Piotr watched the nurse as she did all her health checks and safety measures. "Lie down." She commanded with an authoritative tone that matched that strange feeling that told you she was used to being obeyed. Piotr lay down, keeping his arms at his sides and staring up at the ceiling dotted with little lights. Ms. Gelb made several little noises like "hmmmm" and "ahhhh" as she slowly undid the bandages to renew them. "I'm sorry but your wounds are mending quite quickly. You may have only another day to stay here." She said, in German, with an almost sympathetic tone. All the staff here knew of the horrid orphanage and they all knew that the nurse's ward was the closest thing to a holiday for them.
Piotr smiled up at her nervously. She didn't smile back but continued to apply the new bandage. The noise of boots against tiles echoed around the almost deserted room. Ms. Gelb's head swivelled to see who was interrupting her session with a patient. Her eyes grew wide and she suddenly stood at attention, giving the necessary greetings to the soldiers that came into view after a few moments passed."We have come for the boy." One said. He had a skull on his cap and his body language implied that he was superior to the nurse, that he was the dominant one. She shook her head.
"You can't, he's not ready. He still needs a day or two."
"He's wanted for research."
"No! He ran for the dogs! You've always said that if a child runs for the dogs he is allowed a month from the research sector! This boy has ran several times to escape the research sector. That goes to show you how much fear is in him."
The soldier only chuckled. "All the times he ran has made him a perfect specimen for der Doktor. He has shown a determination and that is why we need him." A smirk played on the soldier's lips. He was enjoying the looks on the nurse's face. "Y-you can't." Ms. Gelb said desperately. "Do you want to be charged with treason for protecting a useless Polack? I would hold your tongue if I were you." The soldier said as more of a command than a question or statement.
Ms. Gelb only bowed her head and tried not to look as the soldier walked over to the side of Piotr's bed and pulled him out. "No I have a month. I have a month!" Piotr said in Polish as he was grabbed by the arm and forced out of the bed.The soldier slapped him across the face with the palm of his hand. "How dare you speak Polish!" Piotr could only cry and squirm as the soldier dragged him out of the ward and along several hallways. Tears littered the floor, leaving a trail of Piotr's journey.
Piotr was heading towards death, he knew it. He was the oldest one in the orphanage because all the others older than him chose the research sector, thinking it would only involve taking a few pills or running a few tests...They were wrong. What the Doctor was really doing killed them all and Piotr knew he wouldn't be coming back.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Piotr ( III ) - Recovery
A small, amber cat appeared on the window ledge staring at Piotr and purring almost silently as its dark blue eyes seemingly pierced Piotr’s skull. The cat gave Piotr a sleek smile seconds before pouncing onto his bed and curling up in his lap. “Hello Misses Thompson, have you been rooting around in the German’s bins again? I can smell it.” Piotr said in Polish, as if scolding a small child after doing something wrong. “There must be millions of mice around this building. Especially near the Orphan’s sector. You can’t be a cat if you can’t catch a mouse. I’m sure they’re part of your diet as well. I mean a cat how doesn’t eat mice isn’t a cat. Besides I’m sure the Germans eat so much nasty food to make their personalities so mean.” Piotr said childishly, trailing from the point ever so slightly.
Mrs. Thompson replied by nuzzling one of Piotr’s hands. The small boy picked up on the obvious message that was relayed to him, scratching near the base of her ear and under her chin after that. He also scratched the top of her breast in combination with the other spots. Piotr only took quick glances at his arms. They were covered in gauze. At spots on the gauze there were red specks where the blood had started to seep through the bandage.
Mrs. Thompson was originally an English woman in Piotr’s neighbourhood before the soldiers had arrived. The female cat, that had become Piotr’s only friend in this little hole of hell, reminded him of how Mrs. Thompson looked and acted when she was out at the shops in Warsaw or out with friends. She had always been seeking affection and attention, always wanting to be told she looked nice and that her old clothes still looked new. She was a nice person but a vain one at that.
The amber fur covered creature on Piotr’s lap purred with pleasure beneath his hand but quickly scuttled under the bed as the main nurse of the complex strolled into the ward. She held herself proudly and emitted a sort of dominant aura which clearly showed that she was in charge even if it was just of the nurses. She was a leader by nature and even an idiot would pick up on that. Her name was Miss Gelb and she hurriedly checked Piotr’s charts before inspecting his bandages. She gave him a reassuring yet nervous smile. She was German by birth and Piotr was Polish. Recently the soldiers and the other nurses had become concerned about her attention to Piotr. He had been accepting the dogs over the research for the last couple of months. She wasn’t doing it out of kindness and Piotr knew that. She was just doing what was best for the patient. She cared about her work, even if she didn’t care much for the patient him or herself.
Mrs. Thompson replied by nuzzling one of Piotr’s hands. The small boy picked up on the obvious message that was relayed to him, scratching near the base of her ear and under her chin after that. He also scratched the top of her breast in combination with the other spots. Piotr only took quick glances at his arms. They were covered in gauze. At spots on the gauze there were red specks where the blood had started to seep through the bandage.
Mrs. Thompson was originally an English woman in Piotr’s neighbourhood before the soldiers had arrived. The female cat, that had become Piotr’s only friend in this little hole of hell, reminded him of how Mrs. Thompson looked and acted when she was out at the shops in Warsaw or out with friends. She had always been seeking affection and attention, always wanting to be told she looked nice and that her old clothes still looked new. She was a nice person but a vain one at that.
The amber fur covered creature on Piotr’s lap purred with pleasure beneath his hand but quickly scuttled under the bed as the main nurse of the complex strolled into the ward. She held herself proudly and emitted a sort of dominant aura which clearly showed that she was in charge even if it was just of the nurses. She was a leader by nature and even an idiot would pick up on that. Her name was Miss Gelb and she hurriedly checked Piotr’s charts before inspecting his bandages. She gave him a reassuring yet nervous smile. She was German by birth and Piotr was Polish. Recently the soldiers and the other nurses had become concerned about her attention to Piotr. He had been accepting the dogs over the research for the last couple of months. She wasn’t doing it out of kindness and Piotr knew that. She was just doing what was best for the patient. She cared about her work, even if she didn’t care much for the patient him or herself.
Piotr ( II ) - Flashbacks of a broken boy
A loud bang arrived at Piotr’s ears. The sounds of tires and engines came from outside, closely followed by footsteps approaching the front door of Piotr’s home. The upstairs rumbled and shook as another bang rang down the stairs. Piotr stared at the door in terror, the footsteps outside drawing nearer before stopping. The faint sound of conversation below the noise of the vehicles was just barely audible to Piotr. His eyes were focused on the grain of the oak door that separated him from the soldiers on the other side.
A shrill scream shook Piotr to the very core of his being. The scream was shortly followed by a naked woman rushing down the stairs. Her bosoms down to her stomach were coated in a layer of fresh, crimson red blood. This sight dragged Piotr’s eyes over to the woman. Even in this warzone and in this moment of terror, Piotr couldn’t help but stifle a blush as his eyes drifted over her bare skin tainted with the red juices of his father.
The woman frantically looked around for a door, before spotting the main door and trying to escape into the streets but was immediately halted in her endeavour by the soldiers when she opened the door. They immediately turned and raised their weapons. The sounds of gunfire and desperate cries for help rang out in Piotr’s ears as he shot up from a bed in the nurse’s ward.
A thick layer of sweat covered his forehead and Piotr wiped it with the casual swipe of his hand. The was dimly lit by only a small candle burning in the corner of the room on a four-legged, square wooden table.
A shrill scream shook Piotr to the very core of his being. The scream was shortly followed by a naked woman rushing down the stairs. Her bosoms down to her stomach were coated in a layer of fresh, crimson red blood. This sight dragged Piotr’s eyes over to the woman. Even in this warzone and in this moment of terror, Piotr couldn’t help but stifle a blush as his eyes drifted over her bare skin tainted with the red juices of his father.
The woman frantically looked around for a door, before spotting the main door and trying to escape into the streets but was immediately halted in her endeavour by the soldiers when she opened the door. They immediately turned and raised their weapons. The sounds of gunfire and desperate cries for help rang out in Piotr’s ears as he shot up from a bed in the nurse’s ward.
A thick layer of sweat covered his forehead and Piotr wiped it with the casual swipe of his hand. The was dimly lit by only a small candle burning in the corner of the room on a four-legged, square wooden table.
Piotr ( I ) Irony is bitter
Piotr’s feet pounded against the grassy, uneven terrain of the Wilhelm Institute for Orphans and Research on the outskirts of Warsaw. His frail little legs and thin figure glided across the garden of the institute like an antelope fleeing a predator. Low snarls and growls emitted from the area behind him but he dared not glance around for fear that a pesky rock may trip him up and expose him to the terror of the pursuing beasts. Above him the sun shone intensely, illuminating the court yard-like garden. While it increased his vision, it also unleashed its hot wrath down upon Piotr, making his raggedy, old and grossly too small clothes cling to his body.
The soldiers snickered and laughed from their wooden located near the entrance of the main building from the courtyard. They wore the normal German uniform with lightning bolts and/or skulls adorning their upper chest pockets or cap. Nearly all of the soldiers wore a metallic helmet while only one soldier wore a cap. These weren’t the normal soldiers and were, supposedly, friends of the one with the cap. The insignias obviously signified something but as to what that was; Piotr hadn’t given much thought to.
The Alsatians behind Piotr were large dogs with perky ears, a long snout, a blanket of dark black fur across their backs and a nice golden brown covered their breast, their undersides and the remainder of their bodies. And these ferocious dogs were hunting Piotr.
The dogs nipped at Piotr’s heels. He had been given a five minute head start but the dogs were quick to make up the distance. Piotr was luck to have been given the older Alsatians. He would be able to outrun them for a little longer which meant he might only get a couple of wounds, but nothing serious. “Run Polack!” Jeered one of the soldiers, much to the amusement of his companions. Piotr didn’t find it amusing in the slightest. He gritted his teeth, clenched his fists and pushed himself to move faster. For exercising the dogs he would get a soldier’s meal and would be kept out of the Institute’s Research section for another month.
Just as Piotr was feeling like he was about to wear down the dogs so much he wouldn’t get any wounds or scars, fate played a cruel trick on him and a rock tripped him up. And it was just one of those rocks he had been watching out for before. Irony was a bitter taste to swallow.
The soldiers snickered and laughed from their wooden located near the entrance of the main building from the courtyard. They wore the normal German uniform with lightning bolts and/or skulls adorning their upper chest pockets or cap. Nearly all of the soldiers wore a metallic helmet while only one soldier wore a cap. These weren’t the normal soldiers and were, supposedly, friends of the one with the cap. The insignias obviously signified something but as to what that was; Piotr hadn’t given much thought to.
The Alsatians behind Piotr were large dogs with perky ears, a long snout, a blanket of dark black fur across their backs and a nice golden brown covered their breast, their undersides and the remainder of their bodies. And these ferocious dogs were hunting Piotr.
The dogs nipped at Piotr’s heels. He had been given a five minute head start but the dogs were quick to make up the distance. Piotr was luck to have been given the older Alsatians. He would be able to outrun them for a little longer which meant he might only get a couple of wounds, but nothing serious. “Run Polack!” Jeered one of the soldiers, much to the amusement of his companions. Piotr didn’t find it amusing in the slightest. He gritted his teeth, clenched his fists and pushed himself to move faster. For exercising the dogs he would get a soldier’s meal and would be kept out of the Institute’s Research section for another month.
Just as Piotr was feeling like he was about to wear down the dogs so much he wouldn’t get any wounds or scars, fate played a cruel trick on him and a rock tripped him up. And it was just one of those rocks he had been watching out for before. Irony was a bitter taste to swallow.
WEFD - Frustration (Unfinished)
“Cathy, it took me three fucking days! Three whole days without sunlight or non-demonic food! Do you know how fecking (not typo) hungry and tired I am? It’ll take me at least 2 days to recover and that fucking pair took away my only chance!” Kio knew that he was going slightly overboard with the swearing but he figured this situation called for just a little sentence enhancement from the words in the English language that have developed over the years and were made for events like this. “Just calm down Kio. We can find him again. It’ll be easier this time, I mean the demons know we’re going to be hunting for him and you know how they are about protecting themselves. No one will help him.” Cathy reasoned with him but his face was stern and stubborn as always. He was in his God Complex mood as he called it. He had several moods the God Complex mood, the Inferiority mood, the bad mood, the angry mood. Now that he thought about it, he was one moody 14 year old.
Kio took a step forward. “Just step aside, Cathy!” Kio commanded in a loud tone. She outstretched his hands and her legs spread out so she made a sort of star shape. “No.” She replied in a calmer voice. Her hands ignited and purple flames shot out towards Kio, wrapping around his limbs. Her eyes shone a dark purple glow. Her eyes glared at Kio and her voice was now layered with confidence and authority. “Stop now, Kio.” Kio sighed and the flames were quenched in seconds leaving only a trail of dark purple smoke. “Fine, I’ll leave them alone.” When Cathy got like this there really was no deterring her. He strolled up to her and his hand made contact with the back of her head. “Just remember I’m the stronger one in straight up combat. You were always more of a binder and a range type of girl.” Kio said, giving her constructive criticism on her fighting.
Kio took a step forward. “Just step aside, Cathy!” Kio commanded in a loud tone. She outstretched his hands and her legs spread out so she made a sort of star shape. “No.” She replied in a calmer voice. Her hands ignited and purple flames shot out towards Kio, wrapping around his limbs. Her eyes shone a dark purple glow. Her eyes glared at Kio and her voice was now layered with confidence and authority. “Stop now, Kio.” Kio sighed and the flames were quenched in seconds leaving only a trail of dark purple smoke. “Fine, I’ll leave them alone.” When Cathy got like this there really was no deterring her. He strolled up to her and his hand made contact with the back of her head. “Just remember I’m the stronger one in straight up combat. You were always more of a binder and a range type of girl.” Kio said, giving her constructive criticism on her fighting.
