 
Eternity

M.E. Timmons

Copyright 2012 M.E. Timmons

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### ETERNITY

Chapter 1

I entered the room just in time to narrowly avoid getting hit in the head with a flying lamp, which hit the wall next to me and smashed into dozens of pieces. I stood there paralyzed for a second, but when I looked up at Jack's face I relaxed. There was guilt written all over him.

"Sorry, Juliet," he mumbled to me. "I didn't see you there."

I was prevented from replying by Ms. Holland, who was the head of Pembrook Home, the orphanage in which we lived. She was glaring angrily at Jack, who was starting to look sheepish.

"Mr. Leewood, I don't care what problems you have with the way I run things around here. I will not tolerate such behaviour."

Jack buckled slightly under the power of her gaze. Even after living in Pembrook his whole life, he was as affected by Ms. Holland as the rest of us. At least, most of the time. There were times recently, and becoming more frequent, that he lost his temper regardless of who he was with.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Holland," he said, not quite meeting the older woman's eyes. "I don't know what came over me."

"Well, whatever it was, it's becoming a problem," she snapped. "Perhaps a weekend helping Mrs. Jameson in the kitchen will teach you a lesson. I expect you to report to her at seven o'clock in the morning tomorrow and Sunday, and not a minute later. She will decide when you are free."

With that she turned and started to storm out, but she stopped right in front of me, turning to Jack again. "Don't forget to clean up that mess," she barked, indicating the shattered lamp on the floor. With a withering glance in my direction, she finally exited.

"Jack..." I started, but he held up a hand to stop me.

"I know Jules. It just happened again. It's like I can't control myself."

I nodded, deciding not to say anything. I knew he felt bad enough as it was. "I'll go get the broom," I said instead.

As I went to the supply closet, I thought about Jack, who had been my best friend since I ended up at Pembrook at the age of three. I was sixteen now, so that was a long time ago. Jack was the only person who was there for longer than me, since he had been living there for almost his entire life.

Jack was the nicest person I knew. Ever since he turned sixteen, however, his temper had been getting worse, and even he had no idea why. He even lost his temper with me at times, and I was his best friend. I knew he felt bad about it, of course, but it surprised me every time his normally soft brown eyes sparked with anger. I had a theory about it, but I kept it to myself. He wouldn't believe me anyway.

I brought the broom to Jack and sat down on the couch as he cleaned up the pieces of broken glass, since he wouldn't let me help. We were in the living room, which had scuffed white walls and mismatched furniture. It was normally a well-used room, but most of the younger kids were outside, enjoying the sun after getting back from school. The older kids tended to spend most of their free time in their own rooms, where they had a small measure of privacy. Jack and I both tended to avoid our rooms, though, especially because we couldn't be together in either.

"You know, this kind of gets in the way of our weekend plans," I commented, just as Jack finished sweeping the last pieces of lamp into the ancient metal dustpan he was holding.

"If you mean taking a trip to the library, then I'm not going to complain."

I raised my eyebrows. "You honestly think working in the kitchen is going to be better than going to the library?" Jack's aversion to books was one of the few things we didn't have in common.

He shrugged, smiling. "At least there's something to do in the kitchen."

I threw a pillow at him.

***

The next day came quickly enough, and I was glad it was the weekend, even though I didn't get to spend it with my best friend. At least I could go to the library without listening to him complain. I smiled at the thought.

I didn't end up spending a lot of time there. I went late in the morning, and found several interesting-looking books almost immediately. Once my arms were full, there was no point in hanging around. It was almost time for lunch, which was only available at Pembrook at a specific time, and I didn't have the money to eat out. I caught a bus back.

When I got to my room, I was careful to put the books away under my bed, which was a bottom bunk. I didn't want any of my five roommates to touch them, not that they had any interest in reading. I then selected one and curled up in my favourite chair near the window.

Two of my roommates, Jill and Stephanie, sat in another corner of the room, gossiping about George, the newest arrival at Pembrook. There were rumours that he'd set his last foster home on fire, though I didn't believe that. They didn't care about that, however. They just thought he was cute.

I was used to their nearly constant chatter, so I blocked it out and read my book. It was an encyclopaedia that went from Jo to Lu. I was sure Jack would have cringed to see me reading such a thing, but I found the section about kings quite interesting. Soon I was lost in a world of ancient wars and bloodlines.

A knock at the door startled me. I looked up and saw Mr. Andrews peeking his head in. He was the maintenance man, but since help was short at Pembrook he had other odd jobs as well, including distributing the mail. I saw a bundle of envelopes in his hand as he shuffled slowly into the room. I waved, and he smiled at me. I had always liked Mr. Andrews, since he had a quiet and peaceful nature, but many of the other kids were afraid of him or just didn't like him. I didn't think that was fair, since their only reason was the scars that marred the skin on his arms and the left side of his face, which were the result of a childhood trauma.

Mr. Andrews went over to Stephanie and Jill, and handed an envelope to the former. Stephanie often got letters from her brother, who was with a foster family somewhere in Montana. She squealed in delight and started ripping the letter open, and I turned back to my book.

A shadow fell over me, and I looked up to see Mr. Andrews standing there, holding out an envelope.

"There's a letter for you, Miss," he said.

I looked at it sceptically, and then looked back up at him. "For me? Are you sure?" I had never gotten mail before of any kind because I had no living relatives and no friends out in the world other than Jack.

Mr. Andrews smiled and placed the letter beside me on my bed, since I had made no move to grab it from him. "I'm quite sure, Miss. It says Juliet White on it. You're the only one with that name here." He smiled kindly and left the room, leaving me with my mysterious letter.

It was a large white envelope, and the writing on the outside was dark green and embossed, which made it look quite professional. It was definitely my name in the address. I wondered briefly if it was some kind of joke, but I was too curious to care.

Just as I reached to open the letter, I caught sight of Stephanie and Jill in their corner, watching me. They had never seen me get mail before either, and were looking at me curiously.

I got up quickly and left the room, taking the envelope with me. I didn't like the thought of opening it with them watching me, since the letter felt somehow private. I went downstairs and walked through the house. I passed the playroom, where Ms. Holland was trying to gain control over a hoard of young children. The noise was loud, but I was used to it.

As I went by the kitchen I remembered Jack, and had a sudden urge to tell him about the letter. If there was one person I could share it with, it would be him. I was about to go through the door when he walked out, and almost bumped right into me. He jumped back in surprise and grinned. He had a smudge of flour on his cheek, and there were wet spots on his shirt from washing dishes.

"Hey, you got one too!" he said, waving an envelope in my face. It had dark green embossed writing, just like mine. "I was coming to find you."

"It's interesting that we both got them. Do you think anyone else did too? Stephanie and Jill didn't."

"I don't know. There were only a couple of others in the kitchen, and they didn't get any mail. Want to open them together?"

"Of course, but let's go somewhere private. I don't want anyone else to see." We both knew that somewhere private excluded pretty much everywhere in the building, so we started heading outside.

"George was in the kitchen today. That guy really creeps me out. Did you hear that he almost burnt down a house?"

I rolled my eyes. "Yes, I heard. It's probably not even true. Remember the time when Joe said he killed his stepmother when she really just went to rehab? He was just looking for attention."

"True. That was different, though. Everyone knew Joe liked to tell stories. George is really quiet and mean-looking, though."

"I'm sure the truth will come out sooner or later."

We stepped outside. The backyard was fenced in but large. We had to dodge some kids playing soccer, and then we made our way to the far corner where a giant oak tree stood. It threatened to knock the fence over if it grew any wider, but it had not yet succeeded. The tree had long been a favourite spot of ours, and we each had favourite roots to sit on that had our initials carved into them. That was where we sat.

"Do you want to go first?" I asked. I already had ideas floating around in my head about what was in the envelopes, and they were making my heart pound. I wasn't sure if it was fear or excitement that made that happen.

"No, you go first," Jack said. I could tell he was nervous, and probably hoped that the letters were a way out of Pembrook Home. It was a hope that I shared.

I didn't argue, and opened mine first. There were several sheets of paper inside, and something else at the bottom. I turned the envelope upside down and dumped the contents into my lap. The last thing that fell out interested us both the most.

"Is that a plane ticket?" Jack asked. It was. I looked at it carefully.

"Munich? Why would I go to Munich?" I wondered out loud, and I was getting excited. I shuffled through the papers on my lap, and found something else that interested me. It was a passport. The picture was my school photo from earlier that year.

Jack started to open his envelope then since he couldn't contain his excitement. He pulled out a plane ticket for the same flight as mine, and his passport. Then we read our letters for a few minutes in silence. I could see that Jack was getting less excited.

"A school? I was hoping for something far more interesting than that," he complained. He was the kind of person who preferred to be outdoors as opposed to sitting in a classroom listening to a teacher repeatedly telling people to stop talking. I liked school, but only because I liked to learn.

"It sounds interesting to me," I said. "It's a boarding school, so we won't have to live here anymore, and we get to go to Germany. What were you expecting that could be better than that?"

"I don't know," Jack grumbled. "Something that doesn't involve schoolwork. Not everyone likes studying as much as you do. Private schools are supposed to be way harder than public schools."

"Who cares? It's in Germany!"

"True..." Jack said. I could tell he was considering it.

That was how we both ended up on a flight to Munich on August 30th. Pembrook had also received a letter, telling them that we had both been invited to attend school in Germany, and we had somehow both become emancipated. With the cost of our travel already covered and no tuition to pay for, Pembrook was eager to get rid of us to make room for more homeless children and teenagers. We were quite glad to be leaving anyway, and excited to be going somewhere new for the first time.

Chapter 2

We were headed to Winterwood Academy, an English-speaking school in the German countryside. I had never heard of it, and no one else had either. During our computer time on Tuesdays I had looked up the school and found nothing. It was like it didn't even exist.

I knew from my letter that you could not apply to the school. The students were specifically chosen by the school, and only those chosen were allowed in. The programs lasted for four years, past the normal age when one finishes high school, so the last two years were considered to be university level. Other than that, there wasn't really much in the letter, but that didn't stop me from speculating.

I believed that the school was for those with magical abilities.

I didn't share that thought with Jack because I didn't think he knew what he was, and I had never told him. Jack was a werewolf.

I knew this because I could see people's auras. Everyone radiates energy in different colors, depending on their mood. I spent my whole life observing people and finding out what the colors meant. I also noticed that some people have very distinct auras, and some have none at all. I learned when I was seven that those without auras were vampires. I learned when I was eight that those who had a gold ring surrounding their auras were witches. I learned when I was twelve that those with a gold ring around the inside of their auras had special powers, like the ability to fly. I didn't learn about werewolves until I was fourteen, though I had always wondered what Jack's silver aura meant, since he had been the only person I had ever seen with one.

I found out the same way I found out about the rest of them – by following them. Ms. Holland took a bunch of the older kids out to the park one day to see the waterfall. I was walking in the back behind some of the more eager people, Jack included, when I saw them behind us. There were four of them, a family, all older than me. They all had silver auras. They were talking and laughing and not paying attention to our group. I looked back at Ms. Holland, who was discussing the different types of pine trees with Jack, who was hanging onto her every word. No one was looking back at me, so when I saw the family slink off the path and into the forest, I followed them.

By the time I got back to the group only about ten minutes had passed and no one had noticed I was gone, but I had seen all that I needed to see. About a hundred yards into the forest the family had stopped, looked around, and then took their clothes off. I was considering leaving at that point, thinking something really weird was going on, but then they changed, right before my eyes. I had read enough books to know what had happened, and I already had a strong belief in the supernatural.

When Jack's temper started to flare up about a month after his sixteenth birthday, I knew that it might happen soon. He got more and more touchy, especially around the time of the full moon, but it didn't happen. I knew Jack, and I knew he was freaked out. We talked about it, and I knew that he would tell me if he actually transformed. I should have told him what I had seen, but I didn't want to make him even more worried, and there was still so much that I didn't know myself.

Sitting in the plane on our way to Germany, he still didn't know what he was, and I hoped that I wouldn't be the one to have to tell him. I could tell by his aura that he was both nervous and excited. I could also see a color that always made me feel guilty around him. That color was pink.

Pink can mean a few things. It can mean caring or compassion. It can also mean love.

It was one of the annoying things about my ability. It was so hard to shut it off that most of the time I didn't, which meant that I knew a lot of things that I shouldn't, especially about people's feelings for each other. For example, I knew that Jill had a crush on Henry, and that Mr. Andrews had a thing for Ms. Holland. I also knew from a young age that all of the other girls at Pembrook hated me, which was how I ended up being best friends with Jack. I also knew that Jack was in love with me, and he wasn't the only one.

He never said anything about it and he always acted normal around me, probably because we had been friends since we were five. I could catch it every now and then anyway, no matter how well he tried to hide it. Sometimes it was the way he was looking at me, or the way he defended me around the other girls, and there was always his aura, and how it would go almost completely pink when he was around me, but not with anyone else.

I felt guilty because I didn't feel the same way. He was my best friend, and I loved him, but I just wasn't in love with him. When I was around him my aura was generally its usual shade of white. It wasn't that he wasn't attractive, because he definitely was. He had thick dark hair that started to curl when it got too long, and sweet brown eyes that contrasted his strong features. Still, his friendship meant the world to me, and I just couldn't lose that. He was like family to me.

"Are we there yet?" he asked, waking up from a nap. He stretched and peered out the window, which was beside him. He groaned when all he saw was the sky.

"We'll get there eventually," I said, yawning. I hadn't managed to fall asleep, though I wanted to. It was going to be early morning when we landed, so there wouldn't be much time for sleep.

"I had no idea that plane rides felt so long," Jack commented. "I feel like I've been in here for days."

"It's only been a couple of hours, I think. It does feel like a long time though, especially because I can't wait to land."

"Me neither," Jack said, yawning. He curled up to go back to sleep. "I hope where we're going is better than where we've been." He closed his eyes, and in minutes he was snoring softly. I watched him for a little while out of curiosity. Auras are interesting when people sleep.

We didn't land until two hours later. After we found our luggage, we saw a man with a sign saying Winterwood Academy. There were already two people around our age standing with him from another flight, and when we joined them he said he was waiting for three more from a flight from Australia, which should be landing any minute. He introduced himself as Paul, and explained that he was a teacher at the school. He didn't really look that old, maybe mid twenties, and he had messy blond hair that almost covered his eyes. The two others were Sydney and Kyle, from Ontario.

We ended up waiting half an hour for the flight from Australia. During that time Paul explained that people had been coming in for about a week, and there was still another week before classes would actually begin, as people were still coming. The school was actually quite far from the airport, so Paul was going to drive us all there, which was a journey that would take about half the day.

Sydney and Kyle didn't know each other, but I could see that they both had gold rings around the insides of their auras, which meant they had special abilities. Sydney was a returning student, back from spending the summer at home, but Kyle was new like us. Paul was a werewolf, and he looked at Jack with interest.

"Are you related to the Sawyer family in Oregon?" he asked Jack.

Jack looked surprised, since we lived in Washington, near the border to Oregon. He shrugged his shoulders. "My last name is Leewood, not Sawyer, but I don't know who my relatives are. I was given up at birth. Juliet and I are both orphans."

"Ah, well, just thought I'd ask. You look kind of like Dexter Sawyer. He was in my year when I went to the Academy." He looked at me. "I can't say you look like anyone I've ever met before," he commented, looking at me with interest. I could feel my face grow hot with embarrassment, even though I was used to such things.

Once the Australians were with us we went out to the van that would take us to school. It was white and fairly large, with four rows of seats, so there was plenty of room for us and our suitcases. There was already a cooler and a few bags of food in the back to keep us satisfied during the journey.

The Australian students were all returning, and they all knew each other, so they kept to themselves and sat in the back of the van. I was sitting near the front between Jack, who got the window seat yet again, and Sydney. I asked her shyly about the school, and luckily she didn't hate me right away, like most girls did.

"It's the best school in the world," she said, with enthusiasm. "I'm really excited to be going back. There's the opening ball to look forward to, which was awesome last year. It's really formal, so you get to dress up and they even had an orchestra, so it was kind of like stepping back in time. The classes are generally really interesting, even though they have boring names. The names are just so that if someone on the outside sees a transcript, they won't be able to guess what the classes are actually about, or they'll be misled into believing it's something else. The teachers are all really cool, and they -"

"Why would other people not be allowed to know what our classes are about?" Jack interrupted, looking confused. "Is there something special about them?"

"What, you don't know?" Sydney asked, looking startled. Then she relaxed. "Oh, that's right, you're an orphan. I guess I shouldn't expect you to know already, since they don't say anything in the letter in case someone else reads it. Most of us grow up with parents who have gone to Winterwood, so we know what the school is for and we expect our letters when they come."

Jack waited a minute for her to continue, but she didn't. "So what's the big secret?" he finally asked.

Sydney turned to me, looking nervous. "Do you know?" she asked.

"Not for sure, but I have a pretty good idea," I answered. "I'm assuming it's some kind of school of magic."

Jack laughed. "This isn't a J.K. Rowling novel, Jules. There's no such thing as magic."

"Actually, Juliet's right. That's why you can't apply to attend the academy. Only those with special abilities get letters."

"You can't be serious," Jack said, looking somewhat stunned. I could see the whirls of his emotions in bright colors. "If you knew all this time, why didn't you say something?" he asked me.

"It's not the kind of thing you make casual conversation about," I replied. "I wasn't sure how you would react."

"We're best friends, Jules. We've had conversations that weren't casual before."

"It must be weird to grow up not knowing what you are," Sydney said, resting her head of black curly hair against the seat. "I'm a hero. That's what they call people with one special ability."

"I wondered what they were called," I said.

"Yeah? What are you, then?"

"Actually, I don't know," I said honestly. "I've never seen anyone else like me before. I can see auras. I know that people like you, heroes, have a gold ring around the inside of your auras. Witches have a gold ring on the outside, vampires have no auras, and werewolves have auras that are predominately silver. I have none of those things."

"Huh. So is your aura, like, normal?" Sydney asked.

"No," I answered. "It's predominately white. I've never seen anyone else with a white aura. Do you know what it means?"

"No. Heroes don't really learn about auras, and I've only heard a few basic things. They teach that stuff to the witches and wizards, but not until later years because it's a pretty advanced skill just to be able to see them, and they're generally the only ones who can anyway. Maybe you're a witch or something."

"What am I?" Jack asked. "I've never been able to do anything special."

"You're a werewolf," I told him.

He turned away from me to try to hide his reaction, but I could still see it in his aura. He believed me, and he was terrified. He stared out the window, obviously deep in thought.

I talked to Sydney a bit more, but didn't learn much else. She told me a little about some of the classes she had taken the previous year, and also about some of the events that occurred. After a while I closed my eyes, listening to the sound of Jack's soft breathing beside me. I didn't even realize that I had fallen asleep until I felt Jack roughly shaking my arm.

"We're there," he said sharply, and I looked out the window.

Chapter 3

The school seemed to consist of only one building, but it was big and spread out. I could only really see the front, and there was a tall section in the middle, connected to shorter sections, and then the corners were even taller than the middle. I counted six floors of windows in the corners, two in between, and four in the middle. The red brick facade had a timeless quality, and I wondered how long the school had been there. There was a lot of open space around the building with stone paths, benches, a field, and a tennis court, and the open area was completely enclosed by forest except for the long driveway that led up to the building. It looked more like a mansion than a school, and I couldn't help but find it beautiful. It was like nothing I had ever seen before in my very sheltered life.

I followed Sydney out the door of the van, and Jack came out behind me. He was clearly mad at me, but there wasn't much that I could do about it at that point. We gathered our suitcases and followed Paul to the front doors in the middle of the building, which were already open. We stepped through the doors, which led to a beautiful foyer. He told the returning students to go ahead and get settled in their old rooms, and then he turned to the three of us who were remaining.

"You guys won't get your final room assignments until after orientation, which isn't until tomorrow night. In the mean time you'll have temporary rooms in the north wing, which is generally pretty empty. I'll take you there now to dump your suitcases, and then I'll give you a tour. After that you'll be pretty much free to do what you'd like until orientation."

We followed Paul down a hallway to the left, which was lined with doors that led to classrooms. After putting our suitcases in the north wing, which was at the end of the hall in one of the corners of the building, we went back to the marble foyer. There was a grand staircase with large double doors on either side at the bottom. There was also a large portrait on one wall of a stunning African man, his clothing suggesting that the painting had been made a few hundred years earlier. There was something familiar about him, yet I couldn't remember ever having seen him before, and I had a perfect memory. That was another weird thing about me. I was hoping that Paul would explain the portrait, but apparently history was not his favourite subject. He led us through the double doors by the stairs instead.

We entered what appeared to be a cafeteria, but it was not like any cafeteria I had ever seen before. There were twelve tables, all made of sturdy wood with delicate carvings of flowers and birds, making them look almost medieval. The chairs were of similar design and featured plush red cushioning. The ceiling was flat and not overly high, but there were grand chandeliers spaced out along its wood panelling. The walls were also covered in wood panelling, but the floor was covered in grey stone with red accents. There were no windows, but the soft yellow glow from the chandeliers bathed the large space with just enough light. There was also a platform and podium at the far end of the room.

"This is where you'll eat every meal," Paul explained. "Meals are served from 7:00 to 8:30, 11:30 to 1:00, and 5:00 to 7:00. The schedule will be posted in the wings. If you miss a meal there are always snack foods in the wings as well, as you'll see later."

Paul then led us to a door off the side of the room, which led to a twisting set of stairs that disappeared below ground. He told us that there was a pool down there that we could use during our free time, but we didn't go down to see it. Instead we went back to the foyer and then up the grand staircase, which led to a pair of intricately designed gold doors that were open to reveal a room that was even more magnificent than the one below. It nearly took my breath away.

"This is the ballroom. The opening ball is held in here every year, and it will be in two days time, I believe. We also use the room for plays and other shows when we have them."

"It's incredible," I said, in awe. We stayed a minute to admire its grandeur.

In this room the floor was made of different types of wood laid out in an intricate pattern of diamonds, and it was richly polished. The ceiling was high and vaulted, and the beams seemed to be covered in gold leaf. There were sections between the beams that had been painted to realistically look like an image you would see if you looked up at the trees from a forest floor. Two of the biggest chandeliers I had ever seen hung from the ceiling and were made of what seemed like a hundred tiers of sparkling crystals. This room did have windows, and they took up most of the wall space. The far wall was completely glass and also featured glass doors that led out to a balcony. The wall on the left had no windows but featured a stage with heavy red velvet curtains that were drawn back to reveal a grand piano. The walls were mostly panelled and were white and gold, though the wall beside the door featured a mural of people dancing. The room looked better fitted to a royal palace than a school.

After we left the ballroom we went to each of the four wings, all of which were similar. The bedrooms had four beds each, and each bedroom was paired with a bathroom that had four of everything. There were separate floors for the male and female rooms. There was also a large common room in each wing that contained televisions, computers, and plush chairs. There were small kitchens off each common room that were full of healthy snack foods. All of the rooms were in similar style to the ones we had gone to first, so it was almost like taking a step back in time. The bedrooms were wallpapered and the bathrooms full of marble, and the furniture had the same sturdy yet elegant design as the tables in the cafeteria.

Paul didn't show us the classrooms, but he said they were numbered and not too hard to find, and were found on both the first and second floors along the hallways between the wings. He did show us a few of the special rooms. There was a dance studio, a music room, an art room, a library, an infirmary, and a gym that was below ground, like the pool, that had a weight room off to the side. He also showed us something that I didn't expect to see, and which freaked out Jack.

Even further below ground than the pool and behind three heavy locked doors was a hallway. Along the hallway were small rooms that also had very secure doors. Paul opened one up with a key he had in his pocket so that we could see inside.

"These rooms are used by the young werewolves at the time of the full moon for everyone's protection. Most of the older students have enough control to spend that time free in the woods, but young werewolves are dangerous and unpredictable. I won't lie; most of the injuries that occur here are caused when a young wolf loses his or her temper and turns. I'm not telling you this so that you'll live in fear. I'm telling you so that you understand and use a measure of caution." Paul looked at Jack while he said this. "No one is forced to come to these rooms, but most do so willingly to avoid hurting others. Those who refuse and become a danger to the school are usually kicked out, but that's a last resort. We want to help people here, and it would be hard to do that if we gave up on all of the difficult students."

The room was white and padded, though the padding was torn in places, littering the floor with bits of white fluff. There were a few random objects in the room that were torn apart or chewed on. Paul explained that they were used as an outlet for anger and energy.

"What if you haven't actually started changing?" Jack asked softly.

"You will soon, trust me. Being around others of your kind will trigger it. You'll probably want to come down here just in case during the next full moon," Paul answered, which only worried Jack more.

"Do problems ever happen with the other students?" Kyle asked, shifting his weight from foot to foot. "Surely there are lots of heroes and witches and wizards who have dangerous powers. Do they ever hurt anyone?"

"Usually only by accident," Paul told him. "The heroes and witches were given their powers by the gods, and as a rule, only those who are pure of heart are given powers in the first place, which is why there are sometimes members of magical families who have no abilities. Vampires are well regulated by their own kind and hierarchy. Werewolves are the least regulated of all the magical species, so they tend to be the most dangerous."

"Gods?" I asked curiously.

Paul looked at me. "Don't worry. You'll learn about stuff like that in your classes once they start." He left it at that, and I was disappointed.

Chapter 4

When the tour was over Paul left to pick up another group at the airport, leaving us to do whatever we wanted. We had passed plenty of other students on our tour who seemed to be enjoying their temporary freedom. Kyle decided to go outside and enjoy the beautiful weather. I turned to Jack to ask him what he wanted to do, but he was already walking away.

"Where are you going?" I asked, jogging to catch up.

Jack didn't look at me. "I'm going to go lie down. I think I have jet lag," he lied.

"Jack -"

"Don't, Jules. I just want to be alone, okay?"

I let him go. I could see the swirling torrents of emotion in the colors all around him, and I knew he needed some time to sort out his feelings. He had been overwhelmed by what he had learned, and I couldn't blame him. I couldn't help but feel guilty for not telling him anything sooner.

I was then alone, standing in a hallway between the north wing and the front entrance. Since I had nothing else to do at the time, I walked toward the grand staircase. Before going up the steps, I stopped to once again study the painting on the wall. There was something so familiar and so comforting about the man's noble features. He was probably the most beautiful person I'd ever seen, which almost made me think that the painting wasn't of a real person, but of someone's idea of perfection. I didn't really believe that though. This man was real, and out there somewhere, which made my heart swell. After pondering for a minute as to why that was, I gave up trying to figure it out and went up the stairs.

The door to the ballroom was still open, so I went inside. I could imagine hundreds of people in magnificent gowns and suits dancing on the gleaming floors, and felt a desire to do so myself, even though I didn't know how to dance. Soon, I thought, remembering that there was to be a ball. Too bad I had nothing to wear. There was nothing in the letter mentioning the need for a ball gown, and I couldn't have been able to afford one anyway.

The room was empty. I walked to the glass doors at the far side of the room. Through the panes of glass I could see that there was a courtyard in the middle of the school. The balcony that was on the other side of the doors was fairly large and made of stone. There were stairs on both sides leading down to the gardens below, where I could see a fountain and a gazebo and stone paths trailing through patches of beautiful flowers and trees. There were posts along the paths that were connected above by strings of lights, though they weren't on. I could tell that it would be beautiful at night. There were people wandering around on the paths that went through the gardens. Most of them looked like students, but a few were obviously teachers, and all were enjoying the beautiful day outdoors. I thought of how much Jack would enjoy such a place, and made a mental note to tell him about it later. He had always loved plants of every type.

Instead of going outside to join the happy people, I walked over to the stage. There were no stairs leading up to it, so I had to climb up to be on the platform. From that height I had an excellent view of the entire room and all of its magnificence.

Back at Pembrook Home, there had been a piano in one of the rooms downstairs. Only the children who were receiving lessons were allowed to touch the instrument, as the rest just created noise that drove the staff crazy. When I was seven I really wanted to feel the keys beneath my fingers and make beautiful music like one of the older girls, so I asked Mrs. Jameson for lessons. She agreed to start teaching me that evening after supper.

She wouldn't let me touch the instrument at first. She explained the notes and showed me which keys made which sounds. Then she showed me sheet music, and how it worked. The lesson took up the entire evening, and I had not had a chance to play. Tomorrow, she said.

The next night we sat down together in front of the piano. "Do you remember what I taught you yesterday?" Mrs. Jameson asked. I nodded. She asked me a few questions to test my knowledge, and I surprised her by answering all correctly. I believed she thought she would have to teach me everything all over again, like with most of her students. She didn't know that I had a perfect memory because I tried not to flaunt it. People disliked me enough already.

Finally she let me play. She set out some sheet music for me, and it was a very simple song. I played it without mistakes, but I thought it was rather dull. Mrs. Jameson was ecstatic.

"That was amazing!" she exclaimed. "I have never heard anyone play so flawlessly on their first try!"

"Could I please play something more interesting?" I asked, rather bored.

"Oh, of course, dear. I will go get some more sheet music for you." She sped off to the library, eager to see how much I could do, leaving me alone with the instrument.

Having no one there to tell me not to play, I decided to try playing a little on my own. I let my fingers dance across the keys, and somehow it made a melody. I picked up the pace and added more depth to the song, giving it multiple layers of high and low notes, pouring my heart into it. I was so absorbed in my playing that I didn't notice what was going on around me until I finally let the song end, which was a hard thing to do. When I looked up the room was almost full. It seemed like more than half the people who lived there were in that little room, standing or sitting and listening to me play with wide eyes. Embarrassed, I quickly got up and went to my room before anyone could talk to me.

From that day on I often had other people begging me to play for them. Sometimes I did, and I always enjoyed it. Mrs. Jameson called me a prodigy and tried to get me interested in signing up for a school of the arts, but I always refused, saying I only played for the joy of it, and didn't want that ruined. The real reason was that I didn't like playing other people's music, which I would undoubtedly be forced to do.

Jack often sat and listened when I played. I tried to get him to take lessons himself, but he said I played well enough for the both of us. He wouldn't even try learning to play another instrument. I was a little disappointed because I thought it would be a fun thing to do together, but I knew he feared being overshadowed and wanted to find something of his own that he was good at. I ended up always playing alone, but I loved it anyway.

And so, of course, when I saw that beautiful grand piano on the stage I couldn't help but go over and study it. It was a much more majestic instrument than the one at Pembrook, and it was kept in such good condition that it looked like it was brand new, though I didn't believe it was because of the style. Since there was no one in the room I figured it wouldn't bother anyone too much if I played a little bit.

The sound that came out of the instrument as I played was as beautiful as the instrument itself, and I quickly became absorbed by it. I let my feelings flow through my fingers, pouring out my joy into the song.

I sat playing for what felt like an eternity before I realized that I was no longer alone. I stopped playing immediately and looked around, but I didn't see anyone at first.

"Wow," I heard from the wings of the stage. A figure stepped out from behind the curtain that revealed itself to be that of a young man, clearly another student. He was surprisingly handsome, with neat brown hair and bright blue eyes. He was wearing black pants and a black sweater that had a dark green pattern knitted in.

"Sorry, I didn't realize that anyone was here," I said, standing to leave. I hit my knee on the piano in my haste, and it hurt, but I ignored the pain.

"Don't apologize. I've never heard anyone play like that before," he said. He had a strong English accent.

"Well, it's not something I do very often," I said, silently cursing my own clumsiness. "When I saw the piano I couldn't resist. It's the nicest one I've ever seen."

"You must be new here then. Do you like it so far?" He came and sat casually on the piano bench that I had just vacated. He looked like a model posing for an ad, though I knew he wasn't consciously trying to appear that way.

"I've been here less than two hours, but the place is certainly beautiful. I've never seen anywhere quite like it before."

"Don't worry, you'll get used to it. I hope you don't think me rude for asking, but is music your ability? I mean, are you a hero?"

"Oh, no it isn't. To be honest I don't know what I am."

"That's unusual. Most people know because we're like our parents. Do your parents have different abilities?"

"I don't know," I told him. "They died in a car accident when I was three. I was at home with a babysitter at the time. I still remember them perfectly, but I don't remember them ever doing anything unusual."

He looked away, and I could see his sympathy in his aura. "I'm sorry to hear that," he said softly. "I don't know what I would have done without my parents. They helped me a lot with understanding what I was when I was growing up."

"You're a wizard, aren't you?"

"Yes, how did you know?" He seemed quite surprised.

"I can see your aura," I told him.

"Ah. And I don't even know your name," he said, laughing to cover his discomfort. He knew what an aura was, so he knew what my ability meant.

"I'm Juliet," I said, smiling. He relaxed.

"That name suits you well. I'm sure you break hearts every day," he joked. "My name is Michael. This is my third year here, so if you ever need help finding anything, feel free to ask me."

"Sure. I'll see you around," I said, and I jumped off the stage. I could feel his eyes on me as I walked toward the door. I was a little eager to get away because I could tell he was attracted to me. I had to deal with that enough as it was, though at least he was the polite type.

"Wait!" he shouted, and I heard him jog toward me. I turned, inwardly sighing.

"It's time for lunch," he said when he stopped in front of me. "Care to join me?"

"Yeah, I guess," I answered. He was a nice guy, so I figured it couldn't hurt to get to know him better. I wouldn't mind being his friend, I thought.

Chapter 5

We went downstairs to the cafeteria. There were already a few people sitting down, and there was hot food in serving dishes on the tables and empty plates in front of the chairs. I looked around for Jack but didn't see him. I saw Sydney and waved to her. She was sitting with a tall dark girl with black hair who looked annoyed at something.

We sat at an empty table and filled our plates with food, which looked healthy but good. I noticed a lot of people looking at us, and many waved or said hello to Michael. He smiled and waved back, always friendly.

"You seem to know a lot of people here," I commented before taking a bite of salad.

"I guess I do. I know almost everyone in my year, and quite a few in other years. I've been involved in a lot of school activities."

"Like what?" I asked.

"We have a play here every year and I've been in it both years I've been here, and I'm on the swim team. I also started a band here with a couple of friends last year, though we only played a show once."

That was certainly interesting, I thought. I didn't know too many other people who played music. "What's it called?"

"Light's Kingdom. Don't ask me why; I didn't come up with it," he said smiling. "It was Pat's idea. He's the drummer. He's good at what he does, so I couldn't argue too much with his choice. Have to keep the talent happy." He laughed.

"Oy, are you bragging about our band to this beautiful young lady?" asked a tall gangly blond guy who had come up behind Michael. "Just because you're the lead singer doesn't mean you get all the credit, you know." He winked in my direction and sat down beside me and immediately began piling his plate with enough food to feed a family of four.

"I'm trying to bulk up a bit," he explained when he saw me staring.

Another guy, who had just sat down beside Michal, laughed. "You've been trying to bulk up for years. Don't you think it's time you gave up?"

"Hey, I'll have you know I've gained a whole kilogram in the past two months," he said indignantly. He turned to Michael. "Aren't you going to introduce us to your new friend?"

"Sure. This is Juliet. Juliet, that's Leon and this is Patrick, both my band mates." Leon was the gangly guy sitting beside me, and Patrick was the guy sitting beside Michael. He looked Native American, but I couldn't be sure.

