Chapter 13: Snake in the Garden

My first day back to the academy was nothing short of bizarre. People stared at me, pointed and whispered "There's that girl who almost died." or "There's that girl that ran away with Salem Bloor". I felt even more alienated than before. Not only was I that weird endowed girl, but I was also that girl who almost died, then ran away from home with a boy. On top of that, I was informed that I had to take piano classes with Mr. Pilgrim. I always found him strange and he never talked. How was I supposed to get proper lessons from a man who didn't talk? I dreaded going to class as I walked up the stairs to the music tower by myself. Mr. Pilgrim didn't have many students. The only other person I knew of that took classes with him was Gabriel Silk. I actually bumped into him as I was going up and he was going down.

"What are you doing up here?" He asked me, surprised to see me not only in the music tower, but in a blue cape.

"Salem switched me to a new department because of the accident last year." I shrugged. "I guess I'm taking piano with Mr. Pilgrim now."

"Mr. Pilgrim is gone." Gabriel wrinkled his brow. "He has been replaced by a man named Mr. Ebony. He certainly is odd. He has two different colored eyes and speaks in many voices, but he is a very brilliant player."

This made me uneasy. Salem, I need you to come to the music tower right now. I begged Salem quietly in my brain. "I guess I'll have to see for myself." I chuckled nervously. "I'll see you around, Gabe."

"Okay." He smiled at me and continued to climb down the stairs. I stood rooted to the same spot and hoped that Salem would come soon. My wish was granted. He met me halfway up the stairs, panting and out of breath. I hadn't expected him to run the whole way there.

"What's…wrong?" He panted, sitting down on the stairs next to me.

"Gabriel Silk said that Mr. Pilgrim was replaced. He isn't here anymore."

"What?" A panicked look filled Salem's eyes. He stood up quickly and ran up the stairs the rest of the way. I could hear him throw the door open. Then there was silence. I picked up my pace and jogged the rest of the way up the stairs to see what was going on. Salem was staring at the man at the piano suspiciously and that man was glaring back.

Gabriel was right. He had one gray eye and one brown one. He wore a plain black cape instead of a department cape and he had disheveled black hair. His skin was deathly pale. As I stared at the man, he began to look more and more uncomfortable. There was something off about him, as if he were made from several different men, like Frankenstein's monster. "What are you children doing?" He asked, his voice loud and booming.

"How is it that the academy gets a teacher that I have never heard of?" Salem crossed his arms.

"Not everything has to be run by you before it happens, boy. You're only a child. And not the one who is supposed to be inheriting the academy." The man scoffed at Salem and turned to me. "Are you Infinity Jones, my new student?"

"My last name is Bone, not Jones." I corrected. I figured it was too late in my life to have my ridiculous first name changed even though I hated it. I wouldn't be able to break the habit and respond to a different name, but I did have my last name legally changed before returning to the academy.

"Bone? Any relation to the idiot boy who was in my office earlier looking for lines that he had lost? Charles?"

"That's my brother and he isn't an idiot." I defended Charlie, although if he was writing lines he was idiotic enough to get in trouble…again.

"Are you both finished wasting my time? Are you going to get a lesson or just stand there like an idiot as well?"

My lesson with Mr. Ebony was a strange one. His personality did a complete 180 when he played the piano. I was able to learn things much more quickly when I wasn't forced to teach myself. I had learned to play by ear, but Mr. Ebony teaching me to read sheet music helped me exponentially.

I went through the rest of the day without anything too strange happening. None of my other teachers were suddenly replaced and I was able to relax.

At dinner, I took my place at the head of the music table. Mondays would be my day to collect plates and serve for the music students. Charlie, Gabriel, Fidelio Gunn and Billy Raven took seats close to me. Salem sat all the way at the other end of the table. Mondays were his serving days too.

At the end of dinner, Dr. Bloor stood to his feet to make an announcement. His loud and angry voice made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. "A word for those of the new children who are endowed. You know who you are, so I shall not mention you by name. You will do your homework in the King's room. Someone will show you the way. Do you understand?" Somewhere, not at the music table, I heard a few quiet voices answer.

