Preface

The world had always seemed like a normal place to me. Unfair things happened, great things happened, and people were fickle. that is the world we live in. Well, that's what I thought.
My life had been normal. Now its living hell, someone send me a god dam rescue already! I was 17 years old when my vision of the world was rippped away from me in a matter of seconds. In school of all places. And people always told me learning wouldn't kill me. Liars.

Chapter 1

I sat in homeroom,bored out of my mind. My teacher was going on and on about Canada's landscape. I sat in my usual spot in the back of the classroom. My eyes started to flutter, so Chelsea threw a wad of paper at me.
I glared at her and returned my eyes to the board, but the overhead came on. Principal Wilson's voice came onto the speaker.
"Teachers, please close and lock your doors. We are about to begin a lockdown. Students, please be silent and get into your designated area of the classroom." His voice sounded panicked and off key.
Something was wrong. I could just feel it.
The other students trampled their way to the corner of the room. I took my place next to Chelsea and sat in slience, wondering if this was a drill.
The room was so silent, that i heard the footsteps coming closer to our room.
"Is she in this room?"
"Y-yes she is p-please I-" Principal's Wilson's trembling voice pleaded, laced with panic. I looked over at Chelsea, but she rolled her eyes. She still thought it was a drill, while I was sure it wasn't.
"You've out worn your usefulness." I heard the cold voice draw out.
Then there was a loud scream, and the thud of a body hitting the floor. The door flew open, fallling off its hinges.
In the doorway was a a beefy man. In his hands were a gun and a knife. My gaze flickered to Principal Wilson's crumpled body on the floor.
The beefy man's eyes scanned the students. They landed on me with an icy stare. My teacher had stepped in front of us, but with one move of his finger, there was a bullet hole in her chest and she was gone.
His eyes went to me again. His lips quirked into a wicked smile. He strutted across the room slowly, stopping right in front of me.
"Bay Deir Darren. We finally meet. The agency hasn't goy much on you, seeing how your new. I just wanted to get to you first."
I stared up at him, scared and confused."W-what are you talking about?"
Beef man lurched forward, grabbing my hair and dragging me to my feet. Chelsea grabbed for me, but he shot her a glare, freezing her.
He put his knife under my throat. "Don't tell me they haven't come to collect their new play thing," He breathed in my face, his breath smelling like... blood?
"I-I don't"
Beef laughed. "Better for me then."
Before i could even fight, he dragged me out of the room. I thrashed, but it did no good. In the hallway, I tried to skid my feet across the tile, but Beef kept going.
I was starting to lose hope when a girl stepped out from behind the lockers. She looked to be maybe 18. She had platinum blond curls, pink cheekbones, lime green eyes, and a devious smile. She wore black jeans, a black t-shirt, and knee high-converse. In her hands she held two large knives.
What was up with all the people and knives?!
Beef laughed. "Ah, so the agency has come to take you away." He smiled at me, but then turned his icy glare on the blond. "Can't have her. I got to her first."
"Doesn't matter. I'll take her anyway. Let her go, and we'll settle this like civilized people," Blondie says, her right hand twirling her knife.
Beef dropped me, and I scrambled toward the lockers. Beef ran at Blondie, and I was sure she was a goner. But with one knife thrusted into his chest, Beef turned into a rotted corpse on legs, his skin papery like he had been buried for days.
I watched in horror as he dropped, Blondie coming over to me. She knelt down right in front of me, looking right into my face.
"I'm seriously sorry about this." She told me.
The school hallway dissapeared, and I was engulfed in darkness.
******************************************************************
I felt like a ton of bricks. My eyes fluttered open, and things wer blurry around me. I blinked a few times, clearing my vision. My head wilted to the other side.                                    
I was in a baby blue room. There were two white doors on either side of the room. I was on a smalll bed and next to me was a glass bedside table with a plastic cup of water. The bed and table were the only things in the room. I glanced down at myself.
My favorite red skirt and white graphic tee were gone. They had been replaced by dark blue skinny jeans and an ice green t-shirt. I also wore a beautiful leather jacket. My flip flops were gone, replaced by knee high leather black boots.
I propped myself up on my elbows slowly, confused. Where was I? How had i gotten here?
The door opened and in walked Blondie. She smiled when she saw me.
"Hey your up! You weren't much fun to style while you were out." She said casually. She strode across the room, her footsteps echoing on the tile floor.
"Where am I?" I demanded, feeling panicked. Blondie ignored my question. "So what do you think of the clothes?"
"They are great but where are mine?"
"oh those? They got blood on them, so they are being washed. Some of the others are going to get the rest of your things from both your houses."
My heart sank. My parents! "If you even think about touching my family, I swear-" I started to threaten but Blondie cut me off.
"We aren't going to hurt them! who do you think we are, some kind of cult that captures children?" She said indignantly.
I glared at her.
"Oh sweetie, don't glare. It isn't good on someone of your beauty. Speaking of beauty, come look at yourself in the mirror! I did you makeup too, which was really hard seeing how you were out."
she grabbed my arm and started to pull me to the other door in the room. Her hand was like ice, and it was pale too. I didn't know what to think about Blondie. Part of me was curious and untrusting but another part knew she had saved my life.
Behind the door, there was a baby blue bathroom. Blondie shoved me in front of the mirror.
"I left your hair alone. Is this natural?" She asked, holding up one of my perfect, black curls.
"yeah" i said. taking in my reflection.
I never wore makeup, but man had Blondie worked magic. My Arctic blue eyes were surrounded by smokey gary, my cheekbones in a light lush, and my lips in a gloss.
I knew i was stunning, but right now i didn't want to play " Be my best friend after i kidnap you."
I walked out of the bathroom, and stood with my arms crossed, trying to look threatening. Blondie seemed to sense this, since her smile faltered.
"I demand to know where i am, now that we've played dress up."
She sighed. "introductions first."
i nodded feeling that was fair.
"I'm Carmandie. Carmandie Valley.
"I'm Bay, as you seem to know. Oh wait, you know everything about me." I accused, my hands on my hips.
"Not everything!" Carmandie said sheepishly.

