Gawain smirked to himself.
School for Freaks, huh.
Haven for mutants, yeeeah.
Security system, bah.

After all he'd heard about the mutie prep school, he doubted he'd ever want to set a foot inside that building. Let alone do it voluntarily. Mirror didn't have a high opinion of educational institutions whatsoever.
They usually had separate boy and girl dorms, for starters. Duh.
But still. A place full of kids like him might be worth checking out. If not for anything else, then for knowing one's options when push comes to shove. They might have nice clean bathrooms and spare beds. And first-aid kits.
That, however, did not mean he'd have to walk up to the front door and knock.
Because that would be kind of... boring.

And thus happened that Gawain decided to haunt the place.

When a teenage mirrormancer turns into a self-made poltergeist, the library is the place to start. That's a fact. Not a well-known one, but definitely a fact.
Not just because Gawain loved books, but also because libraries usually had some kind of mystical aura. The shadows, the smell of old books, the silence, and all the girls and guys with their noses buried in their own little worlds... until someone yanks them out of it and makes them run. Screaming is optional.
Basic optics: when it's dark outside, and the reading lamps are on, all the windows turn into mirrors, if you look at them from the warm, cozy inside. What a perfect start for a horror story.
First, just a pale hand appeared at the edge of the window, fingers searching for something to grasp, palm flattened against the glass. It was followed by the upper half of a face, with dark eyes widened in... sheer curiosity.
He really hoped he'd find some dorks studying away at this early evening hour. Because that's how he imagined 'school.'
Let the fun begin.

Alison was down in the library, bringing back books she had borrowed from it. She had read them when she was awake but now it was evening and she wasn't all there. It was just efficient and beter to do this stuff without the consiousness of the mind, her body agreed with that.

She entered the library but seemingly it was all dark exept for the lights. She walked past the cases to search where to place the book back. All of the books she held where the weird story kind of books. Most of them had a double meaning behind them. It was something that intreged her when she was reading. She found the cases quiet fast even with her walking pace. She located the precise location of the first book and placed it back. Her head turned to the windows.

The windows had a oddity to them. It seemed like something or someone was behind them, looking at her. With a glazy look she tilted her head and tried to inspect what was going on from afar. A head shifted into vieuw looking at her. This was odd, even for her. Thoughts crossed her mind about what would be the best way to react. Breaking the window would give entrance to the unknown person lurking. A fair warning would be the best course of action. "You are trespassing, leave at once." She said as a warning with a cold voice. No emotion to be seen on her person right now. This entity would have to leave or else she would use force.

She slowly walked towards the window that held the person. She examined him closely. It was like something out of a book, or tv. This could not be real however, there was the possibility of him being a mutant. That would explain a few things atleast. "State your business." She added to her warning. This thought only came to her when she already took the course of warning him.

Gawain watched the girl walk a long the shelves, and smiled to himself. She didn't look much older than he was, she was all alone, and looked like she was already half asleep. The way she moved promised a perfect opportunity for some pre-Halloween haunting. He just had to wait till she...

>>"You are trespassing, leave at once."

Well, damn. Not quite the reaction he was aiming for. The girl looked at him, not at all scared, but just the slightest bit menacing. Gawain swallowed. She didn't look like she was all there.
What did you expect, dude, it's a school full of weirdos. Not all mutations are as cool as yours.
Yeah, right.
Looking at the girl as he climbed fully into the window frame, he wondered what her deal was. She looked pretty normal. Apart from the lack of emotions on her face or... anywhere else.

>>"State your business."

Gawain blinked. She never watched a horror movie or what? Even in a mutie school there's gotta be something scary about a face in the window...
Guess not. He wondered how messed up some of the students must be if they are not at all surprised by a real-time Mirrors remake.

Folding his arms across his chest, he stared back at the girl. As cool as possible.

"Do you believe in ghosts?"

"Do you believe in ghosts?"

The person in the window was not amused. That was the most logic conclusion to pull from the looks on his face. Sadly for him she litterly couldn't care less about that right now. "Ghosts are the fictive story of dead people's essence returning to the world." She said as she moved closer to the window. This could inspect the window some more to see what the deal was with this character.

Her footsteps echoed through the diserted library as she moved in. "They cannot be real by scientific point of vieuw." She said monotone explaining why she didn't "believe" in ghosts. This person in the window could only have one explanation though. A mutant with a ability. No normal human could device a way to do this without some type of machinery that would produce light through the window. An oddity this was. Somebody trying to spook people at the middle of the night. Probably some student with nothing else to do. "State your business." She repeated. It could always be somebody who was spieing on them, or trying to invade. She had to stay ready for something like that.

>> "Ghosts are the fictive story of dead people's essence returning to the world. They cannot be real by scientific point of view."

