Markings

Aibell watched the clock in her fourth period class, wishing time would slow down a little. It seemed like every time you were looking forward to going home, time was slow, and when you weren't... Well, you get the point.

Mr. Williams was going on and on about the Civil War, something that Aibell was uninterested in and had heard about all her life. That was the bad thing about Social Studies, though. You learned the same things over and over and over.

Aibell tried to listen, but she kept getting distracted. Down the hall, she could hear very loud, booming footsteps. At first, nobody acknowledged it, but it got to the point that it was so loud, it was impossible not to notice. Mr. Williams stopped talking and looked towards the classroom door. The footsteps had stopped in front of it, and a shadow loomed behind it, showing through the window. There was a small tapping noise, and then, it exploded.

Everyone in the classroom screamed, and dove underneath their desks. Aibell stared from underneath her own, her eyes wide with fear. It had been a small explosion, just enough to tear the door apart, but smoke filled the air, and people were already calling their parents. The teacher had began dialing 911 on his own phone, but it wouldn't send the call. Nobody had a working cell phone.

"We're looking for someone," a woman's voice spoke, stepping through the smoke. She was blonde and very pale, yet beautiful in some way. Her cherry red lips were parted slightly, showing bright, white teeth. She placed her hands on her extremely thin waist and began walking around the classroom, her huge heels silenced by the carpet. Behind her was a huge man, with muscles as big as Aibell's body. He had boots on, with steel soles. Those must have been what created such a loud noise.

"Aibell Shea Smith?" the blonde woman called out, a smirk on her face. "We know you're here, darling!"

Aibell licked her lips, thinking hard. She had her eyes on the door, decided whether it worth it to run. She slowly began slipping underneath other desks, moving closer to the door as the two adults moved away from it. She was only a few feet away when she was spotted.

"Ah, there's the little girl," the blonde woman said, suddenly behind Aibell. She grabbed her by the back of her shirt and pulled her up. She was a lot stronger than she looked, seeing as she was probably lighter than Aibell.

"What do you want?" Aibell yelled, trying to get away. "Leave me alone!"

"Oh, sorry, sweetie, but I'm afraid we'll just have to take you with us. You see, you have great value-"

"I'm sorry to break it to you, Cassandra, but she has more value to me than you," a voice said from Aibell's left. As the blonde woman, Cassandra, turned her head to face them, Aibell exposed her marked arm and pressed it against the woman's face. Cassandra screamed as her face burned, and she dropped Aibell at once. To her left, Tom grabbed a hold of her shirt and moved her out of the way so he could confront the woman.

"You shouldn't have come here. You should have known she'd be well protected," Tom said through his teeth. Cassandra looked like she wanted to beat Tom into a bloody pulp, but she didn't. Instead, she stepped back and looked at her huge companion.

"Henry, we'll be leaving now," Cassandra yelled. "But I cannot promise that we won't be back for her, when the time is right. Watch your back, Thomas. You get into as much trouble as your father."

"You would know."

Tom reached down and grabbed a hold of Aibell by her waist and pulled her up. Suddenly, she only saw darkness. She heard a noise, like wind rushing past her ears, and her stomach felt queasy. Then, before she could even blink, they were standing in her house, the destroying classroom gone.

"How- What-"

"Ask questions later," Tom instructed, moving away from her and hurrying down the hall to her room. "You're in danger now that you've got that mark. We need to get you to safety. Fast. Cassandra definitely didn't like that I showed up."

"That man could have ripped both of us to shreds with his eyes closed," Aibell pointed out, following after him. "Why didn't they even try to hurt you? They hardly put in effort into taking me at all!"

"Because, Cassandra can't hurt me," Tom explained, sounding irritable. He had entered Aibell's room and was emptying her things onto the bed. "Hurry and pack. I'm calling Alice."

"Why can't she hurt you? Where's my dad?"

"I said, ask questions later! Now, would you please just do as I say and pack your things?" Tom gave her a glare that sent shivers down her spine, and she had no choice but to listen. She started throwing all her belongings into bags, trying to calm her thoughts. Her heart was pounding. Who were those people? Why did they want her? How did they disappear and reappear at the house like that?

Moments later, Alice stepped into the bedroom, Tom close behind. She raced forward to help Aibell pack, not speaking a word. Aibell knew that she couldn't ask Alice anything. It Tom didn't want questions answered, she probably wouldn't either.

"Now, we have to get out to the Institute as quickly as possible," Alice said finally, her voice shaking. "Mom and Dad should be there, I know it! They were supposed to be back this morning, so they could come to that dinner tonight-"

"They're back. I talked to them after I called you. They're ready for us."

"Great!" Alice sighed with relief, as if a great deal of stress had just been taken away from her. Once packed, Alice grabbed a hold of Aibell's two large suit cases and disappeared.

"How did she do that!?" Aibell asked, staring in shock at the place where Alice was only moments ago.

"The same way we did, upon coming here. Now, take my hand," Tom said quickly, reaching for her. Aibell hesitated. This was it. She was leaving, and she wouldn't know what would happen when she got wherever she was going.

"Aibell," Tom said through his teeth, as if her name were a warning. Aibell reluctantly took his hand, and it was dark again.

When light flooded back into Aibell's eyes, she couldn't believe what she saw. In front of her stood a large, school-like building, but even nicer. It looked sort of grand, like a castle would. Tom led the way to the entrance, where a woman with light brown hair and blue eyes stood, as if waiting for them.

"Alice," the woman sighed, pulling her into a hug. It was obvious that this was Alice's mother.

"Mom, Aibell was attacked," Alice explained, stepped back and looking at Aibell. "By Cassandra. That means that they already know-"

"I'm not surprised," Alice's mother said gravely. "They were bound to find out. News like this gets around quickly."

"Well, she's here now, so can we just get inside?" Tom said impatiently. "I've already had to waste time saving her neck, I'd rather not have to spend anymore time watching her outside of the Institute."

"Well, sorry I'm such a bother," Aibell snapped, giving Tom a dirty look. She didn't know why he was suddenly being so rude to her, but she definitely didn't like it. She followed the three people into this school, wishing that she'd never gotten caught up in all of this.

Aibell just wanted to be home, drinking some hot chocolate and watching a movie, curled up on the couch. She'd give anything not to be here.