It had been almost a year since what happened at the St. George's Academy. I was now 14, and so were Julian and Florence. Laura was 12. Much to our disappointment, we never heard from the twins again.
I put on my clothes, grabbed my books, and rushed out of the house. All schools other than St. George's Academy in the State were single-gendered schools, mine happened to be an all-girls school. Today was the first day of the transfer program, so I certainly didn't want to be late. Much to my annoyance, Oliver had forced me to wear a corset. I wore no stockings, and that wasn't considered proper, but at the moment, I could care no less. Oliver begged me over and over again to wear our great-great-grandmother's blue floral gown, which has been handed down generation after generation as a family heirloom. However, not only did I refuse to wear it, but I also shoved it onto Oliver's face and told him to wear it instead. I felt quite proud at that moment. Oliver's face turned scarlet, and the conversation didn't continue. So, here I was, wearing a blue shirt, brown trousers, and black boots, on my noble steed, which was Oliver's, galloping to school. I couldn't possibly wait to be chauffeured by our family's cab, so naturally, I had to borrow the horse, or well steal my brother's horse. The horse I was riding was a stallion by the name of "Andreas". The previous year, our parents felt there was a dire need to buy a horse for Oliver. A boy his age, should know how to, at least, ride a horse. But of course, with Oliver's wonderful skills at horse riding, I was very sure Oliver would die in an accident before he could even learn how to properly ride the horse. Our parents, however, were hell-bent on teaching Oliver how to ride a horse. After a strenuous course of 8 months, he could finally ride a horse, simply ride without falling. And that was a great achievement. But of course, after all the injuries that Oliver got because of "Andreas", he rarely rode him again, unless our parents forced him to do so. I always had a thing for taming animals; so, "Andreas" was under my command in a few weeks after his arrival. And my horse-riding skills were far better than Oliver's, so, I never had a problem with him.
I kept "Andreas" in the school's stable and rushed into the building. The moment I entered the building, the bell rang, like thunder from the sky. I could hear the hustle and bustle of the assembly from here.
I raged through the corridors; I couldn't possibly afford to be late for such an event! I don't know why, but the corridors were suddenly feeling longer. I go around one bend, and I am faced by another corridor, like a maze of endless paths. At last, this maze came to an end, but lo! Where was the hall? Instead, in front of me stood a mirror. It was a rather pretty thing. Its frame was of sparkling pure gold and was adorned by small black flowers and pretty little skulls. The glass, despite looking old, bore not a single scratch on it. Slowly, I walked towards the glass. Suddenly a figure appeared in the mirror! It was a beautiful lady, with tanned skin, long wavy brown hair, and calm hazel eyes. She adorned a grey gown, a skull pendant with a golden chain, and a flower hairpin and had a sanguine smile on her face.
"Hello, Charles!" exclaimed the lady, with a calm but excited tone.
I was rather surprised by this lady's friendly behavior like she had known me for ages.
Out of curiosity, I asked, "Who're you?"
"That you needn't know. What you should know is that you're selected!"
I was rather confused, "Selected? For what?"
"What d'you suppose? What about you find it out for yourself?"
The hand of the lady shot out of the mirror and sucked me in.
Everything went dark, and when I opened my eyes, I wasn't in the school corridor. I looked around where I was standing. It was a huge meadow, but there wasn't any grass, just black flowers and little cerulean skulls. It was a rough walk, with all these little skulls underneath me, like pebbles and gravel on a country road. Suddenly a soft melody hit my ears. It was Symphony 40 in G minor, K. 550! I looked around there wasn't anybody, but my eyes noticed a beautiful black, ornamented with golden designs, huge and antique, piano. It was far, but when I concentrated on it, I realized it was playing itself. Suddenly, another sound came to my ears. The shrieking of folks. It was almost drowned by the melodious sound of the piano, but it was there. The piano picked up pace, going through Molta Allegro at twice the original speed. The melodious sound now had the fire of revenge. And with the last note, the first movement had a dramatic finish. I walked towards it, calmly. And slowly touched the keys, the keys played themselves in excitement. I slowly drew the chair towards the piano and seated myself on it.
