Addermire Institute (Semi-Advanced) discussion

Annie was sitting down onnthe beach with her eyes shut tight. She missed home more than anything, and the coast didn't help at all. The gnats swirled around in the muggy summer air and she could hear every single one whispering to each other. They were hungry, horny, bored; it was no different than being in high school. She sighed softly and opened her eyes, looking up at the dark night sky. The stars were out. Scorpius and Sagittarius were towards the south, and mars should have been somewhere too. Annie was very rarely this calm. She should go there more.

<< i'm assuming they havent met yet >>

Elio liked to think he was more mature than most of the pack. Even if he dabbled in pranking and occasionally did some really fucked up shit, he still took time to contemplate, to think. He didn't leave the school grounds often and when he did it was alone. He knew that if he'd been with anyone else, he'd have been tempted to do something stupid to make them laugh. Especially if he were with Antoni. Usually the bayside was empty on Sunday mornings. Most people in Syracuse were getting over raging hangovers considering the vast majority of them spent a lot of time partying during the warmer months. He was surprised however, to see someone a few feet away as he approached.

She hadnt slept all night, of course, that was something her and most of the other kids at Addermire had in common. Annie wasnt a partier, though. Drugs and alcohol made her incredibly uncomfortable; it was so easy for people to take advantage of others when mind altering substances were involved. She wouldn't be caught dead putting herself in a situation like that. A small crab scuttled over her bare foot, snapping her back from her own thoughts. With almost lighning like reflexes she reached out and grabbed it. She had done it a lot as a kid. Back in the Philipines she'd go out and catch crabs with her mother for fun. This was different. She went to crush it in her fist, but realized that someone was there with her. A boy, actually. She narrowed her eyes and let the tiny crab dig back into the sand around four feet away. "Hello."

Elio couldn't help but jump at her movement, stopping a good five feet away on the trail and turning to her. Well, he supposed he might as well be cordial. He was social enough. He stared down at the crab, "uh... Hi. Do you go to Addermire?" he asked, tilting his head curiously.

Annie had seen him around before- he was one of the rambunctious wolf children. She was surprised to see him alone. For the most part, the pack was almosr always around each other. This one in particular; he was always around the stupid one. "I do. You do too; unless I've mistook your face for someone else's." She didn't trust him, but she definitely found him intriguing. Pack dynamics were part of their blood, and she found that one of the most interesting thingd about the wolves. She nearly wanted to get close to him simply to see how he worked.

He reached up to rub the back of his neck awkwardly, letting out a sheepish chuckle and nodding, "Yeah you've... probably seen me with a bunch of other assholes doin... stupid shit." he took the conversation as an invitation to sit a few feet away from her on his knees, staring out at the ocean and tilting his head, "I haven't seen you though, and I've ... seen a lot of people. Don't talk much?" he asked.

"You could say that." Her voice itself was quiet, but dont confuse that with sheepishness. Despite her age and stature she nearly radiated confidence. He was talking to someone who was smart and knew it, that much was obvious. She took a mental note of his awkwardness. At least he seemed to regret the dumb shit he had pulled; that was something not very common among the fuckboys of the school. Annie looked at him almost as if he was a butterfly pinned down in a glass case. Her look wasn't cruel, necessarily, just curious. "I spend most of my time either in my dorm or in the gardens. I don't get out very much."

Elio nodded and skipped a rock of the surface of the water, watching the ripples closely. He didn't quite notice her gaze, he was a little oblivious to other people. Not necessarily to an inconsiderate degree, but enough to not really take too much personally. "I was like that my first few years, before I joined the pack. But I mean, I guess I am kind of a dog, dumb shit's in my nature. Throw a stick and I'll prolly run after it" he chuckled as he made fun of himself, glancing at her again before holding his hand out in greeting, "Elio, that's my name by the way."

