How it all Began

HILLTOP

 

 

Where It All Began

 

Book 1

NEW BEGINNINGS

The morning light shone into the living room hitting the hardwood floors, the smell of dust surrounded the room while boxes lay everywhere in the kitchen. Thirty-seven year old, Sarah sorted through the mess, she tied a scarf over her head to protect her hair; it was getting harder to keep moving but she didn’t have a choice. She sighed heavily, it was just another move they had to make, she was trying to rebuild her life with her only daughter and current boyfriend. She really hoped that moving into this town would make life easier than the last time cause she already had a job unlike the last time; the only uncertainty was her daughter.

Down the steps came her seventeen year old daughter dressed in long black coat. Could her daughter be anymore invisible? Her chestnut brown skin was pretty different, it popped so much that it actually looked like it glowed making her stand out where ever she went. Though the one thing they both wanted was to hide, Kara was just better at it than her mother. Sarah did not blame her for not being excited, it was a new school and a boarding school for that matter. Kara was average height with a small frame. She was not much of an eater and it showed. She exercised only because she had to be ready in case they had to run. Red full lips though beautiful were like most things hidden by her. She either folded her lips or lifted clothes over the lower part of her face leaving her almond shaped brown eyes that looked hazel brown under light with her long full eyelashes.

‘Kara I was hoping we could talk before you left’, she spoke softly.

Kara took a big sketch pad along with her and sighed. ‘Are my things already at the school?’ she asked.

‘Yes sweetheart. I need you to know this is temporary. Its just until-’

‘Curtis’s trial is over’, she completed with her head down refusing to meet her mother’s gaze. She could not believe that of all people she was the one that brought them the trouble instead of her mother as usual.

‘The marshal will escort you’, Sarah stroked Kara’s big curly black hair. ‘It’s best if I don’t go with you, you know-’ Sarah added sadly.

‘I know dad’s people might be watching’, Kara completed.

Sarah wanted to hold her daughter and tell her all will be well but at this point it made no sense. This time her name was Sarah Carmichael, financial consultant, married to a deputy marshal James Carmichael. Last time she was Sai Hicks widow with a cat and a dog. This was their eighth alias in the current year, Sarah knew she was far beyond: everything was going to be alright.

‘Per your request, they are only to refer to you as Miss Carmichael. I know that by now you would be tired of the constant change of names’, Sarah finally spoke up.

‘I got over it when I turned seven’, Kara pulled back. The marshal walked in and announced he was ready for her.

‘Too much to ask for a hug’, Sarah asked with a weary smile. Kara did not approach or shy away so Sarah threw her arms around her daughter and swallowed the tears that burnt in her throat. ‘I love you kiddo’, she whispered and kissed Kara’s head.

Kara wanted to ask if that was her real name, Kiddo or it was just a saying. She pulled back and walked out. She stopped and gave her mother one more look. It served her right for letting someone in and daring to fall in love. Whatever her mother’s real surname was, they don’t fall in love or at least they are not allowed to. She got into a black Cheveri jeep and sat in the back thinking about her life. She heard them talking and the marshal promising to be with her.

Kara felt bad for him. He was the fourteenth they were appointed this year alone. Guarding them turned out to be a dangerous job. How did it get to be? Well her mother fell for her father and a night of passionate love making resulted in her. Nope, that was the story her mother told her family. It seemed better than the alternative, she was young stupid and a heavy drinker. She went to a party of a man she met through a friend’s cousin’s brother’s uncle’s roommate. She drank only one glass of margarita and ended up butt naked in bed with him without a memory of it. A month later she is pregnant and thus Kara or whatever her name is born. Her life was not a mystery it was a basket case of sorry.

She was so fed up of new schools, new aliases and new faces. The first thing she told herself was not to get attached to anyone. She could only achieve this if no one knew her name so she decided she wanted to be referred to solely her fake surname not that she had a real one.

The ride was long and silent which she was thankful for. The new marshals did not try to make small talk anymore. The last one that dared was running for his own life courtesy of her father. Brian was his name and he stayed the longest. There was an actual love story between him and her mother. He played the role of father very well, but due to part experiences never she called him dad and proving her right it did not last long. Soon her father found him and he became the focus of her father’s rage. It did not help that the first day her father tracked them down was when Sarah and Brian were in bed together.

The car came to a stop and she looked out of the window to the school. It was a huge castle like building with age written all over it. The walls were covered with crawling plants and the places that weren’t, were covered in ash. The gates were tall with iron bars and “HILLTOP HIGHSCHOOL” written on it. The marshal got the door for her.

‘I cannot drive in’, he announced and she lifted her brow quizzically. ‘They have strange rules in here’, he explained handing her bag and pad over to her. ‘Your things have been put in and your classes picked. ‘You are into art’, he said and looked down at her pad. ‘Clearly, we wanted you to still have an identity and art is the one thing you seemed to cling to over the years. Don’t worry I made sure you were exempted from all extra curriculum activities’. He pulled out a map and placed it in her hand. ‘I scouted the area and marked out all the hidden spots that are within walking distance where you can hide and paint your heart out. I also got you some art supplies in your room and made sure four beds were cleared just for you. I know how much you love your privacy’. He said and she smiled.

‘Thank you’, she said trying not to learn his name.

He tilted his head to the side, ‘anytime kiddo. Hold your head up high, this will be over one day’, he placed his hand on her shoulder and she nodded. She saw a look in his eyes that had died from hers. The look of hope, she wished she would be seeing him soon. She could not have yet another die because he acted fatherly toward her.

‘I’ll see you’, she walked past him and pushed the gate open. How long would people die because of her father? She did not look back, his people could be there and her looking back would be the end of him. She was five, how was she to know that looking back at Gus meant she cared. She could not erase the image of her father slitting his throat from ear to ear just to show her that no one would take his place in her life.

She was met by the principle, school was to open in a week but she was a special case so she started earlier. The principle Mr Brown was both charming and insightful. He did not push her or tell her they wanted her to give her best. He just welcomed her and told her to think of the school like a school. It was not her home, so she was not forced to get comfortable and if she felt pressured in any way she could always pull back and give herself a break. She was not forced to attend classes if she did not feel like it. He explained to her that though she was a special case she was also to go according to the rules and regulations of the school which meant no loitering around while classes were going on. She could find a quiet place to sit and relax.

