Sitting in the foyer of the Mansion lay a rather plain looking wooden crate with a bunch of fragile labels in both German and English. While the box is addressed to the Mansion the sender is anonymous and the only information that is given was that it was spent from Black Forest Germany.

Further inspection of the box reveal that the top is rather frayed, as if it was removed and replaced repeatedly. While the labels did state the fragility of the item in question, the crate has been through the ringer. The concerns are smashed in and their a multiple points of impact, where it may have been dropped.

As the box awaits it's owner or anyone to reveal it's contents. The TV from the living echo's down the hall. It seemed to be a report on a odd event where all of the animals of the passengers' pets boarding a plane from Germany to New York were reported to have died on the flight returning to the states. An autopsy report on the pets have revealed that they seemed to be drained of their blood through needle like wounds on their body. Police are investigating the staff for the culprit of this unheard of cruelty to animals.

The News continued in the background while others looked at the odd crate sitting in the middle of the main entrance, yet no one claimed it as theirs. Students begins talking among themselves creating conspiracies and daring each other to open the box. Others swear that they heard movement in the box and say it's a pet or live stock for the dragon to eat.

Rico generally made it a rule to avoid gatherings but there was something off. He could not put a finger on it but something about the crowd of students drew him closer. When Rico got closer he could see a crate, and not the special kind either. No, this one was very plain and common. No different then you would expect to see in the back of a moving truck or a warehouse.

He listened to the students talk about all the wild theory's there imagination could come up with. But Rico was not the imaginative type. Finally one of the young students gathered the courage to start moving towards the crate. "All you guys are a bunch of sissies! I will open it". Before the student took another step Rico shot out his hand to grab the shirt collar of the kid behind his neck and said calmly. "Now hold on just a minute. Call me crazy but I don't think it is the best of ideas to just open up some strange box that appeared out of nowhere."

Some of the students nodded their head in agreement, some did not. One even verbally expressed their opinion. "Your not staff member! Why should we even listen to you"? Rico felt that was a fare point and said as much. "No, I am not a staff member and that is exactly why we should not touch it until one of them says so". Rico wanted the students to listen too reason. But then again Rico did not have a reputation for being reasonable when he first came here. He was not sure how long he would be able to keep the students from giving into curiosity and opening the crate.

Late! Late! Late!

Allegra was late to her first class and she was lost again in this huge mansion. She decided not to even bother looking at the map because she'd just waste time staring at it while getting even more lost. If she had to be a mutant, couldn't she have gotten a sense of direction for a power.

She heard the news and stopped for a second. What a sad story. Allegra was an animal lover and the idea of all those poor creatures sucked dry like vampire victims wasn't making her day any better. There were two reasons Allegra didn't watch the news. It was boring and it was depressing.

Her phone beeped announcing yet another text. She checked to see what her friends from back home were doing. Their texts and phone calls were like a lifeline to her. She felt so alone in this strange place. This time though, it was from her limo driver. Apparently there were a few more of her things that needed to be delivered.

"Just great," she thought. She didn't have enough room for everything she already had. Well, this would be an opportunity for her to get rid of last season's clothes that she wasn't going to wear anyway.

She turned the corner and saw a huge crate sitting in the middle of the foyer. "That was fast," she thought. Allegra saw a group of students standing there arguing with a guy Allegra  guessed was some sort of authority figure. Well, she really wasn't in the mood for authority figures especially when she was afraid this mob was going to steal her stuff. She pushed her way past everyone to get to the crate.

Ok, it wasn't hers. There were a bunch of FRAGILE labels and it came from Black Forest, Germany. Was that even a real place, she wondered. Maybe that's where Hansel and Gretel's witch lived. Curious, Allegra banged on the crate, not realizing there might be something alive in there. Even more, that something might be getting really annoyed with all the chatter and banging going on.

"Be careful or you'll be food for the dragon's food!" a student laughed.

"What?" Allegra asked. "There's a dragon?" With all the strange things going on in this school, she wouldn't be surprised. She ran away from the crate as if it were alive and bumped right into Rico.

"Oh my god. I'm so sorry," Allegra said. "Listen, does anyone know where room 28 is? Home Ec with Mr. Turner."