WEFD - Into the Abyss
“This is ten percent luck, twenty percent skill
Fifteen percent concentrated power of will
Five percent pleasure, fifty percent pain
And a hundred percent reason to remember the name!”
The music blared through the earphones attached to Kio’s ears by a strap of plastic that wrapped around part of his ear and kept it in place while he dodged, attacked and countered. The demonic figure that stood before was covered in a glistening layer of sweat which coated every single little detail of the tall, wide shouldered and quick assailant that glared at him now. To think a 14-year-old boy was besting one of Lord Yoi’s most skilled fighters. The demon was odd looking with three eyes seemingly placed at random on his face, as one lay on the right side of his forehead, another resided on a patch of skin above the left side of its chin and the last one was located just above the snout that was located in the centre of the beast’s face.
Its body was relatively large, twice Kio’s size at the very least, and would normally be intimidating were it not for Kio’s confidence and title. The Angel of Chaos was not a very pleasing title to the demons. They rarely ever called anyone an ‘Angel’ and it created great fear among the thousands of plains of the devil’s spawn. A small sound brought Kio back to the reality of the situation. The creature had started moving again and was lunging towards Kio, aiming for his torso with a large, talon-like claw that could rip through Kio’s flesh in seconds if need be. Kio sidestepped the blunt, straightforward attack, and his fingers came down beside one of the demon’s ears and Kio snapped his fingers. The demon immediately fell to the ground, curling up into the fettle position. A snap of Kio’s fingers meant death to any demon foolish enough to come near him but it had been a bluff this time and Kio chuckled at the sight.
“Pitiful fool.” Kio snarled and kicked the demon, the shadows following his foot and dealing a double blow to the cowering beast of nightmares. The body of the demon rolled a couple of feet away from Kio. He laughed again and flicked his thumb and forefinger against one another generating, a sight that could only be described as, an inferno. The fire danced and moved with his body and the bright amber flames slowly changed to a deep, dark green. They split into several different tendrils, orbiting around his body and getting closer with each successful orbit. Eventually they were close enough to burn him but the master learned how to resist the flames before he manipulated them. The shadows themselves pulsed around him and moved with each step he took. In puffs of black smoke other, smaller, demons appeared. “Pointless summoning your minions, Gredorik! You know they’ll only die defending your already dying body!” This was followed by a faint chuckle from the demon.
Kio was irritated by this and lashed out by engulfing his minions in the green flames he controlled. He advanced on the demon once more as he tried to get away by clawing at the dirt and pulling himself away. Kio’s eyes narrowed and he kicked the demon further away again. This time he took but one step before he was abruptly cut off by an unexpected portal hurtling half a car inches in front of his face. His eyes made contact with an older boy’s milliseconds before a sharp edge at the, now, front of the car. It was obvious that the portal had opened up as a car was passing through. It was lucky that this half survived but the other half wouldn’t have been so fortunate. Kio leaped over the car and found that his prey had escaped his clutched. He yelled and punched the ground. “Fucking hell! Three days, three fucking days!” He turned on the car, now his primary source of hatred.
Cathy’s slim, average muscle built figure stepped out of a bright blue light. She stepped out of the portal and in front of Kio. “Leave them.” She commanded. While Kio was giving out the green flames at started to encroach on the pair of teenagers in the half of the car that remained. But they immediately stopped when Cathy’s voice boomed out. Kio stood up straight, his posture stiff and rigid. “They made me lose concentration and my transportation barrier got a hole ripped through it which led to Gredorik’s escape!” He yelled, overlooking the fact that the pair in the car had actually pierced his barrier.
Matt and Rose on the other hand were in complete shock as they stared at the ground at the end off the front of what was left of the car. Rose erupted into tears and her slender hands undid the buckle and wrapped around Matt’s slightly more muscular body. His eyes were wide under his hood as little droplets of rain dripped off the front of it. Where was the other half of the car? Where was Rose’s mother? Rose’s tears felt warm as they seeped through Matt’s clothing. They were a nice relief to the cold tears of the world that had covered him only moments before as he had been out in the rain, before Rose had appeared. Matt’s eyes flitted over to the other two figures that seemed to be arguing over something. His mind was clouded by the fear and he didn’t even notice the terrified Rose clinging to his body.
Fifteen percent concentrated power of will
Five percent pleasure, fifty percent pain
And a hundred percent reason to remember the name!”
The music blared through the earphones attached to Kio’s ears by a strap of plastic that wrapped around part of his ear and kept it in place while he dodged, attacked and countered. The demonic figure that stood before was covered in a glistening layer of sweat which coated every single little detail of the tall, wide shouldered and quick assailant that glared at him now. To think a 14-year-old boy was besting one of Lord Yoi’s most skilled fighters. The demon was odd looking with three eyes seemingly placed at random on his face, as one lay on the right side of his forehead, another resided on a patch of skin above the left side of its chin and the last one was located just above the snout that was located in the centre of the beast’s face.
Its body was relatively large, twice Kio’s size at the very least, and would normally be intimidating were it not for Kio’s confidence and title. The Angel of Chaos was not a very pleasing title to the demons. They rarely ever called anyone an ‘Angel’ and it created great fear among the thousands of plains of the devil’s spawn. A small sound brought Kio back to the reality of the situation. The creature had started moving again and was lunging towards Kio, aiming for his torso with a large, talon-like claw that could rip through Kio’s flesh in seconds if need be. Kio sidestepped the blunt, straightforward attack, and his fingers came down beside one of the demon’s ears and Kio snapped his fingers. The demon immediately fell to the ground, curling up into the fettle position. A snap of Kio’s fingers meant death to any demon foolish enough to come near him but it had been a bluff this time and Kio chuckled at the sight.
“Pitiful fool.” Kio snarled and kicked the demon, the shadows following his foot and dealing a double blow to the cowering beast of nightmares. The body of the demon rolled a couple of feet away from Kio. He laughed again and flicked his thumb and forefinger against one another generating, a sight that could only be described as, an inferno. The fire danced and moved with his body and the bright amber flames slowly changed to a deep, dark green. They split into several different tendrils, orbiting around his body and getting closer with each successful orbit. Eventually they were close enough to burn him but the master learned how to resist the flames before he manipulated them. The shadows themselves pulsed around him and moved with each step he took. In puffs of black smoke other, smaller, demons appeared. “Pointless summoning your minions, Gredorik! You know they’ll only die defending your already dying body!” This was followed by a faint chuckle from the demon.
Kio was irritated by this and lashed out by engulfing his minions in the green flames he controlled. He advanced on the demon once more as he tried to get away by clawing at the dirt and pulling himself away. Kio’s eyes narrowed and he kicked the demon further away again. This time he took but one step before he was abruptly cut off by an unexpected portal hurtling half a car inches in front of his face. His eyes made contact with an older boy’s milliseconds before a sharp edge at the, now, front of the car. It was obvious that the portal had opened up as a car was passing through. It was lucky that this half survived but the other half wouldn’t have been so fortunate. Kio leaped over the car and found that his prey had escaped his clutched. He yelled and punched the ground. “Fucking hell! Three days, three fucking days!” He turned on the car, now his primary source of hatred.
Cathy’s slim, average muscle built figure stepped out of a bright blue light. She stepped out of the portal and in front of Kio. “Leave them.” She commanded. While Kio was giving out the green flames at started to encroach on the pair of teenagers in the half of the car that remained. But they immediately stopped when Cathy’s voice boomed out. Kio stood up straight, his posture stiff and rigid. “They made me lose concentration and my transportation barrier got a hole ripped through it which led to Gredorik’s escape!” He yelled, overlooking the fact that the pair in the car had actually pierced his barrier.
Matt and Rose on the other hand were in complete shock as they stared at the ground at the end off the front of what was left of the car. Rose erupted into tears and her slender hands undid the buckle and wrapped around Matt’s slightly more muscular body. His eyes were wide under his hood as little droplets of rain dripped off the front of it. Where was the other half of the car? Where was Rose’s mother? Rose’s tears felt warm as they seeped through Matt’s clothing. They were a nice relief to the cold tears of the world that had covered him only moments before as he had been out in the rain, before Rose had appeared. Matt’s eyes flitted over to the other two figures that seemed to be arguing over something. His mind was clouded by the fear and he didn’t even notice the terrified Rose clinging to his body.
WEDF - With Each Falling Droplet
Matt sat against the wall of a shop about 10 minutes from his house. It was raining and the falling droplets made little puddles in the various cracks on the floor around the petrol pumps and when the crack overflowed its excess flows into the next one. It was a recurring cycle until eventually all cracks would fill or it would wash over into the road where the dreaded drains lay, waiting for the unsuspecting water. Along with the sight of acidic water came the sound of the little ‘pitter patter’ noise it made as it hit against the concrete ground, the concrete walls of the shop and the hood of Matt’s wafer thin over-jacket which was brought along in case he had gotten caught in the rain but the little 15 year old wasn’t expecting this.
Matt took a swig from the glass bottle of milk he had bought. The plastic bag of items he had been requested to get lay beside him on the hard ground next to his bike which was the whole reason why he didn’t feel like so good. The back wheel was twisted and contorted out of shape. There was no way in hell that thing would even get him a minute up the road to his house. It was a ten-minute cycle, a twenty-minute walk or a three-minute car ride. He sighed and stared down at the bottle of milk before taking another long drink of it before taking it away from his lips again. The thin waterproof hood and his hoodie hood almost completely masked his face from the outside world.
Matt didn’t really feel like being at home with a mother that asked him to do everything without a thank you or even a simple greeting as he entered the room. She had obviously gotten his memo when he was born. Ever since he was five and his fathered started working five am ‘till midnight he was the one that had to take care of his mother’s annoying needs. Sometimes they were outrageous and he would most likely have to cycle or walk three to four hours just for some stupid thing that she would complain about when he brought it back. At least she wasn’t abusive to him in the fact that she hit him or threw stuff at him. It was all just words. His phone rang and he extracted it from his pocket. A picture of a pig and her special ringtone played. “On Monday she's a bitch on Tuesday she's a bitch and Wednesdays and Saturdays she's a bitch then on Sunday just to be different, she's a super king kong mega mega biatch...” He let it ring out before putting his phone on silent. It was his mom; he didn’t care at this moment. He was sitting next to a broken bike and a bag full of junk food and chocolate for his mother in the pouring rain in the middle of summer.
Matt let out a growl as he flung the bottle of milk to the ground and watched it shatter into a million pieces. He knew who had gotten to hi bike. It was those damned Baker Twins. Ever since he had started secondary school they had had it out for him for some odd reason. It was just so annoying and unfair. A pair of tears ran down his cheeks, one from each of his eyes. “Matt? Matt Redding?” A voice called from above him.
Matt looked up to see a girl about his age but maybe a foot shorter. Matt had been an early sprouter and had noticed that almost immediately. “Matt?” She repeated his name again. “It’s me Rose.” She said with a smile and offered him a hand. He took it politely, secretly hoping she would think his tears were only droplets in the rain but his hopes were dashed as she noticed them and her face changed for a brief second before masking it with a smile again. She also noticed the bike and it’s mangled wheel. It was chained to one of the pipes of the shop and that was probably why it wasn’t stolen. “Would you like a ride up to your house? I’m sure you’d only get soaked on the way.” She said in a sympathetic tone. He wasn’t one for pity but when a free, dry ride is offered you don’t reject without some though.
Matt sighed quietly to himself, not that a louder one would have been heard in the constant barrage of rain anyway. He tried to smile but found that he couldn’t no matter how hard he tried. Her smile seemed to make up for both of them. Rose hooked her arm around his and held it in place with the other as she dragged him over to her car, after swiftly picking up his bag for him. “Thank you.” He said almost as if he were apologising. “Don’t mention it; you’re just up the hill aren’t you?” She said, that odd and maybe too happy smile enveloping her features. They were in the same class during the school year.
Seconds later Matt was in the backseat of a small, dark green Alpha Romeo sitting with seat away from Rose Johnson. He stared out the window at the passing houses and the rain. She was staring at him and he knew it because each time he looked over she was just there, gazing at him as if she could see his soul. After 30 seconds of eye contact he had given up and gone back to the window. He didn’t care much about her. He didn’t make any friends because of his mother. She was a fulltime job and sometimes he even missed school because of it. He thought of how she would react to finding out she had to replace his bike which meant she would have to leave the house to get more money. She wasn’t going to like that.
Matt took a swig from the glass bottle of milk he had bought. The plastic bag of items he had been requested to get lay beside him on the hard ground next to his bike which was the whole reason why he didn’t feel like so good. The back wheel was twisted and contorted out of shape. There was no way in hell that thing would even get him a minute up the road to his house. It was a ten-minute cycle, a twenty-minute walk or a three-minute car ride. He sighed and stared down at the bottle of milk before taking another long drink of it before taking it away from his lips again. The thin waterproof hood and his hoodie hood almost completely masked his face from the outside world.
Matt didn’t really feel like being at home with a mother that asked him to do everything without a thank you or even a simple greeting as he entered the room. She had obviously gotten his memo when he was born. Ever since he was five and his fathered started working five am ‘till midnight he was the one that had to take care of his mother’s annoying needs. Sometimes they were outrageous and he would most likely have to cycle or walk three to four hours just for some stupid thing that she would complain about when he brought it back. At least she wasn’t abusive to him in the fact that she hit him or threw stuff at him. It was all just words. His phone rang and he extracted it from his pocket. A picture of a pig and her special ringtone played. “On Monday she's a bitch on Tuesday she's a bitch and Wednesdays and Saturdays she's a bitch then on Sunday just to be different, she's a super king kong mega mega biatch...” He let it ring out before putting his phone on silent. It was his mom; he didn’t care at this moment. He was sitting next to a broken bike and a bag full of junk food and chocolate for his mother in the pouring rain in the middle of summer.
