Chapter Text
"They who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night. In their gray visions they obtain glimpses of eternity, and thrill, in awakening, to find that they have been upon the verge of the great secret."
Edgar Allan Poe, (Eleonora)
Starting the next semester on Nevermore Academy...
It wasn’t Drina’s first day at Nevermore, not even the second. Still, being absent for a whole year and missing all the connections, friendships and status she had, certainly made her feel like a newbie. Trying to blend with the crowd as if time had not passed was going to cost her much more effort than she was capable of endure.
But she needed to succeed on it. No matter the cost.
After convincing her mother to allow her to establish by herself, Drina entered the Ophelia Hall with a soft vintage suitcase and a big trunk with four wooden legs that followed her inside the building.
The room was bigger than she remembered. Maybe it was because Artemis’ side was cluttered with painting supplies, stationery, overlapping records and a mini closet crammed with black t-shirts, which left a considerable amount of space to be filled. Or maybe, it was just the empty half what depicted her formerly departure.
Drina opened the old trunk where she kept her clothes, and searched inside for the light gown she needed. The one she would put on to start the show.
“So, the prodigal daughter has returned.” It was Artemis’s voice what snapped Drina out of her momentary reverie. She was standing at the edge of the door, with a basket full of sunglasses that she probably forgot at home and was sent to her by her dad, Count Octavian.
“The room feels huge,” Drina said, taking a long look at the dorm and all its corners, everywhere but to Artemis’ eyes. To whom her shyness turned out to be insulting.
“That’s because you used to saturate the place with all your belongings.” The vampiress made a snide remark to pressure her friend when she noticed the avoidance. How did she dare to elude her? After abandoning her for a year?
“And yet you never filled the space.” It was a fine comeback, Artemis had to admit that, but only for herself. “I even heard you asked not to have another roommate while I was gone.”
Drina had been sharpening her taunts.
“Only ‘cause I always knew you’d be back to annoy me with your friendship.”
But they would never be as good as hers.
“Alright, you caught me! That’s why I came back, obviously.” She then approached her friend with open arms, hoping her embracing was reciprocated. After a moment of suspense, Darina felt the long, cold and slender arms of Artemis coming to squeeze her with joyfulness. It was a warm welcoming, for a vampiress.
But Artemis wasn’t a fool. She pulled the doll right away and revisited her from head to toe, it was obvious she didn’t deceive her with her display of affection. Drina was planning something that she wasn’t aware of, and she didn’t like it.
“What are you doing with that dress?”
Drina sighed. “Earning my spot from scratch,” she declared. And the vampiress decoded a hint of sarcasm in her words, as she was the master of it.
The doll wasn’t happy with her requirement, but it needed to be delivered. That was the reason she hadn’t unfold it for Artemis.
“You don’t seem very thrilled about it.” Artemis’ joke gave her a pinch on the stomach. This time she didn’t backfire.
Who could be excited to be forced to give a spectacle in front of the entire academy on the first day of school?
“Follow me to the quad, and you’ll know why.”
It was the last period of summer season. The sun was at its brightest point, as much as it could in a somber and clouded place like Nevermore.
Almost everyone had already settled themselves in their dorms, so there was a wide variety of creatures assembled on the quad engaging on different trivialities, and that gave her the proper opportunity to begin. She placed herself by the statue of Edgar Allan Poe on the fount’s edge.
As the music started her dance started too, gathering all the attention. Even from the people she clearly didn’t want to. The sirens.
“Girl’s been here like, for two seconds and she’s already showing off.” Bianca wanted her voice to sound snarky, but instead the bitterness was showing. “Couldn’t even wait to the Ballet trials, she just had to stand out.”
Drina’s presence irritated Bianca on many levels. So, it was in the past. And so, it is in the present.
“That’s how she’s always been Bianca, an attention seeker.” Divina tried to appease her friend with her words.
But Kent wasn’t thinking the same. “I think her moves are very beautiful,” he remarked without caring who could hear him.
“What did you just said?” The self-proclaimed queen wasn’t taking it.
Wednesday was passing by when she overheard Bianca’s bitter complaints. She was on her way to her bedroom but couldn’t help to stare at the same spot that the sirens were looking at.
