Draven Balre's Story

Camellia paced up and down in front of all the new inmates standing in the courtyard. "Hello, all. Welcome to Rosewood Mental Institution," she started. "You are here today, not because you have mental problems, but because you have something that society does not want. It is understood that every one of you here have a certain special talent that society does not know about. Here at Rosewood, we aim only to make you forget about that talent. We aim to help you fit in, so that in future, when you leave Rosewood as fine young people, you will find your place in the world outside. At Rosewood, we have your best interests at heart, and so we ask that you listen to our staff. I am head of staff, and you will address me as Miss Darrell, or Camellia if you are feeling more intimate.

"As this is your first day, the schedule will not be used. However, as tomorrow is Monday, it would be good if you prepared for five consecutive days of classes. I, however, will be teaching you, and I will also be leading you around to your classes. So any queries you have about your classes or most things in general can be brought straight to me. Any questions?"

She stopped and stared directly into each of the inmates' eyes. She knew that her stares would probably make them uncomfortable, but this was, Camellia found, one of the more effective ways to make people remember her words better. These new inmates looked promising. Camellia hoped that they would grow up into people who society accepted easily.

Camellia wondered what these inmates would be like. The girl with flowing hair in a wheelchair, known as Leslie. The short and defiant-looking girl, known as Nina. The boy with brown hair falling into his eyes, known as Zephen. The boy with a shock of white hair and ice-blue eyes, known as Christopher. The boy with an angelic smile, known as Barrett. The small boy who looked rather lonely, known as Antonio. The determined girl with blonde hair, known as Charlotte. The tall boy with thick black hair, known as Draven. The slender girl, known as Arianna. The girl with a bandage over one eye and many scars, known as Felope. Finally, the boy with scaly skin and long nails, known as Lacross.

Oh, yes. Camellia had taken the time to go over the inmates' files and commit their names to heart. She was sure that she could do the best for them.

Felope, or how she called herself Vampirity, watched the woman pace up and down infront of her. She cocked her head, not liking what she said. She thought she was just normall and now she was being told she wasn't normal and that society didn't want her. She just wanted to return to the Circus she lived and travelled with, that was her home, it would always be her home. She never wanted to leave the Circus but had been forced to leave. She had never felt home anywhere but now, she had no home at all. The Circus was her only home and she wouldn't return to it. She would forget about it and be 'normal'. But, she didn't want to be 'normal', she wanted to be herself and only herself. She didn't care what others thought about her, she wanted to be herself and she would do anything to stay herself.

Vampirity watched her stare at the inmates' and cocked her head. She wanted to say something about that but decided to stay quiet. For now it was better to stay quiet for her, the words she used sometimes were not really good. But she hated how that woman stared at her, and the others. It made her feel uncomfortable.

Lacross watched the woman pace, tapping his fingers lightly on his knee. His sliver eyes dared not look at the others for fear that they would see his skin. He was skittish about it, the downside to the 'usefulness' of his power. Even though it was only in patches, they were still visible to everyone. His scales and breath were a blessing and a curse. It was protection and strength as well as force to be reckoned with. He looked down at his Pendent and twidled with it. Looking around, the others seemed more normal then he was. Lacross could almost say he was the odd one out.

Then again, everyone here was in someway the odd one out.

'You know they can't keep you here for long, Lacross...' Lacross sighed at the sound of the voice. The bass voice chuckled as he looked at the others in amusement and slight malice toward them. 'They are not like us my boy. They are like knights, waiting to steal from your horde when you sleep at night...' "Please shut up, It's your fault that here in the first place." He whispered, knowing that part of what the voice said was true. The reason for the mauling, the fight and the irrational need to kill in that instance was to protect what was his. His prized possession and creation. At the very least the kid was still alive and breathing.

The voice sighed. 'In time you will understand dear wyrmling. In time.' The voice faded into a low rumble and then silence, letting lacross sigh in relief. However, looking up proved to be just as bad as having the voice talking to him. The woman speaking unnerved him with her stare; something that he had never experienced outside of the cold stare of his grandmother. He kept his head down again, hoping that the woman's oppressive stare would let up.

