Dragons and Destiny (Animage Academy Book 1) Page 3

  A week later I was sitting in the parlor by myself when Simon brought me the mail.

  “Looks like you got your paperwork.” He tossed a thick packet of papers on the end table beside me. My name was handwritten in block letters across the front. The Animage Academy logo was in the top left-hand corner. Someone who wasn’t a supernatural wouldn’t know what it was. Everything came into sharp relief as I looked at it. I hadn’t talked much about getting accepted to the academy because I didn’t want to hurt Simon more than he already was. But with my acceptance packet here in my house with my name on it, it was getting real.

  “Thanks,” I said. He was already walking down the hallway. We hadn’t talked much since the Revealing Ceremony beyond day-to-day niceties. A wall had appeared overnight between my twin and I, and I had no idea how to break it down.

  I pushed aside depressing thoughts and opened my package. Tingly excitement filled me as I flipped through orientation paperwork about the school, stuff I had to fill out, my roommate assignment, and my first semester class schedule.

  I threw the paperwork aside and studied my schedule first. All first- and second-year students had a set schedule without any choices. For the first semester I was enrolled in: Basics of Shifting Principles, History of Supernaturals I, Types of Animages and Magic I, Essentials of Defense I, and Supernatural and Human Relations. The bookish part of me was excited to read the descriptions of each class. I noticed the name of the professor of history and human relations classes was Charles Vickers.

  Next, I turned my attention to my dorm assignment. The Waterstone Building was listed as the female dorm. The only information I had about my future roommate was her name: Willa Reynolds.

  “Sophie, will you come in here for a moment?” My mother’s voice floated to me from the dining room. I debated sneaking out the side door and running away to the stables. The only thing Mom could need me from me this time of morning was chores.

  “Sophie, I know you’re in the parlor and I know you can hear me,” she said. I swear sometimes she could read my thoughts. Knowing I was beat, I stacked the papers back into the envelope and made my way to the dining room.

  “Surprise!” Mom and Simon were standing behind the dining room table. A huge ‘congratulations’ banner in a rainbow of colors was strung across the ceiling. I was dumbfounded.

  “I don’t—what’s going on? What is this for?”

  “We never properly congratulated you on getting into Animage Academy.” Simon pushed a cake toward me. He opened the lid of the box. The cake read ‘Happy Birthday, Jackie!’ across it in blue icing.

  “Simon, I thought you checked the cake when you picked it up from the bakery?” Mom was whispering. I didn’t bother to tell her I could hear what she was saying.

  “The receipt had the right thing on it.” He gave me a wry grin. “I bet it still tastes great, though.” I devolved into a fit of giggles. Tears were leaking out of my eyes and I had to sit down in a chair before I could get control again. Simon and Mom had been similarly overtaken.

  “What’s so funny in here?” Dad asked. Simon just pointed to the cake. Dad smiled and waited until we were all back to normal. When we were done, Dad cleared his throat and handed me a small package.

  “I know the last week hasn’t been what it should have been, Sophie. Because of that, you haven’t received the recognition you deserve. Your mother, brother, and I are so proud of you and we are sorry we didn’t celebrate with you like we should have. We can’t wait to see what you’ll accomplish at Animage Academy.”

  Inside the package was a beautiful necklace with a dark teal stone surrounded by diamonds.

  “That’s an alexandrite stone. It’s meant to bring luck and love to all who wear it. It was my mother’s and now it is yours to have and to cherish.” The stone dangled in front of me at the end of a white gold chain. The corners of my eyes stung, and I couldn’t speak, thanks to the large lump that had developed in my throat.

  “Thank you,” I finally managed to get out. “It’s beautiful. I’ll treasure it forever.” I fumbled with the latch and Dad took it from me and gently put it on around my neck while I held my hair up. Mom’s eye had gone watery as she stared at both of us.

  “Well I don’t know about you, but I’m ready for some cake.” Simon had a way of cutting through emotions to the really important tasks at hand. He lifted a fork.

