TIME. All she needed was time. Time for everything. Time for winter boots and strolling in the ice. Time for......…..
"Winter. Let's go!" She woke up, her electric blue eyes glowing. The voice became louder, moving closer to the room entrance. "Honey, its 7:45pm. Are you sleeping dear?" As soon as she was at the door, she felt a freezing air all over the place. "Winter, I can feel how nervous you are but don't worry. I'll tell you all about your new school," her mother reassured with a smile. She heaved a sigh and got off her bed, arranging it while her mum watched. Then, she turned to her mum who pouted: "Are you ready?"
"Yeah, mum. I'm ready." "Great!"
"Ice balm Strawberry flavour".
"Check!"
"Nivea Nourishing Cocoa and Deep Carbon roll-on".
"And your Playboy Perfume?" "Check!"
"And not to forget your IPhone 15 Promax with your cat headphones?"
"On set --- in my backpack".
"Good then. Let's burn". She noticed that Winter raised an eyebrow to the expression. "What I meant to say that: Let's get cool. Ok?" Winter nodded in approval.
Mrs. Holiday walked up to her 2022 Toyota Fortuner and opened the trunk automatically using the car keys. She, with Winter's help, put the luggage and got into the car, and then the trunk closed automatically. As her mum started the car, Winter asked, "So mum, where do we start?" she asked. "With?"
"The new school" "Right. Valerie Montessori High is a rather enchanted school for fairytale monsters and their descendants."
"Like werewolves. Dracula, Medusa and the rest?"
"Exactly! So the school holds billions of students who possess powers of their descendants. Now, when they came to Earth, they looked like the humans but were different by their pointed ears and different mutations."
"What were they called?"
"Saphrax. Descendants of ancient fairytale creatures and villains alike. They mingled with the humans and gave birth to the Jinx- half human, half Saphrax just like you and me".
"Well that's something unholy", Winter replied in a singsong voice.
"Anyway, some humans didn't like the Saphrax because of their dominating powers and the Saphrax didn't like them either as they didn't seem to care about the welfare of the Earth. Their disagreement led to a war called the Decade War. Lots of lives were lost that time including your father. So, the last descendant of Cupid sacrificed himself to bring back peace to the Earth. As a result, the Saphrax and Jinx decided to hide their identities from this generation for fear of the war re-generating the Decade War".
"So, six ancient prominent Saphrax created a school which is hidden from humans but visible to Jinx only".
"How's the school?"
"I can't tell you but once we get there, you might get new friends like Josh and Aiva". She remembered her two friends, twins Josh and Aiva, two years older than her, who were descendants of SnowWhite, great in everything plus singing. "Sure I will", she muttered, remembering her last stay in her former school. Clovershot Memorial. She recalled the day she learnt of her powers when she passed the school's AC and it blew havoc wind; when she froze the Principal on his swivel chair and had made the canteen cook pee on herself despite being the "gorilla" of the school, always scaring the kids. But it wasn't the first or second school she had been expelled from. It was the ninth in the state of Kenshog having gone through two states. Soon, they reached a road where there was a forest on either side. "Are we there yet? I'm bored". The car turned left into a pathway in the forest and it led to a dead end. "Mum, when did we enter a forest?" She suddenly saw the ground move and the forest made way for them. They continued their journey with the trees closing in right behind them. She retorted, "How did they do that?" She then took a sharp turn to the left with the forest responding to them. "The forest is enchanted. It can only move for a Jinx because it can feel your powers". They soon reached a draw bridge leading to the school gate which was forged by the welder in the appearance of a spider's web. Mrs. Holiday stopped the car in front of the draw bridge. "We can only walk down. Vehicles aren't allowed for fear of being destroyed by the school guardians". "Guardians?!" She helped Winter carry out her luggage and then parked the car properly. Holding her hand, they crossed the drawbridge, and by the end of it, the gates opened as if alive, revealing Jinx of different caliber. Draculas and sirens singing their hearts out; some draculuras flying in the air as bats; wolves and wolverines chatting happily; gorgons wearing glasses with some amongst them wearing winter caps playing webball in a graveball court. "Wait? Is that an ice-cream shop?!" "point of correction, an Eyescream shop" "Cool". Then, a lady came towards them with a rainbow transparent pair of butterfly wings holding a checklist. Winter stood in awe as she dropped on her two feet in front of her. She presumed that she was a descendant of Tinker Bell. Then, her mum whispered, "Here in VMH, we curtsy as a sign of respect. The boys bow also. That's a coldstone policy". Winter and her mum curtsied. "A good day to you, Belinda. What brings you to VMH? Do you want to check your old sites? We've renovated the ice podium and who do we have here?" she said, looking at Winter. "Good day Ms. Hailey. I came to drop off my little frostbite at her new school". "Why don't we meet in my office? We'll talk there".
S
HE opened the door for Winter and her mum to enter, revealing a spacious office with pictures of the past proprietors and proprietress of the school hung across the walls. "You can have a seat", Mrs. Hailey said, motioning for the two seats in front of her. "Thank you," Mum replied, sitting down. "I want to enroll her here on my behalf since her father died and is not a jinx like me".
"Very well, then. You are going to take one of these," she leant over handing Winter some papers. "Here are your psychological and placement tests". Then, she spread six papers evenly on the table. "These are the group handbooks, depending on whichever you want. There are the Emeralds, Black Cats, Moonwalkers, Everines, Spyders and Piratas. Each is of the creation of a prominent founding father of Valerie Montessori High. So, choose wisely. I'll leave you to decide", she said, with a smile and waved her wand then disappeared in pixie dust. "Well, choose then", her mum said excitedly. "This is quite a lot to process. It might take me a day or two to look into it".
"Sorry honey, but the group selection and the placement tests are done immediately after the admission. BUT the psychological test can be submitted in two days". "OK". She sighed and then answered the placement test correctly and carefully. The group selection was quite a handful. Somehow, she felt drawn to the Moonwalkers, their symbol being Jack Frost sitting on the crescent moon. "I think I'll pick this one", she muttered, pointing at the blue one. "OK. You can take the blue one then". She picked up the handbook and the symbol glowed. "Congratulations! It chooses you". Then, the door opened to reveal a running Mrs. Hailey entering to sit down. "Well, it seems the vampires are quite the energetic type". The girls giggled. "Well, then. are you done?" Winter presented the papers to her and she read them through, nodding quite pleasingly. "You are quite a bright student". She handed a key with a chain wreathed in form of A50. "I've sent your bags, your group T-shirt and your uniforms to your dorm. If you have messages to send to your mother, send it through letters and the bone birds will send it through them. And one more thing. Your phone". She showed it to her and it floated into the air, transforming into a coffin-like phone, but frozen blue. "This is an I-Coffin. Only Jinx and monster-related things will you receive. You won't be able to get in touch with the outside world, but most of what you see here is the same as the human world where you come from. That is all".
Winter walked with her mum to the gate, hand in hand. "I'm really going to miss you, Mum".
"I know you will. That's why once you need anything, just send me a letter, OK? And about the bone birds, there's quite a catch. For every letter you send, you need to give them a dragma coin for it, because that's what they pay to pass. No dragma coin, no letter. OK?" Winter nodded. She watched as her mum walked to her car and a portal opened as the car reversed, then entered and the portal closed quickly. So that was how they got in. She smirked and went to find her dorm. Putting on her headphones, she plugged her I-Coffin, listening to her favourite jazz blues.