Hey guys! This is my first fanfic, and I haven't watched HOA for about a thousand years so sorry if some of the facts are wrong. My memory is completely blown after four mocks, a ton of homework and loads of end of term tests. Sorry!
Hope you like it and please review. Constructive criticism please! :)
Enjoy! xxxxx
Rain pattered heavily against the bus window as it drove deeper into the English countryside. I sighed and rested my head against the window. I had no idea what this school even looked like, let alone how far away it is. I wasn't too thrilled about the idea of going to a boarding school over 300 miles away, but I knew that my father was struggling so much for money, so when I was offered this scholarship, I knew that I wouldn't have any choice but to take it.
The bus came to a halt, letting the last few people off. This is weird. You would think there would be more people on the bus on the first day to school. I shrugged it off and went back to sketching pictures of animals in my notepad. I had never seen a real live animal before, not properly. My father never let me. No matter how much I would beg and plead to go on a school trip to a zoo or something, he would always say no. He would never even allow me out of his sight, so I was just left to stare at the limited wildlife from my bedroom window.
I was shaken out of my thoughts when the bus came juddering to a halt. The bus driver turned around in his seat and called out to me,
'Last stop. Sorry but you're gonna have to get off here'
I shoved my notepad back in my bag and stepped off the bus into the pouring rain, pulling my single, small suitcase behind me. My face crumpled in confusion as I looked around for the school but couldn't see it anywhere. Weird, I was told this bus would take me here. 'Wait do you know where the-' I said while spinning back around to face the bus driver, but the doors slammed shut in my face and the driver drove away without hearing me. Rude. Well, I can't just stand here. So I started to walk along the wet and muddy road, my white trainers quickly turning a filthy brown.
After about twenty minutes, I started to give up. There were no signs anywhere so I was completely lost. As I rounded a corner a car pulled up next to me and the window wound down. Inside was a man who looked about 40-50. He looked me up and down, and I suddenly became aware of how soaked I was. My dark hair clung to my pale skin and my clothes where weighing me down noticeably. He chuckled lightly. 'You must be Lily. I thought you may have gotten lost. I'm Mr Sweet, the Head Teacher. Come on. Climb in before you get any more soaked'
As I climbed out of the car I looked up at the large, red brick building in front of me. There was ivy growing up the walls and a sign that read 'the House of Anubis'. There was quite a creepy feeling in the air, but I was sure it was just me. I turned back to face Mr Sweet. 'I'm sorry about your car.' I said while looking at the dripping seats and car floor caked in mud.
'It's all right, I'll cope' He said, but he wasn't looking so sure.
As he drove off I rang the doorbell of the creepy house. The door swung open and a short, dark haired lady stood in front of me.
'Oh hello, you must be Lily. I'm Trudy. Come on inside. Oh my, aren't you soaked! You must come and get changed or you'll catch a cold. I'll show you to your room'. She led me up a wooden staircase and along a corridor to a room with three beds, one which was clearly mine as it was empty. My roommates had obviously finished unpacking and left already.
'Was I meant to bring a duvet? I didn't think…'
'Not a problem, dearie. I'll try and find you something. You get yourself settled in. And get changed! You can put you wet clothes in the laundry room downstairs.' And with that she hurried off. I pulled off my wet clothes and put on some dry ones and then looked at the other two beds. One had a name on the bedhead. 'Mara'. The other one didn't have a name, but had lots of gothic pictures scattered all over the wall around it.
'Excuse me? Who are you?' I jumped as I found a tall and angry girl towering over me 'Why are you standing next to my bed?' She had dark red hair, similar to mine but with a bit more red – I assumed it was dyed – and bright blue and purple highlights.
'S-sorry, I was just-'
'Snooping around my room? Why are you here?' She looked at my small and very muddy suitcase, and the pile of muddy clothes next to my bed, and seemed to make the link. Creeping in behind her was a smaller girl who she assumed was Mara.
'Patricia, it's our room, actually. And by the looks of it, she'll be sharing with us too.'
Patricia let out a melodramatic sigh, slumped down on her bed and put on some earphones, ignoring us both.
'Sorry about her, she doesn't take to well to new people. I'm Mara.' She held her hand with a friendly grin, and I shook it.
'Hi, I'm Lily. Nice to meet you.' Just at that moment Trudy came bustling back inside carrying a plain white duvet that looked to be twice her size. She placed it on my new bed and then took a few steps back.
