Pandora's School for the Magically Gifted (Dorm 221)

"You don't have the courage to say that to his face, do you?" Adel deadpanned, giving him a coy grin. "I'm game, though. He's easily anywhere older than two hundreds year old." She nodded, satisfied with her answer.

Kalya let out a growl of disapproval, slamming her hand on the table which sent Shion shooting straight up into his seat. "That is enough Ki," Amin sighed, speaking for Kalya. "Your obviousness isn't needed right now."

Ki
"Obviousness? And here I thought I was being Coy... Drat Amin, it appears you have caught me in a state of rudeness, whatever shall I do?" Ki laughed loudly picking up his plate before disappearing into the kitchen, nodding to Adel in the silent way he did which signaled he wouldn't mind if she came along.

Amin ignored Ki's banter, eating from his plate in silence. He stared up at Adel in shock when she got up and excused herself. "I need to go get something more to drink," she offered to him and Kalya, leaving the table and going to the kitchen. Amin frowned, knowing that the drinks he had left at the table were Adel's favorite.

"Don't let Ki's banter bother you too much Amin," Kayani offered to the boy, shrugging. "He gets out of line, but he's using it as a crutch."

Adel waltzed into the room, going to the fridge and grabbing a can of soda she had hidden there earlier. She glanced at Ki, heading back to the door. "Something got you in a more uppity mood than usual?"

"Speaking of sisters," Bambi laughed awkwardly, "I should apologize for Bo, today..." Bambi admitted (once Ki was gone) turning towards Shion, biting her bottom lip.

"She's the most boy crazy seven year old on the planet... I'm hoping she'll find another crush soon," Bambi sighed a huff of air escaping from her throat as she rolled her eyes with aggravation. "Kal, she proposed to him, climbed onto the picnic table before I could grab her and proposed in front of everyone...."

"Mother would be mortified," Bambi grumbled. "I thought I should worn you before she comes to visit tomorrow night," she admitted painfully. "My sister... boy crazy? She should be studying," she offered bitterly after a long pause.

Ki
"Hmmh," Ki mumbled stealing a sip from her soda before handing it back to her, turning back around he pulled himself onto the counter.

"I have no clue what you're even talking about Addie," he joked softly using the nickname he'd came up with a while back.

"I am never uppity," he laughed without smiling.

"I said before and I'll say it again. You're not as great at lying and crap as you think, Hiroki," Adel snickered, narrowing her eyes at the boy as she took her soda back. Following him to the counter, she stood, facing him with a slightly confused expression.

"You're the king of uppity," she remarked, putting the coke next to him and crossing her arms. "Now what's up? you wouldn't call me in here like some mafia boss if there wasn't something up."

Ki
A frown fell onto his face, "I'm just tired, it's a lot of work being the king of uppity, and I'm just tired," he admitted after a second, his long green fingers playing a silent melody against the cool can, slipping every-so-often on the droplets of condensation.

Ki closed his eyes for a moment resting them, "I'm not kiddypool shallow I have shit going on just like everyone else, I just can't go complaining to Kalya every time I stub my toe... Everyone needs to stop bitching and toughen up." He replied with sharp cold eyes.

"She needs to stop babying them, the weak become the prey it's just nature, she's making them weak, by treating them like babies... They all are, something is going to happen and it's not going to be my fault, I'm just saying... I shouldn't have to be nice to people when I don't want to- it's lying and it's not right, Addie." he finally said frankly.

"Doesn't mean you don't come across as an ass, though," she remarked honestly, shrugging. "I plead the fifth to the other comments, though. Or however that American saying goes."

"The uppity comment was a sarcastic joke, Ki. I meant you're poking at a lot of people with sticks today. If it's so much work, give it a rest for a bit. Like you said, stuff will happen. They'll deal with it. It's not your responsibility to show them how unfair the world is."

Adel sighed, joining Ki on the counter. "Ryker is almost as old as you, or older. Is he a child too? Naive and stupid? i don't know." She glanced uncertainly at Ki, "Maybe I'm rambling. But in any case, no one said you had to lie. Keep being brutally Hiroki-styled honest."

