The unfamiliar school was a labyrinth guarded by the prying eyes of unknown faces. Fay loitered outside the doors and watched the sun begin to climb through the rose-tinted sky, holding her bag in one hand and a paper print out of her schedule in the other. The blonde girl jumped suddenly, certain that someone had come up behind her and attacked her as a part of some strange high school hazing ritual. Was that actually a thing?

Looking behind her, the blonde saw no one, but a quick look down revealed the safety pin in the back of her skirt had burst open and jabbed her in the back. That was as good a reason as any to go inside and find a bathroom. Gathering the hem of her skirt in one hand to ensure it wouldn't fall, she walked carefully in search of a bathroom so as not to be stabbed again. The walls were lined with alternating red and black lockers, the occasional declarations of school pride dotted down the hall.

Two bathroom doors stood at the end of the hallway, and Fay felt the familiar twinge of uncertainty as she approached them, pressing her lips together tightly with resolve before stepping into the womens restroom. She was thankful to find it unoccupied as she craned her neck to refasten the safety pin to the back of her skirt. In order to get something that was long enough for a girl of her height, some sacrifices had to be made in the waist area. Hopefully she could get into contact with a nearby tailor.

The door swung open and Fay jumped slightly, yet again pricking herself with the pin.

"Oh wow! Hey Fay!"

Sofía let the door swing closed behind her, approaching the girl twisted around in front of the mirror. "Do you need help with that?"

Fay took a moment to look back at the little bead of blood that poked up from her skin, and nodded in defeat. "I do...I might have too much fabric in there so it keeps busting open," she explained softly.

"Oh okay. I can probably get it! You should go see my dad, he's really great at sewing I bet he could fix this up to fit you better!" Sofía mentioned as she plucked the safety pin deftly from the musician's hands. Scooping up all the excess fabric, her little hands worked the pin nimbly into place. "Let me know if you need another one at some point later today, my friend Peyton always has shit like that in her bag," she laughed.

The blonde turned to look at her backside in the mirror once again, the pin secure and hidden amongst the folds of fabric. "Wow, thank you! That looks great." Sofía dismissed the compliment with a wave of her hand.

"It's no problem at all! Hey tell you what, I gotta go really bad but if you wait for me I'll introduce you to my friends! That way if any of them are in your classes they can help you out!"

"Thank you, I would like that!" Fay said curtly, loitering by the door to the bathroom until her tour guide reemerged. Eyes were still affixed to the new girl as the two walked through the halls, but having Sofía at her side helped her breathe easy. They approached the courtyard in the center of the school where Fay spotted a voluptuous red headed girl and a lanky girl with choppy black hair sitting on a small half wall outcrop. She recognized the black haired girl from the day before, and smiled pleasantly as they approached.

"Hello again, Audrey right?"

Peyton's eyes widened as the two approached, biting down on her lip with her large front teeth as she grinned. "Wow! You're gorgeous!" she blurted, Audrey expelling a brief laugh at her friend's expense. "My name's Peyton, what's yours?" the redhead hopped off the wall and extended a hand to the statuesque girl before her.

Fay laughed softly, taking Peyton's hand in a firm handshake, "I'm Fay, nice to meet you Peyton."

"Nice to meet you too! What pronouns does an angel like you use?"

The blonde's face flushed slightly at the flattery and she cast a sideways glance at the ground, "I like she, thanks for asking."

"Oh shit I didn't ask yesterday! Damn it I'm sorry!" Sofía apologized, "I'm a disgrace to my club!"

"You have a club here?" Fay questioned.

"Yeah! I am the president of the Spectrum club, we talk about things like gender and sexuality and stuff. If you're looking for a club you should totally come to our first meeting for the year! We meet on the last Monday of every month right after school."

"That sounds nice," Fay complimented with a sweet smile, "Maybe I can make it, I guess it depends on what happens with band."

Peyton's green eyes widened again, "You're in the band? Gorgeous and a musician that's not fair!"