'There you go. Ah, I see you've met Mara and Patricia. I hope you're all getting along.' She then sensed the tension and cast a doubtful look at Patricia before backing out of the room, grabbing my muddy clothes on the way. I started to unpack my things when I became conscious that Patricia was eyeballing me. I slammed one of my notebooks back down on my bed and spun around to face her.
'What?' I said irritably.
'You don't have much stuff, do you?' She said, looking at the small pile of things I had emptied out on my bed. 'It's normally rich and spoiled kids who come here. Did you come here on a scholarship? You certainly don't look rich'
'Patricia!' Mara stood up from her bed. 'Don't be so rude! Plus, you came here on a scholarship too.'
'But I at least have more than three outfits.' Patricia reasoned.
'Just ignore her Lily. She's just trying to get to you.'
'No it's fine. I'm done anyway.' I said, kicking the last of my stuff under my bed. I pulled my smaller shoulder bag over my shoulder. I take it everywhere. It has my old brick of a phone, my notebook, some emergency money and some pencils. I always love to sketch things I come across. Trees, flowers, anything. But the things I love to sketch the most are animals. I've never got close enough to get good enough detail but I do try.
As I walked along the landing I heard someone let out a great growl of anger. I rushed to see two boys holding a large, dark grey husky in front of a very upset man who had a balding head and was wearing a long brown coat. He looked a bit like someone out of a detective movie.
'ALFIE LEWIS! JEROME CLARKE! WHY ON EARTH HAVE YOU BROUGHT A DOG INTO THIS HOUSE?' He bellowed.
I took one look at the dog and felt a strange tug in my stomach. I had to reach this dog. I had to feel its fur in between my fingers. Quickly, I hurried down the stairs and started to walk up to the dog, but soon stopped when they turned to face me. The tugging was becoming unbearable at this point, but I didn't want to look weird.
'And you are?' The scary man asked me.
'L-Lily. Sorry but who are you?' The two boys sniggered but the man did not look very amused. In fact, he looked livid, which was absolutely terrifying. He looked as if he were about to say something when one of the boys with dark skin and short hair let out a huge sneeze.
'Uh, guys. I hate to interrupt but I am actually allergic to dogs. Sorry Jerome.' And with that he sped away into a room downstairs.
The dog looked me in the eyes and the tug became unbearable. I took a step forward. 'Can I stroke him?' I yelped. Jerome looked a bit confused. 'I'm sorry but I've never actually stroked a dog before, and this one just looks beautiful.'
Jerome laughed. 'Sure, go ahead.' I flung myself forward a little too easily and stretched my hand out to stroke the dog, but just before my hand made contact, I noticed a strange orange, spark-like ripple flicker across its fur. I gasped and pulled my hand back. Jerome frowned. 'What's wrong? He hasn't got fleas.'
I shook my head. 'Nothing.' I reached my hand back out and began to slowly place it on the dog's back, which was standing unusually still. The orange sparks appeared again and lapped around my fingers. Normally I would have pulled back, but something inside was telling me not to. They didn't burn or sting. In fact there was absolutely no pain at all. Instead I looked up at Jerome, who was deeply engrossed in an argument with the scary man about whether he was allowed to keep his dog in his dorm. He wasn't winning, and they both weren't aware of the strange orange sparks that were beginning to climb up my arm.
'Errr...Jerome?' I said, nervously, as I still wasn't completely trusting of these unfamiliar flickers.
'What?' He looked down at me, and it became clear that I was the only one who could see them.
'Can you not see that?' I said, pointing to my hand, but I already knew the answer.
'See what?' He laughed. 'Yes Lily, you have a hand, and, yes. It is stroking the dog. I know this is a new experience for you.' His expression then immediately dropped, showing he really didn't care, and he turned back to the man once again, in a final attempt to win this argument. I frowned, hurt by his sarcasm, but was distracted as the sparks engulfed my arm, then my entire body, and then they began to fill me inside. Normally I would panic if something like this was happening to me, but something inside me just told me to let it happen. So I did. After a few more minutes I felt immensely powerful, and this feeling was amazing.
Suddenly, the sparks fizzed away and I felt a strong force pull me backwards, making me yelp in surprise. My head smacked into the bottom step of the wooden staircase and I saw stars for a second.
'Wha-, Lily!' Jerome shouted, before rushing over to help me up. 'Are you ok?'
'Yes.' I lied, pain throbbing through the back of my head and all of my muscles aching. 'What just happened?' I said as I became aware of just how far I had travelled.
