Awakening (The Way Chronicles Book 1) Page 9

"Then, let's get you packed," my dad replied. "You'll be moving into the dorms, what? The day after tomorrow, I guess?"

  The rest of the day and the next went by in a blur of making emergency runs to the store, packing, and checking, and double checking bags. All the while, I had a nagging guilt in the back of my head. I wanted to tell them the truth so badly. But I couldn't. They'd never believe me and it would only put them at risk for me to stay. If I stayed they could get hurt or worse.

  I couldn't let that happen. Not then. Not ever.

  Chapter Twenty–One

  As the car rolled up in front of the ‘school’. I couldn't help but stare. We were about twenty miles outside the city limits, at the strangest complex I'd ever been to. It looked more like a castle than a school and that was only partially to do with the five towers that made the corners of the pentagonal wall.

  My mom and I were led inside by a middle aged woman I didn't recognize, while my dad and another man I didn't know began unpacking my things.

  Our guide was pretty and plump, with curly copper hair and a voice that you couldn't help but smile at. She didn't stop talking the whole time she led us down the cobble stone path under the shadows of the high walls.

  The whole campus was enclosed by these walls and the woman recited some history to us about it having once been a fortress designed to keep blah blah blah from killing blah blah blah. See, it didn't matter because I could tell she was lying.

  You sensed it too?

  "Yeah, almost everything she's said about this place is a lie." I replied silently. "But how do I know that?"

  What's your catchphrase, lately?

  I growled at him under my breath and turned my attention back to the tour.

  The cobble stones under my feet led us between row upon row of two story buildings dwarfed by the five story walls surrounding them. We passed shops, restaurants, an ice cream shoppé, and even a small, old-fashion movie theatre.

  "It's like a little town." My mom was amazed and our guide went off on yet another load of bull crap. We came to a sharp turn in the path and I saw a large green lawn in the shape of a pentagon, upside down to the walls in middle of campus. Students were milling about, some were throwing a Frisbee, others were just sitting around enjoying the sun.

  The tour continued down another cobble stone road toward the dorm structure. I was staying in a newer addition to the campus. It was four stories tall, with a big, glass front and balconies on the corner rooms, it looked more like a hotel than a dormitory, but I wasn't complaining.

  We got to the door and found my dad and his helper waiting on us. As we walked through the lobby, I found my attention drawn to the fountain/statue designed to look like Atlas holding the world. The water flowed out of the top of the globe and ran down the slick grey surface into a pool filled with coins. We arrived at the fourth floor and walked down the hall to the very end.

  "Room 417," our guide lilted. "This will be you."

  My breath caught in my throat when I saw the room. My mom couldn't speak. My dad just let out a whistle and gave me a firm pat on the shoulder.

  The "room" was actually two rooms. The entrance opened instantly into a kitchen/living room combo with a bar separating the two and there was a door that opened into the bedroom to the right. The far wall had three large, floor-to-ceiling windows, one of which was actually a sliding door leading to my balcony.

  We moved my things in and put my sheets on my bed. As soon as we finished that, we were ushered out and shown how to get to my classes, which I unfortunately failed to memorize. Before I knew it, I was saying goodbye.

  I hugged them both tightly beside the car. "I love you guys."

  "We love you, too, Way." My mom said sweetly. "We're so proud of you making this decision all on your own. You're gonna do great here and remember," she waved her cell phone in the air. “You can call us anytime."

  "Oh, come on, Sarah," my dad laughed. "He's not gonna be calling us. He'll be calling her." He gestured to my arm where Raven's number had been just a few days before. I thought about telling him that it wasn’t like that anymore. I thought about telling him nothing was like he thought it was anymore. But I kept my mouth shut.

  "Listen, son." He put his hand on my shoulder. "Your mom's right. You're gonna do great here. Just remember how proud I am of you and how much I love you, okay?" He hugged me tight and my mom kissed my cheek.

  Far too soon they were driving away and for the first time in my life, I felt truly on my own.

