Lena

The blue-haired boy, Dawson, closes his eyes for a moment of concentration and lifts his left hand, a small white ball of energy forming in his palm. He aims it at Sadie, who deflects it by lifting both her hands and conjuring an almost invisible, shimmering wall of energy, blocking the boy's attack from being able to touch her. As she lowers her hands, the wall disappears.

"Nice try," she says. "It seems you forget who you're dealing with here, Dawson."

"No," says Dawson. "I haven't forgotten at all."

"Well then," says Sadie. "It's on."

She lifts her hands again, creating the wall of energy, but this time making it stronger. She directs it towards Dawson, and the impact knocks him backwards. Sadie grins triumphantly. Dawson stands back up and creates another ball of energy. This time, though, he doesn't throw it immediately. Instead, he waits until Sadie foolishly checks her watch before sneaking up and attacking her from behind. Now, it's Sadie's turn to fall. After a couple more energy balls, Sadie seems to have given up.

"What's wrong, Sadie?" asks Dawson. "I thought you said I didn't know who I was dealing with?"

"You just got lucky," she says, getting to her feet as the match is declared over. "I wasn't thinking when I decided to look at my watch, that's all. I'll defeat you next time, I promise you that."

"Sure, whatever you say, sweetheart," he calls after her as she exits. The rest of the school also leaves the building, heading either back to the dorms or home. Artemis catches up to me and walks beside me, chatting away happily about her classes and how much she already enjoys it here at Cybele.

"So, what are your classes?" Artemis asks me.

"I haven't looked at my morning classes yet, although I probably should, and I have a spare in the afternoon. I would have also had English today, were it not for the duel," I explain. "I enjoyed watching it, by the way. I think they're both pretty good."

"Yeah, and their powers are awesome," Artemis agrees. "I'm able to move things with my mind, which is good, but their powers are just cool."

"I have to agree," I reply, opening the door of our dorm for her.

"Thanks," says Artemis, stepping through it and then returning the favour. "So what'd you do during your spare?"

"I read in the library. They have some pretty cool books here," I say. "You should see the variety, it's amazing."

"Sweet!" says Artemis, "Maybe I should check it out sometime."

"Hi, guys!" We hear a high-pitched, slightly hypnotizing voice and turn to see Evelyn jogging toward us. She's chosen a pretty blue bodice for her uniform, I notice. It suits her.

"Hello, Evelyn," I greet her politely. "How was your afternoon?"

"Great," Evelyn replies. "The duel earlier was interesting. Although it makes me wonder how I'd do in that situation. There's not much I could really do during a duel, since most of my abilities are limited to the water...but anyways, I enjoyed it."

"So, you're a mermaid?" I ask. She nods. "That sounds wonderful. What's it like?"

"It is wonderful," Evelyn says. " I could stay in the water all day if it weren't for things like school and chores and whatever. Well, during the warmer seasons, anyway. I think I mentioned how peaceful it is earlier today in my introduction."

"Yeah, you did. I wanted to tell you, that was beautifully said."

"Thanks," Evelyn says. "People have told me that I have a way with words."

"Well, you were told correct," I continue to compliment her. She smiles with delight at hearing this and even blushes a little.

"That's sweet of you. You're not so bad yourself, you know."

"Thank you," I say. Artemis, Evelyn and I put our things away in our rooms and proceed to the kitchen, where I get a drink of water and sit down at the table as Evelyn opens the book she brought with her. Curious, I lean over and read the cover. The History of Cybele Academy.

"Hey, I was reading that today in the library," I recollect.

"Not surprised. There are lots of copies up there," says Evelyn, "That's where I got mine, too. Gotta love attending a school whose history is the farthest thing from a snooze-fest."

I laugh. "That's what I kept thinking."

Unlike other residential schools I've heard of, this dorm has no staff save for a couple of teachers who check in occasionally to make sure we haven't set anything on fire or something. And the dorm president, but she's a student too so I can't exactly count her. I quite like this setup, since it gives us more independence and freedom.

Today, Miss Greystone is one of those checking in on us, arriving just as Evelyn is reopening her book. "Hello, Lena," she spots me and strolls over to where we're sitting, "How are you doing?"

"Well, thank you," I smile.

"Glad to hear it. While I'm here, I have something I want to give you." Miss Greystone pulls from the pocket of her jacket a metal bracelet that looks to be gold in colour, bearing a large red gem in the center, a smaller one on each side of it. "It's for you to wear until you can control your magic. It'll stop you from accidentally using it."

I breathe a sigh of relief as I take it from her and slip it over my wrist, since this is something I've been subconsciously worrying about ever since I burned Kaiden's hand this morning. "Thank you so much, you have no idea how much I appreciate this, Miss Greystone."

She laughs. "I think I do. Several of our students have trouble controlling their powers at first, Lena. You are far from alone. Anyway, I'm glad to see everything's good here. I suppose I'll take my leave now."

"Bye," I call as she makes for the door, "Thank you, again!"

As more girls start to file into the building, having probably arrived late or are getting back from some kind of after-school activity (Are there any here?), I also notice a lot of them have really interesting and unique hair colours, a trend that has made itself known throughout the entire school from what I can tell. For example, one girl has platinum blonde hair with blue and purple streaks, the ends dyed black. Another has waist-length lavender hair, tied into a long braid.

But the one that stands out the most to me, the one that I could swear causes my heart to beat a little faster in my chest, is the pale girl with shoulder-length, crimson hair with black streaks. The one with a look in her eyes that makes her look as though she intends to murder anyone who dares come close to her.

