Chapter 1

The green countryside rolled on in seemingly endless waves. It was cold for the time of year, should have been just into the beginning of fall, but fall came early to the northern parts of the country. The leaves hadn't turned colour yet, but they would soon. It was the beginning of the school year.

Kitty Rayner watched the trees going by through the window of the bus. The bus was going too fast for her to make out exactly what kinds of trees were flashing past beyond the clear surface of the window, but the countryside was so pretty it was nice to just sit back and watch it go by. A book was spread out open on her lap (some science text: she didn't own any books of her own, except for the texts the school had provided) but she'd long since forgotten about it.

She still didn't really know where she was going. Wychwood Manor, her new school, was so far away she hadn't been able to go to the 'informative session' that had been held little more than a week after she had been accepted in. It could as well have been on the moon for all she knew of its whereabouts. Apparently it was way up in the middle of nowhere.

Wait…

Through the trees she could see something. A narrow black shape, rearing up through the leaves to her right. It looked like…

"Kitty," said a voice from beside her. She leaned closer to the window, trying to see the shape better. A hand brushed her elbow. "Kitty."

"Oh!" Kitty jumped, and turned to see her twin sister April in the seat next to her. "I thought you were asleep."

"I was," said April. She glanced towards the window, green eyes flickering with sleepy amusement. "See anything interesting?"

"I think… a tower," said Kitty. "In the trees." She looked back out a quick glance, but there was nothing but forest. "It's gone now, though. Must have been covered up by the trees."

"Oh well." April leaned back in her seat, settling back into a sleeping position. "We'll probably get to the school soon enough, though. I can't wait to get off this bus."

She tilted her head back and closed her eyes. Kitty watched her for a moment before turning back to the window. The black, pointed outline of the tower was gone from view, blocked out by the thick green foliage of the forest surrounding it. If she looked down far enough, she could see the edge of the road—brown and gravely. The shadow of the bus moved through the trees like some sort of animal, silent and dark.

:0:

The bus stopped with a series of jerks that nearly threw Kitty into the seat in front of her. She dove forwards to save her text from falling onto the ground, closing it carefully before placing it on the seat beside her. April groaned as she woke up, then struggled upright when she noticed that they had arrived. Kitty was groping beneath the seat for her bags, even as she stared out the window.

The school was immense, a giant mass of towers and minarets that stood silhouetted against the sky. It was almost dusk, yet no lights glimmered in the tall, narrow windows. Beside it the trees looked like matchsticks. All in all, it combined to make an impressive, and somewhat forbidding effect.

Kitty tried to remember some more about the place as she stood with the others. The woman who owned it had inherited it about twenty years ago, and had decided to turn the place into a school. Students were brought in from all over, some from the Homes that functioned as orphanages for children with nowhere else to go, and some from rich families who could afford to send their kids to fancy private schools—though Kitty couldn't figure out why a fancy private school would be in the practice of taking in orphans for free. The whole story had all been in the papers back when Kitty had been too young to understand, a long interview in the local newspaper. A teacher had told her about it when she'd applied, but the Home's archives weren't very good. Kitty didn't know all that much about this school.

Kitty picked up her suitcase and bookbag and waited for April to move into the aisle after her. The line seemed to be moving far too slowly.

April hefted her duffel in one hand and looked at her twin. "Scary looking place, eh?"

Kitty stared up at it, her green eyes reflecting red light from the setting sun. "I think it's beautiful."

April shrugged and, without even cracking a smile, said, "I've heard the stories they tell. Apparently, to get in you must be evil. One-hundred percent pure evil.."

"Stop that!" said Kitty, clutching her bookbag. "I've heard stories too, you know. It's a good school."

"Believe it, girl, your sister speaks truth!" came a voice from behind them.

Kitty jumped and turned to see a short, dark-skinned girl with long black braids grinning at her. "Trust me," the girl continued, "I know this place. It's all a big conspiracy."

"Conspiracy?" April was listening too. Kitty moved into the aisle and inched forwards.

"Yeah. It's a weird place. It's really creepy inside, too—all covered in weird paintings and stuff. And the people! They're crazy! And what with the haunted towers and—hey!"

