Chapter 1

Chapter 1


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I stare out the window of our dingy little Subaru, looking at the other cars beside us and people walking on the sidewalk in the six am  light. I wish that I could be like them, leading a normal life full of bills to pay and friends to call. Not having the weight of other people's lives on their hands, not having to leave everything they know. Being normal.

I can tell my dad is also in deep thought beside me. Whenever we go anywhere, which is rare, he is always either trying to talk to me, fiddling with the radio, or muttering to himself. But I haven't heard a sound out of him, not one.

We are on our way to the Bellingham International Airport, where I'm being shipped off to Italy. The school I’m going to is called “Van Fascino”, which is probably some kind of Italian name but I don’t know. Supposedly they will help me control my powers, but honestly, I don’t see how that’s possible. The main reason I agreed to go is so my dad would be safer. I don’t like him being alone, but at least he’ll be far away from me.

The car moves to the right, where we turn off onto the interstate, coming closer and closer to the airport. The chilly October air whips through crack in the window. I roll it up, yet am still cold, wishing that the heater still worked in this piece of metal scrap on wheels. I lift a hand up and my jacket from the backseat flies into my hand gracefully. My dad turns to glare at me for a moment before looking back at the road.

“You know how I feel about you using your powers.” He grumbles and I roll my eyes. “I want you to wait until you get to that school at least.”

“Oh come on, I just got my jacket, it’s not like I used it to stop a car or anything.” I answer back harshly, unbuckling my seat belt to pull my jacket on over me. He doesn’t respond, eyes fixated on the road. The only movement he makes is the occasional scratching of his chin or running his hands through his hair.

There’s another hour of driving before we finally make it to the airport. An hour of agonizing silence. We aren't going to see each other until Christmas and we still don’t talk.

He turns into the airport and drives around the parking lot for a while before finally finding a spot close enough to the entrance so we can drag all my stuff. I have two suitcases for my clothes, a bag full of my toiletries, a bookbag of personal items, and a purse. Dad bought me one for my fifteenth birthday but I had never filled it up until now. It’s got a credit card in it (with a thousand dollars which I thought was completely unnecessary but dad insisted), some cash, my iPhone 4 (which I’ve only ever used to call dad, play games and to have it in case of emergency), and my plane tickets. There isn’t much in there but it could still be handy.

Dad tells me to stay put while he goes to get a rolling cart to put my bags on. He’s going with me right up until it’s time for me to get on the plane. This is one of the few times I’ve been out in public and will be the first time I’ll be anywhere alone in public. I’m scared yet excited at the same time.

My dad comes back, breathing slightly heavy. He runs his hand through his thick hair once again before helping me lift my bags onto the cart, all of them besides my purse. I throw my purse over my shoulder and begin to help him guide it to the entrance.

Once we are in there it takes a long time to get to the actual plane. I have to go through tons of security. Dad said it would be like this, but I didn’t realize how long it would take.

Once I am finally ready to leave on the plane, dad and I turn to say our goodbyes. I wrap my arms around him tightly.

“Are you sure you’ll be alright by yourself?” I ask, my face buried in his chest.

“Oh don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine.” He plants a kiss on the top of my snow white head.

“I love you, be careful on that plane. Remember what I told you.”

“I will,” I reply. “I love you too.”

We break apart and I realize there’s a tear in my eye. I quickly wipe it away and turn towards the stewardess. I hand her my ticket and take one last look at my dad, waving, before I step aboard the terminal. She gives me a smile before sending me towards the plane.

As I get on the plane I can feel my heartbeat quicken. I can feel all the stares I’m getting from strangers. I’m guessing it’s because of my obnoxious hair and outrages eyes. I see a few more blue eyed people, but none of them stand out the way mine does. I wish I would’ve wore sunglasses.

As I try to find my seat, I try remember what my dad told me. People are just curious, don’t let their stares bother you.