"Well you now my name. Where both my parents live. You knew that I was with my Dad now while my sister is with my mother. What isn't there?!"

"We don;t know your power yet." Carmandie started.

I stared at her. Power?"What are you talking about."

Carmandie sighed, crossing her arms. "Your at the Ennium Agency on Rhode Island.

"I've never heard-"

"Of course not. We are covered in glamours."

Again, I just stared at her.

"Do you know what a glamour is?" She asked.

I shook my head.

"A glamour is like a shield around magic areas that humans can't see through. Only supernaturals, like us, can if we concentrate hard enough."

I rolled my eyes. "Look your obviously disturbed or deranged, cause I'm a regular person."

"No, your not. You see, the Agency collects people like us to protect the glamours, and to keep rouges from the bad guy side from blowing our cover. Humans like the idea of us, like the fact that we are something to believe in. But if they found out they were living all around us, that they are the guests on this world while we are everywhere, there would be a panic. You started to push against the glamours we had set up, showing that your powers have started to turn you into a Supernatural... well you already were; you"ll just be more.....unnatural."

"So your saying," I started slowly, " that I'm an almost supernatural here to be trained to protect humans from the Boigie man, or the bad guys like you said."

Carmandie smiled at me."You catch on fast."

"Who was that guy at school today then? He told me he was here to collect the Agency's new play thing."

"A Rouge. His name is Smith. Transferred over around 10 years ago."
"Well what is he?"

"He was a vampire."

I felt my eyes bugle. Vampire? Blood-suckers? Brutal killers? Not Edward Cullen all handsome being followed around by crazy fan girls?

Carmandie must have read my mind. "Think about it Bay. IT makes sense doesn't it? When i staked him, he became all rotted."

