Charlotte Rhodes's Story

The fire flickered between the drunken teenagers as they crowded around and told ghost stories. Charlotte couldn't hear the ghost stories but she saw lips moving and her emotions seemed to be following as the shadows moved in and she started to get the creeps. It was slightly reminiscent of a party she went to about a week ago. Thirsty, she left the group to go to one of the coolers nearby.

What had been full of beers was seemingly empty. Her hand dipped into the frosty ice water swimming around for the last bottle. The coolness gave her goosebumps as she opened the beer with her teeth. Taking a gulp the thirst was still present. Suddenly there was a cold breath on the back of her neck.

"Thirsty?" the voice asked and two razor sharp pains rocketed through her neck as the fangs sunk in. She could only let out a gasp as the blood drained from her and soaked the collar of her flannel shirt. The release came as suddenly as the attack. She whipped around to see the attacker only to get a flash of red eyes and a burning sensation on her neck.

"Wait!" Charlotte yelled out as she sat up in bed. "It was just a dream." she swore, cursing the shots she drank last night. She lay back down and moved her eyes to her alarm clock.

"8. O'clock. You have got to be kidding!" She ripped the clock off her shelf and was prepared to throw it across the room in frustration, when the sight of her sleeping roommate reminded her to calmly put down the alarm clock and collect herself before doing something stupid. Since there was no way she was getting back to sleep, Charlotte decided to take a shower.

With her hair in a towel high above her head, she brushed her teeth carefully in the mirror. The pearly whites reminded her of her vampire friend from the dream and toothbrush dangling from the edge of her mouth she checked her neck for anything resembling a vampire bite only to find the hickie from two nights ago. Throwing some cover-up on she changed into yoga pants and a plain t-shirt. Grabbing her book bag she left her dorm for the nearby cafe, might as well get a bite to eat and some coffee. She was a bit thirsty after all.

Charlotte entered the cafe with the sweet ring of the bell on the door, it clattered then silence opened to the bustle of a busy morning. She took her usual seat by the window. This cafe was one of her usual breakfast spots if she woke up in time, she enjoyed that there were still waiters and waitresses instead of the more common baristas of Starbucks, it was less chain and more homely, made her feel less bad about paying for a fattening latte every other day. She already knew her order so she ignored the menu and proceeded to stare out the window.

To her surprise a specific guy caught her eye as he passed her on his way to the entrance, Daniel Veltrez, Mr. Paranoid hottie himself. She leaned back in her chair coolly, and casually moved the chair across from her out a bit. She didn't even have to wave at him outside, he would enter the cafe see her nearly instantly, she would ask him to join her and he would politely accept. Charlotte just knew it would happen, guys flocked to her and she didn't even have to try, since Daniel already knew her it was even easier. It was as if they had some sort of special bond that made him even more approachable.

"Oh hello there Charlotte I'll sit down here if that's okay with you." Daniel proceeded to where Alec was at. " Oh hi Alec long time no see, how are the rest of our friends doing? Oh and I'll just have the usual cappuccino." Daniel opened his wallet and pulled out the amount necessary to buy himself a drink. He didn't plan on staying long just enough to speak with Alec about his dream. Since he was here, he might as well talk to Charlotte.
He sat down opposite of her and checked his phone really quick. " One second Char let me check my phone, really freaking hard to keep track of my messages. Did you give people my phone number? Please tell me you didn't. " Daniel flicked through his phone fast, he seemed a bit dismayed. " Yeah, I'm definitely going to have to add my close friends that know about my secret to a group. " Daniel trusted Charl enough to tell her about his family's snobby lineage. " Oh, and do you want to hear the new song I composed on my piano? " Daniel was oblivious to love or pretended to be, if anyone interested him he'd let them know. Daniel didn't love anyone specifically, but Charl and him had a connection that made them good friends.
Daniel always called Charlotte Charl or Char, he called her that ever since he figured out it annoyed her. After a while she accepted the nickname and it became a habit for Daniel to call her that.

Charlotte smiled slyly at Daniel when right on cue he greeted her but when he turned away to order a drink for a moment she thought he was planning on sitting elsewhere, when he settled in across from her she was pleased and began listening with a smile and the occasional nod in agreement as she twirled a suspiciously curly hair by her left ear. She felt an itch on her neck and went to scratch it but remembered the hidden hickie and flipped her hair instead to make her random arm movement less awkward.

Do you EVER stop talking Charlotte thought and rolled her eyes to Daniels seemingly endless chatter. He was a good kid a bit paranoid and secretive, but for a rich snob he wasn't that snobby and never seemed to act very rich. She liked him for one reason or another and since the two of them had never been romantically involved there was no awkward "we totally had sex that one time" feeling between them.

