The first day of school—again, Castrata thought, as she pulled into a space in the La Brea High parking lot. She allowed her purse to go through the metal detector. Today, she was wearing a white peasant skirt, a pale blue shirt, and her jean jacket. Her hair was pulled into its ponytail, and she wore no jewelry, but for her amulet. Her mother's amulet.

"Larhk, Castrata." She told the lady at the front desk. She no longer went by Serena's maiden name—Dad had thought up a new one. Although it was spelled strangely, it was pronounced 'Lark'.

The lady gave her a schedule. "Do you need help finding your way?" she asked.

"Yeah," Castrata admitted.

The lady looked around. "Janie can help you." She turned, and called to a girl with twinkling brown eyes, dark brown curls, and a mischievous smile. "Janie—over here!"

The girl—Janie—walked over. "Yes?" She asked, her dancing eyes taking in Castrata and the lady. She frowned slightly, but her smile returned almost immediately. "How can I be of service, Mrs. Delan?"

Mrs. Delan smiled. "We have another new student, Janie. She needs to know where to go."

Janie grinned. "Sure thing, Mrs. Delan." She took my schedule, and beckoned to me. Mrs. Delan returned to her office.

"Let's see… Castrata Larhk… interesting name… Castrata. I like it. You don't here many Castrata's."

"Most people call me Katherine." I said, naming the name that my father and I had agreed on. A nice, normal name.

"Sure thing. Katherine. Kitty. Kitty, I think. As you already know, I'm Janie. Actually, it's Jadyn, Jadyn Turner."

"You don't see many Jadyn's."

"Nope. So, remember, its Janie. Most people don't know my name is Jadyn."

"Right." Castrata smiled at her. Janie just seemed so friendly.

"Okay, your first class is Drama, with Canasil. She's okay, as long as you're on time, and pay attention. (fat chance, Castrata thought) It'll be fine, I have Canasil first period too."

Janie showed me my locker. As I twirled the combo—13-15-13—two more girls approached. They were both beautiful. One had dark hair and blue eyes, the other, red hair and blue eyes.

"Kitty, meet my two best friends: Ariana and Tanya. Ariana," she motioned towards the girl with dark hair, "Tanya", the girl with red hair, "meet my new friend, Katherine. Kitty, actually. She's new here at La Brea."

"Hey." Ariana said, grinning. "Welcome."

Tanya smiled, "Hope you," she wrinkled her nose, "like it here."

The three of them, Janie, Tanya, and Ariana burst into laughter.

"Don't pay attention to Tanya," Ariana said, between laughs, "she loves school. She's just a jokester."

Tanya grinned at Castrata. "A little laughter never hurt anyone."

This sent all of them, including Castrata, into peals of laughter. "Should we get to class?" Castrata asked, when she could catch her breath.

"Yep," Janie said, grinning.

By the end of the day, if someone had asked Janie to introduce her friends, she would have said, "These are my three best friends: Ariana, Tanya, and Kitty."

Castrata had never felt so good, never had so much fun at school. She had never had such good friends before. She had never had friends before. Plus, she had some really interesting classes: Drama (which had turned out to be fun), Band (apparently, she could play a flute—who knew?), and, her favorite: Mythology.

She had Drama with Janie, and Band with Ariana, and Mythology with all three of them. She had Trigonometry with Tanya, and English with Janie. History was with Tanya, and her last class, Science, was with Ariana.

She left school in an awesome mood.

"How was school?" Dad asked, as soon as Castrata walked through the front door.

"Great!" Castrata beamed, "I've never had so much fun!"

"Did you make some friends?"

"Yes! Three great, new friends. Ariana, Tanya, and Janie."

"Great" Her father said, and turned back to his paperwork. Wait… her father? Paperwork?

"What are you doing, Dad?" Castrata asked, leaning over her father's shoulder. He covered the papers before she could see.

"Nothing that concerns you." Dad answered, in a hard, brittle, angry voice.

Castrata drew back, stung. Her father had never spoken like that to her before.

"Okay," Castrata said, in a small voice. "I'm going to my room now."

Her father sighed. "I'm sorry, Castrata. I'm just stressed. There are some important people who are going to be here in ten minutes. Why don't you change, so you can serve them some teacakes, when they arrive?"

Castrata raised an eyebrow. "Teacakes?"

Her father nodded.

"What do you want me to wear?"

"Something showy," her father muttered, almost too softly for Castrata to hear.

"Right. Impressive. Whatever you say, Dad."

Her father smiled.

Castrata skipped upstairs. Visitors, huh? Teacakes, my foot, Castrata thought, I'd bet almost anything that what they want aren't teacakes. Hmm… an idea had suddenly occurred to her. I bet they aren't teacakes. They weren't.

