Chapter One

It's supposed to be a sorta intro chapter I guess.

Loneliness isn’t a pain; it’s a condition. Real people in the real world have real problems. You shouldn’t get all bet out of shape just because no one, “get’s you.”

 

These words ran through her head over and over again, trying to convince her that she shouldn’t feel anything. All she had to do was stay there and wait for him to come back. She threw her head back and forth looking for food.

 

She bolted up at the smell of it. Blood. She saw it sitting there, completely unaware. Without warning, she pounced at it, piecing it with sharp fangs and sucking it bone dry.

 

When she was finished, she let it fall to the floor. All she had to do was keep eating these until he came back. It wouldn’t be long, but she still felt uneasy as if something wicked was coming with him.

 

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“Well, here it is,” said Ashe as he stood in front of the new school. He walked up to the clear plastic-glass door and noticed his reflection. His black knit hat pushed his hair down his forehead. Part of his belt stuck out through his waist as he shuffled some dirt off his saggy jeans.

 

He pulled the door open and walked in. He only noticed a few students out in the hallways wearing hoods and sweaters.

 

He saw a girl walking by and tapped her shoulder, “Excuse me, do you know where the principal’s office is?”

 

Without saying anything, the girl pointed over her shoulder and walked off.

 

 

Ashe continued in the direction instructed and eventually came up to the door labeled principal. He went inside and spoke to the secretary behind the counter. “Um…excuse me,” said Ashe. The secretary looked up at him chewing her gum with her mouth open. “I’m the new student, Ashe Cor-“

 

 

“Yeah whatever,” the secretary grabbed some papers from her desk and handed them to Ashe. “Okay kid, here’s your schedule and the student code of conduct. She’ll show you around.”

 

 

“Who?”

  

 

The secretary leaned back and waved to someone in the other room. Then, a girl with long black hair and thin rimmed glassed entered the room. “Oh, hey,” she said, “you must be the new student. I’m Sue, nice to meet you.” She shook his hand for a moment. “Well, let’s get started.”

 

 

Sue took Ashe out through the hallways pointing out all the different departments and classrooms. She pointed out the directions to study hall, the library and the cafeteria.

 

 

 “And here,” she said swinging the doors open, “is the outside tables, or picnic area, or whatever you wanna call it.”

 

Ashe stared up into the sky, eyes wandering around, “Where’s the sun?”

 

 “Huh,” Sue looked up into the gray sky before understanding the question. “Oh, yeah, it’s always really cloudy here. The weather is usually the same all year, except it gets a little brighter during the summer and colder during winter. I guess that’s kinda bleak, huh?”

 

 

“No. I was just wondering. It looks like it’s gonna rain.”

 

 

 “It does every once in a while.” Sue checked the time on her watch and pulled Ashe’s sleeve. “Hey, it’s almost time for homeroom. What class do you have?”

 

Ashe took out his schedule and read, “Phillips…geography, room 148”

 

 

“Oh, I know where that is,” Sue lead the way back through the hallways to a door labeled 148. “Well, there you go. I’ll see you later, Okay?”

 

 

Ashe nodded and gave her thanks before she skipped back to the principle’s office. Ashe twisted the knob and entered the room. As expected, everyone in the class stopped what they were doing to stare at him. He walked over to the teacher and gave him the pink paper.

 

 

“Ah, I see. Students, this is Ashe Corvis. He’ll be attending our school from now on. Please take your seat.”

 

 

Ashe made his way to the back of the classroom, ignoring the curious looks from his peers. He slid into a desk in the back row near the corner and took off his hat. As the teacher returned to his lecture, Ashe took another look at his new classmates. The boy beside him slapped his shoulder, “What’s up? I’m Drake.”

 

 

“Ashe.”

 

 

“So I’ve heard. It’s a weird name.”

 

“So I’ve heard.”

 

Drake gave a small laugh and turned away from Ashe, “whatever man.”

 

 Ashe glared at him for a second then turned the other way. “Idiot,” he muttered. Ashe put his hand on his head and patted his hair down. ‘So now what,’ he thought to himself. ‘I know this place is a more peaceful than the city, but what am I supposed to accomplish by being here? Maybe I can start over in a place like this. In a place like this…’

 

 Ashe flinched when the bell rang and snapped him out of his train of thought. He pulled his hat over his head and waited to be the last one to leave the room. Everyone was rummaging through their lockers in little bundles or pairs. Ashe walked down the middle path to find his locker. The little piece of paper the secretary gave him read, “L228.” He peek at another locker and found that he was on the right track reading, “L216, L218, L220...”

 

 “Hey.”

 

Ashe jarred to a halt before he ran over Sue.

 

“So how was your first class?”

 

Ashe blinked, “Okay, I guess.”

 

“Cool,” she said. “The office forgot to tell you that you gotta register over there at the library for…something. I dunno. I forget. I think it’s a book or an ID card. Do you remember where it is?” Ashe shook his head. “Oh, well it’s down the hall, last big door to the left. Okay?” Ashe nodded. “Cool. See ya later.”

 

 

When Sue finally disappeared from sight, Ashe let out a sigh. ‘What a weird girl,’ he thought. He marched down to the big double doors at the end of the hall. He pulled the doors open and slipped inside. Walking over to the receptionist’s desk at the right, he couldn’t help his eyes wandering at the enormous collection of long shelves stacked with books of all variety.

 

The receptionist broke Ashe’s awe of the libraries surprising quantity with an unfriendly “Can I help you?”

 

“Yes, I’m the new student Ashe Corvis. I was told to register for something.”

 

“Hold on,” the receptionist sat behind a computer, clicking and typing something. She reached over to a printer to ripped out and ball up a sheet of paper. “The school requires that each student check out a book, so go grab whatever and come back.”

 

Ashe nodded, “Alright.”

 

 

“Take you time,” she sighed.

 

Ashe rolled his eyes and left to explore the school’s library. This is insane, he thought. He wandered the columns and rows of books for what seemed like hours, still in disbelief how such a small school could have such a large library. After a while, he found himself in the poetry section. He scanned the shelves searching for anything that might be remotely interesting. He spotted a black book that no title on the spine. He pulled it out to find that there was no title on the cover either. Instead, there was only a white symbol on the center that resembled those tribal tattoos that looked like stylized thorns.

 

“Excuse me."

 

Ashe turned to find a girl dressed in black and purple standing behind him. She had big cute eyes like the ones in Japanese animation and soft but pale complextion. Her hair was black and pinned up to the back of her head.

 

Ashe felt his ears burn hot and his cheeks turning red. All he could manage was a small, 'wow.'

 

"I need that," she said. Ashe searched around only to realize she wanted the book he was holding. Ashe manage to regain control of himself for a moment and handed over the book.

 

She took it and and walked past him, turning to give a quiet thank you. As she kept walking, Ashe could only stand there watching what he thought was an angel of darkness.

 

"Wow....

Author's Note

I really think there's something wrong with this like somethings missing. And I'm not sure how to describe the girl's hair

Reviews

[Emily B]

I don't really understand the introduction, you might explain that a little better.

I do like the chapter. The introduction to Ashe and the school. The darkness that permeates throughout. I like the odd personalities of everyone involved with the school. I have a feeling we'll learn more about the creepiness as chapter two unfolds.

I think you've done a great job with this so far.

[Emily B]

wow . . .

a remarkable beginning. Looking forward to learning more about the strange and mysterious place Ashe has found himself.