[IC] Darkwood Academy

[Penguin]

Terraline lay on the couch, curled on her side with her arm dangling off the side of the sofa. Her dark hair was splattered across the pillow, a serene countenance upon her pale face. The girl was quite unaware of the fact that the TV remote, coffee mug and magazine were all floating above the coffee table, nor was she aware of the levitating lamp and books around her. It wasn't unheard for one to do things as one slept. Many people with active minds talk or even walk in their sleep. Terry had a tendency of activating an ability within her mind, an ability neither she nor the aunt and uncle she lived with knew about.

It had been a long time since she had fallen asleep in the living room but Terry had felt so ill when she came home from the hospital that she just passed out on the couch, hoping to escape the cruel clutches of nausea. Fortunately for her, the medicine given to her kicked in long before she awoke. A shrill shriek suddenly made Terry's blue eyes snap open. The floating items simultaneously rose higher into the air. She took in the surroundings, first adjusting to the fact she was in her living room. That's when her eyes fixated on the TV remote a couple feet above her head, floating delicately in midair like a boat upon waves. She tilted her head to find her fair-haired cousin, staring at her as if she had seen a ghost.

"Sarah?" Terraline managed to whisper quietly as she slowly sat up. She looked around at everything and wondered if she was still asleep, then she recalled that she probably wouldn't have questioned if she was sleeping if she really was asleep. "Why is everything flying?" She asked, curiosity coating her smooth voice.

It was with the simple thought of hoping for the objects to stop floating, that they did. Curiously, she sat up. Terry applied focus to the idea of making them float again and they did. "That's interesting." She mused, glancing back at the shell-shocked girl. As strange as it was, the whole situation felt vaguely familiar.

Her aunt and uncle burst into the room, coming to the aid of their daughter. Her aunt was in a long, outdated nightgown and her hair was in big curlers. She had a pretty face, much like Terry's mother did, but her expressions tended to ruin whatever prettiness there was. Terry's uncle was a bit of a chubby man, tall with a receding hairline and dark eyes that were often filled with anger. His eyes immediately went to the Terry and the floating items. They widened to the size of moons. "Demon!"He shouted. "What is this dark magic?"

Terry's lips parted to reply but nothing came out. Her aunt and uncle were very religious and she was sure nothing she could say could change their minds once they were set on an explanation.

"Oh dear, Charles, the lord has her now. "The woman said fearfully, pulling her daughter, Sarah, behind her.

"What have you done to our niece!?"He demanded.

"I'm not possessed." Terry said indignantly, standing up. "I don't know why this stuff is floating but I think I can control it."

"Don't listen to its lies, it's trying to lure you. Terraline is no longer in there." Charles whispered to his wife and pushed her backward gently. He took out a cross and held it toward Terry. "Leave my home at once."

"Uncle Charles please!"Terry tried, "it's still me I swear. I really don't know what's going on. Look I can make it stop."She tried to make the objects float downward but in her panic, they went all flying in different directions, crashing into other things. The TV remote went spiraling into the window, shattering the glass. She swallowed. Apparently a simple thought couldn't control it after all. "I'm sorry .. I-"

The woman, who Terry called Aunt Bethany, had screamed and ran out of the room with Sarah. Her uncle came toward her with a vengeance, now swinging his bat in one hand and holding the cross in the other. He struck her hard across the face, causing her to stumble back and hit the floor. Blood trickled down her chin from her lip, the salty taste of iron filling her mouth. Terraline had to leave. She didn't want to hurt them and it seemed as if they had accepted that she was no longer alive.

"Thank you for everything, Uncle Charles."She murmured and then ran out the door.

"Stop trying to guilt trip me you monster!"He shouted and threw his bat angrily after her. She stumbled as it hit her leg but managed to make her way out the door. Terry walked down the drive way and to the sidewalk, where she stopped. Her head was reeling and she couldn't quite take in what just happened. There was no way in hell that this was all real. She couldn't make things float and her aunt and uncle would not just throw her out into the streets. With renewed shock, she watched as a pebble floated as she willed it to. She let it drop and stared up at the night sky for a while. Maybe she'd let them cool down and try to explain to them later. That probably wouldn't work. Her aunt and uncle were not bad people but they weren't very reasonable ones.

"Excuse me miss. Is your name Terraline Gray?" Two men, dressed in expensive black suits, stood in front of her. A parked, black car was nearby. They looked down at her, eyes completely obscured by their shades.

Terry stared nervously. "Why?"She asked. She couldn't help but wonder if she was some sort of alien and the FBI were here to bring her to area 51. Wouldn't that be a story to tell? The idea made her bite back a smile.

"You're coming with us." The man said, "Whether you like it or not."

She frowned and took a step back. "No."

"Fine then." He moved forward and exhaled. A puff of blue smoke came out of his mouth. Terry felt a tangy scent fill her nose, then her eyes rolled back. Everything went black.

The next thing she knew, she was being yanked out of the car into daylight, sunrays blinding her the very moment she stepped out of the car.. A yellow school bus was waiting in front of her. The men ushered her inside it. She hesitated on the steps, looking at the driver. "Where am I going?"She asked. Gazing inside, she could see many others her own age. There were some who didn't looked surprise at all to be in there and then there were those who looked terrified out of their wits and confused. Looking over her shoulder, she found the two suited men were gone.