I nodded. This was all making some sense. I felt like I had gone insane to believe this girl, but odd things had been happening in the past few months. LIke i would see someone looking right at me, but then they were gone in an instant.
Then I gasped. "Richard!"

Carmandie inclined her head. "WHo?"

"He was a friend of mine, and he got killed two months ago! I walked into his house to see if he was ready for school, and found him dead! The police claimed it was an animal attack, but I had seen two holes in his neck before they took the body away!"

Carmandie rolled her eyes. "Its just like Smith to never clean up after himself. Always the dramatics." I looked at Carmandie. She was standing the same way I was, her pale skin very prominent with her black clothes. Her finger caught my eye. On her middle finger, she wore a black ring with a pure red stone.
I thought about Smith. He had pure white skin, just as she did. I took a step back. "Your a vampire, aren't you?"
Carmandie nodded. "But I would never hurt you, seeing how we are on the same side. Now there are some people I won't mention that I would like to hurt, but what are ya gonna do?" She shrugged.
"Well we will be if I start dressing like you, right?" I joked.
It worked, ‘cause Carmandie laughed. "This is the start of a beautiful friendship."
"Carmandie.... what am I?" I asked tentatively.
She shrugged. "The hell I know. But we're going to find out, like I said earlier. Its the only thing we don't know about you."
I raised my eyebrow. "Do you really know everything?"
"Down to your tampon size. Now come on." She said, opening my door. "Let's go check out your new home."