"Won't mention by name?" I murmured, looking at Charlie. "I got loudly called out in the middle of the academy on my first day."

"Me too." He mouthed, rolling his eyes.

After dinner was cleaned up, Salem and I met up to walk to the King's room together. "Do you know anything about the new students?" I asked him. "I didn't even think about the fact that the new year would bring more people."

"The one is a boy named Joshua Tilpin. He just showed up on our doorstep apparently, his tuition is being paid through a private bank. His endowment is magnetism. Stuff just sticks to him." He picked up his pace a little when we realized we were going to be late. "The other two are twins. They're Zelda's cousins. There telekinetic too. I don't remember their names at this moment."

The mention of Zelda's name made me sad. She and I called each other and kept in touch online frequently, but with me being in the academy I wouldn't be able to talk to her until the end of the week. As we approached the door, I could hear Manfred yelling already. "Where is that idiot brother of mine? And Bone, where is your sister?"

"We're right here." Salem called back, taking a seat on his own, away from everyone else. I sat down between him and Emma Tolly. "I don't understand why you're always yelling." When I looked up, I saw two pairs of glassy blue eyes staring at me. The girls looking at me were Zelda's cousins and they looked like little porcelain dolls, probably no older than Charlie. And next to them was an unfortunate looking boy who was covered with bits of dirt, lint and paper. He caught me looking at him and smiled broadly. Something tugged and me, forcing me to smile back. He looked to be about ten or eleven years old.

"You have very pretty hair." He said to me, catching me off guard.

This made me smile even more. Ever since discovering my endowment, my hair, nails, and eyelashes all had grown to be extremely healthy and had gotten longer. My hair finally had a shine to it and I was able to grow it back with no trouble at all. It even gained some volume and turned a nicer blonde. Good magic made people more beautiful, where as bad magic drained beauty.

"Wipe that stupid smile off of your face, Bone. I have an announcement to make." He snapped at me. I rolled my eyes and wondered what overly important, egotistical thing that Manfred had to tell us all. "I know none of you expected to see me here again. Well too bad, you're all stuck with me." His eyes met with Charlie's when he spoke. I wondered what terrible things he had in store for my little brother this year. "I am a teaching assistant. My job is to supervise your homework, monitor progress, supervise for exams and help with any other personal issues you all may have."

At this, Salem snorted and held back a laugh. "Who the hell would want to come to you for that? Hey, Manny. I asked Infinity to prom and she turned me down. What do I doooooo?" He wailed, teasing his brother.

At this, both Asa Pike and I both started to laugh. "DETENTION, BOTH OF YOU!" He roared at us. We both quieted down and lowered our heads. When I peeked back up again, I noticed Asa was smirking at me. "Anyway, introductions." He nodded towards the twins first. "These girls are Idith and Inez Branko."

Suddenly, two sets of book rocketed across the room and hit both Charlie and Tancred Torsson. "Telekinesis?" Tancred complained as he sent a phantom wind through the air.

"I see that summer has done nothing for your self-control." Manfred crossed his arms and waited for both boys to take the books back over to the twins. "Try and be pleasant to these ladies. They are Zelda Dobinski's cousins. And if you haven't noticed, Zelda has graduated and moved on to university, Unlike Asa Pike and Infinity Bone." I knew Manfred was challenging me to say something to him, but I bit my tongue. "Asa failed all of his exams and Infinity went on medical leave last semester and was unable to finish."

"What happened?" The magnet boy asked.

"There was an accident and Miss Bone was left comatose for several months." Manfred looked at me, as if he was challenging me or anyone else in the room to correct him. At that moment, I saw him wince as if he was in pain. I glanced over at Salem, who seemed to be focusing on something. Whatever was happening, it forced Manfred down into his seat. He was staring daggers and Salem, but wasn't able to speak through his gritted teeth.

"Don't push your luck, Manny." Salem whispered under his breath before opening a text book.