It was right directly to a girl all decked up in a flowing white dress with her arms outstretched, taking a stag leap. She was delicate and smooth, which made Wednesday more interested on her performance than the reason Bianca was so annoyed by it.
Wednesday didn’t practice ballet, but she had an appreciation for it. The way ballerinas forced themselves to the limit to accomplish their vanity and dreams, and how they cracked their feet to stand on their pointe shoes, was formidable.
However, she couldn’t understand the aim of the performance.
For Drina, it was her way to prove Myrtha, the most recent leader of the Ballet troupe, that she still owned a place among them.
“Very well delivered.” The compliment felt too bittersweet to be flattering. “I want you first time tomorrow at the theatre.”
“Does that mean I’m in?” Drina was trying to remain calmed, but somehow being the center of the outcasts’ noisy glances didn’t make it any easier.
Myrtha's smile lengthened smugly.
“Don’t raise your hopes just yet. This blustering you did here, means nothing.”
A flash of anger crossed Drina's eyes. “You imposed this on me... that if I danced in front of everyone it would be all. That's what you promised.”
“And you performed beautifully, Darina,” Myrtha replied, trying to sound impassive. “But you still have a long way to go if you want to become part of us again.”
“I do not intend to return to the team without due effort,” she guaranteed, feeling less enraged than before.
“So, prove it.” Myrtha withdrew with her back to Drina, tossing her red hair on a pompous walk.
She joined the entourage of dancers that were observing them from a distance, who had angry accusing glares exclusively for Drina. The tiny doll stood there until they were gone, put her black heavy loafers on, and walked all the way to her bedroom.
Back at her dorm, Artemis didn’t wait a single minute to pass to ask her about the development of her act number one, “How did it go?” She took off her sunglasses and fluttered her eyelashes with expectation.
Drina jumped over the bed, still with the dress on. Her face falling on the mattress and her hair spilled around her. She looked at Artemis with troubled eyes and answered: “She didn’t say yes. But she didn’t say no.”
“But she didn’t say ‘Yes, you’re back on track. Congrats’.”
“She said I needed to show them I belonged with them once more. As if!” Drina was evidently outraged.
Throwing a tantrum before acknowledging the reality was a good way of venting out.
“You left for a whole year.” The way Artemis’ voice pitch went high enough to show how much it also hurt her really surprised Drina. “Of course they won’t welcome you with open arms.”
“You did.” Drina’s words were meant to inform her that she had understood, and to prove her it was not impossible to greet her in a kinder way.
“I’m your best friend, dumbass! Those are envious, hard-working ballerinas.”
“I know,” she conceded, feeling conflicted. Although she clearly knew that getting on the troupe wasn’t going to be an easy task, she didn’t envision that her old teammates would be so hard to convince.
Drina eyed her phone and felt horrified. “Oh, no, no, no. It’s almost one o’clock!” She hurriedly changed her clothes into the Nevermore’s uniform.
“What are you doing? Classes don’t start ‘til tomorrow.”
“I forgot to deliver some papers to the new Headmaster’s secretary when I arrived. My mother will haunt me for life if I don’t do it today.”
“For life it’s a long measure to someone who lives forever.” It was the last thing Artemis said to her, before she started running to the secretary’s office.
As her mother had told her, she should have brought the papers after she had settled in. But she erased the task from her system, egoistically prioritizing her ridiculous display of talent. Everything to please the horde of disdainful ballerinas.
Now it was her against the clock, and against other creatures on the academy too.
“Is that the ballerina from earlier in the morning?” Wednesday’s question arose upon seeing Drina running over the corridors.
Once attired in the academy uniform, it was easier to distinguish the grayish color of her skin, making contrast with the purple and black stripes of the blazer.
The question was meant to be for Enid. But it was Bianca who gave the answer, joining their conversation by chance. “Yes,” the siren nodded. With those piercing blue eyes, it looked like she wanted to eat the girl alive, “her name is Darina Morgante. The living doll herself.”
“A living doll? Is she a Frankenstein type of creature?”
“Slightly similar, but no.”