"Liana!" It was another girl, with glossy dark hair. She had pinched the first girl's ear, very gently. "What have you been telling the new kids?" She offered a small smile to Kitty and April. "Don't believe a word of what she says. A pathological liar, this one. Although…" she paused, thinking. "Well, don't let them get to you."

And then she had turned away again. Liana grinned cheerfully at Kitty and April, rubbing her ear slightly, before turning away too.

Finally the line of people began to move forward. Kitty hugged her bookbag, a motion made difficult by the suitcase under her arm, and swallowed hard. "Are you as nervous as I am?"

Her twin gave a strangled laugh. "No, more!"

Kitty stepped out of the bus into the cool evening air, feeling her long red hair lifting away from her back as the cooling night air blew through her ponytail. The school loomed up before her, an impressive silhouette against the darkening sky. There were large, wrought-iron gates leading to a long cobbled path. Above the gates was a line of some sort of writing, probably an old saying written in some forgotten tongue.

The straggling line of students was silent in the shadow of this monolith. They made their way to the thick wooden front doors of the school, which stood open for them. Kitty shivered as she walked through them. It was dark inside, and cold. It felt as though she was walking through the line that divided day from night.

::00::::00::

"Goody, the new kids," muttered Paige darkly as Kyte and Alistair peered out her window at the five buses parked outside. The tall, narrow window overlooked the school's main courtyard, and the wide, cobbled area in front of the lobby doors was in plain sight. The small shapes of the new students could be seen making their way to the doors, as well as the slightly larger shapes of the teachers supervising them.

Alistair turned away from the window. "Soon they'll be in the auditorium," he said blandly, not looking directly at Paige.

Kyte sighed. "The incoming tide of people, shouting, creating disturbances…"

"I just hope they know how to mind their own business," grumbled Paige.

"… Walking loudly, breathing…" said Kyte, looking sideways at Paige. "Boy, that last one sure makes you mad."

"Rrgh," growled Paige.

"Cheer up," said Kyte. "Last year's lot wasn't so bad so bad."

"Neither were the ones before that," put in Alistair.

"That would be us," said Kyte, glancing at him.

"Still…" Paige turned away from the window, allowing the drapes to fall shut. "There's a first time for everything."

Kyte ran a hand through his short, silver-blond hair, giving up. "You'd better get ready for the assembly," he told Paige.

"That's right," said Alistair, nodding. "I'll go get Raven."

::00::::00::

Kitty had never thought that she would be grateful for that that all of her lifelong possessions could be reduced to two fairly light bags. She'd never owned a lot of stuff, mainly because living in a Home meant that you got what was necessary and no more.

The room was immense. The walls were so high that an extra layer of lighting was needed to illuminate the high, vaulted ceiling. The whole expanse was painted blue with silver nine-pointed stars painted in lines on the rafters. Arranged on ground level were row upon row of old-looking theatre seats—each set seemed to come from a different place. There were even several balconies.

Kitty sat next to April in the front row of seats, along with most of the new students. All of them combined hardly took up a tiny fraction of the seats.

After a long wait during which everyone got settled, a woman with long red hair came onto the stage at the front. She cleared her throat and spoke into the near-silence.

"Hello, everyone. I am Reliah Anthem, and I am the owner of this school. Of course, you are all new here, and so I hope that you will find this school as interesting as all of our previous students."

Kitty looked up at the stage uneasily. An odd choice of words, to say the least.

"This school was founded several years ago when I found myself the owner of this manor," continued Ms. Anthem, "and hopefully this old place has not yet outlived its usefulness. Since we're really a fairly new school, not all of our wings have been opened yet—for those of you from Homes, you'll all be staying in Airview wing. For the boarding school, the wings don't even have names yet, but since they're smaller we've opened three of them—Northwest, Southwest and Southeast.

"The rules here are pretty straightforward—nothing you haven't heard before, at any rate. No fighting, no stealing, no bullying of other students in any manner, no damaging property that doesn't belong to you—and that includes your rooms, by the way. There are a few additions to those: no one is to enter the towers, except for the Atmospheric Studies tower, for any reason without permission. It is extremely dangerous. Everyone, and that means everyone, is to be in their rooms by ten thirty each night. There is to be no leaving of the school grounds for any reason. On some break times students will be allowed to sign up to go to Queston or to visit friends, but other than that, anyone found to be breaking this rule will be severely punished. The boundaries of the school will be outlined by your teachers on your first day of classes. After six o'clock each night, no one is to enter the Hub unless accompanied by a teacher."

