Property of Lilith Moore

Chapter 1

It was a cold dreary Wednesday in February. Pale clouds souring the sky to an anemic grey. The ghost sun hid behind her wispy bedsheet as the Earth basked in the eerie glow of morning. Like the sky, Red mount Boarding School was hard and grey. As stern and strict in construction as the way the staff ran it. The teachers were uptight and ridged. They frowned so often even the younger teachers had wrinkles and the the older ones faces moved so little their muscles had frozen in place of a permanent grimace.  This was a place where smiles were few and fake. A token of politeness instead of true feeling. One might say Red Mount Boarding School had the power to suck the very meaning of life from the liveliest of people. The power to drain the happiness from the most giddy. The power to turn you as dull and grey as the very walls.

Two police inspectors marched up the steps to the front gate, banging on it impatiently until a rickety old man appeared. With a turn of a oversized iron key the gates scraped open as the inspectors shoved their way through, continuing their storm toward Red Mount School.

The girls had been reported missing the night before. Neither had showed up for Lunch which was 'unusual' according the the Matron, (a middle aged woman who was once probably quite pretty but now was a little soft around the edges with eyes much too small and hard for her face) especially for Lilith. However when they both didn't show up for afternoon classes or dinner students were sent to their dorm to find them. After their dorm room was reported to be empty a proper search was conducted, held by both students and teachers. When the girls were still nowhere to be found hours into the search, the police were contacted.

One Inspector glanced up from his notepad "Where were they last seen?". Inspector Coal was a rough man, from his voice to the unkept stubble sprouting from his chin, right down to the way he held himself. "Miss Goldstein was lasted reported seen in the hall heading away from the dormitories and Miss Moore was last seen in the Libary." The headmistress replied. Much like the rest of the staff at Red Mount, Mrs Keeps was strict and sharp in both appearance and personality. She took zero nonsense from anyone (especially her husband) and expected to be respected by all. Inspector Coal nodded curtly, scribbling this information on his notepad. "And who were they last seen with?" "Miss Goldstein was alone the last time she was seen," Mrs Keeps stated "However Miss Moore was reported to be seen studying Miss Baker a few hours before their disappearance." This time the other Inspector stepped forward and spoke. He loomed over Inspector Coal like a great ominous shadow and placed a hand on his shoulder. "We would like to have a conversation with this Miss Baker." Mrs Keeps nodded briskly "Of course. Sharon will show you to the Libary, she will meet you their." And with that the inspectors strode down the hall after the scuttling Matron.