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A dream-shattering sound pierced through the air. What the what what?

I jumped up from the bed, momentarily fighting to get out of my covers as the intrusive sound continued to tamper with my eardrums. I glanced at my clock.

3:25 in the fricking morning!

3:25 when I had been busy dreaming about hot guys on the beach!

Lani jumped up from her bed as well and looked around wildly as she tried to gather what was going on.

"What the hell?" She exclaimed as she grabbed a pillow and pressed it over her face. It was the call-to-assemble signal. What could be that damn important that it couldn't wait until eight in the morning?

This had better be worth my damn time.

I cursed a few indecent words as I finally untangled myself from the sheets. Leilani sprang from her bed and hastily pulled on a sweat pants and her toms. Luckily I slept in sweats and shoes. Not for these particular reasons persé, but incase I wanted to go to a secret party or something.

"Hurry up!" I urged as she clumsily brushed her wild blonde hair into submission.

Even though her mother was the chancellor of the academy, she would still go coo-coo on our asses if we got to the assembly late.

When we exited our dorm room, the hallway was alive with girls hurriedly making their ways to the assembly square. Leilani and I ran down the stairs and had to literally force our way through the exit.

Okay so maybe I shoved a girl like...once, but she wasn't badly hurt or anything. Lani checked.

We finally reached outside where over a thousand academicians gathered, anxiously awaiting what was to come.

Guardians of the academy (or as we called themWatchers) in their sleek jacket suits, surrounded the place and seemed quite perturbed by something.

The morning was deadly cold and I had to fight the urge to grab a jacket from a minor who had better sense than myself to carry one. Leilani grabbed my hand and led me towards a group of chatting boys. Cade was among them.

"God,you're shivering like a leaf Aeja," he commented.

"You think?" I rolled my eyes and punched him on his arm. He feigned being hurt and gave me his signature puppy-brown eyes look and his swoon-worthy smile.

Lord have mercy, I thought as an ill wind abused my skin.

Luckily for me, one of the guys who stood among the group was pyrokinetic. When he heated his hands, I stood closer than a person should next to him. He gave me a very watery,unattractive smile. I hope he didn't think I was hitting on him or anything.

"So what's this about?" I asked Cade.

"Heard it had to do with the Electi or something." he shrugged.

Oh wow, I thought.

An Electi was chosen every Fifty years and then would be trained to become the Queen of the Gifted Ones like myself. I never understood why we needed a Queen, but I guess every set of people need a leader. The Electi, on most occasions was a female.

However, there was only one male Electi known to History: Daniel Jornes. Contrary to much belief, an Electi was not chosen by the royal squad or by any social ranking. All we knew was that he/she developed markings on their skin, heightened senses and very powerful abilities. Each Electi was assigned two personal watchers who would train and protect him or her.

The Gifted or Wielders, the generalized group of us, possessed psychic abilities as well as some elemental manipulation. Our abilities derived from the earliest of times when magic was dominant on Earth. The magic passes on through lineage. Therefore, only descendants of the first wielders of magic possessed these psychic and elemental abilities. I was among the few unlucky ones who did not possess any elemental gifts, so technically I wasn't a wielder really. My two best friends, Leilani and Cade, were among the many blessed ones.

Lucky bastards.

Leilani was vitakinetic(had the ability to heal) and could manipulate plant life. Cade however had rare gifts; the ability to bend time which was both elemental and psychic, and a master at illusions.

I was stuck with empathy, meaning I could see auras and know a person's emotion. I was also telekinetic, which was actually alright. I guess.

Teenagers, at the ages of thirteen to eighteen like myself attended The Gifted Academy to train and learn to control their gifts.

Non-gifted ones or Commons did not know about The Gifted which was why we had to know how to control our abilities. We concealed ourselves from the commons in fear of being treated like aliens and taken to labs. Call us a secret society if you wish.

I just hope that this Electi is less hostile than Queen Khira, I thought.

I mean the lady wore long prestigious dresses to everywhere,even to pool parties.

Who did that?

Plus how will guys get to grope her?

I almost cracked my self up at the thought of someone groping the Queen.

Off with their heads!

She was probably a virgin. A virgin at 72 years old even though Electis stopped aging physically at a certain age.