"Hub?" whispered April. Kitty nodded drowsily.

"And lastly, I'm sure you are all aware of the fact that the population of this school includes both boys and girls. There are two wings open in the boarding school: this makes it easy. One wing is the girls' dorm, the other is the boys'. However, for those of you who are here from the Homes, only one wing is open. Therefore the odd floors will be boys only, and the even floors will be girls only. No one from an even floor may visit an odd floor, or vice versa.

"Now, we will have a word from an older student here—Paige Treine!"

Ms. Anthem left the podium as Paige, a tall girl with her red hair tied into a thousand thin braids, stepped up to the front of the stage.

"Hi, I'm Paige Treine," said Paige, with a broad, fake stage grin that even Kitty could see. "I hope that, in your first year here, all of you will enjoy this school as much as I have in my time here…"

Looking at the older girl's hard eyes, Kitty had to wonder if this Paige had ever enjoyed anything. As the speech went on, and on, and on, April's head began to nod. Kitty found herself yawning as Paige left to admit Tyler Crowe, then Miranda Zarinne, then… there were no windows, but if there had been Kitty was certain the light coming through would have faded to night by this time.

There weren't really all that many, but Kitty was so tired it seemed that they went on for hours. April poked her in the side the minute they were over. Ms. Anthem came back to the podium and cleared her throat. "Thank you, Cari. I'm sure you will all have an excellent year here. Judging by the results of the auditions, we have an exceptionally bright complement of students this year."

She's genuinely happy, thought Kitty, sleepily, pushing herself higher up in her seat. To most of the audience it probably seemed like just another thing a Headmistress would say in a speech, but there was actually some emotion there. It was puzzling. Maybe she really does care, thought Kitty, watching Ms. Anthem lean into the podium. That would sure be a change from the Home.

Ms. Anthem wasn't finished. "Now, for the rest of you, there are eight wings in the Manor. Each one is named for one of the cardinal points of the compass; north, northeast, east, and so on. The main points—north, south, east, west—are for those students from the Homes. The others are for those of you coming for the boarding school. Classes will begin tomorrow for all of you. As I call your names, you will come up and receive your room key and number from Madame Kenzing. She's the Head of our Science department." Ms. Anthem allowed herself a small smile. "Some of you may have roommates, and some may not. Kyra Akari, will you please come up to the front?"

As a chestnut-haired girl stood up several rows in front, Kitty fell asleep. April prodded her again when Ms. Anthem started on the Home students.

"Julian Asherton… Paula Bandin… Sanyara Wells… Zephyr Caliph…"

Then, suddenly… "Catherine Rayner…"

Kitty started up and made her way to the aisle. Just below the stage was a tall woman with short black hair. She smiled at Kitty and handed her two small silver keys. "Room 238, Catherine. Airview Wing."

Kitty waited a few moments for April (room 242) and then they both set off for their rooms.

"Couldn't even bother to put us together," said April upon reaching her room. "I mean, it would make sense…"She used one of her keys to open the door, revealing a small room with walls the color of cardboard. It was nearly empty, except for a bed, a desk and a chest of drawers. April threw her bag inside, closed the door and walked with Kitty across the hall to room 238. The door was unlocked.

"Wow," said Kitty upon stepping inside. "Big."

"They even painted your walls," said April behind her.

"And… wait… I have a roommate?"

"Hey," said her roommate, from a bunk bed in the far corner. "I was wondering if I was going to get a roommate. They were signing people up, just in case they ran out of rooms before they opened a second wing, and… oh! By the way, I'm Raven."

Kitty stepped into the room, looking around. There was a window, a desk, an enormous bookcase full of small ornaments (sculptures? Maybe Raven had made them herself), and a large bunk bed. The walls were covered in pictures.

April was looking around too. "Why couldn't my room be this nice?" She complained. "Look at all this!"

"We painted the walls ourselves," said Raven.

"Really?" said Kitty.

" 'We?' " Said April.

"Yeah, me and Paige and Kyte and the rest."

Kitty wandered over to the bed and put her suitcase on the ground beside it. She leaned against the wall next to the bookshelf, and began to look over all the trinkets that were there.

