Cry of the Wolf

Chapter 5: Initiation

Chapter 5: Initiation

Within the following week, nothing amazing happened, and Madison never even brought up that strange night that showed what she was born for. She was even beginning to believe it all must have been a dream, and became sullen and quiet around her home. She wished that it had all been real, that somehow she was a vampire, that her mother was a witch, and that she had actually met her grandmother, who was in fact a great witch in her day and even now. However, it was becoming rather clear to her that it just couldn’t be real. She watched her mother when she didn’t noticed Sarah, and realized that her mother was just an ordinary mother that had no special powers what so ever.
She sat slumped on her living room couch, Madison sitting across the room quietly observing the show that they were watching. But when Sarah glanced at Madison, she was sure that she didn’t know what was happening at all. Her eyes were glazed as she stared at the TV in front of her, and she wasn’t moving and she was hardly breathing at all.
‘Madison, are you alright?’ Sarah asked. Madison didn’t respond. Sarah frowned and sat up watching Madison enquiringly. ‘Hey!’ Sarah cried, now moving towards her friend. When she touched Madison’s arm, she noticed that it was quite cold to the touch. She knew what Madison was doing, but it still frightened her every time something like this happened. Madison was fading off into a vision of most likely the future, but she wasn’t completely in it yet, because her eyes were only slightly fogged with white.
‘Madison, get up.’ Sarah said once again, only with a softer and shy tone, as if she were afraid of disturbing whatever presence was around Madison. She suddenly jumped, her eyes quickly going back to their lovely green colour. Madison looked up into Sarah’s eyes, but this time she wasn’t able to hide her fear that swam around her eyes. ‘What is it? What did you see?’ Sarah inquired.
Madison hesitated and looked away from Sarah’s eyes, wondering if she should just tell her. Who knows if it was an actual premonition, of all the predictions she’s made to herself over the past years, most that were as ridiculous as the one she just seen never came true. Why worry Sarah with such ridiculous accusations?
‘It’s nothing.’ Madison lied. ‘It was just a nightmare I’ve had since I was really little.’
‘Are you sure? Your eyes were going white, and usually that does mean your starting to have a vision. Besides, how do you have a nightmare in the day?’ Sarah pursued.
‘It’s like daydreams, except I can have nightmares as well.’ Madison replied coolly. Sarah’s eyebrows scrunched up and her lips went into a thin line of disbelief.
‘It’s okay, really.’ Madison replied, waving her hand as if batting away an annoying fly of some sort. ‘I have them all the time; it’s nothing to worry about.’ She added reassuringly. Sarah nodded finally, trying to make herself believe what Madison was saying, because she knew Madison wasn’t telling the truth. But Madison would never tell her what she saw, because something told her that it was about herself.
‘Okay then.’ Sarah said shrugging her shoulders. She was about to go back to the couch, but a little voice whispering in her head stopped her. She wanted to know if there really was a school, a magical school in the middle of the forest, and if she was destined for something more than what she thought. She hesitated for only a moment, and then turned back to Madison while holding her breath. ‘Madison, I need to know… I need to know if it was all true. It just feels like a dream to me now, and I’m really starting to consider that it was just a figment of my imagination.’ Madison reluctantly turned her head to Sarah, trying to keep a straight face.
‘What are you talking about?’ she said, laughing nervously and not being able to keep her eyes on Sarah’s long.
‘The school, Hillary and Serge, the prophecy!’ Sarah cried slightly hysterical. Madison’s eyes darted around her nervously. ‘Please, I want to know.’ Madison leapt up and covered Sarah’s mouth.
‘Do not speak of it here!’ Madison hissed in a low whisper. ‘There are many spies, and we cannot trust anyone, no matter who it is.’
‘Who are you talking about? Vladmire’s army?’ Sarah asked, just as quiet as Madison. She bit her lip and nodded.
Therefore, it was all true, then that only meant there was only two more weeks until she would start going to the school, and of course, her normal school in which she was going into the seventh grade. Sarah flushed heavily with excitement and it seemed as if a swarm of bees were in her stomach trying to escape. It was real; everything that had happened that night was real, it was almost impossible to believe, but she did of course.
‘Wow, this is so awesome. But why wouldn’t you talk about it before now, I thought for a while it didn’t really happen.’
Madison leaned in close to Sarah’s ear, and vaguely whispered ‘You must pretend that it never happened so Vladmire's spies do not get suspicious. They are watching you all the time, and that is why we must not speak of it here.’ Madison told Sarah. Sarah pulled away slowly and glanced outside the window that led to the backyard. Nothing seemed unusual, but then again, could they have some sort of powers in which it would make them invisible?
‘Why is it that they are watching me?’
‘Because you have a crystal, the silver crystal inside you. They know that Hillary will keep a close eye on you to make sure it’s safe, but they don’t know that you are the only person who can make the crystals become a key and open the door. There is a way that they could find out, and that is to make somebody who knows tell them, or else they won’t ever know, so there’s nothing you should worry about.’ Madison paused, and glanced out the window, eyeing out the long shadows that were cast across the backyard. ‘Oh yes, you won’t be able to see them in daylight, but they’re there.’ She added grimly, turning away from the window. Sarah reluctantly turned away from the window, now feeling as though she was being closely watched, and it frightened her.


More days passed and once again, nothing amazing happened within Sarah’s home. Her little secret dwelt inside of Sarah, eating away at her. Every time she left her home or was in the backyard with Nicky, she listened to the sounds around them, but none that would raise any suspicions.
But Sarah knew that they were there, watching for a moment when they could strike. However, there was no time to strike, because Madison made sure that she was with Sarah everyday, and if it wasn’t she who was nearby, it was Ryley. Whenever they went for walks, he would stay far behind, but not far enough to help her if she needed it, and she appreciated it most of the time.
