The Hourglass School
Chapter 1
“Here we are.” Said dad as he dumped my bags on the ground.
I looked at the tall, big, dark building in front of me and I shivered. I never liked the name, Hourglass Boarding School. And I certainly don’t like the look of it. The early morning mist didn’t help its appearance.
My mother put her arm around my shoulder and gave me a tight squeeze. She said “You’ll do fine sweetheart. I’m sure you’ll make some friends here.”
I pulled away from her and rolled my eyes. I’ve never made any friends no matter where I go. Why did she think this was different? The door opened and I held my breath. I’ve heard stories about the school’s headmistress. I hoped they
weren’t they weren’t true.
She stood just inches away from us. She was a tall middle-age woman with greying hair tied tightly in a bun on the back of her head. She was wearing a black skirt and a red blouse.
“Welcome to Hourglass.” She said in her sharp, Irish voice “Please follow me to my office. My most trusted students will take your bags to your room.”
She flashed us a quick smile and turned on her heels. Mother and father stole a glance at each other before we followed her.
As soon as we were in the building, the black iron door was shut behind us. I jumped a little as the sound vibrated around the huge entrance hall. Our footsteps was the only sound that was heard as we followed my headmistress down the marbled corridor. I still have yet to learn the history of the school.
An oak door to the left was open and we followed the headmistress into her office. This room was stark white with only the furniture to break it don. She down on her high backed black chair and indicated for us to sit down as well. The chairs were not very comfortable.
“Welcome to Hourglass Boarding School.” She began as she placed her hands on the long desk “I am your headmistress, Ms Lavington. I am sure you know the schools’ reputation. My goal is to keep that reputation and I expect the students to exceed above my expectations. Now, you have joined our family in mid year. We don’t normally allow this. I expect you to catch up by this time next month.”
“Yes Ms.” I said
She looked at me with suspicion through her dark green eyes “Only speak when address. Understand?”
“Yes.”
“Ms Lavington.”
“Yes Ms Lavington.”
“Good. I see you catch on quickly. Now, to more important matters. Here is your schedule.” She handed my a piece of paper and I studied my classes. I would have been in English now. There was one class that got my heart beating faster. “You’ve seen the class you are new at. You won’t be there today. Today you will be shown around the school by our head boy.”
As if he was listening, the oak door opened and he stood in the doorway. I looked at him. He was wearing a maroon jumper with the schools’ emblem: a circle captivating a spinning hourglass, and black trousers. I’ve seen and worn worse uniforms then this. But there was something wrong with his hazel eyes. They were blank, emotionless. He starred at Ms Lavington as he waited for orders.
“Show Ms Belle to her room. She need to change into her uniform before she see the school.” Ms Lavington said, her eyes unblinking.
“Yes headmistress.” He said in an emotionless voice.
I was indicated to stand but I hesitated. Father nudge me on the elbow and mother smiled encouragingly at me. Ms Lavington stared at me and I felt she could see right through me. I became uncomfortable and as I cleared my throat, I stood.
“Follow me Ms Belle.” He said
I swallowed uneasily and took small, slow steps to him. When I was inches away he stared into my eyes. The something happened I’ve never experienced before:
My name’s Shane. Nice to meet you. I heard in my mind.
“Follow me.” Shane said again.
I let him walk a few paces before I followed. As we went to my room, I looked at his back trying to figure out how I heard him when no words came from his mouth.
Chapter 2
The west side of the school was cold. And this is where the students slept. There were no separate wings for boys and girls. We all were under the same roof. A maximum 5 girls in one room and 5 boys in another. Shane pointed out that the girls are one side of the hall while the boys were on the other.
We passed 10 doors on the left until we came to a stop at room number 18. This door was white compared to the other oak doors.
Shane cleared his throat and sounded regretful when he said “The outsider’s room.”
I looked at the door. Were they trying to single us out? I wondered if we had our own table in the corner of the cafeteria.
“If you make friends you don’t have to sit there.” Shane said “Until then… well,” A pause came while he thought of the right words. “You’ll just be lonely outsider. Wrong , I know! But that’s how it works around here.”
