Anemone wiped her bleary eyes with a tissue and struggled not to resume her crying. She would be arriving at the school soon, and wanted to look somewhat presentable. While on the train, she'd had time to do a lot of thinking, her conclusion: Darien had to have put the crack there. It was the only explanation. Who else would've wanted her gone? Someone who knew who they were. If it was Darien, and he did know, Nem was fearful for her friends.
Just then, a whistle blew. Anemone gathered her things and started from the cabin. There were people who would've beeen considered guards if the school had been a jail waiting for them. They looked very nice; maybe this wouldn't be so bad. The school came in to view shortly thereafter, as the bus made a left on to the grounds. The buildings were all brick, the administration offices were in the center, the school was to the left of it. The dormitories were to the right. The girls stayed on one side of the building, main rooms were in the middle (kitchens, dining rooms, etc), and the boys were on the other side of these. A very tall, pretty brunette woman waited for them. As each teenager got off the bus, she noted where on the grounds they were to go first. Nem was put with "admin." The woman led this group to the central building and a short, balding male receptionist made them all wait to go in to the office. When it was Anemone's turn, she went cautiously.
"So, you're here for drug possession," the woman said, giving Nem a stern look.
"Yeah, but it wasn't mine," she said cooly. She'd accepted that no one believed her, but she still maintained her innocence. "If you checked me, I don't use."
"There are rare cases where dealers don't use. Very rare, but they happen. We'll see." The woman, Ms. Greary, seemed like she almost wanted to believe her, but didn't. Anemone still didn't think she'd mind all this much, and that they would soon realize their mistake and she'd be sent home. After exchanging a few more words, Nem was allowed to be escorted to the dorm. She was given the room at the far end of the hall on the third floor, 317. She didn't have a roommate, but would apparently be getting one next week. She surveyed the room. Gray carpets, lighter gray walls. Perfect. There were two beds in the room, dressers, a table. Nothing fancy. Nem actually liked it, but thought it could use some personal touches. She was just "redecorating" when there was a knock at the door and a voice told her it was time for dinner. She slowly made her way to the food hall and got her plate. Nem noticed an empty seat next to a big guy and quickly sat down. The kid turned and gave her a low growl.
"What do you think you're doing?" He asked. Nem cocked her head thoughtfully.
"It looks like I'm sitting down, but I suppose that's open to interpretation," she said calmly, then flashed him a big smile. Nem was not frightened; after the fight with Stenn, mortals didn't have much affect on her anymore.
"That's true, because it looks to me like you're sitting in my seat," a male voice said cooly from behind her. Nem turned slowly to glance up into a pair of icy light green eyes. She stared.
"Excuse me, I didn't know the seats here were assigned," she stated, as she stood up. Nem didn't want to be in their company anyway. She sat down by herself at a different table, but she had a clear view of her former seat.
The green-eyed boy had sandy blond hair, and was about 5' 7". He sat down next to the bigger boy. Anemone thought he looked like someone with their bodyguard. Shaking her head in disgust, she quickly finished her meal and went back to her room.
~*~
"Hi, Serena, thanks for inviting us," said Ren, as she walked up to the group of girls near the trees. The blond smiled in response.
"My pleasure, guys... C'mon, we've got a lot of good food to get rid of, Lita made it!" She said. "Where's Anemone?" The four girls grimaced.
"Nem's indisposed of for a while..." Kari said, trailing off. Shrugging, Mina ushered the girls down the park trail. Ren chose her words carefully.
"Where's Darien, Serena? I thought someone said he was coming," she said, innocently. Serena's face clouded.
"He couldn't make it. Said something about work of some sort he needed to finish," she replied, trying to keep the pain from her voice. Everyone had brought their cats... Hoshi, Eclipse, and Diana had gone off with Luna and Artemis. This worried the four girls. What were they finding out?
The picnic continued without any other upsetting thoughts. They were about to delve into the strawberry cream pie when the cats came running towards them.
"SERENA!!! GIRLS!!!" shouted Luna and Artemis, as Hoshi and Eclipse shouted for Ren and her friends. On instinct, all 9 girls transformed.