Madison also told Nicky and Alex never to leave Sarah’s side while going out as well. Sarah was very well protected, but no one would know how long that would last…

There was now only two days before both of the schools would begin, and Sarah’s family was rather edgy and impatient. Jake scurried around muttering things under his breath, and would spend hours in the study reading his textbooks. Nicky would drag her feet when the word school was brought up, and groaned and whined almost constantly whenever she had the chance. But their parents were different when that cursed word was brought into a conversation. Their mother would grimace and close her eyes, or glance at Sarah with pure disgust. Sarah knew what it was most likely about, but she hid her anticipation of what was to come from her mother’s inspecting glare. Her father on the other hand would give Sarah a rather warm smile when she caught him alone, and one time he whispered in her ear a few words of encouragement. It did encourage her that her father thought she was going to be great and that she would destroy Vladmire, but maybe it wasn’t enough.
She was sitting at her window ledge, thinking about both parents and how they’ve been reacting lately and also trying to any hint of the dark vampires who were most likely watching her at the very moment. The yellow lights that faintly hummed, each placed with precise accuracy, softly lighted the street. Sarah vaguely heard the scraping of the chain of the Sanderson's pet dog, but since he was not barking, Sarah knew that something was about. Something had silenced the unfortunate dog, but at least she knew that they didn’t slay him to keep him quiet. Her eyes moved to the moon, fascinated by its deathly glow and wondered if werewolves only changed by the moon. Then, what was that thing she had met in the forest a few weeks ago? It was no dog, she was sure about that because the thing was cautious instead of being playful, and didn’t it speak to her in her thoughts? She found it rather curious and wished she could somehow have all of these strange mysteries explained so she could sleep easily at night.
A large group of clouds passed over the moon, setting Grand Valley into a world of almost complete darkness. Sarah’s nerves tensed as she prepared for something awful as she watched as each street light began to flicker, and then go out, and she was even more frightened when she saw that even the smallest light in family’s homes disappeared. Now a strange and sticky fog began to fall in her neighbourhood, the kind she had once encountered in the forest.
Sarah didn’t realize that her breath was quickening and that she could hardly breathe with the fog that was coming into her room, and it seemed ready to engulf her with a sickening strange sound. Her eyes and ears were now her only hope to make sure nothing came after her. They moved rapidly, taking in everything that she found the faintest glowing of gold eyes that were slowly and carefully approaching her house.
Sarah gasped and fully away from the window, hoping that it hadn’t heard her or seen her, because she would be hopeless if it had.
After a few minutes of quietly and patiently waiting, Sarah decided that she could now glance out the window. She carefully peeked out of her window, but did not see the eyes. She was about to sigh when the floorboards on her stairs gave a soft creak of warning, and without an inch of uncertainty, Sarah plunged for her bed and pulled the covers over her body. She held her breath as hushed footsteps entered her room and paused in the doorway; examining Sarah and Nicky’s bedroom vigilantly.
Then after the moment of hesitation, the footsteps continued towards Sarah.
She could admit that she was unspeakably frightened, but she also wasn’t going to give up to the dark side without a struggle. When the footsteps were right next to her bed, she leaped out from under her blankets and lunged at the figure, thrashing out to inflict any sort of bodily harm against them.
‘Sarah! Sarah, calm down, it’s just me!’ the figure whispered from underneath Sarah. Sarah paused and looked upon the face of the person she had just knocked down. It was only Madison, wearing a black cloak with a hood and black baggy jeans, which Sarah had jumped at.
‘Oh god, I’m so sorry Madison! Are you alright?’ Sarah asked gently as she pulled her friend up briskly, going rather red in her face. ‘What are doing here so late at night, didn’t I just explain that I watch the yard at night for the dark vampires? You startled me; you shouldn’t have done that Madison, it isn’t right to come in someone’s room without a warning.’
‘I had to, because it was my duty to come and get you.’ Madison explained coolly, glancing up at Nicky hoping that the disruption hadn’t awakened her.
‘Why, what is this all about?’
‘We need to go to the school; it’s the meeting for all of the first years and since Hillary thought you would indeed attack the person who would be sent for you, I decided I would go.’
Sarah nodded, a faint smile toying her eyes, which were shining in the dark. ‘I understand, and I’m sure we must leave now, am I correct?’
‘As fast as possible, so yes immediately. The others are waiting outside for us, and they told me that we have to hurry before the clouds move away from the moon. We are not to be seen leaving your home at any cost.’ Madison explained, turning towards Sarah’s window staring out with narrowed eyes.
‘Who are the others?’ Sarah asked innocently, trying to fix her hair and changing into more appropriate clothes. Madison glanced over her shoulder and sneered, crossing her shoulders over one another.
‘Hillary thought it would be safer if Ryley and Simon accompanied us.’ She scoffed, obviously angry because Hillary did not trust her for a simple task as retrieving her best friend. Sarah frowned and went to the window, looking for Ryley and the other boy who would be with them.
‘I don’t see them.’ Sarah stated.
‘Well of course you don’t, do you think we’d be stupid enough to let ourselves be seen?’
Sarah suddenly felt stupid, and finished getting dressed, while Madison mumbled grumpily behind her. ‘I’m ready.’ Sarah announced.
Madison turned and examined Sarah, then nodded pleasantly. ‘Good, you choose to wear black, an appropriate colour for this situation. We need to shield ourselves amongst the darkness. Well then, I guess we should go down to Ryley and Simon, or who knows what Ryley would do if we were to be late.’ She sneered again, and headed for the door, her arms still crossed in frustration, her footsteps nearly silent. Sarah followed behind Madison, her steps sounding clumsy and loud compared to Madison’s, and that only made her feel worse.
When they exited Sarah’s house, a figure stomped out from behind a bush and growled, coming right up to Madison’s face trying to glare her down. ‘You were in there for nearly ten minutes, why is it that girl's always need to take their time while getting ready?’
Sarah saw right away that it was Ryley, and she grumbled and moved closer to Ryley. ‘Shut up, why do you always need to push things more then they need to be?’ Sarah said, poking him in his shoulder. He looked at her almost curiously, thinking that it was funny that she stood up for Madison. He seemed like he was about to say something, but waved his hand and turned away from both girls.