“Thanks.” I said sarcastically
“I can’t go in. Boys are not allowed in the girls room and vice versa.”
“Anybody in there?”
Shane looked at me and heard the worried tone in my voice. Without looking away, he knocked on the door.
“Come in! As long as you’re not a boy.” Said a girl
The corner of Shane’s lips turned up and all of a sudden there was a sparkle in his eyes. He opened the door but remained outside. He pushed me in and closed the door.
The room was spacious with 5 double beds dotted around. There were 5 desks, all holding different objects. There was a glass screen which held 4 different tapestry scenes. The walls were like a tattered rose colour.
My eyes caught the girl sitting on her bed, crossed legged and reading a magazine. She put the magazine down and stared at me with blue calculating eyes.
“Your bed’s by the window.” She said, nodding towards the bed.
My bed was the only one with a white duvet. “Thanks.” I said and went to the bed. I saw my bags were already up here, waiting for me to unpack.
“Use the screen to change.” She said and returned to her magazine.
I sighed and got out my uniform. When I was changing she started a more friendly conversation “I was born to a couple of werewolves. When I didn’t change I was sent here. Haven’t been home since.”
My eyes widen when she said she was born to a couple of werewolves. She said it as if it was a normal conversation and as if I asked her.
“Werewolves?” I asked, my voice a little tight so I tried to clear my throat.
“Yeah. But it’s no big deal. I’ve got magic so I’ve been accepted. However, being bred by werewolves classifies you as an outsider.”
“Magic?” I popped my head round the screen and saw her put the magazine down. She looked at me, confused.
“Thought you came here because you held magical abilities?”
I stepped away from the screen and just stared at her. Held magical abilities? What was she on about?
“I’m sorry,” She suddenly said and jumped of her bed “I thought… everyone thinks…”
She was standing a few inches away and was lost for words. I just stared at her with wide eyes, thinking she was absolutely crazy.
“Everyone thinks you’re a magician.” She managed to say.
My eyes blinked rapidly as I digested her statement. Me, a magician? How could that even be possible?
“I think there’s been a mistake.” I said slowly “I don’t think…”
“You must be. Otherwise you wouldn’t be here. However, you power might not accessible yet. Has anything strange happened?”
I racked my brain and couldn’t think of anything strange. Then I remembered “I could hear Shane say something but he didn’t move his lips.”
Now she was the one who looked at as if I were the crazy one.
Chapter 3
It felt like a long time before she recovered from what I said.
“Did you say you could connect with the head boy?” She said in a shocked tone.
“If that’s the way you want to put it, then yeah.” I said
“Everyone can connect to each others mind, having a conversation only two people can hear.” She explained “Basic beginners trick. But Shane doesn’t open his to many people. Even I’ve tried with no luck.” She sounded disappointed and folded her arms across her chest.
“I didn’t open my mind.”
“You don’t know you’ve got powers so you haven’t built up any protection. He could easily open a channel to you as easily as I can.”
There was a knock on the door and he shouted “Are you read? I’ve got a tight schedule!”
“I’m ready!” I shouted back
The door opened and Shane appeared “You’d better hurry up. The hall just extended.”
While I looked at him confused, my room mate looked at him wide eyed “So soon?” she asked
“You should the scheduling. You skip enough classes.” Shane warned while raising an eyebrow.
She looked at me and said “I’ll see you at lunch Liz.” and she ran out of the room.
“I do have a tight schedule.” Shane said “Need to get going.”
“Right.” I said, a little unsure.
I left the room and Shane closed the door. I looked to my right and saw something I didn’t see as I walked down here before. Shane said the hall had extended and I thought he was joking. He wasn’t. There was at least half a dozen more door than before.
“Only extends when the housekeeper comes and clean.” Shane explained “The students uses short cuts around the school and doors in these bedrooms.” Shane pointed to five doors on the right hand side of the hall.
My mind was chasing the information my room mate had told me. Then I remembered, I didn’t know her name and yet she knew mine.
“How did she know my name?” I asked as Shane gently pushed me forward to get me walking.
“Everyone will know your name because of the lateness you’ve arrived. Plus everyone thinks you’re a magician. So play along until you’ve got access.”
“Access to what?”
