On the way to the Headmaster’s office, I can’t help but wonder what had happened. He walks silently and I follow closely. When we arrive, I am ordered to sit. “Snow Annesley, it looks like you have killed your roommate,” he says with a firm, unreadable tone.

I gasp and stand, ready to defend myself. “No, that’s impossible. I was waiting in my room with Coral. I received my mark and she saw it. Jasmine,” I begin, thinking about where my second roommate had gone. “Jasmine went to get an early dinner,” I recall. I look at the Headmaster in surprise, coming to a shocking revelation.

“That’s right,” he begins, “she was killed. She drowned in the dining hall, but there is no water near her and she is in her human form.” I look at my feet and take a seat. Jasmine was also a mermaid, so the only way to drown her is to ensure she doesn’t shift forms, and only someone with extremely advanced abilities would be able to kill a mermaid with water.

If even a drop of the liquid were to have fallen on her skin, she would have transformed into her fishlike form. If she had gotten wet, she would have been able to breathe both water and air, making it impossible to drown her. As a mermaid, we are able to control water and weather elements, so in theory, an exceptional mermaid should be able to use someone’s internal body fluids to drown them. After all, a human is roughly sixty percent water and a mermaid is eighty percent.

Out of everyone, I am the only person in the school that should be able to accomplish such a thing.

“Sir, I would never kill someone. You have to believe me,” I beg. I can’t bring myself to harm a fish, let alone a person.

“A month ago, a vampire was killed. His head was torn from his shoulders, and the only person strong enough to tear off a vampire’s head is another vampire. The Elite was framed. A week ago, a shaman was killed by a horde of angry spirits, and the only person able to do so is the Elite. Do you see a pattern, Miss. Annesley?” I stare into his silver eyes for a moment and nod.

“Or an assassin,” I whisper.

“Precisely my point. If the assassin were a magician, he would have access to the spells necessary to kill his classmates and frame the Elites,” the Headmaster says. He is a powerful magician, so he knows exactly what can be accomplished with a spell book.

Magicians can achieve almost anything with their books, but if they are also an assassin, they are far more powerful, thus able to mimic the abilities of another species. If we are dealing with an assassin who is a magician, it will be exceedingly difficult to find the party responsible—especially if the magician is being controlled by another creature.

Assassins can be any species, but they must be bound to a master. A magician ties the two together and the assassin becomes invincible. The assassin is then forced to obey every command of his master. He becomes mindlessly enslaved. We have a few known assassins in the school. Their masters are all intelligent, level-headed individuals, but it appears that one pair has gone rogue.

“Can’t you just evaluate each pair and find out who is committing the crimes. You know that the assassin must be a magician,” I say.

“That is the problem. No known assassins are magicians, and this one is covering his tracks very well,” he says.

“What would you like me to do?” I ask, knowing that I was not brought to his office for a mere discussion.

“This problem is much larger than just you, Miss. Annesley,” he says. “I am enlisting the help of each of my Elites.”

“Do you mean the Elites from each species?” I ask, realizing what that means. I will be working alongside people I have never attempted to associate with. How does he expect us to get along? None of the species hold any form of respect toward one another. We can tolerate each other, but people from different species have never gotten along well. We habitually remain with our own cliques.

“Yes, the Elites from each species,” he says, “but before they arrive, there is an urgent matter we must discuss.” I nod for him to continue, still shocked that I will be working alongside so many different people. “When you become marked, you have the right to any of the items you were left with as a child,” he states, pulling a sealed envelope from the table beside him.

I feel an overwhelming sense of betrayal and shake my head. My parents left me at the doorstep of the school as a newborn and never came back. I don’t want the letter they had left. “Keep it,” I say. I feel nothing but spite toward my long-lost family.

“After your assignment you may change your mind,” he says with a knowing smile.

The door to his office opens with a creak and a line of students step through. I don’t recognize any of them, but I know immediately who they are.

“Hello,” the Headmaster greets each of them with a smile. “Please, take a seat,” he says, signaling to the couch. I don’t make eye contact with any of the students as they take their seats, each spaced out enough to avoid contact. In total, there are six individuals seated around me. I am the only mermaid.

“Why are we here, sir,” a loud, graveling voice asks from the end of the couch. I can’t help but veer my attention in the direction of the guy. I gasp when I take notice of his appearance. He is handsome in a rough, unkempt way. His charcoal hair falls past his ears in a mess of waves and his sharp jaw looks as if it is forged from stone. I can tell from his pale skin and thin build that he is a vampire, but his lack of muscle is deceiving. Vampires are abnormally strong creatures.

“Mr. Lancaster, you know exactly why you are here,” the Headmaster states cryptically. “As for the rest of you, I will explain.”

He explains that people have been murdered and the Elites have been framed for each of the killings. He goes on with a long explanation, blaming an assassin duo for the shenanigans. “But with you six, I have the utmost confidence we can catch this killer,” he says.

“What do we need to do?” The vampire asks, cutting straight to the point.

“I need five of you to leave the academy and gather the ingredients necessary for a tracking spell. The Elite magician,” he looks at the magician beside me, “will stay here and set up the spell.”

“Isn’t that dangerous?” A girl beside the vampire asks. Her shrill, whiny voice indicates that she is a pixie. They are very innocent creatures, but the kindest of everyone. Of all the species, fairies have the most diverse friend groups.

“It is extremely dangerous but very necessary. Do you all accept the proposition?” The Headmaster asks. Nobody protests, knowing that this is the reason behind our intense training. We have been taught to fear the outside world, yet we are all eager to experience it from outside the academy walls. “Great. Let’s get started.”