Cry of the Wolf

Chapter 4: Past the Forest

When Sarah finally made her way out of the forest, she found herself in a great clearing that was cut in a complete and perfect circle. In the farther end of the clearing, stood a tall and dark building, blacker than night, and four floors high off the ground.
Sarah looked it over, underestimating its power that reflected off of it. She peered at each window on the floors, but nothing revealed movement beyond the glass. There was however, only one window that had a glimmer of light rippling in the shadows that tried to hide it.
This was the building that Sarah’s destiny laid upon? Some building that was crumbling almost right before her very eyes?
On top of the building sat two rather large crows that glared down at her suspiciously as if she were trespassing. She didn’t like the way they stared at her, so she began to follow the small dirt path that lead to the building, and after only a few feet, her body lost its chill and instead became rather warm. It was as if the building had opened its arms to her in a welcome, but she didn’t know whether it was a friendly hug, or one that could squeeze her to death.
When Sarah approached the door that the dirt path led to, she stopped in uncertainty, wondering if this was something, she was to be doing. Sarah noticed that there was no door handle on the door, but a rather odd moon shaped hole that intrigued her imagination. She frowned and inspected the door from top to bottom, but it was completely unattainable to get it open.
Sarah was getting slightly desperate now, and she felt tears begin to sting her eyes as she still tried to find a way into the building. When she finally gave up, and slumped against the door, her tears zigzagging down her cheeks. It had been a while since she had cried, but even though she tried to force herself to stop, it was uncontrollable. She began to sob almost hysterically as she dropped her head in her lap, hoping that somehow this was all just a dream, and when she would open her eyes, she would be lying at Madison’s house. Nevertheless, when she peeked through her eyelids, there was still the dark yard of the building, the dew shining brightly from the moonlight. She sighed sorrowfully, her tears forming once again in her eyes, betraying her as they slid down her cheek and onto the dirt path she sat on.

The last time Sarah cried, it was because she had cut herself from falling through the floor of a barn that Sarah, Madison, Nicky and Alex were checking out…
‘So, what is the story behind this place?’ Nicky asked in a hushed voice, looking around her nervously as she held herself.
‘Well.’ Sarah said, glancing over her shoulder at Nicky, Madison and Alex. ‘There was a farmer who owned this farm, and it was doing well until another farm showed up, and it ruined him. It had all of the latest machinery, so the new farm had much more productivity then Mr. Ronald’s farm did, and eventually, it had to be shut down. But, Mr. Ronald didn’t quite agree with it and that night the day before it was going to be taken form him, Mr. Ronald got some fuel and matches, and burned down his barn with all of the animals and himself inside.’
Madison looked around, her eyebrows lifted in interest. ‘He must have sure loved his farm, either that or he was really crazy.’
‘Hey, he wasn’t crazy, he was misunderstood!’ exclaimed Alex hotly, crossing his arms over one another.
‘You’re crazy Alex.’ Madison snapped, keeping her eyes away from his.
‘Explain why I’m crazy then Madison, entertain us with your answer.’
She turned, a smirk forming smoothly on her lips as she sensitively chuckled, placing her hand on the railing next to her. ‘I’m not even going there little boy.’
‘Please stop already!’ Nicky complained, covering her ears and groaning. Madison opened her mouth, probably going to say something sarcastic and nasty to Alex, but then her smirk faded, her eyebrows shifting to a deep frown. Her eyes darted around fearfully, searching for Sarah, and noticed that she was far ahead of the group, most likely annoyed by their arguing.
‘Sarah!’ Madison screamed, pushing past Alex and running up the stairs towards her. ‘Don’t move or you’re going to fall through the stairs!’
‘What!’ shrieked Nicky, her eyes wide with confusion. Sarah paused on the stairs and glanced over her shoulder, and saw that Madison was scurrying her way up to her, with Alex and Nicky shouting things as they followed Madison.
‘What is it?’ she called, taking another step.
‘NO!’ Madison screamed.
It happened so suddenly, Sarah didn’t even realize that she was already beginning to fall, her hands slipping away from the railing. She blinked, her eyes growing wider by the moment, and began to frantically reach out for something, anything to grab, a piercing scream exploding from her mouth.
‘SARAH!’ Nicky cried, turning around on the stairs and beginning to rapidly descend.
The wind rushed through Sarah’s hair and whistled in her ears as she looked up at Madison, feeling as though she were falling in slow motion. Madison was leaning over the side of the railing, her hand thrown outward and a curious white light shining from Madison’s palm. Eventually, the light was too bright for Sarah to keep staring at, so she closed her eyes, and that’s when she hit the ground, with a deafening snap of her bone following.
Her bone ripped through flesh as if it were nothing, and instantly blood began to pour out, and flow across her skin. Sarah’s eyes were glazing over from the fall, but she felt the wetness of the blood on her leg and it frightened her so that she also began to feel the tears falling freely from her eyes. She thought that she might have heard Nicky still screaming her name, but she was too weak to even keep her eyes open, but within the time before she fully passed out cold, she wonder why she wasn’t dead from such a fall. It was rather curious why she had fallen how many feet, and survived with only breaking one bone. But before she could come to a conclusion, her vision darkened, and the pain suddenly disappeared.


The door behind Sarah moved, or at least she thought it had, but she wasn’t too sure. Her senses jolted back to reality, the memory of the pain and horror slowly fading away, hiding in her head once more. She jumped up, ready to run if something were to come out, and wiped the tears that stained her cheeks like bad memories. She waited, and noticed that the wind around her had died out and the animal cries that had been in the woods were now hushed, as if waiting like Sarah.
