Far A w a y. [Open]

[Laura Delancy]

The night was dark. Clouds raged across the sky, sending droplets of rain pattering here and there. Students of the House of Night squealed and ducked their heads, charging indoors. All except one. A young girl, a fourth former, could be seen seeking refuge beneath a large, draping willow. Crystalline drops of rain still pattered through the leaves, wet and clear, but she didn't mind as long as she stayed relatively dry. Clutched to her side was a black leather book bag that possessed her most prized possessions; a torn photo of her dead mother, her glass figurine of a rose, her writing book, and a small collection of her favorite poets- Edgar Allen Poe, Robert Frost, and Dante Alighieri.

Not soon after the girl had taken refuge a small, sleek black she-cat followed behind her. "Well, hello there, Emilia," the girl purred, scooping the small cat into her arms and kissing her. Emilia gave a small mrrow and settled into the girl's lap. As she stroked the Emilia, she pulled out her song book and opened to the last page with writing. She slipped a pencil from her bag and began scribbling;

Bound at every limb
By my shackles of fear.
Sealed with lies through
So many tears.
Lost from within,
Pursuing the end.
I fight for the chance to be lied to again.

"Morbid much," she murmured to herself with a smile, but didn't erase the words. She hummed the melody she was planning for this song, nodded in satisfaction, and then slipped the book bag into her bag. She stared out through the leaves of the tree with intense blue-green eyes, watching the steady, silver sheet of rain turned the colored world to black and white. Morbid once more. It seemed that everywhere she turned, she found depression. Perhaps it was because she wasn't in a 'group' at school. She was a loner, an outcast if you will, and she wasn't afraid to admit it. Who needed real friends, right?

(c) Evanescence for Lyrics.

[Zoey Redbird]

Well the girl wasn't the only one not running for cover from the rainstorm that just appeared out of no where. It was a gift of Nix, probably some sort of sign from some new beginning. Zoey didn't know for sure, but she was sure of that much. She walked her head down against the raindrops, that Everything would be okay. Even after Stevie Rae died, Zoey felt empty, that her best friend had no right to be taken from her like that. If she didn't have the right state of mind, she would be blaming Nix instead of accepting it. What she didn't understand was why the teachers wanted us to forget them. It was one thing to keep people who die in your memories, it was worse to forget them all together.

Zoey walked towards a tree that seemed to be holding up pretty well against the storm. Her arms wrapped tightly in a sweater that almost seemed too big for her, Zoey wrapped her arms tightly around herself keeping herself slightly warm as she made her way over. What she didn't realize was that the tree was already taken, by a girl sitting on the ground. Zoey didn't realize it till she had tripped over the girl, sending her nearly face first in the mud. That would have been a messy way to make an entrance. Turning to face the girl, she stopped looking at the mark that had been under the concealer that had faded slightly from the rain. "Sorry I didn't mean to trip over you. I wasn't paying attention t-" her eyes stayed on it realizing that it wasn't like hers. It was really different. Not only was it filled in but it was black, instead of the sapphire of a vampyre's mark. That was different.

[Laura Delancy]

Well, often times in life fate will bring two people together. Often times it'll be just a coincidence that two people, both very different from the others around them, will finally meet each other. Laura gave Emilia another stroke and then set her to the side, continuing to scribble her words in the book. It was only when she saw the shape of another girl coming in did she realize that the other girl didn't realize she was already there. Within moments, the other had sprawled over her and landed almost in the mud in a tangle of legs. Almost in time, Laura ducked, but she fell backwards while doing so. She dodged the mud puddle quickly enough, sucking in a sharp sigh of relief, but looked up as the girl spoke.

"Sorry I didn't mean to trip over you. I wasn't paying attention t-" And then the girl's eyes glued to her forehead. Self-conciously, Laura shifted where she sat. She was very aware of her black Mark, of the way it was beginning to twine around her eyes. Laura shrugged. "Don't worry about it. I would have done the same thing," she amended quickly, closing her book and shoving it down to the depths of her bag. Emilia, who had taken refuge in there, gave an indignant squeal and jumped blithely out of the bag, hissing. "Aw, hush yourself, Emi," Laura scolded quietly, and the cat's fur flattened.

"Again, it was my fault. I should've let someone know I was here," she added, scopping Emilia up in her arms. The black cat, content once more, curled up in her arms and took to a comfortable purring. Laura gave a sigh. That meant her cat wasn't going to attack the other girl. Which brought her to the next subject; who was this? She studied the girl silently, from the Cherokee looking face to the filled in Mark- Wait a minute! That girl's mark was filled in too. Which meant that she was that one girl- damn, who was it? Laura racked her brain. Zoey something. Zoey Redd... Zoey... Zoey Redbird! Yes, that was it. It was the famous Zoey Redbird, one of the more popular girls in the school, what with having Erik as a boyfriend. Laura envied her, but not in a bad way- she was extremely pretty, and she was able to get a very handsome young man to be hers. Laura gave a faint smile to her, the shyer side of her coming out.

[Zoey Redbird]

Zoey pushed the grass from her hair now feeling like a complete klutz and a plain idiot that she couldn't see someone sitting there in front of her feet. She heard the cat and looked down at the kitten a smile on her face. Of course her own cat was nearby, and she knew Nala would eventually find her. "What's her name?" Zoey couldn't help but ask since her nickname could mean a number of names.

Zoey smiled kindly. She wouldn't put blame on a person since it was something she would never do. Zoey heard a hiss and it wasn't the cat in front of her. That could only mean one other, "Nala. Where are you?" she called looking around. She didn't see her cat anywhere, but she knew that hiss anywhere. She had heard it a lot the past few weeks, and well she liked to have her cat near, just in case something happened. She looked back to the girl before extending her hand, "I'm Zoey." she said with a smile. When she looked down again, Zoey saw the familiar orange furball coming towards her. Thought he top of her head was wet, Nala looked fine. Maybe that's what she was hissing at. "And this is Nala." she said rubbing the kittens forehead, a soft mew coming from it. Nala looked at the other cat curiously but stayed withing the confines of Zoey's lap. Like it was afraid to get attacked by the water if she moved.