Matt let out a growl as he flung the bottle of milk to the ground and watched it shatter into a million pieces. He knew who had gotten to hi bike. It was those damned Baker Twins. Ever since he had started secondary school they had had it out for him for some odd reason. It was just so annoying and unfair. A pair of tears ran down his cheeks, one from each of his eyes. “Matt? Matt Redding?” A voice called from above him.
Matt looked up to see a girl about his age but maybe a foot shorter. Matt had been an early sprouter and had noticed that almost immediately. “Matt?” She repeated his name again. “It’s me Rose.” She said with a smile and offered him a hand. He took it politely, secretly hoping she would think his tears were only droplets in the rain but his hopes were dashed as she noticed them and her face changed for a brief second before masking it with a smile again. She also noticed the bike and it’s mangled wheel. It was chained to one of the pipes of the shop and that was probably why it wasn’t stolen. “Would you like a ride up to your house? I’m sure you’d only get soaked on the way.” She said in a sympathetic tone. He wasn’t one for pity but when a free, dry ride is offered you don’t reject without some though.
Matt sighed quietly to himself, not that a louder one would have been heard in the constant barrage of rain anyway. He tried to smile but found that he couldn’t no matter how hard he tried. Her smile seemed to make up for both of them. Rose hooked her arm around his and held it in place with the other as she dragged him over to her car, after swiftly picking up his bag for him. “Thank you.” He said almost as if he were apologising. “Don’t mention it; you’re just up the hill aren’t you?” She said, that odd and maybe too happy smile enveloping her features. They were in the same class during the school year.
Seconds later Matt was in the backseat of a small, dark green Alpha Romeo sitting with seat away from Rose Johnson. He stared out the window at the passing houses and the rain. She was staring at him and he knew it because each time he looked over she was just there, gazing at him as if she could see his soul. After 30 seconds of eye contact he had given up and gone back to the window. He didn’t care much about her. He didn’t make any friends because of his mother. She was a fulltime job and sometimes he even missed school because of it. He thought of how she would react to finding out she had to replace his bike which meant she would have to leave the house to get more money. She wasn’t going to like that.
Abigail Wilhelm - Day Eight (Unfinished)
Abbey trotted in the school on Monday morning with her head and shoulders slouched slightly. Saturday had been an odd and awkward day. She listened to the soft hum of chatter from the mouths of the students that lingered in the halls before the start of the school day. Abbey spotted her locker then her eyes drifted upwards to Terrance and she blushed as she averted her eyes and crouched down to open her locker and withdraw the books that lay within. She took a pile of books and placed them carefully in her rucksack. As she moved to close her locker, out of her peripheral vision, she caught his gaze and he looked away. This was going to make school all that more weird besides the obvious knowing everything.
Sunday had felt like she had been invaded by the Spanish Inquisition due to her mother bombarding her with questions, as if the grown woman were a teenager again. Her range of questions included: “Is this boy a good kisser?” and “Is he nice and good looking?” All of which caused Abbey to blush helplessly. She had then opted to walk home on Monday to give herself a break from the curious mind of her mother.
Abbey scuttled down the hall towards the cafeteria, taking her seat at an empty table once again but this time she was obscured, from the entrance to the cafeteria, by a group of second years finishing homework from the weekend. Why they didn’t just do it over the weekend eluded Abbey’s logical and planning mind. They had two and a half days to do it, including the afternoon on the Friday after school. She ended the internal argument with a sigh as she spotted Lesl-Sky heading towards her. She repressed a giggle as she thought of hi feminine name.
Sky slid into the seat across from Abbey. She raised an eyebrow and he responded with a sly, almost cunning, smile. “I think it’s time we set up a little trap to lure some ‘Magical Folk’ into our hallowed halls, Abigail” He said, the smile creeping Abbey out just a little bit. “Aren’t you getting ahead of yourself, Leslie?” Abbey’s voice was laced with bitterness and dripping with poison as she said his name, knowing fully that it would irritate him beyond belief.
Sky only glared at her. “Not funny. I’ll see you later.” His tone was irritated and mildly hateful as he spoke. As Sky left a girl took his place. She was relatively small and shy looking. And her lips were relatively thin and close to her nose. Her eyes were a soft blue and her eyelids were hanging down halfway as she sat down. She muttered incoherently and Abbey only stared at her with an eyebrow cocked, similar to how she looked when Sky had sat down.
“I…um…I…” The girl said nervously. Abbey decided to be polite for now. “It’s okay, I don’t bite.” She said leaned closer to hear the girl. “I’ve been watching you and that boy for a while now…” She said meekly, her words barely audible to Abbey. “I’ve seen the magic. “ Abbey’s eyes grew wide and she slid back down into her seat. Had someone discovered their secret? “I was wondering if you could help me with my…” The girl took a very loud, very audible deep breath before speaking again. “Power?” To say the least, Abbey was surprised by the question. This little girl controlled magic? She looked smaller than Abbey.
Abbey smiled. If someone didn’t know how to wield the unknown power of the universe then things could go catastrophically wrong. “What’s your name?” Abbey enquired. “It’s Valerie. Valerie Thompson from 4th Year.” She said with a smile, her eyes showing their full beauty as she looked up at Abbey. “Meet me after school, by the entrance door.” Abbey said and watched as Valerie Thompson scurried off to class.
Sunday had felt like she had been invaded by the Spanish Inquisition due to her mother bombarding her with questions, as if the grown woman were a teenager again. Her range of questions included: “Is this boy a good kisser?” and “Is he nice and good looking?” All of which caused Abbey to blush helplessly. She had then opted to walk home on Monday to give herself a break from the curious mind of her mother.
Abbey scuttled down the hall towards the cafeteria, taking her seat at an empty table once again but this time she was obscured, from the entrance to the cafeteria, by a group of second years finishing homework from the weekend. Why they didn’t just do it over the weekend eluded Abbey’s logical and planning mind. They had two and a half days to do it, including the afternoon on the Friday after school. She ended the internal argument with a sigh as she spotted Lesl-Sky heading towards her. She repressed a giggle as she thought of hi feminine name.
Sky slid into the seat across from Abbey. She raised an eyebrow and he responded with a sly, almost cunning, smile. “I think it’s time we set up a little trap to lure some ‘Magical Folk’ into our hallowed halls, Abigail” He said, the smile creeping Abbey out just a little bit. “Aren’t you getting ahead of yourself, Leslie?” Abbey’s voice was laced with bitterness and dripping with poison as she said his name, knowing fully that it would irritate him beyond belief.
Sky only glared at her. “Not funny. I’ll see you later.” His tone was irritated and mildly hateful as he spoke. As Sky left a girl took his place. She was relatively small and shy looking. And her lips were relatively thin and close to her nose. Her eyes were a soft blue and her eyelids were hanging down halfway as she sat down. She muttered incoherently and Abbey only stared at her with an eyebrow cocked, similar to how she looked when Sky had sat down.
“I…um…I…” The girl said nervously. Abbey decided to be polite for now. “It’s okay, I don’t bite.” She said leaned closer to hear the girl. “I’ve been watching you and that boy for a while now…” She said meekly, her words barely audible to Abbey. “I’ve seen the magic. “ Abbey’s eyes grew wide and she slid back down into her seat. Had someone discovered their secret? “I was wondering if you could help me with my…” The girl took a very loud, very audible deep breath before speaking again. “Power?” To say the least, Abbey was surprised by the question. This little girl controlled magic? She looked smaller than Abbey.
Abbey smiled. If someone didn’t know how to wield the unknown power of the universe then things could go catastrophically wrong. “What’s your name?” Abbey enquired. “It’s Valerie. Valerie Thompson from 4th Year.” She said with a smile, her eyes showing their full beauty as she looked up at Abbey. “Meet me after school, by the entrance door.” Abbey said and watched as Valerie Thompson scurried off to class.
Abigail Wilhelm - Day Six
Abbey woke up early on Saturday, feeling nervous about the events that were to unfold. She felt like her stomach was going to heave as the "butterflies" appeared. "Stupid emotions." She cursed and got out of bed. She spent the next thirty or so minutes on picking out something to wear. She finally decided on a tight black top and a pair of tight jeans.^ When she was dressed him her choice of clothing she walked downstairs and her mother immediately started making kissey faces and hovering around her. "You don't wear things like that on normal days, it must be a boy! And to think you wouldn't even share that gossip with your own mother, shameful, shameful!" Her mother teased as Abbey quickly ate some breakfast and left.
Abigail Wilhelm - Day Four and Five
Abbey entered the school with her cheeks flushed. Apparently she had been acting weird in the car and her mother had, jokingly, blamed the occurence as a boy. When Abbey blushed slightly and looked away her mother had laughed with amusement and bombarded her with questions like "Whats his name?", "Is he cute?" and "Is he nice?". Abbey had also been supplied with a bit of information that had caused her to go the darkest of reds. She looked like a strawberry now. "Ignorant mother." She cursed as she made her way to her locker.
She exchanged her books and looked around to find that the familiar shadow of Terrance wasn't there today. She sighed and noted that he had probably just gotten up late or something. Abbey wished for a peaceful day as she was about to finish up. Unfortunately that wasn't going to happen. Katie and her band of annoying girls approached Abbey while she was still sorting out some books. Katie slammed her hand against the locker above Abbey. Abbey's line of sight switched from her books to Katie.
"I'm Katie. We don't like you and are bent on making your life here hell." She stated her voice oozing dominance. Oh great a bully. Thought Abbey.
"And what have I done to offend such a group of...of...I believe the Irish term is eejits?" She replied. This irritated Katie and Abbey could swear there was steam originating from her ears. Abbey surpressed a laugh and kept her blank expression.
"We don't like you because..." Started Katie.
"We think you're not smart enough to be in our year." Continued one.
"We also think you're really ugly." Sang another.
"We also think you smell." Chiimed in the third. Any normal person would've been down and succeptible to the torture that Katie wanted to unleash upon someone but Abbey knew exactly how bullys worked. She pretended to be hurt then suddenly stood up and said:
"Katie, can I call you Katie? you're just an insecure little piece of sh*t that should go crawl back to the little hole that you crawled out of. In fact I think that, that little thing you call home doesn't deserve such torture as to have to put up with you. Katie get a life and stop trying to destroy mine. You're a self-centered moron that has nothing better to do than humiliate and cause misery. You think you're cool, that everyone respects you. Well lets just get one thing straight: Fear and respect are two completely different things! And being an as***** is not the same as being 'cool'!" Abbey started shouting near the end of her speach.
Abbey was fuming, her face flushed once again by the surge of anger and the amount of breath she had used to say all that. Katie looked shocked. Abbey decided to rub it in a tiny bit. She poked Katie straight in the middle of the forehead and shoved her backwards. She stumbled back and fell to the ground. The other three mindless bimbos opened and closed their mouths so many times anyone could have sworn they were fish. The laugh that Abbey held back earlier now came roaring out of her like thunder. She calmed down after a few minutes and went back to her books. People started to gather round her and she became very self-conscious. She hoped the crowd would disperse soon.
The crowd stayed as it was and Abbey finished with her books. Katie had still remained on the floor looking terrifyed of Abbey but the her lackeys seemed to have disappeared. Abbey turned in a semi-cirlce looking at the crowd around her. It consisted of most their year and several others from years below theirs. Abbey sighed in relief as Terrance made his way through the crowd. He looked at Abbey then his eyes trailed to the still bewildered Katie that lay on the ground. He immediately grabbed Abbey by the arms and pulled her through the crowd and down towards the cafeteria. The crowd started to follow and Terrance made a detour into a large dark section of the school. The crowd followed but didn't find them.
***
What is she doing? Thought Terrance as he sat Abbey in a chair amidst his shadow world. "What happened?" He asked her.
"I can't see." She said slightly alarmed.
"You are in the shadow 'realm' I can't do much about light." He explained. "Abbey by standing up to Katie you've upset the balance of power in the school and now people are going to want you to sort out every bully. Do you realise that in the process you would become a bully yourself! Abbey did you honestly think this through?" Said terrance. Abbey paused for a minute before replying. "No I acted on impulse. My apologies Terrance." She said meekly.
He gave her a sideways glance. His face looked annoyed, not that it mattered, she couldn't see him anyway. He sighed and looked at his watch. Class would start soon so it should be okay. "Lets go." He said and picked her up. He led her to one of the puddles. It reflected her face in a glow of sunlight. Terrance walked through and gently tugged Abbey to make her follow. He watched her as she walked through the "portal" to the school. He looked at the sunlight as it seemingly bounced off her face and a smile spread across his features. She looked so innocent. "What are you smiling about?" She snapped at him and snapped him out of his daze.
"I'm sorry." He said guiltily.
"For what. Stop smiling like an idiot and lets get to class." She ordered. Terrance hurried away with Abbey to their first class.
The next few days were the same. Terrance felt awkward around Abbey again and she seemed to be the same way around him. They had already agreed on a time and place for the cinema on Saturday so he guessed they would be forced to overcome their awkwardness there. He realised that the cinema would be one of the most boring places to bring her. He decided, on Friday, that afterwards he would take her to lunch or something.
She exchanged her books and looked around to find that the familiar shadow of Terrance wasn't there today. She sighed and noted that he had probably just gotten up late or something. Abbey wished for a peaceful day as she was about to finish up. Unfortunately that wasn't going to happen. Katie and her band of annoying girls approached Abbey while she was still sorting out some books. Katie slammed her hand against the locker above Abbey. Abbey's line of sight switched from her books to Katie.
"I'm Katie. We don't like you and are bent on making your life here hell." She stated her voice oozing dominance. Oh great a bully. Thought Abbey.
"And what have I done to offend such a group of...of...I believe the Irish term is eejits?" She replied. This irritated Katie and Abbey could swear there was steam originating from her ears. Abbey surpressed a laugh and kept her blank expression.
