eyes, a wave of disorientation washed over me as I realized I was lying in an unfamiliar bed. I squinted through the daylight streaming from the window. It was a hospital room, but I had no idea how I had gotten there. I looked around, taking in the beeping machines, the white walls, and the sterile scent that hung in the air. I struggled to remember what had happened. My brain felt sluggish like my thoughts were shrouded in a fog.
I tried to sit up, but my head felt too heavy. I brought a hand to my forehead and pressed my fingers to a large, fuzzy bandage. I frowned. Did I get hurt?
“You’re awake,” a male voice said.
I sucked in a scared breath as a man rose from the couch by the window. It had been too low for me to see while lying down. He looked to be in his mid-thirties, wearing a brown blazer and khaki slacks, with a shaggy mane of light brown hair framing his face. His light brown eyes were soft as he smiled at me.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”
“What happened?” I barely croaked, my throat dry and hoarse.
“You must be thirsty. Just a second.” The man poured water from a pitcher on my bedside table into a plastic cup, then handed it to me.
I watched him with apprehension, but the dryness in my throat protested. Reluctantly, I took the cup and drank.
“I’m going to let the nurse know you’re awake.” He stepped out of the room before I could ask anything else.
I took a deep breath and tried to piece together what had happened last night. The last thing I remembered was wandering the streets after running away from home. A chill shot through me as the memories surfaced. I ran away from home because I had set the table on fire. Did I somehow hurt myself? Did someone hurt me?
A nurse appeared in the doorway with the man behind her.
“Good morning, Evangeline!” she said with a warm smile. “How are you feeling? I’ve already let the doctor know you’re awake. He’ll be here in a moment.”
My mouth was still too dry for me to say much. “My mom?” I muttered.
“Yes, your mom is on her way too. She was here last night, but she had to go home to take care of your siblings.”
She was? Fear gripped me as I remembered the fire and the look of pure horror on my mom’s face. On everyone’s face. I thought she wouldn’t want to come near me after what happened. I looked down at my hands. What if it happens again?
As the nurse took my vitals, I gulped down more water until I was finally able to speak better. She asked a few questions about what hurt and how I felt. She didn’t ask me about setting the table on fire, though, so that was a good sign.
“What happened to me?” I finally asked.
“Oh, you passed out and hit your head, but fortunately, Professor Braddock found you quickly and brought you here.” She gestured to the man.
Professor?
Just then, the doctor came into the room, and the nurse stepped aside.
“Good to see you’re awake, Evangeline,” the doctor said as he walked toward my bed. He took a small flashlight from his coat pocket and clicked it on. “Look straight ahead for me.” He shined the light in each of my eyes. “Looks good. How does your head feel?”
“A little achy, but okay.”
“Well, Evangeline. It appears that you fainted from exhaustion last night.”
Exhaustion? I had spent the whole day cleaning the shed. Starting the fire and then running from the house must have sent my body over the edge. I still couldn’t remember what happened after I left the house, though.
“I think you’ll be just fine with some rest,” the doctor continued. “But since you did hit your head, we’re going to keep you here for another twenty-four hours. Otherwise, I think you should be able to go home tomorrow morning.”
“Okay. Thank you.” I hoped he wouldn’t ask me why I had been so exhausted that I passed out.
As soon as the doctor and nurse both left, the man approached me again.
“So, you found me?” I asked.
“Yes, my name is Professor Gary Braddock, Miss Evangeline. I’m the Vice Chancellor of your school.”
“Hudson Heights?” I stammered.
He chuckled and shook his head. “Your acceptance into Hudson Heights University was extremely impressive, but our institution deals with something that will be much more important to you than anything you’ll learn at Hudson Heights.”
I furrowed my brow in suspicion at this strange man who supposedly found me passed out on the street and was now in my hospital room. “How did you find me?”
“Our computer found you. It alerted us when you used your powers for the first time yesterday.”
My powers? Does he know? My breath caught in my throat, and anxiety crept into my chest.
He must have seen the dread on my face. “Don’t worry. Your secret is safe with me.” He looked at the plastic cup of water at my bedside and picked it up. “Watch.”
As soon as he took his next breath, crystals of ice formed underneath his fingertips and spread frost over the entire cup. He turned the cup upside down, showing the water was frozen solid.
I gasped. “You’re like me,” I whispered. My eyes misted over, and I fought the urge to cry. I wasn’t the only freak in this world.
He nodded. “I came to bring you to the academy.”
“The academy?”
“Yes, Empyrean Academy was created for people like us in order to learn to control our powers, and you’ll still get an excellent college education, just like you would have at Hudson Heights.”
“But I got a scholarship for Hudson. My family can’t afford to send me to a different school.”
“Don’t worry about that. We have scholarships too. Your education and boarding will be completely covered.”
“The nurse said my mom was here last night. Does she know?”
“Yes, I explained everything to her. She said it was always your dream to go to Hudson. I’m sorry this throws a wrench into your plans, but you need to learn to control your powers, or else you will be a danger to everyone around you.”
A danger to everyone around you, I repeated in my head, and I knew it was true. “So, there are more people like us?” I asked. “What are we?”
“Throughout history, humans have had all sorts of names for us: demons, witches, gods, fairies, wizards, but we call ourselves Empyreans, or Ems for short.”
