Nightschool chapter 6

The Hunters walked up to one of the gray stone walls of the old, seemingly abandoned church, Teresa leading the way.

Cassidy and Ten held Terrance between them. Teresa had Noh draped over her shoulder, and Jaq was carrying J the same way.

Teresa walked up to a sealed-over doorway and fumbled for a dagger. She cut across her right palm, not letting Noh fall, and slid her bleeding hand across the stone.

"Passage," she said.

The blocks of stone scraped and fell away. A figure wearing all white, an opaque white veil covering their head, holding an oil lamp, stepped out from the shadow.

"Welcome, blood of Eden. Granting you passage." The figure looked at the vampire lingering on the fringes of the group. "But not to this one."

"She still has a reflection," Cassidy explained. "Is Mona around today?"

The figure was silent for a moment. "Go. I will look after her."

"Thank you, taker," Teresa said.

"Wh–what…" the vampire asked.

"It's alright," Ten said. Cassidy slipped Terrance's arm from around her. "This is a friend. Go with her, she'll tell you what you need to know." The four conscious Hunters started through the passage.

"Good luck," Ten said over her shoulder. "Stay away from bad places."

The passage re-sealed behind them. The vampire blinked, confused.

The taker took the veil off, revealing a careworn face framed by messy, short brown hair.

"Hi there," the taker said, smiling. "I am Mona. What's your name?"

The vampire blinked again, trying to understand.

"Oh, you are new," Mona said. "Still not used to the quiet being so loud, huh?"

She put her arm around the girl and lead her off. "It's alright, we'll fix you up."

***

The four of them walked through the tent-cluttered, expansive church, looking around at the other injured Hunters.

Teresa looked over and saw a boy with a black creature clinging to his shoulder.

"Argh!! I'm telling you, damn thing came of nowhere!!" the boy insisted, flinching in pain.

"Hold still," the taker behind him said, pouring something on the creature that made a hissing sound when it hit.

"Yeah, Taka, that's what you always say," the girl standing next to him said, laughing and playing with one of her two short braids.

Cassidy looked over and saw a short-haired girl sitting down, covering her bleeding eyes.

"She triggered a spelltrap," the ponytailed woman standing behind her said, her arms folded over the strap that tied a sword to her back. "Pretty old by the looks of it."

"Well-crafted one, too," the taker standing in front of the girl said. "She'll be blind for several days, I'm afraid."

"We need to find an empty one," Cassidy said.

"Looking," Teresa muttered, glancing around.

She lifted a tarp and looked into the tent to find a scruffy-haired man sitting by one of the six beds, staring down at a boy's body, the face covered by a white sheet.

He looked up at her, his eyes glazed over.

She stayed, looking at him for a moment, sympathy clouding her eyes.

"Can I help you?" a taker behind her asked.

She snapped out of it and looked back.

"Hey, Rese, over here," Cassidy said, waving her over.

A moment later, Terrance and Noh were laying on two of the cots, and Jaq was setting J on a third.

"What's wrong with them?" Teresa asked the taker that stood between her and Cassidy.

The taker walked over to Terrance, studied him for a moment, and turned back to them.

"I do not recognize this condition. Who was the attacker?"

"We… don't know," Cassidy admitted, looking away.

"Can't you do something?!" Ten cried.

The taker turned to her. "There is nothing I can take here. No spells, no injuries. They are feeling no pain." The taker turned to look at Noh. "They are not feeling anything, in fact. Hey are not dead… but they are not alive, either. They–" The taker turned around.

Daemon walked in.

"Teacher!" Teresa said. "How–?"

Marina peeked out from behind him.

Teresa rushed over to her. "Mar!! Are you back?"

Marina nodded.

Daemon looked at the three unconscious Hunters, then turned back to the two he'd left in charge.

"Explain."

***

Alex shuffled through the pile of photographs on the table.

"No, no, no…" she muttered. "She's gone from all of them…"

"Thank you for holding," the mirror behind her said.

"Yes?!" Alex cried, whipping around.

"I am sorry, but this person is not on any of our connection lists."

"That's impossible!" Alex exclaimed. "I talked to her just an hour ago! Are you calling the name right? Sarah, Sarah Treveney."

"That's what you said the last three times, yes, and I triple-checked. This person does not exist. Good night."

The mirror blinked off.

"What is this?" Alex muttered. She brushed her bangs back. "I just talked to her."

She sorted back through the pictures, then realized her best bet.

She looked away, frowning.

"The school."

She took her jacket off of its hook, put it on, grabbed her bag, and stepped through the portal, her Astral following.

***

Daemon, Teresa, Cassidy, and Marina walked back through the graveyard to where they'd found J, Noh, and Terrance. Daemon looked at the set of footsteps that marked the path of the attacker.

"Whose decision was it to retreat instead of Hunt?" he asked.

"Mine, sir," Cassidy confessed after a moment.

"Teresa?" Daemon asked.

"I wanted to Hunt," she said.

Daemon was silent a moment. "Cassidy, excellent call. Teresa?"

"Y-yes?" she asked, gaze moving from Cassidy to the teacher.

"Send a double," he said.

She raised an eyebrow, but complied.

She took out a dagger, cut off a small piece of hair, a couple of inches long, and blew it off of her hand.

The piece of hair slowly formed a copy of Teresa.

The double looked back. Teresa gesture for it to walk forward.

It took a few steps until its foot landed next to one of the footprints, which glowed black with a symbol that looked almost like an eight, white lines like trip wires appearing above it.

Black roots erupted out of the ground, piercing through the double's body.

Teresa hunched over in pain. Cassidy stared at the double.

Its body hissed and fell to the ground, blinking back into a piece of dark hair.

Teresa gasped, clutching her abdomen.

Daemon set a hand on her shoulder. "Steady. Deep breaths."

"Laying spelltraps is illegal now!!" Teresa managed.

Daemon moved his hand back to his side. "Yes. For all that's worth to the night."

"Dammit…" Teresa muttered.

"Are you okay?" Cassidy asked, moving to put a hand on her back.

"I'm FINE!!" she snapped, swatting his hand away.

He moved back, surprised. His glasses clouded over, making his expression unreadable.

He turned away.

Teresa looked at him, regretful. She smiled a bit, sadly.

"See anything?" Daemon asked Marina.

She looked away, eyes gazing over. "Yes."

She saw a figure shrouded in white. It turned toward her, revealing a young, feminine face frame by short white hair, a smile the only feature.

"It's her," Marina whispered. "She… s-she took… time from them. As a warning to us."

"How much?" Daemon asked.

"I can't… I don't know." She thought deeply, frowning, the bags under her eyes growing deeper. "Hours. Days…? Maybe their whole lives."

Cassidy and Teresa stared, alarmed.

"Right," Daemon said, flexing his fingers. "That's definitely something we'll be wanting back."

***

Alex slipped through the other side of the portal and entered the darkened school hallway.

"The lights aren't on?" she thought out loud.

She looked around and started walking, her Astral floating beside her.

"School should still be in session, it's barely midnight…" she muttered. A pool of black slid behind her on the floor, reaching out toward her.

"Hello?" She stopped walking. "Is this the right place?" She looked around. "Can't even see anything…"

She held out her hand. "Light."

A ball of flame appeared, floating above her hand, illuminating the oily black substance surrounding her, reaching up toward her.

"What?" Alex asked, staring at it.

It wrapped around them.

Alex screamed, stuck in place by the web.

"Well, well, well," a figure walking toward them said, eyes glowing white. The figure grinned, revealing sharp teeth.

"Who have we here?"

Nightschool chapter 5

"Want to see you, yes!" Sarah found the words she was desperately searching for, blushing lightly. "I did, I did say that." She stuffed the paperback back into the drawer. "The yearbook, right."

"Do you really think you can talk Madame Chen into it?" Ronee asked. "She's turned us down cold both times before."

"I have a cunning plan," Sarah declared, grinning. "Her main problem with the yearbook–besides money concerns–is that vampires don't photograph, right? At all. So they'd feel excluded from the photo portions of the book."

"I'd be up to my neck in disgruntled sires and parents!" Madame Chen had said.

Ronee nodded. "Yes, that's the reason she gave me. What's your solution?"

Sarah summoned a folded sheet of paper, looking proud of herself. She unfolded it to reveal a very well-drawn picture of Nicholas, leather jacket and all, leaning back casually, arms across his chest. "Drawn portraits. The art club volunteered their best artists for this. I already talked to them."