After getting her accustomed to the school she was led to her room which was a big room with ten bunkbeds arranged in rows facing each other. At the very back with a huge window she was given two bunkbeds and the two small closets for the beds. She arranged everything and got settled. She knew how to pass the week, she drew and painted. She was told of the campus store where they could buy anything because they were not allowed to go out. The campus was huge, huge being the understatement of the century and it had so much history. Too bad she was in no mood to learn about it. In her drawings she expressed everything she felt about the place and knew it only get worse, but here was to hoping.

Fresher-s and stale-rs

The week went by fast and soon the place was crawling with students. The good thing was Kara stayed very invisible to people and that was a good thing, she hoped. She heard and saw everything but no one saw or heard her. Not that she talked much or stayed somewhere they could see her. She hid in the back in her long coats and hoodies, it was easy to blend in the back at a school where the sun never shorn.

People in her class consisted of the Climax, yes, climax and don’t get excited. Climax, she called a colourful cult but they called themselves special. It consisted of Odaphaire Yaw, Emilia Zong, Cronus Allion, Darth Byre, Salaya C’lavin and Ridge Dodgy. They were the exclusive group of “vampires” that had shared similar backgrounds and history. They all had shinning yellow, almost bronze skin with dark hair as night and dark eyes. Tattoos on both arms but each’s tattoo differed based on their personalities and strength.

There was Victoria Hash, a young lady desperate for a friend that she instantly latched to a new student Erica Wince who seemed lost in her own world. Victoria showed her around and soon they were walking together but Vicky was so scared of being alone that she threw tantrums whenever anyone came close to Erica and threatened their “friendship”. Erica was Vicky’s ticket to cool town because Darth took an interest in her. It was like every vampire movie or TV series ever, Erica was the new girl that did not know anything yet somehow attracted this dark brooding hot guy that every girl in school is in love with yet keeps to him-self. Just like those movies there is someone in his group that doesn’t like her and that person is Emilia.

There was the popular clique, which were just like every other high school and nothing special. They were desperate to be part of climax. She did not know their names because their conversations were so dumb they gave her a head ache. Then there were the goths which she found pathetic. They talked about death and sorrow and from the way talked they, she knew none of them had ever seen death but were just rebelling. The smarts that everyone called dorks, whatever that meant. They were pretty antisocial not that anything was wrong with that but she would not hang with them. A group of three that were never pleased with anything or anyone, she called them the glum. They were a big bummer to everyone else but their truth refreshing to her.

Finally there was the invisible girl that sat beside her. Rumour has it that she was ignore until she became completely invisible. Kara called her Daphne Michael because she could see her and she was not invisible. In fact she was the only person Kara spoke to and that knew her name. They met in the bathroom while Daphne was crying and they instantly became friends. As not to be weird Kara did not speak to Daphne in public and Daphne was okay with it.

Erica sat in the second row besides Vicky. She packed her black wavy hair in a ponytail. Her green oval eyes were sparkled with intrigue as Vicky told tales of Climax. If Darth was into her, Vicky found it to be in her place to tell her about him. Why wouldn’t he be? Her honey brown skin made her green eyes noticeable and unique coupled with a long, full lashes. She was average height but appeared shorter due to the baggy, tomboy clothes she often wore. Underneath all those clothes was a noticeable round peach butt. Her makeup was always beautiful with a preference for darker shades. Her lipstick was a dark shade of red enhancing her heart shaped lips. While she talked in hushed tones the class was rowdy and Kara lost in a drawing.

Matthew their History teacher stepped in and hushed the class. No one paid much attention to him and amongst those people was Odaphaire who had her nose stuck in a book. She was a woman with a short fuse so people avoided her. Everyone except Matt their History teacher who found her fascinating, putting aside just how creepy it real was, he was interested in her and did not do much to hide it. It was hard not to be attracted to her. Odaphaire was tall with long legs that she showed off in pantyhose or leggings but never did she open her legs. She was busty with an ample bosom that showed cleavage whether she wanted to or not and was amplified by her tiny waist and narrow hips. Her top buttons could never close up and no camisole was ever enough to cover her up completely.

Facially she had a strong jaw line with cheek bones. Her forehead was covered in a fringe that covered her eyes yet never hid her cold cruel expressions. Like the other members her arms were covered in intricate pink tattoos that appeared to be moving some times. Not one to look for trouble, nor was she one to shy away from trouble, Phaire was a force to recon with and no one wanted to.

‘I have told everyone to put away their items’, Matt spoke in a scowl. Kara lifted her head hearing his tone and saw his eyes were fixed on Phaire. It did not take a soothsayer to know that this was going to end badly. Phaire closed the book and pulled out her textbook without looking up. Kara shrugged and went back to her sketch, she heard muttering coming from Darth direction. She looked up and saw he was talking to Ridge probably about Erica.

He was sitting behind Phaire, she turned around and said something to him in a sneer. He just laughed and licked his lower lip. His eyes met Erica’s and he winked at her, she blushed and looked away while Vicky let out a small shriek on her behalf. Kara looked at Daphne who groaned and Kara smiled. Matt who was teaching stopped and turned around.

‘That’s it Phaire you have detention and I will be personally handling it’, he announced and Daphne rolled her eyes because they all saw it coming.

‘Why?’ Phaire retorted in a hiss.

‘Because you were talking during class’, Matt clapped back.

‘So was every other person why am I getting punished?’ Phaire challenged.

‘I am setting an example’, Matt smirked gleefully that he had gotten her.

‘There’s no way on this green earth that I would be stuck in a room alone with your creepy ass. Should you force it, I will kill you’, Phaire spat and class became rowdy as people began to laugh and mutter.

‘That’s it two hours’ Matt said firmly to assert his authority

‘No’, she retorted, ‘if we all get I get it, it’s only fair, set an example’, she said and they all knew he wouldn’t so no one protested.