~*~
Anemone had just finished putting up her glow-in-the-dark stars when a horrible pain flashed over her head. She collapsed to her knees and gasped at the vision she saw.
"Noo!!! Ren!!!!" she screamed, before she passed out. Ten minutes, later she woke up in Mrs. Greary's office, with a compress over her head and at least 5 people peering over her.
"Anemone? Are you all right? Want to tell us what happened?" Mrs. Greary asked, softly. Nem was trembling.
~*~
Serena didn't have time to question the four new girls about this sudden change of events because at that moment, a monstrous, slimy, black creature chose to appear from the woods. It roared. Serena's face flashed with fear for a second or two, but she stood her ground.
Before anyone could do anything, Ami shot out a Mercury Ice Storm. The beast howled, but kept slowly advancing towards the girls. They scattered, determined to take down this thing. It stopped and looked around from girl to girl. Apparently, it wasn't too bright. Serena and Ren had run towards the trees and turned to look at it. The other girls had run towards different areas of the trees.
The creature began approaching Ren and Serena. The other girls tried their various attacks, but it seemed like nothing could stop the monster. Before it reached them, Ren tried her Gravity attack, and Serena managed to make the monster pause with her Moon Tiara Power. By now, it had reached the two girls. The other seven launched an all-out massive attack at one time, and this injured the creature. Howling in pain, it quickly snatched the two girls and disappeared with them. The seven ran to where the other two had just been standing. There was no trace of them.
~*~
"I have to call home! No, no, no, no... Ren!! Serena!! This can't be happening!! Please! Just let me call? They've got to be all right!" Anemone was stammering. They gave her the phone. There was no answer. Nem broke down in tears.
"It's true," she whispered. "It happened."
"Anemone, what happened?" Mrs. Greary asked, patiently. Nem took a deep breath to bring herself to her senses and give her time to think up something somewhat plausible.
"I was decorating my room, and I must've gotten dizzy because I got a splitting headache, and had a terrible idea that, um, well, that one of my friends was kidnapped. I panicked and thought it was real." Well, that wasn't too bad. The truth was so incredible, they were bound to think she was lying. She had at least left out the part that she knew her friend really HAD been kidnapped. She hoped they didn't investigate anything and find out she was right. Allowed to leave, Nem walked numbly out of the office.
Anemone pulled her cellphone from her pocket. Thank God for modern technology, and that they had let her keep it. She dialed Kari's cell.
"Come on, answer," she mumbled, pausing on the front lawn.
"Hello?" A tearful Kari picked up.
"Kari?! They're gone, aren't they?" Anemone asked anxiously, her throat tightening. Kari had nodded, but Nem didn't know that.
"Yeah. We went to that picnic, and this, this... THING just came and took them, they all disappeared. We tried everything. Nothing could stop it," Kari's voice was dull and flat.
"What are we going to do?" Nem whispered. "If I could come home we could think of something, together, but with me stuck out here... We'll think of something. We'll get them back. At least we know who sent whatever that was."
"Yeah. I have to go, I don't know what we're going to tell the Takeshi's!" Kari said, hanging up. Nem laughed. Nem heard a noise behind her and turned, defensively. The green-eyed boy from lunch was standing behind her, his face unreadable. Nem narrowed her eyes.
"How much did you hear?" He smirked.
"Enough. You claim you aren't a druggie. I believe you. But I don't want to know what you really are," the boy said snidely. At this, Nem's temper flared. She stalked up to him.
"Who do you think you are? You're in this boarding school, just like I am. You're not better than me. If you think you are, you've got another thing coming. If you had ANY idea what I have to go through for people like YOU, you'd think twice about EVER even talking to me!" Anemone stormed off to her dorm. The boy was left standing with his mouth open staring after her, completely bewildered.
At lunch the next day, the boy and his bodyguard approached Anemone. She eyed them wearily, not in the mood for a fight. She was still drained from her last vision and what had happened. They sat down across from her.
"We owe you an apology," said the smaller boy. His friend nodded. Nem's eyes widened; she hadn't been expecting this.
"Could we just start over?" Nem smiled.