"Pleasure to meet you," Leon said, sticking out his hand. I put my hand in his thinking he'd shake it, but instead he brought it to his lips and kissed it. I pulled my hand away, embarrassed.

"Leon, behave yourself," Patrick scolded, but he was grinning.

"Hey, I was just being a gentleman," was his reply. He winked at me again and then started devouring his plate of food.

"Do you play any instruments?" Patrick asked me.

"She's a musical genius. She can play the piano in a way I've never heard before," Michael answered for me before I had a chance to respond.

"You should try out for our band, then. We need a new keyboard player. Our last one graduated last year, and we're planning on holding auditions next week."

"No thanks," I answered. "I don't really enjoy playing other people's music."

"Why not?" Leon asked between bites.

"I play to express my own feelings," I explained. "I have a hard time doing that when I'm playing a song that's about someone else, or in some cases about nothing at all. I find it kind of boring."

"Well, just think about it," Michael said. "We really could use you."

"Do you ever write music?" Patrick asked.

"Not really. I only ever did once, and when I finished writing the song I gave it to my piano teacher to play, but she couldn't do it. She couldn't play it fast enough to get all the notes in, so it ended up sounding pretty bad. I never bothered to do it again."

Jack walked into the cafeteria then. He looked much calmer than he had before, though his anxiety hadn't disappeared completely. He saw me at a table with a bunch of guys and frowned, and then he sat down next to Kyle, who had been sitting alone. He looked quite determined to ignore me.

I quickly finished my meal and excused myself. I walked over to Jack, who didn't see me approach since he had been determinately not looking in my direction.

"Jack, we need to talk," I said when he noticed me.

"I'm eating," he said. "Maybe later." He turned back to his food and commented on it to Kyle. I sighed and left. He was right; there was always later.

"Juliet!" I heard from behind me once I was in the hallway. I turned, hoping it was Jack, but it was Michael.

"Um, I was wondering if you had a date for the ball? I know we just met and all, but I'm not going with anybody and I was wondering if you would go with me?" He was talking fast and was clearly nervous. He looked kind of cute, but I wasn't really interested. I didn't feel anything special when I was around him.

"If you don't mind I think I'll go by myself," I answered, as politely as I could. "I haven't really had a chance to meet very many people yet."

"Oh, okay," he said. He looked disappointed, but not offended. "Well, I'll see you there then. Save a dance for me?"

I smiled. "I can do that."

After he had walked away I walked back to the cafeteria. Instead of trying to talk to Jack again I went to the staircase at the side of the room and went down to the basement, if it could be called such. I wanted to see the pool, since I liked to swim, though I hardly ever had the chance to do so. The stairs led directly to the pool, which appeared to be the average size and depth, though the atmosphere made it look more like a decoration than an actual swimming pool. Everything seemed to be covered in patterned tiles that were mostly turquoise and gold in color, and there were statues of mermaids frolicking along the side of the pool. The water was exactly level to the floor around it, which gave the impression that one could step off the side and onto the water instead of into it, like it was made of glass. There were doors that led to showers and changing rooms on one side, and a door at the back that led to the gym and weight room.

There were two people swimming laps in the water, so I didn't linger. I went back upstairs and to the north wing common room. There were a couple of vampires there watching television. They both looked a lot older than most of the other students, and they sat very still. One of them looked up at me as I walked by. She was beautiful, and I felt like her bright blue eyes were looking directly into my soul, though the blank expression on her face didn't change. It was unsettling, so I hurried by and went to my room.

Vampires were the exception to the rule at Winterwood Academy. While everyone else got letters, the vampires had to apply to get into the school. This wasn't because they were dangerous, because they really weren't. They were more closely regulated within their own ranks than any other type of people. The reason was because they weren't born; they were made, so they didn't age. The rest of us went to the school at the age of sixteen, but vampires were all sorts of ages, and only came to the school to further their education and learn things about the magical world that they couldn't learn anywhere else. They made up the smallest portion of students at the school, which was why a lot of the new students were staying in their wing before we were sorted into our appropriate groups.

The rest of the day passed by rather uneventfully. I met no one else and spent most of the time by myself exploring the school and the grounds, trying to become familiar with the layout. With my memory it wasn't very difficult. I tried to find Jack but I didn't see him anywhere. I ended up eating dinner with Sydney, who had been sitting alone when I entered the cafeteria.

I woke up the next morning in an unfamiliar bed to the sound of other people breathing around me. It took me a moment to realize where I was, and that the past day was not a dream, though it still felt like it was. I had been in Pembrook for so long, it felt unreal to be living somewhere else.

I was quite accustomed to having roommates, so I was careful to be quiet as I got up and showered. The other people in the room, whom I hadn't even met, were all still asleep when I slipped out.

There were a few people in the common room, but it seemed like most people were still asleep. It was not yet time for breakfast, so I decided to go for a walk outside. After debating in my mind for a minute about whether I should go outside the building or to the courtyard, I decided to wander around outside in the more open space. I wanted to save going to the courtyard for some time at night when the lights would be on.

I was surprised to find Jack already out. He was sitting on a stone bench that was beside a path, and he looked more calm than he had the day before. He looked up as I approached and looked annoyed, but he didn't try to escape. I sat beside him.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you, Jack," I said, sincerely, breaking a stretch of silence that had lasted for over a minute. "I honestly don't know why I didn't. I guess it was partly because I was afraid to, and partly because I was waiting for the right time. I think I waited too long though. It would have been better for me to tell you as soon as I found out myself so that you wouldn't have been so confused about what was happening to you."

Jack looked at me and smiled. "I don't really blame you Jules. I don't think it really would have changed anything. It was just such a shock to hear about it, and to learn that so many things I never believed in are real. I think it's kind of cool, actually, except for the whole staying in a dungeon during the full moon thing."

"Well, if there's anything I can do to help, just let me know."

"You know, what I don't get is that you've had a special ability your whole life and you knew about it and never told me. I would have told you anything if I had any idea what was happening to me. That hurts me more than anything else."

I sighed and rested my head on his shoulder, looking up at the sun that was just making its way over the trees. "Do you know what an aura is, Jack?"

"Actually, I have no idea."

"It's energy that emanates from within you and surrounds you. Not very many people have the ability to see it. Those of us who do see it in colors. Those colors vary based on your emotions, though everyone has a predominate color that is the basis of their personality. It's like seeing a part of someone's soul. The reason I never told you is not because I don't trust you. It's because I didn't think you would be comfortable knowing the fact that I can see so much about you that you think is hidden."

"Yeah, I guess that is a scary thought. Just how much do you know, anyway?" Jack shifted, and I lifted my head from his shoulder so I could see his face. He was frowning.

"Don't worry about it," I said. "It doesn't really change a thing."

"Sure, nothing's changed for you; you've known all along. It kind of changes things for me though. Really, I want to know how much you know." Jack was getting anxious.

"How much I know about what?" I asked.

Jack paused, and I thought he wouldn't answer. I could tell that this was hard for him. "I want to know how much you know about how I feel about you," he finally answered, turning pink.

"Probably best if you don't ask."

"It's that bad, huh?"

"Jack, it's not bad. It really isn't good, either. You're my best friend, and I'd like it to stay that way."

"I see."

"Jack -"

"Jules, don't worry about me," he said, smiling. The expression didn't quite meet his eyes. "Our friendship is important to me too. I don't want to do anything that would jeopardize it."

We fell silent. I could hear the birds waking up in the forest, singing their morning songs. It did nothing to keep the sadness from my heart. Hurting Jack was the last thing I wanted to do, but he needed to know I didn't feel the same way, especially because I could eventually meet someone I did love. I hoped it wouldn't break his heart if that happened. I hoped that some other girl would come along and win his affection.

Eventually we got up and went to breakfast together. It was wonderful to be able to spend time with him again, and I was struck by how much I needed him to keep me happy. He could always make me laugh. By the end of the meal I felt much better than I had when I woke up that morning.

Chapter 6

After breakfast we went back to the north wing, and we were surprised to find that the common room was now filled with racks of clothing. Upon closer inspection I realized that it wasn't just ordinary clothing. Some of the racks were full of sparkling ball gowns of all shapes and sizes, and others were full of pieces of elegant suits. A short middle-aged woman with frizzy hair was directing people around the racks. I could see a few girls who were trying on dresses, coming out into the common room to get opinions from their friends. There were a few guys trying on suits as well. A tall vampire stood in the corner looking quite elegant in a black tuxedo, and he was talking to the girl who had looked at me the day before. She looked at me again, but I was distracted when the woman with frizzy hair came up to me and Jack.

"Ah, you two must be new students. Come, try on some evening wear. You can borrow whatever you'd like for the opening ball. Dresses are on the right and suits are on the left. Shoes are on the shelves." She pointed them out to us, and then hurried off to answer a girl's question about the length of a gown. She looked a little frazzled, but she was clearly enjoying herself.

"Well, this should be interesting," Jack said.

"At least we no longer have to worry about what we're going to wear," I said cheerfully. I couldn't help but be a little excited since I had never really dressed up before.

"I wasn't worried in the first place," Jack said, shrugging. I rolled my eyes.

We split up and went to opposite sides of the room to browse through the clothes. I quickly found a few dresses to try on and hurried off to the bathroom attached to the room I was sleeping in. The other girls were already in there trying on dresses themselves, except for one who looked like she had just gotten out of bed.

The first dress I tried on was pale pink. It had a simple sequined bodice, but the skirt was full and made of countless layers of a very light fabric that almost seemed to float. When I stood in front of the mirror I could see the other girls looking at me with envy, but I didn't really like the dress. It was too tight in the chest, and I thought it made me look like a fairy. All it needed was some glittery wings.

The second dress I tried on was much different. It was made of dark green velvet, with a square neckline and long sleeves. It fit well, but I thought it would look better on someone with red hair. I certainly had the fair complexion of someone with red hair, but my hair was a shade of blond so pale that it almost looked white. The dark color didn't suit me well.

I tried on yet another dress. It was a gold and sparkly ball gown. I looked in the mirror and immediately decided against it. I looked like a gold disco ball.

Feeling dejected, I walked back to the common room and returned the dresses to their racks. The woman with the frizzy hair came up to me.

"Any luck? No? That's surprising. You would look marvellous in a canvas sack, but I can understand the need to find the perfect dress. In fact, I think I know what would be perfect for you." She rummaged around for a minute before pulling out a mass of black lace and shoving it into my arms. "Go try it on," she ordered, giving me a slight push toward my room. She followed after me, apparently quite excited to see the dress on me.

She was right, it was perfect. It was mermaid style, hugging my body at the top and flowing out at the bottom. It was completely covered in black lace, and had a sweetheart neckline and sleeves that covered little more than my shoulders. The black contrasted my fair skin and hair quite perfectly and made my blue eyes stand out more than usual. I had always thought that my eyes were rather peculiar, since the irises were a bright but pale blue surrounded by a ring of dark blue. Of course, the color of my hair was somewhat unusual as well.

The woman surveyed me with satisfaction. "That is definitely the dress for you, darling. We just need to get you some shoes. Stay here a minute and I'll go find some. What size do you wear?"

I told her and she hurried off, only to return a minute later with a pair of black heels. They went perfectly with the dress, and I found I could walk in them without too much trouble. Her job complete, the lady left to help someone else. I changed back into my old jeans and t-shirt, and I put the dress away, careful not to wrinkle it.

When I went back to the common room to find Jack, there was a burly-looking man there who was calling out names and handing out large packages to everyone. He called my name, and I went over to accept my package.

"What is it?" I asked the man.

"School uniforms," he told me.

I found Jack and saw that he also had a package. We opened them together and saw that they were, indeed, school uniforms. They were the same as what I had seen Michael wearing the day before. There were several pairs of black pants and, for me at least, black skirts. I also had a few black sweaters with patterns on them in green, purple, or both, and I figured they were the school colors. There were also a couple of blouses which were purple or green. The packages also included black shoes and a few other things. Overall the clothes were rather stylish, and certainly nicer than anything I owned. There was a note that came in the package that explained that uniforms were to be worn during class hours, but we could wear what we wanted after classes and on weekends.

"I was talking to someone yesterday about uniforms," Jack told me. "He said that the school isn't too strict about them. I think you can wear whatever shoes you want. They just give us shoes in case we don't have any that would go with the uniform."

"I'm kind of glad that we get uniforms. It's not like we have anything nice to wear anyway," I commented. Jack nodded in agreement. "I wonder how they knew our sizes."

"Magic, I suppose," Jack said, and we both grinned.

Having all of that over with, we decided to explore the grounds. The weather was calm and still fairly warm, so we were comfortable. We learned from Sydney, who we met on our walk, that there was a small lake to the south through the woods that we were allowed to go to and swim in, but she cautioned us about the woods to the north.

"There's a cliff about a kilometre in," she explained to us. "We're not really supposed to go out there because it's really dangerous and kind of sudden. I heard it's like at least two hundred feet high, but I've never been there myself."

"Is the water warm in the lake this time of year?" Jack asked.

"I don't think it's ever particularly warm, but it should be tolerable. Most people prefer to swim in the pool anyway. That's where I'm heading now, actually. You guys want to come?"

"Nah," I said, taking in a deep breath of fresh air. "I'd rather stay outside for a while. Maybe later." Jack nodded in agreement and we said goodbye to Sydney and continued our walk. The grounds were quite nice, and the air smelled different than it did in Washington. It was refreshing.

We ended up eating lunch with Michael, since he sat down with us. I could tell that Jack didn't like him much at first, and he kept giving him dirty looks, though Michael didn't notice. After a few minutes Michael's charm won him over. At least, I thought that was it. It might have had something do with the fact that he seemed to realize I had no interest in Michael. By the time we finished lunch they were talking and laughing like old friends.

We spent most of the afternoon in the library, which contained an astounding number of books about magic. I couldn't wait to read as many as I could. I even managed to find a book about auras, which pretty much confirmed everything I already knew. It didn't say what having a white aura meant, but I hoped I would find a book that would.

While I went around the shelves with a silly excited smile on my face, Jack sat in a comfy chair and looked through a book about wildlife, which contained more pictures than text. Occasionally he would look up at me and shake his head in amusement, and that would only make me smile more as I grabbed book after book off the shelves to add to my growing pile of reading material.

I already knew I was going to love this school.

Chapter 7

We had to be at the cafeteria before five o'clock that evening for orientation. We all changed into our new school uniforms before we headed there. A woman met us in the foyer who introduced herself as Georgia Hughes, and told us to call her Georgia. She was a witch, and I figured she was probably a teacher, though she didn't say. She directed the returning students to go in and sit down, and the new students to wait out in the foyer with her.

"I feel like I have to go in there and sit under the sorting hat," Jack whispered to me. I smiled.

When we were finally ushered in I realized that he wasn't too far from the truth. We were all led up to the far end of the room, in front of the platform. There were a few older looking people standing there staring down at us.

"Silence, please," called a severe-looking older woman who stood in front of the podium. I realized that she was the headmaster. Everyone in the room obeyed her almost instantly. "Thank you, and welcome to another year at Winterwood Academy. My name is Virginia Bainbridge. Those of you who are returning should know how this night works, but I must explain it to the new students.

"You will first be sorted into your respective groups by Mr. Wilcox and Mrs. Espenas. We will then eat. After dessert has been finished, the new students will receive their room assignments, and everyone will get a sheet of paper with a list of courses on it. The ones that are required will be in bold, and there will be a description beside each course name. You will all choose your courses, with a minimum of three and a maximum of seven. It is most often recommended to take five. After we have finished with that matter of business, a few speeches will be made and then the night will be over. Don't forget that there will be a ball tomorrow night starting at seven o'clock in the ballroom. Classes will not start for another four days as we organize everyone's schedules and wait for last minute arrivals.

"And now, I have held your attention for long enough. Mr. Wilcox will now address you."

Mr. Wilcox happened to be an ancient-looking man dressed in a grey wool suit that hung off his skeletal frame. He moved very slowly but with surprising grace up to the podium. A younger woman stood close behind him, who I assumed to be Mrs. Espenas. She had very dark curly hair that was poorly tamed, and she was wearing a dress that reminded me of Easter.

Mr. Wilcox called out all our names, one by one, in alphabetical order. Once the student was up on the platform, he would proclaim that they were either a vampire, werewolf, witch/wizard, or hero, and what wing they would live in. The vampires lived in the north wing, the witches and wizards in the east wing, the heroes in the south wing, and the werewolves in the west wing. The process only took a few seconds for each person, and I wasn't paying much attention because I was nervous. The only name I paid attention to was Jack's, and he was put in werewolf class, as expected. I almost wished that I was a werewolf so that we could be in the same wing as him, but when I remembered the temper that seemed to come with being one I quickly changed my mind.

My name was the last to be called, since my last name was White. I walked up the three short steps onto the platform and stood in front of Mr. Wilcox. I could feel everyone's eyes on me, and it was a little unnerving. I waited patiently for them to proclaim what I was, but Mr. Wilcox just stood there staring at me with his sharp grey eyes and looked puzzled. A whole minute passed, which was much longer than anyone else was on stage.

"Well now, I'm not quite sure what to do with you," he finally said. He turned to Mrs. Espenas. "What do you make of this one, Val?"

"I don't quite know, Wilcox. I've never seen anyone with a white aura before."

I realized then that they figured out what people were in the same way that I did, and had the same problem that I did. So much for my hope of learning the truth.

"What can you do, child?" Mr. Wilcox asked. The skin around his eyes crinkled as he squinted at me.

"I can see people's auras," I told him. "Like you, I've never seen anyone else with one like mine."

"Is that all you can do? I don't think there has ever been anyone who could only do that. I believe you have other abilities that you don't know about, but I don't think you're a witch. We will just have to put you somewhere and see how you do while we try to figure it out." He turned to the rest of the room, who were all watching intently, and somewhat impatiently, because they wanted to get started on dinner. I couldn't blame them, since it did smell delicious. I didn't think anyone but those close to the platform could hear what had been said. "Hero class, south wing!" Mr. Wilcox finally proclaimed.

I was about to leave the platform and join everyone else, but Mr. Wilcox held me back. "There is a man," he told me, "who can read your abilities. He has been retired for a few years, but he lives close by. We should be able to bring him here within the next couple of days."

"Thanks, but I doubt that I can do anything else," I told him.

"You never know. It's worth a try, and he's always happy to help."

I didn't argue. We both left the stage, and I went to sit down. For that evening the tables had been brought together to form four long tables so that everyone would be sitting in their groups, so I didn't get to sit next to Jack, who was with the rest of the werewolves. I sat with Sydney instead.

"What took so long?" she asked, and I could see a few others looking at me with interest.

"Nothing," I answered, evasively.

The food arrived then, so we ate. There was roast chicken with all the usual side dishes, plus spaghetti, an interesting-looking salad, and multiple types of breads and spreads. Dessert consisted of three different types of pie, a fluffy white cake, and some oatmeal cookies. I tried a bit of everything because it all looked so good, even though I was left feeling stuffed.

Once the dishes were cleared some of the teachers came around with sheets of paper with our names on them. I received two, one of which was my room assignment, and the other was a list of courses. I chose the ones that sounded most interesting, since I didn't yet know what I wanted to do in the future. I had never really felt like I had many options because I had no money or people to support me.

When we had all handed our sign-up sheets back to the teachers a few people said some words, mostly about how great it was that another year was starting and all that stuff. I didn't pay much attention. When we were allowed to leave I found Jack, and we made our way back to the north wing to pack our things and move to our new rooms. I was excited to meet my new roommates, and Jack was excited to get out of the north wing and away from the vampires. He thought they were "creepy and untrustworthy". When I pointed out that he hadn't even talked to any of them, he just shrugged. I actually found the vampires rather interesting, though the one who kept looking at me did freak me out just a little bit.

Packing didn't take very long because I hadn't really unpacked to begin with. I was careful not to wrinkle the dress I was borrowing for the ball as I laid it gently in my suitcase on top of everything else. I found Jack waiting for me in the common room when I was on my way out, and we left the north wing together. I said goodbye to Jack when we reached the west wing, and I continued on to the south wing with a pounding heart, excited to see my new home.

Chapter 8

My room was on the third floor, and I found it easily enough. The doors all had numbers on them, made of brass and screwed to the center where they were easy to see. I stopped outside my room and set my bag by the door. I hesitated briefly, and then I opened it.

The room had pale purple wallpaper decorated with flowers, and a shiny wood floor that was partially covered by a purple and gold patterned rug. There were four beds, and each was paired with a bedside table and a trunk at the foot of the bed, and all were made of dark wood. There was also one desk in a corner of the room, and a door on the left that led to the bathroom. I was the first to arrive, and I didn't want to choose a bed that others might want, so I picked one in the middle to the right, figuring it would be considered the least desirable.

I brought my suitcase in from the hallway and started putting things in my trunk. It felt weird to be settling in to a new place. As I packed away my limited supply of clothing and books, I waited anxiously to meet the girls I would be sharing my room with, and hoped that they would like me.

My roommates came in one at a time over the next hour, and we all introduced ourselves to each other. I couldn't help but like all of them right away.

Rhea, an African beauty who could turn any object to gold with her touch, came in first. She introduced herself shyly, but she had a natural warmth that came through once she grew more comfortable.

Melissa, from Venezuela, could create and control fire. She practically bounced into the room and immediately threw her things on a bed and started talking.

Heather, from Vancouver, came in last. She could hear things that were happening hundreds of miles away, which I thought was a neat ability. She was quiet, but it was hard for anyone to get a word in once Melissa started. I barely said a word myself.

I was surprised that they liked me as much as I liked them, since I was so used to being treated poorly by other girls. They weren't quick to judge me, and they actually listened to what I had to say. We got along well.

We stayed up late into the night telling each other stories about our pasts. They were all interested when I told them about living in an orphanage, and I was fascinated by Rhea's tales of growing up in Uganda. Heather probably talked the least out of all of us, but when she did speak she usually had something interesting to say. I couldn't help but take a particular liking to her, and hoped we would become friends. Her aura was mostly pink, which told me she was a very compassionate person. Melissa was a spitfire of red, and Rhea a calm green. Of course, they all had a gold ring around the inside as well.

I accidently slept in the next morning and missed breakfast. There was an alarm clock in the room, but we had agreed to wait to set it until classes started. The other girls were already up and gone when I woke up, so I got ready by myself.

I grabbed an apple from the small kitchen off the common room and went out to find Jack. I looked almost everywhere, but I didn't find him. I was making my way to the courtyard when I met up with Melissa.

"Hey Juliet!" she greeted me. "Heather and I were just about to go for a swim. Want to come with us?"

"Sure, sounds like fun," I answered, and we set off toward our room together. I hadn't actually owned a bathing suit since I was little, but luckily there had been one in my uniform package.

The three of us were the only ones in the pool at the time, so we mostly just played around. Heather started a splash war that left us tired and giggling by the time we got out of the water, which was around lunch time. We all ate together, and I still didn't see Jack, which worried me a little. I saw Michael with Patrick and Leon, and they all waved to me at the same time, which caused them to crack up. Leon blew me a kiss, which made me blush and look away.

"Wow, you know him?" Heather asked, with her eye on Michael. She sighed. "He's completely gorgeous."

Melissa nodded in agreement. "He is fine. You have to introduce us. Not now though, 'cause I'm a mess."

She looked pretty even though she didn't have any makeup on after our swim. I told her as much, but she wasn't listening.

"I can introduce you to him tonight at the ball," I said, and they both agreed that that was a better option, since they would be looking their best. They weren't too concerned about the fact that he was two years older than us when I mentioned it, and I didn't tell them that he had asked me to go to the ball with him.

"When are we going to start getting ready?" Heather asked. "It will take at least an hour just to do my hair."

"You're right; we should start getting ready soon. It could take all afternoon. We have to be ready by five o'clock, when supper starts," said Melissa.

I didn't even know what I was supposed to do to get ready. I didn't own any makeup, and I usually left my long wavy hair in a ponytail to keep it out of my way. I said as much to the girls, and they brightened immediately. I could see their excitement, but I had no idea where it was coming from.

"Don't worry, we'll help you," Heather told me.

"Yeah, it'll be fun, kind of like giving you a makeover. It's not that you need one or anything, but seriously, you could look so awesome," Melissa said, looking me over. "I can see it already."

"I don't want to be a bother, though," I said, frowning. "You girls probably have enough to worry about without having to help me get ready."

"Don't worry about it," Heather said. "We don't mind."

"Yeah. Like I said, it'll be fun," Melissa added, and she wouldn't let me argue any further, despite my best efforts.

Melissa insisted on getting ready as soon as possible, so we went back to our room after we finished eating lunch. We all took showers, and then Melissa brought out a manicure kit and we did our nails. Once they were dry, we started on hair. Rhea came in then, saying she had been playing basketball with a few people she had met. She quickly hopped in the shower, and she started doing her nails as soon as she got out. She only had a few millimetres of hair, so there wasn't really anything she could do with it anyway.

Heather loaded Melissa's dark hair with curlers, and then straightened her own honey blond hair. I didn't know what to do with mine, so let just let it stay down.

"Nuh uh, you can't leave your hair like that," Melissa complained. "We're giving you an up-do."

"Um, no that's okay. I don't mind it like this."

Melissa almost glared at me. "Don't spoil my fun, okay? I'm doing your hair. Live with it."

I laughed. "Okay, okay, if you insist."

She brushed my hair out first, while I tried not to wince at all of the tugging and pulling on my scalp. She then pulled it up in a twist and loaded it with hairspray. "Voila!" she said when she was done, and she went to go get her makeup.

While she was digging through her suitcase I looked at the time and realized it was already after five. "We're going to miss supper!" I exclaimed, and went to get my dress.

"Relax, would ya? Dinner isn't that big of a deal. We can eat here really quickly. We'll be ready by the time the ball starts, and we'll be able to make an entrance," Melissa explained.

"That was your plan all along, wasn't it?" Heather teased.

"Maybe," Melissa said. She grinned.

We ended up eating snacks while we were getting ready, and we didn't finish until almost exactly seven. I had had no idea that it took so much effort to get ready for a formal event. I felt exhausted and the event hadn't even started yet, but I was kind of amazed by my own transformation. I had always been beautiful, but I was always careful to hide it as much as possible, and tonight I was doing the opposite. I hardly recognized myself when I looked in the mirror once my transformation was complete.

Melissa, who was still intent upon making an entrance, did not let us hurry to the ballroom. I could see that we weren't the only ones who were a bit late, since there were others in the hallway making their way in the same direction in their formal evening wear.

Rhea was wearing a colourful dress that went well with her dark skin. Melissa was wearing a gold dress that was strapless and poufy, and Heather was wearing a simple light blue dress. I felt a little strange wearing black against so much color, but the girls kept saying how nice it looked.

We could hear the music before we reached the stairs. It was classical and well played, so clearly this was to be a proper ball, which I was happy about. I found the idea of an old fashioned ball rather romantic, though I didn't really know how to dance. I hoped that didn't matter as I took a deep breath before we walked through the door.

Chapter 9

There were many people dancing already when we walked in. I could feel eyes on us immediately, so I tried to hide behind Rhea, who was rather tall. I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned around to find Jack grinning at me, looking quite handsome in his classic tuxedo with a dark green bowtie.

"You look absolutely incredible," he said to me. "May I have this dance?" He even accompanied his query with a short bow. I giggled and accepted his hand, and he led me to the dance floor.

Since neither of us knew how to waltz, we just short of moved slowly in a circle. There were a few people on the dance floor who did know how to waltz, and I was jealous of their graceful movements. I noticed that Michael was one of those people, and I hoped he wouldn't expect me to when he came to claim his dance.

I enjoyed dancing to the beautiful music of the small orchestra that played on the stage. When the song ended and another began Jack asked me if I wanted to dance again, but I said no, I had better not. I didn't want to tire myself out so early in the evening.

I had another idea instead. I brought Jack over to the punch bowl, where Heather was standing by herself. Melissa and Rhea were dancing. I introduced them to each other, and noticed that Heather acted rather shy around Jack. When he asked her to dance, she didn't hesitate to accept. I couldn't help but have some hope that Jack might finally move on.

That left me all to myself. I walked quietly along the wall, trying to stay out of the way of the dancers. I was about to head to the doors to the balcony when I noticed someone across the room. What I immediately noticed was what he was wearing. He was wearing a tux, but instead of the usual white shirt, he was wearing all black, making him look like some type of dark angel. Indeed, there was something about him that exuded darkness. He had long dark hair and handsome, well-defined features. I couldn't see what color his eyes were because of the distance that existed between us, but I could tell that they were looking in my direction. I suppressed a shiver, but it was not one of fear. It was one of excitement. The next time I looked up he was gone, and I couldn't see him anywhere.

When the next song started to play Michael came to claim his dance, so I went with him to the dance floor. He held me a bit closer than I was comfortable with for someone I hardly knew, but I knew no polite way to tell him so. Besides, my thoughts at that moment were centered elsewhere. He seemed to notice, and he tried to gain my attention by making comments about the lovely night, and how nice I looked in my dress. I responded as kindly as could. I was glad that he wasn't trying to get me to waltz or anything.

By the time that song was over I could see my roommates converging on me, so I figured it was time to introduce them to Michael, which I promptly did before excusing myself to get some air, leaving them to get acquainted. I looked back as I was walking away and saw Melissa talking animatedly to Michael, who was smiling. Heather stood by quietly, watching them talk.

I was correct in my original thought that the courtyard would look lovely at night. The twinkling lights lit up the paths through the bushes, and I could see couples wandering them together, some holding hands. The sound of the fountain drowned out the sound of the music to some extent, giving the environment a peaceful and romantic quality. I breathed in the fresh air and went down the steps, holding up the hem of my dress so I wouldn't trip on it. When I reached the fountain I sat down on its ledge and looked down at my reflection, which was distorted by the ripples caused by the falling water. I sat for a minute in that manner before I saw another figure in the reflection standing right behind me. I turned, quite startled, but by that time he was already walking away into the maze of paths. My heart beating hard in my chest, I followed him.

I wandered along the path he had taken, but after a minute I could no longer see him. I thought I had lost him completely until I heard a twig break behind me.

"Oh!" I cried with surprise. I turned around and he was right there behind me, much closer than I was expecting, and looking just as dark as he had from across the ballroom. Before I could protest, he closed the distance between us and kissed me. I gasped in shock, but didn't pull away. I liked the way my body responded to his, though I seemed to have no control over it. I couldn't help but notice the way he smelled, which was somewhat wild and reminded me of the forest. He was a werewolf, so I wasn't surprised. He was surprisingly gentle.

When he finally pulled away I expected him to say something, but he just stepped back and looked at me for a moment with eyes that I realized were blue, and then he turned and walked away as if nothing had just happened. I stood there for a minute, trying to control the rapid pounding of my heart. I had just had my first kiss, and I didn't even know the guy's name!

Somehow I ended up back in the ballroom, without really remembering the steps I had taken to get there. Jack found me standing in a corner gazing up at the orchestra, though I wasn't really looking.

"They're pretty good, aren't they?" he commented.

"Huh? Oh, yeah," was my oh-so-intelligent response.

"Of course, you can play so much better than all of them combined." He grinned at me, but seemed to notice that I wasn't paying attention. "You okay?" he asked.

"Yeah. Nice night, huh?" I said, trying to bring myself back to reality.

"Yes, it is. Want to dance again?"

"Sure." I couldn't see the mysterious stranger anywhere, even though my eyes constantly searched for his dark form. I mentally shook myself, knowing it would be better if I didn't think about him.

I finally saw him again when we were dancing. He was dancing as well, with a girl I didn't recognize, and he didn't seem to see me.

"Do you know who that is?" I asked Jack, pointing him out.

"Oh yeah, he's one of my roommates," he answered, frowning. "His name's Adrian Alvarez. He's not a good guy. His temper seems to be ten times worse than mine, and you know how I can be sometimes. He also kind of keeps to himself as much as possible. Why are you asking about him anyway?"

"I don't know. He just looks kind of... angry."

"Yeah, I think that word describes him pretty well." Jack shot a disgusted look in his direction.

I can't say that angry was really the word I meant. He definitely didn't look happy, but I suspected that there was a lot going on beneath his dark exterior.

Jack was quite surprised and a little affronted when Adrian cut in at the end of the song. Without asking me if I wanted to dance, he grabbed my hand and pulled me away from Jack. He danced even closer than Michael had, but this time I didn't even think to complain. He moved with surprising grace, and when he looked into my eyes I felt a shiver go up my spine. I think he felt it, but he didn't look away. He smirked instead.

"So, are you actually going to talk to me now?" I asked, as calmly as I could, which wasn't very calm at all.

"Now that you've spoken to me, it seems I have little choice. Personally, I was content with just dancing."

"And are you always quite so silent?" I wondered.

"When it suits me. I find that a lot can happen when one is not talking. Most people find it necessary to fill a silence with words, but they speak only to hear themselves talk, and not to say anything interesting."

"Well, most people would find it quite rude to be kissed by someone without so much as an introduction."

"But apparently you don't, since you didn't protest at the time. Besides, I'm sure Leewood has told you who I am by now. You two seem to be very close."

"Yes, we are close. Jack has been my best friend since I was quite young."

"Really? It seems to me like he wants to be more than just your friend." He glanced over to where Jack was standing by the punch bowl, openly glaring at Adrian.

"What would make you think such a thing?" I asked. I was amazed by how perceptive he seemed to be.

"He's hardly taken his eyes off of you all evening, not that I can blame him for that. I probably haven't much either."

"I see," I said, embarrassed. "May I ask you a personal question, Adrian?"

"Feel free to ask, but don't expect me to answer."

"Have you started turning into a wolf yet?"

Apparently that wasn't the kind of question he was expecting, because he stopped moving for a second and looked down at me. I almost stepped on his foot because of the sudden halt. "I have, yes. Why do you ask?"

"I heard you had quite a temper. Is it worse near the full moon?"

"Not really. I'd say it's worse when someone is annoying me."

"So you don't deny it, and yet you don't blame it on what you are?"

"It's part of being a young wolf, so I can't really deny it, nor can I say it isn't because of what I am. I just don't think that the moon or the change are the only influences."

"So you're also disagreeable by nature?"

"I suppose I am. Does that bother you?"

"I don't really know, because I haven't yet seen you angry."

The song ended then, so instead of responding to what I said Adrian quickly kissed me on the lips and walked away. I was left more confused than before, but intrigued to say the least. My lips tingled where they had touched his.

"So, who's the guy who just kissed you?" Melissa asked, suddenly coming up behind me. "He looked kind of dangerous."

"He's a young werewolf, so I guess he is dangerous," I said.

"And attractive," Melissa added, "though not really my type. I like nice-looking boys, like Michael." She looked over to where he was standing, talking to Leon, who was wearing a bright red tux. "He really is something, isn't he?"

"You can have him," I said.

"Are you sure you wouldn't mind if I went for him? I think he likes you, so you could easily have him if you wanted to."

"There's just no...magic between us," I tried to explain. "So really, I'm not interested."

"Well, if you're sure..." Melissa said, still staring at Michael. He looked over at us and waved when he saw us looking. Melissa waved back eagerly, but I was already looking around for someone else.

