Chapter 3

Mild cold breeze hits my freckled cheeks and blows off a few rebellious strands of my hair in front of my face as we pass through the streets of London. I am finally here. It feels a bit weird as I never travelled anywhere without my parents. They never permitted me to travel the world without them. I wished they did. It was sad to see other girls of my age posting pics and vlogs of different places. Responsibilities and family respect were the only boundaries of my world travel. 

"Mhmm. I can smell fresh bread and cream. This place is so delicious." Tessa comments on the roadside bakery that the car passes through. 

"Delicious place? Are you talking about the shops or the road?" Alex teases her. 

Tessa jabs on his belly, getting a groan from him in response.

"Ouch! Keep your super strength away from yesterday's dinner. It's still digesting inside." Alex rubs his belly to ease the pain and throws a glare at Tessa. Their antics make me chuckle. 

But there is something I need to know. "Alex?" I ask. 

"Yup?" His green eyes focus on me. 

I lean in to whisper in his ear. I know Tessa can hear, but that's the point. "What magic did you cast on Cynthia that she's been helping us for so long? I mean the deal was to only use her as an ex-student who can uncover the cloaking spell on the academy that makes it invisible to the common eye." I should have used 'eyes that don't belong to the academy yet' but I guess Alex understood anyway.

Alex glances shortly at the witch who is sitting in the passenger seat of the cab. "I will tell you after we enter the academy. Until that, know this. She'll help us because I cracked a good deal with her." Alex whispers back, his breath tickling my skin. 

Super senses can sometimes be a problem. "Fine. But you're going to open up or you know me." I pull my eyebrows in a gesture to show him the threat. 

"Yes, of course, Queen Elizabeth. How can I refuse your orders?" Alex winks. 

I smile and turn my head towards the window. Strange that I feel Alex's gaze on me even after that. Maybe he's looking at the window. I push the thought away and enjoy the fresh air and the smell of freedom. My eyes fall on the colourful graffiti designs on the brick walls across the street. There are a lot of abstract faces, shapes and interesting paintings. I wonder who made them. 

Brick Lane seems to be an interesting place. Bricked old houses, multiple shops, and more graffiti designed walls sprint past me and disappear in thin air as the car takes another turn on a quieter road. The knot grows inside my stomach. We will be there soon. 

After a few minutes, the cab parks in front of a building. "Is this...the place?" I ask Cynthia, stepping out of the car. The weather is not too cold due to the ongoing spring season, thus not making me feel guilty for wearing a red off-shoulder top over a white pair of jeans. I bought it from a store near the airport after we landed. 

"Yes." She says, looking ahead at the dark corner between two buildings. She walks ahead, leaving us doubting her intentions. 

"Why would the academy be amid dumpsters and dead rats?" Tessa asks, her voice sounding funny because of her fingers enclosing her nostrils. The smell here can kill a skunk! I try to keep my brand new black boots away from the scattered plastic wraps and food leftovers adorning the path to a dead end. 

"Great! Now what?" Alex flexes his arms in frustration towards the wall standing in front of us. A big white circle with painted black, feminine eyes stares back at us with black two-dimensional eyes. Another graffiti. 

"Stand here." Cynthia orders, her back facing us. Her chestnut brown hair cascades down her shoulders in messy waves. She isn't a conditioner fan, that's for sure. 

"Uh, do we have another choice?" Tessa adds in annoyance, looking around the world of leftovers. I can feel the aura of her annoyance giving me goosebumps. Bad food annoys Tessa. 

"Silence! I can't concentrate." Cynthia speaks in a commanding tone. A few seconds later, a humming sound comes from her. I focus my ears on her voice to hear what she's chanting. "Incantamentum Luna Medeis Esperantos Lacerna Adaperio" 

It must be to remove the cloaking spell around the academy. The academy authorities were smart enough to hide their treasure from the human world as well as the creatures who are not registered, students. Which includes us. 

Talk about unregistered students…That's the biggest problem we are going to face next. Cynthia stops her chanting and turns towards us, her face rendering no such expression. "It's done. Walkthrough the wall. And-" she looks at Alex with a subtle warning. "Remember your promise." She says. 

