part 3

“That’s a gold card! How did you get that?” she was astounded by something I didn’t understand.

“Alison- my youth worker- gave me an envelope with it inside I didn’t open the envelope. Why what exactly does a gold card do?” I looked at the card flipping it over to examine it further.

“Basically...it’s a card for multi-millionaires you can only get it with a minimum of two million pounds in your bank account.” She was still shocked I could tell by the pitch of her voice.

“Millionaires? And is that like human pounds?” Jessie and Jayde both nodded slowly they had closed their mouths now so they must be getting over the shock.

“You say a woman called Alison gave it to you? What did she look like?” Jayde asked holding her hand out ready to inspect the card I handed it to her.

“Short brown hair, silvery eyes, a warm smile, quite slim...”

Jayde’s head snapped up to face me a look of realisation and further shock shot across her face. “That’s Alison Dawes!” Jayde cut me off. “She is a billionaire and funds our school the AMA,” the look of confusion on my face must have made her elaborate further. “The Art of Magic Academy.” They both grabbed my arms and towed me to an old building with sandy white brick columns and a huge clock face above the colossal doors. The name ‘Dawes Bank” was painted in elegant gold script below the clock. I realised the banks name matched that of the card. The doors dragged open automatically as we approached.

“Well at least we know the cards not a fake” Jessie said giggling “We couldn’t have gotten in other wise.” People started to stare as the pair dragged me further into the bank. We came to a halt at a mahogany desk which looked like an antique. The woman behind it had brown hair pulled tightly round her head into a neat bun at the back and square stylish glasses balancing on the end of her nose with two golden chains hanging from each side. He face looked stretched by how tight her hair was pulled back and she was very thin. The padded black blazer made her sharp features more defined. Her lips pulled back into a professional smile but her eyes looked bored she must be dying to go home.

“Good morning.” She addressed us in a trained voice, with an undercurrent of complete and utter boredom, which was slightly nasal and fairly low. “Welcome to the Dawes Bank. How can I help you ladies today?” She stacked some papers that had been in her hand placing them on the out basket on her desk and looked back at us removing her glasses.

“We have a gold card...” Jayde started but the woman interrupted.

“Oh you found a gold card and wanted to return it, well, just go to the ‘returns’ desk over there then.” She pointed behind us we looked round then looked back at her I don’t know about the other two but I felt slightly insulted that the woman had assumed it wasn’t mine.

“Excuse me miss, but we didn’t find it.” My tone was slightly harsh; the woman picked up on this and lifted her head back up replacing her glasses on the end of her nose

“So you stole it?” her voice was untrusting and slightly disgusted. “Guilty conscience hey? Wanted to return it.” She carried on in a hard sarcastic voice holding out her hand of the card.

“No” my voice was more aggressive then hers had been and she withdrew her hand quickly then tapped on the desk in frustration.

“Well what is it?” her voice was irritated.

“I was given it by Alison Dawes personally as a present. “Her eyes became suspicious and her expression sarcastic. “I wished to see how much was in the account.” She snorted in disapproval slightly and obviously as quietly as she could like a teacher when you gave them an excuse about your homework.

“Her name is Scarlett Taylor.” Jayde said her voice darker than mine. Her face snapped from harsh to apologetic in half a second as she started gasping.

“S...S...Scarlett Taylor?” she said her voice was so shaky it was hard to make out. “THE Scarlett Taylor?” she emphasised the ‘THE’ her voice in disbelief now. I nodded my head slowly still angry from the way she had treated me. “Oh I’m so very sorry Miss Taylor please forgive me.” Her eyes pleading slightly.

“There is nothing to forgive but next time someone like me comes along treat them properly” my tone was disgusted and her eyes looked like they might overflow with tears in response. “Can I please check the balance on the account?” I handed over the card and she swiped it through a little black box on her desk, a window popped up out of thin air. Her jaw dropped then she quickly regained her composure. She turned the apparently holographic monitor with her hands to face me. Two synchronised gasps came from behind me followed by a cuss. On the screen it showed a grand total of just over one billion pounds, my mouth could have punched through the floor it dropped so fast and my eyes felt like they were going to pop out of my sockets.