  “To my sister, Sophie. The best animage in all the land. And to Jackie, who graciously, although unwittingly, donated her birthday cake to this momentous occasion.” Mom and dad both raised forks to match my brother.

  “Hear, hear!” they said. After I recovered from laughing again, I grabbed my own fork and dug into the cake. The steady flow of anxiety that had been with me since the Revealing Ceremony finally gave way to a burst of excitement. I couldn’t wait to get to Animage Academy.

  Chapter Three

  Even early in the morning, New York City was alive. Not even a heatwave could stop the bustle and noise. The sounds assaulted my ears as Simon and I waited outside the hotel. Sweat dripped down my back despite my tank top and shorts. I sat down on the curb and tried to push the sounds of people arguing one street over and cars honking down the street away from me. My hearing was getting more sensitive every day. I glanced at my smart watch again, it was only 30 seconds past the last time I looked. Maybe time had frozen. Maybe 8:00 a.m. was never going to arrive. Unable to sit still, I stood up and rubbed my back against a nearby column.

  “What are you doing?” Simon was peering at me from under his eyelashes, not bothering to open his eyes all the way. We had arrived in the city late the previous night, and I didn’t think either of us had gotten much sleep.

  “My back is one big itch,” I said. “It has been for days.”

  “Well stop,” he said. “People are staring.” I bit my tongue and stopped. I was trying to be patient with Simon but his moodiness since the Revealing Ceremony was starting to grate on me. This wasn’t easy for me, either.

  “Is everything ready?” Mom asked as she and Dad came through the hotel doors. She started to bite one meticulously manicured nail and then stopped herself. I hoped she wasn’t going to start shedding feathers like she sometimes did when she was nervous. Simon stood up and took the leather suitcase from Mom’s hand.

  “Yeah, Mom,” he said. “We’re ready.”

  “Honey, will you hail a cab?” Mom asked Dad. He nodded and stepped toward the street. I grabbed my blue duffel bag and followed Mom and Simon as they carried everything else to the street.

  “I really wish you would have packed one of the nice suitcases, Sophie,” Mom told me.

  “Why?” I asked her. “No one’s going to see it. Besides, the academy provides almost everything. I have everything I need right here,” I said, holding up the bag. Mom looked as if she was about to say something else but then turned back around as a cab stopped for us. I handed the luggage to Dad as he loaded it in the back.

  “Nice tats man,” a guy walking by called to Dad. He waved a hand and continued loading the bags. Dressed in a polo and khaki shorts the dark grey scales on his arms and legs were visible. Both Mom and Dad were able to get away with their animal traits among humans. Dad’s scales looked like tattoos and the few feathers Mom had in her hair looked like a trendy style choice. It made traveling and being out in public much easier. It made me wonder if I would get any physical traits once I started shifting. Part of me wanted something to appear, just so I would have a better guess about what animal I was going to be. I didn’t know if I could wait until my birthday in September to find out.

  We all loaded into the cab. I was sandwiched between Dad and Simon in the back. When the doors shut and the car started moving, I felt like I’d left my insides back at the hotel. The excitement and nerves created a combination of anxiety I had never experienced before. And sitting stuffed into a car wasn’t helping.

  “I don’t think I can breathe.” My dad laid a hand on my knee.

  �
��You always take the bull by the horns, Sophie. You’ll do just fine at the academy.” The rare compliment from my dad warmed me and chased away some of the nerves.

  The cab stopped. I checked my watch. 7:30 a.m. stared back at me in the illuminated face. I slid out after Simon, eager for my first look at my home for the next four months. We stood in front of an old building. That wasn’t it. I turned around and looked across the street. An abandoned warehouse. I spun in a complete circle. We were surrounded by nothing but abandoned warehouses and derelict buildings.

  “This can’t be it,” I said. But Dad was getting my duffel bag out of the back. He pointed toward the building in front of us.

  “Take a closer look.” I raised an eyebrow at him but did as I was told. The building might have been grand a century ago when it was built. It was five stories and each of them had massive windows that ran along the front and both sides. Except now most of the glass was missing or cracked. The flat red roof sagged in multiple spots. The only thing that looked like it wasn’t coming apart was the huge dark red door.

