Behind you, Mate

Earphones were plugged into her ears, that was the only valuable thing she has. "You are going to another school doesn't mean I can't monitor you!" Ali yelled front the seat beside the driver's, obviously referring to Darelia who was listening to music with her eyes closed.

"Don't worry, mother. We will monitor her for you." Indie, Ali's eldest daughter replied with a smirk while glancing at Darelia who didn't even open her eyes to glance at them. "I wonder when she will stop being weird." Lisa, the youngest daughter rolled her eyes.

Their driver rode into the new school gate - CATHOLIC ACADEMIA. "Is this our new school?" Lisa asked with a disgusted face, she obviously hated the dark color used to paint the school gate. "It looks creepy - which will be fun." Indie giggled, looking outside the window.

Darelia opened her eyes for the first time and her eyes caught the statue erected at the gate entrance as they rode in - a woman with a very long black hair, dressed in a uniform and holding something she couldn't pinpoint, something that looked like a dagger.

"Alright girls! Take care of yourselves and see you at the end of the semester." Ali hugged her daughters as the driver helped them offload their luggages. Darelia took her small bag and briefcase, walking away - she didn't need their hug even if they would volunteer to give her one.

Darelia had always had a rigid yet innocent face but her cat-like eyes looked scary to everyone around her, especially at night. "The air seem soothing? Right, Dare?" She thought, throwing her head backwards to see her small cat raise its head from inside her back pack that was hanged on her back.

The cat gave a shrilly moan and Darelia smiled, entering the Principal's office without knocking. "Dare?" The principal called and her cat raised its head out again. "Not you!" Darelia hardened her eyes towards the cat who immediately jumped back in.

Darelia placed her form on the table without talking and the principal threw her a quick glance, "Darelia --- what? Dumb?" Principal Mana asked unbelievably when she looked at her file, she didn't think dumb were still in their world and who the hell admitted her?

After getting the uniform, her room number, Darelia proceeded to go get a rest. "What do you think about the school?" Darelia thought and her cat stuck her head outside, taking a view of the school like it was seeing it for the first time - It was strange that only the cat could actually hear her thoughts since she is dumb.

While Darelia was walking, there was a sudden step behind her and she turned backwards swiftly but found nothing. "It's getting dark!" Darelia increased her walking steps and finally found her room number which was somewhere in the midst of no other school rooms.

The door opened and Darelia came face to face three other girls that stared at her like she just came down from heaven. "Her eyes --" Athena who has a black straight and long hair muttered. "Don't tell me they are afraid of my eyes too." Darelia rolled her eyes towards her cat who just meowed in response.

"-- is beautiful!" Fair, a blonde, completed. "Sorry for not welcoming you. This is Fair, Haven and I am Athena." Athena quickly apologized, pulling Darelia to sit with them. "Not on my bed please!" Haven rolled her eyes and Darelia's cat meowed while Darelia looked at Haven, taking in her dark features.

She had mascara on her eyes, brows and lips which was giving the dark witch vibe. "We are witches, Haven is a black cat." Darelia's cat went back inside her bag immediately she heard that. Athena and Fair wondered why Darelia wasn't saying anything.

Darelia stood up and bowed then left for her bed which was alone, set beside the wall. After a few minutes, her bunk was set and arranged with her things. She turned back when she heard the sound of a step again but didn't see anyone, no one was standing.

Darelia stood up to go outside, "One of the rules, don't go out of the hostel once it's six in the evening." Athena warned while Darelia opened the lock of the window before jumping down. "Isn't she weird?" Fair whispered and Athena nodded, closing her opened mouth.

Outside, there was smoke everywhere. Darelia just kept walking without having an idea of what she was looking for, she yelped when she suddenly stepped on something. "A bone -- a skeleton bone." She thought and looked back, she was far way from her hostel.

Her cat meowed, shaking in the bag pack while Darelia walked further and ended up in the woods - how come there is a forest in the school? Some other footsteps, Darelia didn't bother to look back, she just kept walking further and further until the fog started blocking her eye sight.

