The Thickety: Spellbound Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1



“Paula, wake up!”
Paula opened her eyes. The bed was fine, but the person on it was a problem. Tau couldn’t wake up without annoying her. It was a daily routine. But he was her brother. So, she was able to forgive him.
“All right Tau, I’m waking up!” Paula said as she woke up as she did each morning. Her face was pale and white. Her blonde hair, however, was slicked down. Her sweater was gray, and had a red flower embroidered on it, the same color as her eyes.
Her room had a red bed, but other than that the entire room was gray. It was all in Paula’s orders. She, did not want to be those people who had either black or white rooms, those…
Paula stopped. She didn’t know much about the day she disappeared. How could she blame anyone for that incident? There was no body to be found. There was no proof that she was murdered.
“Rise and shine, carmine!” her father said. Vince Cosgrave’s smile was infectious. However he hadn’t shown it ever since Her disappearance
Then, Paula went outside to wait for the bus. She looked at the forest, and for a moment she swore she had seen two eyes. They looked red, and for a moment they looked like Her.
Stop, Paula thought. You’re overthinking again.
After that, Paula brushed it aside and went on the bus for De’Noran academy. It soon arrived, and all the other kids went along.
The ride was normal. All the kids were happy and had bright faces, except Paula. She was talking with her friend, Vanessa. No one seemed to talk to her, because of her muteness.
When Paula was around, she was calm and composed. They stuck together like pieces of a puzzle, which led to them being official schoolmates as declared by the Overseer.
And no one questioned the Overseer.
I was wondering about what you saw in the woods, she said. It had taken years of practice to make her fingers line up with the word she wanted to say. This sign language was ancient, apparently.
“I knew what I saw in the woods was real, and I had proof, but it got lost.” Paula reiterated. She did have a picture, but she didn’t know where it was. And besides, it was blurry. The creature’s picture was made fast before it sensed her.
Today, Paula thought, would be a normal school day. She felt good as she walked through the gates of De’noran academy.
But when she walked in, everything was wrong. The wall was on fire, the room was filled with a black substance, and there were men in purple clothes. The Overseer’s insignia was on the men: a bright purple eye with a question mark in it.
They were fighting off a person.
A person who was fire.