I finally find it, it’s towards the back. I’ve got the aisle seat. There’s a man sitting in the window seat beside it. He’s looking out the window, and I can tell he’s got brown curly hair. He doesn’t look that much older than me, maybe in his twenties. I nervously sit down next to him, holding my purse close. Once I sit down he turns to face me.

“Crowded on here isn’t it?” He says to me as if we’ve known each other for years.

“Yeah, it is.” I give a cautious smile. I look to see he’s got brown eyes with hints of green.

“First time on a plane?”

“Is it that obvious?” I tuck a stray strand of hair behind my ear.

“Just a lucky guess.” He smiles at me with brilliantly white teeth. “So, what’s your name?”

“Elina.”

“Tony.” He holds out a hand for me to shake and I take up the offer. We talk while waiting for take off. Well, he does most the talking and I answer. He seems like a really nice guy.

“What made you decide to dye your hair white?” He asks casually, and I almost laugh.

“Actually, it’s my natural color.” I respond proudly. He gives me a look of disbelief and I shrug lightly. “That’s just the way it’s always been.”

Before we can talk anymore about it the captain comes over the intercom and tells us to buckle our seat belts. I struggle with mine for a few seconds before I finally get it. The plane starts to move forward and then what feels like straight up, I feel as though my stomach has been left on the ground.

It’s a ten hour flight to Rome. When I get to Rome, the man that came to my house from the Charmed Society is going to take me through Vatican City, and then to the school. I don’t know much, that’s all they told me. I don’t know what the school looks like or even where it is. It’s supposed to be super secret. The people who do know about it, are either part of the Charmed Society, or are regular people who think it is a an expensive private school.

Most of the way Tony and I chit chat. I find out that he is 28 and works in the movie business, so he flies around a lot. He doesn’t have a wife or child yet, but does have a string of ex’s. Overall he’s a nice guy, and I’m glad I got to meet him.

I told him that I had family in Italy, and that I was going to visit them. I didn’t say why my parents didn’t come with me, he didn’t ask.

Finally when it was time to get off, I shake Tony’s hand and tell him that it was nice to meet him, and hopefully we will cross paths someday. I get off the plane, where I am alone again. I find my luggage and use another cart to haul it around the airport until finally I see the man that I saw only a week ago.

I remember that his name is Thomas, if that’s his real name that is. He has blonde hair and green eyes, has a lean figure, and is about six foot, standing beside his black car. He’s wearing a black suit, which reminds me of the movie Men in Black. In fact, this whole situation reminds me of that movie.

“Ms. Faith, hello again.” He gives me a friendly smile, which I return shyly. He opens the door and gestures me inside. I duck in and I hear him putting my bags in the trunk. After a few minutes he speeds off from the airport.

The ride is mostly silent as I stare out the window, Rome and it’s beauty passing by, never stopping. I almost wish I had time to wander around this marvelous city, explore it’s shops and buildings, but I don’t dare ask.

Eventually we make it out of Rome, the city slowly disappearing behind us as we travel down a long road that looks like it hasn’t been drove on in years. You think Italy would be so different from America, but it’s really not. If I didn’t know for a fact that we were in Italy, I wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.

“You okay back there, Ms. Faith?” Thomas’s voice breaks me from my thoughts and my blank stare. I blink back at him.

“Yes, I’m fine, thank you.” I respond in a small, and what I hope is a polite, voice. He doesn’t respond, only keeps driving. I want to ask him what his power is, but I decide not too. We are now headed into a thicket of trees that drape the road in shadows. Almost like a natural tunnel. I try to get a better look, but it’s hard too when we are going past them in such speeds. Once we emerge from the tunnel of trees, I can see a city up ahead, which I assume is Vatican City.

It’s suppose to be the smallest city in Italy, but it’s still quite large. We pass building upon building upon building. Each beautiful in their own way. Most of them look to be made of marble. There are also pedestrians walking the streets and people selling merchandise and food along the sidewalks. I remind myself that I will have to come visit here one day.