Draven felt discomfort in his current predicament, his eyes subconsciously scanned his surroundings: his eyes picked out the people around him then the courtyard he was in, he noticed a eerie vibe to the place which unnerved him slightly. Draven's eyes flicked onto a woman, as she paced up and down infront of the group which in total there was ten. She continued to do this, probably to get her message across. She then opened her mouth, and began giving an introduction to everyone, Draven tilted his head and listening half-heartedly: picking out the information, and disregarding the mindless pleasantries.

Draven liked the idea of being normal, but his mind automatically rejected the idea 'How does one forget about not being able to die? And even if I did forget about it, it'd still be there.' his conciousness echoed to himself irritating him for a second: making his cheeks fluster red. The second part of the speech, however Draven almost laughed at. The only interests they had at heart were their own, although Draven was going to take advantage of this and try to rehabilitate himself, he wouldn't allow them to get to deep inside his head though. This was still a Mental Asylum after all, or so it claimed to be and Draven didn't want his mind messed with in any sort of manner, he wanted to keep his mind on the prize.

The woman known as Miss Darrel, who Draven would always refer to as it is strictly professional then proceeded to look into the eyes of everyone, almost staring into them as to get her message across. Draven opened his eyes widely, and pursed his lips into a defiant smile just to show that her message had been received, but it meant nothing to him. He put his hands on his hips, idly waiting for this introduction to continue.

Draven wasn't really sure what to do, his mind wandered occasionally as he was curious about the others: did they hold a worthwhile ability? He doubted it somewhat as they were probably all annoying, dysfunctional wastes of space who do nothing but whine about how life has screwed them over, Draven didn't hold himself in higher regards which made him chuckle dryly. Few however managed to hold his interest, for example the ones with physical abnormalities; the boy who had patches of scales all over his face which seemed to change color, and the boy who had just grown a tail and animalistic ears, which made Draven turn away, with a distasteful frown. Draven couldn't know the others abilities, but there were certain signs for example the short redhead, who had quite a temper had obviously lit the animal boys shirt on fire, which amused Draven. But regardless it was obvious she could generate fire.

His eyes spotted a wooden bench which seemed comfy, Draven walked up to it running his fingers along the small dents before sitting down his arms automatically coupling over each other, before he began to try and memorize the courtyard. It seemed rather spacious and had nice depth, however Draven cared little for this area, probably because of the noises in the background which seemed to spoil the atmosphere.

Leslie looked up at the girl who had set Zephen's shirt on fire. Though Zephen had called her short, the girl was actually a fair bit taller than Leslie herself. Leslie grabbed Zephen's elbow. "Lay off her," she said. She turned at the sound of another greeting. "Hello," she smiled at the other boy. Zephen's hand landed on her shoulder. Ignoring it, she introduced herself. "I'm Leslie."

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Camellia sensed the slight hostility in the air and decided to try and stop it. She was especially worried about the fiery-tempered girl, Nina. She'd heard quite a bit about her, and didn't want a fight, or worse, a fire on her hands to deal with.

Clapping her hands, Camellia announced, "Since it appears that no one has any questions, I will now tell you the rooming arrangements. When your name is called out, please step out and take a map, a copy of your schedule, and select your uniform." Saying so, she stepped aside to reveal a table with many uniforms draped on it. The uniforms were in a large array of colours, every shade imaginable available.

Camellia reached into her pocket and pulled out a sheet of folded paper. Unfolding it, she began to read out the contents. "Leslie Caitlyn Abrams and Charlotte Lee Clark, you will be sharing the Orchid Room. Arianna Raye Smith-Harrison and Felope Dark, you will be sharing the Rose Room. Nina Adrienne Walker, you will be taking the Mayflower Room.

