Why To BeA Story by yazzermcnazzer A story of two boys entering boarding school in the UK. My inspiration has come from personal experience, Enders Game, Eragon, Harry Potter, Hindu and Greek Mythology. A mix with lots of twists. Why To Be CHAPTER 1 " The New Beginning Grant woke up tired, bruised and
with heavy bags under his eyes. He had worked all day in the heat scorched
fields with little rest and barely any food. He enjoyed the mundane task, it
gave him time to contemplate and figure out how he was going to cope with the
drastic change he was about to face; He was becoming a Teenager tomorrow! Grant was a typical teenager. There
was nothing physically extraordinary about him. He was taller than most of his
age group clocking in at 5’5 and had a decently strong built from all the
farming work he did. He had long brown, thick and messy hair that he usually
kept it in a ponytail. He always felt his pair of big brown eyes and his hawk
straight Roman nose were his best features. A few months before, he was hit
with a bad case of acne and was now taking medication to keep it in control.
However any introduction of grease from his hands or from the food he ate made
that acne jump out of nowhere and spread like wildfire. To no one’s surprise the
‘old unhealthy junk food loving’ Grant went to become one of the healthiest
people one could ever meet. “Time for lunch!” shouted his mother Martha. Martha was known well for her beauty. She was tall and slim with a perfect posture. Her beautifully radiant black hair rolled down her back like a silky smooth rapid. Even though she was 51, she had men of all ages turning their heads and ogle. Martha had loved Grant with every bit of her heart ever since she brought him into the world. She had smothered him with affection and anything he truly desired all his life. She had the knack to embarrass him with a remarkable skill and constantly displayed her affection to rouse up the most awkward of moments. He walked in to the house through
the old creaky oak door and sat down with Martha. He didn’t even say a word
before diving straight into the curry on the table. Curry was a big occasion at
home and hence there would be some good or bad news that was going to be spilt
later that day. However as tired as he was, he frankly didn’t care at that
moment. In fact he was so drained that he did not even greet his mother. He
helped himself to plenty of bread rolls while downing a nice chilled coke. He
knew he would miss occasions like this when he would leave. He thought this was
paradise. It was everything he loved about life, relaxing after a long morning
of work out in the fields. After lunch, he had his usual
banter with his mother (which was always about things of no significance) and
then set out yet again to work in the fields. While out in the fields he did
the norm of stacking hay and tending to the cattle but as the light grew dim he
finally reached the chore which was by far his favorite part of the day. Grant loved to ride horses ever
since he was a child. After spending hours upon hours with them, he had learnt
how to breed them into top notch race and polo horses. His favorite horse was Mudpile.
She was a big brown and slender Arabian of a great breed. Mudpile was
surprisingly aggressive towards other horses and hence had to be at the back of
a group at all times. This was a tried and tested theory as the horse behind
her was usually in for a nice surprise, most likely a kick in the face. Grant
loved that about her as that was a great threat he could always use on his
siblings; after all being the youngest of the lot he didn’t have that many
one-ups on them. Every evening he used to mount her
and gallop for an hour, through his family’s estate which had no visible
boundaries, seemingly galloping with complete freedom to the middle of nowhere.
He thought it was the greatest feeling ever; that was until he was introduced
to girls, but that story is for another time. While riding Mudpile he never felt
confined; he had the wind beating against his face, his long uncut and unwashed
hair flying behind him, in turn seeming to try to break free and fly away from
him to its own freedom. After his ride he took Mudpile back
to the stable and did his usual routine of spraying her down with icy cold
water before laying out some oats, barley and water. He was certain she enjoyed
this part of the evening the best. ‘What a great way to end the day’,
he thought, giving her a sugar cube as he left back for the house. He walked
this long path every night under the starry skies. The clean cool air filled
his body and sent a chill down his spine. It was pitch black with only an
orange glow a few miles away that was to be his guide. That orange glow was a
beacon of light that he always followed without question. He was used to
following and being told what to do. Being from the family with such a rich and
elaborate history, there were rules as well as plenty of expectations that
needed to be met, and to stand up to them meant extradition from the family.
There would be no signet ring, no title, no inheritance, only mock and spite
from the ones he loved. As he got closer to the light it
started to take shape, a familiar shape, a shape that he had been used to since
he was a child, it was his family manor. He walked past the great stone where his
families’ blood had been spilled over the centuries gone by, and then past the
great tree of shame where his family were brought down to their very knees.
Finally he reached his house and walked through the same old creaking oak door
into the warm embrace of his foyer. Suddenly, the little hair on his arms
relaxed and lay flat, it was as if the warmth was an indication to relax after
the cool night of standing at attention; the goosebumps on his arms seem to run
away and hide as if they were hyenas in the face of a larger predator, only
waiting to strike back when the time was right. He took of his muddy boots, staring
at his pruney feet and then heard his father calling, “Grant, come here for a
minute would you”, while walking to his father he thought his feet surprisingly
smelt a lot like his old friend Graham; He stopped for a second and scratched
on the stubble he did not have and wondered, Was his friend in his shoe? Did
his friend live there? Did his friend sniff his shoe? Was it all part of some
dastardly plan? All very outlandish thoughts but he was told he had an active
imagination, maybe it was time he saw someone. He walked into his father’s study. The
room was a magnificent one that had great vines crawling up the ceiling from
all sides; they were covered in gold and crept right to the middle of the
ceiling where a replica of Leonardo Da Vinci’s Creation of Adam laid. The room
smelt of a usual concoction of rich tobacco and cognac. There were priceless
Ming Vases around the room that were in such insignificant and unnoticeable
places that one wondered whether they were as worthless as an ashtray. He
walked past the grand sitting table in the middle of the room where a beautiful
Faberge egg stood at the center. His father smoking a pipe was lounging in his
usual spot behind his messy desk that was covered with paper that unfortunately
hid the beautiful engravings on it. It also had an outdated computer which his
father refused to part with due to weird sentimental reasons. Grant’s dad Thomas (Tom) Defino was
the minister of Shipping and Transportation in Tom had a very fair complexion like
the rest of the family did and was balding. He religiously took what little
hair he had and combed it across the top of his dome; he was as against the use
of gel as a vegetarian was against veal and hence one could almost count each
strand of hair that dawned upon his head. Grant tried counting it once when he
was much younger but as soon as his father noticed the impolite act, Grant in
turn noticed a hand flying towards his face that he did not escape. He finally looked up and said, “Ah
son, so you finally decided to join me. I need to have a quick word with you
about Whitmore.” ‘Whitmore!’ Grant thought. He knew
this was coming but was hoping to avoid it. Immediately a huge wave of memories
hit him that reminded him of how his elder brothers came out of this
discussion, red with rage and tears flowing down their rosy cheeks. It was just
such a big shock that it was his time now, his time to leave the house. It was
going to be the same old drill from father, explaining why Grant needed to go
to Whitmore. Whitmore, which was located in Whitmore wasn’t like every School;
you did not go there to learn English, mathematics and French, schools like His father started off by saying,
“Son, your mother and I have tried our best to shape you into a great man, a
man fitting to carry on the family name, but we have failed our parental duties
to that extent; We have spoken thoroughly about this and feel the best plan of
action will be to send you in your brothers’ path. Do you feel this is the
right course of action from our part?” This however was a rhetorical
question, his father did not care about what he thought on the matter, he was
just letting him feel like he had a say in the matter, making him feel like a
bigger man, just to shoot down his thoughts and dreams, and stomp them to the
ground. For you see in the Defino family, this is how it was done, take away
all hope and point in a direction they thought to be best, and one had to
follow it. He stood there moving his foot in a circular motion on top of the
old red and black Persian that covered the whole study. Grant then said, “I do not wish to
go father, I’d rather stay at home and carry on studying at the school here. I
do not feel it is my path and I feel like I can succeed without attending
Whitmore, all I really want is for you to have some trust in me, you yourself
feel like I am the most likely to succeed amongst my siblings, why then do you
force me to go somewhere where I do not need to go?” To Grant his arguments were sound but
he knew that his words were hitting a brick wall; there was no way that he
could convince his father. And then his father replied, “Son, I
do agree to the extent that you are the most likely to succeed amongst your brothers
but you are still too young to know what is best for you, it pains me to see
you leave but your mothers’ and my decision is final. Now go help your mother
set up dinner.” Thomas then looked down into his Whitmore
prospective magazine acting like Grant was no longer in the room; Grant turned
around and walked towards the kitchen, hurt and dismayed.
CHAPTER 2 " A Grand Adventure It was a long drive back home.
Aryan was excited as it had been such a long time since he felt the warm
embrace of his mother. Plus as a bonus he would be just in time to catch the
finals of the cricket World cup final. The match was the best he could have
asked for, Aryan was what one would call a
mummy’s boy or in He was rather normal, standing at 5’2 with curly black hair that he kept very short. He had a small ‘z’
shaped scar under his left eye which he got after a dog attacked him at a mere
age of just 5. His parents told him he had the biggest eyes of the family
(which were brown) and the whitest teeth. Those were stats he planned to never change
after all the horror stories he heard about dentists and eye doctors at a much
younger age. Aryan had been with his extended family
for two months who were situated all over After a long 12 hour drive he finally
reached home, got out of his car and was greeted with tons of love from his
dogs Kaiser and Taiga. The two German shepherds scared the living daylights out
of everyone in his neighborhood but with him they were the calmest and most
peaceful dogs he has ever seen. Due to his lack of siblings they were as close
to him as a brother and sister would have been. He walked on the cobbled driveway
kicking a few pebbles around, watching the dogs fondly as they went to fetch them. Upon reaching the large wooden door he strolled into his
white 4 story house. The foyer was as grand as ever. The sweet smell of home
began wreaking havoc with his senses, the brightest memories of his childhood
flashed through his mind and he smiled. There was no way that that smell could
ever be beaten; he had missed the marble flooring and tall white ceilings and
the replica of the great painting of ‘The creation of Adam’ that hung on the
wall. He took a left and walked towards his father’s office, walking on the
twisting vines stitched into the carpet. He was about to greet him for the
first time after his 2 month absence. On reaching his fathers study he
did as accustomed, knocking on his father’s door and waited for a reply. Deepak was his father; he owned and
ran a very successful oil company. He was a very wise man who made his
fortune starting with nothing and no help; it was that great entrepreneurship
mind that Aryan liked to think and hope he had inherited. He was known to be a
great looker having being distinguished with being the bachelor of the year
while in “Come in” was the simple reply
Deepak gave. Aryan opened the door to a room where
he had strolled through during both great and terrible times. This room was the
room in which Aryan was either praised or scolded; he never went into the room
unless his father called him inside. As soon as he walked in he was hit
with an all too familiar smell that instantly reminded him of greatness, great
respect and to his greatest fear of being made to look like a fool. Aryan
portrayed himself to be strong determined child but under all the tough layers
there was a very sensitive and vulnerable part that he hid very well. He never
wished to let anyone aware of it as he was adamant on not being taken advantage
off. His father was serious, not at a
good sign, what had he done now Aryan wondered. He dreaded the next few minutes
initially but was instantly relieved when his father looked up and smiled. His
father was either smiling sadistically looking forward to Aryan breaking down
like a ‘little baby’ or had Aryan finally done something right? “Aryan, great to have you back son.
You’ve been missed. So how was your trip?” asked Deepak to which Aryan sighed
with relief. “Well family was usual. I visited
the oil fields as you heard. The trade workers at the plant had a strike 4
times during my short stay, they burnt down warehouse number 3, beat a couple
of workers into a pulp, graphitized your one of a kind Mercedes, so I guess
nothing new” said Aryan to which they both laughed. Now it was down to business, Deepak
started by saying, “Well Aryan I think you did very well over the last few
months. You had good grades at school and your polo is going very well, what
more could a father ask for eh?” To which Aryan replied with an
awkward laugh. Deepak carried on saying, “Aryan
you’ve made me very proud over the last year, and I feel like you deserve an
opportunity to be better than all your peers. An opportunity that my father
wouldn’t have dreamt of giving me in his whole life, the opportunity to attend
Whitmore.” Suddenly a wave of excitement hit
Aryan; he had always been very intrigued with the secrets of Whitmore and
secretly wanted to attend the school. “Now remember the school is very
far away from home and you will only be able to come home twice a year for 3
months in total. It won’t be the easiest of tasks to get acclimated in a different
country where you will be the only person from this part of the world. I am on
a short leash for time here and can only give you a day to accept or decline
the offer. If you do agree you will be leaving in two days and all the
arrangements will be made immediately. Now go upstairs and greet everyone and
keep it to yourself as this decision should be made by you and you alone, think
about it for as long as you feel fit and tell me by tomorrow. Bye” said Deepak.