When nothing happened for a few minutes, Sarah calmed down her racing heart and sighed. No bloodthirsty monster ready to peel her flesh from her skin, or no ghost that would try to scare Sarah to her death. She was about to sit down on the steps, when a hole from where the moon shaped hole began to grow, and finally became a rather large and intriguing opening. It startled Sarah so much, that she nearly fell off the steps and onto the wet grass, but before she could even take a step back or even begin to think about running, a hand reached out and grabbed her by her collar.
She shrieked like she never had before, and it vibrated in her head and even rattled her bones. She wouldn’t stop, she kept screaming even though she heard someone trying to calm her down and make her become calm and tranquil, she wouldn’t listen. Sarah began to thrash out trying to get free anyway that was possible, but the grip was too strong and tightened on her collar that she began to cough and choke.
‘Silence!’ the voice that held her shouted. Instantly, Sarah’s voice disappeared, and only left a distressed scrape in her throat. The person that held her and waited patiently as she began to calm down, her thrashing and kicking ceasing until she finally gave up tired and weary.
‘Finally, now wait as I give you your voice back.’ The voice told her with a slight warning, his breath blowing into her ear and sending a deep chill through her body. He slightly touched her throat, and when a small light appeared, Sarah felt her throat warm and stop hurting like it had a moment earlier.
He let go of her collar finally, after staring into her eyes for what seemed an eternity. His eyes had pierced her like a dagger, his gaze like the red eyes she had seen a few days earlier, so sinister and lingering, stealing every bit of happiness that Sarah had locked up. He had went into her memories, and she physically felt it as he poked around, mocking at what she had thought was personal, and then she knew that he didn’t like her, he never would and was a bitter and mean hearted person.
She had to stare directly at him to realize that this man wasn’t even twenty yet, but also saw that his eyes held many mysterious memories of pain.
He had a significant wound next to his lips, which looked as if someone had gouged him with a nail, and it made Sarah think that maybe this boy had experienced torture. His hair was rather long, was down to his shoulders, and was dark like his eyes. He was quite the tall person, and towered over Sarah, but then again, almost everyone did. Sarah’s eyes once again darted to the boy’s scar, and noticed how it zigzagged and had seemed to bubbled like a burn would have done.
‘Is something interesting about me?’
‘Nothing.’ Sarah lied, adverting her eyes away from the scar and to the floor, noticing a small latch, seeming as if there was a trap door underneath their feet.
‘You are a bad liar, I saw that you were looking at my scar, and do not try and deny it.’ said the boy, looking down on her as if he were better than she was.
‘Maybe you’re interested to know how I got my scar, would you like to know?’
Sarah didn’t know what to say, so instead she didn’t say anything to aggravate him, still keeping her eyes on the small latch in the floorboards. He brought his face closer to Sarah so their noses nearly touched, forcing her to look into the boy’s dark eyes.
‘It was about a year and a half ago, I had a mission to find the secret camp that the dark lord used. I thought they didn’t know I was coming, but they’re smart, oh yes, they are quite the smart people, not something we had intended I might add. As I was spying on them, trying to get any information about what was their plan of attack; the dark lord and his army came and attacked me. He used his sword with the black and red flames and cut my face, but why he didn’t kill me then, I don't know, I’m sure he has good reasons, but I never found them out. However, he did get his followers to torture me a little bit, and it wasn’t very pleasant, let me tell you.’ The boy smiled, but it wavered and then faltered. His eyes went blank and faraway, and Sarah noticed that water began forming in his eyes, but he didn’t wipe it away. ‘Everyday they beat me, they asked me questions, but I wouldn't answer no matter how hard they would use their magic on me. No, I’m loyal to Hillary… I am loyal to Hillary.’
He blinked a few times rapidly, and looked at Sarah, realizing that he had blanked out. She stared, her eyes frightened from the visions he passed to her. No, it was impossible! There was so much pain, it was amazing that he was alive, and standing here in front of her! ‘I’m so sorry.’ Sarah muttered softly. The boy smiled sincerely, because he knew that Sarah thought it was horrible, and he respected her a little more than he had before.
‘My name’s Serge.’
Sarah nodded, and opened up her mouth to reply, but froze her eyebrows falling on her forehead with confusion. ‘Your name is Serge?’
Sarah looked away, thinking where she had heard that name once before, and then it came to her; the vision she had at Anna Souls home. She slowly turned to Serge, eyeing him from his head to his feet. Yes, this was him, and she was absolutely sure about it, there was no denying it.
‘You… you were at Anna’s house, on the night she killed herself. The night that man murdered her family, weren’t you? With another boy who was younger than you.’ Sarah accused.
Serge's eye opened wide with astonishment, and as quickly as possible, he searched through her head. He hadn’t been expecting this, how on earth had she known that he was at the Soul’s home on the night she had killed herself to protect the crystal?
‘What are you speaking of Sarah, how did you get that information?’ Serge asked, backing away from Sarah as if she was covered with some horrible and contagious disease.
Sarah shook her head; her head began to swim as the memories began to flood back. ‘How do you already know my name? this is… I… I saw a vision of it when we were exploring her home. I touched the doorknob to the room where it had all happened.’ She explained hurriedly. ‘This is so messed up, and everything is so confusing.’
‘Then if you want to know the truth, follow me, we’ll explain the situation to you so that you understand.’
‘Who’s we?’ Sarah asked, a little uncomfortable. She didn’t trust this man, but she wanted to have everything explained to her, which was she supposed to choose?
Serge shrugged his shoulders. ‘You don’t have to come if you don’t want to. It’s your choice whether you want to or not, but if you decide you want to know about everything, just follow me, unless your scared of course.’ He taunted, turning away from Sarah and gliding down the hallway. Sarah hesitated for only a moment before chasing after him.
Serge sneered at Sarah over his shoulder and said ‘I knew that you were going to come.’