The crimson-haired beauty suddenly stops in her tracks, glancing at the table where the four of us sit, and immediately spots me. Her eyes hold that same intimidating look, yet she seems to have taken an interest in me as I could swear that expression softens a bit. She meets my gaze and immediately I feel slightly unnerved, yet I also feel I should say something to her. But I don't get the chance to make up my mind because she abruptly walks away and goes into her room.

"Faeryn, wait for me!" another girl calls as she follows her. Must be her roommate. I turn back to the others and resume our conversation, certain I'll get a chance to Interact with the crimson-haired girl in the near future. She is in our dorm, after all. Evelyn, on the other hand, sets her book down and decides to go and meet some more people. "Bye, Evelyn," I call after her with a wave.

After about fifteen more minutes, I go outside and decide to explore the campus for a little while. Its beauty is something I simply cannot get over and, like Artemis, I just adore the gothic style of the buildings. I take the time to memorize the routes to everything on campus from the dorms to the arena to the main building. I even find, as I predicted before, more than one garden and a large fountain somewhere near the front of the property. The gardens are filled with a seemingly endless supply of herbs, flowers and other plants. The strong scent of lavender mixed with white sage overwhelms me as I approach each of the gardens. I like this scent. It makes me feel safe, protected.

By the time I've finished my exploration, the sky has started to darken. I'm on my way back to the girls' dorm for the night when suddenly I crash into someone, and after a moment I realize it's the red-haired girl from earlier. However, unlike when I first saw her, she's no longer wearing her uniform (which included a blood red bodice) but rather a black shirt with short lacy sleeves and a dark red skirt. Around her neck is a black choker with a red gemstone in the center of it. Truthfully, I would not hesitate to call her beautiful.

"My apologies," I say.

At first, she says nothing, but after a few seconds she decides to reply. "Mind where you're going next time."

"I will," I reply. "I'm Lena. Who might you be?"

"If you must know," she says. "My name is Faeryn."

"I like it," I say. "It's beautiful."

Faeryn says nothing. After a moment, she says, "I have business to attend to," and walks away. It's after this that I choose to return to the dorm, saying a quick hello to Evelyn before entering my room and opening one of the books I'd checked out earlier. Artemis has gone to meet some of our roommates as Evelyn had before. About twenty-five minutes into my reading, I hear a knock on my bedroom door and open it to reveal Evelyn. "Hey, Lena," says Evelyn. "I was going to go hang out with Kaiden and Tyler after dinner. Care to join?"

"I'd love to!" I set my book down at once and join them in the kitchen where the three of us help the dorm president cook dinner for everyone, which results in a delicious meal of chicken kababs featuring mushrooms, zucchini and red peppers along with a few side dishes. These include deviled eggs, homemade macaroni salad and corn on the cob.

Kaiden and Tyler meet us by the door of the boys' dormitory soon after dinner has ended, and Tyler gives a friendly wave. "Hey, ladies," he says.

"Hi, Tyler," says Evelyn.

"Hi, Tyler," I echo. "Hey, Kaiden."

"Hey, Lena," Kaiden replies. The boys lead us inside and we walk down to the common area, where Tyler flops onto one of the deep red loveseats and Kaiden sits down next to me. Evelyn chooses to sit in the matching armchairs.

Kaiden

As I take my seat next to Lena, she gives me a friendly smile. "So, Kaiden," she begins, "What's your story? We don't really know much about you, other than that you're a vampire and you're super good-looking."

"Well, thanks for the compliment," I say. "As for my story...well, it's kind of complicated if I'm going to be honest with you."

"I'm sure I can handle it," Lena replies.

I sigh and continue. "Alright, well...as I mentioned this morning, I have a severe lack of control over my abilities...and over my bloodlust." At the sight of our panicked expressions he hastily adds, "But you guys don't need to worry about that part anymore! There's a teacher named Mr. Darkblood who's going to be helping me with that. Until I can control it on my own, he gave me this...amulet thing that's supposed to stop me from hurting anyone."

As I reveal the details of my past to the group, Lena listens with interest and doesn't interrupt me even once. She seems to understand, as do the others.

"Well, I'm glad you're doing better now," says Lena, "You seem like you've got things under control."

"Yeah," I reply. "You have no idea how hard it is, though. I'm just glad I'm not alone anymore. The guilt is something I'll have to live with for eternity, though..."

We switch topics after awhile, feeling the mood has grown too depressing, and after a few minutes we decide to play a game of Zelda Monopoly which Tyler and I found earlier in a cabinet containing a variety of different board games.

"I call dibs on the Triforce!" I exclaim, grabbing the game piece and placing it at GO. Everyone chooses a piece of their own and we start the game. After a few turns, I'm the one with the most money.

I roll the dice, and I get a six, landing on a treasure chest card. I pick it up and read it aloud with a groan. "'Go to jail! Go directly to jail, do not pass GO, do not collect two hundred dollars!' Damn it!" Laughing, I place my game piece in jail and the game continues. Lena takes her turn and ends up getting doubles twice in a row. The third time she rolls, however, she rolls a four.

"Alright, that was my third doubles, by the way," she states, about to move her piece.

"Rat yourself out, why don't you?!" Tyler points at her. Lena groans and puts her piece with mine.

"Welcome, my friend!" I joke. "Now it isn't so lonely anymore!"

"Yeah, whatever," says Lena.

"She can put fifty dollars in the middle of the board, though, can't she?" asks Evelyn.

"That's true, she can," answers Tyler.

We continue the game for awhile longer before the girls decide to head back to their dorm, t which time we pack up the game and return it to the cabinet. "Bye, guys!" Evelyn calls on their way out.

"Bye!" Tyler calls back.