Aryan got up and turned towards the
door, walking outside and taking a huge breath to calm himself down. His
beating heart felt like it was going to burst out of his chest anytime now;
while sprinting up the stairs he thought ‘Alas my journey has begun’.
CHAPTER 3 - The Journey Begins
Grant felt like he had been red
with rage ever since he left his fathers study. He had his big black samsonite
suitcase out laid on his floor. There were still a couple of days till he left
but he couldn’t think of anything else to do. He lay flat on his big lonely
king bed that was covered by a soft duvet with Dexter stitched on it (Dexter
was his favorite cartoon character at that time) and stretched his hands and
feet out as far as possible as if preparing to make a snow angel. While laying
in this position his mind wandered off for a minute or two and soon he was fast
asleep, his method of calming down when he was filled with bitterness and
anger. He was now in a long dark room;
suddenly a door opened, and the light slowly crept forward as if prancing ready
for an attack until the whole room was filled with light and color. The dark
had yet again been beaten, he seemed to feel bad for the dark, at how the light
could come whenever it wished and the dark had to run away and hide until the
light saw fit to leave. Grant started walking through the door to see what the
source of the light was; he had seen this room he walked into before but could
not put his finger on it. He walked into the room and saw himself now in this
huge castle, the grimy stone walls were damp and smelt rather peculiar. There
was this giant twin staircase leading to the second floor where right at the
meeting point stood a tall elegant man with a rather crooked nose; he must have
been in his 50’s but looked like he could still be a mean threat on the rugby
field. He had a sadistic smile on his face, that only seemed to widen as Grant
was pulled closer and closer to him. Grant looked behind him as a few giant
bars covered the door he came through, blocking any exit. Then out of nowhere
he saw these chains appear on his hands and feet, he did not understand what
was happening, nothing made sense. The tall white gentleman looked
right into his eyes with a piercing stare (The stare felt as if he already knew
everything there was to know about Grant) and said, “Welcome.” The greeting was
immediately followed by a long drawn out evil laugh. Everything suddenly seemed to be
closing in around him; he had no way to escape. The air started to get thin, he
was almost out of breath, getting out was all he could think about. He looked
left and right but saw nothing, no door, no window. ‘Wait’ he thought, he saw the
outline of a door in a dark corner and ran there as fast as he could, tripping
and fumbling over the chains while getting there. He pried open the door with
all the strength he could muster. The clickity clang of the dangling chains was
getting overwhelming. All he could think off was to run and without thinking
twice he ran into the unknown room with miraculous speed, only to find that he
was now falling into a deep abyss, a dark, lonely abyss. No one was coming for
him, no one would even know where to come to find him. Realizing this he
started to scream out loud. Grant suddenly woke up, beads of
sweat all over him. His room was spinning in front of his big brown eyes. He
decided he had to get out of there. In the process of sitting up he noticed his
veins were bulging and he still burnt with anger, anger that he would love to
be directing towards his father. He was on the edge of his bed and saw that his
feet were finally long enough to touch the cold dark wooden floor. His mind was relaxing and he then
thought, ‘Darn I really don’t think ill be able to stop being mad at dad for a
while. Why is he so impossible to deal with? Why does he think I need to go to
stupid bloody Whitmore?’ Grant stood up and walked into his
dresser and took out his cross trainers. He needed to run, to get as far away
as possible, get this frustration out. He walked down the carpeted stairs, and
went to his mother. “Mom I’m going for a short stroll
outside” said Grant “Ok be back quick, dinner will be
done and on the table as soon as your father’s guest leaves. An old school
friend I think” said Grant’s mother. Grant really couldn’t care what his
father was doing at the moment. He was angry, too angry to care. He opened the front door, put on
his shoes and ran hard and wild, jumping over hedges, running through stinging
nettles, and never looking back; he was not going to stop till he was shattered
and exhausted. The wind was blowing with a tremendous force which made his eyes
start to water; leaves were floating down like snow on a cold wintery night. He
started to feel the lactic acid build up in his muscles and his stomach, the cramping
and the loss of breath overcame his urge to run and he immediately stopped. The
run had lasted for about 4 minutes " 5 minutes with how unfit he was but it
would suffice as travelling the path he took and with the pace he ran he could
no longer see the house. He then looked up at the sky and
shouted at the top of his voice, “S**T!” this being the only swear word he was
aware of. He was always an innocent one. He was shattered and collapsed
backwards on the cushiony foot high grass, his chest was heaving loudly. He
listened quietly to the crickets and owls in the grass and the trees; he was
always scared that there would be a time when he would mistake a cricket for a
rattle snake (he was terrified of snakes). Nature was calming him down now, his
head beat less profusely and his muscles started to relax slowly, the oxygen
was doing its job. He started to think things through, wondering whether he
could somehow beat the system, to go to Whitmore and not change, to see whether
his father actually felt he was strong enough to keep himself away, locked up
so his real self was never hurt or changed while he took on all the
opportunities that came his way. Could he suck it up for 5 years, stay himself
and reap all the benefits? What was this so called secret of Whitmore?
Questions were rushing through him like water rushes through a rapid. The gushing wind had turned to a gentle
breeze. It was sweeping the beads of sweat of his head which was cooling him
down. The icy chill that runs down your body from head to tail when you go from
being steaming hot to frigidly cool was welcomed by Grant. He was relaxed now;
he was going to come up with a plan of action to figure out how he would act,
how he would play the game of beurocracy and how he would try to figure out a
way to beat the system. He started to do a childhood habit
of pointing out constellations in the sky, always starting with the Big dipper,
then the small dipper and just when he found Orion’s belt, he heard a deafening
series of blasts, as if there were a series of explosions, to which he stood up
and gravely noticed that they were all coming from where his family manor
stood. There was a huge blast of fire flying towards the sky that was spitting
out pieces of debris all around the estate. Unknowingly Grant had already
started running towards the house, an automatic reflex. He was running quicker
than he had before, things were rushing past his face in a blur, and pieces of
wood were falling all around him. He was not running out of breath and appeared
to be going faster and still faster. All he knew was that there was danger and
he had to do something about it. He
screeched to a halt on seeing his house. It was in flames, the roof blown off
and to his dismay no one was outside. The horses were jumping and neighing
frightened by the fire. He heard no screams, nothing; he felt a deep lurching
feeling at the pit of his stomach and then ran up the hill towards his house,
vaulting straight over the fence in his way. Upon reaching the front of his
house he saw the door was on fire so he kicked at it with all the power he
could muster. The door flew forward to the ground. He looked around briefly
seeing his childhood memories in flames and right there in the corner he saw
his mother unconscious and laying still; her leg was broken, snapped at the
shin. He did not even try to wake her, he lifted her with surprising ease and
sprinted out of his house and dropped her under the great tree which was a safe
distance away. There was still no sign of his father. After making sure she was
still breathing he ran inside and walked towards his father’s study. A few
embers had already burnt parts of his legs and his arms. Grant was surrounded by a burning
rumble pit which used to be his house. He walked through steadily as he would
be no help with parts of his body severely burnt. He reached the study but its
door wouldn’t budge. Grant tried to kick it down but the door still remained
still as if made of solid steel; something seemed to be holding it closed. He then heard a small scream, ‘Dad’
he thought. He tried to kick the door down again but had no luck with that. His
adrenaline started to pump up his system, his arms grew bigger, legs stronger,
chest wider and then with a mad rage he started to punch the door. Blisters
started to form immediately all over his hands but in this current trance it
didn’t occur to him. He was swinging madly at the door, his eyes white with
rage. After a minute he noticed that he managed to crack one small part of the
door; his eyes had automatically focused in on it as if it were some sort of
tunnel vision. The crack widened and with each extra swing and sign of hope his
punches seemed to become as hard as bricks and finally the door gave way and
broke into a number of pieces. Grant immediately walked in and
looked up to where he heard the screams. He saw that something was pinned to
the ceiling, right where the painting of the creation of Adam lay; it was his
father and he was surrounded by a sickening fire that was licking every part of
his body. Thomas shouted at Grant, “Grant get
out of here before its too late for you, there is nothing you can do for me”
but like in Grant’s case earlier his father’s words hit a brick wall. Grant was very efficient; he immediately
grabbed the ladder that was used to get books on high shelves and swung it to
the center of the room, pushing the coffee table in the middle to the side. He
seemed to prance up the ladder inhumanly fast, like a leopard on a tree. He now
saw his father up close, it was a sight that would haunt him for years to come,
his skin was bubbling and it looked like there was no sign of hope. The sight
was so horrible that it took all the will he could muster to not turn away and
run. He pulled out the red hot nails scorching his fingers in the process and
then hoisted his father on his shoulder and jumped of the top of the ladder landing
straight on his feet. He wasn’t hurt or anything, this whole situation was
puzzling him but thinking was going to be for later. He ran out of the study
and got out of the house just in time before it collapsed into a massive fiery
heap. Grant ran out to the Great tree
where his mother lay, still unconscious. He put his father on the ground
gently; tears were flowing down Grant’s cheeks now. His Father looked at him and said,
“Look in the vault in He then smiled and coughed up a
little blood and said, “You’ve made me proud, take care of the family and
become a much greater man than I ever was, you were meant for greatness son.” He reached up and put his palm on
Grant’s wet cheek and smiled. His eyes immediately rolled back and that was it,
he was gone, gone forever, never there for Grant again, never again. Grant
looked at the house, it was gone, his mother was breathing which was a good
sign, so not all was lost; His muscles then immediately contracted and his
energy disappeared, he felt his body become smaller in a way. The last 10 to 15
minutes were too much of a shock for Grant’s body, his vision started to blur
and he fell backwards and fainted. * * * Aryan had told his father that he
would be delighted to attend Whitmore later that evening. Aryan tended to do
things in a spontaneous and immature manner. He loved the idea of leaving home,
no parents to watch him constantly, no lights out; i.e. a lot of freedom to
live what he thought was the ‘good’ life. I mean which teenager wouldn’t want
an opportunity like that. Aryan was in his father’s lounging
chair when CNN came on with breaking news on a week old incident in ‘News is always so morbid’ thought
Aryan and he switched the channel to the local news. The news was reporting an
incident of grave digging and stolen artifacts from ancient ruins around So as to brighten the atmosphere Deepak smiled
and said, “Aryan would you like to go to Taipan tonight? After all you’re not
going to be going there anytime soon since you’re leaving tomorrow night.” Aryan immediately replied with a
solid, “Yes please.” Taipan was his favorite restaurant
in While driving to the restaurant
Deepak seemed rather troubled by something, it was useless to ask him what was
bothering as the following two replies would follow; the first being “you’re
too young to understand” and the second being “Aryan stop intruding in my
affairs”. Hence Aryan learnt over the years when to keep shut so as to keep the
general atmosphere positive. It took them around 20 minutes to reach the Oberoi
hotel which had that magnificent restaurant. They drove in through a large
black gate which was in the middle of two guard houses. The driveway to the
hotel was magnificent, Aryan loved it. It was long, with trees on both sides of
the lane throughout the driveway. The best part of it was that the hotel had
planted a variety of trees on each side of the road so it was as if you were
driving through a painting of an artist with a very vivid, colorful and wild
imagination. There were trees with leaves ranging from red through to a white
color; the leaves were all of different design as well. This hotel was the
Woldroff Historia of They walked up the white marble
steps towards the hotel doors. An attendant opened up the doors into the
beautiful lobby of the hotel. The first thing all guests notice is the grand
indoor fountain; it was a white marble fountain that had fresh rose petals in
the water that left an exotic smell throughout the lobby. It was a great
centerpiece of the lobby and worked perfectly with the ambiance of the hotel.
They took the elevator up to the top floor which is where the restaurant was
situated. The restaurant always had the same smell of oriental spices and sake.
The concoction was mesmerizing and tended to made Aryan feel very comfortable. The family had just begun to dive
into the peeking duck and pancakes when Deepak received a phone call. Usually
Deepak ignored calls while out with the family but that statement failed to
hold water when he stood up and walked just out of earshot to answer it.