‘Just shut up and take me to whoever can explain everything Serge.’ Sarah exclaimed. She was determined not to give up now. Serge's mouth opened in awe, because no one told him to shut up, ever, or else he would usually make sure they would never do it again.
He wanted to slap Sarah, to tell her to respect him, but instead Serge smiled to himself, she was surely going to make it into the school, he could tell just by the way her face was contorted into a grim and straight expression. She reminded him of when he was just starting out, innocent and ready to take on anything for Hillary. But to him, it was so long ago that he didn’t even feel as if he was the same person that came for that first initiation and was so excited just to meet Hillary.
His face rapidly lost its smile, and instead, now looking at Sarah, he felt irritated. She shouldn’t be happy about this! There’s nothing special or wonderful about this world, and there’s only pain. It’ll happen to her too, the pain of seeing her best friends suffering just so they could get some information, or being left to die somewhere in a pit of mud thinking you were doomed. Yes, even Sarah Turner will become just like him, everyone did, it was just the way things work.

And as Sarah and Serge climbed the stairs of the building, Madison and Nicky were still waiting at the park. Madison was sure Sarah had made it, but still, she knew of the things that lurked in the forest, and deep in her heart, she was worried about Sarah.
‘Where’s Sarah?’ Nicky asked stubbornly.
Madison glanced at Nicky who was sitting on the tire swing watching her. Nicky was completely confused, because Madison didn’t tell her anything about what was about to take place.
Madison sighed and began to pace once again, and she didn’t notice the dark silhouette creeping along the park unnoticed.
But Nicky did, and nearly screamed out in panic when she had first spotted it, thinking it was a wolf. But when she realized it wasn’t a wolf, but rather a person, she calmed down just enough to tell Madison.
‘Madison!’ she cried, seeing the person going to the fence and seeing how the fence began to glow in its white radiance. ‘There’s someone over there!’ she now screamed, leaping off the tire swing and running after the boy though she didn’t understand why, but she felt as if she had to protect her sister.
Madison spun around when Nicky screamed, and saw that someone was trying to get into the fence, and it was obviously working because the door was beginning to glow. She ran to the fence, hoping it wasn’t someone from the dark side going in after Sarah, because then she knew there would be danger.
‘Hey!’ Madison yelled, but already the hole appeared, and the figure stepped through rather hurriedly. Nicky stopped, but Madison ran against the fence to see the person. He glanced back at Madison, and she immediately knew who it was because his dark brown eyes glowed in the darkness. Her irritation boiled inside as her eyes began to glow just as the Ryley’s did.
‘Ryley!’ she screamed slightly hysterically, her palms gripping the fence so tightly her palm began to bleed. ‘Don’t you dare go there.’ Madison threatened furiously.
‘Then come and get me!’ he yelled back, and ran off into the forest, following the same trail Sarah had. Madison punched the fence, droplets of blood splattering against the fence, and swiftly spun back to Nicky.
‘Nicky, go to my house and tell my mom I had to go in the fence, tell her that Ryley is going to the building, don’t worry, she’ll understand.’ Madison told her all in one breath. Nicky’s jaw dropped as Madison began to chant the poem she had earlier.
‘What! Wait a minute…’
‘Just go!’ Madison screamed. She finished the last of the poem, and scurried into the hole, pausing in her step because Nicky hadn’t left yet. ‘Go now!’ Madison told Nicky before dashing away into the dark woods. Nicky hesitated, fearful of waiting right next to the forest alone, but also terrified telling Madison’s mother some strange news about that boy who got through the fence as well. She shook her head, mystified about all of this.
However, when she heard the eccentric long howl nearby, Nicky turned and ran faster than she ever had done before, not even glancing back to see if anything followed.


Back in the building, Sarah and Serge climbed the stairs to the fourth floor, and with every step, Sarah felt a deep feeling of anxiety coming.
They reached the last set of stairs, and began to climb them without any hesitation. She listened for any sound nearby, but all she heard was the sound of her feet scraping the dust off of the stairs. Even though she was usually nearly silent, Serge was the one who didn’t make a significant sound, making Sarah sound like some clumsy animal. She wasn’t able to see his feet because his cloak fell all the way to the floor and softly trailed behind him, making her think he was gliding on the stairs.
At the top of the extensive and twisting staircase, Serge paused and took in an unfathomable and soft breath. He glanced over his shoulder at Sarah, and saw she was trying to see why he stopped, her intelligent sapphire eyes filled with question. She carefully peeked around Serge's black cloaked figure, and saw that there was only one door in this hallway, which was dark and gloomy, the only lights coming from the stairs that they had just climbed.
‘Okay, here are a few things you might want to avoid when you meet the headmaster.’ Serge said his voice tense and determined. Sarah peeled her eyes away from the door and stared intently up at Serge, not wanting to miss anything that could help her. ‘One, do not speak out of line to her; she distastes the way kids today talk without any manners to others. Two, don’t look at her too long in the eye or else she may end up accidentally hurting you, she’s rather paranoid. Three, she would rather prefer if you had your voice in a whisper rather than screaming at her. And last, do not speak of your mother unless she asks you to speak of her.’
Sarah nodded in agreement, as Serge began to head for the door. He grabbed the handle, knocked gently, then pushed open the door when the voice inside said ‘come in Serge.’
Serge gave Sarah a little push into the room because she was frozen behind him, her body numb with fear and excitement. When they were both in, he softly closed the door behind him, and approached the desk that was across the circular room. The room itself appeared more like a closet than anything else, and had a certain presence that Sarah couldn’t quite tell if it was either good or bad. The floor had long ago lost its paint, and was chipped here and there, and also had certain marks in the floor that appeared like dried crusted blood. Sarah immediately pulled her eyes away from the floor, and noticed that the walls were completely bare and wooden, until she noticed a faint marking in the wood. She tried to read it from her distance, but Serge gave her a small nudge forward, almost making her fall to the floor. She glared back at Serge snappily, then turned her eyes reluctantly to the desk finally, trying not to examine the interesting objects that were placed randomly on the wooden desk.
