Prologue
She stood at the huge, closed, gates of the vacant school and looked up at the tilted school sign: Ereda Academy.
She exhaled impatiently, opened the dark gates, and walked into the school campus. Her cold eyes swept around; the piercing wind blew up some fallen leaves, making a rustling noise. Crows flew out of the trees, following the wind to somewhere far away.
It is quite eerie; the tall clock tower stood in the middle, the gigantic, dark, and thick numbers and ticks on the clock are intimidating. The school is old: the walls of the buildings have cracks in it, and huge chunks of paint and cement are gone, revealing the grey part of the walls. The arches of the wide hallways are exceedingly high, making the school seem like a famous relic. The handrails of the spiral stairs felt rough; small, rounded specks of cement bulged out of it, and the feeling of it is frequently interrupted by the cracks in it. And finally, the headmaster room's door. The dark brown wooden door is as high and wide as the arch of every hallway, with delicately carved totems on it.
She picked up the heavy, bronze ring on the door, and knocked twice firmly.
"Come in." A tired voice said from inside.
She pushed the thick wooden doors open, and walked straight into the dark room. The doors closed automatically behind her. Her footsteps echoed loudly and steadily in the huge room; not once had her pace changed. She reached the end of the room, and stood in front of the huge, messy desk that is full of papers. A person was sitting in front of the desk in a majestic chair with one of his hands propping his chin up and the other holding a pen, while the other person stood next to him.
The person put down his pen and his other hand. He was quite surprised when he saw who it is; he felt like all his fatigue is gone. He waited for a moment to see if she would speak; all she did was staring at him. All his hopes seemed to vanish into darkness suddenly, and his tiredness came back.
He asked wearily. "What is it that brings you here?"
"To get enrolled in here." She cut straight to the point, using as little words as she could.
The person sighed, disappointed. "Still as straight forward as ever, aren't you? You only came here for that reason?"
She stayed silent.
He laid back in his chair, crossed his fingers, looked at the floor, and fell into his thoughts.
"You know that I can't say no." He sighed again. "Even though you are well aware that you cannot enroll in here, you came to ask me because you know that I can't refuse you."
The person standing next to him shifted uneasily when he heard his words.
She stayed silent.
"Why do you want to come here this early? It's unsuitable for you. Especially when you need a…" His voice trailed off as he tried to think of an explanation instead of a word; a word to her is a word. It does not mean anything. "You need to be able to cooperate with someone, to be able to understand and know the person to enroll in here and function in here, but you know you won't allow that."
She spoke slowly. "I have the person for that."
"A person?" He asked sharply, and narrowed his eyes. "I don't think so. I know you too well."
She stayed silent again, and he knew he will never get certain things out of her. When she doesn't want to reply, she stays silent. When she thinks that the comment is not worth replying to, she stays silent. When she thinks that … Oh, who knows when she will talk? She detests it. She is always concise.
"All I ask of you is to know one person; it's not that hard, is it?" He lifted his eyes and looked at her with a sad smile.
She stared back at the smile as if it were nothing. She is starting to lose patience; all these emotional conversations are just a waste of time. "Yes, or no?"
He lowered his gaze and stared at his papers. After a few moments, he sighed, lifted his head, and looked at her again. "For the thousandth time, you know that I can't refuse you because you are my –"
Even though her face still remained impassive – she did not tighten the corners of her mouth, or narrow her eyes, or in any way show that she is angered –, the atmosphere around her suddenly turned threatening and freezing cold.
This is hopeless, he thought desperately. Nothing has changed. She hasn't, and I haven't.
His words turned bleak.
"Alright…"
So what do you guys think?
I don't really know how long a chapter should be; I'm hoping this isn't too short nor too long! :O
This is just the very start so I guess it doesn't really say anything.. x.x