Migration

I sat on a tree stump and looked at Ruby and Caelaro.
"So," Ruby said.
"So," I replied, nervously. Caelaro was peering curiously at me. I turned the colour of tomatoes.
"Has Rin told you yet?" Ruby asked.
"What, about you needing help? Yeah... I guess," I said. "With what?"
Ruby and Caelaro exchanged glances. "Well, we can sense something. Y'know, something bad. We were wondering if you could help us find out what it is, seeing as you're psychic and all," Caelaro told me. I nodded slowly.
"Okay. Want me to do it now?" I asked them. Ruby nodded. I pressed my lips together and closed my eyes, taking one long, deep breath. I jumped off the tree stump and planted my feet on the ground. I turned to face the stump, and laid my hands on the wood.
What happened next is undescribable. I just... imagined, imagined that my feet were growing roots into the ground and connecting me with the clearing. And I imagined poles of light running from my hands, into the tree stump. I connected my thoughts with the clearing.
At first, everything was all fine. Pure, pretty, colourful. I had an image of the clearing stuck inside my mind. But then... then I felt nervous. Nausious. A feeling crept into the depths of my stomach. Not anger, not sadness... fear? It was something like that. Whatever it was, it wasn't nice. From the corners of my mind, black clouds started invading the picture of the clearing. I concentrated hard. I saw an image of a black sun and a white moon. They merged together to make one big grey cloud that began to rain. I saw images of animals screaming, crying, running to get out of the poisonous clearing. Dark shapes slunk around in my mind. I felt tears springing to my mind. And suddenly I was invaded by a cold, dark feeling, and the image of the clearing started spinning, and my mind lost control and I felt like I was going to throw up and everything was tinted grey and -
Everything went black. I felt a thud as my body hit the ground.
Silence.

**************************************************************************

"Alexiel? Alexiel?" I heard a distant voice echoing. My eyes sprung open. Rin, Caelaro and Ruby were peering down at me worriedly.
"Wha...?" I murmured drowsily.
"You passed out," Rin said. I sat up. Ruby and Rin pulled me to my feet.
"What did you get from the reading? You were freezing cold," Caelaro said.
"Yeah... ice-cube cold," Ruby told me. I shook my head, squeezing my eyes shut.
"No, don't close your eyes. Keep them open. Sleep is the last thing you need right now, you need to keep talking," Caelaro said. I opened my eyes sleepily.
"There's... dark things coming. Fear. Sadness. Evil, dark forces..." I murmured. Ruby rubbed my back.
"Then we must migrate."

