Wow today is full of surprises. Hailey is alive, thank the gods. I'm crying and hugging her. We all are. We all step away.
"No offense, but you look like shit." That was me.
"She has a point, just saying." That was Kailey.
"You guys, now is not the time." That was Vincent. At this moment I have the urge to do something incredibly stupid. I pull Vincent into a quick kiss before leaving and running back to my room.

I look @Sweetie in the eyes. I dont want to do this. But I have to.
"Sweetie, Hailey's dead. She died just before your birthday. She was murdered. She predicted it ahead of time. She told Wailey not to tell you until after your birthday so that you could enjoy your birthday. She didn't want you to be upset on your birthday. Hailey got those earrings for you as a last birthday present. She wanted you to have something from her that you would cherish." I take a deep breath. My eyes wander before returning to her. "I hope you understand why we waited to tell you." What she says shocks all of us.
"I know. The man told me." She looks at each one of us pointedly. "I don't like it, but I understand why you didn't tell me. I'm still mad and that won't change for a while." She breaths and leans back. Just then the death man appears, his boring clothes and all. He looks at each one of us.
"Hailey had a message prepared for each of you. Sophu already got hers in the jacket." He hands everyone a letter, stamped with the Goodspeed crest. @Vincent Goodspeed takes his and slips it in his coat, he will probably want to read it alone. Kailey opens hers and reads it. I watch as her eyes go down the page, lingering at the bottom. A tear falls out of her eye, and Wailey grabs her hand as she reads her letter. She reads hers slowly, lingering on each word. She begins sobbing and shaking. Vincent pulls both of the girls into a hug as the cry. He looks me in the eyes. The look in his eyes kills me. Stone cold, grieved, and dead. Sweetie hasn't opened hers. She is staring at the crest, her hands shaking. The death man takes this as his queue to leave us. I grab her hands and we look at each other. She nods at me, and I give her a strained smile. I will stay strong for her. I will stay strong for all of them. She opens the letter, slowly, her arms trembling. She doesn't breath as she reads. The more she reads, the more I can feel her straining under the hexes. Her magic is unhinging. She finishes reading and sets it down. She closes her eyes. She doesn't cry. She takes a rattled breath and stands up.
"If it's alright, I want to be alone for a little while." She hugs each of us and leaves to her room.

My Gods I haven't even known her that long. She gave me her possessions?! Why in the worlds would she do that? I slip the ball into my pocket. I put on the jacket. There is a note in the pocket. I read it. What it says leaves my mind in pieces.

Sophu, I trust you. You are strong and smart. I give you these things to be a protecter. I leave you these as a request. A request to protect the Goodspeeds. They will need you. Without me, the head sibling, they fall apart. You can keep them together. Please do this, Sophu.
Hailey Goodspeed.

My hands shake as I fold the letter and put it back in the jacket. I breathe and stand up. "We should tell @Sweetie now, before that man comes to her as well. We need to be with her when that happens." I open the door, looking at @Vincent Goodspeed. "Come on, we need to start hexing your room" He follows me to his room. We start hexing and charming. Shielding. Calming. Magic Canceling. Wailey goes to fetch Sweetie. We all sit down. We look at each other nervously. Kailey speaks first.
"Sweetie, we need to tell you something. But you need to let us explain before you jump to conclusions."

I'm stressing out. How on the world does one say " oh Hailey, uh yeah she's dead"

I turn towards the two sisters. ¨That´s too long¨ I stare them both down. ¨I say we should tell her tomorrow. The sooner the better. We don´t want her to find out on accident.¨ I sit down on my beanbag and let some lightning crackle on my fingertips. Its a haze, but I remember the raw power I had in those slow moments of shock, fury, and grief. ¨@Sweeties powers are odd. There is no telling what could happen¨ My eyes drag over to the carpet, still partially charred. @Vincent Goodspeed pulls up a chair.
¨I second that¨ his foot taps on the ground. Hes scared, I realize. He keeps glancing between me and the charred carpet. My face goes red as I sink into the beanbag. ¨Shes unpredictable when she gets upset. Not to mention she wouldn't trust us anymore¨ My mind wanders to my trust pearl. I definitely couldn't handle losing her trust. I shake my thoughts away as Vincent continues. ¨We need to sit her down and tell her together¨
Wailey and Kailey consider this, then agree with us both.
Now to the next question. ¨Where should we tell her?¨ This was me, my voice quiet from the safety of my beanbag. Everyone is quiet for a second. Just then I remembered something. ¨We need to do it in Vincents room. His room can be easily warded to cancel out magic, just in case push comes to shove.¨ Surprisingly, nobody contradicts this, in fact, everyone is on board. We have a plan. Wailey stands up in front us.
¨So we tell her tomorrow, in Vincents room, together.¨ Its decided then.