Gawain blinked. What the hell is wrong with this chick? She was supposed to get spooked. Or run away. Or scream. Or jump. Or blink, for heaven's sake. What is she, a freakin' alien?
Nah. Far worse than that. Gawain frowned.
He'd run into the Dork of the School.
Apparently.

He rolled his eyes and leaned against the windowframe.

"C'mon, sugar, where's the Halloween spi...?!"

>> "State your business."

Okay, psycho girl was obviously serious about this. She was also most probably a mutant with an ability, and not knowing what that was made Gawain more than a little bit uneasy. So he sighed, and stepped out of the mirror onto the closest reading desk.

"Oh, gimme a break. I'm just lookin' around. This place's supposed to be friendly to mutants, isn't it?"

Jumping off the table, he landed right in front of the girl.

"Name's Gawain. A pleasure to meet ya."

And so failed the nightmare before Halloween.

Twyla Ashby’s heart raced as she read the words of the book in her hands. She paced around the dim library, oblivious to her surroundings. ‘The Tell-Tale-Heart’ was one of her favorite stories by Edgar Allen Poe and every time she read it she got herself excited at the end. This time she was reading it for literature class, and the reaction was no different. She was getting herself all worked up with the cadence of the words on the page.

“Oh God! what could I do? I foamed --I raved --I swore! I swung the chair upon which I had been sitting, and grated it upon the boards, but the noise arose over all and continually increased. It grew louder --louder --louder!”

Thud. It was unexpected and it startled her. Twyla jumped and made a slight squeaky noise at the dull sound. She wasn’t as alone in the library as she thought she had been, not that she had really been paying all that much attention. Following the thud she heard a voice, it sounded like it belonged to a boy. The words weren’t made out but it definitely sounded like a teenage boy voice.

Her heart was still fluttering a bit when she decided to investigate the noise. It was probably just other kids, but her late-night imagination was creating wild conjectures that made her a little jumpy and a bit paranoid. Maybe it was the combination of the story and her fear of the dark that was causing the ridiculous response to the noises. Her stocking-feet barely made any sound as she crept along the bookshelves slowly, nearing what she assumed to be the source of the sudden giddiness.

She felt semi-stupid as she hesitantly peaked her head around a shelf. She had found who she presumed to be the noise-makers. A girl that Twyla didn’t recognize was standing in front of a window near a boy...wait, was that...no, that didn’t make any sense...Maya was not a boy and Twyla would know if she went to school at the Mansion now--she would have told her she was a mutant, right? Not that Twyla had told the girl her secret...but still. She'd know if Maya was one, right? As she got more and more confused, Twyla subconsciously walked out from her hiding place (but didn’t come any closer to the pair at the window) and peered at the boy standing near the reading desk. Did Maya have a brother? Twyla didn’t remember something like that coming up in their conversation the day that they had met. Maya could have a brother, but this boy...he could have been her twin. People usually mentioned twins, right? Her mind went reeling and Twyla stood standing with her head tilted sideways and her face showing that she was utterly perplexed.

It took some time to confirm what her body saw. A boy stepped out of the window frame, just out of it like he was always in it. Even for her it was weird, and she was the on with the mind sleeping and the body moving. However her body didn't move a inch. It was simply trying to confirm what it saw.

The boy seemed agitated that his sceme was going down the drain. he didn't take into account that some people aren't that easily scared, or just have powers for it that they won't notice. She looked at the boy making his way over the table and watched him jump down. It was strange how everybody could just walk in here at night. There should be security for it or something to say the least.

"Oh, gimme a break. I'm just lookin' around. This place's supposed to be friendly to mutants, isn't it?"

"Yes." She simply said. Her responds took a little while because she had to think over certain factors that applied to this. It was the truth and she confirmed it. She herself was a mutant and people where friendly to her. That made the statement very true.

"Name's Gawain. A pleasure to meet ya."

"Alison." She replied. It was all very strange for the two of them. One couldn't comprehend that somebody walked out the window and the other probably couldn't comprehend why the other was she emotionless.

Gawain was seriously annoyed. All his sixteen-year-old manly charms seemed to bounce off this weird girl without as much as scratching her coolness. He gave up scaring her ages ago - now he would have gladly settled for any kind of human reaction.
Any kind of reaction, really.

"Ya're not a chatty one, are ya." he smirked, stepping closer to the girl. He was slightly taller, even though his laid-back stance didn't even come close to matching her posture. Darn it, the chick stands like a statue.
"Alison, huh? Adorable name. So you go to schoo..."

Just to keep the attitude, Sir Gawain almost stumbled into a cliché which was second only to the 'come here often?' line in the big unwritten book of dating teenage mutants. Fortunately, something totally unexpected just saved the day: he caught the glimpse of a movement from the corner of his eye. He turned to face the new player in the scene, and his jaw dropped.
Twyla.
...
System reboot.
...
After a while which might have only been seconds, but felt like friggin' eternity, the lights came back on.