The rest of the evening passed by rather uneventfully, at least for me. I kept thinking about Adrian, but I didn't see him again. I think he left early, but it was hard to tell since there were so many people around. I danced a few more times with Jack, Michael, Leon, and a few guys I didn't know who asked me, though they didn't leave much of an impression. Eventually the ball ended, and we all went to bed feeling quite exhausted. We couldn't help but stay up a bit later to talk about what happened. Melissa couldn't stop talking about Michael, and Heather said that Jack had seemed nice. I still couldn't stop thinking about Adrian, but I didn't say anything about him. Eventually even Melissa managed to fall asleep.

Chapter 10

The ball was on a Thursday, and classes weren't set to start until the following Monday, so there were three days in between to enjoy the remainder of our freedom. Because I wasn't used to having so many possible things to do, I was pretty excited, and I didn't waste a moment. I swam, walked, played tennis outside with Heather and basketball inside with Rhea, and I spent many hours poring over books in the library, which I decided was my new favourite place. I spent a lot of time with Jack and with my roommates, though usually not at the same time.

We got our schedules on Sunday. Out of my seven classes I only had one with Jack and shared three in common with my roommates, since they were mandatory for our class. My schedule was as follows:

7:00 – 8:30 **Breakfast**

8:30 – 9:30 World History

9:30 – 10:30 Skills Development

10:30 – 11:30 Physical Defence

11:30 – 1:00 **Lunch**

1:00 – 2:00 Biology 1

2:00 – 3:00 English 1

3:00 – 4:00 Psychology

4:00 – 5:00 Calculus

5:00 – 7:00 **Supper**

The first three courses on the list were the ones that were required. World history, my first class, was the one I shared with Jack, though I also shared it with my roommates. My friends had some other classes in common with me, but not at the same time. I hoped I would meet some new people.

Monday morning came swiftly enough. I almost fell out of bed when the alarm went off, but instead I ended up sleeping ten extra minutes so I had to hurry to get to breakfast. I found Jack in the cafeteria and sat with him, though I didn't talk much because I was trying to eat quickly. We went to class together and found seats. The room was almost full by the time we got there, so we didn't get to sit near my roommates. They waved to me from across the room.

The history teacher's name was Ms. Jane Coleman, and she told us to call her Jane, which was something that would take some getting used to. Indeed, it seemed like everyone called her Ms. Coleman anyway. She looked young, no older than 30, and she appeared to be very neat and organized, yet open in manner. She began class by getting us all to introduce ourselves, and then she promptly started into the class content.

"I know it says on your schedules that this class is called World History, but that is a very loose term. History is incredibly expansive, and there is no way that we could cover everything in one course. Instead, we are going to focus on the perspectives of two very important people, though one more than the other. That one happens to be the founder of this school. Can anyone tell me who that is?"

"Amun!" someone shouted from the back.

"That is correct. You may have seen his portrait in the front entrance." I sat up in interest at that statement, eager to learn more about the familiar-looking man in the painting. "The other person we will be focusing on is Isadora. Some of you may be wondering why we would be basing an entire history class on the perspectives of only two people, though I'm sure many of you already know why that is. These people have had an incredible impact on our world, and yet most people don't even know they exist, and that they've been on this earth for over five thousand years. They are gods. I don't say that because they created the world or anything. That type of god does not exist. They are called gods because they have endless power, and they cannot die, even if they want to. They are doomed to walk this earth for the rest of time, always helping us in ways we don't even realize.

"Instead of getting into such details today, I would like to start at the beginning, before these gods were even born. In fact, I will go back a thousand years further.

"There's a separate plane from this one on which the spirits of the dead live. They don't wander the earth like many people think. They can watch what happens here, yet they can do nothing to change it aside from being born again, but by then they remember nothing.

"Eventually the spirits came up with a better plan. What if, instead of sending a spirit back into the physical world on its own, they joined spirits together to make a more powerful person? Would that person not help humanity more? This plan had flaws, but many liked it. One of the important problems was that spirits liked to be themselves, and they knew that if they merged they would become a new person, which was a terrifying idea, much like dying permanently. Still, they managed to find almost two thousand spirits who would be willing to do it. Then someone came up with the idea of adding a few animal spirits, with the hope that the person would receive the good qualities of those animals.

"Finally, the new spirit was completed, and the other spirits could tell that it was a great and powerful one. They sent it into the body of a newborn baby boy the next morning. As they watched the boy grow, they realized that they had made a mistake. He was an amazing child, and he learned quickly and was very intelligent and powerful, but the spirits of the animals within him caused something unexpected and horrible to happen. The boy needed to drink blood to survive. He was, of course, the first vampire, Kalinor.

"Though the spirits on the other plane realized their mistake, there was nothing they could do about it, and they watched with horror when Kalinor created other vampires, and some of them turned out to be evil. Luckily, most were not, and they quickly dealt with those who used their powers to harm. This gave the spirits some promise that they could create a being that was better than this one if they used only human spirits, since they believed it was the animal spirits that caused the problem.

"It took the next thousand years to amass enough spirits to make two new ones, each created from a million individuals, all human. It was a massive sacrifice, but it turned out to be worth it in the end. The two new souls became the gods we know of today. They were born at the same time on the same day; one in what is now Kenya, and the other on the island of Crete in Greece. The spirits had made two so that they would never be lonely, because they would always have each other. It would certainly have been lonely for them to have to live forever without anyone to share eternity with."

"Do you think that more gods will ever be born?" a student asked.

"It is certainly a possibility, but one that cannot be predicted. There is also the possibility of gods having children, but they can only reproduce with each other, and our current gods have never had that kind of a relationship. They have always only been friends."

"What do they look like?" Melissa asked.

Ms. Coleman laughed. "They certainly don't look like you and I. They are said to be incredibly beautiful, though I've never met either of them, so I couldn't promise you that."

"Hey, maybe you're a goddess!" Jack whispered to me. "You're definitely the most beautiful person I've ever seen."

I rolled my eyes at him. "I'm sure that if I was a goddess I would know it."

People asked a few more questions, and then it was time to go. I said goodbye to Jack and hurried off with Heather to our next class, which was Skills Development. I thought that name was actually quite telling as to what we would be learning, and I can't say I was looking forward to the class. I felt like I knew everything there was to know about my ability.

My hypothesis turned out to be right. The class was centered on helping us develop and control our individual abilities. Mr. Ramirez, our teacher, explained to us that we would be doing a lot of individual work and also working in partners. We didn't get to do anything on that day because Mr. Ramirez liked to talk, and didn't stop until the class was over. During most of this time I was wondering what I would be doing during the class, since I already knew how to use my ability well enough.

When I was on my way out of the room at the end of class, Mr. Ramirez held me back a moment to tell me that Omeye, the ability reader, had agreed to meet with me, and he was coming later in the day. He said I should be able to talk to him before supper time. I still didn't think that there was anything he could discover, but I agreed to give it a try.

Chapter 11

Physical Defence sounded like a really fun class, so I was excited for it. Of course, since it was the first day, and only an hour, we didn't get to do anything. The teacher, whose name was Victor, was young, very fit and tall, and he had long brown hair that was pulled back in a ponytail. He told us that we would be learning how to defend ourselves from attackers, so it would be a very physical class. We would learn aspects of different types of martial arts. Victor said it would be difficult and tiring, but the school thought it was a necessary class because "people fear what they don't understand, and if someone sees you use your powers, they probably won't understand".

I wasn't summoned to meet with Omeye until I was in psychology, which wasn't nearly as interesting as I'd hoped. It was Mr. Ramirez who came to get me, and he led me to an empty classroom on the second floor. Inside, already seated, was an ancient looking man with dark, leathery skin and thick glasses that magnified his beady little brown eyes. When he turned his eyes on me I was rather surprised by how strong and deep his gaze was.

"Come, sit," he said to me. His voice was very quiet, yet clear. I sat in the chair that he indicated, and Mr. Ramirez sat beside Omeye, who was across from me.

Omeye held out his palms and asked for my hands, which I placed in his. His skin felt soft and delicate. He closed his eyes, and sat there for a few minutes like that, just holding my hands. Finally, his eyes opened.

"I sense a lot of power hidden deep within you, but it is too deep for you or me to reach, so I will not dwell on it. I also sense that you have three distinct abilities, which is very rare. Most heroes only have one. Do you know what any of them are?"

"Yes, sir, I can see auras," I told him.

"Yes, and I don't doubt that you understand their meaning well. You do not know of your other abilities?"

"I know of other things that I am good at, but I wouldn't call any of them magical."

"Ah. Well then I guess I must tell you. You also have the ability to draw the future. Have you ever spent much time drawing in the past?"

"No, I never really did. I had other interests." I had barely even coloured as a child since all of the coloring books at Pembrook were scribbled over, and I had never taken art class in school.

"You should try it sometime. You may be surprised. Your third ability is that you are resistant to fire, which is always handy. If you know someone with a fire ability you can practice with them."

"My roommate does, and I'm sure she wouldn't mind."

"Good. It might be a little frightening to try at first because it's hard to allow yourself to be burned, but I assure you that you will not be. The flames should lick harmlessly against your skin, whether you concentrate or not. It isn't something you need to practice, but it's good to get an idea of what it feels like."

"Is it a common ability?" I asked.

"No, I can't say that it is. The only abilities that are truly common are those involving control of the elements." He stood up slowly. "I hope I have been of help to you. You seem like a remarkable girl."

I told him that he had been helpful, though I still had a hard time believing that I actually had three abilities instead of just the one that I knew about. We parted ways, and Mr. Ramirez led me back to psychology, talking the whole way about others he had met with abilities like mine, though I wasn't listening.

Later I ended up being the first one in the room for calculus. There were still five minutes before class started, so I got out a pen and a blank sheet of paper. I had no idea how to start, so I just kind of sat there with my pen hovering over the paper. Finally, I brought the pen to the paper without having any idea what I was going to do, and something strange happened. It was like I had lost control of my own hand, so I just let it go so I could see what happened.

I was quite absorbed with what I was doing, so when I finished and looked up, I was surprised to see that the classroom was full, and the teacher was about to start class.

"That's quite the drawing," the person who had sat down beside me said, and I nearly jumped a foot in the air. I glanced quickly over at him and confirmed that is was, indeed, Adrian. He was leaning back casually in his chair, but his eyes were serious.

"Not really the subject matter I was expecting," I commented, examining the picture. It was clearly a drawing of Melissa, who was holding a rose and smiling. It was actually a much better drawing than I was expecting since I had no experience, and it was quite realistic.

"You didn't know what you were drawing?" Adrian asked, sounding confused.

"No," I answered. I didn't have time to explain because class started then.

Calculus ended up being the only class in which I had to do any work that day. The teacher handed out assignments at the beginning of class to test our previous knowledge of the subject, and told us to work alone or in pairs. I chose to work alone. I figured I would get less done if I was working with Adrian, though he continued to distract me anyway. He asked about the drawing, and I told him about my ability, though I neglected to tell him that I had two others.

"That's odd," he said. "I thought you were a witch."

"Why would you think that?"

"Actually, I don't know. You just seem perceptive."

"Well, I thought the same about you, and you're a werewolf. Isn't the full moon coming up soon?"

"Yes, it's in two days." He wasn't happy about that at all, but he tried to hide it. Of course, he didn't know just how much I could see.

"Do you enjoy it?"

"I enjoy being a wolf, but I don't think I'll like being locked up beneath the school for a whole night when I could be running free in the woods." For some reason he was lying about both. I could usually tell when people lied because I could see their guilt and fear.

I didn't confront him about his lie because he probably had reasons behind it and I didn't want to offend him. I lapsed back into silence again so I could work on my assignment. I ended up being the next one to break the silence anyway. I couldn't control my curiosity.

"Why do I never see you around school?" I asked. It was true that I had not seen him anywhere other than at the ball, even though I saw everyone else I knew regularly.

"I eat in the dorm. I don't like noise."

"If you don't like noise, then why did you go to the ball?"

"I was hoping to see you there." He looked straight at me as he said this, and he wasn't lying.

"When did you see me before then?" I asked. "I didn't see you before that night. I would've remembered if I had."

"I saw you in the library with Leewood. I didn't expect to see anyone in there before classes started, but there you were, poring over old books like there was something you desperately needed to know."

"There was something I needed to know, and I never found it."

"Then perhaps the library is not where you need to look."

"There's nowhere else I can look. It doesn't matter anyway. I don't expect to find answers."

"How badly do you want them?"

I frowned. "I don't really know. I want the truth so that I don't have to question it anymore, but I'm worried that the truth isn't what I want or expect it to be."

"What do you want it to be?" Adrian asked softly.

"I want it to be nothing. I want to find out that there's nothing wrong with me at all, that I'm perfectly normal."

He looked surprised. He hadn't known what answers I was even looking for, and it wasn't what he expected. "Why would you think there's something wrong with you?"

"It's kind of a long story," was my answer.

Class ended then. Adrian collected his things and then smiled at me before quickly departing. I headed to the cafeteria, since it was time for supper. When I got there, the first thing I saw surprised me. Melissa was standing in the corner talking to Mrs. Espenas, and she held in one hand a single rose. It was exactly like in my drawing, which shocked me. I actually stopped in my tracks, though I was standing in the doorway. Someone cleared their throat behind me and I realized I was blocking the way.

When I sat down and Melissa joined me, she explained that the rose was from her last class, which was Botany. She had just been talking to Mrs. Espenas, who was the teacher of the class, who said she had a lot of talent with caring for roses, which was what they had spent the class doing. She was really excited about it, so I listened to her talk happily about it during the rest of the meal, all the while pondering my newfound ability.

Chapter 12

The next day in Skills Development we actually got to practice using our abilities. I was kind of glad that I actually had something to work on. Mr. Ramirez told us to get in pairs, and I ended up partnered with Melissa, who was eager to get started.

"Check this out...oops," she said. The flame she had been holding in her hand had fallen through her fingers and ended up on her desk, where she quickly extinguished it, though it left a mark.

"Maybe you should get a fire extinguisher to use during practice," I recommended, eyeing the burnt desk wearily. I was a little glad that I was supposedly fireproof. I hadn't told Melissa yet, but I had no plans to do so that day. I wanted to work on my drawing instead since I actually felt like I needed the practice. I was careful to keep my sheet of paper as far away from Melissa as possible, which was good because that wasn't the last time she dropped her flame.

The drawing came easier this time, and I didn't have to pay attention to what I was doing at all. I watched Melissa instead, who was struggling to transfer fire from one hand to the other without dropping it. Usually it just went out instead, but she managed it a few times. Mr. Ramirez saw her do it once and clapped politely before moving on to the next pair.

This time my drawing ended up being of Heather, who was standing in a hallway with everyone else moving around her. She looked like she was concentrating really hard on something, but I couldn't tell what she was doing or why. I also didn't know when it would happen. I decided to try to find a book in the library that described my ability and what I could do with it.

Calculus was quite a bit like the day before. Adrian sat next to me again, and he would ask me random questions about my past when we were supposed to be working on some questions that the teacher had assigned. I didn't mind answering, and I asked a few questions myself. I learned that he was born in Romania but grew up in northern California, and that he had been arrested twice, but he wouldn't tell me why.

"I won't tell anyone else, I promise," I said. "And I won't judge!"

Adrian shook his head and answered a problem on his sheet, with a small smile playing at the corners of his mouth.

"If you don't tell me, I'll just think it's something really bad. You didn't kill anyone, did you?"

He chuckled. "You can think whatever you'd like. I'm still not going to tell you."

I kept asking until class ended, but he was stubborn.

The next day was the first full moon of the school year, and there was an almost tangible level of tension permeating the hallways, especially with the first year students. The werewolves were keyed up and anxious, and the rest of us were a little nervous about being so close to them at such a dangerous time. When I sat with Michael at breakfast he could tell that I was as nervous as everyone else.

"Don't worry about it," he said. "I've never seen anything bad happen here. We were all scared the first time the full moon came in first year, but when it passed without incident we learned not to worry. It isn't that big of a deal."

"I know that," I said. "I'm more worried for Jack than for myself. He hasn't changed yet, so this could end up being his first time. He did seem a little more temperamental yesterday than he usually is."

"I have a few friends who are werewolves, and they like changing. It's part of who they are. Hopefully Jack will see it that way too."

I sighed and picked at my pancakes. "He didn't even know he was a werewolf until he got to school. It hasn't been a part of his life before like it probably was for the others. It's all new to him, so he might not know how to react."

"He seems like he can handle it. I'm sure he's been through enough in his life to be able to cope."

I wasn't so sure, but I just nodded in response. Leon sat down a minute later and grabbed the plate of pancakes from the middle of the table without a word. I was learning that he wasn't much of a morning person. He merely grunted in response to a question that Michael asked him, though he still managed to throw a somewhat flirty grin in my direction before he started shoving food in his mouth like he hadn't eaten in days.

I sat next to Jack in History. We were there early, so we had a few minutes to talk before class started. Jack noticed when I kept glancing worriedly at him, and he got annoyed.

"I'm fine, Jules," he said. "I promise I won't flip out and attack anyone."

My eyes widened. "I wouldn't expect you to," I said. "I'm worried about you, that's all."

"Don't be. I think it might happen this month. I do feel kind of different. My skin keeps tingling and I think my vision and sense of smell are stronger."

I was surprised, especially by what I could see in his aura. "You're excited?"

"Yeah," he said, shrugging. "I've talked to some other werewolves and they say it's kind of cool. I've heard it can be a little scary at first, especially if you don't have much control, but it can be fun. At least I'll know what's happening, and I won't be able to hurt anyone."

He was telling the truth, and I was happy. Knowing that he wasn't worried made me less worried, so I felt better during the rest of the day. I was even a little excited for Jack, and kind of hoped that he did change.

Adrian wasn't in Calculus that day, and I was disappointed. I got my work done much faster, but it was boring. I realized that I had been looking forward to seeing him. I assumed that his absence had something to do with the full moon, but didn't know for sure. Maybe he was just skipping.

I didn't see Jack for the rest of the day, so I didn't know how he was doing then, but he was up at breakfast the next day and still smiling. He waved me over when he saw me looking for somewhere to sit.

"So, how was it?" I asked as soon as I sat down. I could tell by his mood that he had actually changed.

Jack smiled widely. "It was really neat. The actual changing part was kind of painful, and it was weird not to be able to control what was happening, but when I was a wolf it was awesome. I still kind of felt like myself on the inside, though I had a few instincts that weren't there before, but my body felt so different. Walking on four legs was easy, but it took time to get used to the changes in my senses, especially with my eyes."

"It wasn't too weird or anything?"

"Nope. It might have been weird if I was by myself, but it's not like I was the only one going through the same thing. It just seemed kind of natural."

I couldn't help but smile and share his enthusiasm. It did sound like it was kind of a cool experience. I wondered why Adrian didn't seem to feel the same way, even though he tried to hide it. I thought about asking Jack about Adrian, but decided against it. They didn't seem to like each other anyway.

Chapter 13

Over the next couple of weeks, Calculus grew to be my favourite class. I liked History because the class was always interesting, and Skills Development because I was getting better at my drawings, and Defence because it was a good workout, but it was still Calculus that I looked forward to the most every day. I didn't care much for the subject itself, since I found it quite boring, but I liked talking to Adrian. No matter how rude or sarcastic he was, I always felt like he actually listened to me. I was definitely falling for him, despite his rough personality, but he hadn't tried to kiss me or anything since the ball and I never saw him outside of class.

Strangely enough, it wasn't until about a month after I made my second drawing that it came true, by which time I had pretty much forgotten about it. I was walking in the hallway with Heather, and we were on our way to lunch after getting our butts kicked in Physical Defence. My opponent, who was actually smaller than I was, had hit my leg pretty hard, so I was bruised and limping a little bit. One second we were talking about the school food, and then suddenly Heather stopped walking. I recognized the image instantly. I stopped too.

"What's wrong?" I asked her, instantly worried.

"Nothing's wrong," she answered, "I'm just trying to listen to something."

She walked over to the main stairs, which we had just reached, and sat down so that she could concentrate more on what she was hearing. I came and sat with her while she listened, and she didn't explain what was happening for a whole five minutes. It was actually a little scary, especially because of the expression on her face. It was like her mind was somewhere else.

"That was really weird," she said when she was finished listening.

"What were you listening to?"

"I could hear Ms. Coleman talking to the headmaster. At first I thought it wasn't important, but then they mentioned you." She looked at me funny.

"Me? Why would they be talking about me?" I asked in surprise.

"They were talking about your aura. Mrs. Bainbridge said she had only ever met one person with a white aura before. You'll never guess who it was."

"Really? She met someone with a white aura before?" I exclaimed. I was getting excited. My heart started pounding almost immediately.

"Yeah. That person was Amun."

That put a damper on my excitement right away. I thought it was neat that my aura was the same color as a god's, but that still didn't tell me anything about myself. I said as much to Heather.

"Sure it does," she said. "They think you're Isadora. Mrs. Bainbridge even said she's planning on calling Amun to ask if you are, so they'll know for sure. They have no other way of knowing because there are no known paintings or photos of Isadora, so no one knows what she looks like except those who have seen her with their own eyes. Apparently no one has seen her for a while."

"I'm not a goddess," I said with a level of certainty. "I would know if I was. It seems ridiculous that they would even consider such a thing."

"Well, there's more. Ms. Coleman said she talked to some guy named Omeye, though I don't know who that is. Anyway, she said that he said you have a lot of power within you, but you can't reach it. He couldn't tell how much power exactly, but he said it felt like more than he had ever felt in someone before."

"Omeye is an ability reader," I explained. "I met him on the first day of class. He told me that I had power I couldn't reach when I met with him, but he didn't say it was unusual."

"Well it still seems like there's a bit of evidence, no matter what you believe. You could really be a goddess. Wouldn't that be amazing?"

"I don't know if it would, because I'm not one," I said firmly. "I don't think I'd want to live that long anyway. Things would probably lose their charm after a thousand years or so."

Heather still wasn't convinced by my doubt, but at least she agreed not to say anything to anyone else. I didn't even think of it again until the next day, when we were in History. Ms. Coleman was telling us another story about the gods.

"After about a hundred years, Isadora came up with a new idea. She didn't like having to go from village to village, always an outsider. She also didn't like constantly carrying the burden of her powers. She wanted to try to live an ordinary life, so that's exactly what she did.

"She found a woman and her husband in a small city in Greece. The woman desperately wanted a child, but she was having trouble. She had lost three babies already, and it was a constant source of pain to her. She was pregnant again, but her baby was already dead, and she didn't know it yet. Isadora decided to take the place of the dead fetus in order to be born again to a family who would be happy to have a child.

"This may seem like a very strange idea, even unethical, but it was one of the few ways by which she could really start a new life, and the woman really wanted to have a child. Since Isadora was so powerful, she could not only be born again, but she could do so by her own terms. She decided to hide her powers and her memories from herself until her new physical form died.

"She was very successful in her attempt. She lived like a normal person, and she was well loved and cared for. She was happy, and when she was older she fell in love and got married. Of course, she couldn't have children of her own, but she never knew why.

"She was murdered before she turned thirty. As soon as her body died, she was free again, and she had her powers and memories back. She was saddened by the life she had lost, but she had enjoyed her chance to be normal. From then on, being born again was something she did many times, and Amun did it as well. It was probably what kept them from losing their connection to the ordinary world because they got to be part of it, if only for a short time. It also allowed them to have a chance to live without the memories that haunt those who live for so long."

I wasn't sitting next to Heather during that class because I was sitting with Jack, who knew nothing of what Heather had told me. When Ms. Coleman finished the story, Heather looked at me, and I could tell that she saw this as more proof that I could be a goddess, but I was in no way convinced.

Adrian was very moody that day. I knew it was the day of the full moon again, so I didn't take it personally. I was worried about him instead, and surprised that he had actually come to class. He really seemed to hate the full moon, but I still didn't know why. I couldn't figure Adrian out at all most of the time. I could see what he was feeling, but I couldn't understand the reasons behind his feelings. He hardly said a word to me the entire class.

That night I decided to do something very risky, but I wanted to help Adrian and I didn't know what else to do. I was also curious, which I was beginning to think was a fault of mine. I snuck quietly out of bed at around 12:00. I think Rhea was awake, but she didn't say anything to me as I put on some clothes in the dark and left the room. I almost knocked over a vase that was on a table by the door, full of some roses that Melissa had taken from her botany class. One of the roses fell out, and it made no sound as it hit the floor. I picked it up and took it with me. It wasn't until I was out of the dark room that I saw it was red.

There were always a few teachers or staff patrolling the halls at night to make sure students were in bed, and I unfortunately did not have the gift of invisibility, so I was forced to be careful. I had to sneak by Ms. Hughes in the front foyer, but once I got to the cafeteria, my way was free.

I took the stairs down to the pool, which looked eerie in the dark, and from there I found the second set of stairs that led deeper underground. There were still lights on by the stairs, though I suspected that they were only on for the one day of the month when there were people passing by.

I was a little surprised that the thick doors were unlocked and unguarded, but I managed to get through the first two without any trouble. I found trouble at the third door though, since that one was guarded, and by Mr. Ramirez. To say he looked surprised to see me would be an understatement.

"You're not exactly allowed to visit your friends down here, Juliet," he said. "You should get back to bed before you get in trouble."

"I didn't come to see Jack," I replied. "I came to see Adrian."

"I don't care, and trust me, he's the last person you want to see right now. That kid has no control yet, so he's extremely dangerous."

"Well, maybe I can help," I suggested.

"No. Go back to bed." It didn't seem like he was going to change his mind. I decided I would have to take drastic measures.

I suddenly moved past him to the door. He wasn't expecting it, so he was slow to react, and by the time he did it was too late. I was through the door.

The sounds that met my ears when I opened the door scared me. I could hear howling, clawing, snarling, and growling. Some of the doors to the individual rooms were rattling.

"Juliet, get out of here. This isn't the kind of place you want to be in," Mr. Ramirez was saying.

"I suggest you go back out the door and shut it," I told him. "I'm going to open one of these doors, and I don't know what will happen when I do."

"Then I'm staying where I am. I suppose you don't know this about me, but I can create energy fields around people that others can't get through. Unfortunately I can't create fields that prevent determined young women from opening doors that they should stay away from."

"I don't think I'll need your protection." I didn't think Adrian would hurt me, though I couldn't be sure. I had never seen a werewolf up close before.

I found him in the third room on the right. I don't even know how I could tell it was him, but he somehow seemed familiar. He was also the most out of control, as Mr. Ramirez had said. I didn't hesitate to open the door anyway.

I realized right away that I had made a mistake in believing that he wouldn't hurt me. The first thing he did when I opened the door was come at me. He wasn't in his right mind, and he didn't even stop to see who he was attacking. He went for my throat.

Chapter 14

It was a good thing Mr. Ramirez was there, because his shield was the only thing that kept me from being killed. The large wolf hit the shield, which sparked with blue light at the contact, and he fell to the ground, momentarily stunned. I was a little stunned as well, but I moved toward him anyway.

It took him only a few seconds to get back to his feet. He snarled at me, but then he stopped. Some change came over him, like he was waking up from a dream. He stopped snarling and he backed away from me, back through the door to his room. I followed, and he growled at me, but I didn't stop until I was kneeling in front of him. He was backed into a corner, so he had nowhere to go unless he went at me again, but I could tell he didn't want to. He had recognized me.

I went back to the door and closed it, but there was no way to lock it from the inside. Mr. Ramirez's face appeared in the window and I thought he would open the door and force me to leave, but he just shook his head and walked away. I then went back to Adrian, who was still cowering in the corner. There were pieces of debris scattered around the room that were covered in claw and teeth marks which I had to step over.

His eyes met mine, and I reached forward to feel his fur. He didn't move at all, but he continued to watch me. I ran my hand down the fur on his side, which was coarse and long, and then I moved my hand to his head. The fur there was much softer.

"See? It's not so bad," I said. "You can handle being around me."

He shook his head and got up and paced back and forth across the room. He stopped to look at me, but only for a second before resuming his pacing. He did not like being in there with me.

I ended up staying the whole night. I hadn't really intended to, and I was surprised that Mr. Ramirez hadn't kicked me out. I guess when he saw that Adrian was done trying to kill me he decided that I would be safe. Adrian and I ended up sitting next to each other, and I was leaning against his warm body. I don't even remember falling asleep, but I woke up in the morning and was still there. I knew it was morning because Adrian was sleeping next to me, and he was no longer a wolf. He was also completely naked, which I tried to ignore. I elbowed him to wake him up.

"Good morning," I said when he opened his eyes. He blinked a few times before his expression changed.

"I don't think 'good' is the word I would use to describe it," he replied. I could tell by his tone that he was angry. I didn't even need to see the swirly torrent of color around him, which was good, because I was avoiding looking at him.

"It's the weekend; of course it's good."

"You're insane. I almost killed you last night, and you're acting like nothing happened."

"Well, the way I see it, you didn't kill me. Of course, I don't have you to thank for that. You should try looking before you attack. Or maybe you should try not attacking at all."

Adrian was really angry now, and almost shouting. "You don't know what it's like! I wasn't really myself, and you came out of nowhere. It was instinct. You should never have come here in the first place." He got up and left, completely ignoring his nakedness.

When he was gone I stood up, and I realized that I still had the rose in my pocket. I pulled it out gently, but it was already crumpled. The petals fell off in my hand, and some of them fell slowly to the floor. It made me sad to see such a magnificent flower ruined, but when I held it up to my nose, it still smelled beautiful. When I closed my eyes I could imagine that it was still whole. I opened my eyes and it was still a mess, so I laid it on the floor, not wanting to look at it.

I snuck out to get back to my room. Mr. Ramirez was helping the werewolves get some clothes, so he didn't notice my escape. A few of the students did and they eyed me with interest, but they didn't say anything to me. I was glad that I didn't see Jack, though he'd probably hear about my being there from someone else anyway. He definitely wouldn't be happy about it.

I thought for the rest of the day that Mr. Ramirez was going to come find me and get me expelled or something, but it didn't happen. The next time I was in his class I stayed afterward to ask him why he hadn't reported me. He told me that there weren't actually any rules related to what I had done, other than being out of bed at night, so I hadn't broken any that were important. Apparently no one had ever tried to sneak in to see a werewolf during a full moon before.

Adrian stayed mad, though I didn't think he was mad at me, even though what I had done wasn't exactly smart. He seemed to be mad at himself. I saw fear when he was around me, which grew to be less often. He stopped sitting by me in Calculus, which was pretty much the only time I saw him anyway. It hurt me, but I didn't let him see that. I hoped things would change, but a part of me knew things wouldn't go back to the way they were.

If Jack had heard about me being down in the rooms that night, he didn't say anything to me. He acted completely normal, so I figured he hadn't heard. It bothered me to be keeping so much from him, since I never really had before. It was one thing to do it to protect him, but this time I was doing it for myself, and I felt guilty.

***

The holiday season came faster than I was expecting it to. By that time I felt as if I had been at Winterwood for such a short amount of time, even though so many things had changed in my life since I had arrived. I had become really good friends with my roommates, especially Heather, who was a genuinely good person. I spent a lot of time with Melissa as well, who was always a bundle of energy, though I hadn't started working on my fire resistance with her yet. She did know about my ability though. She learned about it before I told her, when she accidently sent a shoot of fire into my face. It caused quite a panic until people realized I was fine. Mr. Ramirez almost always partnered us together after that, deciding it was the safest thing to do.

I saw Jack pretty much every day, which I was happy about. Even though we spent a lot less time together than back in Washington, we managed to stay as close as we always were. I really didn't know what I would do without him.

There was a break in classes during the holidays, and a lot of the students went home to see their families. By the time they were all gone I was the only one left in my room, since all of my roommates had families to go home to. I thought I would enjoy having a room to myself for once, but I missed them. Jack was still there, of course, since he had no more home to go to than I did. As far as I knew he was the only one left at school who I knew, but I was happy to get to spend some quality time with him.

"Do you like it here?" he asked me one day as we sat in the south wing common room, drinking hot chocolate and watching the light snow that was coming down outside. We were the only ones there, so the room felt oddly empty.

"Of course," I answered. "Why wouldn't I? At least we actually have friends here, and we don't have to live with a bunch of crazy little kids who'll break anything they get their hands on."

"True. I like the independence we have here too. We always had to ask Ms. Holland whenever we wanted to do anything back at Pembrook."

"Plus there's so much more to do here, and the library's infinitely better."

Jack laughed. "You and your libraries. You could live in one and be perfectly content."

"Only if you were there with me," I said, laughing as well.

I managed to convince Jack to go with me to the library then, though he grumbled about it. He said it was unnatural to spend time in a library when one was on break, but he came on the condition that he was allowed to bring his hot chocolate, which I agreed to as long as he put a lid on it to prevent it from spilling on any precious books. That just made Jack laugh at me more.

He sat at a table and looked through a book about Russia, though only because it was full of pictures. He wasn't quite as fond of reading as I was, to say the least. I went looking for books about auras, though I was pretty sure I had read all of the ones in the library already.

I finally found an ancient one that I hadn't read yet that was on the wrong shelf. It sat in between two books of crochet patterns. I had no idea what those were doing in the library.

I found what I was looking for almost right away, though I was disappointed that it didn't say more. I had flipped to a random page and it was right there on the top. The author had written that the only known white auras were those of the two gods, Amun and Isadora. Both were rumoured to have bright white auras that were almost blinding, though they were rarely seen and often hid their auras to escape detection by those who could see them.

"Find what you were looking for?" a voice asked from behind me. It startled me so badly I actually dropped the book on the floor. Adrian reached by me and picked it up before I could do so myself. He looked at the cover. "A book about auras? I can't say that I was expecting that."

"Well I can't say that I was expecting you to be here," I said, trying to calm my suddenly frenzied heart. "I thought you'd gone like almost everyone else." I tried to grab the book from him, but he held it out of my reach, flipping through the pages.

"I guess you didn't bother to ask your friend over there if I was still here. I'm curious, was that because you didn't care, or was it because you didn't want him to know that you were looking for me?" He asked. He grinned at me in a way that made me want to hit him, which was unusual for me, since I didn't have violent tendencies. I glared at him instead.

"Have a nice day," I said sarcastically, and tried to stalk off. I couldn't because he had grabbed my arm when I turned away, and he had a strong grip.

"Juliet, wait a second. You never answered my question."

I shivered slightly when he said my name. It was the first time I ever heard him say it. "Which question?" I asked angrily, trying to hide my reaction.

"The first one," he answered. "Did you find what you were looking for?"

"Hey man, back off," I heard Jack say from behind me. I jumped at the sound of his voice. Adrian, however, did not let go of my arm. He continued to wait for an answer.

"What difference does it make to you?" I snapped. "You stopped talking to me weeks ago."

"Juliet, come on," Jack said. "Let's go see if lunch is ready."

Adrian continued to ignore him. "I was angry, and I still am, but that doesn't stop me from being curious."

"It should," I said, and pulled away from his hand. He didn't stop me that time when I turned around and left with Jack.

"What was that all about?" Jack asked cautiously once we were sitting in the cafeteria.

