Phantom Fox

By: Midnight Siren

Prologue

Hello. I'm Kathryn Samhaine. I'm sixteen and I live without a mother or father. They both died when I was very young and I have no other living family except for my grandmother who is the headmaster at a prestigious private school that I couldn't even dream of entering with the little money I was making. But then suddenly one day I got a letter saying I had been accepted into the school!

Can you believe how shocked I was to read that? My grandmother is a very strict and frightening woman, I lived with her for most of my childhood until I was thirteen and got a job so I could live by myself. We lived in this huge mansion with butlers and servants and chauffeurs... but it wasn't the life for me since I always felt like I was taking advantage of all those people, my grandmother said that it was because I had too much of my father in me. I never knew either of them and grandmother never said anything about them no matter how many times I asked but I would always find lots of scrapbooks and pictures of them when they were young. My mother was beautiful with dark hair like mine and pale skin while I had my father's dull golden eyes and his supposedly very worried and caring personality that made him a bit of a pushover when my mother made him propose.

I never knew their names but I hear my grandmother talk about someone named Olympia and I've always just accepted it as my mother's name if nothing else. It was the only thing I had to hold onto besides pictures and what little the help in the large household could tell me about them but somehow they never could remember their names. But enough of my babbling. You came here for a story and here it is.

Chapter One

We begin our story in a small town in Rockport, Maine where a girl of sixteen lives alone with sleek black hair and dark gold eyes she is calm and happy while also being stubborn and calculating. Today she was having an off day and was finding to hard to roll out of bed that morning as she continued to abuse her alarm clock to the point where it would have to be replaced by tomorrow. A ruffled stack of black hair lifted from the pile of pillows and blankets and looked over to the covered windows debating on whether or not to call herself in sick at school but quickly remembered an important test. She fell face first into the pillows again and groaned loudly finally lifting herself out of bed as she yawned, her skin was pale and perfect while her dark gold eyes were dull with sleep. Slowly she made her way into the bathroom and took a quick shower before wrapping her petite frame in a plush black towel and pulling her clothes from a dresser in the far corner of her room.

"Kathryn!" a child's voice called drawing out her name so they would be heard.

"Just a second Dahlia!" she shouted back as she righted her black and burgundy tartan skirt and buttoned up her white shirt before she opened the door to reveal the small ginger haired and green eyed child in front of her. "Good morning."

"'Morning!" she exclaimed excitedly as she saw Kathryn and grinned missing a few teeth. "How are you today Kat?"

"Pretty good having a slow start though." she replied with a big yawn making the small child giggle, Dahlia was only about six. She followed her small friend down the two flights of stairs to the kitchen when her landlord appeared out of nowhere and gave them both a big 'good morning' hug before offering food.

"Hello girls!" she exclaimed excitedly forever the morning person that her daughter Dahlia was. She was a beautiful woman with caramel locks and blazing green eyes that would make even the most hardened of criminals pay attention to her when she was giving you a scolding, her name was Violet. Kat's mouth watered at the smell of eggs, bacon and waffles met her nose and she saw the delicious spread on the length of the table just waiting to be devoured while Violet just laughed and allowed her pass. The dark haired teen speared a few waffles and gathered plenty of bacon and eggs along with it with orange juice on the side while she tried to talk around mouthfuls of food.

"Don't talk and eat Kathryn." Violet scolded her teasingly laughing when the teen quickly gobbled down her food and chased it down with her orange juice to speak.

"I was trying to ask if I got any mail today." she laughed as she fiddled with her clean plate before washing it.

"Actually you did get something... it looks important." she replied handing her a thick ivory envelope with a dark navy blue seal that depicted a pair of twisting wings that swirled around a shield like wind. Two sets of three claws were dug into the ground on either side of the shield and as she looked closer she realized the ornate design on the surface of the shield made a mask for the clawed beast behind it. Tearing her gaze away from the seal she tore open the letter and pulled out a handful of paper all printed on eggshell white paper and the deepest of black ink made up the words. She skimmed the pages before stopping on something that rang a few dusty bells in the back of her mind, Mirage Academy was in bold print above the rest of the letter while more nonsense followed as she sat and sipped her coffee and read.

