Paranormal

“Never be afraid to try something new, because life gets boring when you stay in the limits of what you already know”

-unknown

The supernatural; ghosts, ghouls, vampires, werewolves, witches, and much more dark, mysterious creatures that some believe lurk around in the shadows.

The mystical; fairies, elves, trolls, unicorns, dragons, and many more creatures that are made of mostly magic.

Some have been face to face with them and others hide oblivious to the things that go bump in the night. The thing is no one can be one hundred percent sure they do or don’t exist. No one knows if the people who swear they’ve seen something are crazy or if the ones who haven’t are just unlucky. Though depending on the creature it’s probably lucky.

You can believe it or not. It just doesn’t seem possible, maybe because I haven’t seen anything to make me think otherwise.

Or maybe I just don’t want to look crazy.

A hand slammed on my desk. I look up to see Mrs.Wilson, my history teacher. She was tall and her hair was dark black and her skin pale white.

She wasn’t happy.

“Now, Mr.Graves I’m wondering exactly what you are reading that would cause to not to pay any attention to my lesson,” Mrs.Wilson said, her ruthless gaze piercing into my eyes.

Mrs.Wilson was the scariest teacher I’ve ever had and one of the most boring too, but when she’s mad she’s a ticking time bomb ready to give out the worst punishments.

“I’m so sorry Mrs.Wilson I was reading a book and it ended up being more interesting than your lesson. Were you calling on me?” I asked innocently.

A few chuckles broke out and Mrs.Wilson, turning angrier by the second, looked around the classroom, silencing everyone.

If I wasn’t careful things could take a turn for the worse, but I was okay with risking getting detention.

“Yes, I was. I would like to know something about the American Revolutionary War.” Mrs.Wilson replied, getting a smug look on her face.

To be honest I haven’t paid any attention to the lesson but I did know that wasn’t what we were learning. I wasn’t worried I was the top student in all my classes, though Mrs.Wilson doesn’t know that because she just started teaching about two weeks ago.

“The American Revolutionary War took place between 1765 and 1783 and was fought between the colonists in the thirteen colonies and Britain. But, um, Mrs.Wilson are you sure we’re learning about that topic?” I asked.

Mrs.Wilson showed a small hint of shock when I answered but didn’t say anything else. I assumed it was because we weren’t learning about the American Revolutionary War and realized she would just embarrass herself if she asked anything else.

The class continued and I went back to reading, listening to the lesson every once and a while. I saw Mrs.Wilson look over at me a few times, upset I was still reading but didn’t tell me to stop.

Luckily this was the last class of the day.

Later that evening, I found myself home alone. A note from my mom saying she was on a business trip to a different country. This wasn’t unusual, she mostly works or spent time traveling, either way, I’m home alone a lot and the older I get the more she isn’t here.

It didn’t bother me though. I was fine staying home alone.

Having nothing to do I decided to go for a walk and thought it’d be good for me. The sun was beginning to set as I walked through the streets of my neighborhood and after a few minutes, I found myself a the city park’s gate. There was still some light out and I decided to walk around in the park. Not many people were around and everything seemed quiet. A strange quiet.

The dirt path is outlined with bushes and trees and the occasional trash can or bench.

Tired from walking I sat down on a nearby bench, it was dark now and I had school the next day. After a small break, I stood back up and began to head back home.

Suddenly an ice-cold chill ran down my spine and I suddenly realized just how quiet the park was. Nothing made a sound. Everything was still as if it were holding its breath or frozen in place.

My heart started to beat fast and my breathing quickened.

I knew there was something wrong here, something strange, but I didn’t want to stay long enough to find out what it was. I quickly started walking back home.

When I reached the park exit I got a strange feeling something was watching me though when I looked around I could see no one there and shook the feeling off.

Maybe I was just nervous about something, but as I thought about it there was just something too weird about this that made it hard to believe that my mind was playing tricks on me.

When I got home I went straight to bed. Sleep never felt so good.

The next day, in the first period, our teacher, Mr.Wood, introduced a new student. Mr.Wood was bald and had glasses, he always wore outfits that seemed too formal for a teacher. The kid that stood beside him wore a red shirt and jeans and had blonde hair.

“Students, we have a new transfer student who will be joining our class.” He announced, signaling the new kid to introduce himself.