"Nothing," I said, taking a bite of food to avoid talking further.

"It didn't look like nothing. Adrian looked possessive and you looked angry. Is there something going on?" Jack asked, sounding sad. It hurt me for him to feel that way, which is probably why I never mentioned Adrian around him. He didn't even know that he was in my calculus class.

"Really Jack, it was nothing. Adrian and I kind of used to be friends, but then I did something that he didn't like and he got angry and stopped talking to me. I don't know why he started talking to me today, but he came out of nowhere."

"I didn't know you two were friends. I only saw you with him once, and it was at the ball. He always seems to be alone."

"We have a class together," I explained. "We started talking there."

"So why did you stop talking? What did you do that made him angry?" From what he was feeling, I could tell that Jack thought I had done something completely different than what had actually happened. He seemed to think that I had made a move on Adrian. Clearly he still didn't know that Adrian had kissed me first, and hadn't since that day.

"It's not what you think, but I'd rather not explain."

"How am I supposed to trust you if you never talk to me? I feel like you have a lot of secrets from me. I never felt that way before we got here." Jack sounded really hurt now, and it made me cringe. My attempts to protect him were doing more harm than good. It was time to tell him the truth, though I feared what would happen when I did. I knew it would hurt him, but at least he would understand what was going on.

"I know how you feel about me Jack," I started. "I care about you a lot, but I'm not in love with you. I don't want to hurt you. Your friendship means more to me than anything else in my life, and I don't ever want to lose that."

"I know you care about me Jules, and I'm content with just that. I just can't trust you if you keep lying to me."

"I know, and I'm sorry. I should have told you about Adrian sooner, but I didn't know how you would react since you clearly don't like him."

"Tell me what about Adrian?"

"I like him, Jack. I don't know why, but I do. He kissed me the night of the ball, but he hasn't since, though we talked a lot. Then I did something that he didn't like. I went down to the rooms beneath the school on the night of the second full moon of the school year."

Jack looked shocked first, then angry. "You did what?! Do you have any idea how dangerous that was? Even I might have hurt you in a situation like that, and Adrian's way worse than I am!"

"I guess I didn't understand before I went, but I learned that well enough when he tried to kill me."

Jack turned pale. "I'm going to kill him."

"Don't be ridiculous. If he'd succeeded I wouldn't be here, would I? Mr. Ramirez was there, and he stopped Adrian. He didn't really know what he was doing. I could see that in his eyes. I opened the door and he merely reacted instinctively, and I don't hold that against him. It was more my fault than his for thinking he wouldn't hurt me."

"But you could have been killed!"

"Yes, and I think that's why he's been mad at me. He said today that he still is, but I can't help but be a little happy that he's at least talking to me again."

"You should stay away from him Jules. He's dangerous and unstable, and he'll only end up hurting you. I'm not saying that because I want you for myself. I'm telling you that as a friend."

I sighed. "I know that everyone sees him that way, but I really believe that there's more to him than he likes to show."

"Well, if you're so intent on being stupid, at least be careful, okay? I can't stop you from seeing him, but if he does anything to hurt you I'm not going to let him get away with it."

"We aren't together anyway, Jack."

"Not yet, but you want to be, for some reason beyond my understanding."

I couldn't argue with that. I did want to be with Adrian, no matter how much he avoided me. I had probably screwed things up today by being so rude, but I had been upset that he was still mad at me. I didn't know what to do.

Jack was shaken by what I had told him, and I could tell that he was hurt and trying not to be. He was also angrier than I had ever seen him, though he showed no outward sign of it, and he was angry at Adrian, not me. If he had been mad at me he would have shown it. I worried that he might try to do something stupid. It didn't help that they were roommates.

Chapter 15

Luckily, by the time the next morning came Jack appeared to be unharmed, so I assumed that no fight had taken place. I didn't ask.

The day was Christmas Eve, though that mattered to me very little. Having grown up without parents or a proper home, Christmas had never held any excitement for me. I was not at all religious either, so the day held no meaning to me in that regard. The school was not decorated for the holidays. I asked one of the remaining teachers why that was, and she told me that it was because the students came from all over the world and from many different faiths, if any at all. It would be difficult to decorate for all of them, so they didn't decorate at all. There weren't many people left anyway.

I spent the morning with Jack outside in some freshly fallen snow. It was oddly cold out considering that we were in an area with a normally mild climate. The snow was too powdery to do anything with, so we just went for a walk. We walked to the lake, which looked barely frozen, so Jack didn't want to risk trying to slide on the ice. I wanted to, but he wouldn't let me.

When we got back inside Jack decided to go downstairs to the weight room, which I had no interest in doing, so I was left to wander about on my own. It was strangely quiet in the hallways with everyone gone, and it made the place seem less like a school and more like an old castle or something. I quickly decided to head to the ballroom. I hadn't had the pleasure of playing on the piano there since my first day, and I was much less likely to be interrupted than I was the last time.

Of course, as usual, things didn't go as I expected them to. As soon as I sat down at the instrument, someone came into the ballroom through the glass doors that led to the balcony. I realized with some surprise that it was Adrian, who I hardly ever saw wandering about. I sat as still as I could, hoping that he would continue on his way and not notice I was there. He brushed the snow off of his jacket and walked toward the door at the other end of the room while I held my breath. He got about three quarters of the way there before he stopped. He looked over and saw me sitting at the piano and staring at him. He smiled and came over to the stage, and proceeded to climb up and stand before me.

"You were hoping I wouldn't notice you, weren't you?" he said, still smiling. "I'll admit that I saw you before you saw me, from out on the balcony. I considered walking out as if I hadn't noticed you, but I changed my mind."

"And why did you do that?" I asked.

"Again, I will admit to suffering from terrible curiosity. Do you play the piano?"

"I do, but I had hoped to do so alone. Now that you're here I can't, which was why I was hoping you would continue to walk out of the room."

"I don't see why you can't play with me here. I wouldn't get in your way. I really would like to hear you play."

He sounded like he did, but I didn't know why. "I really don't understand you at all," I admitted.

He rolled his eyes. "I wish you would stop trying."

I decided to be brave. "I'll play for you on one condition."

"And what would that be?" he asked, looking very curious indeed.

"You have to do something for me in return. I won't tell you what until I'm finished, but you have to agree that you will do it."

"That sounds like quite a gamble, but I see no alternative but to accept your deal, since I'm determined to hear you play. You might as well start now."

Since he had given his word, which I didn't actually expect him to hold to, I started to play. As was my usual style, I played what I was feeling, which was a lot at that moment. I felt joy for being able to play again, and fear for making a fool of myself in front of Adrian. I also felt all of the emotions that seemed to attack me when he was around. I felt silly for letting him have so much power over me.

When I finished I looked at Adrian, who was still standing there by the instrument with his hands buried in his pockets. His eyes were wide and his mouth was hanging open. When he noticed me observing him, he made an effort to restore his expression.

"That was definitely worth whatever it is you want me to do," he said. "I am yours to command."

I smiled slyly at him, though my heart was pounding, and I could swear I saw a bit of pink enter his cheeks. "I want you to kiss me," I said, standing up.

I can't say that I actually expected him to do it. He'd been avoiding me for so long I'd been sure he'd lost interest. Despite my beliefs, however, he crossed the distance between us in an instant, and his lips were on mine. I wrapped my arms around him and held him closely, and he deepened the kiss.

Finally, he broke away. "I've wanted to do that for a long time," he said.

"Then why didn't you?" I asked, breathless.

He frowned and sat down on the piano bench, facing away from the instrument. I sat beside him, and he turned his penetrating gaze on me. I was surprised by how serious he looked.

"The closer I get to you, the more danger you're in," he said. "I realized that the day I almost killed you. Still, I don't know how to stay away from you."

"Then don't. I'm not afraid of you," I said, smiling. He didn't return the smile.

"I hope you know what you're getting yourself into," he said.

"Hey, you started it," I joked. He finally smiled.

"You still didn't answer the question I asked yesterday."

"Yes, I found what I was looking for. Are you satisfied now?"

"No. You haven't told me what it was yet."

"A girl can have her secrets," I said. "The book didn't tell me everything I wanted to know anyway. In fact, it only confirmed what I had already been told. It was kind of disappointing, really."

"So you aren't going to tell me anything?"

"No. It's not that I don't trust you. I just haven't found out everything yet. What I was looking for in the library was really only part of the information I was looking for. The rest I don't think I will ever find, at least not in a book."

"You can be amazingly frustrating when you want to be," Adrian commented, standing up. "I won't bother asking about it anymore, but you can come to me if you feel like sharing."

"Where are you going?"

"Back outside. I want to go to the lake. Want to come?"

"Sure," I said, "but I'll have to go get my jacket and boots."

We agreed to meet in the foyer in ten minutes. I ran to the south wing to gather my outerwear, and then ran back to the foyer, where Adrian was standing, looking up at the painting of Amun.

"He does kind of look like a god, doesn't he?" I commented, also looking at the painting. The man still seemed familiar to me. I thought maybe I had met him in a past life or something, if I had ever had one. Adrian looked over at me.

"He looks no more like a god than you do," he said.

"Sure he does," I said. "Look at his eyes. Even in this painting you can see how deep and penetrating they are, like he can see everything. He also looks charismatic and yet mysterious. Just look at how he's almost smiling. It's in his eyes, even though his lips appear untouched by the expression."

"Interesting," Adrian said, still watching me. "Still, I don't think you look that much different in a lot of ways. You have a more open and transparent look, yet sometimes I get the feeling that you see a lot more than you say. Plus, you're definitely mysterious."

"So I'm open and mysterious? I'm a little confused."

"Your manner is open, but you keep secrets, and you're not very good at hiding that."

I looked away from the painting. "None that are of any importance," I said.

We walked out to the lake in silence, with each of us lost in our own thoughts. I was, at least. We were both content to enjoy the fresh air and scenery, which was impressive. We reached our destination in only a few minutes, and walked out onto the dock that was over the water. I'd heard it was mostly used by those who went swimming during the warmer parts of the year. I brushed off some snow so I could sit on the end and dangle my feet over the ice. Adrian sat beside me.

"Don't you ever wish you could explore these woods as a wolf?" I asked.

"Yeah. I'm sure it would be more interesting," he answered. He was lying again.

"Why do you keep doing that?"

"Doing what?" Adrian asked, looking confused.

"Whenever I ask about you being a wolf, you always lie about how you feel. Do you really hate it that much?"

Now Adrian looked startled. "Fine. Yes, I hate it. Happy now?" He sounded angry and defensive.

"Why?"

"Because I always feel like I'm out of control. I've hurt people, Juliet. I've lost my temper and turned and attacked people. I'm a monster."

I could tell that it was torturing him. "You can learn," I assured him. "The older wolves don't seem to have any problems. Maybe all it takes is a little practice."

"I don't want to practice! I just want to be normal." He got up and paced back and forth. I stood as well.

"Do it now," I said.

"Do what now?"

"Change into a wolf. There are only the two of us out here right now. You can try to get used to it, and practice controlling yourself."

Adrian shook his head. "No way. You're the last person I want to hurt."

"Exactly. You don't want to hurt me, so I don't think you will. You only tried to last time because I surprised you and you didn't know it was me. After you realized who I was you didn't try anything else. You gained control."

"Mr. Ramirez isn't here to protect you Juliet. It's just too risky, and it's against the rules."

"I trust you."

Adrian sighed and studied me for a moment. Then he stopped pacing and walked off the dock. I started after him, but he told me to stay.

"Where are you going?" I called out to him.

"Just a little ways. I'm going to turn, but I don't want to be near you when I do," he called back.

He walked halfway down the length of the lake before he stopped. He then proceeded to take off his clothes right there in the open, which made me blush, but I continued to watch anyway. I was worried that he would be cold, but a moment later he turned into a large gray wolf. I figured his thick fur would keep him warm enough.

He sniffed around for a minute before trotting back in my direction. When he got to me I bent down so that I would be level with him. He sniffed me for a second, and then he nudged me with his nose. I was balancing on the balls of my feet, so when he pushed me I promptly fell over into the snow. He made a sound that was a mixture between a bark and a laugh.

"Hey, no fair," I grumbled, getting up and trying to brush the snow off my pants. He continued to laugh at me until I threw a snowball at him. In response he turned around and kicked snow up at me with his back legs, which I managed to dodge by running and hiding behind a tree. When I peered back around, he was nowhere to be seen. I gathered a snowball just in case.

I crept along a rock wall, trying not to make any sound. I still couldn't see Adrian, but I found some paw prints in the snow. I was about to investigate when a bunch of snow fell on me from above, and it felt like half of it went down the back of my neck, which made me dance around, trying to shake it out. I could hear Adrian's barking laugh. I had dropped my snowball in my surprise, but I quickly made another and hurled it up over the rock wall. It hit him squarely in the face.

"Ha!" I cried triumphantly. He shook off the snow and tried to dump more snow on me, but I moved out of the way. Seeing that he wasn't successful, he went over the hill so that he could come around to where I was. I gathered a few more snowballs so that I would be ready when he got to me.

Unfortunately for me, I didn't see him coming. I heard his steps too late, so by the time I turned around he was already there. He knocked me off my feet so I ended up lying flat on my back in the snow, with him on top of me. Thankfully, he was smiling. He licked my face.

"Ew," I said, trying to push him off, but he just laughed. I tried to grab some snow, but suddenly his hand was holding mine down. I looked up in surprise, and he was looking down at me through human eyes, and still smiling.

"Got ya," he said. His hand moved from mine to my face, and he lightly brushed my cheek with his fingertips. I was aware that he was naked and lying on top of me, and I shivered.

"Aren't you cold?" I asked, concerned.

Adrian just laughed. "Not at all," he said, before kissing me.

It ended all too soon. Adrian got up and pulled me up with him. I thought he was cold, but he showed no signs of being so. Instead he brushed the snow off of me, and then dragged me along to go find his clothes.

"You're not too cold, are you?" he asked me when we reached them.

"No," I answered. "I'm not the one who's naked."

"True, but you were lying in the snow. Your pants are wet."

I looked down and saw that they were, indeed, wet. I also had some snow in my boots and some that had fallen into my jacket that was melting, but I still didn't feel very cold. Adrian was dressed by then, so we started walking back in the direction of the school.

"That wasn't so bad, was it?" I asked.

"No," he said, sounding surprised. "It was actually kind of fun." He took my hand and held it for the rest of the walk back. When we went inside I started heading to the south wing to change, but Adrian pulled me up the stairs.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"Back outside," Adrian informed me, pulling me across the floor of the ballroom toward the glass doors that he had come in from earlier.

The courtyard didn't look quite the same as it had back when it was filled with blooms. Now all the plants were lying dormant in the cold, covered in snow. The sun was getting low in the sky, so it was just peeking over the surrounding building. It cast a yellow glow on the snow-covered bushes, making them seem just as magical as when they were teeming with life. I couldn't help but smile.

"You know, this is where we first met," Adrian commented as we walked along the path.

"I'm not sure that really counts as a meeting," I said. "We didn't speak until we were dancing. You didn't give me a chance to."

Adrian grinned. "How rude of me," he said, before he turned me around to face him, bringing his lips to mine.

We parted ways when we got back into the school so we could change out of our wet clothes. I waited until I was alone before I did a happy dance, and I couldn't stop grinning as I changed before heading down to dinner.

Chapter 16

I slept in on Christmas morning. I wasn't expecting anything special to happen, so I hadn't bothered to set my alarm. I was quite surprised when I woke up to see that there was a package for me on top of the chest at the foot of my bed. It wasn't big, but it was still unexpected. Jack and I had never exchanged gifts, and I didn't expect anything from any of my new friends since none of them really celebrated the holiday. In fact, I hadn't received a gift since before my parents died.

I got showered and dressed before I went anywhere near the package. It was too late to go to breakfast, so I grabbed some food from the fridge in the kitchen off of the common room. Finally, when I had run out of other things to do, I went back to my room and picked up the package. It was square and flat, and wasn't wrapped, though the box itself was covered in a silver snowflake pattern, and it wasn't very heavy. My name was written in very neat letters on a tag in one corner. I didn't recognize the handwriting, and it didn't say who it was from.

My curiosity got the best of me. I took the lid off of the box and set it down beside me. Inside was a card and a smaller box that was surrounded in tissue paper. I picked up the card and opened it. It featured the same neat writing as on the tag.

Juliet,

Forgive me for not getting you something better, and for not having gotten you anything else in the past sixteen years. I do not expect gifts to be welcome to you, since you are unfamiliar with them. I am only giving you back something that already belongs to you. You will not need it, but I hope that it will give you something to think about, and maybe some of the answers you seek. I would say more, but you would not want me to. I will merely wish you a happy holiday instead.

Yours,

A Friend

It still didn't sound like anyone I knew, but I couldn't help but be intrigued. If there was ever anything that I wanted, it was answers. I opened the inside box, not knowing what to expect, but eager to see what it was.

Inside the box were three beautiful keys. One was black, and looked like it was made of obsidian. It had a skull with wings carved into one end. It was sleek and shining, like glass. Another one of the keys also had an interesting design, and appeared to be made of brass. It was heavier than the first, and one end looked like the branches of a tree, so the handle appeared to be a trunk. Still, it was the third key that interested me the most. It was the most delicate and intricate, but I couldn't tell what it was made of. It didn't look like any type of metal, rock, or wood that I had ever seen, but I thought that it may have been made from ivory. It was bright white aside from three small sapphires that were embedded in its interwoven design. I had never seen any of the keys before, so I wondered why the person who gave them to me said they were already mine. I also didn't understand their significance. Still, they were beautiful, and I wanted to keep them, so I strung them on the chain I found in the box and put it around my neck. I slipped the keys under my shirt, and kept them close to my heart.

Jack came and found me shortly after, and we spent the rest of the morning swimming in the pool. I told him that I had spent time with Adrian the day before, and he wasn't surprised. He said that Adrian had been more cheerful than he had ever seen him before. I was happy to hear that. I didn't tell him about my keys. It seemed too personal.

After we went swimming we went for a walk outside. The sun was shining brightly and it was warmer than it had been, so we weren't the only ones out enjoying the weather. The snow was melting away, which made me sad. I liked the way it made everything look so pure.

"Remember Christmas at Pembrook?" Jack asked as we were walking. "It was my least favourite day of the year. Ms. Holland always made us decorate the house, and Mrs. Jameson would make those horrible cookies that we had to eat because she made them as a treat. I don't think anyone had the heart to tell her how bad they were, even the younger ones."

I smiled briefly at the memory. "They really were horrible, but they weren't really the worst part. I remember how only a couple of kids would get gifts, and some of the younger kids who hadn't been there for very long would cry because they didn't get anything. It always made me sad, even though I never wanted anything myself."

"Dan was one of the people who got gifts. He would say they were from his grandparents or something, but they were always from his mom. He told everyone she was dead, but he had gotten taken away from her because of her drug use. I heard Ms. Holland talking about it once."

"Do you ever miss them?" I asked.

"Not really," Jack admitted, shrugging. "I never liked anyone enough there to miss them except for you, and I still have you here with me." He smiled.

"Thank goodness for that," I said. "Who else would I be able to drag with me to the library?"

Jack groaned. "You better not want to go there right now," he complained.

I laughed and shoved him playfully. "Why would I want to do that when it's so nice out here?"

"Thank goodness for that," Jack said, and we kept walking, breathing in the fresh air.

***

The rest of the holidays were over before I knew it. I was quite happy to have my roommates back, since I had missed them. I wasn't used to having a room by myself. Melissa hugged me as soon as she saw me and started rambling about her family, and Rhea just gave me a smile and started to put her things away. Heather hugged me and drew me away from the others as soon as she could.

"Did you find out anything new while I was away?" she asked.

"Yes. I found a book in the library about auras that confirmed what you had heard. It said that the only known people to have white auras are Amun and Isadora. I still don't think that says anything about me though." I left out the part about the keys, especially because I had no idea what they meant anyway, and I didn't even know who they were from.

"Well, that's good then," she said. "It's more evidence. I'll keep listening in on the teachers when I can to see if I can learn anything new for you. I haven't heard anything from Mrs. Bainbridge about her meeting with Amun, but it could happen at any time, or I could have missed it already."

"You don't need to trouble yourself for me, Heather. I'm still perfectly convinced that I'm just a normal hero with a rare aura color."

"But how can you ignore all of the evidence?"

"There has been nothing concrete. I really believe I would know it if I was a goddess. The whole idea seems completely ridiculous."

"But you heard Ms. Coleman's story. Isadora would take away her own memories and powers so that she could live a normal life. You could be doing that right now, and I doubt you'd know it. You probably wouldn't want yourself to."

"She also said the only way she could get her powers and memories back was by dying, and I'm definitely not taking that big of a risk based on a theory."

Heather looked shocked. "Of course not! I wouldn't expect you to kill yourself! Surely there are other ways of knowing the truth. We need to find out what Amun says, if he answers the headmaster's call."

"What do you mean by 'call' anyway? Do you mean with a phone, or is it some kind of mental thing?" I asked, curious.

"It's a mental thing, I'm pretty sure. My mother always told me you can call to the gods with your thoughts, and sometimes they answer. It's kind of like praying, only not really. I don't think they usually answer, but it happens occasionally."

"Maybe you should call for Isadora," I said, half joking. "She'll show up and then you'll be as convinced as I am that we're two different people."

Heather rolled her eyes. "That wouldn't work. Hey, maybe we should call Amun ourselves! Then we would know the truth."

"Heather," I said, getting frustrated. "I'm not Isadora."

"You really could be, and I want to know the truth. I'm not giving up, and I'm still going to listen in to find out what the teachers are saying."

"Don't get your hopes up, Heather. I really don't see what could come of all this."

"Well, we'll find the truth, one way or the other."

Chapter 17

Classes started up again early in January. I wasn't too upset by that. I actually kind of missed some of my classes over the break, since they were pretty interesting. Ms. Coleman, as usual, did not disappoint on our first day back.

"Today I'd like to discuss some important places with you. Has anyone here ever been to Asantis or Nevali?"

A small dark girl in the back of the classroom raised her hand, but she was the only one.

"I'm surprised," Ms. Coleman said. "Most people have never been to either, except the people who live there. Perhaps you'd like to describe your experience, Ms. Ali?"

The girl stood up and looked around shyly. She cleared her throat quietly before starting to speak. "I went to Nevali with my mother when I was fourteen. She had been born there, but she moved when she was little, and she wanted to take me there to see it. We had to journey across the desert on camels for two days to get there, but it was worth it. It was the most amazing city I'd ever seen. It looks like a mountain from a distance, but when you get closer you see that it's really a bunch of buildings on many levels, like the tiers of a cake. The palace is at the very top, but few people go there. I've never seen a city so full of happy people before. The streets were always filled with music and dancing."

"That does sound quite a bit like what I've read of the place. Thank you for sharing," Ms. Coleman said. "Nevali and Asantis are the sanctuaries of the gods. Only those who are lucky can even find them, since they are both well hidden from the world. If they were not, I'm sure they would be the most popular destinations in the world.

"Nevali was created four thousand years ago by Amun. It is said to be located somewhere in the Saharan desert, but there's no way to prove that scientifically because of the magic that protects it. It's a tiered city, as Ms. Ali said, and it's occupied by a few hundred people who are very well taken care of. I doubt that there is a more serene place to live than in the city of a god.

"Asantis is Isadora's sanctuary, and it's designed a bit differently than Nevali. It isn't a city, but an island. It is said to be located somewhere in the South Pacific, but it's also well protected. There's a castle on one part of the island, and three different cities on the other part. Their names are Luma, Terra, and Morta. All three cities are said to be quite small, but very beautiful. Some say that Luma is the most spiritual place on Earth, since there is a temple there in which one can communicate with their own soul. Morta also holds special significance because it is the only place on the planet where people can communicate with the dead, since they do not walk the earth, as some people think. I believe Terra is a farming community that supplies food to the other cities. I know little about the castle, but I've read that it's quite large and almost like a maze because there are so many rooms, some of which hold special significance.

"Both of these places were created by the gods, so they're both very special. They are not, however, the only places that they have created. I should explain something before I tell you about the next place.

"The gods have unlimited power, so they can do anything they wish. Even though they have so much power, they don't like to interfere too much with the world and its people. When they were quite young, they developed three main rules related to what they should never do. The rules were that they would not kill, turn back time, or bring anyone back from the dead. I can't say these rules have never been broken, but they were all made with good reason.

"The gods wanted to protect the world from bad people, but because of the rules and their own moral standards, they refused to kill any of them. Instead, Amun created a place to keep prisoners who were a danger to other people. No one is sure where it is exactly, but it's inside of a mountain. The world's worst people are kept there, but it isn't a big place, so there are still many bad people who are free or in other prisons. Not much is known of the place except what was in Amun's own writings, since no one who has gone in there has ever come out, except the gods themselves.

"The next place I would like to tell you about is somewhere I've actually been. It's a temple located somewhere in the middle of a forest in France. There's an old woman who lives in a cottage at the edge of the forest, and she leads people to the temple. I'm not sure which of the gods created it, or if they made it together, but it's an interesting place. It's in classical Greek style, surrounded by pillars. It isn't very tall, and it's rectangular. When you go in through the door the first things you see are the statues, which are in the middle of the room. They are life-sized statues of the gods, made of white marble. The walls are covered with writing, but in a language that no one knows, so no one knows what it says. When I was there the floor around the statues was covered in flowers, lain by people coming to ask for help. It is said that almost any wish will be granted if you make it standing in the temple. Indeed, when I asked, my own wish was granted."

Heather raised her hand. "If you've seen the statue of Isadora, does that mean you know what she looks like?" she asked.

Ms. Coleman chuckled. "I'm afraid not," she said. "Her statue wears a veil, so all you can see is her forehead and a faint outline of her nose and lips. It isn't nearly enough to be able to recognize her, though I'm sure she's very beautiful. She doesn't live out in the open as Amun does in his own way, so I don't think she wants to be recognized."

"Oh," Heather said, clearly disappointed.

Ms. Coleman continued to talk about the places for the rest of the class, and I listened closely with interest. I had a hard time imagining cities built by gods, but they sounded like magnificent places. There was also something about what she said that weighed heavily on my mind.

When class ended most people left immediately to get to their next classes on time, but I lingered at my desk until everyone else had gone, telling Heather I would catch up to her. Ms. Coleman looked surprised when she realized that I was still there.

"Can I help you with something, Juliet?" she asked.

"I hope you can," I replied. I walked up to her desk and lifted the chain from around my neck. I set the keys in front of her on her desk, and she gasped when she saw them. She reached out reverently to touch them. She gently took them in her hand and stroked the smooth black key with her thumb.

"Where did you get these?" she asked.

"They were given to me on Christmas," I explained. "The note that came with them didn't have the sender's name on it. Do you think that these keys have something to do with the three cities of Asantis?"

"Undoubtedly. I've heard of these keys. Isadora kept them with her. They unlock the doors between the underground passages of the castle and the three cities. I didn't think I'd ever actually get to see them. This is the closest I've ever been to anything of hers."

"You really think I'm her, don't you," I commented.

Ms. Coleman looked surprised again. "How did you know about that?"

"It doesn't matter. I don't think it's true anyway."

"I don't expect you to believe it. You wouldn't have made it so easy for yourself. I do wonder who gave you these keys. Perhaps you left them in someone else's safekeeping, and that person realized that you were beginning to question yourself so they gave them back to you. It could have been Amun himself."

I shook my head and gathered my keys to put them safely around my neck. "It's just a theory," I said. I hurried off to my next class before she could argue with me.

Chapter 18

That day in Skills Development I paired up with Melissa so that we could work on our abilities together for the first time. She was getting a lot better at controlling her fire, so I figured it would be fairly safe. She was more eager to test my ability than I was, since being close to fire still made me a little nervous.

When we were both ready, with a fire extinguisher nearby at my request, Melissa lit a fire and held it carefully in her palms. She told me to hold my hands out over the desk, so I did. I started to get nervous when she slowly started to bring her hands under mine. I panicked and pulled my hands away before she got too close.

"Jules, we'll never be able to see if you can handle this if you won't even try," she complained.

"Sorry. It just seems a little crazy to let someone try to burn me. It goes a little against nature, don't you think?"

"All of us are freaks of nature. Get used to it, and hold out your hands."

I sighed and held out my hands, but I closed my eyes. I knew I would move my hands away again if I saw the fire coming.

"Hey look, it's working!" I heard Melissa say. I couldn't feel anything, but I opened my eyes and had to fight the urge to pull my hands back. Melissa's hands were a mere inch underneath my own, and the fire in her hands licked harmlessly at my fingers. I couldn't help but grin.

"Nice work, ladies," Mr. Ramirez said as he walked by.

"This is kind of awesome," I said. "I wonder if I could do it with my whole body."

"It might be better to try that in a safer environment with a change of clothes," Melissa said. "Still, it would be pretty awesome." She sounded wistful.

"We should do it. We're both resistant to fire, so we could do it together. We just need to find a place."

"We could do it out by the lake. That way we'll be out of sight, away from the trees, and close to a water source."

"Sounds perfect. Let's do it tonight, after bed time."

"What if we get caught?"

"Just blame it on me," I said. Melissa laughed, and she agreed.

We switched partners halfway through the class, and I ended up with Rhea. I had never seen her use her ability before, so I was a little excited. I brought out some paper to work on a drawing, but I didn't end up drawing anything. I was too interested in what Rhea was doing.

She had a simple dark blue coffee mug on her desk. She picked it up and held it with one hand, and she ran a finger of her other hand over its surface in a pattern. I watched as gold streaks appeared where her finger touched the mug. She drew a flower, and looked pleased with herself until she looked inside the mug.

"Darn," she said.

"What?" I asked. "That was amazing!"

"I was trying to only put the pattern on the outside, but it went all the way through," she explained. She tilted the mug so I could see inside. The pattern was there as well.

"Still, that's awesome. You must be rich," I said. Rhea just laughed, shaking her head at me.

Melissa and I snuck out that night as planned. Heather decided to come with us after Melissa told her what we were going to do. I didn't think it was a good idea, but I couldn't convince her to stay no matter how hard I tried. Rhea, thankfully, was asleep when we left. I didn't want to risk getting her in trouble too, though I doubted she would have come even if we asked. She seemed to have a little more sense than the rest of us.

Somehow we managed to get out of the school unnoticed. It was a little harder getting across the open yard, especially with teachers patrolling the grounds. We had to take a longer route so we would have more tree cover to keep us hidden.

When we got to the lake Adrian was there. I wasn't expecting to see him, but it was probably one of those places in which he spent most of his time, away from the rest of the school. He was in wolf form, but luckily he could tell who we were because he saw us coming from a distance and didn't attack us. The other girls freaked out for a second before I told them it was a werewolf, not a wolf, though they weren't too comfortable with that either. He sat by the water and watched us intently, since he didn't know what we were up to.

Melissa and I had both worn our oldest and ugliest clothes because they weren't expected to survive. We each had a change of clothes that Heather was in charge of holding. She sat on the dock to watch us, and kept at a distance from Adrian. Melissa and I spent a few minutes gathering dry sticks from the woods to keep at our feet. They weren't actually necessary considering that Melissa could create and maintain fire with no fuel, but she said it was easier to have it anyway. When we had enough we went back to the edge of the lake.

"Ready?" Melissa asked. She couldn't help but smile widely with excitement.

"Definitely," I answered. "It's time to light up!"

Melissa started the fire in her hands like she usually did, and then she bent over and held the flame to the wood at her feet. Adrian watched with wide eyes as the wood caught on fire. When Melissa lit the wood at my feet he turned human, ignoring his naked state as usual.

"What are you doing?!" he exclaimed, coming toward me.

I held up my hand to motion for him to stop. "Don't worry, Adrian. Just watch."

With a little extra help from Melissa, the flames at our feet jumped higher and higher until they were as tall as us. It was amazing, but I didn't feel a thing. I couldn't help but laugh a little as I watched my clothes turn black.

"Can't you make it burn any better than that?" I teased.

"You asked for it," Melissa said, grinning. She held her hands out and concentrated.

Seconds later we were completely enveloped in flame. I couldn't see any of the others through the thick, licking tendrils that surrounded us, but I enjoyed the sound of the crackling wood and the way the flames flicked at my skin without having any impact. My clothes were gone in seconds, but I didn't have to worry about anyone seeing my naked body through the flames. I could hear the joy in Melissa's laughter from somewhere to my left, and I couldn't help but join her. Not even the hot smoky air that went into my lungs did any damage.

I thought I heard Heather shout something through the roar of the flames, but I didn't hear what she said. Seconds later the fire was out, leaving me standing naked in the cold. Heather was close by with our clothes ready.

"Why'd you stop?" I asked Melissa.

"Heather said she heard someone coming. Quick, get dressed, we have to go."

Adrian appeared at my side, and he was already dressed. He looked at me appreciatively before helping me get my clothes on.

"You'll be lucky if half the school didn't see that fire," he said, but he was smiling.

Once we were all dressed we ran off into the woods. We were just in time. I could see the beams of flashlights shining through the trees not far from where we had been. I was glad the snow was gone because we wouldn't have to worry about leaving footprints.

They caught the four of us before we made it to the edge of the woods. There were more teachers out looking for us than I had realized. It was Victor, the Physical Defence teacher, who found us, and he didn't look too happy. We were led straight to the headmaster's office, where we had to wait a few minutes for her to come.

"We are so dead," Melissa complained.

"It was worth it," Adrian said, still smiling. "That was one of the coolest things I've ever seen."

"What are we going to tell them?" Heather asked. She didn't sound as worried as I expected her to, considering that she didn't seem like the kind of person who ever got in trouble.

"The truth," I answered firmly. "We'll probably get in more trouble if we lie anyway."

Mrs. Bainbridge arrived a minute later. "Which of you is responsible?" she asked, glaring at us. I raised my hand, since it was my idea. She led me into her office while the others waited outside, carefully guarded by Victor.

"So, Ms. White, would you like to tell me why four of my students were outside after hours playing with fire?" Mrs. Bainbridge asked me once the door was closed. She sat at her desk and looked at me. Her features were heavily lined and stern.

"Well, Melissa and I wanted to test our abilities," I told her.

"Outside in the middle of the night?"

"Night is the best time to work with fire, and it seemed safer to do outdoors."

"If all you wanted to do was test your abilities, why didn't you ask permission? Surely Mr. Ramirez might have agreed to help out."

"I don't know. It was a last-minute plan, so we weren't really thinking."

"You're right about that. You could have burnt the forest down if you weren't careful, and you were out in the woods at night completely unprotected. The rules are in place for a reason, Ms. White. Can you also explain why Ms. Miller and Mr. Alvarez were present?"

"Heather wanted to come with us, and we couldn't stop her. I don't know what Adrian was doing. He was by the lake before we got there."

"Was Mr. Alvarez in wolf or human form when you arrived?"

"I don't see what that has to do with me," I responded vaguely. I didn't want to get him in trouble. Mrs. Bainbridge seemed to notice, and she frowned.

"Very well. I shall speak to each of the others alone before your punishment will be decided. Please send Ms. Cardenas in on your way out."

