Author's note: Hello! So if you've read my other stories you will already be familiar with Gracie. She was practically one of the main characters in Safe & Sound despite being a nine year old child at the time, and there are a few little details from that story that I've put in this one (for example, her favourite colours- in Safe & Sound she decorated her room those colours with Trace).
Now there might be small spoilers for future stories in my 'series' but when I say small I mean very small. Like in this chapter it says Yves' soulfinder's name. There might be other things like that, plus maybe job promotions or new jobs, etc. Nothing that will spoil major plots or anything so don't worry :) Also, it won't spoil the end of Love & War at all, I promise.
Well I hope you like it; please leave reviews to let me know your thoughts.
12th January 2020
Life could be cruel to you sometimes for absolutely no reason at all. It can creep up and surprise you and land some disastrous shock into your lap like it doesn't even care how you feel... But sometimes, just sometimes, the cruelty it brings upon you is your own doing. Sometimes it's your own fault that bad things happen in your life and there's nothing you can do but deal with the consequences for your actions.
Gracie Karla Benedict was having to deal with the consequences for her actions whether she liked it or not. And her consequences? Well, her parents had made the tough decision to send her away to a boarding school specially for troubled and/or out of control savants from the ages of eleven to eighteen. Gracie was just sixteen years old; she didn't want to be at a school in the middle of nowhere in Yorkshire, half a world away from her family and friends and surrounded by people she didn't know.
She was furious at her parents for doing this to her. Trace and Georgie had joined her on the plane to London, then the train to the part of Yorkshire the school was located, and then in a taxi to the actual school. They'd left her two younger siblings with her uncle Yves and aunt Jessamine, claiming that this trip would be just about Gracie. Yeah it's all about me, she thought to herself bitterly as she glared out of the taxi window. All about getting rid of me because they don't want me anymore.
They passed hills and fields, every inch of it looking the exact same, making Gracie want to hurl in horror. The countryside all looked the same and she didn't think it was beautiful like other people said it was; she thought it was boring and dull and the thought of having to live here for the next seven months sounded like something out of a horror movie to her. Finally, after a forty-five minute drive the taxi pulled up to the school and Gracie clambered out of the taxi, staring up at the school with wide eyes, her mouth dropped into the shape of an 'O'.
The school was bigger than she had expected, made of brick and white-painted window panes. Trails of ivy ran up the sides of the walls, making the school look more like a huge mansion than a school. The double wide oak doors swung open and a woman walked out straight towards them. Trace and Georgie had got out of the taxi, asking the driver to wait- they'd have a hell of a high taxi bill for sure. The woman was dressed in a grey trouser-suit, her mousy brown hair streaked with grey and tied into a tight bun at the top of her head. A smile was plastered on her face and she shook their hands when she finally reached them.
"You must be Mr and Mrs Benedict, and Gracie Benedict. My name is Mrs Burn and I'm the headteacher here," she spoke, her accent a true Yorkshire one. "My ancestors created this school for savants and I am honoured to be a part of it, and glad that we have a new student to join our ranks." She turned to Gracie, the wide smile still on her face; it looked as fake as a Barbie's smile. "Gracie Benedict, your parents have told me all I need to know about you, and I have to admit that I think you will benefit well from this school. Now I'm afraid this is where you'll have to say goodbye to your parents and then I'll take you to your dorm room seeing as the school day has finished already."
Gracie reluctantly turned to look at her parents, a grim expression on her face. "Please don't make me stay here," she begged them. "I promise that I'll behave better and focus on school more. Please, I don't want to stay here on my own."
Trace sighed, looking at his daughter with pity in his eyes. "Gracie we've had this conversation already," he said softly. "You've made that promise before and you've never stuck to it, this is our final option. Besides I think Mrs Burn is right; you'll benefit well from being here. It's not just about your behaviour but your power as well. You've very strong and without your soulfinder you have no way of being able to control it. They'll teach you all about control here-"
"Yeah yeah yeah," she interrupted him, rolling her eyes. "You've already said all of that a hundred times before." When Gracie was younger, she'd had an English accent from when she lived in Leeds but now, seven years later, she had picked up the American accent easily and sounded like a true American. She turned to look at Georgie, her mother whom she had always had a very close bond with. "Mum," she pleaded, their matching eyes meeting. "Please."
Georgie shook her head. "I'm sorry, sweetie. Your father and I both wish that it hadn't come to this but your behaviour is out of control and we honestly think is the best place for you to be." She stepped forward and tucked a piece of Gracie's hair behind her ears. "Just finish the school year here and after July you can come home. If you don't want to return here in September, we won't make you, okay? You can call us any time that you want and we go on Skype and you can tell us all about what's going on in your life. We'll miss you so much," she added, openly crying. She pulled Gracie into her arms, embracing her tightly for a moment before reaching one hand out to pull Trace into the hug with them.
Gracie just stood there, not hugging them back and forcing herself not to let them see her cry. She knew that later on when it really hit her that she was all alone, she would regret not saying goodbye to them properly but at that moment she was angry with them still and this was her way of letting them know that. When they finally let go of her, Gracie walked around to where the taxi driver had pulled her belongings out of the trunk. She'd brought one large suitcase full of her things as well as a large shoulder bag; she swung the bag over her shoulder and pulled her suitcase behind her, going back over to where the three adults were stood.
