Untitled First Chapter of my Current Project (Also Untitled)
A/N: This is my first attempt at the first chapter and I would love your advice since I intend to put this on fictionpress as well. Also I need potential ideas for the story title and chapter titles. I'm trying to aim for novel length just so you know. Enough of this blah blah blah! Onto the crappy chapter.
Something tore me away from my slumber which was a mixed blessing especially due to how dark that dream turned.. As I stirred into full awareness the strands of that bizarre dream began to vanish in the light of day. However, I couldn't help but feel something like I was missing something. With a slow shake of my head, I stumbled out of bed and got ready to start my day.
A little while later I headed downstairs to get a bowl of cereal when I heard my mother's voice speaking to an unknown man in the living room. Now normally I would be slightly paranoid but right now I didn't give a rat's arse. I crouched down in an attempt to make it to the kitchen unnoticed. I would have made it as well if it wasn't for the fact that I am not the most graceful person.
In other words I tripped on nothing and as I landed hard on the carpet a very colorful combination of verbs and nouns passed my lips.
“Cassandra Araceli! Can't you at least try to act polite in front of others?”
A very unladylike snort came from me. “I'll try mother.” Hell, I even pulled the 'modest maiden' act complete with gazing downward away from her suspicious glance.
The man's voice was soothing as he spoke to me. “Hello Cassandra. I am quite pleased to finally meet you.”
I went back into my usual carefree stance. “That's nice Mr...” I let the sentence hang for a minute since I actually didn't know who he was and I didn't care to look at him since I felt that something would happen if I did.
“Kevin Rane.” he supplied and for some random reason I looked at him.
He had a slight build and his skin was very lightly tanned. I took in his pure white tennis shoes and black jeans before moving up. I quickly noted that he looked muscular despite his lithe form. Up I went to his face where I saw curious forest green eyes and tousled reddish-brown hair. His facial features were refined as well.
I looked toward my mother in search of answers but just my luck she left the house if the car's engine starting up was any clue.
“What can I do for you Mr. Rane?”
“Please call me Kevin and I'm here to help you of course. Someone has to help you understand where you stand.”
I stared at him as if he suddenly stripped down to his underwear and danced around the living room proclaiming his love for bubble gum. “What the hell are you talking about?”
Kevin looked confused when he asked “You haven't been told anything?”
I blinked before demanding what he knew.
“You're uncle, Aidan Araceli, is missing on one of his trips and quite possibly is dead.” As if it was an afterthought Kevin added, “Or worse.”
Well, that bites. Now I really want to know what this guy is here for. “Is there anything I can do to help?” passed my lips before I could stop it.
Kevin's face lit up in excitement. “You mean you'll seriously help out?” He quickly became serious as he continued on. “You do realize that there are some things you must do before we can really get into this.”
“I'm not selling my organs on the black market or doing anything extremely illegal like that.”
He continued on as if ignoring my comment. “First off you are going to have to meet the leaders of several groups which are quite friendly to Aidan before moving on to tougher groups. Secondly you are going to school.”
Interruption time! “Kev... may I call you Kev?” He looked blankly at me so I continued on. “I've completed the hell known as high school a few months ago so I see no reason to head back down that traumatizing path.”
“It's not high school so you don't have to worry about that.” Kevin seemed hesitant. “It's called Spiritual Glow Academy and it is an university for the er... gifted.” He stared straight into my eyes. “It's for the supernatural races and those with unique abilities to hone their skills.”
Alright then, he's definitely a nut job. “Like fae, were-creatures, and the occasional merperson?”
Kevin nodded. “It's good that you understand. Especially due to the fact that this is all quite sudden.”
With a short nod of my own, I spoke my thoughts. “Have you checked with a shrink recently? You really should especially since you are talking about things that are a tad bit crazy.”
He walked a few feet into the hallway and began to say something in a strange language. As he talked what I took as a sky blue circle began to form on the floor and the longer I stared at it the more it made sense. The symbols within it actually made sense!
Now I have proof that insanity is a virus since apparently I'm as crazy as he is now. “What are you doing?” Kevin continued on as if he didn't hear me. Or rather ignoring me. I REALLY hate it when people do that.