Chapter 2
The Agency? Full of gray and silver. Carmandie and I had stepped into a gray hallway, and she told me that she was going to show me all the main places, and that she would help me get around until I could do it on my own.
"My room is right next door, so if you have a wild party, I'll be the first to know." She said casually, winking at me. "This is the girls wing, and the boys is on the other side of the grand floor."
She took me to an elevator, and pressed the second floor.
"Where are we going?"
"Well, the room wings are on the first floor, along with the Agents offices, which you will be going to after I give you the tour."
"Why?" Did I do something wrong already?
"Alice and Raphael want to see you."
"Who are they?" I asked, the elevator doors opening.
Carmandie ignored my question and kept walking. There was a short hallway, and then we walked out onto a black platform with rails.
I looked out to see tons of teens and kids. They were fighting, sparring, running, kicking, screaming. Some were shooting fire out of their bare hands, some shifting into different shapes.
“This is the training ground's open floor. There are also tons of rooms throughout the whole platform that are to practice specific powers with people who share yours."
I started to go for the stairs that led to the ground, but Carmandie grabbed me. "Can't go down there yet."
"Why not?" I whined. I was dying to meet the other kids.
"You don't have powers yet, so I don't exactly feel like having you barbecued or shot. And you might be a Rare."
"What’s that?" I asked, watching as a girl down below punched one of the dummies and it exploded.
"Rare's are people that don't have a common ability. Like vampires and werewolves are common. Most powers are common, but the occasional rare will pop up."
"Is it possible for someone to have more then one power?
"Yes but it's-"
I held up my hand. "Rare. I got it."
Carmandie smiled. "Ok good, 'cause I don't like repeating myself. Let's head down to the cafeteria."
We took a left down the platform to a pair of double doors. I pushed one open and there were even more teens and kids, eating and talking.
"Carmandie!"
We both turned to see a boy waving us to table. I felt shy and trailed behind Carmandie.
This boy had sandy blond hair, chocolate eye and a big smile. He was sitting down, so I didn't know how tall he was, but his arms were covered in muscles. Carmandie sat down at the table, and I sat down next to her. At the table, there was the boy and another girl. She was the color of capo chino, and extremely pretty. She had glossy brown hair and had muddy brown eyes. She didn't look as friendly as the boy.
"Hey guys." Carmandie said brightly.
The boy nodded his head at me. “Who are you?"
“Bay." I told him. He smiled at me.
“Man, Carmandie, why you always get slammed with the hotties?" He asked her, not taking his eyes off me. She rolled her eyes. "'Cause I'm not a jackass like some people. That's Chance Tahoe, and that's Yerra Vera."
Yerra nodded at me. “What are you?" She asked.
Carmandie looked shocked. "Yerra!"
"What? Not like Chance wasn't going to ask." Yerra said irritably. "So. How did you slip up?"
“She didn't. Bay was pressing against the glamour’s." Carmandie clipped, looking a little angry.
"I don't know what my power is." I told Yerra. She snorted. "Hope you’re not something lame. I'm a vampire, like Carmandie."
“Cause that's so cool. I'm a shape shifter." Chance said. "Not that anyone asked."
"Yeah,'cause we all wanted to know how you use your power to become a hanger or a pillow so you can watch girls get dressed, perv." Carmandie said, stealing a grape off his tray.
Chance winked at her. "You know you love it!"
Carmandie rolled her eyes. "Sure, OK. Well we better go, 'cause I gotta show Bay the rest of the Agency."
"Nice to meet you guys!" I threw over my shoulder. We left the cafeteria, and headed to the right side of the platform. “Where are we going now?"
"Only my second favorite place in the whole building."
I was confused, but kept following. Another pair of double doors, and we entered a field house.
"This is the sports center. Any sport you can think of, we got it." Carmandie told me.
And she was right. The arena was filled with all kinds of sports fields. Football, basketball, swimming, archery, right at our fingertips.
“You got Field Hockey? Or Archery?" I asked, hoping the answer was yes. In London and Maine, I was the best player on both teams. I had countless trophies and metals, and I was the best shot on archery.
"Yeah. We even have bleachers so you can watch people play. We have the occasional games, cause it can be kind of boring here sometimes."
I noticed someone on the Football field, punching and tackling a dummy, and another sitting on the bleachers on the field. Carmandie was looking onto the field, completely ignoring the other kid in the bleachers. I gave the bleacher kid one last look before following Carmandie's gaze to the football field.
She nodded her head toward the field, smiling. "That's someone else you've got to meet... well more like you might as well meet him now. Come on."