“That’s half of her fortune...” the woman behind the desk muttered then shook her head slowly in disbelief. I held my hand out gesturing for the card, she handed it over reluctantly and I didn’t blame her. She smiled pleasantly as we retreated out of the bank. Jayde and Jessie still hadn’t quite recovered as we walked up and down the little rows of shops selling things that were both common and foreign to me. Coming out of a shop, which held a medical cross over it, was Jack, Jordan, Jason, Jake and Jane carrying numerous bags. The wounds they had worn less than half an hour ago were gone completely as they laughed walking towards us. As they came closer and saw Jessie’s and Jayde’s expressions they froze, luckily their faces weren’t as shocked now as before.

“Jayde Hun, what’s wrong?” Jordan asked worried rushing to her side, dropping his bags and hugging her.

“She saw how much money was in my new bank account” I said teasingly holding out the golden glowing card Jack looked surprised but nowhere near as much as the girls had.

“Wow a gold card! How on earth did you get that?” Jacks face was puzzled now.

“Alison Dawes gave it to me personally and here’s the best part” I chuckled lightly to myself “want to know how much is in there?” he nodded Jessie and Jayde looked better now but still a bit white with shock. “A little over one billion pounds.” I heard a thud from the side and turned to see Jane’s bags on the floor and what looked like vegetables rolling out down the road. “So...” I laughed nervously, “Who’s up for a little shopping.” I grinned whilst three hugs came at me and a few excited smiles answered my question. We crawled through endless lines of shops buying various items from a list which had been sent with the card, including a broom, two bags of trewwing tree roots and a Lackti bulb, a school uniform which actually looked very cool, new clothes for me, various books with strange titles and last but not least a cat. She was beautiful; she had a smooth coat of silver and grey fur with white fur socks and a fluffy white chin. Her eyes were a light blue-very unusual- and she was very sleek. I named her Billie after my mother because her eyes reminded me of her. Even though I had bought mountains of new stuff it hadn’t even made a dent in my new fortune and I had a feeling Jayde and Jessie were rather enjoying the idea that their new best friend was a billionaire.

We came to a stop at a very tall building which looked extremely posh. It was a hotel, with an amazing front entrance decorated in a light sandy coloured stone and held numerous flags, some of which I had never seen before. The foyer was covered in white marble from ceiling to floor and everything was lit up in brilliant bright lights. In the centre of the foyer stood a beautiful mosaic fountain, which spouted water out from intricately detailed stone flowers. The reception desk had also been constructed with carved marble and had the hotel name engraved into the centre of the block, ‘Duke Town Hotel’ it read. Behind the counter stood a smartly dressed gentleman, he greeted us with a friendly smile as we advanced to check in. Jack cleared his throat and placed one hand on the counter.

“Miss Scarlett Taylor.” The receptionist glanced briefly at me then at a computer screen behind the counter to look back at Jack.

“Yes Sir your reservation is there, we did not realise we would cater for such a large party though we could upgrade your suite if you would like?” Jack turned to face me while the receptionists face looked hopeful; he obviously wanted us to pay more. “The next type of suite is available.” He pushed I sighed and nodded to Jack once, a huge grin spontaneously flew across his face as he turned back to the man.

“What about the presidential suite?” Jack asked his tone indifferent with some effort playing this up, the receptionist looked slightly surprised and then delighted all at the same time.

“Of course sir that is available if you wish to take it.” He voice was unsure as he said those last words despite his now confident expression.

“Certainly that would be fantastic, how much would that be?” jacks voice wasn’t concerned but the receptionists face dropped slightly he blatantly hadn’t thought about us asking the price. His face was uncertain but he proceeded.

“Of course sir, being the presidential suite it is going to cost subsequently more than others available.” It was evident he was hesitating. Something in jacks face must have pushed him to carry on. “Two thousand pounds, for all of you.” He winced slightly it wasn’t too noticeable. I stepped forward pulling out the card grinning it had been less then I had expected.

“Of course sir, thank you for your service.” I said unmoved as I handed him my card, his eyes popped wider as he saw the piece of gold glowing plastic, but quickly scanned it though perhaps worried that we might change our minds. I gave him a tenner as a tip then he called for the bell hop, which took our bags then showed us to our suite.

