Secrecy: Olde Earth Academy: Year One

by Amabel Daniels

  “Sorry,” I whispered to it.

  Though I denied it, I was no stranger to witnessing otherworldly things. My hallucinations had never taken form in light shows of plants, though.

  I tugged at my earlobe and ran my tongue along the backs of my teeth.

  What the hell is this?

  Again, I drifted my hand through first the leaves and then the stalk—

  “Hello?”

  I slammed the book shut as soon as I heard someone coming.

  Sorry. Sorry, little plant.

  I rolled my eyes. I’m apologizing to a 3D hologram in a book? It isn’t a real flower I crushed.

  Ren rounded the end of the aisle and approached me. “Oh.” He frowned. “Hey.”

  “Hi.”

  “Why aren’t you in class?”

  Boy, does he take after his mom, or what?

  “Mr. Alwin let me come here for research.” I pointed to the book. Not that it’s any of your business.

  “Ah, gotcha. I thought…”

  I cocked my head, waiting for him to elaborate.

  “Anyway, funny running into you here. I’ll see you around.”

  Once he left in the same silent way he’d come, I huffed. Now, I was too nervous to open the book again. Would the same light plant come up like an apparition from a genie bottle? Were my hallucinogenic issues just compounding? I stuck my elbows on the wooden tabletop and dropped my head into my hands.

  I hadn’t seen anything since…

  Same old song and dance, eh?

  How many times I’d asked myself that over the years. Checking how long it’d been since I’d seen something impossible. The last I had a vision was when Mr. Suthering had come to the trailer and invite me—and Sabine, of course—to Olde Earth. That hybrid animal of a cat-headed lizard.

  And then the unicorn during the plane ride…

  Shaking my head, I feared myself. My crazy. My…whatever I was or had. If I were to start worsening in this cursed sight, I wouldn’t be able to concentrate on excelling here. Grades. I had to get all As.

  As though it were at fault, I glared at the book. Like it was a sentient being that had reminded me of my hallucinations—breaking my streak of being normal. Before I could allow myself more time to analyze what had happened when I opened the book, I stood, returned the offensive tome to its spot, and left the library without even saying goodbye to Ethel.

  ****

  “I’m really, really, really sorry.” Paige held her hands together and tucked them under her chin as she stood next to my desk.

  Damn. I tossed my pencil to my desk. I have a desk! It was still so wickedly cool to have a designated place for me to do my work. Like I mattered as one of the hundreds of freshmen here.

  “You have to do it tonight?” I asked.

  “I’m so sorry, Layla,” she said and crumpled with such a torn frown. “Mom’s birthday tradition is always to have a sleepover. Just me and her. Since my dad passed away when I was little, she’s made it our ‘thing’ on our birthdays.”

  “I’m sorry about your dad.”

  She eased up her guilt trip to smile a little. “Thanks. It was a long time ago. At least I had some years with him.”

  I nodded. I couldn’t relate. Paige and I both had single parents, but it sounded like she hadn’t started out that way. My mom passed away giving birth to me. Yeah, to me. Not Sabine and me. Sabine was born first, perfectly healthy and all. I was the one who caused all the birthing complications. It was a lifetime of guilt I’d probably take to the grave.

  Funny I was thinking about how we were born on the very anniversary of the event. I’d noticed Sabine announcing it was her special day and I was relieved Paige hadn’t caught wind of it and assume it was mine as well. I bet she’d want to do something special for me and put me on the spot. I could welcome fifteen all on my own, thank you very much. It was pretty neat that Ethel’s birthday almost overlapped with mine, though.

  “Well,” I said on a sigh, “I wish you’d remembered earlier. I could have told her happy birthday or made her a card.”

  Her giggle was silly. “O. M. G, girl. I feel so bad about that too. I almost totally forgot it was today! That would have made me a horrible daughter.”

  Wouldn’t they have reconfirmed their plans for tonight when they’d gotten together last night? Not my business…but, really? Paige didn’t strike me as absentminded enough to forget her mom’s birthday.

