Myths

Anabelle discovers what is behind the door. Later, she learns about the real Mr. Jensen

Feeling the cold metal under my hand, I slowly began pulling at the door. My heart was pulsing hard in my chest. I didn't know what to except. With my imagination running wild, I was oblivious to the fact that the flashes and sounds had stopped, including the chattering. Finally, the door was completely open, and I stepped in. 

My eyes where blind for a second, adapting from a dark room to a lit one. Even after I could see, I thought the room in front of me was a figment of my imagination. It was like nothing I had seen before, at least, nothing with my own eyes. The room had tall arched ceilings and stone walls that had carvings wherever you looked. Strangely, sconces on the walls were lit by fire. The most prominent feature of the spacious room was the pool in the middle, choppy with waves as if someone had just been diving in it, except there was no one around to be seen.  

I walked around looking for any sign of living souls, but found none. The carvings on the walls kept catching my attention. They showed an array of stories of strange creatures, some familiar and some not, mermaids being the most overwhelming. It hit me then that the room I was in looked like some hidden, underground chamber where a cult came during the nights to pray or talk or do whatever it is they do.

Impossible, I thought. I shook my head trying to shake off the strange thoughts. I couldn't understand how such a room could belong to the Academy because it wasn't gothic like the rest of the it. I looked around once more to confirm that I was alone and darted back up the spiraled stairs and to my room before anyone could catch me sneaking around. 

Inside, I took refugee between the covers of my bed. All the while, I kept thinking about the pool room. I had heard chattering, but when I opened the door, there was no one there, just like with the footsteps. I sighed. Maybe the events of my life were finally taking a toll in my head. 

* * *

In the morning, I was awaken by the soft-toned bell. I rolled off my bed and got ready. I made my way out into the hallway where other students were already fumbling around with books in their hands.

"Anabelle!" I turned around to meet Missy's friendly eyes. "Good morning!" 

"Good morning. Where is everyone going?" I asked her.

"We're going to class." Before I could make a response out of this, I heard someone else calling me.

"Anabelle," Mrs. Hickums said. "Good morning, girls. Missy, please, hurry along. Anabelle follow me." I turned back to glance at Missy, who mouthed 'bye' to me, and then followed Mrs. Hickums downstairs to a room that was apparently an office. Mrs. Hickums ordered me to take a seat in front of a big oak desk across from Mr. Jensen.

"Good morning, Anabelle. I hope you had a first goodnight at Greenwich Academy," Mr. Jensen began. "Today you will begin your first formal day of instruction. I have in front of me your high school record, and so far you seem to be on track with your classes. You will continue your studies in the Academy. Here is your class schedule." He handed to me an ivory paper across the desk, which I took and stared at for a moment.

"You have counseling for third period with Mrs. Hickums. This will be your time for rehabilitation. She will show you around for your first day. You will meet your teachers along the way. I expect you to treat this as if it were a normal school. All rules apply. Is that understood?"

"Yes," I said in reluctance. I stifled a groan. I couldn't believe I had to continue with school. 

"Very well, then. Carry along." He waved his hand, motioning for us to leave. Mrs. Hickums and I walked out of the office, and she gave me a small tour of the study area. I didn't mention to her that I had already stumbled upon these rooms. Then, it was time for first period, which happened to be math analysis. I didn't have to introduce myself to anyone except the teacher. There were only three students in the class, Missy being one of them. She waved at me and I took a seat next to her.

"Hey," she whispered while the teacher had her back to us and explained something on the board. "I'm so glad you're in this class. Now I have someone to talk to," she giggled. I smiled at her.

"Girls!" the teacher said. "Pay attention. Anabelle, don't start off on the wrong foot on your first day."

"Sorry," I mumbled. I took out the fresh notebook Mrs. Hickums had given me and was taking notes down, when Missy passed a note to me. I took it and hid it under my notebook. 

Hi, she wrote.

Hi I wrote back.

I'm sorry for getting you in trouble.

It's ok

Can I ask you something? I hesitated before I wrote my answer.

Yes

Do you speak Spanish?

Huh huh.

Can you help me with my Spanish homework? 

Sure thing.

You know. You don't look hispanic. You look more armenian, to me. 

I never thought I looked different. Can I ask you something?

Of course.

Is there a pool in the Academy? Missy looked at the paper for a moment, doubt streaking across her face.

No. Why? I was stunned at her answer. Did she really not know there was a pool in the Academy? I wasn't sure if I should tell her my truth, so I wrote down an answer before she guessed I had been sneaking around. 

No reason. Just curious. I like to swim. The truth was I didn't know how to swim at all. When she read my answer she looked up at me in surprise and smiled, a smile I could only describe as understanding, as if I had guessed upon something.

Me too!! I wouldn't be surprised if everyone else did. Not a second late, the bell rang, and we all headed to our next class. I only had Missy for first period so I didn't have to pass notes with anyone else for the rest of the day. During lunch time, I found Missy and Marsha in the hallway headed to the cafeteria, a room unnecessary considering the dining rooms were only a short distance away.

"Mr. Jensen still thinks of us as little messy kids," Missy explained, "so he set up the cafeteria just for us. He doesn't like us prowling around the house during lunch. Especially not today that the McCallisters are coming over for dinner."

"The McCallisters?" I repeated.

"They're the most distinguished family around town," Marsha butted in. 

"Are they like us? I mean, another academy?" I asked her.

"No, their just your typical, normal rich family."

"Normal? I wouldn't say they're that normal if they own 40 acre properties around the world and drive Ferraris like cheap toy cars," Missy said annoyed.

