Pinefield Prep ~ Ashwock II [discontinued]

=Prologue=

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Jessica James, Rum Kealohilani, Fox Grayson, Marisa Longfellow, Damien Ellis, Jackson Deveaux, Rafe Collins, and Ella O'Connor died at Ashwock Academy. Fletcher, Teony, Trevor, and Raven knew that. But no one else did.

As far as everyone else knew, those eight didn't even exist.

"What are you talking about, Renae?" Raven asked, eyebrows raised. "I never went to swim camp!"

"Raven, stop talking nonsense," Her step-mother said, sighing. "I have your application right here!"

She gave Raven a sheet that said 'Josie Johnson Swim Camp for Young Adults' on the top. All the writing was filled out, including Raven's signature on the bottom. "You drove me to Ashwock on Monday!" She argued. That story Renae had told her wasn't real. It couldn't be.

"I dropped you off at swim camp on Monday. Honestly, honey, are you feeling alright?"

Raven furrowed her brows, shaking her head as she walked away from her step-mother. She went to her landline and checked the sticky note she held, punching in the first number. After a few rings, somebody picked up. "Hey, Teony. Something weird's going on."

"Yeah, same here," Teony's sweet, soft voice said over the phone. It hadn't been more than a day yet she already missed her. "My Mom and Dad said that I went on to a 'girls bonding camp'. I mean, why would I ever agree to that? They know how shy I am."

"My step-mom said that I went to swim camp, which actually kinda makes sense because I love swimming." Images of Fox plunging into the pool filled her mind and she desperately shook it out. It was too painful.

"Put Fletcher on the line." Raven nodded, but before she could she saw that someone else was trying to call her. She hit 'add caller' and Fletcher's voice filled her ears.

"Some seriously weird shit is going on," He said, his voice sounding panicked and worried.

"Same with us, Fletcher," Teony said over the phone.

"Teony?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, just making sure. Anyways," He started. "I came home and started screaming and yelling to my Dad, and when I hugged him he asked me what was wrong. I told him everything, how we got trapped in the school and the teacher was murdered and so were eight other kids and he just looked at me like I was crazy. He asked me what I was talking about and I said 'That demon school you signed me up for, of course!' and he said that he never signed me up for a school. He asked me if I was talking about soccer camp-which is crazy cause I hate soccer-and I knew something was up."

"That's what happened to me, except my step-mom said that it was swim camp," Raven said.

"And my parents said that it was girls-bonding-camp. Whatever that is."

"But that's not it!" Fletcher exclaimed, and Raven was confused. What else could there be? "I talked to Trevor-"

"Wait, how did you talk to Trevor?" Raven interrupted. "He can't call you, he's deaf."

"I texted him using my Dad's phone, genius." Fletcher cleared his throat and continued. "Anyways, he told me that he saw Rum's mom-apparently they knew each other before-and told her that he was sorry for her loss, but she looked at him like he was crazy. She asked him who died and Trevor answered by saying, 'Your son. Rum.' And then she told him that she never had a son."

Raven gaped, and she heard Teony gasp through the phone. "I just wanted to make sure that I wasn't going crazy."

"You're not going crazy," Raven said. "I remember him too. I remember going to Ashwock."

"I'm going to text Trevor," Teony said. "Fletcher, can you give me his number?"

"Sure thing." Fletcher said the digits, but in the middle of it Renae rushed into the room and Raven quickly moved the phone from her ear to her side.

"You talking to Mari?"

Raven bit her lip. She had known Renae for all of her life, but no matter how many times she tells her, Renae couldn't seem to remember that she couldn't talk to Mari anymore. That was actually one of the reasons she applied for Ashwock, as a matter of fact, along with the fate of her birth parents. To defend the world from dark magic. But she never ended up learning. "N-no."

"You better not use that for too long," Renae said. "You know how big the cable bill can get."

"But my phone broke."

"You broke it on your own." After a moment, the step-mom turned her frown to a grin. "I'm not mad, Ravy Baby. I have something for you."

Renae took a step forward, showing her a piece of paper. It was a flyer for a special training program for the study of world sciences. It described learning the 'secrets to mankind' and 'a once in a lifetime experience'.

But that's not what interested Raven. What interested Raven was the picture on the flyer. Why had the name changed?

"Renae," She started, panicking. Her voice turned to a yell. "I will not go to this!" She heard Fletcher and Teony ask her what was wrong, but she hung up the phone. Then, placing the phone on the desk, she ripped the flyer into a hundred pieces.

"What are you doing?" Renae asked, alarmed. "Why not?"

"That is a terrible, wicked place that will kill innocent children just because it can!"

"You're talking crazy, Ray."

"No I'm not! I will never in my life go there ever again."

"Too late. I already signed you up."

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