“The power source within you.”
We were among the first couple of people in the cafeteria. By now Shane had shown me the ground floor. The ground floor was used to hold activities and clubs. There was even a room with a 50 piece orchestra. However Shane said it was difficult to fill the whole orchestra. ‘Some are just too shy to show their talent.’ Shane had said.
“Just the man we were looking for.” Said someone. I looked in the direction the voice came from and saw three boys coming our way.
“How can I help you?” Shane said and I picked up the little bit of sarcasm in his voice.
The three boys sat down, two either side of me and one next to Shane. “Mr Pain in the butt wants to see you.” said the boy to my left.
“If it’s about the homework, I said I’ll hand it in this weekend.”
“He’s getting pretty mad at you. He’s not happy you skipped a test.”
“Honestly, tell teachers you’ve got head boy duties and they’re unhappy.”
“Should know how this school works.” Said the boy next to Shane “They tell you to explain why you’re not going to be in class and then say we didn’t tell them.”
“One way to get us to Ms Lavington’s office.” Said the boy to my right.
Shane shook his head and introduced me to Nicky, Kian and Mark. Nicky was sitting next to Shane while I sat between Kian and Mark.
“Must be fun to be head boy though.” Said Kian with a hint of jeasoult in his voice I mean you can skip classes without getting into trouble.”
“It’s not as fun as you think Kian.” Said Shane “I’m falling behind rapidly. The teachers are assigning me more homework just to catch up. The only one who’s not concerned about this is Ms Lavington.”
“No surprise there.” Said Nicky
Shane looked at him and I could tell that he wanted to say something back. However, he swallowed the reply and continued to eat his lunch.
Chapter 4
Shane had been sent to Ms Lavington’s office, leaving me with Nicky, Kian and Mark. Kian and Nicky were talking about one of Nicky’s tests and I got lost half way through.
“I ended up in the swimming pool.” Said Nicky “I don’t know where swimming pool comes from the music room.”
“Must have been thinking about the pool.” Said Kian “You did want to for a swim anyway.”
“Not while the swimmers were practicing for the competition. At least 2 of the girls screamed when the saw me. Mark laughed at that sentence. A smile
appeared on my lips but I was still lost.
“Nicky can teleport.” said Mark “However, he’s still learning.”
“Like you’re not still learning to control that fire of yours!” Shot back Nicky
“At least I’ve stopped burning things down!”
“Could you two ladies stop arguing?” I heard Shane say. He was standing by our table with his hands on his hips “I could hear you two by the door.”
Nicky and Mark shrugged and went back to their lunch. Shane joined us again only to be disturbed by another student. I could he was getting tired.
“What is it Lisa?” He said
“A couple of first years are getting a little out of hand.” Lisa said uncertainly.
“Can’t one of the teachers on duty handle it?”
Lisa shook her head. Shane sighed deeply and said “Show me.” before he stood up.
“By the way, I’ll carry on showing you around. Hang back when lunch is over. Instructed Shane.
I nodded and watch him leave with Lisa. I wondered if she was another outsider by the way she approached Shane. Uncertain about telling and nervous
about his reaction. Could she even be a first year herself?
Outsider yes. First year, no. She’s third year but new to the school.
Explained Shane in my mind, making me a jump a little. I looked at the other three and they were smiling. I’m sure they saw me jump.
The cafeteria was empting out. I hunched over my plate and looked at the remains of my lunch. My ears were straining to hear the hushed conversations as the students walked by.
I felt a hand on my shoulder and I looked up at Mark. He smiled and I let out a long sigh. “He’ll be back soon.” He said, his eyes warm “First years are
always hard to handle.”
“If you believe what Lisa said.” Said Nicky with h is arms folded “I mean there’s a lot of mishandling power recently. I’m sure someone is testing
Shane.”
“Only you know his true power.”
“Guys come on, we’ll be late for class.” Said Kian
“Right.” Said Nicky “Enjoy the rest of your day.”
I watched them as they hurried out of the cafeteria. No one else followed them. I looked to the patio doors and hoped to see him soon.
“I’m so sorry Liz!” He said as he ran in.