Ronee took it, the other two looking over her shoulder. "This…"

The red-haired girl took it from her.

"Heeey, is that Nicholas?!" the blue-haired teen asked, chuckling.

"Ha-ha, it totally is!" the redheaded Weirn said. "The attitude is dead on. He's cutting school tonight."

"And if they don't like the drawings?" Ronee asked the keeper.

"They have the option of providing their own!" she answered, smiling.

Ronee thought a moment. "Clubs, working together, vampires getting socially involved, for once–this is clever on so many levels. There is no way she will say no."

She took the paper back from the other Weirn and placed it on Sarah's desk. "Miss Treveney."

Sarah looked up at her.

"You are new, so you may not know this. At the student level… I run this school." She turned away, looking at the keeper over her shoulder. "Get us the yearbook… and you'll never have to worry about anything from the students here."

Sarah blinked.

Ronee put a hand on the doorknob, the other two behind her. "We'll be in touch."

Sarah stared, then thought a moment.

"Ronee!" she called out the door a moment later, looking at the trio a few yards away. "I-if I get you the yearbook, can you do something about Mr. Roi, too?"

Ronee looked back at her for a moment.

"Mr. Roi does not obey any known laws of our universe," she said, turning back around.

"Awww…" Sarah muttered. "Dangit."

"It's true…" the redhead said, smiling.

"He looks hot doing it, too," the blue-haired student said, smiling, too, and blushing slightly.

A shorter, fair-haired student bumped into the blue-haired teen's shoulder, books clutched by arms wearing a pair of long, black leather gloves that matched the student's small, bat-like wings and baggy black pants.

"Hey, watch it," the blue-haired teen said.

The shorter student whispered something and slipped past them, eyes completely concealed by shoulder length, wavy hair. The student walked past Sarah's office, glanced back, saw they were out of sight, walked back over to it, and looked through the window.

Sarah mumbled to herself, rummaging through her purse.

"Aha!" she said, pulling out a compact. She flipped it open.

"Open," she said.

The mirror was taken over by white swirls that parted to reveal a dark-skinned woman with chin-length, platinum blonde hair, solid red eyes, short black horns and claw-like hands.

"Operator," she said.

"Um, hello!" Sarah said. "How are you? I would like to place a call."

"Name and location?" the operator asked.

"New York City, Queens, line crossing 234-Delta Hellgate area."

"And the name?"

"Oh, sorry! Alex, Alexius Treveney."

"Opening a line, please hold." The operator held a small strand of light on one claw and slid it to another of the hundreds of mirrors floating around her.

Sarah's compact blinked, and Alex's face appeared.

"Hello?!" Alex asked, surprised.

"Hey, hon!" Sarah said brightly. "Just checking in to see how you're doing!"

"Oh, fine, fine," Alex said, a big, fake, desperate smile on her face. "Doing great!"

She was distracted by a loud CRASH.

She turned around. "Hey, stop that!!" she yelled at the Astral scratching the wall behind her.

"Is-is everything alright?" Sarah asked.

Alex whipped back toward the mirror on the kitchen table. "Yes! Everything's perfectly fi–"

"Aaaalex?" Sarah insisted, eyebrows raised, amused.

"I-it's nothing!"

Alex looked at the papers being flung at her.

The Astral flitted around the room, tossing books on the ground, scratching at the walls, flinging papers up in the air, and messing up her hair.

"Well, maybe something," Alex said miserably. "Like, a little something."

"Alex, did you overfeed her again?!" Sarah asked.

"I didn't mean to!" Alex insisted, trying to pry her Astral from around her neck. "I made a new cookie batch and she liked them so much, I…"

"Oh, Alex…" Sarah said, smiling warmly at her younger sister through the mirror, face held in her hand. "You act so tough, but you're such a softie, I swear."

"Y-yes, softie, that's me. Er…" Alex said, watching the Astral try to braid her hair.

"Well, no worries," Sarah said. "I think we still have some Snakol."

"We do?!" Alex said, perking up.

"Yeah, on top of the shelf to your right, I think? Just give her a couple of spoons, she'll be alright. Oh, I think someone's at the door. Gotta go! See you in the morning."

"See ya!" Alex said, getting up and walking over to the shelf.

The mirror blinked off.

Alex held her hand up and a corked glass vial, half-full of black, oily-looking liquid flew into her hand.

She looked down at the paper tied to the lip of the vial by a piece of twine.

"Snakol*
Ingredients:
 dried newt eyeballs
 beetle juice
 vegetables
 snake oil
 really foul-tasting mushroom

(*may contain peanuts)"

Alex stuck her tongue out, disgusted. She turned to the Astral, grinning desperately. "Mmmmm, delicious!"

The Astral started and dashed off.

"Hey, come back here!" Alex yelled.

She chased the speedy spirit around the room.

***

Sarah opened the door to her office. "Oh, hello!" she said to the small, fair-haired student standing outside.

The student looked up, startled, hair still not letting the bat-winged teen's eyes show.

"Are you lost?" Sarah asked. "Do you need something?"

The student pointed to the left, looking down again, and whispered something. The gloved arm quickly returned to clutch the pile of books to the student's gray, short-sleeved hoodie.

"In the west wing…?" Sarah asked. "Let's check it out."

A few minutes later, the pair was walking down a flight of darkened stairs, the way only illuminated by the small flame floating above Sarah's hand.

They stopped in front of a doorway opened in the middle of the floor of the dark hallway. Sarah checked the map in her other hand.

"Oh, this hallway isn't even in use tonight…" the keeper said. "This definitely shouldn't be here." She looked over her shoulder at the young-looking student. "Wait here, I'll check it out and be right back, okay?"

The student nodded.

"Hello?" Sarah called down the portal, the light now floating behind her. "Is there someone here?" She started down the stairway, the light staying just above ground. "You have to keep you presentations to the east wing tonight, please!" Her head disappeared down the stairway. "Hellooooo!"

The door to the portal creaked, shut, and sealed into the hallway floor.

"It's done."

The student turned slowly and walked away, leaving the hallway seemingly abandoned but for the fizzling light floating above where Sarah had disappeared.

***

"I am sorry, she is in a committee meeting right now," the secretary in the main office said to the mirror in front of her, one dark-skinned, claw-like hand holding a small notebook, the other a pen. "Would you like to leave a message?"

"Agreed, then?" one of the dozen of mirrors floating around Madame Chen's desk asked.

"No objection here," the night principal said, taking a sip of coffee.

"Good with me, too. Anything else on the agenda?" another mirror asked.

"I think that's it, actually," another said.

"Oh, finally," a fourth sighed, relieved.

"Haven't had lunch yet…" the second said. "Oh, Sue…"

Madame Chen looked up from the pen scribbling on a floating notepad.

"Did you ever find a night keeper replacement?" the mirror finished.

Madame Chen smiled, eyes closed, looking proud of herself. "Yes, we did! She's new, but she's a gem."

"Oh? What's the name?"

"It's…" Madame Chen started. Her eyes opened. She frowned, looking away.

"Uh, we…" she said, "we don't have a new night keeper. Why did I say we…?"

"Well, I have a recommendation. I'll send it over."

"Er, yes, thank you," Madame Chen said, eyes glazing over in thought.

"This meeting is adjourned. Back into the breach, guys!"

The mirrors blinked off and floated back to Madame Chen's wall, the night principal staring blankly.

She poked her head out of her office. "Shelly, do we have a night keeper?" she asked the secretary.

Shelly shrugged, one fleshy hand running through her fizzy, almost-white hair. "Not since you fired the last one a month ago. Really need one, though.

"Huh," Madame Chen muttered, slipping back into her office. "I was so sure. Hm."

She summoned a stack of paper and flipped through it. "Well, there is definitely a contract. It must have a name."

She found the signature, the name Sarah Treveney fading before her eyes.

"It's blank?" she asked.

The vague image of a smiling, short-haired young woman popped into her head, evaporating even as she thought about it.

She blinked. "Why was I looking at this again?"

She thought for a brief moment.

"Oh, that's right, we need a new night keeper."

***

Ronee eased the door of Sarah's office open and poked her head in. She took in the abandoned desk, the only things still on being Sarah's purse and the computer.

She stared a moment, then looked away, frowning.

She flicked the light off, closing the door behind her as she slipped back out.

***

Alex glared at the Astral now dozing on the couch.

"No more cookies for you, ever, ever, ever…" she grumbled, cleaning up the mess the spirit had left in her wake.

