The Morgan Sisters Complete Series Boxed Set

ISBN 9789899734869-19

'Which we needed because my gift happens when I sleep. Through dreams, I can see what I must do next...' she continued, telling everyone what they had done, finally summing up, 'So once we were at the bottom of Big Ben, I simply went to sleep for a while, which led us to our next clue, which we kept doing until we eventually found Wilbur,' she smiled.

'Awesome, can you imagine that? Being able to manipulate time, that's seriously impressive, Dude,' said Liam with a high five.

'Nisha, tell us what you got up to last night.'

As she stood up, Nisha looked around at her colleagues and smiled, a little embarrassed, 'You could say that my ability is kind of creepy. Basically, I can see dead people.'

'Oh, that sucks man,' Liam said with a grimace.

'It is not too bad. Most of the dead people I have seen and spoken to so far have been nice enough. And the ones I saw last night were very helpful. Our initiation began in the cemetery, where we followed clues on some of the headstones until eventually, we reached a group of dead people who were waiting for us.'

Penny continued the story, 'Which totally freaked us out, of course. I couldn't see them at first, but once Nisha began communicating with them, their spirits appeared to me too. But only while she was speaking to them. And then it was over to me. You see, I can make people speak the truth, which certainly comes in handy sometimes. Well, I had to speak to the spirits last night to find out our next clue. They wouldn't tell Nisha, but they told me,' she smiled. 'And then we went on to...', and she continued talking until she eventually finished where they met Wilbur.

'Thank you, girls. Now there's just one group left to tell us about their initiation, and that's Liam and Diarmuid.'

Diarmuid suggested Liam go first, who grinned at Lana as he stood up proudly, leaning against the wall casually.

'We were given the letter the same as you guys, and then left in that tunnel under the Thames Barrier where we saw you all last night. It was completely dark. Although Diarmuid can light himself up from the inside, he wanted to use his other talent instead, which is to manipulate electricity. It was totally sick as he managed to switch on most of the lights down there... with his mind. Sick yeah? Anyway, as we moved along the tunnel, we soon realised we were completely locked in. A huge boulder was in our way. I mean it was like, massive. It wouldn't budge, we tried pushing it, but there was nowhere for it to go, so I started punching it, and sure enough, I eventually managed to make a hole big enough for us to get through...'

'You punched a hole in a massive boulder? Dude, that's epic,' said Rupert, nodding his head in respect.

'I know man. But once we got to the other side, we were faced with a wall of electricity. I didn't realise it until it was too late. I got a shock like never before, man... it threw me back about ten metres, knocked me out for a couple of seconds. When I came to, Diarmuid was standing with his arms outstretched, pulling the electricity into him. It was unbelievable,' Liam said, still trying to understand how it was done.

'Wow,' said a few of the group.

'I know, wow, yeah?'

Diarmuid interrupted him then, and Liam sat back down. 'All in a day's work,' he said with a smile which melted Emma as she sighed quietly to herself.

'But it wasn't over yet. Once we'd got through and out of the tunnel, we had to make our way back upriver to Praxos. We found a small rowing boat and Liam literally rowed us there in just a few minutes. The speed was something else. It was like being in a speed boat. That guy has got some serious muscle,' he chuckled as Lana grinned at Liam who winked back. It didn't take us long to figure out the way back to the Foundation, and that was pretty much it, I think?' he said, looking over at Liam who nodded.

'Well, I think everybody here deserves a round of applause,' Eleanor announced as she and the Mentors stood up while the room exploded with clapping and cheers.

When it had quietened down, she smiled and began again, 'Relatively simple initiations to bring out your true skills. That was the purpose of last night's challenges. We already had a pretty good idea of what you were capable of, but we needed to know your strengths and weaknesses before we could continue on this journey with you. Now that is over with; I'd like to discuss something essential with you. Your education,' she said, as she strolled from one side of the room to the other.

'As you have all recently completed your GCSE exams, we would like to invite you to attend an extraordinary academy run by the Praxos Foundation... here in London,' she added with a smile.

Lana was practically hyperventilating as Emma put her hand upwards.

'Yes, Emma?'

'You mean, we can come to London to do our A-Levels? Actually live here in London while we do them?'

Eleanor nodded, 'Yes, we have special facilities for you to continue your education here, but not just A-Levels, this is also your opportunity to learn more about your true skills, to develop them, to learn about the history of the angels, about your parents, how to fight, how to investigate and also...' she stopped momentarily for effect, '... to learn about the Paranormals, the Supernaturals and the Elementals.'

As Lana continued to hyperventilate with absolute delight, Emma asked, 'Elementals?'

'Yes, just another kind of paranormal beings.'

Suddenly the room was full of noise as the twelve students began chattering loudly, all asking questions at once.

'Quiet please,' said Declan loudly, and the room became immediately silent.

'It should be no surprise to you that supernatural beings exist because you already know of your existence,' Eleanor chuckled before continuing, '... and you are half-human, half angels which makes you a paranormal being. Here at Praxos, we tend to call those that are not human or are part human, Paranormals and there are rather a lot of them in our world. You've already met one other kind,' she said, pointing towards Wilbur who took a bow.

