Maverick (Maverick Academy Series) (4 page)

“I’m up
, Mona. I know I’m running late,” Whit hollered. Mona cracked the door open and peeked inside.

“Good morning
, sweetie. How’d you sleep? Any dreams?” Mona asked worriedly.

“Yeah, a couple, but they were different.
They didn’t feel scary like the other ones. Go figure. Maybe they were just real dreams. I was really tired last night. Maybe I was too tired for visions.” Though Whit’s voice held a teasing note, she knew that it never reached her eyes. She was sure Mona could tell she was terrified and uneasy. She frowned, but erased it quickly.

“
I called the school, and explained the situation and our family history. They thought it might be a good idea for us to come visit for the day. I told them I’d talk to you first and call them back,” she said quietly.

“Visit today?” Whit replied in panic.

“There really isn’t any rush, but the sooner you get help the better. I thought this might be a good first step. We could just drive over and look around for a couple of hours. See what you think, no pressure.”

“What about school?
What about the work I’ll miss?” Whit asked, feeling like she was grasping at straws. If she went to visit this school, everything would become that much more real. She wished she could make the dreams disappear and just be a regular teenage girl that went to a regular high school.

“Sweetie, that school isn’t going to be able to meet your needs anymore.
If you really want to continue going there for a few more weeks, that’s fine. I just don’t think waiting is a good idea. The dreams and visions will only get worse and start to come more frequently without help. I know. Remember, I was sixteen once,” Mona said with a sad smile.

Whit stared at the floor, trying to sort through all the thoughts rushing around in her head.
The visions, last night’s dream, this new school. She just didn’t know which was the best option. It sickened her to think about the dreams and visions coming all the time, bombarding her mind. She would go crazy. Whit knew that this visit was the logical thing to do, but she was just plain horror-struck at the idea. To visit, would mean that this whole situation was actually happening. Whit wished it wasn’t true, but it was. So she gave in.

“Okay, let’s go visit this place,”
she agreed, even as a shiver went down her spine.

“
I’ll go give them a heads up that we’ll be there in a couple of hours,” Mona said with a wave of her hand. As Whit watched Mona walk out of her bathroom, Whit wondered if she still got visions and dreams. What about her mom, had she? She decided she would ask her. She also wanted to ask for more information on this Maverick place. She went there, she would know about it. It seemed strange that Mona hadn’t talked about it last night or even this morning. Was she hiding something about the school? Whit decided the car ride would be the perfect opportunity to get some answers.

Just then, Mona called up from downstairs.
“The school said they’d be expecting us, so I guess if you’re ready we better head out. The school’s kind of isolated in the mountains,” she called. “Grab a coat, there’s a chill this morning.”

After
quickly brushing her hair, Whit grabbed her cross country hoodie and walked to her aunt’s Honda Element. At least she would be comfortable for the next couple of hours, even if she was a nervous wreck. Would the students at Maverick look normal or would they look different? What kind of gifts would they have? Whit mind felt full of questions. It was overwhelming. It was time she got some answers.

She sat and
watched Mona navigate the smaller roads until they were finally on I-40 west, headed toward the Blue Ridge Mountains. Whit waited until Mona was settled onto the freeway before she struck with her first question.

“W
here exactly is this Maverick place? What state?

“It’
s in North Carolina, so we don’t even have to leave the state,” Mona joked.

“Okay,
so tell me a little bit about this place. Are all the students like me?” Whit inquired. Mona hesitated, obviously not knowing the best way to answer that particular question.

“All the students attending Maverick have special gifts that
they’re learning to use and control. But you still have to take general subjects like math, science, history, and English. They also offer foreign languages and several elective classes,” Mona said, sounding like a salesman giving a pitch.

“What kinds of special gifts do these students have?” Whit asked
, even as she was trying to come up with the answer herself.

“Um
… well, let me think. Um, one ability is spell casting,” Mona said looking a little uncertain about this conversation.

“You mean magic? I thought that only happened in movies and books, not in real life,” Whit said with a shaky laugh.
“What else?”

“Why don’t you just wait until we get there and they can give you all the information?
Things are probably different from when I attended fifteen years ago,” Mona replied with a fleeting look in Whit’s direction. Whit knew Mona was keeping something big from her, she just didn’t know if she should push now or wait and find out at the school.

This whole situation was messed up.
First, no one tells her about this vision stuff and now, Mona won’t answer her questions. All this secrecy was starting to get on Whit’s nerves. She just wanted answers. Mona had them, but wouldn’t tell her. Why? Was she worried that Whit couldn’t handle it? Well, that didn’t make sense. She would find out soon enough at the school anyway, wouldn’t it be better to hear it from her aunt?

Whit looked out the window and noticed that a
t some point during the conversation and her stewing, they had exited the interstate and were winding through the mountains on a two-lane road. The longer Whit looked out the window, the more familiar the landscape appeared. Where had she seen this place before? She knew she had never travelled to this area of North Carolina, so why was it so familiar? Then she remembered – the dream! This road was straight out of last night’s dream, which meant that a fence and a gate with guards should be up ahead somewhere. This was just plain freaky, and with Mona acting so weird, Whit felt like she was walking into the twilight zone. She needed more information.

“Mona, just tell me what
you’re determined not to. I know you’re dreading telling me something about this school. Just say it!”

“Whit, the school administrators will do a much better
–”

“Just tell me!” Whit demanded.