As we finally make it out of the city, I tear my eyes away from the window for the first time since stepping into the car and look down at my phone, which says “6:37 PM”, we’ve been driving for a little over an hour and a half. The road turns small again the the noise of the city slowly disappears.

The road curves back and forth and I sway in the backseat, feeling slightly carsick. I remember how I used to get carsick when I was little. It hasn’t really been much of a problem since I rarely go anywhere in the car. My eyes droop and I decide to take a little nap until we get to the school. I’ll need my rest.

I’m gently awakened by the sudden stopping of the car. I look around and realize that we are here. My mouth gapes open as I stare at the building before me in awe.

It is in the middle of a lake, on a sorta of island. It looks like a castle, and reminds me a lot of Hogwarts from the Harry Potter series. I can see the many rooms that surround it and there are some kids walking around the campus on the outside. Lots of them sitting in the grass, walking on the side walk, or sitting at the picnic table doing what I assume is homework. It looks even more beautiful in the orange glow of the setting sun.

Right now we are parked in a parking lot on the other side of a long bridge that leads to the castle. It’s in an arch and has beautiful wood carvings with white fairy lights on the railings, lit up for the night that is soon to come.

I then notice Thomas is smiling at me, probably amused by my expression. I quickly close my mouth, but still stare at the school in amazement.

“It’s alright,” He tells me. “that’s everyone’s reaction.” He breathes a laugh and gets out of the car, where I do the same. I stand near the car while he heads toward a very small storage building and grabs another cart to put my luggage on.

I help him lug my excessively heavy bags onto the cart, he closes the hatch, and then starts to push it towards the bridge. We go across the bridge and onto campus grounds, where some kids look at me, but others pay no mind. I can tell that the ones that are looking at me, are staring at my hair. We get up to the large doors, which is where Thomas stops.

“I’ll take your bags from here, although you might want to grab your purse or something to keep some stuff in.” He hands me what looks like a brochure, with what is clearly the school printed on it. In big letters it says “Van Fascino: School of the Gifted”

“You’re in dorm 412, on the fourth floor.” He points a map on the brochure. “This is where your dorm is, just follow these hallways. But first you need to go to the front office,” He points to a small room on the first floor, not too far from the front door. “and get registered. Just tell them your name, and they’ll do the rest for you. By the time you get to your dorm your bags will already be there. Your three roommates will help you out.” He finishes with a friendly smile.

“Thank you.” I tell him, returning the smile. He gives me a nod and opens the large doors, gesturing for me to walk in. I step in and the doors close behind me, the only light coming from the multiple windows. There are a few kids mingling in the main hallway. I hoist my backpack up on my back further and follow the hallways on the map.

The floor is made out of tile, and you can hear the tapping of feet from every one of the students. There are several benches lining the walls, which are made of stone. Students are sitting on them, either playing with their phones, laptops, doing homework, or socializing. I can’t help thinking that it’s like a modern version of Hogwarts.

I take a left and find a wooden door with a pan glass window. There is a golden plaque that reads “Front Office”. I knock on the door and wait. I hear a muffled, female voice call “Come in!”. I turn the knob and walk in slowly, keeping my hands behind my back. There’s a women behind a desk with a phone, laptop, and papers scattered around messily. She’s a plump, middle aged woman with bright red lipstick and short, curly blond hair that has hints of grey. She peers at me through her cat eye spectacles.

“May I help you?” She asks sweetly, tilting her head slightly.

“Um, yes, I’m here for my uh-- registration. I’m Elina Faith.” I respond, rocking on the balls of my feet.

“Ah, yes.” She starts tapping away at her laptop, and I half expect her to say “You’re not in here, you need to go on home.” But she doesn’t.

“Here you are, Elina Faith, current residence Washington State?” I nod my head.

“Here you go.” She hands me a piece of paper. I take it and read, it appears to have my schedule on it, with the names of the classes and what classrooms. I want to read it but I decide that I should get to my dorm.

