One Left

The First Day - Part One

The bell had just rung when it started to rain. It was almost as if the sky was waiting for victims before it was to open up. Something warm to pitter-patter against. The first drop fell on me, at the very centre of my crown. I still can almost feel the headache it had given me.

I was walking out from my French class, James to the left, when I felt that first blob hit me. The clouds had been slowly growing over the last three days, getting thicker and darker each time they had blocked the rising sun.

After three and a half days of constant cloudy weather, maybe it should have been a relief that the water was dropping down, emptying the sky so the sun could be seen again. But after six years at this school, a person can begin to understand that at certain remote locations, as quickly as one cloud disappears another takes its spot.

And this was exactly the sort of place that happened. The middle of nowhere, high up the mountain range. The weather was always snow, rain or cloud with an itty bit of sunshine to stop us all turning into teen vampires. The place was so remote that you could only get there by helicopter – or off road vehicles, but most of the students were spoiled little brats that didn't enjoy the bumps and sharp corners. There was also a twenty-four seven patrolled outer wall and no plant life or uneven terrain for as far as the shadow stretched. We had flood lights, barbed wire and not only was our protector's gear military grade – but the men, and women, themselves were all ex-militants. When people find out those facts about this school, they usually laugh. Why would one school need so much protection? But when you need massive amounts of influence and money to even apply for the school, it's not so ridiculous. Anyone in through scholarship need to be amongst the best in their country in at least three things, sports and academic. And anyone else needs to have a family a stranger can call off the top of their head.

Anine's Academy had been home for the last six years, but I can't remember there ever being a rain storm quite like that one. The first droplet had hit me square in the middle of my head just as I had stepped outside. I had stopped mid-word in my conversation with James, I can't remember what it was about now, but I think it was something to do with the French class we had just finished. One of the friendly academic debates we would always go off about.

I looked up to the sky. The thing that had gone splat on my head had been massive, the beginning tremors of a minor migraine had started up even before the water had finished bathing my hair. Slowly get soaked to my bone (which isn't really an exaggeration, James said I felt frozen when we got inside) as I stared above, I could hear other squeals as more people got hit.

Like the water itself, the clouds were far from normal. Swirling and dancing like a Vincent van Gogh painting, the tight designs passed through and around one another like the romantic ball dances read in those historical novels. Shreds of cloud would drift from one place to another, connecting with each other before tearing apart and starting the pattern anew in another spot.

The fluffy tufts would come closer and closer, dancing around as they tightened their spiral. Performing whirls in the sky that pulled back in the centre, like reverse tornadoes. The pools of air would force spots of water from the fluffy walls around them, the aquatic orb within becoming larger and larger with every tiny addition. Then, as I stared at the design above closest to my position, there was a sudden flash of light. So bright, but so well hidden within the depths of the aerial cave it came from. Impossible to see if you weren't looking right at it.

The saturated sphere then suddenly dropped, and I stared helplessly as it fell lower. Lower. Gaining in speed until it exploded onto the gravel that kissed my feet. As soon as the spray had dissipated into the surrounding scenery, my head jerked back up to the mystics above.

Those little shreds of fluff and mist separated again, and the wisps almost seemed to laugh as they followed the wind to wherever he guided them next. Some were lighter than before and some were even darker. I stared entranced as the sprites played their merry game.

Eventually my gaze was torn from the wisps when James had waltzed me undercover. People were all hurrying to class, and I had been so lost in the strange clouds that I hadn't noticed the lunch hour pass. I can't remember much of what happened for the rest of my classes that day; my mind was in a daze for hours after that first drop of water had hit me. In fact I can't remember anything about any on them on my last day of school. The only reason I have any idea of what happened is because I always schedule all my assignments to the smallest detail – you want to do that when you're studying four different education systems at once.

After lunch I had a history essay, a classical drama play, an English film to finish watching and mathematics revision for an upcoming test – they had been entered in my work diary. The last two didn't happen though.

Well, that's not entirely true. We did get halfway through our English film before the real drama began. At least, that's what James told me. My brain had still been turned off at that moment and in a dizzying, dancing daze.

But when the bells rang, something flicked off inside me – or on, really. I would say I "remember" the sudden change – but I don't. I went onto autopilot. I still hadn't been processing, but my memories went from a big, fat BLANK to actually being there. It was like my body was doing the expected thing, going through some sort of protocol.

So I was suddenly remembering my day, again. The bell alarm was going off in three short bursts. Ring, ring, ring – wait – ring, ring, ring – wait. Again and again, the piercing sound would play. Like all the students around me, I got out of my seat and stood up. One of the "pretty girl" bimbos tried to run out of the classroom ahead of our teacher. Mr Jones grabbed her arm and pulled her behind him, then turned to look at the rest of us.

"Stay behind me. Stay organized and calm. Follow me in an orderly fashion in two lines, and keep your place in the line. Miss Weathers here will be at the front of one line, Mister Kai will lead the other. Line up – time is of the essence!" Then Mr Jones turned back to the door, releasing Miss Weathers the bimbo as he did. As soon as pretty girl was released, West Kai grabbed her and moved to behind the teacher.

West wasn't the brightest on the block, not nearly. But he was calm under pressure and took responsibility seriously. That's probably why he was vice captain – or whatever you call it – in like half the school's sport teams. He was the one that was keeping the rest of our class calm as we tramped down the hallways and stairs. With West at the front and James at the back, everyone was keeping their place. And just like West was doing with Blondie, James had assigned a calm person to grab onto all the panicking kids and keep them in line. I hadn't been screaming my head off and trying to run away like the three chicks in front of us, but James had still grabbed me. At any other time I would have been happy to be flush at his side, but like I wrote down before, I hadn't been processing properly at the time. James later said he'd realized the same thing and had gotten worried. That's apparently why he'd pulled me to him.

The school buildings are designed with an internal layout that confuses and daunts anyone whose never been there before, but with a simple pattern that even the stupidest, blondest and youngest students can get after a couple of weeks. Before we do, we walk everywhere like nerds with our noses in maps. I had been so embarrassed for my first days at school that I had forced myself to memorize where everything was by the third day. I hadn't figured out the pattern for another three weeks though.

Being three years since the school was last under attack, I had forgotten almost completely about the tunnels on the third floor. And the entrances were only on the third floor. If you had a class on the second or ground floor, then you had to move upstairs.

I would like to say that I remember taking a deep, shuddering breath before hesitating and going through that doorway. But I actually hadn't, I was still going auto. So like a beautiful, psychotic robot, I walked into the gaping darkness.