Castrata reached for a mid-thigh length skirt. One that was appropriate for school, but showy. She was about to put it on, when she caught sight of a pair of baggy black pants. Impulsively, she pulled on the pants, which she paired with a midnight black spaghetti strap top. She grabbed black tennis shoes and poked long, dangling hoops through her earring holes.

On impulse, she applied mascara, and dark eye shadow, something that she normally didn't bother with. She let her blonde hair hang, slightly in front of her eyes, giving her a mysterious look. Finally, on impulse, she removed her moon amulet. Something told her that it wasn't safe to wear it, not in front of Followers.

The doorbell rang, and Lucy opened the door. Judging by the sound of their footsteps, Castrata guessed that there were now five more people in their house. Five Followers. Great. Halleluiah.

She walked down the stairs, stealthily a cat, stirring not even the air as she passed. As she had guessed, her father and guests were in the lounge. She grabbed a plate of "teacakes" and hesitated slightly, before deciding not to knock.

The six people inside, lounging comfortably in chairs, jumped to their feet as she entered, casting quick glances around. She saw her father, sitting in, she noticed, the only seat easily viewed by all of the other chairs. Her father's eyes appraised her clothing, before catching her eyes, and giving her an almost imperceptible nod.

Castrata also recognized Tymmie, although he had re-dyed his hair to its original color. She noted that he looked a lot hotter like that, before she caught herself. These people were evil!

There were four other people in the room, and only one was female. She had maroon hair, and fierce eyes. The scar "STA" stood out white on her chest. Castrata's eyes passed over her—knowing that the female would immediately assume that Castrata had dismissed her as unimportant, which, in a way, Castrata had. She knew, somehow, that she could handle the female. And, if Castrata was correct, "STA" stood for "STANTON"—her father's name. Which meant that the lady was either extremely weird, or extremely obsessed. Castrata suspected the latter.

Castrata recognized none of the three other males, though she sensed that the middle one was the most dangerous, with his secret smile, and dark hair. The kind of person who would be a heartthrob the minute he walked through the doors of La Brea High. He looked to be about 18. The other two, one with green hair, half shaved off, and the other with disgustingly greasy dreadlocks, appeared slightly uncertain.

This was the 'important visitors'? The Dangerous One, as well as Tymmie, could easily be important, she could somehow sense that they were extremely powerful. But the lady, who might have been powerful, and the two men, were no match for her. Or her father. That much, she knew.

Tymmie was looking at her in the same appraising way that her father was. Through the long bangs hanging in her eyes, Castrata gave him her "piercing glare". He froze. She turned to the Dangerous One. She casually flipped her hair from her eyes, and turned her intense stare on him. At first, he appeared to attempt to stare back, but something in her eyes made him back down. She smirked. This was fun.

"Gentleman, Cassandra," Her father inclined his head at the maroon-haired lady, "This is my daughter, Castrata. Castrata—this is Tymmie, whom you already know," he pointed to Tymmie, "Cassandra," he gestured towards the maroon-haired lady, "Zahi," the Dangerous One, who replied with a smile that would have melted any female heart. Except hers. She didn't give a care about his smile. "Liam," the dude with green hair looked slightly shocked, as if that wasn't his name, "and Jake." The dreadlock dude.

"She looks strikingly like you," Zahi remarked.

Her father shrugged, "Yes, the family resemblance is strong." Castrata suddenly knew why he had wanted her to come here. She created a distraction, and now, her father had an upper hand.

"I brought you some "refreshments"," Castrata smirked.

Zahi frowned. "Strikingly like you. I assume that you have turned her?" He did not seem to expect an answer. Castrata suddenly felt something in her mind. Him. Okay, this she did not like. MY PRIVACY! MINE! Grr….

Instinctively, Castrata threw up barriers around her mind, focusing instead on a blank, white surface. White, white…. white…!

Zahi frowned, and attempted a "forced entry". It didn't work. Castrata glared at him, strengthening her barrier. At last, Zahi slumped back in his chair.

"Powerful," he said, his eyes half-closed lazily. "Very good, Stanton."

Her father smiled, but Castrata noticed his quick glance in her direction.

Tymmie's eyes never left her's.

"Thanks, Dad, but I got to go," Castrata smiled wickedly, "Things to do, if you know what I mean." She threw a saucy smile over her shoulder, as she strode to the door. She could feel Tymmie's eyes on her as she left. What a creep.

Since she had nothing to do, she did her homework.

Suddenly her cell phone rang. "Hey girlie! It's Janie!" Sang Janie's mischievous voice. "Listen, Tanya, Ariana, and I are hitting the mall. What say you? Want to come?"

"Yeah, sounds awesome!" Castrata grinned. Anything to leave.