New: The Fluke

“DUCK!” someone yelled.
On instinct, I dropped, the adrenaline pumping through me causing a burst of power in the form of a water bubble to surround me and Avery. Why he had been included, I didn’t know, but it grated on my nerves even if I was grateful he was out of harm’s way.
Whatever purplish-pink slime that had been hurled our way splattered against the wall of my bubble and dripped down the side only briefly before getting shredded by the fast-moving water. I could barely see thruogh the water to get a look at the people responsible, but, from their silhouettes, I could only make out the vague shapes of two people—one short and one that would probably make it up to my nose.
Avery reaching out to touch the wall I had sprung around us brought my attention back inside. “This is so cool.”
“Don’t touch it,” I hissed and he pulled his hand to an abrupt stop inches away from its surface. “The water’s moving too fast,” I explained at his shocked expression. “It will shred your skin.”
His eyes glinted with mischief. “Awesome. So. . . “ He gestured at the force-field surrounding us. “Any chance of letting is out? It’s kinda cramped in here and people are probably staring.”
I twitched my shoulders, trying to relieve the tension the adrenaline rush had decided to give me and sat up, frowning. “Give me a moment to calm down.”
Avery sat up as well, but I ignored him, focusing on relaxing my muscles and breathing deep. After a few minutes of nothing happening, I let out a frustrated sigh and turned to Avery.
Obviously, he wasn’t scared. Curious seemed to be a more apt description as he watched me, his luminescent eyes seeming to miss nothing. I was getting hungry and it wasn’t the kind of hunger that could be cured with regular food. And that meant that close-quarters with any living being was not going to end well right now. It also didn’t help that my control on water liked to go wonky if I went too long between feedings.
“Talk to me,” I demanded, knowing I sounded rude, but frustration wasn’t a good emotion for me to have.
His brows rose. “Well, aren’t we pushy.”
I gritted my teeth and tried to stay calm. “I need to calm down.” I closed my eyes, trying not to get angry. “Just. . . Tell me where we are. Describe it to me.”
He was silent for a minute before he started talking over the rush of water. I heard voices outside my bubble, but nothing I could make out and I tried to block them out to focus on Avery’s low tones.
“We’re outside the Clock Tower.” Avery’s voice drifted around me like a song, almost instantly calming me. Almost. “That’s Caine and Cable out there. Caine is sixteen and is sort of like an untrained puppy, so you’ll have to watch what you say since he’s got a short fuse.” I could almost see his smile. “I’m sure you can handle that.”
I said nothing, waiting for him to continue.
“Cable,” he said, “on the other hand, is just like me. That was probably her spell. She’s thirteen but has no sense of danger whatsoever. It’s kind of funny. Well, funny when you’re not trying to dodge her spells.”
I could hear the smile in his voice now and, suddenly, the adrenaline was gone. Calm washed over me in a wave and I felt my bubble dissolve, the water dispersing back into the air or wherever else it had come from.
I frowned at Avery, suspicion evident in my voice and expression. “What did you do to me?” I asked. “I’ve never calmed down that fast before.”
“Avery,” a voice said and I turned to see a boy, dark-blond and hazel-eyed with a weird sort of fop hat, offering me a hand. “Is a master at manipulation and all things dangerous.”
“Says the person who likes jumping from high places,” the girl said, helping Avery—who towered a good neck and head over her—up.
She was odd to look at, and not because she was thirteen—which she definitely was with her childlike features—but because her reddish-pink eyes and silver hair did not fit her age. She was in shorts that even I thought were too short for someone her age, and a hooded vest, zipped up so you could barely see the black tank she had underneath.
Compared to her, Caine looked almost adult-like, although it was obvious he had a few years of growing to do. I was right when I guessed he had come up to my nose, but he make up for his lack of stature with his good looks. If he had gone to Gyn, the girls—even vampires—would have thrown themselves at him. But the longer I looked at him, the more I frowned. I had the distinct feeling that he reminded me of someone irritating, I just couldn’t put my finger on who.
“Who’s your friend?” Cable asked Avery.
“This is my new roomie,” Avery announced slapping me on the back. “Basil Hallowe, this is Cable Raigen and Caine Tenson.”
I inclined my head in greeting and the nodded.
