Audrey's sense of comfortability slowly faded as she awoke to feel exhausted and confused, she lay in Charlie's lap as he rested his hands awkwardly by his sides. She slowly opened her eyes and saw his face above hers, chuckling and talking out of his open window but her ears struggled to make sense of what was being said. As she shuffled in his lap to lift herself up, his attention shifted to her and he lifted her chin while lowering his neck to meet her eyes.
"Hey, how are you feeling?" He asked in a hushed voice.
She shut her eyes tight and opened them to see Charlie's face more clearly, she felt more exhausted seeing him so full of energy and refreshed.
She coughed and cleared her throat gently, "I feel fine Binko, just a little tired but I'm okay".
She looked outside the car window to see the car parked out the front of a large castle-like building, it looked ancient with grey stones but mesmerising. As she turned in her seat, she saw that the large building was surrounded by beautiful gardens as the perfect green grass and large square hedges almost hurt her eyes to look at. The large castle that was in front of her had a hallway within it and as she squinted her eyes she could see a floral garden within it surrounded by archways corridors and hallways.
The large fortress had two castle towers within it and a stone balcony that wrapped around the outside of the front of building, and as Audrey looked closer at the balcony she could see students walking along it with some disappearing in and out of four archway doors.
"Audrey, are you ready to head in now?" Charlie asked as he opened the door.
"Yea Binko, why didn't you just wake me up when we arrived?" she asked as she shuffled to the edge of the car to step out. She saw two students walking away from the car with their faces turned towards Charlie, they were saying something to him that she couldn't understand. But as Charlie waved back at the two boys they turned away and walked towards the hallway ahead, talking amongst themselves and disappearing into an archway.
"Well, Mr Harkness said I shouldn't wake you" Charlie replied as he helped her stand up once she was out of the car.
"Oh speaking of that guy, where did he go?" Audrey asked as she rubbed her eyes and stretched a little.
"That guy is ready to welcome you to Dostira Miss Larson" Mr Harkness said as he appeared walking down the hallway that was within the stone castle, he was wearing a navy jacket that matched his pants and held his walking stick with one hand while the other held a polished silver pocket watch.
She felt a tinge of embarrassment as she stuttered to fix her mistake, "Um sorry, I meant Mr Harkness".
She knew Charlie had a grin on his face without needing to look over him as she watched Mr Harkness approach her.
"Now, before you can take a look around the place and purchase your books, there is something that needs to be done" He said as he looked at Charlie and gave him a slight nod. He turned around and walked back down the hallway placing the bright silver watch back into the pocket of his pants, Charlie motioned for Audrey to follow him as he walked beside her.
"Listen to me, this test is not going to feel good. Although it's a final check to make sure you're a prodigy, it more importantly tests your powers to see the extent to which they can be trained and if they have any future limitations." Charlie said in a hushed voice as he stayed close to her, she was listening to him but part of her mind wandered off in awe of the castle.
"Audrey I can't come in with you, you have to do this alone" he continued.
Those words snapped Audrey out of her slight day dream as she looked him with unease, she felt her heartbeat quicken as they stopped outside of a wooden door with Mr Harkness leaning his arm against a stone wall that was to the left of it.
"Wait, Charlie what?" Audrey asked as her eyes scanned Charlie's face to see if he was serious, her eyes pleading him to stay with her.
Mr Harkness looked at Charlie and cleared his throat until he met his firm gaze. Charlie held Audrey's hand and gave it a tight squeeze before leaving and walking ahead of her. She watched him walk away, his darkened blonde hair and maroon jumper disappearing into the garden that was at the end of the hall, she watched him fade and as he did she felt her stomach drop. Never before had she wished for him to stay so strongly, he was a comfort she had never felt before and him leaving felt like a cold breeze that invaded every spot of warmth within her.
