Academy of the Gifted: Book 1

Blair's POV

I crashed through the thick forest. My feet were sore, bleeding, bruised and tired, but my life depended on them. ¨She went that way!¨ ¨Track her down! " Shouting voices echoed behind me. I smiled, I can still escape. My happiness disappeared when I saw a cliff in front of me. ¨No..no..no..no..¨ I shook my head, ¨No, this can't be happening...¨ I was trapped. My kidnappers appeared from behind me. ¨We're waiting for you¨ the leader smiled. A gunshot fired.

A resonance of wind chimes sliced through the silence. It was five thirty.

¨The same dream again,¨ thought Blair. She sat up and stumbled to her wardrobe, pondering on what kind of flannel she should wear for the day. "Blue and white looks nice, but it has a tiny coffee stain", she frowned, "Red and black looks just as appealing though...and they match my new black skinn..."

"HEY BLAIR!!! WHAT"S UP?" shouted a high pitch voice from behind her, making Blair jump two feet into the air, literally. "I think the pink-n-purple flannel that I sent you for your birthday looks better!" The voice continued.

"I also sent a cloak to Raven, she says she loves the crimson red and raven black color! Get it? Raven Black wearing a raven black cape? Get it?"

"KayKay! For the sake of everybody's ear and all those who are sleeping, can you just be quiet for five minutes?! Just five minutes!" Blair growled. "And if you want to come in, just knock on the door and not come flying through my window!"

Blair Grim hated loud people, she is a quiet and serious 17 year old Gifted, a bit cold and antisocial. Her hair hangs at waist length, slightly wavy and ebony color. Blair prefers a teen look : flannel, skinny jeans and beanie, completed with band T-shirts and Chuck Taylors. Her talent is shadow traveler. When she attacks she can hide in the shadows and travel from one shadow to another, including her attackers shadow, sneaking up behind them to finish the job.

KayKay Jman on the other hand is a super hyperactive, crazy, loud and cheerful girl. With her super choppy hair, dyed bright pink at the ends and her giant hammer, KayKay is probably the most optimistic and energetic 17 year old you'll ever meet. The Hammer she wields doubles as a heart bomber. Her talent is super strength and energy absorber, therefore when she takes hit, she absorbs the energy and boosts up her power and strength. Her hobby is whacking enemies with her hammer.

Raven Black is the killer on the team. She possesses many strong gifts after being a test subject at The Institution. The Institution takes orphans and treats them as experiments, extracting gifts and powers from battle victims and injecting them into the test subjects. Raven was one of them, her parents dumped her at the orphanage, believing that she was possessed by demons. She was born with a natural gift of being able to possessing creature features and turning into animals. The first talent the Institution shot into her was the gift of five psychic powers: telekinesis, clairvoyance, teleportation, mind reading and mental manipulation. It came from a dead hunter. The Institution wanted to train Raven as the world's strongest, deadliest killer weapon ever, injecting a great deal of gifts and powers into Raven. The injecting process is painful and complex, but Raven also possesses the power of ultra quick healing. The powers they injected are countless, Raven has the most powerful ones, but the tool they use for extracting and injecting leave remnants of the previous gifts experimented. Therefore, Raven could also possess leftovers of old auras. The exact amount of gifts she possesses is unknown. The Institutions' plan nearly worked, until they killed her best friend in front of her, making her realize what was going on and all the dirty works she's been helping them finish. Raven escaped, with nowhere to go, she found the Academy. Since the Gifted are banished from the real world, four Gifteds joined together to start the Academy. The Academy is a home and school for abandoned Gifteds . Raven helps run the Academy and spy on the Institution. In her spare time, she also learns magic. Her real name isn't Raven Black, she gave the name to herself. Her code name used at the Institution was Apollyon (meaning destroyer).

Holly poked her head in. ¨Time for breakfast guys, hurry up before the headmistress get angry.¨ She turned to KayKay, ¨Get out of that window, use the door instead.¨ Holly closed the door, then added, ¨You woke up Raven by the way, thanks to you, sheś now in a foul mood.¨

¨Great job KayKay...¨ Blair massaged her temples.

¨Well, SORRY!" KayKAy rolled her eyes impatiently, ¨Now hurry up, weŕe having cheese omelets.¨ She raced out of the room and hurried downstairs into the dining hall.

¨Finally, some peace and quiet for m-¨
¨Hey Blair, I made these new Katana swords for you. Itś just like your old one but has a double pistol in the handle and a grappling hook .¨ Drew knocked on the door, do you want to see it yet?"

Ebony sighed, "Come on in, Drew."

Drew walked in, "See, click this button and the grappl-"

"BREAKFAST!!!!" Came a loud voice from downstairs. "BLAIR, DREW, HADES, GRIFFIN, FLYNN AND JORDAN, REPORT TO THE DINING HALL IMMEDIATELY!!"

"Holly sure has a loud voice," Drew rolled her eyes. "Come on then, let's go, you can play with the new sword yourself."

Breakfast contained a buffet table full of cold cheese, bacon, and vegan omelets. Holly glared at us angrily, crossing her arms.

Holly Neva had long white hair that hung in a side ponytail and icy blue eyes. Her pale skin and long gown gave her a serious look. A belt of deadly throwing knives covered her waist. Her gift is time pausing, when she loses a lot of energy, she uses her gift for time pausing. During time pauses, she gains back her energy and gets 10 extra seconds to attack her enemy.

Drew glared back, her eyes flashing. Drew Aress had waist length, amber colored wavy hair that was usually in a braid. Her full armor shined and glowed. She and Holly both hated each other. A giant golden bow hung from her back along with twelve returning arrows. Her combat boots clicked as she walked past Holly. Drew was a really kind and caring 18yr old, and had a special affinity for weapons. She knows how to make them. Her gift is that she can possess another person's gift for a minute.

The dining table was one of those long and fancy tables you see at mansions. Everybody has their own chair that fits their personality and likings. Headmistress Fairfax sat at the head and Miss. Gales sat at the other end. Mr. Brigham likes to sit on the ceiling. His gift is anti-gravity, his brain can control objects and make them stay anti-gravity. To be honest, anything that has to do with gravity is in his control. While Mr. Redtail prefers to dine alone.

Blair sat down, Ivy Achillea sat across from her. Ivy and Holly were also best friend, both of them were icy, antisocial, and very serious. Ivy's name fits her appearance, long green hair in a high ponytail, emerald eyes. She wore a green cloak and dress. Ivy likes to hang out with Raven as well, for they both like potions and medicine. Ivy's gift is doctrine healing, she has a connection to nature. She knows all the secret herbs and plants and their healing abilities. Her parent abandoned her too and left her in the forest. One day, when Miss. Gales was walking back to the Academy after grocery shopping, she found Ivy sitting under a tree, and she was talking to it. Her cloak held little vials of special potions that can help certain plants grow.

Blair continued to eat her disgusting vegan omelet, which has a terrible tofu smell. Raven walked in, evidently in a foul mood, and when that happens, nobody fights with her. When Raven passed KayKay's pink and heart covered seat, KayKay's cheese omelet smacked onto her face by some invisible force. Cheese and broccoli slid down KayKay's still energetic face. Raven finished her breakfast, turned into a raven and flew out of the window. She does this everyday to spy on the Institution. The Institution has been planning and experimenting on some new project.

Plates were cleaned up, chores finished, weapon/fighting exercises were practiced and other daily duties were finished.