"Straightforward, right." Bambi mumbled into her drink rolling her eyes as she thought about the way her sister was, her fascination over the male population; one Bambi'd never really had herself. Bo was more like Alice, her head shoved somewhere in the clouds... Practicality was not the kid's specialty.

"We did not come halfway across the world for love," Bambi finally admitted with a worried frown. "Mother and father are paying for her education, not fancy. Sometimes I feel as if I'm the only one who understands the educational importance of this school, so much drama and such... Hmmh," Bambi whispered at the end getting lost in thought about what needed to be done.

"May I be excused? I need to start on the kitchen if I wish to have time to practice my flashcards before bed," Bambi spoke to Kalya before excusing herself to the kitchen with her plates, only giving Ki and Adel a dirty look as she interrupted their conversation.

Dishes splashing loudly in the drawn water of the sink.

Adel frowned, her eyebrows knitting together as she was about to answer Hiroki. He left before she had the chance, though. That was odd, though. Omissions... "Why ask such questions if you don't wait for a response?" she mused. She sighed, turning to Bambi, crossing her arms. "Such looks will become etched on your face forever, Bibi. What have I done to offend you?" She pressed, coming next to the girl to grab a washcloth when Amin came in as well.

"It was for him," Bambi replied not turning around as she worked on the stack of dishes. "I guess you were standing close enough to him for it to be easily misconstrued. You should think about that, he is a bully after all. What do you think Amin?" Bambi asked noticing as the other boy entered the room.

Adel got to work helping the witch doctor, smiling at Amin who came to join them. "What people think of me is of no importance. If they decide I'm not worth their time because of one acquaintance, well, that's their business." Amin coughed, as Adel eyed him, a soft frown to her lips. Amin came to join them. "Adel can make her own choices," he allowed, before frowning back at his sister. "Though I worry about some of her company sometimes..."

Adel shrugged, brushing off the criticism easily. "Granted." Amin sighed, asking her about dinner. "If you'd like, I'll do dishes tonight Bibi. After I finish eating," Adel clarified. "So you have more time to study."

Bambi smiled, nodding to Adel, "That would be nice, I could get started on next weeks work," she mused the last part to herself as she finished the dish she was currently working on. "But I promised Kal I would do it; if I started letting you do all my work I'll get lazy," Bambi laughed shaking her head, "So I think I'll finish up in here but thanks for the offer," Bambi continued, "I'm sure Shion will end up here in a few anyways... He's surprisingly good at drying," Bambi complemented while vigorously scrubbing. Although they had a dishwasher she preferred to do them the old fashioned way, in her mind hand scrubbing got the job done better.

Ryker's fingers shook as he tried to calmly pull his motorcycle over to the side of the road. If his heart could beat it would be screaming. Thank God it was him, thank God Kalyani hadn't gone looking.

His eyes were not super-charged but it wouldn't take a Vampire to see the mangled body lying a few feet away in the ditch. She wasn't moving, she wasn't making a sound...

Digging into his pocket Ryker found it hard to extract his phone, and even harder to dial the correct number as he stared at the unmoving girl curled into a ball at the bottom of the grassy hill next to the gravel road.

Swallowing hard before he spoke Ryker took careful, slow steps towards the overwhelming smell of burnt flesh and blood. If anyone had to find her like this it should be him, he was the warrior, the oldest, the soulless one who knew the moment she didn't answer her phone what had happened. This should be easy for him, he'd sent so many men to their graves screaming... She was already silent. This was for the best. Why should she matter, if not today it would be tomorrow perhaps.

Alice was a trusting child; pretty little girls who were naively kind always ended up dead. This time it just so happened not to be Sofie's fault. He'd thought it had been her fault. Here he'd been so preoccupied by Sofie's threats he hadn't paid any attention to other obvious dangers.

