Chapter I: The Beginning

Kesia tucked a couple stray hairs behind her ear as she watched the school from the other side of the street and waited for everyone to get to their classes before she even considered setting foot on the school grounds. She was willing to do anything to avoid the constant jokes and jabs that seemed to follow her everywhere she went. She apparently wasn't capable of doing anything right in the eyes of the students at her school. They were in high school, but the façade of being mature didn't seem to apply to the students who insisted on taunting her, not even the seniors in her grade seemed to posses that level of maturity. Kesia let out a sigh of relief as she saw the last person in sight enter the large wooden doors of the school and decided it was her turn to do the same. She crept across the street, clutching her backpack as if her life depended upon it and dashed into the double doors and down the hall. As she stepped into her first block English class, the tardy bell rang. She started at the sudden noise, and the entire class erupted in laughter, treating her as the class clown and ignoring the fact that her anxiety was their fault for the most part. Kesia hung her head as she tried to block out the laughter and hurried over to her desk in the far corner. Oh how she hated school. Why couldn’t she just stay at home? Who really needed to go to high school anyway?

The class enjoyed its laugh for a few minutes before Mr. Shelby walked into the sparsely decorated classroom and slammed a stack of papers down on his desk, obviously irritated. His mouth was drawn into a tight frown, and there was no humor in his usually mild blue eyes. "I can't believe it; I had expected so much more of this class, after all isn't this a senior AP course?" he paused and took a deep breath to steady his rising voice. "Your essays over White's The Once and Future King were without a doubt the worst thing I've ever read, and that's saying something because I've read a few bad papers in my time. Many of you obviously did not even bother to read the book!"

He shifted his stern gaze and looked out the window, hoping that a glimpse of the blue sky and verdant green trees would ease his anger some; he really needed to work on controlling his temper, but this whole situation was beyond ridiculous. He had only been teaching for a little over a year now, and the school had already assigned him to the worst class he could’ve ever imagined. The administration must be out to get him; this kind of a class should’ve been given to a far more experienced teacher, not someone fresh out of college. He let those thoughts die off; he was never going to calm down thinking things like that. After a moment he managed to cool his anger some and resumed speaking, "There was only one person in this class who demonstrated proper writing techniques as well as a wonderful understanding of the novel in her essay." His eyes scanned the room and settled on the girl hunched over in the back of the class. "Kesia, you did a fantastic job. You will of course receive an A, and you may also be excused from today's homework. However, the rest of the class will have to take this pop quiz and complete this packet for a grade," he held up a stack of about fifteen pages, "by tomorrow." Mr. Shelby smiled and set the papers down, getting back at the students for their poor work was just what he’d needed to lighten his spirits.

All eyes in the room shifted off of Mr. Shelby and fixed their cold gazes on Kesia, blaming her for everything. Now they had yet another reason to pick on the girl, not that they needed one. They already used her clothing, the typical worn sweater and jean ensemble, her wild hair, and her shy, unassuming manner as ammunition for their taunts. Lunch was going to be loads of fun for them today.

Kesia’s face reddened under the scrutiny, and she quickly propped her English textbook up in front of her face to screen herself from the class’s anger. She couldn't believe Mr. Shelby had said that; he had just given the class more cause to hate her. She stared down at her trembling hands and wondered what she had done to make them hate her in the first place; it’s not like she’d ever bullied them. All she wanted was a friend, and they all acted like that was bad thing.

Suddenly, a hand shot up, it belonged to Brenna Thompson, the senior class president and Miss Popularity herself. "Mr. Shelby, that's not fair at all. For all we know Kesia cheated on that assignment. You should know by now that she isn't that bright," Brenna sneered and cast a hateful look in Kesia’s direction. For some reason, she’d made Kesia her arch enemy their freshman year, and she hadn’t changed her attitude since.

Mr. Shelby looked down at Brenna and narrowed his eyes, "What makes you say that, Miss Thompson?"