  “This can’t be it,” I said again. “There’s no way this is Animage Academy.”

  Mom and Dad shared a look. “This whole block in Animage Academy, Sophie. You’ll see.”

  “Didn’t forget Mr. Snuggle Bunny, did you?” Simon asked as we walked toward the building. I reached out to hit him, but he danced away just in time.

  “No,” I said. “He’s safely in my bag,” I muttered. I didn’t want anyone to overhear that at almost sixteen I still slept with a stuffed animal. It didn’t really matter since there was no one anywhere in sight. My parents were definitely playing a trick on me.

  Dad walked up to the large red door and knocked. It opened soundlessly before him. I tried to peek inside but there was nothing but darkness. A little bronze plaque by the door read “Pearson Building.”

  “Umm, dad?” I asked, pointing to the plaque.

  “We give a lot of money to the academy,” Dad said.

  Mom, Dad, and Simon walked through the door and disappeared into the darkness. My feet stopped at the threshold. Deep breath in, deep breath out.

  “I can do this,” I said to myself before stepping into the building.

  We were surrounded by darkness. I felt my family surrounding me, but I couldn’t see anything.

  “Most of the students come by portal, but I wanted to give you the full effect this first time.” Dad’s voice cut through the dark. What was he talking about?

  Then everything lit up around us. I gasped. This was no abandoned building. We stood in a massive lobby with bright marble floors, and walls covered in so much artwork I wasn’t sure where to look. It was like I’d stepped back in time to the Gilded Age. Even the ceiling looked like one big painting. A huge chandelier hung from it, sparkling with what looked like a thousand candles.

  “Wow,” Simon said to my left.

  “Wow,” I repeated.

  “New student here to check in?” A lady approached us from the other side of the lobby. Her tall red heels made a tap-tap-tap sound on the marble floor. I looked past her to see another group of people standing near a door.

  “Yes.” Dad’s voice echoed off the walls. I tried to shrink into the wall behind me. “My daughter is here to begin her first term.” He grabbed me by the shoulder and pushed me forward. My nerves had taken my excitement captive and my legs were lead. Trying to ignore the emotions warring within me I pushed his hand off my shoulder and smiled at the women.

  “And what’s your name, dear?” the lady asked me. As she got closer, I realized her black witch’s hat was perched between two tabby cat ears.

  “Sophie,” I said. “Sophie Pearson.” The lady raised her eyebrows and took a glance at my father and his scales but didn’t say anything. She flipped a few papers on her clipboard. I rubbed the mark on the back of my hand as we waited.

  “Ah, yes,” she said. “Here you are. Will you show me your hand, please?” I reached my right hand out toward her. Simon was staring at me. My gaze wavered on the floor as the lady examined the silvery mark on the back. She ran her thumb over it a couple of times before she nodded. With a wave of her hand the mark disappeared. I stared at my now empty hand for a moment. I’d gotten used to the strange mark the past month. Not having it made me feel exposed.

  “Welcome to the Animage Academy, Miss Sophie. I am Mrs. Winnifred, assistant to the headmistress. You can leave your luggage here by the desk. It will be taken to your room. You may say goodbye to your family here. Only students are allowed to proceed any further.

  “Once you’ve finished, meet me with the other students and I will take you to the auditorium where everyone is,” she started to walk away but then paused. “Don’t forget, as your letter stated, no technology is allowed on the grounds of the academy. After ’77 and ’03, we can’t take any chances. Please excuse me, more students are arriving.” She left to greet the next group of people coming through the doors.

  All her information washed over me in a rush. This was it. It was time for me to say goodbye and start my first year at Animage Academy.

  “Honey, I need your phone and your watch,” my mom’s voice broke me out of my daydream.

  “Oh yeah,” I said. It was short work to hand over my smart watch and my phone. Mom stuck them both in her purse. Complaining wasn’t an option. It was a stupid rule, but Simon was staring at me. Besides, I would have given up anything to be here. Mom put a soft hand under my chin and raised my head up to her.