The hotel room was enormous; it had a main parlour, a main bathroom and a little kitchen area. It also had six separate double bedrooms off the hallway all luxuriously big. Each had the standard ‘off white’ wall paper and cream carpet except for the bathroom and kitchen which had a mix of gold decorated tiles and white ones as well as a white laminate floor. There was a forty-two inch flat screen TV surrounded by numerous sofas and a surround sound system. The boys had taken their place beside the TV checking out all the channels while the girls called dibs on rooms. Jasmine and John came to join us shortly after we had settled down to watch a film and so we ordered room service. After our meal some retired to bed whilst the film still played. I decided to make the most of a good night’s sleep for tomorrow I would start at my new school. There was a pattern forming now of new schools but at least this time I had some friends starting with me. After I dragged myself to the bedroom, got changed and brushed my teeth it only took a few minutes for the extremely comfortable bed to pull me into unconsciousness, the last thought I had was of my parents and their bravery to save me from the Manakaw.

A fresh Start

I was woken up much too early for my liking by the sound of pacing feet and rushed voices. I rolled over to check the time on my phone, it was only five in the morning what were they playing at? I sat up pulling my hair back and securing it with a clip while I used make-up wipes to take away the remains of the black syrup which was spread around my eyes. Throwing the cover back and flinging my legs off the bed, I stood up stretching then walked to the door ready to find out what was going on. As I opened it four pairs of eyes looked at me shocked.

“I’m sorry my dear,” Jasmine said solemnly “We didn’t mean to wake you but we need to pack the portal closes in an hour.” She continued stuffing items of clothing into bags while the others threw more clothes at her.

“It’s okay.” I croaked “I need some breakfast anyway. Has anyone ordered room service yet?” my eyes scanned the lounge and kitchen trying to see any morsel of food for my tummy had begun to growl. Jayde rushed forward with a plate of toast and jam, and some freshly bake doughnuts. My mouth watered as the smell hit my nose.

“Morning.” Jayde greeted me excitedly “these are exquisite Jasmine just made them they are fresh.” She pushed the plate up to my face. I couldn’t resist as my hand automatically flew up to get a doughnut, almost in the same second it was off the plate and in my mouth the sugar flowing across my tongue and the pastry was lovely and warm. I swallowed and smiled in delight, Jayde grinned back set the plate down and ran off to help her mum. I dug in quickly finishing most of the contents of the plate, and then ran to the bathroom to get ready-they were obviously in a rush. Jane told me not to put on my uniform just yet because today was just the open day, lessons didn’t start until tomorrow but we still needed to enrol. I took care straightening my long brown hair and carefully applied my eye liner and mascara, then put on my most flattering new outfit. I wanted to make a good impression on my first day, although I was guessing I didn’t need a good appearance for that, because everyone reacted in the same way whenever they heard my name. I stuffed all my belongings back into my bag and headed for the hallway to help the rest with their things, but to my surprise they were already finished and waiting by the door for us to depart. We hurried down the stairs to check out but the bell hop took his time with our bags. I wondered what was taking him so long and why they weren’t at reception with us yet, that was until we walked away from the exit. I couldn’t understand where we were going but the concierge lead us down a long hallway to another entrance this time it had a thousand mirrors facing the door. He whistled once as the mirrors shifted, one ornately decorated mirror cam toward us. The concierge took a key from his pocket and waved his hand over the mirror. It glowed around the frame, but I could still see my weary expression reflected. The man stood aside and gestured towards the mirror, the others stood back obviously wanting me to go first.

I reached my hand out to touch the mirror waiting for the moment when my fingers would reach the cold glass, but they didn’t they just went straight through a faint glowing surrounded my wrists were my hand had entered, I snapped my hand back out to examine it but there was nothing wrong it looked normal and it felt fine. I turned back towards the rest and they nodded encouragingly while Jack walked towards me and took my hand he winked at me then stepped forward pulling me to his side I looked at him my expression worried but he smiled sweetly, then gently walked me through the portal, as the last time everything went brilliant white then we were in a forest. In front of us was a little stone path leading up to a clearing behind which stood a row of bushes. We stepped out the way as the others walked through with our bags, then the mirror glowed brightly once and stopped. Jack released my hand whilst the girls linked arms with me and dragged me forward towards the row of bushes forming a thick wall of green.

As we got closer I was wondering if they were trying to walk into the sheet of green, but they stopped abruptly and waited. I looked around to see if there was any danger, any reason for us stopping but I saw none. As I turned back to the bush I noticed the leaves were moving not just moving but flying, spinning in on each other like a green tornado as the bush split in two parting down the centre in front of us and pulling out to the side to reveal a modern looking school. I was expecting a castle or a dungeon or something like that. But this building was brand new, recently built and tiny. I remembered Jayde had said that the AMA was like a boarding school-basically we were going to live there- but this school was way too small to house students as well as providing space to teach there.

