The Students of Sarila - Elsie Janda (best business books of all time .TXT) 📗

I demanded to know.
“Silence, girl. You will find out soon enough.” The voice replied. “You’ve only passed the first test.”
“Test?” I screamed. “Is this all some game to you? Because you’re pretty much ruining my life.”
“I said silence! I’m granting you safe passage to your destination.” I was informed. “Be grateful.”
Then the flames disappeared, and I once again felt like I was floating.

Peter Walks on Water

I woke up with my head resting on Peter’s lap. Looking around, I realized we were at a particularly smelly gas station. I wrinkled my nose at the scent of putrid gasoline. Rubbing my eyes, I tried to sit up. I couldn’t, and ended up resting my head on Peter’s shoulder.
“Well, I suppose the Sleeping Beauty is finally awake.” Peter smiled at me. “Good evening.”
“Evening. Where are we?” I smiled back.
“In the middle of nowhere.” He went on to tell me how after I passed out, Peter had carried me 25 miles to reach this dinky gas station.
“Where’s Alexander?” I asked.
“Over there, trying to get us some decent transportation.” Peter pointed at Alexander, who was arguing with a Hispanic guy. “Any more questions?”
“Yeah. How long was I out?”
“At least three hours. Maybe more.” He replied, looking off into the distance. “Do you realize you could’ve killed yourself? The power of our combined auras was really strong.”
“But I’m still alive, and so are you.” I told him. “You’re welcome.”
“Promise me you won’t ever put yourself in that kind of danger again.” Peter told me, still not looking at me.
I turned his head so that we were looking into each other’s eyes. “I can’t, Peter. Not when it’s life or death for other people. I’m not the kind of person that would save myself and risk hurting others.”
Peter dropped his gaze. “Then, at least not until we get a little bit of training, okay?”
“Well, Ignatio has already granted me a safe journey to the island.” I said. After seeing his confusion, I added, “I’ll explain more once we’re alone with Alexander.”
I don’t know how long the silence following was, but I do know that it wasn’t an awkward silence – it was a peaceful silence. I sat there, still unable to move my head from his shoulder, and I felt… happy. The same kind of happy I felt when I was living with Sally. Yesterday.
Was it really just yesterday that none of this had happened? I woke up in my bedroom, and Sally was taking forever in the shower, just like she always did. So of course, I barely had enough time to brush my teeth and do my hair, but somehow I looked amazing. I wore the same clothes I was wearing now – my t-shirt that says “Eat. Sleep. Bake.” that Sally has made me herself and a simple pair of blue jeans. And I had gone to work.
And then everything happened. Now I’m here. Yes, it was truly yesterday when my life was still as normal as it could be.
I snapped out of my train of thought when Alexander drove up in a tiny black car. “I got us a vehicle. You think it’ll work?” Alexander asked.
“Will it get us to Mackinac?” I asked in return.
“More than likely.”
“Then, yes. It’ll work.”

