ForestLands Institution

Chapter | 3√

As soon as the doors opened, a few people turned to stare at them; mostly Nadia. Nadia kept her head down, not liking the attention. Most of them stared after her in curiosity, while the others were sizing her up.

Mia led her to a table that was at the far right corner of the cafeteria. Five students; two boys and three girls sat around the table. They looked up when they heard Mia and Nadia approach. Mia pulled an extra chair from another table and added it to the chairs at their table. The two girls sat down and the other students went back to minding their business.

"Nadia, meet my friends, friends meet Nadia. I ran into her on my way here," Mia said.

Her friends greeted her except for a boy who was busy drinking his red drink.

"I'm Makena," said a dark-skinned girl with short plaits, who sat on her right. "I'm from Kenya and I'm a witch," she didn't smile but she didn't seem unwelcoming.

"I'm Faryal," a girl with tanned skin, freckles, and brown hair which was partly hidden by the veil on her head said with a kind smile. "I'm from Saudi Arabia and I'm a Nephilim." she had a really low and soft voice

"I'm Abhay," a boy with black hair and brown skin said with a friendly smile. He offered his hand for a handshake which she gladly took. "I'm from India and I'm an earth Elementalist."

"I'm Joanne!" a girl with shoulder-length black hair and bright blue eyes, waved. "I'm from America and I'm a water Elementalist. So you're new right? I remember when I first came here, I was so nervous like..."

Makena cut her off, “Let everyone introduce themselves first, Joanne,” Joanne pouted but did as told.

Nadia turned to the last boy with pale skin and brown hair, expecting him to introduce himself but he just drank from his drink noisily. She scrunched her face at the sound but he just grinned at her.

"Don't mind him," Faryal said, Nadia had to strain her ears to hear her because of the noise in the cafeteria. "He's my cousin. His name is Ahryan, he's a vampire."

Nadia turned to look at Ahryan and then at the drink. Her eyes widened when she realized that the cup in his hand contained blood, human blood. She cringed and unconsciously used her hair to cover her neck.

"What!" Ahryan snapped at her when he noticed her staring intensely at his drink. She instantly averted her eyes.

Makena said from beside her, "Don't worry, that's animal blood. The vampires around here are not allowed to drink human blood," she explained.

Nadia opened her mouth to apologize to him but one single glare had her shutting her mouth and turning away.

"So Nadia," Mia started. "What is your dorm number?"

"98."

Joanne's smile was blinding. "That means you are roommates with me and Freya!"

Is she always this hyper?

Nadia asked, curious, "Who is Freya?"

"A meanie," Faryal said.

"A rudie," Makena added

"A..." Mia started but Joanne interrupted her.

"You guys should just stop it! Freya just like her space!" Joanne defended the said girl.

"What is she like?" Nadia asked.

"A B-I-T-C, just the last capital letter and you have her," Makena said.

Joanne frowned at them. "Change of topic, why don't we tell Nadia about our abilities."

"I will go first!" she volunteered then proceeded to use her hands to bend the water out of her cup. She formed the liquid into a cup before shaping it into a necklace, she breathed ice out of her mouth and unto the necklace, making it solid. She handed it over to Nadia.

Joanne puffed out her chest. "I can ice any liquid and create any shape I want with them. Level five water Elementalist can create a tsunami and can cause heavy storms."

Faryal stood up from her chair and two mighty silver wings came out from between her shoulder blades. Nadia stared at the wings, slack-jawed. she reached out to touch them, but it was hard like her aunt's metal gate.

Faryal retreated her wings and sat back down. "Well I'm a Nephilim, my father is an angel, and my mother is a human. Nephilims are not as powerful as full angels but we are powerful enough. Nephilim can heal, have super strength, are incredibly fast, can endure, produce white light, we have the holy fire and that's all," she said.

Nadia opened her mouth to ask a question but Faryal already knew what she wanted to ask. "No, I do not know what heaven looks like but it's real. Nephilims can't reach the heavens like real angels."

It was Makena's turn. "Well, I'm a witch, I can only cast spells."

Abhay's turn. "Earth Elementalist can control the earth. We can create shapes with rocks and can make vines erupt from the earth. Level fives, can create earthquakes, bend metals and bring out molten lava from the earth."

"Nadia is also an earth Elementalist, maybe you can teach her what she needs to know," Mia suggested.

Abhay smiled. “I would love to. It's an honor to be someone's mentor.”

Mia turned to Nadia, who nodded with a smile.

“Thank you,” Nadia said.

"I think my power is self-explanatory," Mia said.

Everyone turned to Ahryan who kept his now empty cup on the table.

He flashed Nadia a wicked grin which showed his fangs that has blood on them. "My kind will sink their fangs into your neck and drain you until your dead."

He laughed when he saw Nadia's horror-stricken face. Faryal punched him hard on the arm and he pivoted around to face her, a scowl on his face.

"What was that for? I told her what she needs to know," he defended.

"Stop being a bully," Faryal scolded. She gave Nadia an apologetic smile. "Don't worry, he doesn't mean it," she assured her.

Ahryan opened his mouth to object but quickly closed it when his cousin raised her fisted hand.

Faryal continued, "He is always like that with new people, he tries to intimidate them but he is nice."

Ahryan raised an eyebrow at his cousin. "You know, I'm right here. Right?"

"Shut up!" the guys except Nadia shouted.

Mia voiced, “Vampires have super speed, super strength, eh...what again?” she tapped her chin. “Oh! They also have agility, healing factor, and endurance. Vampires can live have for a long time but they are not immortal.”

The group proceeded to talk about other things and left Nadia with her thoughts. She glanced at the bulbs when she saw them flickering off and on, the lights became stable but were dimmed. The lights went off before they came back on, very bright this time before returning to normal.

"Your bulbs are faulty," Nadia pointed out.

Abhay shook his head. "It isn't the bulbs."

"It's Lloyd doing," Mia added.

Nadia was about to ask who Lloyd was when the cafeteria doors were pushed open and a group of students walked in.