Okay guys, welcome to "Mystery of Thanatos." The title might change, but anyway... I hope you like it!

"Come over here, Carly," Mom beckoned from the kitchen. "Your school acceptance letter arrived."

I dashed into our cozy kitchen from my room upstairs, sliding across the floor with my super fuzzy socks. The "most excellent school that Britain ever saw," as mom described it, had let me into their program at last. I snatched up the letter and read:

Dear Miss Carlotta Clarke,

Congratulations on your acceptance to Somerville Academy. We have enclosed a ticket on the school's private express train for February 23, 2011. Please arrive at the station and proceed to platform five. The train leaves at precisely nine o'clock. Your trunks should be with you, and a bus will take you from the train, to your house. You will have seven other house members, a teacher, and a house mother living with you during your time here. You will be staying in the House of Thanatos, with seven other first years, like yourself. We look forward to seeing you.

Regards, Somerville Academy

"The letter should have arrived ages ago. Today is the day I'm supposed to leave!" I cried out, exasperated.

"Don't be a drama queen, sweetie. A friend once told me that it causes wrinkles," Dad said while walking in.

"Jerome," Mom smiled, and playfully smacked his arm. "You're going to be the death of me."

I mentally shuddered, as Mom and Dad started to be all lovey-dovey. I took this time to examine the envelope. I pulled out a thin, paper ticket for the Somerville Express, and also a piece of scrap paper that had said (in scrawly print, I might add):

Behold, o strange child,

A dilemma is upon you.

I didn't know what to think of the scrap paper… so I simply took the entire letter with me. Dilemmas were never good.

"I'm going to bring my backpack down. I'll be down in a minute," I lied through my angelic smile.

Mom turned, smiled and nodded. I raced back upstairs into my safe haven and sat on my simple bed, examining the scrap paper. It was written on some torn computer paper, in a thick, red magic marker.

I shook it off. It wasn't important, I thought. I simply tucked it into uniform jacket, along with the letter. I swung my purple bag over my shoulder and headed out the door into the hallway, when I heard voices.

"Nina said it was Anubis…" Dad said worriedly. "They just renamed it."

"So?" asked Mom.

"I just have a bad feeling. That's all," he replied.

"Don't worry, sweetie. All the drama is over. Trust me," Mom said soothingly.

I didn't hear anything after that; it was time to make my move.

Dad ran up the stairs, ruffled my hair, and went into my room to get the trunk.

"Let's go, sweetheart," He said, carrying my trunk with ease.

:.:.:

I boarded the train after some goodbyes from Mom and Dad (surprisingly, no tears). I sat to the first open compartment I could find. The compartments were made of metal with worn, brown leather seats. After getting situated with my nook, a girl opened the door and in the seat across from me. She realized what she had done and asked, "Is this seat taken?"

I shook my head, analyzing her. She had wonderful blue/green eyes with gold flecks scattered around her irises. She seemed to be about my height. The mystery girl had slightly tanned skin and long brown hair that curled down her back. She tugged the bottom of her uniform jacket anxiously. "I'm Alianne, what's your name?" she asked.

"Carlotta. Call me Carly, if you want," I replied, shutting off my nook. I stuck my hand out to her. "Nice to meet you."

"Likewise," Alianne replied. "What house are you staying at?"

At that moment, the train took off. The low hum of students scurrying around filled the air.

"I don't know… let me check," I told her. I fished out the letter from my jacket pocket. The scrap paper accidently fell out, with the red marker's handiwork facing upward.

"What's that?" Alianne asked, curiously. "Behold, o strange child, a dilemma is upon you. What?" She eyed the paper until I snatched it and shoved it down my pocket.

"Nothing… just a little joke I have with my brother. He probably wanted me to call," I lied, through my teeth.

"Oh. Okay," Alianne smiled. "So what house?"

"Thanatos. What about you?" I replied.

"Me too!" She said, relieved. "At least I'll know someone."

"But you barely know me," I reasoned.

"True… okay then. Let's play Truth-or-Truth," she said.

I gave her a quizzical look. "Don't you mean Truth-or-Dare?"

"No… for this game, you just ask questions with a yes, no, or number answer."

"Oh. Shouldn't we get some more people?" I asked.

"I guess so. I'll find a few more," Alianne smiled once more, and went out of our compartment.

I sighed, and put my purple bag aside so the compartment would have room for more. I thought we could fit 4 comfortably: two on each seat.

As my mind wandered, a boy with shaggy, black hair and hazel eyes had passed by the compartment. I saw him through the semi clean window on the door. His eyes met mine for a brief second, and I gave him a small smile. He nodded, and kept walking.

