Predestined

Predestined - chapter 3

Chapter 3.

'Raven, welcome to Lenora's academy for the gifted. This is going to be your home for the next 4 years' Julian announced as I walked towards him.

'It's amazing' I gasped in astonishment.

The building I stood before was cream sandstone bricks. It was Humongous and so beautiful. Certain bricks seemed to have some intricate shapes engraved into it. The building must have been around 5 stories high. It looked a fairly recent building. Not historic looking like I was expecting. We began walking up the grey cobblestone path.

'Is this the school?' I enquired hesitantly.

'No Raven, this is the administration building. The bottom 2 floors are for administration and teachers offices. The top 3 floors are the professors' accommodation.' Julian replied.

'Wow. This place is amazing. So we're going here to enrol me?'

'That's right. They'll tell us where you're staying, who your mentor is, and your class schedule.'

We entered through a great set of double wooden doors. The Reception area was magnificent. The floor was solid white marble with grey streaks throughout and was so reflective that the light seemed to shimmer and glitter on the surface, the gleam dazzled me. Julian led me to the front desk. He smiled pleasantly at the receptionist.

'Hi there Julian. To what do I owe the pleasure?' the receptionist enquired enthusiastically. She had a smile on her face that seemed so flirtatious it was sickening. Mind you. Julian was incredibly sexy and suave looking. The receptionist couldn't be blamed.

'Hey Rachel. I'm here with Raven Strong. We need her accommodation, schedule and mentor information.' He replied back smiling merrily at the receptionist. She moved her eyes from him to me. I was sort of standing behind Julian so she couldn't really see me but Julian side stepped and pulled me forward a step and I was face to face with her. Her eyes seemed to measure me for a moment. Then she picked up the phone, dialled a number and simply said 'They're here'. Julian tilted his head questioningly.

'High mistress asked me to call when you arrive; she wants to see both yourself and Raven Strong. Don't know why. She'd like you to go to her office Julian.' Rachel responded to the look Julian gave her in an exasperated sort of way.

'Come on Raven. Let's go' Julian spoke as he led the way to the high mistresses office.

It felt like we'd been walking hours when in fact it was more than likely only 5 minutes had passed if that. I didn't realise that the building was so vast. It turned out all of the teachers had offices in this structure. Finally we reached the room we were searching for. There was a plaque on the solid wood door and on it was engraved "High Mistress Lenora Delgado". The plaque was brass coloured and the engraving was a beautifully written script yet was very easy to read. Julian leant forward and tapped on the door twice. I heard a muffled voice say 'come in'. Julian held the door open and steered me into the room. The door clicked shut behind us quietly.

A woman stood up from behind the desk and walked slowly around the table. She was wearing a stunning sapphire blue velvet dress. She looked like royalty in it. She had very exotically high cheekbones and her eyes were a gorgeous shade of chocolate brown. She was very delicately built. Yet I could feel an aura of power from her, so strong my stomach churned a little.

'Welcome Raven Strong. I'm the High Mistress of this academy. My name is Lenora Delgado, but you may just call me Lenora.' She spoke in a hypnotic cadence.

'Hi. Thanks for the kind welcome' I replied smiling at her. Lenora smiled back and gazed at me for a few moments. Her eyes lingered over the markings around my hands and my eyes, which I had yet to see.

'I see you have been marked Raven. Is this the extent of the markings or do you have more?' Lenora enquired.

I raised my hands palms forward to show the markings there, then I opened my sweatshirt and showed her the markings on my chest and around my back. Her eyes widened momentarily then returned to normal. I glanced from her to Julian, who was smirking slightly at the obvious shocked expression she had just shown. I smiled timidly and zipped myself back up.

'You have been given the markings of a high priestess young Raven. It seems the goddess has great plans for you. I've never heard of an apprentice witch receiving these markings so soon after the transformation process. I believe we may need to put you into some extra classes on top of what you have if you are willing to put in the extra time?' she stated and asked me politely.

'If you think it necessary I could try the extra classes. Will I manage all the homework though?' I queried.

'I'll make sure you get homework from certain subjects certain weeks. So you are not overwhelmed. Well. If you'd like to take a seat both of you I'd love to get things sorted so you can settle in.' Lenora spoke whilst gesturing to the seats.

I sat down slowly and she glanced to Julian and then to the other chair. He seated himself beside me and just smiled back. Lenora seated herself opposite us and began flipping through some papers. When she found what she was looking for she looked up and smiled.

'Okay Raven. I believe Julian has told you bits and pieces about life here but we have rules. No human is to ever find out our location. That's why we rarely tell humans. The ring you have received. If you touch it with your finger and simply say - "Safe house" it will return you here, to the sanctuary of the school. So if you must go out of the bounds of the school you can get back. That and not showing magic to humans is the other rule. Your power to see the future and past - when you learn to control it, you may let humans know if you wish as humans are occasionally given the gift of clairvoyance. As long as they are not aware of you being a witch. Here is your class schedule. I will send an amended version before your classes start tomorrow. You have the rest of today to settle in. Here is your accommodation information. Julian will show you to your room. Oh. And your mentor will be Julian. If you are confused over anything he's the person you go to. He'll give you information so you may easily contact him.' She shook my hand and escorted us from her office. The door shut as we stood in the hallway.

I looked at Julian and he looked back at me. I blushed slightly and he just smiled back with a look of amusement on his face, which made me blush even more. I was such a fool. I mean. How embarrassing blushing like that in front of such a hot looking guy.

'Raven. Let's go to your room and get you settled in.' Julian said kindly as he wandered off down the hallway. I followed him in silence.