“Thank you.” I tell her, opening the door.

“You’re welcome dear.” I hear her say before I close the door shut behind me. I look down at my map once again and find my dorm number. I trace the hallways with my finger as I walk, only looking up to make sure I’m going the right way. I pass doors upon doors. All of them have a different number on them. As I walk the hallways start to get emptier as -- I assume -- it nears curfew.

I find a large, spiral staircase. It’s made out of stone and has lights running up the rails. it goes up into the floor above me and continues, but it also goes down, which is weird because I thought this was the first floor. But I don’t take the time to look, I’ve got a lot of steps to climb.

I pass the second floor, feeling okay, pass the third, getting a little out of breath, make it to the fourth, I’m about dead. I breathe heavily as I step off the steps and onto the hard tile floor. The stairs keep continuing up, I guess one day I’ll have to go the rest of the way, but not today.

I keep walking down a hallway to my right, the doors on these hallways are not classrooms, but dorms. I take yet another left, to continue down the hallway, but instead I collide with a solid figure, knocking me back. I shake my head and realized I bumped into a man, or maybe a teenage boy. He has light brown hair, grey eyes, is wearing a pair of grey skinny jeans and a plain, red v-neck t-shirt. He’s pretty attractive honestly.

“Oh, I’m sorry!” He exclaims with an apologetic look.

“That’s okay, it was mainly my fault. I wasn’t watching where I was going.” I say back, a blush rising in my cheeks.

“Uh, what’s your name? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you around here.” He asks.

“Oh, I’m new. Just got here actually, I was trying to find my dorm. I’m Elina.”

“I’m Issac.” He sticks out his hand for me to shake and gives me a friendly smile. I take his hand and shake briefly. I start walking and he walks along with me.

“So, what’s your power?” I ask, looking ahead of me, making sure not to bump into anybody else.

“My charm you mean?” He laughs briefly. “Everybody calls it a Charm. But mine is power sensing. I can tell when someone has a charm and what they’re charm is.”

He looks at me, confusion stretches across his face. “Yours is one I haven’t ever seen before. It seems very very powerful, you’re just pulsating in power. You can bend energy fields?”

“Uh, yeah I guess.” I mumble.

“Everybody’s going to want to be your friend.” He chuckles. Oh great, even in a school of freaks I’m still a freak out of the freaks. I look at the numbers on the doors, Dorm #409… Dorm #410… Dorm #411… Dorm #412!

“Well, I’m at my dorm.” I say, stopping in front of the door. “It was nice meeting you.”

“Nice meeting you too.” He smiles and sticks his hands in his pockets. “I’ll see you around, we might even have classes together.” And with that he stalks off down the hallway, probably to a dorm of his own. I turn around and take a deep breath before knocking on the door.

I hear lots of scuffling from behind the door and a few voices.

“Oh, I bet that’s her!”

“Remi shh, don’t be so loud.”

“Is someone going to get it?”

“I will!”

I hear a few more footsteps before the door knob turns and the door swings open. Standing in the doorway is two girls. One is a pretty African american with extremely curly hair, and brown eyes. She’s wearing a tight, plain white v-neck t-shirt -- what is up with all the v-necks in this place? -- and a pair of baggy sweat pants. The other girl has wavy, dark red hair, and her green eyes are bright under her big round glasses. She’s wearing a red sweatshirt and black leggings. I could’ve swore I heard three voices, but I only see two girls.

“You must be Elina!” The African american one says. “I’m Tanya, and this is Remi.” She smiles at me with a brilliantly white smile, and Remi waves shyly.

“Yeah, hi.” I respond as they gesture for me to come in. I walk in and take in the scene in front of me.

