Immortal Sanctity

Chapter 1

The early morning son was peeping through the curtains, was it really time to get up again? Anabel thought to herself as she rolled over in bed, pulling the covers up over her. Anabel had worked every day of the summer in a convenient store a few streets away from her house in Chester, but now she lay in bed in a different house, a different town; in fact a different county all together. Her grandparents died a few months ago, leaving the house to her mother and father. Anabel was still getting to grips with her new life in Axminster, Devon and meeting new people was never her strong point.

Today is enrolment day at Kerrington College. She managed to get in on the basis that her grades would have been better had it not been for 'unforseen circumstances', which is teacher code for a death in the family. Anabel lay for a while listening to the movement downstairs, dad getting ready for work, Joseph throwing a tantrum because he didn't want to eat his cereals. Her relaxation was short lived.

'Anabel May Craft, get your butt down these stairs right now! You're going to be late for your first day!'

Great.

Anabel shimmied out of bed and slunk down the stairs to find utter chaos. Her mother, usually such a tidy and we'll dresses woman, was covered in milk and cornflakes pulling a face of absolute despair.

The dog was running around crazy, chasing after the toys that Joseph was throwing. Her father was keeping out of it, sitting in the corner reading a newspaper, pretending not to notice how much of a bomb site the house now was.

'Darling you look a mess'

Anabel looked in the mirror that was hanging askew. Her tight ringlets were now a fuzzy mess, dangling limp around her face, the remains of yesterday's makeup lay under her puffy eyes. The 'scruffy panda' was not a good look for her. She turned to face her mother whose hair was also a mess, lopsided and falling out of it's grips.

'Like wise mother'

Anabel shrugged her way up stairs and into the shower. She stood there for a while, letting the warm water trickle down her back. She wondered what her day would be like, it couldn't get any worse, that's for sure. Hopefully the students would be nice, although starting starting halfway through the year didn't leave her very convinced. She reluctantly left the shower and got dressed.

By the time she had finished getting ready, Anabel was surprised to find the house back to it's normal pristine condition. Her father had left for work and her mother was tying Joseph's shoe laces ready for nursery.

How long was I in the shower for?

The TV was on in the background displaying the latest news headlines, yet another death in the area. The police are appealing for witnesses to come forward due to the suspicious circumstances surrounding the death. Three suspicious deaths and multiple people missing, this town felt cursed. What were her parents thinking, up rooting and moving to Murderville?

She looked at herself in the mirror one last time before leaving the house, this was as good as she would ever look so she strolled out of the door.

Her mother insisted on driving her to college on her first day, much to her despair. Her family are not what you would describe as inconspicuous. They were greeted with gawping faces as the entered the college grounds. No-one else around here seemed to drive a brand new shiny Mercedes. Ababel looked around the car park to find old beat up Novas and Cavaliers. She could feel the blood rushing to her face as it was time to leave the safety of the car and into the lions den.

'Come on Panda, chop chop'

The smile on her mother's face did not encourage her in the slightest. Her hand hesitated on the door handle. What if nobody liked her? What if she was an outcast, made to sit and eat her lunch in the toilets? She was deep in thought and didn't realise her mother had left the car and had walked around to the passenger side until the car door swung open, her mother began tugging at her arm.

'I'm going to be late for my meeting, now stop being so silly Anabel and get out of the car'

If they weren't staring before, they sure as hell were now.

She was more embarrassed than ever, please god let the ground swallow her whole. Anabel had no choice but to leave the car and greet the sea of faces that were now staring straight at her. Just when she thought things couldn't get any worse, her mother, who had now returned to the car, wound down the window and shouted 'Good luck Panda' as she drove out of the car park. Great, she would never live that one down. Panda had been a nickname her mother had given her after she fell down the stairs when she was younger, broke her nose and had two black eyes for a week.

Anabel gazed upon the college building, it was fairly modern but the red brickwork gave it an old fashioned edge. She approached the wide blue entrance, trying not to get crushed by the swarm of students rushing around her. She stepped into the gap that suddenly formed in the crowd of pupils, upon hearing booming voices and laughter she froze. Big mistake. A group of lads all much larger than her, came bounding through the doors crashing into her knocking her off the steps onto her back. Everyone stood silent and still, she could feel her whole body burning crimson with embarrassment. Why had she even bothered getting out of bed this morning?

Humiliated, she tried to stand up only to find a lanky brown haired boy helping her.

'Are you okay? That was quite an impressive fall'

He smiled, his face friendly, lines scrunching around his warm brown eyes.

'Thanks, I'm not sure about the impressive bit though'

She looked around agitated at the people still staring. Did they not have anything better to do than to revel in her awkwardness?

'I've not seen you around here before, I'm Tom'

Anabel laughed nervously.

'Is it that obvious I'm new?'