‘We don’t need to waste anymore time here, so let’s just get this over with and go. Simon get out here, we’re leaving.’ Ryley called out into the dark, his voice carrying farther than what he wanted.
A boy leaped off from a tree branch across the road and ran at a speed that Sarah had never seen before towards them. Nevertheless, for such speed, he could stop at once, just skidding to a halt at Ryley. ‘You called?’ he said, tilting his head and beaming, as he bowed politely to Ryley. Sarah stared at him, realizing that she had once seen him in her vision, the one where he was with Serge in the forest after Anna gave up her life to save the crystal. Sarah watched as his black hair nearly floated on top of his head, and found it rather curious that something inside of her stirred. It was a warm feeling of passion that tingled her whole body, and just from looking at this boy!
Ryley grunted. ‘We’re going before the clouds move away, and this is no time for you playful antics.’ He chastised. Simon just shrugged his shoulders and moved out of the way so Ryley could start walking for the school. Simon grinned playfully at Madison and Sarah, and waved a hand past him.
‘Ladies first please. I shall follow in the rear.’ Madison nodded and started walking, but when Sarah passed Simon, she looked into his eyes, and saw something warm there as he smiled shyly at her. ‘Hello Miss Turner, I’m rather happy that I was one of the three who was able to accompany you tonight, if I’m not being too subtle.’
‘Oh, not at all. If you don’t mind, I’m going to catch up to my friend now; I’ll see you later I suppose.’ Sarah said, trying not to look into his unfathomable mysterious blue eyes. He nodded as Sarah ran to catch up to Madison, his smile faltering miserably, but unseen by Sarah and Madison. After a soft sigh, he followed the girls while stuffing his hands in his pockets, and dropping his head his eyes folded into a sad frown, for some reason, he felt deprived that he didn’t get to walk with Sarah. Well, he did get to look at her for a long moment, and she had grown so beautiful over the years, her eyes so full of innocence and curiosity.
Nevertheless, it was most likely that she would never know about them, what they had so long ago it felt like it was in a book he read, or it was just a dream. It was hopeless to ever make her feel that same way again, because he was sure that she didn’t remember him at all when he stared at her, and she at him. To him, this was a lost cause that would never, ever become what it had ever again, and that was what made him so miserable.
‘Madison.’ Sarah asked, taking a quick glance back at Simon, hoping that he wouldn’t notice. ‘Who is that Simon boy, I swear I’ve known him from somewhere.’
‘Simon is a werewolf, so I’m sure you haven’t met him before, it would be almost impossible. They aren’t exactly welcome to our kind, and most have turned to the dark side as you know, so I wouldn’t trust him if I were you.’ Madison whispered, keeping her eyes on Ryley’s figure ahead.
‘He’s a werewolf?’ Sarah asked, feeling rather stupid now for that exciting thrill she had when she just would look at him.
‘Yes, do you see those white streaks in his hair, well those are there because he had a white streak on his forehead in his wolf form, quite fascinating if I do say so myself. Now let us be quiet for the rest of the walk, we do not need any company on a night like this.’ Madison let her voice trail off and fade away into the night, leaving Sarah feeling somehow knowing more than she had before.


When Sarah and the rest finally reached the school, looking down at it from the hill at the edge of the woods, everyone was already waiting down the hill for them. There was a circle created from candles, and in the middle was Hillary, Serge, some other elderly looking people and at least fifteen other twelve year olds, their faces shadowy and pale in the candle light. All their heads swerved up to the group and stared, and Sarah noticed that some of the kids their age began to whisper to one another.
‘Come on, we need to go down there.’ Ryley muttered, looking at each person casually. ‘Well, at least we aren’t the last ones here; it seems that Angel and Troy haven’t arrived either, but then again, they usually are late.’
Sarah heard Simon snort, and glanced back at him, only to see him shaking his head at Ryley. Ryley grabbed Sarah and Madison and began to drag them down the hill, with Simon unceremoniously following behind; his hands stuffed into his pants pockets, which was what he had done since they had left her home.
When they entered the circle, Sarah felt a strange presence come upon her like a wave of heat, and then she noticed that everyone was staring at her. Two girls nearby were whispering excitedly, not taking their eyes off Sarah. It made her feel uncomfortable, and she knew it was most likely because she was the one born to open the door in Foria.
‘Welcome Ryley, Madison and Sarah, we hoped you would be joining us tonight. Now there is only Angel and Troy left, and then we can begin the initiation.’ Hillary quipped, beaming to everyone within the candles. No one spoke, but Sarah’s face fell and contorted into a fearful and confused expression. Initiation? No one had told her that she had to pass some sort of test to get in, why had no one warned her about this before now?
‘Madison, what do we have to do for this initiation, is it hard?’ Sarah asked, trying to keep her voice calm and steady though her insides were twisting and trembling anxiously and also fear of course.
Madison glanced at Sarah, her eyes hidden by her hair that fell into her face, but Sarah saw a glint she had only seen very few times before, complete and utter apprehension of what was to come, and that didn’t help Sarah at all.
‘I have no idea how it is, my mother said it wasn’t that bad, but then again, she could have been saying that just to make me feel better. I did hear that it was awfully painful, and they burn you alive until you give up, and if you do, you cannot get into the school because you will be too weak to take on anything that Vladmire would throw at you.’ Madison suddenly shivered uncontrollably. ‘I do hope I make it in, because I will be shamed if I don’t, I mean, everyone has made it in for generations, and if I don’t…’
Sarah now had another worry that set in her mind, what if she didn’t make it, when everyone thought she would? What if they said, there must have been a mistake, and you are not the one who will open the door, so I’m sorry, you will have you go home and be a regular kid again.
However, Sarah was interrupted by the sound of two people arguing, their voices carrying on down the hill and to their ears. Most people turned and saw two figures around the same height rushing towards them, the female red in her cheeks and unable to look anyone in the eyes.
‘Ah, here they are at last. Angel and Troy, welcome. We can now begin the initiation.’ Hillary smiled and nodded at the two, which Sarah saw, were identical twins, both with light chestnut brown hair, and light brown eyes that sparkled in the candle light.
