Myth Breaker

08| The Truth in Myths

Annie came through the door boldly and powerful, a wind immediately pushing the books open and fluttering through the pages on her desk, she was a force that I don't want to go up against. She no longer seems like my soft, loving grandmother, instead, she was tall and powerful. My face was pulled up in a way that shows my thoughts because as Annie spins on her hell on the other side of the desk, taking a seat in her high-backed chair she falters for a second. A flash in her eyes, a creak in her old bones as she slowly lowers herself into her chair.

"Morgan." She says my name slowly, deliberately like she's coaxing a small terrified animal out from under something after a storm. I notice my hands beginning to shake and even though I'm not scared of Annie I tuck them quickly underneath myself so she doesn't see.

Beside me Nathaniel watches me, his eyes darting to my hidden hands a moment later. I take a deep breath placing a fake smile on my face but even I know both of them can see the lie behind it all.

"Grandmother." My voice is thick as if coming from someone else. As I sit there in my Grandmother's office waiting for her to tell me the truth I had just been so desperate to know I'm suddenly afraid, something isn't right here, something isn't normal and I know in a second Annie will open her mouth and my world will shatter. All I want is someone to golf me and tell me everything will be alright because as I look from Annie to Nathaniel, I'm not too sure that's true.

Annie takes a deep breath and puts on that headmistress's expression that I've seen too many times in my life but never from her. She watches me curiously as she begins.

"You're not the first student to come here not knowing the truth of our world." She says it like a speech she's practiced a thousand times and at that moment I know the truth, Annie knew the minute I arrived here that she would give me this speech she was never going to let me stay in the dark. The things clawing at my heart loosens its hold for a moment allowing me to breathe deeply.

"The truth about what?" My words are low and slow, and as soon as the words are out I become breathless waiting for them to finally tell me.

In front of me, Annie gives Nathaniel a quick short nod, that shows just how worried she feels about this next moment. Nathaniel's words come back to me about the pressure Annie is under and I feel myself forcing my shoulders to relax from their hunched position. I look over to Nathaniel trying to make sense of everything but he no longer meets my eyes.

"Myths hold more truth than you know." He starts talking after a long moment and I suddenly have the desire to laugh at him but the look of fear and raw emotion in his eyes as he looks at me has me shrinking away. His eyes burn me and for a moment all I can hear is my blood pounding loudly in my ears. I take a deep breath and nod once for him to continue.

"Every myth is grounded in truth. The myths that surround this school that is so often talked about in the towns surrounding us do come from some basis of truth." I try to think back to my research of the school trying to remember if I had come across any myths but then a different memory comes to mind, my first day here on the bus and how when the bus stopped at Westtown Peaks the people instantly whispering and glaring at me, like I was no longer one of them but something else.

"What myths?" My voice is barely a whisper and Nathaniel rips his eyes away from me, looking but not seeing at the surrounding books.

"That this school isn't your average high-class boarding school, inside these walls you won't find the next generation of geniuses or CEOs, instead all you will find is pain and secrets." He talks in a way that makes me feel like I'm watching a movie but then my own voice whispers back, terrified in my own ears.

"What is the truth?"

I feel the blood rushing around in my veins, my skin turning pink as I wait for his answer. Even though Nathaniel doesn't look at me I can't seem to look away from him. This is it, I think to myself, this is the truth I have been so desperately begging to find out. What is this place, really?