The driver was a large man, bulked up with muscle and probably taller than anyone Terry had ever seen. He examined Terry with vibrant, orange eyes. Orange? A look of annoyance twisted his features, "Get moving, kid. I don't have all day. You'll find out when you get there. "

"Come on!" An impatient boy behind her exclaimed and shoved her. There was a line forming behind her.
She sighed and went inside the bus and took a seat in the back by herself. Nothing was making any sense and her head was beginning to ache terribly.

[Thedreadpirate]

All was dark, the acrid smell of burning metal, flesh and hair conjoined to create a burning, thick musk that perforated every bit of Jason;'s conciousness, the only other thing he could feel was the soft hairy fur of his companion, against his front as his back was pressed against the cold, hard, metal of the dish, the wind howling outside, racing past the two survivors, Jason could hardly understand what was going on, why was it all dark when clearly he could hear the distinct crackle of burning leaves.....

Jason suddenly snapped back to reality, the flashback gone, he sighed, remembering, as he lay on his bed, tossing a ball up and down, using the change in air pressure, the small wind currents, the sound of the ball hitting the ceiling as well the sound as the feel of his arm hair against the sheets to ascertain the exact position of the ball. He was waiting, and DEAR LORD ALMIGHTY did he hate waiting, the feeling of doing nothing, especially when something was going to happen, was pure torture for him, especially because he had already spent years here, the past few months of it doing nothing, just wandering the grounds, figuring things out, and making friends with the few who had stayed behind. So he entertained himself with thoughts of what this upcoming year would be like, what with the new students replacing the ones from last year, new friends, old friends "blahbity, blahbity blah, right Lucky?" Jason said as he teleported away, leaving the ball to drop onto his bed. Picking up and apple from his mini-fridge, and walking out the door, Lucky right at his ankles the whole time.

Hearing the sound of the bus arriving Jason and Lucky gave each other a quick nudge and began to race toward the parking lot, knowing that most, if not all, the teachers would be present for the arrival of the new students, which meant that Jason could steal down to the kitchen, grab a snack unseen, and quickly teleport to under a tree nearby or something to 'see' the new students as they arrived off the bus.

Which is precisely what Jason and Lucky did, arriving just in time to see the bus pull up the long driveway to the academy, and the teachers in a long line waiting to greet them, Jason and Lucky split the bacon and waited underneath a tree that was just downwind of the arrival zone, to 'see' what would unfold.

[Stormberry]

Sage sat on the bus, his blue-green eyes shut. It was silent all around him, which he was enjoying - especially after being harshly being kidnapped. He had been early to brunch, which was a rare occasion. Normally he went late, just to annoy and anger his greedy parents. He couldn't stand being around them. Not after that incident... He quickly shook his head, heaved a sigh, and began struggling to remember what had happened at brunch. He couldn't remember much, since it was all a fog. He knew he had gone to drink tea, and then everything had gone black. It was the weirdest shit. Nonetheless, he was able to realize he had been drugged, then kidnapped. But why? Was it because of his charming good looks? He acted arrogant, though he didn't care much for his looks. He wasn't absorbed with himself, unlike his parents.
-
The bus went over a bump, causing Sage to nearly jump through the roof of the bus and groaned once he came back down to earth. He really hated riding the bus, but he clearly had no other choice. He glanced around at the other teenagers on the bus, but there was nobody in his immediate surroundings. And if they were, they were either too terrified, asleep, or as he had discovered, rude. He'd asked a girl for a piece of gum upon seeing her take out mind bubblegum, which was his favorite, but she had rudely told him to "screw off and leave her alone". Perplexed and taken aback, Sage had replied with "There's no need to be rude", but she had turned up the volume on her iPod with her ear buds in her ear and ignored him. He hadn't bothered to try any harder, since he figured that there was no point.
-
He yawned tiredly, wishing he knew where he was going or had someone to talk to. It wouldn't be as painful, and he wouldn't be suffering in silence Not that he'd bother anyone about anything - but he'd certainly try to make friends. He sighed, slipping a thin book out of his pocket. He'd put it there before the kidnapping sicne he usually read during brunch, another tactic used to annoy his ever so lovely parents. Most people with his lifestyle wouldn't bother reading, seeing as they were rich. Surprisingly, Sage couldn't find it in himself to care too much for it. He busied himself with friends and sports, something he enjoyed. It wasn't too enjoyable ot have everything at his finger tips, especially if he had nobody to share it with. He'd been popular at his old school and had good friends, but he hadn't gone out often. He sighed, pushed his legs up to his chest, and started reading. As he did so, he caught his reflection ahead of him and looked for the first time since the kidnapping.
-
Tousled brown locks over his head and nearly touched his eyes. Tired, sea-blue and green eyes stared back, throwing his round face into perspective. He facial features were smooth and gentle, contrasting his height. He had sun-kissed skin from being outdoors, and muscle from swimming. He wore a short-sleeved dress shirt, jeans, and a pair of tennis shoes. He wished he hadn't worn the damn shirt, but he had to dress up since "it looked good". He could almost hear his mother telling him this and pushed the memory away fast. He shook his head ot clear his thoughts, and redirected them to his book.

[Rina]

“Hey kid, feeling any better?”