We made our way down to the field. The boy with the dummy didn’t pay us any mind, but the nerdy boy in the bleachers never took his eyes off of us. He had a severe look of longing, wanting to come and join us down on the fake grass. But he just sat there in a Star Wars shirt and jeans, pushing up his glasses as if content just to watch.
I smiled at him, and his eyes widened. He looked around, making sure he was the one I was looking at. Sensing his unease, I tore my eyes away from him and looked back to the guy working out. Our presence was obviously still unknown, seeing how he worked on the dummy, completely in the zone.
It made me long for field hockey or archery, wishing I could throw all my energy into them as he did.
“Hey! Shouldn’t you be doing that on the training ground?” Carmandie called, her voice bringing me back into focus.
The boy turned in a daze, broken from his training. The second he turned to finally notice us, I felt my heart freeze.
He wore a light blue t-shirt and brown shorts. He had rugged good looks and a chiseled body. He wasn’t pure muscle like Chance, but he was still hot, His chocolate brown hair fell in his face and he swiped I away. Carmandie and I were right in front of him now. He didn’t even glace at her, only at me. His eyes were a midnight blue, which was shaded by dark lashes. I felt like I was drowning in his gaze. He gave us a curt nod. “Hey.”
“Hey Brid, what’s up with the pounding? You know our in free time right now right?” Carmandie asked.
“Yeah I know. I’m choosing to train some more. Not all of us spend our free time going through fashion magazines.”
Carmandie glared at him. Brid gave her a smug look then flicked his gaze over to me. “Who’s this?”
“Bay this is Brid Centronia. Brid, this is Bay Darren. We picked her up today in London.”
“Any trouble?” He asked, his eyes never leaving me. I fought the urge to squirm or look down , doing my best to hold his gaze.
“Smith was there. They must have been hoping to pick her up before us.”
“Staked?”
“Duh.”
Brid rolled his eyes. “They never seem to learn. We are always watching.”
Carmandie looked like she was about to respond, but something beeped in her pocket. She pulled out a pager. “Gotta take this. Brid, be nice.” She must have seen my face. “ He won’t bite.” She said, stepping away.
“So Bay. What do you think of the Agency so far?”
“Its really gray.” I blurted. Oh my God. I did not just say that.
Brid laughed. “Don’t worry, it gets better.”
    I was about to reply when I felt a cool hand on my arm. “Gotta go. Alice wants you. Now.” She started to pull.
“Nice to meet you Bay.” Brid says, giving me a half smile as Carmandie starts to drag. I waved goodbye, and jogged to keep up with Carmandie. I looked back to the bleachers. The boy was still sitting there, watching me go. I sent him a smile and a wave. He gave me a small wave back and I saw Carmandie giving me an odd look.
“What?” I asked, but she just shook her head.
I didn’t want it to be silent, so I said, “Brid seems nice.”
“He’s anything but.”
I was surprised to hear her say that. “I figured you two were friends.”
“We are.”
I felt my face scrunch. “But_”
“I’ll explain later. ‘Cause I’ve got to get you to the offices.”
“What about the tour? I asked as we ran to the elevator.
“Later. It’s time for you to meet the Leaders.”
As we got in the elevator, I felt panicked. But I had to get it together if I wanted to stay here. Maybe if I wanted to stay alive.
*************************************************
The offices were cold and silent, not the usual bustle of phones ringing and typing at computers. Carmandie seemed uneasy about being down here, so I knew that this wasn’t a ‘Hey welcome to your new home!’ type of meeting.
We finally arrived at a set of black double doors. They were huge, reaching up the extremely tall ceiling. I reached for the handle, but Carmandie grabbed my hand.
“Don’t speak until your spoken to, don’t seem nervous, stay calm, and always meet their eyes. When you’re done, I’ll be out here to take you back to your room.”
    I was about to beg her to come with me when the large door opened. A little girl in a black maid’s outfit started up at me. Her gray eyes traveled me. “Ms. Darren, you have been expected. Please follow me. Ms. Valley, you are free to leave.”
    She informed us. But Carmandie got on her knees to be at eye level with the girl. “Maya, please, call me Carmandie. And this is Bay.”
    Maya smiled at Carmandie. She grabbed my hand and brought me through the double doors. I got one last look at Carmandie before the doors slammed shut.
    I was in a large conference room. The table was ginormos =, with two head chairs at the other end. It looked like it could fit at least 200 people!
“Do I sit out here?” I asked.
    Maya laughed, as if I had said something incredibly funny. “Of course not, silly! You’ll be meeting Mr. Linden and Ms. Altma in one of their private offices.”
    It was then that I noticed two more doors on either side of the room. Maya led me to the left. “Today, you will be in Mr. Linden’s office.”
