1Two Faces, One Beast
Chapter One
By: Midnight Siren
*~/O.o.O\\~*
The quiet lands where the souls of the dead sleep peacefully, white barked trees once vibrant with emerald leaves now lay stripped bare and their branches rose high into the air like boney fingers clawing at the moon. A gentle swaying of tall grass whispering on the wind where a hill and house sat both in flames as the rippling tongues of crimson crawled down the side catching barren trees and chasing frightened animals from their homes. While a single house stood on the hill in flames collapsing in on itself as if the flames had drained its will to stand resolute through the nights and days black shingles falling sullenly, white walls stained black with smoke, windows shattering beneath the pressure of heat. Smoke rose high into the night sky cloaking a small figure in shadow while what looked like a demon hovered over him, the boy's eyes wide with shock staring out into nothing, high up in the sky as black wings slowly stretched around him protecting the small child from the smoke and fire a single blood red eye opening veridically to stare down at him.
The small boy looked up fearfully watching as the dark beast looming over him stared down with its single, vertical red eye with a slit pupil his coal black hair falling into his forest green eyes that glowed unnervingly answering his silent question that had been in his mind since the creature had first appeared in a voice of fire and brimstone and eternal suffering unknown to human ears.
Nevermore.
With a rush of wind the the shadows blew away in the form of feathers snuffing out the flames completely letting the house crumble without more flames to shatter it, embers burning quietly as the sound of sirens rang in the distance signaling the arrival of firetrucks and police cars. The small child continued to stand and stare at the sky with fearful eyes his blue silk pajama top stained with blood not his own while his own blood trickled steadily down his leg the voices of people shouting came to his ears as he put a hand to his face looking at the bloody fingers confusedly.
"Hey kid! Kid are you alright?" a male voice shouted fearfully as he blinked his eye experimentally flinching when it stung and blood made its way beneath the lid.
"Corbin... " he murmured throwing the policeman for a loop. "My name is Corbin."
"Can you tell me what happened?" he asked calmly as an ambulance pulled up skidding to a halt before people jumped from the doors and back with medical kits a couple descending upon him checking his eye before he pushed their hands away irritably.
"My father... hurt me... but... " he began watching the people's faces change to shock face blank as he felt a vast emptiness opening within him. "I think I stopped him."
They asked him about the rest of his family, his mother and sisters, but they were all dead as well none having survived the flames that had taken over the hillside. "Was there a fire here? What exactly happened?"
"The raven... he came and the fire started... and he told me... " Corbin began before the medics shushed him loading him up into the back of an ambulance suddenly worried about the blood slowly staining the gurney he laid on along with his heavily bleeding eye. The ride was long and boring with people fussing over him pushing his hair up and away, but throwing a fit when they tried to cut it away until they simply pinned it back to treat his eye carefully the lights from outside the vehicle casting different colors across the white sheets covering his lower half.
"Sweetie? I need to check your legs and backside okay? So we can take care of your wounds there too." a female doctor said gently before he mearly nodded without concern while she pulled a blood streaked leg up gasping at the hand shaped bruises and cuts up and down his legs and waist. He was unconcerned about her thoughts of his injuries, they were nothing compared to others he had received during his short eleven years from that accursed man who he had trusted so much, but never again.
Nevermore.
*~/O.o.O\\~*
Springtime took hold of the small suburban town quickly with warm sun and slightly chilly winds with teens wrapped up in winter uniforms still with scarves wrapped around their necks, the slightly cloudy sky bright blew behind white fluff. The four story school standing regally with pale marble, blacked out windows and a wrought iron fence all around the layout of the school covered acres of land with on and off campus dorms and multiple school buildings. The Academy of the Key Keeper's Kin was the state's most prestigious private academy accepting only the most brilliant and talented students from across the world.
"Hey Torin!" a boy with dirty blonde hair turned at the sound of his name shocked when his best friend jumped on his back playfully his dark chocolate colored hair falling into his blue eyes as they glittered with mischief. "The new transfer comes today! What do you think she's like?!"
"If it's a girl she better be cute!" Torin replied as they began to walk across the courtyard. "By the way Edmund how is the wife?"