A man in his early twenties said as he walked through the door of the hospital room she was using with two hot drinks in his hands.

“I’m still alive so I guess that counts for something.” Tia said with a small smirk as she sat up in the hospital bed and gratefully accepted the Starbucks cup from her brother. A smile crept on her face as she tasted the hot chocolate with an added pump of peppermint, her favorite hot drink from the coffee stand. “However I think the doctors are going to kill me with all the holes they are stabbing me with the IV needle.” Tia said with a sarcastic smirk as she showed her bandaged hand and forearm. “For some reason it keeps malfunctioning or something a few hours after they stab me. They even tried putting the needle in other common places such as my hand but the same thing happens. I think they gave up though since they’ve bandaged me up and haven’t stuck me with an IV or a shot since.”

“That is very strange.” Tia’s eldest brother said as he sat down in the chair besides the bed. “Maybe you’re becoming the human magnet or better yet, due to your appearance maybe you’re the human repellent.” Jeff jested as he glanced towards her messy bedhead.

“Hey, it’s not my fault that I’ve been stuck in the hospital.” Tia retorted as she mockingly crossed her arms and gave a slight frown. “Oh, where’s mom and everyone else?”

“The twins took her home to get some rest. You should have seen her while you were out, she was freaking out the whole time. Tim and dad should be here any minute now. The two of them are finishing up some paperwork while I got you. You’re being discharged today.” Jeff said as he dropped her backpack on the bed besides her. “Mom gave me a set of clothes for you to change into. Once you are ready we can head out.”

Although she was sore and still wasn’t feeling her best, knowing that she would be going home gave her the boost of energy and excitement to get ready as fast as she could. Stepping out of the small bathroom, she saw that her youngest brother Tim and her father joined Jeff. “Alright kiddo, let’s get you home. The doctor said you should be feeling better soon and that you shouldn’t worry about what happened to the IV needles.” Her father said as they made their way out of the room. However, before they could make it to the door, there was a knock and two men in a suit opened the door.

“Hello Tia?” The man with short black hair said.

“I thought we already told you we are not interested?” Jeff said defensively as he took a step between Tia and the two men.

“My name is Mr. Emerson. I’ve already spoke to your parents earlier today while you were asleep.” The man continued, ignoring Jeff’s comment. “We’ve been notified about your condition and-“

“My condition? Are you talking about what happened with the needles?” Tia asked interrupting the man.

“Yes, that is precisely what I am talking about. This condition with the needles won’t stop or go away. Rather, it will grow until you start effecting more than needles. However, do not fret. We have a place for people such as you that-“

“You mean an institution of some sort or a-“

“No, I would think of it more as a school. Granted, it is much more than just an average school. You will get a good education but you will also get the help that you need for your particular condition.”

“Hey didn’t you already hear what my parents said earlier or what Jeff said. We are not interested so why don’t you take the hint and leave.” Tim said with a glare.

“I’m afraid that cannot happen. By law and regulations, she needs to come with us.” The second man said as he started to make his way to Tia.

“I’d stop and reconsider what you are doing.” Jeff said to the man approaching the girl. Seeing that the man wasn’t going to stop, Jeff made his way towards the man to stop him and aimed a punch towards his face. However before the punch could land, a grunt was heard and Jeff was pinned to the ground before anyone could see what happened.

“Jeff!” Tia yelled as she ran towards her brother. Midway in her run, she suddenly felt someone grab from behind. The man in black hair unexplainably was behind her and held her back.

“What? How did you get there?” Tia asked, knowing that the man was originally by the door and couldn’t have made it beside her in that short of a time period.

“Now you listen here, you better release my daughter right this second.” Tia’s father said as he approached the man holding Tia.

“Emerson, can you take the kid to the bus. I think they should be loading the bus up now and could jump back here with someone that could sweep their minds, things became a little messy here.” The second man said as he made his way towards Tia’s father.

“Alright, I’ll be back in less than three minutes.” Emerson said.

Suddenly, after a quick blink Tia noticed that she wasn’t in the hospital room any longer. Rather, she was outside in front of a parked bus. “Alright kid, off you go.” A man in a suit said as he motioned the young girl to follow the crowd of teens onto the bus.

“Wait, how did you do that? What’s going on?” Tia objected as she turned towards the man with a half-filled Starbucks cup in her hand.

“You’ll get your answers later, for now follow the rest of the group on the bus.”

With a scoffing tone, Tia muttered under her breath as she made her way to the bus. At the front of the line, there seemed to be a girl that seemed to be the same age as her brother Tim that was holding the line up. She seemed just as confused as she was about the situation going on. After a bit of hesitation, the girl went towards the back of the bus and the line continued to move. Climbing up to the top of the steps, Tia looked around at the passengers on the bus. Most, along with the girl the held the line up, were older than her but amongst the crowd there were a few that were younger such as her, if not even younger than she was. With a sigh, Tia started to head towards the back of the bus and sat down in the seat in front of the girl that held the line up. Pulling the hat down so that it sat tighter on her head, she watched the group of teens as they made their way on the bus for a few seconds before turning around in her seat and looked at the girl sitting behind her. “Hey, by any chance do you know where they’re taking us?”