  Nearly, the second they were out of sight the guide walked up to me.

  "We were never properly introduced," she held out her hand and I shook it. The lilt was gone from her voice but she still sounded friendly enough. "I'm Kathryn Lane and I teach perspicacity. You won’t have my class anytime soon if at all.”

  I nodded. Oliver had given me my real schedule along with the fake one I went over with my parents. "So, what do y'all call this place? The Midnight School for Boys?"

  She chuckled a little bit. "No, we don't call it anything except 'The School'. You'll learn to control your abilities here. The initial tests that we ran on you gave us a general idea of them, so we set your schedule accordingly." We began walking back towards my dorm. "If anything new surfaces we'll adjust your schedule."

  I shook my head, "You've got it all figured out don't you?" I sighed. "Wish I did too." I slumped away not wanting to return to my room. It was just too weird.

  I somehow arrived on the top of the walls looking out back towards the city. It was early evening as I climbed up onto the shingled roof of one of the corner towers.

  "At least that's one thing that's still the same," I sighed aloud and shielded my eyes as I looked out over the river and small forest that separated us from Maybury. "Sun still sets in west."

  And you're still sappy.

  "And you're still an ass." I muttered as the sound of someone pulling themselves up behind me reached my ears.

  “Well, that’s not very nice.” Raven laughed.

  “From what I’ve been told I’m not very nice.” I tried to joke back.

  She rolled her eyes and sat down next to me. "So what're you doing up here? I thought you'd be enjoying your new room." My face fell a little and she noticed. "What's wrong?"

  "Why do you always assume something's wrong?" I asked trying to hide my feelings by faking a yawn. "I'm just tired."

  "Really?" She asked unbelievingly. "Then why didn't you rub the back of your head like you usually do when you yawn?"

  I froze. She was the first person to ever call me on the whole, "I'm just tired" line.

  This chick...she's been paying a lot of attention to you.

  "I'm not sure whether that sounds sweet or stalkerish." I replied silently.

  Same.

  Out loud this time: "Well, maybe you're right." I sighed and hunched forward hugging my knees. "It's just."

  Suddenly, I felt five years old. Everything came crashing in at once. To put it simply, I broke down.

  I closed my eyes to fight the tears as my throat tightened. "I just can't–"

  I tried to clear my throat but it turned into a choked off sob. I felt Raven's arm wrap around me. Her bracelets dug into my right arm. I turned to my left and buried my head into her shoulder.

  I felt my whole body shake as the tears forced their way out of my eyes. "I just can't do this. I want my old life back. It was messed up and stupid but at least...at least...at least it was normal!"

  Raven was silent but wrapped her arms tighter around me. Of course, Zanj didn't keep his mouth shut.

  Normal? Kid, listen, you've never been 'normal'. You've had a second voice inside your head for longer than you can remember. You learned to fight at age six because if you didn't have something to hit you'd literally have breakdowns.

  "So what?" I demanded aloud. My shoulders heaved up and down. "I've just always been a freak is that it?"

  Way. That's not what I meant. You're special. You've been confronted by magic before a
nd I think this is your second chance to stand and fight back. I think you're meant for something special.

  "I don't want to be special," I sobbed shaking violently. "I just want to be normal."

  Sorry kid, that's not an option.

  I felt him pull back, leaving me to cry. And cry I did.

  As my tears fell they caught the dying light before crashing to the shingles like tiny diamonds. They shattered into pieces on impact scattering the light from the sun in a way that would have been beautiful at any other time.

  The sky grew dark by the time my tears had stopped. Raven and I sat on the roof clinging tightly to each other. Her shoulder was soaked and my throat felt like I had just gargled glass. My eyes burned and my sides ached. Honestly, I just wanted to lay down and not exist for a while.

  Chapter Twenty–Two

  I woke up, the next morning, to the sun striking my closed eyelids. I groaned and rolled over looking at my alarm clock.

  6:00.

  I forced myself up and rubbed the back of my head yawning. That day I was free to, ‘acquaint myself with the grounds’. Raven was supposed to come get me around 7.

