Beryl, in her mind, is a normal teenage girl who goes through the normal everyday perils every normal girl goes through. That is until her teacher, of all people, gives her potentially-life-changing news-that she is a psychic and a mind reader. Her ancestors were part of a race of people who had special gifts, and the ability to have these gifts was passed down through the generations. A war resulted in them being nearly wiped out from earth, and there was only one survivor-Aya, Beryl's great-great-great-grandmother. Because she was the last of her kind, the special abilities got rarer as Aya's descendants had human blood. Beryl and her teacher is one of Aya's few descendants to have a gift, and in her case, she can read the future and minds. When the war resulted in Aya losing her family and her home, she got depressed, so she did what she did best-she used magic. She created the Scroll of Elysium, which contains all the love and hope in the world. She distributed happiness fairly and justly, but word got out of what she had done. Aya decided that it was no longer safe for the Scroll of Elysium to be used, so she hid it away. The Scroll of Elysium can be used by anyone; whether they use it for good or for bad does not matter. It was stolen long after she died by a man she once loved, so once she got it back, she hid it away in a safer place. That same man is back again, and now he wants the Scroll of Elysium for good. However, Aya has set enchantments on the Scroll of Elysium, which means that it cannot be handled by anyone who is not her descendant, and that is where Beryl comes in. She has to try and stop him before he finds a gifted descendant and uses the Scroll of Elysium for evil again. And he will do anything to get the Scroll of Elysium again.

Secrets of Life

By Aida Getachew

Trafford Publishing

Copyright © 2012 Aida Getachew
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4669-7011-3

Chapter One

"Beryl, Wake up child! School's started! Oh, good lord, one day I think I will pack my bags and leave this madhouse. It's the first day of school, a brand new year, and look where you are—in your damned bed. I don't even want to know what the rest of the year will be like ..." My mother's voice trailed off into the distance as she went to yell my older brother to consciousness.

Imagine hearing that on your first day of school. It's probably no surprise to you that the day that followed was not exactly what you would call a good one. I yawned sleepily, dragged myself out of bed, and opened the curtains. I turned around and made my way back to my bed, preparing to dive into the inviting warmth of my bed that seemed to yell my name.

That was when I saw the time on my alarm clock. It wasn't just my mother exaggerating as usual surprisingly. I had overslept by about an hour. I shook myself awake and quickly changed into the first clothes that my groping fingers found at the back of my closet.

I ran out of my bedroom, banging my head on the way out, and I skidded down the hallway and into the bathroom. I then proceeded to brush my teeth in record time, and then I literally flew down the stairs. I tried to get out of the house, but my mother stood in front of the door, barricading me in. I tried to get past her, but no, Mum wouldn't let me go—surprise, surprise.

"Don't even think about walking out of this front door without eating every single bite of food on your plate. You need your energy." Like that's the reason she wanted me to stay and eat. She simply wanted to embarrass me, and the most humiliating thing she could think of was me being late to school. How creative.

I was about to barge past her, head first, when she put her hands on her waist and placed her feet on each side of the door, making sure that escape was impossible. This house is becoming more like a prison every stinking day.

"Mum," I began to complain, but then my mum got that look on her face that clearly said, "Don't argue with me unless you want to fight." I figured I would get out of the house quicker if I just listened to her. Plus I didn't want to be the reason WW3 started. I ran to the kitchen with my mother following not too far behind and hurriedly poured out a bowl of cereal for myself while my mother leaned on the kitchen frame, watching me with a satisfied expression on her face—Cruella de Vil's twin in person. I am honoured. When I was done, I didn't even bother to say bye to "Mum". I simply ran out of the house without so much as a glance at the front door when it slammed shut.

I had just started running to school when it began pouring with rain. Talk about bad timing. Luck is seriously avoiding me, and I don't like it much. Oh well. At least I was getting the shower that I had had to miss.

I arrived at school sopping wet about fifteen minutes later, even though I had run flat out the whole way, armed with nothing except for a half dead umbrella. I ran to my English room where I was greeted by a dragon of a teacher whom I had never laid eyes on before in my life. All in all, this was not turning out to be one of my good days.

"And what time do you call this, young lady?" she asked me, even though she had a watch on her.

"Just look at your watch, miss. I'm sure that will help you," I blurted out without thinking—seriously? I hadn't even gotten to my first lesson, and I was already losing my mind.

Dragon lady just stared at me without blinking for such a long time that I began to think of getting help for her. She grabbed hold of my arm and simply said, "Do what's best for the world, honey." Guess I'm not the only person round here going mad.

She then stalked back into the classroom with her nose up high in the air. I honestly started to think that I had imagined it all when she turned around and winked at me. Finally! Actual proof that I am the only sane person in this entire planet. Oh my goodness, gracious me. It could be the other way round though. I slouched into the classroom and slumped into my usual chair at the back of the classroom, next to the class idiots who also happen to be my friends, JJ and Tamara.

"What took you so long to get here? Did you try and save the world again?" JJ asked me, sniggering to herself. If she had heard what Ms. Sparks had been saying, I wouldn't have been that surprised, but somehow, I don't think that's why she said what she said. She is just weird like that. I really don't get her sometimes.

JJ's full name is Josephine Jackson, but everybody calls her JJ. Trust me; she looks more like a JJ than a Josephine. I've no idea what her parents were thinking when they were choosing baby names.

"Seriously though, what happened? You took forever. Ms. Sparks looked like she was about to have a fit when she heard you knock on the door," Tamara said seriously. Tamara has always been the most down to earth out of JJ, me, and her. JJ has her head way up in the clouds most of the time.

I quickly told them about my crappy morning so far, although god knows why they would want to hear about something as depressing as that. I had gotten only halfway through my little novel when I heard a voice. "Aha! Miss Jones has something to say surely. Would you like to share your oh-so-dramatic life story with the rest of the class?" Ms. Sparks asked me, her beady eyes gleaming with malice.

That was when I looked her full-on in the face. That was also when I had the weirdest feeling, and it wasn't because she looked like some undead monster. I knew exactly what Miss Sparks was thinking. I felt as if I was actually inside her head. She was thinking about what she would have for dinner, how much she hated teens, a spot that she had on the end of her nose, and about a million other things, only I couldn't focus on all of them at the same time.

I looked away from her, breaking the eye contact. From what I could see in her face, she didn't seem at all surprised at what had just happened. In fact, she looked as if nothing had happened at all.

"Beryl Adriana Jones, you will come to this classroom at 3:30 p.m. and we shall have a nice, cosy conversation; don't you think?" She said to me in a voice that "chilled me to the bones ..." That certainly wasn't what I was thinking, but I nodded numbly, feeling cold all over.

I walked out of the class in a daze when the bell rang a second later, signalling the end of registration. The rest of the day passed in a haze, and I wandered from class to class without knowing where or what I was doing. I could have been in China for all I knew. There was only one thing on my mind at that moment, and that had nothing to do with studying. It felt like only half an hour had passed since I had had Ms. Sparks. No wonder she is a miss—she probably scared all the men away.

Finally, the bell rung to show that it was the end of the day. I made my way slowly towards Ms. Sparks's office. It was then that I realised that I could hear a weird humming noise inside my head. I couldn't get rid of it no matter how hard I shook my head. Huh, I guess it's time to visit Spec Savers.

It was all too soon that I realised that I was standing in front of Ms. Sparks's office. I knocked nervously, not knowing if I was ever going to make it out of her classroom alive. "Come in." I walked in cautiously. This was just like a horror movie. I wouldn't be surprised if Ms. Sparks suddenly sprouted fangs and admitted that she was a vampire in...