Annie stared down at his hand for a few moments. She was honestly debating shaking it; although he had nothing against her, she couldnt help but not trust him. That unnecessary mistrust was simply part of her DNA. She did take it eventually, though, giving him a good shake. "I'm Annabelle, but you can not call me that. Call me Annie." There was another awkward pause. She didn't know how to make friends- wait, was this what she was doing? Making a friend? No, this was simply scientific interest. "It's nice to meet you...?" The simple comment was one of the few things she was unsure about. How odd.

Elio raised his brows quizzically at her comment and the tone she'd taken. He chuckled though, figuring maybe she just didn't have a lot of experience with people. Had to start somewhere he supposed. He nodded, "Yeah, same. Do you not like your full name?" he asked curiously, taking another rock to skip it across the water.

She shook her head, turning her gaze to the rocks he was throwing over the still water. It wasn't the same here as it was back home. "Because names have meaning. I haven't known you long enough to feel comfortable with you calling me that. You know, in some cultures they say giving people your full and true name opens you up to curses. If they have your full name, the witch can kill you with a simple spell." There was some truth to this, even if it was more complicated. She'd watched her mother preform spells of that sort all the time. She knew she could do the same. "So the reason you may not call me Annabelle is because I have not decided whether or not I trust you yet."

Elio's eyes widened faintly as he listened to her, "Shit that's pretty dark doll, nah I don't... put curses on people" he chuckled again, this time genuinely. "Are you always this skeptical of people?" he asked, beginning to trace little shapes into the sand - specifically little hearts, which was ridiculously indicative of his mental state.

"You can't call me doll either. And I am aware that you dont put curses on people, you stink of mutt. You never know who is able to ruin your life." At the next question, she shifted a bit uncomfortably. She picked up her one stone to skip over the water as she thought about how to answer it. "Im the perfect amount of skeptical, thank you very much. It is better to be safe than sorry."

"wuff" he replied with a shrug, "Yeah" he sniffed himself, "I guess I do. Anyways, I feel like you lose certain aspects of the whole living thing if all you focus on is surviving. Ya know what I mean?" he replied. He used to think that way too. He used to think that everyone was out to get him, that no one was to be trusted. Probably because of all the foster family hopping. Soon enough it'd come to a point where he wasn't even giving people the opportunity to prove him wrong.

"I do not need your preaching. I am well aware of all the possible concerns." She didn't snap at him, it was simply a firm statement that rang true to at least her own ears. She honestly probably did need his preaching; she was far too young to be that damn cynical. "It's bold of you to think that I am not living my best life, even if it is in somewhat solitude." If he knew what she could do, he'd probably be skeptical of her. Ah, irony.

Elio stared at her, though his gaze was soft. He didn't seem to be taking her comments harshly at least. He shook his head, "None of us are livin our "best lives." Cause then we'd have nothin to strive for. I'm happy but I could be happier" his gaze lingered over the little hearts and he frowned faintly, "Could be a lot happier" he mumbled before shaking his head, "But you know that's the problem, you think you know, but you don't. You don't know at all, you wish you did, cause then it'd be easier - livin. It'd be great if we knew but we just don't and that's okay. It's okay not to know, I think that's the whole point of school - learning that shit you don't know." he rambled a bit and chuckled at himself. Though he felt a bit of pity stir within him. Something bad had to have happened to get her to this point, and she looked fairly young too.

This white boy was weird. Whether it was in a good or bad way, Annie didnt know. She looked down at the hearts and back up to his sad expression before looking back over the water. "You're a romantic, I should have known when you walked up to me." It was definitely a sharp comment. She didn't like romantics. They were often too muddled up with emotions to think straight. "How old are you?"

Elio shrugged and nodded, "yeah, I guess I am a romantic." he replied, staring out at the water again, "Eighteen. And you say that like it's a bad thing. It can be pretty shitty sometimes but there's nothin wrong with it." he explained. He was great at rambling, though he never really understood his own words, he just let them happen, thought about them later.

