❝normality is a paved road: it's comfortable to walk,
but no flowers grow on it.❞
ｖｉｎｃｅｎｔ ｖａｎ ｇｏｇｈ
___
ＢＹ foot, Redmond said, it took under two hours to get from one side of the island to another. The school itself took up almost a third of that space.
Considering I didn't make it a habit to take 2 hour walks, I didn't know whether that meant the school was large or the island was seriously tiny. I settle for a bit of both.
Dauntley Academy – the official name for Morgana's Boarding School for Freaks, was perched on top of the highest point on the island and could be seen from all points on the island.
At first glance, the academy sort of resembled a chalet or perhaps even a castle with its many windows and brick Gregorian style architecture. The building seemed to juxtapose itself, with its interior greatly contrasting the old-fashioned feel of outside with its minimalist, almost futuristic theme. In all honesty, from what I'd seen of the school so far, it all seemed to be an indecipherable mix of old and new.
And my room was exactly the same.
The room was quite large– or at least larger than my 4 by 4 meters room back in Haven. It was composed of a disconcerting amount of white, the only non-white item standing out was a dark strip along the wall and underneath the window sill.
Ignoring the overwhelming colour scheme, the next thing I notice is that there are two of everything.
I furrow my eyebrows. I wasn't told anything about a roommate, but it was the only logical conclusion. On opposite sides of the room, were identical beds, wardrobes and bedside tables complete with a mini drawers and a small (white) lampshades. They were practically reflections of themselves. The only difference was that on one side of the room, there was also an array of suitcases, boxes and bags waiting to be unpacked.
My luggage, I realised.
I vaguely recalled Redmond mentioning that little fact to me earlier that day. From this, I assume that to be my designated corner of the room and move towards it. I glance reluctantly at the items, then look around to see a slightly ajar door I hadn't acknowledged before.
From the little glimpse I got, I guessed it must be the bathroom.
Taking a few items out of my bags, I venture towards the bathroom, locking the door behind me.
My eyebrows raise in when I am in. Unlike the main room, the bathroom is completely stocked with toiletries, and not just generic ones. I doubt the extensive make up set in varying shades of browns and tanned hues was a welcoming present from Morgana.
I shrug it off with indifference, as I get ready to have a shower. It would probably make sense later.
❧
Taking an hour long shower probably wasn't necessary- I hadn't done anything strenuous that day to amass to it, and the only major outcome was my skin having a partial pruned appearance to them. Nevertheless, I didn't regret it. I was a bundle of nerves and I needed something to calm me down. All I felt was anticipation.
This was going to be my fresh start.
My do-over. My chance to improve, to have friends that could get to know the real me, and maybe this time, to not just be known as the new girl.
I imagine with every water droplet sliding off my skin, went with it little traces of my old self, cleaning my slate to allow me to reinvent myself. No more Lucy Brandson, the girl who lived in the shadows with no real name or real memories. In with Emerson Sparke- the girl who dared to be noticed.
Or at least, that's what I hope I'll become. As of far, the only change I've felt has all been in my head. Not very encouraging.
Wrapping my towel firmly around me, I head back into the room. I barely take two steps forward when a pair of large brown eyes come peering directly at me.
"So you're the new girl," the person attached to the brown eyes speaks. "We usually don't get any in our category."
The girl takes a small step back- not enough to be out of my personal space, but enough that I could properly make out her features.
Matching her sparkling brown eyes and pearly white smile, was a warm, caramel complexion. Her hair was styled with thousands of tiny curls in varying shades of browns and just stopped just after her shoulders. She was at a height that wasn't exactly short, but considering I probably still had a few inches on her, she wasn't quite tall either.
"Right," the girl continues in response to my wordless staring. "I should probably introduce myself." The girl outstretches a hand to me in a friendly gesture. "It's Cass," she says, but before I could even consider shaking her hand, she absentmindedly pulls it away in as she continues to talk. "Well, it's actually Cassandra, but the only person who calls me that is my mom. So. Yeah."
"I..." I begin to say once I think she is finally done talking.
"Oh, you don't have to introduce yourself to me!" Cass suddenly interrupts gallantly. "I already know who you are– it's Emma, right?"
"Yeah," I finally managed to spit out. "It is. It's just, I was just kind of going to ask if you could move."
"Move..." Cass repeats blankly. Then almost as if a bulb lit in her mind, it finally dawns on her. "Right, move," she says emphatically. "Move, because I'm blocking the way into the room and you're only wearing a towel. Right. Sorry about that."