Congratulations

Hello, Kathryn Samhaine. I would like to inform you that you have been accepted into Mirage Academy! This is the letter that will make your admission a simple as pie!

Just go ahead and fill out these forms, your tuition has already been paid in full so there is no reason for money to be an obstacle. We are very happy to have you welcomed into our school and we hope to hear from you soon! Just sign below and bring this with you to the admissions office and ta-dah! You're done!

Just sign there (V) and you're all set the only thing left is to bring this to the admissions office on April 27. We hope to see you here!

Your Name _Date_

Kat blinked on confusion she had never applied for any school that she could remember, she had always gone to Silver Stay High School with Violet's nephew Demeatre. They were related by marriage he was a shy thing with bleached white blonde hair, lightly tanned skin and eyes that were deep blue and rimmed with gold and he was always timid and getting picked on by older kids. Kat had been his bodyguard in high school but then one day he just up and disappeared with his family while Violet and she could find neither hide nor hair of the family at all. Every once in a blue moon Demeatre and his family called to tell them that they were okay and that they would visit sometime and ask Kat how she was doing paying Violet rent for her room.

Kathryn had moved out of her grandmother's house at thirteen and found the one house that was renting out a room and would accept what little money she could pull in at her age. Little by little she payed only a portion of her rent while she begged Violet to keep track of what she owed when she got older and could make more money then pay the small family back for the room. She stayed in the attic which was always clean and much more than her rent should have covered and she had pointed it out to her landlord more than once over the years but she always waved it off. Violet had always been one to not obsess over money and hadn't been particularly happy when Kat had asked her to keep track of all the money she owed while also going to school on top of everything.

"You're going to be late if you don't hurry Kathryn!" Violet exclaimed as she glanced at the clock and started cleaning up and shooing the dark haired teen away. "School. NOW."

Kat didn't argue with Violet when she heard that motherly tone and quickly scampered out the door as she pulled on her shoes and pulled her sweater vest over her head then ran down the sidewalk clutching her satchel to her side. She ran until she was at the school gates and bolted up the stairs past a few grumbling third years before screeching to a halt in front of her Chemistry II class to walk inside and face the wrath of her teacher. A second after she closed the door the bell rang and she made a mad dash for her seat as her beast of a teacher burst through the door, she loved this class more than anything but the teacher just about killed it every day. Her Chemistry teacher was a creepy old man with graying hair and a long beard and he looked like a hippy that had gone conformist without bothering to cut his hair while he glared at them all with muddy brown eyes.

"Open your textbooks to page 10-32 and read over paragraph 23 point 9." he barked as the class quickly obeyed and started reading. The room was mostly filled with third years but Kat was the only first year who had gotten into the class and she was pretty proud that she was smart enough to even out wit most of the class. She quickly read through the paragraph and it was nothing she hadn't already read:

Resonance

The phenomenon of resonance was put forward by Heisenberg to explain the properties of certain covalent molecules. Most covalent molecules have a unique Lewis formula (dot structure), which explains the bonding in that molecule. Some molecules lend themselves two or more dot structures. None of these structures can exactly describe all the properties of the molecule, but each structure contributes to the true structure of the molecule. Such different structures are called 'resonance structures' and the actual molecule is termed as the 'resonance hybrid' of all these structures. In every case the actual molecule is found to be energetically more stable than would be expected from any of its resonance energy difference between the most stable resonating structure and the resonance hybrid structure is termed as resonance energy.

Glancing over the paragraph again and almost laughed at the simplicity of the chemical structures as she looked them over and identified them without any issues as her teacher began speaking again and she cringed. Her professor's voice was like a cheese grater on a chalk board and it always made her ears ring because he was so loud and didn't think anyone could hear him when they were two inches away. He started asking them questions and she was one of the few who was able to answer them since he always gave them some of the most difficult questions just to embarrass them.

"Miss Samhaine, could you identify the chemical compound 3H+ + PO43- - H3PO4." he asked her hoping to finally catch her off-guard.