“He’s cute,” Cable whispered, elbowing Avery as she gave me a once-over.
I smirked, winking at her for no other reason than to see the blood rush to her face in a blush. It worked. I would never touch anyone underage, but giving a girl attention was harmless.
“Alright, alright,” Caine said, rolling his eyes. “Come on, Basil. We need to get to work.”
Work? Who said anything about work? I didn’t remembering volunteering for anything with the word “work” in it.
Following anyway since I didn’t have anything better to do, I went through the indoor hallway that led to the Clock Tower.
Aisling had said it was haunted, so why were these nitwits going there? Avery had admitted to both himself and Cable having a knack for danger, but ghosts weren’t something you messed with.
The darkened tunnel opened to the squared floor of the Clock Tower. Off-white stone made the walls, but the floor was grey slabs of rock. Stairs climbed up the walls in a wide spiral, disappearing far above our heads when it hit another floor. The stairs also continued downward from a hole in the floor on the opposite side of the room. Windows that were tall and narrow poked out deep indentations in the walls. No doubt they would let in enough sun to fry my hair.
“Legs said this place was full of ghosts,” I commented as we mounted the stairs, starting up. “Where are you guys meeting here?”
“’Legs’?” Avery questioned, obviously confused. His face suddenly brightened and he laughed. “You must mean Aisling.”
Caine, his face red and his voice stiff, said, “There’s more to Aisiling than her legs.”
My brows rose. Touchy, touchy. . .
“Anyways,” Avery cut in. He smiled at Cable. “You wanna explain? You seem to enjoy it the most.”
The small girl was nearly bouncing with excitement and she turned, walking up the stairs backwards as she animatedly answered my question. “The ghosts are just a rumore to scare the Freshman. It works, too, but people still come up here to bug us.”
“Which is only to be expected,” Avery put in.
“Why’s that?” I asked, a little tired of them beating around the bush.
Finally, we reached the top, coming out to another bland room. A door was across the way, made out of old, splintering wood.
Caine smiled, his anger gone. How odd. . . “Because we are the Ghosts.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Well, that’s the name the school gave us.”
I crossed my arms, annoyed that they were all so obviously leaving out the most important details. “Care to explain, or are we going to try to keep me in suspense?” Sarcasm dripped from my voice and they all looked at each other with equal expressions of surprise.
“He’s not very. . . uh, . . “Caine searched for the right word.
“Sociable?” Avery offered, eyeing me. “I’m starting to figure that out.”
Cable shrugged. “I like him.”
Avery scoffed. “You like any guy with a pretty face.”
Cable’s face went red in embarrassment, but it was obvious that Avery had hit the nail on the head, and she looked down in shame.
“Okay,” Avery continued. “Short version? The Ghosts are like the school’s bodyguards.”
“Clean-up crew is more like it,” Caine muttered.
Avery smiled. “We do the miscellaneous jobs the teachers can’t get to. You know, cleaning up spells gone haywire, tutoring, finding things . . . Stuff like that.”
Cable turned the knob and smiled mischievously at me. “We get to get out of class whenever, so it’s a pretty awesome job.”
Getting out of class whenever? Sounded good to me.
She pushed open the door and I blinked, my eyes adjusting to the brightly lit room. When I could finally see, Cable, Caine and Avery had all gone in and taken sears on the couches, window-seat bordering the entirety of the walls, and leather chairs. It was colorful, bright-colored pillows and pictures of random designs everywhere, the blinding light coming from the massive amount of glowing balls in every off-white shade imaginable gathered at the ceiling. The room was spacious, the middle left open and a table in the back corner with food materializing on its top, a t.v. on the right wall with a game systems on the floor and mountains of movies on the shelves surrounding it.
“Are you gonna stand there like an idiot,” Caine said from the window seat, a contented smile on his face as he reclined against the pillows, “or are you coming in?”
“Excuse me,” a soft voice said behind me and I jumped turning slightly.
Stepping aside, I let Aisling and a towering, muscular blonde with silver highlights in. Whoever this guy was, he eyed me with obvious suspicion, his golden eyes the only hint to his apprehension. His face was almost on par with mine—definitely a looker with his chiseled features—but there was something off about him.
