Another Year, Another Mystery

Disclaimer: I do not own HoA, I am merely using the characters for my story.

Another Year, Another Mystery

Prologue

Rory Tomlinson was not one to give up. She would always push herself to get through any drama forced upon her by her birthright. So why was she finding it so hard to keep going right now? Was it the English weather? Not being near her rock, her brother, for so long? Or, was it the fact that if she got the next part of her life wrong it might not just cost her the lives of her friends and family, but her life as well? She figured it may be the impending doom upon all of mankind, all placed on them by one man. The same man who was supposedly meant to be looking after them all, to keep them safe as was entrusted by their parents. The head of the house they lived in. Victor.

Chapter 1

"I've got to leave again, haven't I?" Questioned a petite brunette, her long, straight hair hung down her back, the front pieces clipped behind her head.

The girl's brother looked at her solemnly.

"I'm so sorry, you know it's for the best. It's for your safety, you know that, especially now they've found you."

The brunette sighed heavily.

"Okay, but once it's over I can come back, right?"

"Of course you can!" the 19 year old exclaimed.

The girl smiled at him.

"I knew I could count on you Tom."

He winked at her.

"Say good bye to mum and dad for me won't you?" She asked him.

"I will, now you must hurry or you'll miss your train!"

She looked around her, before throwing herself at her brother.

"I'll miss you so much!" She cried softly.

Tom blinked back tears as he sent his only family member away. With one last wave the girl turned and stepped on to her train.

"Good bye Rory, whatever you do, be safe." Were the last words she heard from him as he left her.

The train shuddered to a halt and 15 year old Rory woke with a gasp. Looking around her she noticed people climbing off on to the platform. She stood with a stretch, glancing out the window to her left, smiling as she saw the quaint station. She heaved her suitcases down from the storage above her and stepped down off the train. Taking a deep breath, Rory made her way to the collection point on her school pack instructions. The brunette peered round the cars looking for her name.

"Rory Tomlinson?" A thick British accent asked her from behind.

"That's me!" She exclaimed, turning on her heel to face the man.

He smiled at her and hoisted her suitcases into the boot of his car. Rory grinned to herself, excited to be able to start over, be who she wanted to be, not who she was supposed to be. About half an hour later they pulled up outside an old house, Rory guess about early 1900's. She gaped in awe at its historical beauty. Turning to face the taxi driver, she pulled out £50 and handed to him. He smiled gratefully and left her to herself. Attempting to calm the nerves in her stomach, she grabbed hold of her luggage and pushed open the door.

"Hello?" She called. "Anyone here?"

Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion when she heard no reply. Shrugging to herself, she made her way into what she thought was the main room. Curiously she walked round the room, admiring the furniture pieces.

"Can I help you?" A hard voice spoke.

Shocked, Rory jumped in fright, her heart beating fast in her chest. The man spoke again.

"How did you get in here?" Trying to slow her heart down, Rory stuttered out a response. "I – I, well um, I'm Rory, I'm new. The door was open."

She motioned to the door she'd come through. The man eyed her suspiciously.

"Right, well I'm Victor, I'm your head of house, bed is at ten, after that is not allowed. Also the cellar and attic are strictly out of bounds." Rory nodded fearfully.

"Good, you may go." Without a second glance behind her the brunette fled from the room, pulling her suitcases with her.

Less than an hour later Rory had unpacked her bags and was currently sat crossed legged on her bed, admiring her new room. Glancing at the clock Rory noted that her new housemates should be back any moment and, as if on cue, she heard the door bang open and the loud voices of many people. The petite girl bit her lip nervously, stood up and made her way to the door. She slowly made her way down the stairs to the room she assumed was used for dining. Of course, she wasn't actually sure, considering she hadn't been able to explore the old house yet. As calmly as she could she walked into the room, displaying, what she hoped was, a calm, collected exterior, shrugging off the fact she felt like she may collapse any moment. The exact moment she stepped in all the heads in the room to turned to look at her. 3 boys, 3 girls and a woman.

"Hi, I'm Rory, I'm the new student." She spoke quietly.

She hated when people stared at her. Rory had acquired a scar across her right cheek when she was about seven, she knew they were all looking at it. The blonde girl spoke first, though it was more a squeal.

"Hi! Your here, your finally here!" She exclaimed, launching herself at Aurora.

The brunette gasped in shock at the force of the blondes hug. "Amber! Let her breath, your gunna scare her off!" The pretty golden haired girl stated.

Giggling softly to herself, Amber pulled her body away from Rory and she smiled sheepishly at the smaller girl.

"Sorry, I'm Amber Millington!" She grinned. Rory smiled back, her attention then turned to the wavy haired girl.

"I'm Nina, I'm from America." The brunette laughed.

"I can tell, what part?"

Nina looked surprised. "I'm from Michigan."

The other girl beamed at her. "No way, I bet you don't recognise me do you?" She asked her.

Nina looked genuinely confused. "C'mon Neens, you're the day to my night, the ham to my cheese..."

Nina's eyes widened. "The mate to my soul!" She shrieked, launching herself at Rory, the way Amber had moments before.

The next thing Aurora knew she was lying on her back on the floor, Nina on top her. Both girls stared at each other for a moment before bursting out into fits of giggles. Just as she began to get off me a dark haired boy with deep brown eyes walked into the room.

