"Oh she's probably freaked out about some exam and a teacher giving her an A minus on a paper." Ash rolled her own eyes and finished her breakfast in a couple bites. Then turned to Zaylin, "If you want facts about Schwartz, ask Rivers. Everything else is rumor and hearsay. The lake won't tell it's secrets. The cops have no clues." Ash stood up picking her bag off the ground. "We still good for tonight?" Ash asked Jamie. A hint of glee in her voice at the mere idea of sneaking off to the lake during the bonfire. The grin on Jamie's face basically answered the question for her. "Aye." Jamie added and Ash favored him with a bright grin. "Awesome. See you at the bonfire then. Toodles everyone." Ash gave them all a wave and walked off to her first class, even though there was still a good fifteen minutes before classes started.

Kyle Messor Kyle listened to the conversation with noticeable, uncomfortable interest. Kyle was there when the girl died, of course. It happened weeks before she appeared by the lake. Nobody knew her fate until it was far, far too late. But they didn't even know the half of it. Kyle, unfortunately, was in the business of knowing every excruciating detail. He is cursed in particular by his knowledge of Helen Schwartz. I've never seen something so... evil, he thought, gravely. Reluctantly, he began to reflect on what he knew of that fateful day. The day was December 21^st; early in the morning (or late at night, depending on how you see it). Schwartz had been missing for nearly a week, and everyone on campus was feeling uneasy. When Kyle woke up in the middle of a deep slumber, his first thought was that he couldn't believe he had just woken up. He was in the middle of a... dream, and he was about to – well, nevermind that, actually. Then he recognized the familiar, tugging feeling in his gut; he knew someone was about to die, and he had to be there when they did. Hurry up you dolt, the voice that Kyle hated so, so much growled in his mind. This is no time for erotic dreams. Kyle blushed involuntarily at Death's brash statement, although it was decidedly dark in his room, and more importantly empty of anyone but him. Without another moment's delay, he strode over to the window, pushed it open, and climbed onto the ledge. Closing his eyes, the skin dissolved from his face; shadowy wings sprouted from his shoulder blades, and the shadows in his room gathered to form a matching cloak. At this point, Death mostly took over at this point, as it always does. He leaned forward, falling out the window and with a flap of his most bizarre wings, he began to fly. "Where are we headed?" Kyle asked the voice. To a basement. Not far, it replied simply. They soared the rest of the way in silence, and when they landed Kyle could tell something was amiss. Silently, Kyle – piloted by Death – opened the basement entrance and climbed down the stairs, closing it behind him. The scene that lay before him... you'd think it was a real life horror story. And you'd then be surprised by just how correct that description turns out to be. Lit candles on the floor formed a circle, and in the center was... oh god. It was the missing girl from school. Helen Schwartz. She was chained by the wrists and ankles to the floor, in the spread eagle position, with runes etched into her skin. Her face bore a twisted expression; it was clear she had been crying, but lost the energy to cry long ago. And it was for good reason that she cried, for she had been subjected to the worst suffering imaginable. A human couldn't begin to understand what exactly she went through. To Kyle, though, it was clear, too clear. She had undergone severe spiritual torture. Examining her more closely, it became apparent that although her body was spread-eagle, her soul – what was left of it – was in the fetal position, begging for it all to be over. But nobody was there to hear the begging. No, when poor little Helen died, she was very much shattered; very much alone. Kyle kneeled down and picked up her soul, and was deeply disturbed by it. She was definitely... supernatural, but... I don't know. Her soul was so fucked up when she died, I have no idea what she could possibly have been. There were runes covering what was left of her soul, the same ones etched onto her physical body. It was by far the most disturbing pickup I've ever done, Kyle thought in hindsight, sighing. Bringing himself back to the present, Kyle attacked his breakfast, inwardly demanding that it distract him from his dark thoughts. Of course, his pancakes failed to respond, instead oozing it's maple syrup onto the plate lazily. Kyle sighed again, this time at the pathetic display of his pancakes. He turned to his bacon, hoping they would put up a more valiant effort. His bacon didn't dissapoint. Of course, bacon could never dissapoint anyone, besides perhaps a vegetarian. Or a pig, Kyle thought dryly. Realizing he was talking to his breakfast as if it was his opponent in a duel, he shook his head, pushing the absurdity past him. Looking up again, he found himself gazing at Jamie, and immediately he remembered his current predicament, which his predicament of the previous year had distracted him from. He offered to Jamie a cold, warning glare. Don't, he mentally warned. Of course, even as he did so Kyle knew that it would only serve to challenge him. And look where that took me last time, Kyle grumbled to himself as he began to pick at his food once more.