Hillary stepped towards the middle, and then with a sweep of her hand, a large black charred pole appeared. All of the older students and teachers, as it appeared to be stared at the pole while Sarah heard a chant start and continued throughout the group. It was in a foreign language that Sarah, Madison and Ryley didn’t seem to understand, but listened intently anyway. It was both beautiful and heartbreaking, and Sarah saw that the girl Angel had tears streaming down her face as she dropped her head to hide her face.
When it finished, Hillary stepped back, tears shining in her eyes as she looked upon everyone who stood around her. ‘Let us now begin, Celina Baker, may you please step up to the pole please?’
Everyone watched curiously as a tall girl with long pale blonde hair walked forward, apparently confused and stunned by what was happening. A dumb blonde, Sarah thought, the kind of person who labels herself as one as well.
The girl stepped up to the pole, and turned to Hillary. ‘Now what?’ she asked innocently, blinking like a small child looking upon the world. Serge twirled his finger, and ropes appeared out of nowhere and bound Celina to the pole until she grimaced and cried out in pain. Using his right hand, Serge created a ball of flickering blue flame then stepped up to Celina and put the flames at her feet, quickly stepping back to observe her reaction.
So they were being burned alive, how could they do this to them? How could Sarah ever pass this ridiculous test?
The flames began to grow, climbing up Celina's legs and licking her stomach. They could only faintly hear Celina's moans and shouts of pain, but she didn’t give up that easily. Eventually, the flames covered Celina entirely, and her screams could not be heard because the roaring of the flames completely covered it. Sarah noticed that Celina’s flesh did not bubble and fall away, or even turned black at all, it seemed that these flames were not the kind that would burn you. That did help Sarah slightly when she thought about it, but Celina’s screams made Sarah’s hairs on the back of her neck rise fearfully.
After a moment or two, the flames began to decline, but rather unhurriedly as if they were undeciding if Celina should be in the school or not. When the flames finally were only a soft spark at the bottom of Celina’s feet, Serge let the ropes fall loose so Celina could get away.
It was almost the same process with every student, except some had a flame that would black, and they would be cast away immediately, or some had flames that turned a bright red, which meant they failed, but they could stay and watch. The kids, who failed though, were only allowed to watch from the shadows past the circle of candles, and Sarah saw the group of kids her age decreasing until only three of them were left. a mousy haired girl with a large and almost crooked looking nose, a very gothic looking boy who glared at anyone who would even take a glance at him, and Sarah of course. The mousy haired girl tripped her way up to the pole, smiled while biting on her cheek, and then prepared for the flames as the ropes bound her to the pole. Her flames didn’t change colour, but admitted her into the school, and while she was stepping towards where Madison and Ryley stood, Hillary called out the boy’s name. He pushed his way past Sarah angrily, and while he was being tied, Sarah thought that of course she had to be last to go up.
The boy made it as well, and now it was Sarah’s turn and it seemed to her that the whole group went completely silent and sucked in their breath in anticipation. She tried to ignore it and only focused her eyes on the pole in front of her and wondering still, whether she would get in or not. This was surely some sort of joke, she thought, she wasn’t going to make it and everyone would laugh at her and make her feel like she should go hide in a dark drenched hole.
Before she knew it, the ropes squeezed her to the pole, almost making it impossible to even take in small gasps of air. Did everyone have the ropes this tight, or did she just get exceptional treatment because everyone thought she was oh so powerful and that she was the headmistress’s granddaughter. She tried to shift to a more comfortable position, but the ropes held to forcefully, firming more when she had tried to move.
The flames began to heat her feet, the blue blaze not burning her clothes or shoes as it had done with everyone else. Perspiration began to form on her forehead and her flat stomach as the flames crawled along her, taunting her to try and break her and make her scream for mercy. But, she wouldn’t, she held it down along with the tears that threaten to break free from their prison cell. She tried to see Madison, but the flames were too much to even keep her eyes open.
Her whole body was gleaming with perspiration, and if this fire had burned, she would have been dead by now. Why wasn’t the flames going away, why was she left on the pole with this horrible torture, she was about to scream, about to cry and thrash out, but she couldn’t give up now. It just wasn’t Sarah Turner to give up on something that would make all the difference in the world to her so easily and let all of the people who were watching have their satisfaction of seeing her fall.
After a while of the excruciating pain of the flames, Sarah had enough, her anger began to swarm inside, her head already spinning and dizzy with mental anguish. Her body began to tremble from her anger, but she was blacking out before she realized that the ropes were cutting into her arms from trying to force them free. She wished that somehow she wouldn’t blackout, and see if she made it, but she always did whenever her rage over powered her. She could no longer feel the heat of the flames, could no longer see the licking blue light or hear the roaring of the fire that had been around her, in fact, all she could see was black and she heard nothing as she fell to the earth, her eyes rolled into her head.

‘Is she going to be okay?’
Sarah moaned softly, gently opening her eyes and trying to focus on what was around her. ‘Why was she left on the pole so long, why wouldn’t you let her come down!’
‘We had to test her, for Vladmire will surely do the same if ever she was captured. She proved herself worthy though didn’t she? She broke free from the ropes and passed the magical flames and survived, she will absolutely be powerful towards Vladmire's attempts to try and kill her.’
‘What are you talking about, Vladmire kills anyone that he wants, how can Sarah even try to with stand such power?’ it was Madison’s voice, and she sounded very disgruntled.
‘I’m going to die?’ Sarah said stupidly. Everyone in the room spun round to her, not noticing that she had awaken and was listening to their conversation. Madison scurried to Sarah, helped her up, and let her sit on a chair.
‘No you’re not going to die, we were just speaking of what would happen if Vladmire would attack you.’
‘Oh, I understand now.’ She said, though her head was still slightly spinning and it hurt to keep her eyes open, so instead she squinted, seeing all the people who were in the room. It was a rather diminutive room and relatively chilly as well, and somehow Hillary, Serge, Madison and the rest of the first years had fit in this small room, though most were huddled together to stay warm.
