The Gifted Academy

* * * Amy’s POV * * * The closer we get to the Academy, the larger and loftier it looms. From a distance, it had looked maybe three stories tall, but the reality of it when we near the intricately carved, ten-foot high wooden doors is like peering up at a great cathedral or a castle from medieval England, built to withstand any battle siege. It’s all dark stone and sharp edges. There’s nothing comforting or warm about the place at all. I notice a small group of other people approaching from the east side of the building. They all look equally as awed as us. The huge doors open, as if on their own, and I walk with the gifted through them, entering the Academy. When I pass under the high arch of the entrance, a strange vibration and energy ripples over my body, and now I’m suddenly dry and so are my clothes and my bag. I look around to see if others have felt it, but I can’t tell, as either they have a look of rapture on their faces or abject terror. I don’t think they even notice they aren’t soaking wet anymore. I decide to stick to Max’s side as we all gather in the entrance hall. I’m a mass of nervous energy, unsure of what to do or where to go. But then an excited murmur ripples through the group as a man with long, gray hair and a neatly clipped gray beard leisurely comes down the wide stone staircase in front of us. Beside me, Cherokee grabs my arm. “It’s Zeus,” she whispers. “Holy s**t,” I crank my neck to get a better view of him as he stands on the steps and looks down at us with an amused quirk of his lips. Compared to when we were on the battlefield, he doesn’t look all-powerful or all-knowing. He looks like a tired old man out for a stroll, wearing baggy beige linen pants and a roomy linen tunic. Is he wearing a bathrobe on top? “Welcome to you all.” His voice booms, echoing all around us. I actually can feel it vibrating against my heart. It’s like being next to a huge speaker at a gig, and the DJ is spinning something heavy bass. I rub my sternum, frowning, as he continues to speak. “You have been invited to the Academy because there is something special about you. You have been picked out of millions of young people, be they humans, wolves, vampires or fae, because somewhere in your family lineage runs Gods’ blood.” Oh s**t. He’s wrong. I don’t belong to the Gods’. I’m going to get found out. I most definitely do not have God's blood running through my veins. Relax. We belong here. Selene chose us, I chose you, Keera reassures me. The Cherokee continues to squeeze my arm, as her excitement grows with his words. “I knew it,” she whispers. “You are stronger, faster, smarter, healthier, more enhanced than the rest of the population, and that is why you are here.” His eyes start to glow with sparks of lightning as his voice rumbles throughout the building. “To train to be the fiercest soldiers to ever set foot on the Earth.” Some of the group claps, others cheer. I swallow down the bile rising in my throat, knowing I shouldn’t be here. I wonder how easy it would be for me to turn around and walk out of the Academy. Would I be stopped? Stop it. We were born for this. It’s just your nerves talking, Keera tells me. I know she’s right. “Your training will not be easy. It will be the most difficult thing you have ever done. You will be asked to push yourself beyond your limitations. There will be sweat and tears and blood spilled in the halls of this Academy before your three years are finished.” I glance around at all the people surrounding me. Some have glossy, wide eyes, enraptured with Zeus’s speech, and others keep their gazes on their feet, maybe too afraid to even look at the God of all Gods. One boy nearby from the other group licks his lips nervously. His hands shake at his sides. My heart pounds so hard I can feel it in my throat, but it isn’t with fear. Exhilaration at the prospect of pushing myself beyond anything I could imagine makes my head swim. Maybe here I can prove myself. Prove that I’m worth all the cells that combine in complicated patterns to make me a person. Although I’m afraid of not being good enough, I’m not frightened of sweat, tears, or blood. I’ve spilled them already just to get here. “Your first year will be hard. You will be trained in all disciplines, both physical and mental, so that we may ascertain where your Gods’ power and affiliation lies. At the end of the year, you will each have to face twelve harrowing trials. One for each of the Gods. If you survive, you will be placed into the corresponding God’s clan that you are connected to.” That causes a murmur through the group. I hear various Gods’ names spoken out loud. Poseidon. Athena. Apollo. I hear one girl near me say, “I’m most definitely in Aphrodite’s clan.” She’s gorgeous and blonde, and it makes me