The room is pretty spacious. There is a small kitchen, complete with a bar with some chairs, a small fridge, a small sink, and a microwave. There are also a few cabinets. A lot of it is covered in stickers, fairy lights, and pictures. Off to the side is the living room, it has a burgundy carpet, a black couch in front of a large flat screen tv that is mounted against the wall, which is a regular wall and not a stone one that I thought it would be. There is also a window that has a view of the lake with a table sitting in front of it with four chairs. There are some things misplaces, like jackets and such, but other than that it’s pretty clean.

“Your bags came a few minutes ago.” Remi says. “They’re in your new room.” She points to a closed door that has a few pictures of men that look like they’re in a band pasted to it. I recognize Gerard Way, Andy Beirsack, and Brendon Urie. “They’re on your bed, which is the plain one. We have a few bed sheets and throw overs you can choose from though. Your corner is probably pretty bare but you customize it how you like.” She then points to another door. “We all share that bathroom, we have the bathroom rules posted on the inside of the door.” She finishes with a smile.

I just nod, trying to take in all the of what she’s saying.

“Also we have TV rules and stuff too,” Tanya starts. “But I bet you’re tired. Also you’ve got to meet Kierra!” The two girls knock on the door and wait for a response.

“You also got to knock on the door before going in.” Remi whispers. “Another rule.”

“Come in!”

They push the door open and we all pile in. There is a girl sitting on the bed on the wall beside mine. She’s wearing an earbud in one ear, and the music is so loud I can hear it faintly. She’s got brownish hair with streaks of blond that go down to her shoulders, and has hazel eyes hidden behind glasses. She’s wearing an oversized Black Veil Brides shirt and grey sweat pants. She takes out her other earbud and smiles at me.

“You’ve got the bed next to me bunk buddy!” She says happily. I smile nervously and sit down on my plain bed. The room is pretty small, each bed is a twin bed with about a four foot distance between them. Each corner is decorated differently. I like Kierra’s the most, her wall is covered in photos of band members, most of them from the bands I like, some some actors from tv shows. I recognize one of the TV shows called Supernatural. She’s got a black comforter and red pillows with white music notes on them. Remi’s corner doesn’t have anything on the walls, but her bed has a light aqua blue comforter, and darker blue pillows. She’s got some pictures of people I assume is family and friends from back home, considering she’s in some. And Tanya’s wall has some posters of some actors I don’t recognize, and her bed is white and lime green. Each one of our beds has a small closet beside them in the walls. I pull back the doors and realize there’s a little hanging rack for shirts, a couple shelves for shoes, a place for pants, and a small light. The whole room has fairy lights wrapped around it and on the wall in between mine and Kierra’s bed is a radio.

“Here, choose a bed spread.” Tanya dumps three different bedspreads on my plain bed. One of them is similar to Kierra’s, black and red, one is black and dark purple, and another is dark blue and purple. I pick out the black and purple one and Tanya takes the others back to a closet in the living room. I unzip it and make up my bed, realizing that the purple pillow cases have a black outlined skull on them. Once my bed is ready and my clothes and other things are unpacked I lay down on my freshly made bed, exhausted.

“So, what is your charm?” Kierra asks excitedly. I realize all three girls are sitting on their beds, legs criss crossed, and eyes fixated on me intently. They look like excited girls at a slumber party asking their friend about their first kiss.

“Well, I can bend energy.” I explain honestly, earning me a gasp from all of them. Their voices start overlapping.

“Oh my gosh, how cool!”

“Can you show us?”

“Yeah, show us!”

“That’s amazing!”

“Okay, okay.” I smile a little. “I guess I can show you. Flip off the lights.” I get up off the bed and onto my feet. I concentrate for a moment, making sure my emotions are not out of control. I open my hand slowly and three balls of white light zoom around the now darkened room. The girls stare in awe as I turn three balls into five, and then connect them together, using it to pick up a book off Remi’s bedside table and bringing it to my hand. Once I make them disappear we are in darkness again. Tanya gets the lights and they all start to clap, causing me to giggle. I hand Remi’s book back to her and return to my bed.

“So, what are your powers-- I mean charms?” I ask, extremely curious. Meeting Issac made me realize that not everybody has the same charm as me.

