Once we’re inside the school we see a few students talking in the hallways as usual. A bunch of the students are in the classrooms, sitting on the desks, sleeping, and talking to each other. War, Leo and I retreat to the corner on the far wall and I set my blue knapsack on the table and sit on the table. War and Leo sit on the ground, leaning against the wall. “Alright, when are you leaving exactly?” Leo asks finally.
“Saturday or Sunday, ‘cause me and Jacob are going to be packing Friday and then taking the Portal to the witch’s house. And you know Portaling takes a day. They’ve gotta make one of the super speed ones that are in those cliche movies.”
Leo nods, then goes back to his phone, putting an earbud in his right ear. War opens his backpack but instead of pulling out a phone he pulls out a tablet.
I grab Magic of The Demon Fae, the first book to my favorite series. I’m waiting for book 4 to be published, so I’ve been sentenced to rereading the first three books over and over again. I flip to the middle of the books and start reading.
Five minutes later someone slaps the book onto the ground and I see Maddie Willow Anderson standing there with a smirk on her face. “Hey nerds.” She sneers.
“Oh. Hey. War I think she’s trying to ask us to help her to the daycare center.” She acts like a child. She has black eyes and strawberry blonde hair. And she’s annoying. Always saying her dad will sue the school and complaining.
“Oh, I can help with that.” War says and waves magic around her, making her mute and invisible. She can see us but we can’t see or hear her.
“Thanks.” I grab my book and continue reading after finding the page.
After ‘school’ War, Leo and I head over to my house. We go to the gym there and start exercising. I go to the treadmill and start it up at high speed so I can run faster. War and Leo lift weights. They’ve banned me from them since I overworked myself one time and almost died again. I run for about 20 minutes, then slow it down to walking and grab my water bottle. I usually run for an hour before stopping, but I promised I’d help Jacob with his homework.
Jacob is my younger brother. He’s two years younger than me, but taller than me. He has teal eyes and blue and red hair. He has skeleton wings and a skull tattoo on his forearm that blinks when he gets mad. “Yo, Ava!” speak of the devil一figuratively speaking.
“Hey bro. Where's the guys?”
“Man, they ditched. Said they didn’t need help studying. Did you know we’re going to the school above?” He sighs sadly, and hands me a granola bar.
“I knew, but it’s not something we can exactly say no to. Papa and Father are insistent. Plus, they’re right about money, we don’t get more money than everyone else.” I pull the wrapper off. “And, anyway, Dad would say we have to listen to them, because we live under their roof and we don’t pay the bills. But,” I grab my wallet and pull out a few hundred dollars. “I got this from Widow.” I hand him one. “Now give me fifty. I know you have enough money, but I’m a generous person.” He pulls out his wallet and grabs a fifty and hands it to me.
“Fine, here. Also, hey War and Leo!” They wave, but go back to lifting weights.
“I’m gonna help you study. Where’s your textbook?” I ask him. He lifts his backpack and grabs a math textbook, then hands it to me. “Okay. Any homework?”
“Nah. The math teacher says we just got to review the book. Pages 255 through 278.”
“Holy crap. The school does that?” I mentally sigh. “Yeah, no. You’re on your own.” I head to my room so I can pack.
Friday rolls around and I don’t know what to pack. I go through my closet. Nothing. “Why can’t packing be easy?” I mumble to myself under my breath. I go through it again, and find a few items. Two pairs of shorts, a tank top, ripped jeans, and a mid-thigh dress.
I fold them neatly and set them in it, on top of my new outfits. I go back and find a turtleneck, panda print shirt, few cropped hoodies, and some yoga pants.
I pack those, then head to the bathroom. I grab my toothbrush and toothpaste, then my hairbrush and hair ties and hair clips. I go to my makeup bin and grab foundation, two pallets of eyeshadow, chapstick, clear lip gloss, and black and white mascara. Yes, I do yin and yang style with my makeup.
I put those in the front pocket, then grabbed my stuffed animal. I had the stuffed animal when I was alive, and the most important thing in your life is brought with you. My stuffed animal was, because it comforted me when my mom and stepdad fought. I died when I was 12, because my stepdad tried to shoot my mom and I got in the way of the bullet.
Thinking back, memories flood in.
“Cyrus,” My moms voice pleaded. I looked around the corner and saw her back against the wall, a pistol in his hand. “Think about Alice. You can’t leave her without a mom.”
