Hey, Zuria Maylin here, and I would LOVE to hear your reviews, so PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE read and rate. I will send in the first five chapters, one a day, and you rate. Then, if the majority is good, I give the next five, read the reviews, give the next five chapters, etcetera. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE review the story!
Chapter One
A Strange School
May raced after the school bus. The thirteen-year-old seventh grader had done this multiple times last year, blond hair flying, and the people of Muspell didn't see it as strange. Muspell was a small town where everyone knew everyone else's business, and only the 90+ people remembered a time when the newspaper was useful, but that was time long past. News passed from neighbor to neighbor—faster than any journalist could cook up an article for the nonexistent Muspell Herald. That was why no one was surprised when May lost the school bus.
A car pulled up beside her. She wasn't nervous—this was almost normal in Muspell. She knew the license plate—3LIL1S—and knew the people in the car—not personally, but as acquaintances—Taylor, Tyler, Tannyr, and their mother. A triplet, Tannyr Thompson was the only girl. The Thompsons were the neighbors across the street from May Mickloon and her family.
"Hello, honey." Mrs. Thompson was on the phone with her husband. "Yes, yes, I'm picking up the Mickloon girl—what's her name?—Mina? Maria? Medina?"
"May," said May.
"Yes, yes, May." Mrs. Thompson continued as if May had remained silent. After she hung up her phone, Mrs. Thompson asked May where she was going to school.
"SSH," answered May. No one, teachers included, knew what SSH stood for.
"Haha, funny, May," said Tannyr's distinct voice from the back seat. "So are we!"
May almost groaned aloud. Tannyr and Tyler were annoying enough when May lived across the street from them, only seeing them every other day when she took out the trash. Having them as classmates at a boarding school was going to be horrible.
May watched through the window as the big, Victorian houses got more and more spread out, and the lowing of cows began to be heard. After an hour or two, May finally found herself in front of a huge building.
"This must be SSH," said Taylor. His red hair looked like fire against the blue sky.
The three Thompsons entered the building. May was about to follow, when Mrs. Thompson grabbed her arm.
"Be careful, May," she said. "You could be the one they're looking for."
"What?" asked May, trying to free herself.
"Just watch your back," she said. "Please."
"Okay," said May, questioning her neighbors' sanity. She left the safety of the courtyard and went into the school.
"Hi!" A girl long, wavy blond hair waltzed up to May. "I'm Lula Cooke. I've been here longer than anyone. Well, almost anyone."
"Almost?" May asked.
"Come on!" Lula, still smiling, ran off without explanation. May sighed and followed.
A voice over the intercom said, "All new kids, report to the office, PLEASE!"
May followed the strange signs plastered all over the school, reading, NEW KIDS, THIS WAY! and HURRY UP! OVER HERE!
May entered the room titled OFFICE.
"I suppose you're here for the principal?" It was the same nasal voice that had called for the new kids.
"I…I guess," said May. The woman who had spoken hadn't left her game of solitaire on the computer.
"First door on the left," said the woman.
"Thank you," said May. She entered a room.
The principal's face couldn't be see, and there was no name on the desk. She held a newspaper in front of her face. Taylor, Tyler, and Tannyr were all sitting in front of the desk in comfy chairs.
"You'll need a tour," she said, her voice slightly constricted. May could hear tears in her voice.
May thought the principal's voice sounded slightly familiar, but she wasn't sure. Maybe it was a coincidence. Yeah, that had to be it.
"Well," the principal was saying, "then, I'll assign you a tour guide. Mr. Thompson, Mr. Thompson, you will be with Mr. Minnoui. Miss Thompson, Miss…"
"Mickloon," May offered.
"Miss Mickloon, you'll go with Miss Cooke."
"Some strange names you have here," remarked Tannyr.
"Yes," agreed the principal. "I think the most common is Molland."
The nasal voice of the secretary came over the intercom. "Marco and Lula are here."
"Thank you, Jane," said the principal. "Your tour guides are out the door."
As May turned to leave, the principal called, "Miss Mickloon?"
May stopped.
"Be careful," she said, lowering her newspaper. She had blond hair, just the same as May's, and she had black sunglasses. "It can be a dangerous school…" she lowered her glasses, revealing bright blue eyes—just the same as May's! "For some people."
May left as the principal turned away, looking at the newspaper but not seeing the words.
"What did she want?" asked Tannyr.
"Nothing much," lied May, slightly shaken by the similarity between Mrs. Thompson and the principal's warnings.
Lula grimaced. "She wouldn't just pull you over for nothing," she said. "At least…I don't think she would."
"How long has she been here?" asked May.
"Longer than I have." Lula looked puzzled at May's sudden interest in the subject, but it quickly passed. "Come on, girls! You're in Number One."
"What's Number One?" asked Tannyr.
"You'll see," answered Lula, leaving May and Tannyr to sprint after her.
They took a shortcut to the north side of SSH. Number One turned out to be a dormitory, dorm 1. There were four students living there (including May and Tannyr), and one teacher.
"And who's the teacher," Tannyr.
"She's the best!" Lula's ace broke into a grin. "Her name is Miss Penelope. I mean, that's what she tells us to call her. She's a…an awesome teacher."
May got the impression that Lula had almost slipped and told a secret, but she had caught herself.
Entering dorm1, May gasped at the brightness of it all. Yellow paint covered the walls, and daisies were painted next to the beds with each girls' name in the center. There were Lula Cooke, Penelope Mairy, even May Mickloon and Tannyr Thompson. There was another name; one May couldn't believe was there.
Mina Mickloon, May's sister.
"Miss Penelope is in her classroom, preparing for her next," said Lula. "I wanted to introduce you to Mina, the other girl living here. What's wrong May?"
May had turned extremely pale. "It's just…I don't understand…"
Lula exchanged glances with Tannyr. Then they both shrugged.
"Mina!" yelled Lula. "New kids!"
"Coming!" said a voice from the bathroom.
Mina walked out, a smile on her glowing face. Her smile faded when she saw May.
"May?" Her brilliant blue eyes still twinkled, but had a glimmer of disbelief.
"Hi." May had never heard her voice so small. "Is it good here, Mina?"
"Yeah," said Mina. "It's cool."
"I'm missing something," said Lula.
"As usual," muttered Mina.
"Hey!" Lula's smile melted into an angry expression. "Just because I'm a…you know…doesn't mean I have every piece of the puzzle!"
"I'm just her younger sister," said May.
The reaction from Lula was quite unexpected. She stumbled back, gasping.
"And don't believe her when she says I know what's happening," Mina snapped, and slammed the door behind her.
Lula got up before Tannyr or May could reach her.
"So," she said, her eyes a milky white. "They are all here. Two skyhons. One super receptive. And the youngest is joined by three more of her kind. A prophetic…but not for a while. I will have peace once more. And a sister's betrayal…bitter she cannot be what she wants to be. It is a family war."
"I don't understand," May said.
"Your time will come," Lula said, and she collapsed again.
Tannyr and May helped her up, and she began muttering to herself. "They've been telling me what it was like to host the spirit of the prophetic, but…I never thought it would be so…so horrible."
"What are you talking about?" May asked, confused.
Lula looked up at her, tears in her eyes. "Your time will come."
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