Two months into school and Alcid still didn’t make any friends. Everyone she met just made fun of her. She talked with Shaosi a few times about it but Shaosi couldn’t help her. Shaosi couldn’t stop all the demons picking on and making fun of Alcid because she was different. Even Astera, Alcid’s roommate, asked that they moved her to another room because Alcid was damaging her reputation. Soon enough, one of the demonesses wasn’t careful in chemistry class and blew herself up so Astera moved to her room. Alcid was now all alone, but at least she now had a sanctuary where no one insulted her and made fun of her.

In two weeks Halloween vacation will start. Halloween was the most celebrated day of the year. Halloween was the time of the year you spend with your family celebrating, giving each other gifts and eating so much food until you burst. Halloween was special for one more reason. With the red blood moon in the sky, the barrier between the demon world and the mortal world was the thinnest on that day so the student demons, who usually couldn’t cross to the mortal world, each year made a bet on who can scare a mortal to death. Others treated the winner of the bet like a king for the rest of the school year. The teachers knew about the beat, and that they were going to the mortal world without permission, but it was a good exercise for the students, so they let them do it.

Alcid left the school and returned to her village for the Halloween vacation. Her mother had so many questions about the school, other demons, friends she made, but Alcid wasn’t in the mood to talk about school. She dodged the questions telling her mother that everything was fine and asking her how she and her father were. Most of her vacation she spent visiting her friends from the village and in her room.

One day Alcid looked around her room thinking that she could take something with her to school to remind her of home when one of her bone ornaments fell under her bed. She kneeled on the floor and looked under her bed to see where it went. It stopped at the wall, as far away as it could have, of course. Alcid lay down on the floor to retrieve it and when she was under the bed, she looked up. She saw a big piece of paper on the bed under the mattress. She retrieved the bone ornament, stood next to the bed and lifted the mattress. The paper she saw had a symbol similar to the symbols Astera had on her paper scrolls. But how, her family wasn’t one of the old families. Alcid took the paper scroll and rolled it into a tube. She wanted to find out what it meant before she confronted her parents.

With Halloween vacation almost over Alcid went back to school. She got some nice new dresses, jackets and boots for Halloween. Her mother always knew what she liked. As she entered her dorm room, she saw two suitcases and a white demoness with two black horns, with ridges, on her head unpacking.

The demoness saw her and said. “Hi, I’m Kheba. I’m your new roommate.” Kheba said. She was white like Alcid with two small black horns on her, long sharp claws and a tail.

“Hi, I’m Alcid. How come you arrived just now?” Alcid asked.

“My family moves around a lot and there’s a whole bunch of us. This is my second high school and I told my dad that this time I’m staying here because this school has dorms.” Kheba said. “So what kind of a demon are you? What’s your power?” she asked.

Alcid realized that she never told anyone what her power was because no one asked her. She stood in the room for a few seconds and then said. “Well… It’s nothing special. Do you see this flower on my head? It produces an acid that can dissolve anything in seconds.”

“That’s amazing.” Kheba said. “Can you show me?”

“Yes. Do you have anything that you don’t want to see ever again?” Alcid asked.

“Yeah, just a sec.” Kheba rummaged through one of her suitcases and took out a framed picture of her as a small child.

“You sure you want to get rid of that? You look so adorable in that picture.” Alcid said.

Kheba gave Alcid a serious look and said. “That’s why I want to get rid of it.”

“Ok then, put it on the desk.” Alcid put her left hand next to her left ear and tilted her head to the left. A black acid with a silver glare came out of the center of the flower and into her hand. Alcid put her hand over the framed picture and said. “Say goodbye.” she dropped the acid onto the framed picture. The acid started to simmer and dissolve the picture. In a few seconds, the framed picture was no more.

“Awesome.” Kheba said again.

“What’s your power?” Alcid asked.

“Oh, I don’t have any powers yet. I’ll get them when I finish high school. That’s the way my family works. One of my uncles is going to retire soon and I will take his place.” Kheba said.

“What family are you from?” Alcid asked.

“Oh, you never saw one like me? I’m from the Krampus family. I’m the one hundredth generation Krampus. We are one of the oldest demon families. The first Krampus demon dates back two thousand years back, but as the mortal population got bigger, there was more demand for Krampus demons. There are now around two hundred Krampus demons roaming around. Each of us young ones is an empty canvas until one of the Krampus demons retires. Every Krampus demon retires after two hundred years of being a Krampus and then lives the rest of his life in here.” Kheba said.

