School of Mystery, Chocolatemeerkat [ebook reader library .txt] 📗

"Class, spell 'prophecy'." Mr Tassle cried out in a clear voice. He watched as his pupils struggled to figure out the answer, apart from one child. He nodded at her. "Iris?"
"P-r-o-p-h-e-c-y." Iris spelt out, her bright blue eyes shining as usual. Mr Tassle nodded. "Yes, well done. Go and put a sticker on your line on the report chart."
Iris' class had a report chart, showing good behaviour. Every time they did something well, Mr Tassle would give them a sticker to put on their line. Whoever had the most stickers at the end of the week, they would win a special reward. For a very strange reason, Iris was normally the winner. Everyone envied her, some made horrible comments.
Just as Iris sat back down, a small, pale girl entered the room. She was young, and her skin was pale white, like a china doll, and her eyes were big and unblinking. "Miss Moll wants to see Iris in her office." She said in a hoarse voice.
"Way-ba!" One of the boys shouted. "Geeky's gonna be expelled!" Mr Tassle frowned at him, and Iris left the class. She then stared at the little girl. "What's your name? I don't think I've seen you before."
"Lanny." She replied. "I'm not what I look." Iris nodded and smiled. "Why does Miss Moll want to see me? I don't believe I've done anything wrong to make me go to the head." Lanny shrugged. "She wanted to see me too. And Vincent, that boy in your class. Maybe we all have something in common."
"Anyone else?" Iris questioned.
"Cheryl, Saffron, Meep and Soliman." Lanny replied, her voice still hoarse. "I think that's it." Iris sighed. "Then we mustn't have anything similar. You and Meep are quite young, Soliman isn't really well behaved and the rest of us are some of the strangest people in the whole universe." Lanny giggled quietly, but then she stopped as they approached the headteacher's office. Anxiously, Iris slowly opened the big cream door into Miss Moll's office.
In here, as Lanny had said, the five other children were in, sitting down on small wooden chairs. Iris and Lanny joned them, and Miss Moll glared at them. She was an short woman with ginger hair, some signs of age and brown eyes that stared at you if you made a noise in assembly. Like when Jen, one girl who used to be in Iris' class, coughed. The headteacher's eyes never left her sight. Jen had moved schools, which had greatly upset some children.
"Do you know why you're all here?" Miss Moll asked. The seven children shook their heads, and Miss Moll frowned. "You should. I mean, look at these photos." She then passed round a few newspaper cut-outs of the children. But they were powerful. There was one of Meep shape-shifting, and another one of Lanny, with fire shooting out of her fingertips.
"I have watched your behaviour closely," Miss Moll explained. "and I can see that you don't belong at this school. Your powers will burn this school to ash, and maybe you will use them to threaten other children. I cannot tolerate this at my school. So I have made the decision to send you all to a private school."
"What!? That's not fair!" Meep wailed pitifully. Miss Moll hushed him. "I am doing it for your sake and everyone else's protection. This school will not have a reputation for others being hurt or killed by a group of innocent kids with strong powers." She then thrust some leaflets at them. "This is the only school here that takes in children with supernatural powers, or E.T."
"What the heck is E.T?" Soliman asked curiously. Vincent laughed. "Extra Terrestrial. Aliens."
"Are we aliens?" Lanny asked timidly.
"Of course not." Miss Moll reassured her. "Anyway, getting back to this school. Trisame it's called, that's pronunced tris-a-me. It's a boarding school..."
"A boring school? I don't want to go to a boring school!" Meep cried. Cheryl gently patted him. "A boarding school, not a boring school. It will be alright, Meep."
I don't like the sound of this school. E.T? Not normal people? What sort of world has so many weird people?

Iris thought to herself. She then remembered something that her mother had been talking about the other day. Wait a moment...

"Hold the line there!" Iris said suddenly. "Did you tell our parents? Because I'm pretty sure that my mum and dad were discussing some Trisame thing the other day."
"Why would I make you swap schools without letting your parents know?" Miss Moll responded, a hint of amusement in her voice. "Of course I told them, and they have all completed the enrollment paperwork, the health paperwork, blah blah blah. You're all set to go on Monday."
"I want to stay here!" Meep protested.
"It is too late, because I have already paid the fees and sorted out your uniform!" Miss Moll snapped angrily. Meep shrunk back and remained silent. Lanny's eyes were still, whilist the others were blinking uncertainly.
"What about our friends?" Vincent enquired. Saffron already knew the answer to that. "You're taking us away from our friends! We all thought you were nice, but obviously you love taking the supernatural away from the ordinary! Why can't we mix?" Her eyes were brimming with tears. Cheryl glared hard at Miss Moll. "If Saffron cries or screams, glass will shatter. You better say something that will stop her." She threatened.
"You'll find new friends." Miss Moll said calmly. "Everyone has to in life. We find great friends, but at times we have to move on." Saffron sniffed, but she managed to not cry.
"Right, now you better get cracking with your packing." Miss Moll annonced. The seven children left, their heads down.