"Piano song yeah sure. What inspired you this time around Maestro?" She smiled and looked him right in the eyes, most guys would be intimidated but Daniel would either brush them off or quickly break the gaze, he never seemed to care anymore.

-----------------------------------

Britton pulled into the parking lot right on time. Sighing he stretched a bit, grabbed his ratty backpack that didn't match his dress shirt and nicer pants. He was required to dress a little more professionally on the first day for his TA position so the student knew he was more than just another student. Either way the two first buttons were undone to make him a little more casual and hopefully approachable. By the way he and his classmates interacted with the TA's back at his old school he knew the first impression was important, he had to be casual but intelligent, and as a Biology 101 TA everyone would be expecting to get an easy A. It was going to be a tough year.

Scooting out of the car he looked up to perfect eye contact with a girl across the parking lot. Blood rushed to his face as he blushed and looked away instantly going back to locking up his car. New place, new girls, and he was already love struck by the first one he saw as he stepped out of the car. A warm feeling filled him and concentrated in his hand, he determined his hand was a strange place for feelings to well up but decided it was just his imagination. His hand fiddled with the keys until they slipped out of the door and onto the ground. Hand a little shaky still from the strange feeling he picked the keys up and pocketed them. From there he continued to the Physical Sciences Center in search of the Biology Class he would be sitting in on before continuing onto the Lab he was supposed to teach that day.

Putting the girl in the back of his mind as a freak interaction, he opened the door and stopped at the main entrance's billboard to figure out where the main lecture hall is.

Daniel got serious for the first time the whole week. " I had a dream, it seemed so real. It had a dragon and fire around me. My right side around my ribs started to get warm, no wait I wouldn't exactly call the feeling that. " Daniel returned to his cheery attitude. " Unbelievable isn't it Char? I had the chance to draw the dragon as well here I'll show you my drawing and my journal, I was originally coming here to speak to Alec about it. But you'll do just as fine as he would, he seems quite busy at the moment. " Daniel loved being Capricous it kept things interesting around here, usually he went to parties and would either be the life of the party or the kid sleeping on a table. He knew that people thought he talked too much, but he didn't care unless they were his actual friends. They still grouped around him, so he rambled to laugh about it later with his friends. Daniel got serious now since he was moving to the topic of his family. " Charlotte I almost blew it today, you wouldn't mind keeping an eye on a girl named Leah would you? I don't want people knowing who my family is. " Daniel returned to his cheery attitude, he enjoyed talking to Charl since she didn't tell anyone his secret, so he figured he could trust her. " Hey Charl do you need help on studying? I heard your grades are going down, some of these teachers are horrible at teaching they make everything so complicated don't you think? Don't you just love my unpredictability? " " I'm sorry, I started to ramble didn't I? " Daniel said a bit sad while hoping he hadn't annoyed Charl too much, he didn't care what people besides his close friends thought of him.

Daniel walked up to the girl that seemed stressed out. And began to speak with her.
Ciao, sto cercando di indovinare sei nuovo qui. E 'di regolazione dura con un nuovo paese? Oh, mi dispiace, ho solo assunto sort've eri da un altro paese, dal momento che il tuo accento è spesso. Sto indovinando i bambini a scuola ti ha dato un momento difficile, qui pulire il viso con questo paper.Ignore i bambini a scuola, sono cretini completi. Auguriamo che l'America più che ho fatto quando sono arrivato qui, provare a trovare alcuni amici per aiutare ci si abitua in America, è estremamente difficile cercare di adattarsi da soli.
Oh my bad I forgot to ask what language you spoke. Please tell me you speak Italian. I'm guessing you play violin? Perfect! Hey you wouldn't mind helping me play the violin part from Song of a Secret Garden? I need someone to play the violin, I can only play the piano. Please can you help me play it? " Daniel was beaming with happiness and eagerness. Daniel loved playing the piano, but he didn't know if any of his friends knew how to play the violin. Daniel always loved the song, it was just the perfect song to be created. " So can you play Song of a Secret Garden with me? Please say yes. Oh if you have an answer call me on my phone, my number is xxx-xxxx-xxxx. I really hope you decide to play the song with me, I can get us the stage to use so we won't be disturbed when we play, it'll be so fun. " Daniel really hoped this girl would want to play a song with him. Daniel then noticed he was rambling and became a bit sad. " I'm sorry I started rambling, I'll just go back to talking with Charl. You don't have to play with me if you don't want to. " Daniel then sat back down and started talking to Charl a bit less enthusiastic, since he can't stop randomly walking up to strangers and ramble.
Daniel got out his phone and saw that he had a text from a friend. he sent this text " Hah, you have him too? I'm going to ramble so long that the class will end before anyone else will get a chance to speak. Of course I'll let all the kids that actually want to speak go first, so I can have time to think up my speech. Heck, I'll probably get an A so I'll stop talking. "
Daniel then unconsciously used his telepathy to let the girl that he talked to earlier hear what he mumbled to himself. " Crap, and I could've gotten someone to play songs with. Oh well, me and my blabbermouth. I can't believe I blew that, now I'm probably going to have to look for someone else who plays violin, but isn't a prick. " Daniel flipped through his phone trying to find anyone who wasn't a prick and he knew could play violin. " No one. " He thought to himself. " Hey Charlotte what have you been up to? " He said this sentence without as much enthusiasm as he used to have.