"Well we'll see. I'd really like to be the drum major, but since I'm new I'm not sure how good my chances are."

"That's so cool!" Peyton gushed, "When will you know?"

"Hopefully when I go to my band class."

Peyton snatched the schedule from the girl's hands and the three craned their necks over it to see if there were any matches.

"Oh, Fay you're in my physics class!"

"And math with me."

"And we have jewelry together!"

Fay felt the fondness in her heart steadily grow for the girls, each of whom seemed eager to help out. As the bell rung Sofía escorted her to physics where she slid easily into the rhythm of the class. After Sofía gawked for a bit at the girl who understood the material exponentially better than she did, she passed Fay off to Audrey who walked with the girl to math, who in turn scouted out Peyton's bushy red hair so she could take the newcomer to jewelry.

"So you were homeschooled? Then how do you know how to do marching band?"

Peyton's fascination with the girl hadn't waned since their first encounter in the morning, and she took it upon herself to thoroughly interview her.

"Yeah, I've always been allowed to do extracurriculars and local schools and stuff I just did all my learning at home," Fay explained, "And my mom is in the military so I've been an expert at marching for a long time!" she laughed. The two approached the courtyard as the lunch bell rang, sitting down with two more girls Fay had yet to meet.

"A new addition to the table?" the black haired girl asked, her sideswept bangs obscuring the right half of her face. The girl beside her with bright almond eyes didn't say anything, though she looked at Fay as though she recognized her from somewhere, but was unsure of where. Come to think of it, she was vaguely familiar to Fay too…

"Yeah! This is Fay, she's new here! Fay this is Saanvi and Bing, they're on the volleyball team and really popular. They've decided to grace our table because Sofía's got the hots for Bing."

Bing's face pinkened slightly, and she rested her head in her hand in an attempt to obscure it. There went her chance for someone to meet her without her reputation preceding her.

"Nice to meet you both! Everyone here has been so sweet to me, I really appreciate it," she said earnestly, sitting down with Peyton and nudging the girl affectionately.

"Fay is a secret homeschooled genius who's gonna be our new drum major!"

The blonde shook her head, unpacking her lunch and spreading it out before her, "I'm definitely not a genius, I just work hard. And I won't know about being a drum major until later!"

"Oh wow, so were you at those band auditions yesterday?" Saanvi asked, awed, "Did you see that fire that broke out?" Bing shifted uncomfortably in her seat, but no one seemed to take any notice.

"Yeah I did actually! I was right there...I must've really panicked because I can't really remember it very clearly...a boy who was auditioning was really scared and I was trying to help him feel better because I thought he was just nervous but...then…" Trailing off gently, the girl attempted to fill in the puzzling gaps in her memory when suddenly another girl plopped down at the table.

"Hey guys!" Sofía chirped, rummaging through her little purple lunch box. "How's your first day going so far Fay?"

Previously deep in thought, Fay's attention was pulled away to her petite companion, all prior concerns about the day before dissipating from her mind. "It's going well! I'm a little nervous for band, and then after that is just English."

"You have English last today?"

Bing finally spoke up, her stress fading into the background alongside Fay's concerns. "Is it with Mrs. Wilson? If so we can sit together."

Fay beamed, "I'd like that!"


As it had been all day, all eyes were on the new girl as Fay walked to the band room, having bid an early goodbye to the group so that she was sure to be a little early to her next class. The room appeared empty as the blonde pulled her horn from its locker and took her seat, but moments later she spied movement in the far corner of the room. The closet door swung open and a frazzled looking girl with wide hips and wider eyes tumbled out.

"Someone really needs to get around to organizing that thing!" the dark skinned girl huffed, scooting a few fallen boxes back with the toe of her shoe and shutting the door behind her. "You're new, huh?"

"I am! My name's Fay, nice to meet you."