We walked up to the academy constructed of glass for most of the north wall and fresh red brick for the rest of it. Behind us the bush swirled back into position as we advanced on the academy. Kids my age and younger dashed about saying their goodbyes to parents and putting their bags in a queue on some kind of conveyer belt which kept moving towards a door around the side of the building. The boys helped jasmine and john with all our bags then all of them said their goodbyes too. We walked forward towards the glass panels at the front, then the bottom panes of glass split in two and came outwards like electronic double doors at a super market, except there were no panels holding them in place. Inside was a flurry of people surrounding numerous tables that all had the word ‘enrol’ on them. Teachers and existing pupils helped organise the rabble as they lined people up to ‘check in’. Instead of going to one of these tables the girls lead me to a vacant reception with just one woman sat at a computer; her face was neither bored nor busy as she tapped away at the keys. As we approached her head snapped up, she had bright green eyes and long wavy brown hair with strange pointed ears. Her hands I noticed were longer than average and her teeth literally sparkled as she greeted us with a pleasant smile.

“Can I help you?” her voice was so light and gentle it was mesmerising.

“This is Scarlett Taylor Miss, she needs to see Mr King.” Jane answered automatically.

“Of course,” she broke her glance from Jane to me “Miss Taylor, Mr King has been expecting you.” She stood up so gracefully it barely looked like she had moved. “If you would like to follow me please.” She floated across the floor round to me still smiling and indicating the way. Jane and they rest began to follow; the receptionists snapped her head round. “This is a private meeting.” Her beautiful voice was slightly harsh as she spit the words out quickly. The girls looked insulted but the boys were indifferent.

“Ok.” Jane replied through gritted teeth. “Send her to room 220 when you are done she is sharing a dorm with my sister Jayde she will be waiting for her there.” Her voice was so bitter and her expression slightly aggressive, the receptionist nodded in acknowledgement, as Jane turned and the rest followed her lead, Jake took her hand rubbing the back with his thumb. The receptionist looked back at me her smile back in place.

“This way Miss Taylor.” She crossed in front of me; I looked back briefly to see the Gray’s all looking at me with worried expressions, but followed the lady none the less. On the way the lady made small talk about the school, and how lucky they were to have me there all that kind of crap until we reached a frosted glass wall. She put her fingers to the mid left of the panels which lit up under her finger tips and part of it broke off and slid behind the rest of the wall.

“Come in.” An old voice called from behind the glass the lady gestured for me to enter. I took two steps forward into the room and the glass slid shut re-connecting behind me. Sat in an ancient wooden chair with sun bleached once-red cushion sat an old man. He had a small white and gold hat and robes, with a grey-white beard, moustache combination and long white hair. His eyes were blue and set in drooping bags on his face. As he smiled his moustache and beard pulled up and he rose from the chair, walking forward with his hand outstretched. His face was trusting and kind, a look that even filled his eyes with its intensity. Without thinking I automatically stretched out my arm to take his hand in mine and firmly shake it.

“Welcome Miss Taylor.” His voice was slightly hoarse but still welcoming.

“Please Sir, call me Scarlett.” I released his hand and placed it back at my side.

“Okay then, Scarlett. Welcome to AMA. I pray by now you know your purpose do you not?” his voice had a hint of regret as he completed his sentence.

“Kind of, the Gray’s haven’t yet had time to fully explain everything, but I have a rough idea.” He turned to pull out a chair for me and then sat back in his seat his gaze never left my face. I quickly took the seat he had offered and positioned my body so I faced him.