Apparently he's psychic since he gave me a apologetic smile before hurrying up with whatever he was doing. After another moment the symbols stopped moving and Kevin held his hand out to me. Tossing caution and all rationality away, I headed to the circle and placed my hand in his. Before I knew what was happening I was up against his chest and the circle seemed to suck us into it. Just like any moderately sane person would do in a predicament such as this, I screamed long and hard. Well, that was until my mind decided that everything so far was way too weird to comprehend and shut down.
The first thing I realized as I stirred back into awareness was the cold stone floor beneath me which was closely followed by the feeling that I was in someplace that I shouldn't be. At least not yet.
Standing up as soon as I could and with a quick glance around I discovered that I was in a stone hallway with doors every now and then. Gathering up my courage (which wasn't much at this point) I headed to the closest door and opened it. What laid beyond the door was without a shadow of a doubt the most disturbing thing I've seen. At least for a while.
My once pristine sneakers became quite bloodied as I stepped into the battlefield but frankly I didn't give a rat's ass. That's probably due to the fact that bodies were as far as the eye could see. The dying screams of a man calling for some woman mixed with the whines of some type of beast reached my ears. This was followed by sadistic and obviously unhinged laughter coming from deeper within the massacre.
Something told me that I HAD to know what it was. That it was important for me to know. Whenever I listened to that voice I always got into trouble and this time I didn't want to add myself to the body count.
“Ah to Hell with it. I'll just take a quick peek and if it gets too dangerous I'll sneak off.” And with that my mind was made up. I carefully made my way north while avoiding the weapons and the dying or more likely by now dead people.
There was a broken barrier made from reinforced wood and now covered by bodies that was close by where I thought the voice was. Pulling a spy moment, I crouched against it before bringing my eyes just above the edge and froze.
He's kind of good looking. I stared at the blood stained sword in his hand and him still laughing before adding with a shudder, For a mass murderer.
From my vantage point, I could see the side of his face but couldn't make out much detail thanks to his long pure white hair which was dyed red from the slaughter that he had caused. His clothing looked strangely like a dark gray kimono and some type of ribbon or chain surrounded his arms and legs. With each breath he took I noticed that the chains tightened as if to punish him. He just laughed it off so I decided that he was a masochist as well.
Okay, now that my curiosity has gone bye-bye I'm getting out of here!
The laughter stopped and I became worried that I spoke that aloud. My thoughts were confirmed when he said in a soft, almost teasing voice, “Shall we play my little mouse?”
In no mood for playing ANY type of game with this psycho bitch, I ran faster and faster toward the door. I would have made it too had I not been my graceful self and trip over a discarded weapon and have the left side of my face introduced to a puddle of blood.
The man roughly flipped me over and prepared his sword to cut my throat (which is quite merciful considering every other way he killed these people) when he paused in shock for a moment or two. His red-violet eyes observed everything about me in that moment and I felt unclean.
“Is there something interesting about me that has caught your attention, oh great slayer of innocents?” He smirked at my confused self then offered a hand up. I got up on my own which made him chuckle. “I would really like to know if you are going to kill me or not. Just so I'll know whether to plead for my life.”
“I won't kill you.” He took a step closer to me and I backed toward the door which judging by the fact that he's not preventing me from leaving his presence only I could see. “Nor will I hurt you.”
I stopped when my back hit the door. “I'm sure you tell that to all the woman. Right before you disembowel them.”
“My name's Tsuna Ito.”
Tsuna reached out to touch my cheek to wipe the blood away (or so I desperately hoped) and I just wished I was away from there. Hell even being in the hallway was better then where I currently am.
“Cassandra Araceli...”
I touched the door and willed it to open up and since I am so totally awesome it obeyed and I was out of there like a bat out of hell.
Back in the hallway I was practically ecstatic that I was free from that freak. A nearby sign noted it as Realm of Diangi - Plains of Sorrow
“Now I know why they are called that.” Sighing in relief of the fact that my life was spared somehow the severity of my current problem struck me full force. “How do I get to the main gates of Spiritual Glow Academy from here?”
A large pair of gates appeared before me and without thinking which I should have especially after my little incident mere seconds ago. The next thing I knew Kevin was clutching onto me as if I would disappear once again.
“Holy hell Cassandra! You have no idea how worried I was. One second you are with me and the next minute you're gone.”
I told him of my little adventure and he appeared shocked at first but quickly became contemplative. “So tell me more about this school. What's so special about it? Besides the fact that it's a supernatural hotspot.” Quickly changing the topic seemed successful if the lessening of the tension between us was any indication.