---

Josiah looked out the window as he watched the bus pull up with the newest arrivals. After the first year in Darkwood, Josiah lost count on how many buses came since his arrival. Even
though he couldn’t remember how many buses came since his arrival, he still remembered his trip to Darkwood.

It was just after he got over a being sick, which he thought his mother was exaggerating how sick he was when she brought him to the hospital. Living in a single parent household with a wage that gave the family a little more than the necessities, Josiah knew that wasting money on hospital bills was not a wise decision. However, he never thought the unwise decision would have played out as it did with him being shipped off to school. “Heh, at least there’s one less mouth to feed and pay for.” Josiah said with a slight shrug before looking back out the window. Off to the side, he saw a guy about his age with a dog and assumed it was the blind guy that lived not too far away from him. Although he never really spoke to the guy, nor even remembered his name, the dog was something that distinguished him from the crowd.

Josiah was tempted to join the guy by the tree, knowing that one of them might be his new roommate unless the superiors decided to shift things around and give him someone that already lived there since his old roommate graduated. “Eh, why not.” Josiah said as he headed out of his room.

“Hey, do you mind if I join you?” Josiah asked as he approached the teen under the tree. “My name’s Josiah, I don’t think we properly met each other before.”

[Penguin]

Terraline watched a girl, a couple years younger than her, sit beside her. She had short, blonde hair and a friendly face. Terry was in a pretty irritated mood and she intended on not letting anyone sit with her but this girl didn't irk her. In fact, she was happy to see a younger face. It was comforting in the idea that perhaps they weren't going anywhere too horrible. “Hey, by any chance do you know where they’re taking us?” The girl asked.

"Not a clue." Terry replied, "I asked and the driver wouldn't tell me... I'm Terraline. Most people call me Terry." She figured she might as well get the introductions over with. Was she going to a permanent place? Glancing up the walkway, she saw that quite a few people had bags with them. Terry checked the pockets of her jeans but only found her iPod and tangled up earphone wires. She also found a crumpled, fifty dollar bill. It would do.

[Thedreadpirate]

Jason sensed the bus arriving, the exhaust smell getting closer, the small quietly loud background noise of people talking to each other mixing with the slight sound of extremely large tires spinning against the gravel driveway, he was exited, but he scanned the teachers to see what they're expressions were like, there was no slightly increased breathing or small sounds of nervously jumping up and down, well there were a few, but mostly the teachers seemed to be acting very professionally, almost nervous, Jason wondered why.......

Suddenly, Jason sensed a familiar smell approaching him, Lucky growled, standing up next to Jason as the man approached him. Jason put his hand on Lucky's back and calmed him, causing him to lie down again, his head under Jason's hand. "Hey, and no, I don't think have met properly, shame on us, I'm Jason, this is Lucky, good to meetchya" Jason chuckled as he scooted over slightly to make room for Josiah underneath the tree "Nachos?" Jason offered, referring to the plate of snacks that he had snagged from the kitchen that was sitting on a very low-hanging treebranch, taking a bit of the cheesy, crunchy mess himself. "You're the guy who creates Illusions right? the ones that can fool all 5 senses? must be trippy" Jason observed after a moment as the bus pulled into view and stopped directly horizontal to the line of semi-nervous teachers.

[Rina]

Tia nodded at Terry’s response as she took a sip of her hot chocolate. She was glad that she was holding her hot chocolate, as well as wearing her backpack Jeff gave her when Emerson somehow transported her here. “Well, I’m not sure if I can say that it’s nice to meet you seeing the situation that we are in but nonetheless, my name is Tia.” The girl said with a slight smirk before continuing. “Did guys in suits come after you as well? They visited me and my family as we were leaving the hospital and from what I could gather we’re going to some sort of institution, or rather a school for freaks as one of them loosely stated. Either way, my brothers were quite pissy when they came to visit me so if you ask me I don’t think these guys should be trusted.”

---

“Likewise.” Josiah said as he joined Jason besides the tree and watched the bus as it got closer to the school. After hearing Jason offer his snack, Josiah gave a slight shrug before responding. “Sure, why not.” Josiah said as he grabbed some of Jason’s snack. As he was munching on his snacks, he listened as Jason spoke. “Yeah, I’m the illusionist. It can be fun messing with people sometimes but I always have to make sure I ground myself in what’s real since I can see the illusions as well. However, I have to say that your abilities are amazing. Not everyone in this school is able to make up for a mutation like you can with your blindness. On top of that, you can teleport as well. That must be very handy for you.” Josiah said with a slight chuckle as he grabbed another chip. As the bus pulled up, he could see the new arrivals looking out the bus with a mixed reaction. “I wonder who’s going to be the runner this time. There’s always someone that tries run on the first day hoping to escape. Last time is was a girl in the ninth grade I think. At least she wasn’t as bad as the kid that pulled the fire alarm in the middle of the night a few years back hoping to escape during the chaos. As long as my roommate isn’t a runner I’ll be fine. I rather have my sleep uninterrupted tonight.”

