Secret Academy - Deuteronomy

XIII: The Traveler

Jasper followed Marko inside a much smaller building, which looked to be half the size of their dormitory – and seemed to be older too. It was the farthest structure inside the campus, located deep in the eastern forest which encircles Town Square. They were driven from the library by a black limousine.

The inside looked exactly like the boys’ dormitory – except for several staircases leading to mysterious hallways. The place was eerily quiet. They took a staircase nearest the main door, and walked through a shadowy hallway. Marko stopped at one of the many doors.

“This will be your room whenever you’re here. Welcome to the Principal Students’ Headquarters” he said.

“But I’m not a Principal student” Jasper looked confused.

“I know. But you’re with S.A. now, and Alice wants you to stay here until we go on our mission tomorrow. We’ll be leaving tonight so you’ll only have about three hours’ worth of sleep before we come and get you” Marko opened the door and it creaked.

“Okay then. See you guys tonight” he entered the room and felt around for the light switch.

He turned it on and the room was covered with brightness. It was a smaller version of his room back in the dormitory.

“Alice has told you the Code?” Marko was still standing out the doorway.

Jasper knew what he meant. It was the set of privacy protocols followed by all S.A. members. It wasn’t complicated, but he bet it was the only thing keeping their little group above dangerous water.

“She has, and no – I won’t be telling everyone about S.A. I’m a man of my word” he assured him.

But Marko still looked doubtful.

“Your friends are highly curious”

“I gave her my word, you guys can trust me” he said, sounding annoyed.

He closed the door and leaned on it for a while. He listened to Marko’s retreating footsteps, and then fell on the bed. Jasper was still wearing his uniform and he wondered if he should change. The thought sounded ridiculous and he chuckled softly. Three hours of sleep. He listened to the gentle tapping of the tree branches against his window before falling asleep.

*

Jasper woke up to pounding on the door. He checked his pocket watch and saw that it was eleven in the evening.

“Come in, dammit!” he groaned.

Wes and Charlie burst in, with two black duffle bags on their shoulders. They were laughing.

“Get up, mate! The helicopter will arrive in twenty minutes!” Charlie pushed him off the bed.

“Get off! Alright, I’m getting up…geez!” he lazily sat up and started putting on his black jacket.

“Leave it. That emblem’s a ‘tracker’. It contains a tiny GPS microchip inside - that’s how the academy manages the students” said Wes, eyeing him.

“’Course, they don’t know ‘bout it! Anyway – we don’t need it. Its signal might get picked up by other devices, and we can’t have that” added Charlie.

Jasper paused, one arm already inside a sleeve. He looked at the academy emblem – two black griffins grasping on a sword, sewed on to the right hand side of the black jacket - then glanced at the two boys standing on the doorway. He noticed them wearing only their white shirts with the red plaid tie. Jasper was quite surprised how he could easily tell the twins apart: one had dark brown hair like him, while the other one dyed his a red-gold color. Wes chuckled and spoke again – his brown hair unkempt.