“Hey, I’m Dean Carson,” he said, then turned toward the teacher. “Where do I sit?”

“Um, you can sit in the seat over there, next to Blake,” Mr.Wood replied, pointing to the empty seat next to me.

Dean nodded and walked over to the desk to take a seat.

The day continued and I noticed Dean was in almost all my classes, though it didn’t seem that strange because other kids in some of my classes were also in other classes but not as much as Dean.

I was getting tired of the ‘we have a new student’ introduction.

Lunch finally came and I went to my table with a tray of food. Surprisingly, I found Dean there, looking around the cafeteria. When I walked up to the table Dean smiled.

“Blake, right?” Dean asked.

“Yes, and you’re Dean,” I said, taking a seat at the table.

“Correct you are! Uh, the strange question were you by chance at the park yesterday?” He asked, looking a little nervous.

“Why?” I asked back.

“If you were I was wondering if you noticed anything weird going on.” He said.

I thought back to how the park was strangely quiet and the icy chill I got there, though I didn’t want to tell this kid.

Something didn’t seem right with him.

“I was at the park though nothing weird happened,” I said.

He looked disappointed.

“You sure? Did it get really cold or were there any strange sounds, or maybe it was very quiet?” Dean checked.

His eyes looked at me as if he were seeing through the lies and knew exactly what happened.

This was getting weird. It was as if he could read my mind or something. I didn’t want to talk to him anymore.

“Were you following me or something?” I asked, getting up from the table.

“I wasn’t following you, just doing business in the park. I heard you walking and it surprised me. I thought they closed all the park entrances.” Dean answered.

“Why would the park be closed?” I asked.

“Nothing you should worry about,” Dean answered.

With that, I was done with the conversation. There was something wrong with this kid and I knew if I kept talking with him it wouldn’t end well. I took my lunch and left to find a different table. I glance back to see Dean had disappeared.

This wasn’t going to be a good day.

The school day ended and I was back at home, my parents still on a business trip. I heated some leftover food I found in the fridge and barely took the first bite before I heard a knock on the front door.

Who could that be?

I went to the front door and opened it to find a man and woman standing there. The man was tall and had red hair. He wore a red jacket and a white shirt, along with black pants. He also wore dark sunglasses. The woman was a lot shorter than the man and had dark hair. She wore a white long sleeve shirt and black pants.

I have never seen these people before in my life and wondered if they had the wrong house.

“Have you been in any contact with witches?” The woman relaxed voice.

Did this woman just say, witches?

“Uh, I think you have the wrong house,” I said, slowly closing the door.

“You’re Blake Graves, correct?” The women asked.

This day just kept getting weirder and weirder.

“Again, I think you have the wrong house,” I said with a little more force.

I quickly closed the door but the man’s arm pushed it open. I backed away, starting to feel scared.

“Look kid we know you were at the park last night and no one but me and my partners had access inside there unless someone from the inside let you in.” The man said, irritated.

“You two are insane! Get away from my house and leave me alone!” I yelled.

“If you know something you need to tell us or a lot a people could get hurt.” The man said.

“I know you two are crazy and if you don’t leave right now I’m going to call the cops.” I threatened, pulling out my phone.

“Ya, um, we can’t let you call the cops, it’ll mess up our work. Just tell us how you got into the park and exactly what happened once you were inside.” The man said, taking a step inside.

This wasn’t going to be good.

I tried to dial 9-1-1 but before I could press the first digit the man grabbed my hand with the phone in, snatched the phone from me, and twisted my arm behind my back. I let out a small wince.

“I told you not to.” The man said, a hint of anger all over his words.

He pushed me against a nearby wall, though it didn’t hurt as much as I thought it would.

We were face to face and even though I was scared I stared directly into his sunglasses, where his eyes hid.

“I don’t care what you believe in. Just tell me how you got into the park and what happened once you did.” The man said, the anger turning into desperation.

I looked over at the women. Her expression remained the same as when I opened the door.

There was only one thing I could do to get this to stop.

“I was just going for a walk and went into the park like anyone normal would. After a few minutes, I got tired and took a small break then started walking back. It got really cold and was very quiet and right before I left I-,” I paused. “I thought someone was watching me.”