"Yeah, but compared to our 'family', I'd say their pretty normal. In fact, we're not family at all," Marsha said a little irritated.

"You're family to me," Missy said and took Marsha for a big bear hug. Marsha blushed and smiled back at her. After the little emotional outburst, all three of us took our plates and got food from a buffet in the middle of the cafeteria, which had all sorts of food. I wondered to myself how Mr. Jensen could afford all this. We took our seats and began to eat our lunch. Missy kept rattling on about the Academy ball that would be held in two weeks.

"You came just in time," she said to me. " The ball is going to a blast. Other students from other academies are coming too. Even students from Ithaca College!"

"Ithaca College? But isn't the ball only for high school students or something?" I asked.

"Yes, but Mr.Jensen is a professor at Ithaca, and he has invited some of his students."

"He's a professor?" I said dumbly.

"Yup. During the day he teaches at Ithaca, and in the afternoons he comes back to the Academy." I pondered on that for a moment. Why would Mr. Jensen become the headmaster of an academy for troubled teens when he had an honorable profession as a professor? 

"What does he teach?" I blurted out. Missy and Marsha exchanged a quick glance.

"Well, he teaches European mythologies," Marsha answered. "He teaches about many different myths that were created in Europe, but he specializes on one in particular."

"Which one?" I asked, not that I knew any european myths, but Mr. Jensen's choice of subject was interesting.

"Mr. Jensen focuses on a French myth that says that chimpanzee not only evolved into humans, but into other creatures that were human-like," Marsha went on. She was being cautious with her choice of words I realized. "By human-like, I mean not completely human. Some chimpanzee grew fins, some grew wings, and some grew both as they evolved, but simultaneously grew human characteristics." She stopped and both of them looked at me waiting for a reaction.

"So they believed in mermaids, angels, and merangels," I said trying to be humorous to drown with silliness the existence of such beings, but both Missy and Marsha kept straight faces. 

"Exactly," Marsha continued," but the angels weren't actually 'angels'. They were just like humans with wings. The myth goes on to say that all these beings that descended from chimpanzee coexisted for many years. But like races between humans, these beings saw the difference in each other and gradually grew contempt of each other. By this time merangels, or Melbian more accurately, were a minority. Around the time of the Renaissance, a big war broke out between the mermaids, which were actually called Belkian, and the Schelsky, the 'angels'. The Melbian, being a minority, didn't know which side to choose, and the Belkian and Schelsky grew weary that they couldn't pick a side. Afraid that the Melbians would choose the enemy's side, the Schelsky began killing them to prevent them from turning against them. Only a few were left alive and are still rare to see," Marsha said convincingly, but aware of her mistake cleared her throat and said a little embarrassed, "I mean they would still be rare to see."

"That's right," Missy interrupted. "The myth also says that humans were never a part of this. They never knew about the war. They didn't even know about the existence of their brethren species. These other species, with their wings and fins and whatever, developed the power to hide their differences and look like humans." Marsha nodded in agreement. The whole myth story sounded very convincing, but I knew better than to believe it. It was still very fascinating, so I said, "What happened next?"

Marsha continued, "Well, the Belkian won the war and they punished the Schelsky for committing a genocide against the Melbian. They also tried in vain to help the Melbian regain their numbers. Ever since then, the Shelsky and the Belkian always disliked each other, but never became quite enemies, and the Melbian remained forever only a few." Surprisingly, I found myself mourning over the Melbian.

"It's a good thing it's just a myth," I heard myself saying. Marsha and Missy looked suddenly upset.

"You wouldn't believe it?" Missy asked.

"Of course not. It's just a myth."

"But what if it wasn't a myth?"

"After all I've been through, I think I would hardly find myself believing in such fairy-tales," I snapped.

"That...," Missy began, but Marsha cut her off.

"It's ok. She's right. It's just a myth."

"I'm so hopeless. I'm sorry," I said and looked down at my food. Someone put a hand over my arm and I looked up.

"It's all right," Missy cooed. I looked at her and felt lost in the warmth of her eyes. Nobody had looked at me with such tenderness before. Nobody except my mother. I felt a pain in the pit of my stomach. I looked back down and softly retrieved my arm from her touch. I just wasn't ready for emotional attachments. An eternal silence fell over us. I lost my appetite and just poked my food around until the bell rang for the next class. We got up and as I was dumping my food in the trash, Missy said, "Oh, there's going to be a meeting today at the library. All the students have to go. Don't miss it." I felt sorry then for having been so rude to her, but she seemed not to mind. I guess everyone here had gone through hard things, too, and she understood me well. She was so sweet and bubbly that it seemed hard to believe she had been through a rough life. 

The rest of my periods passed in a blur. I often found myself imagining the beings of the myth Marsha told me about. I knew dead well that such beautiful creatures couldn't exist, but there was no reason not to wish them into being, but I also knew that a dream was just that, a dream and nothing more. The last bell rang, snapping me aware from my trances. I collected my books and headed for the library. 

Author's Note

Ok. Fourth Chapter. It took me long to write it. Sorry about that. Tell me if you can read the colored section. Don't hesitate to criticize. I need the constructive criticism. Don't forget to review. Thank you so much for reading!

Reviews

[Denni]

i quite enjoyed this, will you be writing more of it? if you do sent me a request

[Havatara]

I loved it. I didn't see any mistakes, so I can't help you there. I loved your foreshadowing and I can't wait for the next chapter.

[Katie]

I think it's a good chapter and I can read the colored section. Another option is to play around with different fonts, bold, or italics. I didn't see any areas that needed fixing so good job!