“So, Ignatio decided to grant you safe passage?” Alexander asked me.
I had just finished explaining everything that I had been told in my dream-visions. “Yes.” I replied.
“What did he mean by ‘test’?” Peter wondered aloud.
“I’ve been wondering the same thing. He said that we’d find out soon enough, though.” I told both of them.
It was really quiet in the car until Peter looked at me, and then Alexander, and asked, “Will I be able to go home soon?”
I could see Alexander’s grim face in the rear view mirror, and I realized something. “Peter, I don’t think you’ll be home for a long, long time.” I said sadly.
Peter looked me in the eye, and I saw the tears trickling down his face. “But my family needs me to be home.”
“You’ll go home after this whole thing is over with.” Alexander assured him.
“How long with that be?”
“A month or two.”
I guess it was Peter’s turn to snap. “What do you mean? Won’t my dad realize that I’m missing? And what about my little sister? My family needs me! They need me to be home! I can’t just leave. Not my sister.”
I almost started crying. I held out my arms to him, and he allowed me to wrap my arms around him as he cried. I started to hum the tune of a song that Sally had taught me.
“It’s okay, Peter.” I whispered. “Everything will be okay.”
He didn’t reply, just continued sobbing. I realized he must’ve really loved his little sister if he was going to freak out like this. Then I realized that I had responded similarly after I was taken away from Sally.
I hummed until Peter stopped crying. Gosh. I thought to myself. Emotional guy.
But it was kinda sweet.
We finally made it to the ferry dock, where we were trying to get onto a ferry boat to take us to the island. “What are we going to do about clothes and stuff?” I asked.
“Oh, I’m sure Sally has something worked out for us. She thinks about those things, you know.” Alexander replied.
The thought of Sally made me excited. In just a while, we would be reunited. I still felt bad for Peter; he didn’t have his family living on the island. They lived far away from the island. “Don’t worry about Peter.” Alexander told me, as though he could read my thoughts. “He’ll be just fine.”
“Well, he’s not alone. I’m here for him.” I told Alexander.
Somehow, we got tickets onto the next ferry leaving. We boarded, going up to the top deck. After all, we were probably going to die soon. Why not have a little bit of fun?
Peter and I sat next to each other, and I didn’t mind when he redid my braid for me. In fact, I kinda liked it. Alexander sat on the other side of Peter. He winked at me as Peter did my hair. Again, with the not flirting. When he was done, Peter asked if he could switch seats with me; I was sitting near the railing.
“Yes, of course.” I smiled at him.
After we switched, something quite interesting happened. A person rushed past Alexander and I and pushed Peter off the ferry. “Peter!” I screamed.
“I think…” Alexander said, watching. “He’ll manage to stay safe.”
And he was absolutely correct. Peter landed safely on the water and began to walk around. “Whoa.” I said, startled.
“Um, guys? A little help?” Peter called up to us. The ferry was moving away at a surprising speed.
“I got this.” Alexander said.
He lifted his hands and muttered something. The water rose with his hands and soon Peter was back on the ferry. “That was… odd.” He commented.
“We won’t discuss this until we are with Sally.” Alexander said with finality.
Peter and I nodded and sat in silence until we reached the island.
When we got on shore, I found Sally waiting for me. “Hello, Tina.” She smiled at me.
“Hi, Sally!” I replied excitedly.
“And Alexander.” Sally greeted. “It’s been a very long time, hasn’t it?”
Alexander nodded without saying a word. “And you,” She smiled at Peter. “Must be Peter.”
“Yes, Ma’am.” He replied.
“I’ve been waiting for you for a very long time, Peter.”

A Long Awaited Explanation

Peter and I were led to the shop that Sally apparently owned. I didn’t think she had much money. I guess we’ve got a lot of secrets here. I didn’t think we had any. I was beginning to wonder if I could trust Sally. I mean, I did trust her, but I wasn’t sure if it was the right thing to do. If she kept this much from me, it’s possible there was more. Way more. And I was determined to find out.
We were sitting in her shop. She told us that she would be closed for quite a while, since Peter and I were there. She had brought some chairs into the little area and we had been sitting there. In complete silence.
“Um, miss?” Peter asked.
“Call me Sally.” Sally replied.
“Will I be able to contact my family?” Peter was still desperately trying to reach them.
“I’m sorry, Peter, but I can’t allow you to contact them quite yet. If you do, you will most likely have to leave.” Sally sounded like she felt really terrible for this. “I’m afraid you can’t leave for a while.”
“Why?”
“We need you here, Peter.”
“Sally, I would really like to know what in the world is going on.” I demanded. “It seems as though you’re keeping an awful lot from me.”
“Tina…” Sally began. “I’m sorry. But I couldn’t tell you. I had to wait until the time was right.”
“And when will the time be right, then?” I wanted to know.
“In just a few minutes, dear.” Sally assured me. “Just let Alexander and me discuss a few things. You two can wait here.”
She left Peter and me alone. It was very quiet, as neither of us wanted to say anything. I was looking out the window. It was evening, and the shop window gave us a view of the sunset over the lake. I’d never seen a sunset this beautiful before. The last time I’d lived even close to a lake was at that stupid boarding school. I