A wide smile spread across Tom's face.

'Have you signed in yet? Come on, I'll take you'

They walked through the blue entrance, at least there was one friendly person in this place.

'So, where are you from?' Tom shifted uncomfortably. 'I'm sorry, I've not even asked your name'

She found herself smiling, somebody normal at last!

'I'm Anabel, I've just moved here from Chester'

Tom held open a door just to the right.

'Wow, that's quite a move.'

We rounded another corner.

'Well, here we are'

Anabel look around the reception area, filled with plants. A lemon gloss covered the walls. An old lady sat behind a large oak desk, her long grey hair pulled back into a tight bun. She looked up from her paperwork and smiled.

'Can I help you dear?'

Anabel looked back at Tom

'I'll wait just here while you grab your timetable'

She nodded and stepped forward.

'Hi, it's my first day. I've just transferred here, my name is Anabel Craft.'

'Well let's see'

The grey haired lady put on the glasses that were dangling on a chain around her neck.

'OK Anabel' she handed her a timetable an a map.

'Here is your lesson plan and a map of the school. Looks like your first lesson is music in room 12'

A warm smile spread across her face.

'Thank you'

'You're welcome dear, I hope you enjoy Kerrington'

Anabel smiled kindly in return

'Thanks'

Tom stood up off the wooden bench.

'Right, let's take a look then. First lesson music, that's in Block C with Mr Jonti, he's a nice guy' he nodded and smiled.

'Follow me, I'll take you'

'Are you in this class?' Anabel asked hopefully.

'Afraid not, but by the looks of things, you're in my Spanish class, Third period'

They walked down a long wide corridor, much wider than the colleges in Chester.

'Through here'

Tom pushed open a fire exit door that lend onto a stony path surrounded by grass. They followed the path around in an ark shape until they came to a smaller grey building. The inside was purple, Anabel looked at the map, each block was colour coded; now it made sense.

'OK, the music classroom is that door straight ahead'

Anabel took a deep breath

'You'll be fine' Tom reassured with a smiled that twinkled in his eyes.

'I'll see you in Spanish, if you don't make it to class I'll send out the search party' winking as he walked away.

The lesson had already begun when Anabel entered. A tall man with dark hair and a beard who was speaking to the class, Stopped abruptly to chastise the late comer.

'Oh, Hi. You must be Anabel. Come on in and sit in any of the free spaces'

She took a seat at the back of the classroom, hoping she would be able to hide. But of course, like every other student, they each twisted around in their seat to spy on the new girl. The bearded man continued with the class.

'Today we will be concentrating on Tchaikovsky'

Groans filled the classroom.

Mr Jonti disappeared into the storeroom to retrieve text books. The girl sat at the desk directly in front of Anabel turned round in her seat.

She was petite with long fair hair, a sprinkle of freckles spread across her button nose.

'Hey, I'm Sally. Is this your first day?'

Her voice was rather high pitched.

Anabel slouched in her chair, no-one should be that jolly this early in the morning.

'Yeah, I've just moved here from Chester'

She had a feeling she would be repeating this line a lot today.

Sally smiled, a little wider than necessary.

'I have family in Chester, Capenhurst, do you know it?'

Anabel could tell this was going to be the longest hour of her life.

'So how do you like Kerrington?'

'The jury's still out'

Sally giggled, although it sounded more like a squeak.

'Your hair is so beautiful, so bright' the extra wide grin reappeared.

Anabel had inherited her grandfather's wild auburn hair.

Mr Jonti emerged from the storeroom, struggling with a stack of thick dusty music books.

To Anabel's relief, Sally twisted back towards the front of the class and she never had the chance to turn around again.

By break time, Anabel was used to people staring at her and whispering amongst their friends. She sat in the corner of the cafeteria watching the other students. Most of them were tanned, dressed in outfits that made them look like they'd just stepped off the beach.

'There you are' A warm familiar voice echoed.

Anabel looked up to see Tom stood in front of her.

'Ready for Spanish serorita?' he chuckled.

The bell rang, he pulled her up from the chair and lead her to the Spanish room.

The remainder of the day passed by in a blur. Anabel watched the clock anxiously. 3.20, only 10 minutes to go!

She doodled on her pad and tried desperately to drown out the discordant tones of the teacher.

The bell rang as pupils scurried through the only escape route. She hung back in fear of repeating this mornings incident, darting for the door when the room was almost vacant of bodies. The Mercedes was already waiting, her brother had his nose squished up against the window making condensation like a dragon.

'Woohoo, over here darling'

Her mother called, waving frantically out of the car window.

Anabel groaned and climbed into the car.

'So, how was it?' her mother smiled, expectantly.

'It was ok'

The smile faded from her mothers face.

'Well, I made your favourite for dinner, at least that's something'

Anabel smiled a weak half smile as her mother started for home.