“She's quite a rare type of outcast. Her friends call her Drina.” Enid was aroused. As she usually was when old drama wreaked havoc at the academy and she could gossip about it.
“Her only friend,” Bianca corrected Enid’s words, “Artemis.”
Artemis was a vampire girl who didn’t get along with the ‘fangs gang’, the popular kids among the undead, like Yoko. She’d rather be in the art classroom making cartoon-like sculptures and drawing strokes on her sketchbooks.
“She has other friends too,” Enid refuted, trying to mend Bianca’s disdain. “They’re just… normies from Jericho. Ozzy, Kath and the Jokester.”
“How would you know their names…?” Bianca was confused and kinda weirded out. She liked Enid, but sometimes her hunger for social scandals made her uncomfortable.
“Oh, I happen to follow them on their social media.”
“I suppose you're not one of the group,” Wednesday inquired turning to Bianca.
“Quite the opposite, actually.” And with those final words, she took the leave to the Amphitrite Hall. The residence of the sirens.
“She’s also friends with another vampire called Isolde,” Enid added. “But she’s extremely private because she’s… a succubus hybrid.”
“Normies, succubus… something else?”
Enid tried to look for more information in her sophisticated mental files.
“Why did you say she’s an uncommon type of outcast?” Wednesday snapped her out of the quick mind scan to avoid unnecessary data.
“Because she was cursed.” Enid did her best to keep her voice down. “She’s practically immortal and almost indestructible.”
“Practically and almost are not absolutes, Enid.”
“There’s… a few inconveniences.” Enid placed her hands in front of her lips, clasping her index fingers and tapping them together.
Wednesday crossed her hands under her chin and arched a brow with curiosity, “Do tell me,” she requested.
“Drina!” someone yelled her name from behind. She stumbled, nearly losing her balance, but pulling herself together before anyone could see it.
After recognizing the voice, Drina immediately knew that she wasn’t prepared for the interaction. No matter how much time she spent rehearsing for it before coming back.
Feeling a range of different emotions, she turned around to meet him.
“I knew it was you,” Xavier Thorpe was greeting her from the infirmary’s entrance, where Ajax had taken him after he had a migraine so strong it caused him to swoon.
He had a swab between his fingers, and a peculiar smile painted on his face. But what really got Drina’s attention was the red mark on his forehead.
“What happened to your face?” She tried too hard not to be worried, but it was something she couldn’t dissimulate. She was a very curios person by nature too.
It had been a year since she last saw him. His hair was longer, and his expression, even when he was smiling, looked tougher than before. Darina wondered what had happened during her absence for him to have such change.
“I passed out and hit myself with a railing.” He pointed to his forehead, explaining the reason of the bruise. “Next thing I knew I was on a gurney with Ajax sitting on the nearest chair to me.”
“Are you sure you’re feeling better now?”
“The nurse gave me some medicine and a swab to smell, so I think I’ll survive.” He tripped on his own feet. He was still woozy, but he had managed to play it cool just enough to deceive her. At least for a moment.
Drina grabbed his wrist to steady him, feeling a slight tingle on the tip her fingers. “You were saying?” she mocked him, raising an eyebrow. He was, after all only a human with paranormal abilities and a last name loaded with renown.
A guilty smile spread across his face as he said, “I really wanted to say hello.”
He leaned on the door frame, causing Drina’s hand to clumsily slip from his wrist to his hand.
Strangely, he knew that she’d walk by the infirmary, so he waited about half an hour for her to show up.
“Mr. Thorpe?” the nurse called Xavier in a scolding voice, Drina let go of him instantly. “Come back inside, you haven’t fully recovered from the concussion yet.”
“But I haven’t finished talking to my old friend, Drina,” he acknowledged her in a very suspicious way, beckoning the nurse with his big green eyes.
“Oh right.” She took the hint immediately. “Your old friend.”
The truth was that the woman had let him stay on the entrance only if he promised to sit back on the gurney after he said his greetings to his friend, who he hadn’t seen in a very long time.