She sidles to the side, granting me clear access to the rest of the room.
I almost do a double take. The room looked completely different to how when I left it. Majority of the white furniture was gone and a new theme of pastel blues and light coloured woods had replaced the previous one. If I wasn't in shock before, I was now. I couldn't have been gone that long.
"I hope you don't mind," Cass interjects, presumably noticing the astonished look on my face, "I asked Xing to change the layout of the room. That all white theme just always seems to dystopian to me." She scrunches her nose in distaste as she speaks.
"But..." I reply waveringly, "that can't have been up to an hour ago."
"I know, I know, they're getting slower. And Mom doesn't believe me when I say they're getting understaffed." Cass tuts in disapproval at this. "Anyway, I'll leave you to get dressed before this gets anymore awkward."
Cass begins to walk out the door at her final announcement, leaving me to stare in her wake in bafflement.
Just when I think she's finally gone, Cass's head poked through a gap in the door again, making me almost yelp as I tightened my towel more firmly around me.
"Sorry," Cass apologises, "I forgot to tell you! It's the reason I came up to begin with." She playfully slaps her forehead before continuing. "Your testing got moved up- they need you down there as soon as possible."
"Down where?" I ask confusedly. I was beginning to regret turning down the offer for a full of the school just yet.
"Of course, you wouldn't know were the only labs were," Cass realises. "Just... follow the signs and you'll be fine," she instructs me instead.
My gaze drifts away as I focus on this piece of advice. Follow the signs...
"Oh. And Emma?" Cass says earnestly, drawing my eyes back up to meet hers. "You don't need to worry about it. I swear they aren't there bad..."
She sends me a final smile of encouragement before firmly shutting the door with a resounding click.
Now that she was gone, I realised I should have probably thanked her for her advice. Remembering the rest of our conversation, I also realised Cass had done most of the talking. Maybe it was just in her nature, being excitable, talkative and prone to awkward situations. Or maybe, it was just with me. I couldn't know for sure yet.
I couldn't see into the future, so I tried to keep an open mind. After all, I remind myself while getting dressed, it could be worse.
Just as I mentally began to agree, another thought dawns on me. It seemed like something that should have come up in a conversation eventually and now my curiosity was sparked.
I never asked what Cass's power was.
❧
Follow the signs and you'll be fine.
They would be great last words to mutter to yourself, if not for the fact that no one else would be around to here them.
I didn't know for sure how long I'd been walking, but it was long enough for me to assume I was lost. So far, I had passed eight different signs, and weirdly enough- no person yet, which completely ruled out any suggestions of asking someone for help. The signs I had followed so far had led me down one elevator, 4 hallways, a narrow flight of steps and a dead end. Eventually, I gave up on ever finding this 'testing room' and decide to navigate my way back to my room while I still knew the way.
Entering the closest elevator, I push down the button I hope led to my floor before resting my back against the furthest wall. I let out a sigh as the automatic doors slowly began to close.
Ding!
My eyes flick up in surprise at the elevator door being opened again.
An Asian man of about my height enters the elevator with slumped shoulders and distressed look on his face. He runs a hand through his jet black hair, muttering something under his breath before looking up and realising he was not alone.
"You!" He exclaims, when he makes eye contact with me.
"Me?" I repeat in confusion.
"You're..." he pauses for a moment as his eyes skim over a piece of paper in his hand, "Emma Sparks, right?"
"That's me."
"Thank God," he sighs, "I thought I was going to get fired. I'm supposed to take you for your testing."
"You are?" I reply, equally as relieved.
"It's just down this way," he instructs once the elevator door opens again. He pulls out a tablet, typing a series of keys before returning back to face me. "Come on."
Having no real reason not to, I follow him.
When we finally stop walking, I realise we are underground. There were no real windows on this floor, and a cold draft blew past every few moments.
We passed row after rows of identical looking doors with blurred windows, but none of them appeared to be the one we were searching for, because my guide never stopped walking.
Everything looked clinical, with the only thing lighting the vast hallways we walked past being the harsh overhead lighting.
"Ahh, there they are," a woman I recognised as Agent Redmond says, spotting our approaching figures. "I was behind to think you had both gotten lost. Thank you, Xing, for bringing her."
Xing responds with an apprehensive nod, before turning away and heading back down the empty hallway.
I stare down after him for a moment, still trying to figure out the reason for his anxious behaviour.
"Interns," Redmond tuts offhandedly. "Always so terrified all the time. Come on, Emma, it's just right through this door."
She holds the door open for me and I enter with her walking in shortly after me.