  I shrugged. “No sense beating yourself up about it. We’ll have our little night out some other time.”

  She let go of her hands and grabbed mine. “I promise!”

  As she gathered her stuff to pack in a duffle for her mother-and-daughter birthday sleepover, I tried to focus on the Latin assignment I’d been rechecking. Honestly, it wasn’t the end of the world. Sure, I’d been looking forward to breaking out and checking out the stables, but we could do that another night.

  And now I don’t have to tell her that I’d invited Flynn and Lorcan.

  I winced. Damn. I’d invited them, and now I’d be a no-show. A flake. I didn’t want them to think I’d been bluffing or that I was ghosting them.

  After a few more groveling apologies about accidentally double-booking herself, Paige finally left. In the quiet of the room, I wondered just how she could get past some special guard dog that would rouse Marcy to the fact someone was sneaking out.

  She left just after seven-thirty, so she was still clear from curfew. Besides, her mom worked for the Academy. I was sure she had some exceptions as a child of faculty. Come eight o’clock, though, we were all supposed to be locked in for the night.

  Closer to the hour, my tablet dinged, indicating an incoming email.

  What could that be? The only people who’d contacted me personally were Paige and Ethel, and they were both preoccupied. I slid the screen and typed in my passcode.

  Oh.

  In the message header, I saw it was from Flynn.

  Well, of course. We’d set up a…curfew-breaking-date, and he probably wanted to check in first. It wasn’t like my email address was hidden in the freshman directory.

  Layla,

  It was nice chatting with you yesterday.

  Flynn

  Um. Okay? It was brief, direct, and…I didn’t know what to make of it. He wasn’t flirting with me, not if he’d sent it ten minutes before our agreed time to meet up. Clearly, he was talking in code. Or not saying what he wanted to say but hinting at what we both were aware of.

  It wasn’t like he’d be able to come right out and type, I’ll see ya in a few to break out.

  I swiveled in my chair, pushing off the edge of the desk. I have a chair! I have a chair! Someday, I was sure I’d stop sing-songing that to myself.

  I didn’t know how to reply in a non-reply. Because I still wanted to go. Maybe I wouldn’t be able to find the stables and see the horses, but I could explore, stealthily, with Flynn and Lorcan. The stables and the Menagerie had to be past that hill.

  Is it worth it?

  I wasn’t a horse lover, per se. Yeah, I liked them. What girl didn’t at some point in her life? When I was little, I was fanatic about these furred horse figurines and of course, My Little Ponies. After the swimming hole incident that started months of night terrors about sea monsters only I could see, Dad had collected all of my unicorn toys and My Little Ponies and had thrown them away. Probably thought the toys were inducing my “over-imaginative” mind.

  Of all the diagnoses I’d been labeled with, that initial one was at least kind.

  “But, I still wanna go,” I whispered to myself.

  More than the risk of what we planned for tonight, I couldn’t stomach the thought of passing up this opportunity of heading out with the boys. Two potential friends. Peers who didn’t know I was a freak. Curiosity had already taken root and I truly wanted to know more about them—and what lay outside on campus after lights out.

  Sabine loved to claim I freaked at new things. That I was scared of adventures.
Ordinarily, I wouldn’t think twice of breaking rules and would happily watch others do the adventurous stuff. But this brand-new concept of simply making friends and meeting up with them? I was desperate to follow through, with or without Paige. If I didn’t show, I could lose the chance to become more than just classmates with them.

  Friends stood by each other, didn’t they?

  “I still want to go.”

  Besides, how difficult could it be to get past a dog? I shrugged, a smile tipping up my lips.

  Chapter Twelve

  Dressed in my gym clothes, I almost looked like I was going out for a run.

  Maybe I would be running at some point. I’d never disobeyed orders. Fleeing from being caught red-handed had to be a possibility.

  With a deep breath, I poked my head out the door and glanced both ways down the hallway. No one was about. All my fellow Green freshmen were likely in their rooms this close to curfew.

  Like I should be… Gnawing on my cheek, I forged on.

  I closed the door behind me and walked silently to the exit.

