Chapter 1

In every door, there is a lock.

The autumn season has silently crept around the town overnight, enveloping each road and corner of this humble place with different shades of brown and gold. As another season ends, a new one begins with fallen leaves and cool breeze to mark its arrival. For Lelouch vi Britannia, this is also the start of a new adjustment in his life. At 18, he should be in college preparing for his future. In fact, he was in the middle of planning to take up a literature course in one of the prestigious universities in the country. Everyone expected that from him after he graduated from high school – to be accepted in a well-known university, pursuing the study that he likes, graduate with honors and just become successful in life in general. He had his mind set-up for sleepless nights he would spend for reading and creating stories. He had his plan all set-up. Period. The college admission letter was happily sitting inside his drawer. All he had to do was to wait for the official opening of classes.

But all of his plans were ruined by a sudden decision his parents made two weeks ago.

"We're here," he announces rather coldly, as cold as the autumn morning breeze that envelopes their surroundings, upon reaching the huge baroque-style building sitting in the middle of nowhere. The appearance is certainly an art or architectural student's wet dream what with its intricate design and elegant sculptures. It would have been Lelouch's, too, if he's not in a bad mood and this building is the symbol of the end of his dreams. Temporarily. After retrieving his things from the cab, he lets his eyes wander around the forest-like garden covered in thick fog. This. This location right infront of him is a perfect recipe for a horror movie. He bitterly laughs at the thought.

"Let's go in."

Lelouch transfers his gaze to the girl clinging to his arm. Kallen Stadtfeld – the only good thing that he gets from this situation. He towers over her but her strong personality occupies the remaining space to his head making her very hard to ignore. Added to that is her pretty face and eyes as blue as the clearest beach which often quickly draw the attention of those who are around her. Thank God for supportive girlfriends.

To say that the long walk to the entrance is a torture is completely and definitely the understatement of the year. His head feels like being hammered against the marble wall repeatedly as his ears bleed from the cries of pain and suffering that invade them.

Jesus Christ, is that a young girl with a knife stabbed in her back standing by the bench? Her thick cerulean gown is stained with red dripping from her arm down to the porcelain doll that she holds in her hand. The girl creepily smiles at him and quickly, Lelouch averts his eyes away. But thanks to his luck (or lack thereof), he is instantly face-to-face with a dirty old wrinkled white-haired lady wearing a worn-out sleeping dress. Blood gurgle out of her slashed head and her pupils are dilated.

Great.

"Leave me alone," he warns her under his breath.

The woman extends a shaky hand towards him and weakly says, "Help me." Lelouch closes his eyes and attempts to relax himself. Releasing a deep breath, he tries to reach his core and focuses on steadying his inner workings. But his attempt at concentration fails when a heavy weight suddenly landed on his shoulders.

"Can I ride here?" the little boy asks. Peeking behind him, the face of a crying child greets Lelouch. Well, at the very least, this one doesn't have anything stuck in his throat. Feeling pity for the small figure on his back, he only nods in response.

"Is he heavy? I'll help you," Kallen worriedly inquires.

Lelouch shakes his head. "No. It's okay." This time, he focuses his gaze at the path before them, not throwing a single attention to the 'unique' greetings plaguing their surroundings.

"You'll have fun here," the boy, who seems to be in a better mood now, whispers with a giggle. The unpleasant smell of rotten flesh begins invading his nose and with the child's head leaning against his right shoulder, he might just throw up soon.

"Lelouch?" Kallen calls again.

He chokes. "I'm fine."

"But – "

"I can handle this. We're almost there, anyway."

As soon as they step inside the building, the boy vanishes. The pair looks behind them and feels the invisible barrier separating the inside from the outside. It's only by that time that Lelouch can breathe normally again and his headache finally subsided.

Inside the Director's office, they are welcomed by a tall man in his mid-forties, with a nest of teal hair neatly brushed on his head and a golden monocle protecting his left eye. In his left hand is a wooden cane embezzled with rose engravings which appears like more of a show of authority rather than support to his body. "Welcome to Ashford Academy! My name's Jeremiah Gottwald, the director of this school. Please, have a seat." He gestures at the two chairs infront of his desk. Without a word, Lelouch and Kallen follow his request and listen to the older man's introduction of the academy.

Ashford Academy – a six centuries old mansion-like building that houses students with special abilities to see and communicate with supernatural beings. Before this establishment became a school, it was a convent first and foremost back in the 1400's. Then, it halted being a convent in 1575 and was abandoned for more than 70 years until a wealthy noble bought it and decided to build a library out of it. Since then, the building underwent several owners, several constructions and renovations until it landed in the hands of Sir Bismarck Waldstein who converted the establishment to a school in 1876 for children with unique abilities.

"We have rules here just like any other school," the director continues, his monocle glinting under the soft light piercing through the large window behind him. "Classes start at ten in the morning and ends at three in the afternoon. You must be in your prescribed uniform inside the school premises during class hours. Everyone should be asleep before three in the morning. You can communicate with the spirits but doing them a favor is prohibited. Conducting rituals is not allowed. Breaking the last two rules results to expulsion. Do you have any question?"

Kallen reluctantly raises her hand and the director acknowledges her. "What if they're the ones who disturb us?"

A knowing smile appears on Director Gottwalds's face reminding Lelouch of his grandfather. "Do not worry, child. The spirits are not allowed inside the building that's why they welcomed you outside. Scare you, they might, but they won't hurt you." He sighs. "Well, they actually can but if they do, they know the price…" He tilts his head to the right thoughtfully. "… the punishment for that. Anything else?"

