The Academy for Gifted Individuals he called it. It was a stunning feat of architecture. The building looked as if it had stood there amidst the sprawling city for centuries and it probably had. In between the tightly packed together houses stood the Academy taking up thrice the space of the biggest house on the block. Though impressive from upfront, the inside truly amazed me. A huge, spiraling staircase was the centerpiece of the entrance hall. It was more like a ballroom than a hall, though. A massive chandelier hung from the ceiling. There were dozens of rooms each decorated in a different style with a vintage theme spanning across all of them.
The first time I set foot inside the Academy I was greeted by five children. Each of them a little older than the next. They were well-mannered and introduced themselves to me as my siblings one by one. What struck me is that they didn’t use their names, but numbers instead. I didn’t care much for it. I’d never had brothers or sisters before, though I had always wanted them and now I finally had them. Three brothers and two sisters. They welcomed me with open arms and treated me as if they had known me their entire lives. I didn’t have much time to get to know them. For the first month of my stay at the Academy, I barely saw them. Sage had separated me from them in order to study me. He taught me a lot about myself and what I could do. The time I didn’t spend with him, I spend with Sonia. She, just like Sage, wasn’t the kind of person one would describe as warm, or loving. Until you’d gotten to know her. Then you’d start to see the subtle signs of caring in her actions and words. They were well hidden and hard to notice, but they were there nonetheless. She wasn’t as distant as Sage. Where he saw students, she saw children. Her children. She even gave us our new names, proper names. Though she was the only one who called us by them and only when we were alone with her. She allowed us to call her by her first name as well and not some weird alias or number, even in front of Sage. However, the term mother was off-limits. She wasn’t the only one who allowed us to call her by her true name. Master Lucius did as well. At least that was what we always assumed was his real name. What his role was in the Academy I’ve never really understood. I guess he just took care of things, made sure everything was working just fine and everyone had what they needed. The man was as mysterious as he was kind. He made up for Sage’s lack of affection in every way possible.
Four was the first of my siblings I had a real conversation with. It was in the third week of my stay. I still wasn’t allowed to go anywhere near my siblings or they to me, but that didn’t stop four. He had curiosity written all over his face and just had to know who I was and what I could do. So, on one of the rare occasions I was actually alone I heard a knock at my door. At first, I thought it was Master Lucius, but without having opened the door, Four walked in as if the door itself wasn’t even there.
“Hi,” he said, “Whaddya think of my trick. Neat, isn’t it?”
I nodded. I had never met anyone else with abilities before and was quite impressed.
“So what’s your trick?” he asked me.
“Animals talk to me,” I answered casually as if they did to everybody.
“Really?” he asked with wide eyes. “What do they sound like?”
“They don’t really have a voice. It’s more like they’re sharing what they see and feel.”
“That sounds awesome.”
“Yours comes in handy too, though,” I laughed oblivious to what my powers would eventually grow into. “What’s it like here?”
“You’ll soon find out. Sage kept all of us separated from the others at first, but only for a month or so.”
“How long have you been here?”
“For as long as I can remember really,” he sounded somewhat troubled. That curiosity of his probably made him wonder a lot about where he really came from. “One was still a baby as well when Sage adopted her. As for Two and Three, they were toddlers. They even have some memories of their parents. What about you?”
I didn’t really want to share much about myself just yet. “He calls me Six. Does that mean there will be a Seven?” I asked to change the subject.
“Probably. It might take years though, might take months. It depends on-” Suddenly he stopped talking. I heard it as well. Someone was coming up the stairs and by the sound of it that could only be one man.
“Wanna see another trick?” Four asked just before the door swung open. Sage stood in the opening with a sour face.
“Who were you talking to?!” he asked as he pointed his cane at me threateningly. I didn’t understand his question as first. Could he not see Four sitting next to me? Then I realized, I couldn’t anymore either.
“Just the bugs, sir,” I said innocently as ever. Sage murmured something and grunted as he shut the door again. I looked to my left and there was Four again.