    I followed, feeling panicked, but also sort of excited. I was curious as to what they might tell me. Maya knocked on the door.
“Enter.” A steely voice said.
    We did as instructed. I looked around to see I was in-you guessed it- black room. It had silver bookshelves on sides, sleek white chairs and a brown desk. It didn’t feel like an office, because it was so empty.
“Ms. Darren is here.” Maya said quietly, looking at her hands.
“Thank you, Maya. You may go.” The voice said again. I knew that it was a woman, and that she was in the large white chair turned to the back wall.
    Maya did a little curtsy, and scurried out, leaving me to face the Leaders alone.
“Take a seat, Bay.”
    I sat in the white chair, which was surprisingly comfortable. The woman turned. Her hair was a deep red, her narrow eyes watching me. They were gray, like Maya’s, but there was no childlike wonder. She smiled at me, her teeth a perfect pearly white.
“I’m Alice. Raphael was called to a meeting, so it will be just us today. I’m very glad to meet you.”
“Same to you.” I said caustically.
    Alice opened up one of the drawers and pulled out a manila folder…with my name at the top. She opened it, and skimmed the papers inside.
“Your interesting Bay. Your parents divorced, an older sister. A solid life. But it astounds us that your powers were dormant until you were two, and then went dormant until months ago.”
I didn’t say anything. I never had powers….did I? And if I did, what were they?
“You have a police record, Bay. Now were you aware of that?” Alice asked, still reading.
“No, I didn’t…that must be wrong, because I’ve never been arrested…” I stuttered, unbelieving. What was she talking about?
“Yes, I see that. But when you were young, your mother called the police, claiming you had disappeared. Then, you would come back as if nothing happened. Also, when our Agents infiltrated your mother’s home, they found this DVD, hidden in her room.” Alice said, pulling out a small computer. She turned it to me, and pressed a key.
A video flashed onto the screen. It was… me? It was me, in the living room at my mom’s house. I was defiantly three, because my hair wasn’t curly yet. I was talking, but I wasn’t facing the camera. I was talking to the air next to me.
“Who are you talking to, sweetie?” I heard my mother’s voice ask from behind the camera.
“Aunt Chloe.” My squeaky voice said.
Alice stopped the tape, close the computer, and looked at me. I was shaking.
“See, as you know, your Aunt Chloe died when you were three. Here you are, three years old, talking to her. This tape was taken the day after she died.”
“Well I had a fever that week, so I could have been seeing things/.” I blocked, feeling the need to defend myself.
“Yes, that could be quite possible. You are acting as if I am yelling at you Bay. I’m simply trying to explain our theories and what we know about you.” Alice said, watching me carefully.
I stayed silent, trying to figure out what she would say next. Alice got out of her chair and walked to sit on the front of her desk. She was petite standing up too.
“Did Carmandie tell you anything about our Agency?”
“No.” I lied, not wanting to get Carmandie in trouble.
Alice smiled, knowing I was lying. “ If she did, that’s perfectly OK. Because like everyone else that gets here, they demand answers. So, what did she tell you?”
I hesitated, but Carmandie told me to speak when spoken to. “She told me that I was here to train my power to keep the glamour’s up, and to keep humans safe from the bad guys.” I recited from my conversation earlier.
“And that’s the truth. Now, time for some of our Agency’s history.”
I groaned, and Alice smiled at me. “As you know, in 1609, 13 colonies came to settle in America to achieve religious freedom from Britain. And, as you also know, the colony on Roanoke Island went missing and never returned. The colony on Roanoke was actually a group of super naturals. They wanted their own place to begin a new life, but they knew remaining a secret would be near impossible while being watched by Britain. So, one of the witches began experimenting with unseeing spells. One witch added too much of one thing though, and it exploded. Everything seemed unharmed, but a few months later when other colonies showed up on Roanoke, they couldn’t see the colony. The witches had created the first ever glamour. The super naturals moved to the other side of the island and built the first Ennium Agency, which was wrapped in glamour’s. Soon, the super naturals took it upon themselves to find other super naturals, and hide them under glamour’s so they could live peacefully. Thus, our Agency was made.”
I processed this, but it didn’t make any sense. “But wait… Carmandie told me that I’m on Rhode Island.”
“You are. Six months ago, the Ennium was attacked. We lost many of our super naturals while we evacuated the island. We relocated here, on the coast, hoping that the Adiron Organization has not discovered our new location.”
“Did they know it before? And are they the people we are fighting?”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn’t they never attack before?”