Humans have names for us… I’m not human? The full force of his words hit me like a wave crashing over me. Why was this happening to me?
Ever since I was a kid, attending Hudson Heights University had been my dream. My heart sank as I realized that all the energy I had poured into studying and sacrificing a social life had been wasted. My dream had been shattered, and I’d traded the fun of my youth for nothing. But at the same time, I had these extraordinary powers that I didn’t understand and desperately needed to figure out. The fear of uncertainty and the future full of possibilities were both thrilling and petrifying.
A knock at the door pulled me from my thoughts. Before I could utter a word, it flew open, and the twins came running in with Bill, Mom, and Mattie behind them. The professor backed away to give my family more space.
“Eva!” Cid and Marjorie tried to jump up on the bed.
“Kids, calm down!” Bill ordered. “She’s still healing!”
“Thank you for being here, Professor,” Mom said gratefully.
“My pleasure.”
Mom threw her arms around me. “Eva, are you okay?”
“I’m fine, Mom.”
“Don’t you ever run off on us like that again,” Bill also threw his arms around me.
“But,” I stammered. “I could have killed you, all of you. You looked so scared.”
“Oh, honey,” Mom said with tears in her eyes. “I’m so sorry. We were surprised, and we didn’t know what was going on. But we didn’t want you to leave!”
“You’re not scared of me?”
“Of course not,” Bill said resolutely. “We know you would never hurt any of us on purpose.”
“I’m sorry.” Tears filled my eyes. “I’m a freak.”
I suddenly felt my hand cocooned in another hand. It was Mattie. “We love you,” she whispered, eyes glistening. “I was so worried about you.”
“Mattie?”
“I’m sorry for how I acted last night,” she continued. “I was just upset that you’re going to college and leaving me behind. I’m just going to miss you so much.”
I pulled her in for a hug. “I’m going to miss you too, but we’ll talk all the time, and you can visit me whenever you want.”
Mattie nodded.
Professor Braddock stepped forward. “I’ll let you spend some time with your family today. Assuming you are discharged tomorrow morning, I’ll be back to take you to Empyrean Academy.”
Mom and Bill nodded. Professor Braddock slipped out as Mom scolded the twins for jumping on the couch. “Get down, right now!”
“By the way, you look horrible in that hospital gown,” Mattie said in familiar disgust as she dashed a tear from her eye.
“Mattie,” Bill warned.
I smiled at my family. One last day before going to the academy.
The next day, I stood in the parking lot of the hospital underneath an awning and watched the raindrops fall in large pellets that burst open on impact with the ground just a few feet from where I stood. The sky was a gloomy cast of heavy, swirling gray, only interrupted by the occasional flash of brilliant, jagged white light. A low rumble sounded in the sky, and I shivered lightly. It was the first rain in a three-week-long heat spell.
Professor Braddock checked his wristwatch and shifted his weight around uneasily. For the thousandth time, I wondered what would happen if I just told him I didn’t want to go to his special school, but the memory of setting the table on fire in front of my family immediately flashed in my mind, reminding me how close I came to hurting them. It could have been a lot worse.
I sighed heavily and leaned backward against Professor Braddock’s SUV, letting myself be mesmerized by the water droplets falling heavily on the concrete floor and rushing down the artificial slope into the drain. My breathing deepened and relaxed, and the butterflies in my stomach seemed to be roosting for the moment when the glare from a pair of headlights startled me out of my moment of peace.
I recognized the light blue tint of my mother’s car as it crossed the distance from the parking lot through the heavy torrents of rain and pulled into the spot next to Professor Braddock’s car. The rear doors flung open as soon as the car stopped, and Marjorie and Cid sprang out of it. I bent down and opened my arms as they came crashing into me with giggles. My eyes blurred with tears as I wrapped them in the tightest, warmest embrace I could give.
“You’re going to college today!” Cid declared.
“I am?” I asked jokingly.
“Yes, you silly!” Marjorie giggled.
Mom and Bill each pulled a suitcase out of the trunk and wheeled them over to Professor Braddock’s car. As Bill helped the professor load them, Mom pulled me into a big hug.
“Eva,” she spoke as her voice began to crack.
“Mom, you already cried four times yesterday!” I protested.
“My little girl is all grown up. I’m going to miss you so much.”
“I’ll be back for winter break. It’ll be here in no time.”
She nodded. “I’m so proud of you. I know giving up Hudson Heights isn’t easy, but I really do think Empyrean Academy is the best thing for you.”
“I always knew you were special,” Bill added. “You’re going to do great. We can’t wait to see everything you learn.”
“Maybe you can barbeque something other than our kitchen,” Mattie said with a smirk.
I scowled at her.
“Mattie actually packed you some of her dresses.” Mom beamed.
“I can’t let you go to college dressed like a dork all the time.” My sister shrugged.
My heart swelled at the thought that Mattie had sacrificed some of her precious clothes for me. She had always been more popular, fashionable, and put together than I was.
“Thank you, Mattie.” I smiled at her.
“You’re welcome, freak.” She smiled back.
“I’m going to miss you!” I suddenly wrapped her in a tight hug.
“Ah!” she yelped, but said, “I’m going to miss you too. Call me, okay? If you need a normal person to talk to.”
I nodded, choking back tears.
“Now, get off me.”