The man loosened his grip on me and looked over at the women who nodded.

“Hey kid, wanna help us kill a witch?” The man asked, with a smile.

“You two a crazy. I don’t know you and you’re threatening me.” I said.

“Well I’m Shawn Holt and this is Kate Baker we and two other people hunt the supernatural and right now we’re hunting a witch who may have taken a liking to you,” Shawn said.

“I don’t have a choice, right?” I asked.

“Not really,” Shawn answered.

I sighed. There was no way I could get away from them and it seemed like a bad idea to anger them. We walked out of the house to a black van. Kate got into the driver seat and Shawn led me to the back and opened the doors. Two other people sat inside the van. One I recognized as Dean and the other was a woman who had light brown hair, soft green eyes, and wore all black.

“That’s Dean. I believe you two already met and that’s Leah Bell.” Shawn introduced.

We both found a spot to sit and Shawn closed the door, with that the van began to move.

It didn’t take long for us to reach the park. Once we all got out I noticed it was getting late, few stars began to fill the sky. I followed Shawn, Kate, Dean, and Leah into the park.

Nothing was happening, it was just a peaceful walk except for the fact I was forced to come here. I don’t know what they were expecting to happen. A lady with green skin and a pointy hat to pop up behind a bush and turn someone into a frog?

This whole thing was crazy. How could there be a witch in a park like this one? It seems too small and there wouldn’t be any good places for someone to live in. It seems more likely one would live in the woods or the basement of someone’s house.

We’ve been walking for about ten minutes now and still, nothing was happening.

Right now, we were at a path that branched off into three directions.

“You know it doesn’t seem like anything is here,” I said.

Shawn turned toward me. He looked upset.

“This is a big group of people, most supernatural beings don’t like to show themselves when there’s a lot of people around,” Shawn said.

“Then let's split up,” I suggested.

“No, that’s too dangerous,” Shawn said.

“Well, I don’t want to be out here all night looking for your imaginary witch. We’ve been walking for over ten minutes and nothing is happening.” I complained.

“We have to deal with the witch or some bad stuff will happen,” Shawn said.

“Well deal with it yourself. I’m going home!” I shouted, turning back.

I only managed a few steps before an ice-cold chill ran down my spine, stopping my movement. It was the same feeling as before.

“Kid, what’s wrong?” Shawn asked, concerned.

I didn’t have a good feeling about this. I managed to get out a few words.

“Something’s here,” I said, my voice drowning in fear.

Shawn was walking over towards me.

“Come on let's go. You’ve helped enough.” Shawn said.

I think it was the fear on my face that made Shawn start acting nice. When I looked at the others they seemed worried too. I guess they either didn’t feel what I was feeling and thought I was crazy or they expected something bad to happen.

Behind us, the bushes and trees were shaking. Something was coming.

“Stay back Blake,” Shawn said, calmly.

I got furthest from the shaking trees and bushes.

Another icy chill ran down my spine, temporarily freezing me. Without any warning, a long vine shot out from the bushes opposite of the shaking ones and wrapped itself around my leg. I yelled as I fell to the ground landing hard on my stomach, causing the others to turn towards me, and before I was dragged too far away Shawn and Dean both grabbed my arms, struggling to pull me free.

I felt I was going to be torn apart. I realized Kate and Leah were also helping, though it felt like they were losing their grip. Another vine shot out from the bush and wrapped around my other leg.

This was it.

With one tug I was pulled out of Shawn and Dean’s grasp and into the bushes. They shouted my name but there was nothing I could do. I was gone.

After a minute or two of a very bumpy ride, I stopped and the vines unwrapped themselves from my legs. I quickly stood up and tried to run but another vine came out of nowhere and wrapped itself around my waist. I struggled but couldn’t get free. The sound of crunching leaves drew my attention to a tree to my right. From behind the tree came a girl that looked about my age. She had golden-brown hair with lines of emerald green strips and was wearing a light blue dress decorated with flowers. She seemed shy.

“Hi, I’m Willow.” She said.

“I’m Blake,” I said, hesitantly.

“I hope you’re not hurt, but it was the only way I could get you away from those monsters.” She said.

Maybe if I’m nice to her she may let me go.

“Ya, uh, thank you for that. Uh, Willow would it be okay with you if I went home?” I asked.

