When Avalon returned to Pre-Nocti, she was almost like a new girl. While she still remained impassive when met with threats from other students, but she began to devote herself full time into her studies. She grew quite proficient at every lesson thrown her way.
The other students only hated her more, now that she shone above them academically. It was no time before she was at the top of her class, and the top of every other student's hit list.
She was victim to countless pranks, incessant bullying, and cruel gossip. Avalon responded to nothing.
Her change in appearance also drew a lot of interest. Avalon suddenly began to strive for the perfection her mother had always insisted upon. Never did she attend class without her hair and makeup perfect, and her clothing perfect. She perfected the art of covering the bruises and cuts inflicted by her classmates.
But what nobody saw, was they way Avalon cried during the nights, and tried to remember the feel of her old kitten's soft coat. The other children saw her as a strange and unfeeling creature, and to outward appearances she was, but inside she was grieving.
And as much as she tried to convince herself to forget, to stop feeling she could not stop the tears that came every night when she was safe in bed and the other children were busy with their own affairs.
During her last year at Pre-Nocti, Avalon began to learn basic magic. The past two years, she had spent learning history of magic and mathematical principals. Only in the last year at Pre-Nocti did students begin to learn hands on material.
She graduated with her class with full honors. Students did not receive letters of invitation to Nocti until the end of the summer, but Avalon did not doubt her letter would come. She was at the top of her class, although was still hated and ignored by her peers.
Camarese attended her daughters graduation, and clapped with the rest of the parents, although she was not among those who shed a tear. Afterwards she congratulated her daughter and promised to reward her when they arrived at the Manor.
A feeling of dread grew in young Avalon's stomach during the trip home. When she finally arrived her mother had a party in her honor. But Avalon knew this was not the reward her mother had in mind.
It came during the night. Avalon was not surprised. She followed her mother down to the familiar and terrible basement without a word.
In the basement, and tied to a post was a half naked muggle boy, who couldn't have been more than six years old. Inside, Avalon cried out in shock, but outside she did not react.
"It has been a long year darling. You have grown so much. I think you are ready to get your first taste of power," Camarese spoke at last, after several long moments of silence. The elegant woman slid her hand inside her robes and withdrew a long curved knife with cruel notches engraved in the cold steel.
Slowly revolving around to face her daughter, Camarese extended the knife. "It's for you darling. You may do what you wish with it."
Stonily, Avalon accepted the implement of implied torture with a nod. She held it for a moment, caressing the feel of it's icy power with her fingertips. She held the world's balance in her hands. There was nothing she wanted less.
Avalon swallowed a lump in her throat and approached the boy slowly.
Tears streaked his dirty face and the boy pulled away in fear, crying loudly and calling out for his mother. Avalon studied him carefully, such a strange creature, so unlike herself. The boy reeked emotion and feeling, something Avalon had been taught to stifle.
Camarese folded her arms, revealing her fake red fingernails. She grinned subtly, baring the hints of her pearly white teeth. They looked like fangs in the dim light.
The boy screamed as Avalon raised the knife. The blade was inches from the boy's supple flesh. She moved closer, until the steel was against the little boy's throat.
She could see the beads of sweat upon his forehead, and smell the rank stench of his fear. A trickle of dark liquid ran in a swift stream down one pant leg and a new odor filled the room. The power in Avalon's hand was too heavy to bear.
In one swift movement, Avalon drew the knife away from his neck and sliced instead into the rope that bound him to the pole. She removed the ropes in less than a second. Just as the boy was about to run, she pressed one hand against his chest. This had to be done carefully.
"Darling, the game is yours, but don't let him get away," Camarese warned calmly.
"Don't worry mother. I just want a bit of a challenge."
Avalon could see her mother's reflection through the metal pole, a grotesquely contorted grin met her eyes.
Avalon leaned forward until her lips were almost against the boy's. "Run," she whispered in a tone that reminded her of her mother.
She let go for three seconds, and then walked calmly up the stairs after the fleeing child.
Camarese looked warily at her daughter, but decided to maintain her role as a spectator in her daughter's first kill.
Avalon could hear her heart beat in her chest, it seemed to fill the room with it's panicked intensity. She reached the top of the stairs and saw the boy struggling with the doorknob.
She walked towards him and the boy fell to the ground and reduced himself to helpless tears. Avalon opened the door. "Go! Run as far as you can and don't come back! Don't tell anyone about this and perhaps you'll live!"
The boy didn't budge. Avalon could hear her mother's footsteps coming up the stairs. "Go!" Avalon hissed and shoved the boy out the door.
He got over his shock at the sight of Camarese standing in the doorway. It took her less than a second to realize what had just happened. Her prey had been released.
