You can do this, Ashlyn.  Shadows whisper in my ears and icy fingers pat me on the shoulder, sending chills down my spine.
Why am I so worried? Everything is perfect.
I showered, got ready, ate breakfast, packed my bags.  I'm in one of my signature, soft, gold candlelight dresses, and my jeweled whip chain is disguised as a magnetic belt.  The red, orange and yellow gems glint in the light.  My hair is half up, half down, swept up by a golden sun hair clip, and I have a few more clips in my hair. My earrings are a warm gold.
I enter the auditorium, Mom, "Dad" and Kai by my side. A sea of eyes bore through my head. 
I lift my chin. Smiling at all of them to pretend I know what I'm doing. Fake it till you make it. I also list all my defenses in alphabetical order, which helps calm me down.
Black crystal daggers. Jeweled hair clips. Light bombs.  Magnetic whip chain. Vials of poison.
I survey the crowd, taking in everyone and everything.  There's a pair of vampire twins with emerald green eyes and dark skin.  A petite girl waves to me.  A boy holding a book shyly smiles at me, red flush blooming across his cheeks. 
Maybe this won't be so bad.  There are people who like me, still.
But then the whispers return. The rumors, painting me into some kind of monster. "I heard she murdered her entire class and laughed about it in the end.'' "That little girl has a shelf on her room where she puts jars of her enemy's ashes." "She did it on purpose." "She should go to tartarus."
That's it!
"Pardon?" I ask the boy who said that.  
"Where should I go to?"  
"Uh......" He stares down at his feet.
"Where should I go to? There's no need to be afraid of me," I let my voice dripping with sympathy. I love putting people on the spot. The entire room stays silent.   "Let me guess.  The Crystal Empire? Been there done that.  Rainbow Falls. It was a nice school trip.  Oh. I have one.  Tartarus?" I keep my smile on, showing my fangs.
"You have fangs?!" The boy stumbles back. 
I laugh. "I do, actually. I was born with them."
Around me, the crowd's murmurs grow louder.  I'm trying in vain to block out what they say, but my fingernails are digging into my palms, drawing blood. I try to stifle the fire that threatens to burn everyone here.
Keep going, Ashlyn.   The shadows whisper.
And then, out of the corner of my eye, I see him.  Grey armor, wavy black hair, eyes spewing green and purple smoke.  I wonder if he dyes is cape red with his enemies' blood. Seriously.  It would make good dye.  King Sombra glances at me.  I stare back for a second, then break my gaze.
I start thinking of all the things he could do to me right now if he wanted to.
Snap my neck with a flick of his wrist.  Make crystals impale me. Choke me to death with shadows. Slam me against a wall and nail me to it with a crystal pin.  
All of which make my list of Top 20 most creative murder ideas.
Next to him his a woman with magenta hair and a scar across her eye.  Commander Tempest Storm.
I wouldn't tell a soul, but I always thought they'd make a great power couple.  I secretly shipped them.
They have five kids. The oldest boy looks about seventeen and exactly like Sombra.  The next oldest is a girl who moves like a dancer, with dark blue eyes.  The next two are both boys. One is the mirror image of Tempest, and the other has her hair but his father's eyes.  The last one, a girl looks about my age. 
The resemblance between us is startling. We both share the same raven hair, blue eyes, fangs and smile.  All five of them examine me, the older girl sneering as she does.
Sombra leans down and whispers something to the younger girl.  She nods, still staring at me.  I stare back, giving her a small smile.  She, surprisingly, half-smiles back. She notices my scar across my left eye. 
I got it two years back, when I was competing in a vampire competition. Some kid threw a knife at me. I used my whip chain and turned them into a hunk of raw meat in return. I lived there for three years when mother was doing business with the vampires.   
A teacher announces for the parents to leave. "Ash, stay safe. And watch out for that girl," Mother points at the young girl and leaves me.  "Prank someone!" Discord urges me.  Our relationship is distant at best.
As soon as everyone leaves, Kai grabs my hand. "Ash, stay close to me."
"I'm fine, Kai.  I can do this," I look into his golden-brown eyes. 
"Sombra's children...they're terrifying. And that little one, I think her name's Ravena....she's in your year.  They've all been here for a while, you're new-"
"And I'm going to be the target.  Like I always am.  Some things never change. I'm not just a fragile beauty."
Kai sighs.  "I guess you are very good at magic and you..."
