Zodiac Academy (Draft 1)

Chapter 5: Zodiac Academy

My suitcase was packed and ready to go. As usual, I spent ten minutes scrambling around the house to see what I've forgotten. I almost left without my toothbrush, thanks mom for reminding me. And thank you dad, for telling me to bring extra toiletries.

Last night, my parents wondered how they were going to come up with a reason for me suddenly transferring schools. Nate assured them that ZA will take care of things once I'm enrolled. Don't know how that's gonna work, but okay.

"Skylar! Out the door! Now!" Dad hollered from his car window as I was lugging my suitcase over the threshold. "I want to beat traffic!"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming." I muttered, rolling the case behind me as mom shut the door. If I had known that we'd be driving all the way up north to the edges of Minnesota, I would've reconsidered bringing another item for my entertainment.

Apparently, according to the brochure, the entrance to the Zodiac Academy was located in very much northern Minnesota. If I'm correct, we'll have to drive all the way up to The Angle, you know the little tick of land cutting into Canada? Yep, The Angle. Since we live in the Land of 10,000 Lakes, we'd have to use the Minnesota entryway; there's a different entry point for each of the fifty states.

For example: If you lived in Missouri, the entrance to ZA is in the southernmost tip of the state. If you happen to be in Nebraska, ZA's just right around the corner! Literally, their entryway happens to be located in the very top left corner somewhere. Live in California? No worries! Please travel up to the top right corner of the state, the edges of civilization for all we know!

You get the gist, different entrances in each state (including Hawaii and even Alaska!). How do I know all of this? Well, the brochure said so, and I'm reading it to familiarize myself with this new world. The exact location of ZA is unknown, in fact, there was a tiny footnote stating that the exact location of the Zodiac Academy would not be mentioned in the brochure because of security reasons or something...I don't know.

We left at around eight in the morning, but since we lived in the Twin-Cities area, it is going to take us a really long time to reach our destination. If dad doesn't get lost first.

Fast forward to around three-thirty after our third gas stop, we have finally arrived to the NW Angle. Nate and Alix said one of them would be waiting a bit south of the border, not exactly in the angle, but near it.

"Here we are." Dad says, peering over the car's dashboard to get a better look at the wilderness.

The green growth seems to flourish all along the road, dandelions popping up every few feet in small clusters. Dry tall grass was also abundant here as well, scattered all around. The sun was pretty high up, the sky clear and free of any clouds. It would have been perfect if it wasn't so windy, but I didn't mind too much.

Alix appears out of nowhere from behind a tree. She waves, her blonde hair loose and flowing in the wind, she gestures for us to come on over. Dad pulls the car up next to her, still wary of all this. "Hey! You guys made it!" There was a blue car parked under an oak tree behind her, the driver on his phone.

"Yeah, where are we supposed to go now?" I ask.

"I'll show you!" Alix smiles as she points to a hidden trail to her left. "It's just thataway!"

"Are we going to drive there? The road looks like a nature reserve." Dad inquires, looking ahead to see the mossy trail. Trees loomed over the trail, forming a natural tunnel while casting a green tint to everything underneath. I could tell he was a bit hesitant to follow anyone through this territory.

"Oh, it's fine. We can drive through the trail." Alix calls over her shoulder to the guy in the blue car that didn't seem to belong to any specific brand that I've seen before. And then I saw the engraving of small silver initials right above the door handles: ZA. "You can get the entrance ready."