Avalon had just enough time to slam the door shut before her mother had a chance to stun the little boy with a spell. Instead the spell hit her.
The poor girl spent the rest of the night in considerable pain. Avalon had been given power, and had failed miserably in her mothers eyes. Now it was her turn to feel pain.
The knife was used on Avalon that night, along with other tortures. In the morning, her mother got rid of the scars and bleeding with a simple little spell, and ordered her daughter to prepare for brunch. Camarese had never been angrier at her daughter, and she was determined to make Avalon's summer a living hell. If nothing else, this night had only steeled her nerve. Camarese Mortira was determined to make her daughter fit into her perfect image.
Avalon's eleventh summer was the worst one ever. During the day things went as they always had. There were parties and dinners and all the guests were in awe of Avalon's beauty and charm.
During the night things were terrible. Camarese never again gave Avalon a chance to be the torturer. In fact, most of her mother's amusements were taken out on Avalon that summer. In Camarese's opinion, Avalon's failure to torture the little boy was only a sign of her weakness.
One morning in August, two owls arrived. They came to Avalon's window, and she was surprised to see that they carried not one but two letters, both for her.
Avalon had never received a letter in her life, aside from the invitation to Pre-Nocti.
The first envelope was no surprise. It was from Nocti. Avalon sighed, but declined to open the envelope. She would bring it to Camarese over breakfast, it would certainly please Camarese more than Avalon.
The second letter was in a pale purple envelope and bore a crest that was not familiar to Avalon. She considered bringing it along with the first to her mother, but some hidden curiosity prompted her to open it.
Dear Avalon Mortira,
I am pleased to announce that you have been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The term starts on September the first and enclosed are a list of supplies and one train ticket.
Please send your owl to confirm if you shall be attending by the 20th of August. Thank you for your time!
Sincerely,
Headmaster Edwin Tarantella
Avalon sighed wistfully. Hogwarts sounded like an opportunity for a fresh start. Unfortunately she knew her mother would never approve of her going to that school. Camarese would never let her daughter give up an Academy of the Dark Arts, to attend a school like Hogwarts.
She was about to throw the letter in her wastebasket when something stayed her hand. Perhaps she could respond in secret. Her mother need never know.
Slowly, Avalon unwadded the letter and re-read it, this time also reading the list of supplies. Taking a deep breath, Avalon folded the letter and slid it under her mattress. It was only a fantasy, she knew she could never go, but still. . .what harm could it do to save the letter?
Trying to turn her mind back to the day's events, Avalon finished dressing herself and checked her image in the mirror before picking up the Nocti envelope and heading to the dining room to meet her mother for breakfast. It was almost eight o'clock and Camarese insisted on punctuality.
Camarese was mildly pleased at the arrival of the envelope, but took the opportunity to lecture Avalon on the numerous ways in which she needed to improve.
That night, after the guests had left, Avalon lay awake in her soft bed, waiting and wondering if her mother would come to her.
Unconsciously, Avalon felt her hand slip under her mattress. Her fingers closed over the paper. She lay still for as long as she could, trying to restrain herself from withdrawing it from underneath her bed. The envelope only held trouble, but yet she wanted more than anything to open it up and read the contents again.
After another half hour, she gave in and pulled out the envelope, hoping that Camarese would not take the moment to enter her room.
Cautiously, she opened the envelope and traced the text with her fingers.
In a moment's whim, she jumped from her bed and drew a clean sheet of paper from her desk.
She scribbled a quick note telling of her attendance and signed it.
Avalon snuck downstairs and hastily opened the door which led to the Mortira Owlery. Feeling her heart beat thudding against her rib cage, she slipped the letter into the claws of Alex, a rarely used owl, and opened a window to let him fly.
"What are you doing?" a cold voice stopped her in her tracks.
Avalon spun around, her appearance as calm and cool as ever. Years of her mother's abuse had taught her to contain her panic.
"I'm mailing off my reply to Nocti," Avalon spoke almost passively.
Camarese raised an eyebrow, "you know you are not allowed in my study."
Avalon looked down. "I know, but I couldn't sleep and I kept thinking about Nocti. I can't wait to further my skill there. I want to be head of my class."
After several minutes of staring down her daughter, Camarese turned on her heel and left the room.
As soon as her mother was out of sight, Avalon ran upstairs to her mother's study, praying she wouldn't be caught. Luckily the door was unlocked. The letter was in plain sight on the desk.
Breathing quickly, Avalon withdrew the letter, praying her mother would not choose this moment to intrude and tucked it into her shirt. She left the list of supplies and returned to her room.