He approached her placed his hand on her table and leaned over. ‘This is boarding school, you are stuck with me Phaire’, he muttered in a low tone that was supposed to be threatening. She pulled out a pair of scissors from her boot and stab the table next to his hand. Everyone in the class pulled back in shock because no one saw this coming.

She rose to her feet squaring off, ‘don’t get it twisted, this is boarding school and you are stuck with me. My name is Odaphaire you insipid mortal!’ she growled and her voice echoed. ‘I did not come to this bloody place for you to test your cheesy pickup lines on me. So, your love life sucks, take a pill and wank off and but back off!’ Her voice changed and Matt coward at her. He nodded and stepped back slowly, Kara watched as Phaire who looked like she was about to explode met the eyes of Cronus and relaxed instantly.

She sat down and returned the scissor into her boot, there was sickening dead silence in the room that brought a smile on Kara’s face. The silence did not last, as Matthew taught, the popular kids talked in front of Phaire.

‘So he is into her, she doesn’t have to be a freak about it’, one said

‘Yes what a freak’, the other cried.

‘They are going to be bald’, Daphne said and pulled out a twenty for Kara to bet.

‘Too easy, she’s already vexed’, Kara muttered.

Odaphaire took out her pair of scissor and cut the middle of the first one’s hair. There was a loud cry then followed by the other that Odaphaire cut. Everyone could see their scalp, Matthew stared for a while and went back to teaching while the class burst out laughing.

‘Ah look at least we can be freaks together’, Phaire threw their hair on them and sat back returning the scissors. ‘I swear next time, you’ll eat each other’s hair’, she smiled brightly.

Kara took a walk down the halls with Daphne beside her. Her bag swung over her shoulder and her sketch pad in her hands held to her chest. The halls were filled with students talking about what Odaphaire did History class. It was not a surprise that all three of them were in the counsellor’s disciplinary room being addressed by the vice counsellor. Daphne notched at Kara with her elbow and drew her attention to Darth who had drawn Erica aside.

‘Why must he disappoint us so?’ Emilia asked Salaya as they both took notice of Darth’s dalliance with Erica.

‘I don’t get it, he’s just having a little fun. Why do you have to be such a prude?’ Salaya replied counting her words like a dullard. She was not very bright and she never tried to be anything else. She was exceptionally beautiful, she had flowing red hair that matched her purple and orange tattoos. She chose to dye her hair red to stand out and it worked. Her eyes sparkled like the sea but were as dark as night. Her lips were red and plum with a heart shaped face, slim pointed nose and high cheek bones with slim body features. It was clear to see why most people referred to her as the most beautiful of the group. She dainty, vain and very girly. Her most prominent feature being her slim frame and she wore the right outfit to show her “unattainable” body.

‘She is probably thinking this is stupid vampire fad or poorly produced movie where the new girl gets drafted into the outcast crew’. Emilia barked. Now Emilia was more on the plus side, Sal often called her their plum friend. She wasn’t fat or chubby but she was not as slim as the other girls. Her jet black hair was cut short to frame her face, her round face and big eyes were her best feature to her. She had more a rectangular shaped body with a healthy appetite so she easily added weight and did not like to work it out. She knew what worked for her body type though and wore more gowns and skirts than trousers. She was a great earth lover and did all to promote it. It was probably her green and brown tattoos that caused but she loved the earth.

‘Or she thinks Darth is hot like every other person’, Salaya lifted her compact powder and looked in the mirror as she spoke. Emilia snatched the compact from her and shut it, ‘hey’, Sal protested. ‘I was using that, I have a small pimple on my neck close to my Eve’s cherry’.

Emilia tried to follow but got lost, ‘your what?’ she asked confused.

‘You know, Adam’s apple, Eve’s cherry’, Sal replied stroking her neck slowly.

‘Sal, it’s not called-’ Emilia started when she saw the dumbfounded look on Sal’s face she gave up. ‘Never mind’, she handed the compact to her and Sal turned to the mirror. ‘What are we going to do about the new leech?’ she asked.

‘Let Ridge have a go at her, he is so un-hot and socially awkward that she would never come close to us again’, Sal replied. Emilia turned to face her slowly, maybe she was not as dumb as she looked or sounded. ‘Gosh my pimple is having a seizure, it’s so uncool’, these next words reminded Emilia that she was right about Sal.

‘Come on’, she took Sal by the hand and pulled her away.

Daphne turned to Kara as they heard everything and they both giggled. Erica burst out of the corner and ran off in tears while Darth hung his head in disappointment.

‘What do you think that was about?’ Daphne asked as they headed to the Memorial field. It used to be filled with statues but now it was filled with big boulder and remains of statues.

Kara took a seat on a foot of a statue. ‘You are the invisible lady you tell me’. Daphne took off her bag and threw it on the floor by the foot of a big boulder where she sat.

‘I am invisible not a ghost, I cannot divide myself into places’, Daphne pulled out an old codex and pulled in her left foot.

‘Wouldn’t that be great though’, Kara asked as she took out her pencil case and opened her sketch pad. ‘Why would you be reading something that old? And how can you read something that old?’

‘My grandfather taught me, he was pretty cool guy’.

‘I wish I met my grandfather’.

‘You know you never told me how many siblings you have’, Daphne ran her fingers over the codex and mouthed the words.

‘None and that is creepy’, Kara replied and went back to her drawing.

‘You know grandpa always said if you open your mind you can feel the spiritual energy around you and anything can be accomplished’.

‘So opening up to spiritual energies around would give me A’s?’ Kara mocked jokingly. Daphne’s shoulders slumped and she smacked her lips. ‘I’m sorry, I think it is great that you have a good relationship with your grandfather not your mother, or father’.

‘Why would I? Dad loves money he cheated my four brothers from their payment during the first signing of their football contracts. Mother likes being liked which was why all the four different football club’s managers knew her on a personal level. Grandpa read because he loved to learn, dad read because he was looking for a new scheme to get money by cheating people’. Daphne spoke in a solemn tone and did not meet Kara’s eyes.

‘I’m sorry, I was just messing around’, Kara stopped and watched Daphne who wiped the tear that escaped her eye.

