Chapter 1 - The Letter

Mary closed her eyes and let out another prayer. "God, please let my acceptance letter be in here today, please, please, please..." She lifted the charm around her neck up to her lips and gave it a kiss. Then, after opening her eyes, she shook her arms and legs to get the nervousness out of her body. She gently opened the flap of the mailbox outside her house.

Still empty.

"What's going on?" Mary moaned. It had been so long since she applied to Arkham High. According to the school website, the semester was supposed to be starting next week, yet she still had not heard an answer from the school regarding whether or not she was getting in. Neither accepted nor rejected, "academic purgatory" as she described it to her dad.

Others who had graduated from her middle school had already received their responses - all of them were rejected, save one person. Mary knew applying to Arkham High was always going to be a long shot. It was for anybody. They only accepted 10 students every year, after all. Still, she felt confident about her aptitude exam. Everyone in middle school believed she'd make it in. And yet here she was, in front of an empty mailbox yet again.

"Don't lose faith," her dad would tell her whenever she came home after another disappointing day of checking the mailbox. "Your faith has always been your best weapon after all. You never give up on anything you believe in!" It sounded so encouraging at the beginning of summer. However, the leaves on the trees in the yard were turning orange and red by now, and there was still no answer. Her dad's words began to feel more and more out of touch with reality.

"Maybe tomorrow..." Mary whispered under her breath, even as a tear began to form under her eyes. "God, at this point... I just want to know," she prayed as she sat on the sidewalk, leaning her back against the picket fence outside her front yard.

The familiar ding of a bicycle bell sounded down the street. Mary turned to see who it was and immediately jumped to her feet.

"Stella!" Mary yelled, waving at her friend.

"Hiya, Mary," the young girl said, smiling big as she pedaled her bike towards her. A packed messenger bag was slung across Stella's shoulder. "Pretty lucky of me to catch you out here like this!"

"Are you delivering the mail again?" Mary asked.

"You betcha! It really is the best summer job you could ask for. I don't know why you haven't given it a go yet," Stella said, hopping off her bike and kicking the stand in place. "Anyway.. let's see," Stella said, reaching into her messenger bag as her voice trailed off. "Aha! You got a letter!"

Mary's eyes widened as she took the letter into her hands. On the top left corner was neatly typed the address to Arkham High. The tentacle and sword crest sealed the letter closed. This was it. This was the answer to her prayers.

"I'm sure you know what this is," Stella said, chuckling. "I wonder why they sent it so late. I got mine right away."

"Oh yeah, you got accepted yourself, didn't you?" Mary asked.

"I sure did," Stella said, a big smile across her face. "I always thought I wasn't all that talented, but if Arkham High accepted me, maybe I'm wrong about that. Anyway, I've been delivering a lot of these letters all summer. This is the last one I've been given to deliver. Let's hope it's good news." She paused. "Hey! If you're in, we'll see each other on campus together. We can hang out just like middle school!"

Mary clutched the letter tightly. "I sure hope so!" she said, a beaming smile across her face.

"What house did you apply for?" Stella asked.

"Mystic, of course," Mary said. She pointed to the charm across her neck. "I can't imagine being anywhere else."

Stella laughed. "Obviously! Why did I even ask? Can't imagine any other place for Mary Sister, or should I say, Sister Mary?"

"Stop calling me that dumb nickname!" Mary said, waving a hand in Stella's face.

"Hey, if anyone gets to make fun of you, you know it's me! But to let you know, I got placed into Survivor. Not sure what's that all about yet myself. Anyway, good luck, Mary! I got a lot more deliveries to do." Stella hopped back on her bicycle. "If you get in, don't be a stranger!"

"Bye, Stella!" Mary said as her friend rode her bike down the street. After Stella turned the corner, Mary took a deep breath and looked at her letter again. "Thank you, God!" Mary said, touching her charm again.

A still, silent second passed. Then, she bounced up and down into the house, screaming in excitement. "Dad, I got my letter!"

Mary's dad popped his head out from behind a kitchen cabinet. "That's amazing, darling! I knew it had to come in eventually. Are you going to open it now or wait until after dinner? We're having tacos, by the way!"

"I want to open it now, but I'm so nervous!" Mary said as she leapt with her letter into the kitchen. "What if I don't get in?"

"Hey," Mary's dad said, putting a hand on his daughter's shoulder. "You're 14, Mary. You've got your whole life ahead of you. Your future won't be over just because one high school doesn't accept you."

Mary nodded. "You're right, Dad."

"And if your mom was still around, I know she'd be saying exactly the same thing. So you can just imagine that came from both of us," Mary's dad said, kissing Mary on the forehead before returning to the stove.

Mary looked down at her feet. This had always been mom's dream for her, hadn't it? She recalled the first time she brought home that book of spells from the library in the fourth grade. Her mother would just smile at her eagerly reading and reciting incantations in her high-pitched voice and say, "You keep reading those magic books and you're going to be a Mystic at Arkham High some day." At first, Mary thought it was a joke. She was just a little kid, after all. But as she felt her skills grow, she knew her skills were getting stronger and stronger. By the time she was in middle school, there was only one dream Mary could see: getting accepted as a real Mystic at Arkham High and learning how to use her magical abilities to protect the world from the Outer Gods. Mary touched the charm around her neck. "I miss you mom," she thought. "I'm sorry I wasn't strong enough back then."

"Mary? You going to open your letter?"

"Oh, right," Mary said, snapping back to reality. Mary took the envelope and carefully broke the seal. She lifted the flap to pull out a single folded up piece of paper. Hands shaking, she unfolded it and began to read it slowly.

"Dear Mary Sister,

After reviewing your aptitude tests, we have given you the following scores:

Will - 4, Intellect - 2, Combat - 3, Agility - 3."

Mary gasped. A 4 Will. Her spellcasting test went well after all. Her result was on par with other Mystics.

"After much consideration, we are pleased to welcome you to Arkham High."

"I GOT IN!" Mary screamed, running circles around the table.

"Of course, you got in, silly," Mary's dad said, chuckling in front of the stove. "It's been your dream for years and you worked so hard training yourself to pass that aptitude test."

"You can at least act a little excited!" Mary said, slapping her dad on the arm.

"I'm sorry, Mary. I'm very excited for you!" said Mary's dad, smiling.

Mary took a few deep breaths to calm down and shook her arms and legs again. She held the letter up again to read the remainder.

"You are accepted into the Guardian House."


Mary dropped the letter to the ground.

"G-Guardian?" she breathed. "I'm...I'm a..."

"Mary, darling? What's going on?"

"I wasn't accepted to Mystic."

She blinked hard, tears starting to well up behind her eyes.

"I'm a Guardian."