Demetra had just begun to sit back in her seat, and heaved a sigh, when suddenly there was a thump across from her. Her eyes flashed open and she locked them on those of the boy who had sat there. Immediately he began to speak, his words flying from his mouth. Does this boy manage two-hundred words per minute or something?

She clung to her seat, staring at the boy with wide eyes, opening and closing her mouth repeatedly. She wasn’t used to people going out of their way to talk to her. Or, well, even people just talking to her in general. She didn’t really think of herself as someone people were interested in getting to know, so there she sat, too stunned to really move. She was like a statue, her wide eyes locked on the boy across from her, her hands clutching her seat so tightly they were turning white.

When he left, her eyes followed him to his seat but her head didn’t move. It was several moments later before she forced herself to relax, pushing her violin further under her feet. She looked out the window for a second, then over at the boy again, who had slit into a booth with some girl she’d never seen before. Finally, after she heard what she thought had been a mumble, Demetra rose, grabbed her bags, and moved over to him. She held her violin against her chest and stood there awkwardly until he noticed her. When he did, she flushed a light pink and squirmed under his gaze.

“I know Song of a Secret Garden by heart. I would love to play it with you,” she said, her voice a mumble and her words flowing together. She shifted her cases and her bag so that she could hold her hand out to him. “Il mio nome è Demetra Tatila,” she said, introducing herself. “E tu sei …?” she asked, lowering her cases and bag so that she could sit in the booth beside him, motioning to her waiter to bring her food and drink over to the table when it was ready. She turned back to the boy. “You have never heard me play. How do you know if I am even, as you say, ‘any good’?” she asked, her expression and voice puzzled. She lifted her case and set it in her lap, popped the tabs, and removed her violin and the bow. She cast a swift look around then looked at the girl across from her. Unsure of if she spoke Italian or not, Demetra decided not to take the chance and spoke in English. “My name is Demetra Tatila. It is a pleasure to meet you, Signora,” she said, bowing a little to the woman. She stood up and propped her violin against her chin, nodding a little at the boy, then began to intro to Song of a Secret Garden, not truly understanding that people didn’t just randomly stand up and start playing music in the middle of a café in America.

When she stopped and lowered her violin, replaced it to her case, looked up and snapped it shut, she blinked several times and blushed under the looks she was getting. “Did I do something of the wrong?” she asked, hunching her shoulders a little and slipping back into her seat, placing her case on the floor again. She finally looked up at the boy again, still puzzled but attempting to focus on what his offer had been. “Was it good enough?” she asked, biting her lower lip and casting a look between him and the other girl. “If not, I know of people in the musical programs that I was introdotto to yesterday an could speak to them of your problema.”

((Introdotto – introduced
Problema – Problem
Signora – Ma’am
Il mio nome è Demetra Tatila – My name is Demetra Tatila
E tu sei – And you are?))

"I loved it, although I don't think people randomly start playing music in cafes." " Oh and that's Charlotte she can't speak Italian or she might be able to. I have no idea I never asked her. Oh and if you were wondering I can do exactly 300 words per minute. " Daniel smiled taking pride in this . "I don't care if your good or not, once you said you knew it by heart I knew you were as serious about music as I am. " Daniel was his cheery self again after she said she'd want to play with him. "Oh and don't think you can get away with not playing with me, you already agreed and you can't make someone else take your place. " Daniel said that with a smile on his face. Daniel had a test tomorrow but he didn't care, he wasn't going to pass up the chance to play his favorite song with someone even if that meant having to take a harder test then what was assigned. " Heh, I'm probably going to miss the test for playing this, but music is clearly more important then that test. " Daniel checked the news on his phone quickly and saw his mother and father were coming to the town. " Questo è male, davvero male. " Daniel's color quickly faded from his face. " Madam I'm going to have to trust you to keep a secret. " Daniel turned to Charlotte "I'm telling her who my snobby parents are. " He pulled a second phone and showed the girl a picture of his parents in a limousine and on his other phone he showed a picture of his parents and him in a family picture. " My parents are snobby rich people, yes I know. It's a terrible lineage, I hate my parents for being snobby and not giving anything to the community. Can we leave to practice in the school? I don't want to be here when my parents arrive. They'll probably want me to reveal where I come from. " Daniel was hoping she didn't ask what his parents did to make him hate them so much. He walked up to Alec and asked him if he could decipher his dreams for him, he then gave Alec his dream journal. " Don't lose this Alec. " He then sat back down and waited for a reply to his last question.