  I licked my lips, hesitating again, unsure of my orientation.

  Dammit. I should have studied the layout more. I knew there was a foyer past this main exit to my dorms. But…where would a dog be out there? Inside or outside of the outer door? And where would Flynn and Lorcan be waiting? They were just so many unknowns. I preferred plans. Strategies.

  But I’ve come this far…

  I edged the door open and held my breath.

  Do. Not. Bark. I set one foot on the thinly carpeted foyer floor and waited.

  Wherever you are, do. Not. Bark.

  Nada. I couldn’t even hear anything breathing out there, no gruff panting from a guard dog.

  Fully out of the doorway, I stood in the foyer and shut the door behind me with a silent yet physical click.

  Crap. Will I be able to get back in? I closed my eyes as I winced. See? I hadn’t thought this out enough—like thirty-three times.

  Then, I heard it. Almost a whimper. Not of pain, but excitement.

  Do. Not. Bark!

  Silence again.

  I spun away to face the outer door that would bring me to the darkening sky and saw it.

  Not it, them. A Doberman stood just next to the doorframe, its stubby tail, heck, its whole rear wiggling in a wag. His teeth were bright white and shiny in the funky glow from the fluorescent light overhead.

  Hey, buddy.

  It wagged even harder.

  Then I considered the…thing next to it. Also a dog. Maybe?

  If it didn’t have webbed feet and a lion’s mane, it might have looked like a canine. Shiny gray fur glinted next to the Dobie’s smooth black coat.

  Hey…buddy?

  Just like its partner, it stood up and wagged. Butt, tail, and—

  Are those spikes? Freaking spikes at the end of the tail?

  My heart raced and the dogs stopped wagging, their head cocking almost in unison as they studied me. Oh God, they could sense me, my feelings.

  Calm down. Calm down. Just calm down.

  They did. They sat their wiggling, wagging butts on the ground. Me? Well, if they were chill, I could be too.

  There ya go. Sit there and do. Not. Bark.

  They lay down together.

  “Holy…” I shook my head, not having enough time to stop and think about yet another made-up animal I’d seen, and walked toward them. Not only that, but it obeyed.

  “You be nice and quiet until I come back, okay?”

  They opened their maws, almost like they were smiling.

  And then I was out.

  Right outside the dorm door, someone covered my mouth and dragged me toward the biggest tree. Cologne covered the faint traces of lilacs from the bushes that bordered the sidewalk. A guy had me. I fought the restraint, ready to alert the dogs just inside, until I heard Flynn hiss, “Layla.”

  Duh. Who else would it have been? I hated how out of my depth this whole night was making me. If I was going to successfully break the rules and sneak out past curfew, I had to stop second-guessing everything and not be a ditz. I settled down and he removed his hand.

  “How’d you get out?” he asked and looked past me.

  Right. He thought I’d be with Paige, who was supposed to be the one handling the getting-out business. “Uh…” I pulled at my earlobe. “How’d you get out?”

  He pursed his lips and glanced at Lorcan.

  Lorcan shrugged. “It wasn’t there.”

  “Huh?” As I squinted at him, I realized they’d donned dark clothes too.

  “The guard dog.” He smiled like he’d won a miracle. “It wasn’t there.”

  “They weren’t there?” That was no fair. The girls got two guards, and the guys had none? What, because girls were more trouble? Seemed sexist to me.

  Flynn tilted his head and whispered, “What do you mean they?”

  Crap on a cracker. It was just the one dog. The real one. That other spike-tailed, lion-maned thing wasn’t real. Canines didn’t have webbed feet. It was something I just thought I saw.

  “Uh…” I gently tapped on his upper arm, hoping to distract him from a question I couldn’t answer. “Maybe we should, um, chitchat away from the building?”

  He peered at me, frowning, and then nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, that makes sense.”

  And I sure don’t.

  As we quietly walked through the slowly darkening landscape—alone, thank God, I explained that Paige was with her mom for the night.

  “Where was she going to take you?” Flynn asked.

  “The stables.”

  “To see horses?” Lorcan asked.

