Lux Academy; The Beginning

CHAPTER ONE: "L"

I woke up early, the sun barely a slit against the horizon of endless trees. I yawned and stretched as I sat myself up on my rickety bed. Groggily, I got dressed, throwing on an old white shirt, severely damaged navy blue jeans, a pair of white socks with holes in them, old worn-out leather boots, and a ragged black coat before I made my way to the kitchen.

"Good morning," my father said brightly, his voice rough like tree bark.

"Good morning," I mimicked, as I sat on one of the old wooden bar stools.

A plate with two pieces of golden-brown toast sat in front of me.

"Thank you, but you know I'm a big girl I don't need you to make me breakfast anymore."

"Oh, I know," my father answered. "But you're up late and you still must feed the animals. They can't feed themselves!"

Well, sometimes I wish they could! I inwardly groaned.

I was sick of this. Sick of this lifestyle. I had never experienced the world outside my father's little farm. I gazed at my scrawny hands. There were things I was missing out on.

What type of life is this? I'm fifteen and I've never met another person my age. I don't understand. What is this?

"Nora!" my father snapped, dragging me from my thoughts.

"Sorry," I mumbled.

"Well hurry up and eat your toast! You have jobs to attend to!"

As swiftly as I could, I ate my toast and without another word swept outside.

By this time the golden orbed sun had appeared higher on the bright blue canvas above.

I trekked over to the old wooden barn that resided near our small cottage house. The barn looked like it was going to collapse at the slightest gust of wind.

Slowly, afraid that the barn was going to collapse, I opened the door. It squeaked and groaned, a wretched noise for the ears.

I grabbed feed for my cow, Bertha, a lovely and gentle beast. I hauled it on my shoulder and made my way over to Bertha's small paddock.

In noticing my presence, she let out a loud moo and made her way over to me. Her pelt was snow white with large black spots that looked like ink blotches.

I smiled as she approached me. I reached out a hand and gently stroked it across her cheek.

"You're a good cow, aren't you?" I cooed.

In fact, you're my only friend.

I spiraled down into my dark and lonely thoughts once again.

"A cow. My only friend?" I said out loud.

I am really living the best life, I thought with bitter sarcasm.

Bertha let out a demanding moo.

"Sorry, I forgot I had to feed you," I admitted, as I poured her feed into her damaged steel feeder.

Bertha eagerly tucked into her food which put a small smile on my face. "You really are sweet, aren't you?"

I examined the trees that surrounded our small farm like a green fortress, trapping me in, when something unusual caught my eye.

It was a barn owl, slim and pale with a perfect heart-shaped face. Its dark obsidian eyes felt like they were drilling into me.

Strange. Why is it awake when it's daylight time?

Feeling slightly unnerved, I tried to shake it off as I made my back over to the shed. As I opened the door a blur shot past me, startling me out of my skin.

I was thoroughly confused and terrified when I noticed it was the owl, perched upon a pile of hay.

It stared at me and twisted its head before it seemed as if it had an expression of startle. It screeched, making me jump before it swept out of the barn.

I breathed a heavy sigh of relief, something about that owl made my skin prickle as if ants were crawling over it.

To distract myself from feeling unnerved I decided to finish feeding the rest of the animals and clean the filthy barn. After back-breaking work, I was exhausted, and my body felt heavier than stone. I slowly trudged back towards the house, I was almost at the solid oak wood door when something flittered slowly in front of me like a feather.

I raised my head, thoroughly consumed by startle. The owl from before hovered in front of me before it swept away.

I was becoming increasingly confused and scared.

Unsure of what to expect, I cautiously bent down and examined what the owl had dropped from its talons.

It was a letter. I carefully picked it up and turned it over. It had a large yellow wax seal imprinted with the letter "L".

What is this?

As I entered the house, I tore into the letter, revealing a parchment of paper that was clear and perfect, white as snow.

Before I even had a chance to take out the parchment encased in the letter my father abruptly snatched it from my hands.

I blinked at him, frustrated at his rudeness.

He examined it looking confused at first before he turned it over noticing the wax seal. His face became etched with an expression of anger.

"No," he spat before his gaze rested upon me. His usual calm and soft mahogany brown eyes were ablaze with anger. "My daughter will not be attending no ludicrous magic school!"

I felt curiosity flow through my veins. I was enthralled. I had always thought magic was something that only existed in the world of fairy tales. The thought that it existed in our world made me instantly excited. I wanted to know more. I needed to know more.

"Why can't I go? It sounds interesting. Knowing that magic exists makes me want to find out more about it. Surely you will let me go," I said.

"You will not be going," he dismissed.
"Why not?" I whined, voicing my sparking anger.

Why wouldn't he let me go? I wanted to explore something new and leave this farm.

"You wouldn't understand," he replied coldly. His expression was dark as if a shadow had fallen across his face.

I was about to probe further when I heard a tapping noise.

I whipped around to find the owl at the window, tapping on it with its crescent moon-hooked claws.

"That's the owl that gave me the letter!" I exclaimed. I rushed over to the window and flung it open.

The owl majestically swept inside, before it transformed into an elderly lady. She was short, and rather plump, with crinkly skin like a prune. Her snow-white hair was short and thin.

I gasped, completely flabbergasted.

Am I seeing things or did that owl seriously just turn into an old lady?

She turned her head towards me, her mud-brown eyes locked with my eyes. She gave me a warm smile before it faded, and she snapped her attention back to my father.

"Ah, Deacon Hart," she said rather bitterly. "I believe that your daughter, Nora Hart, will be in fact attending Lux Academy."

***Thanks for reading! I hope you stick with me as this story progresses. I need name and surname ideas, so feel free to comment or message me with your ideas! I can already tell this is gonna be one hell of a ride, I have BIG ideas!

Thanks again, everyone!***