“Scarlett...” he started then breathed deeply, “Here we can protect you from most things. When the time comes you will have to choose right or wrong, but that choice comes at a price- your soul. You can either keep your soul and fight for evil or fight for good keep, your powers and become immortal. I am not trying to influence your decision... although you know what side I’m on” He leaned forward and winked cheekily. “Anyway... The Manakaw Royal family are after you, not to mention a whole manner of creatures that are at their disposal... and some that aren’t. Right now Scarlett the whole evil world wants to recruit you but the Manakaw just want your soul. They themselves cannot enter the school; you need either a neutral or good heart to enter here. You will find an array of new creatures have already laid their lives on the line for you, my dear friends the Gray’s for example. Here we can teach you how to control your powers, use them efficiently and to the best of your ability and train you for combat if you so wish. The last ‘New Power’ was defeated but it was close he had barely started his training when they took him.” A determined agonised expression crossed his face. “We will not let that fait befall you I promise.” His voice was sincere and layered with a pain I understood, it was the pain I felt for my parents. “The last new power was my friend you see, I tried to help him but the dark forces were too strong I was merely a century old when I fought them.” He rolled up his sleeves revealing scars- century old scars and a number along his wrist. “We were their prisoners after that, I was a ‘pet’ of the Payne’s if you will, but after my distaste to their way of life, they released me deeming my soul worthless and weak.”

“I mean no disrespect but...” I hesitated not sure if I should ask but as I was about to start again he cut me off.

“How can I be two thousand years old?” he finished of my sentence and chuckled. “I am not human.” He smiled amused, probably by my expression. “I am a ‘Surematu’ or an ‘Immortal’. Our kind originated from Estonia. I am nearing the end of my life span we live for around two thousand to two and a half thousand years generally. I am a wizard as well.” He laughed again “I didn’t want you thinking I’m the head of a magic school when I can’t perform any magic.” I smiled back hoping to be convincing but as it was I was a little bit freaked out with all this new information. New races, magic, a possible army which was mine, an army coming after me, new powers, training, the list went on. Over a speaker the female receptionist’s voice sang out.

“Mr King Assembly in thirty minutes, I repeat thirty minutes. Thank you.” There was a clicking sound when she finished then Mr King was up on his feet. I jumped up as he led me to the door.

“Any problems Scarlett, anything you need just let me know okay, remember assembly in half an hour now...” he held out one of his hands across his body and flicked it outwards “to your room.” He said in a clear voice and I was gone, I don’t mean just disappeared but I was out of his office and stood outside a door which held the number ‘220’ in gold letters. I was so perplexed how did I just get here? I shook my head trying to piece it together when two girls ran round the corner- it was Jessie and Jayde.

“How did it go?” Jayde asked more bubbly than usual.

“Um great I guess he just welcomed me we chatted about the school and then somehow I was here.”

“Ah” both of them said at once.

“That’s why you look bemused.” Jessie said reaching over me and opening the door to room 220.

“Why?” I asked rather irritated that no one had yet let me in as to what just happened to me.

“Just a simple teleport Scarlett don’t worry that confused feeling- it’s a side effect it’s not just you.” Both giggled as Jessie went in.

“We will get ready then go to assembly yeah?” Jayde asked still stood next to me, I nodded “don’t worry it will ware off in a few minutes perhaps you should sit....” before she could finish our door opened and out stepped two girls. One had short spiky hair almost black and grey/silver eyes. She was very small and dainty, slightly skipping as she came out into the hallway. Behind her stood a much taller girl. Her skin was very shiny and light coloured with the same eyes as the first girl, and her light blonde hair-almost white hung gently to her waist she was of a slightly bigger build but not fat and just as graceful. The first girl with dark hair smiled at me he teeth brilliant white.

“Hello Scarlett.” He voice was sweet almost as nice as Jayde’s, she held out her hand for me to take it but behind me the girls growled, the sound was sinister and aggressive I turned to look at them and both were slightly crouched eyes focused on only the girls in front of me, hands like claws at their sides and teeth bared. I turned back to the girls in front of me and they were still smiling just as warmly as before undisturbed by my friends hostility. I took her hand as another growl slipped through Jessie’s lips, the girls smile got bigger and I could feel the tension coming off the pair behind me. I released their hands but the pressure didn’t cease.

“My name is Alexis Clarke.” The girl who had just shaken my hand said “This is my adopted sister Roxanne.” She turned to indicate to the blonde girl who nodded once politely. “It’s so nice to meet you... is this your first term?”

“Yeah, I just got my powers through.” I giggle slightly nervous everyone seemed to be ahead of me.

“Mine just came through too ha-ha.” She laughed with me “what powers do you have? I can turn into air and control it as well which isn’t as cool as Roxanne’s but hey.”

“Umm so far I can control fire and cast spells apparently there will be more but I haven’t seen anything new yet. What can Roxanne do?” Roxanne had a grin from ear to ear on her face as she spoke.

