The Forbidden Child - Alpha’s Lost Luna

Chapter 14

***Jane***

After dropping Amy off at her work, we drove about 30 minutes down the highway towards Paravetiti Academy. The road to turn onto its private drive was hidden between the trees, no more than a dirt path off the main road. Had we not known prior what to look for, we would have thought it just another service road for the US forestry service. Once we turned onto the dirt path, we drove for another 5 minutes through a thick tree cover before the road turned to gravel.

It took us an additional 10 minutes of driving before we made it to a small clearing with an iron fence that disappeared into the trees, and a gate under an arch that was directly in the path of the road. And what a gate it was. It had to be 30 feet tall. Its two large swinging doors had a crest in the middle of them that when connected created the letter P. It still wasn’t taller than the trees, as they towered over even the gate on either side.

As we approached a man stepped out of nowhere surprising me and came up to the driver's side of my car.

“Names.” He asked. Taking out a clipboard with a pen.

“Jane Willow and Eliana Walker.” I said. He flipped through a few papers until he marked off two spots on the same page. Turning away from us he talked into a radio he pulled off his hip.

“I have two new intakes that just drove up.”

“Send them in.” Someone on the other end of the radio replied. He replaced the radio into its hip holder.

“Okay, I’m going to need to see some ID, and do you have your acceptance packets with you?” He asked. I don’t know what I was expecting, but not this much security. Kind of makes you wonder, are they trying to keep something out, or keep something in?

“Here you go.” I said as I handed the security guard our info. He checked them both out, and then handed them back to me.

“Okay, go through the gate, and keep on the path until you pass through the stone archway. Then make your way to the front of the building and park behind the rest of the vehicles. Leave all items except your packets here in the car. Then make your way to the field with the rest of the students. Oh, and no more than 10 mhp. Any questions?”

“What if we get lost?” I asked. He stared at me for a moment before answering.

“You won't.” He tapped the hood of the car twice and backed away as the large gate started to open up before us. With nothing else to do we pulled forward.

As we slowly approached I looked up to see the intricately woven arch above us with several different metals used. I think I counted at least 4 different colors all wound together as if they had been braided into this design. I think I even saw small metal flowers poking out, as if they were really vines with which they were blooming on. When we were half way through the metal arch I thought I felt a sensation like electricity. I looked down at my arms and saw my hairs standing on end. Looking over at El, she seemed unbothered. Huh, okay.

We continued down the tree covered path, which I now noticed was only big enough for one car at a time. Maybe that was why they had the guard, to make sure there were no accidents? As we turned around a corner we came upon another archway, this one made of wood. It was designed the same with at least 4 different woods wound together like vines, and wooden flowers carved into its shape. Only this one also had real vines with flowers growing over it as well. It was beautiful. El and I both were silent as we were awestruck at what we were seeing. We were half way through the arch when again I had an odd sensation. This time I started to feel really hot, with beads of sweat forming on my skin. Looking at El, she was still immersed in the view outside the car. What the hell was wrong with me?

Once we passed ,the odd feeling went away again. We kept driving around another bend until a waterfall came into view, and our path went right through it. I stopped the car. “Surely they don’t expect us to drive through that!” I yelled.

I got out and walked over to where the road was to take us, and found the gravel road turned into a wooden bridge just before crossing the large pond that the waterfall spilled into. That wooden bridge continued right through the waterfall. Standing on the wooden plankes, I jumped a few times to test its integrity.

Jane opened her door and stood next to the car. “What do you think, should we chance it?” She asked. Did we have a choice? There wasn’t anywhere to turn around, and I didn’t think they would send new students this way if it wasn’t safe.

Turning back to her I said. “Well, looks like there is nowhere to go but through. Come on, let's go.”

I got back in the car making sure all the windows were locked up tight. Slowly we moved over the bridge. I was expecting it to break under the weight of the vehicle, but it held. We creeped towards the waterfall, and watched as the hood of the car was enveloped in the veil of water. Looking up as best I could, I watched as the rest of the car was swallowed whole. Suddenly I felt ice cold, and started to shiver. El looked over at me.

“You okay?” She asked. I nodded my head while keeping my eyes in front of me.

Just as we passed through the water, I looked behind me and saw another archway that had been hidden by the water. This one was made out of rocks and what looked like mineral veins. I saw reds and blues and purples and whites all wound together. Shaking my head, I turned around and saw we were in a small tunnel with an opening about 100 feet in front of us.

We were no longer on a wooden bridge, but had returned to a gravel pathway the same as before. We followed that road towards the light of the exit. Coming through into the light of day, we were in a large clearing that was in front of one more huge archway. Only this one looked fairly normal and made out of stone. It was connected to walls that ran around what I could only presume to be the school grounds. We followed the road through the arch and I prepared myself for more odd feelings, only nothing came this time. I let out a big sigh of relief.

“You sure okay Jane?” El asked skeptical as I continued to drive.