"Phew," she said, wiping the sweat off her forehead. She looked around the now-pristine room, smiling to herself.

"Probably too clean," she muttered, still smiling. "Sarah will just mess it up again."

The picture one of the lower bookshelves tipped over, landing facedown.

Alex turned around, surprised. She walked over and lifted it up, studying the picture of her and Sarah, the older sister's arm around her, laughing, the younger looking insecure.

A sudden wind blew through the apartment, blowing sheets of papers around the girl, who looked around nervously until she heard a crack.

She looked back at the photo, the glass now cracked between the two of them.

The older girl faded, then disappeared, leaving only Alex in the picture.

The girl stared, alarmed.

Sarah?!

Nightschool chapter 4

Alex slammed the door behind her, gasping for breath. Her knees buckled under her and she slid down against the door, her Astral hovering protectively over her.

"W-what… happened?" Alex said to herself, her hand on her head. "How did I get home…?"

***

Teresa, Cassidy, Ten, and Jaq ran toward the three other Hunters.

Teresa knelt down beside the girl and put her hand on her neck.

"Not dead," she said after a moment.

"But just barely breathing," Cassidy said, kneeling next to the African American boy.

Jaq lifted J's head off the ground and shook him, more than gently. Ten stood over them and stared, gaping slightly, eyes wide. The vampire girl stood behind her, uncomprehending.

"Whatever happened, happened fast," Cassidy continued. "No struggle, or we'd've felt it."

He and Teresa both looked at the footprints that lead out.

"Let's go," she said, starting to get up.

"Wait!"

She turned toward Cassidy.

"We can't," he said. "Not right now." He looked back at Jaq, who was propping J up, stone-faced. "We have no idea what's wrong with them. Need to get them to St. Luc's, get help." He looked at the vampire, who still looked like she didn't understand the situation. "And look after her. She still has a chance."

"Trail's gonna get cold," Teresa insisted.

"I know. But also…" he started. "J's a lightweight, okay. But whatever that thing was, it took out Terrance." He looked at the African American boy. "And Noh." He looked at the girl. "Without even a fight. This is out of our league. We have to tell the old man."

***

"I can't remember," Alex said to herself. "Four Hunters, I saw them. Did they see me…?" She shook her head. "No, no. I was hidden. And far. And they were busy with the vampire missing link and his girlfriends. I grabbed my bag, ran, and…" She paused. "And then what?"

She searched her mind.

Three fuzzy silhouettes, two of them saying something she couldn't make out…

Shhh.

She sighed. "Ugh. Nothing. I must've been so freaked, I blanked out all the way here."

Her Astral tugged on her sleeve.

"What?"

It held a tissue above its head and pointed at it.

Alex raised an eyebrow. "I don't get it. Trying out a new look or something?"

The Astral dropped the tissue and folded its arms across its make-shift chest.

"Or maybe not, heh." Alex shrugged and smiled a bit. "Well, all's well that ends well, right? Narrowly escaping danger, kinda exciting, huh?"

The Astral looked at her meaningfully.

"I can't tell Sarah, are you kidding?!" Alex exclaimed. "She'll ground me for life!!" She paused, then looked at it, eyes narrowed. "How many cookies to keep you quiet?"

It thought a moment, then held up five fingers.

"Deal." Alex got up and started walking, unzipping her jacket. "I might as well make a new batch. Could use some too… Can't believe I almost ran into Hunters face-to-face, urgh."

The Astral tugged on her sleeve. She turned to it.

It held up eight fingers.

Alex's mouth dropped open.

"What?!! You are not getting eight cookies, you'll get sick!! I'd rather deal with Sarah being mad!"

***

Sarah sneezed hard.

"Are you feeling under the weather, Miss Keeper?" the handsome man standing in front of her asked, one hand holding a lacy handkerchief out to her, the other brushing a strand of wavy blond hair out of his eyes.

She took the handkerchief and sniffled, an eyebrow raised. "No, I am allergic to vampires hitting on me."

"Now, now," he said, putting an arm around her waist and smiling wide enough to reveal a pair of fangs. "All I asked was if I could interest you in dinner."

"Oh, dinner, sure!" Sarah said, amused. "The one involving my neck, right? All you vampire want the same thing."

"Maybe I am different," he said, looking at her neck.

"My face is up here, Mr. Kristepher," Sarah said, pointing up.

"Ahhh, the beautiful face of an angel, the promise of redemption for this tortured soul," he continued, not looking up.

"You are still talking to my neck, Lars," Sarah said, smiling. "Also, soul, what…?"

"Mr. Kristepher!!"

The two of them turned, surprised.

"Don't you have a class to teach?!!" the night principal continued.

He did.

He sighed. "Alas, cruel fate cuts short our tryst…"

Sarah giggled.

"Until we meet again, sweet angel of the night," he said, disappearing in a whirlwind of light and shadow.

"See you at lunch, heartthrob," Sarah said, smiling.

The principal walked closer to the keeper, suddenly dwarfed by the keeper's not-quite-impressive-but-slightly-more-than-average height. "Are you two… friends?" she asked suspiciously.

"Yes, ma'am, Madame Chen!" Sarah said, smiling, the other woman's tone not getting through to her. "We went to college together."

"But not dating?" Madam Chen asked, taking a sip out of her ever-present coffee cup.

"Oh no, no!" Sarah said, all smiles. "Workplace dating = can of worms, I know. And he's not really my type."

"Oh good…" the older, if noticeably shorter woman said. "I'd hate to fire you, you've been ever so wonderful here."

Sarah pulled back, eyes wide and moderately terrified.

"So, I must agree with Mrs. Hatcher's note wholeheartedly!" Madame Chen said, taking another sip. "You've done impressive work in your short time here."

Raise? Sarah thought hopefully.

"I can't give you a raise," the older woman said quickly, as if sensing her thoughts.

Sarah blinked, surprised at the precision.

"I can, however, see about the club budgets!" Madame Chen said, smiling.

She pulled out a sheet of paper. "Exactly how many have you, erm, started, let's see… amin/mehnga?"

"Anime manga," Sarah corrected brightly.

"I see, I see," the principal said. "A writer's group, a Midnight News Daily–oh, a student newsletter, that should be fun!"

She stopped suddenly, seeing the next one on the list.

She turned toward Sarah. "A "Vampires Suck" club…?"

"That one wasn't my idea, it was Lars!!" the keeper said quickly. "I-it's to help promote a positive counter to the negative stereotype of vampires in our society."

"Oh, Lars is the last person who should be doing that," Madame Chen said, chuckling and walking again. Sarah sighed with relief. "I will need to have a talk with that man."

"Oh! Do you mind have one with Mr. Roi, as well…?" Sarah asked.

"Uh-oh, what's he done now?" Madame Chen asked, turning back toward her.

"H-his… His class presentations–" Sarah started.

She was interrupted by a loud RUMBLE.

The cement underneath their feet cracked.

"He didn't," Madame Chen said, dropping her mug, eyes wide.

"Ah!!" Sarah cried, clutching her head. "Oh no, not the floors! The daytime keeper is going to kill me!!"

Madame Chen's hands clenched into fists. "He's opening dimensional portals indoors!! Again!!" She put one hand on her hip, the other pointing an accusing finger nowhere in particular. She looked so enraged, Sarah could've sworn she was literally encased in blue flame. "THAT MAN NEEDS A REMINDER THAT THIS IS A RENTED PROPERTY AND NOT HIS PERSONAL LAB THAT HE CAN BLOW UP TO SMITHEREENS WHENEVER HE LIKES!!"

"Yes, yes!" Sarah agreed, smiling and nodding vigorously.

"You go right ahead and tell him I said that," Madame Chen said, setting a hand on the keeper's shoulder. "I have a committee meeting now."

The principal dashed off. "And be nice!" she yelled back. "We're so lucky he's teaching here!"

"Don't make me go alone…" Sarah whimpered, a hand still reaching out in the direction the other woman had disappeared in.

She frowned, suddenly overcome with wrath toward the teacher.

She started stomping toward his classroom. "Okay," she said to herself. "I can do this. I will tell him off once and for all!! Who does he think he is?!"

She took a short stop by the bathroom mirror.

"Does my hair look okay?" she thought out loud, blushing slightly and trying to fix it.

She could see the echoes of light and shadow coming from the room in question halfway down the hall. She stepped in against her instinct to make a run for it, making sure to step over the holes in the floor and looked at the silhouettes of students, anything else concealed by the light emanating from above, the only other source of darkness being the symbols swirling in the brightness.

