Mage Academy

Different and Special are Two Separate Things

I remember when it was that I started feeling different. I was six, at a swimming lesson with other kids my age. It was something we did almost every weekend, and I loved it; I had made a lot of friends there, and I loved being in the water. The only problem was how cold it used to get in there. The pools were heated, but to me they felt like ice when you first dipped your toes in. 

I was sitting at the edge of the pool in my arm bands, staring into the water. This part was always the hardest. I remember shivering, and watching other kids jump in easily, squealing at the sudden cold, then laughing happily. I rubbed my hands together to keep warm, and that's when it happened. A flame rose in my hands. It was just a small flame, but I was thrilled. I was waiting for my Fire magic to come. 

So I leaped up and held out my palms, trying to make the flame bigger. I was halfway through calling my friend to come and have a look, when my mum appeared, putting her hands over mine. The flame vanished, and I started to cry. 

My mum took me straight home, and I cried all the way. It wasn't until she sat me down on my bed that I had calmed down enough to listen to her. "Mallie," she told me, her face very serious. "You know you can't let anyone see how special you are." 

At that moment, I stopped feeling special. I just felt different. 

***

I open my eyes, and find myself looking up at the ceiling. A white ceiling. I am very disorientated, and it takes me a few seconds to remember that I'm not home. 

"Hey."

I turn to the voice. Max. He's sitting next to my bed. I look around the room and see that I'm in what must be the sick room. My eyes land back on Max. "Hey."

"How do you feel?" 

I reach up and touch my head, and find a thick plaster where my cut was. It doesn't hurt anymore. "Good. How long have I been in here?"

"About two hours."

"I was passed out for two hours?!" how embarrassing! 

"You fainted for a few minutes, then they put you under some kind of anaesthesia when they stitched up your cut." 

There is a blur of colour and then I'm greeted by Gibby and Blue, who jump on top of me and hug me. I grin and give them a tickle. "I'm so glad you're alright, I was starting to like you and I wouldn't have wanted you to die!" Blue exclaims. I laugh.

"Thanks but I can assure you, it was just a cut, I wasn't going to die!" I smile. 

"It was really gross, when they wiped the blood off it was all pussy and swollen." Gibby pulls a face. "The nurses said that it was the worst cut they had seen from a Tree Dodging accident."

"Actually, that's what I wanted to talk to you about, Floyd," Max looks around the room, making sure that no one is around. He looks serious. "They don't know about what happened out there, in the forest."

"The Monster?" I sit up on the bed, and see that I'm wearing a nasty blue and white hospital gown. So much for trying to look my best today. 

Max nods. "They don't know what happened, and I don't think we should tell anyone about it."

I reel. "That Monster threw me off my Stick. It wanted to kill me!"

"No, it didn't." Max sighs, looking troubled. He rakes a hand through his luscious black hair, and when he takes the hand out his hair falls back, hanging messily around his face. "If it wanted to kill you, you would be dead right now. You must have passed out when you fell off your Stick. It had plenty of opportunities to attack, but it didn't."

I look at Gibby and Blue, who have obviously heard this from Max already. And by the looks of it, they agree with him. 

I realise that it's true-- that monster refrained from coming closer to me. "It wanted me to come to it." I breathe, remembering how I felt; drawn to that tree it was hiding behind. I wasn't even that scared--I wanted it to come out and fight. "Even so, why shouldn't we tell people? It would be much less embarrassing to say that I was hurled off the Stick by a Monster, and escaped, instead of saying that I simply crashed face-first into a tree." I say humorously, but Max continues to look serious.  

"It's bigger than that, Floyd. What happened out there was more than just fending off a Monster in the woods. It shot Fire. Monsters...they don't have magic like we do, like humans do--and you felt it, you knew it was there, you knew when it had gone. It didn't want to kill you, it wanted to draw you in." Max stops, takes a deep breath, and hits me with one of his intense looks. I say nothing, and he carries on. 

"I didn't tell you this before, and I'm sorry, I didn't want to freak you out, but... I didn't follow you into the woods, I didn't know you were there. I saw you with Lauren earlier; you were flying close together, but I didn't see you again so I just guessed that she pushed you into that part of the forest. I was following you, but I didn't know it was you--"

"What are you saying?" 

"I followed a heartbeat, Malory. I...I can hear heartbeats from almost a mile away, but only some of them stay with me... I heard a racing heartbeat and I knew someone, or something, was distressed. So I followed it, and it was yours." 

I say nothing. I just look at Max, expressionless. He carries on.

"Don't you see, Malory? We're different. We can do things that other people can't do. And whatever was in that forest knows it. I heard two heartbeats earlier. Yours, and that thing. It wanted me too." Max leans over, his eyes darker than I have ever seen them. "However you see it, we are connected to a kind of evil, and if anyone knew about it, they would think we are evil too."