First of all - Gawain, ya son of a b..., ya lucked out this time. Bubblegum's a mutant. Just like you. And you managed to find her without actually looking. This must be destiny.
On the other hand, though...
Ya're screwed, bro. Utterly and completely...

Damage control.
Gawain's jaw snapped back into its place as he quickly resumed his former attitude, and flashed an award-winning grin at Twyla.
"Good evening, my fair lady. Could you give me a hand here, please? I am trying to convince your friend here that she should believe in ghosts, especially this time of the year."
That's it, Gawain. Just keep it cool.
I don't know you, I don't know you, I don't know you.

Twyla’s watching went unnoticed for a moment before she caught the eye of the Male-Maya. Instantly his jaw dropped, which made no sense. I mean let’s face it, Twyla knew she was a bit weird looking sometimes but the boy would have to be some kind of freak to look that surprised at her appearance. Either way it made Twyla uncomfortable and she fidgeted a bit before he seemed to catch himself and sent her a megawatt infused smile. "Good evening, my fair lady. Could you give me a hand here, please? I am trying to convince your friend here that she should believe in ghosts, especially this time of the year."

Whoa, ‘my fair lady’? There was nothing wrong with the phrase in Twyla’s book but it sounded so...so...now who did it remind her of? Oh wait, it hit her. The boy sounded like his doppelgänger. The phrase sounded like something Maya might say, or at least Twyla could picture her saying it. The night just kept getting stranger and stranger. Maybe Maya had a bunch of clones or she was part of an alien race disguised as witty teens that was bent on taking over the world, one mutant high school at a time? Her nighttime imagination was getting the best of her–Twyla needed to focus and she needed to stop staring.

After a few blinks she slowly walked over to the pair. Poe got tucked under her arm while she turned to the girl first and extended her hand in the hopes of a shake. “You said your name was Alison, right? I don’t think we’ve met, I’m Twyla. I didn't mean to eavesdrop or anything, I just heard noises.” A pause. “ I only believe in ghosts sometimes.” Like on scary fall nights like tonight...Or when she was alone in her room or whenever she was alone in the dark.

Maybe this boy was a ghost that just happened to look like a girl that Twyla had once met? That theory was instantly thrown out, ghosts don’t make thudding noises. As she spoke she glanced furtively and suspiciously at the boy; her imagination causing her to mistrust him.

There was somebody behind her, hiding out. A student at this school. She had seen her before somewhere in the hallways which confirmed that she is a student, or atleast somebody living here. She examined her a bit more carefull and tried to remember more about her but came up blank. However the boy was familiar with the girl standing behind her. It was strange, was the boy also a student here? It was all very confusing but it could be possible.

“You said your name was Alison, right? I don’t think we’ve met, I’m Twyla. I didn't mean to eavesdrop or anything, I just heard noises.”

"Yes." She said. "I am Alison." she added to the sentance to confirm what the girl said. "Nice to meet you." she said a bit akwardly. She was waking up little by little. It was as if the nightshift was over and time for some coffee, sort of speak. She didn't drink coffee to begin with.

” A pause. “ I only believe in ghosts sometimes.”

"Ghosts are a way of explaining things that people don't understand." She explained. "They are but a figment of the imagination." She added. She explained what was needed and now turned back to the boy. What was she going to do with him.

>>"...I’m Twyla. I didn't mean to eavesdrop or anything, I just heard noises.”

Wait, what? They lived in the same mansion and they didn't know each other? Did he miss something? Just how figgin' big was this place?...
Apparently too big for a decent ghost.

Gawain leaned back against the desk and folded his arms over his chest. He found it hard to not stare at Bubblegum. She looked the same as a couple of days ago in the park. Just less cheerful. Well, that was kinda the point. He just didn't expect her to show up... right here.
I'll show up when ya're not lookin'.
He never thought he'd keep that promise.

All right, back on track before she starts suspecting something was off with the ex-ghost.

>>"Ghosts are a way of explaining things that people don't understand. They are but a figment of the imagination."

"Oh, believe me, I'm waaay more than that." he grinned "But ya're right, girl, I'm not dead. I very much alive." he added with a wink. So much about the Halloween game. On to the other one.

"Twyla, huh?" he smirked casually at Bubblegum "You couldn't by any chance be the Twyla my beloved twin sister keeps chattering about? She never mentioned you were a mutie."

She never mentioned she was one either.
But she does chatter about you a lot.

