Chapter 1
I watched the fields fly past, barely noticing the unfamiliar scenery. I bit my lip, my thoughts racing faster then the car. I moved my hair to conceal half of my face, hiding from his sight, feeling my cheeks burn, as a retreated further behind my hair. “...Bonns....” His hesitation was worse, he sees me like everyone else does. I peaked out of my hair, sneaking a glace at him. His eyes were steady on the road, focusing on it as he bit his bottom lip too. He was disappointed, ive seen it before, plenty of times really. “You know why you have to go...” ‘have to’ thats what he said last and the time before that, like it made it any better. I took another peak, our eyes met for a second before he looked back at the road. he cant even look me in the eyes anymore. “Is it like the last school” its not even a question anymore. I tried to push myself further onto the seat as there was no answer. Why did i say it? It was pointless. “.. hopefully not...” His answer came out of nowhere, it wasn’t a definite answer this time, he knows it too, it’ll be the same, it always is.
I glanced down at my hands, my first movement in a while. I could hear him flinch. Like he was expecting something bad. Of course he was. I reached into my pocket, sliding out a pair of earbuds, at the very least it will make everything less quiet. I pushed them into their respective ears, flipping open my phone, scrolling down the list of music, i clicked on the third from the bottom, a calm melody started playing through the headphones. I slid my phone back in to my pocket, before leaning my head back on the seat, letting the world slip into darkness.
The darkness, it felt like drifting in water, thick water but water. Its comforting in a way, once you get used to it. I used to dream, now i just end up here when i sleep, hell, it barely counts as sleep, im fully aware, more aware then when im ‘awake’. Not by choice, it whispers to me when im here, tells me things no one should know, not even the gods. But why am i thinking about this? Because its telling me to. And why is it telling me to? I have no idea, all i know is that its usually right....right.....right...that feels wrong, this feels wrong. I should be awake, why did i fall asleep? I definitely did, but why? I mean i was in a car, i never fall asleep in cars. I cant wake up either...no, no, no, i-i have to be able to wake up, i always can..dont let me be stuck here, n-not like....No. Im not stuck, Its not like school, i can leave when im rested, i haven’t slept with in like a day or two, have i? so that must..be...it. yeah, thats it, i just need to rest, just breathe all i need is rest...
i forced my eyes open, shoving myself back up in the seat. the car swerved to the left as dad flinched. he swerved it back as another car came from the other direction, barely missing us as it went past. the car rapidly slowed down, coming to a stop in front of a sign. he was still gripping the steering wheel as he breathing was fast and shallow. my stomach was churning as my legs itched, i looked at the sign and read it three times, probably as a distraction now that i think of it. 'kingston prep, 1.5 km to the left and kinple boys school, 2.5 km to the right'. A boys school? great. not only is there uptight girls, there's the dick weeds too. "are you hungry?" his voice was unsteady, he was still gripping at the steering wheel like it would run away if he didn't. i shook my head, it was still early in the morning, i think. we stayed at the sign for a little longer before he slowly set of again, heading down the left road. a colourful fence lined the side, the multicoloured posts flew by quickly, becoming longer as the car slowed down. a bus blocked the road, a stream of girls filed out. they slowly separated down the multi coloured paths that matched their dresses. one stepped out of the lineup, moving off to the side as she looked in my direction. her curly brown hair was pulled into a high ponytail, and her dress was a greyish blue with a red collar, orange sleeves and tights, blue gloves, a darker blue ribbon wrapped the top of her skirt which had a purple trim. a healer. she stayed there as she seemed to be waiting for something. shes waiting for me isn't she? thats just great. "bye i guess" i muttered, pushing the door open and flopping out. i crouched beside the car as i shoved the door shut. i pulled my phone out of my pocket, flicking it open and scrolling through the list of music again. i picked the third one, toby blinder's music started playing drowning out most of the sounds nature makes. i stood up, pretending to stare at my phone as i waited for the girl to leave. she disappeared for a few seconds before appearing beside me, only making a sound when a stick snapped under her foot. i turned my head to the side to see her standing right next to me. i stepped back, she was way too close, i took out one earbud. "hello" she greeted with a smile. "hi?" i