The school bell rang loudly, alerting everybody of the end of classes and, for many, the time to finally leave the building. Casey Cooke was not one of them however, and her fingers tapped the desk boringly as she leaned over to rest, preparing herself to endure two more hours in the detention class.

Each time it was becoming easier for the brunette to stay extra hours in college since the teachers ended up disliking Casey for her bad behavior and punishing her for ever more minor faults—and with the new school year starting, she almost didn't need to breathe to be sent to detention.

She was fine with it, though. In fact, she was looking for it to happen.

The teen yawned and closed her eyes, ready to wander far, far away from her body and let her mind take her to a more pleasant reality. However, her plans were ruined as the door opened, making her frown as everyone who was penalized were already there. Lazily, she lifted her head and looked towards the front, opening her eyes in surprise the second after.

Another girl had entered the room, a girl Casey had never seen before. She was dressed heavily which, mixing with her already short height, made her look extremely small. The teenager was wearing big sunglasses, a grey scarf and a red hoodie underneath a black long coat, covering her face. Black jeans and boots completed the otherwise, if not for the hood, monochrome outfit. The girl kept her head down, following the teacher in charge of the students for the day.

"It is a pity to introduce you in such circumstances, but it is what it is." Casey heard the lady say to the new student, making her to give an apologetic nod. "Class, listen up, please."

The woman cleared her throat and, with now everybody's attention, lifted a hand towards the teen.

"This is Mabel Save...Sadvo..."

"Sadoveanu." The sudden deep voice startled Casey, not expecting such tone from a girl, in appearance, so fragile. Her accent, one that Casey guessed came from Eastern Europe, "I'm Mabel Sadoveanu."

"Right." The professor cleared her throat "Mabel is a new in this school and in town. I believe one of you shares art class with her..." She paused, taking a list from the table and reading it in a second "Casey Cooke?"

The named girl sucked in a breath and, slowly, lifted her hand. She was sitting at the farthest corner of the class, so it too a second for the new student to spot her. Once she did thoug, her eyes locked with Casey's. Even though she was wearing sunglasses, the brunette felt how she stabbed her with her look.

"Mabel, please take a seat near Casey. She will make sure to show you around." The teacher's voice left no room for complaining, and the girl headed quietly towards her seat. As she sat down, she only took her coat off, earning an upset sound for the teacher. "Take your glasses and scarf off, please. This is a school, not a park."

Giggles and muted comments bloomed in the class and as a response, the girl pulled out from her bagpack a plasticized file. Casey eyed it out of the corner of her eye, and quickly identified it as a medical file. Without a word, she approached the educator and handed it to her. It only took a brief look for her to visibly become paler.

"Oh, I-I see...I'm sorry."

"It's fine. I will take it off, I just need to stay away from windows."

"I completely understand, dear."

The general murmur grew at this, and the teacher slapped the table twice to silence it. Mabel headed back to her seat and, without a word, took her accessories off.

The red hoodie still covered up her whole upper body and neck, but her face was visible for the first time. Casey's mouth dropped open as Mabel revealed herself to be, without a doubt, the fairest person the brunette has ever seen, being the light freckles she had scattered across her face the only stain of color in her skin. Long, curly, naturally white strands of hair emerged as she pulled the hoodie off her head, earning a few curious looks from the rest of the class. Mabel sat down and, without a word, took off her gigantic glasses, almost looking orthopedic. The girl offered her hand to Casey, looking at her out of the corner of her eye, turning her head slowly towards her.

Faded red eyes met her brown ones, startling her even more with her odd appearances. The scarlet orbs looked extremely tired, with white tendrils travelling all across the iris, ghostly white eyelashes and brows framing them

Mabel looked down and slowly retired her hand, making Casey realize she has been staring without saying nothing. Before she could entirely put down her hand, the brunette swiftly took it and shook it.

She kind off expected how cold it felt.

"Mabel" The foreigner said with a light smile.

"Casey" The other greeted her.

Casey could have sworn how the other girl's left eye twitched for a second before she quickly pulled away. Frowning, she was ready to immerse in her thoughts again, but Mabel's sad yet kind voice echoed in her ears.

"I'm aware of my odd looks, so sorry for disturbing you." Before Casey could deny it, she gave her another smile, crooked but warm— But I promise, albinism is not contagious." She said, winking.

The brunette giggled softly. As she was about to respond to the comment, the teacher commanded them to be quiet. Because of it, an hour later, both of them were communicating through little pieces of paper with words and drawings. She didn't know how to explain it, but there was something about her expression, the way her eyes looked so distant yet how gently she expressed herself that made Casey feel comfortable around her, something that hadn't happened in a long time.

For once, neither of them minded not to be alone.

"Happy birthday, Claire!"

The room was filled with joy and laughter as the entire art class celebrated one of the brightest student's birthday, Claire Benoit. While everybody were chatting and taking pictures, two girls sat silently on a dark corner, away from the windows and the sunlight they let in. Casey and Mabel were just enjoying the silence and warmness of each other's presence — their friendship was based on giving each other space and talking about things both of them were comfortable about. Because of it, they knew little about each other apart from their names but, for now, it was enough.

As the day came to an end, the crowd started slowly to disappear as everyone headed home. At the end, only five people remained in the building.

"I have to search the bus' route" Casey said, pulling out her phone.

"Can nobody come and pick you up?" Mabel asked, arching a brow. The way Casey's face became visibly ghostly made her regret ever asking.

"Our car is broken." She said without further explanation.