Zaylin glanced to the boy that Ash mentioned as he sat eating breakfast by himself. As Ash continued speaking, Zaylin glared at her overly dramatic tone. She startled at Amy’s outburst, her attention turning to the girl as Amy stood and walked away in a huff. She snorted at Ash’s blind thought on Amy storming off. “Or it could have something to do with your disrespect for the dead,” she said with a glower. “Well,” she began darkly with a glance at her watch, “thanks for the info, at least.” She glanced to Luca, her expression lightening a bit. “Glad we could be officially introduced. Maybe I’ll see you at the bonfire tonight.” Picking up her own bag as Ash stood, she slung it over her shoulder. Grabbing her plate, she quickly disposed of the remaining bits of food. She paused a moment, looking between the boy, Sam Rivers, and where Amy had disappeared. I’ll probably see him tomorrow morning, she thought, then hurried after Amy. Catching sight of her in the halls, Zaylin followed. “Hey,” she said as she caught up. “Sorry if I initiated something back there. I didn’t mean any harm.”

"Oh it's not your fault. Ash and I don't get along, we used to. For the first couple of weeks of school last year, but we had a falling out." Amy explained. "She's hard to understand." She shrugged. "I'm sorry for leaving like that. It wasn't anything against you."

Kyle Messor "Definitely not to be!" Kyle called to Jamie as he left, genuinely surprised that that was all Jamie had to say... for now. Finished with his breakfast, Kyle stood up and left, heading for his first class. As he walked out, he quietly withdrew back into his shell – only with his few friends did he act, well, normal. Otherwise, he was the kid who sat in the back of the room, only speaking when spoken to and socializing as little as possible. He knew it isn't how he should be, how he was before... everything changed. But what can he do? When you see some of the things that he sees, you wouldn't want to have friends either, and risk them vanishing from his life, never to be seen again. To collect the soul of someone you care about... that's something Kyle doesn't ever want to do again.

The rest of the school day was rather uneventful. Classes went by, hall chatter was made. Finally practices were over and the students started to gather around the bonfire. The bonfire was built behind the school in a space that had been specially cleared out years prior. Three bonfires were held each school year. The first for Homecoming. The second to herald the start of Winter break, and the third to close out the school year. As the sun neared the horizon, hidden behind the trees that heavily surrounded Northwood academy the Captain of the football team leaned over with a well lit fire torch and the bonfire took to flame. Applause rang out over the crowd. Technically the bonfire had an attendance required rule, but many students tended to wander off after the fire was lit. Despite saying she wouldn't be there Lenora Géroux was in fact watching the bonfire. Several teachers walked amongst the students with a cooler of drinks (water, juice and milk). Lenora watched, her eyes bright with excitement. No one would see her as she stood there absorbing the auras of her students. As the fire brightened, so did the student's auras. She knew who was special, many had been hand picked to come to the school, but it was a matter of finding the right one. Sometimes, on a rare occasion, Lenora would pick two students. No one outside the school ever knew. The teachers didn't even know, but that was because of Lenora. She had more than a few tricks up her sleeves. Lenora Géroux was a witch. She feed off of potential, usually students with the most potential were those like Zaylin or Martha Jacobs. Last year it had been Helen. That had gone wrong though. Yes Lenora had gotten her feeding from the girl, but her body should have never been found. That was an oversight Lenora had no intention of repeating. That had weakened her though. It had taken so much of her energy to ensure that the police investigation didn't uncover Northwood's disturbing history. She absolutely hated it when the didn't disappear like they were supposed to. She had had to clean up a few messes like Helen Schwartz in the past. And they were always a pain in the ass for her to deal with. Thankfully, Lenora was the kind of woman who always had a backup plan. This year was worrisome for Lenora. The Helen issue had caused enough of a ripple through the students that their curiosity was getting the better of them. She could say she hated when they knew something was up, but it was almost like a game of cat and mouse. Not only was it fun, but it was very easy to end the game if she needed to. She had done so in the past. Lenora Géroux had done a lot of things in the past.