She walked up to an African American girl scribbling in a notepad, her shoulder-length, thin braids swirling in the wind.

"Hi, Ronee," the keeper said.

The girl looked back, amber eyes seeming to glow in the white light.

"Hello, Miss T," she said. "Any news on the yearbook?"

"I am this close to convincing Madame Chen," Sarah said, holding her fingers a centimeter apart. "Come see me after your class, okay?" She glanced around. "Is, um. Where's Mr. Roi?"

Ronee pointed up.

Sarah looked and saw a giant hole in the ceiling, a figure floating above it in the middle of the whirlwind.

"Should I be seeing the sky in here?!" Sarah exclaimed.

"Not usually, no," Ronee said, smiling.

"Mr. Roi!!!" Sarah yelled up. "Mr. Roi, please stop this presentation immediately!!! Mr. Roi, do you hear me??!! Mr. R…"

The man in the center of the storm looked down and smiled slightly, seeing the keeper standing in the midst of the swirl of light and symbols.

"Ah," he said, making her blush deeply. "Hello, Miss Keeper. I am in the middle of a lesson. Is this urgent?"

She frowned, one eye twitching.

"You are wrecking the school!!!" she yelled up at him, her hands balling into fists. "Disrupting other classes!! Are you trying to make me lose my job?"

He stared down at the angrily flailing woman, not able to make out a word she was saying.

"One moment, Miss Treveney, your voice is not carrying in all of this." He snapped his fingers.

"Restore."

The classroom returned to its previous pristine condition.

"Aw crap, I didn't get that last pattern," one of the students grumbled to another. "Do you have it?"

Mr. Roi brushed off his hands, then ran one through his unkempt, short black hair. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"U-uh. Umm," Sarah started, blushing again. "Do you… I have… A message! From Madame Chen! …A rented property… Not personal lab…"

The smile melted off of his face.

"Smithereens…"

He turned away.

"Please?" Sarah finished meekly.

Mr. Roi flexed his hand, not turning back to her. "One: if Madame Chen has something to say to me, I encourage personal contact in the future. Two: These premises are inadequate for my lectures. As long as I am to suffer these ill teaching accommodations… the ill teaching accommodations are to suffer me. Good night."

Sarah found herself being swept outside, the door slamming in her face.

She fumed.

She leaned in toward the door, pulled her bottom eyelid down, and stuck her tongue out.

The door opened.

"Oh, one other thing, Miss Treve…"

She froze, wide-eyed. Mr. Roi stared at her.

"You know, it really can get stuck that way," he said a moment later.

She dashed off. "Please stop wrecking the school, thank yooooouuuuu!!!!" she yelled over her shoulder.

He watched her a moment, then smiled a bit.

***

Several more small disasters later, Sarah dragged herself into her office.

"Ugh, all the crazy is loose tonight," she muttered.

She walked over to her desk, patting the ash off her shoulders, having literally put out fires.

She plopped down in her chair, shuffled through a stack of papers on her desk, put them down, and enjoyed a brief moment of peace.

She thought a moment, smiled mischievously, and pulled a paperback out of the desk drawer.

"Hello," a voice said from behind her as soon as she picked it up.

She jumped and whipped around.

Ronee was standing a few feet into the room, an Astral behind her. The wisps it was made up of were tightly wound, almost curly, and its mask of a face resembled a gray-toned traditional Mardi Gras mask around the arched-up, slightly rectangular eye sockets, with a thin line under it forming the basic shape of a jaw.

On her right was a red-haired girl, only the outline of her eyes visible under her hair, another Astral wound around her outstretched arm. Its face was a simple circle with a slight point on the bottom. A good portion of the sides of the circle were white and the center, which was left in the shape of a funnel, gray, with a thin black counter-clockwise spiral hanging from the top.

On Ronee's left was a vaguely masculine figure with short blue hair, black swirls tattooed around the neck, and solid red eyes like Mrs. Murrey's.

"You said you wanted to see me?" Ronee finished.

"How did you get in here?!" Sarah said, surprised. "So quietly…"

Nightschool chapter 3

"Well, well," Teresa said, grinning and ignoring the scowl on Nicholas's face. "If it isn't Mr. Will-Date-Anything-With-A-Pulse." She walked over to him, holding a stake against her cheek. "She your girlfriend or midnight snack?"

The girl in question had shrunk behind her boyfriend.

"Don't see her running, do you?" Nicholas asked through his teeth. "You Buffies need some glasses."

"You Nozzies need to get a tan!" Teresa shot back.

"Hey." Cassidy set a hand on her shoulder. "The treaty."

She stiffened and looked in the other direction, shrugging him off. "Well, no time for chitchat." She took a few steps away from them. "We're Hunting some real vampires."

"Reports of ripper maulings around here," Cassidy said, not looking at the vampire he was talking to. "Seen anything?"

Nicholas scowled deeper. "Go %$@& yourself."

Cassidy looked at him, eyes calm. He turned away.

"I guess you don't want help when they're ripping your girl to pieces."

"I can take care of my own!!"

"Who are rippers?" the human asked, eyes wide, voice small.

Nicholas glanced back at her, concern replacing his scowl.

He turned her around.

"We have to get out of here," he said, his hand still on her shoulder.

"Wait!" She looked back at the others. "What are they going to do to her?"

The new vampire blinked at Cassidy and Teresa, who were hovering over her.

"She must be new…" Teresa said thoughtfully. "She doesn't know to be afraid." She reached out a hand toward the girl.

"Do you want to find out… why you should be?"

The human jumped in front of her.

"Don't touch her!!!" she said too quickly.

Teresa raised her eyebrows and clicked her tongue. "Girl, you still here? Scoot on home before you're someone's dinner."

"What's your problem?!" the other girl yelled.

Teresa stared blankly. "My problem?"

The girl struggled for words. "I… I know who you are! Big frigging deal! Being the law doesn't give you the excuse to be a bitch!"

Her hands flew up to cover her mouth, her eyes wide.

Teresa glared, one eye twitching. "What did you just call me…?"

"Oh, here we go again," Cassidy muttered from behind her.

"I-I… well…" the girl started, voice shaky.

She frowned, suddenly taken over by a surge of determination.

"You heard me!" the self-proclaimed vampire rights activist snapped. "And don't try to scare me, I know you can't do anything because I'm human!!"

Teresa tightened her grip on her stakes. "No, no, no," she said, grinning crazily. "I'm not supposed to. Big difference from can't. There are loopholes I can drive a truck through, okay?!"

"They aren't breaking any treaty laws, so leave them alone!!" the girl yelled back at her.

"This one tried to bite you, hello?!" Teresa pointed at the vampire girl, who was still sitting on the ground next to them and staring at the human, drooling.

"She can't help it, she's hungry!" the girl said.

The African American girl and Cassidy sighed in unison, knowing that they wouldn't stop for a while.

"Did you leave your basic survival instincts somewhere?!" Teresa yelled at her. "What's wrong with you?!"

"Ten?" Cassidy said.

"Yeah?" the African American girl asked, not looking at him.

"Jaq and me are gonna finish the sweep," he said. "You watch things here, 'kay?"

Ten blinked and looked at him. "Wait, what?"

The other two had already fled.

"Hey, why am I stuck dealing with the catfight?!" she yelled after them.

She turned to Nicholas. "You going to do anything or what?!"

"Are you crazy?" he scoffed. "I'm not getting in the middle of that."

Ten sighed. "Great. Extra endurance testing today, I see." She looked away from the still-arguing older girls.

"And let me tell you–" Teresa continued.

"No, let me tell you!" the girl interrupted.

"Hey!! Shut it and listen!!" the Hunter threw back at her. "You don't have a clue!! What, you think this is real darkness you're dating?! This redblood? You have no idea what a real vampire is."

Ten blinked and squinted at the silhouette forming to the left of the feuding pair.

Two chalky skinned, almost ghostly-looking figures appeared, eyes glowing white in sockets of black.

Ten inhaled sharply, fear appearing in her eyes.

"Rippers!!" she yelled back at the others.

By the time they'd turned around, the younger Hunter already had two spiked chains out and was running toward the pair of vampires gone wrong.

She whipped the chains toward the pair, lunging at them.

The chains wrapped around the two, and her foot hit one of them in its overgrown jaw.