"We don't like you because..." Started Katie.
"We think you're not smart enough to be in our year." Continued one.
"We also think you're really ugly." Sang another.
"We also think you smell." Chiimed in the third. Any normal person would've been down and succeptible to the torture that Katie wanted to unleash upon someone but Abbey knew exactly how bullys worked. She pretended to be hurt then suddenly stood up and said:
"Katie, can I call you Katie? you're just an insecure little piece of sh*t that should go crawl back to the little hole that you crawled out of. In fact I think that, that little thing you call home doesn't deserve such torture as to have to put up with you. Katie get a life and stop trying to destroy mine. You're a self-centered moron that has nothing better to do than humiliate and cause misery. You think you're cool, that everyone respects you. Well lets just get one thing straight: Fear and respect are two completely different things! And being an as***** is not the same as being 'cool'!" Abbey started shouting near the end of her speach.
Abbey was fuming, her face flushed once again by the surge of anger and the amount of breath she had used to say all that. Katie looked shocked. Abbey decided to rub it in a tiny bit. She poked Katie straight in the middle of the forehead and shoved her backwards. She stumbled back and fell to the ground. The other three mindless bimbos opened and closed their mouths so many times anyone could have sworn they were fish. The laugh that Abbey held back earlier now came roaring out of her like thunder. She calmed down after a few minutes and went back to her books. People started to gather round her and she became very self-conscious. She hoped the crowd would disperse soon.
The crowd stayed as it was and Abbey finished with her books. Katie had still remained on the floor looking terrifyed of Abbey but the her lackeys seemed to have disappeared. Abbey turned in a semi-cirlce looking at the crowd around her. It consisted of most their year and several others from years below theirs. Abbey sighed in relief as Terrance made his way through the crowd. He looked at Abbey then his eyes trailed to the still bewildered Katie that lay on the ground. He immediately grabbed Abbey by the arms and pulled her through the crowd and down towards the cafeteria. The crowd started to follow and Terrance made a detour into a large dark section of the school. The crowd followed but didn't find them.
***
What is she doing? Thought Terrance as he sat Abbey in a chair amidst his shadow world. "What happened?" He asked her.
"I can't see." She said slightly alarmed.
"You are in the shadow 'realm' I can't do much about light." He explained. "Abbey by standing up to Katie you've upset the balance of power in the school and now people are going to want you to sort out every bully. Do you realise that in the process you would become a bully yourself! Abbey did you honestly think this through?" Said terrance. Abbey paused for a minute before replying. "No I acted on impulse. My apologies Terrance." She said meekly.
He gave her a sideways glance. His face looked annoyed, not that it mattered, she couldn't see him anyway. He sighed and looked at his watch. Class would start soon so it should be okay. "Lets go." He said and picked her up. He led her to one of the puddles. It reflected her face in a glow of sunlight. Terrance walked through and gently tugged Abbey to make her follow. He watched her as she walked through the "portal" to the school. He looked at the sunlight as it seemingly bounced off her face and a smile spread across his features. She looked so innocent. "What are you smiling about?" She snapped at him and snapped him out of his daze.
"I'm sorry." He said guiltily.
"For what. Stop smiling like an idiot and lets get to class." She ordered. Terrance hurried away with Abbey to their first class.
The next few days were the same. Terrance felt awkward around Abbey again and she seemed to be the same way around him. They had already agreed on a time and place for the cinema on Saturday so he guessed they would be forced to overcome their awkwardness there. He realised that the cinema would be one of the most boring places to bring her. He decided, on Friday, that afterwards he would take her to lunch or something.
Abigail Wilhelm - Day Two
Abbey walked into school the next day with her bag slung over both shoulders the same as yesterday but today she had learned from her mistake and had pulled the door instead of pushed it. She smiled to herself. She walked down towards her locker and crouched down to her locker and inserted the key into its designated slot. She had come in early again today but this time it was willingly. She had newly found feelings for Terrance even though it was just after a day. I suppose a fight does that to people. She thought and exchanged her books that she had taken home for homework for her books for the first three periods.
The familiar shadow from yesterday appeared above Abbey and she closed her locker. She ducked out from underneath Terrance and stood up, leaving her bag on the floor. She smiled at him and waited patiently for him to exchange his books. He finally turned around and looked at Abbey a bit oddly. "Why are you smiling? You've got some s'plaining to do." He said the last part with a very bad Spanish accent impersonation.
"Okay but can we sit down in the caf." She said adjusting to the new lingo of the school. They shortened cafeteria to caf and there were other names that were different to the originals like the gymnasium which was just called Gym here. She and Terrance walked down to the caf and picked a nice secluded spot away from wandering ears. "What would you like me to explain first?" She asked him casually as they sat down.
"Well...I suppose I would like to know who that girl was." Terrance answered. "I've just got so many questions that I can’t make sense of." He said and looked attentively at Abbey.
"I know the feeling." Abbey said but continued quickly afterwards. "Her name is unknown to me or anyone that I have asked. Although we have had several little skirmishes before I never saw the right opportunity to ask." She said the last part with sneer.
"Fair enough." Said Terrance raising his eyebrows and lowering them again. "I suppose this is the big question; how could you do all that stuff? I mean I can control the little shadows that creep in the corners of our world but I've never been able to do what you did." Abbey stayed silent for a moment silently praying for something to happen and her prayers were answered a few minutes later when someone sat down at their table. "Hey, I couldn't help but...ugh...oversee your little fight yesterday." Said the newcomer. Abbey surveyed his appearance. He was skinny with unnaturally silvery hair. His fringe covered his eyes. Abbey spotted what looked to be a tattoo on his chest where the shirt didn't cover his skin. He was dressed in the standard uniform.
"Huh? We don't know what you're talking about." Said Terrance playing dumb. Ignorant. Though Abbey and said. "He obviously knows. I would just like to know how you "oversaw" our little "argument"."
"Well I've set up several barriers in and around this school. Nothing goes on that I don't know about." He said with an overconfident smirk. "I even know about ole Terry here; with slipping in and out of the shadows."
"And just who are you?" Asked Abbey enquiringly.
"I'm Sky." He said and extended his hand to Abbey.
"His real names Leslie Williams." Added Terrance teasingly.
"I thought I told everyone to call me SKY!" Said Sky angrily towards Terrance.
"You did, I just chose to ignore you." Replied Terrance in a mocking tone. Sky made a grab towards Terrance but he leaned backwards away from Sky's hand and shrieked. "Oh no! Leslie is going to kill me!" Terrance burst out laughing and Abbey suppressed a laugh but accidentally let a small giggle escape her lips and Sky's gaze immediately shot to Abbey. "Sorry." She said meekly.
Sky sat down taking deep breaths and with his eyes closed. "It’s okay." He said and opened his eyes.
"So what do you want? You know what we were doing, now what ya going to do about it?" Abbey said.
"Well I would like to join ye." Sky said with a smile spread across his features.
"Join what? We don't do anything. That was just a freak accident." She said sternly.
"There’s sure to be millions of those magic wielding demon worshipping scum." Sky said.
"Are you proposing that we hunt them down?" Interjected Terrance. "That’s just inhumane."
"Yes I am proposing that idea and if you don't agree then maybe our school would like to hear about your abilities." He said in a low threatening voice. So that’s his game. Thought Abbey.
"Fine but we do this outside of school hours." Shot back Abbey.
"We don't have to since 1) you can freeze time. 2) You've both already passed school and 3) I don't care." Said Sky.
"Okay." Abbey said a bit reluctantly. "So what grade are you? Or are you unregistered?"
"Grade 3" He replied.
"You sure you want to do this? There will be many mages that have a grade higher than you. It could be dangerous." Said Abbey slightly worried that this boy was so absorbed in his own ego that he wouldn't even consider the consequences of this impulsive activity."
"Oh don't act all high and mighty I bet you're only a 2 or 3. In fact Terry here can't be more than a 4 because of his non-magical upbringing." Snapped Sky angrily, feeling insulted.
"Actually...I'm a grade 1A and my personal evaluation of Terrance's grade would be a grade 1C-." She stated calmly.
"Ah..." Sky opened his mouth and closed it several times in astonishment. "Grade 1..." He said slowly as if testing the word.
"Yes." Replied Abbey.
***
Terrance watched the two argue and talk. He didn't understand what these "grades" were but apparently his was quite high by the sounds of it. "Err...what are grades?" Asked Terrance, interrupting their argument.
"Oh...they are sort of marks of power and skill. Each grade of power is graded with a number from 1 to 10, 10 being the lowest and 1 being the highest, then each grade of skill is measured with a letter from A to Z, A being the best and Z being the worst. You are grade 1C- which means you have a moderate amount of skill but a high level of power." Explained Abbey.
"Okay..." Said Terrance and looked at his watch and seconds later the bell rang. Terrance made to leave.
"Bye Terry." Said Sky teasingly.
"Bye Leslie." Replied Terrance in the same taunting tone and left. Abbey made to follow but Sky grabbed her collar. "You're not going anywhere. We have places to be." He said.
"But class...I didn't know you meant now." She protested and tried to break free but his grip tightened.
"We go now or the school discovers a new race." He threatened.
"Fine." She said, deflated. She cast the spell to freeze time. She looked him in the eyes. "Happy?" She said sarcastically.
"Very." He replied. "Let’s go."
Abbey and Sky walked towards the main entrance and exited the double doors. Sky grinned the whole time that they walked. "So how do you plan on finding these people you want to...hunt." She asked.
"I can sense them. Anyone below 1B I can sense. That is why I hadn't discovered you until yesterday when one of my wards started blaring." He said. "Besides I figured that you would probably be a trouble magnet and that they would probably flock to your location."
Abbey spent several hours with Sky as they walked out of the town and towards the city. So far they had found nothing and it was looking doubtful. Abbey got sick of walking and started to slow down which irritated Sky and he continuously shot her annoyed looks.
Abbey walked on with Sky until he abruptly, stopped her with an outstretched hand. Up ahead of them was a street full of shops and with a road down the centre which took a left turn but had a few smaller streets leading off it. In the middle of the road stood a small boy looking lost and bewildered. Abbey made to move forward to help the little kid but Sky stopped her. "Don't you notice anything odd?" He asked in a testing manner.
"No not at-" Abbey's sentence was cut off by a loud snarling and the loud footsteps of an animal running. She turned in time to see a large bear like creature with a dog's snout and the teeth of a shark and at the end of its body was a tail that mimicked a panthers. It was an odd mix but Abbey didn't have time to contemplate its origin as it pounced at her. She jumped right and rolled out of her jump staying crouched on the ground. Sky had a smug smile spread across his face. He withdrew a hand from his pocket and jabbed it at the creature. The creature snarled and at first it seemed that Sky's attack was having no effect but after a few short seconds its legs gave out beneath it and an invisible weight held it to the ground. It started squirming under the spell but fell limp shortly after.
Abbey stood up and walked towards Sky. "W-what was that?" She asked the fear making her voice tremble.
"Not what but who." He said and pressed his thumb to the forehead of the creature. "Decquez." The creature's fur started to fall out and the limbs and tail started to morph. When the changes stopped, where once had been a terrifying beast was now a naked adult male lieing on his front. "They are druids, common to Ireland only. There were some in stories of long ago but they were only impersonators. The real druids lived in the wildlife and avoided people for the first 20 years of their life. They learned the skills to turn into other animals and sometimes hybrids as we saw here. They are a nuisance since they don't give off a very distinct aura of magic and are practically untraceable in every way." Explained Sky.
"You sure know a lot." Remarked Abbey dusting herself off and standing up.
"I realised my grade wasn't that high so I made up for it with study and knowledge. My mom says if only I could put the same effort into school." He laughed to himself. "Well let’s go. The surge of magic would have warned all nearby mages and elementalists." He said and started to walk back the way they had come. Abbey followed behind as they walked back to school.
At the gates they parted and Abbey left for class as Sky went...to do something else she presumed. He didn't seem like the classroom type. She walked to her classes and resumed time. She took her seat and waited for the other students to sit down. Terrance sat down next to her and she remained quiet about her little adventure with Sky. Abbey went through the day with all her classes until the last period. She sat down next to Terrance just like all her other classes. Terrance looked nervous as he took out his books and waited for the class to commence. "What is it?" Asked Abbey.
"Ugh...err...want to go out Saturday?" He blurted out.
"Yeah sure." She said smoothly. She had mixed emotions about this.
Day Two down!
The familiar shadow from yesterday appeared above Abbey and she closed her locker. She ducked out from underneath Terrance and stood up, leaving her bag on the floor. She smiled at him and waited patiently for him to exchange his books. He finally turned around and looked at Abbey a bit oddly. "Why are you smiling? You've got some s'plaining to do." He said the last part with a very bad Spanish accent impersonation.
"Okay but can we sit down in the caf." She said adjusting to the new lingo of the school. They shortened cafeteria to caf and there were other names that were different to the originals like the gymnasium which was just called Gym here. She and Terrance walked down to the caf and picked a nice secluded spot away from wandering ears. "What would you like me to explain first?" She asked him casually as they sat down.
"Well...I suppose I would like to know who that girl was." Terrance answered. "I've just got so many questions that I can’t make sense of." He said and looked attentively at Abbey.
"I know the feeling." Abbey said but continued quickly afterwards. "Her name is unknown to me or anyone that I have asked. Although we have had several little skirmishes before I never saw the right opportunity to ask." She said the last part with sneer.
"Fair enough." Said Terrance raising his eyebrows and lowering them again. "I suppose this is the big question; how could you do all that stuff? I mean I can control the little shadows that creep in the corners of our world but I've never been able to do what you did." Abbey stayed silent for a moment silently praying for something to happen and her prayers were answered a few minutes later when someone sat down at their table. "Hey, I couldn't help but...ugh...oversee your little fight yesterday." Said the newcomer. Abbey surveyed his appearance. He was skinny with unnaturally silvery hair. His fringe covered his eyes. Abbey spotted what looked to be a tattoo on his chest where the shirt didn't cover his skin. He was dressed in the standard uniform.
