Spearwood Academy Volume One (The Spearwood Academy Book 1)

by A. S. Oren

  "Your horses are ready, sirs and miss."

  I know that voice. I look up, Kearn. I haven't spoken, or seen him since he returned the locket's pieces back to me. My heart beats faster. A smile pulls at my lips as I make eye contact with him. He returns the smile and bows to me. I wish I could sit down and talk with him. I want to get to know him better, I want to be able to look at his eyes and not feel like my world is spinning. I doubt he even has a sliver of a clue that I like him and to request him, just for talking, sounds weird, even in my head.

  "Are you coming, Avvi?" Amr asks.

  He brings me out of my stupor. Kearn now stands at one of the doors that leads out to the stables and the others wait for me, so that I can follow them out to start riding. My cheeks have never felt more on fire than they do right now. I hurry up and go over to them. God, that was embarrassing.

  Outside in the expansive flat area of the field, stand five beautiful horses. All saddled up and ready for us to ride them. Kearn walks over to the smallest one of the group. A deep ebony mare with speckles of whites sprinkled over her face and rear. So beautiful.

  "This is your horse, miss. Mr. Perlow specifically asked that she be given to you for your sole use only. She is one of the offspring of his steed, Luther. Her name is Maryanne."

  I don't look at Kearn as I step up to the horse. Her eyes calm and curious. I reach my hand out to slowly touch her snout and she pushes her head into my touch and gives a snort. "Do you need help getting into the saddle, Miss? I can retrieve a step for you."

  Please let the earth open up and swallow me whole. I can't help but imagine him helping me up on the horse, with his own two hands. Just lifting me up and placing me on Maryanne as if it is no problem at all.

  "Yes, I think I will need a step," I say. I've only been on a horse twice and each time I had been small enough for Ed to pick me up and put me on the horse himself. I have no idea how to get on the horse the correct way, without any help.

  "Don't bother with getting that," Triton says.

  I turn to look at him. "How else do you expect me to get on her? I don't exactly know how to shift just my wings and fly.”

  "Like this," he says. Without warning, he walks up behind me and lifts me up, as if I’m no heavier than a sack of potatoes, and places me on the horse.

  I blink. I don't know what to think, or say. One of the shorter guys in the group and yet he just accomplished that bold move.

  "How does the saddle feel?" he asks.

  I move a bit and get my feet and legs comfortable. "Fine," I say. He walks over to his own horse, a simple bluish grey all over.

  Dante looks over at Kearn from his all white horse. "You may leave now; we are fine to leave on our own."

  Is it just me, or does Kearn give me one last glance before he bows and leaves? I frown at watching him go. I wish he could come with us. But where ever we are going, it seems as if the boys want to be a secret from everyone but us.

  It takes me a second to get use to Maryanne’s weight shifting under my body and her holding me up. "C'mon, we better get moving if we want get there at a decent time. Fire, will need time to explore before we have to come back for dinner."

  "Where are we going?"

  "To see an amazing tree," Dante says. I can't help but wonder what’s up with the cryptic tone. I hope he tells me soon why we had to leave our P.A.s behind and ride to this 'amazing tree' he wants me to see so badly.

  "Do you know how to ride?" Horace asks, as he his brown and white horse moves back and forth, waiting for the go ahead to move forward.

  "I know the very basics. You squeeze your legs a bit if you want to move forward, nudge one leg or the other to turn.”

  "That's the jist of it. I think you will be fine. If anything happens, you’ve got trained riders here to help you," Amr says. His horse reminds me of a calico cat.

  I smile, and Dante gives his horse the nudge to move forward. We begin our trip. I can't help but feel a bit excited to find out what we are travelling to.

  After about fifteen minutes of riding, I can make out a line of trees off in the distance.

  I squeeze my legs a little harder and urge Maryanne to pick up the pace. I want to ride alongside Dante, he has the answers to where we are going and why we had to leave our P.A.s behind. Soon, she meets the pace of his horse. "Why did we have to leave our P.A.s behind in the library?"