Willow looked upset.

Or maybe not.

“This is your home. With me.” Willow said.

“No, it’s not. I really need to go Willow but maybe I could come back and visit you sometimes.” I said.

“No! You have to stay here! It’s dangerous out there. They’ll hurt you and me and the rest of them. We have to stay hidden.” Willow shouted.

“Willow please you have to let me go!” I begged.

“I won’t.” She said.

There was nothing I could do. I was trapped and there was no way the others would find me.

“What do you want with me?” I asked trying not to sound scared.

“To be with you, of course.” She said, happily.

“Why?” I asked.

“Because I’m in love.” She said as she rushed over next to me.

“Why me?” I asked, trying to move away from her but was held in place by the vine.

“Because you’re different than everyone else. You’re like him. You noticed me.” She said.

“Willow you must know this is wrong,” I said.

“You don’t like it here?” She asked disappointment and anger coated her words.

“Not like this,” I replied.

“How about now?” Willow asked, the vine unwrapping itself from my waist.

Willow moved closer. I backed up but Willow kept getting closer. Soon I ran into a tree, lucky for me there was a large stick leaning against it. I rather not have to but Willow is a witch and did drag me off into the trees so I think this time it would be fine. Once Willow was close enough I grabbed the stick and swung it hard against the side of her head. She hit the ground hard with her eyes closed. Nothing was happening so I ran for it. I didn’t know where I was going but anywhere was better than with her.

Don’t get me wrong she seemed nice except for the whole witch thing and if things didn’t happen the way they did then maybe we could have been friends, but right now I didn’t see it happening.

I turned back to see if I was being followed and gratefully saw no one there, though I wasn’t watching for what was in front of me, and crashed into someone. I realized I crashed in Dean and was very relieved.

“Blake! Good to see you’re not dead.” Dean said, cheerfully.

I helped him up and he took me to where everyone else was. They were all glad I was back safe but upset they couldn’t catch the witch. I told them all that happened and afterward, Shawn took me back home.

“I sorry for dragging you here,” Shawn said.

“Sorry I called you crazy. I guess witches do exist.” I said.

“There’s more than just witches but let's hope they don’t decide to come out and play any time soon,” Shawn said with a laugh.

Once I was back inside my house I went straight to bed, though it was a long while before I got any sleep.

The next day was pretty uneventful. Dean and I didn’t talk about what happened the night before or anything. I tried to take my mind off the whole witch situation but it was nearly impossible. School went by quickly and I headed home, to my surprise I found Shawn, Leah, Kate, and Dean waiting next to their black van. They weren’t happy.

What now?

“Bad news, a body was found in the park. Was torn and cut beyond recognition.” Shawn said.

“You think it was the witch?” I asked.

“Only explanation,” Dean replied.

“We have to deal with it now or we won’t be allowed in the park anymore and that’ll end with more bodies,” Dean said,

“We’re sorry but you have to come back to the park with us,” Leah said.

Back to the park. Where the witch is. The witch who I hit with a stick and who killed someone.

Safe to say she’s mad at me.

“Sorry I’m not looking to die any time soon and going back there to me seems like the quickest way that may happen,” I said walking up to my house.

“You’re going. You’re the one who made her mad and caused her to kill someone.” Shawn said with playful force.

I stopped and turned to them. I knew I would lose but I couldn’t have the blame for someone’s death on my shoulders.

“Ya, and who dragged me there in the first place.” I snapped back.

Shawn looked shocked then sad. He knew whose fault it was but like me, couldn’t take the blame.

“Fine. I’ll be you’re bait, just make sure no one else dies.” I said.

We all hopped into the van. Kate in the driver's seat and this time Shawn sat in the passenger seat, leaving Leah, Dean, and me in the back.

The whole ride everyone sat in sad silence.

We arrived at the park and the silence continued but now everything was quiet. A strange quiet with tension in the air.

My heartbeat quickened.

Too late to turn back now.

We all started our walk into the witch's park. Everyone was on high alert, we all knew what could go wrong. I glanced around, it felt like multiple eyes were watching us. The air felt colder. The only sound was the footsteps we were making and the deep breaths that showed small hints of fear. I knew Willow was nearby and that she wasn’t alone. They were all waiting for something to happen as were we but for completely different reasons. I think Shawn underestimated how many witches were here and just how powerful they were.