I turn off the lights. I hide behind a chair; preparing, waiting. I wait for the dark figure to turn on the lights. I pounce.
"Surprise" I embrace @Sweetie in a bear hug and spin her around. My arm fazes through her flickery side. "Happy birthday!" Everyone does the same as we sit her down with a sparkly hat. We sing Happy Birthday. We all fill up on snacks. We goof around. We have fun. Just before the presents, Sweetie says something that sends knives all of our hearts.
"Where's Hailey?" We all look at each other, silent and tense.
"She had an... emergency. Yeah an emergency she had to take care of. She will be back shortly." This was @Vincent Goodspeed.
"Oh ok. Should we open my presents?" For once @Sweeties adorable personality has proven useful.
"That's a great idea!" I say and we sit around as she opens up each one. From Vincent, a spell-book of party tricks and fun charms. From Bailey, who had gotten her a gift ahead of time, an absolutely stunning pair of enchanted earrings. One of a kind, from the looks of it. A Teal gemstone was in the center of each one, lined with clear foresight crystals. The package comes with a note. 'For a little extra wisdom and clarity when it is needed for my favorite little sister!' She puts them on. "Oh Sweetie they look lovely on you" I gush. They really do. From Kailey, a set of new note pencils. The kind that refill themselves. The spin around in their little box. They click and clack around. From Wailey, a collection of potion essentials in the cutest little bottles I have ever seen. Now time for my present. I hand it to her. She quickly rips it open, the paper falling in little bits around her feet. She holds it up, examining it. I will probably have to explain.
"Its an elven trust pearl." I hold it in my hand and run my fingers along the spirals of color. Its about the size of an egg. Its pearly white with tendrils of infinite colors all across it. "Its tradition for an elf to give it to their most cherished companion. An elf can only create it once in their life." I put in her palms and close her fingers around. Her eyes are huge and round. She embraces me. She thanks everyone and we all decide that is better to end the party before stuff starts exploding. We all clear out and clean up.
"When will we tell her?" This was Kailey.
"In about two days or so. We don't want to ruin her birthday." This was Wailey.

Me and Wailey are in my room. She is wiping her eyes and telling me what happened. I'm putting on my straps and knives. Lots of knives. I have way too many knives. I put on my combat boots and lace them up.

Also guys I want this to be epic and long written so let me write this I love to write stories. love yall

Oh my Gods... I hear the screaming and immediately grab my stuff and run. Towards the screaming. Because I'm just smart like that. I see daggers thrown into the wall. One of them has a note. I tear it off and read it.
I HAVE THEM. COME WITH WAILEY AND NO ONE ELSE.
FRANZ AND MEANIE.
No no no. I break off in a run, towards the dorms. This is desperate. I try something I have been practicing. I let some magic leak into my muscles. Raw magic. My lightning crackles around my limbs as my speed increases. I'm there in an instant. I slow down before screeching to a halt. I even left skid marks. I'm outside our hallway. OUR hallway as in me, @Sweetie, @Vincent Goodspeed, and @Bailey and Wailey. We are all neighbors. I find Wailey next to her door. Silently crying. She is holding a note similar to mine. I pull her in a hug as I read her note. Similar to mine. Same paper. Same handwriting. Same message. Two dead people kidnapped our friends and siblings. Including a polar opposite. I personally think this is getting out of hand and maybe, just maybe, we should tell at least ONE of our teachers what's going on. You know, because adults are responsible and such.

Oh and me too. Feather Jupiter Thunder-Beam Loki-Son. Goes by Sophu among friends. Genderfluid. 5'1. 15 years old.

@Sweetie your gift is secret. That is what makes it a gift.

After talking to my teachers and turning in my assignments, I make my way to the cafeteria. Grab one of those glowing muffins. I make my way to the weapons hall. I hear swords clashing. Spells being cast with that typical whoosh sound. I enter the hall. Unnoticed. Silent. The targets are empty, as I like them. I set my bag down and finish my muffin. I notch my arrows and shoot. Two at a time. Bulls-eyes on both targets. I grab them and shoot. Again and Again. I let my mind wander as I continue shooting. I'm weak. I couldn't stop @Franz Fiendlich. Or @Meanie. I'm too slow. I hesitate as I shoot. Every time. I grab more arrows and reposition the targets. Three at a time. Sometimes at the same target, sometime individual targets. Perfect symmetry. As I notch the arrows again, I realize something. Why am I practicing my archery? Why do I bother when I have powerful magic flowing in my veins? I pull back the bowstring as I hear a loud scream behind me. There goes my hopes for a semi-regular day

Don't worry, I'm not expecting anything crazy to happen. Its just that people here are... hard to deal with. I walk down the hall, down the stairs, and then i'm outside. Sunshine. I cover my eyes. My elven eyes take longer to adjust to light changes. I blink, then walk to the main building. I'm inside. People are greeting me. Which is odd, as I keep to myself more often than not. Everyone's eyes are the same. Pity. They keep looking towards my feet, where Shadow should be following me like well... my shadow. They all now what happened. It's alright. It will pass in a couple days. When the next crazy thing happens. I go all my classes. Astronomy. Potions. Hexes. Charms. History of Dark Magic. I turn in my assignments, all my essays. All of which are late, as always.