That must be what Alex cracked the deal with. "Are you sure this will work?" Tessa frowns suspiciously at the wall. As if the wall will kill her.

"Try it," Cynthia advises.

"I'll go first then." I volunteer. 

Tessa and Alex exchange a few glances with me before I step in front of the graffiti wall. The drumming of my heartbeat reaches my ears and I shove down the panic rising in me. This is it. 

"Remember. Once you enter, you can't come out until the staff of the academy allows you." Cynthia's warning reverberates in my head. It is my only chance. I can't step back now. I left my parents, my mom, my brother and my nanny unprotected there. I made my choice. Now it's time to walk on it. 

One the count of three. One, two, three...

My legs start moving and the air blows my hair backwards. If I hit the wall, I'll take all the money from Cynthia needed for plastic surgery! The temperature rises slightly and the ground also feels softer. Coming into an abrupt halt, my body loses its balance and the air shifts, making me kiss the cold earth. "Argh!! Fuck me dead!" I swear and then my eyelids fly open to a huge field. But what catches my attention is the white castle that stands quite some metres away, between the patches of greenery, divided by a narrow brick walkway. 

I immediately stand from the ground and look at my fresh white jeans dyed brown at the knee area with some pebbles for decoration. Why do all the terrible things in the world happen to me? 

More footsteps come behind me.

"Wow!" Tessa exclaims, as her hazel eyes sparkle under the sunlight.  

There is a mixed scent of flowers brought by the air. Those flowers add colour to the monotonous green field of grass on both my sides. I can see a figure standing in front of those lines of flowers, the sprinkling water glittering under the warm rays. 

"Guys, we can't stand here forever. Remember, we haven't registered?"Alex brings me out of my trance. I feel the strong urge of running back to my mansion that feels like a much more comfortable place than this giant in front of me. But I can't. Remember? I sigh. "Let's do this." I walk forward with whatever determination and courage I have left. I take deep breaths with each step.

I can do this. 

I can do this. 

As I walk through the bricked alley, two middle-aged people notice us walking in their direction. They frown at us. Both of them start to approach us, suspecting the intrusion.No, I can't do this. I can't! 

"Who are you, people?" The man wearing a brown hat asks loudly, even after he's standing quite close to us. 

Breathe. "We're new students. We are here to take admission." I say, managing to keep my shoulders square and my chin straight. 

I have practised it millions of times before facing my father. The two in front of me don't equal the royal Hemsworth bloodline Alpha king's intimidation. The lady, appearing shorter than the man but more influential in comparison, scrutinizes us. 

I can feel energy radiating in the form of waves through both of them. The lady's energy is calm but resilient. The tall man's energy is just like him. Loud. Probably a witch and a werewolf. I think they can feel our mystical aura too. 

"Did you all register for it?" The lady asks in a gentle tone. But I can catch the suspicion behind it. Silence renders my mouth.

What should I say? She surely knows that the new year registrations don't start until next month. So us being registered means...

"What is happening here?" Another loud, more commanding voice booms through the air, coursing goosebumps through my entire body. A tall man wearing a maroon suit with a fancy walking stick in his right-hand struts towards us. The hat man and calm lady move aside to let the maroon suited man stand in front of me. 

Dense and weird. His aura is so different. I have never felt anything like this. The waves emanating through his personality are strong. It makes my head throb. Concentrate! 

I snap back to reality and find a pair of black eyes hiding under rimmed specs observing me. "Who are they?" He asks.

"We don't know, Sir. This girl here is saying that they are new year students." The man wearing a hat speaks up as if trying to impress his boss. 

"Are they registered?" He asks, his gaze not leaving mine. I don't step down from the gaze competition either. But he intimidates me just like my dad did. Or maybe a bit more. So it's quite hard. 

"No, Sir." The lady speaks this time. 

That's it. We are caught! 

