Welcome to the first chapter of We Start Anew: Rise of the School
The first paragraph my look familiar but continue to read and all will be explained.
Hope it was worth the wait, if your character wasn't fully introduced don't worry
I just cut the chapter where it seemed okay, we'll get more show time soon
Enjoy.
The tall woman walked down the halls with her heels clicking on each step, and her glowering stare frightening anyone who would dare look at it. She arrived at a set of double doors, both being opened by two scientists cowering under her steady stance. She walked into the dark room and let the doors seal behind her. She took a deep inhale, the smell of chemicals flooding her nose and she smiled. She snapped and spotlights filled the room, reveling rows of stacked dog crates and cages. She walked along the rows, observing each and every one's contents. Panting experiments or rotting corpses of dead ones filled the cages, some even with limbs sticking out the bars. But there was only one cage she was interested in currently. The one whose life would change forever now.
She reached the cage she was looking for, the contained experiment hugging its knees inside. She crouched down, her heels lifting off the floor slightly as she caught her balance. "Knock knock." She mocked and tapped a long fingernail on the bar. The experiment turned quickly to face her, keeping its mouth shut and anticipating her movements. She smiled slightly before leaning forwards into the darkness of the cage. She spoke after the silence, her words echoing in the large room. "Are you ready, little experiment?"
John hissed at the woman and caused her to flinch before smiling. "Let's not get aggressive." She tsked, shaking her finger at the boy. "We don't want another incident, do we?" She asked before standing. "Now, this won't hurt a bit." She smirked and pulled out a small metal box from her coat. She opened it, revealing a large syringe and made John's heart start to race. "Well, it may hurt a little." The woman cackled before reaching into the cage. Unable to think, John bit down on her hand, his sharp teeth drawing blood from the pierced skin. The woman didn't seem to feel any pain but pulled her hand back, dragging John along with it. He had fallen for her small scheme as his neck came forwards, a clear shot for the syringe to sink in deep.
John could feel the thick liquid pushing its way through his veins. He released his bite on the woman's hand as she stood and he started to lose consciousness. Bending down for the last time, she grabbed his neck and forced his head up so she could whisper in his ear. "May this be a lesson to you. I have the upper hand in this equation, meaning you are never getting out of here." She snarled before adding, "At least not without my help."
Four years later.
Introducing Me
John's POV
Inside our home was the only place I could hide for now. I stole Elizabeth's laptop and set it up in my room, the only place in this house I was allowed to be that wasn't a complete mess. It was fine, she would never even know, seeing as she was at a meeting. Actually, all of them had stuff to do, Devin was being interviewed, and Joey too I think. Ebony had taken Aurora to the park. Layla was doing a show while Jackie traveled And Searette, who knew where he was? I shook the though from my head and sat down, flipping open the laptop. Elizabeth never changed her password, I don't even think she knew how to, so I typed it in and unlocked the computer. After that was a breeze, go to my blog, check the viewers. It was a high number, too high to bother saying anyway. So I decided to go through with my plan. I opened the webcam, regretting the decision with every second. I had a feeling this would be the longest I've ever talked in my life. But still, I hit the record button.
"Hey guys." I started, forcing a small and barely noticeable grin. "I bet your wondering who I am. Well I'll make it simple. I'm the guy who owns the life you've been reading for the last year. That's right, my name is John James Brady, well King of Legendary Awesomeness to those who play Xbox, and I'm here to tell you the real story. The ones you've heard on the news, they're rubbish; completely untrue. So I'm here, giving you the real happenings, with all the fillers. But first, you might need to know a little more about me.
"First order of business is," I said rolling my shoulders. My wings shot out easily and I looked annoyed at the camera. "Yes my wings are real. If they weren't how could I fly with them?" I asked before looking at my wings. My blood feathers at the top were the same golden brown, fading into white with dark speckles at the bottom of the tail feathers. Just like a hawks, at least that's what Elizabeth told me. I touched my head, thinking of another question I had a lot. "Second, no my hair is not short because The School shaved it. I just happen to like crew cuts." I said before pointing to a discoloration on my chin. "And this is a battle scar, not some weird genetic thing like some of you strangely thought."
I gave a long sigh and caught my breath, calming down. I hated these long sentences, and preferred being silent. But I felt like these dimwits knew the truth. "The School is a cruel place, and trust me, if you were in my shoes you'd realise the stupidity of all the people who tell you how awesome your wings are. Because they don't know how you got them." I told them seriously. "Imagine if both your parents were killed by a car crash when you were two, and then not even a week later, you get forcefully taken from your home country in England to a new one, America. Then you have all the experiments, get chased by merciless half man half wolves and you have my life story in a nutshell." I chuckled, not really finding it funny. Just laughing at all those halfwits who knew nothing about life.