Liiaaar...

Mabel's eye twitched as she quickly reached for the small plastic bottle inside her purse. Without thinking about it, she swallowed one of the pills from inside the container as she tried not to look at her friend. The faster she silenced them, the better.

She thinks she can quiet us down. The rats will eat her up again.

Funny. Funny. Funny. What a funny girl.

She would be nothing without us!

What will she do once she finds out we'll never leave her alone?

"Mabel?" The light tap on her shoulder made her suck a breath, placing a hand on her template as she realized she had been quiet for too long.

"I'm sorry, I got lost in my thoughts." She reassured her with a gentle smile. "Could you also look up the night route? For the bus."

"I can wait for you, if you'd like."

"Hey! guys!" A man in his forty, who the girls quickly recognized as Claire's father approached them, followed closely by her daughter and Marcia, her best friend. "So, how are you going home?"

"My uncle's car is broken." Casey started. "We will take the bus."

"You're not taking a bus, I'll drive you home." he said with a heart warming smile.— Claire has almost saved her half of the money she needs for a car, isn't that right?—his daughter gave him an energetic nod. "This will be one of the few times left I can drive you guys around!"

"I...uhm...—Casey doubted."

"You won't be able to hear my dad tell jokes that only he thinks are funny for an entire car ride unless you come. You really don't wanna miss that."

The brunette nodded with a grateful look and turned to her friend, who place a hand on her shoulder.

"Go with them."

"We can also drive you home if you want." The man told her, trying to persuade her.

"I appreciate it, but I'd rather wait until its a bit darker."

Before her father complained about her decision, Claire stopped him grabbing his arm. Everybody in class were aware of her skin condition and how damaging the sun could be for her, so she left her judgement and knowledge about her own disease be the best one.

"I could wait with you. I don't mind-"

"I don't want you to do that. "She smiled softly, only to become one of the saddest Casey had seen Mabel wear "I'm used to this, believe me. I wouldn't forgive myself if something happened to you because of me."

"Okay, but...text me when you get home." the girl asked her while she was taking her jacket.

"Will do." Mabel waved her hand at the group, who left the place seconds after.

The albino sat down and leaned in as she put her earphones on, ready to wait for a couple of hours until the sunlight was weak enough for her. She could have used extra sunscreen, but she didn't mind waiting while listening to some music. Slowly, she started to drift away, losing herself in the melodic vocals of her favorite singer.

What a pitiful goodbye for people you will never see again.

Her eyes opened widely as the words still echoed on her head.

"What did you just say?"

Poor girls. So young, and yet so delicious. He should try their corpses in the oven with peppers and fur

But what is him? Wait. Stop talking, she tried to kill us!

HahahahHAHAHhaha...

Not him. Them.

A them that is a him? A him who can't control a them?

Shut up! She's trying to think! Let her think!

Mabel felt her head burn and had the urgent need to scream with all the strength she had on her lungs. But if they were right, Casey and the others were in danger.

And the voices were always right.

A single tear ran through Casey's cheeks as the mysterious man sprayed Claire and Marcia with a somniferous drug. Slowly, as slowly as she ever had been in her entire life, she reached for the door's handler, not even daring to breathe. For now, the kidnapper was focused on cleaning the remaining of his hand prints. With extreme care, she reached the handler and tried to open the door.

Her heart skipped a beat when the car's light whistle alerted the man, who stabbed her with his harsh, deep blue eyes. She looked at him trembling, shaking in complete fear, froze in place. Again, there was nothing she could do.

However, the she felt the door fully opening from the other side, and Casey could have sworn she had witnessed a miracle.

Everything happened at slow-motion for the brunette. As the door opened, a hand grabbed her arm tightly, pulling her from within the car. Casey could only see white hair and red clothing swirling around her until she was pushed hardly by her rescuer. She looked back at the car and watched how the man, who looked so firm and calm before, furiously tried to get a grip on her again.

"Run, Casey!" Mabel's voice sounded so distant to Casey "RUN!"

Casey's survival instinct kicked in and, without a thought, she started to run. She didn't go far though, as she felt how the grip that had previously saved her was now interrupting her escape.

With horror, she watched how the kidnapper grabbed her friend and forced her to get in the car. Before he would take them both, Mabel let go and pushed Casey one more time.

"GO! NOW!"

With tears streaming down her face, she screamed as she watched her friend being ferociously drugged. Desperate, she ran looking for help. The evil man did not waste time though, and as soon as he understood he wouldn't be able to catch the escaped girl without being noticed, he angrily started the car and drove away.

Cursing with all his might, Dennis had never been so overwhelmed by anger.

He was a perfectionist, and everything had to go according to his plans, even more when he was dealing with something as important as his awakening. He had everything planned out, everything was going smoothly as he had pictured.

And then. she appeared.

Out of the blue, the girl he now had at his side, messed all his plans. His awakening was now in danger, as the runaway teen could give his information to the police.

God, he was already feeling his gut clench as the thought of Patricia knowing about what just happened.

"Calm down, Dennis." He tried to reassure himself "Everything is going according to the plan. You got the girls, you will get them in. You didn't speak nor left any hand prints on her. He...he will have his sacred food."

As his breath became normal again, he looked down at the girl, whose head was almost placed on his lap due to the struggling.

"And she...she will have what she deserves."

If you came this far, thank you for reading! Please, leave a comment or a like if you want this fic to go on, as I'm not entierly sure this fandom is still active. I hope you liked it!