Initially his expression was stern but soon his forehead creased and a flash of
fear flew past his eyes, something definitely was not right and whatever it was
was very important to Deepak. After a couple of minutes Deepak walked away from
the giant vase in the corner of the restaurant and walked towards them
squeezing between the tables dressed in white laced cloth. Upon reaching Deepak said,
“Something has come up. Anju finish dinner with Aryan; When you’re done go down
and signal for Rajinder in the lobby and he will take you home.” “Ok we will see you back at home,
remember our talk earlier Deepak, I’ll expect to see you back soon”, said Anju. CHAPTER 4 - The Morning After Martha nudged Grant, her eyes were
puffed up and her face had two black lines rolling down from its corners which
were formed by a mixture of tears and mascara. The lines seemed to somehow make
a box around her current expression which would bring anyone down to their
knees, guessing all the parts to it would be like winning at ‘Who Wants to be a
Millionaire’, i.e. extremely hard. It showed despair, helplessness, confusion,
fear, tiredness and even a sense of determination. Grant slowly opened his
eyes, craning them open with all his strength. He felt unable to move as if all
the life was sucked out of every single muscle in his body. He looked around
and saw his mother, her face had a terrifying expression on it, he had never
seen his mother in this state; she was always such a strong person. He noticed
that they were no longer under the Great Tree but in a dark room which
resembled someone’s attic. “Where are we mom?” said Grant “Don’t talk Grant, you’re hurt very
bad, you need to relax” said Martha. Grant suddenly noticed his body was
burning, he felt blisters, burns and cramps all around him and his body felt
such a shock again that his eyes rolled back and he fainted yet again. * *
* Grant woke up several hours later,
his body wrapped in bandages. He no longer felt any pain, either he was healing
quickly or he was dosed up on pain-killers. He was lying down in the corner of
what he was now sure to be an attic. At the other corner sat a group of people
he recognized as his brothers, his mother and a few other people he did not
know. They were sitting on little stools in a circle and were talking in such a
hushed fashion that Grant couldn’t even catch a word here and there of what the
topic of conversation was. The Defino family was a very secretive family and
hence so as to clear up the clouds of mystery in Grant’s mind he felt that it
was best fitting that he just kept shut and listened. Grant slowly moved closer
to them trying to be as subtle as possible. Ralph, Grant’s eldest brother
brushed his ginger emo hair out his eyes and said, “What’s the POA now? We
can’t just waltz out and say that actually only dad died while you two
survived. What about how it already happened to Grant, I mean if it wasn’t for
him we would not have you with us today mum. The Professors at Whitmore who are
blatantly behind this will find it rather interesting that dad even managed to
get out of the house yesterday with the door being closed with the arts only
learnt there” “How in the world did Grant manage
to get in there and break him out in such a short time span, he has no training
at all and no skills worth of notice. Even the two of us after graduating from
Whitmore would not have been able to do what he did. Do you think what they
said when Grant was born was right?” said Simon Grant’s other brother. “Not one thing he has said came
true yet Simon until yesterday. I think we should question Grant before we jump
to any conclusions”, said Ralph. ‘Who is this he? And if it was the
people from Whitmore then why aren’t we going after them now? Did I do
something special last night?’ all these thoughts were rushing in and through
Grant’s mind with no answer bouncing into his mind. Grant could still barely hear what
was being said so he started to nudge a bit closer when unknowingly his foot
hit a glass of water that was presumably set there for him by his mother for
him. Everyone who was in the circle immediately stood up and stared right where
the sound originated from; they all looked like they were about to fight with
everything they had in them, some had a frightened timid look but at the same
time a stench of confidence surrounded them, others looked brave ready to take
on the beast that came no matter what it was. It was a great sight to see them
all standing side by side, as if it was a movie scene from ‘The Lord of the Rings’
where they were ‘Fellowship of the ring’ who were the bravest of all the people
in middle earth. Right in front of the group was Ralph and Simon who were
Grant’s older brothers. Simon was a year older than Ralph
but they both were practically twins. They were both around 6’2, with a very
large muscular built. They had ginger hair and bulbous noses due to rugby while
at Whitmore. Simon however had a pair of small green eyes while Ralph had a
pair of large reddish brown eyes. Being from Whitmore they had superior posture
and were both currently moving their way up the ladder in the government where
they both started like their father in the Shipping and Transportation section.
The only difference between the two was that Ralph had long emo looking hair
that covered his left eye most of the time while Simon had a short crew cut
hairstyle. When they noticed it was Grant who
had woken up it was as if a huge sense of relief went through the room, like a
blast of the air-conditioner after working outside in the heat all day. Some of
them smiled while others still looked around and scouted the area. “So how long have you been
listening in on us then? Didn’t anyone tell you it was rude?” said Ralph
smiling away. “Listening in on what? Were you
guys talking? Hadn’t the dastardly idea that people were even here. After all
you both know how secretive things in the family are, I probably would not know
that mum had broken her leg for a month even if she was around as it probably
happened somewhere I should not know about” said Grant. Everyone laughed upon hearing that.
Finally the atmosphere was better and less tense. Immediately after that brief
distraction the smiles on their faces were wiped off. Grant’s father had died,
it was no laughing matter and something had to be done immediately. Flashes of the night before flooded
his mind suddenly, but they were so random that to figure out and make sense of
the night’s events would be to figure out a jigsaw puzzle without trial and
error; none of the pieces seemed to fit together. The night before seemed like
he was in a dream, no in fact a nightmare, he seemed to do things that were
impossible. The images of his father pinned to the ceiling made him cringe. He
felt as if there was a huge part of him missing; it hurt him worse than
anything had before. It was suddenly hard to breathe; he was gulping down and
felt like something was stuck in his throat. He knew all of a sudden he would
not be able to talk properly, his eyes started to swell up but he kept
everything in. His father told him once that no matter how bad things go always
keep your emotions intact because if you do not then you show weakness and it
is always better to be the person who people come to for help than to be at
someone else’s mercy. Grant had taken that to heart as he knew his father
always gave him great advice. It did seem to work out as well too, Grant had
been through some rough times and was going through the worst right now and he
was still one of the few who had not cracked yet even though he was the
youngest there. Grant felt like he was supposed to
set an example, to be strong in hard times, he knew that if he did then things
would be much easier as with people not talking about it he might not be pushed
over the slippery emotional edge he was currently performing a balancing act
on. Grant got up and started to walk to the circle of people as he felt it was
about time he had some of those answers bouncing around in his head. “What happened last night? Who
killed dad and what’s the plan to catch him?” said Grant. “Grant we know just a bit and out
of elementary deduction. We do know that they were from Whitmore and people
with that capability would be Professors as they are the greatest with the
skills learnt there. There is no such plan to avenge him yet as we need more
information right now little brother and we need help. Anyone who could have
subdued father would have to have been of tremendous power. One of the Whitmore
‘Greats’ must have been in on it. Grant we have been trying to figure this out
for some time and we want to know how you got dad out. Also did he say anything
to you before he died?” was the morbid reply from Ralph. “It was all such a blur. I can’t
remember anything but I remember having an out of body experience and watched myself
doing things I have never been able to do before. So much power and
determination. As for Dad saying something he told me to look after everyone
and that I should try to become a Great man. That’s all I remember. I can’t
believe he’s gone”, said Grant with his fingers crossed behind his back. Martha
began to cry on Simon’s shoulder. It was so much for her to take in. Losing the
one she loved for so many years without even getting to say her goodbyes. “Well if that’s it then at least he
got to say his goodbye. The body was buried yesterday in the family cemetery.
The police took his body that night after we managed to get mother and you out.
We could not take him out too as then that would have caused too much chaos. A
minister’s house blown up and a missing minister would turn into a field trip
for the reporters. Simon and I were present for it as mother and you are
supposed to be dead as well. It was a great funeral. They had the SAS come and
fire five shots in his honor” said Ralph with what Grant felt for sure was a
tear rolling down his cheek. “Well let’s get you something for
you to eat. You must be starving” said Martha interrupting the awkward
situation. To be honest Grant was not hungry
at all but he took a few mouthfuls before falling back to sleep so as to make
life easier on his dear mother. * * * Deepak got in late that night. Aryan
heard Deepak and Anju arguing with what seemed to be throughout the night.
‘What a great last night to remember’ thought Aryan amusingly, he was used to
things being on the brink of divorce for years. He knew his parents would never
split up as it would not look nice in the public eye which was a very important
thing in Aryan woke up the next morning
after a long relaxing sleep; he saw that someone had opened up the curtains as
the suns golden rays were gracing over his eyes. He sat up and looked around
only to notice that his servants were packing up his bags. Aryan immediately stopped them by
saying, “Nahi mein kar loonga, aap dono jaake nasta banado; mujhe undae aur
paratha chahiyae.” In English he was
telling him that he would pack his own things but he wanted them to go make him
eggs and an Indian bread called paratha for breakfast. “Magar meimsab neh boli ki hame
karna padhega”, said his servant Ram. In
English his servant Ram said that his mother had told them they had to do it. “Kuch nahi hota aap logh jao abhi”,
said Aryan. In English Aryan told his
servants that don’t worry stop packing and go ahead and make breakfast. Aryan immediately looked around for
his ‘neembu pani’ which is a way of making limewater in Aryan was not in the mood to be
hauling a hundred plus kilograms of luggage to Whitmore. After all he was going
to a prestigious school so now he had to dress the part. He got to the side of
the bed and noticed his toes could now touch the floor. He felt like a big kid
now; taller and about to leave home, ‘That’s all that it takes to become an
adult after all isn’t it’, thought Aryan. Boy was he in for a surprise. “Aryan what is this is hear that
you told the servants that you would pack your own bag?” said Anju. Anju was a very elegant woman who
was no taller than 5’5. She had a light brown complexion and small brown eyes.
Her big wavy or straight (depended on the occasion) hair flowed down her back
to four or five inches below her shoulders. Anju was very deep into charity
work and was President of the YWCA in “Mom I think that since I’m going
to be staying alone from now on I should learn to live by myself. It’s not like
we have servants in Whitmore. We have to be independent and strive for success
on our own accord. No one will be telling me what to do and what to eat while I
am there, so wouldn’t you say this is a good start?” said Aryan. Aryan was good at convincing his
mom that his actions were well thought of and mature and was hoping this little
lie would work out in his favor as it wasn’t the complete truth after all. “Well if you need any help call
them. They will be at home the whole day as I felt as it is your last day; you
should not be without the few pleasures of living in Delhi.” said Anju. * * * Grant was completely fine now; he had
no more cuts or bruises but still looked atrocious as he had not slept in days.
Whenever he closed his eyes in attempt to doze of he saw his father pinned to
the ceiling, skin peeling and blood boiling and it made him sit up with a jolt.
He had become very paranoid like the rest of his family, always ready to fight
or flee at the slightest sound. The family had been there for just
under a week and the general consensus was that they were planning to leave
later that day and move into Ralph’s house. They would have to remain in hiding
for a long time until they could figure out what to do. Grant was soon going to
miss his deadline to attend Whitmore and even though the family was certain the
Professors had something to do with it they wanted to fulfill his father’s last
wish. Grant was terrified about what
could happen on his arrival there, would he suffer the same fate of his father?
Obviously not every Professor would be in on this, his plan of action would be
to stay with his fellow students as often as possible as they would not try to
harm him in front of others as it would give a terrible name to the school. He
still had not thought about his extraordinary power and quickness the night his
house was blown up; he had not tried to re-enact his actions of the night. * * * Aryan was talking to one of his
best friends Shreya while packing. It was kind of tradition for him to do so
whenever he was packing before leaving on a trip. Aryan tended to leave most
things to the last second including packing; he figured that soon he would need
to rethink this philosophy as usually leaving things to the last second only
led to disastrous events. After saying his goodbyes to her he
picked up his suitcases from his bed and put them next to his door and lay down
on his clothes’ covered bed listening to the latest top 50 chart songs. It took
him all of 2 hours to finish his packing and he now had everything he wanted to
take with him to Whitmore. His mother had made him his favorite dish called
Biryani which was a mixture of rice and pieces of beef cooked in a variety of
spices. “Saab khana lag “Thik hai abhi aa raha hoon” he
told his servant. In English he told his
servant he was coming. Aryan could smell the cardamom and
cloves and it made his mouth water. He switched of the room’s lights and walked
out of his room. The dinning/ living room was as it always was. The floor
covered with beautifully textured red Italian marble, there was an extravagant
Persian in the middle of the living room and a Grand Piano sitting idle in the
corner right next to the red oak dining table. The table was toppled with food
for his departure. Aryan was being pampered; he knew it and loved it. His
mother was completely distraught with his departure as now she wouldn’t have
her little ‘baby’ around her anymore and that was a scary thought. He glanced over at the biggest
painting in the room which was a picture of Michelangelo’s Last Supper and
smirked. He found it only fitting for the moment being his last supper at his
house. Upon sitting on one of the 6 chairs at the dining table he noticed a
funny feeling at the pit of his stomach. Suddenly the tantalizing food didn’t
seem so enthralling anymore. Aryan decided he should eat as much
as possible as otherwise it would be extremely harsh towards his mother after
all her efforts to make it as pleasant a day as possible for him. The food
would go down but not taste as well; unknowingly he was probably very tense
about his trip which was causing this unusual feeling.
