Alchanore~ School for Magically Gifted

Chapter 1.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Chapter 1. - Inauguration ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Looking back over my life, I wonder if I would have done anything differently; if I were given the chance to go back to the start, to where it all really began.

I still remember when they found me, asleep in the snow. I mustn't have been much older than fourteen, though, admittedly; my memories are still a little scattered. When I opened my eyes and saw them looking down at me, it was like seeing world for the very first time.

New, unspoiled and infinitely virtuous.

That antecedent sensation amassed so peculiarly, it felt as if someone had flicked an internal switch from deep within me, suddenly awakening the inauguration of my life.

I squinted from behind heavy eyelids as my vision struggled to adapt to the vast abundance of light that bounced buoyantly off my snowy surroundings. Rapidly growing conscious of the weight of body, I remained motionless. Fallen victim to the deathly cold, my limbs felt detached from me- somehow; as though they were never really mine.

They lifted me from my snowy bed and carried me back with them. My body was so weak, my mind contended to focus clearly on the details. Black coats, I remember they wore black coats. Their faces were hidden behind thick fur hoods and their voices muffled into the whistles of the brisk, snowy wind.

The air was filled with a sweet aroma; It was like nothing I'd ever smelt before, it reminded me of warm vanilla with a hint of jasmine- the scent was soothing, calming. It lingered pleasantly over me as I drifted in and out of consciousness.

---

A sudden loud crashing awoke me preciptously from my slumber. I blinked bewildered as my eyes glimpsed around at the unfamiliar surroundings. I was in a square, tidy room- perhaps a hospital? I pondered. My stiff, cumbersome body was tucked up in a single bed. A firm, hard mattress lay uncomfortably beneath my rigid joints.

The walls around me were painted a robust olive green and had been considerably embellished with the systemized placement of several flower prints.

Three miss-matched chairs stood aliened against the right wall; the odd assortment added a rather quirky, homely feel to an environment that would usually be much more sterile.

Above the chairs was an open, wood-framed window which emanated an obnoxiously bright light.

I abstracted a heavy arm from beneath my covers in an attempt to shield my eyes from the luminance when my attention was drawn to lace white nightgown that I was now wearing.

Someone undressed me?! I gasped to myself, blushing a little at the thought.

An unusual spinning sensation washed over me as my eyes began to grow heavy, I felt myself drifting off as my gaze fell back upon the chairs. A small, tabby ginger cat stared toward me from the seat on the far left... I must be dreaming, I mused, as I ventured off to sleep.

The next couple of days were a disorienting conflict between my conscious and unconscious perceptions. My thoughts toiled to delineate between what was real and the surreal dreams which seemed to linger perpetually on my mind.

When I did manage to awaken, I'd focus my attention toward the three chairs. The next time I reviewed them, they were empty. I felt a slight pang of disappointment as I concluded that the tabby cat must not have been real.

However, the following time I studied the space the cat had reappeared, it sat glancing at me with large green eyes and it's head tilted slightly to the side, as if it were considering something.

Many times over those two hazy days the cat seemed to reappear and disappear at will, at one stage I could've sworn I'd even seen a second black and white cat sitting with the ginger, watching me curiously perched upon those mismatched, leather upholstered chairs.

"Errgh" I winched, as something soft prodded me in the cheek.

I squinted over to the source of contact where I spied a young, red-haired girl.

"You're soo unusual!" she exclaimed, her huge green eyes staring an inch away from my face in awe.

"Is it true, what they say? What ARE you?!" she continued.

I studied her freckled face in confusion, my head struggling to make sense of her peculiar questions. Her shoulder-length red hair was pulled back into two neat pigtails of ringlet curls which bounced energetically as she spoke. I stared at them from a moment, distracted.

"...what?" I eventually replied, bewildered.

Her disappointment at the inadequacy of my response was clearly evident across her face.

"Annabelle!" a voice called from the other side of the door.

The small girl jumped in surprise, then disappeared under the bed.

A nurse dressed in a neat white dress entered the room.

"Oh, hello there" she greeted, a warm smile stretched across her face. "Nice to see you're awake and feeling a little better."

I gave a small grin in response as the nurse organised what appeared to be some clean linen into drawers.

I peered curiously down the side of the bed when her back was turned, though, it seemed that the girl had disappeared. A few moments later, I caught a quick glimps of what appeared to be the tail of a ginger tabby slipping out of the open door....