He stopped a few inches away. His shirt was on one side with a few buttons undone. His hair was all over the place. He held his jumper in his hand which I
saw deep cuts that wasn’t there before. Blood was dripping onto the tiled floor.
“What happened?” I asked
Shane swallowed hard and looked around the cafeteria. His left hand went to his neck and he started to rub it “Nothing.” he said almost in a whisper. “First years were more out of control than I thought.”
I raised an eyebrow “What about the hand?”
He looked at his hand and quickly covered it “It’s nothing,” he stammered “nothing to worry about anyway.” He cleared his throat “I’m going to sort myself
out. I’ll meet you in the library.”
I didn’t watch him leave. I starred at the patio doors and I frowned. My eyes caught a shadow on the wall outside. I felt my stomach tighten and I headed to
the library.
Chapter 5
I sat in the hard wooden chair in the dim library. I tried to read but the light was no good and I ended up with a headache. How could anyone get any
studying done? I wondered. There were a few other students around who I could feel was trying to connect to me. In a way I was glad I wasn’t reading, I was able to concentrate ally my thoughts to form a wall. However, try as I might, someone managed to get passed and started a conversation with me.
You’re new aren’t you? Said a deep mails voice
I felt uncomfortable with his tone of voice. He sounded like he was fishing for information.
No. I said I’m returning after three years away.
He laughed coldly Oh please! Everyone knows who you are Isabella. There’s no hiding your family’s past.
It’s Liz. What are you talking about?
You don’t know? Seriously don’t know? He laughed again, louder and longer this time Maybe this will tell you your own family history.
I looked around the large room and a floating book was moving towards me. I continued to look around to see if I could find the one the voice belonged to.
No luck. Someone caught the book before I had a chance.
You leave her alone. Someone interrupted She doesn’t need to be hassled by you.
The boy who had caught the book turned around and smiled at me. It was Shane.
“Sorry. I was caught by Mr Pain in the Butt.” Whispered Shane “Looks like I will have to show you the first floor tomorrow. I need to get to choir
practice.”
I nodded. When I tried to stand up, I wobbled a bit. Shane grabbed my shoulder quickly and held out his other hand a few inches away from me, as if he
was ready to catch me.
“Holding a conversation like that for the first time can tire you out. It doesn’t help that you used most of your strength to build a wall. I’ll take you
to your room so you can rest.” He whispered into my ear “Besides, a good chance to meet your other room mates.”
Shane helped me out of the library, making sure he put the book on the counter. My eyes didn’t leave that book until we were out of the door.
“You sing?” I asked, picking up on what he had said
“Yeah. My favourite thing to do. Singing.” Shane said as we walked down the corridor “However, I don’t like the type of music they chose. Gospel and
classic.”
“Classic I can understand but gospel?”
“Back in the day it was all gospel. This school even had a church three centuries ago.”
“What happened to it?”
“Got knocked down. By then the school was run by vampires and they couldn’t stand the church. So they ordered it to be knocked down. There’s still remains left in the other field. If you like, I could show them this weekend.”
“Sound funs.”
When we reached my room Shane took hold of my hand. His hand was now bandaged up. I couldn’t look away from it. Shane put his other hand under my chin and made me look into his hazel eyes.
“Don’t mention our connection to anyone else. I trust Katharina so it’s going to remain our secret. Tell anyone else, however, there will be trouble.” Shane
said, his face serious.
I nodded. After a few moments of silence, just starring into each others eyes, Shane sighed and walked away. My hand tingled a little after he let go and
I wondered why. Shaking the question to the back of my mind, I went into the room.
It was silent. All four heads turned to me making me feel as they were talking about me. I stayed by the door, hands in pockets and looked down.
“Welcome to our world Liz.” One of the girls said
I looked to see who had said that but all of their expressions were blank. All I knew was it wasn’t Katharina. I recognised her from earlier. Then I saw
Lisa, the girl who had come to Shane to tell him about the first years. There was a little bit guilt shining through her eyes. The other two I didn’t know.
One had red-golden hair and blue eyes, while the other had dark auburn hair and brown eyes.
I just stood there, looking from one to the other. They just starred at me. Not one said anything else. Not even Katharina offered a word.