‘It’s okay’, she replied with a shrug. ‘At least I am not the one kissing Darth’, she smiled and Kara laughed. ‘Or Ridge’, she added and they shuddered in disgust.

‘It could be worse, you could end up with one of the goths or worse the emo geeks’, Daphne cringed at the thought then they laughed before Kara went back to her drawing.

Erica sat by the fountain staring into the shallow muddy water. When Vicky joined her with a slow moan she sat next to her. Erica blamed herself for starting and instantly falling for Darth. It was just the first week of school and she had already been used. She could still see the look in his eyes when his phone buzzed and she looked at the message. It read “I get it I’m jealous, you were right any girl would open her legs for you. I hate seeing with the whore, come over”. He tried explaining it but she was not in the mood.

‘Hey, want to talk?’ Vicky asked and Erica shook her head. ‘I’m sorry Darth turned out to be such a pig’, she placed her hand Erica’s knee with a soft consoling smile on her face.

‘I just want to know about this school and everyone in it. No more Darth, or Climate’. She thought he was different, physically he was different from them. His skin was golden like them and he had tattoos as well, his were blue and metallic gold in colour. Heart shaped head with deep set of silver eyes and white long hair parted to the side. He was as tall as them but it never showed because he could bring himself down to everyone’s level. His physical build was hidden underneath big clothes and he was never caught working out with the others. He was the most approachable of the guys, constantly smiling showing off his pearl white teeth and hearty disposition.

‘Climax’, Vicky corrected

‘That’s even worse’, Erica retorted and Vicky laughed. ‘I want to know this place and have my hanging spots where I will make my memories with my best friend’. She said and Vicky was pleased to be a best friend so she smiled. ‘Time to rock Hilltop high for as long as I can or I’m allowed to’, she added.

Darth matched up the steps of the library, he climbed up to the third and top floor of the library. The library was the place Climax met since it was always empty. The school had a cybercafé which was where everyone was most of the time because of the Wi-Fi. He met Odaphaire explaining things to Cronus and he was trying to calm her down.

‘What is wrong with you’, Darth asked her. She turned around and looked at it with a raised brow. He could not be speaking to her, not this way. ‘We broke up, remember, I do not want any part of you’.

‘Feeling is mutual, now sod off’, she retorted and turned to Cronus.

‘Damaging my relationship would not endear me to you’.

‘I really don’t care’, she replied again and was about to speak with Cronus when Darth continued.

‘I was not trying to get you jealous. I don’t appreciate the text and love notes from you. I dumbed you, move on, I am not into you and right now I don’t know what I saw in you. You are petty, constantly grumpy and prone to short outburst’, his words ticked her off.

‘Excuse me’, she said to Cronus, turned around and punched him in the eye. He fell to the floor. ‘Before I give you a beat down you will never forget, I would give you one chance to explain your childish outburst’. With one hand over his bleeding eye, he took out his phone and showed her the message. She snatched the phone from his hand and looked at it. Her eyes went straight to the time the message was sent. ‘I couldn’t have sent this message, I was in the counsellor’s office and our phones are not allowed. I don’t know who the whore is and I also don’t care. I threw you out the window because you were acting jealous when you saw me with-’

‘Cronus’, he cried out rising to his feet. ‘You brought out the worse in me if I recall. I hated the way you always made me feel jealous and angry’, he cried out.

‘Says the guy with the overly done black tattoo on his arms. Cronus has silver and blood red intertwining tattoos and in constant motion. It’s cool’. She spat to hurt him.

‘That only proves he is complicated and a danger to our people that was why he left to begin with’.

‘If I’m a danger, why did you follow me here?’ Cronus deep voice interjected taking her side. ‘You should ask Emilia she seemed ticked by your growing relationship with the human’.

‘At least she cannot throw someone through a glass window’, Darth murmured and Phaire laughed.

‘Yes you would finally be stronger than someone’, she remarked. ‘Call me petty and grumpy again your face would be petty and grumpy when I’m done with it’, he snatched his phone from her hand and stomped off.

Ridge and Sal were climbing up while Darth was going down.

‘What is his problem, again?’ Ridge asked.

‘He found out Emilia sent a message with Odaphaire’s phone to his. She wants the human to break up with him so you could date her’, Sal announced and took her seat. She looked at Cronus and licked her lips. ‘You have hot calves and I love how you never wear leather or skinny jeans like a pretentious “cool” guy’, she turned to Ridge who wore skinny jeans. ‘You also don’t hide in black or white, you are not a one colour kind of man and, it’s cool how you can mix them up. Darth is constantly in white and Ridge in black, talk about boring’.

Ridge threw his arms up protesting but she was right about their colour codes of dressing. Cronus dressed smart like a man not a boy yet not like a studious man.

‘Some girls find this outfit really hot’, Ridge replied in his nasal voice.

‘The outfit is not the problem, your face is’, Sal replied and rolled her eyes at him while the others controlled themselves from laughing.

He cleared his throat, ‘where is Emilia?’ he asked changing the subject.

‘She’s not coming, she doesn’t want Odaphaire to end her like she ended the hairs of the bald chicks’, Sal spoke and sniffed in the room. ‘This place smells like old book farts, I need new book farts or like computer farts’. Cronus massaged the temple of his head with his fingertips trying not to scream at her.

‘Ridge why did you call for this meeting?’ he asked. He needed to hear something intelligent before he lost his mind.

‘We need to discuss Odaphaire’, Ridge stated and slowly Odaphaire faced him with look that warned him to tread lightly. ‘You snipped off those girl’s hairs and gave a bunch of seventeen year olds bald spots. You stabbed a pair of scissor next to a teacher’s hand’. He recalled earlier events shaking his head in a disapproving way. ‘This isn’t Gilad; you cannot do as you please, here’.

‘And who are you to tell me what I can and cannot do?’ she folded her arms raising her head in a confrontational way.

‘The voice of reasoning-’

‘Ridge I left Gilad because of what you are doing. I deserve the right to be whom and how I want to be. In this place, once you reach puberty they begin to give you freedom. You are responsible for your actions and you decide which way you want your life to go’. She spun around with her arms spread open. ‘I love it here, it’s freeing. No rulers or monarchy or tyrant rule. I have a right to speak and breath. We were given a choice leave Gilad forever or dwell there forever. I chose to leave and I chose here. No one asked you to follow-’

‘I thought it would be best if we stayed together, you know strength in numbers’.