"Huh? We don't know what you're talking about." Said Terrance playing dumb. Ignorant. Though Abbey and said. "He obviously knows. I would just like to know how you "oversaw" our little "argument"."
"Well I've set up several barriers in and around this school. Nothing goes on that I don't know about." He said with an overconfident smirk. "I even know about ole Terry here; with slipping in and out of the shadows."
"And just who are you?" Asked Abbey enquiringly.
"I'm Sky." He said and extended his hand to Abbey.
"His real names Leslie Williams." Added Terrance teasingly.
"I thought I told everyone to call me SKY!" Said Sky angrily towards Terrance.
"You did, I just chose to ignore you." Replied Terrance in a mocking tone. Sky made a grab towards Terrance but he leaned backwards away from Sky's hand and shrieked. "Oh no! Leslie is going to kill me!" Terrance burst out laughing and Abbey suppressed a laugh but accidentally let a small giggle escape her lips and Sky's gaze immediately shot to Abbey. "Sorry." She said meekly.
Sky sat down taking deep breaths and with his eyes closed. "It’s okay." He said and opened his eyes.
"So what do you want? You know what we were doing, now what ya going to do about it?" Abbey said.
"Well I would like to join ye." Sky said with a smile spread across his features.
"Join what? We don't do anything. That was just a freak accident." She said sternly.
"There’s sure to be millions of those magic wielding demon worshipping scum." Sky said.
"Are you proposing that we hunt them down?" Interjected Terrance. "That’s just inhumane."
"Yes I am proposing that idea and if you don't agree then maybe our school would like to hear about your abilities." He said in a low threatening voice. So that’s his game. Thought Abbey.
"Fine but we do this outside of school hours." Shot back Abbey.
"We don't have to since 1) you can freeze time. 2) You've both already passed school and 3) I don't care." Said Sky.
"Okay." Abbey said a bit reluctantly. "So what grade are you? Or are you unregistered?"
"Grade 3" He replied.
"You sure you want to do this? There will be many mages that have a grade higher than you. It could be dangerous." Said Abbey slightly worried that this boy was so absorbed in his own ego that he wouldn't even consider the consequences of this impulsive activity."
"Oh don't act all high and mighty I bet you're only a 2 or 3. In fact Terry here can't be more than a 4 because of his non-magical upbringing." Snapped Sky angrily, feeling insulted.
"Actually...I'm a grade 1A and my personal evaluation of Terrance's grade would be a grade 1C-." She stated calmly.
"Ah..." Sky opened his mouth and closed it several times in astonishment. "Grade 1..." He said slowly as if testing the word.
"Yes." Replied Abbey.
***
Terrance watched the two argue and talk. He didn't understand what these "grades" were but apparently his was quite high by the sounds of it. "Err...what are grades?" Asked Terrance, interrupting their argument.
"Oh...they are sort of marks of power and skill. Each grade of power is graded with a number from 1 to 10, 10 being the lowest and 1 being the highest, then each grade of skill is measured with a letter from A to Z, A being the best and Z being the worst. You are grade 1C- which means you have a moderate amount of skill but a high level of power." Explained Abbey.
"Okay..." Said Terrance and looked at his watch and seconds later the bell rang. Terrance made to leave.
"Bye Terry." Said Sky teasingly.
"Bye Leslie." Replied Terrance in the same taunting tone and left. Abbey made to follow but Sky grabbed her collar. "You're not going anywhere. We have places to be." He said.
"But class...I didn't know you meant now." She protested and tried to break free but his grip tightened.
"We go now or the school discovers a new race." He threatened.
"Fine." She said, deflated. She cast the spell to freeze time. She looked him in the eyes. "Happy?" She said sarcastically.
"Very." He replied. "Let’s go."
Abbey and Sky walked towards the main entrance and exited the double doors. Sky grinned the whole time that they walked. "So how do you plan on finding these people you want to...hunt." She asked.
"I can sense them. Anyone below 1B I can sense. That is why I hadn't discovered you until yesterday when one of my wards started blaring." He said. "Besides I figured that you would probably be a trouble magnet and that they would probably flock to your location."
Abbey spent several hours with Sky as they walked out of the town and towards the city. So far they had found nothing and it was looking doubtful. Abbey got sick of walking and started to slow down which irritated Sky and he continuously shot her annoyed looks.
Abbey walked on with Sky until he abruptly, stopped her with an outstretched hand. Up ahead of them was a street full of shops and with a road down the centre which took a left turn but had a few smaller streets leading off it. In the middle of the road stood a small boy looking lost and bewildered. Abbey made to move forward to help the little kid but Sky stopped her. "Don't you notice anything odd?" He asked in a testing manner.
"No not at-" Abbey's sentence was cut off by a loud snarling and the loud footsteps of an animal running. She turned in time to see a large bear like creature with a dog's snout and the teeth of a shark and at the end of its body was a tail that mimicked a panthers. It was an odd mix but Abbey didn't have time to contemplate its origin as it pounced at her. She jumped right and rolled out of her jump staying crouched on the ground. Sky had a smug smile spread across his face. He withdrew a hand from his pocket and jabbed it at the creature. The creature snarled and at first it seemed that Sky's attack was having no effect but after a few short seconds its legs gave out beneath it and an invisible weight held it to the ground. It started squirming under the spell but fell limp shortly after.
Abbey stood up and walked towards Sky. "W-what was that?" She asked the fear making her voice tremble.
"Not what but who." He said and pressed his thumb to the forehead of the creature. "Decquez." The creature's fur started to fall out and the limbs and tail started to morph. When the changes stopped, where once had been a terrifying beast was now a naked adult male lieing on his front. "They are druids, common to Ireland only. There were some in stories of long ago but they were only impersonators. The real druids lived in the wildlife and avoided people for the first 20 years of their life. They learned the skills to turn into other animals and sometimes hybrids as we saw here. They are a nuisance since they don't give off a very distinct aura of magic and are practically untraceable in every way." Explained Sky.
"You sure know a lot." Remarked Abbey dusting herself off and standing up.
"I realised my grade wasn't that high so I made up for it with study and knowledge. My mom says if only I could put the same effort into school." He laughed to himself. "Well let’s go. The surge of magic would have warned all nearby mages and elementalists." He said and started to walk back the way they had come. Abbey followed behind as they walked back to school.
At the gates they parted and Abbey left for class as Sky went...to do something else she presumed. He didn't seem like the classroom type. She walked to her classes and resumed time. She took her seat and waited for the other students to sit down. Terrance sat down next to her and she remained quiet about her little adventure with Sky. Abbey went through the day with all her classes until the last period. She sat down next to Terrance just like all her other classes. Terrance looked nervous as he took out his books and waited for the class to commence. "What is it?" Asked Abbey.
"Ugh...err...want to go out Saturday?" He blurted out.
"Yeah sure." She said smoothly. She had mixed emotions about this.
Day Two down!
Abigail Wilhelm - Day One
Abbey stumbled into school after being jostled aside for taking too long at the door. How was she supposed to know it was a pull instead of push? She grabbed the straps of her backpack as they rested against her shoulders. The books that they used here were much heftier than her old books. She now had a few more options of classes than she did back in Germany. She sighed as she looked at the small piece of paper and tried to find her locker. She passed the various numbers. 901, 902, 903...here we go. She thought as she reached locker 904.
Abbey bent down low to the bottom locker, that was now hers, and inserted the key that she had been sent. She was a month later than all the other students but technically she had already graduated and was only attending by choice. She wanted to seem as normal as possible since being capable of magic and being an international genius didn’t give her much opportunity to be ordinary. Abbey shoved her books into her locker and withdrew a letter that had been sellotaped to the far wall. It was titled “Abigail Patricia Wilhelm”. She hated it when schools used her full name. She rubbed her temples and quelled the anger.
She was half an hour early for classes. Her mother had insisted that she sort out her books and try to get to know some of the other early rising classmates. Abbey was not pleased with coming to school early to “interact” with other children. She wasn’t a big fan of social activity; in fact she avoided it most times. She sorted out her books and copies for her first three periods and loaded them into her backpack. Abbey looked up as a shadow fell across her locker, above her stood a boy rearranging books and extracting them. She stared up; annoyed that he hadn’t even had the common courtesy to tell her he was going to be above her.
Abbey fumed slightly but let it go; after all it was just a petty lack of manners. She took her time to cool off and tried to withdraw her bag from in front of her locker after closing her locker successfully. She pulled it and it flew out into her hands but not after causing the boy to lose balance and fall backwards. Serves him right. She thought but after a minute helped him up and apologized in a thick German accent. “Sorry, I was just trying to get my bag. I did not realize you were standing on the strap.”
“It’s okay.” He replied kindly. “Happens all the time. You must be the new German student.” He exclaimed in excitement, obviously picking up on her accent. “Guten Tag. Wie geht’s?” He said in German.
“I speak English. Good day to you too and I’m quite good today and you?” She replied in English. She also knew six other languages including Irish and Latin; both of which weren’t used often in modern times.
He stared at her in amazement for a minute or two; causing her to shuffle awkwardly on her feet. “So you are a genius.” He said enthusiastically. “It’s a pleasure, I’m Terrance Evans.” He said extending a hand towards her. Abbey politely shook it and after a thorough shaking, replied. “I am Abigail Wilhelm but just call me Abbey please.” She asked him nicely. She remembered the letter and opened the small flap at the top and removed sheet of folded paper. She unfolded it and her eyes fell upon her schedule and class name. She was in “6B” whatever that was supposed to mean. She looked up at the boy that was still staring at her. He is rude but maybe he can help. “Sorry, what class are you currently residing in?” She asked him and he curtly replied with: “6B. It’s the top class.” He said proudly, puffing out his chest in pride. “I’m guessing you are too.”
“Okay, can I follow you to our classes for today? Then I’ll leave you alone.”
“Yeah, sure. Are you positive that you will be able to remember where to go after only the first day?”
“I’m almost certain.” Abbey replied and turned to the left. “Where do people in our year normally congregate in the morning before classes?” She asked him before leaving.
“In the cafeteria; it’s straight down the hall. You can’t miss it.” Terrance said and smiled warmly.
“Thank you.” Abbey said before leaving and heading towards the cafeteria where only a few students were gathered, in their own cliques of course. She sighed out of frustration realizing she would soon encounter another problem. Who to sit with? Nerds, Swots or normal girls her age. She probably wouldn’t fit in any of them since she was way too smart to be simply called a nerd; she didn’t have to study since she had a photographic memory, so that was a no to swot; and all of the above reasons ruled out normal girls.
Abbey ignored all the occupied tables and sat on her own at a deserted one instead. She would make her own clique instead: Smart German Genii. Of course that would mean she would be on her own again. She didn’t mind most of the time but other times it hurt more than anything else in the world. Abbey took a book out of her bag and started to read “The Complete Works of Shakespeare” for the third time even though she knew every word already. She hadn’t been able to get to the library recently due to the fact that school was starting and she had to get ready and get all her books and copies. What a pain it was.
The words of ‘Romeo & Juliet’ swirled around in Abbey’s head as she reiterated the lines of all the characters again. She sighed as she started to recite the words of scene two of Act two. It was so annoying that she had never had a relationship; neither had she thought about having one until she read these plays that depicted the scenes of love at first sight. After these descriptive tales her heart would flutter and her realization that she might never have anyone to call her own. She figured that she intimidated some people with her intelligence and that she seemed un-social most of the time. For all her smarts she couldn’t figure out how to counter all these things.
Abbey rested her cheek on her hand and looked out of the furthest window that occupied half of the cafeteria’s wall. She watched the rain drizzle and the delivery truck drop off several boxes labelled with various brands and names. She heard someone approach and twisted her head around to look at the newcomer that was braving a visit to her. Terrance occupied her vision and sat down next to her. He smiled. “Hello; again. You looked a bit; neglected.” He said and put his bag under the table, kicking it into place after giving it an unsuccessful push the first time.
“I don’t mingle.” Abbey replied and narrowed her eyes. Neglected? What does he think I am? A starved runt of the pack?! That impudent little knave. She thought.
“So; what books do you like?” He asked apparently oblivious to Abbey’s annoyed look.
“Anything.” She responded. “I don’t have a particular genre that interests me or satisfies my taste for knowledge and enlightenment. I find that a specific topic isn’t fickle enough for my tastes. I prefer to come from one book and topic into another completely different topic and book. This only seems to occur when I speak about my book taste. It is truly an annoying trait to have; that I must always stray from the topic at hand.”
“Ah...” Was the sound that emitted from Terrance’s mouth as he looked away for a few minutes. He’s regretting coming over to talk now. She sighed silently to herself annoyed at her unconscious ability to alienate people. This is going to be a hard time amongst these ignorant students and their pitiful teaching techniques. Why wasn’t everyone born with a photographic memory and with magical parents? She realised her thoughts sounded quite snobbish so she stopped thinking and tried to distract herself by making conversation with Terrance. Abbey opened her mouth to speak and the bells’ ringing sound resounded throughout the school and was followed by the sound of stamping feet as the students headed off to class. Abbey had looked around at all the people leaving and then turned back to Terrance to find that he was gone. Great! Another person estranged by Abigail Wilhelm. She shook her head and dislodged the thoughts from her mind.
Abbey set off for class, asking for directions several times, with her rucksack slung over both of her shoulders. Some could call her cute but she wasn’t beautiful. She didn’t like to be arrogant but being one of the smartest people in a country did have that effect on her. What a drag. She thought as she rounded a corner and hit the door of her classroom. For an intelligent person of her magnitude she could sometimes do the most idiotic things; like that time she base jumped off a four storey building. Abbey rubbed her head and stood up. She felt dizzy and her head felt sticky as she withdrew her hand from the back of her head. She saw blood and looked down at the floor; there lay a recklessly discarded piece of wood. She didn’t have time to go get proper medical attention so she muttered “Heiluar” and her wound healed leaving a small scar where the cut had been. It was an unfortunate side effect of her choice of words but was easily mended when she had time.