She stepped up on its chalky face and jumped off, chains tightening in her hands.

She skidded to a stop on the wet grass and turned around.

"Teresa!!" she yelled.

"On it!!" the Hispanic girl said, charging at them.

She jumped up, stakes at her side, and slipped in between them, one stake landing in one's neck, the other in the second's chest.

She skidded to a stop next to Ten, both girls watching as the rippers tore the stakes out of themselves and dove straight through the ground, leaving Teresa's stakes and Ten's chains behind.

The girls froze.

"They're going for the girl!!" Teresa realized, whipping around toward the human, who was still behind Nicholas.

The girl stared at her, not understanding until a pair of claws reached up at her from underneath.

The rippers sprung up, one holding Nicholas back, the other going for the girl's neck.

Nicholas managed to put his hand in front of her neck so the ripper bit down on it instead.

It opened its mouth, revealing a heavily bleeding wound deep enough to show bone.

One of its claws scratched out at the vampire's neck, making his head snap back and letting him go flying.

"Hey, dustbreath."

The rippers turned to see all four Hunters, ready to attack.

"You are hereby charged with breaking the treaty," Cassidy finished.

"Go!!" Teresa snapped at the others.

She and Cassidy tackled the two of them, and it became a blur of weapons.

Cassidy plunged wood into anything he could see. Teresa sliced out with her daggers. Ten whipped her chains around them, the spiked ends cutting through. Jaq was the only one unarmed, simply punching and kicking anything the others didn't get.

The human moved her arms away from her face and looked back at the Hunters, still shaking.

Ten was kneeling on the ground. Cassidy and Teresa were hovering over her, and Jaq stood off to the side.

"Get the other hand," Ten said to the leaders.

Teresa looked up and saw the girl looking at them, shaking like a leaf.

"So, want to see a real vampire?" Teresa asked. She gestured to the broken bodies on the ground. "Rippers. Nothing but ash, darkness, and bloodlust. They can't even talk anymore. Can't breathe, can't eat, can't even die properly. It's not even blood they want…" She looked down at the heavily bleeding scratch on her hand. "It's life. A taste, any taste… of what they once had." The cut stopped bleeding. She gently stroked the quickly healing wound. "Your boyfriend's future. If he still has one."

"Nicholas!!!" the girl cried, running off. She spotted him sprawled unconscious on the ground several feet away. "Nic…!!"

She knelt down and left up his deeply scratched face, tears pouring out. "Ohgod, ohgod."

"We take them with or leave 'em?" Ten asked.

"Tag a guard circle and leave them leave them for the sun," Cassidy said.

Teresa started walking away but paused, seeing the new vampire huddled a few feet away from the group.

She walked over and knelt down next to her, waving her hand in front of her glazed-over eyes.

"Wow, way deep under," Teresa muttered. "Guess this was her first show." She thought a moment. "Never seen a Hunter, never seen a ripper… huh. If she's that new, then maybe…" She pulled a compact from her pocket and held the mirror in front of the girl.

"Reflection?" Cassidy asked.

Teresa smiled a bit. "Yep. Can take her to Mona's, she'll fix her up." She snapped the compact shut. "Hey, girl. Good news. You can have your life back. Want it?"

Cassidy looked over at the human, who was holding Nicholas's head to herself.

Cassidy walked over and knelt down next to her. "Can you turn his head toward me?"

She looked at him, distrusting, her mascara running down her cheeks.

"Just want to check on him," he said gently. "I can't touch him. So you have to do it."

"Damn straight he can't touch me," Nicholas said weakly. "%$#&ing kill him if he does."

Cassidy blinked. "…It is my professional opinion that he'll be just fine."

"Nicholas!!" the girl cried. She squeezed him to her chest hard enough for an audible crunch to be heard.

"OW!!" the vampire yelled.

"Sorry, sorry!" she apologized quickly.

Cassidy stood up and walked back toward the rest of the group. "Okay, Hunters, sound off."

"Nozzie noob – ready to go and willing to look at her options," Teresa said, her arm around the blonde, who was now wearing her coat. The vampire blinked, dazed and confused.

"Rippers – all camped out and not leaving," Ten said, kneeling next to the chalky remains. She shook a can of spray paint and popped a bubble in her gum.

Cassidy turned toward the only person who hadn't spoken. Jaq was looking off at where the others had disappeared to.

"Jaq?" Cassidy asked. "How're Terrence and the others? Did they find anyone there?"

The other Hunter was silent a moment.

"Something's wrong."

The other three Hunters were sprawled on the ground, eyes closed, not moving.


I posted two! Just for the fans!

Nightschool chapter 2

Alex took a step outside and set one hand on the rail, her spell book under her other arm. She looked up at the waning moon.

"New moon is soon," she said to herself. "Time to go."

She took another step forward, only for the hood of her jacket to snag on something. She turned around and saw her spirit behind her, a hand on her hood. It tugged at it.

Alex frowned and shook her head, fingers arching over her forehead. She turned back to it, a big fake grin on her face.

"Look, when Sarah says "Don't leave the house"… what she actually means is "Don't leave the house unprotected." And since you're with me, you'll  protect me! So there's no problem, right?"

The spirit stared at her, then reached three more hands out to hold onto the building.

"Aw, come onnnn!!" Alex complained, struggling against the three hands holding her and the five gripping the wall. "I have to practice this spell outside!! Argh!! Bad Astral, bad Astral, let go!!"

She stopped struggling, breathing hard, and looked back at the spirit, annoyed. "What if I said there's a cookie in this for you?"

The spirit let go too quickly, and Alex went flying.

"Gah!!"

The spirit fussed around her as she started walking, looking through her purple messenger bag and the pockets of her white hoodie.

"Stoppit, I don't have it on me!!" Alex said, shooing it away from her hair. It dropped behind her and sulked.

"I'll get you one later, settle down," she continued, holding her hands perpendicular to her collar bone. She brought them up to her lips and blew on them gently.

"Out of sight," she whispered, running them parallel to her face.

She disappeared.

"Stop fussing! What Sarah doesn't know won't hurt her."

***

"You don't know this?"

"Um, well," Sarah said meekly. "In-in theory?"

The woman in front of her stared, annoyance and concern fighting in her solid blood red eyes, brightly painted lips in a deep frown. "But this is so basic!"

"Sorry, I'm still learning all the ropes," Sarah said, voice small.

The woman raised a pale hand to her forehead, long, sharp, red nails banging against her glasses and messing up the parted bang in her brown, flipped-out bob. "Oh very well, I supposed I can take some time to explain."

She conjured up a thick, simple looking book. "So, as it clearly states in the Night Student Guidebook…" She flipped through. "Casting spells outside the classroom on school grounds is forbidden. Breaking this rule triggers a special ward that marks the caster… Like so." She pointed to symbol on the forehead of the African American girl sitting in the chair in front of them.

"It was an accident, I swear!" the girl cried. Her Astral floating next to her, trying to comfort her. The black closed-looking eye socket on the white side of its face turned toward her in unreadable concern, the black semicircle on its white cheek rubbing against her shoulder. The white eye on its black side stared at the older teacher in an indecipherable glare. The white circle between the two sides was nearly concealed by the white veil that covered it.

"That's what they always say," the woman said, holding the book out to Sarah. "Excuse #1 in the Night Teacher's Handbook. There's a Top Fifty list, see?"

"Ohhhh!" Sarah said quietly.

"And here!" the woman said, looking over at the African American boy, brunette girl with hair just past her shoulders and eyes like the woman's, and paler boy with spiky black hair sitting against the adjacent wall. "We have a prime example of students who just don't. Know. When to stop."

She smiled, getting an idea. She turned to Sarah quickly, her hair brushing against a pointed ear. "Ms. Treveney, I do believe this is also a case to be taken straight to the night principal's office."

"O-oh, can't we just…" Sarah started.

"And since you are new," the woman continued, "I will put forth the effort and do it myself…"

"Oh no no, that's all right," Sarah panicked, "I can…!"

"And let you deal with this one. A two-hour detention in the Gray Room should do."

The African American girl started.

"Now then, follow me! Time to learn your lesson!" the woman said to the three of them, all smiles.

The brunette put her hand on her forehead.

"Yes, ma'am," the African American boy grumbled. "Mrs. Witch, rhymes with–"

"O-ho-ho, looks like someone isn't in enough trouble already!" the woman said almost evilly. "I'll be delighted to fix that for you."

The four of them disappeared through the door that led to Madame Chen's office.