"She's my sister Torin! She's not my wife, how many times do I have to say it?" Edmund growled punching his best friend in the shoulder good naturedly.
"You two fight like husband and wife sometimes! I wonder about my best friend and worry so much!" Torin exclaimed dramatically ducking when a rock flew at his head turning to see their three best female friends that they'd known since they were little. Eden was Edmund's twin sister with matching chocolate hair and blue eyes, but her fierce demeanor overshadowed her brother's cool, laid back personality being slightly controlling with her friends and family.
"Torin for the last time we do not bicker like a married couple!" she shouted wrapping an arm around his neck in a headlock screaming when a blur of shadow brushed against her hair as she flailed her arms flapping wildly to banish whatever had touched her.
Torin and Edmund started trying to calm her down the attacker only having been a stray black bird, but when they turned to affirm their suspicions they froze at the sight that welcomed them. The single almost bare tree on the side of the courtyard was a scraggly thing, with long white bony fingers for limbs, and an aura that seemed to repel anyone that came near it the sky taking the notion at just that moment to conjure a cloud to overshadow it and the person sitting on a bare white branch surrounded by crows. Their black eyes looking at the wary students curiously, twitching, fluttering their wings, turning their heads from side to side, and doing almost everything to make the students uncomfortable while the single teen sitting in the tree keeping his focus entirely on the birds around him. He was a slim teen with pale ivory skin, his petite form almost giving him an hourglass figure as his long sleeved black t-shirt flowed over his palms hugging his chest, a dipping v-neck and fanning out slightly down his arms with a sleek rolex watch on one wrist and tight black pants with chains hanging off the pockets and sweeping back to his belt loops. His shaggy black hair faded to navy blue and dangled at his neck and jaw his eyes shadowed as a crow wrapped its long smoky grey claws around his his loose fist as he held up his hand for it to land bringing it close to his face as it nibbled at his bangs lightly.
Torin stood in fascination as he watched a group of seniors suddenly run towards the tree yelling and screaming to chase off the birds some flying away while those closer to the boy seemed angry while the seniors started yelling at the teen asking him what he thought he was doing surrounded by black birds. The tightness that made itself known in his chest alerted him to what was happening next, his friends felt it as well, the uneasy, shifty crows that were scattered throughout the tree suddenly became ominous with the crows falling silent all staring straight at the pair that had destroyed their tranquility. As the two seniors began to look uncomfortable and back away the ebony haired teen suddenly jumped down to the concrete where the birds had moved out of his way and as he held out his arm a vicious looking raven came to rest on his forearm much larger than the other birds around him. All of the birds looked ready to pounce as the seniors suddenly took off the largest raven on his arm letting out a cackling call that spurred all the crows to suddenly rush forward after the two older teens screaming and yelling all the way. Everyone in earshot or view was silent as they watched the unfamiliar teen look down at a few remaining birds hopping around his feet before turning away and leaving walking up the school steps as if no one else mattered to him, as if no one else existed.
"Wow... that was scary... " Eden said watching after the strange teen fearfully hoping that his horde of crows wouldn't attack her next. "I wonder who that is... "
"Oh, my god! Eden! What was all that about?!" the voice belonged to Eden's best friend and the twins' cousin Avalon and she looked as freaked as the others did at the exchange between the mysterious teen and the seniors, staring after him she adopted a british accent. "I guess we know now not to irritate the birds... "
"Was that the new transfer student?" Edmund asked incredulously turning to his best friend desperately hoping that he was wrong.
"I think so Eddy, you're not going to get that pretty little wet dream fantasy of yours this time!" Eden laughed going back to her regular voice when she saw how desperate her brother looked with hope that he was wrong.
With a final wail of anguish the small group headed up the stairs after the ebony haired teen and into the waiting halls of the Academy with stark white and deep blue walls, banners alerting students to upcoming exams, students laughing and talking in the hallways. Their last friend Demetra finally appeared just before the bell rang her shoulder cut deep crimson hair flopping across her face and her faded green eyes, pale skin that made her the pinnacle of Irish tradition and bloodline pedigrees that were extremely rare this day and age.
"So have you guys heard about the new transfer student and his black bird army yet?" the words were the first thing out of her mouth when she appeared just before they walked into their class together. "Everyone's heard about it by now some people even had front row seats!"
