1
It was a cold day in winter, white snow was falling on the forest and I was freezing with my thin jacket but my dad didn’t care.
After urging me to open the portal, I finally pressed the button and after saying who I was to a bored receptionist who had the luck to be inside with heat, I rushed inside the car.
My dad didn’t say a word when we entered the estate, nothing that could express whatever feelings he had to come back after so much time while I was just looking through the window, mouth opened.
The school was incredible, the gardens, even hidden by the white snow, seemed beautiful with all these flowers and trees but what impressed me the most was the main building. It was old fashioned with the bricks and the towers but it seemed to add even more charm to it.
“Ethan, get down” , ordered the cold voice of my father.
He wasn’t even looking at me or wishing me to have fun or anything which made me a little sad at how he was acting. So cold and distant…
It had been like this ever since my mum talked about putting me in the old boarding school of my dad while there left the country for their work. And now that we were both there, I was wondering what could have happened to him while he was there to be so strange about it.
I watched the grey car fading away with the snow and the wind like if my father was never there. Like if I was alone with this freezing weather.
“Ethan Green ?” A warm and welcoming voice asked from behind my back.
I turned around, my bag still in hand, and saw the most surprising men I ever met. He had white hair hidden behind a hat and the feature on his face where as well covered by a thick and colourful scarf. The only thing that I could see was two bright orbs staring at me. But the thing that disturb me the most was how his voice seemed so different from his looking.
“Yes. Are you the headmaster of the school ?” I questioned, unsure of who he was.
He could have been the gardener or the chief or again a teacher, even if I doubt it…
“Sir Whitcraft. I will show you your room immediately so you can settled. By the way, you will have someone else sleeping with you, is that a problem ?” He asked, slightly worried as how his voice was a little higher than earlier.
I shook my head and he told me to follow him, offering at the same time to carry my bag which I obviously declined. Inside was my most precious belonging, something that I couldn’t let anyone have.
While we were heading to my new room, Sir Whitcraft gave me a little tour of the school, showing me the enormous library who had surely more than a thousand books, the smaller but still impressive canteen with astonishing painting the students made and where every meal where taken and finally the place where I would be sleeping.
He also explained how there were four houses divided in all the different tours I saw earlier when I was in the car. I was to be put in the Green house and had as a prefect Maxime Max.
“ Hem…” The headmaster muttered while opening the door, letting me see the inside. “ Archie isn’t there yet but you may see him during dinner” He informed me with a smile before leaving, saying he had important matters to attend.
I was about to ask him why there was a vacant place during the winter break while at the start of the year, when my mum would plead the staff of the school to let me in, there were not one bed for me to sleep and not one table where I could study.
Even if I was incredibly grateful to be here, in this incredible school who had such a good reputation, I was still asking myself why the student before me left.
Chasing away these thoughts that were plaguing my mind, I observed my room and was impressed at how it was. Everything here was making me feel like home.
The two single beds with their pillows who seemed so soft, the cupboard where my uniform was waiting to be worn and the wooden floor which creaks when we would walk on it. Even if it was quite old and that the other side of the room was already taken by the other boy, I felt good.
The only thing that disturb me was the lack of lock on the door, which maybe was some kind of security in case a student had a problem. And anyway, if I ever needed to have some privacy, I could put the chair against the door or go inside the bathroom which surpassingly had a lock.
After finishing to settle, I thought about my roommate and wondered what he looked like. With a name like his, I thought about a wild student who didn’t mind breaking a few rules to get what he wants. But about his actual look, I had no ideas. Archie could very well have brown or blonde hair, light or black eyes, pale or dusky skin. This boy could be everyone in this school and I couldn’t wait to meet him.
Curious, maybe a little too much like my mother would remind me, I went in Archie’s side of the room but saw nothing on the wall that could help me see what kind of personality he had. Maybe a poster of a rock concert or a picture of his family would have calm me down and I would’ve leave but there was nothing except a plain white wall.
As I looked further, I saw his desk under the close window, so neat and clean I wondered if he ever used it as mine had many pencils marks and old scratches my predecessor made when he owned it. On it, I could therefore see a small frame face down so that no one would look at it without turning it. Too curious for my own sake, I took it and saw two boys and deduced that it should be Archie and a friend, maybe his previous roommate.
By the way they hold each other, I could see they were very close and a small sting of jealousy hit my heart. I never trusted anyone enough to be the kind of friend I could tell my problems or anything personal.
The boy on the left, next of the chestnut tree, had long blonde hair with some violet dye in it but I couldn’t see his eyes as they were closed, just like the one on his right.It was maybe him Archie or someone else in the school I could easily notice in the crowd. But his friend… he seem way more attractive than him. He was smiling and yet, I could see through the picture how false it seemed, how unnatural. He had shorter but messier hair who were as black as the feathers of a crow, maybe even more, his skin was so pale a ghost would be green with envy and the way he had put his uniform this day was so unstylish compared to the other one. Fourth button of his shirt unbuttoned, his trousers to long on his slim legs, even if I could only see half of them and what horrified me the most was how he had lazily put his jumper on his shoulder.
Putting the frame down, not daring to see more about this outrageous boy, I continued my search in the desk which surprisingly had no other picture. Nothing on his family or him. Not even one school book was inside the drawers which was astonishing as the students in Southern College was going to pass important exams in a few weeks time and that everyone had to revise.
Not pushing the search further as my stomach was growling with hunger, I took the dusty uniform from the cupboard and after changing, I observed myself in the mirror. Even if I was a boy and that my old friends said that it was a girl thing, I loved to watch myself after dressing, just to check if everything was in the right place.
Pouting about how unstylished the brown jumper looked on me and after brushing my hair for thirty minutes, deciding if I should or should not tie them, I finally finished walking down the stairs of the school in absolute silent as everyone was already eating dinner.
But as I passed in front of the garden and as the snow stopped falling, I thought of taking a closer look to them before filling my empty stomach. I always loved flowers since childhood, as much as I loved clothes. They were so different and smelt so perfect. And with a winter landscape like the one I had, I scowled myself for not taking my camera. The photo would have been beautiful with the sunlight blooming on the flowers, making them shin even more.
But as I was going to once more smell their delicious scent, a loud ‘Thump’ awoke me. I was still in the garden but something changed. The light had faded as big clouds ready to deliver some fresh snow on our head was hiding the sun. There was also a thick tension in the air, like if something bad happened not so far ahead. Curious as always, I walked towards the noise and saw the most horrific thing I ever saw in my life.
A dead, bloody, body.