[Thedreadpirate]

"Well thank you" Jason smiled in reply to the compliment, taking a bit more of the cheesy snack for himself "it is rather handy to be able to teleport, but it can be dangerous as well, see I have to be absolutly sure where I am teleporting to isn't in the middle of a tree or a wall or something, which I suppose isn't a problem so much now that I have a better handle on my abilities, but It's still dangerous for when I don't know an area very well, and theres no way I would be this well adjusted without this guy right here" Jason said as he began to gently pet Lucky's head. Then chuckled as Josiah continued and mentioned the runner, Jason remembered the runner in his year "I hear that" He replied in agreement to the sentiment of not wanting a runner as his roommate

Jason 'watched' as he sensed the different scents mixing with the unique sounds of heavy or light steps emerge off of the bus, some more nervous than others, some not nervous at all. "If you ask me, the teachers seem like they're gunna run more than the students" Jason chuckled to himself as he waited to see what would happen next.

Lucky stared at the stranger, he wasn't sure how he felt about this new presence near his old friend, but if Jason trusted him than for now so would he. He laid his head down on Jason's lap, feeling his friend's cold hand wash over his ears and face that were rather warm in this new summer weather, the feeling was nice, but was interrupted by the screeching of the doors to the bug opening, and the students filing out, their black and white expressions nervous and excited and a myriad of other things as well, Lucky repositioned himself so that he could see what would unfold just as well as Jason could.

[Adriane]

Daylight had been creeping across her room for some time now. It had started on her ceiling, bright on the white wall, and had slowly dripped down the wall to her bed. Now it pooled around her head, bouncing off her light sheets, illuminating her gold hair, and shining on her face. Frustrated, she groaned, rolled over, and buried her face into her pillow. How could it be the next day already? She hadn't had nearly enough sleep. Her head pounded and the light invading her eyes burned. Conscious, her ears echoed with sounds all around her. The rustle of her sheets was like a gunshot, too loud and crisp to be the first thing she heard that day. She could hear everything else, too - the creaking of the floors in the hall and slamming doors. Farther away she could hear the hiss of a bus engine and shoes on pavement. It was like this everyday, every time she woke up. The first few minutes everything was loud, too loud. Everything she saw was too bright, too sharp. It was only once she adjusted to the day that things subsided. She could see and hear without it being painful, and everything she didn't focus on seeing or hearing faded a little.

Persephone waited for the adjustment, laying still and trying not to breathe too loud. Once it came, everything but the pounding in her head subsided. That couldn't be resolved quite as quickly. It came from a lack of rest and blood. The longer she had to stay awake the longer she more she had to work her body and mind to stay conscious. But it wasn't her fault she couldn't sleep. Her mind had been relentless. It kept her awake with thoughts of everything from homework to where she might have been now if she hadn't ever had her blood problem. And the more she thought the more blood pumped to her brain, and the more blood cells died out. For anyone else this was not a problem. They only needed some sleep or some food and they could create their lost blood cells. But for Persephone, this only meant one thing, and that was that she needed more of someone else's blood.

Vampires were a thing of fiction, Per was sure. Yes, she needed to drink blood to survive. But she did not go on the prowl and hunt down people and drain their bodies completely of blood. She didn't devour flesh. She didn't substitute animals. She didn't life for the chase. She didn't even like to kill bugs. Most of her blood supply came from people who willingly donated their blood, and only on a few rare and desperate occasions had she actually 'sucked blood' from someone. Even then she hadn't taken much - just enough to keep her going and make them slightly lightheaded. She didn't even need that much that often. A little went a long way, especially if she didn't let herself get low. And that's all there was to it. Stealing blood from people wasn't her power, that was the enhanced senses, strength, and speed she had. She liked to think the rest of it was just the consequences of having powers. Everything had a downside to it, right?

Per rolled over, pulling herself out of bed, stopping at her room's mini fridge, and moving on to her dresser. Within another few minutes she had gotten dressed, downed the bottle of scarlet blood, and brushed the remains from her teeth. She could still hear people outside by the bus, moving around and talking over the humming engine. She vaguely wondered who was arriving - what they could do and where they had come from and if one of them would take the empty bed across the room from hers.

She left the room and moved down the halls. She couldn't hear much coming from the room she was heading towards but one person's steady breathing, meaning Orren was most likely still sleeping and his roommate was gone. She didn't doubt this - his roommate was never without his dog, meaning there was always panting and the dander-smell around when Jason was. Now there was nothing but traces of it and Orren's smell as she reached his door. She leaned against it and listened, deliberating if she should wake him or not. In the end she decided on a gentle knock. If it woke him, it meant he was already close to the edge of waking. If it didn't wake him, so be it.

[Stormberry]

