NEW YORK, PRESENT DAY
Calix Gray awoke to find a dark-haired girl clad in his bathroom robe lying next to him, propped up on an elbow and staring at him with a sort of dagger in her hand. He reacted instantly, striking at her nose with the heel of his palm, and she twisted only to glance a blow on the side of his head with the pommel of her dagger. He fell back stunned, and she quickly straddled him. He trashed, trying to throw her off and froze when she held the dagger to his throat.
"I do not wish to kill you, boy. Be grateful I chose to spare your life as you slumbered, " she panted through gritted teeth.
"Who the hell are you? And how'd you get in here?"
"Alas, I do not understand your common tongue very well. Pray tell, what strange omens do you utter of as you hibernate?"
His brow creased in confusion. "Bro, what?"
"The strange omens you speak of in your sleep. And what is 'bro?'"
Calix blinked. "Is this some sort of prank I don't know about or..."
"CALIX!"
They both stiffened as the pounding of footsteps grew louder.
"CALIX! GET YO FAT ASS TO SCHOOL!"
The girl leaped off him and dived under his bed just in time to escape his step-dad who burst through the door. He scowled at Calix and flexed his muscles. This was how Calix started his mornings after his real dad had been in an accident and his mom remarried. A daily dose of threats and beatings that his mom was oblivious to, as she was simply too busy with work. With years, he'd managed to endure or sometimes avoid the occasional belt or fist, and months of self-defense classes were paying off.
His step-dad aimed a kick at him, and he blocked it with ease, only to catch a fist in the stomach. He doubled over, grunting.
"I'm feeling damn generous today, so I ain't gonna hit you no more. Get yourself to school!"
And with that, he stormed out of the room. Calix picked himself up and motioned for her to be quiet. He strode over to the door and opened it, only to leap backward as a fist narrowly missed his nose. His stepdad grunted and lumbered downstairs.
"Who is that barbarian?" the girl asked, crawling out from under his bed.
Calix shrugged. "Just my stepdad,"
"And you let him push you around? Are you so spineless?"
"You don't know me. You don't know anything about me!" he retorted.
They glared at each other for a long time. Finally, the girl relented and sat on the edge on his bed.
"I am Raven. Raven Stone. What do they call you?"
"Calix Gray. Still doesn't explain what you're doing here. And I still think this is some sort of joke. Wait here. I have to get ready for school."
"School?" she scoffed.
He disappeared and reappeared fifteen minutes later, wet and naked, save for a towel wrapped around his waist. Raven turned and gasped. There were four thin scars running diagonally across his chest.
"It's rude to stare."
"Who did this to you? The barbarian?" she raged.
Calix ignored her and opened his wardrobe. He was about to ask her to look away so he could dress when his eye caught something that was definitely not supposed to be in there.
A transparent bag full of women's clothes stared back at him. He blinked once, then twice.
"What is that?" a voice asked over his shoulder.
"You tell me," Calix said dryly and handed the bag over to her. She rummaged through it and breathed a sigh of relief, thanking the gods.
"I am coming with you."
Calix laughed and reached for a shirt, pulling it on. "No. No way."
"I was not asking. I am coming with you, "she repeated.
He stared at her.
"You would leave me here? With that barbarian?"
"I'm sure you can take care of yourself," he replied sarcastically.
"I will kill him if he lays a hand on me."
Calix laughed again. His smile faded as he realized she was serious.
"Fine. You can use the bathroom, but hurry up. And don't touch my toothbrush."
"Bathroom? What is a toothbrush?"
He stared at her again.
A further twelve minutes later, they were walking side by side on their way to Brentford High. Calix had spent three minutes explaining how to use the shower, and upon receiving threats, he'd reluctantly surrendered his toothbrush, making a mental note to buy another. The next five minutes were spent admiring herself in the mirror until he'd threatened to leave without her. The clothes in the bag seemed new to her as well and the final four minutes were filled with trying on and discarding clothes until she settled on a black T-shirt, camouflage pants and one pair of his sneakers. He had a lot of sneakers.
At least he'd managed to convince her to leave her weapons behind. Or so he'd thought.
"So what do you do at this school?" she asked as they neared the school's parking lot.
