Barrett Carmen Anderson'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.

Barrett stood amongst the crowd, half listening to the peppy speaker who had just arrived, and half scanning his fellow inmates that surrounded him. Some looked interesting, but some look just downright boring. Barrett figured the first step to destroying his persistent boredom would be to start a conversation with somebody. After all, he shouldn't be here anyway, so he might as well make some fun out of it.

Barrett didn't think of his talent as much of a 'talent', really. It was just his charming personality. Right? He wasn't quite sure. But whatever the circumstances, Barrett was sure he could convince one of the officials to get him out of here as soon as possible. In the mean time-- he could just play along. He tapped the shoulder of a kid standing next to him, who looked sort of out of it, staring into space and mumbling to himself.

"Hey, I'm Barrett," he whispered, with a friendly smile, "What're you in for?"

Lacross jerked a bit from being tapped on the shoulder. A harmless reaction really, one that made him make a slight sound...a hissing sound like that of a dragon disturbed from his slumber. He looked over in the direction of the tap of his shoulder,silver eyes and scales on his face, neck and back of his hands turning a deep cobalt blue.

He opened his mouth, but nothing came out. On one end, He really didn't know what to say. He wasn't really expecting such friendliness right off the bat. Yet on the other end, he was being asked what he was in for. Meaning what was his power. He sighed a visablily, ice cold breath that made ice grow on his hand. Not giant ice spikes, but a thin sheet that would away in a few minutes from his body heat.

"For...odd breaths." He said plainly, snapping back so his scales wouldn't be too visible. He stuffed his hands into his sleeves quickly, but still tapped his nails on his arm from within his sleeve. He only wished to be back home, on his family's 300 acre farm. Memories of chasing down the sheep to herd them back onto the property and tending to the various small animals while making charms, trinkets and jewelry for himself and people made him smile in a place like this. Why not made the best of it...so long as his other self didn't poke his scaly little head out.

The young man Barrett had tapped spun around, stunned, turning a violent shade of blue, scales blossoming from his face. He quickly turned back around, trying to hide his appearance. He mumbled something that Barrett ignored. There are all sorts of weird people here, Barrett thought, I know I can’t turn blue. All I can do is talk fancy and screw with people’s emotions. He didn’t say anything back, merely wandered around the courtyard packed with kids, looking for something interesting to do. He didn’t really have that long an attention span.

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.

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.

If lacross was anything in the morning, he was a sloth. Still curled up a nest of covers, beads, thread and leather strips; he took his sweet time waking up to the morning hours. In all honesty, he looked more like a dragon just waking up from a two or three hundred year old nap. His eyes looked as if they where blacked out, as if he gouged out his eyes the night before.

However, that wasn't the case. He could see perfectly in the dark regardless of light because of the blackness of his eyes. He looked over to the desk, the digital clock in a taxedermy bear paw read something. "What does that say? 8 som-" The loud beeping intruped his train of thought and succeded in scaring a roar out of him that could have surely be heard in some of the other rooms. He leaped into the bathroom, pawing at the walls as if trying to escape. "ifpesp vhira... filki ifpesp vhira..." he said to himself as he looked into the mirror. Even in the dim light, he could see some light scale spreading on his face, not that noticable but enough to keep him from completely restraining his abilities. He also noticed that the roots in his hair were lighter then before, making him tilt his head some. "Odd"

He splashed water on his face before walking back out of the bathroom, only to greeted by bright light and two orderlies. He covered his eyes, reaching out to his desk to keep himself steady. "Good morning to you two. I think my roommate's still asleep, put the medication on the desks please I'll get to them in a second." The orderlies seemed to be relived at the politeness and nodded leaving the pills on the desks. Lacross peered from behind his arm and watched them leave. He sighed, able to put his arm down. He looked over to Barrett, rolling his eyes at the overly childish boy who slept through the beeping and his scream. "At least I won't be too bored." he said.

He put on his silver uniform, dusting some of the tread and and slipped on one of his less elaborate necklaces; a gold furret skull make to look more like a dragon's skull with oven bake clay as the horns. He walked out the room quietly so as not to wake up his roommate and sighed. 'This is gonna be a long day....'