"Stupid, how could I have been so stupid?" he whispered to himself, pacing not daring to get any closer, girls didn't just lie in ditches, she was dead and now he didn't know what to do.

Usually in this situation Sofie would have him dig a hole and toss her in. But a Vampire didn't put her there and this was Alice. At least it used to be her, now it was just a body. It was only a body, there was no reason to involve himself anymore. He couldn't help her, even so what was he was going to tell Bambi or Shion?

"Kaly-" His voice cracked the second he heard her on the other end.

"I-I found her, Alice she's, Kalyani--I found her and..." a soft sob cut through the air like a knife (it wasn't his), silencing the Vampire before he could ask her to call the police, before he could ask her what she wanted him to do with the corpse.

The phone falling from his grasp, let out an audible clunk as it bounced across the gravel. Shaking Ryker dropped the phone a few more times before he was able to lift it to his face.

"She's- oh God," he moaned almost to himself as he took a careful step towards the now squirming mass. "Alissa?" he croaked, eyes staring in utter shock at the not-so-dead child. The wall of forced calm he'd created blown to hell. Dead he could handle, dead he could do nothing about. He was not obligated to do anything if she was dead, he wasn't obligated to feel anything. Why wasn't she dead?!

"A-Alice," he pleaded bottom lip trembling as he mentally begged for an answer. He wished he couldn't see through the shadows, couldn't see her pain. Now he was only a few feet away, panic written across his face. He didn't know what to do, she was alive, her blood was still pumping, poring out of her like a roaring river into his ears, the smell of burnt flesh and hair was not something only Vampires would notice it permeated the air, making him physically gag, and yet she was still alive. Why was she still alive?

That's when the words bubbled up from her shaking husk of a body like a fountain, "make it stop," she begged her usually sugar-sweet voice twisted into something which sent the boy to his knees. Panic ate away at his shock as sunlight would to his skin.

"S-Sh-She's not dead, and I thought she was dead a-a-and I was going to deal with it, it's my job to deal with it Kalyani! But she's alive, and bleeding and burned and dying and I don't know what to do! She asked me to stop it, I don't know how to stop it? How do I stop it?!" Ryker sobbed into the phone barely able to tell the teacher where they were before his shaking fingers dropped the phone. He didn't bother trying to pick it back up, instead dug his knees into the grass harder.

"Hey-Hey," he whispered hands inches from her skin, fear in his eyes as he bent over the trembling girl afraid to touch her, afraid to not. All along her body were large hand shaped burns, cuts, bruises, blood. His throat felt dry, the emotion he wanted to push out was beating him, the crawling feelings made it difficult for him to think clearly. He needed to inspect her, he needed to see what was really wrong. She wasn't dead, she wasn't dead and if he didn't save her this would be his fault too.

"Alleycat, I'm going to help you but I need to touch you, i-it's going to hurt," he explained trying to shut out the sound of Kalyani's voice yelling into the other end of the phone, even though it wasn't against his ear it was so loud, everything was so loud. She was so loud, why was Alice so loud?

Ryker couldn't stop his hands from shaking as her screams started, first low and startled then blood curling, as he pulled her out of her curled position and onto her back. She didn't fight him as he rolled her off of her side, and onto her back forcing her small body to uncoil even as she convulsed with pain.

Ryker needed to see the damage for himself, he needed to know now before his heart was ripped in two, before he gave too much, before he gave into false hope surrounding another soon to be dead little girl. Beating up thugs was one thing, dealing with Sofie was another, physical pain was something he'd grown used to but the unexplained tightness in his chest he felt and desperate words he muttered while quickly evaluating her body was not.

"Oh Alleycat," he whispered fingers still tangled in her singed hair, as he tried to reposition her, his other hand pulling carefully from behind Alice's knees. Her sweat slid across his arm as he pulled away from her soaked jeans, he knew it wasn't all sweat but at that moment he didn't care. Her jeans were unzipped, a new fear he hadn't even processed now registered.

