Akarnae

  Aven moved his hand towards her and she tentatively reached her arm forward, expecting a firm shake, but he surprised her by bowing slightly and pressing a tender kiss to the back of her wrist.

  “Charmed,” he said, his eyes smouldering.

  That’s right, smouldering. It was something she’d only ever read about in books before, not actually witnessed. Alex was surprised when her legs managed to keep her upright. She desperately hoped he wouldn’t notice her blushing. Or swooning.

  Alex pulled her hand back and tried to clear her foggy brain. She couldn’t figure out why she was so affected by his presence, even if he was on a whole new level of gorgeous.

  It was only the observation that he seemed to know exactly how he was affecting her that allowed Alex to regain some of her composure. She moved a step away from him, hoping the distance would help. His brow furrowed slightly at her less than discreet movement, but his expression cleared quickly.

  “Any chance you can explain what just happened to me?” she asked.

  He raised one perfectly sculpted eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

  “Well…” Alex gestured to the forest around them. “I just walked through a doorway in the middle of the administration building and then, uh, kind of flew here. Where is ‘here’, by the way?”

  Aven was looking at her with a curiosity that bordered on incredulity. “You walked through a doorway and ended up somewhere completely different?”

  She shrugged. “I know it sounds mental, but it’s the truth.”

  After a lengthy silence where he stared intently at her, Aven said, “That is… most interesting. Tell me, Alexandra, where do you think we are?”

  She had to hold back a shiver at the sound of her name falling so gracefully from his lips. Clearing her throat, she looked around the forest again. “Honestly? I have no idea. I can’t even see the academy from here. Which is, you know, weird.”

  A slow smile began to stretch across Aven’s face, transforming him from beautiful to radiant. But even as Alex struggled to maintain her slipping composure, she felt like there was something not quite right about him. Sure, he oozed charisma and charm, but it almost seemed… tainted.

  She shook her head and focused on the leaves under her feet rather than his appearance, trying to clear her mind. “Look, I guess it doesn’t really matter where we are. But I need to get back to the academy and enrol, so do you mind pointing me in the right direction?”

  Aven didn’t answer. Instead, he slowly moved forward and began to circle her like a lion tracking its prey.

  Alex couldn’t help but think of all the horror stories she’d heard about psychopaths dragging young women into forests to murder them. There was something decidedly dangerous about this Aven guy, of that she was certain.

  “Tell me, Alexandra,” he said, completing his circle and returning to face her, “do you find it at all strange that I happened upon you the moment you arrived here? In the middle of the Ezera Forest, of all places?”

  Alex blinked at the unfamiliar name. “The what forest?”

  Aven cocked his head slightly. “You’ve never heard of the Ezera?” At her quick negative shake, he asked, “Then tell me, Alexandra, how is it you know of Akarnae?”

  “Akarnae?” Alex repeated, mimicking his pronunciation. Ah-kar-nay. How strange. “Never heard of it, sorry.”

  “Then to which academy do you seek directions?”

  She frowned. “The International Exchange Academy, of course.” Duh.

  “I’m afraid the only educational institution nearby is Akarnae Academy,” Aven said. “Are you sure you haven’t heard of it?”

  “Positive,” Alex said. “But are you sure that’s what it’s called? Because, despite my crazy flying experience, I can’t be that far from the building I was thrown out of. The International Exchange Academy must be around here somewhere.”

  “Oh, Alexandra, you have no idea how pleased I am to have found you,” Aven said, his eyes alight.

  Alex took another step away from him as her inner Creep-O-Meter spiked out a warning.

  He stepped forward, and she stepped back again. But he just kept moving towards her, his golden eyes glowing from within, trapping her in his gaze.

  “I found you here,” he said, “just as it was foretold I would. ‘A chance meeting in the forest of greeting, their destinies will be bound as one…’ Don’t you see, Alexandra?”