The girl from the closet introduced herself as Nia, self-proclaimed mega nerd and flutist extraordinaire. Her clothes were just a little too big, her hands hiding well within the sleeves of her uniform's cardigan and the hem reaching well past the top of her skirt and hugging her hips.

"How long have you been playing?" It was the first thing the chatty girl had said that wasn't something about herself, and Fay found herself suddenly fumbling to get back from listening mode into conversation mode.

"A few years. This is my first time in a school with a regular band though," she admitted.

"Sweet! I'm sure you'll be fine, just stick with me! Are you gonna march too?"

"Yeah! I actually came to the drum major auditions yesterday so we'll see how that goes."

Nia's eyes grew wide and she leaned in closer, "Did you hear about what happened to the last girl? She just up and disappeared right before the school year. Her whole family just left without telling anyone. Super weird. Hopefully you don't disappear too," she teased, making ominous ghost noises until others began to file into the classroom.

The director, a stout man with dark eyes and a bushy mustache took to the middle of the room once class started. "Before we warm up today, I'd like to introduce everyone to Fay Weaver. She's new to the school, and she is going to be our drum major for this fall's marching season!"

All eyes turned to her and the scattered applause was like music to her ears.


Bing was sitting beside an empty seat as promised when Fay found her way to English at the end of what felt like the most exhausting extended introduction ever. It was nice for so many to be showing interest in her, but reintroducing herself to person after person had become a tiresome task. After all, she wasn't used to being the center of so much attention. The blonde took the open seat beside Bing with a grateful smile, breathing the softest of exasperated sighs.

"Long day?"

Shoot. Fay had been hoping she didn't notice. "Yeah," she smiled weakly, "Just a lot of saying the same things over and over. Lots of talking to people."

Bing let out a knowing hum. "I know that feeling. It'll be over soon. And if you need, you can always just find a nice quiet place to hide out in."

"Won't I get in trouble for that?"

Bing laughed quietly, "Don't worry about it. You're new, I'm sure they won't be too hard on you."

A mousey brown haired girl sat down at a desk a few rows front of them, and despite her best efforts to be sly Fay caught her eyes flickering back towards the two of them often. Bing didn't seem to notice, staring off at the board absently.

"Hey, I think that girl might want to talk to you," Fay said in a hushed whisper. "She keeps looking back here."

"Hm?" Bing pulled her attention to the girl in question, though she shook her head shortly after. "Nah that's Colette. She's just kind of like that, I think. I heard her family is all kinda weird. She's nice though, you two might get along."

Class started off with another introduction as per usual, the gaunt looking girl never looking away from Fay as she gave her rehearsed life story abridged. At the end of class after Bing had bid farewell to the new girl, Colette reached out and tapped Fay on the back. She smiled warmly as she turned.

"Hi, you're Colette, right?"

"Are you friends with Bing Morgan?"

The question was bizarre, but Fay's smile didn't falter. "We just met today, but I'd like to think of us as friends."

"Be careful around her. She is a liar."

This was enough to break Fay's smile, but the mousey haired girl walked away before she could even think of what to say in response.

A liar? What was she talking about? A whisper in the back of her mind reminded her of the prince's unusual look when they first met...and that unplaceable feeling that she had met her before.

What did Colette know?


Once practice rolled around, Fay was finally beginning to feel like she was getting the hang of things. She had made it through the day, and had finally made it to the part of the routine where she knew what she was doing. Making her way to the emptied parking lot in her athletic shorts and pink tank top, the blonde adjusted her ponytail, pulling her tresses higher, tightening the hair tie, and pulling down a few strands to frame her thin face.

Her little podium sat on the ground waiting to be assembled, which the girl did eagerly before climbing atop her new throne to get a better view of the surrounding landscape before any others came out. The school was surrounded on three sides by woods, and the late-day sun that weighed on the leaves and branches cast heavy shadows that slipped and slid with the tremors of the trees in wind. Something else seemed to be moving through the trees, though Fay couldn't quite make it out. Surely just an irregular shadow.