Stephen O'Connell Stephen looked into the fire, and felt the warmth of it on his skin. The fire was almost entrancing, it was so beautiful. It reminded him of his childhood, when he would go into the woods with his brothers and light a fire, almost every winter night. However, this was, different. Perhaps it was the students talking all around him. But Stephen could sense something else, like someone was there, watching his every move, but wasn't seen. Stephen shrugged it off as a memory. Suddenly, Stephen became aware of the time, and realised that he had to hand out some snacks. He threw groups of students some packets of marshmallows, and small bags of sticks for the students to eat them on, and possibly roast them. James Mason James went to the bonfire, like all students, and sat down with the rest, or most of, the football team. He began looking around to see where Jamie was, but just attributed that to him liking Ash, and probably being with her. Maybe he'd sneak off to see them, it's not like he wanted the be at the bonfire anyway, it was too hot. As he was looking around, he managed to get hit in the face with a packet of marshmallows thrown by a teacher.

Amy Snow Before the start of the fire Amy had found Luca and Zaylin, hoping they'd hang out with her around the fire. Amy loved the bonfire. She had loved it the year prior, and wasn't about to let anything about that change. As an extrovert, Amy prefers being around people, even if she is a bit shy with talking to them. She happily roasted a marshmallow, and ate the gooey mess sans graham cracker or chocolate. Amy was thankful for the water and used it to wash the sticky mess off of her fingers. Ash Mareinos Ash made her appearance at the bonfire, long enough for Miss Reese to hand her a juice and then she hunted down Jamie. She had stashed a bag behind a tree part of the way to the lake, and intended on picking it up on the way to the lake. It was just 6:30 now and they had time until curfew, which wasn't until 10:15 that evening. She was beaming with excitement. "Jamie." She said from behind her friend. "Ready?"

“I figured it wasn’t entirely my fault,” Zaylin began, glancing to her watch. “Well, I should get to class. Good meeting you! Maybe I’ll see you tonight.” With that, she hurried to her first class of the day. That day seemed to drone on, the atmosphere lighter than normal as conversations buzzed about the bonfire. As the school day came to a close and the time of the fire neared, she deposited her school stuff in her room. Stopping to put on the necklace her parents had given her as a parting gift, the chain adorned with rubies and onyx, and an elegant, silver medallion with her family’s crest hanging at its center, she then headed out, glad for an excuse to be outside when night finally fell. When Amy found her, Zaylin gladly joined the other two girls around the fire, a bottle of water in hand, which she occasionally tossed up, catching it by the opposite end. Her eyes often strayed to the flames, their glowing tendrils dancing and flickering. She had always had a respect for fire, for its ability to both destroy and sustain life. As she declined the offer of a s’more, a strange, uneasy feeling made the hairs on her neck stand on end. Her brows furrowing, she looked around at the multitude of other students and paroling teachers, but saw nothing out of the ordinary. Turning slowly back around, she took a swig from her water bottle. “You know,” Zaylin replaced the bottle’s cap, “all this is missing is a band with a tambourine and bunch of dancing gypsies.” She grinned at the thought.

Amy Snow "I wonder if my mother was a Gypsy." Amy said mostly under her breath. It was an often thought of hers of what life she could have had. What 'orphan' doesn't have those thoughts. Admittedly even still Amy believed that not having a past gave her great opportunities to become whoever she wanted to become. "But yeah, I don't think those exist here." She recovered, this time speaking louder as if hoping she'd drown out her own previous comment. Amy drank from her water. "If I knew how to play an instrument I'd totally pull it out right now and play it though. I think that'd be wonderful." Ash Mareinos Ash grinned and led the way to where she had stashed her bag. Away from the fire the night was cool and her skin goose pimpled. Once Ash had her bag the two hurried, with only the light of the sky to light their way. Ash's feet knew the way though. She could probably have found the lake if blindfolded. Both of the students were in good shape, but it was still a long walk to the lake. Once there Ash took a deep breath and hid behind a tree to change into her swim suit.

Zaylin gave an animated sad sigh at Luca’s comment. “Sad, isn’t it?” She tilted her head toward Amy ad laughed as she caught Amy’s soft words. “Sometimes I swear my grandma’s one of those old, crazy gypsies. But don’t tell her I said that.” Zaylin stretched her back as the gentle, comforting tingle of the arriving night rose through her. She glanced up at the darkening sky, relishing the extra sense of strength, power, and confidence that bubbled up from her dragon blood. “Well, we could always randomly break out in song and see if anyone joins.” She paused, thinking about that a minute. “Or not. That might be a bit too weird. So, is socializing, staring at a fire, and eating s’mores the extent of tonight’s activities?”

As if to answer Zaylin's question, and desire, the marching band came out with their instruments. They started playing pep songs. Amy looked over to Zaylin, "Well there you go. Not quite the same sadly. The rest of it is pretty much just that though." Amy explained, realizing she was the only one out of the small group that had been to a Bonfire at Northwood before.