Page 1 Page 2
“Here we are.” Said dad as he dumped my bags on the ground.
I looked at the tall, big, dark building in front of me and I shivered. I never liked the name, Hourglass Boarding School. And I certainly don’t like the look of it. The early morning mist didn’t help its appearance.
My mother put her arm around my shoulder and gave me a tight squeeze. She said “You’ll do fine sweetheart. I’m sure you’ll make some friends here.”
I pulled away from her and rolled my eyes. I’ve never made any friends no matter where I go. Why did she think this was different? The door opened and I held my breath. I’ve heard stories about the school’s headmistress. I hoped they
weren’t they weren’t true.
She stood just inches away from us. She was a tall middle-age woman with greying hair tied tightly in a bun on the back of her head. She was wearing a black skirt and a red blouse.
“Welcome to Hourglass.” She said in her sharp, Irish voice “Please follow me to my office. My most trusted students will take your bags to your room.”
She flashed us a quick smile and turned on her heels. Mother and father stole a glance at each other before we followed her.
As soon as we were in the building, the black iron door was shut behind us. I jumped a little as the sound vibrated around the huge entrance hall. Our footsteps was the only sound that was heard as we followed my headmistress down the marbled corridor. I still have yet to learn the history of the school.
An oak door to the left was open and we followed the headmistress into her office. This room was stark white with only the furniture to break it don. She down on her high backed black chair and indicated for us to sit down as well. The chairs were not very comfortable.
“Welcome to Hourglass Boarding School.” She began as she placed her hands on the long desk “I am your headmistress, Ms Lavington. I am sure you know the schools’ reputation. My goal is to keep that reputation and I expect the students to exceed above my expectations. Now, you have joined our family in mid year. We don’t normally allow this. I expect you to catch up by this time next month.”
“Yes Ms.” I said
She looked at me with suspicion through her dark green eyes “Only speak when address. Understand?”
“Yes.”
“Ms Lavington.”
“Yes Ms Lavington.”
“Good. I see you catch on quickly. Now, to more important matters. Here is your schedule.” She handed my a piece of paper and I studied my classes. I would have been in English now. There was one class that got my heart beating faster. “You’ve seen the class you are new at. You won’t be there today. Today you will be shown around the school by our head boy.”
As if he was listening, the oak door opened and he stood in the doorway. I looked at him. He was wearing a maroon jumper with the schools’ emblem: a circle captivating a spinning hourglass, and black trousers. I’ve seen and worn worse uniforms then this. But there was something wrong with his hazel eyes. They were blank, emotionless. He starred at Ms Lavington as he waited for orders.
“Show Ms Belle to her room. She need to change into her uniform before she see the school.” Ms Lavington said, her eyes unblinking.
“Yes headmistress.” He said in an emotionless voice.
I was indicated to stand but I hesitated. Father nudge me on the elbow and mother smiled encouragingly at me. Ms Lavington stared at me and I felt she could see right through me. I became uncomfortable and as I cleared my throat, I stood.
“Follow me Ms Belle.” He said
I swallowed uneasily and took small, slow steps to him. When I was inches away he stared into my eyes. The something happened I’ve never experienced before:
My name’s Shane. Nice to meet you. I heard in my mind.
“Follow me.” Shane said again.
I let him walk a few paces before I followed. As we went to my room, I looked at his back trying to figure out how I heard him when no words came from his mouth.
Chapter 2
The west side of the school was cold. And this is where the students slept. There were no separate wings for boys and girls. We all were under the same roof. A maximum 5 girls in one room and 5 boys in another. Shane pointed out that the girls are one side of the hall while the boys were on the other.
We passed 10 doors on the left until we came to a stop at room number 18. This door was white compared to the other oak doors.
Shane cleared his throat and sounded regretful when he said “The outsider’s room.”
I looked at the door. Were they trying to single us out? I wondered if we had our own table in the corner of the cafeteria.
“If you make friends you don’t have to sit there.” Shane said “Until then… well,” A pause came while he thought of the right words. “You’ll just be lonely outsider. Wrong , I know! But that’s how it works around here.”
