chapter 1

DISCLAIMER

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, business, events, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination. The opinions expressed are those of the characters and should not be confused with the authors. Neither does the author promote any heinous behavior present within the book’s content. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

~

“Retrieve the twins and kill that witch.”

Her hair wildly danced in the crisp midnight air, an army hot on her tails. In her grasp two crying babies that refused to cease their outburst. There wasn't much she could do as she sprinted through the open lands, nothing but the moon guiding her steps. Tightly clenched in her fist a piece of paper.

“My babies, don’t worry. Mummy is going to get us out of here,” she said.

Before she could utter any more words of comfort, a beast appeared before her baring its teeth, paws thumping on the ground. Its eyes blood red, fur dark enough to camouflage in the peak of the night. It let out an ear-shattering roar as it stalked forward, forcing her back.

Scrambling to open the piece of the paper, she stumbled only to meet with something much worse than the beast ahead of her. Even with the cries of the babies in her hold and the growls of the creature, all she could hear were the calm footsteps crunching the burnt grass under them. Her heart was ferociously beating in her chest, cold sweat breaking at the back of her neck as the person approached her.

She was frozen in place. Her eyes shrunk when the person she wished to be the furthest from, appeared before her. His voice spite filled and dripping with poison. The moon shone above them, the grass stabbing at her feet with each step.

“Isabelle, the children.” His pale hand was outstretched, eyes fixated on her own.

“I’d rather die than give them to you.”

There was a stretch of silence as if everything had paused in time. The army having ceased, the beast now at the man's side.

“That can be arranged.”

With a snap of his finger, ice erupted from the ground. She was trapped in a prison of dagger-like icicles ready to slit her throat with the slightest movement.  

Eyes burning with passion and the crumpled paper now discarded, Isabelle took a step back. A dagger threatening her from behind shattering to pieces by the column of fire that shot up, forming a wall of fire around her.

With not a second to spare, she began reciting the words that had been scribbled onto the paper, her voice booming across the empty meadow causing a gust of wind to encircle her.

A laugh erupted from the other side of the firewall but she paid no heed to it, concentrating with her recitation. As she uttered the last of the spell, a hand-cut through the barrier clutching onto her arm before she disappeared into the night.

Nothing but the rose scent to remain.

*

"Summer break’s over; I can't wait to go back to school," Alex sighed, head thrown back against the couch back.

"Well, it was gonna end eventually. Everything good must come to an end after all. Plus we're seniors now so show a bit of enthusiasm," Josh said, shrugging in the process.

Heaving a breath, Alex pushed himself off the couch, dragging his body to the kitchen. Grabbing a can of soda from the fridge, his thoughts began to wonder. It was no secret that he was dreading school with every fiber in his being. The thought of walking down those stupid hallways or the incredulous amounts of homework that led to many long nights of coffee, and pain killers because nothing causes greater pain than trying to solve math problems. But the worst of it all was that bell, oh how it drove him mad.

"Grab a bag of chips while you're in there," Josh shouted from the other room,  too lazy to bother himself. Popping open the can and grabbing the requested snack, Alex made it back into the living room, plopping onto the couch as if personally welcoming him with open arms. Throwing the bag of chips at Josh who was still fiddling with the remote, Alex went back to lazily staring at the ceiling. Once or twice taking a sip of the diabetes in a can.

"Heard there'll be new kids this term. Heard they're super-hot, maybe I'll get a new girlfriend," Josh said and even with his head turned Alex could imagine that obnoxious expression he had whenever girls were on his mind.

"Are girls and food all you think about? Get a life man," Alex said, having the strong urge to throw a shoe at him.

“Sour just cause you can’t land a date. It’s not my fault your default facial expression around girls is that of a frowning cat.” This time Josh turned his gaze to Alex, just in time to get a cushion to his face.

"At least I can beat you in video games,” Alex said, lazily looking at his friend with a brow raised.

"Psssh, I bet you can't even beat me in this next game," Josh challenged.

"Oh, you're on!"

*

A throbbing headache was never a nice thing to wake up to even. Alex let out a groan, hoping his mum would come in and lovingly tell him the holiday wasn’t over yet but of course he’d just get a spoon to the face instead. Like an old man, Alex climbed out of bed and began his normal morning school routine. Once done and dressed, he ruffled his golden blonde strands a bit to make it look less of ‘messy mop’ and instead ‘messy cause I don’t care’ and went downstairs.

“Jamie,” Alex said with a smile. 

Like a ray of sunshine to his rather cloudy morning, his little sister came bouncing towards him looking as adorable as ever with her dirty blonde pigtails and a pink polka dot dress. He didn’t hesitate to carry her into his arms as he made his way into the kitchen. 

“Mornin’ mum,” Alex greeted, placing Jamie down at the kitchen table beside his seat.

"Good morning honey" his mother greeted placing their breakfast onto the table. "Excited for school?"

"Yeah, yeah. Totally." Alex replied quietly, getting a raised brow from his mum. “Let’s dig in,” He clapped his hands together, now completely avoiding his mother’s gaze. With a sigh, she gave in, also taking her seat.

The three enjoyed their breakfast, Jamie chattering away clearly excited for her first day at school. The open window let in a mellow breeze, the fragrance of dampened earth flowing in with it. 