“So you will get your powers. But why do you have to go to high school?” Alcid asked.

“I need the badge to cross over to the mortal world. Without finishing high school I can’t get permission and go to the mortal world. A Krampus that can’t go to the mortal world isn’t worth anything.” Kheba said.

“Can I ask you something?” Alcid asked.

“Yeah, sure.” Kheba said.

“Your family is one of the oldest demon families, so can you ask them what this means?” Alcid opened her bag and pulled out the paper that was under her bed.

“Hmmm… It doesn’t look familiar to me, but I’ll take a photo and send it to my family. If they know something I’ll tell you.” Kheba said.

“Thanks.” Alcid said thinking that Kheba was the first demon that didn’t make fun of her. Who knows, maybe she just made her first friend.

Alcid noticed that the behavior of other demons towards her changed ever since Kheba arrived and they became friends. The teasing and laughing sopped. It almost seemed that the other demons started treating her like one of them. They still didn’t want to talk to her but at least they didn’t make fun of her anymore, which made the rest of the school year tolerable.

The first year of school ended and all the students went home for summer vacation. Alcid came back to her village concerned because Kheba’s family had never seen the symbol on the paper she found under her bed. Alcid wasn’t sure if she should confront her parents about that or just enjoy summer and try to find the meaning of the symbol on her own. She decided that she’ll visit the biggest library in the city and search for the symbol when she gets back to school.

She enjoyed the summer in the village. It reminded her of the time before she started high school, but the time flew by really fast. In a few weeks, the summer will end and Alcid will go back to school. She talked with her mother and father about which classes to take in her second year. She definitely wasn’t a demon for scaring or possessing people. She was never good at deception or tempting others, so she had a real dilemma. She had to choose classes but she didn’t know which ones. Her mother said that she’ll be proud of her no matter the classes she chooses.

The summer vacation was ending in a week and Alcid went back to school. When she arrived, she was happy to see that Kheba was her roommate again on the second floor. Alcid thought that that was just coincidence but Kheba explained that she asked to be her roommate and if they didn’t make that happen that shell call her father, the head of the Krampus family. Whatever the reason Alcid was happy that she shared the room with her friend.

Still not sure what classes to take in her second year, Alcid went to see Miss Xubrah, which she admired. She knocked on Miss Xubrah’s door and heard her say “Yes, come in.”.

Alcid came in, stood in front of Miss Xubrah’s desk and Miss Xubrah gestured towards her to sit. Alcid sat and said. “I’m sorry to disturb you, I’m sure you don’t remember me, but I have some questions.”

“Don’t remember you? I remember that I had to snap my tail the most in your class because others were laughing at you and making fun of you. Of course, I remember you. How can I help?” Miss Xubrah said.

“Well, actually I need some advice. You always seemed so calm, composed and had every situation under control. I admire that about you and that’s why I’m here. I’m now starting my second year and don’t know what classes to take. Do you have any advice?” Alcid asked.

“Actually I do. Don’t be one of them. One of the scary, manipulative, tempting demons. There’s a whole bunch of them out there. If you become one of them, you will never be anyone in life, just one out of thousands of scary demons. Do something else. I saw that the words and insults others threw at you hurt you, why not make it opposite. Why don’t you learn how to be smart, ruthless, composed, know how to handle every situation and never let anyone stand in your way, never let anyone’s words and insults hurt you again.” Miss Xubrah said.

Alcid was sitting in the chair listening to Miss Xubrah talk and it all started to make sense in Alcid’s head. She thanked Miss Xubrah for the advice and left. On her way to the dorm, Miss Xubrah’s words echoed in her mind. Miss Xubrah was right, all her life Alcid was letting the words of other demons get to her, but they were just words that she could easily throw back at them. She knew now what classes she would take.

Alcid registered for all the classes that would make her smarter, more ruthless, teach her how to fight and how to act composed and in charge of every situation. By the end, Alcid had fifteen classes this year alone. That many classes didn’t give her much free time but she always found time to hang out with Kheba.

Time flew by fast and Alcid forgot about the paper and the symbol she found under her bed. However, she learned many new things that made her more confident and a much difficult target to make fun of.