Daughter of the Fae

Strange Occurances

Excited voices rang through the halls of Kaine Private Academy as hundreds of students poured out of their classrooms and herded themselves towards the massive cafeteria. Sneakers squeaked as their owners pushed and shoved against the tide of bodies, laughter echoing as some unsuspecting student became the butt end of a prank. Teachers stood by their classroom doors in a effort to keep the hungry teenagers under control, it was a weak effort but they knew they had to try.

The students filed through the cafeteria, buying snacks or full blown lunches before either sitting at the many tables filling the space or stepping out into the massive courtyard to eat in the sun. Most of the students outside would sit on the grass and socialise with one another for the hour they had for lunch. Groups of students dotted the courtyard, laughing and watching some of the more athletic students show off their skills.

“Head’s up!” The voice caught the attention of a group of students, causing some to move out of the way as they saw a young man rushing towards them to catch a runaway football. As he threw out his arm to catch the ball, the young man dove and collided with the grass below him, hugging the ball to his chest.

“Well, at least we’ll sleep well knowing that our best wide receiver will do whatever it takes to catch a ball.” William Lebeau, one of the nearby students, laughed. He stood at almost six feet tall, with the toned build of a dancer, and dark skin that complimented his bright smile and honey colored eyes. He had spent the past several years letting his hair grow into dreadlocks and currently had them pulled back in a tie at the base of his neck. He threw an arm over the girl standing beside him and grinned at her fondly. “Don’t you agree, Jade daaaarling.” He added, exaggerating the ‘a’ to sound like a Brit.

Jade Wilson leaned against her best friend and grinned down at the teenager at the their feet. Her ocean blue eyes gleaming with amusement. She stood almost a foot shorter than William, and had the same lean build without the obvious definition of muscle. Unlike William’s dark skin tone, hers was similar to snow, which gave her a complex every winter. She hated that she was so pale, especially since her hair was the literal color of soot. In her childhood she was often called ‘Snow White’ to mock her appearance, but that was ended quickly when William called everyone out for picking on someone for something as uncontrollable as their skin color. The two of them had become close friends after that, sticking up for each like siblings, until he became her foster brother when they were starting middle school. His parents had died in a car accident, leaving his terminally ill grandmother as his only guardian, so the state had decided to allow Jade’s foster parents to take him until his eighteenth birthday, which was just a couple of months away.

“Oh yeah, I’ll be able to sleep like a baby.” She answered, her laugh filling the small area. She shook her head, as the small group laughed as the boy got to his feet, dusting his pants off. “I don’t understand how you can play that horrific game.” She told him.

The boy straightened his back to stand at his full height, which was close to six-five, and smiled warmly down at her, his emerald green eyes filled with humor. Freckles lightly coated his tanned nose and cheeks, and his frenzied red hair hung down past his forehead to touch his eyes, giving him a mischievous look. Lifting his arms up, he flexed the muscles in his arms and chuckled. His muscle definition confused Jade, but she never let him know that, she thought football players were suppose to resemble body builders, but he looked more like a swimmer.

“It’s a good work out.” He shrugged. “I mean, check out these guns.” Jade laughed and reached forward to squeeze his bicep.

“Guns, Peter, really? More like pea shooters.” Jade snorted her reply and rolled her eyes before turning back towards William, who had watched the interaction with a grin. “Hurry back to the other jocks before they send a search party and completely ruin my appetite.”

Peter laughed and shook his head at his friend, knowing that if the rest of his team came looking for him it would mean an argument between his friends and teammates, something they would all rather avoid.

“As you wish, Princess.” The use of his nickname for her earning him an empty glare. “We’re all still on to catch a movie later, right?”

“As long as it’s not some cheesy independent film, cause I’ll jab my eyes out if we have to watch one more movie that has no plot.” William whined, pouting his lips. “Can’t we please watch the new rom com that just came out?”

“Dealers choice.” Peter gestures towards William, backing away from them. “Just text me the when and where and I’ll be there.” He added as he turned to walk away. Jade and William nodded in agreement and went back to enjoy what was left of their lunch hour, laughing and swapping stories with their friends until the bell called for them to return to class.

After that the day passed by uneventfully, with students rushing from class to class, some panicking at the amount of homework they had while some didn’t seem to mind.

Jade, herself, was unfazed by the homework her teachers handed out, as she always seemed to get decent grades in her classes. She would never describe herself as the academic type, and instead leaned towards the arts. Her favorite class by far was art, she loved creating images on the blank canvases, finding it to be a kind of stress relief. Her specialty was still life, but recently she had found herself painting landscapes.