“Well, various beings ranging from were-creatures to humans exist more or less in peace and protection should they need it. They have clubs and the main school is surrounded by nature with the closest city fifteen to twenty miles away. Luckily it's a large city so there's tons to do.”
We walked until stopping in front of a statue of a human male and some sort of female were-creature holding hands in contentment. “I'm guessing that this statue represents some sort of unity among the races.”
“That's correct Ms. Araceli. I'm glad you are quite accepting of all this and in such a short amount of time as well. Most people would panic at learning of their potential.”
We both turned to face a elderly man who wore every day clothes of shorts and t-shirt and Kevin nodded to him. “Hello Christophe.” Kev pushed me forward to this seemingly important person. “This is your Headmaster Christophe Bane.”
“I'm Cassandra Araceli and I am pleased to make your acquaintance.” I said with a respectful nod of the head.
“Christophe... There's been a development.”
The man's brown eyes were still sharp despite his old. “I see... Shall we head to my office?”
I sat outside the headmaster's office in a sitting area merely twiddling my thumbs in boredom. My thoughts wandered over to the little memories of my uncle I had and I wanted desperately to know what exactly he got involved in. So being lost in thought I didn't sense the person coming from farther down the hallway stop in front of me.
“Are you hurt?” a young woman asked.
“I'm fine... It's not mine anyway.” I flinched at the memory of the scene.
“Do you mind if I sit down?”
“Sure. I'm not going to try and stop you.”
My eyes searched for her own and I noticed black hair, cat ears, and a tail first. She got me staring and smiled.
“You never seen a were-panther before, have you?”
With a shake of my head I explained myself. “I never took the paranormal seriously before today. Now I'm starting to be more worried about myself than my uncle Aidan.”
She stared at me with wide eyes. “Aidan? As in Aidan Araceli?!”
A hesitant nod from yours truly. “Yeah... I'm his niece Cassandra and I'm going to start here in the fall.”
“Oh My Balancer!”
What the hell is a Balancer?!
“I'm Misu Wakatsuki, a mage and let me be the first one to welcome you to our school. I know you'll love it here.”
For some reason as Misu showed me around I felt more at home here than back with my family. Whatever happens I'll face it bravely or so I told myself.
I mean what's the worst that could happen?
Something tore me away from my slumber which was a mixed blessing especially due to how dark that dream turned.. As I stirred into full awareness the strands of that bizarre dream began to vanish in the light of day. However, I couldn't help but feel something like I was missing something. With a slow shake of my head, I stumbled out of bed and got ready to start my day.
A little while later I headed downstairs to get a bowl of cereal when I heard my mother's voice speaking to an unknown man in the living room. Now normally I would be slightly paranoid but right now I didn't give a rat's arse. I crouched down in an attempt to make it to the kitchen unnoticed. I would have made it as well if it wasn't for the fact that I am not the most graceful person.
In other words I tripped on nothing and as I landed hard on the carpet a very colorful combination of verbs and nouns passed my lips.
“Cassandra Araceli! Can't you at least try to act polite in front of others?”
A very unladylike snort came from me. “I'll try mother.” Hell, I even pulled the 'modest maiden' act complete with gazing downward away from her suspicious glance.
The man's voice was soothing as he spoke to me. “Hello Cassandra. I am quite pleased to finally meet you.”
I went back into my usual carefree stance. “That's nice Mr...” I let the sentence hang for a minute since I actually didn't know who he was and I didn't care to look at him since I felt that something would happen if I did.
“Kevin Rane.” he supplied and for some random reason I looked at him.
He had a slight build and his skin was very lightly tanned. I took in his pure white tennis shoes and black jeans before moving up. I quickly noted that he looked muscular despite his lithe form. Up I went to his face where I saw curious forest green eyes and tousled reddish-brown hair. His facial features were refined as well.
I looked toward my mother in search of answers but just my luck she left the house if the car's engine starting up was any clue.
“What can I do for you Mr. Rane?”
“Please call me Kevin and I'm here to help you of course. Someone has to help you understand where you stand.”
I stared at him as if he suddenly stripped down to his underwear and danced around the living room proclaiming his love for bubble gum. “What the hell are you talking about?”
Kevin looked confused when he asked “You haven't been told anything?”