Sarah wasn’t able to see the person who sat in the chair, because she too wore a black cloak, and had the hood pulled so that it sheltered her face, and only could Sarah see a smile under the dark shadow. ‘Please come forward Sarah, do not be afraid of me.’
‘I’m not afraid ma’am.’ Sarah replied defiantly, and approached the desk, standing next to Serge. She looked up at him, but he wouldn’t turn his eyes to hers, and only watched the hooded women who sat high in her chair. It seemed that the women Hillary, had complete control over him, his eyes not once wavering away from her, his chin high and obedient.
‘Yes, I know you are strong Sarah, and I do not deny your strength, willingness and power.’ she said. Her voice was wispy and soft and almost girlish, not the harsh and demanding voice Sarah had envisioned before entering the room. ‘Though out of plain curiosity, I was wondering whether you recognised my voice or not.’
Sarah frowned, and slowly shook her head, the air in the room seeming to grow warm around her and making her blink uncontrollably. ‘Am I supposed to know you?’
‘In a way, yes you are, or at least, you should. But that woman who raised you has stopped me from getting to know you, until today that is.’ She explained, her smile reappearing and a soft chuckle escaping her lips. She raised her head so that Sarah could see her eyes and most of the features of her face, and what she saw astonished her.
the woman’s eyes were crystal blue as Sarah’s, but weary from age with tiny lines around it. Her nose was diminutive and delicate with a patch of very faint freckles crossing the slope, and her mouth had almost the same shape that Sarah’s had, with the full and shapely curve. A faint strand of very fair blonde hair fell from the hood onto her shoulder, making Sarah’s eyes narrow with curiosity and very much confusion.
Moreover, as Sarah’s eyes dropped to her collar, a light glinted and disturbed her vision. she noticed that chain of a necklace, and hanging on the end was a beautiful, bright gold moon with a sun attached making a round circle with wavy extensions to the sun. It attracted Sarah so much and enthralled her that she wanted to touch it, but kept her hand at her side. She eventually had to bit on her lip to snap her back to reality.
Something was flickering in her memories, something she knew was important, but wasn’t able to see it. It was rather frustrating for to have something she couldn’t figure out, but at the moment, she was still slightly attracted to the necklace. The memory appeared just beyond her grasp, and she wanted to see it because it felt important to her, but it remained a mystery.
‘I see you’ve noticed my necklace.’ Hillary said, a sly smile appearing on her lips once again. Sarah forced her eyes to look back into the women’s, though she didn’t want to. why wouldn’t she stop staring like that, that odd smile unmoving on her lips and those eyes twinkling with mischief, why was she still doing it? ‘Yes, it’s rather a rare piece of jewellery that I’ve had since I was twelve years old, and I cherish it very much.’ She paused to admire it almost greedily the end piece clenched between her fists, but then she sighed letting it fall back onto her collar once again. ‘I’m sorry; I’ve completely forgotten my manners. My name is Hillary, and I’m the headmistress of this school.’ Sarah had figured out her name was most likely Hillary before, but kept her mouth shut not wanting to seem like she was better than her.
‘Pardon me, but what school?’ Sarah asked, trying to sound polite, though her teenager thoughts were ready to burst out from her lips. Hillary laughed.
‘Why Sarah, you’re in it at the very moment.’
‘You mean, this is a school? I’m sorry, but I’ve never heard about it before.’ Sarah explained, beginning to twirl her hair as her mother did when she was nervous. She hoped that she wasn’t displeasing Hillary, the words that Serge had spoken earlier repeating in her head.
‘Oh, it’s not like any ordinary school that you have attended before. it’s… special.’
Next to Sarah, Serge smiled, but Sarah still didn’t understand anything that was happening. Her legs were beginning to get cramped from standing so long, and wished she could have a chair to sit on.
‘Oh, I’m sorry once again, you may sit on that chair that’s behind you.’ Hillary told Sarah, shaking her head as if she were disappointed at herself. ‘Now, where to start? This school takes in students that have shown that they have magic, or anything similar to what we teach. They may do well with magic and using weaponry such as swords or arrows or they maybe better at being a thief and the martial arts, not everyone is the same. Most come from families that are pure blood vampires, wizards or witches, but some do come from families that have normal parents.’ Hillary explained slowly, examining Sarah’s expression the whole time. She didn’t want to rush her into things that might confuse her and scare her.
Sarah stared at the women, thinking about what she had just told her, but didn’t say anything yet. She wanted more information before she could jump to conclusions. Was it maybe not a coincidence that when she was younger, she could move things with her mind? In addition, that she and Madison both had some sort of extraordinary talent, whether anyone wanted to believe it or not? Those thoughts she pondered, her brows folded into a frown as she bit on her lip, considering them significantly. Hillary saw that she waited for her to continue, her eyes completely focused on her own.
‘Let’s see, how to explain this to you… Sarah… you’re a...’ Hillary paused and took a deep breath, then continued. ‘You’ve got magic in your veins Sarah, powerful magic. You see…’
the door that Sarah entered flew open and slammed against the wall, causing the graveyard silence to split. A boy took a few steps in, glancing at Serge, Hillary then Sarah. He nodded to Serge and Hillary, who in turn nodded back politely.
‘Hey!’ Sarah exclaimed fervently. ‘You’re that boy who ran away from me, you just moved into that house near the Blue Park.’