The wooden door opened and behind it were two towering people masked and standing in front of a large glass box, it appeared like a giant fish tank with the top secured by some sort of black metal. The large glass box had a door made of a similar black metal and a lock that shimmered bright silver, as Audrey looked into the box there lay a black leather seat in the middle; the seat looked somewhat soft and comfortable but also badly worn. She took her eyes off the box as the two masked people walked behind her and followed Mr Harkness to the edge of the room where he rested his back against the wall next to a woman who sat in front of a type writer.
The woman looked old and kind but strangely ordinary, she wasn't wearing anything that could be deemed unusual and appeared like one of those old women you see in grocery stores intently deciding between two sorts of apples. She wore a soft blue cardigan with a white shirt underneath that had small yellow flowers on it, her greying dark brown hair was up in a small bun and somehow she made Audrey feel at ease. She gave her small smile before looking back at her typewriter and placing new paper in, Audrey took a deep breath in and looked at Mr Harkness wondering what would happen next.
"Now I must ask you not to attack these two lovely people like you did the Noctissian as I fear they are far less forgiving and more aggressive" Mr Harkness said with a small smirk before lifting his back off the wall and walking towards them.
Audrey was breathing deeply as she tried to tell herself to be brave and relax her muscles, she couldn't help but feel her body begin to sweat in anticipation and worry of what would be occurring in this peculiar room. As Mr Harkness walked towards the two masked giants, one of them reached into their pocket and pulled out a small box that looked soft to the touch. The box was rectangular and as Mr Harkness held it, he began to walk towards Audrey with one of the guard-like masked giants walking behind him. She watched the other walk over to a cabinet that was hidden in the darkest part of the room and her breath felt hot in her throat as the uncertainty made her somewhat excited. She watched one of the masked giants walk away from the cabinet holding a bottle and a tweezer-like mechanism that held a large cotton ball, as Mr Harkness was close enough to see the sweat on her forehead. He gestured for the masked giant holding the bottle to come closer.
"Now Audrey, we are going to give you a specialised injection of a particular brew that is needed to conduct your Auctus Appraisal. It is going to sting a bit, but after that all you should feel is some drowsiness that you will only feel for maximum of twenty minutes. Every one has had to do this at some point upon arrival, even me, so just relax your body okay?" Mr Harkness said with a gentle voice.
This was the first time Audrey had heard Mr Harkness sound so benevolent without an undertone of sarcasm and fierce authority, his voice had indeed calmed her down as he asked her to pull up her sleeve and hold her arm out.
"It's just going to feel like a normal injection love, okay?" The elderly lady said from her seat, Audrey couldn't see her but the sound of her voice further calmed her down as she closed her eyes and extended her right arm out.
She felt the wet cotton ball being lightly dragged across the veiny area of her arm before she felt the sharp sting of a needle piercing her soft skin. She bit her lip as it stung more than she thought it would, but quickly it was over as she opened her eyes to see one of the masked giants carefully wiping a small amount of blood from her arm with another cotton ball.
"Quickly now take her inside" Mr Harkness demanded as the other masked giant swiftly lifted her and walked towards the glass box, as it did the other held a small silver key that opened the lock on the metal door.
Audrey's vision was blurry and she felt so immensely exhausted that so was sure she would pass out as soon as her body felt the leather seat, when she felt the worn leather against her skin she closed her eyes for a moment only for them to be snapped open by the sound of the metal door slamming closed. The air around her, inside the box, felt different as she looked to the floor and saw four small fan vents twirling. The air tasted sour and smelled reminiscent of smoke from a burning fire, she opened her eyes gently and looked at her arm as the wound from the needle was leaking blood. She watched as her blood began to transform into a bright orange colour, it fluttered away from her arm and began to surround her body as she felt a surge of energy rush throughout her then disappear. This strange feeling of exhaustion contrasted with high energy for a small moment only to fall back into heavy eyed drowsiness continued for a couple minutes as all Audrey could see through her blurred vision were fluorescent orange speckles surrounding her like fog..