"I've got class right next door," a student with twenty eyes that swirled and raced around the front and back of his head, offered. "Follow me."

He started walking though it wasn't like he was being rude by turning away from Allegra. With eyes racing around his head, he could see her just as well. Allegra saw he even had a mouth on the back of his neck.

"Okay," she said feeling a little creeped out, but somehow not nearly as nervous as she was standing next to the crate.

"Sorry again," she said to Rico then followed the strange young man to class.

 

The muffled sounds of many voices leaked into Elif’s small cell like confines. She could not understand what they were saying, but it sounded like the same language that the a shape shifter once spoke. She knew that she must be in the school as the voices seem higher pitch than the men that threw her around in transit.

Putting her ear up to the top of the crate, as she tried to get a better understanding of her surroundings. The crate’s arrival seemed to garner a lot of attention as what could be understood as an argument echoed from the outside as they fought over the right to claim the box as there own.

Jumping back as banged harshly vibrated her ear. Rubbing her ears as she looked scornfully at whoever was brute enough to so carelessly bang on a box labeled as fragile. Perhaps they were related to the ones who carelessly dropped her at the airport.

Confident enough about her location, Elif rested on her back and used both of her feet to kick off the well worn top of the crate. The act of the box opening by itself silenced the room, with the only sound being that of the top hitting the tiled floor. Fully standing in the box and stretching her limbs, as she studied the fairly human looking group. Lifting herself out of the box and leaning back into the worn crate to pull out an interesting handheld device she procured from her recent travels.

Hopping back down and turning to face the group that had surrounded her and the crate. Hoping for at least a more diverse assortment of appearances and diversities, but she will have to make do. As these were her soon to be colleagues she should at least make an attempt to be civil as the website stated that one has to live in peace with one another while attending. Giving a light wave to the group as she broke the silence. “ Guten Tag mitschüler, ich bin Elif Schwarzwald”.

Rico did not realize the new arrival pushing her way through the crowd until it was to late for him to react. "I don't think that is a good idea" , he said lowly with a nervous voice as she banged on the box. Low enough a voice that she probably did not even hear him. If there was anything bad in the box it did not react to the woman's reactions.

Rico did not have the luxury of focusing on the woman for long though as another student made a attempt to go near the mystery box. All Rico could do was stick out a arm to bar the students path and shake his head. Out of nowhere he felt a impact on his arm and darted his head to find that the same woman from before had bumped into him.

"Oh my god. I'm so sorry".

From the tone of her voice it seemed a genuine apology so Rico did not hold it against her. He just nodded and said with a monotone voice. "Don't worry about it. Its hard to see anything in this rabble". Yet another student attempted to go near the box and Rico had to move his body to block there path. "You hard to hearing? What did I say about leaving it alone not more then two minutes ago?" Rico was getting rather irritated at this point and wished he had some of those chest harness's with leashes that young children wore sometimes in public.

Turning back around he found the woman was already leaving. "That's it!" Rico barked in frustration. "Everyone leave now!" A voice came out of the crowd and said defiantly. "Bite Me"! Rico could not help but give out a chuckle despite his frustration. He did not know who among the crowd said it but Rico had something to say to that. "Don't tempt me. I will eat you".

"No you wont". Rico turned his head to the left but again did not see who said it. "I will". A final voice chimed in and Rico turned his head to the right. "No you wont. Your always threatening to eat people. You have not done it yet. Yesterday you threatened to eat me six times". Rico shook his head at the situation. He was now starting to realize that his threats of eating people did not carry the effect it use to when he first got to the school. He had no intention of eating anyone and the kids knew it.

Before the conversation could go any further the lid of the crate came flying up into the air from the impact of something in it. The whole room along with Rico went silent in anticipation. Rico watch the creature with mint green skin come climbing out the crate and examined it for a moment. It did not look particularly dangerous in his eyes but the red talons on the figure tips gave him cause for concern.

There also appeared to be some kind of device in its hands. Rico always had a distaste of technology so he always eye that as something to be concerned about. The creature, or woman as Rico had come to realize turned around to look at the group and spoke in a language he did not understand.

“ Guten Tag mitschüler, ich bin Elif Schwarzwald”.

