Ch. 2
Evan couldn’t believe it. Government agents wanted to recruit him for… school? He was a good student, but he wasn’t a genius. This was the kind of thing one expected to happen to a kid building advanced robotics in his basement. Not a small-town kid that was probably slightly better than average at best.
And she said Monstrum Academy? What kind of nonsense school was that? He was certain there was no such place, at least not one that could be known as “a very prestigious academic institution.” He was pretty sure there was no Monstrum Academy in the Ivy League.
“Is this a joke?” he said. “I haven’t even submitted any applications for college.”
“It’s no joke,” Mariana said. “But I understand your skepticism. Let me explain.”
“Monstrum Academy is a very private boarding school that only admits the most special and gifted students from around the world,” she said. “Students are able to get an education from preschool all the way up to a doctorate’s degree. It is a very unique arrangement that we feel fosters an environment of home and family that truly allows our students to reach their full potential.”
“Why do you think I would be a good fit for this place?” Evan asked. “I’m not very special or gifted.”
“On the contrary,” Mariana said while smiling brightly. “We’ve confirmed through testing that you would be the most special student ever to attend the academy.”
“What?” Evan said quirking an eyebrow. “What kind of testing? Like, the SAT or ACT?”
“Blood testing.”
“Huh?”
“Were you recently in the hospital, Evan?”
“Umm, yeah, for a night.”
It was about two weeks ago shortly after graduation. Evan had nearly fainted and began vomiting out of nowhere, so his parents took him to the ER. They ran lots of standard tests, including taking some of his blood. They concluded that he wasn’t sick, and it was most likely a panic attack. They gave him some meds and fluids to help him recover, and he was discharged a short time later when he was feeling better.
“The doctors that took your blood that night ran several tests,” she said. “And those results were added to our database. We used that data to screen for genetic markers showing the potential for great talent. Your DNA was found to be a match.”
“So, I’m a mutant or something?”
“No, nothing like that.”
“Then what?”
Mariana took a deep breath before she answered.
“The test showed you have the potential to harness and manipulate magical power,” she said. “We believe you are a magician.”
Evan laughed. Somehow this day kept getting stranger and stranger. Did she really expect him to believe in magic? Something was seriously wrong here, and he was again questioning the identity of these visitors. He had mainly let them in the house because he was afraid he was in some kind of trouble, and he didn’t want his parents to find out if he could help it. Now he felt like he made a mistake.
“Ok, I’m definitely not a magician, or wizard, or whatever,” he said. “I think it’s time for you all to leave, my parents will be home soon.”
He knew his parents weren’t due home for a while yet, but he wanted them to believe he had back up on the way.
“Evan, please,” Mariana said. “I know it is hard to believe, but magic is real. You must understand that certain things have been kept a secret from the public due to safety concerns.”
“I’m serious, please leave. I’ll call the cops if I have to.”
“What if we can prove it?”
“What?”
“What if we can prove that magic is real? Will you hear us out?”
Evan was doing his best to hide his fear as he tried to scare them into leaving, but he was taken aback by Mariana’s question. Prove magic was real? He didn’t think there was anything they could do to convince him, but enough curiosity found its way into his mind that he decided to see what she had planned.
“Ok, do it.”
Mariana looked relieved. She turned to the other woman that had come along and nodded.
“Minato, please show him.”
The woman named Minato stepped forward, taking Evan’s attention. Evan had mainly been focusing on Mariana, so this was the first time he took a good look at this woman. Minato was of Asian descent and was tall for a woman. She was dressed in a black suit identical to what the two men in the group wore. Her dark hair was gathered in a ponytail. Combined with the suit, it gave off a very businesslike impression.
Minato started by rolling back her sleeves and revealing her forearms. She then held her arms out towards him as if showing them off. He looked closely, but he couldn’t see anything aside from smooth skin. It wasn’t long before he started to see something happen, however. Her skin first began to change color. It was a pretty blue green color that reminded him of a tropical ocean. The next thing he noticed was the texture. It looked like her skin had bulged and split, but after a second look, Evan could see that it had grown scales. Fish-like scales appeared all over her arms and gleamed when the light of the room hit them just right. And the changes did not stop with just her arms. The transformation swept through her entire body, her neck and face covered in the pretty scales in no time.
Skin had also grown between the fingers on each of her hands. It looked like webbing usually only seen in aquatic animals. Minato twisted her head to the side and presented her neck towards Evan. There behind her ear and part way down her neck he could see a slit. Gills! With everything put together, Evan surmised she had become some sort of fish woman.
Evan was dumbfounded as he watched Minato transform. Whatever he expected them to do to prove magic, it wasn’t that. Minato smiled at his expression before she started transforming in reverse. The scales and webbing receded leaving behind normal smooth skin once again. She stepped back and fixed the sleeves on her suit back into place.
