Chapter 5

Chapter 5

I was too tired to cry so I fell asleep instead. About seven hours into the trip, I woke up. The skies were darkened and the sun seemed ready to slip to the other side of the hemisphere.

Blearily eyed, I sat up and rubbed my eyes. The driver noticed me awakened and told me that we would arrive in thirty minutes or so depending on traffic. Unfortunately, there was no traffic and we arrived there in ten minutes.

The first thing I noticed was the twenty feet high gates that seemed to go on forever. They looked as if they were ready for any intruders that wanted to get in. The next thing I saw was the five story building. It had a castle-like charm to it that could've come right out of Romania. It stood out looking ancient and sophisticated, unlike the normal, plain office building types they have elsewhere. I stood motionless, looking at what would be my new school, my new home, my new life.

"We're here Miss Gilbert," the driver reminded me, bringing me back to my dream state. He waited patiently in the front for me to get out. I said my thanks and got out of the car to unload my luggage.

My palms were sweating and I began to lose my grip on my luggage as I walked up to the humongous gate that stood before me. I didn't know how to get in but the gate opened right when I got close to it. I followed through all the motion and walked up to the huge castle in front of me. I was about to knock the old, aggrandizing door but it opened before I had a chance.

A man who might've looked like a college student stood before me. He had glasses that made him seem intelligent beyond his years and wore a regular pair of jeans and a dark t-shirt. He held a clipboard with messy papers all scattered on his left arm and a pen in his right hand.

"You must be Julie Gilbert, I assume?" he asked with a slight Romanian accent. His accent was strained as if to make it sound more American but the accent still stuck. If he wasn't a teacher, he would've been a kind of boy that everyone would be swooning over. His accent and his good young handsome looks would be easy to attract any females including students.

"That's me," I said meekly.

He gave me an open smile revealing his straight, white teeth. "Well, come on then."

He led me in the huge castle-like building. The interior of the building had a more homey sense. It wasn't a castle or a school like I thought it would be. "This is the teacher's building," he said as if reading my thoughts. "Students are allowed to visit when they need extra help and we usually hold the school parties here in the ball room," he continued when we passed by.

The ball room was the largest room I have ever seen in my life. It was so spacious that I was pretty sure it was two times big as a football field. The young man must've seen my eyes bulge. "We have a huge number of kids attending the Academy so it is necessary to have a huge room for school activities." I nodded, still speechless as he led me to the end of the hallway and stopped at a door. "This is my office," he said and opened the door.

The room was something of a luxurious office that every teacher would die for. A mahogany desk sat at one end with a bookshelf peering behind it. My jaws dropped to the floor. There was a flat screen TV, leather couches, and expensive paintings on the wall.

"This is just my office. Teachers stay here in the Academy here for significant reasons and we each have a door leading to our rooms," he said as he pointed to the door at the corner of his office. "Please have a seat Miss Gilbert."

I did as I was told. I sat on a soft cushioned seat that faced his desk. "So let's get things started. I am John Emerson, current principal for the time being," he said smiling. " Now this school as you may know is very...different than others. What you may not know is that there are secrets in this Academy that no one from the outside may ever know."

This instantly grabbed my attention. "Go on," I said slowly.

"Well first question is to you Miss Gilbert. Have there been any strangers that have been following you after you took the test or have you felt that you were being followed?" he asked. My blood froze. John Emerson must've felt my unease and went on with his unending questions. "Who attacked you?" he said in a serious tone.

"I don't know but how-"

"WHO?" he said pressing on.

"I-I don't know. He looked so familiar. He wore all black and he had really dark, black hair. His eyes were somewhat hazel with a tint of red," I said recalling back at the amusement park. I didn't want to remember the memory. The memories of Daniel flowed back to me and I felt a wave of homesickness.

I was so sucked into thinking of home that I almost didn't catch John cussing under his breath. "Why?" I asked him. "Do you know this stranger?"

"That's not an important question," he said. "You'll be safe here. No one can ever come and harm you, ever," he said sternly.

"Why? Is someone coming after me?" I said. This still didn't make any sense.

"No exactly. You see, this Academy is for kids like you. Kids who have..." he paused trying to find the correct words. "...special abilities as you might put it."

"You're saying that I'm supernatural?" I asked him surprise. I almost laughed but caught myself when I saw his serious face. "You're kidding, right?"

"No, of course not. I am dead serious," he said. He pulled a hand over his dirty blonde hair. He looked much younger when he was stressed like that. Stress seemed to have an opposite effect on him. "You and the kids here at the Academy are a special, unique kind of people. We have different abilities called Aces. I have an Ace for mind sharing," he said simply.

At first, I thought he was pretty cute, even if he was older and higher authority, but now I thought he was some crazy guy. "Okay, well great to have met you but I think it's best if I leave," I said standing up.

John Emerson sighed, rather looking bored as if he had done this a thousand times. "Would you like proof?" he said uninterested.

"As a matter of fact, that would be nice," I challenged. There was no way, no scientific proof that any of the stuff that came out of his mouth could possibly be true. But all doubts left when I heard something in my head.

Miss Gilbert. Let's please stop playing games and get down to business. I flinched. It was impossible. It had to be bending some law of science. Maybe it was just my conscience I told myself. Go away I said to myself in my brain trying to wave out whatever weird thoughts I had. That's not a very nice thing to say especially to the principal even if I am only a few y ears older than you the voice said obviously irritated.

"That was not you," I scowled. I was in denial. It just wasn't possible.

"Don't you ever feel calm when you're near nature? Doesn't the scent of the woods make you happy and gives you some sort of energy? Haven't you ever noticed some random strangers on the streets looking at you weirdly?" he said basically getting everything correct.

I did feel calm when I was back at home in my woods but didn't everyone have their own personal space where they could just relax? However, I did have strangers looking at me weirdly when I was little. That was a small, little memory I remembered. I would walk down the streets with my parents and have strange people looking at me. Since I was only a kid, I didn't think anything suspicious until now.

I sat there silently, letting all the facts sink in. I have an Ace apparently, my life's in constant danger, and I was basically stuck here forever.

"It's not that bad, Julie," he said informally by calling me by my first name. He smiled, making him look like some sort of model. Oh god.

"What Ace do I have?"

He paused to think about what to say. "There's so many things I have to explain first. If you hear me out..."

"Tell me."