asked, i mean why was she talking to me. "are you new?" she tilted he head to one side. her voice was soft, almost soothing, almost. "yeah" i answered, taking another step back. "do you want help finding the office?" i shook my head "no, i know where it is" i lied, glancing back at the multi coloured path, the colours split of, streaking into separate parts in the school yard. healing, war, fire, sense, instinct, metal, light, tracking, trick, food, luck, nature, illness, peace, sleep, technology, ghost, water, practical, weather, manipulation, change, mind, love, magenta...magenta? That has to be it, i confidently started walking down the magenta path, it steaked down to the back, its end was far out of sight. I kept walking. "Your going the wrong way" her voice came from nowhere, i didn't even know she was following me. "what?" i asked turning to face her. she was right behind me. "the office isn't this way" i stepped back, why does she keep getting so close. "don't they link up?" "nope" well there goes that idea, i let out a long breath "which path is it down?" "the rainbow one" i swear to- "i can take you since im heading down there anyway." she added grabbing my hand and pulling me back down the path, all the way back to the entrance. she kept leading me down the rainbow path. i could see where a couple of the paths led now. the red path or war stopped at a group of buildings, i could see what looked like a arena of some sort. the healer led me through a gate, into a small forest, their were different types of trees and a small pond filled with fish. the rainbow path ended in a small garden that smelled of herbs, other girls were in different parts of the garden, holding small bowls as they picked varying combinations. multiple buildings lined the garden almost like a wall. one had a glowing cross, the med-bay, the room next to it was marked as a bathroom. the healer girl led me to the building across from the toilets, pushing the glass door open. the woman at the desk looked up "morning Freya" she chirped "and i see you have the new student with you" the healer girl or Freya dipped her head down. the receptionist nodded like she understood, and with that she walked out, wandering around the bushes and out of sight. the office lady, a nametag on the desk said Marian, slid over a piece of paper. it was a map of the school, all the areas were marked with its colour and magic type. i looked around the other areas landing at the magenta path. it streaked around the grounds before stopping in the middle, interesting, i focused on the the dark pink path, death magic, it went to the right, stopping at a little square. it appeared to have a garden and a small morgue and crematorium. at least its better then the old school. another paper slid across the desk, a schedule of sorts. the days were split into hour long blocks, some were crossed out, most had names like Melissa, Madeline, Luna, Freya, wait Freya? she's on this list? what even is this list for? "what is this?" just as she opened her mouth to reply a sharp ringing started screaming in my ears as it seemed to bounce around the room. my skin prickled as a dark pink haze coloured the edge of my vision. shit, no, not here, not now. i stumbled back, my feet tangling around each other. a door slammed open, i couldn't see it, my breath caught in my throat as it tightened. the room got darker, morphing into the same shade of darkness.
black. thats it, just black. nothing and no one in nowhere land, or as far as i could see, no idea how far that is though. my breathing was shaky at best but relaxing in a way. then again anything would be when your just floating. theres no floor, just an endless void, up, down left, right. just pure darkness. i moved my foot, or i think i did. its hard to tell with this much resistance. i'm stuck here until i wake up anyway, and just like that, another school will be marked off the list, faster then normal but i guess thats life. its a shame really, this school seemed nice, Freya did too, for a healer. a real shame. i tried to move again, it was like walking through a brick wall. i tried again, nothing. funny, i usually wake up by now. a quiet rumble rolled through the void. that's new...huh. i tried to move again, the pressure around my fingers was lighter now. another rumble echoed through the void, louder, more intense. i wonder whats going on in the 'real world'. screaming? panic? maybe a lockdown? another rumble, even worse then before, the void actually trembled. that's....probably bad. why can't you just wake up? come on wake up. nothing. the darkness stayed just as dark as before. i think this is the longest i've been here, that's definitely not good. another rumble echoed, everything shook worse then before. the pressure around me seemed to dull. i tried to move again, i could actually move a little now. the darkness seemed to change a bit, seeming a little brighter. i'm waking up, finally.