Sage watched as a beautiful brunette walked onto the bus and stared with awe. She was so pretty. All he could do was stare. He gulped nervously as she came closer. Then to his luck, she ended up sitting beside him. His heart pounded loudly against his ribcage. To him, it was a wonder how nobody was hearing it. He glanced around just to make sure, but no one was paying him any attention. His palms began to sweat, and he clenched his fists so that nobody would see. Breathe, he told himself. Breathe.
-
To his luck, she sat down beside him. He glanced over, and his heart raced even faster and harder. He went to speak, but then shyly turned away. Not to soon after, another girl joined her. He looked over at the duo. She looked younger than the brunette did, but not by much. He listened to their conversation, trying his hardest not to look directly at her, nor make it seem like he was eavesdropping. He didn't want them to think that he was rude. Not that he cared, but it wasn't the way to start off a friendship.
“Hey, by any chance do you know where they’re taking us?” The younger girl asked the brunette beside her.
"Not a clue." Terry replied, "I asked and the driver wouldn't tell me... I'm Terraline. Most people call me Terry." Terraline. What a beautiful name. He smiled to himself, but coughed to cover it up.
-
“Well, I’m not sure if I can say that it’s nice to meet you seeing the situation that we are in but nonetheless, my name is Tia.” The girl said with a slight smirk before continuing. “Did guys in suits come after you as well? They visited me and my family as we were leaving the hospital and from what I could gather we’re going to some sort of institution, or rather a school for freaks as one of them loosely stated. Either way, my brothers were quite pissy when they came to visit me so if you ask me I don’t think these guys should be trusted.”
-
Sage turned over, finally deciding to join the conversation. "Hi." He greeted. His voice was a mixture of a British and Australian accent. "I'm not the only one who got attacked by a group of men, I take it?" He commented. "I don't think they're to be trusted either, because they drugged my tea. I thought that was a good way to start off my brunch, don't you?" He leaned back against the window, turning to face them. "I'm Sage." He introduced himself and held his hand out for them to shake. "Did anyone else get terribly ill, then miraculously recover?"
-
Sage had gotten sick a week and a half ago and had been sent to one of the best hospitals his parents could afford. There, he'd gotten sick, so sick, that he couldn't move or open his eyes. His parents had bought the medication he needed, but hadn't gone out of their way. Sure they had given him the best hospital serviced that one could get, but that was it. He'd finally recovered a week later and had been brought home. His parents had thrown him a small "Welcome home" party, and then that had been the last of it. Sage would have appreciated the gesture if they had actually put effort into it. But like always, they didn't. He sighed, pushing the memories away, and looking back at Terry and Tia.
________________________________________________________________________________________

The familiar sound of gunshots filled the air, piercing the serene silence. Willow couldn't find it in her to jump anymore. It was so common and was as familiar as the sound of rain, or an alarm. She sighed,shaking her head. She couldn't wait to leave this darn neighborhood, but on the other hand, she could. Will didn't want to leave her parents in this awful mess, but she had no choice but to go. It was a nuisance. She had just gotten a job to help pay their rent and now she had to go? Granted her parents worked, but every little thing helped. Sure she could work the corner and get money faster, but there was no way in heck she would do that.
-
Turning to face the mirror, she glanced at it to see her reflection. Her long, straight auburn hair tickled her back and framed her face. Soft, warm blue eyes stared back at her and met her reflection. She wore a black tank top with a gold skull, with a lace back, a pair of black leather pants, spiky black combat boots, and a black hoodie. In addition, she had on a pair of leather fingerless gloves with a black beanie. She wasn't a particular fan of dressing this way, but she needed to make sure that she didn't look like an easy victim. It was a dog eat dog world in her city, and only the fittest survived. So far, she had done well. Willow sighed and put the hoodie on to make herself be less noticeable and also took a pair of cheap, tinted sunglasses and put them on as well.
-
She stepped away and examined her small, cramped bedroom one last time before departing. She wanted to say goodbye to her parents, but they were in bed after being up all night and worrying. She didn't want to wake them. With a sigh, Willow left her house. She stuffed her hands in her pockets and moved her switch blade, gas pepper spray, and hand held tazer, to her pockets before heading off to the bus stop. She drew the hoodie close to her but held her head high and kept a close eye on her surroundings. Nothing was out of the ordinary. If one were to count the continuous, harmonic sound of gunshots. It was almost music to her ears. Almost. If there wasn't gunshots, then something was even more wrong.
-
Willow sighed, recalling how the ambulances had been late arriving at her house when she had fallen desperately ill. Her parents hadn't been able to afford the best health care, but they had given it their all. They took turns staying with her and helping her in the hospital. The staff had been great, since they appreciated kinder people, rather then the cruel and rude people. When she had finally recovered, they had bought her some things she had been wanting for a while. She had felt guilty and told them they could return it, but they had refused. Willow had then accepted it, and thanked her lucky stars she was still alive. Now that she was alive and going to a new school, she could only hope that things would be better there than they were at home.

[Metronome]

Orren was, indeed, still asleep. He was hidden under his covers in such a way so that only an expert eye could find him. There was a slight rise and fall of his cloud printed comforter, and the light snore of a man who wasn't prepared to be awoken. However, someone apparently saw otherwise.

Orren let out a grumble and a groan when he heard a knock on the door, his ears much more attuned than he would have liked. He considered ignoring it for a moment before deciding that he should at least go see who it was. It was probably Per. Orren could sacrifice another hour of sleep for Per. Despite his harsh words and recent lack of romance, he was still very fond of her. She just...worried him. He worried him. He worried about the way that she just let him push her around when he got into his moods. He worried when cuts and bruises appeared on her, and he didn't know where they came from. He worried that one day things would get out of hand; she would get hurt. This worry, of course, only turned into more tension, more frustration. It was a vicious circle. Sometimes Orren thought it may just be better to end things between them. But then, right when he got the balls to do it, she would look at him with those big, fucking Bambi eyes and he would lose all his courage again.

The messy haired boy staggered out of bed and went to the door. He was dressed in little more than a grey t-shirt and navy boxers, too groggy to care. He cracked the door open and peaked out. Sure enough, there stood Per in all her adorable glory.
"What time is it?" Was all the boy could manage.