"That is exactly what I imagine a romantic would say to any sort of criticism. Romance muddles with your mind, Elio." As was the case with everything else she said, her words were very matter of fact. She was almost surprised that she hadnt found an excuse to get up and walk away yet. "And dont treat me like Im a child. Just because youre legally an adult doesn't mean that you are so much older than I am. We'd both be in high school if we went to a normal school."

He raised his brows at her comments, shaking his hand, "I wasn't" he said simply with a rather casual shrug. "And I guess if you think so sure. But a compulsive need to push away all emotions stems from an excessive desire to control every aspect of your life, these are just textbook symptoms of an unhealthy lifestyle." he retorted. He was fascinated by psychology, he'd been studying it for years - he intended on becoming a psychology professor here at Addermire in fact.

Annie sent him a harsh glare, but to be completely honest she was impressed. "Control isn't the only layer to it, but nice try." Elio had definitely gained some of her respect, and it showed in the way her eyes seemed to shine with increased interest. "In some cases emotions mess with one's magic, and mine is the sort that you don't want to let get out of control. Im sure youre well aware of how emotions can affect abilities, being a werewolf and all."

Elio laughed at that, genuinely, he even snorted once or twice, "Yeah- yeah no I'm completely aware of... wowie" he shook his head, "But you can't really blame people for bein emotional, it's in our nature, mine especially. Wolves are just... passionate. Or maybe I'm just passionate. But yeah I guess emotions fuck with magic, I've never fucked with magic though. What kind of magic do you use?" he asked.

Annie had no clue why he was laughing, and it almost made her want to shrink into herself more. She ignored that part, though, and was very very excited to show him what she could do. "You're not squeamish, are you, Elio?"

He thought for a moment and though he certainly was a little squeamish from time to time he supposed it didn't matter. Yolo. "Not really no" he replied, watching her expectantly.

She broke out into a giant grin, that sparkle coming back to her dark eyes. She immediately scanned the sand for a crab hole, and within seconds after spotting one she had a tiny little crab in her hand. The girl was quick, you could give her that. Reaching into a small hidden pocket on the inside of her coat, she pulled a vial with a single shiny black beetle inside. She opened it with her teeth, and the secons the beetle crawled out and hit her palm she squashed it with a lightning quick movement. There was a tense moment of silence. Then, something odd happened. The small crab began to convulse violently; sharp, unnatural movements overtook it's small frame. The smile was almost grotesque now and it's shell cracked open. A black beetle, exactly the same as the one she had smashed came crawling out of it like a cocoon. And then hundreds more crawled out, over her hand and arm and dropping to the sand below. "This is what I can do."

Elio's eyes widened as he watched the whole debacle go down. He blinked a few times, still trying to comprehend what he'd just seen. "That... was fuckin creepy but.." he thought for a moment and considered it once more in his head, "Cool yeah. You're a pretty cool chick, hella dark but I dig it" he half smiled, still a little wary though.

Annie giggled at his face. That must have been the first real age appropriate reaction he had gotten out of her so far, and it was for something as weird and terrifying as this. "There's no need to be creeped out. They arent real bugs. They're more.... spirits, I suppose." At the compliment, her smile faded and she cleared her throat with red cheeks. She wasnt complimented often, especially once people saw her powers. Normally they were just terrified. She didn't know if she was even more suspicious or flattered. "Uh, back to what I was saying, they were called here from... god knows where, if Im being completely honest. Im trying my best to figure it out, though. If I am able to give them feed, they come."

He seemed genuinely interested, tilting his head and leaning forward to inspect the dead crab, "Can you make em do other stuff? Like bring you a pepsi?" he chuckled faintly and picked up a stick, poking at the carcass, "and uh... I think it's supposed to all come from one place, magic I mean. Cause I took a course in my second year about necromancy and the professor told us about this ancient place we can't tangibly see, and it apparently goes by a bunch of different names but it's a big ass source of power" he explained.