"But enough about me, I'm sure you're wondering how this all started." I said and thought long and hard about that day. "Well I'll tell you, it was a normal day, but changed instantly just from one attack enforced by long forgotten institute."
Two years earlier:
"John, Elizabeth says to get the kids up!" I heard a muffled yelling from down the stairs. I buried my face in my pillow and groaned, ignoring Devin's constant calls. If she had the spare time to yell at me, why couldn't she get them up herself. Suddenly the lights started to flicker in my room. Great, she was playing with her little powers again. Well two can play at that game. Joey had left his BB gun in my room. I quickly got up and grabbed it before sneaking out my window. I crawled down the large vine plant we had on the walls and spotted Devin through the window. Her eyes squinting, obviously still focusing on the lights in my room. Luckily, the window was still open a crack. I took aim and...
"John James Brady, do you have a death wish?" Devin shouted after me as I scrambled back up the wall. It was a perfect shot, just smacking her hard in the forehead with a BB. I could hear her coming up the stairs so I locked the door and pressed against the wall. I heard her breathing and flinched when a loud noise sounded and a foot kicked my door off the hinges. Devin barged into the room, not noticing me as I slunk into the hall. She was still moving slowly around the room.
"I swear John, if you don't come out this minute." I crept up behind her poked her on both sides right under the ribs. She screamed a little and whipped around, shooting out a fist. "Jesus, don't kill me!" I exclaimed, just barely ducking under her fist. I got behind her quickly before wrapping his arms over her shoulders and putting all my weight on her. "John, quit it." I heard her strain as I continued to lean and crush her. Suddenly, her foot slipped out from underneath her and we both went tumbling to the ground.
I hit my head hard, seeing the same happening to Devin as she sat up, rubbing her head. We stared each other for a second before laughing, forgetting our worries. "The look on your face, was absolutely priceless." I choked on my own words. "Yours wouldn't have looked so good if my fist collided with it." She shot back making me raise an eyebrow. "You think my face looks good?" I asked jokingly. "Yeah, for a drunken moron." She told me and shoved me a bit as I sat up. I brushed a piece of her hair behind her ear, admiring the thick red streak in her brown hair. I wish she would wear it down, it would look nicer if it wasn't always on top of her head.
She suddenly got a funny look on her face, as if she were listening to something "Devin, something wrong?" I asked after she didn't speak. She shook her head and replaced her frown with a smile I knew was fake. "Fine dweeb. Just get the kids up." She said before rushing out of the room. And somehow I got the feeling she was hiding something from me.
Devin's POV
Devin what's wrong with you? I asked myself as I ran from John's room and down the stairs. I couldn't let myself get attached or it would only hurt more when they kicked me out. I stopped just before reaching the bottom of the steps, shaking my head and calming down. It's alright, they won't find out because you can control yourself. I said and put on a fake smile before entering the room. Elizabeth was at her computer, typing furiously at something or other. She acted like the leader of this family, even though Joey was older. But I guess from what I'd seen since being accepted two months earlier that she was the most responsible. I saw Searette already up and sitting on the ground, a chess board in front of him. His hands made a small upside down V and rested under his nose against his mouth and chin. It was his most frequent pose, something he copied off of the great fictional detective Sherlock Holmes. "Elizabeth, is he talking to himself again?" I whispered to her and she turned to face me before looking at the small boy behind her.
"Percy, it's your move." He said suddenly, making me jump. "Looks like it." Elizabeth whispered back. I sighed before moving over to Searette and observing his game as pieces for the opposing side moved on their own. "Hey, can I play?" I asked but he didn't turn to look at me. "Devin, Percy is playing with me. I'll beat you later." He said in a monotone, keeping his eyes fixated on the pieces. "Isn't it about time to give up your imaginary friends?" A voice said from the basement stairs and I turned. "Joey!" Elizabeth snapped at him and put a finger over her lips. "Whatever." Joey replied with a smile before coming and standing next to me, watching Searette move piece after piece. "Something needs to be done about this." He whispered to me. "Something also needs to be done about your gun under your pillow." Searette said before looking at Joey innocently. "Luxmi told me." He said bluntly as Joey flinched under Elizabeth's screams.
"Another gun! How do you keep getting them from me?" Elizabeth screamed at him now stomping over to us. When she stood on the other side of me Searette shrieked at her. "Liz, your standing on Percy's hand!" He yelled worriedly resulting in Elizabeth immediately picking up her foot. "I'm so sorry Percy." She said truthfully as Searette reached across the board and picked up an invisible object. "Let me see it Percy." He mumbled as Elizabeth suddenly grabbed the back of both my and Joey's shirts, dragging us into the hall. Great, more lectures from Miss Elizabeth herself.