“Yep, that was just a really weird drive to get to the school is all.”

“I don’t know, I thought it was beautiful. Oh look! There’s the school!” She pointed in front of us. We approached a massive building that could double as a castle, with smaller buildings off to the side of it. Creating a semicircle around the front grounds where there were currently a mass amount of students at. I pulled up in front of the main building where there were a dozen or so other cars parked. Getting out I left everything except my welcome packet as the guard said.

“You ready for this?” I asked El. She walked around to my side and grabbed me, wrapping her arm through mine.

“Hell yes! Let’s go!” She said excitedly.

Walking over to where the other students were, I thought I recognized a few from the party the night before. Yup, there was Jeremy and Tony, but they hadn’t seen us yet. El hadn’t seen them either, so I led us to the other side of the group.

“What do you think we're supposed to do now?” El asked.

“I don’t know, was there a schedule of events in the packet?” I was about to look through it when someone stood on something in the front of the group to raise themselves higher and get everyone’s attention. She was a stately woman of average height with brown hair twisted and pinned behind her head. She wore a conservative length skirt with a white blouse that had ruffles down the middle where buttons usually were.

“Welcome to Paravetiti Academy! I am Dean Valoria Eckelson. Seeing as how you are all exceptional students as we except no other, I will expect nothing but the best from you. We the faculty are here to help you grow, and learn, and give you the tools you need to excel outside of this school. For today's festivities, you will be separated into two groups, A and B. Please look at your welcome packets now to find which group you were sorted into.” Everyone started to look at once as the Dean continued to talk. Myself included.

“Once you have found which group you are in, A’s you will meet over on the east side by the athletic hall. B’s, you will meet over on the west side by the library. There you will find your faculty liaison, they are there to answer any questions you have, or deal with any problems that may arise. Many of you may have had similar experiences with a school counselor in your previous institutions.”

“You lot are our new transfers for this year, and will find the rest of the student body to arrive within the next few days. Please familiarize yourselves with the campus before the start of class beginning next week. Here in front of me are two of our most exceptional student leaders who will guide you to where you need to be, and are also available to answer your questions. Use this opportunity wisely and you will be more prepared than anyone else for what comes next in your life. Please divide yourself into your respective groups now.”

As most everyone rushed to one side or the other, El and I stayed in the same place. We were both B’s and already on the west side. I looked over at the A’s and caught Jeremy’s attention. I swear when he looked at me his face lost all color. He nudged Tony next to him and he turned and looked too. El waved to them, and they begrudgingly waved back before turning and looking away from us. I rolled my eyes. Well, I guess we could count them out as someone to hang out with.

Funnily enough, there was another guy standing close to them who caught my eye. He was taller than the boys, with dark red hair and ocean blue eyes. He wore khaki pants and a dark green long sleeve shirt that did little to hide the muscles underneath. He caught me looking at him and winked at me. I turned away as I felt my face heat up. Well, at least there was one guy who wouldn't ignore me. Not my usual type, but did I even have a type? I instantly thought of Kai, okay yea Kai was definitely my type. But he wasn’t here.

“Jane, come on we gotta go.” El said. I guess I had gotten lost in my thoughts. The groups seemed to be separating now, and ours was heading towards the west. I guess I better keep up. Following along it seemed our tour guide/student leader was giving us a history lesson on the origins of the school. It seemed it was founded by the Godwin family almost a hundred and fifty years ago. But their last descendants died a few years back. One of the first buildings they built was the library where we were headed now.

As we stopped in front of the building that housed the library I was awestruck. This looked like it could have been a mansion all on its own. There were two huge towers on either end with conical roofs matching in height to the center of the structure with its own arched roof.

We all walked inside the main double doors into the library and it was massive. A true book hoarder's dream come true. The main attachamber was open with a huge fireplace at the otherside of the building, with cozy chairs and couches with reading lights on side tables nearby. Then there were several long tables with chairs, and more lights at each spot for studying. There were maybe 4 open floors high surrounding the main room, each with bookshelves as far as the eye could see.

Our guide brought us to the middle of the large room where there was a gentleman standing waiting for us. He looked to be in about his 40’s with what was once black hair, now peppered with gray. The same went for his beard, but it only made him look more distinguished. He wore jeans and a tweed jacket that was very becoming on him.

“Welcome!” He said with a big smile. “I am Professor Jack Reaver and I teach history and english at this school. I thought being with what I teach, this would be the perfect place to meet. I’m sure you're all tired from your drive up here. So I thought we could all take a break, and I’d let you explore the library for a bit. How about we all meet back here in say. . . “ He looked down at his watch. “Twenty minutes?” It only took about 2 seconds for everyone to run off in different directions ready to explore. I was about to follow suit when the professor grabbed my arm.

“Excuse me, but are you Arabella by chance?” I looked at him confused. How did he know my middle name? And why would he call me by that and not Jane?