‘Well, we’re happy that you’re…’ Serge paused and let the word hang there for a moment, considering how to put it. ‘Awake.’ He finally said, giving a small and very quick smile.
‘Yes, now we can finally continue with the initiation.’ Hillary said, staring at Sarah her eyes filled with hidden relief. She nodded silently at Serge, who immediately left the room leaving the kids all alone in the room, smiling nervously at one another except the blonde that had went onto the pole first, she was chatting merrily away to a black boy next to her. Of course, he didn’t seem to be paying any attention, but that didn’t really bother her.
‘Well, Serge will back shortly, but while we wait, why don’t we introduce ourselves, because over the next few years, these people you see will be as close to you as your family, maybe even closer.’ Hillary said softly, her crystal blue eyes twinkling as she looked at each young face, examining their features and the hidden truths that lay in their eyes. Finally, she laid her eyes at a rest on Ryley, both watching each other most curiously as if something unheard was passing through them.
When Ryley and Hillary finally pulled their eyes away from one another, Celina moved her way across the room towards Sarah and Madison, giving them a bright flashy smile. ‘Hello guys, my name is Celina Baker.’
‘Madison Thompson.’ Replied Madison, looking from head to toe at Celina, her lips curled into a sneer of disgust and remorse.
Sarah was about to say hers, but even before she had a chance, Celina cut in. ‘and of course I already know yours, you’re Sarah Turner, I mean who doesn’t know about you in our world. Oh, we are going to have so much fun here aren’t we? Why did you pass out on the pole, and what do you think about having to have the burden of trying to get all the crystals and opening the door in Foria?’ she spoke so fast that Sarah didn’t know which question to answer first, but tried to smile politely at Celina.
‘Uh, I actually really don’t know about the crystals that much, I mean, I just found out I was a vampire only a few weeks ago really.’ Sarah admitted.
‘Really?’ Celina gasped. ‘And your friend didn’t tell you anything and you grew up with her?’ Celina glanced at Madison, then back to Sarah before Madison could even get her nasty look in her eyes. ‘I mean, you’re like a legend to us in the village and all, and you never knew? I always wondered why you never visited the village, because I always hoped to meet you, but now look, we get to go to the school together.’
‘Uh, the village, what village are you speaking about Celina?’
‘Oh, we never told you did we Sarah? Well, there’s a village about a mile or two magical hidden in the forest that shelter’s vampires, wizards and witches.’ Madison explained before Celina could cut in and speak in her fast girlish way. Celina nodded in agreement with Madison, smiling and showing her brilliant white teeth that were completely perfect.
‘Oh!’ she cried, making both Madison and Sarah jump. ‘I’m a witch by the way, what are you Madison?’
Madison sighed and rolled her eyes, glancing at Sarah from under her bangs that were covering her eyes. ‘I’m a vampire, and before you even ask, Sarah is both a witch and a vampire in case you were wondering.’ Celina scoffed and stuck her nose in the air.
‘Well your totally wrong Madison, I’ve heard of Sarah since I was a little girl, and my grandparents were around so they know that Hillary and Vladmire…’
Madison lunged at Celina and covered her mouth before she could say anymore, with Sarah wide eyed on the chair and her mouth opened in confusion. Madison hissed something in Celina’s ear, and Sarah heard Celina’s soft whimpering as she agreed with whatever Madison had told her.
‘Madison, Madison get off Celina this instant!’ Hillary cried dashing over.
‘You don’t understand Hillary, she was about to speak of what no one should know, the horrible secret of Vladmire.’ Madison protested. Hillary froze in her spot, her face going red in the cheeks and her lips beginning to quiver, but unable to produce a sound. She looked down as if in a daze at Celina, her eyes blank.
‘How do you know of this child, who was the one who told you?’ Hillary questioned.
‘My grandmother Celeste.’
‘Well, do not speak of it again, or I will be forced to erase your memory.’ Hillary warned. The door to the room opened, and Serge stepped in carrying a dark red box, with a clasp of a moon and sun on the front. Serge paused, his eyebrows raised in a curious manner as Hillary pulled up straight. ‘You have them Serge?’ he merely nodded, moving towards Hillary and handing her the box.
‘Alright, everyone line up, I am about to hand you the most important gift you will ever come across.’ As all of the students lined up, Hillary opened the box to the first boy, the boy which Sarah thought had looked gothic. ‘You Colby you have a great talent for spying, and will handle small weapons rather well, you shall be a thief.’ She pulled out a necklace, and let it hand for a moment to let everyone observe it quietly, then put the necklace around Colby's neck. The necklace hung on a gold chain, and at the end was a pure gold moon that was only a quarter full, the light from the room making it sparkle delightfully. She moved to the girl that had the mousy dirty blonde hair, who tilted her head suspiciously at Hillary, eyeing her out as if she was a part of the dark side. ‘Stephanie, I found out that your gift is of psychic ability.’ Hillary took out another necklace and gently let it fall down to her neck. She moved to the next person, announced that they had the talent of martial arts, and the next person was the quiet and shy Angel, which she ended up getting the ability of being a thief. Her brother Troy got the ability of a warrior, and Celina, who was next to him became a mage, which meant the use of magical properties both black and white magic. Sarah didn’t really trust Celina with powerful magic such as what she received, but focused, as Ryley became a warrior as well. Madison was next of course, and her ability was being psychic, which Sarah didn’t doubt that for a moment. Next to Sarah, Madison of course tried to hide her beam, and let her head fall so her long bangs hid her eyes. Then it was Sarah’s turn, which Sarah had been apprehensively anticipating, wondering what sort of ability she was just about to receive.
This time, Hillary pulled out a necklace, which was different from all the others, and as a matter of no importance, it gleamed much more than the others did. Instead of having just a moon at the end of the chain, there was the moon and a sun connected together, and for some reason, that brought excited whispers around the class, especially from Celina who had the highest voice in the class.
