August 20, 2007

I have no memory of who I am. I woke three days ago in a back alley in Boston, Massachusetts. I do not know how I got there. I only know my name, and I can do things just by thinking them. I willed a rock to fly at a dog that would have attacked me, that is how I know about that! But that is all.

I awoke in the day, with the sun so bright I could not see. It hurt my eyes. It still hurts my eyes, but I have found sun glasses help that a little. It was when I left the alley that Sister Evelyn found me and brought me to the school. I still do not really understand why, they all swear they do not know me. The Headmaster would only say he knew I belonged here. So here I am. I gave them a fake name; it did not seem safe to tell them my real name. So I told them I was Val Storm, and that is close enough. They made some papers for me, and now I am a ward of the Catholic Church. Officially, I was born in Egypt and my parents died in a plane crash last year. In reality, I have no clue who or where my family is. Officially, I turned 16 on August 15. But I have no idea how old I really am. I could be an adult, I do not know.

I decided to start writing about my experiences. Perhaps I can put together some of the pieces of my past by understanding what is happening to me now. I have also been listening to a lot of music. Some of which are like hints of feelings and dreams. I have decided to write down some of the lyrics that make me feel feelings that seem familiar. These feelings could also be clues.

There are other children arriving in the dorms. I know I am different. I am different in a way I do not think people are comfortable with. They made me dye my hair black. I nearly cried when they did it, though I do not understand why. I have strange markings on my body. They did not see them, and I do not think they should know. I do not know what they mean, or how I got them.

What happened to me? Why am I in this place? What made me forget? Everything is blank. I only have my name: Valeda Ne'Marr.

August 22, 2007

I do not need to sleep. All I need is a couple of hours to be still and think every night, but I do not need sleep. So I have been reading at night. On the advice of my English teacher, I read Homer's Odyssey. I just finished reading it, and I must say I really enjoyed it. I know it is very old, but I enjoyed Homer's style of writing. It really did sound how I think English should sound, though I know it was written in another language. It was very detailed, explaining everything I felt I would want to know about the characters, the history and the settings. The story was also quite moving. Odysseus' unwillingness to give up is quite inspiring, and in the end it pays off. He gets home and gets his life back. If only every story could end this way.

August 27, 2007

I received a roommate six days ago. Her name is Heather Conrad, and I am not entirely sure what to think of her. She really did seem nice enough to begin with, but is very insecure. She is friends with a group of girls who are considered the popular crowd. I do not entirely understand this concept, but it seems very important to Heather. These girls have already decided I am anathema, and are determined to make me miserable. I pay them no mind; I see no reason to be bothered by what a group of spoiled rich girls think of me. Many others, Heather included, want to impress them. So it seems I go against the grain again.

We started classes the day after Heather arrived. I have homeroom and Bible study, algebra, chemistry, American history, English, speech, and computer class. It has been interesting so far, however without my memory I am very far behind everyone else. If I once knew any of these things I have forgotten them. Most of the teachers are understanding, and the past couple of day I have had tutors assigned to help me get caught up to everyone else.

The boy assigned to help me with English is Sora Kithkin. Sora is probably the one person here who is as different and strange as I am. I have heard the more popular boys call him fag or homo, which means he is attracted to men and not women. From what I gather, in this society that is considered wrong. I do not see why it should be, it is Sora's business and his alone who he is attracted to. But since the children here seem intent on being cruel, we will just have to live with their ire. I like Sora, he has been kind to me.

His roommate, Ryan Hesling, is also someone I am becoming acquainted with. Ryan is also a bit different, but not as obviously so as Sora or myself. He is mostly very quiet. I am not exactly sure what to think of him, but so far he seems nice enough. Sora told me Ryan does a lot the more popular student's homework, and that is why they do not pick on him as much.

It seems very strange to me to have friends. Which in itself is strange, since everyone else has or wants friends. It just feels as if this were the first time. I almost did not notice Sora being nice to me until he asked me to go get coffee and hang out with him!Things are a bit difficult, but it seems as if life is not going to be that bad. I wish I knew what got me here, but I think once I know I can be content with this life.