“We think that they wanted someone. They killed anyone that didn’t register on their tracker. We don’t know what they were looking for or why, but we will find out.”
Alice looked like she was bout to say more, but there was a knock at the door.
Maya walked in. “Carmandie is here Ms. Alice.”
Alice smiled at me. “I will meet you upstairs tomorrow, along with Raphael and Carmandie. Sleep well.”
Before I could even ask anything else, Maya removed me from the room, and Alice disappeared from my view.
**********************************************
Right before Maya kicked me out of the conference room, she handed me a silver thermos.
“You are to drink this before you go to bed each night until it is empty. And remember; only sips.”
Then I was pushed into the hallway, the heavy door closoing behind me. I turned, feeling lost. But then Carmandie showed, coming to get me as she promised.
    Eyeing the thermous with a glare, she led me back to the elevator. The second the doors closed, she turned to me.
“Tomorrow your going to stop being Bay Darren, average teenager, and become Bay Darren, supernatural defender. Are you ready for that?”
I hesitated, but nodded. “If only I knew what I was. That would make it easier.”
“I know. Did they tell you what’s in the thermos?” she asked as the elevator doors opened.
“No…” I said awkwardly.
Carmandie’s face darkened, and she had no more questions until she reached my bedroom door.
“The room isn’t going to be the same as you left it.” She told me, pushing me through my door.
My rooms in Maine and London I had hand painted myself. I had always loved painting, and I had always wished I could combine the rooms. And the Agency had.
The room was no longer an empty square. It had been stretched out to a large rectangle, and the walls were covered in the paintings on my walls from both houses.
The back wall was an orangey red, with a cherry blossom tree branch that stretched to the middle of the wall. There were pink and white blossoms, some petals falling off the branch. The black birds I had painted near the tree were flying to the ceiling. My bed was toward the end of the right wall, a little bit away from my closet, where it always was. My black comforter with red explosions was on the bed, the sheets messed up like I left them that morning.
The right wall was my twist on Claude Monet’s Le Pont Japonais à Giverny. In my version, there was a girl in an old fashioned blood red dress with an umbrella, looking into the water. I ran up to it and pulled on my closet’s door handles, which were hidden as rocks in the painting. I remember painting over the closet, hiding it inside the painting. All my clothes were still inside, along with all the junk piled under my hanging clothes. As I was closing the doors, I heard Carmandie take a few steps into the room. “Remember when I said that some others were going to your house? Well, in order to make you more comfortable, the Clips take a look at your room before gathering your things, and then replicate it here.”
“Clips?”
“Yeah, lame name, I know. But they all have like the ultimate memory, that gets projected onto the walls. Hence the name.”
I nodded, and kept exploring.
The left wall was pure black, with white cursive letters saying “Is it possible to fall in love in an instant?” I remembered having to make the large words go around my bathroom door.
I ran into the bathroom, which was still on the left wall. It was the cream color it always was. Growing out of the light switch was a branch with a large black raven that took off and flew around the whole room.
The front wall with the entry door was completely covered in posters, and pictures, but I knew that underneath the coverings was the white wall with red blocks that were like steps, with “Let me whisper to you” from the top step to the bottom” inside them.
Even my small art spot at the meeting corner between the left wall and the back wall with the tarp and all my art supplies was there.
“Wow,” Carmandie said, awed, “Did you really paint this whole room?”
“Yeah. I’ve always wanted to be an artist, and these are my favorite parts of each room from both my houses,” I told her, walking toward my makeshift studio. My boots clicked against the dark wood floor that I knew was in both rooms.
“I’m sorry you won’t be able to now,” she said.
“It’s fine. I’m not that good,” I said, picking up a brush still covered in black paint. I looked at the canvas, a black spirderweb I had been working on. I thought of my sister, who I had been making it for.
“Not good? You’re kidding, right?”
I turned to her. “Well, I guess it doesn’t matter now, does it?” I clipped.
Carmandie looked away. “I know your upset, Bay. But think about being here as long as I have,” She said quietly.
Guilt washed over me. Carmandie had been so nice to me, and I was rude back. I reached for her. “Carmandie…”
She looked at me, no emotion on her face. “There’s vampire blood in the thermos. Did they tell you that? If you drink it, it won’t turn you. You would have to die for that. But its to freeze you. Make sure you won’t age. So they can keep your power alive for longer. Make you immortal.”