Suddenly, the guy’s face turned pink and he looked down rather shyly. “I’m Vincent. Nice to meet you.”
I blinked, trying to take in the personality that didn’t match the face. “Uh. . . Sure. Hello. My name’s Basil.”
“Vince,” Caine called. “Can’t you stop hanging all over Aisling?”
Vincent’s face fell and he nearly ran over to Caine, engulfing the much smaller boy in a hug. “Don’t worry!” he exclaimed, panic evident in his voice. “You’re still my favorite!”
“Who said I wanted to be your favorite?” Caine protested, pushing at him.
I looked to Avery, who was busy playing games with Cable. He glanced at me, saying absently over the noise of Caine and Vincent, “Vince is sort of an over-loving brother. Just ignore him when he’s around Caine. You’ll get used to it.”
“Sit down,” Cable invited. “Relax a bit.”
Seeing not alternative, I found a chair and proceeded to watch and take in the new misfits around me. After the first five minutes of that, I got bored and turned my attention to the massive, many-paned window covering the wall. The metal interface of the clock was spinning, the stars shining behind them as if continued to tick. Beyond that I could see the waves of the lake. I would give anything to be in water right now. I could almost feel it on my fingers.
“That’s a pretty cool trick,” Caine commented.
I shook myself mentally, coming out of my thoughts to give him a confused look. “What are you talking about?”
It seemed he had finally given up on getting his brother off him and, now that I saw them together, it was easy to see they were siblings. “Don’t you realize what you’re doing?” He nodded to my hand, fixing his hat as his brother draped himself over his shoulders. “You didn’t seem like the oblivious type.”
Frowning, I looked down, trying to ignore the fact that all eyes were on me, and smirked. A stream of water was slowing in and out of my fingers, much the way I twirled a pen. Well, I had said I had wanted water, hadn’t I?
“Did you find the pool?” Aisling asked from her chair by the table of never-ending food.
Her delectably long legs were crossed and I let my eyes roam over her toned skin before answering. “No, I did not.” I shot a look at Avery. “I was kidnapped before I had a chance.”
A small smile claimed her lips and I had a feeling that any smile was rare for her. “I see.” She stood. “Come then. I think we could all use a swim.”
They all jumped up excitedly. “Why didn’t you say so!” Caine said, obviously delighted. Puppy indeed.
Cable clapped her hands happily, her pink eyes brimming with excitement. “I’ll get my suit and meet you guys in the lower dorm!” She ran out, the door slamming against the wall as she called out behind her, “Ten minutes!”
Aisling crossed the room gracefully. “We don’t go swimming often,” she said in passing as she walked out.
Avery grabbed my wrist, smiling broadly as he dragged me out of the tower with Caine and Vincent close on our heels. “You heard her. Ten minutes.”

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

I BROKE THE SURFACE, still not even needing air, but knowing I had been under the water for a pretty long time anyway. I bobbed up and down, treading water.
“Holy cow,” Caine said with awe. “How long was that?” He turned excited eyes on Vincent, his feet splashing in the water from the edge of the pool he sat at. His trunks, I noticed, were just as loud as his personality in a bright turquoise. “How long?”
“Five minutes and twenty-two seconds.” Vincent told him. Although the big man wasn’t getting in the water—or so he had claimed—he still sported red trunks as he stood back near the chairs.
Avery let out a low whistle, leaning dangerously over the side of the pool next to Caine. His trunks, I noted happily, were a nice, muted grey. “Were you a fish in another life?”
“No-o-o!” Cable whined. Her bright turquoise suit sparkled through the dark of the water as she swam up to me, clinging to my arm. “He’s too pretty. Don’t give me such a bad image.”
“Image?” I asked, smiling down at her. Cable was easy to get along with, especially considering she reminded me of my little sister.
The comparison made me freeze for an instant, and I sent up a silent prayer to whoever was listening that I hadn’t just jinxed this little girl.
She grimaced only the way a thirteen year old can and I was back to smiling. “I just pictured your ace on a fish body. Not pretty.”
“Not in a merman-type way?” Avery asked.
Cable’s nose wrinkled. “Ugh. Why didn’t I think of that?” She shook her head. “It was more of a goldfish-type way. Not nice.”
I frowned. “No kidding.”
