The Special Scaredy Cat

Chapter 1

 Kori kept her head down and walked quickly, her black skirt swishing in the dreary morning's wind. Her hair blew back, making her black waves dance. She clutched her gray textbooks tightly. She was forced to walk to school each day, which she despised because they were in the dead center of winter. Little snowflakes twirled in the bleak, gray sky. She attended an all-girl's academy called Affton's Prestigious Academy for the Intelligent Minor Females, Or APAIMF in the student handbook. A jogger in a jacket barreled past her, grunting and not even glancing her way. 

"Oblivious, much?" Kori murmured. 

 She rolled up her sleeve to reveal a watch run down with fourteen years of age. It was as old as she was and her father had given it to her. That was the only thing he had the chance to give to her. She had worn it ever since he passed away. The time was 6:39 in the morning, giving her exactly 21 minutes to get to school. She barely looked up as she put her sleeve back. A man was on the ground in tattered clothing. He was shaking violently against the cold. Kori frowned as a dozen people walked by and didn't pay him a glance. She looked down at her own jacket. She slid it off her thin arms and strode over to the man. 

He looked up to see a black haired girl in front of him. The girl said nothing as she simply dropped her jacket on his lap. Before he could thank her, she'd already took off down the street. 

                                                                                                   --- 

The click-clack  of Kori's mythology professor's heels were almost hypnotic to her. Her professor rambled on and on about something Kori didn't pay attention to. She was doodling in her notebook, using her other hand to hold up her head so it didn't smack the desk. 

"Miss Reddiwood, tell us about Cronus, would you?" her professor hissed. 

Kori glanced up from her notebook to see the classes eyes fixed on her. Kori shrugged it off. 

"Yeah, I guess." Kori sighed. She put her pen down and looked up, her eyes closed and her hands folded. 

"Cronus was a titan who had taken power after castrating his father Uranus. He had a wife named Rhea. The two of them had six children together. In fear of losing his authority, Cronus ate five out of his six children. The child that wasn't consumed tricked his father into regurgitating his five siblings, whom were still alive because they were immortal gods and they remained undigested and grew up in Cronus's system. The end." Kori said plainly. She opened her eyes and the people saw her multi-colored eyes swirl and turn blue. 

"That is correct, Miss Reddiwood." The professor said, obviously disappointed that she knew.

Kori went back to doodling as whispers erupted from her classmates. What did they say? Things Kori didn't care about. 

The bell rang and the students were dismissed in the courtyard of the academy. A lot of students socialized and ate, laughing together. Watching this made the bench Kori was sitting on feel cold and lonely. She rested her hands in her lap and admired the sky. It had become a grayish-blue because it was noon. A few scattered birds glided freely. 

"I envy those birds sometimes." Kori said to herself. "They can soar so freely, but here I stay, stuck on the ground for the rest of my life." 

Kori sighed and sat there for a few moments, mindful of all of them. Then, she felt cold hands stroke her neck, their fingertips stinging her with an icy singe. Kori tensed and her eyes widened. Her breath caught in her throat and she sat as still as a statue. A sick feeling encased her heart as her lungs pleaded for air. She became sore all over. She moved a heavy hand to her heart. They had returned. Again.

"Go away." she choked hoarsely. "I don't want you here." 

But the hands continued to brush upward and stroke her cheeks. The hands finally stopped, covering her eyes completely. 

"Let g--" she began to cry, but yet another hand covered her mouth, sealing it shut with ice cold fingers. Kori thrashed against the many cold hands only to get held down with more. At once, she was flung against the ground. It was like the wind was knocked into  her. Air scurried into her lungs and she whirled around to find the force, but the courtyard was deserted around her area. And Kori was smart enough to know that it wasn't the trees. She sighed. 

The spirits were back.