"Auctus Appraisal number 52793 is now commencing" Mr Harkness said as the elderly woman began to write on her typewriter.
Mr Harkness stared closely at Audrey as the bright speckles that left the small wound in her arm began to form figures and small sequences behind the glass. He watched as there was a figure of a girl that appeared much like Audrey, and then there was a boy. The two figures were fighting as the speckles that made up the boy began to break apart and the female figure grew stronger and brighter, this sequence quickly faded as the figure of the girl began to transform into a solis prodigy with Phoenix wings. Mr Harkness stepped closer to the glass to see the wings on the speckled figure going from a luminous red, to an orange and then to a bright blue. Mr Harkness stepped back almost in shock before quickly shifting his focus to the old woman who was typing intensely.
"Delete your note on the end of that last sequence" he spat as his eyes grew with determination and his voice was traced with domineering power. The elderly woman stopped typing, looking at him disturbed with fear as she nodded.
Mr Harkness' gaze returned to Audrey as a new sequence played, a speckled female figure was fighting and throwing what appeared to be daggers until her wings appeared. The daggers the female figure held were lit on fire before they began to fall and suddenly transformed into specks of what appeared to be ash. The bright speckles of fire began to fade as Mr Harkness saw Audrey beginning to twist and turn in the leather chair, he exhaled deeply and took a step back away from the glass.
"End it" he said firmly as one of the masked giants walked towards the door and the other back to the cabinet that lay in the darkness.
The masked giant took out the silver key to unlock the black metal door and Mr Harkness tapped his fingers lightly on the round top of his cane as his eyes were fixed on Audrey. The masked giant entered the box and carried Audrey out in its arms as the other held a small vial filled with a silver liquid. Audrey slowly opened her eyes as the masked giant placed her down to stand on her feet, she was handed the vial and inspected it with a bewildered expression on her face.
"What happened? I..." She began until Mr Harkness cut her off and Audrey met his eyes to see him glaring at her.
"Drink it, you'll feel better. These two will escort you out" he said before turning his back to her and walking towards the glass box.
"What is?" She tried to ask until he cut her off again, this time more firm and intimidating than before.
"I said drink it, now go" he commanded, he could see Audrey in the reflection of the glass. Her face confused but annoyed as she frowned.
She scoffed and rolled her eyes, "Yea thanks" she said in a bitter tone.
She walked towards the door with the two masked giants behind her and the vial held tightly in her hand.
As the wooden door slammed shut Mr Harkness dropped his head and closed his eyes, he then turned to see the old woman who took out the paper from the type writer as she was holding it out to him. He snatched it from her hands and quickly left the room, walking towards Charlie's car and and disappearing.
⤜⤛
Audrey was escorted through the archway on her right when she entered the garden, she passed rooms filled with students sitting down and fixedly listening to the teachers that paced and spoke in front of them. She also passed three more hallways where different designs of gardens lay at the end of them and staircases that spiralled up towards higher grounds, she was led through a hallway where she saw a large staircase curling up and the symbol of a phoenix carved into stone on the left and right of it. The two masked giants simply pointed to the staircase and she knew she would have to travel up there on her own, before they left they pointed to the vial in her hand and stared at her intensely. She tried to look into their eyes and see colour or even the outline of pupils but all she could see was darkness and a swirling silver mist within it.
"Yea yea okay, thank you!" She said as they soon walked away and she looked up at the staircase.