“Minato comes from a family with a long history of life at sea,” Mariana said. “They’re the basis for the legends of mermaids.”
“And I,” Mariana continued after regaining Evan’s attention, “am a vampire.”
She opened her mouth, allowing Evan to see her straight, white teeth. He watched in awe as her canines elongated and grew out over an extra inch long. The points looked dangerously sharp.
“What the hell…” Evan said.
He was at a total loss. There was no way for him to deny what he had just seen with his own two eyes, but it wasn’t easy to have your world turned upside down so quickly. Mythical creatures he thought could only be found in stories were here in his living room!
“There are many people with supernatural qualities at the academy,” Mariana said after returning her teeth to normal.
“It is a place where we have all come together to live and be safe as a community.”
“And you think I belong there?” Evan said. “I mean, I can’t do anything like… that.”
“Not all mages transform like we do,” she said. “Some simply have superhuman senses or strength.”
“Is that something I would learn to do at your school?”
“That is what we hope,” she said. “But we can’t guarantee anything. We would provide the best environment for you to develop, but in your case, what you could achieve would ultimately depend on your own effort.”
Well, that didn’t really inspire confidence in their school. It almost sounded like they couldn’t actually teach him anything at all. Evan might be willing to concede the existence of supernatural beings after what he was shown, but he had never seen anything to make him think he had any sort of magic power like that himself. If he had to teach himself how to use magic, the chances felt nonexistent. Sensing that Evan was finally taking them seriously, Mariana continued her pitch.
“If you come with us, you will be provided with a nice home, and you will be able to get a high-quality college education studying whatever you like. All expenses will be paid for, and we would even provide you a monthly stipend for personal spending.”
“The downside,” Mariana continued. “Is that you would have to live apart from your parents with minimal visitation. The entire town where the academy is located is a highly classified confidential existence that is strictly on a need-to-know basis. It can feel isolated there, but it is a lovely place regardless.”
Mariana reached into the bag she carried and produced an envelope. She placed it on the coffee table in the center of the living room.
“This has all the information you need about the college and what your living arrangements would be like on campus,” she said. “Please read through it and get back to us with an answer soon. Our contact info is inside.”
“Ok,” Evan said.
“One other important thing,” Mariana said as she stood up from the couch. “You cannot mention anything about magic or supernatural beings to your parents. Just tell them about the school and leave it at that.”
“How would I keep such a thing secret from them if I went to your school?” Evan said. “That would be a lot of work.”
“It’s possible for us to reveal everything to your parents,” Mariana said. “But then they would have to be relocated permanently to our town as well. They would lose this house and all contact with friends and family on the outside.”
“That’s crazy.”
“That’s how seriously our government takes confidentiality in this matter,” she said.
“Will I have to do that stuff too? Like, give up everything and never come back?”
“You’ll be allowed to visit your parents every summer to keep up appearances,” she said. “But it is true that you will have to live a more restricted life than what you’re used to. It’s unfortunate, but that’s just the reality of being a mage in today’s world.”
Evan wasn’t comfortable keeping big secrets from his parents, but he did not think he would have much of a problem this time. He was scared imagining what would happen to them if he were to casually reveal top government secrets.
“Did you come over today because my parents were away?”
“Yes,” Mariana said, smiling. “We needed to meet with you alone.”
The four visitors all gathered back at the front door and made to leave. The three in suits left first, leaving Mariana alone with Evan for a moment in the doorway.
“What happens if I say no?” Evan said.
“Well… I won’t lie to you,” Mariana said. “They won’t just leave you alone. Anyone with potential like yours is too important to ignore. But they will at most find an arrangement more to your liking if school doesn’t suit you. I don’t think they would do anything too drastic.”
“…”
“I know this has been a lot, but I hope you aren’t frightened,” she said.
She reached out and squeezed his arm gently. The concern in her eyes reminded him of how his mother had looked at him earlier, like some poor unfortunate thing.
“It really is a good opportunity. I truly believe the academy will be the best place for you. Just be sure to think it over carefully, ok?”
Evan simply nodded. Mariana then followed the others and left with a quick wave goodbye. He wasted no time opening the envelope as soon as they were gone. He spent the rest of the day pouring over the information inside and contemplating his future.
Evan had always been an avid reader. His favorite stories were fantasies set in magical lands. He loved reading about humans living beside fantasy creatures and casting all sorts of spells. He often daydreamed about what real life would be like if such things were real. Now he found out they were.
At the beginning of the day, if put to it, Evan would have probably said he would rather get a job than go for a college degree next year. Now, he could already tell he was starting to lean in the other direction. He still found it hard to believe he had any magic inside him, but excitement over the mere possibility was building. Mariana hadn’t said much about what magic could do, so his imagination started to run wild. There was truly no telling what he might be able to accomplish with it. Maybe he could even exorcise some of the demons that were plaguing him. And if he was after a fresh start, what better place than one that felt out of this world?