The Cursed Academy

Dancing in the moonlight

"Hurry up!  We are going to be late!" I yelled to Mo.  

"It's not my fault!  I don't know how to walk in a dress!" Mo fussed as she gathered the bottom of the long robe and flung it over her arm revealing bike shorts and sneakers underneath.

"It is a robe, not a dress." I corrected her breathlessly as we jogged the last few yards to the clearing where the other girls and staff had gathered for the bonfire. 

"That still doesn't make it any easier to walk in!" Mo laughed.

Two bright floodlights illuminated the clearing, allowing us to see the entire area. This was the first time I had seen all of the students in one place.  There were girls everywhere in robes of one of four different colors.  The first year students, like Mo, the twins and myself,  have on white robes.  I could see Andrea gathered with the second year students .  She and the other second year students were wearing solid red ceremonial robes.  There were girls dressed in brown and in silver robes, too. 

"Do you know who is wearing what?" I asked Saoirse and Siobhan, who had both joined Mo and I while we waited for the ceremony to start.

"The fourth year students are in silver and the third years are wearing brown." Siobhan answered. 

"Are the colors just to seperate classes or is there some significance?" Mo asked.

"I am not sure. But, I know next year those red robes are going to clash with our hair!" Saoirse laughed, shaking her head back and forth, making her curls bounce.

The wood for the bonfire must have been stacked about ten feet high.  The scrap wood and logs were piled vertically and made a huge pointed wooden mountain. "That is going to be so cool when they light it" Mo said, her eyes dancing with excitement.  

"All first year students please gather and stand in a circle around the bonfire." a voice said through a megaphone. "Join hands and back as far away from the bonfire as you can without breaking the circle."  I grabbed Mo's and Siobhan's hands and we joined the other girls in circling the unlit bonfire.  The girls in the other colored robes disappeared into the darkness behind us out of the reach of the bright lights.

Suddenly the overhead floodlights went off and  a few small lights turned on, illuminating the bonfire pile and the girl in a white robe standing in front of it.  A voice began to narrate over a loudspeaker as the girl in front of the unlit fire began to slowly sway and dance.

"Selene, our beloved protector.  Selene, Titan Moon Goddess. We see you  drive your glowing chariot across the sky each night. with your beautiful white horses leading the way .Your powers are unmatched.  Patron goddess of femininity, inspirer of love.  You  mask reality, and pierce through illusion. You give us power through our dreams and gifts of intuition.  We thank you for your love and for these gifts." The young girl danced all around the unlit bonfire with graceful plies and grand leaps through the air.  The slight breeze made her flowing robes trail gracefully behind her as she weaved her dance through the crisp evening air, her every move honoring the Moon Goddess.  

The narrator continued "Bless us all as we tell our tale of the gift of love from the Alpha Brutus Silverthorne to our beloved Moon Goddess, Selene." All of the remaining lights went out, leaving us with only the light from the full moon by which to see.  I could see a small flicker of fire coming from the base of the bonfire.  It grew slowly up and out, the flames licking and creeping up the pile; illuminating the circle of girls holding hands around the fire.  

You could hear a collective gasp as a shrill, human scream of pure pain and anguish cut through the silence of the moon-lit night.  "SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!   I squeezed Mo's hand tightly as the bonfire simultaneously burst into giant flames, leaping into the night sky.  I could feel a welcoming rush of heat on my face and arms as my eyes grew wide with fear and awe. 

The dancing girl reappeared near the bonfire. She stood in place and put her hand near her ear and leaned forward, as if she were listening to someone or something. I then saw several girls in brown robes on their knees in front of the Moon Goddess.  Their arms stretched upwards toward the sky and their heads were thrown back, as if screaming.  The girls in the red robes then ran to them and surrounded them; raising and lowering their arms and undulating slowly up and down imitating the flames from the fire.  

The narrator continued. " 'Oh hear our cries, Moon Goddess.  Save us from the fires.  Save us from the torture.  Save us from unjust persecution.  Save Oh Save! Give us sanctuary so that our kind may survive.'  These were the cries of her magical children, her sorcerers and magis, her witches and warlocks as they were under attack.  'No longer will I stand by and watch my children and other innocents be destroyed' vowed Selene. 'I have seen too many perish!' "

A girl wearing a wolf headdress and a silver robe approached the young dancer who was now sitting motionless, holding her hands over her face as if to hide tears.

"Selene was mourning for her children when an Alpha of great riches saw the dimly lit moon and the Goddess in her sadness and asked what he could do to make her shine bright again.  She told the kind Alpha about her children and their peril.  'Fear no more, beautiful Goddess,  I will help you.  I will help your children give them sanctuary for eternity on my mountain.  Bring them here and I will care for them always.'  the Alpha told the Moon Goddess." the narrator said as the two girls pantomimed the scene in front of us.