both angry and sad that she thinks her appearance is what is special about her. Everyone is so enthralled with what clan they want to belong to, with the Academy, with the Gods’ and with being the strongest the Earth has ever seen, they seem to have missed the, “If you survive,” part of that sentence. I don’t know which of the Gods I aspire to. I haven’t given it much thought, since I never expected to be chosen to found the Academy. “What’s the matter Jackson?” I whisper. “A buzzing fills my ear, like a slight brushing of a finger across the top, or a hushed whisper of words I can’t quite decipher.” He says as he whips around to see who had spoken. “Someone is messing around,” I reassure him. The guy behind me gives me a funny look and then ignores me. I glance at the young woman beside him, but I don’t think she even notices my presence. She’s so wrapped up in what Zeus is saying. “Have I imagined the voice? It’s possible, but it just had been so clear,” Jackson whispers. “Know this now, not every one of you will succeed here.” That makes everyone shut up. “Some of you will fail. And if you do, you will not just be sent back to your homes. In fact, you will never be able to go back home again. If you fail, you will be expelled from this Academy and cursed to live the rest of your life in hardship and misery. No one will take pity on you. No one will help you. You will forever be the lost.” Silence consumes the room. I almost cover my mouth, so no one can hear my sharp intake of breath. I hear the ticking of someone’s watch and I’m surprised they even wear one. Every tick gets louder and louder until I think my eardrums will burst. Then Zeus smiles and claps his hands together, the sound like thunder, rattling the stones of the foundation of the building. “Now, let’s get you settled into your rooms. Also, there’s going to be a big party for you in the great hall later, so you can eat, drink, and be merry.” His smile grows even wider. “Because come tomorrow, your training will start.” Two other people appear at the top of the stairs. A man who looks like he just walked off the front page of Grazia magazine—short, thick dark hair swept up off his face, chiseled face, cheekbones that could cut glass, a full set of lips made for kissing, and piercing blue eyes framed by dark, square-shaped glasses. He wears a tight turtleneck accentuating all his muscles and simple dark jeans that I imagine hugs a perfect behind. Every girl, even a few guys, swoon at the sight of him. Me and Max included. This has to be Eros. His female counterpart is equally as attractive—long, dark beach waves, sultry brown eyes, full lips painted red, high cheekbones, regal nose. She wears a simple red dress hugging full breasts and shapely hips. Her long, sculpted legs are perfectly presented in red heels. I suspect she is named Psyche. Every male’s gaze is riveted on her. Smiling, she gestures with her hand to her left. “If those from the second group would please follow me, I will direct you to your rooms.” There's a mad rush up the stairs. I get jostled by the two boys who had been standing behind me. “All the others, if you will come with me.” Eros grins. “I’ll show you to your rooms.” Another mad rush up the stairs, this time with a bit of pushing and shoving as everyone tries to get to the front of the line and closest to Eros. I’m happy to follow along in the back of the pack, clinging to Max’s arm, struggling to believe this is real. Although Eros definitely ticks all the attraction boxes, I already have, here beside me, the man I was destined to fall in love with. As we walk through the long, wide corridors of the living quarters of the Academy, Eros chats casually about the party we will be attending later and how much fun it will be. “There will be all kinds of amazing food there. And Dionysus is an epic DJ. He helped Daft Punk get their start years ago.” He looks left to right suspiciously, then leans in toward the group. “He used to party with Mozart way back when, but you didn’t hear it from me.” Cherokee and Isla at the front giggle. “Are you going to be there?” He gives her a disarming smile. “I might be. Maybe you can save me a dance?” She giggles again, and I think for sure she’s going to pass out. They both hold onto each other to stop themselves from falling over as they swoon. “So, here we are. Your rooms. They aren’t assigned, so pick a room as quickly as you can. You don’t want to be the odd one out, or you’ll have to share a room with Medusa. And she’s not very friendly.” Everyone darts to their left or right and into the rooms on either side. There is some shoving near the rooms closest to the stairs, so I grab Max and rush down the hallway away from everyone else and dash into a dark room, hoping maybe we’ll luck out and not have