August 30, 2007

Today Ryan took Sora and I out to meet some friends of his. They go to the public school down the street. Honestly, I am not impressed so far.

First is Allie Crowley, who was mostly very quiet. She did not say much and was pretty much unremarkable in every way. Allie lives in a foster home, and has no memory of her past. She woke up on the streets a month ago with no memory of what she was before. She told me she does not even remember her real name! This interests me; I have been lead to believe this amnesia is very rare. Now here are two teenaged girls in the same area of the same city who do not remember anything about their past. I hope it is a coincidence.

Colt Kinsley was very interesting, but not necessarily in a way I would consider positive. Ryan called him a jock a couple of times, I guess this means he plays sports and has some other stereotypes along with it that I do not entirely understand. Colt was proud of it, said he plays a game called Lacrosse. When I said I did not know what that was he laughed and acted as though it were not possible. Then he tried to explain the rules. I did not understand them, some how I think sports are not for me. He acted as though he were better than the rest of us, and rubbed me the wrong way in general.

I will admit that Colt was better than Derek MacKinnley. Derek seemed ignorant of any kind of politeness. He tried to flirt with me in a very lewd way, and was quite rude to Sora because Sora was wearing a dress. He bragged about stealing things and is apparently on the run from the mob (Ryan explained that the mob is organized criminals).

After meeting at Starbucks we went over to Colt's house to play on his X-Box. His father was frightening, and Volt's room looked like a bomb had gone off in the laundry basket. I have decided I do not care for video games. They really seem to not be useful in any way. They played a game called Halo in which they ran around and shot guns at each other. Apparently this is a popular pass time for teenagers, but I was quite bored. All in all it was not too bad of a night. I guess this is the way most teenagers spend their days. So if I am going to be a teenager, I should try to enjoy it.

September 5, 2007

I may have found a connection with my past today, but I feel quite uneasy about it. After school I went to the Headmaster's office to discuss my progress in school. He told me something I did not understand then, but do now. He told me for the next couple of days I should try to stay off campus or in my dorm room as often as I could. He said for my safety I should lay low. I was then to go into the Reverend Mother's office, and she dyed my hair. She was very nervous the whole time, pulling my hair, and she even dropped the bowl of dye leaving a huge stain on the carpet. When we were finished she told me the same thing as the Headmaster; go to your dorm and stay there.

Halfway to the dorms, I realized I forgotten my bag in the Headmaster's office. I had an important homework assignment in chemistry, so I went back to get it (How am I going to explain to Father Kent I do not have it!). There were people in his office, but the door was open a crack so I looked in to see if it was okay for me to get my bag.

There were two very large, muscular men and a tall blond woman speaking with the Headmaster. There was nothing remarkable about the woman aside from beauty. The two men were different. They made me feel uneasy. When they shifted into the light, I saw that their shadows had wings!

The door creaked a bit and they turned. When he saw me one of the men pulled a sword from thin air and attacked me! I heard his voice shout my name inside my head, but he said nothing aloud. I decided it might be best to get out of there and so left campus to meet Sora and Ryan at Colt's house.

We watched Star Wars (more on that later), but had to be back at campus at eight o'clock. When we came back I said good night to Sora and Ryan and went back to my room. Heather wasn't there, so I figured she was watching a movie. I had only been in the room a minute when my door burst open and the man who attacked me came in, sword in hand. He spoke to me, not in English, but in a strange language I could understand! He challenged me to a duel, and I told him I did not know how. I did not understand what he wanted of me or why, and I made it clear. He got very angry because I was unarmed and started shouting. It was then the Headmaster ran in and claimed me as his charge. The man left, almost disappeared.

