Entering the Academy

    "Crap, Crap, Crap," Brian groaned as he hurried past the old oak tree that stood by the main gate, watching over him silently as he dropped the books that he had been carrying haphazardly in both of his arms, sending loose papers flying every which way. Again, he groaned in desperation and dropped to his knees, trying to pick up all the books while simultaneously gathering all the loose papers before they blew away. Even though there wasn't the slightest breeze, they still managed to slip through his fingers and get carried away, as if by invisible thieves. Although, he thought, rolling his eyes as he caught his yet-to-be-started paper on Artificial Invocation Areas, that may very well be the case. Nevertheless, he managed to gather all his stuff and continue his—apparently endless—trek to the other side of campus, with nothing more than a dirtied pair of pants and some lost time.
    Suddenly, to Brian's shock and dismay, the obnoxious chirping of the school's bell echoed throughout the campus, and his heart dropped as a sea of students exited the surrounding buildings, and the roar of afternoon chatter filled the air. Brian just stood there, a look of defeat upon his face, as students passed him without any acknowledgment, whatsoever. "How the hell was I wandering around the school for an hour?!" Is all he could wonder, as he sighed and turned around, let the current of the crowd take him to his next class. That was the fifth time he got lost on the way to class, but this time there didn't happen to be someone nearby who was kind enough to help. To make matters worse, he's only been at this school for three days, now. Being the only "normal" student in the entire school—which, he supposes, would make him the only "abnormal" one—he has to work much harder then all the regular students in order to maintain average grades. Sometimes he curses the very day he ever met that evil woman...