Alec had been so busy that he rarely noticed Daniel come in. He nodded in acknowledgement about what he was saying. He went about getting the orders and soon came by with Charlotte and Daniel's order. He got along with most people, but these two were few of the ones he felt some kind of connection. Their auras were definitely diverse too. However one thing their auras had in common was like there was a 2nd skin to their auras that was violet in hue but was more potent and powerful. He had the same thing around him too. When another person came in Alec looked up and saw it looked to be another student. Again he felt an instant connection and used his aura seeing abilities on her. Instantly he saw the same violet hue surrounding aura colors he never seen before. Her overall aura was silver! It was fascinating to see actually. He went over and got her order too. As he took it back, he glanced and saw Daniel interacting with her. Alec grinned. The man had so many friends that it was hard for him to keep track of them all. However, only a handful of them knew of his lineage. The dark skin man couldn't blame him either. It was the same for him not revealing his abilities for only a handful know that. Soon Alec came with the blue hair girl's meal and would have left, but Daniel asked him to decipher his dreams and gave him a journal. Alec nodded.

"I won't." he said.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Leah got her books and was walking back to her dorm room. She couldn't help but think back to the guy that telepathically started talking to her instantly. This wasn't the first time this kind of thing happened to her. Leah knew others with 'abilities' and always seem to draw people to her like she was a magnet and she even had people tell her that they couldn't help but gush out their life stories to her at times because she had this 'aura' about her. It was one more reason why she valued her privacy. As for the person who talked to her telepathically though, she couldn't help but feel an instant connection and had a strong sense of deja vu also. It was pretty weird. As she walked though, she walked passed several people who began walking into a nearby building and one of them she felt something so strong that it was almost like a sucker punch to her system. She looked sharply to her left and saw someone with a black hoodie on walk into the building. This was definitely getting strange, but something told Leah that all these events so far were connected.

((I don't have time to post for Minerva.))

Daniel didn't feel like greeting anyone at the moment. His normally calm and collected presence was replaced by a nervous one. "Crap crap crap, Charl I'm going to have to call my parents to see where they're at. " Daniel said that with a tensed voice. He got out his phone and called his parents hoping they weren't anywhere close. He then grabbed two other phones and connected them to the conversation, he then gave them to Demetra and Charl. " Don't talk just listen. " He then began the gut wrenching conversation with his mother. "Hello, mom are you there? " "Yes, do you need anything son? " Said Daniel's mother. "No, just calling to see where your at, hey you wouldn't be the guests coming to the school that the everyone was talking about would you? ". "Why of course we are, we have to be sure you're getting a good education. " Said his mother. " It's fine really, I'm getting a good education and making friends. " " Nonsense, we must be sure your being treated with the best money can buy. " Said his mother. "Exactly when are you coming to the school? " "Next month we still have to get ready to go, and we're a bit a busy right now. " Said his mother. "It's fine you can postpone your trip a bit, I'm not in much of a hurry. " "Nonsense honey, oh and you people shouldn't eavesdrop on a conversation between a mother and her son. ". Daniel was baffled. How did his mother know there was other people besides him listening to his conversation? He then turned to Demetra and said " Don't let her tone of voice fool you. She's a pitiful fool who would slap you for staining her clothes, she thinks money makes her better then everyone. " Daniel returned to his cheery self remembering he had a month till people knew what his lineage was. " Hey do you guys want to go somewhere? I'll pay for expenses, just name the place. I just don't want to think about my parents for a bit, I think I'm making everyone be in a bad mood. Call me on my phone if you do, I'm going to be at the store. My piano's strings broke and I don't think I can play a song with broken strings, unless you want to go shopping too. " Daniel didn't know why he was offering this, he just felt he had a sort of connection with the two. He didn't care anyways fun is fun no matter what. Before he left he greeted the two people coming in. "Have a nice day, hope we meet each other later. Oh and nice hair. " He said that still cheery wondering what place Charl and Demetra would choose to go to. Daniel went to his car, it wasn't much. Yah he was rich, but he loved his car, it was the first thing he bought with money he earned. He just sat there waiting to see if the girls wanted to go to the store, if they didn't that was fine by him. He just started playing games with his phone.