"Yeah, like us! It was so scary Dem! One of them touched my hair and I was so scared and I never want to see another black bird even if my life depends on it!" she threw herself at her best friend frantically while Demetra could only try to console the frazzled teen.
"Well then you're gonna hate me and the school for the rest of your life when I tell you that he's going to be in our class and he's totally not as creepy as you'd think Eden." she replied warily waiting for her response or for her to lash out, sadly it seemed to be the latter when she suddenly jumped away and swatted at her arm.
"Why didn't you tell me sooner Dem?!" she exclaimed swatting at her again before Edmund stepped in to drag her into the classroom finally getting her to calm down when they realized that he wasn't inside, but were confused when he didn't come at the bell even though the teacher did.
"Good morning class! As I'm sure you've heard there is a new student today and I have heard all of the rumors and I can tell you that he is not some psycho bird manipulator!" their teacher Mrs. Lockhart, a woman with long strawberry blonde hair, a white dress shirt and black skirt with matching heels while her gold eyes quickly killed the rumors on their lips before they could fly any farther. "In fact I am sure to say that he is completely normal. You can come in now."
The door creaked open tentatively as the ebony haired teen from the courtyard walked inside looking just as solemn and out of place as he had outside his eyes hidden behind long jet black bangs that reminded one of the soft black feathers of a raven. At a closer look he wore a silver necklace, wrapped at least four times around his neck, that stood out a stark contrast to his ivory skin glittering like a beautiful gem against a matching, but paler background of silk before one's attention shot towards his neck where simple black ribbon with horizontal pin stripes wrapped around his slim throat tied into a drooping bow with forked ends. When he finally looked up the class's eyes all were glued to the unnatural, almost luminescent green eye on his left while thoughts soon escaped from his unnaturally colored eye to the one that was hidden behind a simple, square white eye patch tied around his head at the corners. His gaze was calm and level with the rest of the class betraying no emotions as his gaze swept across the room carefully memorizing the faces and taking mental inventory on who would cause problems or who would know well enough to leave him alone.
"This is Corbin Bergfalk, he came here from Sweden almost three months ago to study abroad and decided to study here. Corbin would you like to add anything? Maybe about your name?" Mrs. Lockhart asked sweetly getting a slightly bored glance in return.
"My name is French. It comes from the french word "corbeau" which means raven... and then my last name means 'mountain falcon' in Swedish." he replied the prominent, but understandable accent in his voice giving away his roots most of the girls swooned when he spoke, but he simply groaned quietly showing he had absolutely no interest.
"Oh, wow... he's not so scary up close... he's kind of hot... " Eden's whispers reached Torin's ears quickly as a stinging flash of jealousy ripped through his chest while Edmund gave him a pitying look before turning back to the front of the room having known about his best friend's crush on his sister for a few years. "I don't care how scary he is... I like him!"
"No way Eden! You called dibs on the last one!" Avalon whined quietly.
"Guys! Shut up!" Demetra hissed.
"Does anyone have any questions for Corbin?" Mrs. Lockhart coughed loudly afterwards getting the small group's attention pointing to one of the few boys that rose their hands.
"What's up with your eye dude?" he laughed. "You setting a fashion statement?"
Just before the teacher was going to reprimand him Corbin spoke his voice chilling. "I shot my mouth off and now I cannot see out of it. I do not see the point in flaunting a useless eye." his reply was short and sweet no unnecessary words or information.
Another hand shot up after a pressing silence, the hand belonged to Torin bound and determined to learn more about his now rival in love. "I have two questions actually. Why do you have a ribbon tied around your neck? And also what happened with those birds outside this morning?" his questions had been on everyone's minds since the incident that morning taking that moment to be distracted by something Eden was doing.
"The ribbon was given to me by someone precious and what happened with that incident... " Torin was shocked when he gave the teen half of his attention only to suddenly have Corbin's voice doubled by another more spine tingling one that tried to plant the suggestion in his mind like cold claws digging into his brain, physically feeling it press down on every bone in his body to the point where it was simply suffocating. Like someone was sitting on his chest and trying to strangle him... "Was nothing more than a simple misunderstanding... it meant nothing, you are all to forget about it."