"No, they cannot 'bring me a pepsi'," she said with mild irritation. "They eat people and things from the inside out, and when they are done I simply send them back." She snapped, and the beetles that had been crawling all over her arm disappeared into thin air. Annie sat down beside him, listening to him talk. "That makes sense, I suppose, but it's still worth experimenting with."

Elio went quiet for a few moments in deep thought, staring down at the dead thing and furrowing his brows, "... Do you think you could open up some kind of door to that place and like... do more of this stuff but on a bigger scale?" he suddenly asked. He knew the implications of that really, he knew that she didn't seem to be the most... morally correct person he'd met, but it was still an interesting thought.

"Im, uh, not sure that that is exactly in my job description." She shifted awkwardly. Annie absolutely despised speaking of the limits of her powers. She wanted to be all powerful, to reach godhood, but some things witches of her division just couldnt do. Could she plague entire cities with locusts? Probably, if she tried really hard. Could she destroy a year's worth of crop? Absolutely! Could she open a portal? Probably not. "It's, uh, not my thing, either. The spirit work is the root of what I do, yes, but it's more sickness and death centric than jumping through planes."

He shook himself from his reverie and within a moment he was back to that laid back, awkward teen, chuckling and shaking his head, "Yeah it's whatever. But it's cool magic. I'm not really sure I could ever do that kinda stuff - wolves aren't really known wizards. Prolly cause we're all a bunch of dumbasses. Except Abner, Abner can do calculus"

Annie tried to hide a laugh by covering her mouth with a hand, but it was obvious in the way her eyes crinkled at the edges and her shoulders shook just a tiny bit. This boy really was a charmer, wasnt he? A part of her knew that's what made him dangerous, but she almost felt at ease. He gave off a big brother energy that she really appreciated. "He sounds like a character."

"Oh he is, he's really cool" Elio nodded and pulled his knees to his chest, "But he has a whole bunch of internalized homophobia, I think that's a running motif in our pack actually." he admitted. Sometimes he felt like he was the only member of this pack that actually analyzed this pack. "Can you do calculus?" He suddenly asked.

Ah, yes, the pack of hyper masculine douche bags who ran around the school acting like idiots and not caring. You can guess her view of them, which even extended to Coach Hale. She took a mental note of the internalized homophobia comment to put in her 'how to possibly destroy people who cross me' bank. You know, the somewhat evil witch version of the spank bank. "Elio. I literally turned 14 like 6 months ago. No, I cannot do calculus."

"Psh" he stuck his tongue out childishly and grinned, "Yeah me neither" he admitted, shaking his head. Maybe that was more surprising to hear considering his age... "Jeez, you're pretty young though. You look... pretty mature. Puberty must've hit you like a freight train" he commented. Though there was a certain innocence in his tone, playful. He never really meant any harm.

"I killed the last person told me something very similar to that." It was incredibly difficult to tell if she was joking. I mean, she had a straight face, but she wouldn't just confess to murder...... right? She tried to dress herself in ways that kept people from even noticing that she was there, much less make them think that stupid shit about her. She pulled the sleeves of her sweater over her hands before looking back down at the sand. "Do you comment on how mature children are to their faces often, or is that a group affair?" This held a little more of a joking tone, at least, that's what it seemed like. She was mostly just giving him a hard time.

He paused, staring at her with wide eyes and opening to speak but she'd spoken before him and he found himself holding back a laugh. Oh. It seemed she'd gotten the wrong idea. "Hun I'm... You're not my type I... Didn't mean that in a - you know. I like guys" he said quite bluntly, shrugging, "And no not usually, it's not bad to look mature though, people take you more seriously, you can use it your advantage I guess" he considered the thought. A lot of people thought he was younger than he actually was. He wished he had that whole sharp jaw and manly stubble like Derek or Abner but he was pretty effeminate.