"Then how did you three enter?" His eyes narrow down and flicker between left and right until they focus back on me. I don't speak this time, knowing the consequence Cynthia will face if her name comes up. The maroon suit digs a hole into my skin with his gaze. When he gets the clue, he starts speaking again. "Very well then. Professor Sheila?" He turns to her. 

"Yes, Sir." The lady responds to him.

"Make sure that they forget about this academy once they pass the wall." He orders. Oh, no! 

"Yes Sir." Sheila looks at us. 

The man turns his back towards me in one swift move and starts walking straight back to the building. No! This can't be happening. I came here after taking so much risk. My friends took so much risk. 

I can't let them down! I can't let myself down! 

"You three! Didn't you hear what Sir said? Go back to the place you came from!" The hat man shouts. Fucking no! 

Time to execute the plan. The maroon suit hasn't walked too far. His steps are slow. He can surely hear me if I shout. 

"Sir! We didn't get time to register. But it was urgent. Allow me to introduce ourselves. I am Aurora Hemsworth. And this is Tessa Stone and Alex Whitmore!" I point at them. I did not want to use this trick. My family name is the last thing I want to cling to. But this is the only way. 

The maroon suit surprisingly stops in his steps and immediately turns towards me. 

He walks back to the same position, but with a new hint of curiosity in his eyes. 

"What did you say?" He scans Tessa and Alex.

"Yes, Sir. We can prove our names if you want." We are born with birthmarks that prove our identity and can't be duplicated by any imposter even if they wanted to. Because it's not the mark but the magic evaporating through it. The maroon suit scrutinizes us for a good amount of time as if he can know what we are by just staring. 

Then his eyes light up and his lips curve up to a smile."I should have known. Forgive me for not identifying earlier. Two royal werewolf bloodlines and one warlock of one of the most powerful witch families. Of course. I don't need proof. I can tell it from here. Miss Hemsworth, Miss Stone and Mr Whitmore. Welcome to SpellMoon Academy." He grins, but somehow, the smile feels more mischievous and dark. 

"But Sir, what about their medium of entry?" Sheila asks. 

"None of that matters. We are fortunate enough to have all of them together here. It should be our utmost pleasure to teach the legacy of the royal bloodlines." He convinces Sheila. 

I love the maroon suit! I can kiss him right now. No, maybe not. 

After completing some formalities, we are allowed to take in the bags. On the other hand, Alex and Tessa were given responsibilities. I was more for the talk. Since I have nothing except some money and my phone, I carry one of Tessa's bags. 

"I can't believe this! We made it! Yippee noodles! I'm so happy and relieved." Tessa grins as we step inside the large hall with brown bricked walls. The heels of my boots click on the creme coloured, polished marble floor. There is energy everywhere. I can see waves of different colours wrapping my body. The feeling of all of them clashing together on my skin is overwhelming. 

"Welcome to the entrance hall of the academy. You can get your dorm room keys from the office on the left." Sheila tells in a warm and welcoming voice. 

"Thank you." I nod. 

"Cinn! Come here!" I hear Tessa's voice across the door to my right. 

"What's there?" I ask Sheila.

"It's the notice room. All the notices and information about the academy are posted there. You can have a look." Sheila advises, while her chocolate brown eyes read me. 

"Okay, thank you." I push the door open and find a large room with a lot of boards, shelves and a seating area. There's a huge board protruding through the eastern wall of the room and in front of it stands Tessa with a shocked expression.

"Hey. What happened?"I stand beside her and look through the colourful sheets pinned neatly on the board. 

"I don't think you'll like to see this. But check this!" Tessa points her finger on the white sheet that bears the name of the students of the academy. 

"It's the name of the students. Yeah, I can see that." I say to her, looking through the names. 

"There's one very interesting name here. You might wanna check that." Tessa points her finger at a name. I narrow my eyes to read the cursive font properly. 

It says

"Alpha Tristian Knight:

 Studying current year

 Rank: Full Moon

 Achievement: Academy Annual Competition Champion for consecutive three years." 

I read aloud, every syllable throbbing inside my head, mocking my fate. 

No! This can't be! 

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