‘Good you made your choice, don’t try and play ruler over me. You keep to yourself and I would pretend that the reason why you chose here was because you were scared of being alone in the world’.

‘And you? Everyone knows you followed Cronus here’.

‘I got sent here by their courts because here, I’m not yet an adult and education is important’.

‘She did not follow me here. We got to different town and the closest school was Hilltop high. We were both issued by their courts to be here. Neither of us wants to be here and we will leave once we get their paper that says we are good’. Cronus imputed and Odaphaire shrugged.

‘What’s the big deal? I came here because I knew you guys were here and I am scared of the people’, Sal spoke up with her phone in her hand. ‘I love their phones though but I heard there are these big buildings where they do expedients on you’.

Cronus and Odaphaire shared a look then turned to her, ‘what?’ they asked in unison.

‘You know they take spatulas and cut you open. It’s really gross’, Sal looked up at them for a second and turned to her phone. Odaphaire mouthed “spatulas” with a puzzled look on her face. When or where were people every cut open with spatulas.

‘Do you mean scalpels?’ Cronus asked

‘What did I say?’ Sal replied with the same constant clueless look on her face.

‘Scalpels used in experiments’, Cronus explained to Odaphaire who mouthed wow.

‘Yes, spatulas for expedients’, Sal joined it. It was amazing how she thought they were saying the same thing. She turned to Ridge who was silent. ‘Psst, guys I think Ridge as had expedients done to him. He’s so quite and thinks occupied’, she muttered. They looked at Ridge who was lost, trying to understand her. ‘You would think he would have told the cemeteries to make him cute because he’s so not’, she rose to her feet and took Ridge’s face in her hands. ‘So pudgy, I pity you’, she flipped her hair and walked away’.

‘I feel like she insulted me but I’m not sure’, Ridge retorted. He faced Odaphaire, ‘I’m not telling you what to do but I don’t want them to expel you either’. Ridge was not ugly but disorganised and it showed. It was as if he was constantly caught off guard. His black hair was short, messy and constantly wet dripping of sweat. He worked out a lot and it showed on his sculpted body but his face drooped. His nose was wide, constantly flaring and his thin red lips constantly parted. His eyes were narrow in a way that did not work out well for him as he had a constant perplexed look on his face. His bushy brows seemed to always be pulled up.

Understanding that he meant well she placed her hand on his shoulder. It was moist and sticky but she persevered through the grossness. ‘I am going to be fine. Besides if they do, I have to wipe their memories’, she smiled and removed her hand. It wasn’t the fact that Ridge was physically unattractive that turned her off. It was a lot of things, his body odour, the constant sickly smell of his breath, his clammy and sweaty palms and the fact that he rarely bathed though he sweated profusely. Then he wore black that conducted heat and a cologne that was suffocating. These were just a few things that she turned her off about it.

She took her bag and waved them goodbye.

With Darth and Cronus their musky manly smell was the first thing that pulled people to them. Darth and Cronus smelt clean and fresh constantly. Knowing that where they were staying at a school had the tendency to be scorching hot, they wore things that allowed for free flow of air. She dated Darth and she knew he was obsessed with cleanliness, they had a tendency to sweat so he bathed twice before evening and he was allowed. He never repeated a cloth he had previously worn unless he washed it first. He shaved his armpit hairs and kept his face cleanly shaved because his hair often brought sweat. He was conscious of his breathe and how it smelt. People called it vain she stayed with him long enough to know it was not vanity but good hygiene and did she appreciate it. She did not know about Cronus but she was aware of how aware he was to be constantly presentable. She could talk to him all day and never be put off. With Ridge, it took all of her just to be in the same room as him.

 

MOVING PICTURES

The night came and the dining hall was rowdy with students and teachers alike. Everyone seemed to be in their own world. Being too busy to notice Daphne the invisible girl who collected food for Kara and her to the skylight rooftop. There was a big clock with a light that shorn like the sun. Up on the roof of skylight was the only place Kara could see the school during the night. No one was allowed up there, Skylight was a ball room and had not been in used in years, safe to say it was abandoned like a lot of other places and marked for Kara by the marshal, James.

Her canvas placed on its stand while Kara painted the school replacing the light of the clock with the full moon. Her paints were already on the roof top covered by a tarp. She wore a long old grey coat that was stained with paint. Her paintbrush lay on the stool where she should have been siting but she stood. Two other paintbrushes were in her hair serving as hair pins and holding her hair up. Her hands were acting as the paintbrushes. She used her first two fingers to define the denseness of the clouds that were gathering in her mind and approaching the moon that she placed there.

‘Wow’, Daphne cried out placing a plate of food on the stool and heading for her mat where she sat down and picked up her codex. ‘Here I have been using paintbrushes all my life, what a dope I’ve been’, she joked but Kara was not listening. She called out but Kara just went at the painting until she was done then she stepped back and stared placed her thumb that had paint on her lips. ‘Kara, don’t they have brushes for that?’ she asked softly.

‘The clouds are coming Daphne, I can feel it’, Kara replied without turning around.

‘You know you don’t talk about your family. I don’t know that much about you only that you cannot go home’, Daphne spoke and Kara sighed. She did not want to lose yet another friend so she had not opened up.

‘My father is in prison, I’m the only child of my mother but like the ninth and the last child of my father and that’s pretty much the summary of my life’. Kara replied. She felt she had said too much but yet just enough to get Daphne off her back. It worked because Daphne did not pursue the issue.

‘So I get the moon because it’s night and all but where is the storm coming from?’ Daphne asked to change the subject and finally Kara faced her. She picked up her food and joined Daphne on the mat. Daphne pulled out a rag and gave her because she knew Kara would eat with her hands. Kara collected the rag, barely wiped her hands and picked up a piece of mushroom and ate with her hands even though a plastic folk was provided for her.

‘I don’t know how to explain it. Ever since I started school here, I keep feeling like a storm is coming and it is heavy. It’s going to change lives and the weird part is I have never felt this way so I am not sure what to do’.

