Dark Haven Academy

The invitation

"Nothing is so common as the wish to be remarkable." - William Shakespeare 

The pebble hit the ground a few seconds after.

The throwing of it had been no accident at all. In fact, I had dedicated a significant amount of my time to the throwing of whatever object that had the ill fate of falling into my hands.

This activity of course acquired me wary, slightly perturbed glances from the busy public who probably questioned the judgement of whom ever my guardian was. I honestly could see their point, what sensible seventeen year old spent a frosty evening in one of the busiest cities in the world throwing pebbles by the beach?

Once I had finished abusing the waves, I made my way back towards my home chastising myself for wearing such thin fabric knowing fully well that I would stay out late. Autumn had never been my favourite season and I walked noisily, leaves crunching under the weight of my feet.

Not a moment had passed after I allowed myself into my house when I noticed the over whelming presence of the shadow behind me.

"You stayed out too late," my mother said before my hand released the door knob. She had clearly been waiting for me and the reason why became apparent a few seconds later. I stared blankly thinking of an excuse worth lying for but as it turned out, she was the one with news for me.

"Your letter came through this afternoon," she stated clearly frustrated. I assumed the envelope in her hand was the letter she was referring to. I hadn't expected her to be angry at my overdue appearance as there had always been a respectable relationship between us both which consequently meant I was always on my best behaviour.

I fiddled with the edges of the envelope for a few moments wondering if the answer inside would be the one I had subsequently wished for. As innocent as the thin sheet of paper seemed, I refused to be fooled by its weightless appearance. The one thing clear was that the paper determined the next few years of my life, and as unbelievable as it sounded, it was unfortunately true.

"Now would be a good time to open the letter," my mom urged, refusing to allow me to draw out the situation out as I might have previously liked to. I huffed out a breath in a sigh hurriedly ripping the letter open ― giving no care for its fragile contents.

I recognised the logo instantly. Who wouldn't? It would be hard for a living being― human or beast ―to live five years without hearing the prominent name. An unwelcome feeling of nervousness set aflame inside of me and I did not like it one bit. All thoughts halted in my head and it took a while for me to process information and regain my composure. I cleared my throat and proceeded to read aloud the contents of the letter to my mum.

"Dear recipient," the letter began.

"Upon reviewing your application and taking further details into account, we are delighted to inform you that Dark Haven Academy would be pleased to have you as one of its own students. We believe you would make a fine addition to our-"

I paused my reading mid-sentence to watch my mum's reaction. Her face was set into a grim expression and try as she might to force a smile onto her face, her efforts were to no avail. My mother was extremely brittle and as the only responsible relative she had, this would be no condition to leave her in. But then again we both knew no matter the angle we looked at this from the solution to our problems rested in my shaky palms.

"It's starting to show isn't it?" she inquired as if pondering my very own thoughts with me. The walls had cracks gawking dangerously at us, the roof constantly leaked and unfortunately for us, we had no means of getting the malfunctions fixed. The house with its extremely vast interior and high ceilings needed constant maintenance but in the place of all the glamour and fancy artefacts were dusty cheap furniture. You would think it'd be more reputable seeing as it was a gift from someone I was supposed to refer to as father. It was basically another dump we were slumming in.

I soon came to the conclusion that I couldn't afford to lie to my mother anymore as I had done previously and I nodded my head at her question. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed my only sibling who was pretty much the carbon copy of me. She rarely spoke and was sat staring at her hands - an action she had begun to do more and more frequently over the past few weeks. I had my suspicions about her school but she wouldn't utter a word against it.

"What do you want?" she finally asked. It would be up to me at the end of the day. I had thought this moment a thousand times over and deep down I knew what I really wanted.

"I don't want to depend on strangers anymore." I said putting the sheet back in its envelope. I needn't beg strangers for help when I could help myself. People were unreliable and they hurt you.

She didn't look happy.

"Think of it this way, everything you ever wanted for me will come to pass."

"Just not in the order you planned it to," I replied softly.

This decision for me meant wealth, status and all things good to make any living being successful. But with all good things comes a catch. A catch that most wouldn't agree to if not compelled. I'd come out of this with a ring on my finger.

But that for a soon to be pauper like me shouldn't have mattered. The selection process was simple. schools from across the nation recommended a student to the academy then the scouts would be sent to decide on behalf of the school if they were interested in the chosen girl or not and I suppose my undeniable talent at all school subjects despite my poor education, the speaking a handful of languages and my lack of or rather me not lacking unappealing features made me the unsuspecting human.

Even at her most vulnerable times my mother was an aloof, dignified woman who wore her pride everywhere she went and expected her children to do the same.

"We have to get you fixed up, there are clothes to pack and you've never been away from home for long" she stated rising from the chair in which she'd sat as I had read my letter. I would now be the second person in two years to desert her for a chance at a better life. No one deserved to go through that.

I didn't want to be just another pretty face amongst hundreds of other pretty faces. A wanted my face to be different, one that wouldn't disappear for years to come.

So laurel fears oblivion too?