"Being gay does not mean that you are incapable of making inappropriate comments without people's consent." She didn't think that he was hitting on her, Annie knew very well what that sounded like. Old men seemed to like her very much when they were in the safety of their own vehicles and she couldn't get a good look at their face. Men were pigs. "You know, you're lucky I like you, Elio. I don't like very many people."

Elio didn't feel like he was lucky. In fact if anything that felt like a threat somehow, and she hadn't even sound malicious. Well, okay, she hadn't sounded more malicious then she usually did. "You... have a point." he nodded slowly, thinking for a moment, "Though how is it an inappropriate comment?" he challenged, tilting his head and skipping a rock, stopping when he noticed an odd tremor in the ground. "Uh" he felt as though he were suddenly on high alert, his senses were flipping the fuck out. There was some kind of disturbance.

Annie felt fear in the pit of her stomach. Growing up on the islands gave her a healthy fear of earthquakes, especially when they were so out of place like that one was. It didnt feel.... natural. She'd lived through them before, and that definitely wasnt a normal one. She stood up quickly, looking out over the water. "We should leave before the waves come."

Elio shook his head and gazed up at her, "No that wasn't an earthquake - I know what earthquakes feel like, that wasn't an earthquake" he repeated, hair standing up on the back of his neck as his eyes began to glow faintly, "But yeah maybe... maybe we shouldn't be here right now" he murmured.

The bugs around them were all whisering of an upcoming war. The whispers turned to normal buzz, which turned then to screams. She placed her hands over her ears, cringing. It was absolutely awful for her, it sounded like nails on a chalkboard. "QUIET!" She screamed, pointing to a nearby swarm of gnats. They all froze in place for a brief moment before fallimg to the ground, silent. She took a few seconds to breathe before continuing. "I know it wasn't an earthquake. Any sort of tremor will lead to large waves." She reached into that hidden pocket to pull out a vial with a large dragonfly. If need be, she wouldn't be afraid to either kill someone or disappear. "If you see anyone, tell me. I am sure your senses are much better than mine."

Elio scrambled to his feet, considerably taller than her. He sniffed quietly, an odd musk in the air making him cringe. Something was definitely off. The sky darkened faintly and continued to do so - even though it had to be mid morning. He had to check on Antoni. Or at least tell him something was off. Though he was sure Antoni already knew. "who cares about the waves - that wasn't an earthquake so what the fuck was it?" he replied, eyes widening. He didn't run down the bayside towards the stairs - he walked. He felt like running was an incredibly bad idea and he wasn't sure why.

<< bip? >>

Annie had to fight the urge to grab him and yank him towards the stairs faster. Sure, the mainland boy wasn't scared of a bunch of waves for now. When a sneak wave got him from behind, then he'd be sorry! "I don't know," she said with a bit of reluctance. Saying that she didnt know something was a big move for her. "But the gnats are going absolutely insane. They're chatty, yes, but they don't screech like they are."

Elio stopped midstep, grabbing her hand suddenly and blinking a few times, "Shh" he whispered, listening closely and glancing back as something dark began manifesting along the bay. He couldn't quite make it out. But it smelled... rancid. Unsettling, a chill went down his spine and he felt every red alarm in his body go off, as if his whole being were a tornado signal, "We should run" he said sternly, "We should run like right now we should go" he turned towards the steps, bolting with her hand still in his.

The second the darkness started materializing the screaming stopped. It was unsettling to have the insects be silent without her telling them to be. This, whatever it was, felt deeply... Wrong. Evil, definitely. Intriguing as well. Annie was enchanted by it. She stopped in her tracks as if she was in a trance. This thing felt powerful; far more powerful than she could even comprehend. She had to know what it was and what it was doing there. She let her hand slip out of Elio's grip and fall to her side. She itched to get out of there, to pull out the worms and run, but her morbid curiosity was getting the better of her.