CHAPTER 5 " A Secret Unveiled Grant was standing up, waiting to
leave with his brothers and his mother. He was going to take the Virgin train
down to For the first time Grant walked
down the steep ladder from the attic to a place he found very familiar. He was
surrounded by plants, paintings and port. On reaching the floor he was greeted
by a huge hug from his butler Gerard. Gerard seemed to be absolutely delighted
at the sight of his young master. After the end of what seemed to be a
prolonged embrace they headed downstairs. They walked over the mud ridden
carpet that smelt of wet dog and then down the stairs to the house’s tiny
foyer. Grant spotted his old hunting Barbour jacket and picked it up; this
however was not a planned occurrence and neither was it a surprise. His family
was full of keen hunters and hence had tons of guns and jackets are found
randomly lying all around their property. As soon as Martha opened the front
door they were blasted by cold cutting air that seemed to suck out every bit of
air and every inch of happiness from them. It was grey and dark, unusual for an
evening at this time of the year. There was an unusually thick fog surrounding
them which didn’t help. The pieces of the puzzle did not seem to fit together.
Out of nowhere Ralph suddenly grabbed Grant and Martha and pulled them in. “Something’s wrong. I think we’ve
been found. Get back inside. Someone is here and it’s not safe out” said Ralph. Immediately Ralph and Simon stepped
out in front of the door; it was a beautiful sight to see them both standing
there ready for anything, waiting to fight to the end no matter what happened.
If anyone was going to get in here they would have to deal with them which
Grant knew first hand would not in the slightest chance be a futile task. Grant
was held inside by Martha; there was no way she was going to let him go up
against what was out there. “So your filthy butler decided to
keep your whereabouts hidden even after we shared our pleasantries with him.
After we are done with you four we will fulfill all we promised his family and
him” said a dark cold voice somewhere in the darkness. “So this is what Whitmore has come
to, scared of your pupils, hiding in the darkness and fog; disgusting that you
have now become the likes of a pathetic snake, sneaking and slivering around
waiting for a good moment to attack” said Ralph is a terrifying voice that
shook the air around him. “How dare you insult your superiors
like that, you will never get away with this. Aghhhhh!!!!!!” said a deranged
voice somewhere else in the fog. Grant felt a huge gust of wind hit
him from his right; the grass in front of him seemed to be pushed so hard by
the wind that it now looked like it always grew sideways. Out of nowhere he was
greeted by this pale scrawny man right in front of his face. He had a face of a
mad man; spit dripping from the edges of his face and eyes bulging as if they
were about to pop. His hand shot out in an attempt to grasp Grant’s neck but
then it was cranked back. This action was followed by a few loud snaps and a
howl the likes he had never heard. “Master I beg you; help me!!! They
have me. I can’t escape” said the deranged man. “You idiot, we told you to wait
till we signaled you. You have once again failed us; we have no use for you.
They can do as they see fit. Like I suspected we were going to have to do this
by ourselves Dominic” said a cold voice from the fog. Grant suddenly noticed that it was Ralph
who had stopped the man from attacking him. He had grabbed the man in an
instant and snapped his hand in two. He had his foot now pinned to the man’s
neck ready to break it at any notice. “So you try such futile events at
us. Sending a petty weakling like Norin at us? Come out of the fog and lets set
the terms of what is to happen” said Simon. “Somehow I don’t see you setting
the terms for us Simon. You are the ones cornered in by people of far superior
powers to you. But as you wish here goes the fog; we shall face you as a last
wish for your pathetic family” said the same person from the fog. The fog immediately lifted in front
of them and they were faced by two men. They were tall well built men who wore
long black robes. One of the men was completely bald; his eyes seemed to be
glistening with a red glow. His left hand had a black metallic glove on it. It
was studded with a number of jewels and had old arcane symbols all over it. These
symbols seemed to be glowing with the same red glow as his eyes were. The other
man had long white hair that was flowing down his back. He however was not an
old man; in fact he seemed to be much younger than his compatriot. He had a
similar glove on his left hand; the only difference was that his glove was of white
color. They both seemed like formidable opponents. Neither of Grant’s brothers
seemed to flinch on seeing their opponents. Grant noticed that he
subconsciously had gone deeper into his mothers hold; he was no longer trying
to break loose either. “Simon looks like we’ve been joined
by two well armed minions today. Dominic and Draco were always the dogs of
Whitmore after all. Luckily for them they do have a slight advantage with those
Khaluns” said Ralph. “How dare you Ralph!!! You will be
dead or in chains by the end of today; after your insults no mercy will be
shown! Dominic why don’t you have the first go at this. Do leave a bit for me
though, you always seem to have more fun” said Draco. The man with the long white hair
walked in front. His eyes a solid white was a sight that would strike fear into
most hearts. “Why thank you Draco, I’ll be as
quick as possible. We do want to make it back to Whitmore in time for supper
eh” said Dominic. “Mercy from two pathetic beings
like the two of you? I might have as well gone to “I’ll take this one brother” said Ralph With a quick change in stance Ralph
snapped Norin’s neck killing him instantly. He then stepped forward towards
Dominic. Dominic walked up in front and
threw of his black robes in such a quick fashion that it seemed he had never
lost eye contact with Ralph. The lack of a robe had left him with a bare torso
and black cloth pants. His body was covered with tattoos that all seemed to
concentrate his different organs to his glove. It seemed like each part of his
body concentrated their power right at his hand. The whole thing sent a chill
down Grants spine. It was as if Dominic was built from scratch just for this
moment beckoning on his door. Ralph grunted upon seeing his
tattoos and said, “So your one of those are you? Try and use every tool no
matter the cost to your own advantage in battle.” “To not use everything you have is
the mark of a fool. Even something as minismal as this can be just what is
needed to overcome one opponent” was the reply from Dominic. “To sacrifice what you did to have
this advantage is in turn a mark of a fool. It shows weakness; not being able
to trust ones powers and look for external help is pitiful” said Ralph shooting
back in a very dissenting voice. “Enough of these games Ralph! Is
this a debate or a test of skill?” said Dominic. “Neither will I have to debate or
have to show skill to put you to shame ol’ teacher. Funny how the tables have
changed in just a few years. Be it two years ago I would be the terrified one”
said Ralph. Dominic was no longer in the mood
for a chit-chat. Grant stared at the two intensely and felt his mother tense
up. Simon and Draco both seemed confident with their respective side. Then
Grant saw something that made him shudder with fear. Both Ralph’s and Dominic’s
bodies suddenly curved in and out in a mesmerizing motion and their muscles all
over their bodies bulked up out of nowhere. Grant felt as if this whole
occurrence somehow was not weird or surprising at all. He felt as if he was at
home with this; as if he had felt and been through this. His heart beat started
to speed up and he noticed his senses were a lot more alert. Was it possible
that Grant had been through a similar transformation without knowing? Was this
what his brothers were talking about when he was pretending to be sleeping? Did
he have the capability to perform such a transformation? Questions were rushing
all around his head with no solutions coming back to him.
CHAPTER 6 " Family Honor Dominic and Ralph were heaving
extremely fast now. Their eyes were of pure white as if in a crazy trance.
Dominic’s tattoos and white glove were now glowing with a very strong aura and
all in all he looked as if he was in a craze. They both started to circle one
another, one ready to pounce as soon as the other makes a move or show a
weakness in their stance. The atmosphere around the area was full of fear and
delight. Then out of nowhere they both
jumped forward. Dominic pranced along the ground as if he was a wildcat and
Ralph ran in a diagonal direction with his face always looking at Dominic. Once they were within arm’s reach
they jumped towards each other; Ralph did so in a corkscrew motion while
Dominic glided along the ground meeting Ralph halfway. Ralph got the better of
the entanglement and caught Dominic by the neck and pierced him into the
ground. Then out of nowhere Dominic’s foot caught Ralph square in the face
which made him spin into the air; however Ralph regained control of himself
mid-air, landed on all fours and jumped straight back at Dominic. They were
arms and feet flying in all directions but no one seemed to be winning until
Grant saw Ralph grab one of Dominic’s punches and used his momentum to flip him
to the ground. Then just like he did to Norin’s neck he snapped Dominic’s hand
in two. Almost instinctively Dominic put his left hand right on Ralph’s chest. Then
something Grant had never seen happened. All of Dominic’s tattoos shone a deep
white and focused on his glove from where a huge blast of energy hit Ralph
straight in the chest sending him far off from Dominic. This time however he
wasn’t able to regain his balance mid-air. For a second Grant felt he had lost
his brother as well but seeing how calm the rest of the family was he looked
eagerly for his brother to make the smallest movements. Ralph jumped up from the ground and
stood up like nothing really had happened. “So we are using the big guns now
are we? Pity yours has a mediocre effect” said Ralph. “You cocky b*****d I could kill you
at any second I wish” replied Dominic. Then Ralph suddenly went out of
sight. Grant could hear running but it was so fast that he was in awe. Dominic
however remained calm and in the center where his tattoos once again started to
shine brightly, brighter than it had before. Then something very surprising
happened; a red glow from a distance flew straight at Dominic towards which he
aimed his glove and shot an awfully strong blast of white light. Dominic’s
blast completely obliterated the red one and seemed to chase something or
someone. Dominic was smiling at the sight feeling he was victorious. Then out
of nowhere within the very next second Grant saw the same Dominic standing headless
in the middle of the field. The atmosphere was extremely quiet. Ralph as Grant
noticed was right beside him now. “I guess someone didn’t pay
attention in your decoy lectures Professor. Agreed it was the higher tier
classes but any Professor of Whitmore should have seen that coming. Now I think
we shall deal with you and find out slowly but surely who killed our father.
Unless you want mercy from us then we could arrange for a little beating if you
give up the name and location of the man who killed him” said Ralph cockily. “HAHAHAHA, you two were always the
class clowns at school. That was just a minor setback ol’ chaps. I hope you
didn’t feel I was really relying on him beating the two of you. After all Simon
was my best student and you Ralph weren’t all too bad either. Well I guess its
time to get this over and done with. I do have to be in school later today you
know. I won’t need any mercy and if by any chance you were lucky to beat me
then you will have a rather hard time getting out who killed your father
considering I don’t know myself. Now saddle up boys, time to teach you how age
really does matter. You lot should enjoy the weather while it lasts (referring
to everyone bar Grant’s two elder brothers). Grant pity this is your one and
only chance to view the side of the world hidden from you all these years” said
Draco. Draco threw his robe over his head
and just like Dominic he was covered in tattoos. He like the others bulked up tremendously. As
Simon was pulling of his T-shirt Grant felt a huge gust of wind coming straight
at him and the next thing he saw was Ralph on the floor squirming in pain. “Draco!!!! He wasn’t even ready for
us to begin. How dare you defy the standard rules of Whitmore!!” said Simon. “As they say they are no rules
between wolves and men. Your lot being the latter” replied Draco calmly. Simon was livid with anger and
looked like he was about to burst. Then like Ralph had done the two of them
suddenly disappeared. One could see at random parts of the field one getting
hit by the other and then disappearing again. Random blasts of energy flew off
in all directions. One of those blasts hit their Unknowingly due to the situation
and the tense atmosphere Grant himself was undergoing his previous
transformation. He could hear the battle better and could see more and more of
what was happening. There were still parts of the battle that were too fast for
him to see but he could follow the general direction of what was happening and what
he was seeing was not what he hoped for. Simon was definitely on the losing end
and the blasts definitely were more black than yellow (yellow being Simon’s color)
and were hitting their target far more times. Grant then felt a nudge near his
foot and saw it was Ralph beckoning him to come closer. “Grant it makes no sense but
somehow without training, you are undergoing a similar transformation as we
did” whispered Ralph. Grant looked at himself and saw he
indeed has bulked up tremendously as well and had a green glow surrounding him.
