[i]Cassidy Lynn Daniels[/i]

"What," Cassidy asked, "Is a first meal at a new school without a trip to the ER? Burning makes for a good story. I don't use my left hand that much anyways. Cass turned as Lupe approached, and had an immediate rapport for the girl-she was bold, willfully awkward, and, of course, a flatterer. [i]We will get along famously[/i]. "A friend? My my, Mr. Bellasquez, I was a mere stranger fifteen minutes ago. I'm moving up in the world." Cass raised an eyebrow, admiring the girl's luminescent form. Yes, this Academy would certainly be very interesting-two walking lightshows already! The Fourth Of July alone would make the whole ordeal worthwhile. Assuming, of course, the power was restored and no bloodthirsty monsters devoured them. Perhaps Diego's ghost just needed a friend. "Pleasure to meet you, Miss Lupe. With lights like that, I imagine you're a big hit at raves." Cass' grin never wavered, and she took the whole mini crisis-which seemed to be steadily worsening, what with the general aura of panic and fear that was seeping through the cafeteria-with wonderful decorum. This, of course, is because she was entering the same state of denial that she normally utilized to combat all her fears. The whole world's a stage, and life's just a matter of not breaking character. She slid her hair back into place, away from her eye, and threw her jacket over her shoulder. These were subtle but definite tells-something did tell Miss Daniels that, in a school full of the superhuman, there were very few things that could be attributed to pure coincidence or accident. Lights going out, the hints of distant screams, and the rapidly spreading mob panic were all less-than-comforting. She would be ready. She toyed with the knife as she cut her chicken, calmly chewing another bite. Someone more observant may have noticed that her spoon had disappeared into thin air.

And once Diego and Lupe turned to examine Harmon-who, Cass could confidently say, was the strangest thing she had ever witnessed in her life-her knife followed suit. Cass slid out of her suit, idly walking up to the panicked (she thought-it's rather difficult to gauge when one looks as Harmon does) individual and sizing up the situation. Tricksy, tricksy. Someone was pulling one morbid prank, or there was a ghost amongst them. Cass viewed either option with equal parts hesitation and eagerness: whether someone's comedic tastes were this dark, or a threat was so easily able to slip into the school, it did not bode well. "Well," Cass quipped, "I think it's important we all try and save face in this situatio-"

Her less-than-tasteful pun was interrupted by something slamming against the door, and her facade wavered for a moment as she flinched back. One of the few genuine, combat-ready powers available to Cass was her superior reflexes and dexterity-Cass had recovered by the time the others were flinching, and she she stood ready to throw her coat at whatever burst through the doors. She was not a fighter, but she was an improviser-she would roll with the punches now and shiver with the bruises later.

Time to plan. As adrenaline soaked through Cassidy Lynn Daniel's cells, tempered by the experience of dozens of high stress situations before, her mind began to run through options in double-time. Escape. Running away. Not a possibility. More noises. Either the creature is fast or there are several. Bad decision to flee now-strength in numbers. Stay in the kitchen, leave if it gets in. Use other students as distractions.

Cass's thoughts stutter-stepped over this abhorrent pragmatism. [i]I don't want to die here.[/i]

Fight, then. Yes. Cassidy did not have access to her sword, which was locked up in her room-of course. Perhaps she could ask politely to be allowed to fetch it before fighting for her life. "Miss Lupe, Diego, Harmon, I believe your name was, I'll return shortly," Cass side, a slightly higher inflection to her voice the only betrayal of her nerves. One hell of a first day, no? If this did turn out to be a prank, they wouldn't be turning Cassidy into a whimpering wretch over it. Cass turned and briskly walked to the silverware, grabbing a few more knives and tucking them into her sleeves-no, wait. That couldn't be it-her hands fell back to her sides and no dull kitchen knives came tumbling out. Where had they gone? Cass proceeded to move to the condiments area, where she repeated this trick with a hypertension-inducing sized pile of salt. Cass scanned the room one final time. They wouldn't let her back behind the counters to get her hands on some boiling oil or steak knives. This would suffice. 

"Float like a butterfly, old girl," Cass murmured to herself, returning to the trio with her blue eyes sparkling with forced confidence. She observed the whatever-it-was slamming into the door and cocked her head to one side, one hand hanging onto the coat hanging over her shoulder, the other with tense fingers dancing by her side. 

"Come out, come out, wherever you are..." Cass murmured.