Cyrus, my step dad, laughed. “It’ll just be easier to ruin her life.”
A whimper escaped my lips, and his head whipped around to look at the corner. “Momma?” I whispered and her eyes widened.
“Al, get out of here!” She shouted, but I ran over and hugged her.
“I won’t leave you momma,” I said.
Everything else happened slowmo, the gun firing, I jumped up and it hit me right in the heart.
I thought I was alive, I saw people swarming me. But they whispered to each other. A cry rang out, and then someone flung themselves forward and held me in their arms. It was too familiar. “Avalon,” A familiar voice whispered, and my head shot up.
“D-Dad?” I whispered when I saw my biological dad. “W-what? I thought y-you were in Boston for a trip!”
“The plane's engine failed, the plane went nose first to ground. Your mother probably kept it from you.”
I gasped. “Momma’s in trouble!” I tried to stand up, but failed.
“What? Avalon, what happened?”
“Mom said you left us, and she started dating someone… he was really mean and he hit momma. He tried to shoot her, but I-I interfered. I took the bullet..” Gasps ripped through the crowd, and tears started flowing.
I leaned into Dad for support, and then two guys came through. “Jason, let’s get home. Hey, sweetie.” The shorter one pulled me up, but Dad watched me the whole time we went to the house. I didn’t know who’s it was, but I was grateful, because there was a couch and I wanted to lay down. I fell asleep almost instantly.
“Ava. Stop thinking about Abby.” Dad’s voice cuts through my thinking.
A few silent tears go down my cheek and I wipe at them viciously. “Ava. Stop doing that, you’re getting cut.” He pulls my hand away, and I start sobbing.
“I miss her..” I say quietly. He starts hugging me.
“I know. I miss her too. But you have Papa and Father and Jacob and I. Plus your friends.”
“But I won’t once we leave! I won’t be able to call you, or visit daily. I won’t be able to feel your guys’ hugs.”
A few footsteps sound, and then someone's arms wrap around me. “Sweetie, we’re always with you.” Father’s voice says. He always calls me sweetie or Ava.
After that whole meltdown of me and Papa crying, and Dad and Father freaking out because they don’t handle crying very well, I’m all packed and I told Dad to teleport me early. He starts the program, and I say goodbye to them, then I’m shot into a portal.
It’s not like those bright tunnels in those TV shows. It’s just a dark room. You fall asleep until you arrive, and sometimes you puke. But that's just a side effect of people who haven’t teleported before.
The next day, I arrived out of thin air, in front of the school. I pull out my IPhone and call the contact named Witch.
“Who is this?” The witch asks skeptically.
“It’s Avalon. I arrived a few minutes ago. Can you message me your address?”
“Oh, of course. Bye.” She hangs up, and I continue looking around.
It’s a nice city, obviously, and everything's clean. No needles, drug canisters, or garbage. I seem to be in the middle of the city, but the school has people going to and from it. Cool. I walk inside, and just make sure I’m registered. “Um, hi.” I say, and the secretary shrieks in shock.
“Well, hi. You are?”
“Oh, I’m the student. Avalon Manor. My brother decided to skip making sure he’s registered.”
“Ah, yes. Avalon. Well, you are registered, of course, but if you want, I can get you your locker and school schedule.” I nod, and she slides her chair to a file holder, rummaging through it before pulling a file out. “Here you go. If you need someone to tour you, ask anyone around here. They’re all friendly.” She smiles, and I grab the schedule, writing down the locker number on it. It’ll be memorized by the time I leave the school.
“Thank you,” I smile, then leave.
I hear talking, but ignore it and scan the lockers. I find it after a few minutes and grab my code lock. I set it up to be my death date. I stick my few textbooks in the locker, then tape up the picture of Dad, Father, Papa, Jacob and I, then tape another one up with War, Lev and I. The days I took those I was an emotional mess, but only that small group can make me feel better about ‘life’.
The voices get louder, and I set a makeup pallet in the locker, then my backpack. I won’t need it until later, probably. And the voices keep getting louder. Louder and louder until they’re around the corner. I turn around and cross my arms, they notice me and freeze. “Y’know, some people are trying to get stuff done. You could be quieter.”
The tall dude scoffs. “And who are you?”
“Avalon Manor, of the Manor Estate. You are?”
“Dimitri Bruce.” He glares at me.
