The next morning, I sat at the kitchen table eating breakfast by myself. Mom had gone into town for some early morning shopping while Dad appeared to be missing, yet again. The sugarcoated cornflakes crunched in my mouth noisily, filling the empty, silent kitchen with chewing sounds while I stared at nothing in particular. My mind revolved around the crumpled card in my left pocket, the words written on it branded annoyingly in my brain.

Happy 18th birthday. Be prepared. We're coming for you.

I stopped eating and pushed my bowl of cornflakes away. For some reason it got to me, irked me, and at the same time I felt slightly apprehensive. Who on God's green Earth was coming for me? Had Mom arranged for someone to come pick me up for something she forgot to mention? Was it a birthday surprise of some sort? But what a strange –spooky, really- way to let me know that I should be getting ready, and it was early –a day early to be exact since I got it yesterday. Which brought me back to the starting point: Who was coming for me and where were we going? 

The loud ringing of the clock hanging on the kitchen's wall when it ticked seven startled me out of my reverie. It was time for school.

****

I parked my car in the school's parking lot, finding a lucky spot near the east entrance, the one nearest to my locker. I killed the engine and waited a few minutes in the car, sucking in as much warmth and heat as possible before I ventured out into the cold and snow outside. Like I predicted, the moment I stepped outside the car and its warmth, my skin was assaulted by the sting of the icy wind and the bite of the snow. My breath came out foggy, a tiny cloud of condensed water forming affront my face before it dissipated. 

"My type of day." I said to myself, smiling up at the grey sky. More snow seemed on its way from the looks of it. With my backpack slung around my shoulder, I walked to the school's entrance. As I was passing by cars, a certain automobile immediately caught my attention. It was a sleek, elegant, gleaming black Lamborghini I hadn't seen before in school parked right in front of the entrance for everyone to see, and from the looks of things, I wasn't the only one who'd noticed the Lamborghini. Every person going into school or simply passing by gave it a look of wonder or two, and some actually paused to outright stare at it. I couldn't really blame them. 

Our town was so small, you could throw a rock from end to end. Fancy, expensive cars like that just weren't many in a small town like ours, so whoever owned it had to either be new or visiting. 

Once I walked into school, the car was forgotten, replaced by thoughts of everything strange that had happened in the span of the past two days. First, it was the wolf that had strangely appeared in my house's backyard and vanished, then it was my mother acting out of the norm, and add to that the strange card attached to those dead roses. I just knew  they were all ingredients to a recipe for disaster; I could feel it deep down in my bones.

When I got to my locker, I unloaded half the books in my backpack and shoved into my locker, taking my sweet time to arrange them alphabetically, a freak habit I developed when I was a kid. 

"Hey, blondie." I turned around and was greeted by a smirking, familiar, too-radiant-for-a-Tuesday face. 

"Hey, Trey. Did you see the fast car parked by the entrance? A Lamborghini in Evergreen? People are going to be talking for weeks." I closed my locker and we started walking side by side down the hallway. As we passed, girls glanced his way, shooting him all sorts of coy, appreciative, flirty looks. Trey was the school heartthrob with handsome dark angel look, complete with midnight black hair and stunning purplish blue eyes. 

"What's there to talk about? It's only a car." he said . 

"I suppose you're right." I surreptitiously glanced at him from the corner of an eye. It wasn't like Trey to not show any interest in fast cars; they were one of his passions. And it was the way he'd said it... 

"Carly!" At the sound of my voice, I looked to see Giselle, my chemistry lab partner rushing toward me, waving a paper in the air like a lunatic. When she got to me, she was out of breath. I exchanged a baffled look with Trey just when Giselle pulled herself together and handed me the piece of paper.

"The Principal wants you in his office immediately." The frightened expression adorning her face made fear slowly ebb into my heart. Why did Principal Hart want me in his office? Was it something I did? Suddenly alert, I looked down at the paper. All it stated was what Giselle already told me: I was needed at the Principal's office with his signature at the bottom. 