‘Well I read in a book once, if you start having strange feelings in a new place then there’s an energy about the place’, Daphne replied and Kara laughed.

‘Right, so I am sensing the energy of this place? Please tell me you don’t believe things like that?’

‘You of all people should not be a sceptic. You are the only one talking to the invisible girl in school’. Kara realised she was right.

‘You have a point but still I am not the one to believe in energies and all the weird stuff. It’s all too spooky for me’, Kara replied.

‘I was crying in the bathroom, you came out of a stall looking in the mirror and saw me. You turned and I was there and you gave me a tissue. I remember how shocked that I was shocked that you could see me. It sounds spooky but it really isn’t. So does the fact that the people heard and ignored me until I became completely invisible. At least at home they see me’.

‘Maybe I just have a more open and accepting mind that’s all’

‘Now you are making my point, have an opened mind to what I am telling you about the storm and you could probably know what is coming’.

Kara sighed, it was hard to argue with someone who was right. ‘Fine in the spirit of an open mind, what does your book say?’

‘Just that you should relax and listening to your tiny voice. It’s the voice that would tell you what is to come’.

‘Okay I’m trying to keep an open mind so I would not say out loud how stupid that is’, Kara muttered and Daphne pushed her backward playfully as they laughed.

‘Your storm, your tiny voice, your problem’, Daphne remarked she turned to her book and Kara looked at the painting. What was to come? Or was her mind just making things up? Her painting was beautiful but it felt somewhat incomplete.

Erica retired to her room and was shocked to see Odaphaire sitting on her bed talking to a group of girls. The hair fiasco had made her more popular which was not right.

‘Odaphaire you are sitting on my bed’, Erica said standing in front of her bed.

‘So?’ Odaphaire asked looked up at her with a look to intimidate her.

‘I have to sleep’, Erica retorted. She counted her breath in her head, this was not good for her self-esteem. She took deep breaths, Odaphaire was intimidating as it is, she did not want to be shaved and added to the list.

‘Do you?’ Odaphaire asked

‘Yes and I am sorry to cut your talk short but-’

‘You’re sorry?’

‘Yes’

‘Why?’

‘Because I just got to this school and I don’t want problems or end up using the season to grow most of my middle hair back’, Erica let out sounding brave while her legs trembled. Erica had shoulder length wavy black hair which she loved. Her low self-esteem could not take a shaving neither could she take a beating. Phaire was one of the beautiful girls that you just know had everything put together. Erica removed a braces a week before coming here, her left breasts just met up with her right. To say she felt inadequate around Phaire was an understatement. Her childlike innocent face coupled with her small frame made her an easy target.

‘Interesting’, Odaphaire muttered and rose to her feet. She towered pver Erica, standing tall at least six feet while Erica was at least five-five, still growing and tiny compared to Phaire. Erica gulped down and looked up at her, ‘problems have come your way’, she looked down at Erica and muttered. As she walked away the group dispersed and Vicky approached Erica who let out a heavy breath.

‘What did she say?’ Vicky asked but Erica was no mood to repeat it. Close to tears, she shook her head then climbed into bed and covered herself with her blanket.

Kara shook her head and sat on her bed. Daphne’s bed was next to hers and as usual was she was reading the codex. Kara was tired so she got into bed and switched off the light from her end. The last half of the room’s light went off. Most people just thought the invisible girl switched it off so they kept quiet and went to bed.

“‘I love you’, Kara whispered against Curtis ears in the heat of the moment. It was okay because he said right back to her and he meant it. Like the open flame that burnt the firewood in the middle of nowhere, Kara and Curtis’s flame burnt for each other. Naked in each other’s arms, she sat on him, with him sitting up and holding her. She knew better than to fall in love but she thought she was not her mother and he was not her father. Her story was different and she deserved to be happy. His hands ran down her bare back and the feel of his rough palms caressing her smooth bare skin was engrained and still roused the same feelings of love as it did that night.

She remembered it all, feel of his hard chest pressed against her bare breasts and his chest hair that tickled her nipples and made them hard. The taste of his skin, it was salty and sweet at the same time. His thick flesh, that she bit and dug her nails in so many times. His smell of sawdust and roasted nuts. His warm breathe against her skin: and the taste of his tongue with hers and on her breasts. His firm thighs between hers and his fingers, she missed his fingers. His voice was the one thing she could never forget, only he could break through to her in his low, quiet and sincere voice. He was not much of a talker but he always had the right words.

He did not have a sense of humour and he barely smiled yet she always had a good time with him. Curtis, she missed him, everything about him and the nights they spent together. In the middle of the nowhere was the first time then the rest sort of fell into place. Once they started it was as if they couldn’t stop and she had no regrets. Or at least then she had no regrets. Now she was just trying to find out where it all went horribly wrong.

Hot rising flames dancing between her and Curtis. Tears filled her eyes as she cried out his name and he turned around. His eyes were completely black. Not black as his eyeballs were but like alien eyes, black. Her eyes flung open, she was upon her bed and safe, figuratively speaking. Her father was still out there and now so was Curtis. Maybe there was something in the vagina of the women from her mother side that attracted wrong men.

‘Another nightmare?’ Daphne moaned out softly and Kara began to control her breathing. It was with Daphne speaking that she realised she was breathing rather heavily and strangely, no one but Daphne noticed. ‘What to talk about it?’ Daphne whispered and Kara shook her head. ‘Kara it’s dark and I not have good peripheral vision, what are you saying?’

‘It’s okay, it’s not that bad, get some sleep’, Kara whispered back, Daphne turned around and slept off. Kara put on her torchlight pulled out her sketch pad and began to draw. It did not take long for sleep to come so she put off her light and lay in bed. All this while she tried hard not think. Thinking was the enemy of her living. She was still looking over her shoulder. She could not speak to her mother because her father could be listening in and if not him then one of his men. It was ironic that the memories she had of her father was him covered in blood of someone she knew and loved.