***
Terrance sat in class with his books neatly laid out on his table. He fiddled with a pen as he waited for their teacher to arrive. A lot of the teachers had different classes in different rooms and so took a couple of minutes to get to their next classroom. His pen spun effortlessly across the back of his forefinger and thumb as he waited. It seemed like ages. He didn’t like school, typically, but he figured if you’re going to do something you might as well do it right. It was a motto that encouraged him to trudge through the worst days of school and come out shining like a star but when he tried to put this in motion with other students they never really had the same determination. There was a term for that; he believed it went “You can’t polish a turd.”
Terrance glanced up as the door opened but was a bit disappointed when Abbey walked in. He wasn’t having to good a day and wanted to get this lesson over with as soon as possible. He motioned to the empty seat next to him for Abbey if she wanted to sit down. She sat down next to him and produced her books from her bag. Terrance felt sort of grateful that she had chosen to sit next to him. Of course she probably felt obliged to sit down next to him, because he had offered, plus the fact that it was the only free seat in the class also probably played a factor in her choice.
As Abbey unpacked her things Terrance looked out the window at the world that seemingly lay a mere touch away. The hills expanded on for miles and the birds circled the crops as they constantly searched for food and survival. The world that was a constant distraction to every human being that lay eyes upon the beauty of those grassy hills and the elegant black birds and not to mention the wildlife that the farmers bred and cared for. Terrance watched the cattle graze on those fields and the sheep herded into a neat square encircled by a large fence. He loved that world just outside his reach. He unconsciously reached out slightly and grasped the air.
A small tap on the shoulder snapped Terrance out of his daydream and he spun around. “Which books do we need for this Irish class? I have all three with me at the moment.” Enquired Abbey.
“The largest one and the smallest one until Christmas then the largest one and the smallest one ‘til the end of the school year.” Replied Terrance. At that moment the teacher walked in and put her books on her table. “I understand we have a new student” the teacher announced “and I would like to welcome you into our class.” The teacher looked straight at Abbey. “I am Miss Blume.” Stated Ms. Blume.
“Thank you Miss.” Replied Abbey.
“What is your name? I don’t seem to have it listed.” Said the teacher whilst rummaging through a pile of papers that had mounded up on her desk over the last month. Terrance had seen it evolve from one sheet into fifty in more than a month. He was amazed at how untidy their Irish teacher was.
“I’m Abbey or Abigail Wilhelm. I prefer Abbey.” Replied Abbey as she blushed slightly. Everybody had turned to look at her only now noticing the new face amongst their group. The amount of observation and perception this class gave to things outside of themselves was astounding. How could you be so dim-witted that you would overlook a human being.
Terrance placed his chin on his hand and propped his head up with his elbow resting on his desk. He gazed at all the people that were staring in Abbey’s direction. He was also a target for observation now and he acted as if nothing interesting was going on. The group decided the same and turned back towards the top of the class as the lesson started. Terrance commenced taking notes and Abbey imitated him. It looked to Terrance as if she was trying to get used to taking notes.
After Terrance’s first three classes were over her headed to his locker and changed his current books for the books he would need for the next three periods. He sighed when he was done and turned around just as Abbey was bending down to get to her locker. “Hello again.” Terrance said in a feeble attempt to strike up a conversation. “What do you think of Irish weather?”
“It’s okay. I like it mild and that’s pretty much the same all year around as far as I can see.” Abbey replied. “No offence.” She added as an afterthought.
“None taken.” Said Terrance delighted that he had sparked a tiny conversation. He smiled invitingly. “Would you like to eat lunch with me?” He asked inquisitively.
“Yeah, sure. I’d love to.” She replied. Abbey finished getting her books and stood up to look at Terrance.
***
Abbey walked beside Terrance as they made their way through the crowds to the cafeteria. Abbey hadn’t brought a lunch, expected to buy or make her own in the mornings which she really couldn’t be bothered to do. They sat down at a table near the back of the cafeteria next to the large windows that overlooked the downward slope of a hill. She looked at Terrance a bit suspiciously. She couldn’t figure out if he was the guy who had many friends or few but Abbey needed a friend right now and he seemed to be an ideal choice.
Terrance ate his small lunch quietly while Abbey watched him. She got bored after a minute and took her MP3 out of her pocket. She turned it on not bothering to pick a specific song but put it on random. She turned down the volume so that she would be able to talk to Terrance if they started to talk. Abbey started to hum the song that was playing. Terrance looked at her while he ate and Abbey looked at him eat. Abbey got bored with the music as it came to a song that was too slow to hum along to. “How long is this break?” Asked Abbey. Apparently they took two breaks during the day here.
“Fifteen minutes. It’s called small break coincidentally and the break after the next three periods is forty-five minutes long and called big break.” Replied Terrance.
“Okay.” She said and propped her head up on the table with her hand under her chin. She looked at Terrance again. Terrance looked away from her and she detected a small blush flush his cheeks. Abbey’s eyes became wide. Surely he doesn’t...No he can’t, can he? She thought. “I don’t like you in that way if you’re wondering.” She said just to be sure that he wasn’t getting the wrong idea.
Abbey thought she heard a small sigh escape his lips. Was that relief or frustration? She thought. Is he relieved that I don’t like him or is he frustrated that I don’t like him? Ahhh...this is just too confusing. “Do you like me in that way?” She purred at the question seeming as if she was enjoying this and of course she was. No one had ever really liked her, as a friend or otherwise, it was a lonely life but she had come into this world expecting difficulty and solitude. Terrance moved awkwardly in his seat, an obvious yes. Abbey’s eyes narrowed. “Oh.” She said, she wasn’t expecting this. “What do we have for our next period?” She asked him trying to divert the subject.
“English, Science then Maths.” He replied sounding a bit unsure of what he should do.
“Thanks I’ll see you in English.” She said and smiled.
“Yeah, okay.” He said quietly as she left. Abbey knew it was going to come up again. This topic was just one of those awkward things between friends. She barely knew him a day how could he already feel that way? She sighed in frustration and shook her head. The group of people immediately around her looked at her as if she was a lunatic that had walked in off the street. The stares didn’t last, the bell rang and everyone scurried off to their classes. Abbey followed suit and followed a girl from her class. They made a bit of small talk on the way but Abbey didn’t think they would be friends just acquaintances.
***
Terrance felt crushed after his lunch with Abbey. How could I have been so foolish? He thought. I thought she would...Oh it doesn’t matter anymore. I need to go somewhere for a while. He stood up in the empty cafeteria and walked head on towards one of the walls. It was cloaked in shadow and Terrance walked right through it and appeared in a new world, a shadow world. Around him were little puddles where the shadows were gathered. The puddles showed him a live image of the other world. Terrance watched as Abbey walked to her class with Emily, the class bitch, at least it didn’t look like they would be friends. Terrance summoned up that power inside of himself and the shadows responded in kind. He jerked his hand upwards and a seat was created for him which was invisible to the normal human eye but to his more acute sight he could make out all the little details it carried.
***
The world flitted by in the afternoon sun as the cars travelled and the people bustled through the towns and cities but in a particular town in a particular place time had stopped for every man and woman that inhabited it and used its many land uses. Amongst the frozen people emerged a girl about medium height with long, black flowing hair. She was garbed in a black dress a black tutu like skirt and on her arms were elbow length, black gloves that concealed most of her arms. Her eyes were a dark crimson and her face was a pale white. She was not a vampire even though her appearance suggested she was one, also there are no such things as vampires. Her eyes darted back and forth along the streets scanning for something but nothing revealed itself to her.
She, hereby known as unknown, walked up to one of the motionless beings that stood crowded on the frozen streets. She flicked one of the people on the forehead and the statue like person did not move. She scoffed. “They were right when they said ‘time stands for no man’ but it does stand for every witch, warlock and magic user that exists in this feeble world.” She stated out loud to herself. She felt amused that these beings squandered the little time they actually needed. She liked to observe them just as much as she loved to toy with their petty emotions. Anger and love went hand in hand with her.
She moved between the people seemingly leaving a small, faint afterimage with every move. She glanced at them as she passed and occasionally muttered love hexes that would cause them to find true love then have it torn away from them. “I haven’t felt like this in years.” She said to herself and continued through the people. Of course this visit wasn’t all pleasure; she still had some personal business to take care of. Her arm instinctively snapped to the back of her neck as her mind remembered that event.
***
Abbey sat alone in her classes as Terrance was nowhere to be found. Apparently the only available seats were next to him. Abbey felt terrible for crushing him now. It seemed he was a loner although a few people did claim to be his friend no one really sat by him. What a horrible life for a human being. She remarked in her head then remembered she was in a similar situation. This enlightening moment made her feel even worse about what she had said and done. If only I had enough power to turn back time. I’ll have to patch this open wound before it starts causing other damage. She thought as her final class finished. She heard that glorious bell and went looking for Terrance. The school wasn’t that big and they would have found out if he had gone home. From what Abbey could gather he wasn’t in the school but he had never left the school. This confused Abbey immensely; it was just so puzzling. How can be and not be somewhere at the same time. It’s physically impossible for a human being to be here and somewhere else. Aghhh. Abbey tore at her hair as she fell back against the locker and slid slowly down to the awaiting floor.
Abbey looked up at the circular windows in the ceiling and beyond at the clear blue sky and the fluffy clouds that passed overhead. A girl approached as Abbey was transfixed with the sky. The girl tapped Abbey on the shoulder and Abbey shot out of her daydream. Abbey felt she knew the girl, who looked older than Abbey but not by much with long, flowing golden hair and a straight posture. “Baptised with a perfect name
The doubting one by heart
Alone without herself.” She sang in a whisper to Abbey and walked away, disappearing down the hall. Abbey stood up, the words ringing in her ears. The hall was empty.
***
Terrance sat in the shadows, alone. He rummaged through his pockets until he found a piece of paper. He carefully removed it from his pocket. What lay before him in the palm of his hand was a crumpled picture that portrayed a young schoolgirl dressed in uniform with long brown hair, tied up at the bottom, and with dark blue eyes. The girl was walking away from the camera but was looking over her shoulder. She had a bright smile painted across her features. Terrance let out a long breath that he hadn’t been aware he was holding. He slowly put away the picture again and stood up from his seating.
He picked a random puddle and walked through. He closed his eyes as he felt a watery sensation fall over his body and then evaporate miraculously. Terrance stepped out of the walls shadow and appeared across from Abbey. She heard him as he stepped onto the floor and she stood up. He turned to leave and started to walk away from her. She grabbed his arm and he turned to her in response. “I may not like you in that way but I still want to be your friend.” She said to him. Terrance was silent for a minute before answering: “Okay.”
“Good, now where have you been?” She asked him slightly angry. “I’ve been all over the school and I couldn’t find you.”
“Places...” He said quietly and turned around again. Abbey clung to his arm to prevent him from leaving. “Where?” She said sternly.
“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.” He told her simply.
***
Unknown stood outside the school as she scanned it. It seemed to be unaffected by her spell and that just couldn’t be tolerated. She extended her mind into the living beings that wandered its educational halls. She despised schools with their abundance of teenage "love" and happiness. It sickened her to the very core of her being. She felt like she was about to throw up when a mysterious presence spiked her interest. She focused in on it with her mind but was forced backwards by an unknown force. She knew the presence. "Abigail." She said and spat on the ground.
Unknown cast a simple invisibility spell and walked slowly into the school. She had to make sure that Abigail hadn't cast other spells to counter hers. It was a slow and arduous process of avoiding flailing limbs and scrambling teenagers. She felt sick again and changed her course to a dark corner of the school. She threw up silently and it disappeared with a couple of words of Totua Spraal.
***
Abbey released Terrance from her grip and took a step back. Her head was spinning and her stomach was growling like a wild beast that had been starved for weeks in preparation for the killing of a slave. She groaned and shouted: “Frelel.” And the school stood still, frozen in time. She closed her eyes and her mind expanded outwards, searching. She was so concentrated on her search that she failed to realise that Terrance was still mobile and he was given a large boot to the face when he tapped Abbey on the shoulder. “Ne tun sie faccia!” Said Abbey still in Totua Spraal. She corrected herself and said. “Don’t do that!” She extended a hand to Terrance and he promptly took it and stood up.
Abbey slowly started to grasp the fact that she had cast a time freeze and Terrance was still able to move freely and not even without a struggle. Her mouth opened and closed several times before she said: “Y-You can move!” Terrance blinked in reply. “Yes...so can you. In fact several billion humans can actually use these limbs, called “legs” to move about.” He said smiling.
“Shut up this isn’t the time for smart remarks I cast a spell and you’re still moving. Why?”
Terrance looked around for a second. “You’re a mage?”
“Not as such but we may have to continue this conversation later.” She said and then reverted back to Totua Spraal. “Turfwhak.” Abbey jumped once then succeeded in doing a back flip down the hall and back. The spell worked unfortunately Terrance wasn’t going to be able to have that kind of ability during this fight since these type of spells were only self-applicable.
***
A dark shadow appeared on the roof above Abbey and Terrance. A stealthy figure emerged from it and leaped down at Abbey as she dodged to the left. Terrance stared for a minute before gathering his senses and realising this was a fight. He closed his eyes and started to hum to himself. Meanwhile Abbey and Unknown were grappling with each other. They broke away from each other and shouted out phrases in Totua Spraal. A large ring of fire appeared around Abbey and started to contract towards her. Abbey said a phrase and a large serpent made of water emerged from the drinking fountain that was situated just outside the ring of fire. The serpent sprung into the ring and started to wrap around Abbey, protecting her from the flames.