"Okay, there you go," he whispered fingers checking her vitals, before pulling away, long blonde hair which fell from his hands made him growl. The only way her hair would have been damaged like that was if they had pulled her by it... Hands of fire.

The burns which littered her body, burned through clothes, and singed hair told him all he needed to know.

Grabbing for the phone Ryker knew Kalyani was still there, his mind unable to process what she was telling him, so he spoke instead, "It was fucking Fae, she's burning up, there's no Ice Kalyani, why is there no ice?" He whispered eyeing the sweat falling from her face. His hand sweeping across her feverish forehead. "Seelie, it was Seelie, it was Hiroki's friends, it had to have been! He hates her, he told them to do this, you've seen how he looks at her, he hates her and now he's tried to kill her because-because," a sob escaped Ryker's throat as he looked down at his blood covered hand, her blood was on his hand. Just above the top of her jeans was where the blood was coming from, a stab wound so strangely placed.

"Make him fix her, he has to know how to fix her, why would they do this to her? She never hurt anyone, she's a child," Everything was becoming foggy. He couldn't look at her, couldn't control what he was feeling, couldn't keep his cool. Blood there was too much blood, it coated his fingers, slick warm, so warm.

Alice had stopped screaming, she was so quiet, but still breathing, still pumping blood, he could hear it. He couldn't let things become foggy, not now! Not when she was still breathing, she needed him to do something, anything... He couldn't do this.

He stared at the liquid dripping from his palm in an almost hypnotizing daze. Trembling the phone was forgotten again as he ran his palm across his dry, chapped lips he felt his eyes roll with euphoria, the blood sinking into his skin. His tongue lapping up every single drop before looking for more, he wanted more. She had so much more, he wouldn't even need his teeth the blood was already free, Alice was his friend she'd want this, she'd said she was his friend, she'd offered once, he'd turned her down, she wouldn't mind now. Alice would do anything anyone asked her to, that was Alice, she always wanted to help, she was so sweet, like her blood.

Bending forward Ryker froze, as he saw the pain etched upon the burned girl's face, the fog lifting replacing itself with repulsion.

What was he doing?

"Oh God, oh God! I-I'm going to get you help," he whimpered in disgust, falling on his butt with shock, backpedaling.

Relief hit him as he heard a car door slamming.

"Ka-Kalyani, we're down here," He moaned turning his face away from the girl, not daring to look at her even as he squeezed her hand.

Shion had crashed through the kitchen door, shock on his face as he ran straight to Bambi, tears already streaming from his eyes. He hated that he was already crying, hated it, but Ryker's voice, they hadn't heard Ryker's voice. It had terrified him.

Kalya followed him quickly, her movements tense, the phone held between her ear and shoulder as she spoke with the utmost severity. "Ryker, Ryker answer me! Now!" She scowled as the line remained silent, save for the sound of shuffling that only Shion and her could hear.

"Shion," she started gently, pulling him to her. "Shion, hush, it'll be okay, calm down. Adel," she snapped, eyes piercing to the girl. "Call the ambulance, now." She gave her the directions, hoping to god Ryker had told her correctly. It was almost impossible to understand him with the way he was freaking out.

"Alice was attacked," she stated bluntly, not beating around the bush. They would know sooner or later, she needed to let them know. "Ryker is with her, I need to go with them. I'll be back, or I'll get someone to come get you guys to have a sleepover or something. but until then stay inside. Please." With that, she rushed out, hoping she could trust them, all of them.

~*~

The air was putrid, thick with the scent of blood, and unbreathable. it had hit Kalya almost immediately, a strange scent of burned flesh with Alice's blood- along with some foreign scent, which she suspected of being the assailants. Kalya slid as she went to Alice's side, her stomach heaving at the revolting smells and sight. The ambulance was on its way, she had told Adel, and the fire girl in turn had made sure of that.

Kalyani repressed her sobs. Alice was burning, way too hot for someone of her kind to be. Ryker hadn't been kidding. Ryker.