Leilani nudged me as her mother, Chancellor Britische walked onto the podium. How she managed to look so alert at three a.m whereas I was almost keeling over, was a wonder.

Her blond hair was held neatly in her usual bun and her black skirt suit was neatly ironed. She looked like one of those immaculately dressed congress women I saw on Leilani's laptop.

She tapped the microphone once before speaking.

"My dear gifted ones, I am truly sorry for waking you from your slumbers but this is indeed an emergency," she spoke with that authoritative voice of hers that demanded attention.

"The Electi has been marked."

A wave of murmurs arose from the students. She stood there for a while waiting for the noise to die down.

Yaay the Electi is here, can I go to bed now?

"But I'm afraid I have some bad news."

"Is she like... " I asked aloud as I made a slicing gesture across my throat. Chuckles erupted from the crowd.

Mrs.Britische glared at me. I wasn't her favourite person in the world.

"No,Miss Cyzec. She is not...dead."

She spat out the last word as if it was that bad. All things go, even the Electi. Honestly with all those wrinkles on the chancellor's face, she didn't have much time left.

I laughed at my little private joke and glanced at Leilani who was busy looking at her mother. Thank God she wasn't telepathic.

The chancellor continued.

"The Dark Clan has raided the primary academy and..." Her voice cracked a bit. At the mention of the Dark Clan, everyone around me got fearful. Flecks of yellow-green flashed everywhere.

The Dark Clan was an ostracised set of Gifted Ones who used their powers for evil. Their ulterior motive was to 'take over the human race' which was rather corny if you asked me. They were powerful, ruthless creatures and didn't even have to think twice before killing someone. Members of the Dark Clan weren't hard to miss. They all bore dark tattoo-like markings on their necks. When one became a part of the Dark Clan, one of the oldest forms of dark magic was induced into their bloodstream. Over time, they themselves became victims of the darkness and they lose their souls. It was rumoured that when one became one of them, their darkest thoughts were played upon.

One of the Watchers handed the chancellor a tissue. She gently tapped her eyes.

"They have killed a lot of the young ones but a few have managed to escape. Including the Electi."

The Electi is less than thirteen years then?  She would be the youngest Electi recorded in the Gifted history. I reverted my thoughts to the Chancellor.

"They will be staying here until their parents arrive. They will arrive later as they are already on the way. A child will be given into the care of some of our greatest fighters here. The Dark Clan is not going to stop until the Electi is dead and it is our duty to protect her and to protect our home. For the next months or so, trainings will be more intense, the academy will be fully guarded and on lock down. If one needs to go somewhere beyond the compound, a Watcher must be present. Thank you."

She nodded in conclusion and stepped down from the podium.

I clapped but no one clapped along with me. I got a few disgusted looks but just shrugged.

Screw y'all too.

As we were ushered back to our rooms, everyone around me, even Leilani was chattering about the Electi and the Dark Clan. The fear being emitted from everyone was too overbearing so I hurriedly got to my room. Leilani came in soon afterwards.

"I don't see what everyone is so frantic about." I grumbled.

"This is big Aeja. It can lead to a massive war with the Dark Clan. Plus don't you want to see who our next Queen or King will be? "

"No, not really." I answered flatly as I got into bed and pulled my covers over my head.

"Aeja!" Lani cried as she pulled back the covers.

"What?" I laughed.

She sighed.

"You don't care about anything."

"That's not true," I frowned," I care about you and Cade."

"Yeah, but it's time you start caring about other things around you."

I watched as she got into bed.

"The less you care, the less you hurt." I sighed.

She remained silent.

...

A sudden warmth hit me square in the face. My eyes fluttered open to meet beams of sunlight and light footfalls coming from the bathroom.

"Good you're up. It's all yours." Lani said as she plugged in the blowdryer.

I stumbled into the bathroom and glanced in the mirror. I levitated the toothbrush and let it do the work for me. My brown hair was a mess and my eyes were red with fatigue.

See? This is what happens when you deprive people of their sleep for conventions at the witching hour.

I pinned my hair up before getting into the icy shower.

These are the times I wish I was pyrokinetic, I thought and shivered.

