A thick fog has rolled in from the harbor as we drive towards Salem on Highland Avenue. Even though the air is cold with the beginnings of fall, the sun is filtering through the trees along the road and is casting irregular shadows that flicker and morph. I take note then that I'm lucky that we live nearby in Boston. The fact that it's a short drive is the only thing that brings me comfort as I think of the other students who would have to travel here from nearby states and even overseas.
I shift uncomfortably in my seat and smooth my skirt as I feel a rush of envy for my brother, who is fourteen and only here to say goodbye to me. He has yet to look up from his switch for the entirety of the trip as he plays some game and stares at the screen with a set of earbuds stuck in his ears. I eye his jeans, wishing that the places were switched and that I was the one in comfortable clothes and only had to say goodbye to my older sibling today.
But I've only gotten to do it a few times and that was for Indigo.
I roll my eyes and press my forehead against the cool glass of the window, wishing I could disappear as we pass by an intersection where there's a gas station on the corner. I envy the people meandering about in their normal lives, completely unaware of the other side of this world. The roads here are narrow and covered in tar patches that make it look like someone has scribbled on the pavement with an enormous, black sharpie. So completely and painfully mortal.
"Why can't the mortals know about us, Mom?" I had asked once upon a time when I was very young.
"Magic will always be taken advantage of," she had warned me, "just look at the way the mortals run their world, look at the way they have treated us in the past."
I shiver when I look up and see that a green street sign with 'Salem' printed on it is mounted on a telephone pole.
We're getting close and I can feel it this time, even though I've only recently turned sixteen, I can feel the presence of magic hovering beneath the fog and pollution that is clouding the early morning air. Connor would feel it in another two years, but until then, he's the odd one out.
The glass under my forehead suddenly shocks me and I yelp as I sit back and rub at the pain. My father glances up in the rearview mirror, his eyebrows drawing down with concern.
"Are you okay?" he asks as we stop at a traffic light.
"I'm fine," I mutter as I drop my hand away from my face.
"The cloaking magic can hurt sometimes when it comes to new witches, you'll get used to it," my father assures me.
I nod and sit back in my seat as my mother suddenly looks back at me and fixes me with an intense stare. She's 'Seeing', though what she's looking for, I'm not sure. Maybe she's hoping that she can predict my familiar. I've gotten used to her staring at me at a very young age so it usually doesn't affect me, but today is different, today she is looking for my future as a witch.
She must not see anything because she quickly turns back around in her seat. There's something that she probably can't see past and the realization makes me all the more anxious as I think back to the familiar prediction disk Tessa had given me and how it hadn't given me an answer this morning. I wonder again what could make it glow like it had but I quickly banish the thought from my mind.
Just a fluke.
"See anything?" I ask her anyways as we turn at an intersection where there's an IHop on the corner.
She shakes her head, "Nothing," she murmurs, "the academy likely has a block on powers around here to keep students under control."
"They didn't have one back in my day," my father says.
"Things change," she reminds my father as we drive past a PetSmart.
I can't help but smile as we pass by the PetSmart and later a Home Depot, who knew that the entrance to Greenwood Academy would eventually be behind a shopping center?
Certainly not the mortals.
The stores quickly drop away and are replaced by trees as the road twists and winds through a forested area before my father slows the car down.
The familiar cobblestone road that we've only taken a handful of times before catches my eye as my father turns off onto it. The tires rumble when we drive across it and it's enough of a difference that Connor takes his earbuds out and sits up in his seat to look out the window.
"We're here," he murmurs.
"Thank you for your observation, captain obvious," I tease him.
He scowls at me and my mother makes a shushing noise, cutting us off from the chance to start bickering. We stop talking as we roll up to the towering, wrought-iron gates that bar the road as they loom above us. There's a creaking noise before they swing inwards as we approach.
No mortal can see this place of course, otherwise someone would definitely think that the place was magic, especially with it being located in the Salem Woods.
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The crème colored, brick pillars that hold up the gate have a white, marble stag statue that stands on either side on the platforms that top the pillars. I can't help but gaze up at them in awe, now they're greeting me this year. Indigo had told me once that it's the same familiar of one of the witches who had escaped the Salem witch trials and later established the academy as a safe haven for witches to get away from the human world.
I feel a sudden surge of reassurance as we pass through the gates and I wonder then if there are some sigils carved into the pillars to soothe new students. The trees on either side of the cobblestone road abruptly drop away as we emerge onto the green lawn that sprawls around the massive lecture hall building that is the pinnacle of the academy.
Greenwood Academy has always been massive to me, but this year it looks even bigger with its dozens of windows that glimmer in the early morning sun like watching eyes that stack five floors tall. Each of the windows have black shutters, but instead of the academy having a red brick façade like last year, it's the same, cream colored brick that make up the pillars out front.
The best way I can describe the lecture hall is that it looks much like a mix of a country club and an older style, university building from the eighties. A brick tower housing a silver bell stands out front, the steeple roof rising like a fang to puncture the blue sky above it.