With him in her thoughts she whirled around, grabbing the boy by his shoulders. "Ryker, listen, honey, you need to calm down," she ordered. "Adel called the paramedics, they're on the way. I need you to get on up, go to the road, and flag them down. Now." She pushed him away, fighting the fast growing panic as she tore of the sweater she had been wearing, ripping it apart.

She tended to the most noticeable stab wounds, staunching the bleeding while avoiding the burns on Alice's body. "Alice, sweety, you'll be okay," she whispered, tears streaming down her face despite the fact she had told herself she would stay in control no matter what. Now was not the time to give in to fear.

She froze as a hand grabbed hers, a medic appearing next to her and she shook as they quickly yet gently took the little girl away. Kalya followed, bringing Ryker along with her. Neither of them were in any condition to head back, and the last thing the others needed was for more panic.

"Hey..." Bambi smiled turning her head towards the sound of the Kitsune rushed into the kitchen. Surprise entered her eyes as she saw his panic stricken state- the boy was freaking out. His words sloshed together like last week's cabbage stew. Bambi raised her eyes to the twins as she quickly wiped off the dish suds from her fingers and planted them on Shion's shaking shoulders.

"H-e-y," she said again this time slowly allowing the word to swell in the awkward sounds of his raspy breath. The twins had said nothing.

"What did Ki-" Bambi's accusation was cut off as a frazzled Kalyani burst through the door after him, Bambi released her curling fingers from his shoulders as Kalya pulled him to her. She watched the physical connection sooth him if only for a millisecond as their guardian spoke.

Her words were quick and to the point, no beating around the bush as she laid everything on the table which Bambi was thankful for... She did not like it when people treated her as a child, hiding things the needed to know. Knowledge was power- the power to make the correct decisions in times like this.

And then after dumping the information she simply left, no instructions, no one left in charge, no mention of where Rayna was.

All four stood shell shocked in place for a good five minutes, just processing. Eventually Bambi broke the silence and the distance, placing an arm around Shion's shaking shoulder she lightly fidgeted with his shirt collar before looking up at the twins, not daring to look at him in the face.

"I guess that makes me in charge, right?" She paused asking if it was okay for her to start figuring things out. It was one thing to boss Shion and Alice around but she felt like it needed to be a clear agreement before she started ordering those two around.

Amin stood in silence, not having uttered a word during the whole commotion. What the hell? He stared at Bambi as Adel tapped her fingers on her phone, an older model with a keyboard attached instead of the newer touchscreen smartphones. Strange how your focus changes when the world turns upside down, he thought, as he realized Bambi was talking.

"Do you hear either of us complaining?" He snapped, before realizing how rude he sounded. His hand shot up to his mouth, shock on his face as he shook his head. "Bambi, I'm...I'm sorry, that was...yeah, you go ahead and take charge. I'm not good with these...things." He glanced down as Adel finally moved, putting a comforting hand on Shion, who although he looked more composed, was still staring at the ground with a thinly veiled terrified expression.

"I'll go get Hiroki, and tell him what's happened," she stated, crouching slightly to be on level with the fox boys face. She took his face into her hands, stroking his hair back comfortingly. She was about to say something when Amin walked out the kitchen, causing her to look in his direction in confusion. She glanced back at Bambi, worry on her face. "What do you think we should do?"

Bambi blinked back shock as Amin (the usually passive twin) snapped at her. A scour forming on her lips as he excused it away before walking out of the room like a completely unhelpful child. "Your brother is too old for this shit," Bambi sighed as if there was nothing she could do about that, as she looked at the comforting teen, how natural she was with Shion... Bambi wished she'd thought to do that, but the idea of invading his personal space to such a degree had never even entered his mind.

"I'm going to finish these dishes, the last thing they need is a mess when they come home, when they all three come home," Bambi stressed to Shion specifically. "I think this calls for a living room camp-out." She smiled forcefully pausing as she continued to think, "We can take Pebbles for a walk tomorrow..." The girl whispered to herself after a moment before her eyes shooting up as the plan formulated in her head.

