Chapter 6: Macbeth Hall

-Schatten House, Phoenix, Arizona

-August 28, 2022

This morning before leaving home, Joe saw a side of his calm and relaxed mother that he'd never seen before...

She was nervous and anxious.

She reminded him of a normal mother's behavior, which was not a common occurrence for her.

Lilith may have been a good mother in Joe's eyes, but he was sure she wasn't the type to worry so much about her children...

But today she had worried more than ever about Joe, she had even triple checked to make sure his bag was packed properly and asked Joe if he had packed his charger and enough clothes every five minutes.

For a moment Joe thought that perhaps his mother had also undergone some drastic change but he dismissed this thought since he knew that his mother's nerves manifested themselves when she learned that he would be riding alone on his new motorbike from Phoenix to Jericho in Vermont..., around 2,500 miles.

It was understandable that even she was worried about him, but as always Lilith agreed to let Joe do what she felt was best, after all, he was always very mature and took care of himself most of his life, so she trusted him.

...

...

-Nevermore Academy, Jericho, Vermont

-September 1, 2022

Finally, the day arrived, after more than 40 hours of riding plus several stops along the way that made his trip longer, Joe had arrived in the cold, wooded regions of Vermont and was on his way to his new school in Jericho.

Joe was now quietly riding his motorbike in the direction of the Nevermore gates.

As soon as the gates came into view, Joe couldn't help but think that this academy was similar to the ones in some horror movies, it even had that creepy feeling that made the hair on the back of your neck stand on end.

'Maybe I'll run into some ghosts like in Harry Potter' Joe thought amused at the idea, although if it were to happen he couldn't deny that it would be quite awesome.

As he walked through the doors he saw that there weren't many students yet, but Joe could see a very tall blonde woman waiting at the main doors.

As he got closer, Joe recognized her as Principal Larissa Weems.

He was quite grateful to her as she had accepted his application when it was only a few days before classes were to start at Nevermore.

Thanks to her, he was able to get into Nevermore without any problems or delays.

Joe saw Larissa Weems' expectant eyes and upturned red lips and knew that she remembered him from the video call they had had and she seemed very happy to receive him...

'I guess you always welcome a new outcast among your own' Joe thought as he shook his head, as much as they were all creatures or people with special abilities, the truth was that they were also outcasts from society.

When Joe parked, he left the motorbike along with his helmet and went straight in the direction of the Principal, then held out his hand and showed his friendliest smile.

Principal Weems shook Joe's hand as she stared at him and smiled brightly.

"Pleased to meet you, Principal"

"The pleasure is mine Mr. Schatten..., correct?"

"Yes, that's right."

"Very well, now regarding your situation, you can rest assured that it is something very common among our students..., in fact, I'm glad you told me about it in time to avoid problems, the teachers have already been warned about this matter."

Joe just nodded briefly in thanks and waited for her to speak again.

"Let's get settled, shall we?" Principal Weems led him through an impressive series of corridors that led to a large door.

Her office looked more like a large living room with a big oak desk, but Joe had to admit that if he was going to be the principal of a school filled with all sorts of outcasts, he'd want something as comfortable as this.

Principal Weems stood behind her desk and looked at the papers on the table in front of her, presumably Joe's transcripts, and finally said:

"Mr. Schatten, I must admit we haven't had a Walking Shadow here since..., hmmm, well, a long time, centuries maybe since..."

"The Shadow hunt" supplied Joe.

"Yes, a sad event and only a few years after the witch hunt, but from what I understand, your family is one of the few that has persisted over time, so it is a pleasure to be able to have you among us, the ex-students and I believe you will be a valuable addition to our school with your qualifications and your good disposition," said the Principal with a smile.

"Thanks, the truth is I just look forward to being able to regain control of my shadow perfectly to avoid problems"

"Oh, right, about that, I wanted to ask you a few more things if it's not a problem"

"Sure, we didn't have much time to talk over video call so it seems like the right thing to do"

"Perfect, so... let's see..., you told me that you have spent many years learning to control your shadow since you were 9 years old when you first used it unconsciously isn't it?" she asked as she looked at him with attention.

"That's correct," nodded Joe quietly.

"Hmm, and in all the years since you learned to control it, this is the first time something like what happened to your classmates at your school has happened..., Do you have any idea why?"

"Well..., my mother says that sometimes constant exposure to negative emotions can cause our shadows to act on their own... and the truth is I never felt comfortable at my previous school, so we both agreed that Nevermore would be a very welcome change for me."

"Oh, in that case, I'm glad to hear that, all of us at Nevermore welcome you with open arms."

Joe simply nodded, he would not reveal any more of his jealously guarded secrets, everything the Principal needed to know he already let her know so there was no need to add any more.

"Right, let's move on..., I have room for you in Macbeth Hall, it's the only dormitory with rooms available for male students of your year," Principal Weems began, still standing behind her desk.

"I should warn you that the students at Macbeth Hall can be a bit... complex," she added and explained that Macbeth Hall is known at Nevermore for being where the more troublesome students tend to be or those who are not yet in full control of their abilities.

"Believe me, I wouldn't put you in this dormitory if it were possible, but since your admission was rather rushed I had no choice but to put you in this dormitory despite your excellent grades and impeccable academic performance"

This was true, Joe had very good grades and had only one incident at his previous school, one that he was not blamed for as there was no evidence that he had been the cause, although there were some rumours around saying that he was responsible.

"I understand, but being able to join Nevermore is enough for me, the dorm I'm in isn't going to be a problem" Joe replied calmly, besides he came precisely due to an ability control problem so it wasn't so terrible to be placed with people with a similar problem.

Although his problem was that despite having the memories of how to perfectly control his shadow, he still couldn't get used to doing it...

Yes, one can have all the information to do something, but when you put it into practice it never usually comes out perfectly, it takes time and practice, and Nevermore was the right place.

"Well, I'm glad to hear that," Principal Weems said with a huge smile, and then she explained a bit more about her dorm, things like apparently, Macbeth Hall students tend to be the trouble students of the different groups in the school like vampires, werewolves, sirens, gorgons, and others.

She even warned him that he would surely hear many people say that there are some psychics who are considered to be half crazy at Macbeth Hall, but she made it clear to Joe that these were just rumors created by the students and that there were just some students with lack of patience who used to get angry and fight constantly over anything..., which gave them a bad reputation.

"...I understand that students here are required to do at least one extracurricular activity, could you tell me which ones are available?" asked Joe.

Although the truth was that he wasn't interested in doing anything, but he would fulfill his obligations at this school, it was the least he could do for the kindness the Principal had shown to him.

Joe had already thought about choosing some simple activity that wouldn't take too much of his time, if possible some new club with little organization, where they wouldn't tell him anything if he was absent sometimes, usually the new clubs are the ones that are more desperate for members, so they are the ones that demand their members the least.

"Uh-oh, sure, here, this is a list of all the clubs that have available spots for this year, you can join any of these," she said handing Joe a paper with a list of the clubs on it.

"Now, let's meet your roommate. He's a student a bit hyperactive...but I'm confident he'll be a great resource for you to integrate here at Nevermore," said Principal Weems and led him to his room in Macbeth Hall.