★☆★☆★
    It was barely a month ago on an early Friday afternoon, and he and his closest friend, (whose name is hardly relevant, anymore, since Brian will most likely never see him again) were skipping class to hang out on the roof. The only stairwell that led up to the roof was in the back of the building, by the bathrooms that no one ever used and the janitors never cleaned. Despite it being against the school rules to go up there, the only thing stopping people from doing so was a sign that said "Do Not Enter", which is hardly intimidating enough to stop them. However, the principal recently installed a camera near there, but it was easy enough to get through its blind spot by jumping the railing. This didn't necessarily make them delinquents, they weren't doing anything bad, they would just hang out up there and enjoy the view. His friend would occasionally have a cigarette, but Brian hated them, and would leave the moment he lit up.
    It was about one in the afternoon, when Brian, who had been taking a nap while curled up in a way that was both cute and ridiculous, awoke to find that his friend was no longer with him. Curious as to why he would leave without mentioning, he stood up and looked around, only to confirm that he was not there. There weren't any places he could hide up there without being seen, so the only explanations were that he left or was kidnapped, and the latter of which was not very likely, considering his friend was a two-hundred-fifty pound brute. Brian decided to try calling him, but when he turned his cellphone on, it sent sent an electric shock through his arm and he dropped it with a yelp that was hardly manly. After flexing his fingers and making sure everything was in working order, he watched a small plume of smoke rise up from his now broken cellphone, curling ominously in the air. Having realized that something was very wrong, Brian, not knowing what else to do, did what he normally does, and just ignored it.
    Having decided to just push it out of his mind and get a new cellphone another day, he nonchalantly walked over to the door and opened it, expecting to find a dirty old stairwell leading downstairs. Instead, he found the destroyed remains of said stairwell. Whoever destroyed the stairs, also decided to take it upon themselves to demolish the two floors and ceilings below them. This left Brian standing in a doorway that led to a three story fall with nothing but concrete and rubble to cushion his fall. This frightened him a bit. Luckily, however, the railing was still intact, so, figuring that this was all just a dream and that his life was not actually in any danger, he pulled his sleeves up over his hands and wrapped them around the metal railing, allowing him to slowly slide himself down the first story. As for the next two stories, he managed to jump onto a tall stack of rubble, and after balancing himself precariously on two wobbling slabs of concrete, he managed to climb down and make it safely to the bottom floor. After which he sighed and collapsed onto his back, staring up into the gaping hole in the ceiling. He closed his eyes and sighed again, scratching his head in furious thought. The only thing he could think about, however, was why he felt a sharp pain in his forehead.
    Brian opened his eyes to find himself staring into the face of an angel. That is, and woman with the face of an angel, and fiery red hair that caressed her face like feathers of an angel's wing, but she herself, was most definitely not an angel. This woman's alabaster face was plastered with blood and was scrunched up in a nasty snarl. Her eyes were the same red as her hair, and burned through his face like fire and brimstone, and her pupils were slit like a cats. Her mouth was open and he was shocked to see that all her teeth were razor sharp and dripping with foamy saliva. He crossed his eyes to see that the sharp pain in his forehead was being caused by this woman's talon-like fingernail digging into in the skin, and he felt warm blood trickle down his face, but he wasn't entirely sure if it was his blood or whomever the wet blood on the woman's face belonged to. Either way, he did not like it. So, rather than stare into the face of the frightening lady-beast, he decided to say something. "Uh..." he started, lifting his hand in a wave of sorts. "Hi...?"
    Suddenly, the woman grabbed Brian by the collar and violently pulled him up to his feet. Stumbling slightly, he managed to balance himself before the woman pulled his face closer to hers. Brian flinched, slightly, but was relieved to find that the lady-beast was slowly morphing into a normal looking woman. Her slitted pupils became round, but her irises remained the same colour of red that reminded him of Hell. Her jaw made a popping sound that made Brian quiver as it set itself back into place as the elongated teeth shrank back to normal size. He looked down at her hands, which were now gripping his arm, to find that they now looked like normal human fingers with red, manicured nails. Though they still held him still with ferocious strength. The snarl on her face relaxed, and she looked kinder, gentle, even. "Looked" being the key word, as his arm was beginning to feel a bit numb.
    "You are..." she began, pausing for a moment to examined his face some more, "a human?" Her voice had a slight accent that might have been Romanian or Russian.
    "Uh..." He winced, slightly, as her grip tightened slightly, and when she saw this she loosened it, slightly. "Yes, yes I am," He responded a politely as he could, unsure of whatever the hell was going on, but positive that he would get killed if he said the wrong thing.
    "So you are a human," a look of fascination appeared on her face, "and you can see me?" At this point, Brian had been beginning to think that this "woman" was much younger than he thought before, and might actually be only a year or two older than he. She was a good head taller, though.
    "Yes.... I can," He couldn't help but wonder if she was mocking him in some way.
    "You can see," she let go of him and gestured toward the destruction around them, "this, as well?"
    "Yeah."
    "You should not even exist in this world, let alone be able to see it."
    "Yup. Wait, what?"
    "Only I am allowed to exist in this world,"
    "What the hell are you talking about?" Brian had had enough, and in his exasperation snapped at her, "I don't even know what the hell is going on, and all this talk about not existing and whatever is just pissing me off!" The very moment he said this, he knew it was a mistake. She instantly turned back into the terrifying lady-beast from before, gave out a piercing shriek and raised her "talons" to strike. He shut his eyes tightly and flinched, raising his arms in front of his face.
    Brian awoke in a cold sweat, his heart racing within his chest. "Brian," he turned towards the voice to find his friend crouching next to him, a cigarette in his mouth. "You alright?" Brian sighed and took a deep breath, then started to cough.
    "Put that out, dammit, how many times do I have to tell you?" Brian lightly shoved his friend in the shoulder as he stood up. "I'm going home." He started towards the door.
    "But school's not over yet," his friend, after putting his cigarette out with his foot, followed him.
    "I don't really care," he was exasperated, and his friend could tell by his voice. He reached for the handle of the door, but hesitated, involuntarily.
    "What's wrong?" His friend came up and opened the door himself, rather than waiting for Brian to, and started down the stairs, which were perfectly intact.

"Nothing. Walk me home." Brian frowned, as his friend complied without a complaint.

★☆★☆★
    The next morning, Brian still couldn't stop thinking about that dream. It was a Saturday, so his mother was working all day. Her job has her working at weird times throughout the week, so he was used to it. Still in his colourful pajamas, he went to the kitchen to make himself a bowl of just as colourful cereal. After a few minutes of just eating and occasionally scratching his bed head, he heard the sound of the mail slot opening. Taking the last spoonful of cereal into his mouth, a walked over a saw a single envelope resting on the floor in front of the door. He peered out the window, but the person who delivered it was no longer there, so he picked the envelope up and went back to the table. Written on the front of the envelope in neat cursive writing was the name "Brian Cyrano Summerfield", which happened to be his full name. He hesitantly ripped the envelope open, as was his tactless nature, and inside was a letter. The letter contained but a single sentence.

Brian Cyrano Summerfield, from this day forward, you shall be attending Liltin's Academy of the Gifted.