“I don’t want to trouble you,” Drina apologized, feeling relieved to had found an excuse to leave, “I better get goi―”
But before she could say her ‘goodbyes’, the nurse announced:
“Mr. Thorpe you’re going to need someone to accompany you to your room after you get discharged.” She played her roll very seriously, even when Drina noticed it was all a hoax. “Miss…”
“Morgante,” Xavier responded.
“Yes, Miss Morgante will have the job of escorting you to your room. I’ll even give you a note for the Prefect to let you in to the boy’s Hall. Just this time.”
How would she know that first day she’d end up accompanying Xavier to his room?
“Why are you wearing the uniform?” Xavier inquired. Unlike her, he was wearing a hoodie and blue jeans, his shoes were a pair of worn out converse. The mainstream ones.
For a wealthy guy, he used to dress very simply.
“Why aren’t you on your uniform?” she alleged, jokingly. “Why isn’t everyone on theirs?”
“Because today is our day off!” Xavier smirk melted Drina’s heart in seconds. She turned away, feeling heat on her cheeks. “You okay?” he brought his face closer to hers. His eyebrows reflecting a gesture of concern, and his mouth was half opened, about to say another thing.
She composed herself as fast as she could. “Weren’t you the one who was feeling dizzy a minute ago and needed to be guarded to his room?”
“And does that mean I can’t worry about you too?”
“Not in your condition, Mr. Thorpe.” She sounded very serious impersonating the nurse’s voice, shaking her index finger as if it were a rebuke.
They passed through the main lobby to go to the guy's dorms, where many students were able to watch and gossip about that specific interaction. It was well known to Nevermore veterans that Xavier and Darina were old friends.
But not all the student population was gifted with the information. At least not Wednesday Addams, who was waiting outside of the Principal’s office for the new Headmaster —whose identity was yet to be revealed—, to show, so she could ambush them. As no one had been able to see them once nor talk to them in person.
Thing climbed over Wednesday’s back, reaching out her shoulder. He was about to snitch on Xavier for walking next to another girl, but the moment Drina caught his attention, he got infatuated by the sutures that adorned her body and remained static.
“What’s wrong with you?” The question being ignored. And while Thing was strongly pressing his fingers, his nails almost leaving marks on her skin, she noticed a pair of individuals walking side by side immersed in such a cheerful conversation that paid no attention to anyone outside of their bubble.
Long wavy copper hair and a gracious march. Only a stupid would not to recognize her. The ballerina who had ruined Bianca’s mood with her out stage performance was Xavier’s companion.
“That’s intriguing to say the least.” She lowered her voice as she was only speaking to herself. Like she often did due to her daily internal monologue.
«What are the odds that this ends up being convenient for me too?» It was the last of her thoughts before they entered the boy’s hall, laughing and smiling to one another. Not even acknowledging her presence.
Drina and Xavier reached the dormitory to find out that the Prefect wasn’t at his spot, so the note was unnecessary, as much as the excuse for her to walk the guy down the corridors and lengthen her tortuous and delightful encounter with him.
Several guys got scared when they noticed that a girl was inside their sleeping quarters, feeling their intimacy to be exposed. “I'm so glad you're back.” Xavier admitted with a smile, mocking some of the guys that had crossed them with disgusted faces.
Drina felt a pang in her stomach and swallowed. She was not glad at all to be back and even less to be entangled on this closeness with him.
Before she could give him a response, Ajax came out of the room with an expression of concern. “How are you man? Why didn’t you let me know you were coming to…?” he stopped talking the moment he saw Drina standing next to Xavier. “Oh, now I know why.” He forced himself to be relaxed. “Welcome back, D.”
“Hello, Ajax,” she greeted the gorgon with shyness. Something in Ajax’s eyes gave her an odd feeling of uneasiness.
In spite of him acting laid back, he looked very tense. He started to scratch his snakes like if some realization had come to him when Drina appeared at the doorstep. “Bro, I’ll go back inside. See ya’ Drina.” He smiled nervously but didn’t close the door behind his back. A hint to Xavier that they needed to say goodbye.
“I guess I’ll see you around.” He gave her a half smile, marking one of his dimples.
“We’ll see about that,” she stated, walking away from his dorm. Getting her way back to the Ophelia Hall.