Gift Academy (Book One in the Gifted Series)

Chapter Thirty Seven

Gina

I have absolutely no idea what's going on.

All I know is that the Extras are breaking down the front door and they want something.

I almost immediately recognized the voice of the girl who shouted at us through the doors. Emily Walker, the Extra leader whom we all hate.

Just as hundreds of thick green vines smash through the double doors, followed by large gusts of wind, hundreds of other Shifters storm down the stairs, glaring at the doors being broken down. Some are messily dressed, and some are even still in their pajamas. It's an odd sight- tons of sleepy, messy teenagers glaring at a door.

Wesley and I glance at each other and look back at the wood doors, which are splintering and cracking under the weight of vines and strong winds. Wes and I hold our hands out towards the door and push against the winds and vines with our own wind. I grunt in frustration and my eyes sting with pain. I bet all the Extras out there with a wind Gift is using their power, and Wesley and I are only two against possibly hundreds.

We barely slow them down, but we do keep the thick green vines at bay. Whenever one is about to hit the door, Fay hits them away with her own vine, or Austin or Nick burn them with their fire, careful to not hit the wood door and do the work for them.

We barely make any progress, and part of the door is already gone. Beside me, Claire mutters something I can't hear, and with a shout of pain, raises her arms up, and a huge wall of dirt breaks through the floor from inside, blocking the door completely.

I stare at Claire in amazement. She has never done that before.

"Since when can you do that?" Jake asks Claire, wide-eyed as he stares at the wall of dirt blocking us from the door.

"Since two days ago," Claire answers, breathing heavily. Learning something new with a Gift can easily drain people, and using it so suddenly and largely like Claire just did with the wall can almost kill them, yet Claire just looks merely tired.

I glance at Flora, and she shakes her head. "Don't ask."

And now I'm wondering exactly what happened for Claire to discover this new ability.

I don't want to think about it.

I take a deep breath, mostly out of relief, until the sound of shattering glass echoes throughout the halls. Of course they'd break in through the windows. How could we forget about that?

Claire once again mutters, but this time I could hear her, and it's some very colorful words.

I bite my lip in anger at the Extras as I see a bunch of them storming towards us, most with vines, fireballs, water balls, or blocks of stone or dirt in their hands. I thrust my arms out towards a group of them, and they're all blasted back, falling on top of each other in uncomfortable heaps of evil Extras.

"They're looking for the Life Dagger. You have to get it out of here," Fay orders the guy who came with her, Austin, and Flora to the basement. So there's a Life Dagger and a Fate Dagger? Let me guess, there's a Galaxy Dagger, too.

"Yeah, well they're looking for the wielder of the daggers as well, so you're coming with me. We have to get the Fate Dagger back from Gift Academy," the guy tells Fay. She nods her head and looks at everyone else.

"Would anyone like to accompany us on our suicide escape mission?" Fay asks bluntly, knocking down a bunch of Extras heading our way with two huge vines. God, how much this girl has changed.

"Gladly," Nick replies, the bright red flames dancing in his right hand reflecting off his dark brown eyes. He doesn't look very dangerous, and really, he's a sweetheart, but he can be deadly if messed with. That's just the way of the fire Gifted.

"I'll come," I say, shrugging my shoulders. Anything's better than seeing Emily again.

"I'm the only one who knows where the dagger is anyways, so I'll come, too," John tells Fay. How does he know where it is? And what is this about Fay being the 'wielder' or whatever they called it?

Before we can leave, Flora hands Fay what looks like a map, folded into a small square. Fay smiles at her before turning back to us.

"Alright, let's go," the guy with the dagger orders us, and Fay, Nick, John, and I follow him to the back of the academy, where Fay shatters a wide window with a punch, and we all climb through quickly. Nick lights the way with a small flame, and we all sneak to the parking lot as quietly as we can. Fortunately, there are no Extras in the parking lot, so we easily climb into a van. The dagger-holder has the keys to the car, so it's obviously his, and he starts the car and begins to back out before suddenly stopping.

"What is it? Why'd you stop?" Fay asks him. Instead of answering, he hands Fay the glass case and opens the door.

"Go to the academy," he orders Fay. "Make sure they don't get the daggers."

Fay is about to protest, but before she can say anything, the guy jumps out of the car, and I know where he's going. I spot at least seven Extras, closing in on the car. There's no way he'll be able to hold off seven Extras by himself.

But apparently, he doesn't have to.

I can't hear anything, but the guy speaks to the Extras. He doesn't fight them. He doesn't lay a finger on them.

"Go, Fay," Nick tells Fay. She snaps back to reality and jumps from the passenger seat to the drivers, and automatically shuts the door and starts driving away. For a person who doesn't even have their license, she's not a bad driver.

She speeds away from the academy, constantly glancing into the rearview mirror for as long as we can see the guy we left. She doesn't turn back or say anything about it, so I bet he's fine. I doubt that he's going to defeat the Extras by talking to them, but maybe he's stalling until someone can help him.

I look at the glowing white dagger in the glass case on Fays lap. It pulses with light and power, but I don't really feel anything special about it. It just kind of looks like a glow-in-the-dark knife.

I clear my mind from all of this as Fay drives towards Gift Academy. Does she even know which way to go?

"Uh, Fay? You know which way to go, right?" I ask her cautiously.

"No, but this does." She holds up the folded paper Flora handed her before, only one hand on the wheel, which honestly scares me.

"Nick, come to the front and light a fire," Fay orders Nick. He doesn't question it. He jumps into the passenger seat and lights a small flame in his hand.

"And Gina, can you hold this up?" Fay asks me, gesturing to the paper in her hand as she unfolds it. I use my wind Gift to hold it up, and Fay directs us, telling me to hold it where Nick can reach it, and tells Nick to hold his fire under the map. Before I know it, a small red line traces itself into the map, leading to Santa Clarita, California, where Gift Academy is.

I stare at the map in amazement, but I don't question it. For hours, Nick directs Fay, looking at the map, which is also somehow fire proof.

We'll be there soon, and maybe Fay will explain everything.