The only time he was not covered in blood was when her mother had a gun pointed to his head and the police came to take him away. She never called him father or dad and it pained him. It was not hard to understand her, she could not love a man that walked hand in hand with the grim reaper. There wasn’t a time he came that he came that someone did not die and it was always someone she loved and adored. Her mother trained her from childhood not to cry, “if you cry they will hear you and we will be trapped”. She did not cry, she did not know how to and whenever she did try she found it difficult.

At breakfast Daphne put a cup of coffee in front of Kara’s whose head was placed firmly against her desk.

‘You didn’t sleep a wink last night did you?’ Daphne asked. The smell of the coffee woke Kara up and she moaned against her desk. They were the only ones in the class room while everyone else was in the dining hall having breakfast. ‘Are you going to tell me what it was about finally or are you going to keep pretending that all is well?’ Daphne sat on her seat facing Kara who managed to raise her head. The heat of the day was not helping her, she slept more when the weather was hot than when it was cold.

‘Who can remember? The day is deliciously hot and I need sleep’, Kara cried out.

‘Your breathing was heavy throughout the night’, Daphne spoke and sipped her juice. ‘Which is weird as most people cry out when they have nightmares, you just breathe really hard and heavy’.

‘Listening to my breathing, now that’s what’s weird’, Kara lifted her mug and sipped her coffee.

‘Kara at this point I am all you have how long are you going to keep acting like you can’t trust me. I am freaking invisible, who am I going to tell?’ Daphne asked.

‘Believe me, it’s not who you are going to tell’, Kara replied looking into her creamy coffee. ‘I tell and people disappear then they show up dead. You are already invisible and I like that, it’s like talking to myself but there is someone that-’ she couldn’t complete it. She did not put anything past her father, he would get infrared glasses to see Daphne if that’s what it took. Then he would hurt Daphne and with Kara being the only one that could see her it he would make her watch.

‘Hey’, Daphne reached out and held Kara’s hand. ‘You don’t have to go into full details. Okay let me give you an example. You know I have four brothers, sometimes I have dreams of my mother having sex with my brothers but when they were really young’. Daphne gave an example that for Kara was too much information.

‘That would constitute a nightmare’, Kara looked up at Daphne.

‘Exactly I just want to know the nightmares not the life story’, Daphne replied.

‘Okay’, Kara agreed, at least she did not have to talk about her father. ‘A few months ago I met this guy named Curtis. He worked as a carpenter close to the nuts shop where I worked and that’s how we met. I have such a complicated life that I did not tell him about it, neither did I tell my mom about him. Our relationship was beautiful and really good but then one day out of nowhere. He broke into my house, I was having a different nightmare so I went to my mother’s room. She’s such a heavy sleeper and though it sounds weird I love to watch her sleep. I returned to my room and there he was stabbing my bed. Then he pulled out a can of gasoline from thin air and set my bed on fire. The knife like the gas, disappeared. I thought I was still dreaming so I ran to him and called his name. When he turned around all I saw were his black eyes like they were filled with ink. He saw the flames and the ink dripped out of his eyes like tears. He has no recollection of what he did, he is in jail for attempted murder and his family is fighting for his freedom’.

Daphne did not know how to respond but she understood why Kara did not speak of it. ‘So you moved here?’ she asked softly.

‘The story was carried in the papers and dad found us again so we moved here’, Kara replied and Daphne nodded rather slowly. ‘I know, its sounds strange, I hear myself and there’s no logical explanation for what I saw. I told the police that we accidently set the bed on fire when we were having sex so they let him go’.

‘You said he is in jail’, Daphne objected

‘He is. After he got realised, we stayed in a hotel and a week after he got out he broke in again. This time our room had a camera, I went out for a walk because of a nightmare again. When I came back I saw the same thing. It was the hotel manager that tackled him to the floor and he did not struggle. Once he saw me and then the flames, the ink poured out. I swear I thought it was because I was sleep deprived then the police and the hotel manager confirmed my story. The video was what brought the media. High Definition resolution doesn’t lie, that’s what the manager said to the police officer when he first saw the ink pouring from his eyes like water’, Kara finished and Daphne gave her hand a small squeeze.

‘It’s not strange just different from what we are originally used to’, she joked and Kara smiled wearily. ‘You should take a nap’, she added.

‘It’s micromanagement class, I will sleep in the back’, Kara replied.

Footsteps approached the class as they spoke, Daphne’s voice was heard but she was not seen. Darth was pulling Erica to the class room because he needed to speak with her. They stopped at the sight of Kara speaking to Daphne that they could not see. He cursed out at them and pulled Erica to another class room.

‘I feel like we should be insulted’, Daphne remarked and Kara shrugged then lay her head on the desk.

Sure enough during micromanagement class, Kara placed a scarf over her head and slept while Daphne took notes for her. She leaned over slightly to Vicky and asked.

‘Who’s that girl that stays behind?’ Erica asked.

‘The invisible girl?’ Vicky whispered

‘No, I mean the one sleeping?’

Vicky gasped, ‘you can see her? Erica scoffed and pointed at Kara who was sleeping. ‘Oh her, I don’t know, she must be new or something. I really don’t look behind’, Vicky replied and turned around.

‘Earlier today during breakfast, I heard her talking to someone. Darth called her a fudging witch’, Erica narrated paraphrasing Darth’s words. ‘I could hear the person talking but I did not see anyone’.

‘You spoke to Darth, what did he say?’ Vicky asked ignoring everything she said about Kara.

‘He tried to explain that the text was a lie but I wouldn’t hear him out’, Erica replied. ‘What do you think is going on with that girl?’

‘Are you crazy? Why would not hear him out?’

‘Because he could be lying and his clique is small and exclusive. Besides they look like a bunch of people that get together and have orgies to honour the full moon’.

‘So indirectly, you are calling their clique a cult’.

‘Exactly, I don’t know what they do and who they really are so why should I just take his word for it?’

‘Because it’s Darth and he’s hot and you are totally into him. What else is there to know?’

‘The meaning of their tattoos, why their skin is golden and their hair black, why they have a funny accent and speak a strange language. Why they are so giant-ly tall, the shortest amongst them is five eleven and that’s the sweaty smelly guy’.