Hillary’s eyes widened with expression, and her hands twitched nervously on the desk. She looked Ryley in his eyes, and saw that it was true as he avoided her penetrating gaze. ‘Ryley, can you explain this to me?’ she asked, trying to keep her voice low and friendly, though her teeth were clenched inside her mouth.
He shuffled his feet unconsciously, as he lowered his piercing dark eyes to the floor. ‘She said the truth Hillary, but it was accidental. She saw me outside my new home, and chased me to the gates like some mad women.’
‘Yeah, and then you climbed the fence. It was so remarkable.’ Sarah blurted, her cheeks flushing from the memory.
Hillary glared at Ryley. That boy needs to learn some discipline if he wants in here, she thought as he glared back rebelliously, his eyes meeting hers as if challenging her.
‘Oh, I think Madison is coming as well. She saw me enter the gates, and chased me after sending the other girl away.’ Ryley stated. ‘She’ll be here any second.’
‘Fine, we’ll wait before we continue to explain this to Sarah.’ Hillary said, leaning back in her chair, watching Ryley passionately. She didn’t like that boy at all, she didn’t like the way his eyes were so dark and were always set in a glare, and she hated the way he always spoke with swears to her. he thought that he was a tough cookie, but wait until he started his semester, she was sure that eventually, he would break and explode out in tears of frustration. Everyone always tried to get out in the end, because it wasn’t fun anymore, it wasn’t a game anymore, but rather real life where you could get hurt and bleed. And there was no ‘game over, want to play again’ screen where you just put another quarter in the slot to start over.
Sarah stared at the boy Ryley who just entered curiously, and when he turned his blazing eyes to her, she felt as if he burned her. ‘Stop staring at me.’ He growled at her, crossing his arms over one another.
‘Shut up Ryley, or I’ll make you if I must, though it would be my great pleasure to do it.’ A voice said from the doorway. Ryley jumped, spinning around to face Madison. He growled again, his cheeks turning crimson as Serge laughed at his stupidity. Madison placed her hands on her hips and entered the room, a sneer placed on her lips.
‘You are so predictable Ryley, you haven’t changed all these years after all, still the scared little boy who cried any chance he got.’ She said mockingly, eyeing him out as if she were better than he was, her nose pinched and held high.
‘And nor have you I see, still the flirty bitch you always have been.’ Ryley flared angrily.
Madison froze. ‘I’m a what?’ Madison asked. Ryley didn’t reply, probably thinking it was much safer to keep quiet around Madison, Sarah thought as she watched, her interest between the two growing. ‘No, please repeat it once more for us. I would just enjoy hearing it again. What was it, a flirty bitch I think? I think you should watch your tongue before I rip it out and feed it to my dog, or even the crows because your tongue doesn’t deserve the teeth of my dog.’ Madison hissed, moving closer to Ryley.
Sarah stared in awe at Madison, for never before had she seen Madison so angry like this before. it thrilled her, and made her friendship with Madison strengthen in some way that she didn’t understand yet, because for once, Madison was not flirting with a boy as she usually did.
‘Madison, Ryley! Calm yourselves down immediately, or I shall do it for you!’ Hillary bellowed. The two fell silent instantly, but Sarah saw how their eyes still blazed so overpoweringly.

There was only one time Sarah had ever seen Madison’s eyes so passionate like that before. Actually, it was the day that Anna had blurted to the teacher that her father beat her, but now Sarah only knew it was a cover up.
As soon as Anna went to the teacher’s desk, she glanced over at Madison, and mouthed ‘I’m sorry.’ Then she started to cry and sob almost hysterically, but real enough for someone as stupid and ignorant as their teacher to believe. Sarah had turned to Madison to see if she had understood what Anna had meant, but instead was blasted by a forceful glare that physically hurt her. she had tried to get in eye contact with Anna, trying to stop her from revealing it to the teacher, but instead had hit Sarah, whatever force it was.

Something similar had happened to Sarah once, though long ago that it felt like the memory didn’t even belong to her. And whenever she thought about it, instead of looking upon the memory from her own eyes, it was as if she were watching it from another body, seeing her own reactions from a different perspective.
In the second grade, a boy had started teasing her because she was a tomboy instead of being a girl and crying when he would hit her. However, because she wouldn’t cry, but only get right back up and push him back, he became more aggressive to her.
Leonard, which was his name, was one of those boys who thought men were the rulers, and women were just old housemaids and that their only purpose was to have children, and take care of their husbands. So when Sarah and Nicky did the things that boys did, like play wrestling in the mud, or sneak into the forest, he got a little rough because he told them that was things only little boys were supposed to do.
He started grabbing Sarah by the hair, slamming her into the walls when he passed by, and even punched her in the face a few times. Sarah had tried to keep her anger that bubbled inside of her down, because she knew that if it came out, Leonard would be in deep trouble. Nevertheless, eventually, he pushed his limits when he stole something from her bag, something that was like a precious jewel to Sarah.
The memory now rushed back to Sarah, making her dizzy. She closed her eyes trying to make the room stop spinning, and when she opened them, she saw that she was in her memory, just like when she was at Anna’s home.
Sarah was in the second grade classroom, a smile creeping onto her lips. All the horrible drawings that they did were pasted on the walls, and scribbles of words were on the blackboard next to her. She saw the little backpacks around the square desks with cute little pictures of the Power Puff Girls and Pokemon. She nearly giggled with their childish habits that she now found rather embarrassing.
Only then did she notice the petite blonde girl who was arguing with the boy that she remembered as Leonard. The girl had a light patch of freckles across her checks and such large light blue eyes that it made her open her mouth in amazement of such beauty and innocence in just one child. Her eyes were frowning and irritated as she glared at Leonard, who pulled at something in between them.
Leonard though, was chubby back then, his face round and almost piggish looking, his fat looking hands tight around the object both were trying to win.
