THE sun had set when 16-year-old Isaac Wade got to his new school.
His parents had died recently with his unborn brother. A friend of his dad, the owner of the school and principal, had given him an offer.
He could either attend the school full of rich kids for free or be left in the hands of foster care.
Shaking off the voices in his head, he focused on his surroundings. He was the only person on the bus and it had started raining.
He sighed as he forgot to pack his umbrella. He had only packed his clothes, shoes, some books and photos. He would be given his uniform when he arrived.
He was going to a school for rich kids, and he was... not exactly poor, more like financially challenged.
He was of average height with light brown skin and medium-length brown hair, which he usually gathered into a tidy ponytail. Inherited from his mother, his emerald green eyes shimmered.
He wore contacts that made his eyes brown. He was embarrassed because people usually teased him about them.
The bus came to a halt, and Isaac moved towards the door.
''This is going to be horrible," he said and ran into the rain with his luggage behind him.
Little did he know that there wasn't anybody on the bus. Not even a driver. More importantly, was there a bus?
* * * * *
Thirty minutes later, he arrived at the front door of the school. He pounded on the large mahogany door for a while before somebody answered him.
It was Mr. Blanc.
He'd only seen Blanc a few times before, but he still couldn't get over the shock of white hair he had.
His sizzling blue eyes pierced Isaac as they entered.
"What brings you here at this ungodly hour?" Blanc asked him.
"I got a message from you saying that I should come tonight."
The man in front of him furrowed his eyebrows." From me?"
"Yeah from you," Isaac replied. Certainly, Blanc couldn't be jesting.
He pulled out his phone from his pocket and showed Blanc the message.
"Who brought you here?" he asked.
"There was this. . . "
Something was wrong.
Isaac recalled how he got to where he was. He remembered running in the rain, but from where?
"Never mind that," Blanc said while checking the time on his watch.
The door in front of Blanc burst open.
"Dad!"
It was a boy of Isaac's age. He wore blue pajamas with headphones placed over his blond hair. His electric blue eyes were bloodshot, but they resembled his father's.
The boy turned to Isaac.
"Sorry to cut this short," Blanc apologized, "but it's best we continue tomorrow. Leo will escort you to your room".
"But -" Leo started to protest, but his father cut him off with a wave of his hand.
"It's for the best," Blanc said, and left them in the room.
Leo walked out of the room through another door, and Isaac quickly followed.
The hallway which they entered was ancient. It was lighted with lanterns instead of bulbs. The faint light they provided displayed statues which looked like they could crumble at the slightest touch and paintings that had started to fade. The eerie atmosphere reminded him of the night his parents died.
"Isaac," a voice whispered in his ear.
Right on his shoulder was a face with worms wriggling in and out of its rotten flesh. Its toothless smile and its empty eye sockets were covered in dry blood.
"What's keeping you, Isaac?" Leo asked.
He turned towards Leo and turned back to find out the rotten face had vanished.
After that, they walked in silence until they reached the dormitory. In front of them was a large wooden door. Leo pushed it to reveal a very modern corridor with bulbs, air conditioning, and no sign of the ancient castle they were in.
Leo walked down to the last door on the left. There was a black pad where the handle of the door was meant to be and Leo placed his hand on it. There was a flash of light and the door swung open without making a sound.
Isaac gaped at the size of the room.
It was massive and contained four beds and only one was occupied.
Isaac could guess that his roommate was Leo.
"It's your pick," Leo said, and Isaac dumped his luggage on the bed opposite Leo's.
* * * * *
Leo couldn't sleep well and was woken up by the sound of the door opening.
He opened his eyes to see Isaac creeping out.
It wasn't safe to be wandering around the school at night, but Leo didn't want to seem like a weirdo stalking the new kid.
He waited for a few minutes until Isaac came back into the room and went to sleep.
Then Leo followed.
* * * * *
Isaac looked at himself in the mirror.
He had to admit the school uniform was high class. The white shirt was long-sleeved and the trousers were black and checkered. He was told that they'd receive the tie later.
He sighed and walked out of the bathroom.
Leo was already dressed and wearing his headphones. Isaac noticed he wore it everywhere, even in the shower.
"So?" Leo asked. " Are the contacts necessary?"
"Yeah, got a problem?"
"One thing," Leo said while standing up, "You know we're in a school full of rich kids, right?"
"And?" Isaac replied.
"You do know what that implies?"
"Discrimination."
The corridor outside began to echo with the noise of students hearing the latest gist.
"Keep away from trouble, especially Adrien and Audrey Reed," Leo warned, and with that, he walked out of the room.
"Hey!" Isaac yelled and followed, "Who are Adrien and Audrey Reed?"
The corridor went silent, and all the students were staring at him.
"Who would like to know?" a voice said from the crowd, and they parted like the Red Sea.
They both had blond hair and cold blue eyes. Their gaze on Isaac screamed pure resentment. Adrien and Audrey Reed.
Isaac cursed his luck.
These two were going to make his life miserable.