"What do ya think, huh? Fancy-schmancy enough for ya?" Jody asks, looking at the big brick building near her house.
"It's got a nice ring to it." Dean replies, framing the big sign with his hands.
Jody Mills School For Wayward Children
"I dunno. Should it really be named after me?"
"Of course. The way you helped Claire, Alex, and Patience? How could it not be named after you?" Sam steps in.
"Okay. Well, let's get this over with." Jody steps forward and opens the doors. After months of rebuilding and refurbishing, the old apartment building is finally back to its former glory, with a few tweaks. "Did you look at the schedule?"
"Yup. Angel studies with Mr. Castiel, Demons 101 with Dean, Understanding Ghosts with Mr. Winchester, Vampire studies with Ms. Jones, and Monster Hunting Basics with Claire." I pipe up. "And, of course, orientation with principal Jody Mills."
"So, Delilah, how does it feel to be the first ever student at The Jody Mills School For Wayward Children?" Sam asks.
"Um, no offense, but crappy. Even though this school seems awesome, my family had to die so I could attend it, so that's not so great."
We reach the Monster Hunting room, which is right next to the dorms, and a college-age girl with long blonde hair and several piercings walks up to me.
"I get what you mean. Jody and Alex are like my new family, but I remember my old life a lot, and I always wonder, what would have happened if Castiel had never come? But I can't change the past, so I guess I have to appreciate what I have now, and trust me, you'll find a good family here. I have. Oh, I forgot! I'm Claire, your teacher of Monster Hunting Basics." She says, holding out her hand. I shake it tentatively.
"Your dorm will be right over there." Jody tells me, pointing to a door across the hall. "We've reached out to other hunters, telling them about this place, so other kids should be here soon."
"Ok." I say, and head for the dorm. I don't feel like talking anymore. Jody's comment reminded me why I was here, and I don't want to delve into those memories in front of people. I open the door and sink into the bottom bunk.
Flashes of memories race through my head. My dad, dangling by his arms in a warehouse, needles sticking into his wrists. A man with glowing tattoos, cornering my mom, her yelling at me to run right before he slams her into the wall. My sister running into the woods, the man's partner hot on her tail.
I push the memories out of my head, choosing to focus on the present like Claire said. I look around my dorm. It's pretty small, with a bunk bed on one wall, dressers on one, and a vanity and the door to the bathroom on another. I open one of the dressers and put my backpack in it. I look at the pins on my backpack, thinking back to happier times. My sister picked the one that says I buy caviar with food stamps the day I lost my third job in two weeks. I unpin that one from my backpack and put it on the vanity table. It's a reminder of why I'm here, and what I'm fighting for.
Knock, knock. An hour later, I look up from my book to see a girl with long dark hair peeking into my room.
"Are you Delilah?" She asks in a quiet voice.
"Yeah. Why?"
"I'm Nydia. I'm your new roommate."
"Hi. Um, I guess you get the top bunk and left dresser."
"Kay." She shuffles in silently and puts her backpack in her dresser like I did. "It's almost dinnertime, you know. There are already six other kids in the dining hall. I've been traveling all day, but after I get cleaned up, do you wanna walk down there with me?"
"Um, sure." She nods and goes into the bathroom. I look into the vanity mirror, trying to see if I have any grime on my face. What I see staring back surprises me. It's been a while since I looked in a mirror, and I look older, but also much sadder, like there's a shadow in my green eyes, something that says, can it get any worse? What really surprises me is that I've seen it before. I think for a moment, and then realise where I recognise it from. I've seen the same shadow in the eyes of Jody, Sam, and Dean. I guess this means I really do belong here, in this school of rebels and broken kids. Kids who have seen too much, who just need a little hope. I guess that's what this school is for, to bring hope to a hopeless situation, to help kids like me see the light at the end of the tunnel.
I touch the electric blue streaks in my blonde hair. Is there a light at the end of the tunnel? The streaks are from the djinn's power, and they won't go away, refuse to be cut. They give me nightmares, my dad's dead eyes, my mother's last scream, over and over. The dreams remind me that the djinn that killed my parents are still out there. I take a deep breath.
Wow, that just got deep. I put my mind on other things as I run a brush through my hair. Nydia seems quiet, but not quite as sad as me and Sam and Dean. I wonder what happened to her for her to end up here. I've heard some of the stories Jody tells the others about the kids coming here. Family attacked by a werewolf, family attacked by a vampire. It seems like all the people who come here don't have anyone left. I wonder if it's the same for Nydia.
Almost as if on cue, she emerges from the bathroom with her hair in a messy bun and her face freshly washed.
"You ready?"
"Yeah."
"Kay. Let's go." I follow her out of our dorm and downstairs into the dining hall. I've never seen it before, and it's bigger than I imagined. It's basically the Hogwarts great hall combined with a school cafeteria. There's a big wood table at one end of the room, where all of the teachers are sitting. Around the rest of the room, there's a bunch of circular tables with stools to sit on. Directly across from the teacher's table there's a big table with a bunch of food, like a buffet. Me and Nydia head for that, load up our plates, and then find an empty table.
But it's not empty for long. A guy in a blue cold-shoulder shirt and yoga pants slides in next to me while I'm eating my chips.
"Hi. I'm Aatami." He sticks out his hand to me, and then to Nydia.
"Delilah."
"Nydia."
"Hey, what did the doctor say to the dwarf in his waiting room?"
"I don't know, what?" Nydia asks, a look of pleasant interest on her face.
"You're just gonna have to be a little patient!"
"Seriously?" I say, raising my eyebrows.
"What?" Aatami responds. "It's funny!"
"Sure it is."
"Whatever. Anyway, what are y'all in for? I personally had a run-in with some kitsune."
"Er, a ghost." Nydia responds.
"Um," I say, trying to decide whether or not to share my monster. I finally decide to just do it, and point at the blue streak in my hair. "Djinn. They left me this cool souvenir, too." I tell them, my voice dripping with sarcasm.
"Oof. I'm sorry, man." Aatami says, and his voice sounds sincere, like they're not just empty condolences. His voice also sounds strangely feminine. I look at him more closely and see the corner of a binder sticking out from under his shirt, confirming my suspicions.
I don't voice them, though. I don't want to out him in the middle of the cafeteria. I definitely wouldn't want anybody to do that to me. So I keep quiet about it, and keep the conversation going. At the end of dinner, we all compare schedules and see that we're in literally all the same classes at the same times, like I suspect most of the students are, because there aren't that many people here yet.
"See ya tomorrow!" Aatami waves as he goes down the hall to his room.