‘Give it back Leonard, it’s mine!’ the girl screamed, pulling at her precious necklace. Sarah saw that it was her own dragon necklace that she still had and wore, and it surprised her. How could she not realize earlier that the little girl who stood not even a foot away was in fact herself?
‘Hey, stop it!’ Sarah said, reaching out for Leonard’s collar. Her hand went right through his body, causing him to cease on his pulling and shiver as if she had made him suddenly become cold. Sarah just about screamed watching as her hand went right through the boy’s body, and pulled it back hurriedly. She noticed Leonard shook his head blankly, then straighten up and begin pulling even more urgently, as if he were afraid the cold shock would come back.
Sarah saw how her own eyes were becoming much angrier, her teeth beginning to clench, and Sarah could almost remember how she felt inside. Bitterly annoyed with this boy who had no respect towards her, or her property.
Madison, only much younger leaped up and began to yell at Leonard to stop, but it wouldn’t work at all.
‘I don’t care!’ yelled Leonard at Madison. ‘I want this necklace right now!’
‘No!’ Sarah said, her voice going lower. Madison glanced at Sarah, and saw she was backing away, her lips curved in a devilish smile. Madison must have known what Sarah was about to do, she could just see it in her eyes, the blaze that made her blue eyes glow with the magic that was surely in her veins.
‘What are doing? Why are your eyes doing that?’ Leonard asked. He was gazing at Sarah’s eyes unemotionally, confused by the alteration of her eyes. However, it wasn’t for long, because soon little Sarah had closed her eyes, and let go of the necklace.
Leonard though, didn’t move, for he was too transfixed with watching Sarah as she began to shake intensely and uncontrollably.
‘Miss, Miss! Sarah’s scaring me!’ Leonard cried, trying to move away apprehensively. ‘Let me go Sarah, she won’t let me go!’
All of the class was watching now, childish excitement exploding in cries around Sarah. The teacher was asking if Sarah was all right, but neither child, nor preteen could hear her.
‘I… WANT… MY… NECKLACE… NOW!’ the young Sarah screamed, her eyes squeezed tightly. In her hands, Sarah saw a ball of black magic appearing in her palms, and before Sarah could even try to stop it, she threw it at Leonard in a hysterically rage, a whirlwind of air blowing around her.
Leonard flew backwards into the group of kids that were standing behind him, knocking all of them to the ground.
Little Sarah’s eyes opened, the colour back to their normal cool shade, a look of fear of what she had done traced it. She was breathing rather hard, and looked down at her hands, still feeling the tingling awareness and warmth she had a moment ago. Leisurely she brought her eyes to Madison’s, and saw that she was not shocked or screaming like the rest of the class, but was smiling, her head bowed. Madison nodded slowly, as if to say, ‘you’ve done well, couldn’t have done better myself.’

Sarah’s eyes snapped open, and she was breathing in heavy gasps that were inaudible to the people in the room around her. Her hands were somewhat trembling, but it began to cease as she kept taking in deep breaths to calm her nerves.
She rested her head on the back of the chair, and watched as Madison and Ryley began to argue once again.
‘Do you ever stop talking?’ Ryley cried, throwing his hands up in protest.
‘Of course you stupid jerk, now will you please shut up yourself so Hillary can continue?’
‘Both of you, be quiet! Sarah is most likely confused about this information that I had given her, so let me explain it to her.’
Once again, Madison and Ryley both fell silent and turned to face Hillary.
For a moment, Hillary was silent, still hiding her face amongst the shadows of her cloak. Then she gave a deep throaty sigh and placed her head on her hands, staring at Sarah from the safety of her shadows.
‘Like I had said before, you have very powerful magic within you, and I’ve brought you here so that I could maybe register you for my school.’
‘But you don’t seem to understand that I’m already registered at Grand Valley district public school, I can’t just change without my mom knowing.’
Everyone in the room laughed at what seemed like her stupidity, though she didn’t understand what she had said to make them laugh at her, though it did rather upset her.
‘Oh Sarah, you still have much to learn.’ Hillary quipped, her laughter still haunting her words. ‘Sarah, my school does not run during the daytime, it is at night, when the clock strikes twelve times, that’s when it begins.’ Hillary tried to explain.
‘How can a school start at midnight? That’s impossible.’ Sarah exclaimed, shaking her head in confusion.
Hillary glanced at the others in the room, wishing that this conversation would go better. She sighed heavily, and closed her eyes.
‘Sarah.’ Madison said, stepping next to Sarah and kneeling down at her chair. ‘This school, witches, vampires and wizards all come here to enhance and control their magic. It’s at night because no one knows about it, and those magical people get the gift of no sleep, so that’s how their able to go to this school, do you understand?’
‘I think so… so what am I then? A witch or a vampire?’
At this, Hillary pulled her entire face back into the shadows and grunted a remark. ‘You are both vampire and a witch, your mother is a witch and your father is a vampire.’
‘What? But why is it that I never heard about this before, surely they would have told me about this?’
No one spoke in the room, but looked away from Sarah rather uncomfortably. She knew that they weren’t telling her something, but she wasn’t able to see what hid in their faces.
‘Your parents, they didn’t want you to ever know about this.’ Hillary said regaining her composure. ‘They thought that if they didn’t tell you about my school, then there was no need to watch you grow up to become a powerful vampire. However, they didn’t know just how powerful you are, and it was much too hard to hide it very long. Surely, you remember all those times that something rather odd happened without any explanation, don’t you?’
Sarah took in what Hillary said to her, and thought about all the times she wasn’t able to explain something. But, now that Sarah thought about it, Hillary’s voice sounded relatively familiar to her. She frowned and looked upon Hillary’s face once more, now noticing how she looked so much like herself.