After taking the miserable bath I headed into the room. Lani was busy curling her hair and she was already dressed. I decided to wear my black skinny jeans, a black tube top and my combats. Make-up wasn't my thing so all I did was pull my hair up into a ponytail. I grabbed my knapsack and placed a sweat pant and a t-shirt in there.

"And I'm still ready before you are..." I commented as Lani applied the black mess under her eyelids.

"Yes because you are naturally beautiful Aeja." She stated.

I rolled my eyes.

What do people call beautiful?

I considered Lani to be gorgeous. She had long blond hair which looked beautiful especially when it was straightened but she neglected that style for bouncy curls. She was skinnier and a bit taller than I was but she had a nice form that would look great on a runway. Her hazel eyes were nothing less than beautiful under her long eyelashes. Plus she had a stunning personality to match. Yet she had a self esteem problem.

I rolled my eyes.

Girls.

She finally finished and stood to grab her bag. She was dressed in a pretty yellow summer dress, a black cardigan and black flat shoes.

"You need to get a jacket," she told me as she placed her hand on the side of her head. A bright yellow orchid materialised.

"Why? What's wrong with my attire?" I asked and looked down at myself.

"Nothing is wrong Aej. Just too much cleavage and you know how Mrs Ferron is about things like that. I am sure you don't wanna be grounded especially when there might be a party."

I muttered a fine and grabbed my leather jacket from the closet.

"Full black... I like..." She groaned sarcastically.

Black was my signature colour.

The eating hall was filled with chattering students who were too noisy for my liking. The only noise I liked was that of a boombox. Leilani and I spotted Cade at our table and went to sit with our best friend. He looked good as usual. His messy black hair was long and needed cutting but I liked it that way. His eyes were a cute brown but occasionally amber given the lighting. He had his long fingers strumming on his bottom lip like he always did when he was in thought. A smile formed on his lips when he saw us.

"Hey." he greeted as he handed Lani an apple. She grinned at him gratefully and took a huge bite.

"What are you thinking about?" I asked as I sat down.

"This whole Electi thing you know?"

I groaned.

"You too?"

I glanced over at Lani who was busy germinating an apple from the seeds of the one she had recently ate.

That was fast.

Cade laughed.

"Come on kitten. You can't tell me that you are not eager to meet an Electi."

Kitten was what Cade, and only Cade called me and the background story was our little secret.

"I am not." I lied.

Ok so maybe an ounce of me was a little curious about the Electi.
He leaned over and stared at me, his aura displaying a bunch of colours that were hard to interpret. My breath hitched in my throat for awhile but I didn't know why.

"You're lying." He simply stated then leaned back.

"Yup, she's lying." Lani agreed. I playfully knocked the apple from her hand.

"Very mature Aeja..." Cade mocked.

After breakfast, Cade and I headed to our combat training class. Lani had Nature. We changed and met in class where the other students assembled.

"I have a bit of a history lesson for you today before we begin our combat class." Mr.Gerald, our combat training teacher told us. I groaned obnoxiously.

"Is there a problem Miss Cyzek?"

"Not that I know of Mr.Gerald. Is there?"

He ignored me and continued.

"I have a list with the names of some of the greatest academicians who ever attended or was a Watcher at our dear academy."

I half listened to the names he was calling. All I wanted to do was fight. That was what I did best. That was how I channeled my anger. I was pretty badass at combat and there were many students who could attest to that.

"Isn't that your dad?" Molly Grant,a slim girl with boobs way too big for her size, snickered.

One more to add to the list.

"What did you say?" I growled.

Then I realized that the name on the board was Clay Cyzek.

My dad.

Blood rushed to my ears and I could feel my cheeks heating up. I barely heard when Cade called my name.

"Where is he again?" She asked cheekily. The class laughed.

Don't push it bitch.

"Oh that's right, he ran off to join the Dark Clan."

Chair.

A chair in a corner of the room smashed into the side of her head. I pounced on her then, my knuckles playing the tambarine on her face.

Don't...Fist.

Mess...Crack.

With...Blood.

Strong hands grabbed me from behind and pulled me off her. Her nose was a bloody mess and she was rolling on the floor in pain. I wanted to smash her nose even harder.

"Aeja!" Cade's voice brought me back. He shouted something to Mr.Gerald who was busy tending to that bitch Molly and dragged me to the restroom.

