Chapter One
"This is the place." The man driving came to a sudden stop. Ryan looked out the window and stared at his new house, or school, whatever it was.
The men got out of the car and opened Ryan's door. They carried his luggage behind him, while walking towards the entrance to the house. A sign read Miss Robichaux's Academy for Exceptional Young Students. Ryan was certain that by "students" it meant "witches". A few weeks ago that would've not made sense, but given the events that happened during the last few days, it almost felt like a concrete fact.
A woman greeted Ryan as he got closer to the house. "Welcome," she said "I'm Mavis, you must be Ryan."
"I am." He replied.
"Come on in." She gestured to the hallway behind her. "We've been waiting for you."
"Miss Robichaux's Academy is a school for teenagers born with special powers. It's been our mission to protect, teach and celebrate these special teenagers, or witches, however you want to call them." Mavis said, leading Ryan through the house. "We are ruled by one singular authority, The Supreme. My mother is the current Supreme, but has failed to take responsibility in her duty as the leader of this coven. In her absence, I've taken it upon myself to protect the school."
After the tour was done, Mavis took Ryan upstairs to his new bedroom. "You'll be sharing this room with two other warlocks, Jonathan and Thomas."
"Who are they?" Ryan asked, hoping for them to be easy-going.
"You'll meet them in about ten minutes, when we start the afternoon gathering." She said, exiting the room. "Take this time to freshen up a bit, if you need to."
The ten minutes passed and Ryan went down stairs to the gathering room that Mavis had mentioned during the tour. It was big room where all the past Supreme's portraits hung, staring blankly at the coven. Their eyes felt like they followed you around.
Ryan was greeted by a room full of other witches and warlocks. He counted twelve; thirteen if he counted himself. Mavis gestured for him to sit on a chair besides her, facing the other students.
"Everyone," she began "this is Ryan, our most recent enrollment." She made it seem like Ryan asked to be placed in this school, which he hadn't.
"Hello." Ryan smiled nervously. He leaned closer to Mavis, and asked her about Jonathan and Thomas. Right then, two boys stood up. They walked towards him, arms out stretched for a hand shake. "We're Jonathan and Thomas." They smiled at Ryan and then went back to their seats.
"With that done, let's start with the afternoon gathering. Everyone please put the seats in a circular form." Mavis ordered and the students followed. They shuffled the seats until they formed a circle around the room. Ryan still sat next to Mavis because she was the only person who couldn't reject him.
"Because we have a new student with us here today, we'll go around the room and tell Ryan a little about ourselves." Mavis said in a cheerful tone. "Let's see..." She pondered "Ginata! You go first."
A girl with fiery red hair stood up. "Hello, my name is Ginata and I mastered Pyrokinesis at an early age. People say it's because I was naturally born with red hair."
"Primrose." Mavis said.
"Hello, my name is Primrose and I was sent here when my parents found out about my ability to move things with my mind, commonly known as Telekinesis."
"Alexander."
"My name is Alexander and I'm a Clairvoyant. Be careful, I can read your mind!" He laughed and sat back down.
"Abigail."
"Hi! My name is Abigail and my special power hasn't revealed itself. I'm a pretty simple witch."
"Thomas."
"Hello, my name is Thomas and I was sent here after I revived my dead dog. You should've seen the look on my sister's face when I brought Lucky back."
"Jonathan."
"Hello, my name is Jonathan and my special powers have yet to reveal themselves."
"Adalynn."
"Hey, my name is Adalynn and I can manipulate people's emotions. A bit cruel, but very useful."
"Lilyia."
"My name is Lilyia and I mastered Concilium."
"Adam."
"My name is Adam and one day I accidentally descended to Hell and back. That's when I found out I mastered Descensum."
"Eve."
"Hello, my name is Eve and I can manipulate reality. It's interesting."
"Ophelia."
Everyone turned to look at a girl sitting silently with her head down. She looked shy, but the kind of shyness that had a reason to it. "Ophelia, would you like to tell Ryan about your powers?" Mavis asked in a consoling tone. Ophelia stood up and looked at Ryan. "My name is Ophelia and I'm an Erebokinetic."
"What does that mean?" Ryan asked. "It means that she can manipulate darkness." Mavis answered. "It's a very dangerous power to possess."
The introduction continued. "Mason." Mavis said "You're the last one."
Mason stood up and Ryan was mesmerized. He was beautiful, intimidatingly beautiful.
"My name is Mason and I mastered Transmutation when I was a child." He sat back down, but Ryan couldn't take his eyes off of him.
"Now, Ryan." Mavis looked at him. "Would you like to tell them a little about yourself?"
Ryan stood up and told them his little story. "Hello, my name is Ryan and I was sent here after a boy I was fighting died mysteriously." He said. "They said I killed him, but the autopsy revealed no cause of death. Later that week, I was told I was a witch, or warlock, and that my grandmother was also a witch. My powers have yet to reveal themselves, but my mother implied that I could manipulate death."
"That's..." Thomas trailed off. "A bit gruesome."
"It is." Ryan replied.
"But, it's also interesting." Ginata threw in. "It's not every day that we get to meet Death."
"You're like a Grim Reaper!" Jonathan joked.
"I guess I am." Ryan laughed. He felt welcomed and celebrated something he had never felt before. Maybe it wasn't so bad being sent to this school, maybe it was his destiny to end up here.