Tanya goes first. “Superhuman Agility. I am very flexible and have a very far jumping capacity. Watch this.” She smirks as she gets to the floor and does something that honestly looks like she the exorcist. She gets on her hands and throws her feet into the air, then twists her torso multiple times, reminding me of Elastic Woman from The Incredibles. She walks around the room on her hands like this for a minute or two before returning to her bed.

“Mine is Superhuman Mentality. I have the ability to have intelligence quotient far above that of a genius level. My ability can be so evolved that I can gain psychic abilities such as psychokinesis, telepathy, etc... and resist both mind control and other psionic attacks.” Remi explains with a very dictionary like method. “I’ve already begun practicing the psychic abilities. Go ahead, think a thought in your head over and over.” She tells me and I do as she says. She closes her eyes and puts her fingers on her temples, concentrating very hard.

“Yes, I can hear what you’re thinking.” I hear in my head, and jump. She smiles after a minute or two. “She was thinking “Remi, can you hear what I’m thinking” over and over.”

I breathe out a laugh. “Wow, that is super cool!” I reply in awe.

Now it’s Kierra’s turn. “Mine is not that great, the element of fire. Really simple.” She says plainly and lights her finger on fire. I stare at it in amazement as the little flame dances on her fingertip for a minute before she makes it go out. “It’s a lot like yours, except yours has a lot more things you can do with it.”

“Yeah…” I trail off. She doesn’t seem to happy with her power-- dang it-- her charm. Almost like it’s a burden. A lot like I do. I wonder if she has caused death like I have?

We talk for a little while longer before I go into their bathroom, which is now my bathroom I guess, to change into my pjs. Sure enough, there is a list of bathroom rules listed on the inside of the door.

1: Don’t leave sink wet

2: Always flush

3: No using charms in the bathroom KIERRA

4: Use your own toothbrush

5: Clean up after yourself

6: Use your own hair brush

7: Use decent amounts of shampoo and conditioner

8: Don’t lose the razor!!

9: Do all these things and you won’t lose your fingers :)

I laugh slightly at the list. I think I’m going to like my new friends.

I change and brush my teeth, then come back into the bedroom, where they’re all sliding under the covers.

“We have to get up at six am, make it to breakfast at 6:45, and then classes start at 8:15.” Kierra tells me. “So we like to get in the bed early. You should probably keep your schedule handy.”

I nod a thanks and get in my own bed. I look at my bedside clock and  it says 11:04 PM in bright red letters. I grab my schedule as the Remi turns the lights out. I snuggle under the covers and use a single flame of energy on the end of my finger to read it.

Elina N. Faith

(CR = Class Room)

6:45 - 8:00 am: Breakfast - Dining Hall

8:15 - 9:15 am: Algebra II - CR 134

9:30 - 10:30 am: Charm Basics I - CR 352

10:45 - 11:45 am: Physics - CR 212

12:00 - 1:00 pm: Lunch/Free period - Dining Hall/Anywhere

1:15 - 2:15 pm: Charms History - CR 312  

2:30 - 3:30 pm: Charm Control - CR 360

3:45 - 4:30 pm: One on One Charm Control - CR 360

4:30 - 9:00 pm: Free

9:15 - 10:30 pm: Dinner/Free

10:30 - 11:30 pm: Free

11:30 pm: Curfew. Be back in dorms by this time.

Once I’m done reading I go put my schedule on top of the table on top of my brochure with the map and roll over. My eyes droop closed once again and I suddenly realize how tired I am. I got up at five-thirty this morning. This morning I was in America, in Washington State with my dad, and only a short seven-teen and a half hours later, I’m in Italy outside Vatican City, in a huge castle that’s really a school for kids with superpowers where I met my first three friends. My last thought before drifting off to sleep is This is going to be one hell of a year.


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So yeah, that was the first chapter. I hope you liked it. Thanks for reading :)