Discovered

Chapter 2

When I finally found my way back to my dorm, I could barely keep my eyes open for another minute. I all but stumbled into the room, hardly taking note of the blank walls and boxes I've refused to unpack before I fell onto the mattress. I kick off my shoes and stare at the ceiling, Thomas's jacket still around my shoulders as my eyes close and I finally fall into a dreamless sleep.

I was woken up against my will the next morning, my eyes crusted with sleep and the remnants of my tears. The once quiet dorm was now filled with the sounds of someone banging on my door. Well, someone was knocking on my door, but with how quiet it was it sounded more like banging. I tried to just stay quiet and hope that whoever they were that they would leave and I could go back to sleep. They didn't.

Reluctantly I got out of bed and opened my door just enough to peek out and see who was waking me up this early in the morning. I was greeted by a bubbly brunette about to knock once again.

"Oh, good morning!" She chirped, her brown eyes sparkling with excitement.

How could anyone be so perky so early in the morning? "Morning," I reply, fighting a yawn. "not to be rude but... who are you?"

"Oh my gosh, I am so sorry! My name is Lilly; Lilly Ward." She holds out her hand so I have no choice but to open the door more to shake her hand.

"Annabelle Jones." I shake her hand, a bit weary of her bubbly demeanor but my mother raised me with manners.

"I know! Professor Azure asked me to be your guide while you get settled in." The excitement in her caramel brown eyes matched the smile that looked border line painful. The stretch of her cheeks drew my eyes down to the symmetrical freckles above her lips.

I glance back towards my bedside table to see the clock read 5:00 AM. I swallowed the groan that threatened to escape as I turned my attention back to the bright eyed and bushy tailed girl in my doorway. "I thought that classes didn't start until 7:30?"

"They don't but I thought it would be helpful to give you a more detailed tour of campus before your first class."

I'm too tired to try and argue against her so I instead let her in my dorm so that I can get ready. I toss the jacket that that guy from last night let me borrow on the back of my desk chair. What was his name again? Tony... Trevor... Oh, Thomas. That's right. I almost thought it was all a dream, but the jacket was proof enough that I was actually living this nightmare.

"I see you haven't unpacked much." I saw Lily looking around curiously, though she was polite enough not to touch anything.

"Yeah, I guess I just haven't really gotten around to it."

IT doesn't take long for me to get ready and soon enough I was following along as Lily was rambling off about the history of Hekate Academy.

"Hekate Academy was founded over two thousand years ago by a high priestess who claimed that Hekate herself told her to open the school in her honor for all the young mages to learn their craft in safety."

I was only half paying attention to what she was saying. Not that the history wasn't kind of interesting, cause it was. It's just that she was talking so fast and I couldn't help but look around at all the intricate carvings on almost every inch of campus. Even I had to admit that everything looked like it was out of a fairy tail. overgrown vines snake up all the pillars and the remnants of flower bushes slowly dying in the Autumn chill line the pathways.

As soon as we came to the courtyard, my eyes landed on a statue dead in the center of everything. It was a statue of a woman standing tall, in a long robe with a torch in each hand. Something about her was almost... comforting? She looked like she held wisdom well beyond her years and she'd share it all with you if you just asked.

Lily must have noticed what had my attention because she beamed at me. "Isn't she beautiful?"

I only nodded, looking up into the face of the statue like it was drawing me in.

"This statue of Hekate has been here for almost as long as the academy has been around." She says with a certain wistfulness in her tone. Like she was lost in some far off dream.

"Almost as long?" I ask, barely able to tear my focus away from the stone face. "What do you mean?"

"Well, the academy has no record of the statue being built or put in." That's odd. Even for a place like this. "It's like it just appeared here one day all on its own."

"That seems highly unlikely."

"Some think that the records were just lost a long time ago, while others think that it was Hekate that put it here as a reminder of where our powers truly come from."

"Which do you believe?" The question slips out before I can stop myself and she looks at me with that wide smile again. Smiling so much must hurt her cheeks but she doesn't show any discomfort. I can't think o

"We're in a school of magic. So, it showing up one day by magic doesn't seem too abnormal." She shrugs like talks of magic and goddesses and high priestesses are totally normal. I guess to her this all might be totally normal but i still can't seem to wrap my head around it.

losing the records or a mystical goddess placing it herself? "The records being lost is the far more logical explanation."

"Maybe," She says, tilting her head with a slight nod. "but it's a far less fun explanation."

I can't exactly argue with her on that, so I keep quiet as she continues her tour. We don't see very many people until the clock strikes 7; then people seem to be appearing out of thin air until the halls and pathways are buzzing with students. each one seems to be doing something different. I see people studying and gossiping, just like at every other school I've been to, but others catch my eyes more.

All around me there are students doing what I previously believed impossible. There's a girl creating small intricate chess-like statues with a wave of her hands, and a boy holding a small flickering ball of light on the tip of his finger. Everywhere I looked there was someone doing something I thought only happened in story books. It was all so unbelievable yet also completely overwhelming. None of this should be possible.

"So, what's your talent?" Lily's voice pulls me back to reality before I can start to spiral.

"Huh?"

"Your talent? You know, the type of magic you specialize in?" She clarifies, not that it helps. "Mine is nature magic."

"I... don't have one."

"Come on, everyone has one." She dismisses gently, like she was trying to comfort me. "You just haven't found yours yet."

With that, she hooks her arm through mine and leads me away from everyone else. we walk through twisting hallways, all with the same intricate carvings along the pillars and walls, until we end up in front of a door that read:

HEADMISTRESS OFFICE

PROFESSOR AVALON AZURE

Oh, no... I do not want to see her right now. I would be perfectly content if I never had to see her for the rest of my life and I could just forget that she ever existed.

"What are we here for?" I ask, trying not to clench my jaw.

Something about Azure rubbed me the wrong way. It may have something to do with the fact that she is part of the reason I'm here to begin with, or maybe it's just because I don't like her. We'll probably never know the full reason, but I know one thing for sure. I do not want to see her.

"Professor Azure wanted me to bring you by before classes start to give you your schedule."

The explanation was simple enough, and it did make sense, but I have a bad feeling about walking through that door. I also knew, however, that I had no other choice than to suck it up and do it.