He was in awe and hadn’t a clue how it happened. He flexed his arms and legs
and felt so much stronger. It was an amazing feeling. He thought he might be on
top of the world. There seemed to be a lurching feeling of power in his arms
which was begging to be let out. “Listen the way things look, Simon
doesn’t have long. Now put mum’s jacket on to hide your aura. Grant this is
very important. Repeat the words I’m going to say and close your eyes. You’re
going to see some things which you won’t understand but don’t worry about it.
Just follow what feels right and you’ll be back to us. Now repeat all I say bar
the last word as it is you who has to go into this trance and not I. This might
be our only chance to get away alive Grant” said Ralph. Grant slowly repeated everything
Ralph said and noticed that everything around him grew dark and now he saw a
big green orb with a huge aura coming off it. He was in what seemed to be very
similar to the He took a deep breath knowing it
could be one of the last ones he ever has and sprinted like never before.
Within seconds Grant reached the edge and jumped as far as he could. He was
getting closer and even closer. The jump seemed to last a lifetime and go in
slow motion and then just as if it was in a movie he managed to grab the orb
right at the last second. In all the excitement of the moment he had not
noticed he was falling until his hair was literally being yanked back by the
wind. One thing was for sure, he could not fly no matter how much he flapped
his hands, did the superman pose or shout “flight on”; when he was a mere
couple of feet away from the ground he closed his eyes and through those closed
eyes saw something glow very bright. There was no big thud, no broken bones and
no crying for his mommy; just a voice of someone telling him to get up. Grant slowly opened his eyes and
noticed he had never left. The whole scene up in the mountains was a
hallucination; he was still here and in that grave situation but something was
different now. He felt something surging in him, something of grave power
waiting to be let of its leash. “Did you manage to catch up to it?”
said Ralph. “You know about what happened?
How?” replied Grant. “We can talk about that later did
you catch it or not? Simon is not going to last much longer the way things are
playing out” said Ralph. Grant remembered his brother Simon
was fighting with his life on the line for his family and its honor. “Yes yes I caught it. I had to leap
for it but I caught it in the end. I have a very weird feeling inside me right
now though. Is that it?” said Grant. “Yes it is. Now when I signal you
or if you are cornered by Draco shout out Krimilani and jump at Draco. That is
the best option we have” said Ralph. “Why don’t you or Simon do it?”
said Grant. “Because we never could. Not all of
us are able to get a hold of it Grant. It was a risky Endeavour as only a few
select people can get you out of there and without you having it our chances
are slim at best” said Ralph. Ralph suddenly jumped to his feet.
It looked like he had enough time to recover with whatever Martha was doing and
he barged into the battle to help out Simon. ‘I was the only one out of the
brothers to be able to do it? That’s impossible’ thought Grant. Grant decided that with his new
found strength he should go and help and just when he was about to run in the
battle’s direction his mother grabbed him. “Grant you may think you are very
strong but you going into battle will only hinder their efforts. Trust me you
are no match for them right now” said Martha. This was rather disappointing to
hear from one’s mother but she knew what was best always and he took heed to
her advice. Ralph joining in seemed to have
turned the battles tide as they both appeared to have practiced together since
they were working in perfect unison. Then Grant saw a body fly out of the
rumble. To his delight it was Draco’s. “So now you’re teaming up on me.
Not the nicest thing to do to your teacher. Well I guess I’ll have to step up
my performance to handle the two of you” said Draco standing up after the big
hit he just took. Draco closed his eyes and started
to bulk up even more, his body glowed with such a strong black aura that it was
hard for Grant to see him properly. “Get him now, anymore strength and it
will be over!!!” shouted Simon. They both bolted towards him. He was
knocked straight of his feet, one getting him in his face and one right at his
knees. Draco hit the ground hard and appeared to have broken his arm. “Now look what you two did. Such
inconveniences” said Draco. Draco pushed his bone back in
place. His appearance now was terrifying; he looked powerful, very powerful.
Draco suddenly disappeared only to return and greet Ralph and Simon with a
punch in their lower back. They both fell towards the ground and were in
tremendous pain. Draco without wasting any time dug his elbows into the
brothers’ necks. They were not moving at all now. Completely quiet! Grant was
scared and knew it was all up to him now. “Whisnesk!!!” shouted Draco. Ralph and Simon suddenly were
lifted straight in the air and appeared to be bound. Unable to move. “Now I’m going to give your dear
brothers a chance to see some real art. They shall see me play with you lot as
if u were a cat’s prey” said Draco. “Ralph! Simon! Don’t leave us like
this. Do something!” shouted Grant. “They won’t be saying or doing
anything Grant” said Draco. Martha grabbed Grant and the “Oh don’t worry Martha. I have a
strong feeling that Grant was the one who got your dear late husband and
yourself outside of the house. And with the Hex I put on the door he must have
something hidden under his sleeve. A decent amount of strength is what I’m
guessing. So all of you shall have the pleasure of front row seats to the start
of the end of the Defino family” said Draco in a sadistic manner. Draco turned to look at the two
bodies suspended in the air. Grant felt this was his opportunity to attack him.
He jumped forward and swung straight at the side of Draco’s head. To Grant’s
surprise the hit made Draco fly to the side and fall face forwards towards the
ground. Grant didn’t waste any time and ran straight towards Draco’s fallen
body and soccer kicked him straight to the side of his head making his body
spin on the ground. This time however Draco pushed himself of the ground and
jumped up straight up and smiled at Grant. Grant’s jaw dropped in awe on
seeing that smirk on Draco’s face. He thought he was making some progress with
him but was completely wrong about that assumption. “Oh I’m sorry was that a fly that
just hit me? I’m only jostling around. I’m actually very impressed Grant. You
had a lot more in you than I thought. Well now to show you a little bit of what
I can do” Draco said. Draco flew straight at Grant. Grant
tried to avoid it but couldn’t react quickly enough. He was kicked right in the
chest and hit the wall of the butler’s house. He was squirming in pain. It was
the most agonizing feeling he had ever had. He looked up and saw Draco walking
right at him. His arm was glowing with a deep black color. Grant knew it was
the end for him. He looked at his Grant knew he had to use this at
the most opportune moment. He let Draco walk right up-to him. “I’m sorry it had to end this way
ol’boy. Actually who am I kidding? I’m the one who finally destroys the Defino
family? What a privilege. Don’t worry Grant everyone will be joining you soon”
said Draco. Draco placed his gloved hand
straight on Grants forehead. Right then Grant looked at him and smiled. This
startled Draco. “This is for my dad” whispered
Grant. “What was that child?” inquired
Draco. “I SAID THIS IS FOR MY DAD.
KRIMILANIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!” shouted Grant with everything he had. A Massive Green aura arose from
Grant’s hands and hit Draco right in the chest. The Aura grew larger and
larger. Draco’s face was struck with fear. The green orb absorbed Draco’s black
orb. Draco’s tattoos stopped shining brightly and he started to look extremely normal.
He was so lost and in awe that for a second Grant felt sorry for him. “NO NO NO!!! How can you!!!! A
little boy like you cannot possibly be able to do so. NEVER” said Draco in a
terrified voice. Those were his last words. The
green aura grew extremely large and all one could see was a dark shape in an
extremely bright green orb lifted around 10 feet in the air. The orb suddenly
contracted and went into Draco’s chest and lifted him high into the air. He was
elevated for a few seconds, he started to shake vigorously, foam was dripping
from his mouth and his eyes looked like they were about to pop. A tear trickled
down his eye and a massive blast from inside him incinerated him to mere ashes. Everyone fell to the ground as his
hex was no longer working. Grant was so overcome with what happened that his
eyes started to dim and roll back; he started to lose his balance and fainted.
CHAPTER 7 " Arrival At School “Now that was a long flight! I’m so
glad we got upgraded” said Aryan. “Well if you travel as much as I do
then they treat you in a number of different ways” Deepak replied Aryan and Deepak had finally made
their way from the Aryan and Deepak went straight to
the hotel in the city and proceeded to sleep like logs till the morning. The
next day was filled with shopping in the Bullring which to Aryan’s disappointment
was not actually a real Bullring. They went from shop to shop buying everything
that glinted in Aryan’s eyes from Armani to Dolce & Gabbana. After walking
all around and shopping till they practically dropped it was time for a
scrumptious lunch. Aryan was intrigued by the Steak and Ale pie ordered it
(which he ended up saying was his new love) and Deepak stuck to the traditional
Fish and chips. They were now thoroughly exhausted and headed back to the hotel
for a quick shut-eye before going to his new school. After waking up and quickly shoving
things into the back of the car it was time to head off to school. With a
packed car and a full stomach they got on their way. The ride on the motorway
was all Aryan could have wished for as his father zoomed down the road at
speeds exceeding 195 mph. He felt that nothing could stop them as the
exhilaration of travelling that fast was like none he had ever felt before. Even while going at speeds where a slight loss
in concentration could cause one to lose control and one’s life, Aryan barraged
his father with questions about “Well we are here son. Your home
for the next 5 years” said Deepak. Aryan’s heart started to beat so
hard that he felt for a split second that he saw it pumping from the outside.
Upon entering the school Aryan’s jaw dropped further than it had ever before,
the school was majestic, everything he had ever imagined it to be and more.
Aryan had seen photos but they were nothing compared to being there in person.
Being a former summer home for the queen it definitely lived up to all its hype. The school gates were so grand that
it made him feel as if he were entering a castle. The drive down towards the
school was between luscious grass and tall trees. There were a few students
walking around as well as a couple holding hands by a lake, A LAKE!!! Aryan
could not even conceive of a school with its own lake. His father drove
especially slow so as to take in all that was around him. Even he who has seen
the most beautiful buildings and castles in the world was awestruck. They drove
over this short bridge that tapered over the lake and began a climb over this
short hill. There were Greek-O-Roman buildings and temples scattered around the
school grounds. Statues of famous alumni seemed to be a commonplace and were
grandly spread around the buildings in seemingly random places. They were now
driving down this path with trees on both sides hanging just over the car.
Eventually they were greeted by the main building and what a building it was. Whitmore’s
main building was a beautiful sandstone castle. It had two wings that sprung
out in opposite direction and were draped in pillars. The building was a sight
to be in awe for. There was a giant field in front of
the main building filled with random groups of students who were playing a
bunch of different sports or sitting down relaxing in the sun and having a
laugh. The whole situation made Aryan smile. It is here he would blossom and
here that he would be the person he ought to be. They saw a man in a black robe
walking down the winding path looking tired and weary. Deepak pulled up right
next to him and pulled down the window. “Would you be so kind as to direct
me to Cobham House. A lot of things have changed since I was last here and I
just wanted to make sure it was the correct place” said Deepak. Now that was news for Aryan. He
never knew his father had been to Whitmore before. Had he attended the school
as well? He always said he studied in “Definitely, just keep on driving
straight ahead and walk in through those arches and Cobham house will be at
your footsteps” said the mysterious man. “Thank you so much. You look rather
tired, would you like to get in the back and hitch a ride till the end of the
road?” asked Deepak. “Yes that would be grand; my car
broke down a mile back on my way back from He got into the back off the car
and they drove to the school. Deepak parked the car and the Man
got out of the car. “Thank you very much. I’m a former Professor
from here. I’ll put in a good word for your son here. So what is your name then
son?” said the Professor. “It’s Aryan sir. Thank you for
being so kind” replied Aryan politely. “Good deeds are repaid with good
deeds. It is something you will learn during your tenure here. Hope Whitmore
meets all your expectations and more”, said the Professor while walking off. Deepak then looked at Aryan and
said, “What a nice man, it seems it’s your lucky day. Now it’s time to meet
your housemaster. Whitmore allotted you to Cobham house as you probably figured
out. The housemaster’s name is Dr. James. Remember first impressions are very
important so make a good one. You are the only Indian here and that status will
probably remain that way throughout your stay here.” “Yes father” said Aryan. Aryan knew this all too well. First
impressions are extremely important and he wanted to make a name for himself at
the school as quick as possible. They walked under a big arc into Cobham court.
The court didn’t have the same ‘aweness’ factor as the rest of the school had.