Torin barely hung on long enough to force off the suggestion his breath coming in short, sharp gasps while his vicious gaze changed to confusion when he saw the shocked and slightly scared look before it hardened the furious emerald flames in his gaze making Torin wilt beneath it.
"Well then Corbin you can take the seat opposite Demetra, the girl with the red hair, raise your hand please." the crimson haired teen raised her hand timidly while he simply turned his withering gaze onto her making her hand inch down farther uncertainly before his gaze softened to that of disinterest striding forward to sit heavily in his chair.
Torin didn't need to turn to know that Corbin was trying to burn a hole in the back of his head and either he was actually burning a hole in his head or he was very good at twisting someone's mind into thinking he could do these things. Twisting back in his seat he faced front feeling the uncomfortable tightness on the back of his head where he knew Corbin's eye was resting giving him a smoldering glare that made him more than just uncomfortable and shivered when he could somehow feel that his good eye was sliding down his back critically. Roses bloomed on his cheeks when somehow knew that Corbin's gaze was lingering on his lower back making him wrap an arm protectively over his side feeling the throbbing shadow of pain crawl up his spine from his childhood. Finally turning, irritation ripped through his chest to see the look of disappointment on the ebony haired teen's face as if he was expecting a diamond only to find that it was a fake, slightly interested then ultimately let down. Scowling he made it a point to go later and ask Corbin about the looks that he was giving Torin making him uncomfortable yet annoyed that he didn't warrant the newcomer's attention.
Class continued with the occasional feeling of an eye upon him glowing gently like an emerald in matching flames, but the lingering thoughts in his mind were what about his other eye? Glancing back he saw the teen let his fingers skim across the soft fabric of the eye patch looking far off and sad, almost a longing look to his features as he stared down into the grains of his desk before his gaze turned angry making all the girls squeal happily. Demetra watched him carefully taking in all of his emotions wondering if he was going to talk to anyone before she realized that Torin was making a bee line for him realizing this she tried to stop him, but failed to stop the blonde teen from saying something rude.
"Why don't just say something to someone's face kid?" he snorted irritably. "If you've got something to say then say it! Don't just stare someone down like they're at fault."
Torin's irritation quickly flared to anger when Corbin simply looked up for a moment before returning his slightly vicious stare back to the window where it had rested for quite some time after he had finished glaring at his desk. "Hey! I'm talking to- " he was cut off when Corbin suddenly stood leveling his gaze with the blonde's studying him carefully.
"I merely thought you might be interesting, but I was wrong." he replied before walking out of the room silent once again. "And you might want to work a little harder on hiding your emotions, anyone can tell you are in love with the twin sister."
Watching as the blood drained from Torin's face he left for the roof quickly, vacating the room before the blonde teen could start yelling. As he had thought Torin was nothing more than a pretty face ready to steer you away from the underlying personality that seemed to be more stubborn and brazen not caring what people thought of his actions or comments to others. He seemed like someone that he could hate very easily yet he somehow felt like the blonde was going to be a very interesting addition to his life, but most likely an annoying one that he could push buttons all he wanted until the point came where he would finally snap and so would end his enjoyment.
"No fun... " Sighing he continued up the stairs of the west wing taking the stairs slowly and watching as few students walked past him and to his dismay most of the girls who he passed stopped and stared at his back for a long while until they finally continued on their journey. Finding the stairs to the roof was easy enough, not to mention picking the lock and then hiding in the most shaded and open part of the area leaving him to his musings and thinking about why he had been thrown into this school against his will.
Oh, yes... he remembered why.
He had been in Sweden with another foster family after almost four years of moving from one to the other some better than others, but he was still close to the one thing he could call home until he was suddenly told by his last foster parents that he was being sent to the states. Without given the chance to say goodbye to anyone he was thrust onto a plane to a country where the people spoke gibberish to his ears and was driven through it until he came to a tall pointlessly tall building with confusing words in large type. Confused out of his mind until the one person who actually spoke to him not in an alien language and accent explained where he was, at an adoption agency where he had been claimed given to a family with three kids already and told of his delicate situation. Corbin was not fucking delicate. That single thought was enough to make his blood boil.
