There wasn't a lot of time to ask questions before Scarlett was being shoved to the floor. Almost seconds after Floria had disappeared, an alarm had sounded; a kind of screeching noise that was so painful she had to press her hands firmly to her ears. It seemed everybody knew what the noise meant except her, one by one people started dropping face first onto the floor and it was long before Samuel was pushing her down.

Everyone was quiet even after the alarm had stopped. She was very aware of Samuel breathing heavily next to her, and she could tell by the look in his eyes that this alarm didn't go off every often.

They'd been lying on the floor for about fifteen minutes when the power went off and the lack of sunlight meant the school was left in total darkness.

It was just like this the first time she visited the school.

She shook her head.

The alarm was going off as they guided her downstairs.

Scarlett went back to focusing on Samuel's breathing to calm herself.

After what felt like a very long time, one of the school's security soldiers appeared in the doorway. He'd created a ball of orange light in his hand, filling the room with a warm glow.

"Right;" he bellowed into the classroom, "You know the protocol."

"Permission to move, sir?" Professor Harklone spoke for the first time since the alarm, raising his voice above the worried chatter that had broken out.

"Permission granted;" the soldier responded, "everybody move to your posts sharpish."

He disappeared from the doorway and the students started to move, pushing themselves off the ground and filing out into the corridor.

"What's going on?" Scarlett hissed as Samuel put a guiding arm on her back.

"We're going into usual lockdown state," he said, giving her a quizzical look; "didn't you have it in your old school?"

Scarlett nodded; "-but it was a little different to this. There were only three hundred of us."

They made their way down the grand staircase together, though she wasn't entirely sure where she was supposed to go was the same as Samuel.

"What's your score?" he asked as they quickened their pace.

She frowned; "What?"

Samuel gave an impatient click of his tongue; "In your capacity test: what did you score?"

"Oh," she shrugged; "4.6"

Samuel raised his eyebrows. If he didn't believe her, he didn't say so.

"Good," he smiled; "you can come to the guard with me."

"The guard?"

He pushed her out the main entrance and out into the cold night air.

"That's right newbie;" he spoke, "you're on patrol."

"And you are?"

The guard leader couldn't have been much older than Scarlett and she got the impression he was a senior. All the same, when she approached the guard hut half a mile into the forest, he'd looked at her as if she was crazy.

"Don't worry," Samuel's tone was calm; "She averaged over a 4 in her capacity test."

The leader rolled his eyes, adjusting his gun in his right hand. "I don't give a shit what she scored- I don't exactly have time to show her the ropes."

Samuel protested; "But-"

"She should go back to her dorms or the basement, like most of the other novices."

The voice came out of nowhere. "I can vouch for her."

Scarlett whipped her head around and saw the blond girl from earlier approaching. She had her waist length hair tied behind her head in one long ponytail, showing off her small pixie ears. She was dressed head to toe in leather and was strapping a school assigned gun in her waistband as she approached.

The leader looked annoyed. "Amelia, you don't even know the girl."

"And therefore it's my problem if something happens to her;" she retorted, sounding almost bored by the conversation.

"Please Jake;" she stared at him, unblinking.

The leader, who Scarlett now knew to be Jake, nodded and spun on his heels, marching off between the trees and barking orders.

Samuel looked relieved; "Thanks Ams."

Ams?

She smirked at him; "Just kit her out and be careful. I haven't got time to be picking up after you all night."

They shared a brief look and then she stalked off alone, one hand on her waistband and the other outstretched, sparking electricity from her fingertips. It was only once she'd disappeared from sight that Scarlett looked up at Samuel.

"So what exactly is the guard?"

"Exactly what it sounds like;" Samuel reached into the hut nearby and started shuffling around and opening boxes. "We guard the school grounds and are in charge of looking for Floria while we're at it."

He threw a blue vest at her.

"You have to be over sixteen and score higher than a four on your capacity test."

Scarlett nodded – four made sense. The highest you could score was a five and the higher you scored, the better you were at using magic for combat. It had been her speciality at Polar's school.

"Not many people score over a four;" he continued, "so when they do they're automatically assigned here."

"I wasn't," she pointed out, pulling the vest over her head.

"Yes," he smiled, "But you haven't shown up to a single lesson since you've been here."

Scarlett bit her lip. "What did Amelia score?" she questioned, changing the subject.

"A 4.85," he said, coming out of the hut now; "but she wasn't naturally gifted in combat like most of us. She wanted it so she worked for it. Now she's the best in the whole school except for Jake, and she's second in command. You've got to respect her."

Scarlett shuffled, slightly narked, though she didn't know why.

"What?" Mark's words came out more harshly than he'd intended. His patience was wearing thin and Daniel's constant staring was one thing he didn't have time for.

Daniel raised his eyebrows and shrugged; "I'm just waiting for you to tell me what you think is going on."

Mark rolled his eyes, "how the fuck would I know?" He moved from a crouching position and fell back against the wall.

"Well, you're usually Mr know-it-all with your theories when something like this happens."

He punched Daniel in the arm, hard.