It was just a rectangular pavement court with different buildings surrounding
it and random plants here and there that were a sorry attempt to make the area
look more pleasing to the eye. There were two buildings that towered over them
on either side as they walked in. They were normal red-brick buildings; the one
on their right was ‘ “Well hello Mr. Jacob, how was your
trip here?” asked Dr. James. “Surprisingly short. The weather we
were greeted with was your typical English rain but that soon changed to the
beautiful sunshine you can see outside.” Replied Deepak. “Aah so this is the young Mr.
Aryan. What do you think of your new school and home?” asked Dr. James. “It’s all very exciting right now.
The area is beautiful. And the reputation and opportunities that Whitmore offer
has me jumping through my skin.” said Aryan eagerly searching approval from Dr.
James. They all talked about school for
another couple of hours getting Aryan ready for everything and helping Deepak
decide on the amount of money Aryan should have while at school. * * * “Well thank you for your time Dr.
James. Hope you have a great term and if anything goes wrong please don’t think
twice about contacting me” said Deepak. “Make sure to be back by 7 Aryan.
It will be our first House meeting” Dr. James told Aryan. “ The two of them walked back to the
main courtyard. There were tons of students walking towards the main building.
Aryan was standing right next to His stomach started to twirl in and
out. This was it. He did not think he would but he was about to cry. His first
time away from home and away from Deepak for such a prolonged period after
being to Day school for so many years. It felt weird to him. He held in his
emotions and gave his dad a big hug knowing that embrace would not greet him
for another 3 and half months. He was going to miss his Idol terribly but did
not show it. “Well son here it is. If I were you
I would follow the other boys to the main building. Initially go with the flow
here and learn how things go at this school. They might show you some adversity
but ignore it and use your words and skills but not your fists to fight it
back. That is one of the things that will separate you from the rest. Now take
care and give me a call every Sunday at a respectable time so as to talk to
your mother, sister and myself” said Deepak who himself was feeling terrible
upon leaving his son in such a tough environment. Aryan bid goodbye to his father and
turned around only to be greeted by what appeared to be an Upper Sixth student. “Hey my name is Harry. Your Aryan
correct?” said the supposed Harry. Aryan nodded. “Well I’m Cobham’s Head of house.
Everyone is on their way to dinner, why don’t you tag along.” said Harry. He walked next to Harry and turned
around and for a brief second saw his father walk through the arches. Aryan
knew he had to do great things here. There would be no excuses. This was it.
The adventure begins.
CHAPTER 8 " Sneaking into school? Grant found himself floating down
this multi-colored river. The water was pretty bumpy; Grant felt like he was
jumping up and down on a new bed (it’s rather fun I might add). Some of the
water was splashing into his mouth. However the weird thing was that it did not
taste like water. It was chocolaty. ‘YUM!!! How nice it was compared to
the crummy weather that was there back in “Grant get up!!! We need to get you
to school ASAP!” shouted Simon. Grant’s eyes opened slightly and
looked up. There was Simon but in perfect shape. All his cuts and bruises were
healed completely. “Is it time to wake up already? Let
me sleep for 15 minutes more” replied Grant crankily. “Have you lost your mind!!! You had
fainted, not fallen asleep” replied Simon. “But I was having such a nice
dream. There was chocolate and …” said Grant. Simon slapped him right across the
face. The slap definitely woke him up and he jolted up like a ninja right off
the ground. Grant was so tired that he
actually felt that he was sleeping. “Sorry about that. It feels like
someone kicked my head in while I was passed out. That slap was a great
‘thanks’ by the way for saving your butt” said Grant with a smile on his face. Everyone was standing up strong and
fit. There was a car approaching them. It was their Jaguar X-35 driven by the
butler. “Grant we need to get you on the
next possible train so you can reach school in time. We packed whatever stuff
we could as well as the new clothes Gerald bought you after the house burnt
down” Martha said with a tear falling down the side of her cheek. Even thought she was in a situation
as dire as the current one, she was starting to tear up as her ‘coochiepoo’ was
leaving and was going away to a school which seemed a million miles away. Things were so bad at the moment that she
decided to keep it all in and send him off in as normal a fashion as possible.
They were all going to be going into hiding as once 2 Professors were known to be
killed, more would be coming. Grant was suddenly embraced from
all sides by his brothers and his mother. “Be brave Grant. You will do fine.
Don’t you worry about it” said Simon. “Don’t misbehave when your there
and keep yourself safe. I don’t want you to be playing any rough games or
fighting and you better not let your grades go down or else” said Martha as any
typical mother would. “Don’t worry about me. Remember I
was the one who saved all of you” said Grant with a big cocky smile. Martha grabbed him again and gave
him a big kiss on his cheek. “MOM…” said Grant who was now red
with embarrassment. Simon ruffled his hair a bit and
Ralph put his arm around his shoulders and took him to the car. The car was
metallic black. It was his father’s favorite car. The way it roared on the road
and how the sun reflected of the shiny surface was mesmerizing. ‘Father’ grant thought. He missed him deeply. He felt
especially good that he was the one who finished off the Professors. They got in the back of the car and
waved goodbye to their family. Grant was tired, his eyes started to dim and
soon on their way to the station he fell asleep. * * * Grant’s eyes started to open up as
the sounds of There was an awkward silence in the
car and so as to break it Grant said, “So how much more travelling are we going
to have to do to get to Whitmore?” “Well we are a couple of minutes
away from the train station and after that the train to Grant attempted to swing at Ralph’s
arm but Ralph was too quick for him making Grant miss and hit the seat. “It’s ok you will see her during
the next exeat weekend, Ha Ha” said Ralph. “Ralph just a quick question, do
you want me to beat you up now or later? Either works. As you know I did kill
Dominic and he was playing with you like silly putty bending and squishing in a
number of horrible ways” said Grant cockily. “Grant I know this is brotherly
banter but remember this. We are not the only ones who can perform that
transformation. Soon most people in your school will and until you are
completely certain you can win a fight use your words. You do not want to look
like an idiot and lose a challenge. Instead practice the art as hard as you can
and perform far better than the others and they will dare not challenge you.
You had the element of surprise against Dominic but challenging other Professors
if that is in your agenda will get you nothing but killed” said Ralph. “I understand. I was just joking
around” said Grant moping away. While ruffling his hair Ralph told
Grant, “I know you are but I was just making sure. Keep a low profile and
become strong and we will have our revenge don’t you worry about that.” The car came to a halt suddenly. “There is police looking into cars
up in front with a picture. I think it’s time we part ways boys. I will meet
you all soon enough. I have some errands to run first which your father gave me
the day before he died which I cannot disclose to you. Take care Grant and stay
out of trouble” said Gerard after peeking out of his window. “Thanks Gerard. Take care of the
family and I will see you home soon” said Grant. Grant and Ralph stepped out of the
car with his luggage and walked into an alleyway to their right. Suddenly they
heard a set of whistles and within seconds they were running down the alley
with all the speed they could muster. Did someone see them get out of the car?
Neither Ralph nor Grant were going to stand around and wait to find out. It was
damp night in Aberdeen with a little bit of drizzle, the moonlight made it seem
that someone was going to jump out of somewhere and attack them and being in an
alleyway in the middle of a city no one would hear their screech for help.
Ralph took them down a long path that seemed to never end. They were dodging
garbage bins and hobos as they were running having to jump over a few and slide
under a few obstructions as well. Just as Grant jumped over a gate he saw a
black shadow towering over them and then within a second or two it vanished. Grant immediately screeched to a
halt and shouted out at Ralph, “Did you see that?” “Yes Grant I did. All the more
reason we run. Someone is following us and we need to get out of here before we
have to trade punches for the second time today” was Ralph’s immediate reply. They both set out running again and
eventually in a few more minutes Grant had noticed that Ralph had led them
straight to the train station. It was grand with tons of lights all around.
People were bumping into each other as if it was a real life pinball machine. Grant was given an overcoat and a
beanie to wear by Ralph so as to not draw attention to him and as if they
didn’t exist they walked right past the policemen standing in front of them.
Ralph walked in and took them up a few stairs of flights until they reached the
platform the train was on. They displayed their tickets to the largely
overweight conductor and sat in the nearest seats they could find. They had
just finished what they thought would be the hardest part of the trip and took
a deep sigh of relief. They looked at each other and nodded and without saying
a word set a couple of alarms to wake them up in time and dozed off to sleep. * * * ‘PRING PRINGGGGG, PRINGG PRINGGGGG’ Grant’s hand came out of nowhere
and slammed his phone into the bed pull-out bed they were sleeping on. The
alarm stopped immediately. Both brothers lifted their heads
slowly just as the announcer said, “Next Stop Milton Keynes. Please grab your
luggage and walk towards the exit. Thank you for using Virgin and have a great
day.” They jumped of the pull out beds,
grabbed their bags and hurried out of the train’s exit just as the train
started to pull out of the station. It was a beautiful morning, it was still
slightly dark but one could see the orange sun just coming above the Horizon.
There was a crisp blue sky above them with a few white clouds here and there.
Ralph had walked to the train’s convenience store and bought a couple of
bottles of orange juice and pack of cigarettes for him. He chucked one of the
bottles to Grant and sat down. This was his morning ritual to get up. He
borrowed a light from someone and sat down quietly sipping on his orange juice
while enjoying his cigarette. Grant went and sat down and they
both watched the sun start to rise up over the horizon. “Grant I know you have probably
heard this a million times but you can become the greatest of all the past
greats after graduating from Whitmore. Make sure you use all the potential you
can gain and you will succeed” said Ralph. “That is the plan. I am not going
to go and do anything rash so you don’t have to worry. I’ve heard of the
miraculous things people have done as soon as they have graduated from Whitmore
and that has me extremely enthralled and excited” replied Grant. Ralph flicked his cigarette butt on
to the railway lines. They picked up Grant’s luggage and walked out of the
station. There were taxis all over the place once they walked out and within
seconds one stopped dang bang in front of them. They got in and told the taxi
driver, “Take us to Whitmore please. Be as quick as you can, we should have
been there last night.” “Some people really don’t
understand the meaning of fashionably late” cracked the taxi driver while
giving a friendly wink to Grant. They all laughed. It was nice to be
in a pleasant atmosphere after so long. The route to the school was just as
Grant had remembered it as he had visited his brothers a number of times. The
sun was hot but the cool breeze flowing kept the area in a nice ambient
temperature. After fifteen to twenty minutes the
two of them were greeted by the front gates and soon they were outside Cobham
House. Grant and Ralph took out all of Grant’s luggage and put it right where “I don’t think I should stick
around much longer. You have the safety of the school but as soon as I leave
here I am anyone’s catch. Take care little brother. Dr. James will keep you
safe. I’ll see you in three weeks and don’t you dare become a stranger. Mother
will be eating our heads unless you call once in a while” said Ralph. “Ha ha, I could only imagine. You
make sure you get back safe and sound. I’m not there to save you again” said
Grant followed by a wink to his brother. “Will do, will do. Well then this
is it. See you soon, Bye” replied Ralph. They both gave each other a big hug
and Grant waved Ralph off as he whizzed away in the taxi to the rest of the
family. Grant turned around and thought,
‘These 5 years are definitely going to be interesting’. CHAPTER 9 " New Friends Grant was walking in through the
Cobham arch when Dr. James, on the final stretch of his morning run, spotted
him. Dr. James ran straight towards him as Grant just looked at him tired and
weary and forced a courteous smile. “Grant? What are you doing here?
You know as well as anyone that coming here put you in danger. Quick come
along. I’ll help you with your bags. We need to talk about everything and make
sure your safe” said Dr. James urgently. “Danger? I knew Whitmore did it.
How could you let it happen sir? This school has ruined everything that was
good in my life” said Grant with his eyes starting to swell. He knew it was
true but hoped to god that it wasn’t. Things were going to be so difficult he
thought. “Grant straighten yourself up. I
had nothing to do with it. It was someone from the outside who did it. The
orders would have come from someone in the school but none of the Professors
know who it was. We don’t even know who dished out those orders. Your father
had not broken the code to our knowledge so we did not have any reason to cause
your family any danger. Now come inside and tell me the whole story” said Dr.