Avalon slipped the Nocti letter underneath the frame of her bed, along with her list of Hogwarts supplies. Then she lay on her bed and breathed in slowly, closing her eyes and not quite believing what she had just done.
The other students only hated her more, now that she shone above them academically. It was no time before she was at the top of her class, and the top of every other student's hit list.
She was victim to countless pranks, incessant bullying, and cruel gossip. Avalon responded to nothing.
Her change in appearance also drew a lot of interest. Avalon suddenly began to strive for the perfection her mother had always insisted upon. Never did she attend class without her hair and makeup perfect, and her clothing perfect. She perfected the art of covering the bruises and cuts inflicted by her classmates.
But what nobody saw, was they way Avalon cried during the nights, and tried to remember the feel of her old kitten's soft coat. The other children saw her as a strange and unfeeling creature, and to outward appearances she was, but inside she was grieving.
And as much as she tried to convince herself to forget, to stop feeling she could not stop the tears that came every night when she was safe in bed and the other children were busy with their own affairs.
During her last year at Pre-Nocti, Avalon began to learn basic magic. The past two years, she had spent learning history of magic and mathematical principals. Only in the last year at Pre-Nocti did students begin to learn hands on material.
She graduated with her class with full honors. Students did not receive letters of invitation to Nocti until the end of the summer, but Avalon did not doubt her letter would come. She was at the top of her class, although was still hated and ignored by her peers.
Camarese attended her daughters graduation, and clapped with the rest of the parents, although she was not among those who shed a tear. Afterwards she congratulated her daughter and promised to reward her when they arrived at the Manor.
A feeling of dread grew in young Avalon's stomach during the trip home. When she finally arrived her mother had a party in her honor. But Avalon knew this was not the reward her mother had in mind.
It came during the night. Avalon was not surprised. She followed her mother down to the familiar and terrible basement without a word.
In the basement, and tied to a post was a half naked muggle boy, who couldn't have been more than six years old. Inside, Avalon cried out in shock, but outside she did not react.
"It has been a long year darling. You have grown so much. I think you are ready to get your first taste of power," Camarese spoke at last, after several long moments of silence. The elegant woman slid her hand inside her robes and withdrew a long curved knife with cruel notches engraved in the cold steel.
Slowly revolving around to face her daughter, Camarese extended the knife. "It's for you darling. You may do what you wish with it."
Stonily, Avalon accepted the implement of implied torture with a nod. She held it for a moment, caressing the feel of it's icy power with her fingertips. She held the world's balance in her hands. There was nothing she wanted less.
Avalon swallowed a lump in her throat and approached the boy slowly.
Tears streaked his dirty face and the boy pulled away in fear, crying loudly and calling out for his mother. Avalon studied him carefully, such a strange creature, so unlike herself. The boy reeked emotion and feeling, something Avalon had been taught to stifle.
Camarese folded her arms, revealing her fake red fingernails. She grinned subtly, baring the hints of her pearly white teeth. They looked like fangs in the dim light.
The boy screamed as Avalon raised the knife. The blade was inches from the boy's supple flesh. She moved closer, until the steel was against the little boy's throat.
She could see the beads of sweat upon his forehead, and smell the rank stench of his fear. A trickle of dark liquid ran in a swift stream down one pant leg and a new odor filled the room. The power in Avalon's hand was too heavy to bear.
In one swift movement, Avalon drew the knife away from his neck and sliced instead into the rope that bound him to the pole. She removed the ropes in less than a second. Just as the boy was about to run, she pressed one hand against his chest. This had to be done carefully.
"Darling, the game is yours, but don't let him get away," Camarese warned calmly.
"Don't worry mother. I just want a bit of a challenge."
Avalon could see her mother's reflection through the metal pole, a grotesquely contorted grin met her eyes.
Avalon leaned forward until her lips were almost against the boy's. "Run," she whispered in a tone that reminded her of her mother.
She let go for three seconds, and then walked calmly up the stairs after the fleeing child.
Camarese looked warily at her daughter, but decided to maintain her role as a spectator in her daughter's first kill.
Avalon could hear her heart beat in her chest, it seemed to fill the room with it's panicked intensity. She reached the top of the stairs and saw the boy struggling with the doorknob.
She walked towards him and the boy fell to the ground and reduced himself to helpless tears. Avalon opened the door. "Go! Run as far as you can and don't come back! Don't tell anyone about this and perhaps you'll live!"
The boy didn't budge. Avalon could hear her mother's footsteps coming up the stairs. "Go!" Avalon hissed and shoved the boy out the door.
He got over his shock at the sight of Camarese standing in the doorway. It took her less than a second to realize what had just happened. Her prey had been released.
Avalon had just enough time to slam the door shut before her mother had a chance to stun the little boy with a spell. Instead the spell hit her.