I blinked before demanding what he knew.
“You're uncle, Aidan Araceli, is missing on one of his trips and quite possibly is dead.” As if it was an afterthought Kevin added, “Or worse.”
Well, that bites. Now I really want to know what this guy is here for. “Is there anything I can do to help?” passed my lips before I could stop it.
Kevin's face lit up in excitement. “You mean you'll seriously help out?” He quickly became serious as he continued on. “You do realize that there are some things you must do before we can really get into this.”
“I'm not selling my organs on the black market or doing anything extremely illegal like that.”
He continued on as if ignoring my comment. “First off you are going to have to meet the leaders of several groups which are quite friendly to Aidan before moving on to tougher groups. Secondly you are going to school.”
Interruption time! “Kev... may I call you Kev?” He looked blankly at me so I continued on. “I've completed the hell known as high school a few months ago so I see no reason to head back down that traumatizing path.”
“It's not high school so you don't have to worry about that.” Kevin seemed hesitant. “It's called Spiritual Glow Academy and it is an university for the er... gifted.” He stared straight into my eyes. “It's for the supernatural races and those with unique abilities to hone their skills.”
Alright then, he's definitely a nut job. “Like fae, were-creatures, and the occasional merperson?”
Kevin nodded. “It's good that you understand. Especially due to the fact that this is all quite sudden.”
With a short nod of my own, I spoke my thoughts. “Have you checked with a shrink recently? You really should especially since you are talking about things that are a tad bit crazy.”
He walked a few feet into the hallway and began to say something in a strange language. As he talked what I took as a sky blue circle began to form on the floor and the longer I stared at it the more it made sense. The symbols within it actually made sense!
Now I have proof that insanity is a virus since apparently I'm as crazy as he is now. “What are you doing?” Kevin continued on as if he didn't hear me. Or rather ignoring me. I REALLY hate it when people do that.
Apparently he's psychic since he gave me a apologetic smile before hurrying up with whatever he was doing. After another moment the symbols stopped moving and Kevin held his hand out to me. Tossing caution and all rationality away, I headed to the circle and placed my hand in his. Before I knew what was happening I was up against his chest and the circle seemed to suck us into it. Just like any moderately sane person would do in a predicament such as this, I screamed long and hard. Well, that was until my mind decided that everything so far was way too weird to comprehend and shut down.
The first thing I realized as I stirred back into awareness was the cold stone floor beneath me which was closely followed by the feeling that I was in someplace that I shouldn't be. At least not yet.
Standing up as soon as I could and with a quick glance around I discovered that I was in a stone hallway with doors every now and then. Gathering up my courage (which wasn't much at this point) I headed to the closest door and opened it. What laid beyond the door was without a shadow of a doubt the most disturbing thing I've seen. At least for a while.
My once pristine sneakers became quite bloodied as I stepped into the battlefield but frankly I didn't give a rat's ass. That's probably due to the fact that bodies were as far as the eye could see. The dying screams of a man calling for some woman mixed with the whines of some type of beast reached my ears. This was followed by sadistic and obviously unhinged laughter coming from deeper within the massacre.
Something told me that I HAD to know what it was. That it was important for me to know. Whenever I listened to that voice I always got into trouble and this time I didn't want to add myself to the body count.
“Ah to Hell with it. I'll just take a quick peek and if it gets too dangerous I'll sneak off.” And with that my mind was made up. I carefully made my way north while avoiding the weapons and the dying or more likely by now dead people.
There was a broken barrier made from reinforced wood and now covered by bodies that was close by where I thought the voice was. Pulling a spy moment, I crouched against it before bringing my eyes just above the edge and froze.
He's kind of good looking. I stared at the blood stained sword in his hand and him still laughing before adding with a shudder, For a mass murderer.
From my vantage point, I could see the side of his face but couldn't make out much detail thanks to his long pure white hair which was dyed red from the slaughter that he had caused. His clothing looked strangely like a dark gray kimono and some type of ribbon or chain surrounded his arms and legs. With each breath he took I noticed that the chains tightened as if to punish him. He just laughed it off so I decided that he was a masochist as well.
Okay, now that my curiosity has gone bye-bye I'm getting out of here!
The laughter stopped and I became worried that I spoke that aloud. My thoughts were confirmed when he said in a soft, almost teasing voice, “Shall we play my little mouse?”