"Isn't it obvious? I mean just look at her!" Brenna scowled and pretended that her light brown eyes were burning when she looked at Kesia again. She covered her face and let out a low moan, and the whole class erupted into laughter.

Mr. Shelby shut them up with the threat of more homework. He glanced at Kesia hiding behind her book then back at Brenna and her smug smile, and a light went on inside his head. It was barely the second week of September; school had just started so he didn't know his students very well yet, and in reality, this essay was their first major grade. He had been pleased that there had been at least one worthwhile student in his class and naively thought that Kesia's accomplishment would be well received by the students, but he’d been way wrong. There was something cruel in Brenna's face as she looked back at Kesia and started to laugh. "That is enough Miss Thompson, please go down to the principal's office now and wait for me. I will meet you there at the end of class."

She began to protest but Mr. Shelby ignored her, "Now!" he yelled, and Brenna quickly gathered her stuff and stormed out of the room.

Mr. Shelby shook his head and looked at Kesia again. He would look into her situation and see what he could do about it; he hated to see such a bright student hate school. He saw her peer around the book as Brenna left with a look of utter disbelief on her face. Her hazel eyes briefly found Mr. Shelby's blue ones before she dodged behind the textbook again. He sighed and focused his attention back on the restless class. Many of them were angry that Brenna had been kicked out and were sitting in their desks, glaring at Mr. Shelby; the tension in the room was almost palpable. He ignored them and spoke calmly, "I will not tolerate disruptions in my class. Now you might as well get started on your homework, you don't want to be up all night, do you?" He passed out the large packets and then returned to his desk, glancing at Kesia every chance he got.

Kesia kept her English book up for the rest of the class. She was so embarrassed and didn't want to face the rest of the class as they did the work that she didn't have to do; facing them for the rest of the day would be bad enough. It killed her just to think that this was only the middle of September, and that she still had to go through the rest of the year with the whole school just waiting for an opportunity to insult her.

When the bell rang for second block the class reacted as a whole and leapt out of their desks for the door, all except Kesia. She waited patiently for everyone to leave before she even put her English book/shield into her backpack. Then she stood up from her desk and walked towards the door; she'd probably be late for second block if she waited any longer. Kesia looked out into the hallway and saw that is was almost deserted. She sighed in relief and hurried down the hall to her next class, Calculus.

The hour and a half spent in Calculus was the best time Kesia had since the start of the year. The class was too intent on the review for the chapter test that they didn't have time to even give her a second glance; it was absolute heaven. Unfortunately, the bell rang all too soon, and the usual stampede out the door occurred as Kesia waited at her desk. She had no desire to go to lunch today, especially after that episode in English. She stayed in class until the teacher told her quite pointedly that he would like to go to lunch sometime this week, and then she slowly made her way out into the hall.

Her Calculus teacher locked his room and hurried off, leaving Kesia standing alone just feet away from the door. After a moment, she decided it was best just to face lunch head on and started to walk. She wasn't going to the Cafeteria though, that was just asking for punishment, instead she headed outside to sit under the large trees that edged the school grounds; she was usually safe there and safety was key. She continued down the deserted hall and began to get suspicious; the hall was never this empty, not even at lunch time. It would have delighted her to no end if it had been, but there was something wrong with the way it was today. Kesia slowed her pace and focused her attention on her surroundings, but her efforts proved futile. As she neared a corner, a tall, burly guy leapt out at her and struck a solid blow to the left side of her jaw. Kesia jerked right and went flying, landing sprawled on the ugly linoleum floor. She looked up at the perpetrator through her disheveled brown hair and to her dismay, saw that is was Shane, Brenna's boyfriend.

"You little twit, you got my girl a detention. Now she's going to get grounded, and you're going to pay!" Shane bellowed and approached her prone figure.

Kesia quickly scrambled to her feet, but the pain in her head made her dizzy and slower than usual. She wavered slightly and didn't duck fast enough as the next strike hit her left ear. She made no sound as she dropped to the ground unconscious.