The poor girl spent the rest of the night in considerable pain. Avalon had been given power, and had failed miserably in her mothers eyes. Now it was her turn to feel pain.
The knife was used on Avalon that night, along with other tortures. In the morning, her mother got rid of the scars and bleeding with a simple little spell, and ordered her daughter to prepare for brunch. Camarese had never been angrier at her daughter, and she was determined to make Avalon's summer a living hell. If nothing else, this night had only steeled her nerve. Camarese Mortira was determined to make her daughter fit into her perfect image.
Avalon's eleventh summer was the worst one ever. During the day things went as they always had. There were parties and dinners and all the guests were in awe of Avalon's beauty and charm.
During the night things were terrible. Camarese never again gave Avalon a chance to be the torturer. In fact, most of her mother's amusements were taken out on Avalon that summer. In Camarese's opinion, Avalon's failure to torture the little boy was only a sign of her weakness.
One morning in August, two owls arrived. They came to Avalon's window, and she was surprised to see that they carried not one but two letters, both for her.
Avalon had never received a letter in her life, aside from the invitation to Pre-Nocti.
The first envelope was no surprise. It was from Nocti. Avalon sighed, but declined to open the envelope. She would bring it to Camarese over breakfast, it would certainly please Camarese more than Avalon.
The second letter was in a pale purple envelope and bore a crest that was not familiar to Avalon. She considered bringing it along with the first to her mother, but some hidden curiosity prompted her to open it.
Dear Avalon Mortira,
I am pleased to announce that you have been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The term starts on September the first and enclosed are a list of supplies and one train ticket.
Please send your owl to confirm if you shall be attending by the 20th of August. Thank you for your time!
Sincerely,
Headmaster Edwin Tarantella
Avalon sighed wistfully. Hogwarts sounded like an opportunity for a fresh start. Unfortunately she knew her mother would never approve of her going to that school. Camarese would never let her daughter give up an Academy of the Dark Arts, to attend a school like Hogwarts.
She was about to throw the letter in her wastebasket when something stayed her hand. Perhaps she could respond in secret. Her mother need never know.
Slowly, Avalon unwadded the letter and re-read it, this time also reading the list of supplies. Taking a deep breath, Avalon folded the letter and slid it under her mattress. It was only a fantasy, she knew she could never go, but still. . .what harm could it do to save the letter?
Trying to turn her mind back to the day's events, Avalon finished dressing herself and checked her image in the mirror before picking up the Nocti envelope and heading to the dining room to meet her mother for breakfast. It was almost eight o'clock and Camarese insisted on punctuality.
Camarese was mildly pleased at the arrival of the envelope, but took the opportunity to lecture Avalon on the numerous ways in which she needed to improve.
That night, after the guests had left, Avalon lay awake in her soft bed, waiting and wondering if her mother would come to her.
Unconsciously, Avalon felt her hand slip under her mattress. Her fingers closed over the paper. She lay still for as long as she could, trying to restrain herself from withdrawing it from underneath her bed. The envelope only held trouble, but yet she wanted more than anything to open it up and read the contents again.
After another half hour, she gave in and pulled out the envelope, hoping that Camarese would not take the moment to enter her room.
Cautiously, she opened the envelope and traced the text with her fingers.
In a moment's whim, she jumped from her bed and drew a clean sheet of paper from her desk.
She scribbled a quick note telling of her attendance and signed it.
Avalon snuck downstairs and hastily opened the door which led to the Mortira Owlery. Feeling her heart beat thudding against her rib cage, she slipped the letter into the claws of Alex, a rarely used owl, and opened a window to let him fly.
"What are you doing?" a cold voice stopped her in her tracks.
Avalon spun around, her appearance as calm and cool as ever. Years of her mother's abuse had taught her to contain her panic.
"I'm mailing off my reply to Nocti," Avalon spoke almost passively.
Camarese raised an eyebrow, "you know you are not allowed in my study."
Avalon looked down. "I know, but I couldn't sleep and I kept thinking about Nocti. I can't wait to further my skill there. I want to be head of my class."
After several minutes of staring down her daughter, Camarese turned on her heel and left the room.
As soon as her mother was out of sight, Avalon ran upstairs to her mother's study, praying she wouldn't be caught. Luckily the door was unlocked. The letter was in plain sight on the desk.
Breathing quickly, Avalon withdrew the letter, praying her mother would not choose this moment to intrude and tucked it into her shirt. She left the list of supplies and returned to her room.
Avalon slipped the Nocti letter underneath the frame of her bed, along with her list of Hogwarts supplies. Then she lay on her bed and breathed in slowly, closing her eyes and not quite believing what she had just done.