Abbey clicked her fingers twice and the water started to move to the rhythm of her hands. She brought her left hand up sharply and half of the water encompassing her stretched out into a long tentacle in the direction of her hand. She started to weave down wards and extinguish the fire. She took the remaining half and released her control then clicked her fingers twice again and brought both hands up sharply. Two short tentacles extended in the directions of their respectful hand. They were just enough length for a sword. Abbey clenched her fists slowly and the water froze into the shape of two swords. Abbey grabbed both at the hilts and started to brandish them in a professional manner.
Unknown interlocked her fingers and slowly drew them apart. Her fingernails started to grow with every inch she drew her hands away from each other. She crouched low and started to run at Abbey with her fingernails, now razor-sharp and at least a foot long, slicing through the air. As she neared Abbey she spun and stroke at Abbey’s side. It caused a large gash and a stinging pain to ripple throughout Abbey. Abbey turned after recovering from the initial stun and brought a sword down upon Unknown. Unknown blocked with both hands unable to cope with the weight of the sword. Abbey stroke low with her second sword but Unknown eluded it in time to only suffer a tearing of her clothes.
Abbey spun away from Unknown and took up a defensive stance. Abbey looked right and spotted the staircase leading to the second floor above the cafeteria. She jumped towards that using her newly gained ability to her advantage. She elegantly landed on the top step and looked down at Unknown. Unknown was running up the stairs with one claw outstretched and the other held back in anticipation.
Terrance on the bottom floor finally opened his eyes and revealed them to now be two black holes where his normal eyes used to be. He moved his hand cautiously in front of his face and noticed the shadows mimicking his movement. He smiled to himself and turned towards the small battle that had unfolded. He walked forward towards the stairs and got impatient with the fact that neither of them had noticed him. His smile switched to a frown and his body started to trail a little shadow behind him as he walked. He drew ever closer but was given no more attention than before. Terrance shouted and a deafening roar resounded throughout the school.
The shadows started to shoot towards Abbey and Unknown, engulfing them within minutes. It formed a sphere around them and Terrance entered it smiling to himself. They were still both fighting even though he had limited their space. Abbey was on the top of the sphere while unknown was on the ground. Terrance identified Unknown as the threat and lunged for her only to be shoved against the wall and flipped upside down. He growled in frustration and lunged again while Abbey had taken the distraction to sneak around Unknown and take her by surprise. Unknown dodged Terrance’s attack but jumped back towards Abbey who pierced Unknown with both swords; impaling her.
***
Abbey and Terrance lay on the ground of the upstairs floor. Both were breathing heavily. Abbey muttered "Heiluar" and her wound sealed over and healed leaving a scar. Abbey let out a large sigh of relief and propped her head up to look at Unknown's body. It was slumped against the far wall with a large puddle of blood forming around it which was constantly renewed by the wounds that were situated in her back. Abbey had killed Unknown with her swords. Abbey felt like throwing up but held herself back and lay down again.
Abbey turned her head slightly to look at Terrance. He was definetly more than just human; he had shown such power back in the fight. Even though the act looked small and unimportant it took a lot of strength to make a sphere of that thickness and size and still be able to pass through without creating a hole. Terrance turned his head to look at Abbey and there eyes met. Abbey smiled and slowly moved her hand into his. Terrance blushed lightly and smiled back.
What a way to end the day....
Abbey bent down low to the bottom locker, that was now hers, and inserted the key that she had been sent. She was a month later than all the other students but technically she had already graduated and was only attending by choice. She wanted to seem as normal as possible since being capable of magic and being an international genius didn’t give her much opportunity to be ordinary. Abbey shoved her books into her locker and withdrew a letter that had been sellotaped to the far wall. It was titled “Abigail Patricia Wilhelm”. She hated it when schools used her full name. She rubbed her temples and quelled the anger.
She was half an hour early for classes. Her mother had insisted that she sort out her books and try to get to know some of the other early rising classmates. Abbey was not pleased with coming to school early to “interact” with other children. She wasn’t a big fan of social activity; in fact she avoided it most times. She sorted out her books and copies for her first three periods and loaded them into her backpack. Abbey looked up as a shadow fell across her locker, above her stood a boy rearranging books and extracting them. She stared up; annoyed that he hadn’t even had the common courtesy to tell her he was going to be above her.
Abbey fumed slightly but let it go; after all it was just a petty lack of manners. She took her time to cool off and tried to withdraw her bag from in front of her locker after closing her locker successfully. She pulled it and it flew out into her hands but not after causing the boy to lose balance and fall backwards. Serves him right. She thought but after a minute helped him up and apologized in a thick German accent. “Sorry, I was just trying to get my bag. I did not realize you were standing on the strap.”
“It’s okay.” He replied kindly. “Happens all the time. You must be the new German student.” He exclaimed in excitement, obviously picking up on her accent. “Guten Tag. Wie geht’s?” He said in German.
“I speak English. Good day to you too and I’m quite good today and you?” She replied in English. She also knew six other languages including Irish and Latin; both of which weren’t used often in modern times.
He stared at her in amazement for a minute or two; causing her to shuffle awkwardly on her feet. “So you are a genius.” He said enthusiastically. “It’s a pleasure, I’m Terrance Evans.” He said extending a hand towards her. Abbey politely shook it and after a thorough shaking, replied. “I am Abigail Wilhelm but just call me Abbey please.” She asked him nicely. She remembered the letter and opened the small flap at the top and removed sheet of folded paper. She unfolded it and her eyes fell upon her schedule and class name. She was in “6B” whatever that was supposed to mean. She looked up at the boy that was still staring at her. He is rude but maybe he can help. “Sorry, what class are you currently residing in?” She asked him and he curtly replied with: “6B. It’s the top class.” He said proudly, puffing out his chest in pride. “I’m guessing you are too.”
“Okay, can I follow you to our classes for today? Then I’ll leave you alone.”
“Yeah, sure. Are you positive that you will be able to remember where to go after only the first day?”
“I’m almost certain.” Abbey replied and turned to the left. “Where do people in our year normally congregate in the morning before classes?” She asked him before leaving.
“In the cafeteria; it’s straight down the hall. You can’t miss it.” Terrance said and smiled warmly.
“Thank you.” Abbey said before leaving and heading towards the cafeteria where only a few students were gathered, in their own cliques of course. She sighed out of frustration realizing she would soon encounter another problem. Who to sit with? Nerds, Swots or normal girls her age. She probably wouldn’t fit in any of them since she was way too smart to be simply called a nerd; she didn’t have to study since she had a photographic memory, so that was a no to swot; and all of the above reasons ruled out normal girls.
Abbey ignored all the occupied tables and sat on her own at a deserted one instead. She would make her own clique instead: Smart German Genii. Of course that would mean she would be on her own again. She didn’t mind most of the time but other times it hurt more than anything else in the world. Abbey took a book out of her bag and started to read “The Complete Works of Shakespeare” for the third time even though she knew every word already. She hadn’t been able to get to the library recently due to the fact that school was starting and she had to get ready and get all her books and copies. What a pain it was.
The words of ‘Romeo & Juliet’ swirled around in Abbey’s head as she reiterated the lines of all the characters again. She sighed as she started to recite the words of scene two of Act two. It was so annoying that she had never had a relationship; neither had she thought about having one until she read these plays that depicted the scenes of love at first sight. After these descriptive tales her heart would flutter and her realization that she might never have anyone to call her own. She figured that she intimidated some people with her intelligence and that she seemed un-social most of the time. For all her smarts she couldn’t figure out how to counter all these things.
Abbey rested her cheek on her hand and looked out of the furthest window that occupied half of the cafeteria’s wall. She watched the rain drizzle and the delivery truck drop off several boxes labelled with various brands and names. She heard someone approach and twisted her head around to look at the newcomer that was braving a visit to her. Terrance occupied her vision and sat down next to her. He smiled. “Hello; again. You looked a bit; neglected.” He said and put his bag under the table, kicking it into place after giving it an unsuccessful push the first time.
“I don’t mingle.” Abbey replied and narrowed her eyes. Neglected? What does he think I am? A starved runt of the pack?! That impudent little knave. She thought.
“So; what books do you like?” He asked apparently oblivious to Abbey’s annoyed look.
“Anything.” She responded. “I don’t have a particular genre that interests me or satisfies my taste for knowledge and enlightenment. I find that a specific topic isn’t fickle enough for my tastes. I prefer to come from one book and topic into another completely different topic and book. This only seems to occur when I speak about my book taste. It is truly an annoying trait to have; that I must always stray from the topic at hand.”
“Ah...” Was the sound that emitted from Terrance’s mouth as he looked away for a few minutes. He’s regretting coming over to talk now. She sighed silently to herself annoyed at her unconscious ability to alienate people. This is going to be a hard time amongst these ignorant students and their pitiful teaching techniques. Why wasn’t everyone born with a photographic memory and with magical parents? She realised her thoughts sounded quite snobbish so she stopped thinking and tried to distract herself by making conversation with Terrance. Abbey opened her mouth to speak and the bells’ ringing sound resounded throughout the school and was followed by the sound of stamping feet as the students headed off to class. Abbey had looked around at all the people leaving and then turned back to Terrance to find that he was gone. Great! Another person estranged by Abigail Wilhelm. She shook her head and dislodged the thoughts from her mind.
Abbey set off for class, asking for directions several times, with her rucksack slung over both of her shoulders. Some could call her cute but she wasn’t beautiful. She didn’t like to be arrogant but being one of the smartest people in a country did have that effect on her. What a drag. She thought as she rounded a corner and hit the door of her classroom. For an intelligent person of her magnitude she could sometimes do the most idiotic things; like that time she base jumped off a four storey building. Abbey rubbed her head and stood up. She felt dizzy and her head felt sticky as she withdrew her hand from the back of her head. She saw blood and looked down at the floor; there lay a recklessly discarded piece of wood. She didn’t have time to go get proper medical attention so she muttered “Heiluar” and her wound healed leaving a small scar where the cut had been. It was an unfortunate side effect of her choice of words but was easily mended when she had time.
***
Terrance sat in class with his books neatly laid out on his table. He fiddled with a pen as he waited for their teacher to arrive. A lot of the teachers had different classes in different rooms and so took a couple of minutes to get to their next classroom. His pen spun effortlessly across the back of his forefinger and thumb as he waited. It seemed like ages. He didn’t like school, typically, but he figured if you’re going to do something you might as well do it right. It was a motto that encouraged him to trudge through the worst days of school and come out shining like a star but when he tried to put this in motion with other students they never really had the same determination. There was a term for that; he believed it went “You can’t polish a turd.”
Terrance glanced up as the door opened but was a bit disappointed when Abbey walked in. He wasn’t having to good a day and wanted to get this lesson over with as soon as possible. He motioned to the empty seat next to him for Abbey if she wanted to sit down. She sat down next to him and produced her books from her bag. Terrance felt sort of grateful that she had chosen to sit next to him. Of course she probably felt obliged to sit down next to him, because he had offered, plus the fact that it was the only free seat in the class also probably played a factor in her choice.
As Abbey unpacked her things Terrance looked out the window at the world that seemingly lay a mere touch away. The hills expanded on for miles and the birds circled the crops as they constantly searched for food and survival. The world that was a constant distraction to every human being that lay eyes upon the beauty of those grassy hills and the elegant black birds and not to mention the wildlife that the farmers bred and cared for. Terrance watched the cattle graze on those fields and the sheep herded into a neat square encircled by a large fence. He loved that world just outside his reach. He unconsciously reached out slightly and grasped the air.
A small tap on the shoulder snapped Terrance out of his daydream and he spun around. “Which books do we need for this Irish class? I have all three with me at the moment.” Enquired Abbey.
“The largest one and the smallest one until Christmas then the largest one and the smallest one ‘til the end of the school year.” Replied Terrance. At that moment the teacher walked in and put her books on her table. “I understand we have a new student” the teacher announced “and I would like to welcome you into our class.” The teacher looked straight at Abbey. “I am Miss Blume.” Stated Ms. Blume.
“Thank you Miss.” Replied Abbey.
“What is your name? I don’t seem to have it listed.” Said the teacher whilst rummaging through a pile of papers that had mounded up on her desk over the last month. Terrance had seen it evolve from one sheet into fifty in more than a month. He was amazed at how untidy their Irish teacher was.
“I’m Abbey or Abigail Wilhelm. I prefer Abbey.” Replied Abbey as she blushed slightly. Everybody had turned to look at her only now noticing the new face amongst their group. The amount of observation and perception this class gave to things outside of themselves was astounding. How could you be so dim-witted that you would overlook a human being.
Terrance placed his chin on his hand and propped his head up with his elbow resting on his desk. He gazed at all the people that were staring in Abbey’s direction. He was also a target for observation now and he acted as if nothing interesting was going on. The group decided the same and turned back towards the top of the class as the lesson started. Terrance commenced taking notes and Abbey imitated him. It looked to Terrance as if she was trying to get used to taking notes.
After Terrance’s first three classes were over her headed to his locker and changed his current books for the books he would need for the next three periods. He sighed when he was done and turned around just as Abbey was bending down to get to her locker. “Hello again.” Terrance said in a feeble attempt to strike up a conversation. “What do you think of Irish weather?”
“It’s okay. I like it mild and that’s pretty much the same all year around as far as I can see.” Abbey replied. “No offence.” She added as an afterthought.
“None taken.” Said Terrance delighted that he had sparked a tiny conversation. He smiled invitingly. “Would you like to eat lunch with me?” He asked inquisitively.
“Yeah, sure. I’d love to.” She replied. Abbey finished getting her books and stood up to look at Terrance.
***
Abbey walked beside Terrance as they made their way through the crowds to the cafeteria. Abbey hadn’t brought a lunch, expected to buy or make her own in the mornings which she really couldn’t be bothered to do. They sat down at a table near the back of the cafeteria next to the large windows that overlooked the downward slope of a hill. She looked at Terrance a bit suspiciously. She couldn’t figure out if he was the guy who had many friends or few but Abbey needed a friend right now and he seemed to be an ideal choice.
