The Beckoning Chapter 1

Sidenote: This is not yet entirely finished. I would like to get input before I continue.

Chapter 1
         A soft sigh escaped my lips as I stared at the ceiling and leaned back in my chair. Pre-Calculus was boring me to death. Literally.  Others around me seemed to have the same thought as they played with their fingers or looked out the window at the snow-less grass. A sigh escaped me. I never had left the little town in Arizona, and if I did, the farthest I went was to the border. This caused me to read books about the fairy tales of other lands. Well, that and they brought me a sense of comfort since I just didn’t fit in with other children my age. I loved the way every problem was solved in books; nothing ever seemed to go wrong.
“The variable is x,” I answered smoothly, drawing back from my nostalgic thoughts as the teacher, Mr. Palo, called on me.
         I didn’t go back to my reverie after this break in it. Instead, I stared around, wondering how many other teenagers before me sat in my spot and if they were as bored as I was now. A flicker caught my attention and I couldn’t help but stare in the spot for a little bit longer, just to make sure it was just a trick of the light or my contacts acting up instead of something actually interesting. As a small finger appeared from behind a desk, I nearly jumped out of my seat.
         The boy sitting next to me gave me an odd look. I never liked his types: clean cut and nicely dressed. He was the epitome of being born into the right family with the right house with the right everything.
         I, on the other hand, looked slightly messy with my hair never in the correct place and always dyed odd colors. This month it was a colorful swirl of hair on the top layer and just a plain black on the bottom. A jacket was always slung loosely around my shoulders and a backpack as well.
         My mind wasn’t wandering for long, however, as I saw the scaly finger beckon at me once more. My muscles tensed a slight degree before raising my hand.
         “Can I go to the bathroom?” I asked as Mr. Palo’s stern gaze landed on me through his round spectacles. His ice cold blue eyes always looked hard – like he had been through a war or something of the sort. No one knew anything about it.
         A curt nod allowed me to get up. I walked stiffly and awkwardly down the aisle toward the door, looking for any sign of some scaled looking creature. Someone stuck their foot out, causing me to lurch forward and grab onto someone’s desk as to not fall. Giggles arose and blood rushed to my cheeks. I’ve always wanted to be the ballerina type that looks graceful in everything they do, even when they trip. My mother was like that. That trait completely skipped over me. My focus snapped back to walking now as I steadily made my way across the room and to the door.
         The knob of the door twisted under my pressure as the door creaked open. This school was too out of date. I shut it softly behind me before walking down the hallway, looking at the slightly rusted blue lockers.
         My hand slowly trailed along them as I listened to the hum of the air conditioner, convinced that I had imagined the scene. However, I had no problem with taking advantage of staying out of the classroom’s dull interior when the hallways were so much more interesting with their banners about homecoming and clubs and…well, whatever else those fliers said. I never really did pay that much attention. As I casually walked down the hall, I thought of everything that had been happening over the past few days. The scaled creature was…well, odd. It wasn’t as though everything was exactly normal lately either. My mother, so graceful and beautiful, had been having something resembling a seizure, only she talked as her eyes rolled back into her head so you could only see the white and she shook uncontrollably. No matter how disturbing it was to me, she wrote it off as nothing.
         As I worriedly recalled one of the worst incidents where she dropped a glass vase that she had been cleaning and fell to the floor among the broken pieces of glass, my thoughts were broken by a dark haired boy with the most stunning blue eyes walk out of the girls’ bathroom with a cocky grin. My eyebrows knit in confusion. “What-?”
         “Hey, Lil, I found her.”
         My eyebrows squeezed closer together as my confusion mounted, there wasn’t anyone else around us. Or that was what I thought anyway. Upon me following the boy’s gaze, I realized that scaly creature – I suppose it was a pixie by the looks of it, only, you know, scaly. The wings were there, as well as a sharp set of teeth that became known as it smiled. Its hair was a tuft of pink and gold, sticking straight up from its head like one of those troll dolls I used to collect as a kid. Only, the trolls looked more normal compared to this creature. I suppose it was a girl as her attire was a pink dress that matched her hair and had lilies one of the straps of the dress, which almost resembled a toga or at least something of ancient Greek clothing.