Zaylin couldn’t help but laugh as the marching band emerged, their instruments blaring. “Talk about perfect timing.” She glanced to the fire as it crackled and spit. It flared up momentarily as one of the teachers fed the hungry flames, then returned to a normal blaze. As the darkness finally settled over them, she began to tap her foot restlessly to the beat of the music. “I think one of the trumpet players is slightly off key,” she observed, standing and stretching. “I’m going to go walk around. You’re welcome to join if you want,” she glanced at Amy and Luca before taking a couple steps away.

Kyle Messor ^{Featuring: Amy Snow} As Kyle stared into the fire, sitting alone on a makeshift log bench, he was utterly puzzled. Death rarely spoke when there wasn't, well, death nearby, and when it did it was always calm, albeit possibly irritated at Kyle for one reason or another. But Death was speaking – screaming, rather – to him now, and as he looked around, it was clear to Kyle that nobody was dying any time soon. Even worse, Kyle had no idea what Death was throwing a fit about – it was all in Latin. He could make out a few words though: cheat, a number – it could be 40, 400, or 4000; he doesn't know Latin well enough to tell – and so close. Alone, these details make absolutely no sense, and thinking about it is only making his headache worse. Kyle groaned, rubbing his temples. A few moments later, he heard someone stop, behind him. They whispered something to the other girls they were walking with, and approached Kyle cautiously. "Kyle?" Amy asked, concerned. "Are you okay? You look pale, and in pain." She sat down on the log next to him. Kyle looked up at her. That girl from the library... Amy, I think? "No, I'm–I'm fine," he answered, gritting his teeth in obvious pain. Can you please shut up already? he inwardly chided Death angrily. LOREM IPSUM DOLOR SIT AMET, CON SECTETUR ADIPISCING ELIT! Death responded. Kyle groaned. Amy was not convinced. “Are you sure? It looks to me like more than just a headache,” she challenged quietly. Kyle looked at her annoyed, knowing he was fighting a losing battle. “I am fine, Amy.” He sighed, looking at the fire. “I expect your friends will be getting tired of waiting,” he added. Amy looked over her shoulder at Zaylin and Luca. After a moment, she learned towards Kyle and whispered in his ear, “I know what you are.” If it was possible, Kyle became even more pale. “You… you do?” he said, worried. Amy looked at Kyle like a puzzle that desperately needed solving, before laughing. “Yes, you’re sick of course! C’mon, let me take you to the nurse. Maybe she has some aspirin?” she insisted. Sighing again, Kyle reluctantly stood up and followed her, winding through the crowd in search of the nurse.

Amy had indeed followed Zaylin, but seeing the boy from the library look so miserable she had to do something. A quick word to Zaylin and Luca she had told them that she would make sure he got to a nurse okay. She was thankful he had been willing, well maybe not willing, to go with her. He did look quite miserable. The pair of them had never talked before. Just nods here and there. He seemed nice, and she remembered him from last year. Amy walked him over to the nurse who was sitting with Miss Reese. "Nurse Joy," Amy started. She didn't get any further into her explanation because the nurse took one look at the miserable looking Kyle and stood up. "Goodness, Mr. Messor you look just downright terrible. Come on let's get you to my office." Nurse Joy turned to Miss Reese, "Make sure if anyone gets hurt they know where I am." Miss Reese nodded, stood and started making rounds around the fire. "Miss Snow you and your friends can stay here. I'll take care of Mr. Messor."

Stephen O'Connell Stephen saw that Miss Reese got up and started walking around on her own. He liked Miss Reese, Teresa, he thought her name was. So what if there was an age gap? What's an age gap between two people who loved each other? Well, he loved her, he knew that much. If she loved him... he didn't know. She reminded him of his sister, in a way. Long, ginger hair, fair skin. Stephen walked over to Miss Reese. The two of them would have lovely Irish children, he thought. He got over to her, and opened his mouth, but no sounds came out. Shit, he thought, What if she thinks I'm a member of the IRA? Stephen closed his mouth, thankfully she hadn't noticed him. He attempted to speak to her again, "Hey," he said, hoping she would be able to understand him through his thick Irish accent, "How'd you like the fire?"

"Hello," Miss Reese smiled at Stephen. "You're one of the new teachers this year, O'Connell, right?" Terra smiled at the other teacher. "I love this." She waved her hand to indicate the fire and the activities. One of the teachers had a big bucket with apples in it and had started asking if anyone wanted to bob for apples. "Always have." Terra gives a slight pensive look at the fire.