"Barrett Carmen Anderson and Lacross Marie Leland, you will be sharing the Aquamarine Room. Zephen Derango Holiday and Christopher Dylan Andd, you will be sharing the Ruby Room. And the two remaining boys, Antonio Harry William Rivera and Draven Razent Balre, you will be sharing the Sapphire Room."

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Leslie looked up at the mention of her name. Inclining her head slightly towards Zephen and the other boy, she pushed herself forward. Turning back, she said to Zephen, "It was nice meeting you. I'll talk to you later." Camellia handed her a map and schedule. Leslie accepted them wordlessly. Moving over to the table, Leslie then selected a deep purple uniform, before waiting beside the table.

When Antonio heard his name he said goodbye to the girl he had said hello to. Leslie. He shuffled over to the woman, gathered his uniform and map and began to make his way to his room. He hadn't a clue who he was sharing with...he was hoping that they weren't mean or something.

Upon his arrival to the room, Antonio changed into his uniform in the bathroom after noticing a few cameras, which he found a bit creepy. They are watching my every move... He thought to himself, they could easily just watch anything he did. Who was he sharing this room with? Some guy called Draven? He hadn't talked to him, he didn't even know who he was. Toni sighed as he sat himself on the floor and thought about this whole situation.

He glanced at the map for a moment, there was a library...he could go there in his spare time. He really didn't feel like talking to anyone out in the courtyard, he felt like he didn't fit in with them. Antonio rose to his feet and stared out of the window of the room. He knew that he was going to be here for a very long time.

Draven's eyes drifted occasionally, but they were snapped back into focus as Ms. Darrel clapped her hands drawing his attention she announced "Since it appears that no one has any questions, I will now tell you the rooming arrangements. When your name is called out, please step out and take a map, a copy of your schedule, and select your uniform." Draven rolled his eyes systematically, he liked his current clothes, but he didn't really have a problem with the uniform he could even have black, which made him curl his lips backwards into a snide grin. The Sapphire room, sounded rather nice, and he looked forward to it, but he'd never been one to share especially with people he hardly knew. He paused for a minute trying to recall the person who he'd be sharing his room with, all he could recall of the boy's name was William.

Draven heard some drama over the course, it seemed one of the people had made a fool of himself which of course didn't really bother Draven as he didn't care. Draven fell back into line, collecting a black uniform along with a map and schedule before trying and failing horrifically to navigate to the ominous Sapphire room. Eventually however he managed his room, and his eyes glanced inwards, he saw a boy staring out of the window. Draven not one for announcing his presence simply walked in, threw his bag down and began unpacking.

Antonio almost jumped out of his skin when the door opened. He didn't look behind him, he shuffled away from the window and over to one of the beds, he was aware of the other boy, he wasn't sure how to greet him. All it would normally take just a simple 'Hello' but for some reason, Toni didn't feel that that would cut it.

Antonio spared a quick glance at his roommate, looking away shortly after, not wanting to seem rude at all. So this is Draven... he thought for a moment. Antonio had to introduce himself soon or they probably wouldn't become friends, and that was what he wanted...friends.

"Uh...Hi...how are you?" Antonio asked slowly, paying attention to a bird that had came up to the window.

Draven felt a slight tension, which made in him feel uncomfortable as he kept on turning his head glancing at the window, taking in a good look at the boy who would be his room-mate. He thought about breaking the awkward silence, but he wasn't really good at starting conversations, so he remained silent.

"Uh...Hi...how are you?" the boy asked, rather slowly which made Draven's head crane round. His hand automatically came up rubbing the back of his neck. Draven thought of a response at a rather slow pace, but before long he had prepared an answer for the boys question and a greeting, "Hello. I'm fine thank you. I'm Draven and you are?"

Draven's head twisted back round, as he continued unpacking, awaiting the boys response.

Antonio smiled slightly, he had managed to create a conversation and it had worked.

"Hello. I'm fine thank you. I'm Draven and you are?"

