Matthew was confused when the girl asked how old he was. He thought it to be a strange question. He decided to answer it because he thought it might be rude if he didn't.

"I'm eighteen," he said. "Why do you ask?"

"Just out of curiosity is all." She kept her gaze forward as she stepped over the root of one tree and they esscaped the forest. The wind blew her hair in her face and just as it did so she pushed it away. "Do you think you'll enjoy the school?" She asked innocently.

"I don't know," Matthew admitted.

He was actually quite frightened at the idea of having to get new friends. he missed his old friends but he knew that he couldn't talk to them. He paused slightly as he glanced to his right and noticed a girl walking towards the building. He didn't take any interest though and went back to the conversation at hand.

"I guess I'm just worried that I'll have a hard time making friends. I had to leave a lot behind," he admitted. "It scares me in a way, I guess."

Roxanne was walking still when she noticed two people come out of the forest. Her hair wipped across her face for a moment, temporarily blinding her. she brushed it away and readjusted the head phones she had around her neck so they wrapped around her hair and held it down. She glanced at them again but then shook her head, deciding not to approach them.

"Just keep your eyes open," she said with a slight laugh. "And once you make friends, don't let them out of your sight." She hoped he would take her a little seriously with her last words, she wasn't joking about that part. "Things can happen in a split second, so be cautious-and never let your guard down if you don't trust somebody at the start. Never." Her eyes had flashed to the girl as well and she growled a little, disappointed that yet again it was no one she would be interested in.

Matthew nodded, understanding that it was important to keep your friends in sight. He had a friend who stole his girlfriend once but that was two years ago and he had already forgotten about it. "I'll be sure to be cautious," he said. He heard her growl and became slightly confused. "Why did you growl?" he asked.

Roxanne had looked back at the two when she heard a faint growl. She was a bit frightened now so she started humming to herself trying to get her nerves calmed. It wasn't working so she started singing. "Somewhere over the rainbow skies are blue..." she sang.

She sighed and growled only slightly when she replied, "It's a habit I haven't been able to kick." She didn't look at him when she said this, but instead moved a bit quicker towards the school. The faster they got there, the less questions that would be brought up.

Matthew felt a bit bad for asking the question and became silent almost immediately. He hated to give someone the wrong impression when he had barely just met them. He followed her though, listening to the singing of the girl and came to realize she was the other one that was changed.

Roxanne changed her mind about approaching them and did so. She noticed the quickness of the girl's pace and became reluctant. She paused and then continued after them wondering if she could catch up.

Ilya stopped when she felt the change of the boy's emotion and threw a sharp glance at the girl unintentionally. This sharp glance soon softened and a sigh escaped her lips as if she were too tired to carry on this charade.

Matthew halted when she stopped. He was confused now and didn't really understand what she was doing. He noticed how she looked at the girl and thought it to be a bit rude at first. Upon seeing her expression soften he thought to ask a question.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

Roxanne considered approaching them now but upon seeing the girl's look she paused. She continued though and once she had caught up to them she realized she didn't know what to say.

"Are you two from the academy?" she asked with a tinge of curiosity on her voice.

"Yes, I'm fine," Ilya said softly before the girl approached.

Ilya looked at the girl and responded in a gentle voice with a new smile. "I'm not, but he is. Are you heading to the academy any time soon? We'd love if you could join us." There was no sarcasm in her voice, and it was as kind and gentle as ever as she opened up a spot between her and the young man, who she realised she did not know the name of.

"Thank you very much," Roxanne said with a smile. She bowed slightly when she did that not really sure what was the most polite thing. She knew that she probably shouldn't sing now that she was in the company of others. She was always paranoid about her own voice. "My name is Roxanne."

Matthew smiled slightly when he heard the girl's acceptance of the new person. He paused slightly though when he realized he didn't know her name. "Oh, nice to meet you Roxanne. My name is Matthew," he said.

Ilya smiled, a new distraction. Not only that but now she knew the boy's name. "Now that you two know each other, perhaps we should get going? Surely you two should be back at the school before you get into too much trouble." Her smile only faded slightly as she spoke and began to walk forward again.

Matthew nodded slightly wondering exactly who this girl was. He paused for a moment and then started walking. "You didn't tell us your name," he reminded.

