Prologue
The Irish word for Dullahan is Gan Ceann. The meaning of Gan Ceann is "without head". The definition of a Dullahan is an Irish fairie, or mythical creature, that is without a head. This certain type of fairie is a type of unseelie fairie. It is headless, usually seen riding a black horse, and carrying his or her head under one arm. The myth of the Dullahan is that when you are unfortunate enough to open the door and see the Dullahan, they splash blood on you. It is said that when a Dullahan stops riding, it is where a person is due to die. The Dullahan calls out their name, at which point they immediately perish. Among the years of research many have concluded that there is no way to "bar the road" against a Dullahan — all locks and gates open on their own when it approaches. It is also a known theory that they do not appreciate being watched while on their errands, throwing a basin of blood on those who dare to do so symbolizes a mark that they are among the next to die. It is rumored that they even lash out the watcher's eyes with their whips.
This is the fable history of the creatures known as Dullahans.
Introduction
The girl's name was Risa, Risa Sturluson-Kishitani. She and her family resided in Ikebukuro, Tokyo. Now they subsist in Salem, Oregon. Risa, the daughter of an Ireland Dullahan named Celty Sturluson who works as an underground transporter (who goes by the "Headless Rider", also known as "The Black Rider") and a young Japanese underground doctor named Shinra Kishitani, is a teenaged Dullahan of Japanese-Irish descent at the age of thirteen who is just starting her sophomore year at the infamous Monster High, a school that houses real, genuine and true-life Monsters. The only thing she wanted was a place to bake her sickeningly scary delicious cakes, and maybe if she wasn't asking too much, a good book or two wouldn't hurt. She'd been a very simple girl who had her nose that didn't exist in a new book every two or three days with the ability to create immorally delectable cakes – baking Normie cakes seemed to be her specialty. She loved reading manga and books, running her very own blog, and baking. She was also fond of Asian Dramas and Korean music, but that was another tale for another day. For now, baking would remain her highest priority. She practiced baking on an everyday basis by honing her skills in national Monster-Only baking competitions and by creating a new recipe almost daily. Of course it was hard to tell if they had been actually good since she didn't possess a sense of taste due to not having a head, but she tried her best no matter what in order to live out her dream of becoming a patisserie, or a person who made disastrously good cakes and studied in places like France to perfect their skills. Risa, as she was told, possessed grand quality skills that match any Normies. Her father, who was always up for test tasting, complimented her each and every time he tried one of her cakes that was made by hand each and every time, but she still had her doubts…
Either way though, she'd been happy that her father had been a kind man, her mother too. Thanks to their kindness, she was able to get top results whenever it came to baking because whenever she baked something delicious, she was reminded of just how much she loved it, she was also remained of her parent's love and genuine kind.
Chapter 1
Risa posed again, jumping from an OK pose in which she created the word "OK" using her fingers by join her index finger and thumb so that it formed a circle, leaving her three other fingers extended to a giant heart pose, in which she lifting her arms into a heart formation above her head.
Her father, Shinra, smiled excitedly behind the lens of his digital camera. "One more pose, Risa!"
He lifted his head up to his wife and Risa's mother, Celty, who had been holding up her black touch screen iPhone. On the screen it read:
That's enough don't you think, Shinra? She'll be late – and it's her first day.
"But Celty, look at her, how could I not take her picture?" Shinra pouted.
Celty, although she did not have eyes, let alone a head, looked at her thirteen year old daughter. She had been wearing a high-waisted black skirt that began just below the crease under her small B-cup breasts and stopped somewhere around her knee, a long-sleeve black V-neck shirt, and a black sleeveless vest with black buttons. She also wore black transparent stockings and black strap-around-the-ankles wedges. In addition there had been a black rose pinned to her vest.
Celty quickly typed. The message flashing on the screen now read:
Yes, she's cute, but we can't have her be late. We're trying to be good parents.
Shinra sighed. "Fine…but promise I can take more pictures later!"
Celty's yellow and blue cat helmet shook. Risa hugged her father, throwing her arms around him and hopping he understood. He sighed, hugging her tight.
"Fine, go. I won't keep you any longer…"
Risa quickly hugged her mom and grabbed her Harajuku Lover's shoulder bag from the couch. She hurried from the apartment, fearing she'd be late. Finally she came to the parking lot of their apartment. There she carefully put on her full-faced black helmet and hopped onto her strawberry red motorcycle, twisting back the handlebars. It purred under her, trembling somewhat. Risa steps on the peddle, causing the motorcycle to lift underneath her and rise up. It then roared awake suddenly with the echoing sound of a horse that was neighing into what could be translated as a loud high-pitched cry. Even before the front wheel could hit the ground, Risa had already been riding.
