Akarnae

  Bear shrugged. “I don’t—”

  “SPARKER! GET BACK HERE!”

  Alex turned to see Jordan sprinting towards the dorm building with Finn hot on his heels. The PE coach was waving a pitchfork in the air and looked like a rabid farmer chasing after an errant cow.

  Jordan quickly reached the entryway and ducked behind them. “Hide me!” he whispered to their backs.

  Alex thought his request was a bit ridiculous since it was clear that he was standing there, but she stayed where she was nevertheless. It was still difficult to resist taking a step backwards when Finn approached them, waving his pitchfork at them.

  “Where’s he gone? I know he came this way!”

  Alex looked at Finn as if he was crazy. Couldn’t he see Jordan standing behind them?

  She could have slapped herself for being so obtuse. Of course Finn couldn’t see him. Jordan was probably using his gift and playing the invisible man. Thankfully, Alex had enough sense to keep her mouth closed. Bear, however, took a step towards the enraged teacher.

  “Who are you looking for, Mr. Finneus?” he asked, his voice mesmerising.

  Finn blinked at him a few times, as though he had to gather his thoughts. “Eh? Oh. Sparker. Jordan Sparker. He was doing detention with me and I haven’t finished with him yet.”

  “Sir, it’s nearly dinner time,” Bear said, again using the smooth and captivating voice. “Surely you don’t want to miss dinner?”

  Alex found herself nodding. Bear could have said anything in that voice and she would have agreed. It seemed like Finn was facing the same predicament, since he shook his head as if to clear it.

  “But—but I’m not done with him yet!” Finn valiantly tried to keep himself composed, but his blazing anger had already cooled enough that he lowered the pitchfork to rest on the ground. “There’s still plenty of light left for work.”

  “But surely you don’t want to work anymore tonight?” Bear continued. His words were so hypnotic that Alex wondered if Finn would want to work ever again, let alone tonight. “It’s such a beautiful evening. I’m sure you have plenty to do without having to worry about babysitting a student. There will be enough time for that when he joins you again tomorrow.”

  Finn rubbed his stubbly chin thoughtfully. “I suppose you’re right. Plenty of time tomorrow. And I am a bit peckish.” His stomach gurgled and Alex saw Bear smile triumphantly.

  “If you see Sparker, tell him he’d better get a good night’s sleep, ’cause he’s gonna have a big day tomorrow.”

  “Certainly, Mr. Finneus,” Bear said, still using his charming voice.

  Finn nodded to himself and walked away from them.

  When he was out of earshot, Bear turned to Alex and said, “And that’s how it’s done.”

  Before she could respond, Jordan re-materialised beside them and clapped a hand on Bear’s shoulder. “Thanks, mate. I totally owe you one.”

  Bear huffed out an amused breath. “You owe me way more than one, Sparkie.”

  “Good thing we’re not keeping count then, huh?” At least Jordan had the grace to look sheepish.

  “I can’t believe you just charmed him like that,” Alex said, amazed again at Bear’s gift.

  “I told you it comes in handy,” Jordan said.

  Alex massaged her temples. “This place is so insane. Nothing makes sense here.”

  It wasn’t the first time she’d longed for the simplicity of her own world. Earth—Freya—whatever—might have been lacking on the technological advancement scale, but at least it offered a what-you-see-is-what-you-get reality. There were no unexpected surprises, no strange abilities. Her world made sense, which was much more than she could say about Medora.

  “It might be easier if you just embrace the senselessness,” Bear said with a compassionate look.

  “After everything I’ve seen and heard this week, I think that’s all I really can do,” Alex agreed.

  “Are you really okay with all this?” Jordan asked, and she was surprised by the genuine concern in his gaze. “Most of the time you seem to be handling it well, but other times…” He trailed off, not needing to finish his sentence.