She placed a foot on the first step and reached one hand out to hold onto the railing, as she travelled up the stairs she could feel a warm breeze and see a glimpse of an orange sunset-like beam that lured her in. She reached the top of the stairs and her eyes widened to see a lounge-like room filled with couches, book shelves, a small kitchen and tables along with large windows to her left and right. The windows were pouring in light that reflected a radiant orange tone, and as she looked around she felt somewhat at home. She walked further into the lounge to see two archways on the left and right with a small staircase within them both, as she walked towards the archway on her left she saw a small tag on the first step of the small staircase. The tag read 'Audrey Larson, room twenty-five'. She held the tag in her hand and quickly walked up the stairs to see a wide and long hallway in front of her, the hallway had rooms on the left and right as she counted thirty-two doors. She walked up the long hallway looking for room twenty-five until she found it, the door was wooden and had the numbers two and five in silver drilled into it. Audrey placed her hand on the silver handle of the door and opened it to see a room with two beds, two small cabinets near each bed, a medium sized window in the middle of the room above the beds and to her right a small bathroom with a sink and a shower. She saw her bags on the bed to the left and rushed to them, closing the door behind her.
It had been about half an hour and Audrey had fixed up her side of the room as she placed her clothes neatly in the small cabinet, fixed up the bed with her own pillow cases, placed her toiletry bag in the bathroom and gotten changed. As she lay on her bed looking at the smooth stone ceiling of her room she thought about her mother, she missed her and wondered how she was coping being all alone. Her eyes began to fill with tears but she blinked them away, she sat up and looked at her hands which reminded her of the vial. She opened her bags and grabbed it gently, she held it in her hands and pulled on the cork that covered the top of it. Audrey opened her mouth and poured the liquid in, it had no taste but was cold as it drizzled down her throat. She swallowed hard and inspected the empty vial before placing the cork back in and looking around the room for a bin to place it in, as she stood up her knees felt weak before a rush of energy pulsated through her. She blinked hard and took a deep breath before looking again for a bin, as she placed the vial in small bin carefully she heard a knock on the door.
Audrey was nervous, she tried imagining who owned the bed beside her by looking at the bedsheets and the light green jumper that lay on it. She slowly walked towards the door, she practiced smiling as she did until she calmed herself and opened the door with the friendliest expression her face could manage to portray. As she opened the door she saw him, Charlie nervously looking around until he met her eyes and a smile grew on his face.
"Binko! I thought you were my roommate" She said as she moved out the way of the door to let him in, Charlie entered holding two books and a transparent pencil case.
She closed the door behind her and looked at Charlie who placed his belongings carefully on the floor near her bed, he looked at her and desperately wanted to hug her but held back.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" Audrey said as she chuckled and walked towards him, she sat on the edge of her bed but her eyes remained on him.
Charlie took a deep breath and stretched the side of his neck before sitting down, "oh nothing, it's just my two worlds are colliding right now" he replied.
"Oh, yea must be weird. That whole test thing was so strange by the way, and I'm pretty sure Mr Harkness hates me!" She said as she fiddled with her fingers and turned to face Charlie who sat close beside her.
"Yea the test is strange. Plus those two tall guys in masks, they're called The Eyes and don't worry they creep everyone out. Oh and Alex? He doesn't hate you, I think he's just weird around Nupers" Charlie replied as his eyes looked around the room before glancing at Audrey.
"What's a 'nuper' oh and...Alex? Why the hell do you call Mr Harkness Alex?" She replied as she looked at Charlie and lightly shoved him with her fingers.
Charlie chuckled, "I've known him for like 5 years Audrey, don't forget I'm older than you!" He said in a teasing tone as he gave her a smile.
"Ugh don't remind me...wait does that mean you're going to leave after this year?" she said, her smile dropping to a serious face as Charlie could hear the anxiousness in her voice.
He turned his body to face her, "Well I'm not in a hurry to go anywhere, things in this school have just gotten interesting now that you're here" he replied as he gave her a wink.
She looked into her lap smiling feeling her cheeks burn red slightly, she lifted her head avoiding eye contact as she didn't know how to respond.
"Hey, let's say I give you a tour and we get your books?" He said as he stood up, when he did Audrey looked deep into his eyes admiring how they reminded her of the small patch of green grass she had in her garden back home. Although everything was changing, Charlie reminded her of their small town and so she bit her lip fighting back a smile.
She stood up and walked towards her door opening it before turning to face him, "Well lead the way Binko!".