In no mood for playing ANY type of game with this psycho bitch, I ran faster and faster toward the door. I would have made it too had I not been my graceful self and trip over a discarded weapon and have the left side of my face introduced to a puddle of blood.
The man roughly flipped me over and prepared his sword to cut my throat (which is quite merciful considering every other way he killed these people) when he paused in shock for a moment or two. His red-violet eyes observed everything about me in that moment and I felt unclean.
“Is there something interesting about me that has caught your attention, oh great slayer of innocents?” He smirked at my confused self then offered a hand up. I got up on my own which made him chuckle. “I would really like to know if you are going to kill me or not. Just so I'll know whether to plead for my life.”
“I won't kill you.” He took a step closer to me and I backed toward the door which judging by the fact that he's not preventing me from leaving his presence only I could see. “Nor will I hurt you.”
I stopped when my back hit the door. “I'm sure you tell that to all the woman. Right before you disembowel them.”
“My name's Tsuna Ito.”
Tsuna reached out to touch my cheek to wipe the blood away (or so I desperately hoped) and I just wished I was away from there. Hell even being in the hallway was better then where I currently am.
“Cassandra Araceli...”
I touched the door and willed it to open up and since I am so totally awesome it obeyed and I was out of there like a bat out of hell.
Back in the hallway I was practically ecstatic that I was free from that freak. A nearby sign noted it as Realm of Diangi - Plains of Sorrow
“Now I know why they are called that.” Sighing in relief of the fact that my life was spared somehow the severity of my current problem struck me full force. “How do I get to the main gates of Spiritual Glow Academy from here?”
A large pair of gates appeared before me and without thinking which I should have especially after my little incident mere seconds ago. The next thing I knew Kevin was clutching onto me as if I would disappear once again.
“Holy hell Cassandra! You have no idea how worried I was. One second you are with me and the next minute you're gone.”
I told him of my little adventure and he appeared shocked at first but quickly became contemplative. “So tell me more about this school. What's so special about it? Besides the fact that it's a supernatural hotspot.” Quickly changing the topic seemed successful if the lessening of the tension between us was any indication.
“Well, various beings ranging from were-creatures to humans exist more or less in peace and protection should they need it. They have clubs and the main school is surrounded by nature with the closest city fifteen to twenty miles away. Luckily it's a large city so there's tons to do.”
We walked until stopping in front of a statue of a human male and some sort of female were-creature holding hands in contentment. “I'm guessing that this statue represents some sort of unity among the races.”
“That's correct Ms. Araceli. I'm glad you are quite accepting of all this and in such a short amount of time as well. Most people would panic at learning of their potential.”
We both turned to face a elderly man who wore every day clothes of shorts and t-shirt and Kevin nodded to him. “Hello Christophe.” Kev pushed me forward to this seemingly important person. “This is your Headmaster Christophe Bane.”
“I'm Cassandra Araceli and I am pleased to make your acquaintance.” I said with a respectful nod of the head.
“Christophe... There's been a development.”
The man's brown eyes were still sharp despite his old. “I see... Shall we head to my office?”
I sat outside the headmaster's office in a sitting area merely twiddling my thumbs in boredom. My thoughts wandered over to the little memories of my uncle I had and I wanted desperately to know what exactly he got involved in. So being lost in thought I didn't sense the person coming from farther down the hallway stop in front of me.
“Are you hurt?” a young woman asked.
“I'm fine... It's not mine anyway.” I flinched at the memory of the scene.
“Do you mind if I sit down?”
“Sure. I'm not going to try and stop you.”
My eyes searched for her own and I noticed black hair, cat ears, and a tail first. She got me staring and smiled.
“You never seen a were-panther before, have you?”
With a shake of my head I explained myself. “I never took the paranormal seriously before today. Now I'm starting to be more worried about myself than my uncle Aidan.”
She stared at me with wide eyes. “Aidan? As in Aidan Araceli?!”
A hesitant nod from yours truly. “Yeah... I'm his niece Cassandra and I'm going to start here in the fall.”
“Oh My Balancer!”
What the hell is a Balancer?!
“I'm Misu Wakatsuki, a mage and let me be the first one to welcome you to our school. I know you'll love it here.”
For some reason as Misu showed me around I felt more at home here than back with my family. Whatever happens I'll face it bravely or so I told myself.
I mean what's the worst that could happen?