The People in the Woods

I giggled and stumbled around drunkedly. Rin shushed me, and I swatted his hand away like a fly. Everything was dark. I couldn't see a thing.
"Where are you taking me?" I said absent-mindedly, stumbling about. My hands reached up to rip the cloth from my head, but Rin slapped my arm and it dropped to my side.
"You'll see. Don't take the blindfold off."
"Why?"
I heard Rin sigh. "You can't see where I'm taking you until we're there, okay?" I wondered how he was so patient.
"Fiiiine," I said, and promptly tripped over a log. I screamed, and fell to the ground. I heard Rin laughing, and flailed about, trying to stand up. "It's nawt funny!" I whined, even though it was. I was cold, wet, tired and hungry. Rin picked me up and held me in his arms. In silence, he began to walk again.
After about five minutes of an awkward silence, Rin had put me down. Two more minutes passed of utter peace. "Gay baby," I blurted.
"Huh?" Rin sounded amused.
"Everytime there's an awkward silence, a gay baby is born," I said, pleased with myself. Rin chuckled, and took hold of my arm again. Then we stopped, and Rin murmured in my ear.
"If you ever tell anyone about this place, 1. it's over between us, and 2. I will show the whole school that picture of you lying in the mud in a diaper that your mom showed me behind your back." I widened my eyes behind the blindfold.
"Deal," I said. He yanked off the cloth and my eyes grew in wonder.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Wanna know the real reason why we're here?" Rin said, after he'd braided my hair and tied all of the small plaits into place with all sorts of different flowers. I guess looking after a elementary school kid got him used to this kind of stuff.
"Sure," I said. Rin sat beside me on the tree stump I was perched on.
"I know people. Me and Selena, we know people who live in this forest. We don't know why they're here, but they are anyway. All we know is that they need help. But me and Selena can't help, we're just humans. We're no use. But you, on the other hand..." Rin looked me in the eye, boring into my soul. I blinked at him.
"I'm a human too," I said.
"Yeah, but you're psychic. You can help them," Rin said. It was almost as if he was pleading with me, begging me. I'd never seen him like this before.
"I don't know how I could help someone I don't even know."
"Well, maybe it's time to meet them, then," Rin replied, now calm as ever. He stood up and left me in the small clearing full of flowers, low trees and plants. A deer curved around one of the trees, staring at me with its huge dark eyes. Who is this strange new person? What is she doing in this clearing? Danger. Danger, danger! Danger! I listened into the deer's thoughts and heard them echoing around her head. I neared it slowly, looking right beside its eyes, as I'd found out that animals don't like it when you stare directly into their eyes.
I'm not danger. I pushed this thought into the deer's head. It seemed to relax slightly.
Rin... Rin? Rin, Rin, Rin, girl, Rin... guest... safe?
Yes, I'm with Rin, I thought to the deer. It neared me cautiously and circled me. I slowly reached out my hand and stroked its furry head. It warmed, and came closer, rubbing my sleeve with its head as a cat would do.
Suddenly, Rin emerged from the bushes. He smiled when he saw me and the deer. "I see you've met Fauna." The deer scampered over to Rin on its long, spidery legs. He caught her in a warm embrace.
"She's sweet," I said, smiling. Rin looked over his shoulder and let go of Fauna. Fauna ran off, escaping into the bushes.
"Come on out. She's safe," Rin called. I frowned.
"What?" I asked. Rin shook his head, and two... things walked out through the leaves.
One of them was a guy. He had dark red hair, the same colour as Rin's eyes, in spikes, sticking out in all different directions. He had black eyes and was wearing a slightly torn brown t-shirt and dark red cloth wrapped in various different places around his arms, and ripped black pants. He also had a black cloth headband tied around his head, keeping his hair out of his face, and a bow and arrow over his shoulder. He was cute x10.
The figure behind him was different, though. It was a girl. She looked about fifteen. She was... breathtaking. Her long black hair was glossy and silky, even though she obviously hadn't used shampoo or conditioner or anything. It went down to her waist and was the thickest I'd ever seen. Her eyes were pale blue, and she had milky white skin. In her hair, like a perfect halo, was a tiara made of leaves, and on her arms were tons of bracelets made of vines with leafs on them. Her tiara was decorated with flowers, as were her bracelets. Her clothes, however, were a totally different story. They were amazing. She had a drapy dark green top with leaves and lace, and silver arm cuffs. The top reached down to her belly button, and from there, she had a belt made of leaves and flowers. From a pair of black shorts hung white muslin that spiralled down her bare legs and met the top of her dark green shin-length boots. She looked like an... an elf warrior.
One thing that caught my attention from both of them was their ears. They curved up and had pointed tips. I gulped.
"This is Caelaro and Ruby," Rin said.
"Hi," said the beautiful girl. Her voice was silvery and soft, light as a feather.
"Hey," said the guy, Caelaro. His voice was more deep, but still quite soft.
"So they are elf warriors?" I whispered in wonder. Ruby laughed.
"Just about," she smirked. "We're elfin people. We live in this glade." I gazed up at them in awe. They were beautiful. Like something out of a fairytale.
Boy, if I knew how close I'd been.

