CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

2.2K 159 6
                                    

So far, the future is freakin' awesome

Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.

So far, the future is freakin' awesome.

When Ethan said we'd be staying somewhere overnight, I'd pictured a motel.

Not this.

This is a mansion. I have no other word for it.

We're somewhere in Oregon, still, and we had to take a paved road down a cliff to get here. The mansion's perched right on the edge of the beach. Fir trees block the view of the 101 behind us, and there are no other homes in sight.

It's just us and sea, sand, and blue sky. And it's warmer here too. Apparently it's still summer just a few hours south.

The superhero-doors on the Tesla swing upward—Ethan calls them "falcon" doors—and I hop out with my backpack in tow.

The mansion's got a boxy modern look—two levels of enormous windows and steel. The second-floor deck's made of dark polished wood, and every railing is covered with intricate carvings that seem to be nature-inspired. As I follow Ethan and Chloe up the stairs to the deck and entrance, I slide my hand along the wood and pick out a few images. Leaves, vines, a tree, a butterfly, ocean waves, and a seal.

I've never seen anything quite like this mansion, but if a treehouse had a baby with a spaceship and fed it a steady diet of epic fantasy, I'm pretty sure this would be the result.

There's a huge round swimming pool on the lower level, visible through the glass wall. Steam rises from the turquoise water, inviting us to jump in. Too bad I didn't bring a swimsuit.

I'm in awe by the time we reach the top of the deck and the front door, which is made of the same dark carved wood.

"Just one second." Chloe pulls her wand from her bag of holding and gestures with it. She's aiming at the doorknob, which looks to be made of brass and is shaped like a tree branch.

Chloe whispers something, and a high-pitched ringing hits my ears and quickly fades.

There's a faint glow around the door handle followed by a light click.

She raises her brows at me and swings the door open.

As we enter the house, my jaw drops, and I don't even bother to try and fix my face to hide how I'm feeling.

Because wow. Just wow.

The upper level is an open floor plan, all deep polished wood floors and glass windows, with a kitchen near the back. Plush, white couches and chairs sprawl across the living room area, and strange carved wooden and brass knickknacks decorate every glass table. Geometric symbols are carved on some of them, and a few of them look like stylized carvings of people.

We breeze past the living room to the kitchen and table at the back. The kitchen is a mixture of ornately carved wooden cabinets and stainless-steel appliances. I lean over the nearest counter to study the intricate carvings on the cabinets. Leaves and branches seem to be part of the wood, as if no one carved them there at all.

Atlantis Academy: The First ElementWhere stories live. Discover now