“Such a welcoming look. Thanks. Now, if you don’t mind me, I’ll be taking my leave. I have to make sure my brother isn’t overloading his pills.” I smile sweetly, and grab my suitcase. Then I remember something in my suitcase and squat to get it. I pull out the identity spell and drink a small amount. It’ll make sure no one can see my wings or tail or ears. “Oh, shoot. I forgot he’s not here yet. Whatever. See ya.” I flip him the bird, and his eyes flash red. Odd. “Oh, don’t be like that little vampire.”
He gasps. “How?”
“Your eyes. Also, my mind was noting the pale skin, and you were avoiding the windows.” Sun doesn’t burn them, but it tans them and irritates their skin.
“You’re a smart one.” He smirks. “But, not enough to hide your true self. When’d you die?”
Smart. “When I was twelve. Got shot in the heart by my stepdad when he attempted to murder my mother. I’ve been living with my Dad, Papa, and Father.” I smile again, and let my wings show. Then my tail.
“You’re strong, ain’t you?”
“I guess. I train everyday in a gym; boxing, running, biking.” He slings his arm around my shoulder, and my skin burns. “You better not be sporting holy water, asshole.”
“We’re both for the darkside. So, no.” I shoulder his arm off and start walking towards the front doors.
They easily catch up, so I use my wings to give me a lift, and soon I’m on one of the bars holding the roof up, crouching a little to not hit my head. I whisper a spell, and soon there’s a couple tigers laying there lazily, looking down at them. Yes, I’m part witch. “DemonWitch. Cool.” He laughs. And a smile goes over my face.
“You should laugh more.” I say, and jump down.
“Yeah, no. I don’t laugh.” He puts his arm around my shoulder again, and I just let him. The tigers follow me, but keep a distance from Dimitri.
“No, you do, but you decide to ignore emotion.” I say, and then there's shouting, and a gun goes off. My eyes widen and fear pricks my veins. I run back into the building, trying to find anywhere to hide. The tigers follow me, and soon arms envelop me.
“Hey, hey. It’s okay. It’s okay.” War’s voice says, and I hug him tightly. The shots are still ringing out, and one gets close and I scream. “Hey, Ava. Look at me.” I tilt my head up and look at him. “Don’t focus on the shots. Focus on me, and the tigers.” I try to ignore the shots, but my past is still flooding through, and I scream again when a closer one breaks glass. “Shit!” War exclaims and pulls me up, and then we’re running more. We end up hiding in the teacher lounge, and there's a small window. I look through it, and see men in army suits shooting at people. Then I see the most unbelievable thing ever. Dad and Father in the middle of it, holding each other close, while two men stalk them like they’re prey. “No!” I shout, and then two guns ring out, and their bodies fall. Tears start streaming. Again. “Dad! Father!” I cry, I crab walk back until my back hits the wall, and I bunch up, knees pressed to chest, arms wrapped around my legs.
“T-They invaded Home..” War whispers. Wait. Where’s Leo?
“War.. where’s Leo..?”
“I don’t know.. I was portaling.” There's a banging sound outside, and I try to calm down.
Then someone bangs on the door. “Let me in!!” Dimitri’s voice rings out and I unlock and open the door. He rushes inside, and I shut and lock the door again.
I sit back down, and one of the tigers lays on me. I realize something and my eyes widen and I realize the photos are in my locker. I shoot back up and rush to my locker, open it quickly, and peel the pictures off. I grab my suitcase and rush back to the lounge.
“What the hell, Ava!?”
“I had to get these.” I show him the photos, and pull out my stuffed animal, holding it tightly.
“Ava, that was stupid to do! There could have been an army waiting to shoot you!” War yells, and I flinch. Realization flicks over his face. “Sorry, Ava. I know you don’t like yelling.” He sits beside me and I cuddle into his side.
“It’s fine. I’d yell at myself too. I just needed to get them.” I whisper and look at the photos. The one with me and my friends was taken when we were at school. We had our tongues stuck out and we were doing cross eyes.
The one with my family is when we were eating dinner. Jacob, Father and Dad had their mouths stuffed with spaghetti, while Papa and I were laughing at something I said about them being food hogs.
After studying them for what seemed like forever, I set them down and fall asleep.
Author Notes: YO YO YO!! 2644 words!! Probably the longest chapter I've EVER writen!!!
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United States • 16 years old