through the blinds, illuminating my small room. Stumbling through the space, I reached for my lip gloss and brushed against the small picture frame that sat atop my dresser. I watched as the frame fell over, causing a loud clunk against the second-hand dresser I used. Cursing my clumsiness, I quickly picked up the frame and inspected the contents to make sure it was still ok. Sighing, I let my eyes roam over the image of my parents longer than I should have. It was the last picture I had of them before they died a few years ago. Standing the frame upright again, I tucked a strand of my red hair behind my ear. Like it or not, I was about to tap into my Supernatural abilities. My life would never be the same again.
“Brie, are you up?” my Aunt Marie yelled from downstairs.
Her shrill voice made my blood run cold. Closing my eyes, I reminded myself that I would be out of here in a matter of a few days.
“Yes, I’ll be right down,” I called back. I made a frustrated gesture as I threw on my black, Converse sneakers. I wasn’t sure why she was rushing me. I still had another twenty-minutes before I had to leave for school.
Then, it would only be a week before I left and never came back.
For good.
The acceptance letter I received last month was taped to my dresser mirror. A reminder that hope was possible in this bleak existence I was surviving through. The large, gold and black calligraphy spelled out my name at the top of the prestigious letter. When I was born, my mother had applied for me to attend Woodsong Academy, an accredited school that only accepted a small number of students each year. Over the last few years, I had lost hope that I would ever get to attend the same school my mother did when she was my age. However, when I received the letter in the mail, a spark of hope was ignited inside of me. Thinking back to that moment still put a smile on my face, but only briefly.
Shoving my loneliness aside, I put on a brave face. If I allowed it, the tragic feeling could consume me completely. My fake smile kept people from constantly asking me how I was doing. I hated the pity in their eyes each time they looked at me. Even my best friend, Lilly, sometimes looked at me like she felt sorry for me being an orphan. I would miss her, but everything else about this town and my life here, I would be glad to leave behind.
Grabbing my backpack, I rushed down the stairs and out the door before Marie could yell at me again. I managed to make it to the curb right as the bus pulled up. The loud chatter of the students drowned out the sound of my own beating heart. I had a ticking time clock over my head and I just needed to make it a few more days.
When I arrived at school, Lilly was already at her locker. Waving me over, she smiled and I felt my heart sink just a little. Her dark brown hair was curled in beachy waves and she looked beautiful in a stylish pair of skinny jeans and a white top.
“Hey, I thought you were going to get here earlier today,” she said, handing me a steaming cup of coffee that she must have gotten from the coffee truck parked outside of school.
“You are a saint,” I sighed, taking the cup of liquid gold and sipping the drink. “I was, but Marie wouldn’t get up early, so I had to take the bus,” I told her, rolling my eyes.
Unfortunately, Lilly knew how difficult it was for me to live with my Aunt Marie. She never hid her disdain for children and when she was forced to take me in after my parents died, she never let me forget how much of a burden I was for her. It’s not like she had some luxurious career she had to give up. However, she did have to stop partying, though she still found time to go out several nights a week with her friends. Marie and my mom were half sisters. They shared the same father, but had different mothers. They were never close like sisters should be, so moving in with her was almost like moving in with a stranger.
You see, I am part of the Supernatural world. A world where monsters from fairy tales and legends aren’t just things of fiction-- but a reality. Only, no one else knows any of this exists. At least, no one else who is alive in my life. I had known since my birth that I didn’t belong in the human world. My mother was a Fae and my father… Well, I never really knew what he was. I hardly remember him, to be honest. I would take on the abilities of my mother, which means I will become a Fae. When a Supernatural being turns sixteen, they have to attend the Woodsong Academy to learn their true powers and to find a way to live with them amongst humans in the human world. It was now my time, and my aunt couldn’t be happier to get rid of me.
Unlike my mother, my aunt wasn’t born with Supernatural abilities. My mom was beautiful and loved by everyone, while my aunt seemed to live in her shadow. She had been angry and hostile over this for years. Hating my mother with an unfair, jealous rage. So, you can only imagine how frustrated she was when she learned that she was responsible for taking me in, five years ago. Still, there was a part of me who believed that the stories my mom had told me were just that–fictional stories. Her elaborate, whimsical tales consisted of Faes, Vampires, Shifters, and others who received their powers once they stepped into the magical world of Woodsong Academy. I never sprouted wings or managed to cast any spells. I always doubted that magic existed inside of me, even though my mom assured me it did. Nothing about me ever felt–different, but I had to believe that what she had told me was true. That hope was all I had to rely on or, I feared I would fall into a dark depression of loneliness. I could feel the heavy tentacles of my own anger threatening to strangle me daily. Hopefully, once I arrived at my new school and home, whatever I was would finally come to life.
“That stinks. I hate that she is making you go to that boarding school,” Lilly said, and I hated the sadness dripping from her voice.
This was where I had to force the sadness that typically came natural to me. As far as everyone knew, my mother’s life insurance had left me enough money to pay my tuition and my aunt was using that to send me to a boarding school just a few hours away in southern Kentucky. The reality was, I was more than thrilled to go to Woodsong Academy. This wasn’t just any school. Woodsong Academy was a place where Supernatural children were sent when they turned sixteen-years-old. A least, that was how my mother explained it. I couldn’t wait to not only discover my Fae abilities, but to feel closer to my mom again, too.
“It won’t be that bad,” I said, shifting my backpack to my locker. “I can still come home on some weekends and we can talk all of the time,” I told her.
“I know,” she stated, looking down as she fiddled with her cup of coffee. “You didn’t even get a proper sixteenth birthday,” she pouted.
Now, that was a sore subject for me. If my mom were still here, she would have gone all out for my birthday. All of my childhood birthday parties were over-the-top extravagant. My mom loved to throw me parties and I missed that more than ever.
“I can’t stay locked in the bad memories,” I explained. “I have to just remember our good times and look forward to the future.”
Nodding, Lilly tried to keep a brave face, but I knew this was bothering her. We finished gathering our things for class and then began walking through the crowded halls toward our first class of the day. I made sure to take in these moments with Lilly and enjoy my time with her. While I knew I would see her again, my life was about to change in more ways than I could imagine.