Meeting Selena

Later that week, me and Rin were at the holding-hands stage. So that's what we were doing now. Holding hands. And boy, was I glad.
We were surrounded by darkness. The ground was damp. Here and there, a tramp would ask us for money. Rin would flip a twenty pence piece at them. I would just smile. We were walking down an alleyway that smelt of alcohol, and I was scared.
And suddenly the sun came out. We appeared out in a street. Only this street was totally different.
It was like an Indian marketplace, only the people were Americans instead. There were a few English people there too. The sun was shining out and there were all sorts of stalls selling food, scarves, clothes, jewellery... There was even a small gypsy caravan with a sign saying "CAFE" outside. Men, women and children in homemade clothing walked in, bright smiles on their faces. In this street, people were throwing money at buskers instead of tramps. A guy with blond, floppy hair was playing guitar and singing, and another guy next to him was playing percussion. I looked up at Rin, breathless.
"This is... beautiful," I breathed. Why would the tramps decide to sit in the dark, cold alleyway when they could be out here in the happy marketplace? As Rin and I walked past, people waved at Rin and nodded at me. Rin was obviously pretty popular here, and that made me worthy of walking the street too.
At the end of the street there were three houses; a pink one, a blue one and a yellow one sandwiched between the other two. Rin led me into the blue one.
"Welcome to my home," he said, spreading his arms in fake enthusiasm. I smiled at the messy floor, peeling walls and laundry-covered table in the front room.
"It's very laid-back," I said. Rin laughed.
"I like you, Alexiel. You're funny," he said, and I felt myself blush happily. Rin led me through to the front room. "Alexiel, meet Selena. Her parents are busy, so I look after her." I looked down at the sofa and saw a small, incredibly cute girl looking up at me. She had light, silver-blond hair in messy pigtails tied with pink ribbon, and huge, anime-style blue eyes. She blinked up at me, chewing on a teddy bear.
"Hi!" she squeaked. "I'm Selena." I smiled down at her.
"You're a very cute little kid," I said. She beamed shyly.
"Thank you," she said politely. I looked at Rin, and whispered, "How old is she?"
"Seven," Rin replied. I grinned at her in awe.
"She's cute," I whispered to Rin. He nodded. Selena touched my hand gently. A huge, electrical shock zapped my body. I jumped back, blinking.
"You're psychic," Selena declared. My eyes widened.
"Huh?!" I shrieked. How did she know? I had never told anyone. Ever.
"Selena's right," Rin said. "I sensed it when I met you." I felt dizzy. Rin had known about it all this time and never asked me about it? "We want to introduce you to some people we know. Come with us," Rin said, taking my hand. He and Selena led me out of the door. I trailed after them in a daze. Where were they taking me?
More importantly, would I like it?

Chapter 4: Reactions

On Monday morning, I walked into school, in through the gates, as normal. But something was different. I looked towards the corner that Rin usually sat in, on his laptop. He wasn't there. Instead, he was sitting on my picnic bench, right by the gates - the one that I usually sat and had lunch at. He was draped across the table part, lying on the varnished wood, twirling a daisy in his hand. The sight nearly made me laugh, but I decided against it. Instead I walked up to him and smiled.
"Hey," I said. People were already staring, shocked that I was talking to him.
"Hello, Alexiel," Rin replied. "For you." He finger-combed my hair out of the way and slid the daisy into my hair. I smiled and blushed lightly.
"Thanks." Now, nearly everyone was frozen to the spot, gaping. Rin Wakely was talking to me. It was unheard of. Impossible.
A group of three girls marched over, like queens. They were standing tall, chins slightly raised, back arched. They swung bags of Juicy Couture and Chanel and walked in Jimmy Choos.
"Oh, how sweet. Alexiel Stevenson and Rin Wakely. I would never of suspected," the tall blonde one said.
"Ralexiel," giggled the small brunette. They all slapped high-fives.
"So tell us, Lexi, what made you choose him?"
"Yeah, you're such opposites," the skinny redhead said.
I blinked at the girls. And again. And again.
"Alesha, don't be so rude," Cele laughed, punching Alesha in the arm.
"Yeah, Lexi has the right to go out with who she wants," Lani said innocently, and did the biggest fake-smile in the history of the world. All three of them cracked up.
Were these really my friends? Were they really this mean? Had I never realised it before? I shook my head and sat down next to Rin, close to tears.
"Why are you such *****es?" Rin asked, edging closer to me protectively. "Aren't you supposed to be Alexiel's friends?"
"Ooh, he used the B word!" Lani squealed.
"How rude," Cele sniffed.
"Totally rude," Alesha agreed. I narrowed my eyes and stood up.
"I can't believe I used to hang out with you," I hissed at them.
"What are you gonna do? Love us to death?" Cele asked. I narrowed my eyes even further, and pushed her. Hard.
Cele fell to the ground. "Ehmagawd, Lexi! What a joke!" Alesha exclaimed. I pushed her, too. She tripped over Cele's leg and fell.
"Well, you're nawt gonna push me," Lani declared, folding her arms across her chest. I folded my arms across my chest, mirroring her.
"You wanna bet?" I said, and shoved her harder than Cele and Alesha. She shrieked, and threw her hand out to grab onto something. I quickly looked over to where she was throwing her arm around, and gasped in delight.
Lani's hand went straight into the compost bin. She screeched, and lifted her arm up. It was covered in smelly compost, bits of apple, mushy banana and banana skins, leftovers from yesterday's roast dinner... she squealed in disgust and I slapped high-fives with Rin.
I couldn't believe I used to be one of them. They weren't my friends. Evidently, they never were. Friends didn't do this sort of thing.
So I grabbed Rin and marched off, leaving my ex-friends strung across the ground and covered in compost.