Antonio realised that he himself hadn't even began unpacking his bag that he had previously placed on the bed, he knew that they would probably come in and take their stuff. Especially since there was camera in here, watching their every move. "Oh, I'm Antonio," he answered. His name made him think of his parents, the ones who named him. Obviously, his name was pretty long, mainly because his dad chose the first name and his mother wanted to use her fathers and grandfathers names as his middle names. Which made his name a weird mix of Spanish and English.

He supposed that his fathers side of the family was Spanish, so it made sense.

Antonio glanced back over at Draven, he seemed friendly enough, Antonio suddenly didn't feel that nervous about being here anymore.

Antonio seemed to laugh to himself for a moment. Wait, why the hell was he laughing, he must sound insane. He glanced over at Draven. Antonio wanted to talk to him a little more, it was becoming increasingly awkward. "I suppose it's pretty nice here, like the buildings and stuff..." He said, though he had no idea how it would be that much of a conversation started. "Maybe it's not nice for the reasons we are here but, the courtyard is kinda pretty..."

Toni sat himself on his bed and looked up at the camera watching them. "And the cameras watching us are...a little worrying...and creepy..." He said slowly. Antonio really wished that the camera wasn't there, it was weird, and whoever was watching it could be really strict. What if he does something wrong and then gets in trouble? There has to be somewhere without a camera, apart from the bathroom. Were they really that obsessed with examining their behaviors?

Barret was completely and utterly lost. He had wandered into a hallway some time ago, and now had absolutely no idea where he was. The doors in front of him were oddly marked, with colors. He stumbled in front of one labeled "Sapphire Room". Barrett had no idea what this meant, but his lack of caution could sometimes prove beneficial. He opened the door without knocking.

Inside sat two other teen boys, startled by his sudden intrusion.

"Um," he smiled awkwardly, "Uh, hi?"

Antonio jumped suddenly at the door opening. For a moment he thought it was some staff member coming in to yell at them for no particular reason. Antonio really hoped that they weren't like that here, he didn't like getting yelled at. It wasn't though. What luck. It was some boy, some boy he didn't know. Of course it was a boy he didn't know...He glanced over at Draven, maybe he knew him?

"Oh! Hello!" Antonio said loudly, confused and still a tiny bit shocked. Why did this boy just walk in, did he not knock or was he merely exploring? Antonio didn't know, but there was no harm in talking.

Draven kept his head down and blinked rather owlishly when Antonio began laughing for no particular reason, Draven shook his head as he felt awkwardness build. Draven's head turned upwards as Antonio began remarking on the place, Draven nodded thoughtfully before replying "I suppose, but the main point is, you've got to make the best of what you've got."

Looking back up Draven noticed Antonio's head look up at one of the cameras "And the cameras watching us are...a little worrying...and creepy..." he spoke slowly, Draven tilted his head up further, before looking directly at the cameras lens "Mental Asylums don't like privacy." Draven quipped rather dryly, before returning his head back to the ground, he was planning on asking Antonio what he could do, but decided against it: not wanting to seem rude.

Draven heard the door creak open and his head twisted around reflexively, he was startled by the intrusion but began calming down when he saw a boy, who looked lost, Draven stared in response before slowly responding "Hello..?" Antonio had already greeted the boy, uncertain of what to say or do, Draven shrugged, returning to his unpacking.

Antonio sighed slightly when he was awoken by the loud noise. What a lovely wake up call. He grumbled something to himself and got out of bed to get ready. He decided he'd go use the bathroom before Draven did, that way, he'd get it over and done with quickly and wouldn't bother him. Antonio collected his clothes.

Antonio trudged into the bathroom and he told himself he was going to get changed in there. Reason one: There were cameras watching and reason two: His roommate was asleep and it'd be awkward if he woke up. Antonio felt much safer in the bathroom anyway. Then it occurred to him that the cameras watched him sleep. That sounded...creepier.

He got dressed quickly, washed his face, brushed his teeth and got out of the bathroom as soon as possible. He would have to be ready at 9:30 wouldn't he? Antonio glanced over at Draven, not even daring to try wake him up. Antonio sat at the edge of his own bed and look blankly at the ceiling.