"Cade didn't you-"

"Sit." he ordered.

"But-"

"This is not the time for your stubborness Aeja. Sit."

I frowned but obediently climbed onto the sink. He cleaned my knuckles in silence and didn't even look at me. After he was done, he washed his hands and ran them through his dark hair. He then surprised me by pulling me into a hug. I didn't like hugs but that felt right in a twisted kind of way.

Oh Cade.

We stayed like that for awhile until I felt hot, unwanted tears stinging in the corner of my eyes. I hated crying, it made me feel weak. I inhaled a mass of Cade's scent. He smelled like fresh rain. Cade was the only one who fully understood me. Not even Lani understood me the way he did. He knew the full details about my father.

My father was once a great Guardian of the Academy but he turned to the dark side when I was about seven. He killed a lot of people including Cade's father, Abrahim. I don't know how Cade managed to be friends with the daughter of the man who killed his father. Deep down I feared that Cade would hate me sooner or later.

When his dad died, Cade had to see a psychiatrist because he kept using his abilities to go back in time to see the horrific fate that reached his father. They thought he would have never revived but he did and became my first friend at the Academy when I was thirteen. Even when he found out who I was.

"Are you ok?" He asked after awhile.

I nodded. He planted a light kiss on my hair and lifted my face towards his.

"You look like crap." he laughed.

I laughed along with him and brushed a stray lock of his dark hair away from his eyes. Leave it to Cade to cheer me up.

A loud booming sound wafted through the air. We glanced at each other and immediately knew what it was.

The survivors and the Electi had arrived.

Another ear splitting wail caused me to cringe. God dammit! Cade and I ran to the courtyard where almost everyone was already gathered, noisily anticipating the events to come. Unknown Watchers on walkie talkies and big trucks were all over the compound like it was a military base. I searched for Leilani through the crowd but was interrupted as a loud silver helicopter overhead almost blew me over.

It landed on the square and I immediately knew who it was. I glanced over at Cade whose brown eyes met my green gaze.

A guard with the Royal Crest on his navy blue suit stepped out from the pilot seat and opened the other door. Out stepped Queen Khira.

The first thing that caught me was the sparkly heels then the long golden gown. Honestly,it was a nice dress and the Queen hugged it with her womanly curves. She had on those long, white gloves thingies and a fur jacket over her shoulders. Her platinum blond hair was styled neatly up in a wavy bun and her diamond crown sat proudly ontop of her head. She looked really young despite her 70+ years. She looked like she wasn't more than 25. I noticed that the markings on her skin were duller than usual. Her powder blue eyes glanced around emotionless as we all bowed. She gestured for us to stand and I had to admire how graceful she looked. She was radiant and her aura was just the same: gold and purple bursting around her. There was an air of authority around her and everyone seemed to hold their breaths as she daintily walked onto the podium.

"I greet you all."

We all bowed, though I was stiff and hesitant. Her voice was strangely mesmerizing. I wondered idly if she was trained to speak that way.

"By now I am sure that we have all heard the tragic news. Yet some positive news arose from the tragedy. The Electi is alive."

Oh right because the Electi's life is the only one that matters, I thought as I shook my head in disgust.

Cheers echoed around me and I had to grind my teeth to not start a brawl. The noise died quickly however because the Queen raised her hand as to cease them.

"The Dark Clan took us by surprise and so quickly after the Electi was marked. Which means that they have ears alistening and eyes watching," she glanced around her, "Hence we need to be prepared for when they strike again. Yes my youngings they will strike. It is up to us to instig..."

I totally zoned out after that. She started with some grandiloquent speech and I left my thesaurus in my room. The Gifted society was based off bias. The Queen's associates devalued themselves by just nodding and not giving their own input on decisions made to 'uplift' the society. It sickened me. The only reason I bowed to the Queen was because I did not want to be charged with treason, my deceased aunt would not have wanted that. She always told me that I had a bright future ahead of me. I doubted that highly. No one really had a say on their lives. Even when you graduated from the academy, you were never really free from their laws. In a sense, the Dark Clan was fortunate to no longer be controlled or susceptible to the monarch. The Queen finally finished and gained a rousing applause.