Shane laughed and turned to his buddies that had been hiding around the corner. They all smiled when they saw Kesia’s unconscious form and quickly ran down the hall and to the Cafeteria to establish some alibis. No one would ever go after them though; Kesia was thought to be a troublemaker so her condition wouldn't disturb any of the faculty. Not to mention that she knew better than to talk; that would only get her into more trouble.

Kesia still hadn't stirred after about fifteen minutes, but as luck would have it, the one teacher who would care found Kesia on his way to lunch. Mr. Jonathan Shelby stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Kesia lying motionless on the floor. At first he didn’t believe what he was seeing, but he soon recovered from his shock and dropped to his knees beside her, checking her vitals. Her pulse was fine as far as he could tell, so he brushed the hair off of her face to see what was wrong and saw one huge bruise forming on her jaw and another by her ear. He hissed in anger and glanced up and down the hall to see if he could catch anyone hanging around, but the hall was still deserted. He sighted as he lifted Kesia’s slight figure, grabbed her discarded backpack and rushed back to his room. He laid her on the old green couch he had in the back of his classroom and locked his door. He didn’t really know why he’d locked it; it just seemed like the right action to take given the circumstances—he really wasn’t up for any more unpleasant surprises. He grabbed the half empty bottle of water from his desk and some paper towels before heading back to the poor girl. He wet the towels and gently wiped her face, but she didn't wake.

A few more minutes passed, and Jonathan began to worry about how long Kesia had been unconscious. He dearly wanted to find out who’d done this to her, but that could wait; right now, he just hoped that she’d wake soon and be all right. He studied her bruised face with compassion and once again tried to wake her, but nothing he did seemed to work. He sat back on his heels, contemplating whether or not he should get the nurse when Kesia gasped and opened her hazel eyes.

The first thing Kesia saw was Mr. Shelby's worried face and didn't know what to think. She allowed herself to sink further into the couch, away from him as she mentally tried to remember how she’d gotten here. She remembered how much she had enjoyed Calculus, but everything after that was hazy.

"Oh, thank God, you're awake," Mr. Shelby smiled when he saw her focus on him. He had no idea how she tolerated walking around the school and being forced to deal with such horrible people, but at least he now knew the root of her anxiety.

"What's going on? Why am I here?" Kesia whispered and looked around the room in amazement; she actually felt safe here, and that was something she’d never expected to experience at school.

"I was just going to ask you the same question. I was hoping you could tell me what happened to you?" Mr. Shelby quipped as his smile grew. He wanted her to feel comfortable enough to tell him.

Kesia closed her hazel eyes and retraced her steps after Calculus. Moments later, the memories of Shane's attack came back to her. She lifted her right arm and gingerly felt to two tender spots on her face. "Oh, my mother's going to kill me!" Kesia muttered as tears slipped from beneath her closed eyelids.

"What happened, Kesia?" Jonathan pushed slightly. Now that she seemed to be all right, he wanted to find the monster that had beat Kesia. Her unfortunate plight made him want to do everything he could to help her.

Kesia’s eyes opened in surprise, and she quickly brushed her tears away. She had to lie. "I fell."

"You what?!"

"I fell. I'm sorry I worried you, but it happens all the time, you can ask anyone here," Kesia elaborated. She couldn't tell him the truth; she would just put herself in more danger, and no one would believe her anyway. Shane was the high school superstar and boyfriend to the princess of the school. Who was Kesia compared to that? The entire school, staff included, thought she was nothing more than a royal screw-up.

Mr. Shelby stared at Kesia in shock, she was too afraid to even tell the truth about who had so obviously punched her. "Kesia, I know someone hit you, just tell me who, and I'll take care of them. I promise."

"I can't tell you anything. As far as you are concerned I fell, and that is all," Kesia responded, getting defensive. She really did want to tell Mr. Shelby, but in doing so the students would find out and go after him too, making his job here even more of a hell. That would be bad on two levels, one was his personal discomfort and the other was that she would then likely lose her only supporter. She sat up and tried to stand so that she could leave before he questioned her any further, but the room around her swam slightly, forcing her to sit back down.