Chapter 3: The Date at the Fair

I checked my outfit in the mirror one last time, taking deep breaths, in and out. Normal people wouldn't be scared for a first date. Well, I definitely was. I was wearing a cute outfit; long lime green top with a chunky white patent belt, white skinny jeans and black patent flats. A black beret was slung over my head and my blonde hair cascaded down in curls. I was dressed to impress, but on the inside I felt sick. I was meeting Rin. The school loner. What if he liked tomboy-types? Or glamour cats? Or goths?
Well, okay. I was acting paranoid. If he liked tomboys, glamour cats and goths, he wouldn't have asked me out. I took one long breath, smiled in the mirror, and walked out of my bedroom, down the stairs, out of the door... and into the rain. I yelled out as a great wall of water cascaded directly onto me. I ran inside to get my new lime green umbrella. Luckily, it matched my outfit. I frowned. Hadn't that been a shade darker just yesterday? I shrugged it off and began my walk to the fair in the rain.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Boo," a voice came from behind me, and I screamed. I spun round to see Rin laughing at me. I turned bright red and rolled my eyes playfully.
"Hi," I said. "Nice to see you too." He laughed, and I laughed with him. I looked on at the fair; the glittering, rainbow-flashing lights, the playful music, the glowsticks and cotton candy. Above us was the full moon in the dark, star-studded sky.
"You wanna go get a hotdog?" Rin asked, tapping his finger on his thigh to a beat that was playing in his head. I nodded and got my purse out. Rin slapped my hand gently. "I'll pay," he insisted. I opened my mouth to argue, but he pressed a finger to my mouth. My heart raced. His finger was soft and smelt of Drakkar Noir cologne. I closed my mouth and smiled shyly, walking towards the hotdog trailer with him.
Once we'd got our hotdogs, we began heading round the fair clockwise. Directly on our left was a coconut shy, lit up by pink candles. Rin handed over a five dollar bill to the guy, and was handed five squishy tennis balls. The first time he missed. The second time he hit the edge of a coconut but didn't manage to knock it down. The third time he missed. The fourth time, he missed again. I held my breath as he drew back his arm for the final go.
He let out a heaving breath as he threw the ball at a large coconut. The coconut wobbled... and fell off the edge of the pole. Me and Rin cheered, slapping high-fives. From the shelf of cuddly toys, Rin narrowed his eyes as he tried to choose. Pick the purple bear, I willed in my head. Pick the bear. The purple one. Yes. The purple bear... Rin reached up to the top shelf and pulled down a big purple bear, handing it to me. I gasped, and a smile broke out on my face.
"Thank you!" I squeaked, holding the bear on my hip. Rin smiled at me and I smiled back.

~~~~~~~~~~

The rest of the night was a blur. At the end of the evening, me and Rin were sitting in a cart on the big ferris wheel, overlooking the fair. Not that we looked out at the crowds at all. We were too busy kissing to notice.

Chapter 2: Sleepovers and Secrets

"WHAT?" yelled Cele, jumping onto my bed so hard that one of the springs might have broken.
"You're not being serious!" Lani gasped.
"Gah-d, Lexi, you just hit a new all-time low!"
"Like, the lowest all-time low since... since all-time lowness!" Alesha screeched. I sighed and flopped onto the bed beside Cele.
"Well, he's kinda cute. Freaky, but cute," I said, shrugging. My friends stared at me like I'd just announced I was going to jump of a cliff in a clown suit.