"Yooo!" The girl from the closet, Nia, skipped out to the parking lot, dressed in clothes just as large as what she had been wearing earlier. "Dang, you know you have really great posture!"

Fay turned her attention down to the girl on the ground, sitting down on the podium and letting her legs swing childishly off the side. "I'm from a military family, I guess I never noticed," she admitted with a small smile. "About how many students march, do you think?"

Nia scratched her shaven head wrinkled up her nose. "Dunno, I guess like...maybe 50? We're pretty small," she admitted, "But Redwood is kinda small too so I guess we're probably on par percentage wise!"

"Oh, good! I was hoping it'd be small...I think its nice when everyone gets to know everyone," Fay admitted with a wistful smile. "I've always wanted to join the military but I'd need to be with a small group to work best."

"Jeez, we got ourselves a sentimental drum major," Nia snorted as a few more students began to trickle out from the building. "You'd better not be a softie or you'll get torn apart by some of these guys."

Fay smiled a deceptively sweet smile, "I guess we'll just have to wait and see."


The new girl's first practice at Redwood could not have gone better. Nia found herself slack jawed at the change that overcame the towering blonde once practice had started, even the captain of the drumline, known for being cocky and self-centered, looked intimidated. The stern, steeley-eyed look and precise actions didn't falter even during water breaks, but as soon as practice had ended Fay had somehow returned to the demure, willowy girl that everyone had seen in class earlier that day.

Fay gathered up her things into her bag and placed them in the basket of her bike, her mind slowly replaying the events of the evening, though not for the sake of analysing her or the band's performance. Instead she retraced the practice in her minds eye to try and make sense from the strange shadows that continued to creep through her peripheral vision. Even when the sun had sunk too far to be casting shadows they remained, always just out of her line of sight. Once, she swore she caught sight of someone watching them from the woods. It was enough to make her skin crawl, though not anything worth getting worked up over, she supposed.

Pedaling off towards home, Fay's eyes wandered occasionally back to the woods that flanked the sidewalk to her right, searching for any signs of movement in a forest that earlier seemed to be teeming with shadowed life. What if someone had been watching them? Should she tell someone? She had heard about the recent disappearance of a girl who used to attend Redwood, and even the drum major she was replacing had mysteriously vanished at the start of the school year.

"Oh!" She squeezed the breaks suddenly as a young girl ran across her path and continued to the other side of the street, her dark curls bouncing along behind her as her little patchwork legs carried her quickly out of sight. Fay had to put a foot down to steady her from the sudden stop, and her eyes followed the girl with concern until she had disappeared. Had she been coming from the woods? It was awfully late for a girl that age to be out here alone, and she turned to the treeline to see if any parents were following after her.

What she saw instead made her blood run cold, her legs suddenly feeling weak as she let her bike drop to the ground as she stumbled backwards.

It was tall. Much taller than Fay, which was something highly unusual. It stood just beyond the first few layers of trees, obscured slightly by some branches though it wasn't hard to see the thing as it was pitch black, darker than anything the girl had ever seen to the point that it strained her eyes to look at it for too long. Its body was thin and gangly, one arm stretched out to a tree where its large hand rested, spindly fingers like spider legs against the bark.

Whatever it was looked humanoid, except for its face. While the rest of it was impossibly dark, its face was pale and white, a small goatee twisting from under its chin. It had low set, long ears, and tall black horns just like those satanic goat heads she had seen on pentagrams. The worst part about the whole thing was the blank, black gaping hole in each eye socket. Though it had no pupils, Fay was positive it was looking straight at her. Its blank stare made her heart pound in her chest, so hard she was certain she couldn't breathe.

She held her breath until she began to feel dizzy, unable to take her eyes from the goat-headed monster that stared at her, unmoving from the woods. She had never been more scared in her life, and she was filled with a sense of impending doom that brought tears to her eyes and panic made her hands shake.

Slowly, the monster took a step towards her.