I left the office and told Melissa to go in. Mrs. Bainbridge hadn't displayed much emotion during her questioning, so I wasn't sure how it went. I told Heather and Adrian as much.

"Don't worry about it," Adrian said. "I don't think they ever kick anyone out. We'll probably get detention or something."

Victor rolled his eyes. "Clearly whatever punishment you've received in the past has been ineffective," he said.

Adrian ignored him. "Did you finish today's calculus problems?" he asked me.

"Sure, I did them after supper."

"Can you help me with the last one, maybe over lunch tomorrow?"

"Um, sure," I said. Adrian never seemed to need help in Calculus, so I was a little confused, at least until he winked at me.

After questioning each of us, which took an hour, Mrs. Bainbridge sent us girls to bed with the knowledge that we would be polishing the entire ballroom floor the following evening. She held Adrian back to give him a separate punishment, and I didn't hear what it was. I asked Heather if she'd heard while we walked back to our room, but she said she hadn't been paying attention.

"We got off pretty easy," Melissa commented. "Of course, it's not like we were doing anything horrible anyway."

I yawned. "Yeah, I think Adrian was right. It was totally worth it."

"Agreed," Heather added.

Chapter 19

We were all really tired the next morning. We probably wouldn't have gotten to our first class on time if it wasn't for Rhea, who woke us all up after Melissa turned the alarm off. We still had to rush, but we made it. I can't say I paid much attention to Ms. Coleman's lecture about Amun's time in Egypt, even though it was probably really interesting.

When I made my way out of Physical Defence I was bruised and sore. Being tired hadn't exactly helped my coordination any, and Kyla Ali was a lot stronger than she looked. I was going to try to find Adrian to see what he wanted, but he found me first and pulled me in the opposite direction of the cafeteria, where they were serving lunch.

"Where are we going?" I asked through my yawn.

"Didn't I tell you I don't like the cafeteria?"

"I guess, but that still doesn't tell me anything."

"Then let it be a surprise."

Adrian led me to an empty classroom on the second floor that had a nice view of the courtyard. There were two desks in the room by the windows that were brought together, and there were two chairs. There was a basket already on the table that seemed to be filled with food.

"When did you put that there?" I asked.

"This morning, before class. It isn't much, but it'll do."

"What are we doing here?"

Adrian sighed. "Must you ask so many questions?"

"Must you refuse to answer them?"

"Only if you keep asking. If you really want to know, this is our first date," Adrian said, smiling. He started getting the food out and putting it on two plates that he had managed to bring as well.

"I guess I don't have any say in the matter, then," I said, though I didn't actually mind. I thought it was kind of sweet.

Adrian rolled his eyes. "Here," he said, handing me a plate of food.

When we finished eating I asked Adrian what his punishment was. He was reluctant to tell me, but after some prodding he finally answered.

"I fail one of my classes," he told me. "The rules are strict for werewolves, and I broke one of the most important ones. We're not allowed to change unsupervised until we pass a test we have to take in second year."

"Good thing she doesn't know what happened on Christmas Eve," I said, feeling a little guilty. I felt like a bad influence, and not for the first time that week.

"People break the rules all the time. They just don't usually get caught."

"I guess you have us to thank for that then. I'm sorry, Adrian. I didn't know you were going to be out there."

"I know you didn't, you don't have to apologize. If anything, I should be apologizing to you. The teachers weren't after you last night. They were looking for me, at least until they saw your fire."

I was surprised. "Why would they be looking for you? Did they know you were out of bed?"

"Yes, and I have your friend Jack to thank for that."

"Why would Jack do something like that? It doesn't sound like him at all."

"He doesn't like me very much, probably because he's in love with you. He didn't know any more than I did that you would be out there too. He told Victor, who was on duty in our wing, that I had gone out. I found out from one of our roommates this morning."

"You didn't tell him that I was out there, did you?"

"As much as I would have liked to let him know he ended up getting his best friend in trouble instead of just me, I didn't. I figured you wouldn't be too happy about it if I did."

"I take it you don't like him much either," I observed. It worried me a little, but I didn't know what to do about it.

"Of course not. The guy's pathetic. Not only is he totally in love with, but his petty grudge against me..." He trailed off when he noticed my expression. "Well, I'm sure he's not too bad."

"Don't talk about Jack that way."

Adrian sighed. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to upset you. That doesn't mean I'm going to lie."

"Fine. Let's just not talk about it at all."

"I can live with that. Besides, I can think of other things I'd rather do than talk..."

***

It took hours that night to polish the whole floor, which I thought was pretty shiny to begin with. We probably could have pretended to polish it and leave it as it was and no one would notice, except we were supervised by Mr. Wilcox. He sat on a chair on the stage and read a book while we worked and barely even bothered to look up. We were even more exhausted by the time we finished.

"I feel like I could sleep for days," Melissa complained. "This has been the longest day of my life."

"I know what you mean," Heather said, yawning.

I was tired too, but I was in a pretty good mood anyway, so I didn't complain. I hadn't told my friends about my date at lunch. When they asked me where I was I told them I had taken a nap, which would actually have been a good idea, so it was believable. Neither of them liked Adrian very much, and I was pretty sure Heather was a little afraid of him. She seemed to be afraid of most werewolves, though she got along great with Jack. She even had a bit of a crush on him, which I encouraged whenever I could. I thought they would be great together.

I felt a little better rested the next day, though I was still tired. We ended up working individually in Skills Development, so I decided to work on my drawing, which I was still getting better at. I don't mean that the drawings themselves were of better quality, I mean I was getting better at controlling what I drew. When I had first started drawing I drew whatever came to me, but I could now be more specific, though not as much as I wanted to be. I could choose a general subject or time, but I didn't always draw what I planned.

That day I was having trouble controlling it, which was probably because of my fatigue. I tried to draw what Mr. Ramirez would be doing in ten minutes, and I ended up drawing Jack playing basketball outside. I then decided to draw Adrian without even specifying the time, just to make things easier. The picture that I ended up with disturbed me.

The drawing wasn't of Adrian at all. Instead, it was of Michael, who I hadn't seen much since before winter break. He appeared to be in the cafeteria, and I could see a few people in the background. What bothered me was his expression, which was one of fear. It looked like he was cowering away from something, and I had never seen Michael look like that before. Unfortunately, I had no idea when it was going to happen or what he was afraid of. I thought of showing the drawing to Mr. Ramirez, but I decided to show it to Michael instead. At least he would be warned.

I looked for Michael at lunch time, but I couldn't find him in the cafeteria. After asking around, I was told he was practicing with his band in the music room, so I went to find him there.

I could hear the music from a little ways down the hall. It seemed they had finally gotten a new keyboard player, though they weren't very good. The band was trying to play a Nightwish song, but they had a lot of work to do. They stopped playing when they saw me standing in the doorway.

"Hey, Juliet!" Leon shouted. He waved as well. Patrick just nodded at me and flipped through some music.

Michael came up to me. "What's up?" he asked. I motioned for him to join me in the hallway. When we got there I pulled out my drawing and handed it to him. He studied it for a moment.

"What is this?" he asked. He looked at me like I was crazy, and I remembered that he didn't know about my ability.

"It's a drawing of the future," I told him. "I just thought I should warn you. These drawings have a habit of becoming true."

"Did you draw it yourself?"

"Yes, I drew it this morning. I don't know when it will happen though."

"I didn't know that you could draw the future. I knew you could see auras, so I thought that was your ability, but now people are saying something to do with fire too. There's a rumour going around school that you and some other people got in trouble for making a fire in the woods at night, though I had a hard time believing that. I guess it's not true anyway."

"Well, actually, it is true," I admitted. "We were just testing our abilities, but we ended up getting caught."

"How many abilities do you have?" Michael asked, sounded surprised. "I thought heroes only had one."

"Three, I think, but it doesn't matter. I just wanted to show you that drawing. I'll let you get back to your band." I took the paper back.

"So, you don't know what this could mean at all?"

"Nope. I don't usually know anything except what's in the drawing and sometimes what I'm trying to draw, like time, person, or place. This time I was trying to draw someone else, but it ended up being you."

"That sounds complicated," Michael commented.

I shrugged. "I'm still learning. Anyway, I should go."

"You can stay and listen if you want," Michael said. "Can't hurt to have an extra set of ears around, especially those belonging to someone with so much talent."

"I think you guys have a bit of work to do before you should have an audience," I commented, and then I blushed. I hadn't meant to be rude. Luckily Michael wasn't offended. We said goodbye and I headed to the cafeteria to eat.

I got about halfway to the cafeteria before I realised something. I could try to do another drawing of the same event to get more information. I headed to the south wing instead of the cafeteria so I could draw and grab some food from the kitchen.

My fatigue continued to get in the way. The first drawing I made was of Leon trying to play the drums, which I didn't think had anything to do with the other drawing since they weren't even in the same place. I managed to finish one more drawing before I had to go to class, and it wasn't in the cafeteria either. It was of Melissa standing next to a broken pot on the floor in the greenhouse.

I spent the next week trying to draw something else about the other drawing, but I didn't have much luck. Whenever I was in the cafeteria I worried that something would happen, especially if I could see Michael. I talked to him a few times and told him what I was trying to do, but he didn't seem concerned at all. I only managed to create one drawing that was at all promising, since it was the only one that was in the cafeteria, and it had a similar theme. It was of Ms. Coleman, and she was running toward something, and she also looked afraid, though not as much as Michael did. It was a small bit of information, but it was information nonetheless.

It didn't happen until the next week. It was supper time on a Friday, and the cafeteria was almost full of happy students, eager to get on with the weekend. I was sitting with Jack, and we were discussing what Ms. Coleman had told us about in History that morning, since it was an interesting topic. I could see Ms. Coleman on the other side of the room, where she was talking to one of her students. Jack ended up leaving early to get in a game of basketball with one of his friends from his classes, which left me all alone until Michael came and sat with me.

"Did you hear?" he asked. "The band is finally going to get to play a show for the school. We booked the ballroom for a day in the middle of April. It's going to be great."

"I did hear, actually. I think Melissa mentioned it this morning, though I don't know how she knew," I said.

"Oh, I told her yesterday. Do you think you'll come?"

"Yeah, I don't see why not," I said. I secretly hoped that they were playing better than they had the last time I'd heard them, but I didn't say anything. Michael seemed confident enough, and I thought he had good enough taste.

"Great! Want to get together afterward? Leon and a few others booked a TV and managed to get their hands on a movie. It'd be great if you could join us." It sounded like he was asking me on a date, which I wasn't too comfortable with, especially since I was with Adrian.

"I probably shouldn't," I said. "I'll probably still be on probation after the whole fire incident." That was a lie, but I didn't think he'd know that. I got up to go, since I wanted to go for a swim, and Michael got up as well.

"Well, maybe some other time, then," he said, and he gave me a quick hug before turning to go.

It was then when I realized that something was wrong. I didn't really know how, but I felt it coming, like a gut feeling. When I looked around I saw the people in the drawings I had done, and in the same place. Ms. Coleman was still in the room, and so was Michael. Then there was Adrian.

I hadn't seen him until that moment, right when Michael started to walk toward the table where Patrick was sitting, but I think he had been there for a few minutes, and it was the first time I had ever seen him in the cafeteria. He had an expression on his face that I had never seen before. I was going to say hi, but I realized that he wasn't paying attention to me. All of his attention was focused on Michael, who was walking near him. The colors of his aura gave me all the warning I needed, but I was almost too late. In what seemed like a fraction of a second, there was a large gray wolf flying through the air toward Michael.

Chapter 20

Without even thinking, I jumped in front of him. I could see Michael's expression change into an exact replica of what it was in my drawing as if in slow motion, but I was in front of him before Adrian's sharp teeth and claws made contact. He hit me instead.

As we were falling to the floor I could see Ms. Coleman running toward us, also looking like she had in my drawing, though there wasn't much she could do. Adrian's claws had sunk into the skin on my shoulders, but I didn't feel any pain. His teeth snapped at the air in front of my face. I hit the ground hard, which knocked the breath out of my lungs, and Adrian kept going so that he was flipping into the air above my head. As he moved, his claws left my shoulders, but they cut my skin as they pulled out, leaving gashes going halfway down my arms that immediately began leaking blood onto the floor around me.

I could hear the sudden noise of chairs scraping the floor as people stood, and voices as they expressed their shock about what was happening. I looked at my arms, and my first thought was that I didn't know I had so much blood. Adrian's human face entered my field of vision, and I could see the shock he was feeling.

"Juliet!" he said, and he touched my face. I could see tears forming in his eyes. "I'm so, so sorry."

Suddenly he was being pushed away. Michael was standing over me, his face pale. Ms. Coleman got to me, and she shouted something at someone, but I didn't hear what she said. She had some cloth in her hands. She bent down.

"You're going to be alright, Juliet," she said, and she pressed the cloth against my arms to try to stop the bleeding. The pain was explosive then, and it sent me into a world of blackness.

When I woke up the first thing I noticed was the aching in my arms. When I looked at them, I saw that they were covered in bandages that went from my shoulders to my elbows. Blood had soaked through a small area near my right shoulder. I tried to move my arms, but the ache turned to a shooting pain, so I let them relax.

It took me a moment to realize where I was. I was lying in a bed that wasn't my own, and there was a curtain pulled out on one side. On the other side there was another bed that looked the same as the one I was in. Further away I could see a desk area, and seated there was Georgia Hughes. She looked like she was busy with paperwork, and there was no one else around. I realized I was in the infirmary, which I had only seen during the tour on my first day.

I had only been to a doctor once before, and it was when I was twelve. There was a new kid at Pembrook, and his name was Max. He was older than I was, but he couldn't have been older than fifteen. On his first day he got in trouble for pushing Henry into the garbage dumpster. On his second day he managed to break a window, but he didn't get caught. On his third day he came after me.

I was sitting under a tree in the yard reading a book by myself. I didn't notice him approach, so I was startled when I noticed him standing in front of me. He grabbed the book I was reading, which was one of my favourites, and he threw it up into the tree. It caught on a branch that was ten feet above the ground. Satisfied that he had caused me trouble, he laughed and ran off to interfere with a nearby game of jump rope.

Of course, I had been in the middle of an interesting part of the book, and I wanted to know what happened next. Without a second thought, I grabbed a bottom branch and pulled myself up. I reached the book easily enough, and the way down looked simple. I was trying to pull myself toward a branch when my pants caught on a twig. The sudden interference in my movement caused me to lose my balance, and I fell out of the tree. I ended up with a broken arm, but I was lucky that it was nothing worse.

My doctor then had been old and funny-smelling. He hardly said a word to me at all, which left me feeling afraid, but he fixed up my arm well enough. It wasn't a pleasant experience, and being in the infirmary kind of reminded me of that time, especially because of the smell of disinfectant.

Dr. Hughes, as I learned she was, finally noticed that I was awake. She quickly finished up her paperwork before coming over to me.

"How are you feeling, Juliet?" she asked as she started taking my vital signs.

"Sore and thirsty," I replied. "Can I get up to get some water?"

"Nonsense. You need to stay and rest for a while longer. I'll get you some water myself, and something for the pain." She started putting a blood pressure cuff on my leg, since she couldn't put it on my arm. It was an automatic one, so she let it work on its own while she went to get me a cup of water. I felt better after taking a long drink, though Dr. Hughes had to hold the cup to my lips since it hurt too much to move my arms. When she took off the cuff she told me my blood pressure was still quite low because I had lost a lot of blood, but it wasn't too low.

"How's Michael?" I asked, after I had finished the water.

"He's fine, dear. Everyone's fine except for you. I suppose Michael was lucky that you were there. Once he realized he had hurt you, Adrian turned back to human and went to you instead of continuing to try to hurt him. I heard Adrian was quite upset. The poor boy really needs to learn to control his temper."

"Is he alright? He wasn't kicked out or anything, was he?"

"Don't worry about Adrian, dear. Just get some rest." She started to walk back to the desk.

"Wait!" I called, sitting up. I felt dizzy for a moment, but it passed. Dr. Hughes turned.

"My goodness, girl," she said. "You're going to hurt yourself. Lie back down, would you?"

"You didn't answer my question," I said. I was anxious and concerned about Adrian. I knew he had hurt me, but I didn't blame him for that. I was the one who had jumped in his path.

Dr. Hughes sighed. "Adrian has not been expelled, but he's in a lot of trouble. He's on strict isolation from his peers, and he has to go to counselling on a daily basis."

"Why would he be in isolation? He doesn't like being around others anyway."

"It's because he has proven himself to be a danger to others. I doubt that it will be permanent. He'll be attending his regular classes still anyway, but his teachers will have to keep a close eye on him."

"I see," I said.

"Don't worry about it. No one will let him hurt you again."

I was startled. "I'm not worried about him hurting me," I told her. "I'm worried about how he's feeling. I saw him before I passed out, and he looked so shocked. He probably feels guilty, and I don't want him to because of me."

Dr. Hughes sighed and shook her head at me. "All the same, don't worry about it. You need to rest and recover."

"It's hard not to worry," I said.

Dr. Hughes gave me some pain medication and told me again to rest, but I refused to stay in the infirmary longer than necessary. I left while she was documenting my medication, though I was wearing a hospital gown. It was closed enough in the back that I didn't have to worry about anyone seeing too much. I walked to my room. I had to be careful not to swing my arms too much, and I needed help opening a door, but I got there in one piece, though I received a few stares along the way. I probably looked a little odd walking around in a hospital gown with bare feet.

The room was empty when I got there, since it wasn't curfew yet. I tried to change out of the hospital gown, but my arms screamed in agony when I tried, so I just went to bed and promptly fell asleep.

I woke up about an hour later when the other girls came into the room and started getting ready for bed, but I kept my eyes closed because I didn't really want to talk about what happened. They seemed to believe I was asleep, since they started talking about me.

"Do you think she's okay?" I heard Heather ask quietly.

"I hope so," Rhea said. "I don't think I've ever seen so much blood before. I hope that werewolf got kicked out. I can't believe he did something like that."

"I think that werewolf is her boyfriend. He was after Michael, not her. Juliet jumped in front of him. I don't think I could've done that, even for someone as cute as Michael," Melissa said. "She has a lot of guts."

"She's lucky she still has her guts. She could've been killed!" Heather exclaimed. I don't think I had ever heard her so upset before.

"Melissa's right though; what she did was really brave. Adrian could've killed Michael. I wonder why he tried to attack him?" Rhea said.

"Who knows?" Melissa replied. "That guy's got a wicked temper."

The others agreed, and then all I could hear was the rustlings of blankets and bodies getting comfortable.

When they were all in bed, Heather spoke again. "Do you think she'll forgive him?" she asked.

"The werewolf? I hope not," Melissa said. "I mean, he seemed okay before, but what he did was pretty serious. I hate to think what could happen if he flips out again."

"You met him before?" Rhea asked. "I don't think I've ever seen him around."

"Yeah, he was out in the woods when we were playing with fire," Melissa explained. "I think we kind of got him into trouble, but he didn't seem to care. He was pretty good about it."

"He's still creepy and dangerous," Heather said, yawning. "I don't trust him."

Melissa yawned as well. "I guess we'll see what happens," she said, and that was the last thing I heard.

***

When I woke up the next morning the pain in my arms had subsided, so I was able to get out of the hospital gown. I had to take a bath instead of showering because I didn't want to get my bandages wet. I even taped some plastic over them for protection. It took a long time to get ready and dressed, but I felt like my wounds were healing already, far faster than they should be. Dr. Hughes, who was a witch, must have put something on my arms to help them heal. I knew I would have to go back to the infirmary to have the dressings changed, but I went down to lunch first. I had missed breakfast by sleeping in and taking so long to get ready. I hadn't even seen my roommates at all that morning, and I was kind of glad.

I found Jack in the cafeteria sitting at a table by himself. He jumped up when he saw me and gave me a thorough look-over. He looked like he wanted to give me a hug or something, but he seemed to remember that it wouldn't be a very good idea.

"You're alright! Thank goodness! I was really worried, and I couldn't get anyone to tell me anything. When I went to the infirmary you weren't there anymore, and the doctor was worried about you. She said you ran off when you should've been resting. You never did follow orders particularly well."

I sat down across from where he was standing, and he sat down as well and continued eating his lunch, though he kept glancing at me like I was going to pass out or something, even though I felt fine.

"Of course I'm alright," I said. "It really wasn't that bad. Plus the doctor here is much nicer than that old guy I had when I broke my arm. I'm kind of surprised they don't have a healer or something though."

"Yeah, I am too. I actually asked Ms. Coleman if there was one, and she said there are at least two alive, not including the gods, but neither of them work here, so we just have a witch doctor instead. She knows regular medicine and magical remedies."

"I think she might have used a magical remedy on me. I feel like I'm healing really fast."

"You're not just trying to make me feel less worried, are you? I'll never forgive you if you're lying to me," Jack whined. He knew me too well. While I was feeling like I was healing quickly, I had downplayed the initial injury. Good thing he wouldn't know, I thought.

"Don't be silly," I replied, and helped myself to some food. I carefully kept any signs of pain from my expression, though the pain was still there.

"Want me to kill Adrian for you?" Jack half-joked.

"That won't be necessary. I hold no grudge."

"What?!" he exclaimed, looking shocked. "The guy could have killed you!"

"Yes, I know, but that was my fault, not his. Everyone continues to remind me of what could have happened. The important thing is that it didn't."

"Jules, it's not just what could've happened, it's what could still happen. You really need to stay away from him. That's the second time he almost killed you. You might not survive a third."

"Both times were accidents and they were both my fault," I argued. "Adrian isn't a bad person. I can see that more plainly than most people, because I can see what he's feeling. Yes, he has a temper, but so do you, if you haven't forgotten."

"Sure I do, but I haven't hurt anyone. I haven't even tried. Adrian definitely tried to hurt Michael yesterday, and there's no excuse for that."

"Do you honestly think he wants to be violent?" I asked, getting angry. "He's afraid of himself and what he might do. I see it all the time."

"That doesn't change anything." Jack was getting angry now too. "If he can't even trust himself, how could you possibly trust him?"

"Maybe that's all he needs. If he knows other people believe in him, maybe he'll start believing in himself."

"No, Juliet. He's dangerous, and you need to stay away from him."

"I'm not going to abandon him, Jack," I said, and I got up and walked away.

Chapter 21

Of course, I regretted it ten minutes later, after my anger had died down. I knew that Jack was trying to protect me, and I had treated him poorly. Still, even though he was looking out for me, I didn't feel like I was wrong. I really believed that Adrian could change because I knew that he wanted to. He just needed someone to help him, and I didn't think a therapist would be the best person for the job because he only ever listened to people he cared about. I knew he cared about me, and I was in love with him.

I wasn't sure when I had come to realize that, but it was true, so I knew I couldn't walk away. He meant too much for me to be able to do that. I already missed his rare smiles and I missed talking to him, and it hadn't been that long since I had last seen him. What I wanted most at that moment was to see him and talk to him and tell him that I was okay. He was probably torturing himself about what happened. I hoped he wouldn't try to stay away from me for my own safety again, but I knew it was a possibility.

I thought of going to look for him, but I realized that I had no idea where he was. I got the feeling from what I had been told that he wouldn't be in the west wing, and I doubted that he was allowed to do any regular activities. I figured I would have to wait until Monday afternoon to see him, since he was supposed to go to class as usual, though I didn't want to wait that long.

I spent the rest of the day in the library. It was almost empty, so I didn't have to worry about everyone staring at me, which had seemed to happen when I was in the cafeteria. What happened the day before was the talk of the school. I felt like people were trying to get a glimpse of my wounds or something so they could tell their friends. It was a little unnerving.

I managed to find an interesting book about werewolves. From it I learned that it was normal for young wolves to have tempers, but it usually subsided a year or two after they first started turning. There had been a lot of incidents throughout history in which a young werewolf attacked someone with little or no provocation, and some wolves were more violent by nature than others. I was glad that the myth about a werewolf bite wasn't true. You could only be a werewolf if you were born one.

According to the book, what was happening with Adrian was normal, and he would grow out of it eventually. I didn't understand how other people could hate him for something that he had no control over. Judging by what Paul had said on the first day, it wasn't even the first time something like that had happened.

I was looking for another book to read when Sydney came into the library, who I hadn't seen in a while. She excused herself from the friend she was with and came over to see me. Her friend looked me over from head to toe and sneered before going to sit down at a table. I was used to such looks from girls, so I wasn't bothered. I recognized her as the girl I saw sitting with Sydney on my first day at the school, and I had seen her with Sydney a few times after that. I don't think I'd ever seen her smile.

"How are you?" Sydney whispered as she reached me. "I heard about what happened, though I wasn't there. Everyone's talking about it. You look a lot better than I expected you to. In fact, you look almost perfectly normal, aside from the bulges your bandages are making in your sweater." She pointed to my shoulder, where it wasn't hard to see that there was something there. "Does it hurt much?"

"Not anymore," I answered honestly. I had gone to the infirmary before I went to the library to have the dressings changed, and the cuts were closed and healing quickly, as I had suspected. Dr. Hughes had put some more healing cream on them before bandaging them back up, and I could feel it working. The pain was almost gone.

"That's good. You could always ask a god for help, if you need it. I remember one time when my sister was sick, and we couldn't find a healer. She had a brain tumour, but it hadn't gotten too big yet. My mother told us all to ask the gods for help with healing her, because they sometimes listen. Anyway, one day my sister woke up feeling completely normal, and there was a white rose lying on her bedside table. We took her to the doctor later that same day for an MRI to see if her tumour was growing, and it was completely gone! She's been perfectly healthy ever since, and my family gained a whole new outlook on life."

I smiled at the happy ending to her story. "I just have a few scratches, not a brain tumour," I said. "I don't think I need any more help than I'm already getting."

"Suit yourself. Just thought you should know, I guess, since you didn't grow up in the same way that most of us did, with parents who were like us and supported our gifts. I can't imagine what I would've done without my family."

"What is your ability, anyway?" I asked. I had never asked before, so I didn't know.

"I can manipulate earth," she said. "It's fairly common. There are lots of people who can manipulate an element. Even some vampires can, I heard."

"My friend Melissa can manipulate fire," I told her.

"Ah, I see. She was one of the people who got in trouble for playing with fire in the woods after hours, wasn't she?" She didn't mention my involvement, so I figured she hadn't heard.

"Yeah, she was," I said.

"How's your ability going? You can see auras, right? You must have no trouble reading them by now."

"I actually have a few abilities," I admitted. "I've been working on the other ones lately. I don't really need help with reading auras, since I've been able to see them my whole life."

"Wow, that's awesome! Most heroes only have one ability. How many do you have?"

"Three, as far as I know. Two are easy enough, but one of them is a little more difficult to get the hang of," I said, referring to my drawing, which I was still learning to control.

"Wow," Sydney said again. "I wish I had other abilities. It would be so cool to -"

"Syd?" an annoyed voice interrupted. I turned and saw that the friend Sydney had come in with was there. She stood with her hands on her hips, and she couldn't resist glaring at me with her small dark eyes. "Are we going to find that book, or what?"

"Sorry, Jackie. I'm coming," Sydney answered. She gave me an apologetic look and went off with her friend, leaving me to continue searching for a book to read.

I found a book about Amun's time in early America that looked interesting. Not long after I sat down to read I was interrupted again, but this time by Patrick.

"Juliet!" he exclaimed when he saw me. "Michael's been looking for you everywhere!"

That was news to me. "Where is he?" I asked.

"I'm not entirely sure. Last time I saw him he was in the ballroom, but that was twenty minutes ago. He could be anywhere by now."

"Thanks for letting me know," I said, and Patrick nodded. I put my book away and went to go find Michael.

I found him about an hour later in the music room. He was playing a soft melody on a guitar, and he didn't look up as I approached. Instead of talking to him, I went over to the piano in the corner of the room and started playing along. He looked up when I started playing, and I smiled at him. He looked relieved to see me, but he didn't stop playing, and neither did I, until the song was over.

"You're crazy," were his first words to me after he set down his guitar.

"I couldn't do nothing," I argued. "Things could have been much worse if I had." I stopped myself for a second. "Great. Now I'm talking about what could have happened like everyone else," I complained.

Michael laughed at me. "Well, if everyone else has been giving you a hard time, I won't bother," he said. "Actually, even though I don't think you should have jumped in front of me, I still owe you a thank you. You probably saved my life, though I never would've wanted that to happen at any cost to you. I really should've taken you more seriously when you showed me that drawing."

"You don't need to thank me," I assured him. "I'd do it again if I had to. I just wish I'd realized what was going to happen sooner, or that I'd been able to draw something that gave me more clues. I'm going to work as hard as I can at improving my ability."

"Did you see exactly what you drew?"

"Yes. I recognized the images from both drawings as soon as I saw them."

"Well, if you tried to stop it and you saw it anyway, then maybe you can't change anything," Michael reasoned.

"But what if I draw something horrible? I don't want to believe that I can't do anything to stop it. I couldn't live with that." I shuddered at the thought.

"If the idea bothers you that much, then maybe you should stop drawing," he suggested. "It might be the easiest thing to do. You have other abilities that you can work on instead."

"The easiest thing to do is not always the best," I said.

"True enough," Michael replied. "I guess that's your choice to make. Want to play another song?"

I agreed, so Michael went back to his guitar. He started playing a song that was familiar to me, so I had no trouble following along.

When I left the music room a few minutes later I headed back to the library, but I ended up stopping along the way when I saw the door to the greenhouse, which I had never been in before. I thought that maybe Melissa was there, but when I peeked my head in, the only person I saw was Mrs. Espenas. I asked her if I could look around, and she said she didn't mind.

The plants in the greenhouse varied from vegetables to types of flowers that I didn't even recognize. I stopped to admire some giant blossoms that looked like bowls, and a plant with beans that were pink and purple. Still, the roses were undoubtedly the most beautiful flowers in the whole greenhouse.

"You know, Melissa cares for those almost by herself now," Mrs. Espenas said to me when I stopped to look at them. "She can be very gentle for someone who has so much passion."

I smiled, knowing that she was right. "She loves her roses. She usually brings a few to our room for all of us to admire."

"Yes, she asked if she could on the first day." She paused and studied me for a moment. "I'm sure you're getting tired of people asking, but how are you?"

"I'm fine," I assured her. "Dr. Hughes gave me something that works wonderfully. I'll be healed in no time."

"That's not what I meant, dear. Are you coping well with what happened?"

I frowned. "It was scary at the time, but I don't think there are any lasting effects," I said. I wasn't really sure what else to say. Mrs. Espenas nodded and went back to watering the vegetables, and I continued on my way to the library, where I found the book I was going to read before I had gone off to find Michael. I settled in and lost myself in a different time.

Chapter 22

Jack and I made up the next day at breakfast after apologizing profusely to each other, though I made no promise to stay away from Adrian and Jack stopped asking me to. I think he realized that I wasn't going to give in and he didn't want to fight anymore. It was nice to have my best friend back.

I went back to the infirmary after breakfast, and when I saw the cuts on my arms they were healed over. There were still sensitive pink scars running down my arms, but that was all that remained, so I didn't need any more bandages and Dr. Hughes didn't give me more cream. She said that it had already done as much as it could, so it wasn't necessary. When I asked her if the scars would go away, she said no, the cream didn't help with that, but she could make something else that would. I told her not to bother, thinking it might be good to have a permanent reminder of what happened.

I spent the afternoon with my roommates, who didn't even mention what had happened. We hung around in the common room and watched TV. It was nice to be able to laugh and have fun for a while, and to forget about all of my worries. I still ended up thinking of Adrian, but not as much as I would have if I was alone. I was still anxious to talk to him, but I hadn't found out where he was. Jack had confirmed that morning that he had moved out of his room, but he either didn't know or wouldn't tell me any more than that.

Monday finally arrived. I was anxious for the time to pass quickly because I wanted to get to Calculus. I even barely paid attention in History, even though Ms. Coleman was talking about Isadora for a change, instead of Amun. I think she was talking about a time when she was a slave in ancient Rome, and she fell in love with a gladiator or something. I'm sure it was very interesting, but I just couldn't concentrate.

I decided to draw in Skills Development, mostly because I could do it without thinking, which left my mind open to more pressing issues. I did try to draw the Calculus classroom so I could see where Adrian would sit, but I drew my English classroom instead. Clearly, I still had a lot of work to do. It was frustrating me that I was having so much trouble doing it right, and Mr. Ramirez assured me that it was normal to take years to fully develop and control an ability. That didn't make me feel any better.

The rest of the morning and early afternoon continued to move extremely slowly until it was finally time for Calculus. I had come up with a plan so that I wouldn't have to worry as much about Adrian avoiding me. Instead of going in and sitting down, I waited for him to arrive outside of the classroom. When he finally got there he completely surprised me. Instead of trying to walk by me as I expected, he came right up to me and hugged me, which he had never done before. He was careful not to touch my arms, so it was a little awkward.

"You're alright?" he questioned, and I nodded. "Good. Do you hate me?"

"Of course not, Adrian," I assured him.

"You probably should, you know. Any sane person would. I'm really sorry." I could tell he meant it.

"Don't worry about me," I said. "You should worry more about yourself. You need to learn to control your temper before it ruins your life."

"It already has, Juliet. I can't live with myself like this, and I don't know what to do. I never want to hurt anyone ever again. I don't even know what came over me on Friday. I just saw you hugging that guy and I got angry, and it took hold over me before I could control it. It could happen again at any time. I should be locked up." He was almost panicking.

"Adrian, you know it's not your fault. It's just part of what you are, and you'll get over it in time like everyone else."

"By then it could be too late," he said, and I could see the fear in his eyes as well as in his aura.

Mr. Dawes, the Calculus teacher, poked his head out the classroom door. "Class started five minutes ago. Get in here, both of you," he commanded. He waited until we were in our seats before resuming the class, which left us no chance to talk again.

When class was over Adrian was forced to go back to his solemn isolation by Paul, who had come to get him. He gave me a quick kiss goodbye and slipped a piece of paper into my hand before he exited the room. I looked at the paper when he was gone, and saw that he had quickly scrawled on it where he was living, which happened to be on the fifth floor of the north wing. He included the room number and a warning that there was usually someone around to make sure he didn't sneak out.

I found Jack in the cafeteria where he was eating and working on an assignment at the same time, though he stopped doing both when I sat down.

"Did you hear?" he asked. "A couple of vampires got in trouble today for feeding on other students. I think one of them got kicked out of school." Vampires not being allowed to feed on other students at school was one of those rules that was strictly enforced. Parents wouldn't feel too good about letting their kids go to a school that allowed vampires to feed on them, especially because it could become addictive to the one being bitten.

"Well, at least the school gossip no longer relates to me," I said, smiling. "Did the students give consent?"

"Of course they did. Apparently it feels really good or something. A lot of people were involved. Remember Kyle, the guy who was with us on our first day? He was involved. The headmaster herself caught him and a vampire in an empty classroom upstairs during lunch time today."

"Sounds like quite the scandal," I commented. I could hardly imagine Kyle, who was in half my classes, being into something like that, but I couldn't help but be glad the attention of the school had shifted from me. I could already tell that less people were looking at me, and there were a lot of eyes on a table of vampires in one corner of the room. They didn't look too happy.