  “You’re going to do great, baby girl. Write us often and tell us how it’s going.” Tears pricked at the corners of my eyes as she pulled me into a tight hug. I buried my face in her shoulder and took in her scent of forest and sunlight. When we broke apart, her eyes were glistening too. “Christmas holiday is only a couple of months away,” she said.

  After Mom let me go, Dad pulled me into a quick hug. He squeezed so tight I thought my ribs might break. “Make us proud, Sophie,” he said.

  “I will, Dad,” I told him. He put his arm around Mom’s shoulders and walked over by the doorway, leaving Simon and I alone. Simon was looking down at his shoes. For the first time in my life, I didn’t know what to say to my twin.

  “It should be you going,” I finally said. “I feel like I’ve taken something from you. If there was a way to switch with you, I would.” The words I’d tried to keep to myself all month burst out of me.

  “Don’t say that, Sophie,” he said with his eyes still on the ground. “You’ve always dreamed of going to Animage Academy. I’m a simple guy. Being a regular warlock is just fine with me.”

  “I think you’re lying,” I said. “You’re supposed to be the next dragon.”

  “But I’m not. Animage magic is unpredictable. Everyone knows that.” His voice was clipped, but he lifted his head and put both of his hands on my shoulder. “You’ve always been smarter and tougher than me. If only one of us could be an animage, it should be you. You’re going to be something fierce.”

  “I wish both of us were going.” My forehead pressed against his chest. “I don’t know what I’m going to do without you.”

  “Yeah, I know how you feel. But I’ll be at The School of Prophecy and Revelation here in town. So maybe we will get to see each other soon.”

  “The supernatural community really needs to come up with better names for its schools,” I muttered into his chest. Simon chuckled and pulled me into a hug. In all my dreams about my first day at Animage Academy, Simon was always with me. I never thought I’d have to do it alone. Simon finally pulled back and tugged my ponytail affectionately. He headed toward Mom and Dad.

  “Bye, Soph. Have a good term.” They walked back through the red door and disappeared as I waved. I was alone. I was at Animage Academy. This was home now. I squared my shoulders and turned back to the lobby.

  Two other students were waiting across the lobby. They were talking as I walked over and barely noticed me. It seemed they already knew each other as they talked
about people I didn’t know until Mrs. Winnifred walked over with another student in tow. She checked her clipboard.

  “So, we have Mr. Ryan Lisbon?” A guy to my right with claws for fingernails raised his hand. Mrs. Winnifred nodded.

  “Miss Alicia Hall?” The other student Ryan had been talking to raised her hand in turn.

  “Mr. Cinders Damon?” The newest student to join inclined his head at Mrs. Winnifred. There were only four of us, did she really need to take the roll again?

  “And Miss Sophie Pears—”

  “Me, that’s me.” I said, more abruptly than I’d meant to. I wasn’t sure if I wanted my fellow students to know who I was just yet. Too late, all three students were staring at me. Mrs. Winifred didn’t seem to notice. She motioned us all through the door and began walking and talking as she led us down a large hallway with portraits on each side.

  “Students have been arriving for the last hour. Most of them come by portal set up in the main ballroom. We encourage new students who can, to come in the front, but I imagine you will use portal transport from now on. It’s much simpler. All the students should be here by 8 a.m. Until then, you will wait in the auditorium.”

  As we walked, I heard the three students behind me talking in whispered voices.

  “Is that Sophie Pearson, the daughter of the dragon?”

  “It has to be, there aren’t any other Pearsons.”

  “Did you hear her twin brother isn’t one of us?”

  “But then who will be the next dragon? Is it her?”

  “It can’t be, the dragon has always been the oldest male in that family since like the beginning of time. It wouldn’t just change, would it?”

  “Maybe there aren’t any more dragons.”

  The back of my neck was turning red. My focus shifted to what Mrs. Winnifred was saying and I ignored the students behind me. I didn’t want them to know I could hear everything as clear as if they were screaming it into my ear. We walked through a door at the end of the hall and came into the back of the auditorium.