  "So that the Watchers think we are studying. We are heading to a place just outside of the schools grounds, and it is forbidden to go that far. The P.A.s have GPS inside them, the Watchers know where we are at all times when they are with us. They log our movements for the Governors."

  "Watchers?"

  Dante looks at me for a long second, I lean my head forward, to tell him to say whatever it is that he is thinking. "I always forget that you are new to all of this. Your knowledge of the Families and our inner workings is zilch, isn't it?"

  "Well, I'm learning as I go along. Perlow has yet agreed to meet with me for a meeting to answer my questions. I have a feeling it may never happen. The library doesn't have any history books pertaining to the Families, and whenever I try to get something out of one of you, you shut your mouths tighter than a clam."

  "Yeah, where we’re going, you won't have to deal with that there. There are no ears listening in on what we are talking about."

  "So you guys have been staying quiet when it comes to my questions because someone is listening, and you aren't allowed to tell me?"

  "The Watchers are the eyes and ears of Spearwood. They monitor everything, record it all and report it to the Governors," Dante says, his tone grim. It is the first time I have ever seen him so serious.

  "They see you when you’re sleeping, they know when you’re awake, they know if you have been bad or good," they all sing. Like a dark parody of the Christmas song. An ominous chill run down my spine. To know someone watches me at all hours while I’m within the grounds of Spearwood, is just plain creepy.

  "Then why do they let the violence go unchecked? If they have rules to follow, why isn't that one of them? "

  "Survival of the fittest, Avalon. The Families see Spearwood as a way to weed out the nothings. If you can't survive Spearwood, then what right do you have in sharing the bloodline? If you don't die at Spearwood, but are still seen as a weakling, you will be stripped of your powers and magic. If that process doesn't kill you, you’re sent out into the world with nothing, not even your name," Triton says.

  "Are you serious?" They have to be trying to scare me.

  "Do you remember when I mentioned the Outcasts the other day?" Horace asks.

  "Yeah," I say. My heart speeds up with anticipation, I'm finally getting answers to my questions, but I'm starting to wonder if I even want to know them anymore. With every passing second, the dark cloud that hangs over this world gets bigger, heavier.

  "Let's not have this part of the conversation here, let's wait until we are in a safe place," Dante says. He urges his horse into a gallop. The forests encompass us within seconds; this area of land barely touched by man. I can however, make out a faint trail on the ground in front of us. It feels like we have been riding for forever, my butt is sore and I hope my legs don't stay in this position when I get off Maryanne. The sunlight doesn’t come through the trees anymore. But somehow, I can see perfectly fine in the dark. I guess I have never been in the dark before while still looking human.

  Soon, the rushing of water perks my interest. I then remember back on my first day here, how Dante talked about a great tree that was next to a waterfall.

  A few more hundred feet and light shines up ahead. It shines into a clearing. As we enter it, a small waterfall, stands alone off to the side of the clearing. Its backdrop the jagged grey stones of the mountain we’re on. The waterfall doesn't hold my attention long. In the center of it all, stands a small cabin. It can't be much bigger than my bedroom here at Spearwood.

  The boys dismount, and once again Triton helps me get down. They lead the horses
over to several small trees, they tie their leads to them.

  "Some tree," I say.

  "Yup, grew overnight," Amr says.

  “Let’s get inside. We don’t have a lot of time to stay out here before we have to leave to get back to Spearwood, before dinner is served,” Horace says.

  I follow them inside and have to stop in my tracks at the doors. The cabin, from the outside, looks like it could barely house five people just for lounging around, the inside, another story. It’s expansive, more than just one room. Twisting iron stairs lead up to a second level.

  “It’s like Doctor Who’s Tardis,” I mumble.

  Amr laughs. “Yeah, our dads were fans of that show. They mimicked it off of that.”

  “Your dad’s are awesome then.”

  “Let’s show her the library upstairs,” Dante says.

  Up the winding stairs we go. The library, even more expansive than the one back at the school. Row after row of tall mahogany shelves stand before us. Each one packed with books.

