The sunlight shone through the large stone windows, it's beams waking Alfie. He shifted in his bed before sitting up. Everyone was still sleeping. He glanced over Renee. She was using the feather bed. It was a very peculiar bed, shaped like a shallow bathtub. It was filled with soft, fluffy feathers, which kept anyone who slept in it warm and cosy.
Renee tossed and turned a bit, sending feathers drifting over the edge of the bed and onto the floor. But before they could even touch the floor, they spiraled upward back into the bed. Alfie had once slept in that bed, to try it out. The pillow was fixed to the bed, just peeking out of the sea of feathers and located near the top. He didn't like it, he kept breathing in feathers and almost smothered himself. Mr Nekozawa had insisted that Renee should use it, for some bizarre reason. She seemed okay, as she showed no signs of discomfort. I guess some things suit certain people better. He thought, slightly annoyed that Renee wasn't the slightest bit uncomfortable.
Renee suddenly sat up. She looked at Alfie and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. Last night wasn't a dream then. She thought, as the last traces of dreams were banished from her mind. Alfie got off his bed and came over to see how she was.
"Morning Renee." Said Alfie, whilst trying to tame his shock of blond hair with a well-used hairbrush. Renee was seated on the edge of her feather filled bed. She still looked very tired. She stretched, just like a cat when it wakes up. She stretched her wings as well, and tidied up her feathers. So soft. She though, idly fingering a feather. She swung her legs over the edge of the bed and sat perched carefully on the side.
"Morning... Alfie. When's Breakfast?" She cast her eyes around the room and noticed there were more new faces. She opened her mouth to speak, but Alfie beat her to it.
"Hey, Renee," Said Alfie conversationally, appearing not to have heard her question, "are you going to change your clothes back to normal? They're magical. Most things here are magical anyway. Just think about how you want them to be." Renee's arm warmers had merged with her top, which had extended over her midriff and merged with her shorts. The front was festooned with large black buttons and the sleeves of her top were laced up with ribbons.
"I'll try. But before I do that, who's that?" Renee pointed to a boy with short blue hair.
"Osami. Ice Wizard."
"Okay, what about that person?" She said indicating to a girl peacefully snoring away. She had light pink hair and was halfway to falling of her bed.
"That's Mizuki. She's a vampire. Like those twins we saw yesterday."
"She's a nice vamp isn't she?" Asked Renee cautiously eyeing Mizuki.
"Yeah. The Freak Academy takes in all those with darkness in their blood. The Nekozawa Academy does the opposite."
Renee looked thoughtful for a moment. Then why did they come after me? She thought.
As if Alfie could read her mind, he said, " Sometime it's an even mix in people. Like you. Which reminds me." He pulled out a slim purple collar with a bell. "Mr Nekozawa said to give this to you. You gotta wear it in case something provokes your dark side and cause you to awaken your dark powers."
Renee glared at him, as if saying "What makes you think I'm gonna wear that? "
"It doesn't mean we own you or anything!" Alfie hastily added, shrinking back under Renee's killer glare. She grabbed the collar from him, but instead of putting it around her neck, she put it around her tail. Alfie opened his mouth to talk, but Renee silenced him with her glare.
"Can I use a shower? If there's one around here, I mean." Renee felt like she hadn't washed for months.
"The bathroom's over there." Alfie replied pointing his hairbrush at a door Renee hadn't seen the night before.
“Thank you.” Renee muttered, jumping of her bed and walking to the bathroom.