The two shake their heads. For now, Lelouch studies the atmosphere of the academy. He can pick up energy here and there, see flashes of the past but not quite clear to make out what exactly happened in the place. And given its history, it is quite surprising that the energy it possesses only contains little negativity.

A short boy is waiting for them outside the office after they were dismissed. He introduces himself as Rolo, their guide for today. As they follow him to their rooms, Lelouch roams his eyes around the endless hallway of classical paintings and sconces, the mural of angels on the high ceiling giving them a glimpse of what heaven might have looked like, smooth marble floor where Lelouch can vaguely see his reflection and finally, his gaze settle at the row of windows looming on his right. For an ordinary person, the wide expanse of the rich garden outside filled with flowers that Lelouch can't name will easily captivate their eyes and entrance them for a while. It will delight them, uplift their mood. Calm their core. But for people like him, the pale hands crawling against the window glass are enough to make him turn away and ignore the existence of the garden altogether.

"It's still a few hours before classes start. You still have enough time to settle in your own rooms. Each room has its own bathroom so you won't have to worry about that," says Rolo who has been enthusiastically explaining to them the ins and outs of the academy. "Okay, here's yours, Miss Stadtfeld."

Lelouch takes a peek of Kallen's room from the doorway, quickly inspecting its comfortability. A bed is shoved against the wall, just beneath the lone window where the soft sunlight steadily streams and fills the whole room. A study table rests beside it and next to the table is a tall wooden closet. A small couch lies opposite the table, only wide enough for a single person to lie on. A door which probably leads to the bathroom, and finishing the look is the wooden crucifix hanging above the headboard of the bed.

The simplicity and practicality earn a nod of approval from him.

"See you in class," Kallen says and gives him a light peck on the lips.

His room's layout is very much the same as Kallen's and perhaps, with all the rooms in the dormitory. Lelouch decides to arrange his stuff after class and opts to inspect the uniform lying on the bed – a black blazer, a gray vest, a white button-down inner shirt, a dark red necktie and a pair of dark slacks. Satisfaction colors his face upon finding out that the pair of issued shoes perfectly fits his feet.

Lelouch lets his back fall on the bed and as his body sinks into the mattress, the reality of the situation and its permanency begins to sink into him, too. So, this is it, huh? He thinks. Oddly, the grudge that he had been harboring ever since his parents announced their decision had gradually faded away when they stepped inside the academy. It must be the place, the manner that it is both somehow strange but also familiar. Familiar, why did he think of that? His gaze goes up to the window and unlike the ones in the hallway, this one is scarce of spirits. He can sense the same barrier from the entrance of the building but only stronger this time. Perhaps, to give the students a sense of privacy? Security and peace from the perpetual cries of suffering and sometimes, insanity? Insanity… He can still remember the first time when he understood that he sees differently from other people. His parents said that his 'gift' manifested when he was just a toddler – a simple 'hello' to something invisible from the naked eye, playtimes with nonexistent playmates, an imaginary friend who accompanied him until he was six. But when the time came when he fully understood that it wasn't normal to see a headless man walking with his head on his palm around the school gym, the discomfort he felt everytime he saw the girl hanging upside down on his ceiling almost every morning – when horror became his daily company, the fear of going insane had once plague his mind.

For now, Lelouch can say that he has a better handling of this so called 'gift'. He had learned how to live with it and numb himself from the shiver these spirits give him.

Yet, they still haunt him, and maybe, maybe, going to this Academy can help him keep his mind intact and subdue the fear that resides in his body all day long.

At their classroom, they do the traditional self-introductions – something that gives Lelouch a sense of normalcy and connection to the outside world. But it wasn't until he was given his own seat when the normalcy was proven short-lived.

"Will you come again, Miss C.C.?" Miss Nu, their teacher, retorts in confusion.

"He can't sit beside me," the girl replies indignantly. It amazes Lelouch how her light voice can hold so much tension that her whisper reverberates in the four corners of the room reaching each pair of ears present to witness the scene.

"And why is that?"

"I don't like him." A collective gasp echoes in the room and Lelouch's brows furrow in both bafflement and irritation from what she had said. How dare she say that when this is the first time they met? Embarrassment starts to gnaw at his feet as he remains standing infront of his new classmates, suspended in this space just because a girl with the most golden eyes that he had ever seen, refuses to have him beside her. "So might as well put him at the farthest back of the room far away from me," she continues.

Murmurs begin floating around him. Lelouch catching the lines such as, "She's at it again," "She's so disrespectful," "What a brat," as he tries to rein the anger that is rising within him.

"My apologies for her attitude," Miss Nu says beside him. "You can sit beside Miss Fenette," then, the older woman turns to C.C. who is still glaring at him. "Miss C.C., see me at the faculty after class."

But just as when he thought that the commotion is over, the girl stands in a rush, her fists balled tightly at her side, lips quivering in anger. "I said I don't want him anywhere near me. Sitting next to Shirley is still near me." And with that, she gathers her things and walks out of the room, leaving everyone stunned and speechless.

What the hell? Lelouch freaks out inside. He badly wants to run after her and demand answers.

What the hell just happened?

I know that I repeatedly tweeted that I would focus first on my ongoing fics before posting another lengthy one but this happened sooo good luck to me hahaha