‘You had just seen me wearing this necklace not long ago Sarah, well, this Sarah, was actually my own necklace when I was a child, but now I pass it on to you, I know you will use it well.’ Hillary said, putting the necklace over Sarah’s head and letting it fall. When it touched Sarah’s chest, the necklace gave out a warm glow that instantly made Sarah feel less nervous, and calm, almost sleep even. ‘Now, where’s Simon?’
‘I shall go find him Hillary, I won’t be but a moment.’ Serge scurried away through the doorway and disappeared into the darkness beyond. Serge was true to his word, and appeared with the boy that had accompanied Sarah earlier on in the evening. He strode past all the first years, and stood next to Sarah flashing Sarah a quick smile, before his face went straight and stony, showing absolutely no expression that Sarah could detect.
‘Ah Simon, why did you not come to collect your necklace, you know that you are well worthy of it, don’t you?’
‘Yes Hillary, but I thought I would just feel slightly awkward, if you get my meaning.’ He told her, his eyes widening a touch.
Hillary nodded. ‘Of course I do.’ She said smiling sincerely at him. ‘Your ability, which I have observed for a while now is magic, so you are to be a mage, and your second ability will be a warrior, use them well.’
When Hillary pulled out his necklace, Sarah gazed at it curiously, because it was far different from all the rest. On the end of the necklace, there was a claw that held a grey orb in its grasp, and Sarah thought that somehow it meant that he was a werewolf, but she didn’t ask whether her thought was true or not.
‘Well, we’ve surely had an eventful night, haven’t we?’ she gazed upon all of her new students faces, but no one moved or even breathed. ‘I do think it’s time for us to go back to our homes and get a good night sleep before the term starts on the seventh. Off you go now.’ She told them, waving them off. Sarah glanced at Simon, but he moved away and began to whisper with Serge and Hillary about something that she wasn’t able to hear.
‘Come Sarah, we should be getting home now.’ Madison said, tapping Sarah on her shoulder irritatingly. Sarah wanted to stay, she wanted to speak with Simon because she wondered why she was so drawn to him. But, it was wasn’t her to chase after a boy, so she pushed those raging curiosities away and followed Madison, unaware that Simon had stared after her, also very curious about her.


‘Troy, we must get back home!’ Angel cried out, trying to grab her brother. However, Troy just dashed out her reach with a nimble step, taunting her to catch him every time she missed him by just a hair.
All the first years were in the yard, most already heading for the forest trail that would lead them back to the world where no one would ever believe what would happen tonight. Unless you were Celina and you lived in the village where people who were just like yourself lived, hiding away from the normal people who had no idea that it even existed. That is where Celina was headed, taking a different path which was opposite of the trail Sarah would need to take. Damien, the black boy, was already heading up the hill for Sarah’s path, so that meant that he was also in Sarah’s grade, and that she had seen him before, she just couldn’t recall if she had. Then again, Sarah’s grade was split into three classes, and her school did have over five hundred students within its walls, so it was hard to know everyone.
‘Hey, will you two please just shut up and go home?’ Ryley shouted, pausing in his walk. Angel turned to him, tears in her large timid chocolate eyes that glistened in the radiated moonlight.
‘He won’t listen to me, he never does!’
Ryley rolled and his eyes and grumbled, stomping his way over to Angel and Troy, who was eyeing out Ryley suspiciously, wondering what he should do. ‘Look kid, Hillary has instructed me and Simon to make sure everyone goes home, and I’m going to do that, so move your ass now!’
‘Come and make me if you’re so confident.’ Troy taunted, standing his ground.
‘I will, you can be sure about that.’ Ryley lunged at Troy, who didn’t even have a chance to react, knocking him to the ground while Ryley gave him a few punches in his face. Angel was staring, transfixed as Ryley made her brother’s lip begin to bleed, her hands covering her mouth in worry.
‘Ryley, okay he’s had enough!’ Simon yelled, just coming out of the school. Ryley reluctantly stopped, brushed himself off, and scoffed at Troy.
‘Didn’t I tell you I would make you go home? Next time you want to challenge someone, consider the fact that people can kick you ass, and being a smart ass will get you into trouble.’ Ryley spat, going back to the little dirt path, storming his way past Madison and Sarah. Angel stared at Ryley, then kneeled down to Troy to see if he was all right, saying things that were inaudible to Sarah. She hugged her brother securely, and it seemed he didn’t mind at the moment, but closed his eyes while an affectionate smile slipped onto his lips. Sarah jealously watched, wishing that she and Jake would somehow become like that one day.
‘That boy just doesn’t know when to quit.’ Simon said, stepping beside Sarah and watching as Ryley pushed past Damien. Sarah jumped with surprise, and closed her eyes in embarrassment. ‘You are rather jumpy, aren’t you Sarah?’ Simon asked.
‘Usually I’m not.’ Sarah muttered, feeling foolish.
‘She’s telling the truth in case you didn’t believe her.’ Madison said, looking at Simon with disgust. ‘I’m sorry Simon, but Sarah and I should be going as well.’ Said Madison giving a false smile and taking Sarah’s arm. ‘See you when term starts then.’ Madison started walking, dragging Sarah behind her and grumbling things under her breath while Sarah glanced back at Simon and shrugged her shoulders.
‘Well, I don’t think it would be a gentleman of me to let two young girls walk alone in the night, would it?’ Simon said, catching up with Madison. She sighed and faced him, and Sarah saw her eyes blazing with irritation.
‘What is it you’re coming to Simon?’ she snapped, her lips twitching into a sneer, but Simon paid no attention to her rising anger.
‘I think I should walk Sarah home, because you never know what could be lurking in the night, waiting for such innocence like her to prey on.’ He exclaimed, not taking his eyes off of Madison’s. Simon’s white streaked bangs fell into his eyes so Sarah could no longer see his expression, and had the urge to move it away herself.
‘You mean prey like thirteen year old boys who are seeping into purbity and are just looking for a good time?’ Madison nearly whispered, glancing at Sarah. Simon smiled.
‘Oh of course, and this is coming from a girl who pretends to hate boys, yet in her eyes you can tell that she is dying for a boy to ask her out so she could let our her own growing curiosity? I’m just trying to be nice Madison, are you going to repent me for it? Think about it.’ said Simon, tapping the side of his head.