Charlotte sighed, it was too early for her to be with Daniel, things always seemed to move faster with him around. She was overwhelmed when Daniel invited a strange foreign girl, who started playing violin shrinking in her chair Charlotte decided she wanted to be invisible for once, her head was throbbing with a deadly hangover and Alec had just brought over her coffee which she was sipping carefully as she leaned back and enjoyed the show. As the girl finished she smiled and looked to Daniel who once again started talking a mile a minute.

"Charlotte Rhodes, pleasure to meet you, that piece was wonderful" She applauded Demetra before turning back to her coffee and staring off into the distance as Daniel continued. Demetra was an interesting character and clearly foreign, maybe she'd be interested in partying later.

Out of the blue Daniel handed her a cell phone to listen in on a phone call with his parents. The rich boy cared to much about his parents and image, it wasn't a big deal.

"Relax Daniel, It's not that big a deal text me later if the parents thing is still bugging you." Charlotte gave him a charming wave goodbye and finished her coffee. "Excuse me I need to get out of here." She apologized to Demetra. "Nice meeting you." With a wave she scooted past some girls as she paid and left. She had a long time before any classes so she stopped by her room changed into some more athletic yoga pants and a sports bra, not even bothering with a shirt she decided she'd run to the gym so she wouldn't have to use the treadmill when she got there. Packing a water bottle she took off for the gym.

he was half blinded by the sun's critical glare as he walked barefooted along a thin metal beam.The scorching hot metal beneath his feet made it feel like he was walking right on top of a grill whose flames never seemed to retire. Despite it being an extremely hot day in the middle of nowhere, the beam ahead of him was always covered with fog. It seemed as if it was going to go on forever and ever so Cesar just closed his eyes and continued walking whilst whistling a tune of his own. How he kept so calm and balamced when his feet felt like they were being cooked was a mystery to him. However, he Cesar suddenly felt the need to jump.

And jump indeed he did.

Oddly enough, he didn't scream like most would when falling to their deaths. Somehow, he felt as if he werewaiting forthe right time to do the impossible: to open his nonexistent wings and just fly off to who knows where. He opened his eyes and saw a figure with long flowing hair on the beam, looking down and reaching out to him. He tried to reach back towards her but he suddenly found himself hurried in a pile of feathers as everything faded to black.

Cesar awoke in short quick breaths as if he just ran a marathon. He found it quite puzzling and ironic since he felt very calm and relaxed in his dream. Taking a deep breath and counting to ten, Cesar got up from his bed and got ready for whatever lay ahead of him. He didn't have much of jetlag since he was starting to get used to traveling during weekdays. He had just gotten back yesterday from the Philippines to help out those who were affected by the typhoon.

Donning a grey long sleeved button up shirt and black fitting-- not skinny-- jeans, Cesar grabbed his satchel and walked out the door, locking it once he was in the hallway. He then made his way to a little cafe not too far from campus. He entered the care feeling a lot of emotions at once. He patiently stood there, waiting for two familiar girls in front of him to get a move on forward. He felt relaxed yet annoyed at the same time. But no more than a few seconds later, he could feel his cheeks heatinh up, a subtle shade of pink grazing his cheeks. He felt anxious and embarrased. He instantly turned to a booth not too far away from where he stood. He saw a girl with long midnight blue hair and simply could not keep his gaze away from her as if she was an old forgotten friend. Then again, he could never forget a face like that! It just felt so refreshing to see her. He knew very well that there were plenty other females he had encountered that were drop dead georgous from other countries, but he felt like he could just keep looking at her. He also knew that it was too late to care if he got caught staring. She was blushing and was equipped with a violin. Judging from the girl's expression, Cesar could tell that he had just missed a performance. It also seemed that she was waiting for some type pf reaction or reply from the red-head in front of her.

It wasn't too long until Cesar identified who those red locks belonged to. He wasn't surprised at all to see Danny talking with people he didn't even know. He talked to the girl and went out the door, talking about shopping. Just as he left, another person he recognized very well, Charlotte, exited as well. He made sure to step to the side, careful as to not block any of their paths, going by unnoticed.

Charlotte popped in headphones blaring the most upbeat pop music she could find, it took a surprising amount of pep to get her motivated to workout and it took a lot of time to make her body look as good as it does. She decided to take a relaxed jog to the gym instead of sprinting the whole way, she would just have to promise herself she'd do triple the crunches when she got there.