'What kind is he? Sorry, what are you, Wilbur?' asked Penny.

'Go ahead, Wilbur,' Eleanor encouraged.

Taking a few steps toward the front of the room, Wilbur turned to face the teenagers. 'I am a Mothman,' he said gravely. 'Well, I am part Mothman. I can change from human form into that which you all saw last night.'

'I've seen that movie,' said Rupert, 'Aren't you supposed to foretell death or something?'

Wilbur's mouth twitched to one side, and he chuckled, along with Eleanor and the other Mentors who stood listening, from around the room.

He nodded, 'Old wives tales,' he said, tutting and shaking his head, as he turned to walk back to the edge of the room.

'Over the millennia, humans have associated so much death and destruction with the Paranormals that they now believe it, for the most part anyway. But we're digressing. I was talking about the Academy. It is, of course, entirely up to you whether you choose to continue your education at the Academy but, considering who and what you are, I would highly recommend it. You will reach your potential here. But, as I said, we are not forcing you to study here. We would just be delighted should you choose to,' she said with a smile.

'Where is the Academy, Eleanor?' asked Nisha.

'We have a building over on Gower Street, next to the UCL. However, our more unusual classes are underground.'

'The UCL?' Imran asked.

'The University College London,' piped up Lana who had recalled what Declan had told them earlier that morning.

'That's right, Lana.'

'I don't remember seeing any entrance to another Academy just there,' Emma said as she tried to remember the street.

'That's because our entrance is a little more discreet, that's all. But it is there,' smiled Declan.

'We all give classes at the Academy, but there are other professors too.'

'Our group is a little small to warrant a whole Academy, isn't it though?' asked Elliott curiously.

The Mentors all smiled as Eleanor answered, holding her hand over her mouth for a moment as she tried not to laugh, 'The Academy teaches students from all over the country, Elliott. We also have some that travel from abroad.'

'Oh, cool,' he said.

'But what about our parents? What do we tell them?' asked Emma as she suddenly realised her Mum and Dad didn't know about anything that was happening.

'Don't worry about that. We've got it covered,' Declan answered with a grin.

CHAPTER 25

Later that day after the group had eaten lunch and talked more about their skills and their future, Eleanor and the Mentors were having a private meeting while the teenagers chilled out and talked among themselves, lounging on many of the oversized beanbags in the room.

Lana leaned across Liam as they chatted quietly, while Emma, Diarmuid, Ava and Rupert discussed what they had learned so far.

They were all in such deep conversation that they barely even noticed when the door was flung open, and Wilbur appeared.

'Lana and Emma, Eleanor would like to see you both in her chambers,' he said, making them jump.

The girls immediately climbed off their beanbags and followed him through the main hall and down an unknown corridor, until they reached Eleanor's office, a room they hadn't yet visited.

As Wilbur tapped on the door and pushed it open, they were surprised to find a very contemporary looking office suite, with one wall almost covered entirely by a projector screen showing what appeared to be Westminster in real-time. Inviting and spacious, the room's walls were painted in a light aquamarine blue with a white horizontal stripe. In the centre stood a solid oak desk with a thick glass top, covered in a bundle of black and white files and a neat stainless steel covered laptop. Several sizeable white filing cabinets stood along the opposite wall to the screen, the top drawer of one was wide open, where Eleanor leaned reading a piece of paper.

'Come in, girls,' she said just as the screen changed to show Times Square.

'What is that, Eleanor?' asked Lana as they all looked across at the big screen.

'That's my view of London. Seeing as we're so far underground, I do miss having windows, and Praxos has numerous cameras around the city where I can see what's going on. Here, I'll show you,' she said as she picked up a sleek remote control and pressed one of the buttons, changing the image so that it showed Notting Hill (Emma and Lana both recognised it from the movie), Gower Street, 'There's the entrance to the Academy,' Eleanor said before continuing to flick, showing the entrance to the British Museum, Tower Bridge, the Thames Barrier, Buckingham Palace and more.

'That's pretty cool,' Lana said as the screen was then flicked to feature London Zoo, where she left it for the time being.

'Not only is it beautiful, but it's a handy tool for our work. But that's not why I called you in. I wanted to have a chance to talk to all of you to answer any questions you might have about us, the foundation, the academy and of course, your parents. Your birth parents, that is,' she said, walking around to her chair behind the desk.

'Please, sit down,' she suggested as the girls wandered forward and sat in the two swivel chairs opposite Eleanor.

'I know it must have been a very peculiar and perhaps challenging few weeks for you both. Ever since your 16th birthdays, everything has changed. How are you feeling?' she asked with genuine concern, leaning forward so that her chin rested on her hand.

Lana glanced across at her sister before speaking first, 'Honestly, I've never felt better. This is all like a dream come true for me. And now to have the opportunity to come and study in London. I feel like I'm on cloud nine. I'm so happy. I'm just so grateful.'