  She was still trying in vain to put some distance between her and the beautiful yet clearly deranged man, but her retreat ended when she backed into a tree, unable to go any further.

  “See what?” she said, her voice quieter than she would have liked.

  He stopped directly in front of her and reached out a hand, gently tracing his fingers down the line of her cheek. “You are to be my salvation.”

  Alex’s eyes widened and then narrowed at his ridiculous statement. Just as she was debating whether to laugh hysterically at his words or knee him hard enough that he’d never reproduce, he took a step away from her and tilted his head as if hearing something in the distance.

  He stood like that for a moment before he moved back towards her, even closer than before, and leaned down to whisper in her ear. “I’ll give you some time to settle in and learn how to use your power, and then I shall come for you, Alexandra. Together we will rule all of Medora.”

  He flashed his disarming smile again and stepped back, casually walking away and disappearing into the dense forest.

  Only when he was completely out of sight did Alex breathe a sigh of relief. What a complete whack-job!

  “Hey, what are you doing out here?”

  Alex spun around at the new voice, and in her haste she tripped over a bulging tree root, lost her balance, and sprawled face-first onto the forest floor. She heard the sound of suppressed laughter and groaned quietly into the leafy cushions surrounding her before pushing herself to her feet. In front of her were two guys, both around her age. Unfortunately for her humiliated self, both of them were uncommonly attractive, too.

  “Maybe it’s some kind of hot-guy gene therapy,” Alex muttered, wondering where all the average-looking people were.

  “What was that?” asked the guy on the right, his blond hair mussed by the wind and his bright blue eyes sparkling with mischief.

  “Nothing,” Alex said. “Who are you? And where did you come from?”

  “I’m Jordan Sparker,” said the blond, before pointing to his friend and saying, “and this is Bear.”

  Bear grinned at her, and it was such a genuinely friendly expression that she unconsciously returned it. Just like Jordan, he also had a mischievous look about him, but his shaggy dark hair and warm brown eyes helped him seem less… devil-may-care.

  “And you’re from…?” she prompted.

  “The academy,” Bear said. “Where else?”

  Alex almost wilted with relief. Finally, some students who could show her the way out of the forest.

  “Your turn,” said Jordan. “Same questions.”

  “I’m Alexandra Jennings,” she answered. “I’m supposed to be enrolling at the academy today but I was thrown through a doorway and ended up out here. Then this crazy guy came along and went all weird on me, saying that together he and I would one day rule some place called ‘Medora’. That was a fun conversation, let me tell you.”

  Both boys looked at her with amusement and she abruptly stopped her rambling.

  “I think we’re going to get along really well, Alexandra Jennings,” Jordan said with a grin.

  “Alex,” she told him.

  He shrugged. “Sure. Now tell us more about what happened with this doorway?”

  She repeated the story as best as she could, watching them both for signs of understanding. If anything, they looked more and more excited, though she had no idea why.

  “All I really want to do is hand in my enrolment papers, find out where I’m sleeping, and put this whole day behind me,” she concluded. “So, how do we get out of th
is forest?”

  Jordan turned to Bear and asked, “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

  “No question about it,” Bear agreed. “It’ll be a shock for her, but the best way is just to show her.”

  “ ‘Her’ is standing right here, you know,” Alex said pointedly.

  “Right, sorry, Alex,” Bear said. “You’ve just given us a lot to think about. If we’re right, then you’re the first Freyan to come to Medora in thousands of years. If not more. This is huge.”

  “Epic,” Jordan said.

  Alex looked from one of them to the other and asked, “What’s a Freyan?”

  Bear turned to Jordan who cleared his throat and said, “Freyan is the name we use for someone who comes from Freya, the Original Earth. Medora is our world, which is Second Earth—kind of like a parallel Earth, but different. If we’re right about what’s happened to you, then you’re from another world.”

  Alex stared blankly for a beat, waiting for them to jokingly cry, ‘gotcha!’ but their earnest expressions didn’t falter.

