While Klaus and Marcia looked at the boat, Kathy and the headmaster talked. "It seems our young woman is more sensitive to the spirits than we initially thought. We will have to monitor her more closely to protect her from harm. You and Klaus have to train her more and quickly. We need to ascertain her capabilities but also her vulnerabilities," the headmaster told Kathy. Kathy nodded with a thoughtful smile on her face....

Chapter 6The girls seemed to fight all the way through October. Thomas never figured out why but they made up at Halloween. Guess Miranda was right, girls just fight. Between classes, Thomas was heading to the vending machines until Kellen showed up and pulled him into a nearby empty classroom. He ducked low and told Thomas to do the same. "What's going on?" Thomas whispered as he ducked down. "Caleb and Liam are coming t...

Daria and Franci sat at their table waiting for class to begin. The missing partner did not seem to bother either girl as they chatted. The girls chatted loudly about how sad it was that the poison only made the girl sick, but did no harm. Daria kept looking at Marcia after her group came back from meeting with the headmaster. Daria's face registered disdain for Marcia as her mind thought of another way to harm Marcia and...

Marcia spent the night tossing in bed wrapped in the covers getting no sleep. The discovery of Franci practicing with a bayonet sword weighed heavily on her mind. The implied threat of bodily harm felt as if things never changed from New Jersey. Her dreams went from Franci to Franci's roommate Chantel, who threatened Marcia. Her dream leapt back in time to the confrontation with Sarah outside the school where Marcia refus...

As Marcia slept curled up in a protective ball, dreams invaded her mind and caused her to moan and cry. Kathy stood at the door watching and listening to her wishing that the spirits would leave Marcia alone. Suddenly, Marcia unfolded her body and lay flat on the bed arms tight against her side as if standing at attention. She started to talk as if she were a soldier reporting to a superior officer. Nothing Marcia said ma...

Chapter 5Saturday night at eight, Thomas sat in his room trying to convince himself not to go to the party. I said I'd be there, I have to go now... God, why did I say I'd go? Screw you peer pressure!His dad was downstairs watching TV, he would have to leap out the window and grab the tree branch. The rain had stopped several minutes ago, and the skies looked to be clearing. He opened the window at long lost and pulled th...

Chapter 4Though the day started exciting it quickly become boring and average after the excitement from earlier that morning died down. Classes as always were mundane, and lunch was decent. After fifth period, Thomas went to his locker to put his books away, no homework, meant no extra weight load. That and for whatever reason it was school policy to leave your books in your locker unless you needed them for homework or a...

Chapter 3After the girls dropped him off at the bridge and Thomas walked the rest of the way home, he went to his room, to the Tome. It seemed to be calling to him, the thought scared him, though, and he turned away from retrieving it. Instead, he went into the kitchen, his dad was there staring into the fridge.Tony let out a sigh when he heard Thomas approach and said, "I'm out of beer.""And we're out of food," Thomas re...

Chapter 2Miranda woke to the beeping of a pulse monitor. She found herself in a hospital bed, her best friend Normia had a chair pulled up beside her and was sitting cross-legged texting on her phone. "What happened?" Miranda asked lightly. Normia looked up at her through opal green eyes and said, "Hey bitch." Miranda rolled her eyes and flipped Normia off. Normia put her phone down and pulled her long wavy black hair int...

Chapter 1The final bell rang and all of Mr. Green's sixth period history class was full. Of course by now all the students could think about was, "One more class left, and it's home free." But Mr. Green was a special teacher who could hold the student’s attention even in a mundane course like history. After typing some more things onto his computer, Mr. Green got up and began taking roll call. After half a dozen names wer...

Two young brothers are left at home, All by their lonesome selves, The older one notices a new toy, Sitting high up on a shelf. He climbs up and brings on down, What he believes is a toy gun, He thinks about the games they’ll play, Boy this sure will be fun. He aims the ‘toy’ at his little brother, And shoots him in the head, But that gun was not a toy at all, And soon the three-year-old is dead. When a child dies, All th...

When the three girls were ready, they left the barracks and walked to the dining hall entrance. They joined a group of their classmates, who waited, chatting about the night before and sleeping in the barracks. The comment most uttered was that it was like having a giant sleepover with the whole class. Everyone seemed excited about continuing this for another six weeks and that it would be fun. As they waited, a small com...

Chapter OneI look up at the sky and see a group of business people flying overhead on their jet packs. “Lavender, come on. We are going to be late,” My best friend, Hera, calls back to me from near the school gates. I race to catch up with her and we make it inside the school gates just as the bell rings. I give a sigh of relief, happy to have made it to school on time and avoid getting grounded for a month. I race off to...

All the students returned to the barracks after taking some valued free time. Marcia sat on her bed facing Naomi and Polina, who listened to the chatter of their classmates. The level of excitement and curiosity was high because of the packets they received before dinner. Marcia listened but felt remotely distant from all of it, lost in her world. Her mind puzzled over the two things she discovered in the forest and near...

Marcia and Naomi joined their classmates up on the open deck of the ferry. There was a steady wind coming off the lake, which cut through their clothes. To beat the wind the girls walked around the deck chatting and playing a game of tag. The headmaster watched the girls, smiling at how easily the varied group members fit together. With all the different races and upbringing, these girls formed a cohesive group of friends...