Just like her mother, she rode the motor cycle disguised horse with a certain natural dangerous grace that was terrifyingly cool, and yet fearless and daring.
And just like her mother, although Risa had been quite the girly-girl (she fit the description with nail that were always done, a prancy – yet somehow clumsy – walk, an obsession for lip gloss that she applied daily multiple times throughout the day, a love for all things pink and feminine, and a happy bubbly personality that was bouncy), she'd been a crazy Road Warrior/Speed Demon with a passion for immortal speeding.
Risa pulled into the Monster High parking lot and killed the engine of her strawberry red motorcycle, though, she didn't remove her helmet. Somehow with it she felt at least like a normal monster – a monster with a preferred head anyway. It hadn't been attached to her neck like a head would be, but at least it was there – not to mention it held in the black mist like fog that emerged from her neck. She had never really been sure what it was, neither had her mother, but she accepted it and didn't necessary mind. She just always worried whether or not it polluted the air and so for that very reason, she always made sure to wear her helmet.
Risa walked towards Monster High, somewhat jogging. Although she had speeded and ran the risk of getting a ticket, she was still late; and she'd be even later since she still had to go to the main office and gat her classes and school map. She wouldn't have had to go through these things if she'd only made it last night. But because she marked the date wrong on her calendar, thinking it was the day before yesterday, she missed the "Monster Mash" Orientation. It wasn't that she really mind, she just wanted to hurry before first period was over.
If only I wasn't so unorganized about these kinds of things… she'd been thinking to herself when she half-skipped half-stomped up the steps. Trying to quicken her speed, she bolted down the halls of Monster High, causing her puffy skirt to sway along with her. Finally she'd found it, just in time too.
She quickly readjusted her attire before walking in, and then she entered, stepping forward to stand in front of the wide "help desk" that separated her and the working faulculty and Office Aid. She remained keeping the head she didn't have down, eyeing the glossy floor.
"What is it?" the ghoul at the desk said as she filed her French manicured nails.
Risa lifted her nonsexist or visible eyes to the ghoul. She had blue skin, eyes fully white, and big hair the color of midnight black. Her eyelashes had been long while her lips had been slightly swollen and plumped. Her nametag read Scarah Screams neatly, in perfect fine-written cursive.
Risa removed her baby pink touch screen iPhone from her long black sleeve and began to type speedily. Well, um, I'm late, you see, and
"Well duh, I can see that. Do you think I was born yesterday?" the ghoul rolled her eyes which possessed no color pigment, just a heavenly white.
Risa look at the ghoul for a moment, pausing as she tilted her nonsexist head, making her helmet tilt too. Then she started to type again.
No, of course not, I was just saying: I'm late, and I need my schedule because I don't have it.
Scarah looked up at Risa, gave her one of those up-and-down looks, as if she had not been serious. She blinked, uninterested, at Risa helmet covered face.
"Fine. Name?"
Risa. The text message read.
"Risa what?" the Scarah's eyes narrowed in boredom, and somewhat anger. She was getting quite annoyed.
Risa Sturluson-Kishitani. Scarah read after Risa had typed out the message.
"Well," she blinked, resting her elbow to the desk and her chin to the palm of her hand. "Which one is it?"
Which one what? Risa made a somewhat ditsy pose as she held out the phone for Scarah to read, putting her index finger to the place on her helmet where her lips would be as her head tilted to the other side.
"Which name! Geez! Which name is it?" the girl said impatiently, growing angrier.
Um…both? Risa answered answer through text, confused and not exactly sure what the girl was trying to ask her. She just hoped that she'd answered right.
"Ugh. Fine. Wait here." The ghoul went over to the back where the school staff was speedily typing, pounding their quick-moving fingers on tired keys. She searched through a creamy tan file slowly, not showing any interest of any sort. Finally, once she located Risa's file, she pulled out a copy of her class schedule.
She then returned to the front of the desk and slide the paper down, returning to her nails. "There." she said.
…Thanks Risa took the paper, glancing down at it and back to the girl.
She sighed, rolling her eyes once again. "Need something else?"
A late pass… the digital message read.
Risa sighed silently as she made her way down the lively halls of Monster High with glass windows, a checked light purple and dark purple floor, and a green on the top and purple at the bottom wallpaper.
She'd missed first period. She'd missed the very first class she had on her very first day, and she'd most likely have to miss most of her lunch time in order to explain to her teach why she'd been late to begin with.
She glanced down at the blue copy of her schedule and read it to herself.