‘Ridge’, Vicky clarified

‘I am not the new chic that comes into new school and does everything to join the vampire cult. I just want to be normal and have human friends’, Erica pulled away from Vicky. She turned around to see Kara sleeping.

‘Your girlfriend doesn’t think we are human’, Cronus from the back heard everything and reported to Darth. ‘She thinks we are a cult and we are unusually tall’, he added and pulled back. Darth buried his face in his hands, Odaphaire looked at him and then at Cronus. She felt bad for Darth, he really liked Erica but she knew Erica had a good point and she was smart to stay away.

‘I think she is intelligent. You should take a lesson from her and back off the human’, Emilia whispered. Darth swung his hand and hit her in the face accidentally. The sound of the slap made him raise his head and pulled everyone’s attention except for Kara who was fast asleep. Emilia held her cheek in her hand.

Mrs Dodo the micromanagement teacher approached them with a look of concern on her face. ‘What happened?’ she asked, Emilia’s eyes did not leave Darth so Mrs Dodo instinctively turned to him.

‘I slapped her’, Odaphaire cried out and they all looked at her. ‘She kept whispering and her warm breathe was touching my neck. Darth has food poisoning and I was trying to convince him to go see the nurse but she kept saying he was faking. She said if he dies then we’ll know he is not faking, that’s when I lost it and slapped her’, Odaphaire lied.

‘The whisper was irritate’, Salaya remarked from her end.

‘Thank you Salaya’, Mrs Dodo replied and turned to Emilia, ‘that’s was not very nice Emilia’, she turned to Odaphaire. ‘You did not need to slap her, violence doesn’t solve everything’. Finally she turned to Darth who looked pale and weak. ‘You should go and see the nurse, Odaphaire take him. It will give you time to cool off and Emilia you would have time to reflect on what you said’, she scolded them and returned to the board.

‘What really happened’, Kara asked Daphne in a whisper.

‘Emilia said something to Darth, he swung his hand to shoo her off and accidentally wacked her in the face’, Daphne laughed. Kara moaned and went back to sleep.

‘I bet you feel bad now, Darth could be dying’, Vicky snapped at Erica who did feel bad.

Emilia sat there trying figure out what just happened and how she became the bad guy.

‘Your aura is repulsive to Darth’, Sal whispered and leaned back in her seat. Tears fell from Emilia’s eyes as she turned faced the board and tried to keep a straight look but it was hard. Daphne saw it and chuckled. Her voice caught Cronus’ attention, he looked in their direction and looked away as soon as he did.

After Micromanagement class, they had a free period, Erica rushed to the hostel to get some books that she left on her bed. She did not tell Vicky because Vicky had been acting weird about the whole Darth thing. She picked up her books when she heard the rusty sound of the window frame way back where Kara slept. She peaked back, ignoring the sound she went back to her books and sorted out what she needed. Seconds later and she heard a sound fall. She stepped out and looked down. The place gave her the creeps, she was not one to go with her curiosity so she tried again to ignore it.

Once she found her books, she picked them up and was about heading out when a crashing sound made her shrieked and jumped in fear turning around swiftly. Her locker flung open and her camera took a snap shot which added a layer to her fear. She rushed to her locker and slammed it shut. Her heart was pounding against her chest, she hated this school and how incredibly creepy it was. She rushed out refusing to go back and acknowledge the sound. As she stepped out, she saw Kara carrying a painting and heading in. She gave a small wave and Kara replied with a nod.

They parted ways and Erica gladly ran off, Kara noticed how tense she seemed. Kara was alone because Daphne wanted to read her codex during their free period. Kara on the other hand just wanted to sleep. She took her painting from the rooftop of the skylight building and brought it to the room. She placed it by her bed and noticed Daphne’s bag lay open on the floor with its contents scattered about like it had been thrown. She put everything back in and zipped the bag up. She decided that she could not sleep so she took some money and decided to shop for art supplies maybe she would make a sculpture.

She left the room and went to the market where she was able to buy clay along with a few things. The art supplies were in the back and really cheap. Her generation did not care about art when everything could be done on a computer but she preferred to get close and personal with her work. Putting a part of herself in the art, or all of herself. Her art was the only constant in her life, made worse by the fact that she didn’t even know her real name and her really birthday. She was issued a new birth certificate for each new identity.

One might ask, how did the government had the funding to keep moving her and her mother from place to place? The answer was easy her father, the man made a million in a day and he was not shy about it. He made twice that in prison and did not feel it whenever money was confiscated by the government. The money gotten from him was used to fund the project for her and her mother. Why did the government care? Simple her father was completely meticulous and they really did not have evidence to hold him. As the time of her present thought, he was about to be let out of prison and the government dreaded it.

It was hard to pin anything on him but whenever he came close to her, he began to have feeling and a conscience which often led him to make small mistakes that the government was quick to catch him on. The last time they thought it would be best to tail him and wait for him to commit an offense so big that would make their case for life, they lost so many agents. The worst part was they could not prove it, or announce it. The agents that died were all working undercover and it was from their office that the names leaked. They buried over forty agents and lost twice as much cases. It was not a good idea or a good day. They arrested him on attempted bribery of an officer, which was just as painful as it was minuscule. The only way they could hurt him was take her away. She was the only of his children that he was invested and obsessed with.

She bought clay in a plastic bin with a carving knife, big beads and sequin materials. She paid for everything and turned around only to bump into Cronus. The paper bag in her hand dropped, he bent down and picked it for her.

‘Sorry, I just wanted to buy a sketch pad for art class’, he said handing the bag over to her. She looked at his big hands and the tattoo on his hand. Briefly her in mind was an image like an old movie of someone talking and she repeated what she head.

‘Birth-rights and blood-lines’, she spoke about his tattoos, he looked at his hands then at her. He was surprised that she knew what it was.

‘Excuse me’,

Impressum

Verlag: BookRix GmbH & Co. KG

Tag der Veröffentlichung: 22.01.2022
ISBN: 978-3-7554-0593-1

Alle Rechte vorbehalten

Widmung:
To my family who has always supported me, this one is for you. I know you will say it is not what you expected but the mind is crazy that way. To my fans that have had my back from day one. I appreciate and love each and every one of you. See you in the vanishing continent.