"Ah, they've redecorated," my father murmurs, "I don't like it."
"They finally redecorated?" my mother asks in a tone that outlines that she's been expecting it.
"You saw that this was going to happen?" my father asks as he pulls up into the circle drive where a stag topiary stands tall and proud in the center of the grass.
"I told you last year, honey," my mother retorts with a smile.
"I forgot about that," he admits as he puts the car into park.
The anxiety I had felt earlier comes back stronger than ever as I eye the long line of cars that are parked in front of us in the circle drive. New students and their parents are clustered around their cars as they embrace each other. Most of them wouldn't be able to see their parents unless they visited them.
Of course, I can visit my parents whenever I want to, Indigo had done so a couple of times before by using the academy's taxi system. The realization is a tiny seedling of hope as I get out of the car and shut the door behind me.
My mother and father get out, along with my brother as I walk around to the trunk and open it before I start to unload some of my bags. There are four in total, two enormous roller bags with my clothes in it along with a large duffel bag and a messenger bag with my laptop in it.
I heft my messenger bag onto my shoulder and reach out to grab for my duffel bag before I shoulder it as well. My father helps me get my two roller bags out and sets them onto the cobblestone beside me.
"Thanks," I murmur.
"Do you want help with getting your bags to your room?" my mother asks.
"I can help with that," a voice suddenly says behind me.
We turn around in unison to see that a short, blonde-haired girl in an academy uniform is standing not too far away on the main sidewalk that leads up to the academy.
"Indigo!" I gasp as I run over and fling my arms around her.
"You've grown," she grunts as I collide with her and she hugs me back.
"Well, you haven't seen me in six months, remember?" I tell her as I pull away from the hug.
The last time I had really seen her for longer than a day was mid-March, which was during her spring break. We've talked on the phone since then, but it's not the same as seeing her face to face as I take in her features. Her light colored hair is pulled back in a messy bun that matches my mother's, along with the same, light green eyes that crinkle at the edges as she smiles and shrugs.
"Time flies, I've been busy learning," she says as she snaps her fingers.
My roller bags abruptly begin to roll over to us on their own as they rumble up the sidewalk and stop a foot away. I sigh when I see this as relief courses through me.
"Can you make them fly up the stairs too? Because that would be great," I say as I stack my duffle bag on top of one of them.
"I would but there are elevators for that," she retorts.
"Oh Indi, we've missed you, how have you been sweetheart?" my mother asks as she cups my sister's chin in her hand.
"I've been fine, mom," my sister says as she shrugs off my mother's hand. "Hi, dad," she says as she walks over to my dad and hugs him.
"How are you, Indi?" he asks as he hugs her back.
"I'm good," she murmurs before she turns to Connor and ruffles his hair.
"Agh! Cut it out!" Connor whines as he ducks away and Indi sticks her tongue out at him.
"Here, I picked this up while I was helping Ms. Blackroot over the summer," Indi says as she reaches into a satchel hanging off her shoulder and places a small, round object into Connor's hand. "Just place it on the window sill in your room and water it once a day, a single drop of water, for one week."
"A wyvern egg?" Connor gasps as he stares at the tiny, silver sphere that is no bigger than a robin's egg.
"Yes, it shouldn't get much bigger than Clark," my sister promises my mother when she sees her frown.
"As long as you promise to take care of it, Connor," my mother warns.
Connor continues to stare at the egg in awe as he mutters, "I will."
"They're very easy to care for, their main diet is flies and egg yolk, they're also great for keeping bugs out of gardens, I figure it could help with your garden when you get it planted in the spring," Indigo suggests and my mother's nods slowly at this.
"I love you," my mother says to me before she leans forward and kisses me on the forehead.
"I love you too," I tell her as my father gives me a quick hug.
"Call us soon," he says as he smiles down at me.
"I will," I assure him before I turn to my brother and open my arms.
He gives me a brief hug before he bolts back to the car with his egg in tow, likely to retrieve his DS so he can continue to play his game. My mother rolls her eyes at me before she pulls a small, silk pouch from her purse.
"I have a gift for you," she tells me in a low voice as she opens the tiny pouch and pulls something out.
I cup my palm and she presses a tear-drop shaped stone into my hand.
"Wear this," my mother says as she looks me in the eye, letting me know that not wearing it isn't an option.
The stone is a light shade of purple and it hangs on a long, silver chain. It's likely amethyst with a twist of some sort of magic since it's glowing slightly. The gem is warm and cold at the same time as I wrap my fingers around it while the chain remains cold.
"It offers protection against other magic, I have no doubt that there are some students who will want to pull pranks on you," my mother warns me.
"I'll wear it," I promise her as I unclasp the necklace and hang it around my neck.
The stone thuds against my collar bone, bringing with it a subtle coolness that calms me down.
"Good, and wear it especially when you go to summon your familiar," she says as she points a finger at me and walks to the car.
"I will."