"Phosphoric Acid." she replied smoothly having already identified it in the book and saw the look of vexation and a muttered curse before the intercom crackled to life overhead.

/ Excuse me, Professor Sandfield? / the receptionist's voice asked in her nasally and horribly annoying voice.

"Yes?" he barked.

/ Can you send Kathryn Samhaine to the office please? A car is here to pick her up. / she replied simply before cutting the connection.

"Very well Miss Samhaine. Off with you." he ordered with a wave of his hand as she gathered her things unsurely not having been told anyone would pick her up. Exiting the room her thoughts swirled around her head most of them wondering what a car would be doing here for her without any prior knowledge from Violet or anyone else. She walked quickly through the dank gray halls as she reached the office which sent her away before she could sign herself out so she continued on until she stepped outside and saw a sleek black car idling on the corner. A man stood at the backdoor and she had a sense that she knew him as Kat drew closer the feeling a familiarity only grew until she was standing in front of him and got a better look at his face.

He was old with salt and pepper hair and his face engraved with deep wrinkles around his eyes and mouth from smiles and sleepless nights. The man smiled at her then making his wrinkles stretch and become deeper as he gave her a little bow and asked her how her day had been and seeing as she had only been at school for about ten minutes she didn't have much to say.

"Oh, how rude of me Miss Samhaine... allow me to introduce myself, you probably don't remember me." he chuckled in a slightly tired voice. "You were only a young girl when I last saw you but you'll remember old Archibald right?"

It took her a moment to think but then suddenly realization hit her. "Archie!" she gasped happily hugging the aging man who embraced her in a firm hold. Archie had been her driver and almost only friend when she had been living with her grandmother and was the only regret she had when she had left her grandmother and moved in with VIolet and Dahlia. As the elder man released her and gave her a once over taking in every part of her that had changed over the years before giving her another tight hug and opened the back door for her.

"Well then let's not dawdle, I'll explain on the way there." he said quickly when he saw her about to ask a question then slid into the back seat as Archie closed it, went around the car and settled into the driver's seat as they started to drive off campus. "You see Kathryn your grandmother Lady Samhaine called me to come and take you to the academy so we might protect you better."

"Wait... protect me?" she asked curiously.

"Yes, some questionable people have been targeting Lady Samhaine and she was afraid for you, you're the heir to the family name after all." he replied gravely. "You did receive a letter in the mail today am I right?"

"Well yeah but... I wasn't planning on going." she replied a little guiltily. "I was just going to throw it away after school and not worry about it."

"Kathryn I'm sorry but when Lady Samhaine sent you that letter she intended to have you switch schools so you would be safe." he explained a little disappointed. "You will be going to Mirage Academy until the danger has passed and who knows? You might come to like the school and decide to stay throughout your remaining high school years."

"I left grandma for a reason Archie... " she replied uncomfortably. "I didn't want to be coddled by her and be so overprotected... I don't like living above people."

"That's just it. Lady Samhaine has agreed to let you live in the Mirage Academy dorm rooms free of charge." he explained and hurriedly continued when he saw her begin to argue. "Just like all the other students. You're not being given special treatment don't worry."

She went silent as they drove along, watching out the window as the town whizzed by and she got ever closer to the only family she had. After what seemed an eternity they came to a set of high cast iron gates painted black and twisted into ornate shapes and symbols as they swung open without a whisper and they drove through. As they passed the gates a long tunnel of trees curved overhead making it seem as if someone wanted the visitors to be surprised when they reached the end, which they were. Emerging from the tunnel of trees it was like coming into another world as huge green yards stretched out on either side of the car with bushes lining the gravel road that had small sky blue flowers blooming in their branches. Kat was in awe at the size of the school as they curved around a giant bubbling fountain with ornate sculptures of people and animals that seemed to dance together in the river of water. They came to a stop at the front door as Archie stopped and let her out before explaining things a bit further.

"I will have to part with you here I'm afraid, other business to attend to." he said to her confused expression as he handed her a handful of papers. "I'm afraid that I can't direct you to the admissions office so you'll just have to take these papers and map and find the way yourself."

