C1 Welcome to Shadyside

Episode 1

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"Sometimes, fantasies can become realities..."

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"Give me the names of those people Zelphaba or i swear on the name of the moon goddess that I won't spare your life" Her voice sprang through the air as mighty thunderbolts roared across the sky.

The woman in captive shook her head in refusal as she spat out lumps of blood from her mouth. In one swift move, she held her hand and twisted her ankle making her bone break in the process.

Zelphaba cried out in agony as another flood of pain flushed through her.

"I regret the day I didn't kill you when I had the chance to ten years ago"she responds with a faux smile. "You betrayed our clan sister"

"You chose those mortals over your kind." She spat. 'You had a choice to have everything at your fingertips but then you threw it all away for people who wouldn't think twice before killing us. It is you who have betrayed us. You betrayed me' She shouted with deep hatred.

'Come back home, You don't need this power, there is nothing to gain in this war you're trying to start, this isn't you?'

'i can be everything but I'm not stupid. I want to control these people. We're bigger, better and stronger than they are. I want to taste power and make them beg at my feet. I will rule over them. But the sad part is that you won't be there to see me conquer' she says with a smirk while Zelphaba shakes her head vigorously.

'This isn't you' she tries reaching out to her but receives another blow that lands her to the ground tearing her skin to reveal a deep cut. She groaned and tried to force herself up but her life force was fading and she could feel it too.

Ignoring her remark, she spoke again 'The names, Now." She thundered

"You left Arcolia and came down here to finish them off, you finished them" she whispered wearily "there is no one left for you to devour and even if they were, I won't tell you who they are. Read my lips Claudia. Never" she challenged weakly. "I will never give up the name of the last blood Singer, never" she repeated.

"They will die by my hands sooner or later. I will watch them suffer unimaginable pain before I kill them. So give me the names"

'I would rather die than be the reason why you wreck havoc on innocent people' she whispered

A small smile played on her lips as she took regal steps towards her in a black flowing gown 'And death you shall receive sister...'she replies before striking her again.

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SHADYSIDE, OKLAHOMA

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"Jana are you ready for school?" Miriam yelled from the dinning room downstairs where she served dinner.

' I'll be down in a few" she responds after styling her hair before picking up her backpack from the rack on her wall where she hung it the previous day.

She wore her boots before heading downstairs to join the others for breakfast.

'Good morning Dad. Morning Mom"

"Good morning baby" they respond in unison as her dad picks up his coffee and takes a sip whilst reading the newspaper.

She pulled her chair and sat down, dishing some pancakes into her plate and some blueberries before garnishing with honey syrup.

'The weather is okay now' her mother spoke up

'it sounded like the sky was about to fall down last night. I'm just upset it didn't rain though' Jana chips In.

'I'm glad it didn't. The puddles on the road won't be pretty if it did rain" her mother spoke before taking a seat next to her husband.

'It has never been pretty mom"

'True, but we're surviving.' she replies before facing her husband 'I heard from your phone call yesterday that the project was approved'

'Nothing a little hardwork can't achieve.' he says with a bright smile 'And believe me, when all this is done and settled, we'll be leaving Shadyside for good'

'Well I can't wait. This place has lots of good memories but I'm sure we could do better' Jana replies before taking a last bite of her pancake.

"I heard from Miss Donna that our new neighbors just moved into the empty apartment opposite our house"

"New neighbors?" Jana scoffed "who would wanna live here in Shadyside. It's Shady"

"Apparently, the new neighbors" her father finished off for her.

'Anyways, Off to school, love you guys so much' she picks up her bag and kisses their cheeks, mouthing goodbye to both of them before making it outside the house.

She makes it to the bus station in time for the school bus to arrive.

After settling down, she plugs in her ear buds to listen to some music as the bus drove all the way to school. Shadyside is really pretty this time of the season but she just can't wait to pack up and leave. The town seems different every single day and most times it makes her skin crawl.

When she arrived, she picked up her books from her locker and proceeded to class.

'Morning Mr Davis' Everyone greets when the teacher steps into the class.

She quickly unplugged her ear buds and shoved them into her bag.

Her first class was history and she loves the subject so she can't afford to not pay attention.

'We'll start of the class by receiving our test scripts" He announced before taking out the papers and distributing them among the members of the class.

"So I admit that the test was a little bit difficult for most of you but I'm very happy cause someone managed to get an A" he paused and dropped the script on her table "Congratulations Jana"

After making sure everyone got theirs, he faced the class.

"Now I'm pretty sure y'all are wondering how she did it but I urge you to challenge yourselves. History is a very broad topic and requires a lot of hardwork, so with that being said, you'll be having another history assignment'.

Everyone groaned.

'You'll have to write a project either solo or with a partner about something tangible that has happened in Shadyside. for instance, How we share a border with Boulevard and the cause of the lifelong feud that existed between them for over ten years before it got resolved"

"I heard that Boulevard had a hand in the murders of people from Shadyside." Jared spoke up and everyone turned to face him. He shrugged and continued "The police found traces of their properties on their side of the town but all efforts to gather evidence went abortive cause they couldn't find anything tangible and most families closed the case to grief in peace. I heard it's a rumour though"

The class went dead silent till Mr Davis broke it.

"Although not factually proven to be true, most people still believe it's the truth but it's all in the past so I'd urge you to take this project seriously cause those who fail to learn from history are doomed to..." He paused waiting for their reply.

"Repeat it" They chorused.

"Good" he replies and continues with the class.

When done, Jana put her books into her bag and was surprised to see someone standing in front of her table. She's not the social type and doesn't like to interact with people especially crowds and that's why she's mostly on her own most of the time, and speaking of crowds, this face is unfamiliar to her. 'Maybe she's new or I probably just haven't noticed her' she thought to herself.

"Hello" she waves at her "My name's Maisie Peters. I moved here yesterday"

She ignored the friendly remark and stood up before facing her "Welcome to Shadyside Maisie Peters. Nice to meet you too"

"And you are?"

"I don't talk to strangers"

Maisie inhaled softly and muttered "she's as rude as they say" before replying "Okay, sorry 'i- Don't- talk- to-strangers', I was wondering if you wanna be my partner for the project?"

"What Project"

"For someone who scored the highest in her history test, you sure don't know a lot of things. I meant the project that was announced in class"

"Why?" Jana asked with a scrunched face.

"Because it's required?"

"I work alone. Thanks for your offer anyways."She replied walking away slowly.

"It's not very nice to work alone. Everyone needs help" she called after her.

"I'll remember to keep that in mind Peters" She muttered to herself as she exited to the hallway to get a book from her locker in preparation for the next class.

In as much as Jana couldn't understand the reason why she approached her, she waved off the thoughts.

Welcome To Shadyside, A town that's filled with mysterious things that never sleeps and people who pretend like they don't exist.