Initiation (16 page)

I was already late, so I sprinted back to my room to get Faustine. She was ready and waiting, munching down on breakfast with Quinn.

“We decided to dine in, considering,” Quinn explained.

“Good idea.” I helped myself to some of his steak. “Oh, this is so good!”

“So? How did it go?”

“Tell you later, Quinn. But it was okay. Ready, Faustine?”

“Yeah. Do I need to bring anything?”

“No, I don’t think so. Let’s go.”

Ten minutes later, we’d arrived outside Professor Bern’s office. Her secretary peered up at us over his reading glasses. “Please go right in. She’s expecting you.”

I knocked on the door softly and, without waiting for a reply, pulled it open and stuck my head in. The office seemed empty, but I stepped in, followed closely by Faustine. The huge office had piles of books and papers in untidy towers scattered all over the floor. The state of the large desk in the corner was similar–books and papers everywhere. The room was illuminated by candlelight. That was clearly by preference, as I spotted electrical outlets everywhere, and a MacBook plugged into one of those.

“Welcome, please sit down.” Professor Bern’s voice seemed to come from behind her desk.

Faustine raised her eyebrows at me. I shrugged.

“Children, sit down!”

We sat down in the leather-covered chairs facing the desk and waited.

“It’s very nice to meet you both. I have, of course, seen you around, Cordelia. I understand that you are Faustine’s mentor and will be chaperoning her.”

“Yes, that’s right.” Talking to air was very odd. Was she speaking from an intercom system? We could have just Skyped if she was busy.

“So, let me introduce myself properly, Faustine. As you were told in the Initiation meeting yesterday, I am Professor Bern, head of the Department of Paranormal Powers and Practices. This department oversees all of the practical aspects of the development of your supernatural abilities. The department employs around a hundred staff, most of them associate and assistant professors. Each Initiate is assigned to one of these professors. The pro… Faustine? Am I boring you?”

Faustine flushed in embarrassment. “No! I’m sorry. Why would you think that?”

“You keep darting your eyes around the room. I’m finding it distracting and perhaps a bit rude.”

“I’m so sorry!” Faustine said, her voice breaking just a little. “I don’t know where to look!”

“At me would be good.” Professor Bern sighed.

Faustine flitted her eyes around as she surveyed the room again. “Maybe there’s something wrong with my eyes. I don’t know where you are.”

Professor Bern made a shuffling sound. “I am right here! Sitting on my chair.”

“I can’t see you, either,” I interjected. Faustine sighed in relief.

“Hmm.”

With a chuckle, Professor Bern materialized into visibility right in front of our eyes. She grinned. “My apologies, children. I sometimes forget to render myself visible before my guests come in. I tend to sit around in the invisible state, as it’s so relaxing.”

“Nice to meet you, Professor Bern.” Faustine got up and extended her hand.

Professor Bern shook it. “What a charming little girl you are. Just twelve, right?”

“Thirteen in a few weeks.”

“Cordelia, don’t be offended if I don’t involve you much. I’ll assume you’re here as an observer only.”

“Yes, I’m just here to keep Faustine company. I can leave if you want.”

“I’d rather you stayed,” Faustine said.

“That’s fine with me, as long as you don’t interfere with any of the tasks Faustine will be given.”

I nodded. I had some idea of what those tasks would be. I hadn’t forgotten them, having gone through them all myself just two years ago.

Professor Bern turned to Faustine. “You’re a very special case. You are one of the youngest hybrids we’ve had at the Academy, and certainly the first part-human one. We did advise your father to have you wait a couple of years before you joined the Academy, but he was adamant that your abilities needed to be assessed and contained now. So I’ve decided to take you through the process myself.”

Faustine seemed happy with that, smiling at Professor Bern. What she didn’t realize was that behind that benevolent mother-of-four exterior resided a powerful witch, a witch with an agenda of her own. There was bound to be more to her decision to Initiate Faustine. I’d have to remind Faustine of the second of the Academy’s Golden Rules again.

“Faustine, I heard about the incident in the hallway. Have you recovered from it?”

“It was Cordelia who got hurt. I was fine.”

“Good. And what about your group assignment? Are you happy with it?”

“Yes, they all seem nice.”

“Hmm,” Professor Berm murmured. “Do you feel connected to anyone in particular in the group?”

I cringed. I knew exactly where she was going, and I wanted to warn Faustine. But I knew I couldn’t. She had to make it through the process on her own.

“Well, I’ve only hung out with them once, but I really like Martha. She’s a demon as well, from Texas. She’s funny and charming. I think we’ll become good friends.”

