Stevens shook her pen in her fingers, boring a hole through the teacher’s skull with her eyes. What a bore this lady was. Who knew someone could take a subject as interesting as this and make it so incredibly dull? Chemistry. What did this woman know about the subtler arts of mixing poisons and potions? Stevens was a good cook. She’d been one since she was a little girl, though she’d never admit that to anyone else. She was a very intuitive cooker, and it had taken very little effort for her to learn how to mix medicines and poisons as well, though she always made sure to store them

“Jane. I need you to keep this a secret, okay?”   Jane sighed, “Don’t make me do this, Rey. I owe you one, but still… Aaron would want to know.”   Freya Davidson, Arawn’s older twin sister, looked Jane hard in the eyes. “I didn’t tell you because I wanted him to know. I told you because you asked and I trust you.”   Jane bit her lip, as she always did when she was nervous. “Well… Fine. I won’t tell. But… Well, at least let me help you find him.”   Rey frowned. “I told you, I’m not sure if it’s him. He just… looked like him. He knows

“Isn’t it time we start thinking about Jane’s future?! She’s going off to college now, and I know you and Jane never really got along, but she’s still our daughter. At least when it comes to college…”   Jane Fleming was reclining in her chair in front of her computer, wearing her customary old khakis and t-shirt. Even though she wore no make-up, her delicate, pale face, offset by her light grey eyes and curly blonde hair, put one in mind of a Southern belle. The only jewelry she bore was a small stud earring, in the shape of a water droplet, in her right ear. She put her earphones

Aaron frowned in concentration. Math had never been his strong point. Admittedly, he’d been doing better ever since Rey had returned and started helping out with the younger ones, but the equations still swirled around his head endlessly. It was two weeks since the group had been discovered to be completely made up of shadows. Since then, they had been working together as a group when necessary. They had not, however, begun working together on homework. They were all too proud to ask for help from each other and too embarrassed by their families to invite each other to study groups, even if they were willing to ask for help.

“Look, Brian, look! Sarah has a room now too!” Sarah said, brightly, her brown eyes glinting excitedly. Sarah’s small blonde ponytail whipped back and forth as she took everything in.   Brian sighed as he allowed his petite, 5 year old sister to drag him around their new home. They really had to come following his older sister all the way to Medimnum, a tiny, suburban town that consisted of a few widely-spread houses, huh? Admittedly, the school system was supposed to be excellent and there was nothing lacking in terms of electricity or any other utility, but there was nothing to do. There were a few grocery stores and

Brian put his eye to the sight, locking onto the target. A bead of sweat traveled down his forehead and dripped off of his nose. He slowed his breathing, though he swore the beast could smell him. It was facing him, not moving, but goodness knows alligators move fast once they start. Brian stood at the edge of a large clearing with his semi-automatic Shadow rifle aimed carefully, his skinny frame not posing much of a threat to the predator in front of him. It had taken forever to assemble his rifle while trying not to made any sudden moves, but he somehow didn’t feel much safer even now that