Mona sighed, then gave in. “Some of the, um, students are, um, vampires and werewolves. There are also some other gifts that you’ve probably never heard of,” Mona quickly finished. After several minutes of silence, Mona pulled off onto the side of the road. “I know this is a lot to take in. Don’t be worried about the other students; they aren’t anything like what you’ve seen in movies.”

When Whit still didn’t respond, Mona
squeezed her arm encouragingly. Then she pulled back onto the road and turned up the radio.

Whit stared out the window thinking.
Vampires! Werewolves! Could this be for real? No. This couldn’t be possible, but Mona had passed that little fact along so calmly, like it was every day someone learned that vampires and werewolves were real. Whit tried to think of questions to ask, but her mind was stuck on two words: vampires and werewolves.

Finally
she managed to stutter out, “Vampires and werewolves? How’s that possible?”

“The same way psychics are possible.
It’s always genetic. I can’t explain how it all started, but it did. These gifts are passed down through families. In some families, the gifts will skip generations or are only passed to a certain gender, like our family. Vampires, werewolves, spellcasters, psychics … they’re all based on genetics. I know you think this all sounds ludicrous, but it’s true. Just give it a little time, and know that this school is a type of sanctuary for people who are unique. The differences actually make you feel more united,” Mona explained with a bit of enthusiasm. Whit wondered if the enthusiasm was for her benefit or if Mona actually believed what she was saying.

“Unique?
That’s like the understatement of the century! Unique doesn’t describe drinking blood instead of eating food, or turning from a human into a wolf monster,” Whit fired back, astounded by Mona’s attitude.

Mona frowned.
“These people are not like the characters in movies or books. They’re learning, just like you will, how to function, so they can live a normal life around regular people. Plus, many of the ideas you think you know about vampires and werewolves are totally fictional. I won’t go into that now, but you’ll learn about them at Maverick, and definitely become friends with some of them.” Mona rolled her eyes and waved her hand to emphasize her point.

“Okay, enough on that for now.
I still don’t believe it. So, here’s another question.” Whit hesitated.

“Go ahead, I know
they’re piling up inside that busy little brain of yours,” Mona snorted.

“Do you still have dreams and visions?” Whit asked nervously.

Mona glanced at Whit and smiled. “Yes, I still have visions and dreams sometimes. But now I can control them. Well, most of the time. I learned how to do that at Maverick. I learned how to focus my energy and ability, which allows me to live normally. I don’t have visions daily anymore. Only when I want to, or sometimes when I feel nervous or scared about something.”

“Does Uncle Luke know?” Whit
asked.

“No, I never told him.
It’s not something that rules my life anymore, and I don’t think he would understand. If I see the future before it comes to us, I just play it out. If something bad is about to happen and I can stop it, I do. However, I accept that some things are meant to happen, and that it isn’t my job to stop all the bad stuff from happening. The future isn’t set in stone, it can be changed. If I can do something, I do. Otherwise …” She shrugged. “I don’t let my ability affect my life that much. Luke is more important to me and I just can’t lose him.”

That made Whit remember what she’d told Seth, and she gulped.
“I told Seth at school. What should I do about that?” she wondered aloud.

“Nothing.
You won’t be going there much longer anyway, so there really isn’t that much to deal with. You can stay in contact with him, or break it off completely. I suggest that if you want to stay friends, though, you downplay the dreams and visions. Maybe blame it on sickness or medication, but that’s just an idea. You have to decide for yourself how best to deal with all this.”

Before Whit could respond
, she noticed the fence running along the side of the road. The fence from her dream. She closed her eyes and tried to breathe evenly. If she thought about how close she was about to get to vampires and werewolves, regardless of how nice Mona said they were, she might hyperventilate. As the car started to slow, Whit realized they had arrived at the gate. She opened her eyes to confirm what she had dreamed and sure enough, guards were walking towards the car. Mona rolled down her window and waited patiently for the guard to get closer.

“May I help you
, ma’am?” the guard asked politely.

“Yes,
we’re scheduled for a visit today. Our names are Mona West and Whitni Ballentine.” The guard moved swiftly back to the guardhouse, where he picked up a clipboard and then a telephone. After a quick conversation, he strode back towards the car with visitor badges in his hand. He explained that the badges had to be displayed at all times during the visit and were good for only three hours. Then the gate swung open and he waved for Mona to drive through.

Chapter 4

Maverick looked more like a large Victorian mansion than it did a school, made of grey stone and brick. In fact, it didn’t look like a school at all. As they circled the driveway, Whit noticed several other buildings hidden by the large mansion at the front. Mona parked in the designated spot for visitors, and then they both got out and gawked at their surroundings. Bordering the buildings were areas of forest, and a sizable quad with outdoor tables and benches. Whit turned in a slow circle, trying to absorb everything. She would soon be going to school and living here, she thought. It seemed unreal, like something from a dream.

Oh yeah, it
was
from a dream. She smiled in spite of the fact that she was scared to death.

Then
Mona tugged on her arm. “You ready to go inside this place?”

“No, but you’
re going to make me go inside anyway. Let’s go,” Whit remarked with a last glance at the grounds. She was somewhat surprised that no students were outside taking in the sunshine. Then again, maybe they were all in class. It was only 11:00, after all. She wondered if students got to eat outside during lunch, or had to do lunch differently because of the vampires. On that note, could vampires go outside at all, or would they actually burn up? Whit shrugged to these internal questions and followed her aunt up the front steps. There was a plaque beside the front door that informed visitors that Maverick Boarding School had been created in 1900 by someone named Conall Sullivan. Whit must have lingered over the plaque too long, because Mona grabbed her hand and pulled her inside the building.