Who wouldn’t though? This park is maybe a mile big and the forest areas aren’t that common.

But why would witches want to live in a park? None of this made sense. We were missing something.

“Hey, Shawn I have a bad feeling about this. You sure we’re dealing with witches?” I asked, nervously.

“Of course I’m sure. What else could it possibly be?” Shawn asked.

“He’s probably just nervous, first time facing one. Probably doesn’t know anything about them.” Kate said in her relaxed voice.

“Just seems strange,” I mumbled, too soft for anyone to hear.

From behind the bushes started to rustle, as if something was running through them. We all turned towards the sound. The rustling ran in a circle, getting louder and louder, quicker and quicker. There was no way to tell which direction it was coming from.

The wind quickened following the same pattern of movement as the rustling bushes. Leaves were swept into the air. We all faced a different direction, forming a circle in the middle of the chaos. The wind was too strong and too many leaves flew around us, we couldn’t see anything.

Without warning, everything stopped. The wind became still and the rustling ceased. Leaves fell to the ground. We looked around to find us surrounded by girls and boys all about the same as Willow looked. Bits of green flowed through their hair of varying colors and cloaks and sweaters covered casual outfits that had a natural look.

I didn’t know much about witches but right now I’m sure these people weren’t ones.

“Woodland fairies,” Shawn whispered to everyone.

Fairies! Great another supernatural creature that exists.

“That’s why they never left the park and because they were keeping low it appeared they had the magic power of a witch,” Dean whispered.

“So how do we deal with them?” Leah asked.

“Iron should do the trick but we should try to reason with them first,” Shawn replied.

“If we get rid of the fairies all the plants in the park may start to wilt if not carefully taken care of,” Kate whispered.

My whole body went numb with cold. It was like the chills from before but everywhere and much worse. I let out a small gasp.

From behind a few trees to the left of me, someone was coming out. It was Willow.

She wore a long green dress with flowers and leaves decorating the fabric. On her head, she wore what appeared to be a crown made of flowers. A scowl crossed her face.

“I see you are all back here again. What are you trying to do here?” Willow asked with fierce authority.

“We came here because reports of strange occurrences have happened. We thought it was the work of witches but we see now we were wrong. We would like to ask you to go back to your normal activities and not attract any more attention from the people who visit here.” Shawn answered.

“We first have some business to do before we can do that. You see I rule over all my kind that live here and recently we had another ruler too, that was until he passed. You, humans, don’t last very long so we need to find someone else.” Willow stated.

“Why would you need a human?” Shawn asked.

“Well, thousands of years ago I fell in love with one. He was different from everyone else, he knew exactly what to do and say, and most importantly he noticed me. The only human at the time who noticed me without me revealing myself,” Willow said, “Sadly he died so I kept looking for people just like him, but like him, they didn’t last long.”

Willow turned to me and smiled.

“Good news I found another one. Blake, you hurt my feelings yesterday I didn’t want to do what I did and I don’t want to do it again. So please come with me or you’re friends won’t be walking out of this park alive.” Willow said with a wild tone.

I looked at Shawn for an answer but he seemed to be at a loss. If I didn’t do what Willow said she would kill them but worse might happen if I do go with her. Shawn turned to me and nodded. I was shocked, he wanted me to go! To my surprise, he handed me an iron chain. Iron defeats fairies.

He wanted me to kill Willow.

I nodded and walked over to Willow. I turned back, hesitantly. Everyone was on their guard, ready for a fight.

Willow looked pleased and smiled, “good to see you’re smart enough to make the right choice.”

“Good to see you’re aren’t smart enough to see this coming,” I said as pulled the iron chain around her neck.

She let out a painful yell as her hands went to grab the chain away. I noticed it was burning her. A sizzling sound came from her hands and neck as they turned redder and redder. I was behind her keeping the chain still but Willow was strong and it was a struggle to keep it in place.

None of the other fairies were doing anything, they just stood there watching it all happen. They all seemed happy.

“Don’t just stand there! Do something!” Willow cried out in pain.

No one moved.

