Gift Academy (Book One in the Gifted Series)

Chapter Thirty Two

Fay

The day goes by like a blur. Flora and Austin are not in any of their classes, so they obviously went with Jennifer to meet Alison Davis the Shifter at the town. Hopefully.

After the final bell rings, I rush out the gym with the other Gifted. They're all eager to get to bed tonight. Mrs. Oster has been working us extra hard the past few weeks. I don't blame her. If I was a teacher and my students were at war, I'd be training them harder as well.

While the other Gifted rush to their dorm rooms to get some sleep or go on the internet, watch T.V, or just relax, I head over to Mr. Hernandezs office. Technically, his classroom.

I knock on the door twice, realizing that the light is on and the door is open a crack. After a minute passes and there's no answer, the hall is nearly empty. I open the door a bit more and walk in, and the class is devoid of any other person but me.

On the wood desk in the front of the class there's a small note labeled 'Fay' in black sharpie. I pick it up and unfold it, almost automatically recognizing Mr. Hernandezs neat handwriting. I've had enough of notes already, but I quickly read it over.

Fay, I went to retrieve the dagger from under the school. I'll be in the class in a few minutes, maybe seconds depending on when you read this note. Make yourself comfortable.

-Hernandez

I put the note back on the desk and look around the class. It looks the same as it did the first day of school, but it has a more depressing, eerie feel to it. The look of it didn't change, but the feeling has.

I don't bother sitting down. I know I'm going to hate the feeling. Sitting down in a desk like a regular teenage school girl, not a Gifted in the midst of a war. I don't want to feel normal again, and I won't try to.

After about two minutes of standing around and waiting, the door to the class swings open, revealing a worn-out Mr. Hernandez holding a small glass case covered in white silk. He looks up at me and lets out a small sigh of relief, almost as if he didn't expect me to actually come.

"Hello, Fay," Mr. Hernandez greets me, setting the glass case on his desk in front of me. I can hear the tiredness in his voice, and can clearly see the bags forming under his eyes. The scars from Noah are starting to fade, but there's still a lot of them.

"Is that it? The dagger?" I ask him, though I already know the answer. I just need him to confirm it, or I'll probably start thinking I'm imagining it all.

Mr. Hernandez nods his head, looking down at the case grimly. "That's it."

I take a deep breath as Mr. Hernandez rips off the white silk, revealing a 12-inch bronze dagger, glowing light brown. The hilt is embedded with a big, dark red ruby.

"Oh wow." Is all I can say. It doesn't look like much, but it has a strong, magnetic pull, begging me to pick it up despite any consequences it may have.

"Okay, let's do this," I tell Mr. Hernandez, and he hesitates for a second before opening up the glass case. The pull gets stronger, and the dagger glows brighter, illuminating the room with a soft bronze glow.

"Go ahead, Fay," Mr. Hernandez tells me, and I realize that I froze a bit, just staring at the dagger. I nod my head and reach my hand out towards the dagger slowly, itching to wrap my fingers around the hilt. The glow gets brighter every second I get closer. The ruby in the hilt starts changing, mixing into another color. It changes from dark red to a mix of orange, yellow, and blue until it's a dark, forest green emerald. The tips of my fingers start to burn, but I don't stop. Instead, I lunge my hand forward and grab the dagger, wrapping my hand around the hilt. The bronze glow in the room goes straight into the dagger, and now it seems to be pulsing with light and power. I don't feel a burn. Instead I feel an icy coolness, quickly turning into a spring-air warmth.

Mr. Hernandez stays still in stunned silence for a few seconds before shaking out of his daze. "It worked. You're the wielder of the Fate Dagger, the third and last one of its kind."

I admire the dagger for a few more seconds until what Mr. Hernandez just said hits me like a truck of questions and confusion.

"Wait...third one? There are more daggers like this?" I ask, looking down at the dagger glowing in my hand. Mr. Hernandez sighs heavily, like it's hard to explain, which it most likely is.

"Two more, in two of the other schools in the U.S." Mr. Hernandez starts, picking up a pencil on his desk and twirling it between his fingers.

"Extra Academy and the academy for the Shifters?" I question, flipping the dagger around in my hands, wondering what it could really do. Mr. Hernandez is silent again. I look up at him and he stopped twirling the pencil and his dark eyes have a far-away look in them; wistful and intelligent, but wary of the knowledge he has.

"There's a lot that you don't know about Gift Academy, Fay. I can't explain it all now, but I'll tell you the most important things. But you can't tell anyone else about this," Mr. Hernandez tells me, looking at me sternly and seriously. I nod my head mutely, anxiously waiting for Mr. Hernandez to continue. What else is out there? Who else is out there?

I'll find out now, hopefully.  

"Okay, well, let's start with the Flairs."

Austin

We just met Alison Davis.

It took us hours to walk to town, now ruined and destroyed from the bombing by the Extras. I'll make them pay for that the next time I see them.

I shake the thoughts of revenge out of my mind and instead focus on the Shifter leader in front of us. Her face makes her look cute and innocent; but her cold stare with her icy blue eyes and tall, confident posture makes it obvious that this is a girl you don't want to mess with.

"Hello Jennifer. I'm hoping that these two are the Gifted you decided to bring?" Alison asks Jennifer, gesturing to Flora and I. Jennifer nods her head, a small smile on her face.

"Yes. Flora Landoff with water and Austin Miller with fire," Jennifer introduces us. Alison studies us for a few seconds before seeming to relax a bit, the soft wind blowing through her straight, light blonde hair. 

"Perfect. Let's talk about the war then, shall we?"