The next few days were difficult for Iris and the other children. They were not allowed to attend school, so they were taught at home. Iris had spoken to the other children at the park and via email. Like she, they were all worried about going to this Trisame school.
"Well," Vincent had said. "atleast we've all got it eachother. That's all that counts."
Iris believed him, but Saffron didn't. She would be leaving all her best friends behind for a long time, forever prehaps.
Their final day had been brief. They all met at the park, shared their secrets about the school they had kept for some time now. But it didn't matter. They were leaving tomorrow, and nothing about their old school mattered anymore. It would be like their old life never existed. It would vanish. Perish. Die.

The next day, Iris was all dressed up in her new uniform. Her hair was tied back neatly, and her usual uniform was nowhere to be seen. Like the others, she was terrified. She knew about her powers, but she didn't know that they could cause all of this.
"Now, I've packed you some food to share with your friends on the train and the bus." Iris' mum explained. "I've also packed a few other things, but this is a gift from your grandma." She handed Iris a small, purple box. Iris carefully opened it, and inside was a beautiful necklace. It was pure gold, with a actual diamond hanging from the bottom.
"She wanted you to have it." Iris' dad called from the kitchen. "It will help you."
"How?" Iris asked curiously. Her mum touched her nose, meaning it was a secret. With a groan, Iris sorted out the last of her packing and put on her new shoes.

Half an hour later, Iris was standing at the train station with Lanny, Meep and Saffron. They were chatting quietly about what this school would be like.
"According to Ofsted, it is a outstanding school with lots of facilites and support." Saffron said, observing the leaflet. "There's a indoor swimming pool, a huge playing field, a few tennis courts, lots of lockers to keep our things in, our own dorms and loads more."
"What about the headteacher?" Iris enquired. She shuddered at the fact of someone like Miss Moll being the headteacher. Saffron looked down the sections. "Ah-ha! It's a headmaster actually, called Mr Jeep. He seems nice."
"You haven't met

him properly!" Lanny sniggered. "How can you possibly know if he's nice if you barely know him?" That comment set Meep off laughing hysterically, but he eventually quietened down when Cheryl arrived. She was nervous and homesick, Iris could see it in her eyes. So being helpful, Iris put her arm around Cheryl. "It will be okay. You'll see."
"Really?" Cheryl sniffed, using her blue jumper arm to wipe her tears away. Iris fumbled around for a tissue and dapped at Cheryl's red eyes. "You don't want to be crying when we arrive at Trisame."
There was a sudden hooting sound, coming from a tunnel close by. Iris peered down the tunnel, but couldn't see anything apart from a black hole.
"It looks like a scene out of Star Trek down there." Meep observed. Saffron shook her head. "More like a scene of nothingness."
"Where are Soliman and Vincent?" Cheryl asked. "They're going to be late for the train." Iris shrugged, and watched the train as it slowly drove out of the tunnel.
The train was giant and black, with gold carridges and clean windows. On the sides, 'Trisame Private School' was printed in elegent, silver writing.
"Talk about outstanding!" Lanny gasped, her huge black eyes shining. Iris giggled silently, but a unsmiling, tall man came over to them. He wore a dark blue uniform and a darker blue cap. "New pupils?" He asked grumpily.
"Yes." Iris answered, deciding to be the spokeswoman for her friends. "Will this train take us to Trisame?"
"Why would it say 'Trisame Private School'?" The train conductor lit a cigarette, and turned back to the train. "Get your backsides onto that train. Now."
"Wait for us!" The children spun round and saw Soliman and Vincent rushing over, panting. They looked very red in the face as they came closer and closer. "Sorry we're late, our taxi driver took a wrong turn." Vincent announced.
"Get on the train!" The train conductor screamed. The seven children ducked their heads and got into one of the carridges.
"Welcome!" A cheerful voice chirped. "I'm Kiya, and I'm the monitor for this carridge!" Iris waved at her, and sat down on one of the fancy red seats. She patted the seat next to her. "Lanny!"
The train set off soon after. Iris was sat next to Lanny, and oppersite them were Saffron and another girl called Wanda.
"What is Trisame like?" Saffron asked, passing round a bag of sweets. Wanda looked out of the window and sighed. "It is my first time leaving home properly. Ask someone else."
"Like who?" Lanny piped up.
"I dunno. Try one of the senior pupils, like Kiya or Albert." Wanda suggested grumpily, flicking through