The Winter Rose

Chapter 1

I was standing on an endless road when I came across a weeping woman in front of me,"What's wrong?" I asked, but there was no answer, then she magically disappeared into thin air. And something huge appeared behind me.

a horrible creature, it has blood-stained jaws and blood red scales, then a voice called out, "GET AWAY FROM HER!", then the creature roared and blew fire, I braced to protect myself.

And I realized  that I was only dreaming, I reached out for my phone, and saw it's already 6:00 am, I'm already running late, I rushed to get ready.

As I ran to th office, I bumped into a woman, "I'm so sorry" I quickly said and she laughed at me slightly, "Oh no harm done, I'm fine"  she said, I happened to look at her and she somehow looked familiar, "Do I know from somewhere?" I asked ," Not that I know of" she answered, then I realized I'm late but as I turn away her smile became sad.

I arrive at right on time before Mr. Bill Powell, even noticed, I slowly crept behind him, who happened to be making his rounds, "You're late again" a colleague of mine quietly said, then we all watched Mr. Powell come in to his office.

while working, "Trix, Mr Powell wants to see you" his secretary called out throught the intercom, I stood and walked to the main office, hoping it's not a lecture.

"Do you know why I founded IUC?" He asked me while staring out at the window, "Not really" I answered, " When I was still teaching, I met a young girl who stand out among my students, she has a strange way of seeing the world, she was different aside from her vivid blue eyes, pale skin and silver-golden hair, she was bright and extremely friendly. A few years later, I found out her family were killed, and she was very different ever since the last time I saw her is at a party, she was hiding within the tree line, I asked her what was wrong and she just said nothing, then mist began covering us both and I heard her scream in pain, the mist cleared up and I found myself in front of a horrifying monster with white scales that have veins of blue and violet eyes staring at me, the people around me started to go out of control and the monster flew away. The monster killed her" he said.

"So you founded the Institue to avenge her death?" I asked, "Not just hers, her brother too, he was my best friend and I loved and cared for her as my own sister" he said, "I founded the IUC to avoid unjustly deaths like theirs and to raise awareness that we are not alone in this world" "I see" I said, "Now back to the present, there was a rampage in a school 15 minutes away from here and I want your team to look into it" he said as he sait down and read his documents.

When my team and I arrived at the school, it was a mess,the place is ravaged with fire, water and sand. Amidst the fire, an ice dome stood, the strangest thing is it's still fresh and open in the middle like to protect someone, then a force pass by me so fast that I managed to get a glimpse of it, a woman with white hair and pale skin.

Then a hand made me jump and grabbed me, "You saw her, didn't you?" An older woman frantically asked me, she looked like she's in complete shock and delusional, "What?" I asked her, "The White Lady" the woman answered quietly, " What is she?" I asked her, she shook herhead and looked away from me, "I don't know, but I'm sure she's here with a reason" she answered while putting her hand in her her pocket, "What's in there?" iI asked her, she gave a small smile and said "Just a gift from a beloved student" . She showed it to me, it was a crystal orb with a rose inside.

"It's beautiful" I breathed, and I remembered I'm here on a mission, "You're a teacher, aren't you?" I asked, she nodded,"Yes, I'm still am. my name is Olivia Mills" she said