I played with my hands for about a minute until Alianne came back in, practically dragging in two victims. There were two boys: one had gorgeous green eyes, a killer smile, light brown hair, and olive skin. He was—in a word—handsome as heck. The other was handsome too, with dirty blonde hair, peachy skin, and icy, crystal blue eyes. Both boys were tall, though Blondie was taller.

Blondie slid in the seat across from me, smirking. I (almost immediately, I might add) disliked him. There as something weird about his smug expression that really was annoying. Maybe it was the way his mouth curled into a Cheshire cat smile, revealing perfect white teeth.

The brunette sat next to him, leaving Alianne next to me.

"I'm Eric," the brunette said. He had a very distinctive American accent.

"I'm Alianne, and this is Carlotta," she introduced.

"Call me Carly," I said.

"Awesome. This is Austin," Eric replied, gesturing toward Blondie. "We're both in the House of Thanatos. What about you two?"

"That's where we are too!" I answered, with a smile on my face. This Eric guy was pretty cool.

I turned to Alianne, who was all too eager to answer my question: When will we start Truth-or-Truth?

"I'll go first," Blondie—sorry, Austin—said. "Have you ever seen The Dark Knight, Alianne?" he asked.

"No!" she replied, a little too excitedly. She turned to Eric. "How old are you?"

"Fifteen, I'm a first year," he replied. "Carly; do you enjoy this game?"

"More or less," I replied with a smirk. "Austin, can I call you Blondie?"

"Um… okay, I guess," He said, transforming his smug expression into a grin. I guess I judged him a little too early. He seemed okay.

We kept on playing this game for about an hour. You'd think we would get bored, but no. By the end of it, we knew more about each other than you'd expect.

Turns out, Blondie (aka Austin) was sneaky and independent… just like I imagined. Eric proved to be as perfect as he looked; he was a real ladies' man. And Alianne, I couldn't really describe her well. She was really determined, sweet, caring, and athletic. I think Alianne and I will get along just fine.

The train conductor announced that we were nearing the Academy. I looked the crowded station, with Somerville uniforms swarming everywhere. I grabbed my pack and rushed out into the hallway, where students were pushing each other around to get onto the actually platform.

Finally, Alianne, Eric, Blondie and I stumbled out into the open. We got our trunks and decided to stick together… after all, we were all boarding the same bus to the same house. In the corner, an young, cheery bus driver held a sign that said, "Thanatos."

"There it is," I showed the others. We all made our way to the bus.

"It looks just like a Greyhound Bus," Eric noted.

"What?" I asked. He just shook his head, with a "nevermind."

The cheery brunette bus driver took our trunks and put them inside the bottom of the bus. We got on, and Alianne and I took seats next to each other in the back. Blondie and Eric sat across the aisle.

The bus's inside was navy blue with gray fuzzy seats. There were shelves on top of us for bags. I placed my purple bag here.

As we chattered, I kept my eye out for the other four housemates. The first people were two girls who were giggling about something. One was a dark brunette with the tips of her hair dyed hot pink. She was Caucasian and had light eyes. The other had wavy, dirty blonde hair and tannish skin. They both noticed the four of us staring, and then sat down, starting to chatter once more. The next, a boy with shaggy blonde hair, came on the bus, and he introduced himself to the girls, with a flirtatious smile on. Lastly, the mysterious boy I saw briefly boarded. He looked around the bus, saw me and nodded a 'hello.' I waved back.

As soon as the bus rumbled to life, Alianne bombarded me with a conversation I didn't completely understand. "I think I know that girl! Wait, how do you know that other guy? I can't believe we're going to the House, finally! Shouldn't you call your brother?"

Crap, I completely forgot about my 'brother.' I fished out my cellphone, pretended to type in a number, and pretended to let it ring.

"Namaste, bhai… acha… mhm…alavida," I spoke. I was speaking in Hindi so they wouldn't know anything. I "hung up."

I was about to tell Alianne about the mystery boy, when the bus rolled up to a brick/wooden house.

"Welcome to the House of Anubis," the bus driver said. He opened the doors, took out the trunks, and wished us well. We departed and with our things, we walked up the stone steps.

I almost forgot to tell Alianne, but I remembered at the last second, "Anubis? I thought this was Thanatos?"

She merely shrugged.

How did I do for the first chapter? Let me know in a review! I'd liked at least six reviews for this chapter.

By the way, a special thanks to the creators of the characters:

Alianne- Nicolette May Summers

Evelyn (brunette with hot pink tips)- JustGoWithTheFlow

Nicki (dirty blonde girl)- House of Anubis

Austin (Blondie :D)- musicluvv

Emmett (mysterious boy)- BellaRosa17

Eric- Nikole

Dakota (Blond flirt)- Bloomosity-TheOneShotWriter

Review!