  Raven. I remembered the last night and shuddered.

  After I had finally stopped crying, she'd walked me down to my room. I didn't remember anything after that.

  I got up and went into the living room having decided to eat and then shower. I looked around the room and froze in my door way. Raven was laying on my couch in the middle of the room.

  Her hair was messy and she was wearing the same clothes as last night. "You stayed here last night?"

  She jumped at the sound of my voice and rolled towards me. "Yeah," she composed herself and stood up. "I was worried about you."

  I smiled at her. "You're sweet."

  "I know," she hopped over the couch and landed in front of me. "What would you do without me?" She put her fists on her hips and grinned.

  "Probably die." I smiled and hugged her quickly. "What do you want for breakfast?"

  "You're cooking?" She raised an eyebrow. "I dunno, doesn't sound very safe."

  I laughed and turned towards my kitchenette.

  “Come on, chill at the minibar while I cook.” I turned on the stove and dug my frying pans out of one of the boxes I hadn't bothered to unpack the day before. I looked in my refrigerator and pulled out a carton of eggs, a pack of sliced cheese, a tin of biscuits, and the bacon my dad had made sure to stock me with plenty of.

  The biscuits went on a stone and into my oven while I started frying the bacon. When the bacon was done, I set it aside and fried four eggs. I opened the oven and split a few of the biscuits in half before slapping massive amounts of cheese into the middle.

  When everything was finished cooking, I took the biscuits out and put the fried eggs on the cheese laden biscuits before topping them with the bacon.

  "Wow!" Raven smiled at the plate I laid in front of her.

  "Thanks, I did my best." I slid a plate with two of the bacon, egg, and cheese biscuits across the counter to her. "Eat up!"

  She eyed the biscuit in joking suspicion then took a huge bite out of one. "Holy…” She swore with her mouth full. "This is awesome."

  "Thanks," I smiled at her and we ate in comfortable silence for a while. The biscuits were smothered with so much cheese it dripped off onto my plate. I finished eating and watched as she ate slowly savoring her biscuits.

  "That was great," she leaned back rubbing her belly. "Thank you."

  "You can chill on the compliments and ‘thank you’s." I laughed. “In fact, I should thank you for last night.”

  "What else was I gonna do?" Her smile softened. "Ditch you and go sleep peacefully in my room?"

  "That's what most people would have done." I said watching her come around to my side of the bar.

  "And..." She rested her hand on the counter and leaned her head to the side. "...since when have I been most people?"

  "I don't know," I smirked. "I've known you for a week."

  She cocked her head the other way and pouted jokingly. "What's that supposed to mean?"

  "It means that I really oughta get to know you better.”

  “Well, then let me show you around today.” She smiled at me. “I’ll run to my place and change and meet you in the lobby in about thirty minutes.”

  “Only thirty minutes to get ready?” I laughed, following her to the door. “Are you sure you’re the girl here?”

  “Not my fault you’ll probably fall back asleep in the shower,” she teased and I couldn’t help but laugh.

  “I’ll try not to this time,” I opened the door for her.

  “See you in a few minutes,” she smiled stepping outside.

  We stood there awkwardly for a moment.

  “Um, yeah, see you soon.” I closed the door quickly and went to the bathroom as fast as I could.

  Smooth dude. Really. Just top notch.

  Chapter Twenty–Three

  We spent the day roaming all over campus; visiting stores, making sure I knew where classrooms were, this time I memorized them, and other stuff like that. After a while, Raven led me to a small jewelry store set against the back wall.

  It was a literal hole in the wall and when I say literal, I mean that literally. A small section of the outer wall was carved out and inside was this tiny little old looking shop run by a tinier, littler, older looking lady who smiled as Raven and I came in.

  "Looking to get something for the lady?" She asked in a sweet voice.

  She had to be at least a hundred years old judging by the look of her. She was wizened from age with deep smile lines all over her face and large liver spots on the back of her hands.