Sarah looked back at the girl.

"The Room?!!" the girl panicked. "Miss T, it really was an accident, I was just passing by and–"

"I believe you," Sarah interrupted. She held out her head and erased the mark on her forehead, a knuckle brushing against one of the girl's small, curly twin buns. The girl's eyes squeezed shut, emphasizing her long eyelashes. "No detention, but promise to be more careful, okay? And don't tell anyone… Or we'll both be in trouble. Mrs. Murrey will eat us or something." She tilted her head toward the door where the teacher had disappeared.

"So not a problem," the girl said, opening her eyes and shaking her head. She reached out to pet her Astral. "Thank you very much, Miss T. Do you need any help here?"

Sarah turned around and put the books up. "No, I'm all right, thank you. Also, isn't our class going on a field trip tonight?"

"Yes, ma'am! Twilight Lakes."

"Ah, great place. Waters deeper than time and colder than death," Sarah said thoughtfully. "Good spot for annoying some mermaids." She chuckled.

The girl giggled. "I better get back to class then," she said, walking toward the door. "Thanks again!!"

"Anytime!" Sarah called back brightly. She watched her leave, then frowned slightly.

She walked over to her desk and plopped into her chair, face in her hand. "Wish Alex would go…" she said to herself. She sighed. "She better be studying."

***

The gate to the graveyard said "No Trespassing", but that didn't stop a mysterious set of footprints without a source from marching up to it.

"Aww, they fixed the hole!" Alex complained, reappearing.

"Hmm…" she muttered, looking at the wrought iron spikes on top. She looked at her Astral.

"Okay, let's try it," she said. Black wisps of substance wrapped around her.

She stepped back a bit, took a running start, and jumped right over the fence, the Astral still clinging to her.

She had almost landed when a loud RRRIIP snapped her out of it.

"Aw, man!" she complained, looking up at the torn messenger bag stuck on a spike, whose strap left her dangling a foot off the ground. She slipped out from it and tugged at the bag.

"Figures," she grumbled, "that's what I get for lik… for hating it."

She glanced back and saw her Astral looking away, guilty. "Heeey, this wasn't your fault," she said consolingly. She yanked the bag down, ignoring the giant tear in the bottom.

"It's me…" she said quietly, looking away. "I just… I need to get better. Stronger." She took a deep breath. "And I will be. Just you watch."

She looked at her Astral, a translucent white veil suddenly draped over her head.

"I will be the power that shapes the world."

The Astral hissed and slid back.

Alex blinked, surprised, the veil gone. "What was that?" she muttered, hand on her head. The Astral fussed over her. "I'm okay, I'm okay. What was I saying?"

She blinked, dazed. "Well, whatever, let's go." She started walking, slouching and dragging the torn bag behind her. "Sheesh, can I have more weird tonight, please? Hope no one got buried on my practice sight," she grumbled.

A short while later, Alex was crouching behind a gravestone, staring into the middle of the graveyard.

"Aw, come on!!"

A human girl was standing in Alex's practice sight, glancing around quickly. She pulled the hood of her leather, short-sleeved mini-dress over her Rogue-style black hair, a gray-clad wrist brushing back a white strand of it.

"Damn straight I'll kick her out," Alex grumbled. "I've got homework to do… What's a human doing out here so late, anyway?"

The girl continued looking around, not quite nervous, chewing on her bottom, cherry red lip. She jumped, seeing the swirl of leaves, light, and shadow appearing to her right.

A blond teenaged boy appeared, the collar of his leather jacket blowing away from his white long sleeved shirt, which was blowing against his leather pants.

"Nicholas!!" the girl exclaimed. "I thought you weren't going to make it!"

"I wouldn't miss this for the world," the boy said, leaning down toward her, a rose behind his back. "To be honest, I didn't think you'd come."

She put her hands on her hips. "Ha, you don't scare me!" she said, smiling.

"You had to wait," Nicholas said softly. He held the rose out to her and took her blushing face into his hands. "Let me… make it up to you." He leaned in closer and opened his mouth slightly, revealing a pair of fangs.

Alex gagged and turned away from the kissing couple. She glared in their general direction.

Her face brightened with an idea.

"Did I take it?…" she whispered to herself, rummaging through her bag. "Aha!"

She pulled out a notebook entitled, "vampires In Their Natural Habitat, an observational journal by Alexius Treveney" and a pair of binoculars. She opened the notebook on her knees and put the binoculars up to her eyes, smiling. She had a night speciology report to do.

Crunch

The three of them started.

Nicholas and the girl turned toward the source of the sound.

"Who's there?" he growled.

The fall leaves rustled and crunched until a silhouette appeared around the corner of a large tombstone.

A girl in her early teens staggered out, wavy blonde hair half-covering her face and glazed-over eyes, the blood from a deep wound on her neck dripping down and staining the top half of her shirt.

"H-help…" she whispered weakly.

"She's hurt!" the other girl cried, rushing toward her.

Nicholas watched, slightly exasperated.

"C-cold…" the blonde whispered.

The black-haired girl looked her over and turned back to Nicholas. "Nicholas, she's been bitten!! Is she going to turn?!"

"Huh… Hungry…"

"Uh," Nicholas said, raising an eyebrow at her. "She already has."

The blonde girl lunged at the human, shrieking, eyes wild.

The human gasped, closing her eyes.

Nicholas pushed the other vampire away before she could lay a hand on her.

"Hands off, newbie!" he growled. "This one's mine."

The newbie snarled and scratched across Nicholas's face, leaving five deep marks.

He pushed her back and punched her, causing her head to snap back.

"Observation Cycle II, Day 13," Alex jotted down, "vampires–still go for the jugular. Humans–still dumb as lampposts."

He sent her skidding back across the ground.

"I said back off!!" He wiped at the blood on his face.

The other vampire pushed herself up, snarling. Her nails dug into the ground.

"Touch her and you're dust, you hear?" he growled.

"You two need some help killing each other?"

Nicholas turned toward the voice.

Teresa and Cassidy were standing behind them, flanked by the fair-haired Hunter and the African American girl.

"Because I'd volunteer," Teresa finished, a stake in each hand.

Alex stared from her hiding place.

She ducked back behind the tombstone, her notebook clutched to her chest. She squeezed her eyes shut.

Hunters.

She shoved the notebook into her bag, yanked it off the ground by the strap, and made a run for it.

She stopped too suddenly and fell, taken aback by the other three Hunters standing in front of her.

The girl with the braid and red make-up looked off to the side, watching the other four with the vampire.

"Told you there's someone here," the African American boy said.

"Not just someone," J said, smirking. "It's a little Weirn. With her Astral all showing, how cute."

Okay everybody sorry about how long it took to post this!

New Story YAY!

Hey everyone! i got a story for nightschool fans out there! someone wrote nightschool chapters so i am putting them one here -

Nightschool chapter 1

We push darkness away… with our fires and lamps and brightly lit cities. But even there, shadows lurk. In the dark corners, behind the cold glass of darkened mirrors.

As old as our world is this one – the world of the night. The place of blood magic, swift wings, and sharp teeth bared in a knowing smile. Push it away though we may in our cities…

…It's still there.

***

"I'm telling you, something's not right about this school."

Three high school girls were walking down the school hallway, ready to finally go home for the night.

"I get the heebie-jeebies whenever I stay late," the blonde girl continued, clutching the strap of her gym bag, the one that matched those of the other two girls, ponytail bouncing against the sleeve of her pink baby doll.

"Just because you're a scaredy cat doesn't mean the school is haunted," the Hispanic girl said, shaking her head so her hoops hit against her jaw and her ponytail brushed against her shoulders.

"Yeah, no more horror flicks for you, man," the brunette said, laughing and looking back at the two behind her. Her sneakers were bouncing against her back, arms set behind her head, pressing her messy bob against the back of her neck and pulling against her jersey.

"Just let us know when you start seeing dead people, 'kay?" the Hispanic girl said, pulling the hood of her red and white cropped jacket over her hair and looking at the blonde menacingly.

"Oh, very funny!!" the blonde yelled back, hitting her in the arm.

Hwoooo…

The girls froze, their hair suddenly swept up in a breeze. The blonde grabbed the black-haired girl's arm as the lights started to flicker.

Creak

The girls' heads whipped toward the sound. The door to the hallway's girl's bathroom screeched open, the "Do Not Enter" sign plain, even in the dim, unnatural lighting. The girls turned to look at each other, eyes wide.