         Its voice was what I expected it to be – squeaky. “Get the tape and rope and let’s bind her up and throw her in the car.”
         This time my eyebrows got released as my green eyes grew wide. The boy with his almost God-like beauty pulled out duct tape from his pocket and came towards me. I attempted to prepare myself to fight, not truly expecting to get anywhere. I was five feet tall and he was at the least five inches more than that. Swiftly, he grabbed the tape and covered my mouth as I tried to shriek as he bound my hands. “Move,” he muttered roughly into my ear, even though his touch was fairly gentle.
         When I stood, almost dumb-founded that no one had seen any of this out of the classrooms or over the security tapes and come to the rescue, he pushed me forward with a slight nudge of his knee. My refusal to do so caused him to sigh before picking me up and slinging me over his shoulder while I banged my bound hands on his back, fear constricting my chest as I saw the pixie fly in front of me and breathe into my face, near my nose.
         As I inhaled, my vision began to blur. And as I took another breath, I couldn’t see the homecoming banner strung up in the hall anymore before my consciousness was gone.
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         When I woke up, I was in familiar surroundings. The smell of my mother’s cooking wafted from the kitchen along with her voice as she murmured to something. Groggily, I looked around, trying to recall what happened just a few minutes – or was it hours? – ago.  Slowly, I pulled myself up from the couch and made my way towards the kitchen before noticing that the boy was there. The guy with the stunning eyes that was also probably a cruel killer or a rapist or…
         Only, if he was any of those things, I probably wouldn’t be feeling the way I was and my mother wouldn’t be…laughing? A small cough made my appearance an announcement as Cecelia, my mom, turned around with a surprised expression on her face.
         Before I could say a word, she said what I was going to, “We need to talk.”
         “Yeah, an explanation sounds necessary,” I muttered in return with a curious but slightly angry gaze toward the only other person in the room besides my mother and me.
         “Sit down,” she commanded me, her hazel eyes seeming cold and unfriendly. That was unusual for my mother, unless it was because I stayed out too late. Anything past ten o’ clock in the evening for her was too late; probably the reason for my lack of a social life. Slowly I slid into the chair, watching the dark-haired boy with interest as he examined a coffee maker with interest.
         “Never saw a coffee maker before?” I asked sarcastically.
         I didn’t get far.
         “Penelope,” Cecelia warned in a sharp tone. My shoulders drooped reflexively as I saw that my challenging habits weren’t being praised at the moment. Her tone grew soft as she began, “Penelope…there’s something you should know about me and who your father was.”
         “Great. Just great; time to share all the family secrets.”
         Another glare was shot at me as the boy stared at me with a bemused expression.”She’s got a bite, doesn’t she?” A dark chuckle escaped him as he picked up a knife and examined the blade.
         “You’re not helping, Nicholas!” my mom exclaimed at the boy, Nicholas apparently. “Penelope,” her voice was softer now, “I’m-”
         The sentence was cut off as a crash from my room was heard. Nicholas grabbed a knife from one of the drawers, somehow knowing where the silverware was held, and steadily and surprisingly quietly moving towards the direction of my room. My hand had gone up to my mouth but now was dropping down and grabbed a knife for myself. Cecelia’s eyebrow rose. “What in the world are you planning to do with that?”
         “Defend myself,” I whispered back.
         She shook her head before grabbing one as well, still slightly smirking at me. I stared indignantly back before following Nicholas before another crash was heard from behind me. No one was behind me anymore; it was like my mother had disappeared into thin air.  I stared in disbelief as Nicholas came rushing back by my side muttering a few curse words under his breath. “Come on,” he muttered after his slur of different profanities was through with. My legs didn’t seem to obey as I stood still. I felt a tug on my arm before we were moving towards the garage and sitting in the car. The dark-haired boy, who looked about seventeen now that I had a good look at him, threw the key into the ignition and turned it forcefully.
         My mind was still whirring as we pulled out and went down the street, making a couple of turns before we were on the interstate and beginning to go into the country roads. “Where are we going?” I asked, breaking the silence.
         “Hallowed ground,” was his answer.