[right][h3]Luca Seacliffe, Katalina Hargraves, Jamie Drummond Parking Lot -> Dorms[/h3][/right] No. Her name was Luca Agnelli. She was sixteen years old. Her senior year at Northwood Academy had just started – and already it was a mess, but that was beside the point. She was not, in any way, shape or form, special. She liked magic tricks, sunsets, and Amy Snow– No. She stuck her hands to her head, one on each side where pain was shooting up like throwing knives lodged in a target board. Bone shifted and changed in ways it never had, in ways she never wanted it to do again, and all of a sudden her fingers were gripping two points. Brittle ram horns protruded from her head, curved and twisted and freckled. They were bone white, she knew, because she could see their edges in her peripheral vision. Burning bile rose up in her throat. Her name was Luca Agnelli. She was sixteen years old. Her senior year at Northwood Academy had just started – and already it was a mess, but that was beside the point. She was not, in any way, shape or form, special. She liked magic tricks, sunsets, and Amy Snow– [i]Stop it! You're going to make yourself sick![/i] –was dead. Extra dead. As in, as dead as a doornail. There was no way to come back from there, not in this world: there were spirits, according to her various aunts who all possessed a talent for tarots and crystal balls; there were poltergeists and seances, Ouija boards and mediums; but there were no get out of jail free cards when it came to the afterlife – whether it be Heaven, or Hell, or something in between. Information was pushed into her mind, regardless of how much she raged against it. She didn’t [i]want[/i] to know of Northwood’s secret. Learning of it had been the reason for Amy’s death, her murder, Luca was sure. And yet she had access to all of her roommate/best friend’s notes; she knew where they kept them. She’d tagged along on adventures like a loyal hound – a blind one, who’d no idea what they were getting into. Her feet took her to the parking lot, trailing behind the other students and she looked blankly up at the bus. Would it really be that easy, to leave them all behind? [i]There’s something you need to do first, isn’t there?[/i] And there was. She couldn’t let anyone – maybe the Headmistress, maybe Miss Standiford – take everything Amy had learned about the school and burn the notes. Even if the staff had nothing to do with it, whoever or whatever was killing the girls might, and Luca couldn’t allow it. She looked around at the students gathering in the parking lot for ones who might come with her, because she really didn’t want to be the next statistic. “Luca.” There was a lull before the person spoke again. “You have horns growing out of your head.” Katalina said, walking over to Luca and shrugged. “But given how today has gone, that is not even topping the weird list,” she said. Katalina’s face was rather tear stained, but the rest of her was dry, which was odd given the shower they had all received in the gym. “I’m not going to give you some stupid crap about how it’s going to be okay, because it’s not.” Luca found herself staring blankly, unsure of what to say. She knew that Katalina was a friend of Amy’s, but she wasn’t as important to her as she was to Luca. Strangely, though, she didn’t have any tears. She wasn’t sure if she [i]could[/i] shed them yet. Everything, including how her thoughts were buzzing through her mind, felt weird. Inhuman. One moment later, she’d processed the first part. “They’re made of bone.” Luca rubbed at her forehead. “Amy left you with something, right? Something in here.” “Yes, she did. There’s something about the lake that isn’t right. It’s where they found Nat. There is a connection there, and yet, I won’t be able to find out, because we’re leaving. Just like that. No answers, nothing. Just shoved on the fucking bus and... “ Katalina trailed off as tears started rolling down her cheeks again. “I’m sorry. I’m not all here. I just… its not right.” Luca nodded, a little awkwardly. She wasn’t sure what Katalina was so upset about. Surely everyone should be happy to escape the school that was running out of students to kill? “Amy knew things,” she ended up saying, carefully. “We went walks around the lake, sometimes, and she’d take notes… She looked back up, towards the dorm building. “I sort of need to get those notes, whatever they are.” “I’ll come with you. I want to help, even if I can’t fully check out things,” Katalina said and looked at Luca. “Do you know where they are?” Luca simply nodded, before frowning and reluctantly elaborating, “Diary. In Amy’s diary.” She peered at Katalina curiously, chewing on her lip. “I know somebody who can make you feel a bit calmer, if that helps? Keep it all together?” Intellectually she knew this was a place where a hug or a pat on the back would be required, but [i]woah[/i], that was so far out of her comfort zone it may as well have been on the moon. The number of hugs she’d shared with Amy was probably in single digits, few and far between, and– She was making herself a bit antsy with all such thoughts. “You do?That might help, I think. Also, the more the merrier, I guess?” Katalina said, being a bit indecisive as it would seem. Luca took that for a yes, flashing over to the lurid orange car in a movement that was not quite normal enough to be human, too fast and too few steps. Once on the driver’s side, she opened it – much to an annoyed (and shaky) note of surprise, and tugged out Jamie Drummond by the arm, forcefully for a girl of her apparent strength. “The hell, Agnelli? I was busy!” “Right. You [i]were[/i] busy. But I need your help with something.” “Drummond?” Katalina asked, raising an eyebrow. “Hargraves?” Jamie mocked in almost the same tone, eyes quickly darting back to Luca, who stared back. “I’m guessing your power has something to do with emotions then,” Katalina said. “Also don’t mock me right