They were in the basement, their usual point of call when the alarm went off. Both of the boys were on kitchen duty, which meant if there was a large disaster and the school was in lockdown for a long period of time, the boys and a group of others were responsible for feeding the school. However, on the occasion when the alarm did go off, often everyone was back to normal in a few hours. Mostly, the boys didn't have anything to do but wait. They had acquired their usual spot in the basement, behind a pile of boxes that contained spare gym kits and sports equipment. More importantly, it was where no one could see that they were drinking. Daniel leant over and passed Mark the glass bottle; "So, truth or dare?"

Mark snorted and took a swig; "Hilarious."

"Maybe we should play;" the other responded, a mischievous look on his face.

"That would be pointless;" Mark countered. "I already know everything about you and I am sure there isn't a dare we haven't already done for fun."

Daniel pouted; "I could be full of mysteries for all you know."

"Could you now?" Mark laughed and took another swig before passing the bottle to Daniel. He was just able to make out the shape of his face in the dim lighting, his shiny mess of black hair making the light practically bounce off his head. He grinned at his friend.

He coughed; "What kind of mysteries?"

Daniel tapped his nose; "that's for me to know."

Yeah, right; Mark thought. Discrepancy was not one of Daniel's strong suits. "Oh you'll tell me eventually;" was his response.

Daniel's eyes twinkled; "make me."

Mark paused for a moment before shaking his head. "Douchebag" he muttered, but he was still smiling.

Samuel guided Scarlett round the back of the school building and into the depths of the forest. They'd gone east, the only direction none of the rest of the guard had gone and his usual post. He'd taken the lead, occasionally glancing over his shoulder to check she was still there. Her lips were pressed in a straight line. She'd chosen not to carry a gun, despite Samuel's nagging. In fact, she'd practically recoiled at the idea. Now, she was walking with her hands outstretched, ready to use her magic. So far he hadn't seen her use any magic and was intrigued as to whether she had a speciality or not. With a score of 4.6, it would be surprising if she didn't.

Her eyes flickered up from the floor and glared at him; "What?"

"Nothing;" he responded a little too quickly, whipping his head back around.

"I can take care of myself;" she said, firmly.

"Did I say you couldn't?"

Scarlett clearly knew the question was rhetorical, but by the way she was shifting uncomfortably, Samuel knew she was itching to retort.

They made their way into a clearing where the moonlight shone between the gaps in the trees. Samuel switched off his torch and paced around, instructing Scarlett to stay put and guard him. He disappeared off into the trees, walking with caution into the darkness. It was too dark to see much at all, even with the moonlight. He let himself wonder for a moment whether Floria had been practicing a spell as this was all a misunderstanding – but deep down he knew he was cleverer than to assume it was something as simple as that. He'd never really spoken to Floria before, accept for one time at a party when he'd been drunk and asked her whether she'd rather be in Jaws or Jurassic Park. But even so he knew she wouldn't have gotten herself wrapped up in any dark magic or even demons for that matter. She just wasn't the type. She was quirky and interesting for sure, though that was as far as it went. Thinking this, he couldn't help but feel unnerved as he searched the forest in front of him. He couldn't help but shake the thought that something awful had happened-

It happened so quickly that as wrapped up in his thoughts as he was, Samuel could've missed it.

The light from Scarlett's torch in the distance gave out and he was enveloped in darkness. Even though he had his back to her light, he knew it had gone off before he turned around.

There was a moment of silence.

Then her screams filled his ears and he was running, running so fast back to her he thought his lungs couldn't take it. He tore through the trees, the branches clawing at his arms and his face.

He reached the clearing in a matter of seconds and there was Scarlett, scrambling around on the floor and screaming loud enough for it to be heard from the school. There was mud on her face as if she'd been rolling around in the dirt and there was a look of pure terror in her eyes.

"Scarlett?" his voice was full of questions as he threw himself on the floor next to her.

"Nate?" she whispered, looking off into the distance, her eyes glassy.

"No;" Samuel bit his lip; "it's me, Samuel."

She shook her head; "No, Nate."

"Jesus Christ." Samuel's head shot up at the voice. Amelia was standing on the other side of Scarlett; she had a knife in her hand, as if she had been prepared for a fight. "What..." she said, breathless; "the hell...is going on?"

"I don't know!" Samuel hissed, glancing back to Scarlett who was struggling in his grip. "She just went crazy."

"Fucks sake Sam, I thought something bad had happened;" her tone came across annoyed. Amelia's eyes tore away from Samuel for a moment, squinting out ahead of her. Her expression changed, only for a moment, as if you might miss it if you blinked; then she was back looking at Scarlett.

"I have to say;" she drawled, "so far she's disappointed me."

Samuel shot her a glare; "What?"

"If the stories are true, this girl is fucking kick-ass;" she raised an eyebrow now; "Clearly not."

Samuel's chest felt tight, for the first time slightly irritated at Amelia. He rolled his eyes; "Ams, shouldn't you be at your post?"

She shrugged; "Jack found Floria about ten minutes ago."

A million questions came to him at once, but he shook them away hastily. "Right then;" he said, his tone emotionless; "first things first, help me get Scarlett to the hospital wing."