[https://img.wattpad.com/c0eab299c35a1a96a7c6d21a553484c759ebe569/68747470733a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f776174747061642d6d656469612d736572766963652f53746f7279496d6167652f554e72376c6e325a51634a5857773d3d2d313235363530303339382e313732346134653066313362353538363635303338393431323934352e706e67]
The bus made an elegant landing on the lawn in front of the gigantic rock fortress. All the kids started getting out of their seats and making their way out of the bus. All except Sophie.
What kind of place is this? she thought to herself as she watched the kids getting out of the other buses. Just like in her bus, all the passengers seemed to be strange fairy-tale creatures.
There were trolls, fairies, elves, cyclopes, nymphs, minotaurs, werewolves and everything in-between – Sophie even saw a mermaid floating around on a huge soap bubble. Most of the creatures, she recognized from stories that her parents had read to her, but there were also some that she didn't know at all. She'd never heard of a girl who was half bunny and half human, for example, or a boy whose mouth was on his stomach, or a child made of lava who glowed bright pink.
All of them were heading towards the entrance of the fortress.
The giant boy made of stone had already gotten out. Now he was standing in front of the bus, seemingly looking for someone.
"Hey, Rok, over here!"
Approaching the stone boy were a relatively normal-looking boy and a wolf boy. The "ordinary" boy had slicked-back blonde hair that seemed almost supernaturally shiny. He was wearing dark blue pants and a matching vest, a white button-up shirt with sleeves that were puffy around the wrist, and a blood-red cravat around his neck. To Sophie it looked like the kind of outfit that might have been high fashion hundreds of years ago. But what was most noticeable about the boy was still the paleness of his skin, and the sharp fangs in his mouth.
A vampire! He's got to be a vampire! Sophie thought. She glanced up at the sky where the sun was shining brightly down at them. There wasn't a cloud to be seen. If that boy really was a vampire, he'd have to be an odd one. Vampires weren't supposed to be able to stand the sunlight.
The wolf boy next to the vampire kid was dressed in clothes from a similar time period, but he was wearing a black cape as well. The wolf boy seemed to have no problems walking on two legs at all. He walked around just like a human, which made Sophie suspect that he was probably a werewolf.
The werewolf started talking to the stone boy, in a voice that was much more casual and normal than Sophie had expected. "Hey, Rok, did you know that Beto is a superstitious dumb-dumb?" Beto seemed to be the name of the vampire boy.
"I am by no means a dumb-dumb!" cried out Beto the vampire. "It's commonly known that smashing a mirror causes seven years of bad luck... Which I unfortunately did... And now I'll be cursed with bad luck for years to come!"
The stone boy looked back and forth between the two boys with a confused look on his face.
The werewolf boy shook his head.
"That's all just superstition, Beto [https://img.wattpad.com/f5eb4194329026011544712ae0792f5b852c5897/68747470733a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f776174747061642d6d656469612d736572766963652f53746f7279496d6167652f544667686f304c553631576436673d3d2d313235363439383138342e313730396236393165396564373135653634343538323535373734342e706e67?s=fit&w=1280&h=1280]
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
"That's all just superstition, Beto. You're supposed to be one of the smartest kids in this school, but right now you sound even dumber than me."
"I can't possibly sound that dumb, Varis," the vampire kid shot back.
"Why do you even own a mirror? It's not like vampires can see their own reflections!"
"The mirrors let us check whether our clothes are on straight. Either way, you agree with me, don't you, Rok?" The vampire kid looked up at the stone boy with an expectant look.
Rok simply shrugged. It seemed like he didn't quite know how to respond.
"Ha! See?" Varis the werewolf exclaimed triumphantly. "Rok is way too nice to tell it to you straight, but he knows that I'm right!"
"You most certainly are not!" Beto said. "There are several reasons why we know that it brings bad luck. First of all..."
But by then the three boys had started walking away from the bus, and Sophie couldn't hear them anymore.
"So, are you going to get off the bus anytime today or what?" asked the bus driver.
Sophie turned towards him nervously.
"Umm... Is that the school there?" she asked, pointing towards the strange rock fortress.
The bus driver nodded, and Sophie got up from her seat and walked towards the door of the bus. She still couldn't believe that this was all real.
"Now listen here, miss Somera. A free piece of advice before you go," the bus driver said. "Try not to be so darn surprised about every little new thing you see. Otherwise, you'll end up losing your marbles at the first silly unicorn that walks by and you won't see anything else."
"Are there really unicorns here!?"
The bus driver gave her a stern look.
"Oh! Oh right... Sorry. And thanks for the advice," she said, exiting the bus.
Now she was just standing there, not really sure what to do with herself. She was more curious about everything around her than she had ever been in her life, but still she couldn't move. It was all SO different. Everything was new and unknown.
But she couldn't just stand there all day. She had to move on.
Not far from where she was standing, Sophie spotted another girl who was on her own as well. The girl had long, blonde hair and was wearing a white dress. She basically looked like a human, except for her long, pointed ears. Maybe she was an elf?
The girl stood out to Sophie because, just like herself, she didn't really seem to know what to do with herself.
Sophie took a deep breath and carefully approached the girl.
"Hi!" Sophie said, putting on a smile so wide that it had to look unnatural.
The girl turned toward her with a start. For a brief moment she seemed happy that someone had talked to her, but then it was like she remembered something. She looked at Sophie for a few moments, and Sophie couldn't help but feel that she was being judged. Then the girl's face turned into a grimace.
"Go away... you freak," she said with an air of condescension.
"Freak?" Sophie repeated, not able to hide her disappointment.
"Oh yes. If you're wearing that outfit, you can hardly be considered proper."
"Um... I don't really see what's wrong with my clothes," Sophie said, trying to still sound as friendly as she was able. "But my name is Sophie, and this is my first day here! You're an elf, aren't you? What's your name?"
Maybe if Sophie just kept being friendly, the way her mom had suggested, the other girl would be nicer to her too? Sophie extended her hand towards the girl. The girl turned quiet and just stared down at the offered hand.
Then she shook her head and turned her back to Sophie.
"Our school doesn't need any more freaks than it already has," she said, as she walked over towards the red gate that led into the fortress.
"Our school doesn't need any more freaks than it already has," she said, as she walked over towards the red gate that led into the fortress [https://img.wattpad.com/10cc71a2547f4aa7e786fe8be30b22390c640830/68747470733a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f776174747061642d6d656469612d736572766963652f53746f7279496d6167652f35546547517737716b35795845673d3d2d313235363439383138342e3137303962363963646363356232393531393736333434353735382e706e67?s=fit&w=1280&h=1280]
Sophie sighed deeply. A ton of painful memories came rushing back. Apparently, this school wasn't that different after all. Once again, people were judging her before she'd even had a chance to show who she was.
Sophie was lying in her bed with the duvet pulled up over her head [https://img.wattpad.com/8c8906bfb2eff326a3f9cd52b86ce8ec6d8acc52/68747470733a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f776174747061642d6d656469612d736572766963652f53746f7279496d6167652f767862706948304a73664a7570673d3d2d313235333934313835302e313733663230616534623765333861363936343636313337343032322e706e67?s=fit&w=1280&h=1280]
- Next chapter will be out on Friday the 18th of November