[Adriane]

She heard a soft groan through the door, followed by the shifting of sheets and the familiar sound of Orren's feet padding against the floor. The door opened a crack and revealed a slice of Orren's body. Per brightened at the sight of him, a smile stretching across her face and her eyes shining. For almost her entire life she had known him, and she had grown more attuned to the sound of his voice and the way he moved and the rhythm of his breathing than she was to her own self. Even still, the sight of him sent her heart racing. With the new sight it was even worse than before. Now she could see every strand in his messy hair and every curve in his smile and, her favorite, every fleck of brilliant color in his eyes. She could see every little bit of him in perfect clarity, and he was so fascinating she could had stared at him for years.

Right now his eyes were tired and only peeking open, and his voice was deeper than usual, coated with sleep. He asked what time it was, and her heart fell into her stomach as a wave of guilt washed over her. Had she knocked harder than she meant to? Clearly she had woken him up sooner than he wanted to get up. Her mouth pulled down at the corners, her expression growing sheepish. "Uh, I don't know." Truth be told, she hadn't even glanced at a clock since she had climbed out of bed. But the sun had made it's way through her room and into her bed, so that meant it was earlier than she'd like but a while past daybreak. "...Nine, maybe? I'm sorry, go back to bed. I didn't mean to wake you if you didn't want to get up, I just thought - there's a bus outside - I thought you might be waking up soon, I just - I'm sorry - Nevermind," she rambled. Her eyes flicked down at his pajamas and she winced, feeling terrible and guilty for waking him just because she wanted to see him. "Sorry, Ore. Go back to bed."

[Penguin]

Terraline watched the girl sip hot chocolate a bit enviously. She wasn't really dressed to brace the cool chill of autumn, wearing some old sneakers, leggings and a t-shirt. The girl introduced herself as Tia.

“Did guys in suits come after you as well? They visited me and my family as we were leaving the hospital and from what I could gather we’re going to some sort of institution, or rather a school for freaks as one of them loosely stated. Either way, my brothers were quite pissy when they came to visit me so if you ask me I don’t think these guys should be trusted.” Tia said.

"Yeah some guys drugged me and I woke up in the back of a really fancy car. "Terry began and sighed when Tia mentioned a school. "They went through all this trouble to get us to go to a school? It's probably some rundown shack to murder people in like in the movies."

"Hi." came a heavily accented voice. Terry glanced over at the boy sitting across from them. He was tall and quite handsome. She thought he sounded British but he could have been Australian too. She was leaning towards British. "I'm not the only one who got attacked by a group of men, I take it?" He commented. "I don't think they're to be trusted either, because they drugged my tea. I thought that was a good way to start off my brunch, don't you?"

She managed a smile. How stereotypical for a Brit to be drinking his tea.

"I'm Sage." He introduced himself and held his hand out for them to shake. "Did anyone else get terribly ill, then miraculously recover?"

Terry reluctantly shook his hand, her small hand being enveloped by his larger one. "Terry," She replied. "Um, yeah actually. Did anyone else make stuff fly randomly?"
She was pretty sure with that last statement they'd think she was nuts. Terry wouldn't have blamed them. She was beginning to think she was nuts too.

[Rina]

Nodding in response to Terry’s remark about being shipped off to a horror house of some sort, Tia was about to respond with a sarcastic remark but before she could, a new voice intervened. Sitting across from her was a male that appeared to be about the same age as Terry. Hearing boy’s story about how he was similarly drugged as Terry was, Tia wondered if she too lost consciousness when she was taken to the bus because it didn’t seem plausible that she could suddenly appear in front of a school bus. However the warmth coming from her hot chocolate seemed to prove her suspicion unlikely.

“Yeah.” Tia responded as Sage introduced himself and then proceeded to ask if they too were sick. As Terry listened as she introduced herself to Sage, Tia looked at her curiously as she mentioned being able to make things fly around. It sounded similar to what she experienced when she was with the man with the suit. Maybe both incidences were related to each other. Maybe they were even related to what happened at the hospital with the needles. However, Tia was skeptical. Making things fly and teleporting only existed in books and movies, things like this doesn’t happen in real life.

“I’m Tia.” The young girl said as she shook Sage’s hand and then proceeded to answer both of the teen’s questions. “Yeah, I think I almost made my mom sick from worry with me being in the hospital and all. It probably didn’t help that whenever the IV needles that the nurses used were messed up or something.” Tia said as she held up her left arm which has a white bandage wrapped around her elbow area. “Which was very unpleasant since the needles would bend and break while it was inside of me, making it harder for them to take out compared to when they stabbed me the first time. Not as weird as being able to see things fly around but there has to be an explanation for that. Right?” Tia said obviously skeptical of what Terry said. “Did you check out the medicine that the doctor gave you? Maybe one of them has a side effect of hallucinating or something like that.”

