Present day

Samson, Virginia

Lettice moved with a purpose as she tried to dodge the rushing mass of students switching between rooms for their last class of the day, the one part of the day Lettice looked forward to. She had been enrolled at Hillcrest high since the summer holidays, her learning records would show what they always showed whenever she was signed up to a new high school.

Average grades, good enough to pass but not high enough to cause suspicion within the community. Her assigned persona's and their accomplishments were scattered around the country and around the world, where ever she was sent Lettice was often enrolled as a student. She was often absent or sick on picture day, her image never being snapped more than a few times in the last couple of decades.

"RUBY! God are you deaf or something, I've been yelling out for ages." Lettice was brought back to reality, she was still getting used to being called Ruby. Of all her persona's, this one was taking the most to adjust to.

"Oli, you don't have to yell. Just tap me on the shoulder or something." Lettice shook her head, she had to stop thinking of herself as Lettice, from now on she was Ruby and would think as a Ruby though...whatever that meant. She was supposed to be average this time around, nothing too obvious or over the top whereas her supposed twin brother Oliver was to be a star quarterback.

By the looks of things, he was loving his new role as he'd never been assigned such a role to play.

Really that was all this was too, a job. They were briefed before starting school, their objectives were a little vague, their time-frame was open-ended but the only thing that stayed the same was their rules. Their rules never changed, so much so that Ruby knew the rules better than she knew anything else as it meant following those rules kept her alive and kept her occupation secret for longer. It also afforded her certain perks once the job was over, though Ruby had never actually cashed in on any of those perks.

But as she dodged a high five that happened right in front of her, she wondered if she could cash in on all of them at once. Very few people would be able to handle this many roles as a student, Ruby didn't know how she even managed to do it.

"What do you want anyway?" Ruby asked as she nudged Oliver, they hadn't seen each other since being given their class schedules. They were both glad they only shared one class together, it was torture enough having to carpool to school each morning and even living in the same house was a nightmare.

"Are you bored yet? Want to cut class tomorrow and go do some investigating?"Oliver whispered. While Ruby's mind screamed 'yes' her head shook with a no. They were there for a reason and cutting classes so early just to start their investigation so soon would not only raise suspicions with the school but also with the people in the school.

"We can't Oliver, we're here for a reason and we need more than one day to settle in and make it look like we're normal students. Besides, you're not in charge here and neither am I so everything we do we need to run through Benedict," Oliver's demeanour quickly changed at that, Ruby wasn't sure what he'd been expecting her to say but it probably wasn't that. Though Oliver shouldn't have been too surprised, Ruby followed things like her life depended on it and wasn't about to step a toe out of line.

"You're so boring, also I changed out of this history class so you're on your own." Ruby fist pumped the air, she hated history but hated sharing a class with Oliver even more.

While he was playing the dumb jock stereotype she wanted as little interaction in the school with him as possible.

"See you around loser, are you getting a ride with me after school?" Oliver had slipped his mask back in place as a few football guys walked past. To the outside world they were a pair of dysfunctional twins that rarely ever got along and who always fought, so far Oliver was doing a good job. Ruby would have to congratulate him later on.

"Uh, yeah if that's okay? I'll wait at the car for you." Oliver walked off before Ruby could even finish, waving his hand at her dismissively. Ruby had a hard time keeping the smile from her face but entered her history class with a scowl on her face.

"Aw come on new girl, my class isn't that bad!" Ruby heard the exclamation followed by a few giggles from the gathered female students.

Obviously, this teacher was a bit of a hot-shot given how he was sitting at his desk, he was eating up the attention from the female portion of the student body. Odd given he was an alpha, even odder that he was teaching.

Most alphas that she'd encountered in the past were solely focused on running their packs but this guy was the total opposite. Was his pack small or did his ego need that much of a boost that he sat around teenaged girls all day?

Sitting down at her preferred seat, Ruby began taking things out of her back for class but was interrupted by a very meek student.

"Uhm, you're in my seat." Ruby stopped what she was doing, for a moment she thought she'd been hearing things but when she noticed someone standing at her desk she straightened and looked up at the girl expectantly.

"You're in my seat." She girl stated again, this time with a little more confidence. Ruby was ready to tell her to find another seat but something stopped her, the girl seemed to be disliked by many others. A few students had stopped what they were doing to watch the interaction, even the teacher was watching with some interest.

To save the girl any embarrassment, Ruby stood from the desk and moved one over.

She knew what sort of message had just been sent to students in the room but didn't care, obviously, she could take care of bullies better than the girl could. It was easier for her to move than contribute to the girl's embarrassment.

Though just as she was making herself comfortable Ruby felt another presence standing at her desk, one that she ignored for the time being as she took her time unpacking the last of her things. When she was satisfied that she was ready to suffer through the last boring class of the day she looked up to see a jock standing over her desk, looking as frustrated as ever.

"You're in my seat." He stated, Ruby, folded her arms over her chest and eyed him challengingly. He wasn't human, that much she could see as he was having a hard time keeping things in check, especially when a supposedly insolent human girl didn't move for him as she had for the lesser shifter sitting one desk over.

"Find another one genius." Ruby could tell she'd hit a raw nerve as the dude tried very hard to stay calm.

"Jude! Find another seat. New girl, come up here and introduce yourself to the class. I'm sure some students have already heard your introduction but for the sake of this history class lets get to know you a little better." Ruby cringed, she already hated this alpha. He was overconfident and thought he was popular, she didn't want to have anything to do with him but stood slowly from her desk once 'Jude' had found another seat.