"…Huh?!" the blonde exclaimed, staring at the open door. "Huh?!"

"Just wind in the pipes," the Latina said, sounding more confident than she looked. "Or… or something."

The three of them crept over and peeked through the crack.

"This one's been closed since last year," the blonde whispered nervously. "And tell me it doesn't give you the creeps!"

The other two stepped in.

"ARGH, DON'T GO IN THERE!!" the blonde yelled.

"Well, it's pretty dark, but other than that…" the brunette said, looking around.

The Hispanic girl flicked the switch next to the door. "Hey, the light switch doesn't work."

The three of them stepped farther in, toward the almost full-length mirror, the blonde glancing around nervously.

"Wow, this mirror's huge," the Latina said. The blonde looked behind them.

The girls froze, all three seeing the silhouette in the doorway.

They screamed.

A hand reached out and flicked the light on.

"What are you girls doing here?" The African American woman just outside the room asked. "All club activities are finished. You should be home."

"H-hello, Mrs. Hatcher!" the blonde said, shocked and relieved. The other two were breathing too hard to speak. "We were just, um…" She glanced at the other two.

"Save it," the woman said, hand behind her back. A strange swirl of energy appeared around the palm. She held it out in front of them.

"You lot get on home now," she said almost hauntingly, the swirl growing in front of their stunned faces. "If I catch you wandering unsupervised after hours again…"

The three of them turned around robotically, eyes glazed over and staring ahead blankly.

"You'll be glad it was me. And not something else," she finished.

She watched the three humans head toward the door, their minds wiped of ever having been in the out of use restroom.

Her attention turned to the clock above the door. She watched the seconds tick away until the minute hand landed on the 12 and the hour hand fully on the 6 with a resounding tchk.

She raised her hands level to her chest as the door clicked shut.

"The hour strikes and the time turns," she whispered. An engraved circle appeared around her feet, swirls of light and shadow swirling in front of her closed eyes and lifting her blouse and cropped-short hair slightly with a quiet breeze.

"This place… is no longer yours." The blinds drew together and the lock on the front doors clicked in.

"Shadows, resume your reign."

An engraved circle identical to the one around the keeper's feet appeared on the lengthy mirror in the restroom.

A shadow without a source appeared in the center, the fingers of one hand reaching through.

"Keeper," the smaller woman stepping though the glass whispered.

"Madam Night Principal."

"Good evening, how are–" the night principal said brightly, heels takking forward, a full folder balanced precariously under one arm, a cup of coffee scalding the other hand.

"Madam Night Principal, I would like to lodge a formal complaint!!" Mrs. Hatcher interrupted.

The smaller woman gulped. "…O-oh. My favorite way to start work…" She chuckled nervously.

"We absolutely must move the gate to a better location!!" the keeper continued. "You just narrowly missed meeting three very suspicious day students face-to-face!" She glanced back as if worried someone else had stayed behind.

The night principal turned away and huddled over her folder and coffee. "…Oh dear, um…" she muttered. "…Can I have my coffee first?" she asked sheepishly, starting to walk down the hallway.

"I cannot work under these conditions!!" the taller woman complained, following her, her fingers snapping over her own words. "I am undermined at every turn!"

"…I'll just have my coffee first," the principal said, taking a sip. The steam made her glasses fog up.

"And the new night keeper is still not here!" Mrs. Hatcher exclaimed.

The night principal looked back at her quickly and a bit startled, her black bob brushing against her cheek. "She's not? Doesn't she have another training session with you today?"

"YES! She is always late!! Fire her already," the day keeper insisted, scowling and leaning down so she was almost the principal's height.

"But the kids love her," the principal said nervously. "Let's give her another chance! I'm sure she's just on her way…"

***

Elsewhere in the city, a young woman in her mid twenties was snoring loudly on a black leather couch, messy brown bob half-covering her face.

Guess who it was.

The white-haired girl standing next to the couch stared down at her silently, a ghostly black form with white streaks on its "head" and a simple white mask-looking face that spread out into what would have been a hairline floating behind her.

The girl turned around and the spirit handed her a bucket of water.

"AAAAAH!!" the woman screamed, awoken by the splash of cold. She looked around quickly, alarmed and confused, but the girl and spirit had already slipped around the corner.

The woman blinked, dazed.

And plopped her head back down on her soaked-through pillow.

"Ten more minutes," she grumbled.

The girl jumped back, shocked.

She ran over and tugged hard on the blanket now clutched in the woman's hands.

"Argh, get up!!" the girl yelled, struggling to pull the blanket away. "You're already late!!! Come on, you can't sleep in a puddle!!"

"I am a mermaid," the woman deadpanned, not lifting her head up.

"Like hell you are!!"

"I don't have to work today."

"Lies, all lies!"

The girl grabbed a mug from the spirit's hands. "Drink this," she said, holding it out to the woman, "NOW."

"W-what is it…" the woman said nervously, still hiding under the covers.

"A magic drink that will turn you back into a human," the girl deadpanned. "Now, DRINK. Don't make me hold your nose again!"

Three magic drinks (coffee) later, the woman was running around the kitchen, struggling to put on a white button down over her black camisole.

"THBMNGF??!!!" she asked through a bagel.

"It's on the kitchen counter," the girl said, now sitting at the kitchen table with a notebook and several sheets of paper, the spirit beside her. Her heavy bang almost concealed her eyes, and her squared-off bob did the same to her cheeks.

"FNGMMNG!!" the woman exclaimed, dashing around.

"To your left," the girl said. "Your other left."

"Bmhmn," the woman muttered miserably.

"Yeah, well, that's what you get for staying up so late," the girl said. She held out her hand and the spirit dropped a pencil into it. "Hey, you never gave me tonight's spell assignments."

The woman took the bagel out of her mouth. "Yeah, well, that's what you get for being home-schooled. I mean really, if only you…"

The girl's eyebrow twitched. She looked back at the woman. "This better not be another "school is awesome, you should go" speech."

The woman opened her mouth, hesitated, and looked away. "It-it's not."

"Good." The girl spread her hands apart, looking at the book the spirit was holding in front of her, a ball of energy forming between her hands.

The woman poked her head around the corner and looked at her as if there was something she wanted to say, but she knew she shouldn't.

"Don't look at me like that," the girl said, staring intently at the ball of energy. "You know why I can't go."

The woman looked away. "I, um… I-I think you could work around that. It's been what, three years? I mean, you're doing alright with me. Maybe with other people…"

"No," the girl said firmly, sketching on one of the sheets of paper.

The woman stared at the ground for another moment, then sighed. "Fine. Study pages 29-54. Try not to burn the house down."

The girl had her hands spread apart again, a swirl of energy between them. "I have a bucket of water, just in case. You may remember its cousin from fifteen minutes ago."

The woman froze, then chuckled. The next thing the girl knew, the woman's arms were around her. The girl's blue eyes looked up at her forehead against her head.

"Alex, Alex…" the woman said. "What am I going to do with you?"

She mussed up her hair.

"H-hey, stop that!!" Alex exclaimed.

"Big sister pulling rank, ha-ha!!" the woman said. "Whozza cutie, awwww!"

Alex struggled against her. "Argh! Stop being mushy!! Eww!"

"Make me, make me!"

The woman kissed above her ear. "Study hard, hon," she said softly. "We'll figure this out, I promise."

She grabbed her bagel and purse and stepped toward the elaborate circle drawn on the wall. "Well, I'm off! If I don't come back within the next hour, that means I didn't get fired!!"

Alex looked after her, obviously wanting to say something.

"Argh, where did I put my pass…" the woman grumbled through her bagel, both hands busy going through her purse.

"Sarah."

The woman looked up. "Hmm?"

"I, um…" Alex started. "I hate you," she whispered.

Sarah smiled. "I know. I love you, too." She stepped backwards into the now-open portal. "See you in the morning!"

Alex looked after her a moment, then leaned her head against the spirit's and caressed its mask-like face.

***

An African American man stepped too close to the edge of the skyscraper, looking up at the sky with his almost-white eyes, dreadlocks blowing in the wind.

"Teacher," one of the seven kids behind him said. He was a red-haired, blue-eyed teenage boy with freckles and glasses, a shark tooth necklace blowing from his black T-shirt to knock against his many-pocketed jacket. "Are we Hunting tonight?"

"Yes," the man said, not turning to look at him.