As she gathered her supplies and prepared to leave her last class of the day, she studied her recent creation. Her eyes swept over the unfamiliar hills and forest scenery curiously. Jade had never seen the miss covered mounds she had painted and leaned against the small desk she had used to hold her paints and tilted her head to side. The scene before felt alive and pricked at something in her memory, but she drew a blank as to what it was.

The trees reached for the red and orange sky, but were bare of leaves. Most of the trees had a pale colored bark that made them look like they were dead, but Jade knew that she hadn’t painted them to be rotting. Her only explanation was the snow covered ground, and between the hills and sunset she had painted, the image looked other worldly. As she stood looking at the painting, Jade was so enthralled that she failed to hear the classroom door open and close and it wasn’t until she felt someone come up behind her that she tore her eyes away from the canvas and turning her attention to the tall red head.

“Sorry, I got caught up.” She murmured and quickly rushed to put away her brushes and paint tubes. It only took her a few moments to pack everything away, and once she was done she threw her messenger bag over her shoulder and turned to face Peter, who appeared just as enthralled with her painting as she had been “Peter?” She called, moving to stand beside him, noticing that he looked like he wanted to cry. Carefully, Jade laid a hand on his arm. “Peter!” Her voice was a bit louder this time and it seemed to bring him out of the trace he’d been in.

“What? Oh sorry.” He jumped and shook his head, gesturing towards her work. “It’s just so beautiful.” He whispered, glancing at it once more before turning towards the door. “Come on, Will’s waiting for us at his car.” Without another word, he exited the room, followed by Jade.

They walked through the halls silently as they made their way towards the main doors, both lost in thought. Jade’s mind kept focusing on her painting, and she found that she couldn’t remember painting it. She knew she had, as it had her signature symbol in the bottom right corner, but she couldn’t remember actually doing so. It wasn’t unheard of for artists to get so lost in their work that they couldn’t remember producing it, but it had never happened to her. It was a bit unsettling if she was completely honest with herself, but she shrugged it off so that she could focus on having fun with her best friends later.

Before they knew it, the pair had exited the building and met up with Will at his gray impala. Quickly, the group climbed into the car and drove away from the school, making their way into the city to spend their afternoon.

Once they reached their favorite theater, the trio climbed out of the car and hurried towards the ticket booth, agreeing on the movie they would see. As they waited, Jade began to feel restless, and the hair on the back of her neck rose like she was being watched. Turning her head back and forth she looked for the source of her sudden paranoia, but found nothing. The area in front of the theater was empty of people and she shuddered visibly.

“You okay over there, Princess?” Peter’s voice broke through her racing thoughts and she met his gaze, seeing concern within their depths.

“I just feel like I’m being watched.” She chuckled at how crazy she sounded but was surprised to see Peter glance around before tucking her under his arm.

“Will and I are here, so don’t freak yourself out.” He told her, nodding to Will, who threw an arm around her shoulders since Peter had her around the waist.

“Yeah, girlfriend, ain’t no one gonna mess with you while you’re with us.” He reassured her with a grin.

Jade let their confidence sweep over her and she smiled happily up at them, nodding in agreement. The trio moved to pay for their tickets and made their way inside, quickly buying the desired snacks, finding their seats, and settling in to watch the movie. As they waited for the lights to dim, they watched the seats fill with other viewers. One couple moved to sit behind them, talking quietly to each other, and they tried to find a seat, the woman tripped and spilled popcorn onto Peter’s shoulders.

“Oh my goodness, I’m so sorry!” She told them, trying to brush the kernels from Peter’s jacket. Peter stood and slipped the garment from his shoulders and shook it out onto the floor, smiling back at the woman.

“Don’t worry about it.” He told her, setting the jacket onto the seat next to him.

The woman smiled, but it looked wrong, like her mouth was too big for her face, and her eyes gleamed with some unknown emotion as she looked from Peter to Jade to Will and returning once more to Peter.

“You’re such a nice young man.” She cooed, her voice sounding thick. She glanced at the man beside her, who smiled at the trio. “A regular good fellow you are.”

Jade felt Peter stiffen beside her, and tilted her head at him, noticing how his face seemed to harden slightly for a moment at the phrase before he gave the pair and shrug and sat back down silently. Before she could say anything to him about the lights dimmed and the movie began, but she noticed that Peter’s attention seemed to be elsewhere.