"He is nawt cute! He's just freaky, annoying, a loner, and... and..." Lani trailed off.
"Cute?" I finished for her, grinning.
Lani huffed. "Well, maybe a little bit. But you cannot go out with Rin Wakely. It's like suicide, Alexiel. For yourself, and us."
"Yeah, we'll go down once people realise that we're friends with Rin Wakely's girlfriend!" Cele said. I held my head in my hands. How could they be so unsupportive? Rin and I had a date tomorrow at exactly 6:30, at the fair. He hadn't let me forget about it. And my friends were trying to pursuede me not to go.
"Guys, I want to go tomorrow. So I am going, okay?" I said, finally sick of their protesting. They couldn't tell me what to do and who to like and who to go on a date with.
"You're absolutely mad," Alesha said.
"Totally mad," Lani said.
"Incredibly mad," Cele finished.
"But you can't tell anybody, okay?" I said firmly. They nodded. "Pinky promise." We all got in a circle, locked pinkies and shook. I sighed in relief. This secret was to stay a secret.

Chapter 1: The Mysterious Boy

Every day I get up in the morning, catch the school bus, arrive at school and go to lessons. The lessons are boring, I admit; the same this-and-that every day, English, Maths, Science, burning my finger on a Bunsen burner... but there's one thing that makes my life interesting every day, and that's the dark figure I see every day in the lunch break.
I catch a glimpse of his face sometimes. He has dark red eyes, pale skin, but instead of snow-white hair like an albino, dark brown hair flops into his eyes. It is spiky, but he doesn't use gel like the other guys. It's naturally jagged, messy. Split ends that don't make him look trashy, just mysterious. He dresses in black. Nobody knows much about him. He comes from an unknown family. He hangs by himself. A loner. Nobody dares to speak to him. Nobody acknowledges him but me. He acknowledges me too. Sometimes I see him watching me, wondering what I'm about to do next. It's pretty scary, but comforting at the same time.
None of my friends are interested in him. They say he's creepy, weird, a freak. I agree with them, just for the show. But really I admire him, in a creepy kind of way. He's fourteen, I'm twelve, but there's something thrilling about him. That blank look in his eyes. They flash sometimes; I see them, bright, gleaming, shining like the sun.
Once I looked at his records in the staff office. He's called Rin and he lives on 27 Black Street. His parents are lazy, alcoholics. Incapable of looking after him. So he looks after himself, and once I heard that he looks after an 8-year-old girl from the elementary school a few blocks down. Selena, she's called. Such independence for a fourteen-year-old.
Today I sit on the bench. Some of my friends are in detention. My very best friend Cele is at the dentist. So I sit on my own, eating my lunch, the sun shining down on me. I look at the boy. He looks up at me and I turn away quickly. I hear footsteps. He's coming. He's coming closer.
"Hi," he says, in a voice so deep, foreign to me, so gruff that I scream aloud. I've never heard him speak before. It's a shock.
Rin looks amused, and opens his mouth to speak. I clutch my cell phone in case I have to dial 911. Will he threaten me? Breath fire? Say he's from a secret organisation and he's out to get me?
I cower away as he begins to speak, holding my breath, clutching my phone so tight my knuckles are turning white... "Would you like to go out with me sometime?"