  “I’m not going to lie—it’s messing with my head a bit,” Alex admitted. “I know you said there’s no such thing as magic here, but that’s still what it seems like to me. Where I come from, we don’t have supernatural gifts, let alone all the other stuff. It’s a lot to take in. But people also don’t jump from one world to another through disappearing doorways, so I figure that if I can accept where I am and where I’m from, then I have no reason to deny all the other crazy stuff that happens here. And besides, it’s not like I can just close my eyes, stick my fingers in my ears, and chant ‘la-la-la, I’m in my happy place’ for the next few months until the headmaster arrives. That’s impractical. Not to mention, just plain weird.”

  Jordan and Bear had seemed impressed through most of her response, at least until she’d segued into the potential chanting—then they’d just looked entertained.

  When she finished, there was a moment of silence before Bear grinned and said, “Supernatural gifts? Really?”

  “What else am I supposed to call them?”

  “Fair enough,” he accepted. “But for the record, there’s nothing magical about our abilities. It’s just biology.”

  “If you say so,” Alex said, stepping forward to lead the way inside. “But if that’s the case, I still think I’m missing that strand of DNA.”

  “We’ll see,” Jordan said cryptically. “You never know what the future might bring.”

  Ten

  The weeks passed surprisingly quickly and soon enough almost a whole month had disappeared. Alex’s lessons continued in much the same way as her first week—they were still completely insane. Her weekdays were filled with classes, classes and more classes, while her weekends were spent catching up on her endless pile of homework and hanging out with Jordan and Bear. Despite knowing that she didn’t belong in Medora, Alex soon began to enjoy the absolute randomness of Akarnae, as well as the people who inhabited the school.

  Four weeks after her arrival in Medora, Alex sat in the food court deliberating what to eat for lunch when someone sat down beside her.

  “I heard about what happened this morning. Are you okay?”

  Alex looked up from her menu to see Mel’s concerned expression.

  “It was a bit of a shock, but I’m all right now,” Alex said, recalling the near-catastrophic events of the morning. Compared to what might have been, Alex’s sore throat and chest were nothing to complain about.

  Their PE class had been held in the massive Lake Fee that morning so Finn could test their ‘water survival skills’. In the act of trying to save one of her classmates from what she’d thought was an actual drowning, Alex had nearly lost consciousness under the water. Finn had pulled her to the surface at the last second and thumped what had seemed like the entire lake out of her lungs before she’d been able to breathe freely again. Then he’d asked her if she was an idiot, because of course the entire exercise had been a set-up and her classmates had never been in actual danger to begin with.

  Mel leaned in closer. “I heard you nearly drowned.” She shuddered. “I’m so glad I’m only a Beta for PE. Finn’s a real pain in the you-know-what, but he doesn’t make us do anything dangerous.”

  “It’s not so bad,” Alex said weakly, trying to convince them both.

  Jordan snorted from across the table and she realised how untrue her statement really was. He and Bear had been beside themselves with worry for her when she hadn’t resurfaced for so long, but they’d both been too far away to do anything. She was just lucky that the PE teacher had been nearby, otherwise… well…

  Just as she decided to change the topic, she felt a tap on her shoulder and turned to find Fletcher standing behind her.

  “Finn told me about your class this morning, Alex,” the doctor said. “How’re you feeling?”

  “I’m okay,” she
answered, fidgeting under his watchful gaze. He must have heard the strained tone of her raw vocal chords, since his eyes narrowed in concern. Thankfully, he didn’t press the issue.

  “Very well, then,” Fletcher said after a pause in which Mel quietly excused herself to go and find her cousin. “If you’re at all concerned, please drop in to see me.”

  “I will,” she promised.

  Fletcher nodded and began to walk away, calling over his shoulder, “By the way, Maggie asked me to tell you that if you ever skip her class again, she’ll give you detention for a month.”

  Alex groaned as soon as Fletcher was far enough away not to hear, and she looked up to see Jordan and Bear’s amused expressions. Neither of them had known she’d skipped her Archery class in favour of a hot shower and some warm clothes after PE.

  “Don’t tell me that Miss Goodie-Two-Shoes skipped class?” Jordan teased.

