Red Mountain Chronicles: The Illusionist

Chapter 3

Before the bus could leave, David stood up with one knee propped up on his seat, waving his right hand to quiet the bus down.
"Alright everyone settle down," he started. It took a good 15 seconds for all of the dialogue to cease. Then he spoke up once again. "So I'm David, and I'll be your tour guide. I'll be showing you around campus. Before we can leave, there are a few rules that are to be followed: no standing on this bus, no climbing over seats-- basically don't be an idiot."
     Everyone giggled at the self-explanatory rules. Then David continued. "And no magic." Everyone groaned in disappointment. "I don't care how small it is. Our bus driver was nice enough to drive us up here and he needs to focus on the road. He cannot have any distractions. Understood?" Without waiting for an answer he sat back down.
    "Magic? Like the card game? Why would a game of cards be distracting?" I thought.
Right when I was about to ask, I saw a flash of light at the corner of my eye. I turned to see a couple of girls giggling. I wondered what they were giggling about when I noticed the golden mist surrounding them. I turned to David and pointed over my shoulder hesitantly with my thumb. "Umm..." I was going to ask what that dust was when David followed my eyes, then sighed, shaking his head. He shrugged. "Well, what can you do?"
I then looked back again to look at the cloud again. The girls were looking my way, trying to keep a straight face but fail when they start cracking up at the same time. I didn't know what was more confusing: what that were laughing at, or what David had said. I decided that it's probably best not to question it until we arrived. At that time the bus started to move toward the mountain range ahead.

It was a long, bumpy drive up the mountain. Many people were pulling pranks on each other but I thought it was best not to look since I would probably just confuse myself more. While waiting for us to arrive, I tried to come up with answers to all of the questions I had. Such as when I will be able to see mom again, why was she so reluctant on making me transfer schools, and what about this school was so special. When I couldn't think of anything I tried to connect the dots to what David had said. I turned to ask him what he meant to find him dead asleep next to me. "Well, here goes that plan," I thought.
Suddenly, the bus starred to pick up gears as the road got steeper. I then realized how high up we were. We were almost toward the summit of the mountains at what looked like about 2,000 feet up. I wondered just how in the world did a Paradise Tours bus make it up this far with little to no struggle. The bus driver then got on the intercom and started to speak. "Alright guys, you're about to get a change of scenery so start looking out your windows. You don't want to miss this."
I adjusted myself and looked out to the right side to the window closest to me. After the trees had cleared, I saw the amazing view. It almost seemed like I was looking out of a peep window on an airplane that had just taken off. Everyone else on the bus was also amazed by the view, letting out exclamations of awe. The bus driver then responded by saying,"well, you think this is good, just wait a couple of seconds." He waited a moment, then when we were starting to pass an elevation marker he counted down on the speakers "Ready? Three, two, one." Then, just like that, we felt a sudden jolt that surged across the bus, along with a flash of yellow. And, just like that, the scenery changed. The pre-existing desert landscape appeared to be more green and lush, the pine trees doubled in size and in quantity. The telephone poles, houses, and any other sign of civilization vanished. Then, as we cane across the next bend, I saw a twinkling light on my left. I turn to look out the other window to see what looked like an enormous castle on the left about two miles away. I couldn't believe my eyes. It seemed like something straight out of a fairy tale.
The staticky voice of the bus drivers speakers joined us again, saying "Now ladies and gents. That castle-like series of buildings on your left? That's where we're headed."
Some of the people on the bus gasped in amazement, and muttered to others on the bus. Others didn't seem to be all that shocked
by the structure. "Yeah, that's right folks," The bus driver said. "That is Red Mountain Academy."