Realities Vengeance

Chapter 4: The Castle

When I woke up the next morning I decided I wanted to explore the enormous castle. I put on black pants and a denim shirt with simple shoes. I put my hair up in a bun, and checked my watch to see that it was almost 9:00am. I tried to remember the turns and stairs my grandmother had taken to get me to my room. I started walking through the halls and I got lost very quickly. I was starting to get a little panicked when I turned the corner and walked right into someone. I almost fell backward, but a strong arm caught me, and pulled me up. "Whoa, you okay there?" I heard a voice ask, and I looked up to find a good looking guy with a handsome face. I stepped away from him, "Yeah, fine." I said, and I started walking away, "I'm fairly sure I would remember a face like yours. Are you new?" he asked, and I turned around a little irritated, "Yeah" I said, a little impatient, and started walking away again, "I'm Kase Gander" he said. I turned back around to see him holding out a hand. I reluctantly shook his hand, "Esme Spinder" I said, and something flashed across his eyes. "I'm, sure I will see your pretty face around." he said with a wink as he walked away. I rolled my eyes and walked down the hall, right into my grandmother, "Oh, Esme, Follow me to my private study, and I will fill you in on any questions you may have darling." she said. I stared at her as she walked down the hallway. How did she know where I was?

When we walked into her private study my breath was taken away. It was very red and everything looked inviting. It was a luxury room with details everywhere you looked. She took a seat on the couch and patted it for me to sit next to her. I did, and then a sweet looking, older maid brought a tray of tea in and sat it on the table next to us. "Okay Esme, our family has a secret." she said, and I raised an eye brow, "I was starting to sense that." I said, and she smiled. "Reality is a very fragile thing." she said, and she picked up a tea cup and took a small sip, "What the average person considers normal, is only normal for that one person. That means each person has a different definition of normal. Our family has a very wide spectrum of normal. You know the forces of the world, right?" she asked, and I gave her a confused look. She let out a sigh and mumbled, "So much to catch up on." Then she seemed to realize I was listening and she straightened up, "The main forces of the universe are Nature, Time, Mind, War, Death, and Space." she said. I was totally confused as to why she was telling me this, but all I did was give her a nod. "If no one was able to tap into these forces they would be long forgotten, and no one would think about them as forces. They would mostly be thought of as one, not separate dominions." she took another sip of tea, and I tried to wrap my head around what she was saying. "Your parents never wanted you to be part of our world, but you got a gift, and now they have to let you see the other side. That is why your father sent you here. He isn't actually going on a business trip to China, he just needed an excuse to send you to me", she said. I raised an eye brow, "Really?" I asked, and she nodded, "It was time you finally realize who you really are." she said, and I gave her a curious look. "Esme, you have been part of a special type of human race since the day you were born." she said, and my head did a flip. "There are people in our world that have been given gifts from these different dominions, and they usually tend to run in families. Like you and me." she said, and I continued to only stare at her, "With these six categories there are also creatures of the imagination. For example, your mother is elfish." she said, and I stood up suddenly. "You must think I'm crazy to think I would believe all of this stuff." I said, and she didn't seem fazed by my explosion. "Esme, you have been living with proof since the day you were born. No normal child is like you. I wasn't sure, but as soon as I met you I was positive you were part of this world." she said, and I slowly sat back down, "My mother is not an elf." I said, and my grandmother looked amused, "Yes she is darling. Have you ever noticed how she seems to barley age where other women age quickly? Have you noticed her extreme grace, and how she picks up skill with no trouble at all?" she asked, and the truth was, I had. "Elves are just part of fake stories!" I said, and she closed her eyes and shook her head, "No, Esme, they are real. Where do you think people came up with the idea in the first place?" she asked, and I rubbed my head, "Wait, would that make me..." I trailed off, and she smiled, "Yes, your half elf." she said, and I was stunned, "I, I don't feel..... Elfish." I said, and she laughed, "You never knew you were elfish, which means you have never tried out any of the skills that elf's possess." she said, and she knew exactly what I was going to ask next, "Elf people are usually slender, have amazing vision, and they have unique physical traits." she paused, waiting for it to sink in. "Your eyes are not of human capability, your slender, and you might have noticed but you have amazing vision." she said, and I rubbed my head. I almost didn't want to ask the next question, "What is my father?" I asked, and she smiled, "He is one of the gifted, but he decided not to embrace his gift, so he has lost it, becoming mortal, much like many adults now-a-days." she rolled her eyes at this, and she was obviously upset about it. "What was his gift?" I asked, and she smiled at the thought, "He was gifted with the mind category like most of the people in our family. He could sense people's emotions. It wasn't very powerful, but it was something." she said with a shrug, then she looked at me, "You, my darling, are a mix of the two most powerful beings in this new level of reality", she said as she tapped my knee. I rubbed my temples, "What does that mean?" I asked, and she gave me a huge grin. "It means that you are the newest member of the Academy for the Gifted." she said gesturing to the castle. I stood up, and started pacing back and forth. "First off, no. I love my home in Florida, and I love my school. I don't want to live in a French castle full of a bunch of weird people! I am an ordinary teenage girl. I have a normal life back in Florida and I have no intention of leaving it behind. I don't know what you are talking about, and I want to go home." I said. She sat patiently through my rant. I stopped and looked at her once I finished, and she only wore a small smile, "Precious Esme, I know you are much too smart to believe that you can live a normal life after learning the truth about your family. You have abilities that are going to keep showing up, and you will have no way to understand, or control them. Here, at this school, we teach and help people like you learn about themselves. Here you can embrace who you really are, and you can become the person you were meant to be", she said. I shook my head, "I don't care about who I'm meant to be. I want to go back to my normal life, I don't like it here." I said. She closed her eyes, "Esme, how can you know you don't like it here if you haven't been here for more than twelve hours?" she asked with a challenging eye brow and I looked away with a groan. "How about we make a deal?" she asked, and I looked back at her, "Like what?" I asked, and she tilted her head, "How about you spend the summer with me, and if you still want to go back to your home in Florida, then you can." she said, and I realized that I wasn't going to get a better offer, so I agreed. "So, does this school go year round?" I asked, and she nodded, "There is no time for breaks." she said, "How about you have a look around while we set up your dorm." she said, and I walked out of her offices irritated, confused and moody.