“You seem to love the water,” Aisling commented, coming up to the edge. I got a lovely eyeful of her tan, toned body in a black bikini before she dove into the water, her long braid following her like a sleek snake. My mouth watered and my lower half jerked awake as she broke the surface with a smile. “So do I.”
Cable tugged on my arm as she swam away, capturing my attention. “How long can you hold your breath?”
“Under water?” I thought about it for a minute. “I don’t really know. I never kept track, but a friend of mine told me I had sat at the bottom of a pool for over hand an hour once.” I shrugged. “I hadn’t really noticed, to be honest. I just like water.”
“You must be skilled in water, then,” Caine stated, as if the rest of the group hadn’t already figured that out. He had hopped into the pool and was kicking his feet while holding onto the edge, his brother now sitting rather closely to him.
“He made his room look like glass on water, too,” Avery put in.
“Obssessive,” Cable sang in a teasing voice.
“Thanks for letting everyone know,” I shot at the neon-eyed devil, not at all happy that they knew what my room looked like. “It’s still a work in progress.”
“Aw,” Avery wheedled. “He’s embarrassed.”
Miffed, I dove under the water, sinking to the bottom. With my arms crossed, I sat there and watched them swim above me. I heard muffled laughter and, with a splash, Vincent was thrown in. Served him right. He had been just sitting there the whole time.
It was obvious just from observation that this little group was close. So why was I being dragged into it? I wasn’t on to want friends—not ones that cared, anyway. It was easier on everyone if they stayed out of my bubble and I stayed away from theirs. But, damn, it was tempting. It had been so long since I had had any real friends or even someone to rely on. The last time certainly hadn’t ended pretty on either account and I had stopped believing in fairytales or sugar-coated promises as a result.
So why me? I was prickly, rude and unsociable. I knew because I did it on purpose. But these people—these humans were persistent and it seemed they weren’t going to let go. I wasn’t sure if I was going to let them in the way they were obviously eager to let me in to their little circle. I didn’t think I was ready for that.
Realizing I had closed my eyes, I blinked them open and gazed through the water only to have a gulp of surprised air escape me. Aisling, black bathing suit and hair floating heavily behind her, tread water before me, watching me. But it wasn’t just watching. Her gaze was heated and her eyes were glowing much the same way a vampire’s did when they needed to feed. However, this was different. Unlike the red of a vampire, her dark eyes were blindingly white, her gaze entrancing, her pupils standing out in dark contrast.
Slowly, as if she was calling to me, begging me, I reached out to her through the water. The hunger grew in her eyes to something nearly unbearable before she pushed off the ground and was gone, breaking the surface far above me.
A flush of heat was centering in my head and making its way throughout my body, churning the water around me. Whatever kind of magic this was, I didn’t like it in the least.
Pushing to the surface, I took a breath of air just in time to see Aisling walking away, wet and dripping, calling behind her, “Vincent. I need you.”
Curious, I watched them go, the group trying and failing to look as if whatever was going on wasn’t going on. How interesting. How infuriating. How exciting.
“Anyone care to explain what just happened?” I tried, pulling myself onto the edge of the pool so only my feet dangled in the water.
Cable sucked in a breath and ducked under water, so that was a no. Caine looked pissed, but stayed stonily silent, refusing to meet my eyes, so that was obviously not going to work. I turned to Avery and he sighed, volunteering himself.
“Ais’ just isn’t used to you yet,” he offered as if it explained everything. “It will take her a few days. Until then. Ignore anything odd.” He gave me a sheepish smile. “Well, anything really odd.”
Trying not to get pissed at not finding an actual answer, I soaked up the water, watching as Cable tugged Caine under and began relieving him of his anger.
What in the world was going on around here? These people had some major secrets and it didn’t look like anyone outside their little clique was going to learn what they were. And that wasn’t the only thing glaringly obvious; No matter how off this place was, it was easy to see that this group was far from normal—even by witches’ standards.
I suddenly had the feeling that I was dealing with more than just humans with above-average magical abilities. In fact, it seemed to me that Aisling at least was everything but human. It made me wonder about the rest of them. If that were true, then maybe I wasn’t such a fish out of water, even if that little voice in the back of my mind was telling me that I was in way over my head.