  “Right,” she deadpanned. She was so not in the mood for any more first-day-at-the-new-school pranks. “I’d say it’s been great chatting with you, but… well, nope. Falling into the fountain was bad enough, you don’t need to continue this ‘let’s punk the newbie’ charade. So, thanks for the welcome, but I’ll just find my own way back.”

  Alex chose a direction at random and headed straight into the trees. She half-expected Jordan and Bear to try and stop her from leaving, but they let her walk away without argument. She heard them following her and whispering to one another, but she didn’t deviate from her onward mission.

  It took less than five minutes before the density of the forest began to lessen. The boys moved up beside Alex and together the three of them stepped out from under the canopy of trees.

  “But—What—How?” Alex stared incredulously at the view, speechless.

  Directly in front of them lay a beautiful lake, glistening in the late afternoon sunset. The forest where they stood led straight down to the water’s edge, and both the trees and the lake continued on to her right, much further than she could see. To her left, the forest cleared out into a grassy field which bordered the curve of the lake. Alex could even see a few horses grazing in the distance, adding to the picturesque image.

  Further on from the fields and resting atop a small hill were a cluster of buildings, each one different from the next. Some looked like they were from the Dark Ages, while others looked as if they’d been built just yesterday. Two in particular stood out to Alex, if only because of their contrasting forms: one was a multi-storied U-shaped complex that was almost futuristic in design, and the other was a tower-like structure in the middle of the campus that looked like it belonged in a Medieval Weekly magazine. It was all very strange.

  “Welcome to Akarnae, Alex,” Jordan said.

  “What is this place?” she managed to say. “Where’s the International Exchange Academy?”

  “We need to tell you some things that you’re not going to believe,” Bear said, “but you have to hear us out before you decide to ignore us, okay?”

  She nodded absentmindedly, distracted by the picture in front of her. Where was she?

  “Alex, focus,” Bear said firmly, turning her to face them.

  Seeing their serious expressions, she hesitantly said, “Okay, I’m listening.”

  They led her over to a fallen tree and made her sit down while they spent the next few minutes describing an impossible reality. When they were finished, she looked at them apprehensively, torn between laughter and tears.

  “Let me get this straight,” she said. “According to you, I’m from another world, a world that was once identical to your own—this ‘Medora’ place—but over time the two places changed and became… different places?”

  Yeah, that was really articulate. But they nodded, so she continued, “And people from my Earth—sorry, ‘Freya’—don’t know about Medora or how to get here?”

  When they nodded again, she asked, “Then how do you explain me?”

  “No idea,” Jordan said, grinning widely. “But I reckon we’ll have fun trying to figure that out.”

  Alex looked from him to Bear and asked, “Are you aliens?” When both boys burst out laughing, she frowned at them. “Different worlds? Hel-lo! It’s not that strange a question, especially considering I feel like I’m the leading character in some kind of alternate reality movie. And you’ve just told me that there are all kinds of different beings in your world, not just humans. Give a girl a break, would you?”

  “Sorry, Alex,” Bear said, still chuckling. “Rest assured, we’re as human as you are.”

  Alex let that settle before her brain skipped a million miles ahead. “If I’m in another world, how can I understand you, and vice versa? How do you know English if there’s no England here?”

  Even Alex had to admit that she was beginning to sound a little hysterical, but it was still a valid question, and one of many that were swirling around her head. Perhaps she should have asked something more pressing, though. Like, if she truly was in a different world, how was she going to get home again? Especially since she didn’t even know why—or how—she’d arrived to begin with! And her parents… Well, at least there was something good to be said about their inability to be contacted, since they would totally freak out if they learned she was missing. Alex shuddered just thinking about their reactions—or perhaps she shuddered because she was beginning to understand the gravity of her situation.