"I’ve got to go, I'm gonna be late for school," he said after. He planted a kiss on Jamie’s cheek and one on his mother’s forehead and was out the door.

Walking into the school building, Alex was greeted by the usual sight of grey lockers and the stench of teens in their prime. Might be a new semester but nothing’s changed. He walked into the classroom and took his usual seat near the window staring out onto the courtyard where it was littered with students. 

"Seems like we're in the same class senior year as well."

Alex didn’t bother to turn his head. An arm was already snaking its way up his, a head now leaned against his shoulder. Goosebumps rippled across his skin, not because the feeling was enjoyable, quite far from that really.

He shook off the girl’s arm, still not sparing her a glance. “Jennifer, I’m not interested.” As if he’d be interested in someone whose seen more dicks than he has. He wasn't ready to be added to the list of her toys.

"Come on Alex, me and a hot guy are a match made in heaven,” She cooed, her voice growing more unbearable the longer she spoke. Alex scoffed, finally turning his cold gaze to her, a smirk stretched onto his lips.

"Just like how you and Josh were a perfect match in heaven?"

She seemed stunned for a moment, hesitant even before she turned on a heel with a humph.

"You're going to regret this Alex," she said flipping her hair before stomping away.

What he'd regret? He would never know. Not an hour in yet and he was already exhausted and ready to go home. The bell eventually rang, that demonic thing and the teacher entered, behind him three new faces.

He turned to face the class, smacking his book on the desk to get everyone’s attention. He cleared his throat, stretching his hand across the three. “They will be our newest addition to the class, try not to be assholes,” The teacher sighed, adjusting his glasses.

Alex let his eyes skim over the three, two of which looked to be females. So, these are the new guys Josh was talking about. He had to admit, they were attractive, their skin pale and flawless. Like they weren't in that stage everybody else was in. Where the body did its best to present the worst version of the human being

He didn’t let his eyes linger too long and instead zoned out whilst staring at a trash can outside. He wasn’t particularly interested in the bunch; sure they were attractive but they radiated weird vibes that he would gladly avoid.

"Meyers, you'll be showing them around since you seem to enjoy our school so much."

Alex sighed; did he mention how his fourth reason for hating school was the teachers? He was already having a bad start to the day, the last thing he needed was to show some new kids around.

 "Yes sir," he mumbled.

"There are a few free seats near Alex where you may seat yourselves." The teacher pointed out.

Alex was barely listening so it wasn’t until he heard movement next to him did he zone back in, stealing a glance to his side. It was the dude; he was hoping to sit by one of the girls at the very least, since they were still good-looking.

The person seated beside Alex wasn’t any less attractive seeing how he attracted attention from most females in the room. White hair, no wonder he's getting stared at. He was actually curious if that was the dude’s natural hair color, not that he really cared, just wondered.

"Get out your textbooks." The teacher ordered, sounding as dead as most felt on the inside.

The lesson was long, boring and Alex was using all of his willpower to stay awake. As much as he hated school, he still wanted to get into a decent college so he had to stay awake, as painful as it was. His eyes felt as if two-ton bricks had been stacked on either of his eyelids and he wasn’t the only. Really anyone who could stay awake through this lecture wasn’t human.

The bell eventually rang after what felt like hours and everyone poured out of class, soon after the halls were filled with people. As passionate as his hatred for that bell was, at times it was his savior.

Alex didn’t wait a second before escaping the room, meeting with Josh who emerged from the class next to his. Loudly sighing, Josh slung an arm around Alex’s shoulder, his expression conflicted.

"You're so lucky you had two babes join your class," Josh sighed once more. "All we got were four overly attractive dicks to steal all the ladies."

Before Alex could give out a sarcastic remark, his attention strayed once the three strangers appeared in front of him. Almost out of thin air. It took him a while to remember the task assigned to him.

“Just show us to our lockers, we won’t need anything else,” One of them said, her hair a scarlet red that attracted more attention than needed.

More over the top hair colors, what a weird bunch.

At least he didn’t have to bother showing them around.

“Sure thing,” Alex answered, his gaze moving to Josh who he was glad wasn’t acting like a creep in front of the two females and instead zoning out. Before his friend could get any ideas, Alex turned on his heels, showing them to their lockers.

"If you need anything at all just ask," He said, his business smile out on display.

"Thanks," the other girl said, tucking a lock of her raven hair behind her ear. He smiled once more before walking off, already weirded out by them. They emitted such a strange aura that he couldn’t shake off. Was it how ridiculously pale they were or was it the way they looked at him as if he was nothing but a tiny insect that could be squashed at any moment?

The bell for the next class interrupted his thoughts and he dropped the matter. He wasn’t ready to play detective over a bunch of new kids he planned to avoid.

Getting to his next class, Alex took his seat and noticed four newer faces which meant they totaled up to seven of them. Josh came plopping down beside him with a sigh.

"These the guys you were talking about?" Alex whispered, wiggling his eyebrows around as to point their direction.

Josh didn't bother to turn his head before inconsistently mumbling something that sounded like an agreement. "Those buttfaces have been getting all the girls' attention the moment they appeared."

Just like the other three, these guys were tall, pale and freakishly attractive, at least this bunch didn’t have crazy hair colors but one had much long hair which was quite the sight.

What’s up with these kids this semester. Alex thought, his pen making its way between his teeth.