Page 5 of Fortune Academy: Year One
Portal. We were going to travel to the Academy in a... portal. “Is that the only way to get there?” I asked, my voice rising a pitch. I knew that I belonged in the supernatural world, but I’d already experienced a time freeze, fireballs, and watching a man with glowing eyes regrow a chopped off appendage.
His fascinating eyes narrowed on me. “There’s always a backdoor, even to a place like Fortune Academy.Now be quiet so I can focus.”
The rain around us clattered on rooftops and beat against the alleyway. I found the storm much more distracting than I could ever be, but I obeyed and watched him as he worked. A pattern of glowing red marks traced after his blade and he paused at the end of each one, seeming to consider the next line before he started it. I’d never seen anyone draw lines so carefully. Almost as if... this wasn’t how he normally ventured to Fortune Academy. “Is that line supposed to be straight?” I asked, suddenly nervous that perhaps he wasn’t used to this method.
He glared at me. “Are you seriously going to backseat drive my portal spell?”
“Only because you’re using a back door. Why can’t we go in the same way everybody else does?”
I’d read enough on social media to get the gist. Fortune Academy even had a website, although they tended to be cryptic about how one actually joined the academy after getting approved. They had one single application page with the first question being multiple-choice, “Select Your Supernatural Affinity,” with a long list of supernatural terms. I never knew what to put... and that was for the first question. They didn’t have an “other” selection.
The next row asked for an ID number corresponding to a blood sample. They had a link to the approved facilities where one could donate a blood sample for application. Even if I knew what I was, for some reason I wasn’t comfortable with giving a blood sample. I’d been putting it off until more of my memories came back.
The point was, it was clear that one did not sneak into a place like Fortune Academy. At least, not without some risk.
“Look,” the hunter said, surprising me with a measure of patience that he let slide into his voice. “I’ll explain everything, but you’re going to have to trust me. I can’t take you in the front door, but I can’t leave you here, either. This is the best way to make sure you’re safe.”
I didn’t know why a bounty hunter would care about keeping me safe, unless there was, well, a bounty for him to collect. I pushed my lower lip out and then sucked it between my teeth. “Asking for trust is a bit much right now, don’t you think?”
He opened his mouth to reply, but a crash behind us made us both jump. I whirled just in time to see a very pissed-off Cindy barreling down the alleyway. “Ungrateful brat! I take you into my home, put a roof over your head, and you run off with the first recruiter that sniffs you out? I found you first!”
As much fun as Cindy looked like she might be, all with the fireballs still launching from her fists and smoke pouring out of her ears, I clung to the hunter and decided if I had to trust someone, it was going to be him. Even if he was going to turn me into someone for a bounty, it would be at Fortune Academy. He’d called Cindy the “Mother of Monsters” and Jess had said that I belonged at “Monster Academy.” It didn’t take a genius to figure out who was the bad guy in this scenario... at least, I hoped so, anyway. Right now I needed answers and a place where my life wasn’t in immediate danger. If I had to place a bet, my bet would be I’d have better survivability at Fortune Academy with a bounty hunter who wanted to keep me alive rather than Cindy who looked like she’d rather kill me than let anyone else get their hands on me.
Which meant... I wasn’t just a supernatural, I was something that other supernaturals wanted.
Even if I didn’t know what it was, I had power on my side which gave me enough confidence to lean closer to the hunter. “You’re almost done, right?”
“Yep,” he said under his breath and then hurried a few scratches of the pattern of runes. The last swipe sent the whole array alight with bright red and orange streaks as if the street itself had been set on fire. I jumped back with a squeal, but the hunter grabbed my wrist and tugged me onto the blazing platform. “Trust me!” he yelled.
Maybe not for the right reasons, or maybe Cindy’s fire blazing behind me was a lot more frightening than the glowing runes at my feet, but in that moment, I trusted the hunter with my life.
Welcome to Fortune Academy
Nothingness. It’s not what I expected when stepping through a magical portal, but that’s the only way to describe the sensation of floating and emptiness as I drifted alongside the hunter.
He marched forward with purpose, seemingly unbothered by the void that closed in all around us. I opened my mouth to speak, but no words came out. It seemed that there was a “no talking” rule in the world of nothing.
This was a place of in-between. It didn’t feel like Earth, but I knew we weren’t at Fortune Academy yet either. The portal bore a tunnel to our destination and it seemed like a safe, although creepy, method of transportation.
Minus the gaping hole with glowing red fire at the bottom of it. Details.
My hunter paused in front of the chasm and frowned. He glanced at me, his eyes glowing brighter than ever with their metallic hue. I didn’t like the sweeping resolve that settled over his features.
He backed us up and crouched as he nodded towards the chasm.
No. Fuck no. We were not going to jump that—
I tried to scream, but the void swallowed up any hint of sound as the hunter launched us towards the pit. He bent his knees right at the edge and sprang with me behind him.
I knew that resisting would only increase our chances of falling into the chasm, so I put all my effort into my legs to propel with him. It made our flight easier, to my relief, as we sailed over the roiling sea of molten lava. I didn’t want to know what that thing was and I certainly didn’t want to fall into it and find out.
The edge of blackness welcomed us on the other side and the hunter landed first. My foot caught the rim and I went tumbling backwards but he wasn’t going to let me fall. Strong arms hauled me into his chest and we collapsed in a heap on the other side.
We fell into the safety of the blackness and a veil swept over me with a tingling promise that everything was going to be all right.
My ears popped and the dull sounds of a living world made me let out the breath I’d been holding. “Holy shit,” I said and rolled onto my side, finally unclenching my fingers from the hunter’s arms. I expected the cold to rush back into me when I let go of him, but I felt okay. I thumped my head against the ground and sprawled out, not caring what I was lying on. I stared up at a foreign sky that would have looked familiar with its sprinkling of stars if it didn’t have two moons. “You rushed those last few lines,” I complained. “I told you they weren’t straight.”
He shrugged. “The tunnel was pretty solid minus that last obstacle, but it was kind of fun, don’t you say?”