She jogged past a cute guy and caught him staring. It was a nice feeling, even if he was just being a perv. It reved her up a little bit more and she picked up the pace maybe he'd get a good view as she left him in the dust. Charlotte smirked with pure determination, this was going to be a good workout she was beyond fired up.

Arriving at the gym she was sweaty and already warmed up. Pulling the water bottle out of her bag she took a large gulp and gave herself a second to cool down as she walked through the doors. Blood pumping through her veins she went directly to the weight machines, seeing all of the guys lifting she barely felt intimidated in fact she was enjoying the view, judging by the decent heights, strong triceps and the strange gear bags off to the side this was the remainder of the fencing team post-practice or pre-practice, judging by the sweat and tousled hair the first seemed more likely.

Lying down on the bench press she had set up with an insignificant amount of weight she began going through the reps, she had a circuit planned for today and after about 25 of slow painfully lifts on this machine she would move to 50 crunches and continue from there. She hoped none of the guys would think she was struggling because she was lifting the pole so slowly, it wasn't that she didn't like a muscular man standing over her spotting as she lifted but it would slow her progress.

Demetra was startled when the phone was passed to her, but she listened hastily to the English passing through the phones. When he hung up, as did she and she returned the phone to him. She didn't really understand what she had just heard, other than the fact that he was apparently rich and that his parents were coming and it was some sort of big secret that he had money. She flipped out her iPhone, which had finally save up enough money for, and sat back down in the booth as Daniel and Charlotte left. She thought it funny how Charlotte had left immediately after Daniel, and a small grin played across her lips as the though crossed her mind. She slid on her phone, sent a quick text to Daniel saying she couldn't go anywhere with him and apologizing in the process, then stretched a little as her Belgian Waffle was set before her.

However, the smirk disappeared as a soft tingling sensation slid over her neck, causing the hair to rise up and goosebumps to appear across her skin. She turned slightly as her breakfast was set before her, and as soon as her eyes fell on one person standing near the door, she froze.

A boy stood there, who wasn't even a boy at all, he was more of a man than a boyish child. He looked only slightly older than she was, but that wasn't the thing that made her go still. No, there were two other reasons entirely.

It was the familiar look to him. She swore she recognized him, which was odd because she knew absolutely no one from America as of yet. His hair was a bleach-blond color that one didn't commonly associate it with a person. He was tall, but not uncomfortably so, and had muscle that was obvious but not sickening. And his face. His face was angular, seeming to be perfectly sculpted by the Gods.

There was also the fact that a man stood directly behind him. He looked like a slightly older version of the man who was staring at her. He had a similar build and facial structure, along with similar coloring. Only, he was different.

He was a spirit.

Her heart hammering in her chest and her cheeks flushing a bright red, Demetra quickly turned her gaze to the man who was alive, then back to the shimmering, blue-white spirit. After several moments of staring at the two, she whipped back around to her waffle. "Smettere di fissarmi... Non guardare a lui... " she muttered, hunching her shoulders a little. She wrapped her fingers around the oval, bronze locket that hung between her breasts, closed her eyes, inhaled deeply, then turned back to her food. She released her locket and plucked up her fork, itching to turn around and stare back at the man. It was disconcerting to say the least to have someone she didn't know staring at her. It was entirely different if she was performing or playing a game for one of her sports; it was just ... Weird when she was in public and not doing anything to attract attention to herself.

Finally, she turned and gave him a nervous, almost embarrassed look, but not at all mean.

"Posso aiutare lei, Signore?" she asked. She flushed as she realized he more than likely didn't speak English. She cleared her throat. "Can I help you, Sir?" she asked, her voice laced with her accent.

((Smettere di fissarmi... Non guardare a lui... - Stop staring at me ... Do not look at him ...
Posso aiutare lei, Signore? - Can I help you, Sir?))

((Edited to add this))~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The calming, beautiful serenity of the forest engulfed him as he lay back in the gently swaying, perfectly green grass. His eyes were closed and he could see the sun against his eyelids, feel the heat as it bathed over his skin, smell the sweet scents of the trees, the honeysuckle, the freshly cut grass.

The sound of a swishing through the forest floor caused him to open his eyes. He looked up at the bright, gorgeous blue sky, and then slowly sat up, his brows drawn together and his legs splayed out before him. His hands were braced behind him to hold himself up, and his eyes locked on the dark trees before him.

Suddenly, something dashed by the trees, an odd, sparkling glow that moved too fast for his eyes to follow. He shot up and took off towards the trees, his curiosity driving him to follow the odd light.