"Then…" another of the teenagers started. She was a pretty, if bitter-looking, Hispanic girl with dark brown hair almost down to her waist. Her right arm was crossed over her left one, which was holding a stake that was knocking against the daggers on her belt. The high collar of her white cloak blew against her neck and over her tight black top, almost covering the black clasp that attached one side of the collar to the other. "What are we waiting for?"

The man looked back at her. "You are waiting until you learn the concept of patience."

"Ha-ha, gonna be a while for that one," another of the boys joked. He sneered at the girl, his dark eyes scrunching up, his shaggy brown hair blowing against the collar of his zipped-up sports jacket.

"Aw, you should talk," the girl grumbled back.

"As for me…" the man continued, returning his gaze to the sky, "I am waiting for a bad omen."

A symbol appeared in the clouds. Three white lines swirling out from the middle of a circle of black.

"And there it is," he said. "Hmm." He pulled up the hood of his white jacket. "Cassidy."

"Sir?" the redheaded boy asked.

The man opened his jacket and checked the three daggers on the inside. "You and Teresa are in charge tonight. Bring everyone back safe."

"Yes, sir," Cassidy and the Hispanic girl said in unison.

The man looked back at them, a light smile playing on his lips. "Curfew's at 6 a.m. You know what happens for missing it."

He jumped off the building. "Play it right, Hunters."

The seven Hunters, Cassidy and Teresa in the forefront, watched him leaving, not so much running as almost flying.

At one edge of the group stood a girl with heavily made eyebrows and dark eyeliner almost covered by her heavy brown bang. The squared-off bob-like style just above her chin blew against her lips, almost hiding the red paint over the top one and down through the center of her chin. Her waist-length braid whipped around her, swirling over her red and gray collar-clasped jacket, the end brushing against her low-cut black shirt.

Behind her stood an older-looking African American boy with short, curly hair and a thick streak of red under his left eye. He adjusted the high collar of his dark brown jacket, his sleeve brushing against his white T-shirt.

Next to him stood an androgynous figure with fair hair just past the shoulders, covering half the teenager's face and brushing against a zipped-up gray and black sports hoodie.

Slightly behind stood a younger-looking, lighter-skinned African American girl with large, pretty, almost amber eyes and her hot pink-highlighted, extremely curly, almost black hair in layered pigtails that brushed against the hood of her zipped-up, blue-detailed white jacket. Unlike the others, she wasn't standing straight in their teacher's direction. Instead, she had her left shoulder forward like she was about to walk off to the right.

Next to her stood the boy who had called out Teresa. He was the only one not looking at where the man had jumped off the building. Instead he was looking off to the left, away from the others.

"Right, we move out," Cassidy said, looking around.

The African American girl took a stick of chocolate Pocky out of the pocket of her jeans and stuck it in her mouth, munching thoughtfully.

"Aw, man," the boy with the shaggy hair complained, "curfew? We 12 years old or what?"

"Shut it, J!" Teresa snapped. "You got a problem, you take it up with the old man himself, yeah?"

***

A seal crackled on the main door of the school, then fizzled out.

"Oops," Sarah muttered, hands still held out.

"Ugh, step aside," Mrs. Hatcher complained from behind her. She stepped in front of her and held her hands so the fingers almost formed a circle in front of her chest.

"Seal," she said, hands now held out in front of the door.

The engraved circle of the seal kchked into place.

"There… finally," Mrs. Hatcher muttered, brushing off her hands. "Do you have all the–"

She was interrupted by a loud howwl.

"Keys," she finished, both women's heads whipping around to look at the shadows flitting across the lockers.

Sshaaaa

Screeech

Mrs. Hatcher looked at Sarah. "A bit early for students to be arriving."

"Oh!" Sarah said brightly. "That's my manga/anime club."

Mrs. Hatcher stared at her suspiciously. "Your what?"

Sarah gulped. "A m-manga club… A-and anime… um, cartoons…"

Mrs. Hatcher's eyes narrowed at her. "You started an extra-curricular activities club?"

"Um, kind of…" Sarah said softly, nervously. "Several… We don't have a budget, I know, but we can fund-raise…"

Mrs. Hatcher turned away and scribbled something on a notepad.

"Oh, please don't fire me!" Sarah said desperately. "I need this job!"

Mrs. Hatcher turned back toward her and handed her the slip of paper. "Give this to Madam Chen. It's a recommendation that you get an activities budget and a raise."

Sarah blinked, uncomprehending. Then threw her arms around the older woman.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Sarah cried.

Mrs. Hatcher struggled to get loose. "If you are thankful, stop being late to work!!"

"But it's so hard to wake up…"

"If I can do it, so can you!! Being a keeper is not supposed to be easy! And we are not on hugging terms, so get off!"

Sarah complied. Mrs. Hatcher checked her watch and brushed her hair away from her forehead. "I am late for dinner, Miss Treveney, I have to go."

She stepped halfway through the portal the seal had opened for her. "Keep up the good work."

She stepped back so only a fuzzy silhouette was visible. "Be safe from Hunters."

The smile melted off of Sarah's face. "Be safe from Hunters," she echoed seriously.

Four haunting-looking shadows appeared behind her.

"Hello, Miss T," one the eerie figures whispered.

Sarah turned toward them, eyes glowing white with left-over magic.

"Hello, children. Welcome back."

***

The two men guarding a door in a vast Manhattan building stared at the man in front of them.

The Hunters' teacher had a crossbow aimed at them.

"How did you get in here??!!" one of the men said through his teeth, panic showing in his slit-pupiled eyes.

"Magic," the African American man said. "You boys going to be stupid, too, or are you going to step aside? And yeah, these are silver, in case you are wondering."

The door behind the two men creaked open an inch.

"Daemon, are you here?" a small voice from behind the door whispered.

"In the flesh, seer," the African American responded. "Got your message."

The men turned toward the figure mostly hidden by the door.

"Miss?" one of them asked, dumbfounded.

The figure behind them flung one of the doors open, hiding behind the other.

"Just be a minute," Daemon said, shoving a crossbow at each of the guards, who flinched involuntarily. "Hold on to these for me."

He stepped into the large, messy room and took in the elaborate and expensive furnishings.

"Psst!"

Daemon turned toward the source of the sound and saw a face peeking up from behind a couch.

He walked over and knelt down next to the small girl of about 12 or 13, her short, spiky black hair half-covering her pale forehead, her heavy eyeliner emphasizing the bags under her eyes. She was cowering under a small table, chin set on the torn stockinged knees pulled up to her chest, two tiny hoops in one ear and a large stud in the other brushing against them, combat boots pulled against the leather miniskirt half hidden by her white cloak.

"What's going on, kid?" he asked. "They treating you right?"

"No," she said quietly. "Yes. Yes, they are fine. They give me anything. Don't hurt them. It's not them."

"You've seen something," he realized.

The girl's hands came up to her face, fingers arching over her glazed-over eyes.

"A broken seal," she whispered. "Something… something was in there. Not anymore. There is me, standing. And then another. And another. Seven. All children. All cloaked in white. We waited a long time. And now… we walk away.

"And the sky turns wrong. There are bodies everywhere. We walk. And walk. And walk."

Tears sprung into the girl's eyes. She buried her face in her hands. "Teacher, I am so scared."

"Marina, do you still want this job?" Daemon asked after a moment.

She shook her head. "I want to go home," she whispered.

"That's all I need to know."

A moment later, the door flew open. The guards ran in.

"Miss Zaikina!!!" one of them yelled desperately, only to discover their seer was missing, replaced with a note pinned to a table with a dagger, reading:

"Due to personal circumstances, Marina Zaikina is no longer able to remain in the employ of the Chase family as seer. Any concerns about this fact should be addressed to her legal guardian,
Daemon.
Daemon"

"Sorry 4 the
trouble ?
Marina"

The one reading the note stiffened and turned to the other guards, eyes wide. "You morons!! Boar's going to have our hides for this!!"


***

Daemon and Marina walked down the crowded New York City sidewalk, his arm protectively around her small form, emphasized by his impressive stature. She clung to his long black cloak that framed his more subtle jeans, sneakers, and white jacket, hood still over the head that was as high as two of her. She mumbled something incomprehensible.

"What is it?" he asked, looked down at her.

"I am still walking, Teacher," she whispered. "The others are still walking." She looked up at him. "But not her."

The image of a white-haired girl, a ghostly black form behind her, appeared in her head.

"She is already here."

sorry

I haven't finished the next chapter of phantom figures yet! maybe tomorrow