  "Actually, I'm here to pick up something for him," Raven surprised me. "Remember that special order I put in for Oliver?"

  "The–" she began but Raven shushed her.

  "It's a surprise don't say it out loud." She cut her eyes at me and I narrowed mine at her.

  "Oh, of course," the old lady smiled and moved with surprising speed into the back. She came back out within moments carrying a small box. "Here you are dear. I hope he enjoys them as much as I enjoyed making them."

  "You got me a present?" I raised my eyebrow at her when we got outside.

  "Not technically," she stuck the box in her pocket awkwardly. "It’s technically from Oliver. He just had me pick it out. He always gives his new students a present to help their work.”

  She brushed past me back towards the main street. As we walked, the smell of dough and tomato sauce washed over me.

  "Oh, sweet baby Jesus," I turned in place. "Where is that coming from?"

  "Over here," Raven smiled at me gesturing me over to a small Italian restaurant.

  "Mario's," I read the sign by the door as she walked in ahead of me then added in disbelief: "Seriously?"

  "Come on!" She called over her shoulder.

  "Might as well have named it 'Cliché'." I muttered following her inside.

  Within a few minutes, we were seated and I had ordered a large prosciutto pizza for the two of us.

  "So, what is prosciutto?" Raven asked as the waiter walked away.

  "Sliced ham," I smiled as she made a face like she was throwing up. "Come on," I laughed. "Just give it a shot. It's actually really good."

  "If it sucks, you owe me." She replied, eyes narrowed.

  "And if it doesn't?"

  At that moment, I heard a scuff and a tinkling behind me. I spun throwing out my hands. Time slowed down as I slid my hand under the serving tray removing it from the falling waitresses grasp.

  As time came back to reality, I caught her in the crook of my arm until she got her feet back underneath her.

  "Grazié." Her accent was so nice I didn't want to make her switch to English.

  "Di niente," I replied in Italian, smiling at her. "Stai attento. Va bené?"

  "Si. Si. Grazie di nuovo." She took the tray and hurried back to the kitchen.

  I turned to sit down and saw Raven
staring at me. "You speak Italian?"

  "Yeah, of course," I replied sitting down. "What would be the point of learning Latin and not learning Italian too?"

  "Sorry, I forgot you learned Latin because of your mom, not for..." she cut her gaze to the side.

  "Exorcisms?" I asked chuckling.

  "Yeah, I can't even speak Latin really but I'd love to learn Italian." She shrugged then asked awkwardly. "Could you...maybe...teach me a little bit?"

  I smiled. "I'd be happy too!"

  About then, our waiter arrived with the pizza and Raven dug in.

  "Ok, so you were right." She said around a mouthful of ham. "This is really good."

  "I told you it would be!"

  "You know, I could teach you something, too. So we'd be even, you know?"

  "And what would that be?" I asked.

  "Sign language." she replied surprising me.

  "Why do you know sign language?" I asked confused.

  "Trevor," she shrugged. "He's partially deaf, but he makes do most of the time reading lips."

  My eyes flew open wide and my jaw dropped. "Are you serious? Oh crap, I'm pretty sure I've talked to him with my back turned before." I remembered the day we’d all three talked about chakras in my car and realized that I had definitely talked to him while I was walking away. "Crap, how much can he hear?"

  "A little bit," she shrugged. "I'm not sure how you'd quantify it."

  "Jeez, now I feel like an ass," I shook my head. "Speaking of him where's he been? And if y'all study magic here, why do you go to school in the city? And–" she cut me off before I could really get going.

  "Okay first," she lowered her hands. "He's coming back right now and second–" I had opened my mouth to ask another question but she'd held up her hand to stop me. "Oliver had me at that school in Maybury because he didn't want me falling behind in my normal studies. But now since he's got two protégés, and one of them can't be left alone–" she stuck her tongue out at me. "–I've been recalled here to the School."

  "So, that Skyler guy," I thought back to the ‘placement testing’. "He gave himself and Trevor titles: Brawler and Armory. You got a title like that?"