Sarah couldn’t help but giggle, because she sometimes thought the same way about Madison, but could never admit it. Madison slowly turned her head to Sarah, her eyes piercing as she glared, her cheeks flushed in aggravation and humiliation.
‘Oh I’m just kidding Madison, I’m not that horrible.’ Simon said, pulling Madison closer to him, a slight chuckle amongst his words.
‘Well it wasn’t very amusing.’ She said, trying to pull away from his grasp, but was ineffective in the process. She sighed and looked up at Simon, then at Sarah, seeing how Sarah seemed to have taken a liking to Simon as she watched them, smiling dazzlingly.
But on the other hand, he didn’t get on her nerves as Ryley did, and he could help keep them safe on the way home, and besides, he would probably just follow them anyway. ‘Alright, you can come with us, but don’t do anything that might just upset me, because I have begun my training for this since I was a little girl, so just remember that I can hurt you.’ She warned. Simon grinned charmingly at her, but she just rolled her eyes and started to walk on the path with Sarah right behind her. No matter how much that boy would try, she didn’t think that she would ever trust him, but as least, he was higher than Ryley was on her list at the moment, and she supposed it was better than nothing.


‘So Simon, how old are you, and why didn’t you go up for the initiation?’ Sarah asked, turning around so she could see Simon from a full view. His head shot upwards, amazed that Sarah had spoken to him, because neither girl had the whole walk back.
‘I’m thirteen.’ He replied casually, shrugging his shoulders. ‘And I didn’t go up for the initiation because I did it last year, but I had to prove myself worthy enough to be in the school since I am a werewolf, and had to use that year to do odd little jobs for Hillary. But this year, I finally will be able to learn magic and all the other things I hadn’t learned last year.’
‘Oh, that must have been so boring, and you did all that just because you are a werewolf? Do they not trust you or something, just because you are a different species from us, or is there something else in all this that I don’t know about?’ Sarah asked suspiciously, glancing back at Madison who was completely ignoring their conversation.
Simon sighed and shook his head. ‘There’s nothing else behind it, but that I’m some sort of hideous monster who could kill them with one swipe of my paw.’ He lifted his hand to his face examining it then dropped it to his side, looking away from Sarah desolately.
‘Could I ask you a personal question? If you don’t want to answer, you don’t have to, but I’m just kind of curious.’
‘Sure, ask away.’
Sarah hesitated as she chewed on her cheek, pulling her eyes away and looking up at the moon that was nearly hidden by depressing clouds.
‘What happened to your parents? I heard that something happened to them when you were really young.’ Sarah asked, keeping her eyes away from Simon. She noticed his eyes widened, and his eyebrows lifted at such a personal question.
‘Well,’ he said, rubbing the back of his head. ‘Vladmire had wanted my parents to join him and his army, but my parents refused because we were on Hillary’s side. After a while of persuading, Vladmire got a little disgruntled that they wouldn’t join him, and one day came to our cabin and killed them.’ He paused, looking at the sky thoughtfully. ‘He didn’t know that I was just in the other room, and I had heard the whole thing, and I was only six years old at the time. I walked in my human form to the school, weeping I might add, and told Hillary what Vladmire had done. Ever since then, she took me under her wing, I guess I was like a son that she never had.’
‘So, are we related then?’ Sarah teased. Simon frowned at her, and she immediately felt bad about saying that to Simon. ‘I’m just kidding, but that’s really terrible, how did you ever manage to get over it?’
‘Oh, it was easy because I just grew up and realized that people get murdered for stupid reasons, and that there are many evil people in this world. That’s why I asked Hillary to join her school a few years ago, because I wanted to learn about magic and maybe one day, I would get my revenge.’
‘I hope you do one day Simon, because he deserves it. Vladmire needs to feel the pain that his victims feel when he tortures them, or when families must watch as someone close to them dies.’
Simon nodded, a faint smile appearing on his lips, but something about his smile made Sarah frown with confusion.
‘I do hope you know that Vladmire has been through a lot of pain throughout his life, and that is how he became evil, because he wanted to punish the world and make them feel the way he did. But after a while, he liked the feel of such power, he craved the fear that people had when they saw him, the tears that were shed because of him, and so he eventually he couldn’t control himself, and that’s why he is so evil these days.’ Simon explained to Sarah.
Sarah scoffed, somehow unable to believe that Vladmire had been through any sort of pain through his life. ‘Really, what sort of things made him the way he is Simon, please enlighten me with the answer.’
‘Alright then, let’s see, his parents died when he was very young, I don’t know how but he was sent to a school where they would beat him for stupid things like using the wrong fork. He had to live at that school as well, all year round and was given the smallest and gloomiest room in the building, and was alone most of the time until a girl came and had to live with him. They grew up together since they were seven years old, and Vladmire realized as he got older that he had some very powerful magic within him, because odd things would happen to him whenever he felt trapped or scared. Eventually, the school where he was living began to notice the strange things that were happening, and that they only happened when Vladmire was around, so they labelled him a warlock, and was going to burn him. Vladmire left in the night when he was only twelve years old, leaving behind the only person who he ever respected and even loved, that little girl who had lived with him.
‘The school accused the girl of being a witch and helping Vladmire with magic, and they brought her out in the yard and beat her in front of the whole school until she would tell them what kind of magic she and Vladmire did. They nearly beat her to her death, until Vladmire himself came back for her, and rescued her, killing two of the teachers with his magic, something he didn’t intend to do.’
Sarah finally took a breath, because throughout the story she was so intrigued that she couldn’t even think about breathing.
‘That’s really… I’m sure that helped him become so evil these days, but really, is that the best excuse?’
‘I’m not even finished yet.’ Simon said hotly. ‘Anyway, the girl and Vladmire left together, but even before he did that, Vladmire gave half of his magic to the girl. Somehow, during their travels they found a portal to Foria, and of course went through it, not even realizing that going through it made them create their own future. But one day, the girl was alone along a forest path waiting for Vladmire to come back from a village with food, an old philosopher found her, and immediately recognised her from visions that he had.