So now I am at Colt's house. The Headmaster told me I could not stay at the school anymore because it was not safe for me. This was the only place I could think to go. Colt said I can stay here for a while, but I do not want to be here for long. I hope the problem at school passes quickly, I really hate this arrangement. Colt is letting me have his bed, but I don't know if this is any better than sleeping on the couch or the floor. The whole place smells like old socks.

I wish I knew how he knows me and what I did for him to hate me so. I do not. It all means nothing; except that I remembered a language I did not know I knew. And that someone I do not remember hates me so much he wants my death. What have I done?

September 6, 2007

We watched Star Wars at Colt's house yesterday. I really am noticing a theme in storytelling, which is the journey of the hero from boy to man. This describes Star Wars very much. We watched what they called the original trilogy. I guess there are three more Star Wars movies that are about the villain becoming the villain, but Colt said they are not as good as the first. He and Ryan got in a passionate argument about this, apparently Ryan thought the "new" trilogy was the better. Having only seen one of them, I cannot really tell.

It was a quite archetypal story of a boy, finding a teacher, traveling, rescuing the girl (who turns out to be his sister) and becoming a man. It was entertaining, but from what I have seen of mythology and other stories and forms of entertainment it is not a new idea. Except maybe the girl being his sister. Some of the villains were even redeemed in the end, a touch which I enjoyed.

I know it was purely made to entertain, but there were a few things I noticed that I found kind of funny. There was a battle in the end of the last film where a group of cute little teddy bears (what the Hell is it with cute fuzzy things? Sora loves them, but I do not get it!) fought against the troupes of the empire with basically nothing. They did it wrong. It all worked out in the end because of what Ryan called script protection, but if that had been a real battle they may have all died. It just seems to me in a fight with an enemy using mostly ranged weapons when you have none you should bring the fight right to them. I mean make their guns obsolete and attack them close. There are other things I can think of the little bears could have done, but I see no need to go into description.

I did notice in the kitchen getting snacks, as I was explaining what the ewoks had done wrong, Colt's father was giving me strange looks. As if he were surprised a teenaged girl should know such things. I guess it is a little strange, but I do seem to know quite a few things that are strange for teenaged girls to know. Like odd languages and telekinesis.

September 7, 2007

Allie, Colt and Derek broke into the school last week. For what reason I do not know, but they got a month of Sunday School instead of charges pressed against them. Fools. The very same night Sora and Ryan got detention for nearly burning down the boys dorms.

A couple days ago they were serving their time by helping trim the weeds around the walls of the school. They found a hole in the wall leading to the graveyard next door. Of course, Colt decides we ALL need to investigate. They stole my book, and we crawled into the hole in the wall.

I could see nothing on the other side except a graveyard. Since I have been going out of my way to keep out of trouble, I took my book back and left. I went back to my book and my quiet afternoon. When I left, they found something. They found several bodies that were decomposing and not in their graves.

Other strange things have been happening. Allie told me that her school got shut down yesterday when some of the students found a dead body on the playground that was moving. I saw on the way back to Colt's a body on the street that was eating another body! I went back and told the Headmaster right away.

Maggie was there when I arrived and seemed very interested in what I told them. She knew about what the others had found in the graveyard and had been asking them about it. She asked me to meet her and the others in the chapel. He was with her when I arrived. He did not attack me this time, just stared at me as if I were something quite horrible. It really made me uneasy; he really did look like he would tear me to shreds if he could. I tried to ignore it, but I could feel his eyes on me the whole time.

Maggie asked us to do something very interesting. She told us it was not a coincidence we had all become friends at this time. She asked us to go into the graveyard, find out what was causing the disturbances, and kill it if we had to. She could not do it; she said circumstances beyond her control kept her from doing it herself. We had to do it.

So today after school we went to Ryan's house to plan what we would do. His father runs a dojo, and I learned I know how to use a sword! I picked it up and it was the most natural thing I can remember doing. Ryan let me take one of the wooden swords, I used it tonight. After Ryan's we went to Colt's father's store. His father owns an army navy store, which sells equipment and weapons. We stocked up on equipment that Colt decided would be useful against zombies, and headed back to the school.