He was gaining on the glowing object. He was only a few feet away and quickly catching up to what he could now tell was a female. His hand reached out with a mind of its own to grab the girl, just a little further and his fingers will have touched her shoulder …

Orion’s eyes opened and he looked at the dark ceiling of his room. Dull light splayed through the curtained window, and he stifled a yawn, the dream already just a dim memory. He never could remember his dreams and nightmares well.

Slipping from his bed, he rose and stretched, his joints cracking, and groaned slightly. “Damn,” he muttered as his head began to throb. He slowly showered and dressed, skipped breakfast, then dashed from his small apartment and to his small Toyota truck.

He quickly arrived at the school and rushed with his bag to the restaurant that connected to the campus café, nodding and saying hello to the people that called out to him.

“Hey Daniella,” he called as he dashed behind the counter of the restaurant. He stashed his bag under the counter and pulled on his apron, tying it behind his neck and waist, then flipped out his notebook and pen and jumped over the counter, managing to make it to a customer’s table just as they were sitting down. He smiled politely at the customer and proceeded to take their order – they were a regular, so it wasn’t hard – and immediately got to work.

Alec looked up as Orion came in and shook his head. Orion tend to run late from time to time, but at least he didn't mess around and got straight to work. It was a good thing the manager was a bit lenient when it came to her workers for most of the workers were college students. In the meantime, he continued his work because their seem to be so many people in the cafe that made his senses on edge. One in particular gave him goosebumps. It was coming from one of two girls that came in before Orion came in. It was someone with dark hair that was almost black but was just a dark blue-violet color. It actually took all his composure to act normal. Something was up for sure. Deciding to see what would happen, he walked over to the duo.

"Good morning ladies, what would you like?" he asked in a friendly voice.

((That's your cue Vice.))

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Things seemed to be progressing smoothly for Craig. He had been keeping tabs on all the current chosen and was right now tracking down the new ones. He wasn't surprise to see most of the chosen at the cafe. The area itself was a focal point of energy and those with great amounts of positive energy would be drawn to it, especially the 16 charges he'd been assigned to watch over. He was already familiar with a few of them. Currently he was finishing his daily coffee and bagel as he watched Alec address two girls. He pulled out his notepad and jotted things down. Perfect! Looks like a few of the couples were already meeting! Craig couldn't help but feel excited. One of Craig's abilities was to 'see' a person's true form and to 'see' the connection between soul mates. It was one reason why he was chosen to do this. Now if only he could find a way to get others to meet.

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Minerva sighed as she finished her first class. She had just gotten out of college algebra and now had some free time. So she decided she would use this time to go to the gym. Minerva's thoughts though weren't on her daily plan. No, they were centered around the dream she had last night. Stopping under a tree, she though about it.

Trees were everywhere and as tall as the sky. Flowers were all around her too. Minerva felt at peace with herself for she never seen anything so beautiful. Walking along, she didn't notice how the flora around her grew. Suddenly she felt something. Looking up, she saw a figure in the trees that seemed to be looking down at her. Who was that? The figure giggled and jumped from tree to tree around her before jumping down. Minerva stood transfixed and saw it was a female elf and a gorgeous one at that. Oh, to be as lovely as this one, Minerva thought. The elf pointed behind her and Minerva turned to see another figure. Her ankle heated up as she saw a male figure. Before she could do anything else though, fog rolled in and she fainted.

Thinking about it now made Minerva's heart beat faster. Who was the other figure? Minerva never had a dream like that before. Normally she would forget them, but this time she remembered it clearly. Shaking her head, she continued walking towards the gymnasium. When she got there, she went to the girls' locker room and changed. Deciding she would use the weight room first, she came in a felt a sensation go up her spine. What was going on here? Ignoring it, she decided to do some leg curls first.

Alex got off of the tredmill after a few minutes of warming back up. He grabbed his towel and water, and headed back towards the weight machines. He figured he would throw in some planks along with the other machines to keep his abs well defined. If there was one thing he had learned when he first took up fencing, it was that it was very phisically demanding. To be successful, one needed their speed, endurance, and reflexes to be well toned and fresh. Alex made his way over to the bicep curl machine, when he noticed that some of the remaining fencers were looking at something. Alex, on a whim, followed their line of sight, to see what could possibly be so interesting in a gym.