Alright so my morning class begin with Geo-ogre-phy, then there was Freaky Economics, next was Physical Deaduction, then lunch came next, my afternoon classes started with Mad Science, Home Ick follows after, and History of the Undead is what I end with. I guess it's not too bad. I'm not thrilled to start my day with math or to end my day with history, but at least I didn get into that Home Ick class I wanted. I get to mix chemicals and then match ingredients. At least that part sounds fun, and I'm sure the rest of my classes will go well and be fairly interesting. Or…at least I hope so.
Risa suddenly stopped, looking up and spotting her soft-colored purple coffin shaped locked between two other fierce-colored purple lockers.
Ah! She said to herself. Found it!
She stopped in front of what would be her locker for the rest of the year and looked at it in awe. This had been her locker, the one she'd cherish and grow to love for the rest of her freshmen year. It'd been the locker that would be special to her throughout her high school life because it'd be her locker, her first locker.
She reached out her arm, preparing herself and readying her hand to unlock her skull with pink small pink ribbon lock.
"What do you think you're doing?" a voice stopped her.
Risa's helmet turned to the side, implying that she'd moved her head, although she did not have one. Behind her helmet she blinked eyes that were not there.
Standing to the side of her was a ghoul who been made of white bones from head to toe. She had been a skeleton with bright turquoise eyes and *green apple hair that was messy and styled in no particular hairdo. She'd been wearing a zip-up black hoodie and the hood had been up.
Risa blinked eyes that didn't exist again behind her helmet.
"Well," the skeleton with bright turquoise eyes said. "What are you doing? This is my locker."
Risa turned to the ghoul, pausing once again to observe the ghoul. The skeleton's voice seemed lazy and nonchalant, casual even while her eyes were at the peak of boredom and withheld zero interest in anything. She stood with a sluggish posture underneath her black zip-up hoodie.
Risa proceeded to pull out her phone from her sleeve. Black smoke slid from underneath her long black sleeve, taking the shape of an actual phone, and appeared as a baby pink iPhone in her hand. Risa began to type and when she finished she held up the phone for the skeleton girl to see.
This is my locker; check my schedule… the message said.
The skeleton waited as Risa held up her schedule. Her eyes searched for her locker number. On the blue paper that withheld Risa's classes along with her teachers, student ID/lunch number, her parents name, parent's phone numbers, home phone number, and birth date along with her sex, it read: [ Locker ] #214.
The ghoul's eyes glanced up at the locker Risa had been about to open. It read: 214. She then removed her bony skeleton hand from her black hoodie. In it had been an identical blue paper. She read her locker number, paused for a moment to consider what was happening, and then lifted it up for Risa to see. Risa began to type.
You have 214 too? But how can that be? It's just one locker.
"Well, have you opened it to see?" the skeleton replied.
Risa turned back around and unlocked the skull head. The skeleton ghoul watched her closely, noticing that even their security code had been the same.
Right before their eyes had been exactly one locker, along with two provided spaces that hinted that they were going to have to share a locker.
Risa turned back to the ghoul, rubbing her neck and glancing back at the locker, although the skeleton ghoul couldn't tell.
Well, the text read. Would you like the top or the bottom?
So, isn't it crazy how we have to share a locker? I mean, I don't mind having a locker-bestie, but still, it's kind of weird, you know?
"Yeah, I know what you mean." The skeleton ghoul said as she reached for a pack of sour Candy Skulls. She sat it on her purple tray, next to her bowl of steamed Cream of Nute and a carton of fresh, cold Yak milk. "I wasn't expecting it either, but I guess we'll have to make the best of this, um…locker-partners thing."
Yeah! I was thinking the same thing! Risa flashed the skeleton ghoul. So hey, I didn't catch your name. What was it?
"It's not of importance." The ghoul paid for her lunch and began to walk off. Risa caught up to her after explaining through text to the lunch lady that she hadn't got a lunch to pay for.
What do you mean by that? She asked.
"Don't expect us to be friends just because we share a locker." The skeleton stopped, turning around to face Risa. "I'm not here to make friends."
Oh, but I thought since… Risa didn't finish her text. Just then a boy approached them and nodded his chin to the skeleton ghoul. He too had been a skeleton with the same pair of turquoise eyes and a hot pink Mohawk hairstyle. He had been wearing a purple pull-over hoodie and green beanie.
"Took you long enough..." The skeleton girl stared blankly at him.
He shrugs. "Sorry about that, Skullisa. I was talking to Lawna before I came over, she says Hi, by the way."
The girl turned her head away from him as she searched for a table. "Whatever, Grimmy. Come on, let's eat over there."
"Sure, why not." The boy followed her, carrying a tray with the exact same thing as her. Risa put away her phone. She didn't need to eat, but she was willing to spend her lunch time with her new locker-partner.
Oh well… she thought silently. Guess she's got other people to hang out, unlike me. Better go and see Mr. Mummy and explain why I missed first period…