Living in that house was torture enough because they suddenly knew of their new family member's large inheritance from his family after his grandmother died having disowned her son, Corbin's father, in favor of putting everything away and selling her mansion estate in Sweden to die in her sleep at a local hospital leaving everything for her only grandson. He was glad for his grandmother's unusual interest in her only grandson passing over the four sisters she could have doted on and dressed in frilly clothes and teach manners and dancing, but instead focused her entire life on taking care of Corbin just as his sisters and mother had. To them it seemed like he was the only thing in the world even going so far as to neglect themselves in favor of doting on him and he couldn't believe the number of times he had had a strangely recurring scrape with Death every couple of months while staying there. Once when someone accidentally dropped some shellfish into his stew for dinner and ended up making one of their own kids have an allergic reaction instead of himself since he had refused food from them for almost a week after that little incident. Then there was a sudden car crash that only happened when he was alone in the car and had gotten out after getting bored having had the sudden urge to talk to the group of smoking gothic teens around the corner of the gas station standing there calmly when his better adoptive parental came out of the store yelling and screaming.
The thing that was the worst was that it wasn't the woman that was doing it, but once again it was the man only after the money not caring if he hurt his own children in the process of getting at Corbin's unattainable wealth the one issue with that being that the ebony haired teen had free reign of it the moment he turned sixteen almost two years ago. He would be legal in this state soon as well and when the chance came to get out of the death trap he called a foster home he grabbed it and didn't let go acing the entrance exams easily and making his way to the school the only good thing coming from it was the woman he lived with teaching him english. Knowing the local language was the best thing that ever happened to him after all that happened in Sweden and then in his supposedly better home he didn't care about the surrogate family he had left behind on the other side of the US only giving thanks to the kind woman who helped him understand the people around him. Though some of the people's language escaped him still he was slowly learning on his own and he had always been fully aware that of the danger his existence gave him and the alienation that he brought upon himself with the way he acted, the way he dressed, his speech, his interests. He knew that even though his foster mother was kind to him that she had thought he was unnatural after hearing what had happened to him in Sweden what his father had done to him, the loss of his entire family, losing his grandmother after two years of staying with her subsequent to their deaths and leaving him with millions in american dollars.
Not caring that he was going to a school he didn't care for it was much better than staying with that family having a room to himself with roommates that wouldn't try to invade his privacy instead of one trying to kill him, sharing a room with twins, and having everyone invading his privacy. The one thing that putting his life in danger brought out was that he no longer trusted the middle aged male population of the world any longer having been betrayed by every single one he'd met in his life including ones he didn't know. A sudden crash of the iron door caught his attention as the previously quiet roof top was suddenly invaded by a group of six teens all cloaked in dark colors pulling out cigarettes and small tin cases full of different colored medications most likely not theirs. They glanced up at him sharply eyeing him as if they were debating on making sure he kept his mouth shut before he simply pulled his arms behind his head and laid back down in the ultimate i-don't-care pose and started dozing.
"You the guy everyone's talking about?" one called finally walking over to address him only to be ignored. "Hey kid!"
"Being sophomores I would suggest you stop calling me 'kid', friend. I am a junior and almost eighteen." he replied flatly pointedly ignoring the group after a short time seeing them as simply troubled, rebellious teens being over brooding and trying to seem worse than they really were.
"Sorry man." another scoffed. "Jeez."
"When you actually have a reason to act and dress as you do then try to talk to me like we are on the same level." the comment was met with the slamming of an iron door as they finally left him alone again dozing off.
Groaning, he covered his ears when the bell rang yanking himself up off the concrete and swearing when he realized he had ditched the last half of class and when he walked to glance into his second hour class that he didn't recognize anyone which told him he had also slept through that class as well. Swearing at himself he left the main building and started across the courtyard towards another building for his third hour only to be stopped mid-journey by a couple of football playing meatheads.
"Hello there!" one chirped as he stepped into Corbin's path making him grind to a reluctant halt. "You must be a new student here! Corbin am I right?"
"You see Corbin... " the other started rounding behind him to keep his escape blocked. "Around here you have to pay a special fee for... protection here you never know when someone might get the idea to cause some trouble, right? That watch should work nicely, how much was it?"
