Title: A Hauntingly Wonderful Romance ~ chapter 1~ The Portrait
By: Moondreams16
Rating: G
Notes: Alright. Here's another one. There are no scouts in this fan fic. This 
is a kind of short chapter but hope you enjoy. 	E-mail me and tell me what 
you think. Short notes, I know. But I never really like writing notes 'cause 
I am sure most peopled don't even bother to read them. Well Enjoy.


Serena frantically rushed into the room and closed the door behind her. Any 
minute they would find her. Serena leaned against a wall to calm her pounding 
heart and waited to catch her breath. The room was dark and musty. The only 
light came from a slit between two heavy window drapes. Serena walked 
silently toward the window and pulled the drapes aside to allow the sunlight 
to wash over the room. This was not done with out a ton of dust being omitted 
from the drapes. She looked around her. The room was covered with bookshelves 
revealing leather bound books almost to the ceiling. A rickety looking ladder 
was resting against one of the bookshelves. A few chairs and tables of dark 
mahogany were scattered around the room. A rich Oriental rug covered the 
polished wooden floor. At one wall was a huge fireplace. Above the fireplace 
was a painting. The painting was off a young man.  
'Odd,' Serena thought, 'why would a picture of a man be doing in an all girls 
boarding school?' Piecing blue eyes stared out at her. She looked directly 
into them only to have a shiver run up her spine. Serena scolded herself. 
Whoever heard of being afraid of a painting. The young man had silky dark 
black hair. His mouth was set in a straight line as if trying not to reveal 
any of his emotions. But his eyes gave him away. In his eyes were pain and 
fear. There was a slight hint of anger. He held a stormy countenance. He was 
dressed in a dark blue tunic. A black cape adorned his shoulders. In his 
right hand he held a jeweled sword. Serena walked slowly toward the painting 
and slowly reached out and touched it. She ran her fingers lightly over the 
face never taking her eyes off his. 
"What were you thinking?" she asked as she pulled away her hand. 
"So here's were you've been hiding, Charity girl," laughed an older girl as 
she stood in the doorway. Serena winced at the name.
"Go find some one else to torment," said Serena as she pressed herself 
against the fire place. "Why should i, Charity girl?" asked Elizabeth, the 
leader.  
"Because I said so, that's why," came a voice. 
"Why you little..." started Elizabeth. She grabbed a bunch of Serena's blonde 
hair and drug her toward the door by her hair. 
"Let me go!" yelped Serena fighting back the tears. The door slammed shut 
suddenly as Elizabeth got to it. "What the..." she started. She grabbed the 
doorknob and twisted. The door opened. Serena felt another shiver run up her 
spine.

	"...for directly disobeying a perfect and now you are lying about it! 
For that Miss. Tskino, you will receive 2 demerits and kitchen duty for a 
week," rang the head mistress's verdict on the whole matter. Elizabeth 
meanwhile was smiling smugly at the whole thing. Kitchen Duty. Serena hated 
kitchen duty. It meant scubbing a lot of pots and cleaning up after everyone 
had finished eating. Serena sighed as she flopped down on the bed. She had 
only been at Bankstone Academy for a week and she had already made enemies 
with the main perfect, Elizabeth Brown. Serena hated most perfects more then 
she did kitchen duty. Most perfects were stuck up snobs with the power to 
order the younger classmen around. Serena had been Elizabeth's main target 
when she came to school the first day. Serena had stood out with her ripped 
jeans, clean white shirt, baggy unbuttoned plaid over shirt and dingy untied 
sneakers. Her mom had hit on some hard times and hadn't the money to get 
Serena new clothes. Serena rolled over on her stomach and stared at the 
bright silvery moon the shone through the window. She couldn't manage to get 
the picture out of her head. Especially his eyes.
 "I am sorry, it seems I have cause more trouble," came a voice. Serena 
turned slowly. She raised her hand to her mouth to stifle a scream. 

To be continued...