"Dare -- Lia!" Whispers? Darelia tried not to shake when she stepped on something else and when she touched it, it was a necklace. She grasped onto it tightly and continued walking, she didn't know where she was going but strangely, she wanted to find out where the path led to.

Her eyes widened when she looked back and saw footsteps, opposite the way she came from. Someone was following her or leading her somewhere! Her cat gave a low meow when Darelia started following the footsteps in darkness until she began to run.

Darelia stopped when the footsteps stopped and she was shocked to be see herself few meters from the school gate, staring at the statue in front of her. "What the heck!" She cursed in her mind, her face holding a frown. Darelia turned to start going back to her hostel when an arrow came from nowhere and before she could dodge it, it ran through her hand.

Her heart trembled in fear when she looked at her hand, it had a hole in it which the arrow that ran through it had caused. While folding an handkerchief over it, her head suddenly started hurting her. "Dare - Lia?!" A voice, another voice, several voices in her head. She tried to yell but she couldn't, tried to call for help but she couldn't.

Blood trickled down her nose, that exact hand was running blood as it made marks on the ground and then, the statue behind her slowly started becoming human. The statue is a rock, it was moulded bit It was taking a form of human, Darelia dropped unconscious immediately.

BROOKLYN ✓

"Why did you transfer her?" Almond, Ali's husband yelled after he learnt Darelia had been transferred on his wife's account. "You can't make decisions on your own, especially when it concerns her!" He yelled again, trying to figure the school she got transferred.

"Why? Because she's first daughter? For goodness sake, Indie and Lisa are your daughters too!" Ali yelled back. "I am not denying but they can take care of themselves. Darelia is dumb, she might get bullied." Almond couldn't believe his wife could do this behind his back.

Almond walked into the kitchen, "We are withdrawing her immediately!" He ordered and Ali stood up, "Try it and you will be thrown out, don't forget this house belongs to me and I'm still the one paying her tuition fees even as she is being transferred." Ali warned, walking out on him.

Almond lost his job where he had been collecting thousands of dollars because of an issue the company had, they took the company car and house that was given to him and Ali had choice than to help out, mainly because of her daughters. They had to relocate and therefore, they changed schools.

Darelia was Almond's first child, that was what everyone believed since Ali met the girl in the house after she got married to him, she hated her and her creepy cat immediately. "You have no powers, you can do nothing to a witch!" Ali had warned Darelia when she tried to fight back.

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The ray of sunlight shone on Darelia's face and she opened her eyes slowly, taking the view of where she was. She was expecting she would wake up on the ground, in the middle of the school but she jumped up in fright when she saw she actually woke up on the bed.

"Am I dreaming? How is this possible?" Darelia thought, removing the duvet from her body and looking at her hand where the arrow ran through but her palm was okay. She sat up, trying to remember what happened after she passed out but it was definitely not possible since she dropped unconscious and all those things she saw, were they real?

Without greeting any of her roommates, she dashed out of her hostel, running with only her fluffy slippers. She headed to where the statue was and was surprised to find it intact, she became confused. Looking intently at it, it didn't even look like human at all.

Has she started hallucinating? "I saw it move --- it became human yesterday!" Darelia screamed in her head, looking at the statue that just looked like a normal statue. She turned back to go to her hostel when her brain suddenly picked something different in the surrounding.

When she saw the statue yesterday while walking to the Principal's office, the statue was facing backwards which was opposite the school gate. When she saw it last night, it was directly facing her which made it back the school gate.

Only turning her head sideways, she suddenly saw the position was different again - it was facing one direction and when she traced it, the statue was side to side how she was standing and it was directly opposite her hostel - her eyes widened in fear, the statue changed position three times in twenty four hours already.

While drowning in fear of looking at the statue while running, she bumped into someone and they both fell off. "Woah! Easy there cheese." She quickly stood up and dusted her clothes when she heard the voice, it must be a male.

