So basically imagine an old English castle.
Huge building, actually buildings.
Taller than the trees in the woods, hovering over the branches.
It's a large open space with a 2 foot wide, 17 miles long on all sides, stone brick wall with moss decorating the cracks.
The old man stopped while I admired the building, my mouth half open and jaw hanging down.
The tree branches hanging above the path moved as birds flew out and into the sky with the falling snow.
The old man moved forward towards the old silver gate with a stone roof over top, connecting to the ground and the long wall. Tall sage bushes covered the bottoms of the the tall entrance and vines grew around the tops and down the sides.
The old man opened the lock on the gate and pushed it open as it creaked slightly.
He made his way through the gate and I followed.
We walked along the loose gravel path as I watched the birds fly to the highest tower on the land. The academy was placed on a hill, overlooking multiple snow covered cities, but it was hard to see since we were hidden deep in the forest.
The main part of the academy looked to be a square building made up of 4 hallways, one on each side, and a huge court yard in the middle, covered in frost. The building was made of tan stone and not one flaw made to the outside. On each corner of the building there's a tall tower, with vines wrapped around and icicles hanging from the tops. The giant stone wall continued its way around the entire tan stoned building. Connected to the back side of the building was another, smaller square that was enclosed and had a stone wall around the roof. The towers were tan, with dark oak window borders and triangular roofs.
While looking at the academy, I tripped and fell into a pile of snow. Looking up, the old man reached out his red, cold hand and I grabbed on. He pulled me to my feet and moved forward to stone stairs. He grasped onto the silver railing and began to climb high up to the front gate of the academy. On the way up, I looked over to the courtyard and saw many kids sitting in the snow and I heard their echoed laughs.
Hearing this made me feel at home, like I've been here or have a connection to this place. Hearing laughter made me feel safe and warm.
I looked at the courtyard and smiled, and the old man placed his hand on my shoulder.
I jumped but he kept it there and breathed out.
"Beautiful isn't it. Reminds me of those old French castles you see in movies."
I ran my hand up the rail knocking snow on the ground.
"Yea," I said with a sigh.
"I've never seen anything like this, it's so... perfect."
The old man smiled back at me, nodded and continued up the stairs, taking his hand off my shoulder.
We got up to the top of the steps where there was a huge concrete platform leading up to the entrance.
I started my way to the front when the old man clears his throat.
I turned around and he handed me a black silk bag.
" you see that wooden door over there?"
As he pointed to a door built into the hill.
"Yes sir."
"Good, go put this on."
I took the black silk bag from his hands and made my way to the oak door.
I opened it and it smelled musty and I had to knock a cobweb out of my face before I proceeded into the room. I stepped in and candles lit on their own. Surprised, I walked in, shut the door and opened the bag.
First thing I did was take all my old dirty mud stained clothes off and wiped off the dirt on my arm. I opened the drawstring on the bag and dumped its contents on the floor.
I picked up the solid black turtle neck and pulled it over my unbrushed brown hair. It fit perfectly. Next, I picked up the black stockings. They weren't completely solid black, more of like a see through, sheer kind of black. I pulled them on to my short tan legs and pulled my turtle neck over top. I picked up a dark brown and tan plaid short form fitting skirt and brushed off some of the dust that was collected from the floor. I pulled it over top of the stockings and tucked the shirt in the skirt.
I pulled my black leather ankle boots over my stockings and grabbed my mascara in my paper bag. I applied that and some lipgloss and brushed out my long shiny brown hair. I applied a shimmery gold highlight to the corner of my brown eyes and put everything back in my bag.
I opened the door and walked out into the cold air and made my way to the old man who stood with my other paper bag and a key.
"You look the part... ready to go inside?" He said holding out my bag
"Yes, I am."
And we made our way into the academy.