James sternly. “Yes sir” replied Grant obediently. Grant followed Dr. James into his
office. As the rest of his brothers had been a part of this house it was
tradition that he be part of the house as well; he was now and forever a
Cobhamite. Grant walked through the main house and into the office tailing his
new housemaster. They talked for an hour with Grant explaining everything bar a
few certain details here and there regarding how Professor Draco was killed and
what his father said about the safe. “Those three were always a bad
bunch (referring to Dominic, Draco and Norin). I don’t think they had anything
to do with the death of your father however. They were not nearly as powerful. You
all must have fought a great fight to have come out victorious. Taking care of
Draco and having everyone’s limbs intact is definitely an achievement. I know
personally from when I was only a little older than you that he was a very
strong foe. Dominic on the other hand was far weaker; it was no surprise to me
when you said Ralph took care of him easily. It’s going to be interesting to
see how Whitmore will cover up their deaths. This school has so many powerful
people in it that it is near impossible to find out who could have ordered that
attack. But impossible is something people tend to achieve here and so it will
be one of my main tasks to find out who killed your father and who ordered it.
I promise you son, we will find the perpetrators as we always do” said Dr.
James. “You fought Professor Draco when
you were younger?” said Grant surprised. “Yes it was a long time ago. We
were in the same year at Whitmore. It will be a story for another time, when
you are either more mature or in need of advice” said Dr. James. “Well Thank you sir, you have been
extremely kind and understanding. If you were wondering why I came, it was
because it was my father’s last wish”, said Grant courteously. “Grant, you coming here has honored
your father more than anything you could have done in your life before. People
will be staring and talking in chapel, I want you to ignore it and not to
disclose any of what you said to anyone, including the Headmaster. You have the
right to keep a secret just like everyone else does. The other Professors and I
will make sure you are safe. Now go up towards the dorms and get changed. I am
guessing you have everything you need, if not let me know” said Dr. James. Grant thanked him and walked back
to the main house. He walked through the common room and took the wooden stairs
up to the 1st floor. He banked right at the top and reached his ‘home’
for the rest of the year, the 3rd form Dormitory. He pushed the door
to see the room was exactly the same as ever. It smelt rather well for a room
with a bunch of 13 year olds but he was sure that it wouldn’t last long. The dormitory had a soft brown carpet
that stretched the entire floor, not leaving a single corner uncovered. The sleeping
arrangements were as they had always been where the dormitory was split into 6
sections, 3 sections on each side of the room that each opened up to a pathway
in the middle. Each section had two beds that had a cupboard at bed’s foot and
a bursar’s block right next to it. Each cupboard had shelves on one side and a
place to hang clothes on the other while each bursar’s block had two shelves
where a student kept their toiletries. The two beds were a person’s length
apart which gave each student a sense of having one’s own ‘space’ where no one
would disturb them. The sections were designed like a cubicle in an office.
Each end had either wood or wall to stop people from peering in; either to see
someone sleeping (rather weird) or doing some mischief, more for the latter
purpose in a 3rd former’s life. Grant tiptoed till he found a
cupboard that graced his name on it. It was old, wooden and had a sliding door.
As that was as good a time as ever, Grant dropped his bag and began to unpack. After what seemed to be a short
hour, he had unpacked everything with time to spare. He was extremely tired and
noticed he smelt rather atrociously; ‘A shower is just what the doctor ordered’
thought Grant. So he set off and thus began his first day at Whitmore. * * * A door creaked open. ‘Not again’,
thought Aryan. Someone had been unpacking and moving in and out of the dorm all
morning. Aryan was jet lagged like no other and had been up for quite some time
before the stranger walked in. The only reason he was getting agitated was because
the peaceful quiet atmosphere that resounded around the room and helped him
think was now inexistent. Aryan had not got up to see who it was as he
preferred to just lie down and relax for once, and as that was going to be his
first day at this new school, there was plenty to lie down and think about even
if he was being distracted by zips being opened and closed every 2 minutes. ‘What are they going to teach us?’
he thought. It was going to be an exciting day and he wanted it to start
immediately. To his complete surprise, everyone else in the dorm was still fast
asleep despite all the noise happening in the background. The moment to wake up
and begin the day seemed to be taking it’s time. He could have sworn the last twenty
minutes of looking up at the white cracked ceiling and listening to his
unacquainted impolite roommate had actually been close to an hour and a half.
Time was not on his side and he didn’t like it one bit. The feeling of lazing
around and doing nothing and just waiting for everyone to wake up and the day
to begin was now slowly becoming frustrating at best. Suddenly the door opened and then
something that Aryan would be used to for the rest of his time at Whitmore
happened. The most annoying and shrill alarm was sounded that resonated through
everyone’s years. A lot of people jumped up like a ninja would in the face of a
dreadful enemy to which Aryan laughed. “Alright boys, get up and go down
for the house meeting. Breakfast is going to start soon and you all be there on
time as it’s your first day” said Dr. James. Aryan jumped up and looked around
half dressed. He was so bored for those two hours he was awake that he had
already put on his shirt in anticipation for the day to start. He felt like a
child on Christmas morning who couldn’t wait to be allowed to open the
presents. Multiple lifetimes might have passed while he was waiting for the day
to begin. He put on his suit with quick ease and started for the common room. While
putting on the final knot in his tie, he looked at the newest member of the
Cobham dormitory and nodded his head in a greeting fashion and was immediately
returned the gesture. If anyone saw the 3rd
formers walking down the stairs they would have thought there were a bunch of
zombies who were about to have a snack. They were knackered, hungry and making
noises which ranged from grunts to snores to yawns. Aryan was the only one who
was wide awake. He looked around and saw the same faces that he did the night
before. In his first house meeting Aryan had been relatively low-key and quiet.
Unknown to everyone he was slowly studying them, seeing how to socialize best,
what was kosher in that environment and what was not, and he was learning a lot
slowly but surely. Soon he would speak up and make friends and be noticed but
till then he wouldn’t say much. The boy who came unannounced earlier that
morning sat right next to him. He was a white, had long brown hair and for some
reason looked like he was about to collapse from exhaustion. Aryan felt bad as
he seemed to be a quiet child and hence struck up a conversation. “Hey, I’m Aryan” said Aryan
reaching out his arm for a handshake. “Hey, I’m Grant. I take it you’re
from “Bingo, ha ha. I wonder what gave
that away. For a minute there I thought I was blending in quite well. So where
are you from?” replied Aryan being completely aware his appearance and accent
was a big billboard that told everyone where he was from. “Ha ha ha, I guess it was a
complete guess. Well I’m from “I got here last night. Yup home is
a while away. But it feels good to be out of my parent’s grasp for once” said
Aryan. “Yup I’m sure it does”, replied
Grant. “Ahem Ahem”, said Dr. James
clearing his throat. The authority he commanded was miraculous. Everyone
immediately kept quiet and looked straight at him through their weary and
groggy eyes. “I’ll make this short. Everyone
needs to report to the chapel at 8:15. I expect to see you all at breakfast at
sometime until then. Being late to chapel has consequences with the Headmaster
as well as with me, so if I were you I’d think against it. Well that’s all I
have to say. Anyone have any questions?” said Dr. James looking straight at the
new boys. No one answered to which Dr. James
said, “Well what are you all sitting around for then? Let’s go go go!!!” Everyone stood up and walked out. Aryan
noticed that Harry and his friends seemed to still be in their Pajamas. Was
that a perk of being old? Not having to change straight away in the morning?
That didn’t seem like the grandest perk as within an hour they all would have
to be in their suit. He started to think about what they must do after
breakfast. Whether they all go to breakfast or back to sleep? And then his thought process was
broken up by Grant, “So are you hungry at all? I don’t know anyone here and was
wondering if I could tag along.” “Sure, I’m pretty much in the same
boat as you and starving” replied Aryan. “Me too. I feel like I haven’t
eaten anything over the last 10 days” said Grant. The scary thing was that that
was not really a figure of speech. In Grant’s case it was pretty true. He had
barely eaten anything at all recently and some eggs and bacon sounded great. Aryan and Grant walked away slowly
towards the Main building where the Dining rooms were located. ‘Had a
friendship just spawned between them two?’ thought Aryan as he was walking into
the building. It was a glorious day with a good beginning but there was a lot
more to see and learn, and Aryan was looking forward to it all.
CHAPTER 10 " A great start? Grant and Aryan were following a
bunch of older students to what they hoped was the chapel. The way the school
was laid out reminded Grant of a maze. Students as Grant noticed were taking a number
of routes to get to chapel. “So what classes are you taking?”
asked Aryan. “Well I think we all take the same
classes. The difference lies in what section one is in. We can all be in the
same class every day. That would have to be one big class. Imagine being in a
class of a 120 plus students (they didn’t realize that that is exactly what
happens in most big college campuses). After this year they evaluate what you
are best in and make you choose accordingly. Most people still have to take
Namak which is a type of meditation I believe, and then we all have to be in
Transformation throughout school. I only saw the syllabus this morning. Most
things don’t mean much to me. Just random words created by the Professors
throwing some letters on a scrabble board I feel, ha ha ha” replied Grant. “Ha ha I see. Yes I agree, I
haven’t the faintest idea what they are going to teach us. I guess that’s what
the point of the Arts of Whitmore being a secret is”, said Aryan secretly
wanting to find out everything about it ASAP. Grant looked at Aryan and noticed a
bracelet he was wearing. It was gold and looked rather old. “What’s that on your hand? Is it a
religious bracelet?” asked Grant. “Oh this. Yes you could say that.
It’s something I found in Grant was intrigued by it. It
seemed to have a mysterious aura from it. Not a visible aura but something one
could sense. He quickly glanced at his watch and saw it was already 8:12. “Oh crap, we are really late. Let’s
get going. I guess we didn’t notice the
seniors getting further and further away” said Grant to which they both began
to run. They were running fast but nowhere
near the speed Grant could get to, had he transformed that is. They ran across
the front of the school where a King George statue stood and then scooped under
an Arch. Students from filtering in here like a sheep would in the face of a
dog. They ran around an area of grass and jumped down a fleet of stairs.
Buildings of all shapes and sizes flew past them in a blur. The wet dew on the
ground sparkled with the suns golden rays. The air was so clean and fresh that
the two of them didn’t seem to be getting out of breath. They ran past a
building with glass walls. They both turned their heads towards it as if being
drawn in by something spectacular. The building was divided into 3 sections.
Glass surrounded them from all ends. They floor was wooden. There were lines
drawn in what seemed to be the most random of spots. A few cylindrical blocks
lay around the floor. Grant was going to drag Aryan here later so they could
investigate. He was sure Aryan was as drawn to this remarkable structure as he
was. As soon as they passed the building
they found themselves in a small courtyard and glimpsed the tails of some
people’s tailcoats filtering into some stairs further on. They ran even faster
until they reached the door that everyone seemed to have gone through. They
pushed it open and walked in and faced an older boy who seemed like a giant
compared to them. “Your late newbies. Get along to
your house seats. They both walked forward and took a
right towards the front of the chapel. They lowered their heads in an attempt
to not be noticed but someone was already talking in front of everyone. “Ahem. I guess we were finally
graced with the presence of these two new 3rd formers my young pupils.
Turn around you two so I could get a good look at you two troublemakers” said
the man. Grant’s heart was thumping
extremely hard. Aryan and him glanced at each other for a second and turned
around and looked at the man. It was the Headmaster. The Headmaster
was known to be a cruel and non-second chance giving man. He was a Professor of
transformation and routinely made his students pay for disobedience. He was
tall white gentleman that stood at around 6’5, with black hair that was gelled
backwards. He had a long hawk-like nose with a wicked smile enveloping under.
His smile suddenly stalled it appeared and turned to that of a frown. His eyes
twitched. He was looking dead straight at Grant in awe. “Grant Defino??? How nice of you to
join us. You really know how to make a grand entrance. Half the world is
looking for you and your mother and you turn up right here in front of 600
students in the middle of chapel. Well we need to have a talk after this, hmmm
yes we do. Now you two run along”, said the Headmaster. Grant turned around red and looking
deeply embarrassed. Aryan patted him on the back to which he smiled. At least
he finally made a friend. They walked down to where the Cobham seats were.
Everyone in the crowd staring at him the whole way down. Aryan and he shuffled in to the last
remaining seats. His fellow 3rd formers were all trying to avoid
making eye contact with him. When he was almost at the brink of
tears, Aryan said, “Look ignore him. It’s fine. Remember this is Whitmore.
