The Half Witch

Chapter 2-The First Days

Chapter 2-The First Days

“The academy is way too big to give you the entire tour in one go, and you’re probably eager to settle in. You are on Floor 3, room C12, sharing a room with Hayden Brown and Felicity Andrews. All the girls are on the right side of the building, boys to the left. The official beginning of the term is tomorrow, so you’ve made it here in good time. A lot of people get here early, or stay year-round, if you’re wondering.” I was surprised at how chatty and laidback Barbara was-she had proved my first impression of her to be completely wrong.

“Oh, okay,” I said. “So, classes start tomorrow?”

“Yes,” she smirked at me. “Although they’re not really called classes-that makes it sound far too tame for what they’re teaching you.”

Uncertain of what she meant by this, and admittedly a little worried, I just forced a smile. I wondered what the classes were like. I had made my own assumptions about what they would teach us. Some practical fighting and self defence, obviously, and also learning about the enemy-everything there is to know about witches. The people here were experts on them, and I felt paranoid that someone would just jump out at me and accuse me of being a half-witch.

We passed a hundred doors, and I was dying to know what was behind them, but there was no way of telling, and I felt reluctant to ask. Barbara was going on about the history of the academy, and talking about how awful the uprising was, and how inspired the students here are to get rid of every single remaining witch on the planet. I felt no loyalty to my kind, and would have no problem with killing them. That was what I told myself over and over again anyway…but deep down, I knew that I didn’t really have it in me to be a bloodthirsty killer. That would have to change.

We came to a set of spiralling staircases of black marble. I felt rather stupid about it as Barbara’s expression didn’t change when she ascended the stairs, but I was in awe of them. I’d never seen stairs, let alone climbed up them. The black marble railing was smooth and cold, sending goose bumps down my arms.

The second floor looked much the same as the first one-the only difference was the numbers on the doors. There were huge arched windows with red curtains. I could see the city skyline, and thought it looked rather beautiful. Then I looked down, and felt giddy. Everything seemed to spin for a moment before I pulled my gaze away, still feeling nauseous minutes after. Barbara appeared not to notice, and I was glad. I was determined not to show any weakness here. The man at the homeless shelter said my naivety was obvious, and if it that was true and he wasn’t just weirdly perceptive, my time here would be a lot harder. Everyone I saw looked confident, strong and familiar with their surroundings. I couldn’t say I felt any of those things.

We came to a stop at a door that said C12. Barbara asked me if I wanted her to introduce me to my roommates, but she was starting to look bored and fidgety again, so I said it would be fine. Now I was feeling very nervous, but for the first time it wasn’t about my classes or being a half-witch-it was about meeting new people. I wasn’t very outgoing or social. I’d only ever really known one person, and that was Mum. I’d never hung out with people my own age. I was afraid that would be really obvious to these girls.

Feeling foolish, I knocked on the door, and a voice called, “Come in!”

I entered the room and for I moment, I just stood there. There were two girls sitting with their legs crossed on a narrow bed, stared straight at me. One of them had curly blonde hair, blue eyes and a curvy build, and the other had dark skin, long black hair and a tall, athletic build. The room had wooden floorboards, contrasting strangely with grey stone walls. The beds had red and black blankets and quilts. Red and black were the school colours. There were no decorations to speak of, just 3 beds and 3 small wooden chests, each belonging to one of us, I presumed.