“Thanks.” I said sarcastically
“I can’t go in. Boys are not allowed in the girls room and vice versa.”
“Anybody in there?”
Shane looked at me and heard the worried tone in my voice. Without looking away, he knocked on the door.
“Come in! As long as you’re not a boy.” Said a girl
The corner of Shane’s lips turned up and all of a sudden there was a sparkle in his eyes. He opened the door but remained outside. He pushed me in and closed the door.
The room was spacious with 5 double beds dotted around. There were 5 desks, all holding different objects. There was a glass screen which held 4 different tapestry scenes. The walls were like a tattered rose colour.
My eyes caught the girl sitting on her bed, crossed legged and reading a magazine. She put the magazine down and stared at me with blue calculating eyes.
“Your bed’s by the window.” She said, nodding towards the bed.
My bed was the only one with a white duvet. “Thanks.” I said and went to the bed. I saw my bags were already up here, waiting for me to unpack.
“Use the screen to change.” She said and returned to her magazine.
I sighed and got out my uniform. When I was changing she started a more friendly conversation “I was born to a couple of werewolves. When I didn’t change I was sent here. Haven’t been home since.”
My eyes widen when she said she was born to a couple of werewolves. She said it as if it was a normal conversation and as if I asked her.
“Werewolves?” I asked, my voice a little tight so I tried to clear my throat.
“Yeah. But it’s no big deal. I’ve got magic so I’ve been accepted. However, being bred by werewolves classifies you as an outsider.”
“Magic?” I popped my head round the screen and saw her put the magazine down. She looked at me, confused.
“Thought you came here because you held magical abilities?”
I stepped away from the screen and just stared at her. Held magical abilities? What was she on about?
“I’m sorry,” She suddenly said and jumped of her bed “I thought… everyone thinks…”
She was standing a few inches away and was lost for words. I just stared at her with wide eyes, thinking she was absolutely crazy.
“Everyone thinks you’re a magician.” She managed to say.
My eyes blinked rapidly as I digested her statement. Me, a magician? How could that even be possible?
“I think there’s been a mistake.” I said slowly “I don’t think…”
“You must be. Otherwise you wouldn’t be here. However, you power might not accessible yet. Has anything strange happened?”
I racked my brain and couldn’t think of anything strange. Then I remembered “I could hear Shane say something but he didn’t move his lips.”
Now she was the one who looked at as if I were the crazy one.
Chapter 3
It felt like a long time before she recovered from what I said.
“Did you say you could connect with the head boy?” She said in a shocked tone.
“If that’s the way you want to put it, then yeah.” I said
“Everyone can connect to each others mind, having a conversation only two people can hear.” She explained “Basic beginners trick. But Shane doesn’t open his to many people. Even I’ve tried with no luck.” She sounded disappointed and folded her arms across her chest.
“I didn’t open my mind.”
“You don’t know you’ve got powers so you haven’t built up any protection. He could easily open a channel to you as easily as I can.”
There was a knock on the door and he shouted “Are you read? I’ve got a tight schedule!”
“I’m ready!” I shouted back
The door opened and Shane appeared “You’d better hurry up. The hall just extended.”
While I looked at him confused, my room mate looked at him wide eyed “So soon?” she asked
“You should the scheduling. You skip enough classes.” Shane warned while raising an eyebrow.
She looked at me and said “I’ll see you at lunch Liz.” and she ran out of the room.
“I do have a tight schedule.” Shane said “Need to get going.”
“Right.” I said, a little unsure.
I left the room and Shane closed the door. I looked to my right and saw something I didn’t see as I walked down here before. Shane said the hall had extended and I thought he was joking. He wasn’t. There was at least half a dozen more door than before.
“Only extends when the housekeeper comes and clean.” Shane explained “The students uses short cuts around the school and doors in these bedrooms.” Shane pointed to five doors on the right hand side of the hall.
My mind was chasing the information my room mate had told me. Then I remembered, I didn’t know her name and yet she knew mine.
“How did she know my name?” I asked as Shane gently pushed me forward to get me walking.
“Everyone will know your name because of the lateness you’ve arrived. Plus everyone thinks you’re a magician. So play along until you’ve got access.”
“Access to what?”