"Who's the mate to your soul Nina? Nina? What are you doing on the floor?" He looked unperturbed as he saw her brushing herself off.

"Fabian!" she called.

He stared at her quizzically as she turned back to Rory, who was still laying sprawled on the floor, holding her hand out, the other girl smiled gratefully as Nina hoisted her up. Before turning back to Fabian.

"Fabes, this is Rory Tomlinson, she's the new student!" Nina grinned at him, Fabian smiled at Rory, and said hello to her before turning back to the golden beauty.

"I'm guessing she's the mate to your soul." He merely stated, cocking an eyebrow.

Nina grinned sheepishly.

"Urm, hello, yeah we're still here you know, we want to meet the new house hottie."

Fabian looked at Rory, frowning slightly as he saw her blush and then faced Alfie. Nina introduced Aurora to Jerome, the joker, Alfie, the "alien", Mick, the sportsman and Patricia, the goth pixie, oh and of course Trudy, the house mother. The other students looked slightly surprised when Patricia only slightly grudgingly nodded at the new girl.

"So, how do you two know each other?" Questioned Mick. Nina and Aurora shared a smile.

"We went to school together in America." Nina told them. The boys shared confused looks. "But, Rory's speaking English?"

The new girl laughed. "I used to live in America, but I came back to England."

The boys and Amber nodded their confirmation. At seven all the students sat down for dinner, chatting like old friends, well they where, but in the instance of Rory. Then it all went to pots.

"So, Rory, why are you here, in England? You only got in because Mara left for a clever school." Patricia snidely remarked.

The others hushed up and looked at the brunette to see how she would react. Rory looked down at her plate, clearing her throat she began to speak.

"Well, when I was born I was removed from my family for safety reasons, there were these people after me. I was placed in the care of an American family, I loved it there and my siblings were amazing, but I still felt like the odd one, so about 5 months ago I returned to my real family." She began, the others following her story avidly.

Aurora heaved a heavy sigh and Fabian and Nina shared a worried look.

"But, last month they found me. There was a war or battle, whatever, and my parents were killed." She choked out.

"Rory, I'm so sorry." Patricia apologized, the 7 others would have been surprised had they not been concerned for their new friend.

"I thought it couldn't get any worse, but it did."

"What could be worse than that?" asked Alfie, who received a elbow in the rib for his lack of sensitivity. The 15 year old laughed dryly.

"I died."

The reactions from her fellow pupils where simultaneous and did not go unnoticed by the, now upset, new girl, who stared at her food, poking at it with her fork.

"You died?" Fabian practically whispered. Rory looked up at him, tears threatening to spill from her hazel eyes.

Fabian could see the pain within them and felt his heart hurt, he wanted to help her.

"Yeah, for about 15 minutes, I was kidnapped and tortured, when they found me I was already gone. They aren't sure how I came back. But I know."

She smiled and began fiddling with a bracelet on her wrist. "How?" Amber asked.

"Tom." She replied. "And Tom is...?" Nina trailed off, intrigued.

"He's my brother. He was devastated when he saw me, but his love brought me back, I'm sure of it."

The others looked thoughtful. "Is that how you got the scar?" Jerome asked her, now he was certain she wasn't going to burst into tears, but looked concerned when she winced.

"No, when I was seven as dog bit me." The boys frowned. It wasn't fair for that amount of bad things to happen to one girl. They all glanced at each other and silently made a pact to protect her in whatever way they could.

"I'm sorry, excuse me." Rory mumbled, standing up, she left the room.

Nina watched as her friend left. She stood up to follow her but was motioned to sit back down by Fabian.

"We've got this." Then all the boys all got up and left to go after the petite girl.

The three remaining girls exchanged shocked looks.

"Wow. I've never seen them all so protective of someone before, not even Joy." Stated Patricia.

"I know, she's been here for one hour and already they are becoming more responsible. I reckon she'll be good for them, I mean she is a year younger than us." Responded Nina.

"She is?" inquired Amber. "Yup, she's only 15. She's pretty clever though, straight A's." Replied Nina, before laughing at Amber's awed expression.

"Well, I just hope that we get a quiet term now, and that there are no more mysteries to be solved." Shrugged Patricia.

"Ah, c'mon Patricia, you can't say you didn't enjoy Sibuna." Nina teased. Patricia just rolled her eyes at Nina.

When the boys found Rory, they sat themselves down next to her, in a protective circle. The aforementioned girl sniffed and looked up at the four of them. Their gazes softened as they saw the tears fall down her cheeks.

"Hey, now, I know we're just guys but we just wanted to say something." Mick began.

"We promise that we will always be here for you, whatever." Alfie continued.

"And that we will always protect you." Fabian extended, looking deeply into her eyes.

"No matter what will happen to us." Jerome finished.

Rory looked up at them gratefully, but with fear filling her eyes.

"That's very kind of you all, considering you barely know me. But, with the people who are after me, if they find me and you try to protect me, they will kill you! I don't want anyone else to die for me. I'm not worth it!" She cried hysterically.

The four boys exchanged worried glances. They were going to find out what was wrong and fast. So they could help her deal with it.