  “Wow.” My fingers itch to run along the spines and find something to read. They all look so inviting.

  “These are all the books that are prohibited at Spearwood. Some carry the history of the Families, others are about the things they have done. Most are about the lore that the Families have created over the years,” Horace says. He walks over to a long circular couch, big enough to fit us all comfortably.

  Once seated on the couch. I decide to speak first, “Tell me who the Outcasts are.”

  “They are the children born to the people who were ostracized from the Families. When the person was stripped of their powers, it is supposed to make them unable to pass the gift on to their children, so the bloodline doesn’t move on. On occasion, however, some people still have a sliver of magic left in them, and it gets passed on to their children.”

  “So then, those children come here?”

  Horace shakes his head. “Not always. Their parents try to hide them from the eyes of Spearwood, not wanting to subject their children to this place. Sometimes, they get through the cracks, other times they don’t. Spearwood’s Governors bring them here and offer to pay for everything. What the poor kid doesn’t know is that they have been essentially sent here so that they can be murdered. They weren’t supposed to be born with the gift. Some of them, however, fight back and live. They are then welcomed into the Families, but in doing so, must cut all ties with their parents.”

  “That’s horrible.”

  “We know,” Triton says.

  Wait a second; does this make me one of the Outcasts? “Am I one of the Outcasts?” I ask, hesitantly.

  Dante shakes his head. “No, Fire, you’re something else.”

  “Well, what am I then?”

  He opens his mouth to answer, but an alarm interrupts him. “Someone important is looking for us. We need to get back to the school, now!” Horace says, who stands.

  SURVIVAL

  The next twenty minutes blur together, we rush out of the Cabin to the horses. We ride as fast as the horses can take us through the forest. I hold on for dear life, hoping to God I won’t fall off Maryanne and break my neck.

  We make it back to the fields of the stables in record time, but instead of stopping to return the horses, the guys continue riding. Our horses’ hooves heavy on the ground. Finally, we make it to the edge of the red cobblestone trail. They slow their horses and dismount. Dante helps me down. Two servants walk out to us and take the reins of the horses. “We’ll return the horses to the stables for you, sir and miss,” they say in unison.

  The boys don’t even acknowledge them as they pull me along into a run. My legs shake with tension from the ride, but I manage not to fall over.

  Before I have time to process much of anything, we stand in front of the door for the non-fiction library. Dante opens it and we walk in, calmly . I try to calm my heavy breathing as best as I can without making it obvious.

  Along the way, the boys grab several random books off the shelves. I follow their example.

  They stop in front of me when we get to the far back table, where our P.A.s are hidden. I can’t see who or what they stare at. I move around Dante to get a better look. Perlow sits at table, with his lap dog behind him.

  “Ah, there you are. Getting some studying in?” Perlow asks.

  All except for Triton have tense shoulders while looking at them. “Yes, sir, we want to keep our near perfect GPA going,” Triton says.

  “Good, good. I came here to see Miss Clementine. I see that she is with you, still?”

  I step forward. “Yes, Mr. Perlow.”

  “I just wanted to personally give you something. Now, this stays between us until tomorrow. Tomorrow, we will be doing our second survival challenge of the year. I wanted to give you the names of the people who will be in your group.”

  Survivalist challenge? “Okay.” He takes a slip of paper out of his suit jacket and hands it to me.

  Fear grips at me as I open it. Three names lay on the page and I recognize all of them.

  1.Lusk Mirren

  2.Horace King

  3.Derren Bullock

  Dante, who reads over my shoulder, says, “You can’t pair her with Mirren and Bullock, are you nuts?”

  “Hush, Mr. Mathis, we are in a library. I don’t make the pairings, the Governors do and if they think that is a good fit for Miss Clementine, then so be it.”

  The two of them stand. “Good day.” They walk off, leaving me look at the piece of paper in my hand.

  “Don’t worry, Fire. We’ll get you through this.”