Elizabeth's POV
"Just what is wrong with you Joey? First you keep stealing back your gun and two you make fun of Searette." Elizabeth shouted at me and Devin in the hall. "I wasn't poking fun at him, I'm just saying he needs to grow out of those kid habits. I mean imaginary friends?" I tried to convince her but she only shook her head, her wavy and shoulder length brown hair bouncing along. "Well to him they aren't made up. He doesn't even realize that he's moving them." She explained. "He has voices in his head," I continued, "it's weird. He's starting to sound like Jackie!"
"Who's starting to sound like me?" A dark voice said from behind me. I whipped around to face Jackie's annoyed face along with a raised eyebrow and crossed arms. "Uh..." I stuttered as she looked even more skeptically at me. "We were just discussing Searette, and his um... telekinesis." Devin spoke up, trailing away when Jackie shot a look at her. "Oh leave the kid alone. At least he'll never get lonely." Jackie said blankly and walked off. "He's like you, hearing things that aren't there." Devin said, immediately shutting up. Definitely the wrong thing to say to Jackie. "What are you implying?" Jackie sneered and shot around and ran right up to Devin's face. She looked horrified at Jackie who caught her breath and shook her head before walking blankly and unemotionally into the other room. Schizophrenia she had told us. "Don't be concerned or worried out if I react... differently." She warned us one day when we questioned her behavior. I guess Devin had yet to learn how irritable she could be.
"Yo, Searette. Where's your friends?" We heard from the other room and walked in, trying to keep calm. I winced with every step, my left ankle was acting up again. Hurt like hell every time I walked on it, which was a real pain. "Luxmi's asleep still, but Percy's in the kitchen." Searette said, now reading a novel of some sort. "Percy, can you grab me an apple?" Jackie called out and flopped on the couch next to the arm chair Searette was in. In less than a second we witnessed a floating apple bouncing in the room and being hovered right in front of Jackie. "Is it okay to let Jacklynn do that?" I heard Devin whisper to Elizabeth. "Do what?" "Play along. I mean, it's not really helping him give up Percy and Luxmi is it?" Elizabeth didn't respond.
"Percy, can you wake Luxmi?" Searette asked without looking up. There was a long silence other then the constant chewing of Jackie. "No Percy, I got her up yesterday." Searette continued to talk to himself when I peered at Elizabeth. Suddenly Searette snapped his book shut and dropped it on the armchair. "Fine, whatever." He complained and marched up the stairs. I took my chance and walked casually down the stairs to my room, hiding the gun somewhere else before Elizabeth could confiscate it again. "Thank you Luxmi."
Jacklynn's POV
"So, is there a reason he has, friends?" Devin asked as Elizabeth went back to her computer. "Everyone needs friends Devin." I told her and continued eating. I heard a unfamiliar voice but chose to ignore it, believing it was inside my head. "So, why not make normal ones?" "Because that kid isn't normal." I snapped hearing Devin's voice again. "It's hard to understand Jackie. Devin doesn't know about all of us." Elizabeth soothed. I threw the core into the garbage before picking at my fingerless gloves and putting my feet up on the coffee table. "So explain then." I said full of boredom and grabbed Searette's novel off the armchair. "Searette's parents weren't really the best in the world. But he did have an older brother about twelve years older I think. But Searette's brother killed himself when Searette was four. Every since then he's been playing with Percy and Luxmi, what with having no one else to talk to." Elizabeth explained when I intervened. "So, he's even weirder, having strange powers before going to the school." I told her and she turned to me. "Jacklynn Alicia Jones, how many times must I tell you to keep your shoes off the table?" Elizabeth lashed out as I undid the laces of my red converse and kicked them to the floor. "There, happy?" I asked and leaned back on the couch. He sighed before continuing. "His parents noticed his strange behavior and got a bit afraid of him, resulting in him being sold to the School." "Well, I can relate to that." Devin mumbled, or at least I thought she did, it was too muffled to hear clearly.
"So, have you got any family Devin?" Elizabeth pressed absent minded. There was a long pause with only the keyboard clicking to fill the space. Finally Devin spoke up. "No." She said quietly before turning to leave the room. "Lies." I sang mockingly as she stopped and turned to me. She opened her mouth to say something but shut it quickly, swallowing before rushing out of the room. "Jackie, why did you do that?" Elizabeth moaned but I only shrugged. "I thought you didn't like liars." I asked and that silenced her. I was about to speak up again when a loud yawning came from the door. "Oh, morning Layla."
If it wasn't clear, there is some big event that happens two years before the actual plot that has made the flock well known.
John is just making a video explaining the true story which is the plot.
Review, sorry if it's kinda rushed, I was just trying to get a lot of the characters introduced.