Rico stared for a moment trying to process the words only to shake his head and say in confusion. "I'm sorry. I do not understand you." Not knowing what else to do he made an attempt at communicating by tapping his chest. "Rico."

Elif did not expect much in the mental faculties of the Americans, but this had superseded her expectations by a country mile. She expected them to at least understand her body language, as a wave anywhere would be understood as a greeting or to garner one's attention. Looking at the crowd of slacked jawed individuals one of their number at least seemed somewhat capable as he tried to decrypt her words and actions.

Playing all of her hopes on the oddly tanned man with an equally odd build. Given him the majority of her attention, while keeping taps on the others that whispered among themselves. As the man shook his head and spoke, Elif assumed that he could not understand her as well. Feeling rather disheartened and annoyed by the man’s lack of understanding, his next attempt at first contact only fueled her irritability at the man. Elif’s eyes narrowed as the man tapped his chest while claiming the title of Rico from himself. She was not a cro magnon man or an animal. She knew that everyone has a name to call their own.

“ Armleuchter”. An insult was all Elif had left to say to the man and the equally useless individuals that crowded around her. Making a path for herself, she would get her bearings of the school ground and find someone more competent to question. Looking around as she made her way out of the obstructions that confined her.

The building was rather large, and her knowledge of architecture was limited to say the least. Looking to a large staircase that lead up, seemed to be the best bet to find the more important members of the school as royalty and those of higher status lived above the commoners. However, she could follow the hallway or take to the right or left wings. As this seemed to be the main floor perhaps there might be a library that could give her the ability to translate her language to English. Due to the failure of her first attempt at communication, she decided that a least being able to form a conversation supersedes a second attempt until certain requirements are met.

While she did not care if the drones and the man known as Rico followed her as they are no longer of note to the young girl. Wandering aimlessly around the building like Marco Polo or another incompetent explorer. Elif came upon an interesting looking room. The floors were white and shiny as if the floor was wet. However, as her foot touched the cold stone the floor was dry as a bone. Looking around the room it seemed to be some sort of storage area. Opening the cupboards as draws revealed odd boxes and container of food as well as ceramics. Disappointingly closing the cupboards, her eyes set upon an odd metallic rectangle. It hummed with a low growl as it stared back at her with a screen with temperature and time displayed on the screen. Thinking back to her encounters with the cellular phone and the handheld device she held. Curiously tapping on the screen caused the object to louden and produce cubed shaped objects. “Heiliger Strohsack”! Jumping back and pulling the door open from the shock of the ice dropping out of the door.

Peering into the frigid depths of the food storage device. Elif began to pluck away at the individual items within it’s confines. Her efforts have produced many introducing items from the cold box. Odd cartons filled with the essence of fruits and mammals, odd containers that held all sorts of interesting items like white mush or expired milk. Coming across all sorts of interesting finds such as a Coke a Cola and some Dole labeled items.
 
Laying the items on the counter, as Elif continued to raid the cool device. After her task of examining all of the random packages, she still had many questions about the odd container. Taking hold of an oddly shaped container. The contents were visible on the outside and the label read Heinz, which was a German name, however she was unsure about what Ketchup was. Why would Heinz make such a thing? It looked like blood, but with a more syrup like consistency. Squirting out some of the contents, and dapping a small portion on her finger. It did not have the copper scent of blood nor did it feel like blood.
 
Placing the container back on the countertop and wiping her fingers off. Elif had seen all she deems of note in this storage department. Leaving the area as it was, she continued her search for the library or lexicon. Her form was not looked down upon by those that passed her and she would only receive looks from those that saw her or heard of her arrival.
 
Her escapades in the mansion, did not bore fruit, however she followed the sound of music followed by more words that she could not translate. Following the cheery tone, Elif efforts were met with a room with a set of chesterfields and matching single seated chairs. The atmosphere was more lively than that of the storage room she currently resides in. Taking the king’s position in the room was the cause of the cheerful tone. It appeared to be a larger monitor than that of the handheld device and cellular phone. While Elif did not understand the words that wearing being said, but the bit seemed to be promoting a sort of beverage that humans imbibe.
 
Circling around the room, keeping an eye on the humans that were entranced by the moving picture. Keeping half of her attention on the humans while the rest of her attention lay on the device that seems to have captured the full attention of the humans.