‘He told her that the boy she was with was a murderer, and would one day destroy the whole world, and he told her to leave him and learn to use her magic because she was one day destined to defeat him. Only his magic can destroy himself he told her, and even though she didn’t want to leave him and break his heart, she went with the philosopher and started a whole new life.
‘This just recreated new flames of anger for Vladmire of course, and he vowed to destroy everything that was beautiful, loved and pure, because he thought that there were no such things. He also wanted to somehow make that girl know how much pain she had given him, because revenge was the only way he knew how to let out his feelings, and she had hurt him deeply by just leaving him like that.
‘Actually, Vladmire had killed even before the girl left, but he just had never told her. He did that, to strengthen his magic really, but after she left, he openly killed innocent people just for the fun of it. And that’s when his name started to become known to the people of Foria, and when he was sixteen, there was a king who thought his army would destroy him. They were pathetically defeated but only a wave of his hand, but he wanted to be stronger, he wanted to be feared by all. Then a whisper on the wind came to him about some very powerful crystals that each king in Foria controlled, and they were the key that would open a door to the magic that he wanted.
‘Of course, he needed to become more powerful to overtake the seven kings of Foria, and trained himself day and night, and began to get some allies who wanted to be a part of his wrath of destruction. However, there was another force growing that Vladmire did not know of yet. The girl, his only love was training herself to rise up against Vladmire with the best warriors and martial artists that Foria has ever known. This girl learned to fight with a great sword, the best bow and arrows and of course, her own magic that was in her veins. The philosopher provided the girl, who was only sixteen but had already experienced enough pain and murder to last her forever with a necklace, a necklace that would let her magic be even more powerful than Vladmire’s, or at least they hoped.
‘She only got to get two crystals before Vladmire had killed the other three kings, and eventually, the two faced each other, and in the end, Vladmire would not fight her, and she was forced to attack him. She took his three crystals, and departed him, thinking that she had killed Vladmire.’
Sarah stared for a long time at Simon, stepping backwards but not actually knowing where she was going. This story, if it was correct, then that meant that Hillary had once long ago been in love with Vladmire, the Vladmire that was after her crystal shard piece.
How could Hillary love such a monster, how could he ever be capable to have feelings for someone when he destroyed so many innocent people just because he wanted to?
‘And I guess you’ve figured out the rest.’ Simon said solemnly. ‘Vladmire could not be beaten that easily, and one of his men which could see into the future, told him about you, and also about the crystals and that they were being shattered into many pieces, waiting for you to collect them once again.’
‘And know you’ve done your duty to tell this to Sarah, so why don’t you leave her alone?’ Madison snapped, rapidly spinning around. Simon’s eyes narrowed sadly, as he looked away from both the girl’s and away into the darkness, hoping to maybe see something that would encourage him. He wasn’t quite his best when he was with girls, and these two were fairly intimidating around him and Ryley it seemed. ‘See Sarah, this was why I did not want him to come with us, because Hillary assigned him to doing that task, and she wanted it done as early as possible, before you trusted her even more. She wants you to know that it wasn’t quite her fault, because he wasn’t always evil, and he did save her life when the teachers and students beat her.’ Madison explained, as if it would make it all better.
Sarah merely closed her eyes and shook her head, confused by everything that had happened within the past two weeks.
‘I’m sorry.’ Simon said, biting on his lips nervously as he watched Sarah, his eyes filled with distress.
‘Don’t be.’ Sarah exclaimed rather snappily. ‘Besides, I’m nearly home, I think I can walk the rest of the way myself.’
Simon and Madison glanced at each other, their faces scrunched up worriedly, as if she wasn’t able to handle herself. It frustrated her that she was treated like a child, but then again, she guessed that they were just worried that somehow Vladmire would get her. But now that Sarah thought about it, why hadn’t Vladmire already attacked her, he was surely powerful enough to just break into her home and destroy her family? It was a rather a curious matter, and the more that she thought about it, the more she thought that he just wouldn’t take her away, he was watching her, seeing how powerful she really was. Or at least, that’s what she concluded anyway, but for now, it would just remain one of the many questions she still wanted answered.
‘Are you sure, I mean, what if something happens, and we aren’t there to help you?’ Madison asked, her eyes not even wavering as she caught Sarah’s gaze.
‘What would you two do anyway; Vladmire and his followers are much more stronger than us, so we would all just end up falling anyway. Besides, I have some sort of feeling that Vladmire doesn’t intend to kill me, so I’m not that worried anymore.’
‘All right, but if something does happen, scream as loudly as you can, because your parents will help you.’ Simon told her forlornly.
However, Sarah only snorted at his comment instead of thanking him for his kindness. ‘My parents? My mother hardly knows any magic, and Vladmire would surely kill my father instantly before he would even be able to use any magic.’ She looked at her watch, saw that it was two in the morning, and could only imagine what her parents would think if they noticed that she wasn’t in her bed, or better yet, what would Nicky do?
‘Well, I should really be going before anyone awakes and notices that my bed is empty. Thanks for walking me home Simon, and I guess I’ll see you tomorrow Madison.’ they both nodded at her, and left her to walk in the shadowy moonlight on her own, though they watched with narrowed eyes, making sure nothing followed her inside her house. Once she was through her door, the lock clicking behind her, Madison promptly spun on her heel and dashed away, not even glancing back at Simon or wishing him goodnight.
‘Girl’s completely confuse me.’ He whispered to himself, and went to the bushes across Sarah’s home to watch for any unusual activity, for he was not going to let Sarah be unprotected with such evil surrounding her. And there he sat the whole night, his legs crossed and his eyes narrowed and glowing faintly, only leaving when he saw Sarah’s sister silhouette rising at around seven o’clock. He was dreadfully tired, his eyes slipping shut every few moments, but it was worth it, because Sarah was safe another night, and that meant the whole world to him. Simon slipped away completely unnoticed through Sarah’s neighbourhood, making his way to the woods and towards his only home, thinking about the long weeks he would have ahead.