Corbin wasn't listening anymore as he had sidestepped the two teens paying them no mind as he continued on to his next class walking briskly away from them before both his forearms were gripped then yanked backwards painfully bringing horrible memories to the surface in his mind. Voices echoed in his head from half a decade before and made his body tense and blood run cold.
"Get back here you little shit!" his father's voice snarled in his ear when he tried to weasel away one morning his mother gone out with friends the night before leaving him and his sisters alone with their father. Corbin was only nine years old at the time he had wrenched back the ebony haired child's arms in the past just as they had been gripped in the present dragging him back against a hard chest making him whimper his lower half feeling as if he'd run a few marathons in a single day. He was exhausted and tired and only wanted to run to his sisters so they might provide some form of comfort in this hellish existence that he called a life wishing more than anything that he could leave that room and run to his sisters like the scared little boy he was.
The sudden rush of memories caused his body to react in the only way it knew how after all that had happened to him, to react violently and lash out at the foreign touch of a stranger grabbing his assaulter's arms and twisting around to bury his foot into the first teen's chest. His second annoyance was dumb enough to grab his shoulders setting off another shock of memories these blurred like the others instead of so vibrant like the last this time he grabbed the second meat head's arm twisting it painfully and yanking it backwards before slamming the heel of his palm into the joint. They both fell with heavy thuds whining and yelling about their sores one that was going to have a foot shaped bruise on his chest while the other's shoulder was dislocated he would definitely be paying hospital bills to fix them both and they would probably take all manners of unneeded tests just to try and get as much money out of him as possible. What he wasn't and hadn't already planned for was the principle suddenly appearing and causing a ruckus with another teacher about the two felled boys when they added to the noise by saying that Corbin had been unprovoked in attacking them the people around them too afraid to speak up on behalf of the ebony haired teen.
"You there! Explain yourself! What is your name young man?!" he principle yelled angrily his round face slowly turning red, he was a portly man with thinning grey brown hair, about six feet tall and was the perfect picture of a person born to become a principle.
"Corbin Bergfalk." he replied in a bored tone watching as the principle froze, his face going white when he realized who the ebony haired teen was while said teen noticed Torin and his group of friends following him stopping to watch events unfold.
"AH! Master Bergfalk! How are you?!" he exclaimed in a panic quickly becoming a kiss ass when he discovered who Corbin was. "I hadn't heard that you would be transferring into our fine school! Or should I say your family's fine school? How is your grandmother by the way, I haven't seen her in so long that it's amazing that she hasn't come over herself to yell at me!"
"My grandmother died three years ago and left everything to me and as to why I am here I had no desire to stay in that dump they called a foster home where my life was threatened periodically and things commenced without my comment or consent." he replied professionally not caring that people were watching from a distance all shocked when he crossed an arm over his stomach and bowed at the waist regally. "I will pay for both their hospital bills and I hope you will forgive me for skipping my second hour class, but I fell asleep between classes."
"Victor what is the meaning of this, you're the principle teach this rowdy brat a lesson!" the teacher suddenly exclaimed pointing at the bowing Corbin accusingly.
"Cecile! Calm down this is a very valuable benefactor! Master Bergfalk's family owns this school!" Victor, the principle exclaimed watching as the male teacher quickly shut up when Corbin straightened looking all the more intimidating with this new information.
"Actually... " everyone quickly turned their attention to the ebony haired teen most becoming unnerved at the growing number of black birds seeming to sense his presence and began to gather faithfully his tone serious before becoming unsure. "With the death of my grandmother my entire family is dead leaving me the owner of this and the three other schools in this country along with the four in Sweden so I believe that leaves me as chairman, but I am not exactly sure... "
"I am sorry to hear about what happened to your family Master Bergfalk and to now have a chairman of your intelligence and standing the school will most surely prosper even more than it has!" Victor continued on his stream of compliments causing Corbin's irritation to rise in a steady arch before he finally bowed again walking away and planning to continue on his way to his next class instead of wasting time with idiots. "Oh, yes! Wait! Master Bergfalk?!"