"Sure. I'm Anemone Marcellin, but you can call me Nem," she said. Nem was never one to hold a grudge.
"I'm Neil Werner, and this is Gabriel Solon," the boy said, then motioned to the brown-haired bodyguard.
Just then, a whistle blew. Anemone gathered her things and started from the cabin. There were people who would've beeen considered guards if the school had been a jail waiting for them. They looked very nice; maybe this wouldn't be so bad. The school came in to view shortly thereafter, as the bus made a left on to the grounds. The buildings were all brick, the administration offices were in the center, the school was to the left of it. The dormitories were to the right. The girls stayed on one side of the building, main rooms were in the middle (kitchens, dining rooms, etc), and the boys were on the other side of these. A very tall, pretty brunette woman waited for them. As each teenager got off the bus, she noted where on the grounds they were to go first. Nem was put with "admin." The woman led this group to the central building and a short, balding male receptionist made them all wait to go in to the office. When it was Anemone's turn, she went cautiously.
"So, you're here for drug possession," the woman said, giving Nem a stern look.
"Yeah, but it wasn't mine," she said cooly. She'd accepted that no one believed her, but she still maintained her innocence. "If you checked me, I don't use."
"There are rare cases where dealers don't use. Very rare, but they happen. We'll see." The woman, Ms. Greary, seemed like she almost wanted to believe her, but didn't. Anemone still didn't think she'd mind all this much, and that they would soon realize their mistake and she'd be sent home. After exchanging a few more words, Nem was allowed to be escorted to the dorm. She was given the room at the far end of the hall on the third floor, 317. She didn't have a roommate, but would apparently be getting one next week. She surveyed the room. Gray carpets, lighter gray walls. Perfect. There were two beds in the room, dressers, a table. Nothing fancy. Nem actually liked it, but thought it could use some personal touches. She was just "redecorating" when there was a knock at the door and a voice told her it was time for dinner. She slowly made her way to the food hall and got her plate. Nem noticed an empty seat next to a big guy and quickly sat down. The kid turned and gave her a low growl.
"What do you think you're doing?" He asked. Nem cocked her head thoughtfully.
"It looks like I'm sitting down, but I suppose that's open to interpretation," she said calmly, then flashed him a big smile. Nem was not frightened; after the fight with Stenn, mortals didn't have much affect on her anymore.
"That's true, because it looks to me like you're sitting in my seat," a male voice said cooly from behind her. Nem turned slowly to glance up into a pair of icy light green eyes. She stared.
"Excuse me, I didn't know the seats here were assigned," she stated, as she stood up. Nem didn't want to be in their company anyway. She sat down by herself at a different table, but she had a clear view of her former seat.
The green-eyed boy had sandy blond hair, and was about 5' 7". He sat down next to the bigger boy. Anemone thought he looked like someone with their bodyguard. Shaking her head in disgust, she quickly finished her meal and went back to her room.
~*~
"Hi, Serena, thanks for inviting us," said Ren, as she walked up to the group of girls near the trees. The blond smiled in response.
"My pleasure, guys... C'mon, we've got a lot of good food to get rid of, Lita made it!" She said. "Where's Anemone?" The four girls grimaced.
"Nem's indisposed of for a while..." Kari said, trailing off. Shrugging, Mina ushered the girls down the park trail. Ren chose her words carefully.
"Where's Darien, Serena? I thought someone said he was coming," she said, innocently. Serena's face clouded.
"He couldn't make it. Said something about work of some sort he needed to finish," she replied, trying to keep the pain from her voice. Everyone had brought their cats... Hoshi, Eclipse, and Diana had gone off with Luna and Artemis. This worried the four girls. What were they finding out?
The picnic continued without any other upsetting thoughts. They were about to delve into the strawberry cream pie when the cats came running towards them.
"SERENA!!! GIRLS!!!" shouted Luna and Artemis, as Hoshi and Eclipse shouted for Ren and her friends. On instinct, all 9 girls transformed.
~*~
Anemone had just finished putting up her glow-in-the-dark stars when a horrible pain flashed over her head. She collapsed to her knees and gasped at the vision she saw.