I stared at her. “W-wait but I…”
“Just thought you should know. We are friends. But they will know if you don’t drink it tonight.” Carmandie shrugged. “Most of us have been here for a lot of years, Bay. They make us immortal so that we can keep people safe longer. Wouldn’t make any sense to bring in tons of newbie’s every year, and have to retrain them, now would it? Its just how it is.”
I was tempted to ask more, but she was heading for the door.
“See you tomorrow to figure out what you are, Newbie!” She threw over her shoulder, and then she was gone.
I turned back to my art and raised the brush when I heard “Oh, by the way,” Carmandie’s head was in the doorway, “I called dibs on you, so you’re all mine newbie. And don’t you forget it!” she said, winking. “OK, see ya!” And then she really was gone.
I smiled and started to paint. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad here….OK even my own optimism is just gross. This wasn’t going to be as easy as I hoped. But hey, there might be a cute boy and a good friendship that I got out of this place… until I escaped.
Chapter 3
    I’ve been an insomniac since I was seven. That was when my parents started fighting. It was the year that Abriel and I had started to become close, only to be ripped away from each other when I was eleven and she was thirteen.
    When I was seven, I just devoured book after book all night long. I was on a ninth grade reading level in less then two months. I hadn’t known about art really, hadn’t cared about it until my painting of my family went to an art show and won.
    After that, I spent my nights painting, sketching, doing anything to keep myself from feeling alone. Abriel supported me, coming in my room each day after school to see what I had created the night before.
It had been my way of turning a blind eye to the destruction of my family. I remember the night my parents told me they were separating. I had run up to my room and locked the door for hours, calling for me. I had crawled under my bed with a flashlight and a sketchpad, and kept at it, my tears staining the pages. I remember hearing Abriel scream at them, telling them to stay away from me. Not one more time did they try to get me to come out, and neither did Brie.
That night, I had crawled out from under my bed, and painted what I called “Dreaming Vision.” It was pure black for the background. A set of hands formed a heart in the center of the painting. In the heart, you saw the beach, its tumbling wavers just beneath the sunset.
I remember everything I have ever made. But, for some reason, that was always one of my favorites. It showed the world I had always wanted; perfection and beauty.
I didn’t know what time it was when I finished Abriel’s painting. It was simple, a spider web with the letters of her name being wrapped by the spider. I was admiring my work when I heard someone say, “Cool room.”
I turned to see Brid leaning against my doorframe. “Thanks,” I murmured, setting my brush down.
Brid nodded his head at the thermos on my nightstand. “You know you have to drink it. They know if you don’t.”
“So I’ve been told,” I said icily. I knew Brid was just trying to be nice, but I was furious that everyone felt they could tell me what to do here.
To my surprise, he didn’t walk away. “Your having the same reaction that everyone does. The, ‘I-don’t-want-to-be-young-forever!’ thing. It’s not so bad. As Chance always says, makes you an eternal stud,” He said with an eye roll.
I didn’t respond, just stared at the thermos I could practically feel mocking me.
“So I’m guessing you’re a insomniac, too.”
I whipped my head up. “How did you~”
“Why else would you be up at four-thirty?”
I smiled at him. “Good point. My crashing time is around six.”
“Seven. Which means I get an hour and thirty minutes sleep each night.”
“We get up at eight-thirty?!” it was the best news of the day for me, seeing how I was usually got up at 6:45 each day.
“Yep. What are you doing tomorrow?” Brid asked, meeting my eyes head on.
“Uh, just going to the training floor with Carmandie.”
“Cool. See you there,” He pushed off my doorframe and left.
I stood there for a moment, and then glanced at my beside table with the foreboding thermos sitting there. I slowly went to the table. I picked up the thermos, and unscrewed the top. I sniffed it, and I got the usual iron smell of blood, and even the thought of it in my mouth made me sick. But I knew, just like everyone else around here apparently, I had to drink it. I took a deep breath.
“Goodbye voting,” I murmured as I took a sip of the blood. It took all I had to get it down, the taste lukewarm and gross. Once I did, I set the thermos back on its place with shaking hands. I went back to my painting, trying to get my mind off of it.
    But I knew that tomorrow, I would have to ask Carmandie if there was a cure or something. There was no way in hell I was going to be seventeen forever in the outside world.