Gulping, I clutched the paper in my hand and started toward the Principal's office. When I got there, I shot Trey a grateful smile for accompanying me before ushering him to his class; the bell was about to ring and I didn't want him getting into trouble because of me. 

"Let me know what happens at lunch." Trey demanded before shoving his hands into his pocket and strolling away in the other direction. I stared at his back for a while as he walked away, trying to recall if I had done something to upset him. He just wasn't himself today. 

I took a deep breath before pushing open the office's door and walking in. The secretary's office had a modern style to it, with modern waiting chairs, modern paintings, modern furniture, and modern everything.

I knew I hadn't done anything that deserved retribution by the Principal, so why was I so nervous and why was I even being summoned like this? I walked up to the secretary's desk, an elderly sweet lady, her presence in deep contrast with the office's modern look. 

"Oh, hello dear." She greeted with a kind smile, her wrinkles stretching, her eyes twinkling. "Principal Hart is waiting for you inside his office." She pointed at the closed door just after her desk.

Once the door was right before me, I gulped down a lump that formed in my throat, inhaled deeply and turned the doorknob with a thundering heart. When the door clicked open, I pushed it wide open and stepped into the office. The only other time I had been here was when I came to register into this school, and since then, I had never set foot in it again.

Classic was this office's style, so very different from the secretary's moderately-sized, modern room. Principal Hart's office was twice as big, with beautiful classic furniture most likely imported, nicely wallpapered walls and a giant mahogany desk with floral carvings sitting at the far end of the room. 

Principle Hart sat at his desk, his elbows resting on the desk and his fingers intertwined before his face, giving him that mysterious atmosphere he always seemed to possess. I had to admit, I always thought the man was ... strange. Even though he was a considerably good-looking man with a fantastic build for someone his age, something about him set warning bells in my head. 

"Welcome, Ms. Wall. Please, take a seat." Anxious, I nodded and approached one of the two chairs placed right before the Principal's desk.

Unable to resist, I asked in a rush, "Am I in trouble?"

"Should you be?" Principal Hart's gaze bore into mine unexpectedly, his chocolate brown eyes suddenly growing darker. 

"Uh... no?"

"Good. Now, so as not to waste your time or mine, I called you here to assign you the duty of giving a very special student a tour around the school and its campus. I want you to escort him to all his classes and show him around the school's facilities. And as for difficulties with your teachers, Mrs. Janet will give you a permission slip signed by me. If you're wondering how to find him, he shares his first class with you. You may go now." Once he was done ordering me, he waved me away with a move of his hand as if he was shooing away a fly and returned to his work, completely ignoring my presence.

Well, that could have been worse. 

Relieved it wasn't anything serious, I stood up and left the office. 

****

I arrived just before the teacher, Mr. Noel, entered his class. I settled into my usual seat, took out the books necessary for the subject and waited for him to start the class. According to the Principal, the new student was scheduled to make an appearance soon. A quick scan of the classroom confirmed that he wasn't here yet. 

Mr. Noel clapped his hands, signaling for all of us to be quiet. "Today, a new student will be joining us. Be nice to the newbie, guys!" The moment he was done, chatter erupted in the classroom like wild fire. 

From earlier, I heard Mr. Hart saying a lot of his' and him's, meaning this new student was a boy. 

A special boy.

Mr. Hart had called him special, special enough to have an 'escort' be assigned to him. I didn't recall being shown around when we first moved into this town. 

Without warning, my heart started beating faster for no apparent reason and my back started to tingle irately. Was I having a heart attack or something? Unfortunately, it continued and even got worse when the skin of my hands and legs started crawling and the hairs at my nape rose on edge. 

What the hell is going on with me?!

A knock on the classroom's door announced the arrival of the 'special' student, and it brought everyone into a state of silent expectation. My heart thundered, pounding against my ribcage like a sledgehammer. The tingling got worse. A strange nagging feeling told me that whoever was behind the door was the reason my body was acting up this way.

The door swung open to reveal the 'special' student.