  I can’t help but wonder if I will survive tomorrow, half of my group hates me.

  RUNNING FOR LIFE

  The red numbers on the screen go up another notch with a beep, another quarter of a mile down. Two hours until dinner, I wish it was now. My legs want to fall off at any moment, is that possible? Because it feels like it is. Dante has been relentless since we got the news of the survivalist challenge. He had us come to the gym right away. We’re on a circuit, but I have been running for a half-hour, before that I was on wall climbing and the weight station.

  Before I came here I was maybe a little chubby. It may be only a week since I got here, but between the food they serve and Dante’s workouts, I have gained a lot more lean muscle and dropped most of the fat. The guys are certainly cut, each one with a different body type, but none of them close to being overweight, it’s crazy. I'm starting to think their genetically engineered. They do stuff with weights I doubt a full-grown man could do on his own.

  “Can I stop now?” I ask, it hurts to talk as I try to keep my breathing even. My muscles burn and sweat rolls down my face. I doubt I look, or smell appealing right now.

  “You only have five more minutes, push yourself past the pain, or you won’t survive tomorrow,” Dante says, as he does triceps curls with fifty-pound weights in each hand.

  His words ring ominously in my ears. From everything they’ve told me earlier in the day, I know they aren’t kidding around. I could die tomorrow and that would be the end of this journey for me. What would Edgar do, or think?

  I shut my eyes. I can’t think like that, I need to have the mindset that I can do this. I continue to run, pushing myself past the pain and the burn. I know my legs will feel like noodles when I get off, but in no way will I let myself die tomorrow. No way in Hell. Once I push myself past the point of wanting to quit and curl up in a ball, the time flies by.

  “Time!” calls Dante, instead of ‘switch’. That means we’re done. I push the stop button and move off the tilted treadmill. I fall to the wood floor and groan in pain.

  I move to lie on my back, trying to steady my heartbeat. “You guys are going to be the death of me.”

  “Better us than someone else then. Get up, Avalon. We still have swim training,” Dante says, holding his hand out to me. He only uses my name when he isn’t messing around. I can tell by the look in his amber eyes, that there’s no room to argue. He has a s
econd stick stuck up his butt today.

  I groan and take it, he pulls me off the floor like I’m nothing but air. “I can barely stand, and you want me to swim?”

  “You will need the training tomorrow, trust me. You don’t have a water element on your team. Well, we don’t know what you are, but you haven’t been trained in water, yet. Meaning, someone on your team will have to swim tomorrow. What if you’re chosen?”

  “I won’t let that happen,” Horace says. I look at him and for the first time, I notice how muscular he is. Usually, he hides underneath the school uniform: navy blue blazer, same color slacks, and a white button-down shirt. Now, he wears the gym uniform. White sweat shorts and a simple white t-shirt with an SA embroidered on it. His arms thick with muscle, the same as his calves and thighs. The stocky build type, like Triton.

  Dante speaks, brining me back to the conversation at hand. “You can’t be certain you will be able to control the situation. You’ll have Mirren and what’s the other kid’s name?” He looks to me.

  “Derren Bullock.”

  “Right, and Bullock to contend with. Plus, we don’t know how this challenge is set up. Who knows if they will allow us to have choices with who does what?”

  “Come on,” I say. “Let’s get this over with. I want a shower and food. I have no plans to die, or lose tomorrow. I just got here and I don’t have my answers yet.”

  I move past them to the door that leads to the pool. The pool, bigger than any I have ever seen. It has to be deeper than the lake I used to swim in next to the Orchard. A darkness makes up the bottom. Scuba diving can be done in here.

  We’re going to have to swim this? I’ve never been in water this deep. It’s intimidating. “Where can I change into a suit?” I ask, as the others come in behind me.

  “We won’t be changing today. We won’t get the convenience of swimwear tomorrow. You’ll swim with the clothes they choose to give you,” Dante says. He stares in the water, his jaw clenched. This situation gets darker the more I learn about it, but knowing the fearless leader is nervous also, makes it all that much worse.