"Cool," I gasped.
I don't know why I thought it would be a good idea, but I followed Four downstairs. He said he wanted to show me something and even though it was long past curfew, I couldn't wait to see it. Unfortunately, Master Lucius was downstairs watching television, and the only way to reach wherever we were going was past him.
"How are we gonna get past him?" I whispered.
"Well, to quote Sage," Four said, "I can render myself unseen by the naked eye and become invisible in the visible spectrum. I can move about an environment unseen by others and act without being observed."
I looked at him with questioning eyes.
"How long did it take you to memorize that?"
"Longer than I care to admit," Four said. "Anyways, I can just walk right past Master Lucius. As for you, I don't know. Maybe your powers can lend a hand."
There weren't any bugs around to help, but there were still a couple of birds awake outside. I couldn't see or hear them but I knew they were out there. I didn't know how I did it at the time, but suddenly, there was a ticking noise coming from one of the windows. Master Lucius heard it as well. He dismissed the strange noise at first but as it persisted, he grew more and more annoyed at the sound and stood up to investigate. This was my chance to slip past him, and so I did.
We went down even further, into the basement. It looked like it had once been a wine cellar. The most exclusive vintages of Europe had been shelved in wooden racks, trusted to the natural refrigeration of the soil behind the dense stone walls. There were ancient brackets for candles every few feet, but it had been so long since they were used that there wasn't even any wax residue on them. It smelled musty but in the dim light provided by the single bare bulb that dangled from the ceiling I couldn't see any water seeping in. At six years old I was hardly a giant but I had to keep my head bowed as I walk around it. It was larger than it seemed from the doorway, and there were some alcoves built-in.
"This is what you wanted to show me?" I asked Four but he didn't answer. He waved at me from the back of the basement telling me to come closer. There was a door but it was locked from the other side.
"Wanna see my trick again?" Four asked as he moved through the door without opening it. It was as if the door wasn't even there. He just walked straight through it. I put my hand on the door to see if it was really there and I met resistance. There really was a door there. I heard it unlock from the other side and watched it open with a creak. Four was standing on the other side with a smug look on his face.
"Intangibility," Four said, "Moving through solid objects and ignoring most physical effects in my way. Sage and I are still working on the how."
I didn't know what to say. I was gobsmacked and impressed.
"Pick your jaw from the floor and follow me," Four laughed.
A narrow hallway led into a large open room. There were seven large statues of different men and women. They looked like important people.
"Impressive, isn't it?" Four said.
"What is this place?" I asked.
"I don't know. I call it the Sanctuary. I think it's a place of remembrance."
I took a closer look at the statues. They were meticulously carved out of solid rock. Some of the facial features were almost life-like. One statue, in particular, drew my attention. The man it depicted looked strangely familiar. The plaque beneath the statue read Immortalis. I didn't dwell on it any further at the time. It wasn't until many years later that I could finally put two and two together.
There was a thick layer of dust on pretty much everything in the Sanctuary. No one, besides Four, had been there in a long time.
"Who else knows about this place?" I asked.
"Just you and me. I don't think Sage even knows about this place," Four said. "He rarely ever comes down to the basement."
"You haven't told anyone else?"
"No," Four said, "Who should I have told? One too much of a goody-two-shoes, Two doesn't seem to like me, or anyone else for that matter, Three is an absolute buzzkill, and five is an unpredictable nut head."
"And after spending five minutes with me you can tell I'm not any of those things?"
"What can I say," Four smirked, "I've got great people skills. You tend to get those when being shipped from one foster home to the next."
"Too much of a troublemaker, are you?"
"I guess so." He shrugged his shoulders. "Guess it's just another one of my powers. Nobody ever understands me."
His words hit me like thunder on a clear day. I understood far too well what it was like being an outcast, feeling like it's just you against the world.
"Well," I said, glad to finally have found a friend, "I understand you. A lot better than I care to admit actually."
He looked at me, smiled, and said: "I think we're gonna be great friends."
