Cornelia, Gone

Again, I'm so sorry for not updating! My note at the bottom will explain more.

Chapter Three: The 'Essence' of 'Death

Cornelia traveled back to her homeroom. She opened the door and sat at her empty spot. She saw her homeroom teacher give her a dirty look, as if she was saying 'How dare you disrupt my class.' But, Cornelia only shot a face, and wanted her swear right in front of her, but she didn't. Instead, she smiled sweetly, as if she was mocking the teacher, and sat down.

After class, Cornelia was the first one to get out of the classroom. She sped walk to get to her second class—science—hopefully not getting in the way of Will or anyone else in her class. She heard a voice behind her that made her very irritated.

"Cornelia!" it cried. Cornelia turned to see who it was.

It was Will.

"Why are you acting so different?" Will asked in the hallway. Cornelia rolled her eyes and turned her body to start walking again. But Will grabbed her shoulder.

"You are my friend, Cornelia," Will stated. "You haven't acted like one in the past few weeks. What's going on?"

"You know what's going on," Cornelia snapped. "And you aren't much of a friend, now are you? You traded me for Gina, and you didn't even feel sorry when I got called to the Principal's Office. Since when does a friend do that? I've got plenty of friends. At least they don't trade me for sluts."

"Cornelia!" Will screamed. "Are you still obsessing over that day? I didn't want that to happen; you take things too seriously. And you are a Guardian of the Veil! You have to use your power! Our power is weakening, Cornelia. We've been through this before…don't make us go through it again…"

Cornelia, for a split second, felt almost terrible that she was doing this. 'No…she's lying. She wants you to think that…Cornelia…back away!'' her mind seemed to say.

"You little liar! You are only making me think that because Gina told you to say so, didn't she? Well, I'm not falling for it, Will. I'm not falling for it."

"Cornelia, Gina doesn't know about us being Guardians of the Veil! Are your 'friends' getting to your head?"

"You don't understand, Will!" Cornelia shot back, dropping her books. "School is just all rigged. It's a jail trying to manipulate our minds. Don't you get it?" She stared at Will, panting heavily. Will only walked away to her class.

'I have to get out of here…' Cornelia thought. 'I have to get out of this place…this…prison.'

Running through the hallways that were completely deserted, she found her way to the main doors. They were unlocked.

Opening the doors and running into the campus, Cornelia noticed that it was too easy just to get out. She suspected at least a teacher, Mrs. Harlix, anybody—to see her, but nobody came.

'I made it,' she thought. 'I easily skipped school.'

Running down the streets with her backpack and her books, Cornelia ran into a department store called Snappy and Fast. Agatha had told her that this is where she got her little bottles of Jennari's a week after they first became friends. Cornelia wandered around the aisles looking for the bottles when she heard a familiar voice.

"Cornelia!"

It was Agatha. Agatha had a six-pack of bottles that said Jennari's in her hand. Cornelia guessed Agatha skipped school, too.

"C'mon, let's go to my house after this. I think Cyril and Cynthia are coming also, so it won't be just us. I already bought this," Agatha explained. Cornelia pursed her lips, trying to create a grin. But she couldn't.

Agatha had everything. She knew how to dress. She knew how to look. She had freedom. The more Cornelia looked at her friend the more she wanted to be more like her.

After probably a mile walk, Cornelia found herself outside a rather large house. Agatha opened the door.

"Welcome to my house," she said. Something stank really badly. Like dead fish and smoke combined. Cornelia almost felt like holding her nose.

"Sorry for the stench," came Cynthia Crawyle's voice. She and her brother, Cyril, were sprawled around a large room. "We were just having some dope. And Cyril got caught in a fishing boat on our way here."

"It wasn't my fault, stupid," Cyril snapped at his twin sister. "You pushed me off the deck while I was having some of the dope. You were just so selfish, you wanted it all to yourself."

The two continued bickering until Agatha quieted them. "I bought some Jennari's. And you better have saved some bags for us, because I haven't had some in a while now."

"Well, hey," Cyril replied, "we've got plenty of dope bags. Treat yourself to all you want." Handing a small bag to Agatha, Agatha readily popped in some of the powdered-like substance. She handed it to Cornelia.

"It's dope, Corny," Cynthia informed. "Are you too scared to try it?"

"N-n-o," Cornelia said slightly. She knew what it was. "It's just that…um…well…"

"Try it, Corny!" Cyril pestered.

Cornelia looked at the bag. She placed her hand into the small bag and felt the powder. Immediately she placed it into her mouth.