“I put a layer of diamond across my skin which I can move in as well, it’s like a shiny suit but my whole body goes rock had and see through like the jewel and I control earth pretty neat huh, it’s my second year so I have slightly more control over my power than my sister here we should train sometime...” Jessie growled again and the girls lost their smiles their expressions were irritated and slightly hostile.

“We have assembly soon perhaps YOU should get ready Scarlett.” Jayde put extra emphasis on the ‘You’ obviously furious but I couldn’t understand why.

“See you later Scarlett.” Alexis said as she left in a very light voice and her sister smiled and followed her down the hallway. Jayde pushed me into my new dorm. Along the corridor were four bedrooms, a lounge and a communal kitchen. Each bedroom had its own en-suite bathroom with a shower so at least I didn’t have to share. My room was huge it had a light white bed spread decorated in gold appliqué which had the initials ‘AMA’ on it. To the side of my bed hanging off my wardrobe was my new uniform and my bags were empty so someone had unpacked them. Billie my new cat was stretched across the bottom of my bed and rolled onto her side to face me. I walked over to tickle the back of her neck she started purring and rolled back over. I turned to reach for my new uniform but Jayde cleared her throat.

“You don’t have to wear that today.” Her tone was harsh I took my hand off the jumper and turned to face her. Her expression was still furious.

“What is your problem?” I retorted “what exactly have I done to piss you off so much?” i spat the words out at her and her eyes became more enraged. “Well?” I asked impatient now.

“The girls you just met... they are Manakaw.” her mouth tugged up at the corners as she read my shocked expression. “That’s a better reaction then shaking their hands.” She shuddered in disgust.

“But I thought they couldn’t come here.” It was more of a question then a statement.

“When they were changed more of the soul was left in them so they are slightly closer to human than normal Manakaw that’s how they have powers but, they have only chosen to be good they are not bound to protect you and so they are still a threat but Mr King won’t have any of it he loves their family.” She had relaxed a bit more now her shoulders were less tense and her hands were now unclenched and her voice was warmer now.

“So you said they have more of a soul than other Manakaw what do you mean?” I sat down on the bed with a feeling it was going to be a long story and absentmindedly stroked Billie who rolled from side to side.

“Well” she started as she plonked down next to me Jessie came in the room too and sat on the floor by my feet. “There are two ways to become a Manakaw either your born into that life, or only half your soul is taken when another feeds on you. Most Manakaw are barely human and can take the form of one to blend into the human realm and also to hunt out their prey. But from my understanding the Clarke family are different. Only a part of their soul was taken so, they cannot stay on earth, but they also can’t go to heaven or hell, which is the same basic principle of the average Manakaw but they have more of their soul still in them. Dylon the leader was the first to start out like this he is permanently in human form but he found that unlike the rest he had certain gifts which had been accelerated so basically a super human. His wife Rose joined him next. They lived with the Manakaw royal family- the Payne’s- for a number of years but they weren’t happy so a few millennia later they left.

“The unusual thing was that they weren’t possessed every time they came across a strong soul, they could quite happily co-exist with one and we think it’s because of their dominant humanity, instead other feelings became possible such as love and friendship, and they craved a better life. Then one day everything changed... they had a child, which was unheard of in the Manakaw world! Soon after another followed and they adopted some ‘lost’ Manakaw into their family so now there are seven of them in the family in total, which, I’m sure you will admit, is quite a formidable force especially with the gifts they posses. Now freshen up i will be back in five minutes i need to check something then we can all walk down.” I nodded in agreement as she stood up kissed me on the cheek and left Jessie followed her lead and i was alone-except for Billie who was still purring. I mechanically stood up and got ready to get a shower and get changed for this morning’s assembly.

And There He Was.

True to their word the pair hurried back to my room, defiantly in a more positive mood than this morning, they walked me quickly down the stairs where Jessie left us as we carried on to the main hall. As we stepped in there was a huge cue forming and stretching practically the length of the room. It was like a huge theatre but the chairs-instead of on a metal structure- were floating in staggered rows with people walking up the side in mid air like they were on stairs. I stood mouth agape when we joined the end of the cue and Jayde kept towing me to her side finally it was our turn to walk up the ‘steps’. Jayde went first.