"Noo!!! Ren!!!!" she screamed, before she passed out. Ten minutes, later she woke up in Mrs. Greary's office, with a compress over her head and at least 5 people peering over her.
"Anemone? Are you all right? Want to tell us what happened?" Mrs. Greary asked, softly. Nem was trembling.
~*~
Serena didn't have time to question the four new girls about this sudden change of events because at that moment, a monstrous, slimy, black creature chose to appear from the woods. It roared. Serena's face flashed with fear for a second or two, but she stood her ground.
Before anyone could do anything, Ami shot out a Mercury Ice Storm. The beast howled, but kept slowly advancing towards the girls. They scattered, determined to take down this thing. It stopped and looked around from girl to girl. Apparently, it wasn't too bright. Serena and Ren had run towards the trees and turned to look at it. The other girls had run towards different areas of the trees.
The creature began approaching Ren and Serena. The other girls tried their various attacks, but it seemed like nothing could stop the monster. Before it reached them, Ren tried her Gravity attack, and Serena managed to make the monster pause with her Moon Tiara Power. By now, it had reached the two girls. The other seven launched an all-out massive attack at one time, and this injured the creature. Howling in pain, it quickly snatched the two girls and disappeared with them. The seven ran to where the other two had just been standing. There was no trace of them.
~*~
"I have to call home! No, no, no, no... Ren!! Serena!! This can't be happening!! Please! Just let me call? They've got to be all right!" Anemone was stammering. They gave her the phone. There was no answer. Nem broke down in tears.
"It's true," she whispered. "It happened."
"Anemone, what happened?" Mrs. Greary asked, patiently. Nem took a deep breath to bring herself to her senses and give her time to think up something somewhat plausible.
"I was decorating my room, and I must've gotten dizzy because I got a splitting headache, and had a terrible idea that, um, well, that one of my friends was kidnapped. I panicked and thought it was real." Well, that wasn't too bad. The truth was so incredible, they were bound to think she was lying. She had at least left out the part that she knew her friend really HAD been kidnapped. She hoped they didn't investigate anything and find out she was right. Allowed to leave, Nem walked numbly out of the office.
Anemone pulled her cellphone from her pocket. Thank God for modern technology, and that they had let her keep it. She dialed Kari's cell.
"Come on, answer," she mumbled, pausing on the front lawn.
"Hello?" A tearful Kari picked up.
"Kari?! They're gone, aren't they?" Anemone asked anxiously, her throat tightening. Kari had nodded, but Nem didn't know that.
"Yeah. We went to that picnic, and this, this... THING just came and took them, they all disappeared. We tried everything. Nothing could stop it," Kari's voice was dull and flat.
"What are we going to do?" Nem whispered. "If I could come home we could think of something, together, but with me stuck out here... We'll think of something. We'll get them back. At least we know who sent whatever that was."
"Yeah. I have to go, I don't know what we're going to tell the Takeshi's!" Kari said, hanging up. Nem laughed. Nem heard a noise behind her and turned, defensively. The green-eyed boy from lunch was standing behind her, his face unreadable. Nem narrowed her eyes.
"How much did you hear?" He smirked.
"Enough. You claim you aren't a druggie. I believe you. But I don't want to know what you really are," the boy said snidely. At this, Nem's temper flared. She stalked up to him.
"Who do you think you are? You're in this boarding school, just like I am. You're not better than me. If you think you are, you've got another thing coming. If you had ANY idea what I have to go through for people like YOU, you'd think twice about EVER even talking to me!" Anemone stormed off to her dorm. The boy was left standing with his mouth open staring after her, completely bewildered.
At lunch the next day, the boy and his bodyguard approached Anemone. She eyed them wearily, not in the mood for a fight. She was still drained from her last vision and what had happened. They sat down across from her.
"We owe you an apology," said the smaller boy. His friend nodded. Nem's eyes widened; she hadn't been expecting this.
"Could we just start over?" Nem smiled.
"Sure. I'm Anemone Marcellin, but you can call me Nem," she said. Nem was never one to hold a grudge.
"I'm Neil Werner, and this is Gabriel Solon," the boy said, then motioned to the brown-haired bodyguard.