a roommate to share with. I immediately toppled over whatever is in the middle of the floor. “What the fu—” “Oh, Goddess, I’m so sorry.” I sit up, squinting into the darkness. A shadow form moves about on the floor then stands. Light suddenly floods the room, and I peer up at a petite girl with short red hair. I scramble to my feet. “What were you doing on the floor?” “Talking to him.” She holds up a tiny brown mouse by the tail. “I was telling him he needed to find another place to live.” That’s when I notice the state of the room. Cobwebs cover each corner, both ceiling and floor. Dust coats everything else, including the small desk by the grimy window and the two beds that are stacked up on one another along one wall. And I don’t even want to identify the tiny pebbles on the floor. Considering this girl is holding up a tiny rodent, I don’t have to try too hard to figure it out. She must’ve seen the disgust on my face. “It’ll be nice once we clean it up and fix the beds. I’m going to take the adjoining room. I came alone and the other group aren’t very friendly.” She holds out her other hand to me and then Max. “I’m Alexandra Light, by the way.” “Amethyst Jones.” After we shake hands, I take off my backpack and set it down on the floor, glancing around. “I wonder where we’ll find a broom.” She smiles. An hour later, we’ve cleaned the master room, the guest room, the bathrooms and made our respective beds. Alexandra proves to be incredibly strong and pretty much does all the heavy lifting when it comes to organising where our beds are going to go. I’m surprised, considering she looks more chubby than sturdy. She’s decided that our beds should be against different walls so that she doesn’t overheat Max and I. Once we are done, I feel my stomach growl. I don’t even know what time it is, as my phone doesn’t seem to be working any longer. I don’t know if it’s because it got water damaged or if it’s his place. We sure aren’t in Kansas anymore. “I’m starving. Do you want to go down to this party and get some food?” Alexandra nods. “I could most definitely eat.” We leave our rooms and follow some of the others who look like they are making their way to the great hall, wherever that is. Eros left out that detail when he was giving us the quick tour. But as soon as we go down the large stone staircase, we hear the thumping strains of dance music. We wind our way through empty rooms and hallways toward the sound. The moment we turn the corner of one hallway, there’s no mistaking where the party is. The end of the corridor opens up into a cavernous hall made from dark gray stone with a domed ceiling, held up by stone pillars with decorative inlays. The hall is packed with people. Both the newly gifted Academy students and the staff as well as some of the Gods’, I assume, they mill about, talking and laughing. I marvell at it all. I’ve never experienced anything like it. Every big party James had ever held at the Mountain Shadow pack house pales in comparison. My stomach growls again, reminding me of my initial goal. To eat. I look around for any tables that have food on them but don’t see any immediately. What I do see is small wooden robots rolling around the room on wheels. They each carry a tray with some kind of food on it. I make a bee-line straight for one that has tiny sandwiches. In my haste, I nearly knock it over, as I grab four sandwiches and shove them into my mouth. I look down at the wooden server. Its beady-eye gaze is on me; I swear there was judgment in that look, which is impossible as it isn’t even alive. I make a grab for one more sandwich before it rolls away from me. I walk through the party, taking in the people bouncing to the music. It isn’t what I normally like; I usually go for something a bit more thrashy, a whole lot more metal, but it’s decent. My social skills are feeling rather non-existent, so I keep to the outskirts of the festivity, preferring to watch than do. But my gaze hones in on a pretty black girl being ruthlessly and relentlessly hit on in one of the corners of the room. Her body language screams, “Go away!” but the guy isn’t listening. And he’s big, too. Muscular, tall, he looms over her, leering like a creep, trying to touch her long, dark curls. I don’t like the situation one bit. I move closer to gauge what’s going on. “We have to help her, Max.” “Please, leave me alone. I told you I don’t want to dance.” She tries to step around him, but he gets in her way. “We could go out into the courtyard and make out then, if you don’t want to dance.” She tries to push past him again, but this time he grabs her arm. Hell no. Not on my watch. “She told you to leave her alone.” I move in to stand beside the girl. “You either don’t understand English or you’re stupid.” “Mind your own business.” As