I was running like my life depended on it, my heart was pounding like thunder in my ears, my breath came out in small spurts and my lungs were on fire begging me to halt to a stop. I didn’t know the reason of my sudden rush but I had the feeling that I was being chased, and it was nothing like the movies where the stars looked heroic and in command of the situation. Reality was far away from that, because in my case running meant saving my own skin, trying not to get murdered by whoever -or whatever- was following me. Out of the corner of my eyes I saw something resembling a hooded figure making its way towards me and out of panic I clenched my sweaty fists tightly and swung them foreword in hope of running even faster before it could catch me. I made a fast turn in the first alley that met me in hopes of losing my pursuer for a bit and I kept running, looking for a place to hide, but I soon came to a stop upon reaching a dead end with no escape. I cursed myself for my bad luck and turned around to face whoever was on my tail. I was breathing loudly and the feeling of utter terror consumed me, but I was not going down without a fight.

“Show yourself!” I yelled at the darkness, hoping nobody would come out and this would all be a nightmare. But what I saw next sent shivers down my spine. Cloaked figures hovering just above the ground surrounded me from every direction, their screeches piercing the silence of the night. I had only heard about these creatures before, they were a cautionary tale every mystic had to hear several times to keep us in check, but seeing them here, breathing down my neck was sickening. I quickly glanced around me, assessing the situation, and I realized that if I were to escape, I needed to fight. Just as I willed it, fire blazed all around me, surrounding me like a protective wall from hell, and I smiled as magic burned through my veins. The feeling was like nothing else I have ever experienced and I relished in the power it provided me. I felt strong and in control as the fire around me expanded, incinerating the closest figure that stood in its way. The shadow like creatures screeched even louder and retreated slightly, seemingly taken aback by the fire I managed to summon. Unfortunately, the feeling didn’t last long. The sound of high heels against the stone ground soon reached my ears and the shadows made way for something, or rather someone to come through. The feeling of recognition took over me and even though I couldn’t see the face under the cloak in front of me, I seemed to know exactly who it was.

“Manete.”

One word. All it took was one word, a carefully cast spell, and my powers vanished. My limbs felt numb, out of my control and as hard and long as I tried, I couldn’t move.

“How could you?” I yelled, shock, betrayal and fear were the only things I could feel as my hands and feet remained paralyzed. She pushed her cloak back, reaching for something in the folds of her dress. It shimmered under the moon light as she pulled it out, and my eyes widened in shock when I recognized the symbols that were engraved in the blade.

She took a few steps forward, closing in the distance between us and cackled, that loud familiar obnoxious laugh that I despised, and twirled the knife between her fingers. The shadowy figures surrounded us in anticipation, their twisted features reflecting their dark souls, and sneered. A soft whimper escaped my lips as she held the knife firmly in her hands, and with one swift move she plunged it in my chest.

“Are you ready for your last first day of classes?” Rose beamed at me from behind the counter as she poured herself a second cup of coffee. She was the first one of us to get up, seemingly excited to start her senior year.

“It’s too early for you to be this chipper Rose. Tone it down a bit.” Kira came down the stairs, her blue hair sticking out in every direction.

“I wish I could be half as excited as you are Rose. Instead all I feel is stress, terror and more stress. You know I changed my shirt twice so far? I keep sweating through my clothes.” I fanned down my armpits, praying this lace black top wouldn’t expose my nervousness.

“I’m sorry about your heavy precipitation Lilith; you should stick with black clothes for the next few days. But you should know, I’m not excited about classes. If anything, I am a mess. I have been dreading this day since the beginning of summer vacation and now that it’s finally here, I feel like I’m losing my mind. This year could make or break us and I’m not equipped to deal with this kind of stress. I might seem like I am cool and collected but I am not!” Rose was hyperventilating, her hands shaking as she took another sip of her black coffee.

“Alright, I think that’s enough caffeine for you.” I reached out and grabbed the mug out of her hands.

“I never thought I’d say this, but I actually prefer chipper Rose.” Kira took a bite out of her bagel.

We left the house and walked together to the main building where our classes would be starting in fifteen minutes. I tried my best to breathe, to calm my nerves and begin my day with optimism, but that was hard to do after that horrid nightmare I had to endure last night. It was the same as always, but different. It was longer than usual, with new details coming into play. I couldn’t for the life of me remember the face of the girl who seemed to menace my sleep every night, so I tried not to dwell too much on my fictional terror when I would be facing real ones very soon. My first class of the day was history, which was a subject I usually enjoyed, but I figured we wouldn’t be interested in the human history after all. I would have felt better if the girls were in my class but fate had a twisted sense of humor and to my utter dismay, the only classes I shared with Kira and Rose were magic and martial arts. Embarrassing myself in front of my only friends seemed inevitable this semester.

“Good luck!” Kira’s voice brought me back to reality and I smiled, pretending to have heard whatever they were talking about when I spaced out. “Don’t worry; history with Mrs. Petrova is a breeze. She likes to talk and gets lost in her mind a lot. She shouldn’t be a problem.”

“We’ll see you at lunch!” Rose waved enthusiastically and grabbed Kira’s arm. I waved back and watched as they headed for their first class. To say I was bitter that they got to be in the same classes would be an understatement.

Half way through my first class I realized Kira was right about our history teacher. Mrs. Petrova was a friendly old lady who started her lesson by telling us that we should throw our text books away because what we need to know won’t be written on a piece of paper. She then proceeded to explain all about the treaty that was ‘the best thing our race had ever done.’ By the end of her class I seemed to relax a little, and the lessons that followed made me think that I might like this school after all. I had no problems with chemistry and English as they were no different from what I have been learning for the past two years, except of course for the revelation in English class that Edgar Allan Poe was a mystic. I didn’t see that one coming. According to Mr. Hathaway, some mystics have been blending in with the human race for centuries, and some were very successful.

Before I knew it the bell rang and it was time for lunch. I made my way to the cafeteria, feeling relieved that I was done with half of my lessons for today and everything seemed to be going smoothly. I noticed that Kiseop was in my Chemistry class and I smiled as I recalled our brief interaction in the lab. He was sitting behind me, noticeably bummed that he wasn’t my lab partner, but otherwise charming as usual as he slid me a note saying he wants to see me again. I chuckled as I passed him the note back with a clever “you’re seeing me right now” scribbled neatly on the back. He smirked, clearly amused by my answer and put the note in his pocket.

“Lilith!” I looked up as I entered the cafeteria to see both Kira and Rose waving at me. I pushed my way through the masses of hungry mystics, ignoring the weird looks and low whispers that seemed to follow me around