‘Who are you?’ Sarah finally asked. She only faintly heard Madison suck in air. Serge frowned and began to twist his hands around each other nervously, but Hillary stayed calm, not blinking as she watched Sarah with a beam upon her lips.
‘Why nobody special of course, why do you ask?’
‘I’m just curious, because I swear I heard your voice talking to my mother once. And I just find it quite captivating that it sounded so much like your voice, when that voice had mentioned that my mother was their child.’ Sarah accused, not taking her eyes off of Hillary’s shadowy hidden face.
Hillary pulled straight, and turned her gaze to Serge, hoping he would somehow correct this situation. However, Serge kept his eyes away from her own, not even daring to step into this mistake. Damn, she knew now that she was trapped, why did she have to interfere at Sarah’s house? Well, now it was much too late to take back the past, because if she could, there would have been many things that she wouldn’t have done in her life.
‘Well, it seems that even I can make a mistake or two in my life.’ Hillary said, chuckling nervously. Everyone was avoiding her eyes as she tried to lighten the situation, looking at the pointless woodchips in the wall, or a small hole in the floor. She cleared her throat, and began to pull her hood away from her head, revealing her softly lit face.
There were only faint lines of age around Hillary’s crystal sapphire eyes, but other than that, the resemblance between her and Sarah was completely unmistakable. Sarah’s lips slowly opened with amazement and bewilderment, her eyes scanning over every line of Hillary’s face.
‘Sarah, I didn’t want you to find out now, but… I am your grandmother, and Hope’s mother of course too.’
‘But… I don’t understand, why didn’t my mother ever mention you before?’ Sarah stated, shaking her head.
‘Your mother and I never quite got along well I suppose.’
Madison moved closer to Sarah, and whispered in her ear, ‘Do you remember when you found that aged picture in your mother’s drawer? The woman holding the child was Hillary, holding your mother.’
‘Really? So, all this time, you were practically just around the corner, and I wasn’t allowed to meet you? Just because my mother didn’t want me to become the vampire I was born to be?’
Hillary nodded, her face more peaceful now and her hands resting tranquilly on her desk.
‘So, now that you know you are to become a vampire, here’s the real important information.’ Hillary closed her eyes and took a long deep breath, and when she decided what would be best to say, she opened her eyes and stared at Sarah. ‘I am the strongest witch that this world will ever know, and that’s why I was able to nearly destroy Vladmire one fateful day. Vladmire is an evil dark wizard that plans to take over the world, and have it fall under his rein and destroy everything pure and beautiful, of course the classic murderous villain who tries to take control. We battled in the land of Foria over the seven crystals. The seven crystals are very rare and dreadful key that will open the door to a room that holds powerful magic, which can either help, or destroy the world if they are in the wrong hands. I had three in my possession, and amongst them, the first and strongest crystal. Vladmire had the other four with him, and then attacked me, trying to get mine so he could open the door. However, I wasn’t about to let him win that easily, I used the most powerful crystal, which is the silver crystal on him, and it nearly brought him to his downfall. I knew he wouldn’t die that easily, so I took his crystals, and came to this world to learn about the crystals that I held. I should have gone to the Glikar ruins and opened the door to the magic, and I should have killed Vladmire with it, but I was afraid of what I might become with such enchantment in my possession.’
‘So, what did you do then? Did you just destroy the crystals so no one would ever be able to open the door?’ asked Sarah, who was leaning on the edge of her seat about to fall forward if she moved any closer.
‘No, I didn’t destroy the crystals, but I should have done that as well. Instead, I went to a philosopher in Foria, and ask what should be done.’
‘What did he tell you?’ Sarah asked in a low whisper, afraid to disturb the presence that Hillary had put on all of them.
‘He told me, that there would be someone who would be able to open the door, and use the crystals for good without ever thinking about using it for their own purposes. I asked him, who was it, because I would go look for them no matter how far I would have to travel. He just smiled, and said that the person did not even exist yet, but they would be born from my own blood. I remembered these were his exact words to me ‘She shall be a young pretty girl when her journey starts, so full of innocence and happiness, her hair the colour as the sun, and as soft as the clouds in the sky. Her eyes will be the shade of blue diamonds, and though she lacks height, she shall be more powerful than anyone ever before, even you master Hillary.
‘Do you know who I am speaking of Sarah, or shall I continue?’
Sarah’s eyes narrowed and flicked from Madison, to Ryley, then Serge and finally back to Hillary. She wanted to make her guess, but what if she was wrong? She hated when she ended up being wrong, no matter the cause.
‘Is the person… me?’ she finally whispered delicately, hoping her guess would be correct instead of embarrassing herself. Hillary didn’t move for a moment, but then could hold no longer, as she beamed at Sarah, and gave her granddaughter a considerable nod. ‘But… I…’
‘Let me finish this story first Sarah, then you can ask as many questions that you desire. nevertheless, the philosopher, he continued by saying that I must break the crystals into pieces, and spread them within Foria and here.
‘He told me of some rather brave people that could hold the largest pieces of the crystal, and the rest will decide where to lie in wait for the one who will put them back together once again. But, there was one crystal that would not be broken, that absolutely refused to be split apart and to be put in just ordinary people, and that crystal was the silver crystal. So, I thought I could put it inside myself, but it wouldn’t even accept my body for its resting place, and then I knew, it had to be put inside someone with powers that even I wouldn’t be able to hold, and that person Sarah, is you.
‘When you were born, I went to the hospital to see you, and when your mother was asleep, I placed the crystal in your fragile little body, knowing that one day that body would hold the key to the destruction to the world.’ She finished her story with a slight but reliving sigh, and placed her chin on her hands as she observed the people in the room with her. No one had heard that story before, not even Serge had heard all of it, so all of them looked really fascinated as they watched her. She loved having all attention on her, and couldn’t resist the smile that formed on her full rosy lips.