  She shrugged, trying to downplay the situation.

  “Our little girl’s growing up,” he said, wiping away a fake tear.

  “You’re one to talk, mate,” Bear said with a laugh. “It’s not like you’ve never skipped before.”

  “It’s hardly the same,” Jordan said, “since I get permission first.”

  “Permission?” Alex asked. “How can you get permission to skip class?”

  They both looked at her pointedly, waiting for her to catch on. When she didn’t, Jordan leaned in to whisper in her ear. “When your best friend is a charmer, it’s easy. Remember Finn?”

  Alex’s eyes widened in realisation and she looked at Bear. “I can’t believe I forgot! I didn’t even think to ask for your help.”

  Bear just grinned and said, “Don’t worry—there’s always next time.”

  She nodded in agreement and continued to think about the possibilities as they stood and headed to Medical Science.

  Professor Luranda spent the first half of the lesson droning on and on about the properties of Silver Cloverfoot, a beautiful—and deadly—purple and silver flower. Just when Alex thought she might drop off to sleep, an alarm sounded. It wasn’t the usual gong noise that signalled a class change or meal times. Instead it was a wailing, keening, high-pitched siren that caused Alex and her classmates to clutch their ears and cry out in confusion.

  “Silence!” Professor Luranda shouted from the front of the room, her rainbow robe contrasting with her rapidly paling face.

  Everyone froze at her command and all noise ceased until the only sound left was the screaming of the alarm.

  Alex watched, ears ringing, as Luranda picked up her Communications Globe. It was a black, glassy sphere about the size of a tennis ball with swirling white mist inside. When Alex had first seen one in her History class, Bear had explained that the Globe allowed the academy staff to contact one another immediately in the case of emergencies. Sort of like an intercom or a phone, but with both visual and audio output. Plus, they all had built-in Bubbledoors for instant transportation to… somewhere.

  Bubbledoors, Alex had learned early on, opened up wormholes that worked like teleportation devices. When she’d first heard about them, she had asked her friends why the headmaster couldn’t just use one to zip back to the academy and send her home. They hadn’t been able to answer her, other than to say that Marselle must have his reasons for staying away. Whatever those reasons were, Alex struggled to believe they were good enough to excuse his negligence, not when he could just come and go in the blink of an eye. Like everything else in Medora, his continued absence didn’t make any sense.

  Luranda spoke quietly into the Globe with her back turned to the students. Over her shoulder Alex could see the faint outline of Jarvis’s face inside the swirling mist of the sphere.

  Eventually the professor lowered the Globe and turned back to her students. “We are to wait here until further instructed.”

  That’s it? Alex wondered. She knew better than to question the strict professor, but she shared a glance with Connor who was seated beside her and she could see he was thinking the same as her. What were they waiting for?

  To her surprise, the professor didn’t continue teaching. Instead, Luranda took up a position next to the transparent door at the front of the room.

  Alex leaned in to ask Connor about the purpose of the one-way visual doors. “Why are—?”

  She stopped because two things happened. First, the siren ended, trailing off into a ringing silence. And second, the room instantly blackened.

  Alex heard her classmates scraping their chairs away from their benches and standing. Once again there were exclamations of surprise, and in some cases, fear. While uneasy herself, Alex didn’t think it was wise to get up when she couldn’t see anything. They were in a medical laboratory, after all. The last thing she needed was to stumble in the dark and fall onto a scalpel.

  A moment later the lights in the classroom came back on. Alex blinked away the stars in her vision and noticed that the corridor on the other side of the transparent door was still an inky black, thick and gritty.

  “Please take your seats, students. There’s nothing to worry about,” Luranda said. “It’s just the Lockdown procedure.”

  Her words weren’t convincing. Luranda was clearly anxious about something, and she continued to gaze out into the dark corridor.

  Alex turned around to see how Jordan and Bear were faring, and she felt better when she saw them calmly reading their textbooks. She tried to get their attention, but they were too caught up in their work.