When I finished eating I went to the north wing to try to see Adrian, but the place was swarming with teachers, which I figured had something to do with what Jack had mentioned, so I went back to the south wing instead. I found Heather sitting alone on a couch in the common room reading a book, so I joined her there.

"Hey Juliet," she greeted me, putting her book down. "Did you hear about the vampires?"

I smiled. "Yeah, Jack told me about that at supper," I answered.

"You must be glad that everyone has something else to talk about."

"Yeah, it's a bit of a relief," I said.

"That's good. Actually, there's something I wanted to tell you about. Mrs. Bainbridge met with Amun. I didn't hear their conversation, so I don't really know exactly what was said, but I think it happened earlier today or maybe sometime yesterday. I heard her mention it to Victor this afternoon. It seems like all of your teachers have been talking about you."

"Do you know anything about what Amun said?" I asked. Even though I had different beliefs, I couldn't help but be a little curious.

"Yeah, the headmaster was quite clear about his opinion. He confirmed everyone's suspicions. He said that you are Isadora, and you took away your memories and powers sixteen years ago. He also seemed to think it best not to tell you so that you wouldn't have the burden of knowing, but I figured I should tell you anyway. I'd want to know if it was me."

I couldn't help but laugh. "You can't be serious," I said.

Heather didn't laugh. She continued to look quite serious. "I'm telling the truth, Juliet. You really are a goddess. You may not believe it now, but someday you will."

"Would you believe me if I told you that you were a goddess?" I asked, still smiling at the absurdity of what she was telling me.

"Probably not," she admitted. "Of course, I don't look like you, and I'm not as powerful. I also have a normal aura. It's different with you though. There's actually a lot of evidence that you're choosing to ignore, and even more than you've told me about. I heard Ms. Coleman saying you have the keys to the three villages on Asantis. Is that true?"

"It is, but it's not like I've always had them. They were given to me on Christmas, so it could very well be a mistake. Maybe Amun is just having a little fun by tricking people."

"I kind of doubt that, silly. Can I see them?"

"Sure," I said, and I pulled the chain from around my neck, where I kept it whenever possible. The three keys were still there, looking every bit as beautiful as they did when I had first seen them. Heather held them in her hand as if they were the most delicate things on Earth when I passed them to her, just like Ms. Coleman had.

"They're incredible!" she said in awe. She ran her fingers over the intricate pattern on the white key. "I can't believe you didn't tell me about these!"

"Well, I was sure you'd see it as more evidence, as you clearly do. To be honest, I haven't really thought about them much since I got them."

"But they are more evidence! I don't understand how you can possibly deny that you're a goddess."

"Keep it down," I said, looking around us to see if anyone was listening. Luckily there were only a few people in the room, and most of them seemed preoccupied. A bushy-haired girl reading a book a few feet away looked at us funny, but she went back to reading when she saw me looking back.

"Look, Jules, I'll keep this to myself. I understand that people may see you differently if they know the truth, and you're my friend. You can trust me. Sometime you're going to have to face the truth yourself though, whether you like it or not. Personally, I think it's awesome. Just think of all the amazing things you've done and what you're capable of doing."

I sighed. "Even if it were true, it wouldn't make any difference. I'd still be stuck just being me, at least until I died."

"Yeah, I guess that's true, and we can hope that you don't die any time soon. You might want to stay away from Adrian to avoid that happening."

"That's what everyone tells me, but I can't do that," I said. "He has no intention of killing me anyway. It's not his fault if I get in his way."

Heather shook her head. "For such a smart girl, you can be really stupid sometimes."

"You're probably right about that," I agreed.

Over the next week I noticed something that bothered me. Pretty much all of my teachers treated me differently than they had before. It was subtle, but it was happening. I even noticed changes in their auras when I was around, and their emotions confused me. There was generally a lot of fear and awe. Even if I was a goddess, I couldn't understand their fear. From everything that I had learned in History, I knew that the gods were not at all dangerous. I thought perhaps it was just a general reaction to being around someone they thought was powerful. I would've found it amusing if it wasn't so disturbing.

I first noticed the change the day after I talked to Heather. Ms. Coleman called on me more in History when she asked questions. I didn't even have my hand up, but I knew most of the answers because of all the time I spent in the library. Still, it was a little unnerving. She even asked me a question that she didn't know the answer to, and she seemed to expect me to answer it. I had no idea what the answer was, of course, and she seemed disappointed.

It happened again in Physical Defence. Victor usually paired me up with another girl around my own size, which generally worked well for me. I was getting stronger and faster, but I wasn't exactly ahead of the class, and I still got my butt kicked almost as often as not. That day, however, he paired me up with a guy named Lucas, who was probably the best fighter in the class. He was also gay, so I didn't have to worry about what he thought of me. By the end of the class I was bruised and sore, and Lucas kept apologizing to me for hurting me. I had to wonder what the heck Victor had been thinking. I hoped my getting body-slammed multiple times was enough to convince him I was normal. It certainly convinced me.

It kept going on like that. It was like they were testing me to see if I would do something extraordinary, and I kept disappointing them. After a few days they seemed to realize that, but I could still tell they were paying a lot of attention to me anyway. I mentioned it to Heather one day at lunch time.

"Yeah, I've noticed that too," she said. "They give you a lot of special treatment. It's like they think that if they're good to you you'll reward them or something when you get your powers back."

I rolled my eyes. "Do they honestly think that?"

"I don't know. They talk about you a lot though. I hear them all the time in the staff rooms exchanging stories about what you've been doing, even though it all seems pretty normal. To be honest, I don't get it any more than you do. It's like you said before, it doesn't change who you are now."

"Honestly, I don't care that much about what they think of me, but if I keep getting paired with Lucas in Defence I'm going to have to start complaining."

Heather laughed. "I'm glad it's you and not me," she said. "You're a better fighter than I am."

Besides having to worry about what my teachers were talking about behind my back, I also worried about Adrian. He was still in isolation, so I only saw him in Calculus, and it seemed to be taking a toll on him. He was either moody or silent most days, but he still talked to me. He said he liked having a room to himself, but he didn't like not being allowed to wander around like he used to, and he missed being able to see me. I tried to go to his room a few times, but there was always someone there guarding the door. The school was pretty serious about its punishments.

Chapter 23

It was the middle of April before I finally managed to get in to see Adrian. It was on a Saturday, and most of the teachers were enjoying their time off. I went over to the north wing at around nine o'clock, which was an hour before curfew. There were a couple of vampires in the common room playing a card game, but other than them I didn't see anyone there. I was quite surprised when I reached Adrian's room and there was no one waiting outside the door for him to try to escape. I thought perhaps he wasn't there, but I knocked on the door anyway. Adrian opened the door a minute later, and his face brightened right away. He looked out in the hallway from side to side to see if there was anyone else there. When he saw no one he stepped aside to let me in.

"Do you mind if I lock the door?" he asked. "I don't want anyone barging in and finding you here."

"Nah, go ahead," I said. I flopped down on an unused bed and looked around the room. It had dark green wallpaper and dark wood furniture, and there was only one light on in the room that cast a soft yellow glow, leaving the whole room looking dark and cosy. There hardly seemed to be any personal items, so the room looked quite neat. "Nice room," I commented.

"I guess, but there isn't much to do in here," Adrian said, sitting down on the bed beside the one I was on, so we were facing each other. "It's really good to see you, even if you won't be able to stay long." He looked his alarm clock.

I shrugged. "I haven't been too good at following the rules since I got here. There's no point in starting now."

Adrian laughed. "I guess that's one way of looking at things," he said. "As long as you don't get in trouble because of me."

"I'm not worried. I doubt they'd kick me out of school even if I did get caught. You'd probably get in more trouble than I would."

"That would depend on what time it was when they caught us. How long do you plan on staying?"

"It's your room, so that's your choice," I said.

"Well, then I guess you're staying forever," Adrian joked.

"I can live with that." I stretched out on the bed so I could rest my head on the pillow, but I continued to face Adrian, and he continued to watch me.

"How have you been doing?" I asked softly.

"I'm fine," he said. "I still feel a little trapped in here, but it could be worse. At least I have you here with me now." He grinned and winked at me, and I couldn't help but smile back.

"Are they ever going to let you out of here?" I asked.

"If my good behaviour continues, they plan on moving me back to my old room in about two weeks. I asked if I could stay in here, but they didn't think it would be a good idea. My therapist thinks being around other people might actually be good for me." He rolled his eyes. From what he had told me in Calculus, I could tell he didn't like his therapist. He didn't talk to her at all, which only succeeded in driving her crazy, he had said.

"Does that mean you can go where you want again soon?"

"Yes, which is all I look forward to. I miss being able to go outside. I feel safer there, out in the open."

"Why? Do you just like-"

Adrian interrupted me by holding up his hand. I stopped talking, and I realized that he was listening to something. We both heard the soft footsteps in the hall.

"Damn," Adrian whispered. He went over to the door and looked through the keyhole. He frowned and went back over to his bed. "Mr. Dawes is on hallway duty tonight, and he's the worst one," he said quietly. He got up again and went to his mp3 player, which was on his bedside table and attached to speakers. He turned the music on and turned it up.

"Don't you think he'll find that suspicious?" I asked quietly.

"Not at all. I have music on all the time," he said. Instead of going back to his bed, he came over to the one I was on and sat down beside me. "We'll still have to talk quietly, but at least he shouldn't hear us."

"I guess it will be a little difficult for me to leave now," I observed.

"Then you'll have to stay," Adrian said. He took my hand in his and began tracing the lines of my palm.

"Do they actually have any meaning?" I wondered.

"The lines in your palm? No, only fake psychics use those."

"Hey, I could totally become a psychic. I doubt anyone would take me seriously though."

"What do you really want to do when you finish school?" Adrian asked. "Do you have any plans?"

"None whatsoever," I told him. "I've never had any money, and I have no parents to support me, so I don't think I'll be able to go to university. I really don't even know where I'm going to go when I'm done here. I have no home to go back to."

"I have a home, but I have no intention of going back there. My father was a pack leader, but he was killed, and now my mother hates me because I remind her of him. She couldn't wait to send me off to school."

"That almost sounds worse than having no parents," I said. "Do you know where you're going to go?"

"When I was younger I wanted to be a cop, but I have a criminal record, so they might not accept me. I kind of want to travel, but I don't have enough money. I'll probably end up working in construction or something."

"I doubt that. Good thing we've got lots of time to decide."

"Why don't you do something with music?" Adrian asked me. "I've never heard anyone play like you do."

"You're not the first one to ask. I just like playing my own music, but to have a serious career I'd have to play someone else's, and I don't want to do that."

"Can you sing?"

"Yeah, I can sing, but I never do it in public."

"Well, if you can sing and play amazing music, then you can have a career in music without having to play other people's music. If you could write your own songs, do you think you could do it?"

"I don't know," I said honestly. "It's a possibility, but even if I wanted to do it there's no guarantee that I'd be able to. It's a competitive business."

"That's true," Adrian said. He continued to trace the lines of my palm. "How are your arms?" he asked.

"They've been healed for a long time," I told him. "I still have scars, but they aren't that bad."

"Can I see?"

I nodded. I was wearing a sweater with only a bra on underneath. I tried to roll my sleeves up all the way, but they would only go about halfway up my arms. I had to settle for taking off my sweater instead. The thin white lines left from Adrian's claws were still visible. He ran his fingers along them, which gave me a chill, but his eyes wandered elsewhere. I blushed and pulled my sweater over my chest. Adrian chuckled.

"Need I remind you that I've already seen a lot more of you than that?" he said. I only blushed more at the reminder. When we'd been in the woods at night all of my clothes had been burnt off. He'd even helped me get dressed after. Of course, I'd seen him naked more times than he'd seen me. I reminded him of that, and he laughed at me.

"I'm kind of used to that," he said. "When you're a werewolf, people see you naked all the time."

"Well, I'm not a werewolf," I said, and I pulled my sweater back on.

There was a loud knock at the door. I jumped up and ran to the bathroom and hid behind the door, though I didn't close it. Adrian got up and turned the music off. He glanced over at where I was, and he went to answer the door. He opened it slightly and stuck his head out.

"It's past curfew," I heard Mr. Dawes say. "Time to turn off that music and get to bed."

"Yes, sir," Adrian said, and he shut the door. He locked it again and came over to the bathroom. "We're going to have to be really quiet," he whispered. "We might as well go to bed."

"Yeah, it's kind of hard to talk like this," I whispered back.

"I'm going to change, so I need to get in the bathroom."

"Okay, I'll be out here."

Adrian grabbed his pyjamas and went into the bathroom. I took my shoes off, but that was pretty much all I could do. When Adrian was finished in the bathroom I went in and washed my face. When I came out, Adrian held out a big t-shirt.

"You might not want to sleep in your clothes. You can wear this if you want," he whispered.

I took the shirt and went back to the bathroom to change. When I put it on it only went to mid-thigh, but it covered me well enough. I folded up my clothes to wear them in the morning and went back to the bedroom. Adrian was already lying down in his bed, but his eyes were open. He watched me as I walked over. Instead of going to the bed beside his, I went to his. He moved over to make room for me, and I laid down beside him. He pulled me close and wrapped his arms around me, which made me feel safe.

"Goodnight," he whispered in my ear.

I turned my head so I could kiss him. "Goodnight," I said back, and I snuggled in closer. I could feel his warmth, and it made me feel content. It didn't take me long to fall asleep.

I woke up the next morning feeling as if I was waking from a dream, but I couldn't remember dreaming. I expected to feel Adrian beside me, but when I rolled over he wasn't there. Confused, I looked around the room until I found him. He was sitting on the bed beside the one I was on. He was already showered and dressed, and he was reading a book, though he looked over at me when he heard me move. He smiled.

"You're a really sound sleeper," he said quietly.

"Is there still someone outside?" I asked, just as quietly.

"Yes. I think Victor is out there now, but there's a good chance he'll be leaving soon. You might want to get dressed if you want to leave."

I did get dressed, but leaving wasn't quite that simple. Another teacher came to take Victor's place before he left, which left no time in between for me to escape. Adrian left the room to get breakfast while I hid in the bathroom, and the teacher followed him, so I was able to get out then. I went to my room before going to get breakfast myself.

When I got there, I was ambushed by my roommates, who wanted to know where I had been all night.

"I was really worried!" Heather exclaimed once I got into the room. "If you're going to sneak out, you should at least give us a little warning!"

"Sorry. It wasn't really planned," I told her.

They kept asking me where I was, but I dodged the question and went to get cleaned up. When I was by myself, I couldn't help smiling.

Michael found me in the cafeteria and sat with me. He looked very happy, and I asked him why.

"Light's Kingdom is playing on Friday at seven o'clock in the ballroom," he announced. "I always get excited when we're doing a show. We've been rehearsing at every chance we get."

"That's great," I said. "I'll try to be there. Do you play your own songs, or do you do covers?"

"We play our own music. Patrick does most of the writing. We only play songs by other people when we're practicing, mostly just to test our skills. Don't worry; we've improved a lot since the last time you heard us play."

"You weren't that bad," I said kindly. "I can't wait to hear you play your own music."

"Hey Mike!" I heard Jack say, and he sat down beside me. "I heard your band is playing soon."

"We are," he confirmed. "We're playing on Friday."

The two of them ended up in an involved conversation about the bands they liked. I liked some of the same ones, but I mostly just listened to them talk. They ended up in an argument about which band was best, which I found amusing. Jack tended to listen to older rock songs, and Michael liked metal. When they brought me into the argument, I had to side with Michael. At least he was actually a musician.

I spent some time in the library that afternoon looking for books about the god's cities, mostly just out of curiosity. They sounded like really interesting places, and they were supposed to be very peaceful. I wondered how hard it would be to get to one of them. I found a book that described Nevali in detail, and it even had a drawing done by someone who had been there. It looked like something out of a fairy tale. It was harder to find information about Asantis. In a way it was more isolated than Nevali because it was surrounded by water, although being surrounded by desert sounded quite isolated as well. I wasn't sure which place sounded more interesting. I was sure that the castle on Asantis must be magnificent.

The following week went by slowly. I didn't get to see Adrian again except in class, but we made plans to meet in his room on Saturday. He said he would leave the room at exactly seven o'clock to get food, and I could sneak in then.

My teachers were starting to treat me more normally, which was probably because they were finally realizing that I was normal. It was a relief to me because I didn't feel like they were expecting as much from me, and I felt more relaxed.

Chapter 24

By the time Friday finally came around, it seemed like the whole school was getting excited for the show, probably because so many people knew Michael. There had only been two other shows in the ballroom throughout the rest of the school year, and Light's Kingdom seemed to be the most highly anticipated. The previous shows had included a dance recital and a play. I had gone to the dance recital, which I liked, but I hadn't bothered going to the play since none of my friends were going either.

I peeked into the ballroom early in the morning before I went to class, and I was surprised by what had been done to the place. The band's equipment was already set up on the stage, and there were rows of chairs set up for the audience. I could see a few posters on the walls, and the windows had been covered by dark heavy curtains. All of the lights in the chandeliers had been covered in a transparent red material so that the light they cast on the room had a red glow. The overall effect of the change was that the room looked darker and more mysterious.

After exploring the ballroom in more detail, I was almost late for History, but I managed to make it in the classroom at the last minute. Ms. Coleman was just about to start her lecture, which was about Isadora again. This time she was discussing her time in England a couple hundred years ago.

"She was born the daughter of a respectable titled gentleman, who I believe was an Earl," Ms. Coleman told us. "She was the only child, and her mother died when she was young, so she was brought up by a nurse and then a governess. Her father remarried, but her stepmother had no interest in Isadora, and she ended up with a child of her own. When her father died, which was before she had come out in society, all of his money went to his young son, who also received the title. Because Isadora was a girl and because her stepmother was a cruel woman, she was left with absolutely nothing.

"Luckily, she was good friends with her housekeeper, who took her under her wing and helped her learn how to take care of a household. After about a year, Isadora managed to find employment of her own with a wealthy Duke who owned a large property in the country, and who was recently married.

"Isadora quickly learned that their marriage was not a happy one, and it was the Duke she felt sorry for. The Duchess was a frivolous and cold sort of woman who wanted everything and gave nothing in return, and she reminded Isadora of her stepmother. It was clear that she had married for the title and the money, while the Duke likely married for the sake of producing an heir, which was quite common in those days among such people.

"After spending a couple of months in the household, Isadora made the worst mistake she could possibly have made under the circumstances. She fell in love with the Duke, who had been pursuing her for quite some time. She had resisted his advances because he was married and he was well above her station in life, and she didn't think that such a relationship would be proper. She didn't want to become his mistress. When she learned that she loved him, she knew she couldn't stay there and be happy. She left in the middle of the night without telling anyone where she had gone, which was back to London to seek new employment, which she found after a few days. Her new employer was an older woman with grown children who lived alone, since her husband, who had been a Duke, had passed away.

"Meanwhile, in the country, the Duchess became ill quite suddenly and died shortly after. The Duke was left alone, and he missed Isadora greatly and he felt guilty about the loss of his wife, whom he had never cared for. One day a mysterious visitor arrived who was looking for Isadora. He wouldn't say why, but he said it was important. The Duke didn't know where she was, but he agreed to help the man look because he wanted to find her as well.

"After a few months of searching, the Duke had to give up. He felt as if he had searched the entire country. The other man wanted to go back to London to meet with his employer, and the Duke decided to go there as well to visit his sister, who had recently had a baby.

"Isadora had grown quite accustomed to her employer by that time, and she was a kind lady. She received news one day that her daughter would be visiting soon, and her son was likely to come as well. Isadora prepared the household for the visitors. The daughter arrived a few days later with her husband and baby girl. The child took to Isadora quite quickly, so she was charged with looking after the girl when her mother needed a break during her stay.

"One day, when she was looking after the girl, Isadora heard a carriage arrive. She stayed out of the way, but she could hear a new arrival downstairs and figured it was the son. After a short time another servant came up the stairs to tell Isadora to bring the baby down, since the man wanted to see his niece.

"Isadora and the Duke were both quite shocked to see each other, especially under the circumstances. He had been searching for her for months, and she had been working in his mother's home the entire time. The older woman was surprised that her son knew her employee, but she liked Isadora, so she didn't protest when her son drew her aside to speak to her. He told her of what had happened to his wife, and he asked her to marry him. Even though she had never stopped thinking about him, she refused. She didn't believe her circumstances were respectable enough for his title, and the death of his wife was still too recent.

"The Duke brought the man who had been looking for Isadora to the house the next day. He informed her that her stepmother had had an affair, and her child was not actually the Earl's son. The incident came to light when the child's real father admitted what had happened. The boy had no real claim to the title or the fortune, which then passed to a more distant relative who was generous enough to give Isadora a large portion of the fortune that should have gone to her in the first place.

"As you can imagine, this came as quite a surprise, but it gave Isadora the respectability she needed to be able to marry the Duke with the approval of society. I could say that they lived happily ever after, though that wouldn't be accurate. They did live happily together for a few years, but the Duke ended up being killed in a fight with the son of Isadora's stepmother, and Isadora, even though she was a woman, fought the man after he killed her husband. She didn't survive the fight either. Of course, she actually did live ever after, though perhaps not happily."

Ms. Coleman paused at the end of the story.

"That sounds like a romance novel," someone said, and a few people laughed.

"Actually, it was written as one," Ms. Coleman said. "Isadora wrote the true story herself so that others could read it, though the ending was left out. There's probably a copy in the library, but I don't remember what it's called. It's a very good book, and much more in depth than the little summary I've given you."

"Why isn't a famous book?" Melissa asked.

"It was never printed in great numbers, and it isn't a genre that is particularly popular. It certainly isn't the only book she's written. I believe she is the author of a few popular books that came out about twenty years ago. Amun also has written many books, though he tends to write more non-fiction than Isadora. There are many books in the library here written by either of them. All of them are written under pseudonyms, but the librarian has a list of the names they've used if you're ever curious."

"What were the books Isadora wrote twenty years ago?" someone wanted to know.

"Again, I don't know what they're called," Ms. Coleman answered. "The most popular was a work of fiction about a group of tourists who find the fountain of youth in Africa. It's a very good book, and I've even heard rumours that it's a real place, but that hasn't been proven. It's apparently a difficult and dangerous place to get to."

"You'd think someone would have found it by now if it was real," someone else said. "They'd have that water bottled up and shipped out in no time."

Ms. Coleman laughed. "Nothing magic is ever that simple," she said. "There are always rules and restrictions."

Later, in Calculus, I got to talk to Adrian, who was in a good mood. He told me that he should be out of isolation in a week if his therapist gave the okay. He was looking forward to being able to go outside again.

"Are you going to the show tonight?" he asked me as we worked on some questions.

"Yeah," I answered. "I know the members of the band fairly well. Well, I've never met the keyboard player, and I barely know the bass player, but I know the others. I hope they play better now than they did the last time I heard them practice."

"I hope I can't hear them from my room then," Adrian joked.

"Would you go if you could?" I asked, curious.

"I would go with you, but I wouldn't go otherwise. Too many people."

I smiled. "You know, you're going to have to get over your fear of crowds eventually. You'll have a hard time doing anything in life if you're always isolated."

"It's not a fear, it's a dislike. It's a noise thing anyway, not really a people thing. Of course, there are a lot of crazy people I'd love to avoid, but I can't have everything I want in life, can I?" Adrian said, smiling back.

"I hope you're not calling me crazy," I joked. "I've worked very hard to stay sane."

"Sorry Jules, I think you failed," Adrian said, trying to keep a straight face, but we both started laughing. Mr. Dawes had to tell us to be quiet.

Chapter 25

When I went back to my room after eating supper, Melissa and Heather were already in there and were trying to decide what to wear. I was planning on going in my school uniform since I didn't have any decent clothes anyway, but they were making a big deal about what to wear. It might have had something to do with Melissa's crush on Michael. She definitely cared more than Heather did, though Heather told me she was going with Jack.

"I hope you don't mind," she said to me. "He just asked me yesterday, and I said yes. I've always thought he was really sweet, and it's the first time he's ever asked me to do something with him. I know you're his best friend though, so if you have a problem I won't go."

"Don't worry about it at all," I reassured her. I was actually really happy that they were going together. "You two make a cute couple," I said, and she blushed.

"What looks better, this shirt or that shirt?" Melissa asked us. She was starting to get flustered. The first shirt was black with sequins around the low neckline, and the second was silky and dark purple. We both pointed to the second. She held it up to her body, then threw it away and started putting on the black shirt.

"She really appreciates our sense of style, doesn't she?" Heather joked.

When the girls were finally ready, we made our way to the ballroom, which was filling up. We still managed to get seats in the front row though because Jack was saving them for us.

"What took you so long?" he asked us.

"Don't ask," I said. "Is the show starting soon?"

"Not for another ten minutes, I think. There are still a few empty seats."

Twenty minutes later the place was packed, and the show still hadn't started. The band wasn't even on the stage, and people were starting to get impatient. I started to worry that something was wrong.

Michael appeared on the stage suddenly by himself, and he went to the microphone. "Sorry folks," he said. "We'll just be a few minutes."

Instead of going back behind the stage, he hopped off of it and came over to me. He looked pretty stressed out.

"Juliet, I need to talk to you," he said, and he actually grabbed my hand and started pulling me toward the door before I could even respond. He didn't speak until we got to the room beside the stage, where the other band members were sitting around and not doing anything, which seemed a little odd to me. I had thought they would all be scrambling to correct whatever was wrong, since there was obviously a problem.

"Okay, here's the deal," Michael said to me. "We just found out that our keyboardist has serious issues with stage fright. We didn't even realize it at first, but then as the day went on he started getting kind of pale, and then he started rushing to the bathroom to throw up. Finally, he told us he couldn't do it. It would have been really nice to have known about this issue before he joined the band."

"Seriously," someone mumbled. I thought it was Duncan, the bass player.

"Anyway," Michael continued, in a rush. "What I'm trying to say is that we need a new keyboardist, like, right now. At first I thought that seemed like an impossible task, since no one else even knows our music, but then I thought of you. It would be really, really great if you would play with us for tonight. I know you don't like playing other people's music, and you've never heard our songs before, but you're a musical genius and I trust you. All of the music is on paper, so you wouldn't have to worry anyway. Please?" He looked really desperate, and his eyes were actually pleading with me. I thought that only happened in novels.

"Do I have a choice?" I asked.

"No!" Leon said from somewhere on the other side of the room, and Patrick chuckled.

I sighed. This was definitely not how I had planned to spend the evening. "Then we had best get started," I said. "The audience expected you ten minutes ago."

"Thank you!" Michael exclaimed, and he gave me a quick crushing hug before hurrying to the stage. The others followed closely behind, so I went along as well, not really having a clue what I was doing.

The crowd cheered when the band finally went on stage. I sat down behind the keyboard, and quickly looked at the music while Michael was busy making an introduction. It took only a few seconds to memorize it, which was good because it was my job to start the song. I had never heard it played before, so I could only hope I was doing it right. I started anyway. I couldn't help but add a few touches of my own, and the rest of the band followed my lead.

They actually were a lot better than they were before. Michael had a good clear voice that he knew how to use, and Leon played the guitar with more passion than I had ever seen in him before. I was most impressed by Patrick though. He played the drums like a pro. I could definitely picture him with a real career in music. Their songs weren't fantastic, but they could have been much worse. At least the style was good.

We played six songs altogether, and the audience seemed to be enjoying the show. I looked out every once in a while to see my friends in the first row. I could swear I saw Heather and Jack holding hands at one point, and Melissa was practically entranced by Michael's singing.

Finally, the show ended. There was lots of applause and cheering, and the band stood up to bow. I wasn't actually part of the band, so I snuck off the stage instead of joining them. There was some food in the room beside the stage, so I helped myself to a cookie and sat to wait for the band to finish. They all seemed pretty excited when they finally came in the room, and they were all giving each other high-fives, which I thought was kind of cute. I couldn't help but smile.

"That was awesome!" Michael was saying, and the others nodded in agreement.

"I'm definitely going to have chicks all over me from now on," Leon said quite confidently. Patrick laughed at him.

"In your dreams, my friend," he said.

"Juliet! There you are!" Michael almost shouted when he spotted me. "You snuck off when you were supposed to be bowing. You probably deserve more credit than we do."

"I'm not part of your band. I was just filling in. It isn't even my music," I reminded him.

"Who cares? You played it way better than John ever did. We sounded a lot better than usual, and that was probably thanks to you. You should really reconsider joining."

"No thanks," I said firmly. "It's not really my kind of thing."

"It should be," Leon said. "You were great. I liked the notes you added; they really gave the music more depth without changing the melody."

"Yeah, it was pretty sweet," Patrick added.

"Thanks, you guys," I said, and I meant it. It was nice to be appreciated.

"Hey, are you sure you don't want to watch the movie with us? I think it's about zombies or something, but it should be good. We're going to go watch it in about half an hour," Michael said.

"I'm feeling kind of tired now, so I'm going to pass," I said. "I've had enough excitement for one evening. In fact, I think I'm going to go to bed now."

"Alright. Thanks again, and sleep well," Michael said.

I walked back to the south wing, though I stopped at the library on the way to get something to read. I wasn't actually going to bed, and I needed something to do. I asked the librarian for the list of pseudonyms used by Isadora, and I found a book by her that looked interesting, though it was fiction. It appeared to be about dragons or something like that, and it was published only twenty years ago. I ended up going to sleep later than I planned because I couldn't put it down. I secretly wished that dragons were real, though I'd never heard that they were. I made a mental note to look it up the next time I was in the library.

Chapter 26

I had no trouble sneaking into Adrian's room the next night at seven o'clock, as planned. I saw him and a teacher I didn't recognize in the kitchen when I walked by. The teacher wasn't looking in my direction when I passed, but Adrian was, and he winked at me.

I let myself into his room and hid in the bathroom. I put the bag I'd brought with me down on the floor. I thought it might be nice to actually have some things with me, like a toothbrush. I'd also told Heather that I would be gone so she wouldn't worry, though I didn't tell her where I was going no matter how many times she asked. I would have thought she'd have given up after the tenth time.

I heard the door open a few minutes later, and Adrian came in. He immediately locked the door and turned on his mp3 player, and I came out of the bathroom and jumped into his arms.

"Should I feel safe?" I joked after kissing him. "The door is locked and you have music playing loudly. If I was in trouble, I doubt that anyone would hear me scream."

"Of course you aren't safe," Adrian said, smiling. "You're in here with me."

We kissed some more before sitting down on the beds. We just sat there and talked for awhile, mostly about the past. Adrian told me what it was like growing up as part of a pack.

"There wasn't much privacy," he told me. "Everyone knew everything that was happening to everyone else. Relationships and marriage were always a big deal because of breeding, and there were a lot of rules about marrying. We weren't really allowed to marry people who weren't like us, though people did sometimes anyway. Usually when that happened they would be kicked out of the pack and forced to move to a new territory. People were allowed to marry werewolves from other packs, but only if they had permission from both pack leaders. My dad used to always tell me that I would get married some day and have kids like everyone else, but it wasn't really a priority for me. There weren't any girls in my pack I liked, and when I came here I didn't meet any wolves I liked. I found you instead. My dad would have been furious if he was still alive, but my mom stopped caring what I did a long time ago."

"Could you really get kicked out for loving someone who isn't a werewolf?" I asked.

"Yes, if they knew about it. There's only one other person here who's from my pack though, and he won't talk. He does far worse things than I do as far as pack law goes."

"What would you do if you were kicked out?"

"Probably nothing different. I was never really into pack stuff anyway. They're more like family than anything else, but distant family. I'm not close enough to anyone there to really care about leaving. The only problem would be losing the protection of the pack. If I ever stumbled into the territory of any pack, even the one I belong to now, I would be vulnerable."

"How many packs are there?"

"I think there are about fifty in the whole world. Most of them are in Europe, and there are quite a few in the U.S. and Canada, but there aren't many anywhere else. Werewolves originated in Eastern Europe, so most of us are Caucasian, though there have been a few other races that have been bred in. Still, we tend to go where we'll fit in, and to places with plenty of forest."

Everything he was telling me seemed so different from the way I had grown up, and also the way Jack grew up. He never had a pack, so he never had anyone to support him through the transition and explain what was happening, and he never had the same level of protection that Adrian had. It was probably a good thing he never moved somewhere else because he could have ended up in pack territory, and that wouldn't have been good.

After I learned all about what it was like growing up in a pack, Adrian wanted to know what it was like growing up in an orphanage.

"Well, it was weird," I said. "We probably had less privacy than you did because we all lived together. I lived there for most of my life, but it was never really home because I had nothing that actually belonged to me, and there were always people coming and going. There was no peace because there were always people around, and not all of them were good. You get used to it, but it's hard to enjoy it."

"Why were you never adopted?" Adrian wanted to know.

"Most of the kids ended up in foster homes before they were ever adopted. People want babies, not grown kids. There were babies there, but they didn't tend to stay long. Jack was an exception, though. He was dropped off there as a baby but he was never even in a foster home. I was never in a foster home either, even though my parents died when I was three. I don't think it was because there was anything wrong with us. We both had a few interviews over the years, but we just weren't what they were looking for. It happens sometimes."

"Maybe they could tell you were different," Adrian suggested. "Were there any other people with special abilities in the place?"

"No, there never were. It was just the two of us who were different, although Jack never even knew until we were coming here."

"Do you remember your parents at all?"

"Yeah. I remember them well because I have a good memory. I got my hair from my mother and my eyes from my father. They were young, but they loved each other and they cared for me as well as they could. They died in a car accident coming home from a movie, and I was with a babysitter at the time. I still remember when the police came to the door, and when social services took me away. I had no other family, so they put me in Pembrook, thinking it would only be temporary, but of course it wasn't."

We continued to talk for awhile until the teacher outside knocked to tell Adrian to get to bed, since the music was still playing loudly to drown out the sounds of our conversation. He had to turn it off, and we had to be really quiet. Adrian went into the bathroom to get ready for bed, and when he was finished I did the same.

Like last week, we decided to share a bed. I liked it better because I felt closer to Adrian, and it was comforting. I liked being in his arms even if we weren't doing anything other than sleeping, though that night neither of us were particularly eager to get to sleep.

We started out just kissing, but our kisses got deeper, and I lost track of everything else. When Adrian started taking my clothes off, I didn't do anything to stop him. Actually, I helped him, and I helped him get his off as well. I felt shy for only a moment. We had seen enough of each other before anyway, though it was different when we were that close.

I ended up losing my virginity that night. It hurt for a moment, but that moment passed, and after that it was wonderful. I loved him, and being with him like that felt right to me because I felt more connected with him than ever. When we were lying in each other's arms afterwards, he told me that he loved me for the first time, and he meant it.

***

"You look happy this morning," Heather said to me when I sat next to her at breakfast the next morning.

"I am happy," I said. "Why aren't you?"

"I have a headache, and I didn't sleep well. Melissa started snoring before I fell asleep and it kept me up half the night. Then Rhea got up really early to go to the gym, and that woke me up." She sounded pretty miserable, and she looked tired. She brightened up a little bit when Jack came and sat next to her though.

"Good morning," he said to us. He yawned and grabbed some pancakes before piling them with syrup.

