The Academy of Exile

II

   "Wrong!" Mr.S slapped the fat 'History of Demonic Possession' textbook down onto this desk and massaged his brow in frustration. Through his fingers he glared out onto his class, whom all of which were laughing uncontrollably, punching each other's arms and covering their mouths. He waited; taking a seat upon his stiff, b-grade office chair until they calmed down and returned to silence. Then he waited some more, his black eyes slipping over each face, scolding each student one by one until he cleared his throat and continued, fingering at his graying beard.
   "No, Mr Vanderherst, demons are not the babies of the devil. Demon's don't even exist. Nor do witches, vampires, vampire slayers or anything of the like." Licking his finger, Mr.S flicked through a number of pages in the yellowing textbook until he found one particular title- 'The Origins of Daemons'. 
   "It clearly states that 'Daemons are the creation of God, residing in a realm created by God and thus ruled by God and the power of all things holy.' 
   "We are not daemons because we are not ruled by 'God', the man doesn't even exist! We all know by whom we are ruled." He shot a curious glance out across the class and nodded, watching the faces of each student become somber. No one ever spoke about it out loud. For the most part, everyone wanted to forget the source of their powers. The source of their madness and their undoing. As the class descended into awkwardness, Mr.S closed the textbook and rose from his chair, walking over to the classroom door and casually opening it. He stuck his head out and looked both left and right before shutting the door again.
   "You're all spectacular young people. I know you'll find yourselves when the time is right. But for now, focus on your studies and be kind to each other." Mr.S, despite his aging appearance and his stern eyes, was a kind and understanding teacher. Students often went to him with their problems as if he was a father. He took his roll very seriously, teaching the history of magic like a code of life. 'Knowing where you come from is just as important as knowing who you are...' He'd bark on, everyone listened though- even if they didn't want to admit it. 
   The bell rang, and just as everyone begun to arise from their seats and collect their belongings, the classroom door slowly opened and a small girl peeked through the crack. Her eyes were a fair blue, piercing through the gap like daggers, almost glowing in the shadow of the door frame. Everyone in the classroom was immediately silenced, staring at her with a joint confused expression. 
   "S-Sorry." She quickly muttered in a small voice and shut the door. Everyone looked at Mr.S, who in turn looked at everyone. He took in a long breath and tapped upon the text book. 
   "She must have been late." He spoke to himself and then addressed the class. 
   "That must have been Pearl. Pearl is new, if you see her around be nice, okay?" 
The class erupted into conversation. A new girl? There was no way, there hasn't been a new person in years! New people weren't picked. She didn't look like them. There was no way. And what kind of name is that anyway? Pearl. 
The class was dismissed and the new girl wasn't anywhere to be seen. The news spread like wildfire across the entire school within the time of one recess. Some people looked for her, some didn't even care, she couldn't hide forever. 

    Pearl had promptly escaped to her dorm. She was flustered and nervous and all over the place as she shakily slid her dorm key into the lock. She opened the door and peeked in, the room was empty, thank goodness. In the room there was two single beds, two cupboards and two bedside tables; all of which mirrored each other on both sides of the room. The decor was old fashioned, but on the right side of the room the entire wall was covered in posters of cartoons and superheroes. Pearl shut the door behind her and lent against the frame, covering her face with her hands so she could calm herself down. Dread hung on her, she'd have a dorm mate... which means she'd have to talk to someone all the time. Pearl was scared of all people and all situations, what could be more scary than moving to a boarding school? Her bag was already in the room, slumped beside her bed. It was a small backpack containing a toothbrush, toothpaste, a pillow and a stuffed bunny. 
   She walked over to her bed and sat down upon it. To her surprise it didn't creak and it wasn't that uncomfortable either. She placed the key on her bedside table and picked up her bag, withdrawing the pillow and her plush bunny and setting them up neatly on her bed. Pearl didn't want to be here, she wanted to go home. Home... she couldn't go home until she was better. Until she was fixed. Until she could control herself and her... urges. Her hands continued to shake thinking about it. The sooner she could go home, the better. She wondered how much time she'd have alone. She wanted to read over her timetable, memorize it and re-read it again just in case. 
   "I can do this..." She said quietly to herself, running her fingers nervously through her ivory hair. It was thin and already knotty. She'd forgotten a hair brush through. She'd forgotten a lot of things. Pajamas, underwear, pens.
   "I can do this..." 
   "I can do this..."
   "I can do this..."

She withdrew her timetable and ran her finger down the words. 

   "I can do this..."

   "You can do what?" 

Pearl's heart stopped and her eyes slowly looked over to a girl standing at the door. She stared emotionless at Pearl, holding a can of energy drink in her right hand. She blinked a few times, waiting for an answer. 

   ***