Darelia bowed as a mental note of saying sorry and wanted to walk away but he pulled her back. "What's your name?" He asked and she glanced at him, taking in his handsome features but she somehow hated that he had a lipstick on.

Frederick bit his lips as he looked all over her, she was beautiful. Not too skinny, her mascara had worn out since it was still early in the morning, baggy trousers and a transparent nightie blouse, the fluffy slippers - she looked beautiful and cute to him. Before he could say another word, she was already gone.

Lisa actually appeared behind them and glared at Darelia but she didn't run away because of that, she ran away because she didn't want anyone to be aware she is dumb. "Frederick!" Lisa gave a cute smile and he turned, kissing her on the spot without caring if anyone was around watching.

He is her boyfriend, nobody dared say a word. She was the mastermind that convinced her mother to choose this school for them since her boyfriend was schooling there, happy she will reunite with him after being apart for so long because they only see whenever Frederick comes to their house or spends the weekend with his parents, he skips school sometimes.

"Where did you run off to?" Athena opened the locked door for the panting Darelia who just flung herself on her bed, shaking her head which indicated that ' nowhere ' "Can't she talk?" Haven rolled her eyes, coming out of the bathroom after brushing. "It's weird she hasn't said a thing since she came yesterday." Fair mumbled.

Darelia suddenly sprang up from her bed, her heart in her throat. There were wet marks on the wall beside her bed which looked like a whole five wet fingers and legs were placed there. "Who did this?" Darelia looked at her roommates and her cat meowed, indicating it had no idea too.

Darelia shook her head as she didn't bother to lay back on her bed, she simply just went to take her bath and prepare for class. Her first day in school has already been ruined enough - the statue moving, waking up on the bed instead of the floor in the school, seeing wet marks.

"It's almost time!" Athena shouted, carrying her backpack and adjusting her skirt. Each one of them had a black popsocks, worn under their blue short skirt and a white shirt. "We don't even know her name." Fair whispered when Athena wanted to call the new girl.

Haven walked out of the room, not without glaring at the cat who just meowed slowly in a curled position. Darelia came out of the bathroom and walked to her box to fix her clothes while Athena insisted she would wait for her.

Her head suddenly snapped sideways and she fell on her butts, her eyes widening while looking at the wall - those wet marks were gone! It was all gone like it was never there before. "I heard a student died!" Fair rushed into the room and they all ran out of the room.

Pushing their way into the crowds, a girl had been killed as she laid on the ground lifeless. Darelia walked closer and found out she had bloody marks at the side of her head as she remembered holding her head while hearing strange voices last night.

It shocked her more to see the girl was on the ground, at the front of the statue and her eyes widened, the statue has changed position again.

It shocked her more to see the girl was on the ground, at the front of the statue and her eyes widened, the statue has changed position again. The statue was opposite the dead girl, the dead girl strangely looked familiar to Darelia.

She remembered coming across the girl when she was about to go into the principal's office, how did she suddenly end up dead? The connections Darelia pointed out were strange to her. "We promise to investigate this and help our students be rest assured that there is no danger at all." Principal Mana addressed.

Principal Mana's eyes caught Darelia, she was still in a towel. Some students who saw her began to laugh while Athena quickly pulled her as they ran back to their hostel. "You shouldn't have come out in a towel." Athena said as she closed the door and Darelia rolled her eyes, starting to dress up.

Athena waited till she was done and grabbed her hands, "You haven't told me your name. You don't want to be friends?" She asked and Darelia glares at her. Her mascara was on her face which made the glare dangerous that Athena darted backwards.

Darelia's eyes suddenly softened, she brought out a notepad and pencil from her notepad and scribbled something down. "Um, sorry but I don't understand images." Athena looked into the book and saw her draw two boxes with a bulb of light in between them, what does that mean?

She scribbled something else down and showed it to Athena who was staring at her strangely, she just drew something else that looks similar to the first one. "Can't you talk or write your name?" Athena had to ask and Darelia sighed, walking out of the room.