"Ya see, it ain't that bad!" Cynthia cried, almost loud enough that the bottles shook.

"Who wants some of the Essence?" Agatha asked immediately.

Cynthia and Cyril raised said in a strange voice, "Yah…"

"And you, Cornelia?" Agatha turned her face towards Cornelia.

"Uh…sure…yeah…"

The next day was strange for Cornelia. She had arrived at home at about five o'clock just the day before, and she felt a slight headache. After having seven handfuls of 'dope' and three bottles of 'The Essence,' she felt like she had been swimming. Her mother was a little worried, but Cornelia only went to sleep the minute she had gotten home. It was now seven o'clock AM, and Cornelia felt her forehead as if it had a terrible migraine.

After dragging herself out of her bed, she dressed in a pair of torn jeans that Agatha let her have, and a shirt that was black and navy blue. She left her hair in its 'bedhead' form and didn't bother brushing her teeth.

"Cornelia," her mother said at breakfast. "You aren't eating. You haven't been eating for about a few weeks now. You aren't becoming an anorexic, are you?"

"What do you care?" Cornelia snapped.

Mrs. Hale looked dumbfounded. "Excuse me, Cornelia Hale, but I think I care."

"Whatever, Elizabeth," Cornelia rolled her eyes.

"Since when do you call me Elizabeth?" Mrs. Hale said, more like a command.

"I'm leaving," Cornelia replied, getting up from her chair.

"No, you're not, Cornelia," her mother replied. "You are staying hear until you finish the conversation. You've been acting differently. Are you ok? You didn't look to good yesterday. Are you sick?"

"Can you just friggin' shut up!" Cornelia cried, slamming the chair into the table. "I wish you could just leave me alone!" She ran outside of the dining room, into the hallways of the apartments.

Cornelia walked among the streets. It was a miserable wet day. She ran towards the school's stairs until she felt a grab on her wrist. She was pulled back into an alcove, facing her ex-best friends.

Will was the one that held the grasp on her wrist. It was Irma that was right in front of her.

"Why don't you hang out with us anymore?" Taranee asked in her shy voice.

"Screw you!" Cornelia yelled. "Like I said, you traded me for Gina. You thought I wasn't popular enough, didn't you? Well guess what! I'd rather be infamous than hang out with you."

Hay Lin was the second to speak. "Cornelia," she whimpered, "we didn't mean it. We're sorry. Can't you forgive us?"

"No," Cornelia said, ready to kick one of the girls. But Will's grip held her back.

"Let go of me, you worthless piece of junk!" Cornelia cried, kicking and screaming, trying hard to break free of Will's grab. But Will was stronger than her.

"Our power is weakening," Irma confirmed, "because of you. We aren't as strong enough as we used to be. Cornelia, please…just please—"

"That's what Gina said, didn't she?" Cornelia screamed. "I said it before…I'll say it again. I'm not falling for it!"

Will began to tighten her grip on Cornelia's wrist. "Have you forgotten about the Guardians of the Veil?" she whispered in Cornelia ear. "You've been hanging out with stoners, Cornelia. They've probably already stoned you."

But Cornelia didn't budge. "Let me go! Let go of me, you backstabbers!" she screamed and cried, but almost instantly, she heard Agatha's voice.

"Why are you messing with Cornelia?" she asked in a rude manner. "She said let go, so let go of her!" The Guardians—including Cornelia—looked to see that Agatha wasn't alone. All of her friends were right behind her.

And to Irma, Taranee, and Hay Lin's surprise, Will did let go—reluctantly.

"That's it, just leave her alone, and nobody gets hurt," Agatha replied. The four girls left Cornelia with Agatha and their other friends. After the longest pause, Agatha only said, "Were they giving you trouble?"

"Uh…yeah," Cornelia said, dusting off her jacket. "But not anymore."

Agatha gave off a laugh. Cornelia couldn't tell if she was laughing at her or with her, but it didn't matter. Soon, Agatha pulled out a small little container, which looked like a doctor's medicinal shot.

"What is that?" she asked, looking peculiarly at the thing. It contained a white crystal-like substance inside.

"It's meth," Agatha said, taking another out and placing it to her lips. "Take it, it's good. It's better than dope."

Cornelia looked at the 'Meth' for a few moments. She took the small item from Agatha's palm and slowly placed it to her lips.

Well, sorry for the long update, but I have an old version of Microsoft Word, and sometimes it switches for about two weeks. Luckily I got to update it today.

-Teenaged Assassin

In Chapter Four: Unleashed Sides

Cornelia starts becoming even more rebellious, that almost kills somebody.