We were in a lab of some sort. The room contained a series of computers and other bits of technology. Dispersed around was also a range of equipment- some looked like they belonged in a gym, others, I couldn't identify. The most notable thing in the room however, was a glass wall in the last third, dividing the lab room into two parts.
And stood next to it, were Morgana and two men in lab coats.
The older of the two scientists approach me and begins to explain the procedures of the evening, saving a short, courteous greeting.
"...If you would just like to go through there," he instructs, "we can start by checking your vitals."
I nod as I walk through the door, reciprocating the thumbs up he gives me.
"We're just going to go over the basics first," the other man continues, carefully shutting the door behind me, "before we do ... the rest."
Agent Redmond, walks forward and curtly raps on the glass, with her other hand pressed firmly against a button on the wall I assume is an intercom system.
"The glass is soundproof, bulletproof and can withstand extreme temperatures so don't worry about giving it all you got. The wall is sturdy enough," Redmond assures me. She steps back a bit- without moving her left hand- to confer with the people behind her. "Which one are we starting with?"
They look down to their clipboards in unison, then at each other.
"We could start at the treadmill," one said.
Redmond nods accordingly. "Just clip yourself, Emma and we can begin.
❧
Forty-five minutes later and I was ready to call it a night. Some of the tasks had been more strenuous than others and the last real meal I had (if you don't count the packet of M&M's aunt Victoria had managed to sneak in my back at the last minute) was aeroplane food– and I was reaching my breaking point. I couldn't have been more grateful when I heard Redmond utter her next words.
"Okay, Emma, one more test and you can go," she announces.
"This one is what most consider the 'fun bit'," one of the scientists add. I pass him a skeptical look. None of the previous tests could have particularly described as enjoyable, not to talk about 'fun'. Nevertheless, I listen to the rest of what he had to say. "Do you think you can try out your abilities?"
I stare at him blankly. Trying out my abilities wasn't something I'd felt eager to do so far, considering all the damage it had already done so far.
"Just anything you think you can do," Redmond prompts, noticing the anticipation on my face. "It doesn't have to big."
I nod my head, my gaze shifting from Redmond, to the two scientists... to Morgana.
Morgana had barely said anything that night. She had spent most of her time wordlessly watching the entire process with a neutral expression on her face. To an extent, her silence confused me- but I doubted it was down to some newfound shyness. No. She had more of a calculating look about her. Not that that made much more sense.
Letting out a loud breath, I try to clear my thoughts. I should be 'testing out my abilities' not analysing the complex workings of Morgana Noble.
Something about that terrified me. Using my powers.
I've never consciously done it before, and in my opinion, something that could render anyone comatose wasn't something I could just 'try out'.
Silence had fallen across the room. I could tell they were waiting for me to do something. So eventually, I do.
Closing my eyes, I take a deep breath and try to gather as much courage as I could possibly muster. I stretch out my arms in front of me and trying to imagine heat coursing through my veins and the energy flowing all around me. I try to imagine a fire burning me from the inside out, trying to find a root to escape. Until it finds the centre of my palms.
I unclench my fists. Spread my fingers. And push forward with as much power as I can.
Crack!
I jump a little at the small noise. My eyes fling open in surprise to see nothing. I turn to my audience. They all had frowns on their faces. Redmond goes to press the intercom button again. Abnormal, I could hear one of them mutter.
"Well, I think there was definitely something there..." Redmond comments slowly. My heart plummets. "Try again? Maybe this time try to focus it on the wall over there."
I swallow a lump in my throat, and with a brief nod, I turn myself to face my target. I repeat the entire process again, squeezing my eyes shut tighter, holding my breath longer, pushing out harder.
The results are more disappointing than the first.
Nothing.
The frowns deepened. Even Morgana looked unsettled now. She drops her tablet in favour of a simple notepad, and while scribbling something down, utters the first words she had spoken to me all night.
"Starting next week, every Monday, you'll be seeing Professor Horowitz."
______
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
I am an awful person. How long did it take me to update this chapter? A really long time. I'm so sorry, because it's not even interesting and I nearly died of boredom (well. Illness, because that's one of the main reasons it took me so long to write it- that and sleep deprivation) writing it. And I've barely edited too, so it's probably full of mistakes and I probably jump through tenses and time periods more often than a Time Lord. And I just made a pointless DW reference. I'm sorry. I'll go hide in a hole.
(PS. If you like this chapter anyway, for some odd reason, give it a vote anyway because it makes me feel less like a loser :) )
Carmen ♥︎