Mirrors and Shadows

Chapter One

I'm sitting on a couch, waiting to be called for breakfast. I got up early today, and have been sitting on the couch watching TV until 7:00AM, when I would be called to the central dining hall for breakfast. I wasn't allowed to exit my dorm before that time.

I look at my watch. 6:58AM. Finally. After sitting here watching boring TV for almost half an hour. There's nothing much, just the daily weather reports, the basic news of car crashes and minor robberies, nothing big.

Suddenly the TV flashes into our school's secret feed, the X tab. On it is footage caught by security cameras of a middle-aged man breaking into a secret government vault. The camera didn't quite catch how he came into the vault. The man looked around, then stole a ruby ring and an emerald one. Then he took out a golden mirror and vanished.

I'm thinking, What the heck? when the announcement speaker calls us to breakfast. I'm still thinking about the mysterious robbery while walking to the dining hall. All of a sudden, I bump into somebody.

"Hey, Audrey. Mind where you go, will ya?"

"Um, okay Jake. Did you see the news report?"

"Yep, it was weird, wasn't it?"

We stop talking when we reach the dining hall. The rules clearly said, no talking in the dining hall. I wasn't one wanting to get punished with extra torture endurance classes.

We file silently into the dining hall, all 30 of us at this school, and sit down in our designated seats. There's no talk at all while eating. Today's teacher on duty here is Mr. Ramble, we all call him that. His actual name is Mr. Ramburt, and he's not the teacher you want to anger, unless you want to get whipped all over.

"Whoever leaves the dining hall last will get starvation endurance training today," Mr. Ramble says. "Get a move on, you slow pokes, we have a tight schedule today."

Um, nope. I think as I shovel my pancakes and potato mash down. My plate is cleared quickly and I leave with Benjamin, a good friend of mine, and a couple other people. I was relatively slow, but thankfully not last.

I look back at poor Jake, who is still eating his mash under the glare of Mr. Ramble. He hates the school's potato mash. Says it has that bitter taste in it. I guess it's no more meals for him today, then.

I have Advanced Accuracy training at room B1C2 with another student named Christoph. I know him pretty well (it's hard not to know everyone pretty well considering the fact that the 30 of us have been together for almost 2 years). He's cool and collected, but rocks at using the gun and always correctly analyses the situations given to us in the decision classes. I'm pretty excited to have my first Advanced Accuracy session with him as my partner. I'm not sure who my teacher is, it was written on my schedule, but I can't quite remember it now.

I round a corner, and see room B1C2. Mr. Ramble is standing there, looking angry.

Shoot. I'm late.

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The dean sits in his office, looking at the footage of the burglary over and over again. There is no doubt. It is him. All those years of explaining to the government, trying to take hold of the Jaquelin, it was all in vain. The treasure had finally fallen into the enemy's hands. He sighed. To him, how the burglar had gotten into the vault was not a mystery at all. He had searched over the globe for children with the Gift. It was hard, but he gradually found a way of finding them. Little signs people usually don't notice. He gathered them all here, to this school, in the name of the CIA. Of course, some parents didn't let their children be brought here, away from them. Obviously, he only discovered an extremely little tiny insignificant amount of children with the Gift. So, he only managed to gather 30 kids, and brought them here.

He had trained them like normal spies and agents of the CIA, not wanting to bring out the magic of the Gift if not necessary. The less people knew how to use the Gift, the better. If it faded away, that would be best. People, especially these kids, should not endure the pain that comes with learning to control the Gift. Once it is brought out, they can never be normal people again. They will never be able to live normal lives, do normal things, get normal jobs.

No, they will be tied forever to this place, either working undercover for X or for the CIA as elite agents.

There was no alternative solution. It was time for Plan B.

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"Tut, tut. Miss Johnston, don't think you are allowed to be late even though you finished lunch a tad slower than the others," Mr. Ramble said. "What's the punishment for tardiness, eh?"

Christoph pops out from behind him, "Starvation Endurance training for 3 days, sir."

I immediately dislike this guy.

"Yes, yes," Mr. Ramble says. "Will you kindly join Jake after curfew at this very room? Also, I'll make sure you only get one meal a day. Shall we start this class now?"

"Sorry, sir. Yes, sir." There's no arguing with Mr. Ramble unless you want even more punishment.

"Good. Since this is the first lesson for both of you, that means you're both newbies wasting my time. Now, shoot at the dartboard there," Mr. Ramburt points at a teeny board 15 meters away. "And if you don't hit the bull's eye before the end of class, you'll have 3 of Berta's rice puddings for lunch."

We both groan. Those rice puddings taste like dirt.

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"Being a goody-goody serves you right, doesn't it, eh?" I say as Christoph and I shovel down the rice puddings as fast as we can, trying not to throw up. 3 and a half hours of trying to just hit the dartboard, with Mr. Ramble yelling from his seat saying, "Stop shooting to the left, Ms. Johnston!" "Oh for heaven's sake, could you just hit the board once, Mr. Williams!" "I should be paid more to deal with dumb students like you; this is just wasting my time!"

After 3 hours of that, now we have to eat 3 large bowls of this? How unfair is that?

Although I shouldn't be complaining this much as I would have had nothing to eat at all if Mr. Ramble didn't condemn me to the Curse of the Rice Puddings (I'm gonna start to call it that). I think he kind of forgot about my starvation endurance training when he condemned us to the Curse.

Christoph says, "I'm sorry. It was just... he asked..."

I think about forgiving him as we both painstakingly finish the final bowls of the Curse. As we place our bowls on the tray, the announcement speaker says, "Audrey Johnston, Christoph Williams, Benjamin Wu, Alastair Taylor and Timothy Lopez, please report to the dean's office now."

Oh no. I'm in trouble.