  She turned back around to the front of the room before her brain registered what she’d seen and she snapped back to look at them again. Jordan and Bear never did schoolwork unasked.

  Alex narrowed her eyes and peered closer at her friends. She gasped in surprise when, as Bear moved to turn a page of his book, she could see through his arm to the wall behind him. Even the book was partly transparent.

  Without thinking, Alex started to rise from her seat, but a hand pressed down on her shoulder and pushed her back onto her chair.

  “Don’t move,” Jordan whispered in her ear.

  He must have been using his gift, but she had no idea why—nor did she know how there was a semi-opaque copy of him doing homework up the back of the room. And she couldn’t ask, because Luranda chose that moment to take her eyes off the door and glance around her classroom, making sure everything was still in order.

  Alex held her breath as the professor’s cool gaze swept over her. She could still feel Jordan’s hand on her shoulder and she prayed that Luranda wouldn’t notice her not-completely-solid friends up the back. She released her breath only when the older woman seemed satisfied enough to return her attention to the door.

  Alex didn’t dare speak, but she pulled her paper close and wrote four words:

  What are you doing?

  It was the weirdest thing ever when her pen vanished and writing appeared on the paper, letter by letter.

  INVESTIGATING. YOU COMING?

  Alex kept her eyes facing the front of the room but gave a quick nod. There was no way she was going to miss out on whatever he had planned.

  She flinched when a different voice spoke in her other ear.

  “Drink this,” whispered Bear, and a vial was pressed into her hand under the table. “It will feel a bit weird, but try not to move much.”

  Jordan being invisible—transcendent—she could understand, but Bear too? She decided to worry about that later and instead knocked her pen off the bench, giving her an excuse to bend and retrieve it. While she was under the table she quickly swallowed the contents of the small vial—which tasted faintly of strawberries—before sitting back up in her seat and holding as still as possible.

  It only took a few moments before she was overcome by the oddest sensation. Her flesh began to tingle as if she had pins and needles, while her heartbeat throbbed loudly in her ears. Her temperature spiked feverishly and the warmth expanded slowly outward from her body, growing like a tangible presence as it pulsed in time with her
heart. Even her clothes were pulsing outward, only stopping after they had risen about half a centimetre above her actual self. As she looked closer, she realised that her expanded figure wasn’t completely solid, but it was still convincing enough to get by. Just like the copies of Jordan and Bear studying up the back of the room, Alex now had her very own copycat illusion.

  “Are you ready for this?” Jordan whispered once the pulsing finished.

  Alex nodded again and his grip tightened on her shoulder. One moment she was grounded, sitting in her seat, and the next she felt like she was soaring through the outer atmosphere. She closed her eyes as the feeling washed over her, enjoying the floating sensation.

  A moment or two passed before the feeling began to fade. She still felt like she was soaring on a cloud or floating in water, but she also had a better idea of where her feet were and how to use them. She opened her eyes and blinked a few times, trying in vain to clear her vision. It was like a shower screen covered her eyes; she could still see everything, but it was all slightly blurred around the edges. No matter what she did, her sight wouldn’t clear, and she realised it must be a result of whatever Jordan had done to her.

  “Let’s go,” Jordan said quietly, keeping a tight hold on her arm and pulling her up from her seat.

  She was about to protest—surely Luranda would notice the movement—but she snapped her mouth closed as she watched her body step out of the replica, leaving the copy in her seat. Her decoy didn’t move much; she just stayed looking towards the front of the room, blinking.

  No one noticed that there were two of her in the classroom, and since she could now see Jordan and Bear perfectly while everything else around them was still blurred, she guessed that Jordan must somehow be covering her with his gift.

  “How—?”

  “Shh!” Jordan interrupted. “I’ll explain outside.”

  With one hand on her shoulder and the other gripping Bear, Jordan led them straight towards the wall.

  “Jord—!” Alex didn’t even get a chance to finish whispering his name before he thrust all three of them into the wall.