Stopping again he let the irritation show on his face. "What?" he snapped clearly done with human contact for the moment confused when the principle lifted a large box about the size of a briefcase and about a foot and a half tall.
"This came in the mail for you today, rush delivery from Sweden strangely there was a card... a playing card!" he replied happily as Corbin's face shifted from irritated to hopeful flipping his bangs across his eyes before holding out a hand beckoning the principle over asking him which card it was as the portly man wandered over happily. "The card was the ace of hearts... is that significant?"
"Yes... it is." he replied with the ghost of a smile dancing across his lips, Eden noticing the light wash of pink across his cheeks and the soft look in his forest green eye like smoldering emerald flames in a fire.
"Doesn't the ace of hearts mean Love? 'The communion between two souls, with a beauty that can never be forgotten or ignored.'" Avalon suddenly spouted making Corbin jump and quickly vacate the area. "Aw... does that mean Corbin's taken?"
"That... is none of your business." he replied simply, lifting the pure white box by the crisscross ribbons and walking away to his next class dutifully before remembering something. "Oh, and Sir if you're going to build a Swedish school in another country then you should at least have a class that teaches Swedish."
"I'll get right on that Master Bergfalk and do have a wonderful day." Victor replied formally before turning to reprimand the two teens who were still complaining and trying to lie their way out of scolding. After getting away from the adults and prying eyes he thought he would be free of the others for a short time, but it just so happened that Torin and his group decided to follow him and try to befriend him, keyword; TRY.
"Hey Corbin!" Avalon shouted only to shout again when he continued to walk briskly away glancing over his shoulder before putting a sudden burst of acrobatics and swung up into a nearby tree perching on one of the limbs like a bird while he gathered his things in his lap. "Hey! Come down here! We want to talk to you!"
Corbin simply sat down on the thick branch turning so he could lean against the trunk settling the box in his lap and pulling the blood red and gold pin striped ribbon away from the box opening it to find a small treasure trove of Swedish delicacies and knew that there were more treats beneath the fragile cakes on top. His mouth watered at the sight of small Swedish Princess Cakes in separate plastic containers with Swedish in colored icing, semla, almond giffels, cardamom buns, cinnamon and strawberry buns, a large tin full of cookies by the sound of it, rose kisses in a clear plastic box. The smorgasbord of baked goods caused him to jump down from the tree and sit on the stone wall beside it lifting out the top box and looking at the content of the bottom half of the box finding some of the most hilarious things that he could ever receive. In the bottom of the package he found it cushioned with tissue paper, a medium sized dark green bottle of sparkling cider with a black silk shroud tied at the neck, a pair of crystal wine glasses with a band of ornately molded and cut silver around the cup and a matching silver base. He lifted it out of the box carefully pulling it up to the sunlight so it glittered.
"Oh, wow... " Eden breathed as they all watched him inspect the glass with a gentle chuckle.
"Trying to get me drunk again... " he chuckled replacing the glass into its place before slipping the framed photograph from underneath the cider and glasses almost cracking up when he saw the picture.
"What's so funny?" Eden asked curiously before noticing the treats in the box beside him. "Ooh! What are these?!"
Corbin's hand slammed down on the lid of the box before she could sneak a peek inside and steal anything. "Confections from Sweden made by a friend of mine." he replied vaguely.
"Your girlfriend?" Edmund sneered.
"Sort of... " he replied with a sly grin before Edmund and Torin began laughing like a couple of hyenas tears streaming down their faces while Avalon and the girls blushed at his expression.
"You're hilarious!" Edmund gasped.
"Should you not be getting to class?" Corbin asked with a grin.
"Nah, we're some of the highest ranked students in the school so we don't have to worry about going to class. Whatever you miss in classes you can make up online!" Eden explained easily.
"But there is a minimum of days that are mandatory for classes, but you can do most of your work for the school year online." Edmund added as his twin wrapped her arms around his neck.
"We usually take days before and after long breaks and then scatter the rest of them across the calender." Avalon explained hopping up onto the stone wall beside the ebony haired teen. "My name is Avalon! So Master Bergfalk, what's it like coming to America after living your whole life in Sweden?"
*~/O.o.O\\~*
That be the end till next time! ^_^