That was when Alex noticed the girl on the bench press. Normally, he would have simply rolled his eyes at the gawking idiots in the corner. However, the moment he saw her, he suddenly felt the strangest sensation in his neck. It almost felt like his neck was both warming up and tingling at the same time. It was so sudden, that Alex felt himself touch the spot on his neck where the sensation seemed to spread from, all while feeling the strangest sense of deja vu. His family's obsession with his "gift" immediately came to mind. Alex shook his head and mentally scolded himself. 'There is no such thing as the supernatural', he thought to himself. 'and if there is, you certainly have no link to it.' He saw someone else walk into the gym, another girl, who sent shivers up his spine. Using it to justify that the feelings meant nothing, blaming his horrible breakfast again, he got back to work.

Of course, Alex couldn't help but admit there was something about that girl that was alluring, though he couldn't figure out what. After running all this through his head, trying not to stare, he noticed that she was going quite slowly in her reps. Alex figured it could be intentional, but he couldn't pass up the oppertunity to get to the bottom of this little mystery himself. So, mustering up what nerve he could, he walked over to the girl and asked her, "Need some help?"

Charlotte was so engrossed in her lifting that she didn't notice the tingling sensation on the side of her neck, she thought it was some sweat dripping or the tensing of muscles. Bar just an inch above her chest she is greeted by one of the guys, breaking her concentration. Her muscles were close to colapsing and letting the bar hit her chest but she managed to pull though after thinking of the fool she'd make of herself if she did. With a heaving push she lifted the bar and let it rest on the rack behind her head. With a huff of breath she sat up and turned to the new arrival.

"I don't know, can I trust you to save me if these weights fall?" She asked innocently and eyed the snickering teammates in the corner, at least this guy had the balls to talk to her. That time she felt the warmth on her neck as she made eye contact with the new guy. She was staring him down, it was almost intimidating but some guys found it alluring. She looked him up and down and then locked eyes, he was well built, cute and she was being very judgmental, even his eyes had a certain quizzical look to them, it was like he had never seen a girl as hot as her. She fed off the attention and then slipped another glance at the other guys still glued to the two of them with their slight glances. She had noticed the other perfectly attractive girl in the weight room but clearly Charlotte held the spotlight and she would continue to soak it in.

Alex smiled a bit as he heard what the girl on the bench press said. "Of course", he responded. "I wouldn't let it fall on you." That was when the girl locked eyes with him. Alex found that for some reason, he couldn't seem to look away from them. They were just so .... alluring, as if they were swallowing him whole. This feeling, combined with the chills coming from his neck, both elated him and set him on edge. After a few seconds, he finally composed himself. "Uh... yeah. I'm Alex Kowalski. Uh, hi." Alex scolded himself in his head for being such a klutz. He actually found it quite amusing. Throughout his life, he had no fear of challenging a person better at fencing then him to a bout, or of anything related, but turned into a complete and utter klutz around cute girls. While thinking about this, the one thing that Alex prayed would not happen, happened: his stomach growlled audibly. "Oh, uh ... yeah, I didn't really get a good breakfast this morning. You wouldn't happen to know anywhere to get good lunch after this, would you? I transfered here, so I don't know anywhere that might be good around here."

Charlotte smiled slyly, “Lunch? Well going now would cut my workout short but I think your stomach might get into a verbal argument with me if I keep you any longer.” She giggled and wiped some sweat off her brow. She couldn’t go back to the café for lunch, it was good but she didn’t need to be seen there twice in one day.

“There’s a sandwich place not too far from here, Scooters, it’s pretty good, fast, and I don’t know if you’re at all interested but it seems like a good day to eat outside there are some picnic benches at the park nearby.” She informed Alex. A Transfer student would need a tour guide and this one was cute enough that it wouldn’t be a hassle, he seemed like a shy, nervous guy maybe if she got a little alcohol in him he’d loosen up.

“Oh, and I’m Charlotte, I’ve been around here for a while but I’m still a freshman, let’s just say I’m street smart rather than book smart, so you’re in luck. I can find the best places to eat or maybe drink if you’re into that.” She winked at him and stood up from where she had been sitting on the bench. Stretching, she grabbed her bag and took a swig of her water.

Alex smiled at the idea of having lunch outside. He certainly was easygoing enough to enjoy lunch outside. Plus, sandwiches didn't sound so bad either. They would certainly make up for his pathetic breakfast. "Sandwiches, huh?" he responded. "Sounds good, and I'd love to eat outside. I'd hate to cut your workout short though." He certainly didn't mind having lunch with a cute girl either. Quick glances to the others told him that the last few guys in the gym were getting quite jealous.

"Well, nice to meet you Charlotte" Alex said after she introduced herself. "I certainly don't mind getting a drink, but not until later at night. Lead the way to this sandwich place, then". He grabbed his towel and and water, and packed them in his bag. On the way out the door with Charlotte, he made a face to the remaining guys who were being jealous.