Sealed

Chapter 2

Pulling up to Helmsley was like entering a completely different world. Ancient trees lined the road leading to the gates and arched elegantly overhead. The long gravel driveway was pristine, not a single stone out of place. I had seen this all before, but it still took my breath away. The wrought iron gates were visible from the end of the road, the elegant swirls and curves of the gates made it seem as if they had grown straight out of the forest surrounding the campus. The school itself looked like something out of a fairy tale. It was a repurposed 16th century mansion, and it was one of the most beautiful buildings I had ever seen.

As the gates swung open everybody turned to look our way. I knew that they couldn't see us through the tinted windows of the car, but I still slouched a little further down in my seat. This earned me a glare from my mother who was sitting across from me in the back of the limo. I always hated this. My parents insisted on taking the limo and every time the reaction was exactly the same. The driver guided the car up to the front door before getting out to open the door. My parents exited the car first leaving Caleb and I a few seconds of peace. From outside I could hear my mother clear her throat. That was our que. I straightened out my skirt and checked the blouse for wrinkles before putting my high heels back on. I sighed missing my paint stained jeans and beat up converse. At last I stepped out of the car. All the attention was on me. I knew exactly why, I was a Maverick and I was still undetermined, I was a freak and an anomaly. I wanted to run, hide, anything to just disappear, but I couldn't. My parents were watching my every move, their eyes said one thing,' don't you dare mess up'. So I stood up a little straighter and smirked, exactly the way my mother had taught me.

Once the show was over I ripped off my heels and headed to my room. My things had been delivered two weeks ago, so all I had to do was show up. My room mate Tara was already there and unpacking. Tara was one of the few friends I had at Helmsley. She was also an anomaly, she had the ability to shift into both Celestial forms and Water forms, yet she wasn't a universal shifter. The teachers had been beyond confused when her abilities set in.

"Ela! Oh it's so good to see you!" Tara squealed. "Don't ever leave me here alone again!" Tara had been here for the past week while her parents were in Ireland.

"I promise I won't." I said with a laugh. "So what did I miss?"After a bone crushing hug and a quick catch-up gossip session I had learned three important facts. One, the forest was now off limits at night and no one knew why; Two, we were having a masquerade (so original I know) and Three, the Prince was supposed to find his soul-mate, the girl who bore his mark. At this last part I panicked a bit. You see as Shifters we have one perfect match, when a boy turns sixteen his "match" becomes his "marked". On the night of your matches' sixteenth birthday a brand shows up somewhere on your body. The mark is your match's personal crest, the only problem is that the crests are not made public, making it impossible for the marked to figure out who they now "belong" to. I had already been marked.

I couldn't stop thinking about the mark that now adorned my back. Whose was it? What if they don't want me? No one had ever been rejected before, but then again I was the first undetermined sixteen year old, I was kind of already an exception to the rule. So where does that leave me? Am I going to grow old and die alone? For that matter will I ever figure out what kind of Shifter I am? Am I even a shifter? Maybe there was a mix up in the hospital... but then I wouldn't have a mark. None of this was making sense. I was starting to get a headache. I needed to lay down.

I was out as soon as my head hit the pillow. Everything was black, then suddenly I could see something, no someone. The figure was shrouded in light, I didn't know who it was, but I did know I needed to find out. Then I was running, desperately trying to catch the figure as it faded into nothing. An overwhelming feeling of dread hit me. I didn't quite know what was happening, but I just knew I had to stop the figure. I ran faster, but the distance seemed to double. My heart was racing and my head was spinning. I could only form one coherent thought, I have to stop him. It was a matter of life or death, whose life I didn't know yet, but I knew that if I let this man get away someone was going to die. The figure was almost gone now. I lunged, grabbing at air in hopes of catching the stranger. I managed to get a hold on his sleeve. He began to turn around, I could almost see his face but not quite, then he was gone and I was awake. I checked the clock next to my bed, three AM. Great. My stomach was rumbling and I realized that I had slept through dinner. I rolled out of bed and went to find something to eat.

The hallways were dark, the only light came from the crescent moon. I made my way down to the kitchens, I was expecting them to be deserted, but a small sliver of light peaked out from underneath the closed door. I was debating whether or not I should just turn around and go back to my room when my stomach started to rumble again, it echoed loudly through out the empty hallway. The door swung open to reveal lord arrogant himself.

"Well if it isn't little Elvina Maverick."

I cringed at the use of my first name. Only one person called me Elvina. "Isn't it a little early to start this Aron?" I replied shaking my head.

"Nope! I am a firm believer in "the early bird gets the worm", so this is perfect!"

"Of course." I wanted nothing more than this conversation to be over. I pushed past him and into the kitchen. Luckily for me the head cook took pity on me last year and I found myself seeking her out when the bullying got to bad, as a result I knew these kitchens like the back of my hand. I tied my hair back before gathering my ingredients.

"What are you doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm cooking."

"Yeah, I can see that but why?" At this I turned to look at him. What did he mean? Why wouldn't I cook? Seeing my confused look Aron sighed. "You do know you could just wake someone up to cook for you, we wouldn't want you to burn down the school."

I couldn't help it, I began to laugh uncontrollably. Me? Burn down the school? The likelihood of that happening was nearly nonexistent, I had been cooking my whole life, last year I even helped prepare dinner for the school in exchange for being allowed to eat with the kitchen staff. Of course no one but me a the chefs knew about that, everyone thought I was a spoiled brat and that I had my food brought to me in my room. Then I realized how ridiculous I must look, here I am in the kitchen at three in the morning, in nothing but my sweats and an over sized t-shirt, laughing hysterically while the Crown Prince of all Shifters stood there watching me. I immediately sobered up.

"Is something funny?" Aron looked genuinely concerned for my sanity.

"I'm sorry, I just find it funny that you think I'll burn the school down. I mean I helped cook every meal last year and nothing happened then. I also have been cooking since I was a toddler and so far no major disasters." I cut myself off, I had a tendency to ramble. So instead I just turned around and went back to cooking. Soon I was in my own world, I love to cook, it makes me feel like nothing else mattered, the world just fell away. When I had finished making my omelet I turned around and was about to sit down, I noticed that Aron was still there. He was sitting at the counter just staring at me.

"What?"

"It's just... You're so different, when you cook I mean. It's like you were transformed." He looked at me like I was some kind of puzzle he was trying to figure out.

"No this is who I am. The girl you think you know is the result of a transformation." He just continued to stare at me. By the time I was done with my meal it was almost four. I cleaned up my mess and started to make my way back to my room. I fell asleep without giving Aron a second thought.