"Good morning," Heather responded. "Did you have a good sleep?"

"Eh, it was alright," he answered through the food he had in his mouth. Some syrup trickled down his chin, but he wiped it away with a napkin.

"Doing anything fun today?" Heather asked him.

"No, I wasn't planning on doing much. I have a physics assignment to finish, but then I was planning on going for a walk or something. Want to come?"

An invitation was clearly what Heather had been waiting for. I saw a burst of yellow in her aura, and she couldn't hide her smile very well. "I'd love to," she said.

I think Jack was about to ask me if I wanted to come too, but I shook my head slightly while Heather wasn't looking, and he got the message.

I spent the day in the library, which wasn't exactly unusual. I'd finished the book I was reading by Isadora, and I'd liked it enough to search for more books by her. I found one that was written a couple hundred years ago, and it was about ancient Rome. I recognized the story as one Ms. Coleman had told us in class, and I looked forward to reading about it in more detail.

The story was actually quite romantic, and from what I could remember it was true. The main character, who was really Isadora, was a slave, and she was bought by a man who owned gladiators. One night she was forced to go to a gladiator to please him, but she refused, so her owner just let all of them have her. She fought them as much as she could, but they were all bigger and stronger than she was. One of them rescued her and offered her shelter in his room, which she had little choice but to accept. He didn't try anything on her, but she hated him because he was a killer.

After awhile with living under his protection, she came to understand him better. He didn't fight and kill because he wanted to; he was a slave like she was, only he had to fight for his life. She still couldn't accept what he did, and he didn't like it either, so he tried fighting without killing. He would incapacitate his opponents, but he refused to kill even when the order was given. He got in trouble for it, but the crowd loved him anyway, and that was the most important thing for a gladiator. His life was spared, and the girl learned to love him. They both died in the end, but it was a really good story, and I spent all day reading it. It seemed to me, however, that Isadora's lives always seemed to end so early. I hadn't yet read one in which she lived to old age. I wondered if that was how she wanted things to be, or if it was just coincidence.

The next day, which was Monday, it was stormy outside. The sky was completely covered by dark gray clouds that occasionally lit up with flashes of lightning. It was pouring rain heavily enough to be able to hear it almost anywhere in the school, and the teachers were often interrupted by loud rumbles of thunder. I was kind of annoyed at being stuck in class when there was such an awesome storm going on because I had always loved watching thunder storms. I looked longingly out the window so often in History that Ms. Coleman had to tell me to pay attention.

The noise was a little distracting when I was in Skills Development. I was partnered with Rhea, who was still working on creating a gold pattern on a coffee mug instead of turning the whole thing gold or going all the way through, which she was getting better at. I was working on my drawing again, and I tried drawing what Rhea's mug would look like at the end of class. I actually managed to do it, and Mr. Ramirez was pleased. I couldn't help but be a little proud of my accomplishment, since I really wanted to be able to control my ability. Mr. Ramirez said that once I mastered my drawing I should work on learning how to not see auras, and I agreed that that was a good idea, though I still had a long way to go.

In Physical Defence that morning Victor put me with Lucas again, but luckily we didn't have to actually fight. He taught me a few moves instead, which I mastered quickly. I tried them on him, but he already knew what I was going to do, so I still ended up on the floor. When I got back up again I decided to surprise him with a move of my own, which he wasn't prepared for. I got him to the floor for the first time, and he was impressed. Victor also applauded my success, and got me to show the move to the rest of the class.

I was feeling pretty good about myself by the time I got to lunch. I felt like I was finally improving at something, and it made me feel more powerful and confident. I couldn't find Heather, who I had last seen in the locker room by the gym, or Jack, who I hadn't seen since History. I found a seat next to Leon, who was sitting with Patrick and Duncan. He had a gigantic plate of food, per usual, and he was shovelling it down with his usual lack of manners. I really didn't understand how someone could eat so much and not gain any weight.

"I miss unhealthy food," Duncan was saying when I sat down. "I feel like it's been too long since I had a nice artery-clogging cheeseburger." He was picking at his lunch, which consisted of a salad and some tomato soup. He had already finished his crackers.

"Yeah, I know. I would've actually gained weight by now if there was a decent amount of fat in this food," Leon agreed. "I'm still a walking stick."

"I told you, you need to eat more protein and start lifting weights or something," Patrick said. "You're better off gaining muscle than fat. Wouldn't you agree, Juliet?"

"Of course," I answered, as I helped myself to some soup and a roll, which was whole wheat. "If he just got fat he wouldn't exactly be helping himself any."

"I tried that, but it's hard to get to the gym that often. I have too many assignments to get done most weeks, as well as band practices," Leon said. "Plus, that requires effort."

"You know what else would be good?" Duncan continued, as if we hadn't spoken. "I could really go for some French fries. You know, the ones that are greasy and covered in salt."

"I think Duncan has lost like twenty kilograms since the start of the school year," Patrick told me. "He's a junk food addict, and being here is like being in withdrawal because they try to make all the food healthy. Also, there's always at least one physical course every year that you have to take to keep you in shape."

"I hate it," Duncan grumbled. "It's like being at fat camp or something." He was still probably thirty kilograms overweight, which didn't seem common at Winterwood. Most of the students were normal sized or thin.

"He misses his fat," Leon explained. "I can't really blame him. I'd miss my fat if I had any to begin with."

The rest of us laughed, and the conversation turned to music, which ended up being interesting. I'd never talked to a bunch of people about music before who were also musicians. Many of us had different tastes, but at least we knew what to appreciate. I was disappointed when the time came to return to class after lunch, but I was still in a good mood.

Chapter 27

My good mood had evaporated by supper time. I got a new project to do in Biology, and we had to do weird experiments in Psychology. I looked forward to Calculus so I could see Adrian, but he didn't even show up, which was a bit of a let-down. I couldn't even find anyone to sit with in the cafeteria at supper. The only friend I could find was Sydney, who waved to me, but she was sitting with her friend Jackie, who really didn't like me. I sat by myself at an empty table and ate alone.

I found out where some of my friends were later that evening. I was sitting by myself in the common room of the south wing, and I was reading another book written by Isadora, this time about ancient Greece. Heather came in the room not long before it was time for bed, and she was flushed and happy.

"Jack kissed me!" she announced almost as soon as she saw me. "It was so sweet. We were watching a movie in the west wing, and it had a really sad ending. I totally had tears running down my face, and he wiped them away, and then he turned my face and kissed me right then and there."

I couldn't help but grin. "That's wonderful!" I said. I had noticed lately that Jack had really started spending more time with Heather, though his feelings for me hadn't seemed to change at all, which bothered me. I was worried that he was trying to distract himself or something, but there wasn't much I could do even if that was the case. I really did think he and Heather were good together because they had similar personalities, aside from the whole werewolf temper thing.

Melissa came in not long after Heather, and then Rhea, who was usually in earlier. Melissa had been listening to Light's Kingdom practice. They were still practicing with their keyboardist who had stage fright, but they were looking for someone to replace him. Melissa wasn't actually interested in their music, since she was more of a hip-hop fan, but she was interested enough in Michael to pretend she was. Unfortunately, he didn't seem to notice her quite so much, though I'd seen Patrick eyeing her a few times when we were all together.

Rhea had come in late because she was tutoring someone else in our class, which didn't surprise me. She was a quiet and calm sort of person, and she possessed a natural sense of grace and dignity that would probably make anyone feel comfortable around her. She was also very smart and good at explaining things. She didn't tend to spend as much time with us because we could be a little overwhelming to her, and we had a tendency to break rules that she didn't want to be part of, which I could certainly respect, even if I was the chief rule-breaker.

The next day, after supper, I went back to the library to get a new book, and I curled up on one of the plush red couches in the middle of the room between the shelves of books. I wasn't there long when someone sat down beside me. I didn't look up to see who it was until she spoke to me.

"Hello," she said. Her voice was soft and melodic, like most vampires, which she was. I recognized her instantly as the vampire who had looked at me so intently at the beginning of the school year. I'd seen her a few times since then in the north wing, but I had never spoken to her before. She was looking intently at me with her bright blue eyes. She was very pretty, and she looked like she was around twenty, though you could never tell with vampires. She certainly had a sense of wisdom in her look that would make anyone second guess her age.

"Hi," I said back, a little startled that she was talking to me. She continued to watch me with her penetrating eyes. I was pretty sure that vampires could read the thoughts of humans, but I wasn't sure if that applied to those with special powers.

"It does," she informed me, answering the question in my thoughts. "I'm Anna. I've seen you around a lot, especially when you go to see Adrian."

I blushed. "Yeah, I do that sometimes," I said.

"I've never met you before school," Anna said. "I believe you've met my father though. It was probably a long time ago. He told me about you, and I kind of hoped I'd get to meet you someday."

"Who's your father?" I asked. I was a little confused by what she was saying.

"Kalinor," she told me. I was shocked. Kalinor was the first vampire, and he was born that way. I didn't think vampires could have children. Then I thought that maybe she was sort of adopted by him or something.

Anna listened to my thoughts, and she smiled. "It is rare, but vampires can have children. Both of my parents are vampires. I was the first ever to be born from two vampires, but not the last. There are two others now, including my younger brother."

"What makes you think I've ever met Kalinor?" I asked. "I hardly ever saw any vampires before I came here, and I never spoke to any of them. I certainly don't remember ever meeting the most important vampire in the world."

"It's so hard to imagine that you don't know," Anna said, almost to herself, instead of answering my question. "I wouldn't have believed it if I couldn't see it for myself."

I realized what she was saying, and I got annoyed. "I'm not Isadora," I said firmly. "I know it's a common misconception, but it isn't possible."

"I apologize. I wasn't trying to offend you," Anna assured me. "You can believe whatever you want. Perhaps it is for the best."

I decided to ignore that. "What's Kalinor like?" I asked.

"He is kind and very wise. I get the feeling sometimes that he wasn't very happy for a long time, which was why he decided to sleep for two thousand years, but he is very happy with my mother. They're soulmates. I hope that someday I will meet mine, but he isn't alive now. Yours is though."

"How do you know?" I asked.

"Every vampire has at least one ability, and I possess the ability to see relationships. I can tell if someone has a soulmate, and if they do I can tell who and where that person is. I got the ability from my father."

"Is Adrian my soulmate?" I asked.

"No, he isn't, and he has a soulmate as well. The two of you aren't supposed to be together. You can love someone without them being your soulmate, and I'm sure you love each other, but when you meet the right person you'll realize how big of a difference it really is. Your soulmate is more than just someone you love very much, he is a part of you, and he becomes all you live for. I've seen it myself with my parents and two of their friends, though they're dead now. My mother was in love with the vampire who turned her before she met my father. It broke his heart when she left him, but she didn't have much of a choice. You can't fight fate."

I believed what she told me, and it made me sad. I didn't want to leave Adrian, and I didn't think I ever would unless he wanted me to, or unless one of us did meet a soulmate. It just seemed unimaginable.

Anna smiled kindly. "I'm sure everything will work out well in the end."

"Not if I am Isadora," I joked. "All of her stories have tragic endings."

"But for her they aren't really endings," Anna pointed out.

I looked down at the book that was lying open in my lap. "I don't know how she lives like that though. She falls in love so many times, and she always loses the people she loves. Don't you think it would take a toll after awhile? How could anyone live with that much pain?"

"Probably by taking away her memories so she doesn't have to live with them," Anna said, and I could hear what she was implying. It was kind of strange talking to a vampire because she didn't have an aura. She could tell so much more about me than I could about her. It was the opposite of what I was used to.

"It can be a little unnerving for people, can't it? I can't say I personally know what it's like, but people do become uncomfortable if they realize you know more about them than they think."

"Um, yeah," I said. "Can you get out of my head please?"

"Sorry. I have to go now anyway, so I'll leave you alone. It was nice to meet you," Anna said. She got up and left, leaving me with my tumultuous thoughts.

I sat there for at least ten minutes just thinking about what she'd said. I had such a hard time believing I wasn't supposed to be with Adrian. From what Anna had said, it sounded like I hadn't met my real soulmate yet, but I was glad that I had one out there somewhere, even if it wasn't Adrian. I wondered if Jack had a soulmate. I made a mental note to ask Anna if he did the next time I saw her. If he did then he wouldn't have to live with wanting to be with me, and it would make me happy if he could be truly happy.

Chapter 28

The next day in Calculus, when Adrian finally showed up, I couldn't help but think that maybe Anna had been wrong. My heart started beating faster when he sat down next to me and gave me one of his sly smiles. He told me that he hadn't been in class for the past two days because he'd been forced to meet with his therapist. She was still trying to determine if he was safe to be around other people.

"I had to meet with her again today, but it was during lunch time," he said. "She keeps putting me through a bunch of tests to see how I'll react. I failed a couple the first time, but I'm passing them now. She said I'll be able to be free by Friday, as planned."

"That's great!" I exclaimed. "We'll actually be able to see each other without having to sneak around, and you'll be able to go outside!"

Adrian continued grinning. "I know. It's going to be great. I'm really getting tired of having teachers following me around everywhere, especially Mr. Ramirez. He likes creating energy fields to keep me in line. I can't even count the number of times I've walked into them."

"Do you feel like you're ready?" I asked. "Do you feel like you're more in control than you used to be?"

Adrian frowned. "I don't know," he said, shrugging. "I haven't exactly been testing my control lately, at least outside of therapy. I don't feel like I'm going to lose my temper, but I never do until it happens anyway. I hope I can keep myself calm. My therapist suggested yoga, but I don't think that would help. I need more experience with being a wolf so that I can learn to feel more human. The only time I ever feel human when I'm a wolf is when I'm with you."

"Did you ask if you could practice?"

"No. We aren't allowed until second year. This year we just talk about what it's like and how to control yourself in class. It seems like a pointless system if you ask me."

"Yeah, and it isn't what you really need. You'd think they would know that by now. This school has certainly been around for long enough."

We were interrupted by the start of class, per usual, though we had time to talk more later on when we were working on some questions. I agreed to help Adrian practice being a wolf more once he got out of isolation. It was completely against the rules, but that had never stopped us before.

Friday finally came, and I was really excited. I got dressed in a hurry and went down to the cafeteria. I found Jack sitting by himself and looking quite grumpy. He didn't even smile when I sat down across from him.

"Something wrong?" I asked.

"Yes," he said. "Adrian moved back into my room this morning. I was hoping he would be in isolation for the rest of the school year, but apparently that isn't going to happen. They should have at least kept him in a different room so I wouldn't have to deal with him. He was even trying to be nice to me, which was just creepy." He looked at me. "Stop smiling, Jules. This isn't a good thing. That guy should stay locked up. You're not still seeing him, are you?"

I tried to suppress my smile, but it was kind of difficult. "Yes, actually I am," I informed him. "I never stopped. I just stopped talking to you about it because I knew you wouldn't be happy."

Jack rolled his eyes. "Of course I'm not happy about it. It means I have to worry about your safety all the time, and I shouldn't have to. Why couldn't you go out with someone normal?"

"Nothing in my life has ever been normal, Jack. I'm not even normal, and neither are you, and neither is anyone else in the entire school. Besides, you don't have to worry about me. Nothing's going to happen."

"He's hurt you before, remember?"

"That was an accident. You're never going to let that go, are you?"

"No, I'm not. I'll see you in class," Jack said as he took his last bite of breakfast and got up to leave.

"Jack, please try to get along with him," I said before he walked away. Instead of responding he just frowned and left.

I was getting really tired of trying to convince Jack that Adrian was okay, which was why I'd stopped trying for a long time. The conversations we had about him always ended up the same, with me wanting him to give Adrian a chance, and him arguing that he was dangerous. I already knew that, but I still trusted him. I was pretty sure the reason Jack didn't like Adrian had more to do with him hurting me than with jealousy, but it could have been a combination of the two.

"What's up with him?" Melissa asked, taking the seat that Jack had just vacated.

"Don't ask," I said, spooning myself some oatmeal.

"Does it have something to do with that Adrian guy being free again?"

I was surprised. "How did you know about that?" I asked.

"People talk," Melissa said, shrugging. "It's not like there's been much else going on for gossip lately anyway."

I laughed. "I guess we'll have to do something crazy to get people talking again," I joked.

Melissa rolled her eyes. "As much as it was fun the last time, I'm not sure how many times one can get in trouble without being expelled."

***

I got to the cafeteria early at lunch time, so there weren't very many people there yet. I sat by myself at a corner table and brought out my homework so I could try to get it done early. I wasn't sitting for long when someone joined me. I looked up and saw that it was Adrian, who smiled. It was the first time I had ever seen him eat in the cafeteria. The only time I'd ever even seen him in there was the time he'd tried to attack Michael. I mentioned as much to him.

"Yeah, I know," he said. "Normally I don't like eating in here because it's loud and busy, but I figured I'd find you here. Plus, it's really nice to be able to enjoy my new freedom."

"Jack told me you already moved back to your old room. It must be weird to be back there."

"Yeah, I moved my stuff over this morning before breakfast. I tried to be polite with Jack for your sake, but he wasn't buying it." Adrian shrugged, as if he didn't really care. "At least I actually bothered to make an effort, unlike him. He really hates me."

"You never used to like him either," I pointed out.

"I still don't, but I'm trying."

I sighed. "I guess that's all I can hope for," I said. I just wished that the two most important people in my life would get along so I wouldn't have to choose who to spend time with. Clearly, that wasn't going to happen any time soon.

When Jack came into the cafeteria he looked over at us. He frowned at me and gave Adrian a dirty look before going to sit with some of his werewolf friends. Heather and Melissa acted similarly when they came in. They looked over at us and looked confused, and they sat down with Rhea at another table. In fact, it seemed like everyone was avoiding our table, though we got a lot of looks. I didn't know if it was because they were surprised to see Adrian among them or if they were surprised to see me with him, since everyone knew he'd hurt me. They probably thought I hated him or something, which bothered me.

"Don't worry about it," Adrian said when I mentioned it to him. "Your friends will come around, except maybe Jack, and who cares what the rest of them think."

"I guess there isn't much point in worrying. Things will be what they will be."

"Yeah, there isn't much we can do about it. Want to watch a movie or something tonight? It's Friday, so there isn't much else to do."

"Actually, I wanted to go swimming tonight since I haven't in a while. Feel free to join me though," I said. "I'll be at the pool by around six thirty."

"Sounds like fun," was Adrian's reply.

After we went swimming that evening, which was a lot of fun, we decided to go out for a walk, since Adrian hadn't been out in so long. We went out into the cool evening air and walked hand in hand along the edge of the forest. It was a quiet and clear night, and the moon was getting close to being full. I asked Adrian if he wanted to practice changing and being a wolf, but he said he just wanted to relax. Instead, we both enjoyed the fresh air and the relaxing sounds of the forest, like the rustling of leaves and the occasional calls from birds. It was a peaceful and romantic atmosphere, and we stayed out just walking until it was time to get inside before curfew.

Chapter 29

The rest of the weekend passed by too quickly. I spent some time on Saturday in the library as I usually did, only I had Adrian with me, who seemed to enjoy reading almost as much as I did. It was a nice change, and we even discussed some of the books we'd both read. He agreed with me that Isadora's stories all seemed to come to tragic ends, and I agreed with him that the speeches in Dracula were way too long to be realistic.

I spent most of Sunday with my friends. Jack and I played tennis outside, which I wasn't very good at. He beat me easily since he was so much faster than I was because of his werewolf reflexes and strength, but it was still fun. In the afternoon I watched TV with Rhea and Heather, while Melissa was off watching another band practice, though she complained before she left that Michael never asked her out. She didn't give up that easily, though.

That night there was another dance recital going on in the ballroom, so we went to go see it. There were dance classes held at the school, and the teacher was a professional, and I heard she taught well. That night the dancing was ballet, and it was very well done, so I enjoyed it. I wished I was able to move like they could, but I figured it probably took years of practice and more natural grace than I possessed.

Things went well for the rest of the week. I continued to work hard in class, and I was really starting to get better at controlling my drawing. I also found that I was getting better at fighting, and when I was paired with Lucas even he noticed that I was more of a challenge. In my free time I was mostly with Adrian, who was happier than I had ever seen him. I also spent a lot of time with Jack and with my roommates. Jack continued to complain about Adrian, especially whenever he saw us together. I didn't hear any more about him and Heather, though they seemed to be on good terms.

With things going so well for so long, I almost started to get suspicious. It was becoming clear to me that I was getting far too used to crazy things happening, and I was almost bored. Still, I was glad to have some peace, even though it didn't last. Even with my suspicions that something would happen eventually, I didn't even realize just how much things were about to change.

The problem didn't start until Friday. I'd spent breakfast and lunch with Adrian, and supper with Heather, and I spent the evening with Jack. He was complaining that I didn't spend enough time with him anymore, though I was seeing him as often as I did before Adrian got out. We spent the evening in the west wing watching a movie. Jack had managed to find some popcorn for us, which seemed to be a rare commodity at Winterwood, like any other type of junk food. The movie was a romantic comedy, which wasn't exactly my favourite genre, but Jack had picked it, saying he'd heard good things about it.

We sat close together so we could both reach the popcorn, which was in a bowl on my lap. It was originally on Jack's lap, but he almost knocked it over a few times. He was acting kind of weird, and he was nervous. I didn't understand why, but I could see it in his aura. He looked over at me almost as often as he looked at the movie, which was as boring as I'd expected it to be. I was getting tired of all the stupid jokes that seemed to be in every romantic comedy. I preferred epic movies.

About halfway through the movie, I noticed that Jack had his arm behind me on the edge of the couch. It wasn't touching me, but it was close. I looked over at Jack, but he was busy pretending to watch the movie. He laughed at a stupid joke and reached for some popcorn, but he wasn't looking, and he ended up knocking the bowl to the floor, and popcorn went everywhere, including all over me.

"Sorry!" Jack exclaimed. He jumped up and started sweeping the popcorn back into the bowl with his hand. I bent down to help him.

"Are you alright?" I asked. "You've been acting a little strange all night."

"I'm fine," Jack claimed, but his voice was slightly higher pitched than normal. "Why wouldn't I be? It's not like we've never watched a movie before."

"Okay," I said. I didn't want to push him. I figured that if something was going on he wanted me to know about he'd just tell me. He usually did anyway, since he wasn't very good at keeping things to himself.

After we had the popcorn sufficiently cleaned up, we sat back down to watch the rest of the movie, which I had a hard time paying attention to. I looked around the room a bit, and saw that there were only a couple of other people in the room, and they were playing cards in a corner. I assumed they were playing poker, since there was money on the table, which was against the rules. There weren't any teachers around to point that out though.

When I looked back at Jack, I saw that he was watching me. "Do you not like the movie?" he asked.

"Not exactly," I answered. "I prefer movies that have more interesting story lines and fewer ridiculous attempts at humour. You know I hate romantic comedies. I thought you did too."

"I don't usually like them, but I thought I'd give this one a try at least. It is pretty bad though," he admitted.

"Why did you want to watch it in the first place? Surely there are better movies around here somewhere."

"I don't know. I guess I just wanted to try something new," Jack said, but he wasn't looking at me when he said it. He was lying, and he was hiding something, but I couldn't figure out why.

"Are you sure you're alright?" I asked, starting to get suspicious.

"Yes, Jules, I'm fine," he said, sounding a little annoyed. "Can we at least finish watching the movie?"

I shrugged. "If you really want to," I said.

We watched the rest of the movie, which was only slightly better than the beginning. Jack had his arm behind me again, and he was still sitting close even though I didn't have the popcorn anymore. I wasn't too concerned, since I was accustomed to his presence.

Near the end of the movie, which involved a very mushy scene with people running towards each other in an airport, I felt Jack shifting beside me, which resulted in his leg touching mine. I moved my leg over to put a little more space in between us. Then, after the mushy scene was over, he did something I was not expecting at all. He leaned over and kissed me, right on the lips.

I pushed him away immediately. "Jack! What the hell are you doing?!" I exclaimed.

He looked embarrassed, and hurt. Instead of answering me, he stood up and started pacing in front of the couch, like he was trying to sort out his thoughts. I waited impatiently until he spoke, still feeling shocked.

"Juliet, you know how I feel about you. I know you think you like Adrian, but I know you care about me. We can be together, Jules. It would be so easy, since we've always been close. It's just another step in our relationship, and I think it would be really good for both of us."

"Jack!" I exclaimed again, appalled. "You are my best friend, and that's all I want! Of course I care about you, probably more than anything, but I'm not in love with you. I already told you that, and I thought you understood."

"Adrian's no good for you! You should know that by now! I can't believe you would choose a guy who actually physically hurt you over me. What have I done that was so bad? I've never been anything but good to you, and I'm always there when you need me. Don't I deserve the same in return?"

I could feel tears falling down my cheeks from the pain I heard in his voice; the pain that I had caused. "Jack, you know I'd do almost anything for you, but I can't lose our friendship, and I can't be in a relationship with you. I don't feel that way about you, and it has nothing to do with Adrian."

"Fine," Jack said. I could tell he was close to tears himself, but he was more angry than upset, which scared me. He walked away from me and headed out of the west wing. I called after him, but he didn't turn around. I stood up to go after him, but I collapsed back onto the couch, deciding that it wasn't a good idea.

I was still sitting there crying a few minutes later, and I was stunned by what had happened. It was something that I'd been afraid of for a long time, though I'd never really expected it to happen because things had been going so well. I wasn't sure how things would be between us anymore, and it scared me. It broke my heart to think of losing my best and oldest friend over something I couldn't control.

After a while I got up and turned the movie off, which was in the middle of the credits. Some of the people playing poker in the corner were watching me, and I wiped my tears away, though they kept coming back. It took me another five minutes to calm down enough to go back to my room in the south wing. I managed to keep my tears in check while I walked through the halls, but by the time I sat down on my bed I was sobbing. Rhea, who was the only other person in the room, asked me what was wrong, but I didn't have the strength to answer. She hugged me but let me continue crying, which I did for a good hour after that.

By the time Heather and Melissa came in I had calmed down some, and I had stopped crying. I felt cold and empty instead, and I didn't want to think about Jack at all. When Heather asked me what was wrong, I told her I'd had a fight with Jack, and I wasn't sure what I was going to do, which was pretty much the truth. I didn't let her see how deeply I was hurt.

After the lights were turned off, I tried to sleep, but I kept shifting around. I couldn't stop my thoughts from running freely in my head, and I couldn't get comfortable. I didn't want to stay in bed like that, so I got up and went to the desk in the corner of the room that was usually stocked with paper and pens. It wasn't too hard to see because of the light of the nearly full moon shining through the open curtains at the window. Not knowing what else to do, I grabbed a sheet of paper and a pencil and started drawing. It was a good thing I didn't have to see in order to draw.

The drawing took almost ten minutes to complete even though my hand seemed to be flying across the page. I couldn't see it well enough to be able to tell what it was about, but I could tell that there were two figures in the drawing. I went over to the window so I could see it more clearly. When I looked at it in the light of the moon, my blood felt like it had turned to ice.

The drawing was of Heather and Melissa, and they were outside in the woods. I didn't recognize the area, so it wasn't anywhere I had been before. I could tell it was at night because I could see the moon hanging over the trees. When I compared it to the moon outside my window, they looked exactly the same. None of that was what scared me though. What bothered me was the way the girls looked, which was even more frightening than the drawing I had done of Michael. Melissa was staring straight ahead with eyes that were open wide, and her hand was held up to her open mouth. It was an expression of pure shock and horror, not fear. It was too late for fear. Heather was clinging to Melissa like she could barely stand. Her eyes were closed, but I could see tears glistening on her cheeks.

They looked like they had just seen someone die. I started to panic.

The first thing I did was wake Heather up. She took her time with opening her eyes, and she tried to bat my hand away because I was shaking her. When she did open her eyes, she saw something in my expression that made them go wide, and she pulled the covers off and got up and gripped my shoulders.

"Juliet, what's wrong?" she asked. I could hear fear in her voice, but it was nothing like the fear that I was feeling. I shoved my drawing at her, and she immediately tried to make it out, but after squinting at it for a minute she gave up and went to the light switch. When the room was bathed in light I heard grumbles coming from the two occupied beds in the room. Rhea rolled over and put her head under her pillow, but Melissa sat up.

"What's going on?" she asked in a groggy voice.

"Oh my goodness," Heather said when she looked at the picture, and her eyes went wider. "Do you know when this is?"

I shook my head, but I pointed out the similarities between the moon in the picture and the moon outside presently, and I also realized that she was wearing exactly the same pyjamas as the ones she was wearing in the drawing. Melissa came over to take a look at the drawing as well, and her reaction was similar.

"That does not look good at all," she said, serious for once. "I don't think I've ever looked like that before in my entire life."

"We have to do something," I said. I felt anxious, and I had a gut feeling that something bad was going to happen, and it was going to happen soon. The problem was that I didn't have a clue as to what it was.

"We need more information," Heather pointed out. "It's not like I plan on going for a stroll in the woods tonight. Do you think you can try drawing something else that will tell us what this means?"

"Yeah, that's pretty much all we can do at this point, though maybe we should tell someone else, like a teacher," Melissa added.

"Okay, I'll try drawing another picture. I don't think we should tell someone else until we have more information," I said. I let them hold onto the drawing while I went to the desk and got out some more paper. Starting a new drawing was easy, like my hand had something that it needed to get out. It only took about five minutes to complete the second drawing, and I knew right away that it was related in some way to the first because it was even more horrible and much more specific. The location was different, but that didn't tell me much. I motioned for Heather and Melissa to come over to look at the picture, and they both gasped.

The second drawing was in a room that I knew well. I had left that room earlier in the day after what had happened there. It was clearly the common room in the west wing, and it looked pretty much the same as it did when I left it. The movie I'd been watching with Jack was still sitting on a table where I'd left it that was barely in view, and the empty bowl that had contained popcorn was beside it. In the center of the drawing were two wolves, and they looked like they were running at each other with bared teeth. I recognized Adrian instantly, and he was the bigger of the two. I had no doubt in my mind that the other wolf was Jack, and he was at a disadvantage.

Once the initial shock wore off and I was able to move I left immediately. I didn't even bother to change or put on shoes, so I was still in my thin white nightgown with my feet bare as I ran through the halls. Mrs. Espenas, who was monitoring the hallways in the south wing that night shouted out for me to stop, but I ignored her and kept going. I was aware of Heather and Melissa running behind me, though Melissa stopped to tell Mrs. Espenas what was going on.

My heart felt like it was out of control, but I kept going. I didn't pass anyone else as I ran down the stairs and then out of the south wing. I was halfway down the hall when I realized that I was going the wrong way. I was heading toward the east wing instead of the west wing, and I cursed myself for the silly mistake, which I assumed was caused by my disorientation from being in the halls in the dark.

I was about to turn around and go back, which would have been faster than going all the way around the school, but I heard something coming from the hall past the east wing. I slowed, and Heather caught up to me, and she was breathing hard.

"Why are you going this way?" she asked between breaths. "The west wing was in the other direction."

"Yeah, I realized that," I said. My voice sounded remarkably calm compared to how I felt. "I hear something though, don't you?"

We stood there in silence for a minute, and the sounds became clearer. There were people shouting and running, and I could see the light from flashlights moving over the walls as the people holding them moved quickly. There was definitely something going on down that hall, and I almost fainted when I realized where the voices were centered. The infirmary was down that hallway.

"Oh my god," I said, and my voice no longer sounded the slightest bit calm. "We're too late."

Chapter 30

Whites spots danced in my field of vision, and my legs gave out underneath me. I landed on my knees, and I lost all sense of sight and sound for a moment. I wasn't even aware of Heather trying to pull me up until she slapped me across the face. The sharp pain brought me back, and I realized that Melissa had caught up and she was asking why we'd gone the wrong way.

"Come on," Heather was saying to me. She put my arm around her shoulder and pulled me to my feet, which were remarkably unsteady. "We don't know what's going on. We have to go find out. It might be something else."

"No," I whispered. "It's him. We're too late." I didn't know how, but I could feel it.

Heather almost had to drag me around the corner so we could see what was happening. The people were definitely running around the infirmary, and I could see that they were just bringing a stretcher in. Even from a distance I could see the trail of blood on the floor behind the stretcher. The people carrying it were running and someone was running alongside it with something white that looked like gauze bandages. As soon as I saw that it was really Jack I broke away from Heather and started running, having somehow regained the strength in my legs. Some of the teachers looked up and saw us approaching. Someone tried to hold me back before I could see him, but I pushed them away without looking to see who it was. Others stood aside and let me pass because they could tell I needed to see him.

"Oh, Jack," I said through my tears when I was finally by his side. I grabbed his hand, which was pale and cold, but I had to stand away a bit so that Dr. Hughes, who was also still in her pyjamas, and a couple of nurses could work on him. I could feel blood on my hand where I was touching him, and it was all over the place.

"We need to get him some blood!" Dr. Hughes shouted. "His blood pressure is barely registering! Somebody go to the west wing and find me a werewolf with the same blood type, or we'll never be able to save him." She worked quickly, trying to put pressure on his wounds to stop the bleeding, while the nurses worked to do the same. One of them had to leave to find a blood donor.

He really didn't look good. He was unconscious, so his hand was limp in mine. There seemed to be cuts all over him. There was a bad one across his forehead, and one that was even worse on his abdomen, with the skin torn up. They were definitely claw marks, and I could also see teeth marks on his neck and arms. Blood seemed to be pouring from every opening, no matter how quickly the doctor worked. I was losing him.

"What about Adrian?" I asked the doctor, since I didn't see him anywhere. "Is he okay?"

"He's fine," she told me as she worked. "He had a few scratches, but nothing life-threatening. I think he was the bigger one of the two."

I nodded and turned back to Jack. He stirred slightly and moaned, but he didn't open his eyes. I could feel my heart breaking, like someone was stabbing it over and over again.

A hand gently rested on my shoulder. I looked up, thinking it was a teacher, but I was surprised to see that it wasn't. It was Anna. I had no idea what she was doing there at the time, but I found out later that she'd heard something going on and came to investigate. She looked at me sadly.

I suddenly remembered that she was a vampire. At first I was worried that all of the blood in the room would cause her to try to hurt Jack even more, but she didn't seem to be paying attention to him. My second line of thought was not about if she would hurt him, but about if she could save him. I'd heard of vampires saving people by turning them. I hoped it wasn't too late.

"Can you save him?" I asked. I could hear the pleading in my own voice.

"I can't," she said softly, but it didn't help dampen the pain her words caused as they destroyed my last hope. "He's already a werewolf, so I can't turn him. It'd only kill him."

"I can't lose him Anna," I sobbed. "He's the only family I have left in the world. He means everything to me, and it's probably my fault that this happened."

"I might not be able to save him, and the doctor may not be able to save him, but you can if you hurry."

"How?" I asked desperately.

"You know what you have to do," was her reply. "You just need a little faith." She squeezed my shoulder and gave me another sympathetic look, and she walked away through the crowd of teachers.

I was confused, and I had no idea what she meant. Her mention of faith made me think of the gods, and I remembered Sydney's story about them healing her sister, and I thought that was what she meant. I immediately started sending out my thoughts to them, hoping they were listening.