"Uh, we learn stuff. It's pretty boring stuff, actually. Listen, you'll need to -"
He broke off mid-sentence and swore as a freckled face kid his age ran up to meet them.
"Oi, Calix. You wouldn't believe what happened last night, mate. Hey, who's this?"
Calix sighed.
"Raven, this is -"
"Hey, guys!"
A ginger haired blue-eyed girl with glasses waved at them and sauntered over. Raven bit back her irritation and scanned the area for other supposed threats. The girl threw her arms around Calix and the other boy before turning to her.
"Aren't you gonna introduce her, Calix?" she playfully scolded.
"It's complicated." he said sheepishly, running a hand through his hair.
The girl looked at him like he was crazy and turned to Raven again. She extended a hand.
"I'm Clarisse. That's Dave. Welcome to Brentford High."
Raven took her hand. "You are a beautiful woman, Clarisse."
Dave snorted, and Clarisse glared at him briefly before smirking at Calix. She linked Raven's arm in hers, and the four of them made their way into the building. With the mystery of Raven's sudden apparence temporarily forgotten, he engaged in conversation with Dave until they'd received their class schedules. He opened his and sighed. History, a general assembly till lunch and then Biology being the final period after lunch. There was a whoop from Clarisse and Dave as they compared their schedules and found out they had nearly the same subjects together. Clarisse turned to both boys.
"You guys go save us some seats while I take her to the administrative office to get her sorted out." she called out, practically dragging Raven right behind her. Raven glanced back at Calix and pursed her lips with an unspoken question. Calix shook his head.
He and Dave continued their conversation as they took their places in the classroom. Dave was pretty enthusiastic about a long-awaited video game that'd finally come out, and Calix couldn't help but share in his excitement as they plotted on how Calix could sneak out. Raven and Clarisse joined them seconds before Mr. Redmond arrived and wasted no time in calling the class to order.
"As promised by me last semester, I will be giving you a test based on the Hundred Years War and Wars of the Rose's. Let's see how much you remember about medieval history."
The class groaned as he dropped a piece of paper on each student's desk. Thankfully, Calix breezed past most of the questions without trouble. He glanced at Raven, worried that she would be unable to understand the questions, but she seemed to be doing okay. He finished early and casually slid his paper over to Dave, shrugging when Clarisse shot him a look.
"Pencils up!" Mr Redmond called out.
Dave cursed and redoubled his efforts as Mr Redmond strolled around the classroom, picking up papers, and he managed to finish copying off Calix just in time as their papers were collected.
"Today we'll be discussing the Black Death and the Great Fire of London. Open your history books to the page...."
He droned on and on in what seemed for a long time until the period ended. The four of them wasted no time in pushing back their desks and leaving. Calix fell into step with Raven.
"How was the test?"
"My family lived in the era of those wars." she said tightly.
He raised an eyebrow. "How old were you? Wait, how old are you right now?"
"Old enough." she snapped at him.
"Look, I've had a theory and I'll explain after school. I don't think it's some sort of joke anymore but this is between you and me. Don't tell Clarisse or Dave anything."
She nodded.
"HEY, DOOFUS!"
They were five feet to the doors of the school's auditorium where assemblies were always held. Unfortunately, standing in the way of those doors was Jason Redd, the school bully, flanked by a bunch of his cronies. Jason's reign of terror had almost ended when he'd picked on Dave. Calix had gotten involved and Jason had earned himself a free trip to the school's infirmary. From that day on, it had been war between them.
Now he hefted a crowbar and grinned evilly at them. Everyone else was already inside the auditorium and the door was soundproof. Nobody would hear them.
Calix turned to his friends.
"Clarisse, you and Dave should stay back. Raven, come with me."
As they walked toward Redd, he whispered to her. Four of them. One person had to handle two people and subdue them quickly.
"Don't kill anyone." he warned. She rolled her eyes at him.
He and Raven surged forward to meet them as they flexed their muscles in anticipation and pulled out crowbars as well. At the last minute, Raven reached into her left sneaker and drew a dagger, unsheathing it.
"Raven, no!" Calix yelled, but it was far too late.
It flew towards Jason's head at defying speed and the dagger thudded dully as it found its target.