"Kesia, talk to me."

"Mr. Shelby, I have to go now. Third block is going to start in about five minutes and I prefer to beat the rush," Kesia interrupted as she looked at the clock. "Thank you for bringing me in here; I would have been trampled otherwise."

"Please feel free to come in here anytime you wish. I get to school at about 7:15 everyday, and you could come here early to beat the rush then too, if you feel like it," Mr. Shelby replied and decided to drop the subject of who hit her. He figured he would just try to protect her from any more violence by coming in thirty minutes earlier than anyone else in the school.

"That would be great," Kesia flashed him a genuine smile and tried to stand again. She managed to get to her feet but wavered slightly.

"Let me help you to your next class. You may think your head is hard, but a fall like that would disorient anyone," Mr. Shelby reasoned, using her answer as a basis to offer aid. She never would’ve accepted otherwise, of that he was positive.

She nodded and slung her backpack over her right shoulder. They made their way down the hall, Kesia leaning heavily on Jonathan; she felt horrible, but he didn't need to know that. It would only bring on more questions, and she didn't want to go the nurse; the nurse hated her just like everyone else. They made it to her computer class, and he helped her into her chair in the back just as the bell rang. "I'd better get to my class now. I'll see you tomorrow morning," Mr. Shelby whispered and hurried back down the hall to his classroom as the students began to come in from lunch. He hoped Kesia would be safe for the rest of the day; he very well couldn’t follow her everywhere.

Kesia leaned back in her chair and tried to focus on the work on the computer screen, but everything on the screen kept blurring together. She closed her eyes and tried to collect her thoughts before trying again when her chair tipped backwards. Her head hit the ground hard, and the room started to darken before the teacher even took notice of the situation. "Kesia, get up this minute. Your ineptitude will wreck these computers if you aren't careful!"

Kesia groaned and rolled over, trying her hardest to get up and straighten her chair. She had just about finished when her ears started to work again, and she heard the snickering coming from the computers next to her. She looked at their occupants and saw Shane and his buddies laughing. Apparently, they were responsible for the fallen chair, but she couldn't be sure; everything still seemed to be happening too fast. She sat down again and tried to work, but her head hurt even worse than before. The rest of the class was a blur, but one thing stood out clearly and that was the end; she was thrilled when it was finally over. Now, she just had to face one more class, gymnastics. She had no idea how she was going to pull that one off in her state.

This time she didn't wait for everyone to leave because she knew she could barely walk, and it would take her awhile to get to the gym. She made herself as inconspicuous as possible and walked with the rest of the crowd. As she neared the gym the crowd thinned out, and she finally had a chance to walk in peace. Kesia made it to the locker rooms and changed before the rest of the girls even entered. She dodged behind the last row of lockers and started to head for the gym door when she heard Brenna's voice, "That stupid chick, Kesia, is going to ruin my life. I got a detention because of her, and you know how my parents will react to that. Shane said he warned her today, but I'm not going to take any chances. I'll deal with her myself."

A chorus of "You go Brenna" and "She deserves it" sounded around the locker room, and Kesia quickly grabbed all of her stuff and made her exit before anyone noticed her presence. She suddenly felt sick to her stomach and decided it would be a good idea if she just skipped gym for today. She entered the gym and walked under the bleachers to the exit that would most likely save her life. She was soon outside and started to run, despite the pounding in her head and the black spots that threatened her vision. She just wanted to get away from school as quickly as possible; today had certainly been a day she’d not soon forget.

She made it home in about five minutes and managed to make it up the stairs to her room before she fainted. She landed on the carpeted floor right inside the door with a thud and didn’t move.

Kesia's mother came home at about six in the evening and called for Kesia to come downstairs and do all of the chores she’d neglected to do. She was angry that they weren't already done since Kesia had been home since four. She waited for a response for a few moments before storming up the stairs to Kesia's room. She violently shoved the door open and hit the unconscious Kesia in the back. "What the Hell are you doing, Kesia Fallon?!" she screamed and stooped down to shake her daughter.