The dancer jumped to her feet and tightly hugged the girl in the wolf headdress as the narrator voiced "Oh thank you, Alpha! I shall forever be in your debt.  I shall bless your lands and pack always.  My gratitude to you will be eternal." The girl in white then ran to each girl who was on her knees and plucked her from the ring of fiery dancers surrounding her.  She led them over to the 'Alpha' where they were surrounded by other girls in silver robes who were holding hands and encircling the girls in the brown dresses in a protective ring. 

As I was watching the silver gowns sparkle in the firelight I felt the warmth of Mo's and Siobhan's hands replaced by others. I turned to see a girl in silver on either side of me now holding my hands.This white and silver pattern repeated throughout the circle with girls in silver intermingled throughout the first year students "Now with the protection of the Moon Goddess and the Alpha Silverthorne our kind have a sanctuary where we can escape persecution and grow in our love and knowledge of the gifts given to us by the Moon Goddess. Together we have strength.  Let us never forget." 

Someone started a beat on a drum and I felt a tug on my left hand as the circle started to move in a clockwise direction around the bonfire to the rhythm of the drum.  Starting slowly  with all of us still holding hands.  Spinning faster and faster as the drum beat intensified, the firelight reflecting off of the silver and white gowns, we eventually all dropped hands and began dancing either alone or with others in a pure celebration of happiness and joy under the full moon.  Andrea found Mo and the twins and I and we danced with each other until we collapsed in an exhausted heap on the ground.  

That was AMAZING!" I said to Andrea.  Why didn't you tell us this was going to happen?"  

Andrea smiled and said "Now what fun would that be if  I spoiled all of your surprises!" 

"We should get a picture in front of the bonfire before we go.  This is definitely a night I want to remember forever.!" Saoirse said breathlessly as Siobhan pulled her phone out from under her robes. 

"Looks like someone else has the same idea." Mo said, pointing toward the bonfire.  

Calliope and Narcissa were standing in their white robes in front of the fire while Mallory took their picture.  After a couple of poses, Mallory handed her camera to another student and walked over to stand next to them.  As the other girl started taking pictures, we saw Nerezza running toward the group of girls in front of the fire. "Take my picture too!" She yelled as she ran. 

"Where are her robes?  Mo asked just as Nerezza slammed into the group of girls, knocking Mallory backwards toward the bonfire.  "Oh NO!" Mo screamed and instinctively reached her hand out as if to grab Mallory and keep her from falling into the fire even though we were too far away for her to possibly reach her.

Except she did.  Mallory was suspended in the air and moving away from the bonfire.  I looked at Mo and she was standing with one arm extended and her hand formed into a claw like she was holding something. She stiffly moved her arm as if moving her away from the fire.  Mallory's scream was the only sound we could hear besides the crackling fire as she was gently placed on the ground and out of harm's way. 

"How did you DO  THAT?" I asked Mo who looked pretty confused herself.

"I don't know. But, when I was being tested I found out I could pick things up just by thinking about it.  I just instinctively tried to grab her with my hand but somehow my mind took over and kept her from falling." she said looking at her hand in disbelief.

We saw that Calliope and Narcissa were attending to the still shrieking Mallory as Nerezza was now using Mallory's phone to take selfies in front of the bonfire. "You could have killed me!" Mallory yelled at Nerezza. 

"You aren't hurt.  Stop complaining.  You are so weak and whiny." Nerezza said now using the phone's camera as a mirror to fix her hair.

"You are MEAN, Nerezza.  You may be pretty on the outside but you are ugly on the inside. Goddess doesn't like ugly" Mallory continued screaming at Nerezza. "I don't want to be your friend anymore." she sobbed.  

"You were only here to carry my books.  You were NEVER my friend!" Nerezza hissed.  "Calliope. Narcissa.  Come and leave that whiny witch alone.  Let's go.  I have something exciting to tell you." Calliope and Narcissa left Mallory sitting on the ground and walked away with Nerezza.  

Andrea and the twins had already started walking over to check on Mallory.  I could see Andrea talking to her and then giving her a hug.  

'She will be fine, now'" I thought and turned my attention back to Mo, who was still staring at her hand.  "How did I do that?  What is this called? What does this mean?"  Mo asked.

We were startled by a familiar older woman's voice. "It is called psychokinesis.  It is  the ability to move objects through mind power. The word is derived from the Greek words for "mind" and "motion" and you will learn this in my class, Mohini."  said the woman, who I now recognized as the one who helped with the testing earlier and who had encouraged me to attend tonight's bonfire.

"I am Professor Saffron Shade and I am your psychokinetic's instructor."