The chancellor took the podium afterwards when the Queen sat down. She greeted us and ran through the plan again : the best fighters would be assigned to take care of one of the mini people.

At the blow of a whistle, all the survivors stepped from the trucks with their mentors. 206 children out of 700+ to be exact. They all lined out on the grass in rows: children of all heights,and all colours between the ages of five and twelve. I craned my neck to see if I could spot anyone who could be the Electi.

"Here are the young survivors," the Chancellor exclaimed.

Everyone clapped and the poor petrified children hung their heads as they melted away behind their mentors. Each mentor didn't look a day over thirty and they themselves looked tired. Most children were sadly without mentors.

"When I call your names, please come to the Podium with your mentor if you have any," the Chancellor instructed.

"Melody Grayson."

A little girl with curly black hair walked up to the podium,alone. She was given to a black-american girl who I once fought in Combat Training. She was good. The distribution went on for a while and I was seriously dozing off.

"Uhm..." The chancellor stuttered as she glanced at the paper, "Ca...Cassia Or'zai....The Electi."

The groups of children parted like The Red Sea to reveal a girl in a dark-green cape who hung onto a young man beside her. I couldn't see his face but he was bending beside her and obviously said something she wanted to hear. She nodded and began to walk with him trailing behind. I finally caught his face.

He had dark hair like Cade's and light blue eyes accentuated by his furry black eyebrows. His thin pink lips were slightly parted and my eyes ran over his biceps. He was wearing a dark, fitted suit. Honestly, he was hot.

Which magazine did they take him out of?

Silence fell upon the academy as the girl walked up to the podium. She removed her cape to reveal her long brown hair and dazzling green eyes with flecks of gold. Her face was smooth like that of a porcelain doll except for the thin, blue-black tendrils that ran up to her neck in all different shapes and symbols. It honestly marred nothing of her beautiful,angel-like features. They seemed to be apart of her. We all bowed in awe.

"Please rise," her voice tiny but with authority. What is it with the confusing tones? We all obeyed her and waited for the chancellor to speak.

"This...this is her mentor Aiden Saige" she told us. Aiden.

Mm, sounds Greek.

The chancellor looked on her clipboard and flipped the page as if something was wrong. She called one of the Deans and whispered something to him. He nodded and the disbelief on her face was evident. Like,spill the beans lady.

"Uhm... The person that is assigned to the Electi is..."

This one time when I lived with my Aunt a bug flew down my ear. I thought it was affecting me twelve years later because I could've sworn that I heard my name.

"Miss Aeja Cyzek?" The chancellor repeated reluctantly. All eyes turned to me. I involuntarily grabbed a hold of Cade's hand. His eyes were as wide as mine. My feet were glued to the ground and I searched the crowd for Lani. The surprise on her face was evident too.

"Go." She mouthed but I stood there rooted to the ground.

"I am right here. Go." Cade's soft voice whispered into my ear. I looked at him one more time for reassurance before I stiffly walked up to the podium. I glanced at the Chancellor.

What the hell is going on?

The chancellor looked as confused as I did. She cleared her throat.

"It seems that Miss Cyzek has the highest combat training points for the entire senior classes."

The crowd was silent for awhile but then they bursted into cheers which startled me. I stepped back a bit.

"Are you ok Miss?" The Aiden guy asked. He had a serious look on his face. He looked down at me but his eyes held no hint of an emotion.

This guy must take his work very seriously.

Words failed me miserably.

"Yes I'm fine."

He nodded and faced the crowd again. I tried to read his aura but couldn't. It was like a mental wall was blocking me. My thoughts went back to the bigger matter at hand.

I didn't like the accession and I seriously thought that my name was a mistake. Yes, I was skillful but I didn't give a rat's ass about stuff like this. Plus I just kicked Molly's flat butt.

Look on the bright side, you get to work alongside this totally hot guy, my subconscious purred and turned a glass of champagne to her head.

Oh shut up.

Surely my name was a mistake. It had to be a mistake. A guard led me off the podium along with the Electi(who was staring at me) and her mentor.

"I need to speak to you," the chancellor whispered to me through gritted teeth. Ofcourse she did. She must've noticed the mistake too. I nodded and was taken to the Chancellor's office where I awaited her arrival.

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