---

Josiah nodded as he listened with interest as Jason described his powers. Although it was usually quite easy to see how a power worked, it always interested him to hear everything that went into making a power work and everything that took place behind the scene. “Yeah, I’d feel the same if I were in their place.” Josiah said as he looked towards the teachers. Many were familiar to him as a teacher he had in the past or ones he seen in the halls between classes or heard rumors about. “You have a bus load of angsty, pissed off or confused teens who know less about their powers than about the hormones in their bodies that makes them more irrational than they should be, granted I was in that category when I first came here. You don’t know who is a ticking time bomb or will become a time bomb with either their powers or emotions nor can you always tell who became crazed from the radiation. Personally, I’d take a job as a high school teacher in the heart of New York city before becoming a teacher here.” As he watched the expressions on the faces of the new students as they came off the bus.

[Rina]

-double post-

[Thedreadpirate]

Jason nodded sagely at Josiah's words. "you said it brother" Jason said as he nodded in agreement then added "at least in the center of new york there's only so much that can happen, when you add abilities into the mix, it suddenly makes everything a lot more intense, or so I'd imagine" Jason chuckled as he took another bite of his snack and continued "And yeah, I was the same way when I first came here, we all were, that's the entire point of this school isn't it? To take the scared, hormonal, anxty teenagers that have suddenly developed inhuman abilities and let them be all that they can be?" Jason did a mock salute as he said those last words and then continued "or at least to pretend like that's what's happening while they figure out what to do with us?" Jason cracked a wry smile as he finished up his sentence and Lucky barked in agreement.

[Metronome]

Shit. It was already nine o'clock? "No, no, it's fine," Orren said, still groggy. He leaned against the doorway silently until what she had said set in. "Wait...a bus? What bus? Like the new students bus?" Was it already time to ship in the new batch of freaks? Orren could only groan internally. The school tended to be complete chaos for the first few weeks after new students came in. And right when things went back to normal, damn if they didn't bring in more.

"Have you had breakfast yet?" He asked. Being the man he was, he could think of only two things after waking up: taking a piss and eating food.

[Adriane]

Persephone nodded, watching him lean against the doorway. Yes, it was nine o clock already. Yes, the new students bus. "Uh, no, I didn't. I just got up," she told him. After another moment of staring, she spoke up. "Uh, do you wanna go get some?" If she knew anything about Orren, it was that surely he was hungry. Some food wouldn't hurt her either.

After a few minutes of Orren getting ready, the two of them headed down to the cafeteria. Breakfast was already being served, but not too many people were there. A great deal of them were still outside, observing and greeting the new arrivals. They headed onto the line to get food, where most of the people were hanging around. It moved arguably slow, but Per didn't take much mind to it. It was just more time she got to stand next to Orren. In fact, she was too busy smiling at him to notice when the boy stepped in front of her on line. She saw a few people behind Orren bristle, and look up ahead of her, and turned curiously. Finding a boy before her that had not been there when she had gotten onto the line, she paused. Her small mouth opened, ready to say something, and then closed. They were all hungry, and one more person in front of her wouldn't make much of a difference. Staying silent, she turned back around to Orren.

[Penguin]

"Cool to meet you, Tia." Terraline replied and listened as she spoke about her experience at the hospital. "Wow that's pretty weird. I think there's probably more to what you can do than bending needles." She took her iPod out of her pocket and set it down on the seat. It took more concentration and time than before to get it to start to levitate. "I thought I was dreaming but I'm beginning to think I'm in the hospital still and I'm very heavily dosed on drugs or something. This makes no sense at all." With a shake of her head, she let the iPod fall. "Or for some crazy reason that this is really happening... Maybe that's why we're all here. We're different." Terry thought back to what her uncle had said about her and shuddered. She hoped they certainly weren't all demons.

The bus stopped and a tall, young man walked on. He had dark hair, a set of deep blue eyes, and olive-toned skin. He wore a black muscle tee and black pants. Perhaps he was goth or something. His arms were bulky and it appeared he wore the type of shirt for good reason. Terry thought he couldn't be older than twenty-four. He came to the center of the bus. "Hello. My name is Xander and I'll be an instructor at your new home. You're all five minutes away from Darkwood Academy, a school for special beings. You all have a potentially dangerous ability that sets you apart from the rest of society so we have taken the liberty of bringing you here to learn how to control that ability. Please stay seated and hold any questions until I permit you to do so. Upon arrival, I will explain a few rules and you will head into the building. There you will receive a dorm number, a class schedule, a set of rules and thus be guided to the cafeteria for some breakfast. "

[jman221]

Jack had watched the bus arrive from their window, they knew what it felt like to ripped away from your family and sent to an unknown school, the thought brang a tear to their eye. They looked down at his desk filled with different word problems that their calculus teacher had set them, all had been done with an accurate answer of around 98%. They sighed and wondered what their teacher would set next. Hopefully some harder questions, that arse of a teacher sets us grade 10 work when we are in bloody 11. John said to jack through their mind.
"Oh be quiet John, i don't need to hear you whining especially today, when the new students have arrived." Jack replied out loud
New students? Yeeessss more fresh meat. John said with an evil smile in their mind.
Jack sighed and decided to go and greet some of the new students after the orientation. BUT FIRST BREAKFAST Jack said in their mind.
"Nope we're gonna scare the living hell out of them." John replied to Jack out loud, with an evil grin. They pulled on their hoodie and jeans and scrambled down to the field where the new students were exiting the bus. They saw Jason and Josiah, Jack pulled down the hood and gave a friendly wave and started to move towards them, but not before John pulled the hood back up and stared evilly at the new students from a distance.