now please.” “Sorry,” he said quickly, but he was still looking at Luca as if there was something wrong with her on a spiritual level. Luca was well aware (at least in her mind) that Jamie Drummond owed her a favour, a big one, because she didn’t like being lied to. He’d committed the worst sin of all and promised her that it would all be okay, and that Amy Snow would be found safe and well, which pinned him as almost as bad as Miss Standiford. Still, she knew a little of his power even before the revelation. At breakfast, her despair was being siphoned off and each time her heart felt a little lighter, Jamie had stared more despondently into his museli as if wanting to drown himself in the milk. “You owe me one, Jamie,” Luca said. “Fix Katalina. And come with us to the dorms before the bus leaves, make yourself useful.” After a moment, he seemed to get it, even if his furrowed brow indicated he wasn’t quite happy with it. “[i]Fine[/i], let’s add more emotional trauma to the empath, who cares about them, right?” “Jamie, if it is too much of a burden you don’t have to,” Katalina said. “I mean yeah, it sucks, but I’ll suck it up. What matters right now is finding Amy’s diary, right?” She said, looking between Jamie and Luca. Drummond pinched the bridge of his nose. Luca kept staring. “The diary. Yeah, let’s do that first. I don’t [i]mind[/i] stopping all that hurt, Hargraves, providing you’re not halfway to jumping off a cliff out of grief.” Luca sighed and took a few steps towards the dorm building, looking backwards towards the two. “C’mon, they won’t notice us.” A thin film of something, the same substance that mirages were made out of, covered the air between them and the students gathered in the parking lot. “And, Jamie? Fix me if not Katalina, please.” Luca had realise quite some time ago that there was something new, something wrong with her feelings ever since she’d grown horns. [hr] If Katalina had to pick what today felt like to her, it was a hurricane. They had been warned, the signs were all there, but when it hit, no one was ready for it. The emotional onslaught was still raging through her, from anger, sadness and grief. Her best friend was dead, and now she was going to be forced to leave the one place she felt she belonged. She did not want to go home, and she’d rather deal with a death trap than her parents. However, as they headed towards the dorms, she felt her emotions lessen, like someone was cleaning up the debris from the storm. The anger went first, then the grief. There was still the lingering feeling of sadness, but that was a bit harder to get rid of. She turned and looked at Jamie. “You... “ She paused. “Thank you,” she said, settling on that. She was about to be angry that he was manipulating her, but she knew that she needed a calmer mind for this. Jamie gave a jaunty salute and continued pinching the bridge of his nose. “Luca, you and Amy were on the third floor, correct?” She asked, looking at Luca. It was still a bit unsettling to see the set of horns that had apparently just grown out of Luca’s forehead, but there wasn’t too much she could do about that. She did momentarily wonder if it was a bit painful for the other girl, but she shrugged it off. “Right.” The dorm hall was eerily quiet, enough so to hear a pin drop, but so was Luca. [i]”Well, this isn’t awkward at all. Nope. Just walking through the school with Luca and Jamie, like it’s a normal day… oh who am I kidding?[/i] Katalina sighed and headed up the stairs towards the third floor. She wanted to ask why there was this air of antagonism around Luca and Drummond, but she didn’t dare speak. The silence was overwhelming and it felt like it was taboo to break it. After two flights of stairs they were on the third floor of the dorms. “Which one was yours?” Katalina asked, turning to look at Luca. “The first one,” Luca said, pulling out her key and unlocking it. The room was in a state of disarray – bedclothes sprawled across the floor, suitcases open and kicked into a corner with their contents hanging out, a pack of cards fanned out in a circle on the bedside table. Luca didn’t look at all disturbed by the scene. “Where do girls usually keep diaries?” Katalina walked over to the bed that looked more organized and made, and lifted up the mattress with ease and looked. “Usually here. Or at least I do,” she said and sighed. “I never kept one. Amy could see what’s in it without even opening it,” Luca said, before leaning back against the wall and observing the room. She opened up the wardrobe – half of it empty – before turning to the drawers. “Feels like we’re robbing a grave.” Katalina blinked and then chuckled. “Of course… it’s Amy! Where else would she put her diary!” She said, walking over to the bookshelf and looked through it and soon pulled out a well worn diary. “Hide a tree in a forest, right?” She said, holding it out to Luca. The girl took it tentatively, almost as if scared of it, and clutched it to her chest. A short silence followed. “Here I was going to suggest the underwear drawer. That’s where I keep mine,” Drummond piped up. Katalina bit her cheek to keep from saying something, and looked at Luca. “So, are you going to see what it says?” She asked softly. Luca didn’t say anything, but she did hastily unfasten the cover of it, flipping through pages and pages, all written on. She paused on one, froze for a second, and shen slammed it shut, clipping the outside back together again to keep its contents safe. “We should get out of here,” she said rather quickly. “Agreed… hey Drummond, how many people does your car fit?” Katalina asked, looking over at the Scot. “Four. A bit cramped in the back, though.” “Sounds good to me. I just rather not be on the bus right now,” Katalina said and sighed, turning to leave the dorm. [i]”I’ll miss you Amy.”[/i] She ran her hand along the doorframe and went to leave, hopefully what would be for the last time.