"Loser." Someone whispered through a cough, several students laughed and then the same student coughed again to disguise the insult. Ruby tried not to roll her eyes, she'd lost count of how many highschool she'd been to and this certainly wasn't the first time she'd heard this.

"If you can't say it to my face why say it at all?" Ruby knew it was Jude that had been coughing, he seemed to be that kind of guy. Big and stupid, a little on the slow side too. But when she insulted him and a few students laughed he took it personally and began rising from his seat only to stop mid-rise when he looked at the teacher.

Ruby turned her attention to Mr Fysher to see him shaking his head and looking mighty angry.

A lot of the humour in the class left with that silent warning, "Okay Ruby, introduce yourself please." The way he said it made Ruby wonder if it was sarcasm.

"My name is Ruby Estbury, I transferred here from California before summer break. So, yeah." Ruby died off and turned to Mr Fysher for guidance. She hated doing these things and had learned that minimal information often led to more questions, but if she was to portray an average student she needed to give minimal information.

"Nice, so what brings you to little old Samson?" She also knew that teachers like Fysher had a habit of trying to get more information out of students.

"My dad got moved here. Can I sit down now?" For a second Ruby thought her teacher would keep her standing but he motioned to her desk so she went and sat down. Just as her butt was about to hit the seat someone let out a fake fart and the class began laughing again.

Ruby frowned, trying to keep from turning on Jude...could they be any more immature in this school? Ruby was finding it extremely difficult not to turn around and punch the idiot in the face, or better yet remove his balls from his body.

"Okay class, quiet down. Jude, you can see me after class thank you. If you didn't already know, my name is Mr Fysher and I'm the local historian as well as the history teacher. Occasionally I also coach the basketball and football teams," Ruby was surprised, maybe her information was wrong and this guy wasn't the alpha of his pack. Maybe he was just a regular old low ranking shifter, it would explain why he could afford to do all this human sort of stuff and not feel some sort of pressure.

"Loser," Ruby whispered quietly to herself, it was more a test to see who else in the class was part of the Cavendish Swamp pack. When several heads lifted in sudden interest in Topher Fysher, she had her answer. Ruby's only regret is that she hadn't sat at the back of the class to see who of those sitting behind her were also shifters.

It was times like these that Ruby wished she could hear and smell as well as a shifter in human form, but never the less she had a fair idea that the majority of students in the class were shifters.

Mr Fysher skipped a beat in what he was saying and died off at the end, Ruby was sure that he'd call her out but he turned to the whiteboard and began writing something on it instead. Ruby could tell he was having a hard time staying calm, the corner of her mouth lifted slightly and she felt smug about it.

He couldn't do anything to her with humans in the class, which she was glad about. She frowned suddenly when she realized she'd just put a spotlight on herself and potentially her assignment. Students would be watching her closely, Ruby hoped she could continue pretending to be human for a little longer. It was fun baiting people and the longer they thought she was human the more fun she'd have.

"Right, so we're starting the year off with something a little different. The witch trials, can anyone tell me anything about them?" There were a few groans from students, Ruby was mortified and tried to keep any hint of disgust off her face as she mentally prepared herself for the torture that was to follow.

Of all the years forced to play a student, of all the schools and classes she'd been in this, was the first time something had hit close to home.

Clemence had been caught that night and they hadn't treated her with an ounce of kindness, the men who'd caught her had burned her alive. They claimed she was the devil himself come to lure children to the dark side, Ruby could still remember the roar she had unleashed on hearing the screams as smoke rose into the night sky and she vowed never to forget the evils of men.

Ruby was brought out of her thoughts by the ringing bell and quickly packed her things away, not only did it signal the end of this torture but also the start of her real job...as soon as she completed her homework.

Homework, such a mundane activity.

Ruby went straight out to the car, she wondered if Oliver would be on time. Often the cool kids were always late but as she approached the car she was mildly surprised to see him leaning against the Jeep.

"God I hate school, remind me why I thought this school would be better than all the rest? Small town high school is even worse." She hadn't even reached the vehicle yet and Oliver was already moaning, Ruby shrugged her shoulders as she went around to the passenger side.

"Beats me, also kinda have to apologize in advance. The jocks at this school are the stupidest I've met in a very long time and Jude is the worst. Anyway, he got in trouble with his pack alpha this afternoon so if he lashes out at you because of it, I apologize." There was potential for this to hinder Oliver's integration into the school system but Ruby was sure he'd find some way to fit in, either by beating Jude at something or being as much of an idiot as he was.

"Don't worry about it boss, I can handle that guy. He is...what do they say these days? A douche, yeah he's really stupid too but he looks like the physical type so I'll just have to tiptoe around him. Man, I hope Ben has food ready, my brain needs recharging. Also, are you going to get a new car? Kinda can't keep giving you rides to and from school if I'm going to take up sport as well. I just hope the council realize that all this extra 'fitting in' is going to cost me time investigating." Ruby nodded, she understood completely. To look convincing enough to pass as a certain type of student took commitment and dedication, the council often could place ridiculous demands on them without thinking about it.

"We'll just need to work through it, I'll get Ben to purchase a car this week. Don't burn yourself out though, we don't know how long we'll be here and we need everyone to be in tip-top condition. Speaking of which, the others should start trickling in soon." Ruby hated having a full house but she wasn't about to complain, they were there in town because of some ridiculously vague prophecy that she had only heard once. According to Benedict it held significance for the area, she chose to believe him as he was the expert at deciphering such things but he couldn't offer anything other than vague dates and occurrences.