Roxanne was silent letting herself drift a bit behind the group. She had noticed something the other girl didn't notice about Matthew. he seemed to be slightly interested in the girl but only to the extent of wanting to get to know her a bit.

Ilya knew it would come eventually and with a soft sigh she spoke, "My name is Ilya." She did not hesitate once in her steps as she spoke this time, only because she knew that the question would have eventually come.

"That's a nice name," Matthew admitted not really paying attention to what he was saying. He didn't paused either but was admiring the scenery around them.

Roxanne stifled a giggle with a cough and then straightened up and looked down at her mp3 players wondering if she should use it or not.

Ilya smiled at his comment. "We're almost there," she said gently. "You two will be okay finding your way once you get to the building, yes?"

Matthew shifted slightly at her comment. "Yeah," he said in a bit of a sad tone knowing that she'd be going away. He sighed though and smiled knowing that he'd be able to learn something new at this place.

"Are you clueless?" Roxanne asked a bit too bluntly. "You know he wants to get to know you but he's to shy to say that out loud."

Ilya looked back at the girl and then shifted her eyes back to the front, "Yes, I am a little distracted, so I apologize for that. It's just best if you two stay in the school, for tonight anyway. I won't leave, but I won't stick around too closely either. I wouldn't be able to stand it if I got any closer to the school. Too many of us in one place for me to be able to stand. I'll stick by as close as I can for about a week before I must disappear, but I'll be back afterwards. If I'm lucky and I find what I'm searching for, I may decide to join the school." Ilya wasn't sure if she liked the idea, but with her personal anniversary coming up the vendetta was harder to forget.

She smiled even though she was a little sad he wouldn't come with her and answered "Yeah, I mean how do you kill the dead anyway?" She was joking because she knew everyone knew how to kill them very easily. She walked back outside where she'd heard a conversation for a while now and found a group in the forest. She came out of the shadows in front of them silently, but smiled at them sweetly. "If any of you are from the school, you'd better get back before you get caught. I've gotten caught before and it's not the best impression on the school. Trust me." She kept her smile through her unpleasant memory of having to walk through the sunlight half the day as a punishment.

He smiled and waited there for a minuet "Your song is just as lovely as your face, which matches your voice." He called after her, but he didn't think she'd hear him.

Matthew nodded slightly listening to her every word, sincerely hoping that she would change her mind. He knew he wouldn't change her mind. He didn't understand why she had to go though and wanted to know. "All right," he said sounding quite sure of himself. "Be careful though," he said.

Roxanne let out a small gasp and then started running as fast as she could towards the building. She didn't like being punished and most of all she didn't like being hurt. She stumbled slightly, falling over a few times.

Ilya stopped and looked to Matthew with a blank face, a little startled by what he said. She hadn't had anyone say something like that to her since..well, for a long time. However her blank face soon changed and her gaze snapped towards the girl, Roxanne. "Maybe you should get going too, Matthew. And you as well," she said to the new girl.

Matthew nodded slightly. "Just remember," he said. "Be careful and don't die." After he had spoken he turned and started back towards the building though at a much slower pace than Roxanne. He paused though and turned to glance back at Ilya.

Roxanne got to the door and got in without being noticed. She sat down on a couch near the window and watched for the others, sliding her head phones over her ears and turning the music on.

Ilya nodded her head before he left. She found it peculiar that the boy would take interest and care so much. She could only remember one person caring so much, but that was a while ago. She shook her head to remove these thoughts as she noticed that he'd paused. With a small hand gestured she motioned him to continue as she walked to a nearby tree to hide slightly with him still being able to see her.

Matthew continued forward still and entered the building quietly not knowing if he had been caught or not. He moved to the left walking over to an area where a window was. He looked out and saw Ilyia and smiled slightly, not sure if she could see him or not.

Roxanne relaxed a bit when the boy came in but she hadn't seen anyone else. She was a bit concerned for the girl who was still out there. She sighed slightly blinking.

Ilya waved, a sign that she saw him clearly. She knew that he could see her and was glad that he was safe.It was the other girl she was slightly worried about, and she hoped that she would get to the school soon; though she knew this girl could probably take care of herself. She crossed her arms and leaned against the tree; she would watch over the school today, and maybe venture closer.