Kesia slowly came around and rolled onto her back so she could see her mother. "I'm sorry mom," she whispered, blinking wildly. "What time is it?"

"I don't care what time it is, you selfish little brat. You think you can just fall asleep and make me do all the work? For that you won't get any supper tonight and after your chores you will clean the attic. Understood?" her mother was completely irrational.

Kesia nodded and struggled to her feet as her mother went into her own room across the hall and slammed the door. Kesia flinched and slowly plodded down the stairs to clean the kitchen and vacuum the living room. Then she climbed up two flights of steps to the musty attic that store all the worthless junk and family heirlooms. She turned on the bare bulb that hung from the ceiling and began to dust all of the old chests and furniture that had been up there for over one hundred years. Unfortunately, the stuff was only cleaned once every five years; Kesia certainly had her work cut out for her. She had just about finished when something about the chest she was cleaning caught her attention. She squinted and leaned closer to get a better look, and that’s when she saw that her name was carved in the cedar wood right above the latch. She quickly dusted it off and studied the intricate designs and patterns that covered the area of the beautiful chest, unsure of what to make of it; she didn’t know whether any of her ancestors shared her name. After a few moments she gathered enough courage to open it; its presence had thrown her off. The latch opened easily, as if it had never been left in an attic, and Kesia lifted the heavy lid with ease; apparently the hinges had been oiled as well as the latch. Kesia let go of the cover and looked inside only to find that the chest was practically empty. The only thing inside was smaller wooden box with many of the same carvings as those that were on the chest. She lifted it out and opened it without a second thought; she was now anxious to see what was inside.

A small pendant and silver chain were carefully arranged on the green velvet that lined the inside of the small box. Kesia smiled at her find and gently lifted the necklace up to the light; it was beautiful. She looked at it closely, inspecting the charm and recognized the pattern from one of her history classes as ancient Celtic; the pendant design was three swirls connected in the middle by a soft, elegant triangle. It hung on a braided chain, and the pendant itself was made of what appeared to be platinum; it had been crafted to last for a long time. She laid the necklace back onto the velvet and eased the box lid shut so she could look at it again. She ran her fingers over the beautifully carved designs and noticed that some of the carvings were really words. Kesia lifted the box into better light and started to read the inscription aloud,

"From the moment these words are spoken, a spell will be unbroken. The Good shall once again be free and everything will return to how it should always be. Let all the powers out and leave absolutely no doubt that faith shall be restored in a world that needs reward. The balance must return if any love is to be learned, for Evil rules this realm and Good must regain the helm. Nothing here happens by chance, so take no backwards glance. Step not from this path because Evil must feel the Light's wrath."

As she finished the rhyme the light in the attic suddenly went out, and she was plunged into darkness. Kesia gasped and clutched the small, cedar box she was holding. Then something came over her. She opened the box and a bright light flooded the room, replacing the darkness with a brilliance never achieved by artificial light; the pendant on the necklace was glowing. Kesia lifted it out and looked at it to convince herself that the light was truly originating from the seemingly innocuous charm; she couldn't see any other possibility. Kesia studied the pendant a moment longer and finally decided to put it on. She half expected the glowing to end once it hung around her neck, but it didn’t. She smiled in relief and rose, letting the light of the charm guide her movements. She closed the large chest and brought the little box with her as she crept down the darkened stairs and back into her bedroom.

Kesia shut the door to her room and locked it, hoping her mother wouldn't disturb her. She turned on a lamp and glanced at the clock; it was already five minutes after midnight. She would be tired tomorrow, but as of right now she didn't care about that. She looked down at the necklace and saw that the glowing had now stopped. She sighed, disappointed, and proceeded to change into her pajamas. Kesia hid the wooden box under a loose floorboard, turned off the small lamp, and climbed into bed, thinking about the pendant and not the horrible day she’d had. She smiled as she sank into sleep; she was actually looking forward to the next day at school so she could learn more about the charm that now hung around her neck.