Taking a deep breath, I started the second movement, Andante. My fingers flowed across the keys, like a ballerina on a stage. I picked up the same pace at which the piano was playing a little while ago. Even though it was being played at double its usual pace, it still sounded wonderful! My fingers danced on the piano keys, minute after minute. I paced through the third and fourth movements, and at last, I laid my finger on the last key.
As soon as the last key was played, there was an ear-splitting sound of glass breaking. I looked above me, the mighty azure sky that once stood above this meadow, had shattered! Blue pieces of glass fell all over the meadow. I took shelter under the piano, which didn't receive a single scratch in this glass shower. Once the shattered pieces stopped raining, I slowly came out of my shelter. The 'sky' was pitch-black. But wait! What were those white little dots appearing in this 'sky'? Looking at them closely, I came to realize, those were mirrors! And they were growing! In a few minutes, the mirrors were of full human body length. And then.......... a flash, a bang, and an ear-splitting noise of an old door creaking open. In the very middle of the meadow, not far from me, there was a mirror, which was accompanied by a door, which had opened a moment ago. I ran to the spot and stared into my reflection.
Suddenly, a voice muttered, "Come on in!"
Without a second thought, I stepped into this mirror.
As soon as I stepped in, I was faced by the corridors of St. George's Academy!
"Huh?", came a questioning voice from behind me.
I turned back, it was Simon.
"You're here way before than I expected." Said Simon.
"But, as you're here early, I might as well show you around this place!"
Before I could even express my opinion, I was being dragged around the seminary.
"You see these are our.......... classrooms." said Simon, as we walked by several massive rooms, filled with nothing but Rosaries and weapons, "St. George's Academy is supposed to be the epitome of dichotomy. You must have already realized that in the meadow you came through. You see in our academy 'Flowers' and 'Skulls' co-exist. At least, they're supposed to. The flowers are represented with black, while the skulls with white. The flowers dominate the hierarchy formed in this St. George's academy. And being the dominant ones in this system they get to form 'Bonds' with several supernatural entities. They used these entities to terrorize the ones who were lower in this system. Every day, over 20 students belonging to the lower ranks of this hierarchy are killed gruesomely."
I was shocked to receive this information, just a little bit, though. I saw Laura blow a lady's head off and the last time I came here, I was captured by balloons. But this truly was astounding information. This barbaric system......such cruelty ensues in this academy. Then I suddenly remembered how the masked men had scurried away when they saw the Leroy twins.
I couldn't help but ask, "Why were those masked men, afraid of you?"
"Oh, that's simple. You see, me and my sister developed our ranks in this hierarchy. We didn't submit ourselves to the 'Superior' ranks as the 'Lower' rankers did. Nor did we terrorize the 'Lower' rankers like the 'Superior' ranks did. Instead, we terrorized the 'Superior' rankers, by 'exorcising' the supernatural entities they 'bonded' with by using wild supernatural entities that we have tamed."
I winced my face, "All right. Why do you need me, then?"
"I don't. Edith needs you."
"Who's Edith?"
"The lady in the mirror which you saw earlier. She needs you to complete her 'mission' and completely free her from the mirror."
"And how am I supposed to do that?"
"You'll find along the way."
I frowned, yet again.
There wasn't much talk, in the rest of the 'Sight-seeing'. Simon introduced me to the various peculiar sites based inside the St. George's Academy. The 'Execution Hall', the 'Dungeons', and many more. As we walked through the garden, we were suddenly faced by another mirror!
The picture in the mirror was sort of blurry, but it seemed to be the silhouette of a young girl, on focusing a bit more on the image, I came to realize it was Florence!