Despite the awkwardness apparent in the girl’s tone Twyla smiled her friendliest smile and replied brightly anyway. “It’s nice to meet you too.” And it was. Obviously she had no reason to think otherwise. In a very matter-of-fact voice Alison proceeded to tell her that ghosts were a figment of her imagination before turning away from her and back to the boy. This drew the blonde’s attention back to him as well. What was going on here?

Twins? That was the explanation she had been waiting so impatiently for? Twins. Really? She didn’t say anything at first, just let the boy finish talking. Part of her wanted to take that as the truth. It sorta fit, right? It explained the extreme similarity in appearance...but at the same time...It was weird, the way he kept randomly reminding her of his ‘twin’. A hand went on a hip in a very feminine way while she cocked an eyebrow slightly. Her free hand went to her lips and fingertips taped them as she thought out her response.

“Maya never mentioned she had a brother either, a twin brother.” She remained doubtful, even if the idea that he was a link to the girl she’d met in the park made her excited and hopeful. It would be nice to see the girl with the crazy ideas and the sharp tongue again (Twyla had yet to find a Saturday to make her way back to that park.). It was a sharp divide–on one hand she really wanted him to be Maya’s brother, how cool lucky would that be? But on the other hand something in the back of her mind remained confused and a bit leery.

So based on his information about her, Boy Maya at least knew regular Maya. Being her brother would account for that too...The vibes she was getting just didn’t make sense...Even when Twyla spent all her time with her brother Nate (from the time she could toddle she followed her older brother like a little shadow) her personality never reflected his as much as Boy Maya’s did his ‘twin’.

Hmmm, what a conundrum this was.

She was a third wheel here. Not part of the group and lousy company. It wasn't as if she was all there to begin with and even if she would she would still make lousy company. She wasn't much off a talker and more of a odd duckling in this school of odd ducklings. That didn't change the situation for the best though. Twyla was already familiar somehow with this boy and he clearly wasn't a very serious person. This was something that her current directiveness couldn't improve. The boy clearly ment no harm seeing as he first of all knew a person here already and secondly would have made his move by now. He was out numbered aswel.

"Oh, believe me, I'm waaay more than that." he grinned "But ya're right, girl, I'm not dead. I very much alive."

Weird statement of the obvious even for her. Yet she did reply confirming what he said. "Correct, you are breathing and your organs still function." She said, bringing more information into this conversation.

She turned around and walked to the bookcases again looking for a new book. That was her second primary objective after bringing books back and she resumed her directory of tasks. When she was consious she already written down a couple of books she wanted to read but couldn't take all of them at once according to the librarian. It was as if she would just let Twyla deal with the young man since she was more familiar with him then her. It was no longer a priority.

>>"Correct, you are breathing and your organs still function."

Okay, one: what was wrong with this chick?
And two: How did she... oh whatever.

Gawain raised an eyebrow as the weird girl turned around and walked back to the shelves. He really felt like asking Twyla what the deal was, but apparently she just met Alison too, so she might not have more information than he'd gathered. Too bad. Gawain liked making friends. Especially girl friends. A girl walking away just like that did not look so good. He made a mental note to try again later.
As soon as he was done dealing with the other problem.

>>“Maya never mentioned she had a brother either, a twin brother.”

What were you expecting? This is Twyla, ya bloody idiot. She never buys the b.s. ya're selling.
With a shrug and a grin™ he turned back to her.

"I guess she doesn't like talkin' about me all that much."
Topic change
"Nice school ya have here. How many muties do they have here?"

Alison turned away from them after telling Gawain that he was indeed not a ghost because his organs functioned and all that good stuff. Twyla didn’t comment on it because she felt awkward and unsure of what the appropriate response to that was. She’d have to find something to talk to the girl about at some point. Maybe she’d track her down a t a meal or something and try to make small talk? Either way, the enigmatic Alison made Twyla nervous and intrigued at the same time.

The Male Maya in front of her was just as intriguing but much more infuriating. I’m sure she doesn’t talk about you at all unless she has to, like now...or something. Because you're not her twin...but you're something.Twyla still didn’t buy into the twin thing, but she let herself be moved onto another topic. It might be worthwhile to drop the subject for a while–the better to startle an answer out later.

“It’s a great school. I don’t know what I would have done without it...” Or my grandmother who is more like a fairy godmother, swooping in when I needed her. Twyla actually had a pretty good idea of what she would have done. She would have stayed at the Sanctuary for a bit longer and then she’d be back to traveling up an down the East Coast on pocket change looking for whatever it was she had been looking for...

“There’s loads of kids here. Obviously I haven’t met most of them though.” A glance at the girl combing the shelves. Twyla thus far hadn’t been good at the whole ‘interacting’ with other students thing yet. She’d met a few people but no one she really called a good friend. “In fact, I find that I’m much better at meeting people randomly in the city.” Another glance, this time directed at the boy in front of her and that was filled with an odd mix of confusion, knowing, and hope.