Burned down a school.
"Ok. But I'll be keeping an eye on you," Kai reassures me and walks off to talk to some friends.
As soon as he leaves,  two boys and a girl come up to me.
"Princess Ashlyn Adara." One boy bows, though mockingly. He's a head taller than me and extremely muscular, with bulging biceps.
I curtsy back. "And you are?"
"Cedar Green."
I nod.
"Not wearing your crown today, princess?" Cedar asks.
"You don't need a crown to be a queen," I retort, putting a hand on my hip.  The crowd murmurs.
He reddens. "Is it true you collected your dead classmates ashes and have them on a shelf in your room?"
"Is it true you harass princesses on a daily basis?" I murmur, looking into his hazel eyes.
He ignores my question. "I can't believe they would allow an arsonist into our school.  I mean, you burned a school to the ground and killed 26. And you still claim you did it by accident. Well-"  He raises a hand to strike me.
I can't take it anymore.  I'm not like the villains! I don't do terrible things by choice!
"Stop. Right. There," I hiss.  He shrieks as his hand stops moving. But I can't maintain control for long.
He kicks at me, but I leap out of the way gracefully.  He strikes, I dip and dodge and dance, making sure his hands never collide with me. 
But then I have an idea.  The next time he punches at me, I don't dodge, taking his blow to my face, where everyone will be able to see it. 
Pain explodes across the left side of my face and I stumble back, crying out as I do so.  Now for step two.
I let him it me a few more times in obvious places.
Bang! I rip my barrette out of my hair and throw it. A brilliant flash of white fills the room. It's a light bomb.
I unwrap my whip chain and catch him clean across his stomach and his back, lifting his shirt with telekinesis as he does so.  Flaps of skin rip open.
This time, I choose to use it so it won't bleed much, but he'll be in extreme pain for a few weeks, and have lots of bruising. But because he's stumbling around like an oaf trying to catch me, the bruising can just be from the falls. 
I refasten my whip chain just as the light bomb fades.
Cedar lunges at me one last time, but I step to the side and he crashes onto the ground.  
His eyes widen with pain and terror. Reflecting what I want them to. Stop. Please.  I beg you.
He still tries to stagger to his feet one last time.
Footsteps pound across the hall to the door. I ready myself, getting into my position.
I hold my hand over my eye like I'm in extreme pain. In my defense, it hurts a lot, not to mention words hurt just as much as punches.
"What happened?"  A teacher shrieks. Parents come running in.  Security grabs me and I yelp when they touch my bruises. "Ow!" I can barely see out of my left eye.
They also haul Cedar to his feet.
"I can't get in trouble.  I didn't lay a hand on him," I explain. And it's true. I actually didn't.  "He attacked me, I dodged."
"She...she...she..." Cedar trails off. "My stomach!"
Nurses pull his shirt up, but only find bruising and some flaps of skin. 
Security tightens their grip on me.
"He fell multiple times while trying to catch me.  Do you deny it?" I ask, using the last of my energy to mind control him.
"No," he rasps. 
"Tell us what happened?" Another teacher asks the crowd.
Sombra's youngest daughter steps forward.
"Cedar started harassing Ashlyn.  He then raised a hand to strike her. But, she didn't lay a hand on him at all. She just dodged, and set off a light bomb to try and get away," Her voice doesn't waver at all. She also knows exactly what she's doing. "He hit her multiple times."
"Anyone else?"
This time, an attractive vampire boy comes up. "Cedar started it." He has an exotic but beautiful accent. "He punched her, kicked her and she didn't do anything back."
A few others speak, all taking my side. No one can deny that he started it.  The light bomb hid the fact that I whipped him. 
The nurses get me some ice and Cedar is taken to their office. His punishment will be decided later.
He glares at me with all his rage, but I just watch him, smirking at him one last time, fangs and all while holding ice to my eye.
    Sombra is talking to his daughter again, who looks like she's filling him in on what happened.  I'm still wondering why she defended me. Maybe it's part of her plan. We all have our secrets and our schemes. 
     See what I did there?  I once again made myself seem like the victim, but tonight Cedar will groan in pain as he tries to find a comfortable position to sleep in.   Not that he will.  It will be a secret we both share.  But if he tells anyone the truth....no one will believe him.
The girl approaches the vampire twins.  They all walk over to me.
    She curtsies. "Hi. I'm Ravena Nightshade."