  “English, England… I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Jordan said. “We’re speaking Medoran, or the common tongue, and since you seem to understand it just fine, then I guess we can presume there’s some kind of cross-world comparison. Let’s just be thankful that we don’t have to mime this entire conversation to each other, and leave it at that.”

  Alex figured she couldn’t expect much more of an explanation, so she decided to move on. “Let’s talk about this school of yours,” she said, thinking over everything they’d told her in their ‘welcome to our world’ speech. “You mentioned something about Akarnae being a school for the gifted. What does that mean?”

  Bear motioned for her to look at Jordan, so she turned to the blond boy. He smirked at her… and then disappeared into thin air. He literally vanished.

  She gaped at the empty spot in front of her. “How—?”

  “It’s my gift,” Jordan said, reappearing again and laughing loudly at the gobsmacked expression on her face.

  “Your gift?”

  “Transcendence,” he said. “I can transcend—meaning I can disappear from sight and move through solid objects while invisible.”

  “That is…” Alex was lost for words, so she settled on, “very cool.”

  Jordan chuckled and squeezed her shoulder. “It’s okay. You’ll get used to it here. Everyone at Akarnae has a gift. Bear’s is pretty handy too, especially when we want to get out of detention.”

  “What can you do, Bear?” Alex asked, even if in the back of her mind she was totally flipping out.

  “I’m a charmer,” he said with a wink.

  She felt her lips twitch. “I bet you say that to all the new girls.”

  He laughed at that before explaining, “I can use my speech to convince people to do things. I literally charm them into action.”

  “That sounds kind of dangerous,” Alex said. If what he said was true, then he had a gift that could cause a lot of damage in the wrong hands.

  “It might seem that way, but it’s really not,” Bear said. “My charms are more like suggestions, you can either act upon or dismiss them depending on how much you like or don’t like the idea.”

  Alex thought about that and said, “Can you show me?”

  Bear shared a sneaky glance with Jordan before turning back to her and saying, “You must be hungry, Alex. I doubt you’ve eaten for hours, right?”

  His voice sounded the same, but there w
as an almost hypnotic quality to his tone. Before she even realised what she was doing, Alex nodded in agreement.

  “You’re probably so hungry that you would eat anything just to feel relief.”

  Alex’s stomach clenched painfully. She was starving. What had she last eaten? A piece of toast for breakfast? She couldn’t even remember what it had tasted like, it seemed so long ago.

  “I wonder if there’s anything around here that we can give you to eat?” Bear continued in that same mesmerising tone.

  “Please,” Alex said, her own voice sounding strained. “I’ll eat anything.”

  “Here, this will help.” Bear scooped up a handful of dirt and handed it to her. “It’s just like chocolate. It’ll taste delicious and you’ll feel so good afterwards.”

  Alex reached her hand out and Bear passed the dirt over. Part of her was desperate to pour the chocolate-like goodness straight into her mouth, but another part of her was beginning to scream from deep within her subconscious mind. She paused in the act of moving her hand towards her mouth, her thoughts warring with each other.

  It’s dirt, Alex thought to herself. Why would I ever eat dirt? Gross!

  She threw the handful of earth to the ground and then turned to glare at Bear. “What did you just do to me?”

  He and Jordan burst out laughing.

  “You should see your expression right now!” Jordan gasped between guffaws.

  She placed her hands on her hips and narrowed her eyes further.

  “Oh, come on Alex,” Jordan said once he’d calmed somewhat. “Admit it, that was funny!”

  She tapped her foot impatiently and asked Bear again, “What did you do?”

  “You asked me to charm you, so I did,” he said. “I wanted you to see how it feels when it works, but also how when I press too far, your natural reasoning comes back into play.”

  “So, you managed to convince me I was starving, even though I’m actually not?”

  He nodded and continued for her, “But when I tried to get you to eat dirt, the suggestion was too different from anything you would normally agree to, so you snapped out of my influence.”

  She shook her head in amazement. “That’s… Yeah, I have no words for what that is.”