Terrance ate his small lunch quietly while Abbey watched him. She got bored after a minute and took her MP3 out of her pocket. She turned it on not bothering to pick a specific song but put it on random. She turned down the volume so that she would be able to talk to Terrance if they started to talk. Abbey started to hum the song that was playing. Terrance looked at her while he ate and Abbey looked at him eat. Abbey got bored with the music as it came to a song that was too slow to hum along to. “How long is this break?” Asked Abbey. Apparently they took two breaks during the day here.
“Fifteen minutes. It’s called small break coincidentally and the break after the next three periods is forty-five minutes long and called big break.” Replied Terrance.
“Okay.” She said and propped her head up on the table with her hand under her chin. She looked at Terrance again. Terrance looked away from her and she detected a small blush flush his cheeks. Abbey’s eyes became wide. Surely he doesn’t...No he can’t, can he? She thought. “I don’t like you in that way if you’re wondering.” She said just to be sure that he wasn’t getting the wrong idea.
Abbey thought she heard a small sigh escape his lips. Was that relief or frustration? She thought. Is he relieved that I don’t like him or is he frustrated that I don’t like him? Ahhh...this is just too confusing. “Do you like me in that way?” She purred at the question seeming as if she was enjoying this and of course she was. No one had ever really liked her, as a friend or otherwise, it was a lonely life but she had come into this world expecting difficulty and solitude. Terrance moved awkwardly in his seat, an obvious yes. Abbey’s eyes narrowed. “Oh.” She said, she wasn’t expecting this. “What do we have for our next period?” She asked him trying to divert the subject.
“English, Science then Maths.” He replied sounding a bit unsure of what he should do.
“Thanks I’ll see you in English.” She said and smiled.
“Yeah, okay.” He said quietly as she left. Abbey knew it was going to come up again. This topic was just one of those awkward things between friends. She barely knew him a day how could he already feel that way? She sighed in frustration and shook her head. The group of people immediately around her looked at her as if she was a lunatic that had walked in off the street. The stares didn’t last, the bell rang and everyone scurried off to their classes. Abbey followed suit and followed a girl from her class. They made a bit of small talk on the way but Abbey didn’t think they would be friends just acquaintances.
***
Terrance felt crushed after his lunch with Abbey. How could I have been so foolish? He thought. I thought she would...Oh it doesn’t matter anymore. I need to go somewhere for a while. He stood up in the empty cafeteria and walked head on towards one of the walls. It was cloaked in shadow and Terrance walked right through it and appeared in a new world, a shadow world. Around him were little puddles where the shadows were gathered. The puddles showed him a live image of the other world. Terrance watched as Abbey walked to her class with Emily, the class bitch, at least it didn’t look like they would be friends. Terrance summoned up that power inside of himself and the shadows responded in kind. He jerked his hand upwards and a seat was created for him which was invisible to the normal human eye but to his more acute sight he could make out all the little details it carried.
***
The world flitted by in the afternoon sun as the cars travelled and the people bustled through the towns and cities but in a particular town in a particular place time had stopped for every man and woman that inhabited it and used its many land uses. Amongst the frozen people emerged a girl about medium height with long, black flowing hair. She was garbed in a black dress a black tutu like skirt and on her arms were elbow length, black gloves that concealed most of her arms. Her eyes were a dark crimson and her face was a pale white. She was not a vampire even though her appearance suggested she was one, also there are no such things as vampires. Her eyes darted back and forth along the streets scanning for something but nothing revealed itself to her.
She, hereby known as unknown, walked up to one of the motionless beings that stood crowded on the frozen streets. She flicked one of the people on the forehead and the statue like person did not move. She scoffed. “They were right when they said ‘time stands for no man’ but it does stand for every witch, warlock and magic user that exists in this feeble world.” She stated out loud to herself. She felt amused that these beings squandered the little time they actually needed. She liked to observe them just as much as she loved to toy with their petty emotions. Anger and love went hand in hand with her.
She moved between the people seemingly leaving a small, faint afterimage with every move. She glanced at them as she passed and occasionally muttered love hexes that would cause them to find true love then have it torn away from them. “I haven’t felt like this in years.” She said to herself and continued through the people. Of course this visit wasn’t all pleasure; she still had some personal business to take care of. Her arm instinctively snapped to the back of her neck as her mind remembered that event.
***
Abbey sat alone in her classes as Terrance was nowhere to be found. Apparently the only available seats were next to him. Abbey felt terrible for crushing him now. It seemed he was a loner although a few people did claim to be his friend no one really sat by him. What a horrible life for a human being. She remarked in her head then remembered she was in a similar situation. This enlightening moment made her feel even worse about what she had said and done. If only I had enough power to turn back time. I’ll have to patch this open wound before it starts causing other damage. She thought as her final class finished. She heard that glorious bell and went looking for Terrance. The school wasn’t that big and they would have found out if he had gone home. From what Abbey could gather he wasn’t in the school but he had never left the school. This confused Abbey immensely; it was just so puzzling. How can be and not be somewhere at the same time. It’s physically impossible for a human being to be here and somewhere else. Aghhh. Abbey tore at her hair as she fell back against the locker and slid slowly down to the awaiting floor.
Abbey looked up at the circular windows in the ceiling and beyond at the clear blue sky and the fluffy clouds that passed overhead. A girl approached as Abbey was transfixed with the sky. The girl tapped Abbey on the shoulder and Abbey shot out of her daydream. Abbey felt she knew the girl, who looked older than Abbey but not by much with long, flowing golden hair and a straight posture. “Baptised with a perfect name
The doubting one by heart
Alone without herself.” She sang in a whisper to Abbey and walked away, disappearing down the hall. Abbey stood up, the words ringing in her ears. The hall was empty.
***
Terrance sat in the shadows, alone. He rummaged through his pockets until he found a piece of paper. He carefully removed it from his pocket. What lay before him in the palm of his hand was a crumpled picture that portrayed a young schoolgirl dressed in uniform with long brown hair, tied up at the bottom, and with dark blue eyes. The girl was walking away from the camera but was looking over her shoulder. She had a bright smile painted across her features. Terrance let out a long breath that he hadn’t been aware he was holding. He slowly put away the picture again and stood up from his seating.
He picked a random puddle and walked through. He closed his eyes as he felt a watery sensation fall over his body and then evaporate miraculously. Terrance stepped out of the walls shadow and appeared across from Abbey. She heard him as he stepped onto the floor and she stood up. He turned to leave and started to walk away from her. She grabbed his arm and he turned to her in response. “I may not like you in that way but I still want to be your friend.” She said to him. Terrance was silent for a minute before answering: “Okay.”
“Good, now where have you been?” She asked him slightly angry. “I’ve been all over the school and I couldn’t find you.”
“Places...” He said quietly and turned around again. Abbey clung to his arm to prevent him from leaving. “Where?” She said sternly.
“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.” He told her simply.
***
Unknown stood outside the school as she scanned it. It seemed to be unaffected by her spell and that just couldn’t be tolerated. She extended her mind into the living beings that wandered its educational halls. She despised schools with their abundance of teenage "love" and happiness. It sickened her to the very core of her being. She felt like she was about to throw up when a mysterious presence spiked her interest. She focused in on it with her mind but was forced backwards by an unknown force. She knew the presence. "Abigail." She said and spat on the ground.
Unknown cast a simple invisibility spell and walked slowly into the school. She had to make sure that Abigail hadn't cast other spells to counter hers. It was a slow and arduous process of avoiding flailing limbs and scrambling teenagers. She felt sick again and changed her course to a dark corner of the school. She threw up silently and it disappeared with a couple of words of Totua Spraal.
***
Abbey released Terrance from her grip and took a step back. Her head was spinning and her stomach was growling like a wild beast that had been starved for weeks in preparation for the killing of a slave. She groaned and shouted: “Frelel.” And the school stood still, frozen in time. She closed her eyes and her mind expanded outwards, searching. She was so concentrated on her search that she failed to realise that Terrance was still mobile and he was given a large boot to the face when he tapped Abbey on the shoulder. “Ne tun sie faccia!” Said Abbey still in Totua Spraal. She corrected herself and said. “Don’t do that!” She extended a hand to Terrance and he promptly took it and stood up.
Abbey slowly started to grasp the fact that she had cast a time freeze and Terrance was still able to move freely and not even without a struggle. Her mouth opened and closed several times before she said: “Y-You can move!” Terrance blinked in reply. “Yes...so can you. In fact several billion humans can actually use these limbs, called “legs” to move about.” He said smiling.
“Shut up this isn’t the time for smart remarks I cast a spell and you’re still moving. Why?”
Terrance looked around for a second. “You’re a mage?”
“Not as such but we may have to continue this conversation later.” She said and then reverted back to Totua Spraal. “Turfwhak.” Abbey jumped once then succeeded in doing a back flip down the hall and back. The spell worked unfortunately Terrance wasn’t going to be able to have that kind of ability during this fight since these type of spells were only self-applicable.
***
A dark shadow appeared on the roof above Abbey and Terrance. A stealthy figure emerged from it and leaped down at Abbey as she dodged to the left. Terrance stared for a minute before gathering his senses and realising this was a fight. He closed his eyes and started to hum to himself. Meanwhile Abbey and Unknown were grappling with each other. They broke away from each other and shouted out phrases in Totua Spraal. A large ring of fire appeared around Abbey and started to contract towards her. Abbey said a phrase and a large serpent made of water emerged from the drinking fountain that was situated just outside the ring of fire. The serpent sprung into the ring and started to wrap around Abbey, protecting her from the flames.
Abbey clicked her fingers twice and the water started to move to the rhythm of her hands. She brought her left hand up sharply and half of the water encompassing her stretched out into a long tentacle in the direction of her hand. She started to weave down wards and extinguish the fire. She took the remaining half and released her control then clicked her fingers twice again and brought both hands up sharply. Two short tentacles extended in the directions of their respectful hand. They were just enough length for a sword. Abbey clenched her fists slowly and the water froze into the shape of two swords. Abbey grabbed both at the hilts and started to brandish them in a professional manner.
Unknown interlocked her fingers and slowly drew them apart. Her fingernails started to grow with every inch she drew her hands away from each other. She crouched low and started to run at Abbey with her fingernails, now razor-sharp and at least a foot long, slicing through the air. As she neared Abbey she spun and stroke at Abbey’s side. It caused a large gash and a stinging pain to ripple throughout Abbey. Abbey turned after recovering from the initial stun and brought a sword down upon Unknown. Unknown blocked with both hands unable to cope with the weight of the sword. Abbey stroke low with her second sword but Unknown eluded it in time to only suffer a tearing of her clothes.
Abbey spun away from Unknown and took up a defensive stance. Abbey looked right and spotted the staircase leading to the second floor above the cafeteria. She jumped towards that using her newly gained ability to her advantage. She elegantly landed on the top step and looked down at Unknown. Unknown was running up the stairs with one claw outstretched and the other held back in anticipation.
Terrance on the bottom floor finally opened his eyes and revealed them to now be two black holes where his normal eyes used to be. He moved his hand cautiously in front of his face and noticed the shadows mimicking his movement. He smiled to himself and turned towards the small battle that had unfolded. He walked forward towards the stairs and got impatient with the fact that neither of them had noticed him. His smile switched to a frown and his body started to trail a little shadow behind him as he walked. He drew ever closer but was given no more attention than before. Terrance shouted and a deafening roar resounded throughout the school.
The shadows started to shoot towards Abbey and Unknown, engulfing them within minutes. It formed a sphere around them and Terrance entered it smiling to himself. They were still both fighting even though he had limited their space. Abbey was on the top of the sphere while unknown was on the ground. Terrance identified Unknown as the threat and lunged for her only to be shoved against the wall and flipped upside down. He growled in frustration and lunged again while Abbey had taken the distraction to sneak around Unknown and take her by surprise. Unknown dodged Terrance’s attack but jumped back towards Abbey who pierced Unknown with both swords; impaling her.
***
Abbey and Terrance lay on the ground of the upstairs floor. Both were breathing heavily. Abbey muttered "Heiluar" and her wound sealed over and healed leaving a scar. Abbey let out a large sigh of relief and propped her head up to look at Unknown's body. It was slumped against the far wall with a large puddle of blood forming around it which was constantly renewed by the wounds that were situated in her back. Abbey had killed Unknown with her swords. Abbey felt like throwing up but held herself back and lay down again.
Abbey turned her head slightly to look at Terrance. He was definetly more than just human; he had shown such power back in the fight. Even though the act looked small and unimportant it took a lot of strength to make a sphere of that thickness and size and still be able to pass through without creating a hole. Terrance turned his head to look at Abbey and there eyes met. Abbey smiled and slowly moved her hand into his. Terrance blushed lightly and smiled back.
What a way to end the day....
Abigail Wilhelm - A brief synopsis of Abigail
Abigail Wilhelm (Abbey to most) was a typical human being who grew up in Germany. Went to school, learned magic and had normal friends. What? Magic isn’t normal? Well it was to Abbey and her family. Her extraordinary talent sprouted at the tender age of 3 years old. Her peculiar ability to levitate objects and communicate with any living being was just the start. Once she was 6 years old she was then taught in a mysterious language called “Totua Spraal.” Abbey was one of a kind among her family. Her extraordinary ability to remember everything after only seeing or hearing it once was amazing. It was a unique trait that enhanced her magic ability and her academic skills.
At the age of 10 she was a year ahead of everyone else. Then when her family moved into a developed town, she moved up another 2 years as the library provided her with an almost unlimited source of knowledge and information. Now at the age of 18 she is in 6th year of Secondary School in Ireland. She could have graduated and completed school and be half-way through college but by her own choice she progressed up the educational ladder normally. Since her and her family have just recently moved to Ireland because of an 'incident' she has no friends in school and is alien to the Irish way of life.
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