Chapter 1: The Bus
As Dani waited to board the bus for another year at Spence, she caught herself remembering all the times that she had gotten onto the very same bus. She had always been going to the academy, and it was the same bus every single year, with the same kids and everything.
But this year was different.
There was a new girl this year among the few that got on at this stop, and Dani was flabbergasted, because there was never anyone new that were headed to Spence when they looked as old as this girl that was standing there all by herself by the mailbox on the wet street. Dani estimated that she was around fourteen, and she thought it rather unusual, because by the time you are eight you usually show signs of being a super and are sent to one of the academies, unless you happened to be Dani, who was completely normal, but was still going to Spence despite that major detail.
Before Dani could ponder anymore on that subject, the bus arrived, looking same as usual, because it was really just a regular school bus, and when the doors opened, the few at the stop rushed inside in order to get out of the rain. As usual, the bus was close to empty because this was one of the first stops, and there were no unfamiliar faces. Even the driver was the same, old Mrs. Winchester, who looked like the first gust of wind could knock her over, although Dani knew otherwise because old Winchester had super strength. No one that she was acquainted with was on the bus yet, and she took one of the many empty seats.
None of the kids on the bus had anything with them because everything was already at the school, as was standard because in this area the bus would have at least two to a seat before it continued onto Spence, and there wouldn’t be any extra room for suitcases and such.
The bus pulled away from the curb with a shudder, turned the corner and continued on its way in residential. Dani had the route memorized from all the times she had been on this bus, and she knew that there would be a few more stops before they hit the highway and headed for the school. Other than the boring houses that lined the street, there wasn’t much going on at this time of the day because it was too early for anyone sane to be up, and it was too late for people partying to be on the street. It was perfect timing, and no one noticed the bus going around because it didn’t look suspicious. Plus, it only came around a few times a year, so even if someone did see it, the bus wouldn’t be there the next day.
The weather was pretty nasty this year, and Dani felt bad for the kids that were standing at the future stop. With this bus, there was no definite time that it would come, so you had to be there within half an hour of the estimated arrival time because it was so unpredictable. The worst part was that if you missed the bus, you wouldn’t be getting to Spence; no on actually knew how to get there except the teachers and bus drivers. Not even the kids that had been going to Spence all their life could manage to get to get there by memory, and there was rumor that at the end of the year one of the teachers erased the location from all the students’ memories so that if something happened no information could come out about the school. Protection of the actual school was important, because if it got damaged or destroyed there would be nowhere for all of the students to go and learn how to protect themselves.
At the next stop, more people got on than at any of the other stops. There were a few new little kids this year, but other than that everyone that got on it was the same. One of the new smaller kids was deflecting raindrops like they had an invisible umbrella above them, much to the disapproval of the older students who were huddled around him so that if anyone was watching wouldn’t see. They obviously could control weather somehow, and it was clear that the kid couldn’t control their ability very well. That would change very soon, because the first thing they taught the little ones was how to manage and manipulate their powers.