"And they just let you? Didn't you have to get permission?" April was saying.

"Well, we did have to ask, but they'll let the students do practically anything here. Except Miss Waters. If you want to paint your room, she's the last one to ask."

Kitty picked up a small figurine of a squirrel. Its beady black eyes were somehow ominous, and she put it back and picked up an enormous red die. The dots were painted in white, and it made a loud clattering noise when she lifted it.

"…Well, the only kind of paint they'd let us use was… No! Don't!"

"Never heard of it," said April, as Raven rushed over to where Kitty was holding the die.

"Here," said Raven, taking the die and replacing it on the shelf. She began to move some of the trinkets down from the middle shelf, clearing a small space among them. "Here," she said again. "You can put your stuff here if you need any space. Sorry if it isn't much, but…" she shrugged and gestured at the rest of the crowded shelves.

"That's okay," said Kitty.

"I'll just get back to my own room," said April. "Put my things away." April threw a salute for no apparent reason and left.

Kitty watched the closed door for a few minutes, slumping against the bookcase. A picture frame dug into her back.

"Well," said Raven presently, "this is just getting awkward. Let's start over." She cleared her throat. "Hello, my name is Raven. What's your name?"

"Kitty." And Kitty's not really feeling like talking right now, she thought, but didn't say anything.

"That's a nice name. Oh… I have to ask you, do you take up much wall space?"

"I beg your pardon?" said Kitty.

Raven made a wide gesture at the walls of the room. "Do you put up half as many pictures as I do?"

Kitty had to laugh in spite of her bad mood. The walls were hung with what seemed like thousands of pictures—paintings and sketches and prints and all sorts of artwork. "No, not even if I spent a thousand years trying!"

Then she stopped, and looked around again. At first glance, the paintings had seemed fairly innocuous; colourful, some small, some large, and many of some sort of elf-like creature. If Raven had indeed drawn these herself, she certainly had got in a lot of practice.

But at second glance, each and every picture Kitty looked at took on a more menacing aspect. Smiles became leers, and thousands of eyes glared out at her. Some of the delicate faces looked positively evil. Kitty turned around to find herself confronted with the largest picture of all, of a fairy dressed all in flowing black robes. Its eyes were like black holes, with not even a reflection to add detail. It held a wilted flower and was grinning horribly.

Kitty shuddered and stepped backwards. How could she possibly sleep here?

Suddenly the door burst open and the tall redhead—Paige, Kitty remembered fuzzily—strode in, followed closely by two others Kitty didn't know.

"Raven," said Paige briskly. "We've got to go. That bugger's at it again… and who the hell is this?"

Kitty shrank back beneath the tall girl's stare. Seeing Paige atop a podium from far below in the audience was nothing compared to seeing her in person—Kitty wasn't sure if it was an experience she'd want to repeat.

"Paige!" said Raven, hurrying forwards and standing in front of Kitty with a small, slightly flustered grin on her face. "This is my new roommate, Kitty. Kitty, this is Paige, Kyte and Ashley. They helped me paint my room."

"Oh," said Kitty, trying not to meet Paige's eyes.

"Paige," said one of the others in a warning tone—a boy with short blond hair, so pale it was almost white. The girl didn't seem to notice him at all, but instantly the feel of her presence changed, somehow.

"Right," said Paige at last, glancing down at Kitty with what could only be described as contempt. "Well, have fun playing by yourself, new girl. Raven, come with me!" She strode back out. Raven shot an apologetic look back at Kitty and left too.

Kitty edged nervously away from the wall she'd been leaning against, the painting whose frame had been digging into her shoulderblades. She climbed the ladder to the upper bunk of the bed and lay there looking up at the ceiling.

The girl from the bus was right, she thought amongst the buzzing in her mind. It is all a conspiracy!

::00::::00::

So, here is the first chapter of my very, very long piece of fiction. Reading it over, it's very different indeed from its new version.... but the new version, unlike this one, is not finished, so...

Also, this is a work in three parts. This is part one, and it is about 63 pages long total. I'll be posting fairly regularly, though not terribly often. So, here it is, and if anyone happens to come across this, please leave a review and tell me what you thought. After all, the purpose of posting this is to gain feedback, right?