"Right then," Mrs Burn said cheerily, clapping her hands together once. "Are you ready to see your dorm room, Gracie? Your roommates are lovely girls, I'm sure you'll get along with them."
"Yeah sure," she said without any enthusiasm whatsoever. "Bye Mum, bye dad."
"We'll see you soon, okay?" Trace said, sounding like he was holding back tears too. "You'll enjoy yourself here I just know you will; it's just seven months Gracie, just seven months."
Gracie simply nodded and turned around, following Mrs Burn as she led her away. On each side of the school there was a tall building that looked very similar to the school itself except for the fact it was taller and less wide. The headteacher seemed to be leading her towards the building on the left side of the school. Gracie allowed herself one last look over her shoulder at her parents: Georgie was sobbing with her head buried in Trace's chest as he held her tightly. They'll be okay, she thought to herself. They have each other. She still remembered the days when it was just her, her mother, and her grandad. Georgie would be happy but even Gracie, who was just a little girl at the time, would notice that there was a sadness to her mum that disappeared when they moved to Wrickenridge and found Trace again; she'd loved seeing the change in her mum. Despite being angry at her parents she at least realized they were upset about this too, but was glad to know that they had each other and her two siblings- seven year old Mark Saul and two year old Willow Victoria. Mark and Willow would definitely keep them busy and stop them from thinking of Gracie all the time.
She didn't look at her parents again after that and instead quickly followed Mrs Burn into the building, lugging her suitcase behind her. "This is the girls' building," Mrs Burn explained to her as they entered what looked like a lounge area. There were five flat screen TV's, a few sofas and chairs, some beanbags and a computer. There were about eight girls in the room, none of whom looked over at them, too immersed in the two shows that were being shown on two of the televisions. "This is the lounge. You can come here whenever you want in your spare time. We have Sky broadband, including wireless internet and phones that call overseas; we pay the phone bill so don't worry about that. Most students have their own laptops but if you don't you can use the computer over there. That door in the corner leads to a kitchen- you'll only find drinks and snacks in there, main meals are served in the cafeteria at set times. You'll quickly get the hang of it, I'm sure."
She turned to lead Gracie up a spiral shaped staircase, continuing to rattle off information as they went. "The school is only small. There are only about forty female students and sixty male students. The savant net either suggests that a teenager comes here, or approves a parent's request for a place here. We only take in savants that the net truly believe need our help. And this is the only school like this for savants in the entire world," she said, a proud tone in her voice.
"So, do you like have kids from all over the world?" Gracie asked curiously.
"Oh yes," Mrs Burn nodded. They reached a landing but Mrs Burn continued up another flight of stairs. "Your room is on the top floor, let's keep going. Anyway, as I was saying we have students from all over the world. We have translators for those that don't speak English as well as giving them lessons to learn the language. The net give us funding and we get plenty of donations from parents that help us keep this place running and help us be able to accommodate all of our students to the best of our ability. In fact, your parents gave a very wealthy donation to the school that they informed me had been put together by not just them but your aunts and uncles too which was very nice of them."
Gracie hadn't known that little fact but she didn't mention that. The family had thrown her a goodbye party with all of her uncles, her aunts, her cousins and her grandmother there. She'd enjoyed herself but had also been sad for obvious reason, but she'd thought that her family disagreed with the decision to send her to boarding school in England, so why would they donate money to the school? Sighing, she stayed silent until they finally reached the top floor after she had struggled with her suitcase up eight flights of stairs.
They walked along to the end of the corridor and to a door with a small whiteboard hung on it. Each door had one and this door had 'Samira and Allie's room' wrote on it in a red marker. "This will be your room," Mrs Burn said to Gracie. "Samira and Allie are downstairs in the lounge, I saw them. I did ask them to be up here to welcome you, but I guess they thought you'd want your space. Some students have their own rooms if we think they're possibly too dangerous and unpredictable to share, and the highest amount of people we have in one room is four. Each room has an en-suite bathroom which we expect you to share with your roommates without arguments. Boys are allowed in the dorms up until 5pm, and you're allowed in the boys dorms until 5pm. We have dorm wardens to check that you're following the rules." She swung the bedroom door upon and gestured into the room. "Well, I'll let you get settled now. Your timetable and a copy of the school rules are in the room, you'll be starting classes tomorrow."
Gracie stepped into the room and said a quick thank you before Mrs Burn shut the door behind her and left Gracie alone. She looked around the bedroom, surprised that it was actually quite nice. Samira and Allie had both used blue tack to stick photos of their families and friends on the walls and had a nice dark wood desk, along with a bookcase crammed with books. There was a fluffy pink rug on the floor that matched the colour of the curtains, and thankfully it seemed like they were tidy people; Gracie would have hated to live with somebody that liked to leave a mess around the room. She knew that it was going to take a while to get used to sharing a room with two other girls considering she'd never shared a room with anybody in her life before.
There were three single beds- one had a silk multi-covered throw over it, one had a bright pink duvet, and one had a duvet and cushions without any sheets on that she guessed was hers. She placed her bag and suitcase at the bottom of the bed and rooted around in the bag for her sheets. The sheets were striped with her two favourite colours: green and purple.
After sorting her bed out, she sat down on the edge of it, silently looking around at what was going to be her home for the next seventh months.
And then she started to cry, already regretting her behaviour and lack of control on her power, praying and wishing that her parents would change their mind and come and rescue her from this place. She'd never felt so alone in her life.