“The power source within you.”
We were among the first couple of people in the cafeteria. By now Shane had shown me the ground floor. The ground floor was used to hold activities and clubs. There was even a room with a 50 piece orchestra. However Shane said it was difficult to fill the whole orchestra. ‘Some are just too shy to show their talent.’ Shane had said.
“Just the man we were looking for.” Said someone. I looked in the direction the voice came from and saw three boys coming our way.
“How can I help you?” Shane said and I picked up the little bit of sarcasm in his voice.
The three boys sat down, two either side of me and one next to Shane. “Mr Pain in the butt wants to see you.” said the boy to my left.
“If it’s about the homework, I said I’ll hand it in this weekend.”
“He’s getting pretty mad at you. He’s not happy you skipped a test.”
“Honestly, tell teachers you’ve got head boy duties and they’re unhappy.”
“Should know how this school works.” Said the boy next to Shane “They tell you to explain why you’re not going to be in class and then say we didn’t tell them.”
“One way to get us to Ms Lavington’s office.” Said the boy to my right.
Shane shook his head and introduced me to Nicky, Kian and Mark. Nicky was sitting next to Shane while I sat between Kian and Mark.
“Must be fun to be head boy though.” Said Kian with a hint of jeasoult in his voice I mean you can skip classes without getting into trouble.”
“It’s not as fun as you think Kian.” Said Shane “I’m falling behind rapidly. The teachers are assigning me more homework just to catch up. The only one who’s not concerned about this is Ms Lavington.”
“No surprise there.” Said Nicky
Shane looked at him and I could tell that he wanted to say something back. However, he swallowed the reply and continued to eat his lunch.
Chapter 4
Shane had been sent to Ms Lavington’s office, leaving me with Nicky, Kian and Mark. Kian and Nicky were talking about one of Nicky’s tests and I got lost half way through.
“I ended up in the swimming pool.” Said Nicky “I don’t know where swimming pool comes from the music room.”
“Must have been thinking about the pool.” Said Kian “You did want to for a swim anyway.”
“Not while the swimmers were practicing for the competition. At least 2 of the girls screamed when the saw me. Mark laughed at that sentence. A smile
appeared on my lips but I was still lost.
“Nicky can teleport.” said Mark “However, he’s still learning.”
“Like you’re not still learning to control that fire of yours!” Shot back Nicky
“At least I’ve stopped burning things down!”
“Could you two ladies stop arguing?” I heard Shane say. He was standing by our table with his hands on his hips “I could hear you two by the door.”
Nicky and Mark shrugged and went back to their lunch. Shane joined us again only to be disturbed by another student. I could he was getting tired.
“What is it Lisa?” He said
“A couple of first years are getting a little out of hand.” Lisa said uncertainly.
“Can’t one of the teachers on duty handle it?”
Lisa shook her head. Shane sighed deeply and said “Show me.” before he stood up.
“By the way, I’ll carry on showing you around. Hang back when lunch is over. Instructed Shane.
I nodded and watch him leave with Lisa. I wondered if she was another outsider by the way she approached Shane. Uncertain about telling and nervous
about his reaction. Could she even be a first year herself?
Outsider yes. First year, no. She’s third year but new to the school.
Explained Shane in my mind, making me a jump a little. I looked at the other three and they were smiling. I’m sure they saw me jump.
The cafeteria was empting out. I hunched over my plate and looked at the remains of my lunch. My ears were straining to hear the hushed conversations as the students walked by.
I felt a hand on my shoulder and I looked up at Mark. He smiled and I let out a long sigh. “He’ll be back soon.” He said, his eyes warm “First years are
always hard to handle.”
“If you believe what Lisa said.” Said Nicky with h is arms folded “I mean there’s a lot of mishandling power recently. I’m sure someone is testing
Shane.”
“Only you know his true power.”
“Guys come on, we’ll be late for class.” Said Kian
“Right.” Said Nicky “Enjoy the rest of your day.”
I watched them as they hurried out of the cafeteria. No one else followed them. I looked to the patio doors and hoped to see him soon.
“I’m so sorry Liz!” He said as he ran in.