There had been a white tent put up in front of the hole in the wall, Maggie was inside. She gave us a flare gun and said if it became too much for us to use it.

We went in and were mobbed by zombies pretty much right away. I had the boken and a knife with me, but they did me little good. The last thing I remember before I went down was Ryan casting light on the mausoleum.

I woke in the tent. Everyone was really beat up, we had failed. The Headmaster and Maggie were both there and were arguing. The Headmaster was of the opinion we should not be doing this. Maggie insisted it had to be us. It did not surprise me at all that Maggie won the argument. We will be going back tomorrow and next time we will be better prepared. I noticed the zombies are very slow. If we can keep one step ahead of them, we should have no problem.

On a side note, Heather has been moved into a new room. My belongings are the only things in the room, and someone has been going through them. I do not believe it was Heather; she would have at least tried to cover it up. It was obviously someone who does not care I know they were here. The only thing they took was the hair from my comb. I can only assume someone is looking to see if I dye my hair. It was him. He knows my name; he must know my hair is not black. I am a little worried about what is going to happen with him next. I wish there was a way to talk calmly with him, find out what happened and maybe if there is something I can do about it aside from die. But I do not think it is possible.

So tomorrow night we go back in. I do not know what more we will find there, but I do not fear it.

September 8, 2007

We were in for quite a surprise tonight. I do not know what I was expecting, but it certainly was not this! We went back into the graveyard this evening. Thankfully, things went much better with the zombies now we had a better grasp of how to fight them.

We fought our way to the manor house in the center of the graveyard. There were many odd creatures at the house. Strange beasts with horrible toothy faces and claws. They were a bit tougher than the zombies, but with a little creativity on Colt's part we made short work of them.

We found more bodies inside, but these were not zombies. They looked as if they had been eaten! A couple were students at the school. We continued to the top floor of the house, fighting more of those strange monsters on the way. At the top was the worst monster of the night and the cause of all the strange occurrences; a werewolf.

It was a strange fight, much of it seemed unreal. The strange symbols on my body were glowing blue. I was able to use telekinesis better than I have before, and threw chairs and other things at it. Ryan fought with magic. I would not have known he could cast such spells if I had not seen it. One of the strangest things was Allie. She turned into something out of a fairytale. Horns grew out of her head, and she got a tail. Plus her legs became hoof-like, like a satyr. She was still Allie, but she was more. Different.

The fight seemed almost to move in slow motion. It was all very dreamlike. Then Sora touched him. That was all, just touched him! There was a flash of light that blinded me and then the werewolf was just a man again. It was Arthur, the school groundskeeper. He was the werewolf! We decided to keep what had happened a secret form Maggie. There is no way for us to know what her intentions are, and she had some interesting things to say before about magic. I do not believe she would look on what we can do, what we are, very kindly. We cannot let her know what we did.

We sent Derek to fetch her, and then went out to the front of the house to wait. Sora and Colt stayed behind to move Arthur to his room. Maggie arrived shortly with the two men (I am guessing they are like bodyguards?), and they began to investigate the bodies. Derek had told them we had managed to gun him down, so we stuck to that story.

Maggie had wanted to kill Arthur. I would have stood aside, but Sora insisted Arthur be given a chance. He said it was not Arthur's fault, this was not something he should die for. I suppose it is true he could not help his actions, but they still happened. I can admire Sora's compassion, but in a way agree with Maggie. What if he looses control again?

In the end we struck a deal. We would watch Arthur until the next full moon. If Arthur went on a rampage again, Maggie would deal with him. If not, he would be let to live freely.

So tonight is my last night at Colt's house, tomorrow we move into the graveyard manor with Arthur. It is a strange turn of events, but a welcome one. I will have more privacy here, though Sora, Ryan, Colt and Derek will be moving in also.

I can feel us fast moving toward something big. Maggie is right, there are no coincidences. There is a reason we all came together at this time. We were meant to do something. I hope it is not too long before we find out what.