It’s back.
That terrible sound that causes me to shiver and tries to penetrate my brain with it’s evilness. But it’s worst crime of all is that it refuses to give me my five extra minutes of sleep. I hate my alarm clock. However, unlike other days, today I can’t afford to throw it out of the window and turn around to try and catch the tail of my dream. One look at the bags lying at the other side of my not so tidy room tells me that I won’t be back here, a least not for a while. Since I’m turning sixteen this year, I’ll be starting at the academy, which means I won’t be home unless it’s vacation or I failed and are sent back. I can hear someone walking around in the kitchen, which probably means my mom is making an early breakfast. Motivated by the thoughts of eggs and bacon, I put on the only set of clothes that aren’t already packed and hurry downstairs.
To my surprise, everyone is waiting for me, including my little brother, who usually doesn’t get up until he’s already late. “There she is!” mom shouts while putting the finish touch to the most amazing breakfast I’ve ever seen. Although she tries to hide it, I can see she finds this very hard, which makes the whole happening a bit uncomfortable, since my dad and brother can sense it too. An awkward silence falls where I just stare a the breakfast, not liking the attention I’m suddenly given. “Sit down you two, we don’t want everything to get cold do we?” My dad grabs my mom’s arm, who was still flying around the table trying to make everything perfect, and sits her down beside him. While I take a seat next to my brother. The tension from a second ago immediately fades, it’s like my dad’s superpower, he always knows what to say to make everybody feel comfortable. As I fill my plate, he starts chatting about how today is a big day for me while giving my a quick wink, he knows I don’t like the attention. My mom just smiles at me, not listening to my dad at all. Since my dad is not a warlock or a potential and my mom is a potential that didn’t make it at the academy, she’s afraid I feel a pressure to succeed and all. So she has spend the last couple of weeks telling me everything she knows about the academy and assuring me that whatever I do, she’ll be proud. That’s where my mothers greatness lies, I don’t think she’s even realised it, but these last couple of weeks have destroyed most of the fears I had about the academy. Of course I’m still nervous, but those are nerves I can handle.
After breakfast, which was amazing by the way, just saying, it’s almost time to go. My dad stood up to take my luggage downstairs. Well, he tried, but since I packed everything I thought I would need, which is a lot, he barely got the bags of the ground. Luckily the same thing happens every vacation, so he just got the matrass. The matrass is never used, except when we go on vacation, then we lay it at the top of the stairs, put a bag on it, and let it slide down. Don’t try it at home though. How we get the bags back up is a different story, I’ll save that for later. Anyway, after all my bags where finally downstairs, and mostly intact, it was time for awkward goodbyes. My brother, as usual, pretended that he didn’t really care, which meant he was just jealous that we had to wait a couple of years until he could go. Still he surprised my by giving me a hug. My dad gave me a little notebook. “To write down all the amazing things you see, so you can tell me everything when you get back.” Since he never went to the academy, he doesn’t really know what I’ll be expecting, so he leaves the advise giving to my mom. “Rae, you know that it makes know difference to any of us if you’re a potential or a witch right? Failing the academy doesn’t mean failing at all, it’s just means you’re destined to choose a different path. Take me, if I graduated I would have never met you dad.” My mom is right, she left the academy in her last year and went on to study physiotherapy, where she met my dad. But still, visualising being sent home from the academy makes my stomach turn and keeps me awake at night thinking I don’t want to be a potential for the rest of my life. Which in turn makes me feel bad for my mom, so I don’t tell her. “Of course I know mom, don’t worry about it, I’ve stopped worrying about it looooong ago”
She just smiles, knowing I’m just trying to make her feel more at peace, and gives me a tight hug. Then, as if on cue, there’s a knock on the door. A strict looking taxi driver stands on the doorstep, “Rae Summers?” he reads from the paper in his hand. “That’s me”, my voice is barely above a whisper. I hate when I shut down like that, but I can’t help it. Now the driver looks up, seemingly a bit surprised. “Huh, not a dude.” I look him straight in the eye, the irritation suddenly winning it from the nerves. “Huh, not a smart driver.” He pretends to ignore the comment, but the corners of his mouth go down, betraying his irritation. My dad gives me a stern look, but mom just smiles. “Ready to go, Miss?” The driver lays some emphasis on the world ‘miss’ but my nerves have kicked backed in, and I just nod and start walking to the car. My dad starts lifting one of the bags, but the driver stops him. “Don’t worry sir, I’ll take care of that.” “I’m glad to help, those bag are quite heavy and…” He falls silent at the sight before him. The driver picks up all three bags like it’s nothing and starts walking to the car, a smirk on his face. My dad just stares at him in awe, but my mom looks angry. I know why, the driver is a warlock, using a simple spell to help him lift the bags. Not only is it an unnecessary use of power, he’s mostly doing it to put my dad, and trough him my mom, in his place. Since she a potential, and he’s not. Luckily, my dad doesn’t seem to notice, but I already decided that I don’t like this man, and since he’s going to drive me to the academy, that sucks.
The academy is not easy to find, for one because it’s protected by spells, a little bit like Hogwarts actually. However, unlike Hogwarts, the academy doesn’t have a nice location, the academy is positioned in Antarctica. Yup, I’m not kidding. Freaking. Antarctica. It’s not as bad as it sounds though, you should see it as an enormous dome, with underneath the academy. The climate under the dome is controlled, so it’s not ultra super cold, which is nice. That downside however is that you will never have a day of because of the weather, because the academy controls the weather. Oh, and you really can’t go anywhere because if you’ll step out of the dome your toes will freeze off, there’s that too
YOU ARE READING
witch's guide
FantasyThis is not just any ordinary book, it’s a guide. And even though you probably won’t believe a word you read. Just remember, because it might save your life one day, and with everything going on, that day may be closer than you think.
