Out with it then,” I say, turning a little and running my finger over the water in the basin.
“Okay, so my family always has twins. Every single generation has had powers, no exception. Our line is close to the human’s fairy tale of the sun and the moon. The human’s fairy tale says a mother cursed her children because of how they acted. The one man was cursed to always burn and be hated. The daughter was blessed to be cool and loved. But I glow like the sun, literally, and Tobias glows like the moon. He freezes things though, not burns them like me,” he explains, and I’m a little speechless for a moment.