Then I realized something. She thought I was a goddess. She wasn't asking me to have faith in the gods. She was asking me to have faith in myself.

I loved Jack. While I was looking at his limp and bleeding form, my mind was going through all of the time we had spent together. I remembered the day we met, when I was sitting out in the backyard crying because some girls were teasing me, and he came up and tried to cheer me up with corny jokes. I remembered when he punched Dan in the face for making a pass at me, which got him in trouble. I remembered the first time he had lost his temper, and how scared he was afterward, and I remembered the look in his eyes a few hours before when I had pushed him away. He meant the world to me. When I had said he was the only family I had left, I meant it. He'd been in my life longer than anyone else, and he was always there for me when I needed him. In that moment, I realized that I would do anything to save him, no matter what it did to me.

I leaned forward and kissed Jack's cheek in the one spot I could find that wasn't covered with blood. "Hold on just a little longer," I whispered in his ear. I let go of his hand. It was incredibly hard, but I turned away from him and walked away.

I didn't have time to plan what I was going to do, so I decided to stick with the first plan that came to me. It probably wasn't the best idea, but I couldn't think of a better one at the time. I pushed back through the crowd in the infirmary and started running again, this time for the exit.

I heard Heather shout for me to wait, but I didn't have time to explain, so I kept going. I heard her running behind me again, and Melissa was with her. It reminded me of the first drawing that I had done that night, and I finally understood it. I was about to make it happen. I didn't know it at the time, but Victor followed not far behind, under the orders of the headmaster, who had been in the infirmary with everyone else.

"Juliet, where are you going?!" I heard Heather shout from somewhere behind me as I went out the doors of the school, after a quick glance at the portrait of Amun on the foyer wall. The night air was cold on my exposed arms and legs, and the ground was rough beneath my bare feet, but I ignored it because it wasn't important. I headed north and went straight into the woods.

It was darker under the cover of the trees, so I could hardly see where I was going. I almost tripped a few times, but I kept up my pace, knowing that I had little time left. I heard branches rustling behind me so I knew Heather and Melissa weren't too far from me. I hoped it wouldn't be long before I reached my destination, but I didn't know because I'd never been there before.

As I was running half blindly through the woods, I reached up and lifted the keys from around my neck. I held them in my hand and felt their unique textures, which was somehow comforting and gave me more strength and courage. I hoped that everyone had been right about me, and that I had been wrong. I was about to take a huge leap of faith, literally, one way or the other.

I was glad I saw the cliff before I reached it because I didn't want to fall off of it accidently. I probably wouldn't have noticed it if I hadn't seen the difference in the trees. I slowed down and stopped before I reached the edge. I could feel stinging cuts on the bottoms of my feet from running over sharp rocks and twigs, and my hair was probably full of leaves. When I stood on the edge of the cliff the wind felt stronger than it had under the cover of trees. It blew my hair and my nightgown around me. I held up my hand to look at my keys one last time in the light from the moon, which was visible there. I turned my head to look back, and I could see Heather and Melissa hardly ten feet from me. They had come to a sudden stop when they noticed the cliff.

"What are you doing?!" Melissa shouted. I could finally see Victor, who was another ten feet behind the girls, but he was closing in. I smiled sadly at them all, and turned back around. When I peered over the edge, the bottom looked like it was at least a hundred feet away. I hoped it was more. I wanted to die instantly when I hit the bottom. It was the main reason I had chosen this plan. I dropped the keys onto the ground beside me so that they wouldn't be damaged by the impact, and they seemed to fall in slow motion.

I heard Heather scream when I jumped, and it seemed to last a long time. I didn't scream myself, mostly because I was beyond caring what happened to me. I thought briefly about how falling felt so much different than I had expected. I thought it would be almost peaceful, but the air rushing by me was violent and strong, and made it impossible to breathe, not that it mattered much. I was about to die anyway.

The way down seemed so long. I kept waiting and waiting to hit the bottom, but the open air seemed to go on forever. I hoped that it meant the bottom was farther away than it had looked. That was the last thought I had before I finally hit the rocks below. There was a brief moment when I felt my skin splitting and my bones shattering, and then there was darkness.

Chapter 31

The darkness lasted for a very short period of time, which I was thankful for because time was not something I had a lot of. There was a strange feeling, and then a rush of awareness. I could still feel my broken body, but I didn't feel any pain, like my body wasn't really important. The awareness that I felt then turned into something much stronger. It was like a wall inside of my very soul was breaking, and a wave was spilling over and consuming me. That wave was my very essence, which I had kept from myself with the wall that I had built. All of my memories came flooding back, and with those memories came pain and sadness from all that I had lost, which I felt with great intensity. It was the reason I liked living without the memories, and I felt a moment of regret for bringing them back, but I knew that it would be worth it. I felt the power I had been looking for return to me, which I used it to heal my own body and clean myself up, but there was another body that needed me more.

When I opened my eyes I saw Victor there standing over me. The expression on his face was one of awe and shock. I wondered how he'd gotten down the cliff so quickly, but then I remembered that he could jump through space, which was generally referred to as psychoportation.

"Isadora?" he whispered.

"Yes," I said. "Tell Heather and Melissa that I'm alright, and try to keep this a secret."

I psychoported myself back to the hall outside of the infirmary because it was the fastest way to get there. No one noticed my strange arrival because they were all busy inside the infirmary. I hurried inside and pushed my way through the crowd.

Jack looked even worse than before, which I hadn't thought possible, but he was still alive. Most of his wounds were covered, so he looked somewhat like a mummy. His skin was incredibly pale, so he looked lifeless, but I could hear the faint beating of his heart and feel his spirit within him. The nurse had not yet returned with a blood donor, and there was no guarantee that she could even find one anyway. Luckily, they wouldn't be needing one anymore.

Dr. Hughes moved out of my way when I went to be by Jack's side. She thought I was there to say goodbye, but that was certainly not what I intended to do. I laid my hand on his bandaged forehead, and I let the power within me flow to him, healing as it moved. When all of the wounds were healed I replenished his blood supply as well, which immediately brought color back to his skin, and I could feel his heart beating stronger. When it was finished, I brought my hand away from his head. I started taking off the bandages, and when Dr. Hughes saw that the wounds were gone, she began to help without question, and so did the nurses. It didn't take long to get them all off. By the time Jack opened his eyes, he looked as if nothing had even happened, despite the fact that he was lying on a bed soaked in his own blood. He sat up, looking confused, not that I could blame him. He turned and looked at me, blinking.

"Juliet, what's going on?" he asked.

"You don't remember?"

"Not really. I -" he stopped, and his expression darkened. "I was upset," he said. "I remember our fight, and how I felt. I almost couldn't control myself. When I left I went outside, and I turned into a wolf when I got to the woods to try to let off some steam, but it only made me feel angrier, and I blamed everything on Adrian.

"When I got back inside it was late, but Adrian was in the common room alone. I hated him, and I was angry, and I started shouting at him. It took him by surprise, and he hardly reacted. For some reason that made me even angrier, probably because I felt like he didn't care, and I snapped. I turned right there and tried to attack him, but he dodged me and turned himself. I was so bent on hurting him I didn't even notice that he was bigger than I was, though I probably wouldn't have cared at that point anyway. I remember going at him, but he was too quick and strong, and he hurt me. That's really the last thing I remember." He looked down at himself to make sure he was in one piece, and he saw the blood. "Is that mine?"

"It is," someone said behind me, and I turned to see Mrs. Bainbridge. Victor was standing next to her, and I could see Heather and Melissa in the background, meaning he had psychoported them back. "You were gravely injured by Mr. Alvarez, but luckily your friend here discovered an ability to heal. You probably would have died otherwise." She motioned to me. I could read her thoughts effortlessly, so I knew she knew what had happened. Victor had already filled her in. She also had no intention of telling Jack the truth, which I was thankful for. The rest of the teachers who had known beforehand who I was were already guessing the truth.

"You can heal?" Jack said, clearly surprised.

"Yeah. Jack, I'm so sorry about what happened. It was more my fault than anyone else's. I never would have forgiven myself if you'd died, and I don't know what I'd do without you." I was crying again, but I couldn't help it. I was so relieved that he was alright.

Jack got up and hugged me. I didn't care that he was getting blood on me, and I hugged him back. "Don't blame yourself," he whispered in my ear. "I should never have asked you to be anything but my friend when you had already told me that's all you wanted, and I shouldn't have attacked Adrian. I guess in some ways I'm probably as bad as he is."

A throat cleared, and I could tell that Mrs. Bainbridge wanted to say something. I let go of Jack and we turned. "Picking a fight with someone bigger than you does not excuse the fact that you tried to hurt a fellow student. It may seem unfair, considering what has happened to you already, but I'm afraid I am going to have to punish both you and Mr. Alvarez. I'd like to see you in my office as soon as you get cleaned up. Ms. White, I suggest that you and your roommates get back to bed. You can talk to each other about what happened in the morning, but I would prefer that you keep the details of this night to yourselves."

Jack nodded went to get cleaned up. He didn't think his punishment was unfair even though he had almost died because he felt guilty about what he had tried to do.

I went over to Heather and Melissa, and we started walking back to the south wing. The teachers were all heading back to bed now that the danger was over and everything was alright again. A few of them gave me questioning looks before they turned and went their own ways.

Once we were a ways away from everyone else, Heather stopped and held out her hand. In her outstretched palm were my keys, still on their chain.

"I thought you might want these back," she said, and she was smiling. She understood what had happened and she couldn't wait to begin questioning me. I took the keys gratefully and put them back around my neck.

Melissa was another story altogether. The events of the night had taken a severe toll on her, and she didn't understand what had happened at all. She had watched her friend jump off a cliff, thought she was dead, and now that friend was standing next to her as if nothing had happened. She was shocked and confused.

"Melissa," I said, "everything's fine."

She turned her dull eyes toward me. "Please explain to me how that's possible. Jack was almost dead. Then you were dead. Then you weren't dead, and Jack was fine. I don't get any of it. Even by the standards of this place, with all of the magic that goes on here, none of it makes any sense."

"Maybe there's more magic going on here than you realize," Heather hinted, still smiling.

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Melissa asked. She was only getting more frustrated, so I decided to tell her the truth. It was the only way she would be alright that didn't involve me removing her memories, and I didn't want to do that. It would be the easy way out.

"I'm not who you think I am," I said. "In fact, I'm not who I thought I was, and I had to die to realize that. I am Juliet, but I'm also Isadora."

Melissa laughed. "Nice one," she said. "What's really going on?"

"She's telling the truth," Heather confirmed. "All of the teachers have known it for a while. She has a white aura, and only the gods have white auras. Don't you remember in class when we talked about the gods taking away their own memories and powers so they could live like normal people? That's what she did, and she had to die to get them back so she could save Jack."

"And you knew this all along and didn't say anything?" Melissa accused, though she still didn't really believe.

"No. Other people told me and they believed it, but I didn't," I explained. "It's a hard thing to believe, especially when you feel so normal and powerless."

"Do you feel like that now?"

I smiled. "No, I can't say that I do. I mostly just feel old and tired."

"You don't look old," Heather commented. "What are you going to do now that you know? Are you going to go back to Asantis or something?"

"No. I like this life, and I don't want to leave it yet. I might go to Asantis for the summer, but I'll be back for the next school year. That's why I'd really appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone about me. I don't want people to see me differently. I know you both already do."

"True," Heather said. "But still, we don't see it as a bad thing. It's actually kind of awesome. Just think of all the amazing stuff you can do."

"Hey, the next time I have menstrual cramps, can you give me some pain relief?" Melissa asked hopefully. She was starting to accept the truth, however reluctantly.

I laughed. "I have no problem with that. If you ever need anything, you can come to me, just try to do it in private. I don't even want Rhea to know, so be careful."

We reached the south wing and quietly went up the stairs, trying not to wake anyone. When we got to our room Rhea was still there and sleeping peacefully, like nothing had happened at all. It seemed like no one knew that anything had happened, which seemed so strange to me because my life had changed so much over the past couple of hours. I was almost an entirely different person.

Chapter 32

As I lay down in bed, I couldn't help but think of the past and all that happened in my long life. It seemed like so much, but for me it was only the beginning. I thought Amun, my oldest and closest friend over my entire life, and I wondered what he was doing. I searched for him with my mind, but he was hiding from me, so I couldn't tell where he was.

I thought all the way back to the beginning, which was over five thousand years before. In fact, I had missed my five thousandth birthday during my life as Juliet. It had happened when I was a year into my new life. I thought about my family, who I always missed. My father was a king, and a good man, though generally quite stern. My mother had been beautiful, and she was kind to me, though we had never been close. I had been closest to my older brother, who had looked out for me, and I had looked up to him. It was his duty to become the king when our father died, and he took that seriously. He had married and had children after I left, so I never met them, though there were still a few descendents alive.

I had left when I was only around twenty. I'd fallen in love with a servant in the palace, and we had left together. I never went back to Greece until years after my family had died. I had been so young then, and everything had seemed so new. I wanted to see the world, and I did, with my first love by my side. I had wanted to go back home eventually, but it had been too late. My family would have been frightened by my youthful appearance, since I should have been an old woman. They had never known what I was.

That was all so long ago, and it really felt that way. I no longer felt young and curious. I mostly just felt a deep depression that constantly threatened to consume me, but there was little I could do to alleviate it other than staying distracted. I had felt it for hundreds of years. Once, only forty years before, I had let it take over, and I had ended up in a mental hospital for several months. It had been music that had brought me back then. If it happened again, I wasn't sure what I would do.

I had no actual need to sleep, and I felt like I'd been sleeping for long enough, so I got out of bed. The other girls were all sleeping soundly despite the trauma that they had been through. They didn't notice a thing when I disappeared.

I went home to Asantis. When I stepped out from the jungle leaves onto the white stone path that led to Luma, I felt a sense of peace. It didn't take long for the village to come into view, and my heart soared at the sight of it. I had always thought it was my greatest creation. The entire village was made of white stone that gleamed in the bright sunlight. It was small, but it was cozy and beautiful. I walked to the courtyard in the middle, where there was a fountain and many flowering plants and some stone benches. The temple was on the opposite side of the courtyard, with its stone columns and flowering vines.

The people there were surprised to see me, since I hadn't been there in seventeen years, but happy nonetheless. I recognized all of the older faces, though there were a few young ones who had been born since I'd left. They were excited to meet me, and I gave them all gifts.

I visited Terra and Morta as well. The villages were not connected by pathways through the jungle, so the only ways to get between them were through the passages under the castle or by boat, since there was a small river that went by all three. Instead of just psychoporting, I took a boat to get around. Terra looked the same as it always did, and the people were hard at work tending to the fields of fruits and vegetables. I stayed a while and talked to some of my old friends there before moving on. Morta's population had grown the most out of the three villages, and the library there had been added to, though the underground library in Luma that was beneath the temple was still much bigger.

It may seem like Terra was the only village that produced anything useful because all of the food for the three villages came from there, but they all traded with each other. Luma was known for making fabric and clothing, and Morta had a blacksmith, so they all had something to offer each other, and the people from each village tended to be mixed with people from the others. When I was around I often threw parties or balls for the people in the castle so they could have fun and get to know each other better. I decided that I should try to do that over the summer.

When I was in Morta, which was a village of black buildings located on an almost barren slope, I walked up the path that led through the center. It went up the hill to what looked like a fairly simple round stone dais that was a deep black color. There were patterns ingrained in the stone, and it was surrounded by black columns that held up nothing but air. It was the only place on Earth where you could communicate with the dead.

There was no one using the dais when I got there, so I went up the steps and stood in the center, on top of the carving of a skull with wings. I called upon the first person I thought of, and it didn't take him long to appear. All spirits take the form at which they were healthiest, so he looked like he did the last time I saw him alive.

"Isadora, you look lovely as always, though I'm not sure blond hair suits you very well," my brother said in our native language. I was a natural brunette, but I had changed my hair color to fit in with my new family. It was the only thing I had changed.

I grinned. "It's good to see you. How are things in the spirit world?"

"As peaceful and boring as always. I think my favourite thing to do is watch you. I can't believe you didn't tell me what you were when I was alive. It was a bit of a shock when I died and looked for you in the spirit world, and found you still here looking exactly the same as always."

"You had your own belief system, and I didn't want to ruin that for you," I explained. "It's not an easy thing to learn. How's everyone else in the family?"

"They're fine, though I don't know why you're asking me when you could ask them yourself. They all like watching you too. Mother has been worrying about you, especially after that incident forty years ago, and father wants you to play more music because he likes listening to it. He always has."

"I know; I used to play for him all the time. It was one of the few things we did together."

We continued to talk and reminisce for a few minutes before saying goodbye. It was nice to be able to talk to people from my past occasionally, though I tried not to do it often because it could become addictive. I usually only talked to my family members, and I tried to avoid past loves because they could be difficult to talk to. Sometimes it was just best to move on. That didn't mean it never happened, though.

It was very close to morning by the time I finally got back to Winterwood, and by then it felt strange to be going back to school. The girls were still sleeping soundly, and they hadn't noticed that I had been gone. I snuck back into bed and stayed there until it was time to get up.

As we were all getting dressed and ready, Melissa came up to me. "Did I just have a really crazy dream, or did everything really happen?" she asked.

"It happened," I confirmed. "Parts of it do kind of seem like a dream though. If I didn't still have my memories and powers I would probably be asking the same question."

"It's probably even stranger for Jack. I mean, he almost died. That might be a confusing thing to live with."

"Yeah, it could be. He seemed alright last night though. I don't think he remembers much about being in the infirmary."

"Ugh," Heather said, coming out of the bathroom still in her pyjama top. "I just broke the strap of my tank top. It's my favourite one, too."

"I can fix it for you," I offered.

Her face lit up. "Hey, that's right, you can," she said, and she handed me the shirt, which I handed back seconds later looking brand new. "Thanks," she said.

"No problem. If you guys don't mind I have to get going. There are a few people I need to talk to, and I'm eager to get started," I said.

"Sure, no problem," Heather said. "We'll see you later."

I left, and I walked toward the north wing. When I got there I found the person I was looking for right away. She was sitting in the common room with a stack of books, but I knew she was waiting for me. She moved some books out of the way so I could sit down beside her.

"Sorry about the mess," Anna said. "When you read as quickly as I do you need to make sure you have lots to read. Of course, you don't have to read at all, do you?"

"Not anymore, though I still enjoy it," I said. "A lot has changed in the past 24 hours."

"You did it, then? How?"

"I did, and I probably never would have thought about it if you hadn't been there. You saved Jack's life, and for that I will always be grateful."

"You saved his life, Isadora. I only gave you an idea of how to do it. You didn't answer my question. How did you do it?"

"I did the best thing I could think of at the time. I didn't want to cut open an artery or anything because it would take too long and it would make a mess, and I figured suffocation would cause me to suffer more than I wanted, so I jumped off a cliff. It took time to get there, but the actual dying was fairly quick."

"That still sounds unpleasant. Does Jack know that you died to save his life?" Anna asked.

"Not at all, and I'd like it to stay that way," I said. "He'd probably feel guilty or something, and I don't want that. I'd do it over again, even if I died permanently."

Anna smiled. "He's lucky to have a friend who cares so much. It took a lot of courage to do what you did."

"I wasn't really thinking much about it at the time, so I don't think courage had anything to do with it," I said. "There was actually something else I wanted to talk to you about as well. The first time we talked, you said I had a soulmate. Why?" It had been bothering me a lot since I jumped off the cliff.

Anna looked surprised. "I told you that because it's true. You can check for yourself now, since you're more powerful than I am. Have you?"

"No, I haven't. I didn't believe you were telling the truth. I've been alive for over five thousand years, and I've never had one before. Neither has Amun, so I always assumed that it was never going to happen. I still believe that it will never happen."

"Well, if you don't believe me, why don't you check yourself?"

"I don't think I can," I admitted. "I'm not incapable; I just don't want to know anymore. Most people die not long after their soulmates if they are together, but if I meet my soulmate and he dies I won't be able to, and it would destroy me. I've been through enough as it is."

"But what if he's immortal? He could be a vampire, or maybe there's a new god that you don't know about," Anna reasoned.

"If that's the case, then I don't have to worry about it now. Not everyone can be as lucky as your parents anyway. They must be very happy together. I'm glad Kalinor finally found his soulmate. We were good friends long ago, before he decided to sleep. I haven't seen him since he woke up."

"They are very happy, and I'm sure they would like to see you. If you do visit while you're here you should take me with you. I miss them, and I'd like to see them, but I hate flying in planes and running or swimming takes too long."

"I definitely will," I told her. "I think we could become great friends. It'd be nice to know someone else who will be around for a long time."

Anna smiled. "It would be wonderful. We'll have to stay in touch."

"Yes, we should. I have to go now, though, because I have a few other people to talk to this morning. I'll get back to you later."

I left Anna and headed toward the stairs that led underground. Adrian was being held in one of the locked rooms used for werewolves during the full moon, which I found a bit extensive, especially since he hadn't even started the fight. He was being guarded by Victor, who let me in to see him without any trouble.

When I opened the door to the room, Adrian jumped up from where he was sitting on the floor. When he saw it was me he swore and turned away from me. He was actually scared of what I was going to say because he thought I hated him, per usual. He expected me to yell, scream, and cry. I just cleared my throat, which made him cringe.

"Would you turn around, please?" I asked, since he was facing the wall. He reluctantly turned, but he wouldn't meet my eyes.

"Adrian, I don't blame you for what happened. Jack said himself that he was the one who started it."

He finally looked at me, but he was very upset. "I thought I'd actually killed him, Juliet. I would never have been able to forgive myself if he'd died. Is he doing okay? I just heard that he'd live, but they didn't tell me anything else."

"Then you'll be happy to know that he's completely healed," I said. "There won't be any lasting physical damage."

Adrian looked surprised. "How is that possible?" he asked.

"I healed him myself. It seems I have the ability to do that as well. He came very close to death, though. It was a scary thing to see."

"He's really lucky he has you," Adrian said.

"You have me too, you know," I told him.

Adrian sighed and leaned against the wall. He slid down until he was sitting on the floor, and he looked down at his hands as he spoke. "How can you still love me after everything I've done to you? I almost killed you and your best friend. No one should be so forgiving."

"I know what's in your heart, Adrian," I said. "I see no evil there."

"So you don't judge people at all by their actions?"

"No, I don't. I don't think people should be punished for their mistakes unless it's in their nature to be cruel. When you have a good heart, the guilt you feel is enough of a punishment."

"But guilt doesn't change anything. By the time I feel guilty, it's too late to take back what I've done."

"I know, but it won't be like this forever. Like the rest of your kind, you'll find your strength."

Chapter 33

What had happened was all over the school by later in the day, and the talk lasted over a week, though luckily I was left out of it. What I'd done that night remained a secret known only by the teachers, Heather, Melissa, and Anna.

It was decided that Adrian would be allowed to stay at school, mostly by my persuasion, though he was under the same restrictions as he was before. Jack was remarkably unaffected by his experience, aside from feeling bad about attacking Adrian. His punishment was a little more severe than Adrian's, and it involved therapy and janitorial work, as well as also being in isolation. He didn't complain though, since he felt it was deserved.

Things continued on, and as the end of the school year approached everyone became busy studying for exams. I tried my best to act as normal as possible, but it was difficult because of how much I had changed. All of my school work was effortless, and I had no need to study, which left me with a lot of free time. I spent time with my friends when they were free, but when they were busy studying I would go to various locations around the world. I owned many properties, which I went to, and some businesses. I had my own small company to look after my fortune and expenses, and they had taken care of everything for me well enough.

Even though I tried hard to seem normal, and I used my powers as little as possible, people still noticed a change in me. Jack commented on it one day when we were hanging out in his room. Even though he was in isolation, I had no trouble getting in to see him. Thankfully he never questioned that.

"Are you okay?" he asked me.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I replied. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"I don't know, but you've been different ever since the fight. You used to be so much happier, and much more curious and eager to learn. Now you act as if nothing is ever exciting, and you always look depressed, even though you try to hide it. It's like you've aged a hundred years or something."

I carefully hid my shock. I should have known that the person who knew me best in this life would be perceptive of the change in me. He was certainly right about the aging part, though he was off by a few thousand years.

"Jack, I'm fine," I said again. "If I've been acting at all differently, I assure you it has nothing to do with you."

Jack just shook his head. "Whatever," he said.

I knew that Adrian was noticing the same thing, though he didn't comment. He internalized it instead, and he blamed himself, which hurt me. I started to realize that Anna was right. Even though I loved him, we weren't meant to be together. Our relationship had become painful for both of us, and I was being selfish by staying with him because he did indeed have a soulmate, which meant I was keeping him from the person he was supposed to be with. I knew I had to end our relationship, but it was a hard thing to do, and I wanted to make sure he was happy.

On the weekend not long before the end of the school year, I decided it was time. Before I went to see him, I stopped by the library and picked up a book that I thought might be useful. I also decided that I would have to tell him the truth about myself in order for him to truly understand, and so I could take him where I needed to. I was also going to let him make the final choice himself, and I knew he wouldn't pick me. I was okay with that.

"What's that?" he asked when I entered his room, which was the one in the north wing he was in before. He motioned to the book I had tucked under one arm.

"There's something I wanted to show you," I told him. I walked over to the bed beside his and opened up the book. It didn't take me long to find the right page. Adrian stood and joined me.

"Soulmates?" he said questioningly, scanning the page.

"Read it," I told him. The book was an old textbook from a third year course that was almost falling apart, but it was still readable. We sat and read the page together, though I already knew what it said.

The concept of soulmates has been around for centuries, but it was never widely believed, especially by the general public. It was not until the early thirteenth century that the idea was confirmed by Amun himself, but still few people valued the idea, and many thought it gave people unrealistic expectations. Soulmates, however, are not just a concept. They are a fact.

Everyone is born destined to be with someone else, whether that person has been born yet or not. Because so many people die early, many people lose their soulmates without ever knowing it. Many others never meet their soulmates because of the physical distance that separates them. Some people have to wait a very long time for their soulmates if they are immortal or are destined to become so. Because of all of these factors, finding a soulmate is an extremely rare experience, which has contributed to the disbelief surrounding the subject.

There have been many descriptions over time of what it is like to meet one's soulmate. Some describe the attraction as a seemingly gravitational force, and others as an invisible rope, but all agree that it is one of the most powerful feelings in the world, and it is unmistakeable. The love between these people is strong enough to withstand any force that life can bring them, and usually becomes their main reason for living, which is not always a good thing.

Children between these couples are common. Some people believe that they tend to neglect their children because they are so focused on each other, but that is purely a myth. The children of soulmates are actually more loved than most because the parents see the children as an important part of the relationship and as a part of each other. The children are also generally happier because they grow up in a loving environment.

The problem with relying so much on another person does become apparent, however. When one of the couple dies, the other usually follows either immediately or not long after. Sometimes one will live on after the other, but this only ever happens when there are children, who serve as an incentive to continue living. Despite the risk, however, everyone ever asked say it is completely worth it. Studies have even been done in the village of Morta, where one can communicate with the dead. Having spoken with many deceased people who had lived with their soulmates, the people there have found that even after death, soulmates are happy to have each other, and some who did not find their soulmates in life find them in the spirit world.

"Do you think we're soulmates?" Adrian asked when he had finished reading. He looked at me intently.

"No," I said. "In fact, I know that we aren't."

"Well, why are you showing this to me?" Adrian asked, sounding confused.

"You have a soulmate, Adrian, but it isn't me. I love you, but I'm keeping you from the person you're supposed to be with. I think it's time you met her. Her name is Mariella, and she lives in Florence, Italy. I can take you to her."

He didn't really think I was serious, despite my solemn tone. "That's a bit far away, and we have no way to get there. It'd be a waste of time anyway."

"Adrian, I'm quite serious, and I can take you there right now, if you'd like," I said.

He smiled, still not believing me. "Sure, Juliet. Let's go to Italy right now to meet my soulmate. Lead the way."

He was being sarcastic, but I did what he said anyway. I stood up and pulled him up with me. I then grabbed his hand and psychoported us both to Florence. We ended up in an alley because I hadn't wanted anyone to see us appear out of nowhere.

Adrian was immediately disoriented and almost fell, but he caught himself in time. He spun around a few times in shock, taking in our surroundings, which were much different than the ones we had left. He felt like he was dreaming, but he knew he wasn't.

"How did you do that?" he asked. He sounded breathless.

"I'm Isadora," I informed him bluntly, which only succeeded in making him more shocked. "I might have told you sooner, but I didn't even know it myself until the night when Jack almost died."

"You know, that kind of explains a lot," Adrian said, once he had recovered.

I smiled. "I suppose. Now would you like to meet your soulmate or not?"

He hesitated. "I don't know. I didn't really think you were serious before. I'm not sure I'm ready for something that big. Besides, I'm happy being with you."

I sighed. "No you aren't. I know you love me, but neither of us is really happy at this point. We've been through too much. We blame ourselves for what happens to each other."

"Fine," Adrian said. "I'll meet her, and we'll see what happens. What did you say her name was?"

"Her name is Mariella. She lives just down the street, but we're going to wait for her by the Fountain of Neptune in Piazza della Signoria, since she'll be passing by there in about ten minutes. It isn't far."

We started walking, and we got to the fountain in less than five minutes. The area was fairly crowded, and we stood out a little bit since we were both wearing our school uniforms.

"Nice fountain," Adrian commented, looking up at it. He then started scanning the crowd. "How will we know her if we see her?"

"You'll know her when you see her," I told him. "You'll feel the connection immediately."

We sat down and watched the people pass by. There were so many people who looked so happy, and for some reason it made me feel sad. There were eager children pulling along smiling mothers, elderly couples holding hands, and young couples arguing passionately. They all seemed so much more alive than I felt.

I felt Mariella approaching, but I didn't say anything to Adrian. She was walking slowly, and she had a book open in one hand and a shopping bag in the other. She barely looked up from the book to see where she was going. She was small, barely over five feet, and had a mass of dark curly hair and wide hazel eyes that went well with her olive skin tone. She was approaching from the direction opposite to the one in which Adrian was looking, so she saw him first. I watched as her book fell to the ground, and her eyes became as round as quarters.

"Shouldn't she be here by now?" Adrian asked. He was getting tired of waiting, not that his level of anticipation was high.

"She is here," I said, just as she reached him. She put a hand on his shoulder, and he jumped and turned around.

The moment was definitely magical for both of them. They stared at each other for a good minute, both of their hearts pounding. Adrian was the first to speak.

"Hi," he said.

"Hello," she answered. She knew some English, but not a lot, and her accent was strong. I could have translated, but I decided to give them some privacy. I walked over to a statue and pretended to study it, even though I had seen it many times before, and they didn't even notice.

Almost an hour passed before Adrian came to get me, by which time I had looked at all of the statues in the area, and had gone back to the first. He was smiling and looked very happy. It made me feel both happy and sad.

"Time to get back to school?" I asked.

"Yes," Adrian said. "Mariella had to get back to her grandmother. She gave me all of her contact information, and I promised to write to her every day until I can see her again, since I don't know when that will be. She's incredible."

"So now you see why we aren't meant to be together?"

Adrian frowned and squinted in the bright sun. "Juliet, I'm sorry. I do love you, but I love her more than I ever imagined possible. I hope that someday you can be as happy as I feel right now. I feel like I have a whole new meaning and purpose in life."

"Don't worry about me," I reassured him. "I'm only happy that you're happy. That's all I wanted."

We hid behind a statue before I psychoported us both back to Adrian's room so that no one would see us leave. Before I left the room I made a promise to Adrian that he would see Mariella again soon. I had a plan that involved paying for an apartment in Florence so that he could live there for the summer until he had to come back to school. He thanked me profusely after I explained my financial situation to him, and he was excited to spend the summer with his soulmate.

Exams came and went, and everyone was glad that they were over. Many people left right away, but a few stayed behind to wait for their flights, and some were even spending the summer at the school because they had nowhere else to go. Jack was one of those people. I felt bad for leaving him behind, but I wanted to spend the summer in my sanctuary. He was shocked when I told him I was leaving because he had assumed I would be staying with him, and it would be the longest we would be separated since we met. I told him I'd heard from a distant relative who wanted me to stay with her for the summer, but he didn't completely believe my story, since he knew I didn't have any relatives.

I planned to leave on the first of July. By the thirtieth of June, three quarters of the student population had already left, including all of my roommates and Adrian, who I had taken to Florence as soon as he finished exams. I could still see Michael and Leon when I went to the cafeteria for breakfast in the morning, but I sat by myself at an empty table. Jack was still in bed sleeping.

I realized suddenly that the room had become extremely quiet. Only a moment before there had been many people talking and laughing and there had been the sound of forks scraping against plates, but all those sounds had stopped. I looked up to see if everyone had left, but they were all still there. They were sitting still and they were all looking in the same direction. I heard footsteps approaching from behind me, but I didn't turn. I already knew who it was, and I couldn't help but smile widely. I was still smiling when he sat down across from me, and he was grinning widely as well. He leaned forward and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Where have you been hiding?" I asked him. It was still painfully quiet in the room, and everyone was listening, but I was speaking Greek, so I didn't really care.

"I've been in L.A. for a few months, though I don't think I'll be staying there much longer," Amun answered in Swahili. "It's too modern for my taste. I plan on going back to Nevali for awhile."

"That sounds nice," I said. "I'll have to go visit at some point. I haven't been there in ages."

"You haven't been anywhere in ages," Amun joked. "I was hoping you'd become yourself again just so we could have a party. I've already got it all planned."

I laughed. "Well, we do have good parties."

Amun's face became serious. "Planning parties is not exactly why I'm here, Dory." That was his silly nickname for me, which still annoyed me even after thousands of years. "I did come to see you, since I've missed you, but there's something else. We're not the only ones anymore."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"You missed our five thousandth birthday, which was a year after you were born as Juliet. I was celebrating in Nevali with my people when something extraordinary happened. At the exact time of day when we were both born, two new gods were born. One in Italy, named Tristan, and one in Canada, named Sarah. Of course, that was sixteen years ago. They both have plans to attend this school next year, but they'll be careful to hide what they really are."

My heart leapt at the news. I couldn't imagine having two new friends who would be with me throughout my long years, but I was excited. "You've met them, then?"

"Yeah. I haven't seen them too many times because they've been busy, but they're both great. I told them about you, and they know you're here, so they look forward to meeting you in the fall, unless you see them before then. Sarah has already created her sanctuary, though Tristan hasn't. Sarah's is hidden away in the Himalayas, inside of a mountain. I think Tristan is still deciding what he's going to do."

"Well, it's not like it's a requirement. Having a sanctuary is a choice."

"I know, Dory. It doesn't really matter. Anyway, I wanted to let you know. I have a meeting to get to, so I have to go. I'll see you soon?" Amun stood up, and I did as well.

"Of course," I said, giving him a hug. "It was wonderful to see you."

Amun kissed me on the cheek again, and then he left. The rest of the people in the room started talking almost immediately, but I ignored them. They didn't know what we had said anyway, so they didn't know that there would be not one, but three gods in their school in the fall. I couldn't wait to meet them. As I walked to the south wing to finish packing, I wondered what the next school year would bring.

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