  Well…generally speaking, horses do live in stables… I shrugged. Heck, I just wanted to hang out with some furry friends. Reconnect with what made me happy versus this recent overdose of just people everywhere.

  “I figure the stables will be past that hill.” I leaned past Lorcan to make eye contact with Flynn. “The one you mentioned earlier.”

  “What makes you think there are stables there?”

  I shrugged again. “It’s a start.”

  He didn’t comment and Lorcan filled the quiet we’d been sticking to since we’d broken out of the dorms. “Hey!”

  I jerked back at his sudden exclamation. We were trying to snoop around out here undetected.

  Flynn shushed him and Lorcan continued in a quieter voice. “Why didn’t you tell us it’s your birthday?”

  Probably because I didn’t want the awkward attention of people feeling obligated to wish me a good one. But more importantly, because it wasn’t.

  “Sabine made a big deal about it at dinner.” He chuckled. “I wouldn’t call it a party, not when they were just in the cafeteria, but Aura arranged for a cake.”

  I remained quiet.

  He refused to give up the topic. “She works fast, huh? We haven’t been here long and she’s already got a…”

  “Fan base?” Flynn snorted.

  “She sure is popular.” Was that regret in Lorcan’s tone? Come on, Lorcan. Don’t get your hopes up on her.

  He wasn’t finished. “I know what it’s like. My older brother is one of those guys who can’t help but be bigger than life. Steals all the attention.” He laughed, as though it was his own inside joke with himself. “Makes it easier for me to get away with stuff though. But, Happy Birthday, Layla.”

  “It’s not.”

  “Uh…what?”

  Sabine and I were twins but we were an odd case. “Her birthday is today. She was born at three minutes ’til midnight. I was born ten minutes later. So my birthday is tomorrow.”

  “No way!” Lorcan grinned at me. “That’s different.”

  Yet, not impossible. “I…don’t like being the center of attention though. Like, at all.”

  “So you won’t want us to bring it up tomorrow. Got it.” Lorcan leaned closer and bumped his shoulder to mine. “But still, happy early birthday.”

  “Is your brother older or y
ounger?” Flynn asked Lorcan.

  Thank you. Flynn seemed to take my admission to heart by immediately changing the subject. I didn’t like being asked questions and having to receive well wishes. So I appreciated that he wasn’t going to linger on me and my birthday.

  Lorcan glanced at him. “Stu? He’s older. He, uh, he should be here, actually. A senior.”

  “Should?” I asked.

  “He got expelled.”

  “What for?” Flynn asked.

  “Dunno. My parents would never say. Stu’s always been a force to reckon with. He’s always acted out and got in trouble. My dad’s a professor and Mum’s a biochemist. They’re not around at home much.”

  That was the first case of hearing about someone actually being removed from the Academy. Everyone described the school as being so selective about its students. What could he have done to get kicked out? Lorcan didn’t elaborate and Flynn didn’t push for more, so I guessed we’d let it lie. I could respect a person’s privacy. Golden rule and all that…

  After ten minutes of walking, we approached the rising terrain that marked the grassy hill. On the other side, it rounded onto a rockier slope. Just like Flynn had guessed, a cliffside. Only, it wasn’t an immediate drop-off.

  To the right, in the distance, was a lake. Waves danced in the setting sun. If the sight of a large amount of water didn’t trip my heart to race, I could’ve admitted it was scenic. The sun was dipping right down to the horizon, casting orange, red, and purple hues across the rippling surface. Sunsets after storms always were so pretty—even without reflections on the water.

  The truly eye-capturing scene, though, was what spread out on the meadow before the lake. While the path Flynn had noted earlier and the one that we’d started to embark on curved toward the cliffside, grass rolled out all the way to the beach.

  Horses. Yep, they were there. Enclosed within fences and corral spaces, there were beautiful, grazing horses. White, paints, black stallions. So many great beasts of massive power. Behind them was the entrance to a long structure, the stables, I had to assume.

  Above them, though? More horses. Ones with wings. Flapping wings that took the creatures to the skies above.

  I held my breath.