"Okay here's what's going to happen, Adel I'm going to need you and Shion to gather up all the blankets, pillows, fresh sheets and the like for the couch beds. Shion you are in charge of making comfy beds, Adel is going to be your personal assistant. I'm going to clean up the kitchen and get the snacks ready. When you guys run into Wonder Twin Zan, you can tell him to borrow Ki's Howl's Moving Castle and set up the moving T.V. set in the living room, he's the only one who knows how to work the outdated thing... We're going to watch a movie, eat some s'mores, and calm down. We all have classes in the morning and everyone is going to go to before class clubs, no exceptions. Oh, and tell Zan that he and Korean boy-band are both expected down stairs, or I'm coming up stairs." Bambi directed like a well organized mother. Her hands even sliding down to her hips as she took natural charge.

"I'm also going to try and find Rayna's cell phone number, Kalya has it in her office planner... So if you're looking for me and I'm not here, I'll be in her room," She nodded to herself before waiting for their responses.

Shion gazed at Adel in surprise as she smoothed his hair back, his face clasped in her hands. His eyes went from her face to Bambi's, their words coming out muddled and incomprehensible at first. His heart was racing and he just kept hearing Rykers voice. They were so calm, how could they be so calm, when Ryker of all people had sounded so terrified? Bambi was directing her words to him now and he focused on her, getting shivers as he thought of when they would come back. Bambi had never lied to him before, she wasn't like that. Surely he could believe her now...she was right, he was panicking and it would do no good. Alice would be fine and she would be back.

Adel stood up straighter, nodding at Bambi's orders, ignoring the jab at her brothers behavior.

"Sounds like a plan!" Adel chipped in, nudging Shion while putting on an excited expression. She didn't come across as obnoxiously excited and fake, her demeanor seemed to be more like someone who wanted to cheer someone else up but wasn't quite sure how. "Shion, you are the head captain right now. I have no idea what one does when building beds out of cushions." Shion hesitated, taking a long pause to gain his thoughts before stepping forward, leading the way to the living room. His stomach felt sick and he still felt his pulse racing a bit, but he ignored it, thinking of what they needed. After opening the door that he had just barged into, he stopped, surprised to see Amin sitting on the couch.

"Amin," Adel began, passing Shion and reaching her brother quite fast. He glanced at her, passive in demeanor yet bothered in his expression. "Hey..." Adel went to touch his hand gently, but he pulled away the minute she made contact. A frown settled itself on Adel's lips, as Amin stood up, finally taking notice of Shion. "He's been assigned bed making duty in the living room," Adel informed him softly, motioning to the t.v. system. "You get to connect the TV, and go get Ki from his room. Bambi's orders."

Amin nodded, getting up from his spot. "Shion, you'll need ammo for this bed. I'll bring some of our stuff from downstairs."

Shion grinned, and though it didn't reach his eyes, it was authentic. Amin departed from the room, heading upstairs slowly while Adel and Shion set to work. Shion's whole demeanor changed as he pulled pillows from the couch, moving tables around and telling Adel where he needed things to go. They began to go back and forth from their rooms, running for their pillows and blankets, and bean bag chairs. Anything that seemed usable he wanted, his mind focused on one thing only- making the best pillow bed ever.

He just wished Alice was able to be here. The house felt empty with her and Ryker's presence. Even having Rayna gone felt odd.

Amin went to his room, knocking before entering and lost in his thoughts while he opened the door. He knew what to expect before even seeing him. Hiroki was once again on his bed, facing down and staring at what Amin assumed to be the carpet. I took him a minute to see the book in his hands. At least it wasn't one of his things again.

Amin said nothing as he entered the room, flopping down next to the boy and pushing him aside. "Alice was attacked," he said, staring down at the carpet, his expression finally breaking down into something other than a passive mask. Saying it out loud seemed to make it worse. "Alice was attacked, and...and Bambi is in charge, we voted, don't complain. Kalya is coming back later but right now we're going to watch a movie downstairs and we all need to be there."