Florence tumbled out of the mirror and fell headfirst onto the lawn.
"My my, we've got more company." Beamed Simon.
Florence was more surprised than me, and looking at Simon, she stuttered out "You...here...how? And there's Charles with you as well!"
'You're at the deemed seminary of all England, the holy land of Her Majesty, the one and the only, St George's Academy!"
I shrugged my shoulders at his words.
"Well now that we've got more company, what about we complete our little sightseeing."
Without even clearing out Florence's confusion, Simon dragged her along with us.
Beyond the lawn, there was a greenhouse. The greenhouse was magnificent, it looked as if it had been made in a fairy-tale. On its head, was a green dome, all walls were of glass covered with golden patterns. Its interior was breathtaking, on the top hung a chandelier. There were beautiful plants from everywhere, starting from the simple countryside moors to places like the Bahamas, India, and even the Amazon. The floors were of patterned green tiles that were almost camouflaged with its surroundings. It was so big, that it could serve as a ballroom, and at the very center was a spot connected to all four entrances. In this spot as well, stood a mirror. The mirror bore the blurry figure of a young man, and soon Julian came tumbling out of it. He was equally confused as Florence, but before he could utter a word, Simon told him that he'll explain it all later.
Now we set off for our next destination, "The Ballroom Ruins". It was quite a walk from the greenhouse, but it didn't take us more than thirty minutes. Looking at the St. George's Academy from the outside you'll never be able to assume that it's this big on the inside.
"The Ballroom Ruins" was a large ballroom that was in complete ruins, and possibly one minute away from collapsing.
"Beyond this" grinned Simon "is the fourth mirror, where we will welcome our fourth friend."
We looked at Simon with the same looks on our faces; did he honestly expect us to walk through this collapsing structure that was once the bearer of the honored name "Ballroom"?
"Now don't look at me like that! Of course, there is a trick to cross this ruined ballroom."
As if reading our minds, he continued, "The trick is....to dance....to a music played by a deity that resides here."
"Well then, go on, dance!" snapped Florence.
"Ah! I'm afraid I'll be requiring a partner!"
Florence backed down, and so did Julian, leaving no one other than me, and before I could express my opinion, Simon was already dragging me into the ballroom.
I snapped at him, and swiftly took my hand away, "I don't dance as the follower!"
"That won't be a problem, you can be the lead."
I stared at Simon for a moment, was this young man saying that? Most men would just downright refuse to be the follower, believing that it was a man's job to be 'dominant'. Being asked to be a follower would hurt their ego, their pride, their reputation, and their nature. But this young Lad here had no problem being the follower-
My thoughts were abruptly disrupted by the sound of a chunk of brick falling from the broken roof.
"We must be fast, if we stay here for long, the ballroom as well as the mirror will be destroyed!"
He didn't seem to mind the fact that we would be destroyed along as well.
I swiftly grabbed his right hand stretched it upwards and placed my other hand on his waist. It was slightly difficult as he was much taller than me. Suddenly a tune started playing in the background, it wasn't like anything I ever heard. It had no order or harmony, yet it managed to sound mesmerizing to the ears. Sudden increase in pitch and suddenly it sounds melancholy. Like when you're trekking to a high point, your emotions vary minute to minute. Or as if you're having a rocky relationship with your lover and then suddenly, you're in total love with them.
We gradually progressed into dancing more complex steps after completing the box step. It wasn't Polka, it wasn't Redowa, and it wasn't waltz we just 'flew' from one end of the room to the other. I had never expected Simon to be this light, so it was rather easy to guide him in a dance. Occasionally our height difference, caused me to step on his feet, which resulted in him yelping, which resulted in the tune breaking, which resulted in another piece of brick falling. With a spin and our final step, the hold*, we concluded our dance. The bricks that had fallen on the exit of the ballroom slowly lift themselves, to reveal a figure bearing the silhouette of the figure of a young girl, and out of it came Laura.