he scowls down at me, I realised just how big he is . “Okay, so you speak English fine, so I guess you’re just stupid then.” I see his attack in my mind before he even moves. He lunges forward, swinging his right arm at me. I lean back out of his reach, grab his wrist with both hands, tug him forward, and then sweep his back leg with my right one. He’s down on the floor in seconds. There are a few people around us, and they start to laugh, as the guy sputters in surprise on the ground. I take the girl’s hand and pull her away. We join a bunch of people on the dance floor. Smiling, she bends towards my ear. “Oh my Gods, thank you for coming to my rescue.” “Any time. I can’t stand bullies.” “I’m Hannah." “Amy.” “Isn’t this all nuts?” She gestures to the chaos happening all around us, and I imagine she’s talking about the whole situation we’ve stepped into. The DJ, who has spikey up black hair and wears black eyeliner, jumps up onto one of the serving robots and rides it around in front of his set up, flailing his arms around. “Who’s ready to get crazy?” Everyone on the dance floor screams in response. Then he does a backflip off the robot, ran back to his turntable, and drops another thumping song sending everyone into a frenzy. I can’t help but be swept up as well. The music was infectious, getting right into my muscles and bones. I dance with Jasmine, Georgina, Max and Isla, moving my body to each oscillating pulse of music. I jump up and down, turn, and nearly collide with my love. He grins at me, which makes my belly flip flop. “Having a good time, Baby?” “Yes. Are you?” “I’ll let you know in a minute.” He reaches for my hand and is about to pull me close, when the dark-haired girl interrupts, getting right in between us. He squeezes my hand. “You’re not slumming it, are you, baby?” She gives me a side-eye, clearly disgusted with everything about me. In lots of ways, she reminds me of Louise. Anger swells inside me, and I need to get away before I do something I’ll regret. I don’t need to fail the academy before classes even start. I walk off the dance floor and search for a place to sit away from the celebration. But everyone is in full party mode. The music, the smell of the food and drink, and the heat of so many people crushed together pushes down on me. I need some air. I leave the great hall with the intention of finding a way outside, but the sound of footsteps approaching has me pressing up against a shadowed wall. I don’t want to get into trouble for leaving the celebration. I have a sense this place is big on rules with harsh punishments. I peek around the corner to see literally a blonde Goddess walking down the empty corridor. She’s tall, six feet at least, yards of golden waves trailing down her back to her tiny waist. The hem of her sheer white dress drags behind her like the train of a wedding gown or a royal gown. She’s definitely regal. After she moves down the hallway a little farther away, she stops and turns. Even from where I am hiding, I can see how stunning she is. Her face looks like it was sculpted from the whitest, hardest marble to ever exist, and her eyes areas blue as the hottest part of a flame. This has to be Aphrodite. The stories about her beauty don’t even come close to the reality of her. I’m not sure what she’s doing, but I don’t have to wait long until another form steps out from a different darkened corridor. It’s a man, a mountainous muscular man with a shaved head. He looks like an army drill sergeant on steroids. They embrace, kissing. Obviously, there’s something going on there. But the way she keeps looking around, it’s definitely a secret something. “Were you followed?” Aphrodite asks her lover. He shakes his head. “Does Hephaistos suspect anything?” “He wouldn’t notice if I came home dipped in blood. All he cares about is his toys and contraptions.” “Then he’d never noticed the key was gone?” I lean around the corner, eager to get closer. “Not for the time we’d need to open…” Pausing, she whips her head around to where I‘m hidden. I jerk backward, the heel of my boot squeaking against the polished tile floor. Shit. Move. Now! Keera commands. I don’t wait to see if they heard me. I listen to Keera and hightail it out of there. The very last thing I need is a couple of Gods thinking I’ve overheard their clandestine meeting to discuss evil doings. “Hey. Is everything alright,” his deep voice whispers as his arms wrap around my waist. “I’m overwhelmed. They’ve picked the wrong person. I don’t think I can’t do this,” I tell him as tears form in my eyes. “Come on, let’s go to bed,” he says as he carries me bridal style back towards our room. “Can we practice making those babies?” I ask. I burst into giggles as he grunts and breaks into a sprint, eager to get us back to our room.