“That’s nice to hear.” Professor jotted something on her pad. “Have you made any other friends?”

I wanted to clamp my hand over Faustine’s mouth, but the professor threw me an icy glare as if she could read my thoughts.

“Yes. I love Cordelia, of course. She’s like a sister to me.” She reached over and squeezed my hand. “And I really like her boyfriend, Quinn, and Jagger, who took me skiing. And we met Sienna and Jewel when we were skiing; they seemed nice, too.”

“What about at home? Do you have a best friend?”

“Yes, my nanny’s daughter, Neave. We’ve known each other since we were babies. I’ve got plenty of other friends as well, but Neave is my BFF.”

“That’s great, Faustine. What can you tell me about your powers?”

Faustine pursed her lips and peered down at her shoes. “Nothing really. I don’t know that I even have any.”

“So what makes you different from a regular human? Why do you think you were sent to the Academy?”

Faustine’s face reddened. “I don’t really know. I mean, I do have the biggest temper tantrums, much worse than any of my friends. But I also forget stuff… and well, the time thing.”

“Time?” Professor Bern encouraged. “What exactly do you mean?”

“I sometimes lose bits of time. It’s usually not long, just a few minutes. Sometimes a bit longer. I have no idea what happens during those lost minutes. But it’s not good stuff.”

“How do you know that?”

Faustine took a deep breath. “I blacked out outside the school once, and then woke up back at home. I always wake up at home, with my mom and dad, no matter where I black out. It’s really strange. And I always wake up feeling that something very bad has happened. I tried asking my parents about it, but they just say that I must have fallen asleep. I can’t help feeling there’s more to it. I just feel so horrible afterward. Plus, Mom and Dad took me out of school last term. I’ve been home schooled ever since by a bunch of private tutors. That really sucked.”

“Did your parents tell you how you get back home so quickly after your blackouts? You said they only last for a few minutes?”

“No. I think Mom feels it’ll upset me even more, so she won’t tell me, which also sucks, ’cause I need to know. Did they tell you what happens?”

“No, but not to worry. We’ll explore that through our tests. We’ll get started tomorrow. Meet me here at the same time for your first test.” Professor Bern studied another sheet. “It looks like you have a history lesson at the Paranormal Academics building with Dr. Lindstrom this afternoon. That should be enjoyable. See you tomorrow.”

We had a couple of hours before the afternoon session started, so I brought Faustine to the empty mentors’ lounge for an early lunch.

“So, what do you think will be on my test tomorrow?” Faustine asked, once we’d finished eating.

“I’m not allowed to talk to you about any of that stuff. I mean, anything that has to do with your Initiation. Which kinda sucks, because I want to.” I rolled my eyes.

“Who’d know? I mean it’s just us in here.”

“It would come out, one way or the other. Professor Bern would be able to tell if I warned you in any way. And that wouldn’t be good. I’d get thrown off the mentoring program, for starters.”

“Am I allowed to talk to my group about it? We’re meeting up at dinner.”

“You are. But once you’ve been through the test, you may want to keep it to yourself. I did. Anyhow, I shouldn’t say anymore. But yes, that’s what the group is for. You guys can share whatever, but you can’t ask each other questions about Initiation. Whatever anyone wants to share has to come from them voluntarily.”

“Huh? You use way too complicated sentences. What do you mean?”

I laughed. “I just mean that you can’t be a nosy parker and grill anyone about stuff. If they tell you, they tell you. That’s all.”

“I bet Martha will. We won’t be able to stop her.” Faustine giggled. “Can you at least tell me if I need to study anything for tomorrow’s test? I don’t want to flunk my first quiz.”

“It’s not that kinda test. It can’t be studied for, so quit worrying about it. Look, here comes Delam. Let’s get going. I don’t want to have to deal with him drooling over you right now.”

“Is that ’cause I’m human?”

“Yes, part human. Remember, you’re a demon as well.”

 
“
F
austine!” an excited voice yelled as we walked into Dr. Lindstrom’s classroom. “Come sit with us!”

Seeing Dax’s crew caused memories of my own Initiation group to come flooding back. It had been me, Quinn, Sienna, Jewel, Thor, and Peter. Thor and Peter had gone home after Integration, and I missed them. We’d grown very close as a group, in spite of what we’d had to endure during Initiation. I wished the same for Dax’s group. I watched Faustine sprint over to them and give Martha a hug.

“Hey, Dax. Enjoying your group?” I asked.

“Yup! Cool kids. Missed Faustine this morning. I took the rest of them around for their pre-test chats. How did it go with Faustine?”