“Just imagine like you’re at the foot of a flight of stairs and you want to go up then take a step forward just trust me.” I followed her instructions carefully lifting my foot and aiming to place it on the floor in front of me, before it hit the ground it hit something else, something invisible which held my foot a few inches off the ground. Jayde smiled at me a little smug and pulled me further up the stairs to sit on a half empty row. She let me weave through the chairs first then sat next to me leaning over towards the people to my right. I looked around the hall filled with kids with varying ages from twelve to eighteen. The girl to my right leaned over me towards Jayde.

“Hiya Jayde, how are you Hun?” the small girl asked she had the same shaped ears as the receptionist and a similar high sweet voice. Her eyes were a Caribbean sea blue which brought her face to life.

“I’m fine thank you April, how are you and your family?” April turned slightly tapping the boy next to her on the shoulder her alerted the attention of the girl next to him they both looked over at Jayde.

“Jayde sweet heart!” the farthest girl exclaimed “we haven’t seen you since your brother Jack enrolled here!” her face was painted in delight and I could see how similar all their features were.

“I know May it’s been so long. How are things I see your powers have come through?” Jayde responded politely. I noticed that May and April looked identical except for the varied lengths of their hair which was a silvery blonde. The boy however had brilliant light green eyes which were fixed on me; his face looked a little shocked.

“Are you Scarlett Taylor?” he blurted out, his voice was quite high for a man but I had a feeling the shock had altered it from its normal pitch. Everyone started turning around and looking at me in the theatre their expressions a mixture of shock, surprise, delight and disbelief. Whispers started shooting around the room and then went silent, awaiting an answer to the boy’s question.

I cleared my throat twice and swallowed loudly with nerves. “yes.” Was the only word I could force through my lips just yet. Several people’s eyes popped open wider in astonishment. I sunk back into my chair with embarrassment as a loud bang echoed through the doors to our right. From around the corner four teachers walked round to the stage in front of us every face snapped round immediately to face the four. One i knew already, Mr King, the other three i did not recognise. The first-a woman- has elf like features she wore a small simple white dress that flowed gracefully as she walked, the next a man looked human and the next was a very small woman about the size of a small child but she was an adult like a dwarf. All stared out at us and Mr King stepped forward.

“Good Morning.” He addressed us all clearly and in a different voice to the one he had worn in his conversation in me, this voice bellowed with authority and demanded respect. “I am Marcus King the head master of the Art of Magic Academy. To my left is Mrs Benwell, head of Magic Humanities College, to the Right of Mrs Benwell is Mr Serrin, he is head of the Human Realm Education College. Miss Tasby to my right is head of the Magical College, overseeing; spell creation, use, and interspecies communication.”

All three nodded in acknowledgement and in unison addressed us with a formal “welcome.”

“First i will explain the rules to you; you are all new to this world so it is understandable to feel confused, upset or even angry. Please if you have any issues contacts your head of college which will be assigned to you shortly, they will try, to the best of their ability, to make the transition period for you as smooth as possible. We do understand that it is uncomfortable to be in a situation where you know no one, and you have to deal with this alone. Furthermore i will not tolerate discrimination between beings, bulling is not nice and you will only receive one warning-this one so remember anything and you will be out, we have no space for bullies at this establishment.” He looked towards Mrs Benwell indicating for her to start, she stepped forward.

“From now, until you finish training this will be your home, you must all get along to make life here as easy and enjoyable as possible. Five of the seven days a week will be lesson and study time from eight to three, no exceptions, and illness is no excuse because the school nurse can cure anything, so go to her first if you don’t want us on your backs. You have been supplied with a laptop and phone to call the human realm as much as you like to speak to your parents we allow calls at weekends and weekdays after six until nine for the lower school e.g. years one to five and no curfew for the upper school years six and over. Dinner will be served everyday in the grand dining room at four. Don’t worry, you don’t have to memorise all this everyone will be given a letter outlining instructions. Please be prompt to class and wear the correct uniform in a suitable fashion. Thank You.” Mr King placed a hand on her shoulder to thank her and pulled himself forward again.

“In a few moments can you please file out of the hall and head to your dorms, you will have a note on your bed telling you which college you are in and who you need to see.” His face had become dark and his voice was sinister “A final point if you see anything or anyone here who should not be her please inform a member of staff as soon as possible.” He shook his head snapping out of whatever had made him feel so angry “have a nice day.” He turned round quickly and marched out of the hall followed by the teachers.