Conjured

Chapter 2 - Camp

Author Note - Picture above is how I imagine Henry (Douglas Booth)

"I'm amazed you've gone along with this Willa. You seem like the type that enjoys to retaliate" Mrs Adair says to me as I buckle my seatbelt. I ignore her comment and ask something more important, "Will I get to see Mark again?".

"Yes. It will be minimum a month, max a year before you will be allowed to see him. I'm sorry but it's protocol I can't change it.  Don't talk or think about him for a while. During the last stage of transition you aren't allowed to see other Conjurers that will soon be in transition. You began transition a few months ago I suspect. When did strange things begin to happen to you?" She asks as we enter the freeway. "About 2 months ago I realised I could run a fair bit faster than other people. That was the first thing that started happening to me" I tell her. "Many more since then?" She asks. I nod.

I've only told Mark of a few things that have happened. "What's the latest?" She asks as we take a turn off into a suburb I don't recognise. "Well you heard about the thing in assembly right?" I ask. "Oh yes I heard about that. Don't worry other people have done much worse," She says smiling. "Like what?" I question. "Like making two countries go to war because they're bored or make someone go into a coma because they annoy them. Believe me things can get much worse," She says as she parks the car. I look at the tall block of apartments  in front of me and know that there's no turning back.

"This first meeting tonight might go for quite some time. You've caused a lot of controversy between the elders," Mrs Adair says with a small laugh. She turns off the car engine and tells me to leave my phone and any other electronics in the car. I don't know why I keep doing what she says but I do, leaving them on the seat. We walk into the building's reception and Mrs Adair flashes a card to an elderly woman who unlocks a door behind the desk. Behind the door is a plain office with a middle-aged man reading a gardening magazine, which is much more boring than I suspected.

"Is this the one Giulia?" He grunts, eyeing me strangely. Mrs Adair nods. He moves a rug from the floor, revealing a trapdoor. He then pulls a set of keys out of his pocket and chooses a small bronze one to open the door.  Below it a set of marble stairs like the ones you find in cathedrals and palaces spirals into the earth. Once we are down the trapdoor the man shuts it and the lock clicks in place.

"Why so much security?" I ask Mrs Adair. "To keep the good things in and the bad things out," She says with a wink. As we go further down I'm glad to have my coat because it's freezing. Eventually we meet a pair of locked gates but nobody is there. "Do you have a key?" I ask. She shakes her head. "You don't need a key. You just need to know how the lock works," She says. After staring at it for a few minutes it clicks open and we walk into a fully-fledged argument.

"She's too young we can't have her in here! A 17 year old and maybe I'd consider but 16? It's outrageous!" A wrinkly man yells.

"Please Mr Whitmore our guest has arrived. Welcome Miss Starr please come with me," A woman says smiling at me. I look at Mrs Adair for permission and she nods.

The woman looks to be in her early 30's with thick black-brown hair not too different from my own.  "My names Emily I'm going to take you to the meeting and I'll be your supervisor for tonight. The meeting is just for any questions from you and others as well as giving you a brief overview of what will happen in your training. The process is different for everyone but there are certain steps everyone must cover and they will be shown to you in this room here" She says as she opens a door. We head into a room where a tall man is standing on stage.

"Welcome Miss Starr please sit down," He says flashing me a movie star smile. He looks about 20 with auburn hair and black eyes. He's about the same height as my brother and he's gorgeous. "My name's Henry and I'll be taking you through the presentation tonight, I hope you enjoy it" He says giving me a wink.