"Alright... " she sighed a bit sadly before she hugged him tight. "I'll see you again soon right?"

"Of course Kathryn, you always do." he replied smiling as he hugged her back.

"Then until I see you again then." she said as she watched him get back into the car and drive away. She waved at him meekly before she glanced around nervously and took off to her left through a large courtyard as off in the distance she saw another fountain and a giant tree not far from it. Looking around she glanced at the map in her hand then checked the buildings wandering across the grass she came to a stop at the giant oak tree and walked around the trunk curiously. A suddenly wind made her turn as she saw something more than just a little bit confusing, there was the fountain which was a bit smaller than the one up front but a boy was sitting on top of the statues that adorned the blue waters. He was a handsome boy with dark shaggy hair and pale skin his cold, vibrant sapphire eyes dull with a far-off gaze as he rested his chin on his interwoven fingers as he leaned forward into the wind.

Kat quickly ducked behind the tree as she saw him and poked her head around to look at him as her long bangs fell across her eyes, brushing them back as she looked at him and saw the somewhat sad expression on his face. Making up her mind she walked around the tree and sat down pulling a sketchpad out of her satchel as she did and a pencil before she began to sketch the strange boy on top of the fountain. Suddenly she realized something was out of the ordinary but also normal on the boy she looked up again and tried to figure it out as her hand continued to dance across the page. She gazed closely so as not to miss it when she finally realized what was so strange about him, he had a pair of silky black cat ears flicked back so that they blended in with his hair. As she sat open-mouthed he had taken that second to let a long silky looking tail curl around his waist as he finally turned and acknowledged her looking as if she had just suddenly appeared from thin air.

She blinked and he was gone. Hearing the faintest of leaves whisper she whipped her sketchbook to the side before an outstretched hand could grasp it as she looked up into confused sapphire orbs that made her freeze. He dropped down in front of her crouching down to eye level as he studied her then did the most cat-like thing he could do and sniffed her head while his ears swiveled forward to listen.

"Who are you?" he asked curiously. "Humans aren't allowed here you know."

"Wh-what?" she stuttered in a shocked state.

"Humans. Aren't. Allowed. Here." he repeated pointedly.

"But um... " she stuttered again fumbling in her bag as he watched her wearily before thrusting the invitation letter into his face. "I was accepted here! My grandmother is the dean here."

"You're a Samhaine?" he asked incredulously as she nodded furiously and he scrutinized her closely. "You kinda do look like the old hag... "

"Um, old hag? You mean my grandmother? Angelina Samhaine?" she inquired blinking a few times as she did.

"Yep, she's the dean at this school." he replied standing and brushing imaginary dust off his pants. "So what are you doing hiding under a tree?"

"Just... sketching." she replied standing and handing him the sketchbook. He looked surprised when he saw a perfect reflection of himself put into paper and lead as he sat atop the fountain with his solemn expression as he stared off into oblivion without a care in the world.

"You're pretty good." he commented before handing it back to her.

"I'm kind of disappointed though... " she said a bit sadly as he gave her a confused look. "You've got such a serious face... "

"So what?" he asked indignantly.

"I thought you'd have a cuter expression with those cat ears on your head." she replied with a brilliant smile that caught the cat boy off guard. "So what's your name?"

"Lucien... Lucien Vadoma. I'm Romani." he replied with a small smile. "And you?"

"Kathryn Samhaine." she replied with a full blown smile flashing a small pentagram on her left wrist. "Wiccan."

"Seriously?" he asked as she nodded happily. "Where were you going before I caught your eye?"

She blushed and he stifled a laugh. "I was looking for the admissions office." she replied nervously as he took her map and pointed her towards one of the tall buildings and began walking away. Stopping she turned and called back to him. "Oh! Hey!"

He turned and looked at her expectantly. "People have probably already told you this but... " she called working up the courage before she lost her nerve. "You're the kind of model artists dream of."

He looked shocked at her words and for a moment Kat thought she had said something wrong but then it was her turn to be shocked when he was suddenly in front of her and Lucien's lips came down onto hers tenderly.