Everyone here has a dirty or hidden past.” “Thanks”, said Grant. They turned to look ahead at the Headmaster
who began talking again. “Welcome students. I hope everyone
had a good summer and is looking forward to a new and bright term. All bar two
of our Professors have decided to come back and we are extremely glad with that
fact. The two Professors who are not gracing us with their presence are Professor
Dominic who thought Illusions and Professor Draco who was a Professor of
Transformation. They both have decided to take their teaching skills to another
school in orient” said the Headmaster. Grant looked up at Dr. James who
indicated with his head to carry on looking in front. ‘THE ORIENT? That is
ridiculous. They were murderers and the Headmaster knew it. He is just trying
to cover up for Whitmore’ thought Grant. He wanted to shout out that the Headmaster
was lying but kept it to himself until he found out who all were responsible
for the death of his father. The Headmaster carried on, “The
challenge courts have been updated as one would have seen. We have the most
state of the art facility there has ever been. Training and practice will be in
the Greashen and Bursar’s field as they have always been. However the
tournament will be held in the challenge courts now. Class times have not
changed and neither have the syllabus. We have considered over the summer to
turn into a completely coed school but are still refraining from that for the
moment. So girls will only be in the Lower and Upper sixth. Now I feel that there
is not much more to talk about as this is the start of term. I hope everyone
has a great and successful term and make sure that you all stay within the
rules directed to you by my fellow Professors.” The Headmaster started to walk down
the aisle to the main entrance of the Chapel. Everyone stood up once he left
and started to shuffle out of the building. Harry walked up to him and said,
“How’s it going Kiddo. I heard about your father. My deepest condolences. I
doubt you want to talk about it but if you are having any trouble then let me
know. If you haven’t heard they were crazy enough to make me Head of House ha
ha.” “Thanks Harry. Hope everything with
you is going well. I better be going. Congrats on being Head of House, I’ll see
you at the house meeting tonight”, said Grant. “Bye”, said Harry ruffling Grant’s
hair as he walked past. Harry was a 3rd former
when Ralph was Head of House himself. Ralph looked after him during bad times
so Harry was in debt to him ever since, thus helping out his little brother
would be a good way to start repaying that debt. Aryan was waiting for him at the
entrance. When Grant got there Aryan said, “So transformation with Professor Malling.
Let’s get there so we don’t get in trouble again.” They both walked away laughing. CHAPTER 11 " The Arts of Whitmore Aryan and Grant waltzed into their
first class. The class room they had was relatively close to the chapel. They
were on time this time but still had eyes all over them. It was as if they were
an injured deer walking in between a pack of ravenous lions that hadn’t eaten
in weeks; every student it seemed wanted to ask Grant questions or ask Aryan
questions about Grant. The classroom was nothing spectacular
like the rest of the school had been. The fumes from what must have been a freshly
painted ceiling were making Aryan nauseous. The walls were made from dampish
grey color bricks that made him feel he had just entered an old and
sophisticated room. There were no chairs or tables in the class, however there
were place mats on the ground upon which students were parking their behind. ‘Professor
Malling’ the name was draped over the blackboard at the front of the class.
Some of the students were covering their eyes with their hand so as to block
out the sharp glare of the sun that was coming in through the window; students
here and there were sneezing due to it and a constant ‘bless you’ was being
sung in unison. Just as everyone found a place to
sit down, as if it was planned to perfection, Professor Malling, their first
Professor at Whitmore, walked in through the door. Professor Malling was a well
built man. He was completely bald bar for some hair on the sides of his head.
Without a doubt Aryan knew he was a rugby player and not just from sheer size,
but from his cauliflower ears and a bulbous misshaped nose. “Good morning boys. As you all have
probably figured out I am Professor Malling and am you’re Transformation
Professor. This will be a beginner’s class where I will teach you all the
basics you need to know so as to cope when you become older and learn the more
advanced skills. Now all of you need to understand that this isn’t going to be
easy to learn. There will be students who will be better and faster at learning
than others but any misbehavior of any kind and I will teach you firsthand what
the advanced classes will teach you in years to come” said Professor Malling
looking sternly in to everyone’s eyes in turn. Aryan looked around to see all the
students completely quiet, back straight and looking at the professor. The
obedience this professor commanded was incredible Aryan thought. Some of the
students as Aryan heard were gulping with fear. Then Professor Malling resumed his
introduction, “Well as most professors will do I will tell you a little bit of
my past. I was a student here at Whitmore around 20 years back. I had become
the champion of the Challenge courts twice before I was beaten by the current
headmaster when he was barely a 4th form student and I was an upper
sixth. I had had the previous record of youngest champion only to be beaten by
the headmaster. As you might have heard that record of being a champion in the
4th form has yet to be matched. A lot of you will match up together
in the dual tournament being as 3rd formers are not allowed to
participate in the main tournament. My duty as your professor is to teach you
as best as I can and hopefully two of my students like they have in the past 3
years will come out victorious. To those of you who thought this class was
going to be a breeze, or those of you who feel that you are already extremely
strong and don’t need to know how to be great Tranformationists well you are
going to be in for a big surprise. I have seen the smallest and weakest
students win that tournament using their brains rather than their brawn. In
fact the headmaster when he beat me that is, was probably half my size but that
man had tricks up his sleeve like no other. That is why when he did add brawn
to his arsenal that he became one of our greatest and most gallant Alumni.” “Now so that we can begin your
class, everyone get to your feet and go to the locker room at the back and
fetch your transformation gear quickly. Once you have it, come back and have a
seat. Grant, your suit is here with me, it was a late order as you could
imagine so if you would please come up here instead. WELL WHAT’s HOLDING YOU
ALL UP, GO GO GO”, bellowed Mr. Malling to the unresponsive students. Aryan saw Grant now staring
straight at him with a fear dazzling across his eyes. Aryan padded him on his
back and said, “Well you better get your gear quick before he gets on your bad
side too. Don’t know about you but I’d rather wait to see what advanced
transformation teaches us.” They both laughed at this and then went in opposite
directions. Aryan went to the back to find a
locker with his name ‘Aryan Kapoor’ hammered into it. The gear was nothing
grand as Aryan hoped it to be. It was similar to a ‘Kurta Pajama’ in Then Professor Malling spoke again,
“As you all might have noticed, everyone’s gear has been customized. If someone
decides to put on for example our student from Everyone else immediately chucked
off their shirts and pants, flicked their shoes off, removed their socks and
eagerly put on their gear. One by one they stood in line along the wall. The
last two were Horace and his friend. “We are ready Professor Malling”,
said Aryan. “Thank you Aryan”, replied
Professor Malling. Amazingly the Professor knew
everyone’s name already without ever having met them. The class wasn’t small by
anyone’s standard as there were easily 20 students there, so remembering
everyone’s name already was very impressive. The Transformation gear seemed to
fit him better than his own custom suit managed to. Aryan was in awe at how
comfortable it all was, including the Khalun surprisingly. “Now I all want you to have your
legs slightly apart, backs straight up along the wall and start to take deep
breaths. Now all of you close your eyes and carry on breathing and think of
your most fearful moment. If some of you have moments in your short life where
you were terrified but still stood up and did something about it, well then I
would like you to remember that moment. Remember how you all felt then, the
smells, the temperature, weather, emotions, everything. Bring those feelings
out. Start to feel fear, anger, pleasure, and peacefulness, whatever it was,
start to feel that. Now each you have this capability or you would not be part
of this school. Start to feel how you would overcome it, feel the muscles
growing across your body, become aware at how your senses are getting sharper.
Now push those senses and muscles and strength to however much you can and when
you are done open your eyes” said Professor Malling softly. Aryan closed his eyes and
immediately knew what to think off. He was in his father’s car. They were Put in what made Aryan so strong. Some random
s**t, don’t know what, but do it when u feel creativish. After around 10 minutes everyone
bar Grant had opened their eyes and it didn’t seem that he would be ready to
take a peek anytime soon. They were all looking around to see if anyone had
become as strong as they had. Aryan felt strong, his arms were bigger than
before, his senses sharper than ever and his bracelet was now glowing. He
immediately covered it up under his Khalun upon his realization had begun to
glow as well. Then Aryan noticed that everyone’s Khaluns’ symbols were glowing
in their respective colors. Aryan noticed that everyone was staring in his
direction. It was awkward for a few seconds till he knew they were not looking
at him but at Grant who was standing right next to him. Grant had performed a
better transformation that any of the other students could hope to achieve. He
was putting them all to shame as he was big, very big and bright, very bright.
His arms and legs were bigger than Aryan’s or anyone else’s were. His Khalun
was brighter than anyone else’s was as well. After a few minutes, Aryan saw
Grant finally opened his eyes and noticed with glowing eyes that he was the
subject of interest yet again. Grant looked at Aryan so as to draw
attention from him and said “Whoa, look at you, your strong, and almost bigger
than anyone else is in the room bar that Horace kid. I didn’t do too badly
hopefully.” “Are you kidding me Grant? Your way
bigger and your Aura is brighter than anyone else’s. Even your eyes are
glowing. How did you do that? I tried with everything I had but couldn’t do
that well”, said Aryan who was confused and disappointed that he wasn’t the
best there. “I don’t know, I guess I got lucky.
I’ve had some pretty bad experiences over the years and I guess that fueled it”
replied Grant. “Maybe, well anyways I’m glad for
you. At least you’re my friend and not an enemy, ha ha ha. Better to have you
on my side than on the other side”, said Aryan. “Ha ha, I’m glad to have you on my
side too”, replied Aryan. Professor Malling looked around in
everyone’s eyes and said, “Now this is a class to be proud off. You all are a
good bunch. Teaching you promises to be a great experience. Now in
Transformations as you will notice, the student who performed the best overall
on that day gets a yellow band to place on their arm till someone out performs
them in any of their next class. There is a point system we follow that goes
from 10 through to 1. The top 10 receive points with the highest score of 10
going to the best performer. The yellow band can only be transferred if one’s
overall score is no longer better than one of your peers. This is a way to get
the best performance from each of you while putting a fun competition in it.
The dual competition as well as other competition is done based on seeding like
in most sports events. The two students with the most overall points will be
the number 1 seed and the one to beat, team play is huge so practice all you
can in your other classes as well as this to be best prepared to win. As
everyone can see today’s winner is Grant, 2nd is Horace and 3rd
is Aryan. The rest of the scores will be decided by me later in the evening and
will be known to you by your next lesson.” Grant and Aryan looked at each
other with broad smiles across their face and Aryan said, “Don’t think it’s
going to be that easy the next time.” “Oh this time I was barely trying.
You really don’t want to see me get serious. You might get scared and pull out
of the competition all together” said Grant. “Ha ha, you wish Grant” replied
Aryan. Professor Malling ushered them all
back to their mats. “Now that that is done, you all
will learn a set of stretches and exercises. I will teach you more and more over
time but one thing you have to know is that after I teach you something, you
must try and learn to master it. Meditation and other skills taught to you by
other professors will be required to master it all”, said Professor Malling. The rest of the class went by with
them stretching in ways Aryan didn’t know he could, exercising parts of his
body he did not know existed and practicing breathing so heavily that his lungs
hurt. The class bell sounded to which they all got up, thanked the professor
for a fun class and walked out to their next class. CHAPTER 12 " Figuring it out Aryan was walking with Grant to
their history class. It was going to be a history class based on what actually
happened during the world wars. How Whitmore’s students were heavily behind
both sides and how finally one of the Greats ended up winning it for the Allied
forces. Most wars that occurred had nothing to do with students of Whitmore or
inner conflicts but these two wars had heavy influence from the school’s former
pupils. Aryan and Grant were walking around taking in the different parts of the school while walking to class. Aryan was secretly extremely disappointed in what occurred in his previous class. He was not used to not being the best and his bracelet didn’t do all he hoped it would. He was adamant about wanting to go back to his dormitory and learn more about how he could access the true powers of the bracelet. © 2016 yazzermcnazzerAuthor's Note
|
StatsAuthor
yazzermcnazzerBarcelona, Barcelona, SpainAboutFiction enthusiast who has mixed in a bunch of different fiction inspirations to write part of a story for fun. Think Eragon meets Harry Potter meets Greek and Hindu mythology. Far from finished or ed.. more.. |
![[send message]](https://www.writerscafe.org/images/mail.png){kind=small}
![[befriend]](https://www.writerscafe.org/images/friend.png){kind=small}
Share This
Email
Facebook
Twitter
Read Request
My Library
Flag Writing