She felt dejected that she was dumb but that wasn't enough, she can't even hold a pen well to write. She had tried severally, her father had brought so many tutors to teach her how to write but she just couldn't even hold a pen. She discovered she could only draw images depicting what she wants to say which nobody ends up understanding

Athena didn't want to be too inquisitive, she just wanted to be friends with Darelia. "We have only three classes everyday." She tried to start a conversation, maybe to make Darelia say something. "I thought it is a Catholic school, they don't pray at all?" Darelia wanted to ask but it could only remain in her mind except her cat knows the answer.

"Catholic is just a name, the school is nothing close to what catholic churches do. There are witches, vampires, black cats, sirens and others here. It is just like a supernatural school." Athena concluded while explaining and Darelia could only nod, looking around like she was searching for something.

Athena pulled her into the class they were to have their lectures and sat them beside Fair and Haven. "New students should introduce themselves." The teacher said and Darelia fondled with her pen slowly, how does she escape this?

"Indie, Lisa, Reuben, Foster, Beretta ----" The teacher nodded as they all introduced themselves except for Darelia who didn't stand up. "Aren't you a new student?" Indie said, she intentionally wanted everyone to know her stepsister is dumb.

Athena bit her lips, she could see the nervousness under Darelia's mascara eyes. Haven suddenly saw Darelia's opened notepad and her eyes dimmed at what she drew. "Dare -- her name is Darelia." Haven quickly said and the students turned to her, surprised that she talked.

Haven has always been the most quiet one and the students tagged her as a dangerous witch whereby she is a black cat but she didn't care and she was still surprised as to why Darelia couldn't say her name herself, why did she draw images when she could possibly write it out?

The teacher just moved to the board and started writing with the students copying too but Haven once again noticed Darelia wasn't writing, she was just biting her pencil and looking around with a suspicious gaze in her eyes. "You are not writing." Athena whispered.

Darelia gave a small smile and held her pencil, Haven expected her to write but she started drawing instead and when Haven looked at those images well, it was saying what exactly the teacher was writing. "You don't know how to write?" Haven didn't know why she asked. Darelia's notepad fell to the floor, frightened at the sudden question.

One student unintentionally heard Haven whisper it and she began to transfer the hot news around, the new girl not knowing how to write. In minutes, the news has traveled round the class and Darelia whimpered, she ran out of the class immediately.

Athena ran after her and Haven sighed, feeling disturbed and remembering her sister who would always draw too since they were kids and that was how she could understand words images depicts but Darelia's handwriting looked familiar.

In the female cubicle where Darelia was washing her face, "I miss father!" She whined in her head, smiling widely at the memories her father had created with her. He was the only one in the wide world that didn't treat her like a garbage or an outcast, she misses him so much.

She knew he might have fought with his wife for transferring his children to another school without his consent. That was how her stepmother does, she never informs him of anything she wants to or any decision she wants to make which Darelia saw as a bad character, they were husband and wife for heaven's sake.

After washing her face, she reapplied the mascara on her eyelids and this time, it was a bit darker while she looked at the mirror. Dropping the mascara back into her bag, she raised her head to look at the mirror and see if it was perfect enough. Her eyes widened in fear, blood sputtered on the mirror.

Darelia glanced back and looked at the mirror again to see if she was hallucinating again but the blood dripping from the mirror proved her wrong, it was reality. "Dare ---" A certain voice, shrilly fear made her core tighten as she knew immediately that she wasn't alone.

The same voice she heard in her head last night at the front of the statue and talking about the statue, she suddenly saw it in the bloody mirror and her heart skipped a beat. "Behind you, Dare - Lia!" She held her head as the voice repeated and she instinctively looked back.

The door closed immediately which wanted to make her scream but she couldn't, she turned back to the mirror just to see an unknown man whose canines were long and he had blood at both sides of his mouth which frightened the hell out of Darelia. "Behind you, Dare - Lia!" Her back hit the door, twisting the knob and trying to open it until she blacked out and immediately, everything returned back to normal.