He stopped a few inches away. His shirt was on one side with a few buttons undone. His hair was all over the place. He held his jumper in his hand which I
saw deep cuts that wasn’t there before. Blood was dripping onto the tiled floor.
“What happened?” I asked
Shane swallowed hard and looked around the cafeteria. His left hand went to his neck and he started to rub it “Nothing.” he said almost in a whisper. “First years were more out of control than I thought.”
I raised an eyebrow “What about the hand?”
He looked at his hand and quickly covered it “It’s nothing,” he stammered “nothing to worry about anyway.” He cleared his throat “I’m going to sort myself
out. I’ll meet you in the library.”
I didn’t watch him leave. I starred at the patio doors and I frowned. My eyes caught a shadow on the wall outside. I felt my stomach tighten and I headed to
the library.
Chapter 5
I sat in the hard wooden chair in the dim library. I tried to read but the light was no good and I ended up with a headache. How could anyone get any
studying done? I wondered. There were a few other students around who I could feel was trying to connect to me. In a way I was glad I wasn’t reading, I was able to concentrate ally my thoughts to form a wall. However, try as I might, someone managed to get passed and started a conversation with me.
You’re new aren’t you? Said a deep mails voice
I felt uncomfortable with his tone of voice. He sounded like he was fishing for information.
No. I said I’m returning after three years away.
He laughed coldly Oh please! Everyone knows who you are Isabella. There’s no hiding your family’s past.
It’s Liz. What are you talking about?
You don’t know? Seriously don’t know? He laughed again, louder and longer this time Maybe this will tell you your own family history.
I looked around the large room and a floating book was moving towards me. I continued to look around to see if I could find the one the voice belonged to.
No luck. Someone caught the book before I had a chance.
You leave her alone. Someone interrupted She doesn’t need to be hassled by you.
The boy who had caught the book turned around and smiled at me. It was Shane.
“Sorry. I was caught by Mr Pain in the Butt.” Whispered Shane “Looks like I will have to show you the first floor tomorrow. I need to get to choir
practice.”
I nodded. When I tried to stand up, I wobbled a bit. Shane grabbed my shoulder quickly and held out his other hand a few inches away from me, as if he
was ready to catch me.
“Holding a conversation like that for the first time can tire you out. It doesn’t help that you used most of your strength to build a wall. I’ll take you
to your room so you can rest.” He whispered into my ear “Besides, a good chance to meet your other room mates.”
Shane helped me out of the library, making sure he put the book on the counter. My eyes didn’t leave that book until we were out of the door.
“You sing?” I asked, picking up on what he had said
“Yeah. My favourite thing to do. Singing.” Shane said as we walked down the corridor “However, I don’t like the type of music they chose. Gospel and
classic.”
“Classic I can understand but gospel?”
“Back in the day it was all gospel. This school even had a church three centuries ago.”
“What happened to it?”
“Got knocked down. By then the school was run by vampires and they couldn’t stand the church. So they ordered it to be knocked down. There’s still remains left in the other field. If you like, I could show them this weekend.”
“Sound funs.”
When we reached my room Shane took hold of my hand. His hand was now bandaged up. I couldn’t look away from it. Shane put his other hand under my chin and made me look into his hazel eyes.
“Don’t mention our connection to anyone else. I trust Katharina so it’s going to remain our secret. Tell anyone else, however, there will be trouble.” Shane
said, his face serious.
I nodded. After a few moments of silence, just starring into each others eyes, Shane sighed and walked away. My hand tingled a little after he let go and
I wondered why. Shaking the question to the back of my mind, I went into the room.
It was silent. All four heads turned to me making me feel as they were talking about me. I stayed by the door, hands in pockets and looked down.
“Welcome to our world Liz.” One of the girls said
I looked to see who had said that but all of their expressions were blank. All I knew was it wasn’t Katharina. I recognised her from earlier. Then I saw
Lisa, the girl who had come to Shane to tell him about the first years. There was a little bit guilt shining through her eyes. The other two I didn’t know.
One had red-golden hair and blue eyes, while the other had dark auburn hair and brown eyes.
I just stood there, looking from one to the other. They just starred at me. Not one said anything else. Not even Katharina offered a word.
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