‘I… have… a… magic… crystal… inside… of… me, the… most… powerful… crystal? I’m… the… one… who… has… to… open… the… door… and… stop… Vladmire… from… destroying… the… world? Me, little, cocky Sarah Turner? This is impossible, there’s a camera in here or something, isn’t there?’
‘This isn’t a joke Sarah!’ Ryley shouted. ‘If you think this is a complete joke, then maybe we should take the crystal from her and just hide it somewhere safe in Foria until we get the other crystals.’
Madison spun around and towered over Ryley, her face red and her hands clenched into tight fists. ‘You stupid little ignorant little brat, didn’t you hear anything that Hillary just said? It won’t go into anyone else unless it’s Sarah, and you should know that if a crystal is just left somewhere, Vladmire will be able to find it so much easily because it wants to be found. How much more stupid can you be?’ she spat furiously, growling like some wild beast that roams the night like a hawk.
‘If you call me a stupid ignorant brat once more, I will be forced to use my magic on you!’
‘Go ahead, it won’t work because we haven’t even begun training yet, so give it your best shot Ryley.’ Madison challenged, glaring heatedly at Ryley. He bit on his lip, knowing what Madison had said was true, but he wouldn’t let a girl rule and embarrass him.
‘That’s enough!’ Serge yelled, stepping in between them, but Ryley only ignored his presence.
‘Let them be Serge, they need to work this out themselves.’ Hillary advised, watching with pure curiosity of the outcome.
In a deep and echoing voice, Ryley said the only kind of magic he knew. ‘Energy ball!’ A blast of wind surrounded his feet, and made his clothes and hair fly out around him. In his palm, which he had raised only a moment before, was a dark red and black ball, growing bigger with every passing second.
‘Argh!’ he cried as he pulled his hands away from the magic, and regaining his balance as it flew at Madison. Her eyes widened within the second that she had before it hit her, making her whole body fly right off the floor and over Hillary’s desk. She hit the wall and collapsed onto the floor, tears stinging her eyes like acid.
Sarah ran over to her friend screaming her name, and gave her a hand to help her up. Madison staggered when she stood, and her vision was rather blurry, but she did see Ryley through the haze, and began to step, though very crooked, towards him.
‘What are you going to do now?’ he asked, cocking his head to the side and sneering at Madison as she slowly approached, her eyes mysterious and flashing and nasty.
‘When I was little, my mother and father thought that the martial arts would be a good thing for me to learn because I was going to be a vampire when I was older. So they got Hillary to get the best teacher for me, which was in Foria, and I learned how to fight just like him, and rather well too I might add.’ Madison informed, standing taller and taking her fighting position. ‘So, since you used that little magic trick on me, thinking you’re so smart, I think I’ll use my skills, and believe me, I will win, no matter how much magic you learned as a child.’
Ryley’s sneer slipped away from his face, and his crossed arms fell from their positions, and he began to gradually step away from Madison. Serge chuckled slightly at the fear that was coming into Ryley’s dark chocolate eyes, not trying to hide it either.
Madison took a long deep breath, and concentrated on Ryley, and only Ryley blanking out everyone else in the room. Then she charged, leaping at him with such grace that Ryley didn’t even have a chance to gasp or cry out in despair. Her hands were so fast that they were only blurs to the untrained eye, and to Ryley, he could only feel her swift moving hands hitting any part that was revealed of his body.
‘Okay Madison that is enough.’ Serge mumbled, his eyes mischievously glinting and his voice slow and bored. Nevertheless, Madison kept hitting Ryley, like a hot passion. Ryley, who was desperately blocking his face and crotch so he wouldn’t be so badly hurt, screamed at Madison. ‘Get off me before you kill me!’
‘Enough!’ Serge and Hillary cried together, both stepping towards the two, now in a slight panic because Madison wouldn’t stop. Ryley fell against the wall, his eye already swelling and his lip cut open and bleeding like crimson tears. Sarah leapt up, and grabbed Madison’s shoulder before Serge or Hillary would he able to, because Sarah just knew that Madison would hit either one. Moreover, for some odd reason, the response to her defensive attack didn’t form in her head, and she knew that wasn’t good.
Madison tried to fight Sarah, reaching for Ryley with such desperation that it nearly overwhelmed Sarah. Behind Sarah, Hillary raised her palm, and murmured something indistinct under her breath. Madison immediately fell limp in Sarah’s grasp, and slumped to the floor while Sarah still tried to hold her friend up.
‘What did you do?’ Sarah cried, slowly bringing Madison to the floor. Ryley wiped the blood on his lips and sneered.
‘It’s a simple method in which it makes the person fall under temporary paralization , but too bad she didn’t do more to her.’
‘Now I see why Madison dislikes you so, you just keep pushing the limits and make everyone around you edgy.’ Sarah hissed, leering darkly at Ryley.
‘Do not speak about things you can’t even begin to understand Sarah.’ Ryley warned quietly. Hillary waved her hand angrily at him, and he fell silent.
‘Wake Madison.’ Hillary muttered, moving her hand over her face. Sarah noticed that Madison’s eyes followed Hillary’s hand, and then suddenly she gasped and jolted upward. Hillary smiled, and moved away from Madison’s frail looking body. ‘I think, it is time for you three to be heading home, if I’m not correct, your parents are rather worried. Now, off you go, and this time Sarah, do not follow any strange lights, it may just end up in your dismay.’ Her eyes twinkled mischievously as she and Serge exchanged glances, and within that second that passed between them, she knew she had somehow done something good. As long as she was still in advantage, she was cheerful. Nevertheless, she still wanted some things to be answered to her, but she supposed it could be held off for another day.