“This is what you deserve. We don’t interact with humans and we never kill innocent ones who travel on our land. Their blood curses the land where it was spilled until the one who spills it faces the same fate.” One of the fairies yelled out.

“You never were meant to rule us!” Another fairy called out.

The other fairies kept yelling about all the things Willow has done and all the punishments she should be given. It was not a nice list.

Willow gasp and then fell to the ground. Her eyes filled with a white mist. Shawn ran towards me and bent over Willow’s body. After a few seconds, he looked up at me.

“She’s dead.” He said.

Cheers broke out from the fairies. She must have been horrible to them for this kind of reaction.

One of the fairies walked over to me and Shawn. She wore a dark green cloak, along with a brown shirt and dark pants. Her hair was very short and had an orange tint to it with a few green strips crossing through it.

“We thank you for getting rid of her. We could never get close enough to her to attempt anything like this and her weakness would be ours as well. We promise to not bother the humans who visit our gardens and will keep the peace between ourselves.” The fairy said.

Another large gust of wind blew the leaves into a wall around the fairies, once it ceased the fairies were gone but I saw small hints of tiny people with wings flying through the trees and bushes. Willow was also gone. I guess the fairies wanted to deal with her body.

“Hey kid, you alright?” Shawn asked.

“Ya, I’ll be fine. Just rather not have to do that again.” I replied.

Shawn laughed.

“Don’t worry. Fairies of any kind don’t usually cause any trouble and when they do it’s solved without much problem.” Shawn said.

The park felt more open and peaceful than before. We all headed back to the van and I was dropped off at my house. Again, when I got inside I went straight to bed.

The school was uneventful, but I did notice Dean wasn’t at school today and guessed he wouldn’t be coming back. So back to my boring life where nothing happened. The school day felt like forever and focusing wasn’t easy. To be honest I was starting to miss the thought of fighting some supernatural creature.

Finally, the school day ended and I headed back home. In my house’s driveway, my mom’s car sat parked. Great, she was back. Through that wasn’t the only vehicle the sat at my house. Parked on the road was a black van.

Why would that be here?

Confused, I ran up to the front door and quickly opened to find Shawn, Dean, Leah, and Kate talking with my mom. They were all smiling so that means they were talking about something good.

After a couple of seconds, they noticed I was there.

“Oh, hi Blake. I didn’t know you were signing up for the school-work program.” My mom said.

“Uh, what?” I asked.

“Yes, your son has such great grades we thought he would like to have something else to do for school credit. You see Dean here is one of the other students in this program.” Shawn said.

I walked over to the dining table they were sitting at.

“Your son will get travel across the country, trying all sorts of jobs and getting to see and learn new things,” Shawn said.

“What about school?” My mom asked.

“Not to worry. Whenever there is time he can go to the local school in that area and all will be fine.” Shawn said.

“This seems like a great idea. I’m always traveling for work. Now Blake won’t have to worry about me not being home so much.” My mom said.

“Mrs.Graves you’re son will be fine. Everything will be taken care of. We just need the okay.” Shawn said.

“Well if Blake wants to do this then sure.” My mom said.

“Great now we’ll be going to get everything ready. We will be back tomorrow morning to pick him up.” Shawn said, getting up.

Dean, Kate, and Leah followed his lead and they all headed towards the front door. I ran after them. We were all outside when Shawn stopped and turned back towards me as the others continued to the van.

“What was that all about?” I asked.

“Well, you did such a great job with the fairy problem we thought you may like to continue helping us with other cases,” Shawn explained.

“And you didn’t think to ask me first,” I stated.

“I just knew you would say yes,” Shawn replied.

“You don’t like giving people the choice of saying no, don’t you?” I asked, smiling.

He was right though. I would have said yes.

“Hmm, now that you mention it I guess I don’t.” He replied.

With that, he turned back to the van and got into the it, a few seconds later they drove away.

The next morning they were back. I said goodbye to my mom and left with a backpack filled with everything I would need.

Kate was driving and everyone else sat in the back. We all chatted like good friends. After a long while of driving, Leah and Dean were asleep and Shawn and I sat with our thoughts.

Shawn tossed me a brown leather notebook. I looked at him confused.

“It’s for you to write down all the creatures we come across and everything you learn about them. Could just save your life knowing the difference between two creatures.” Shawn said.

“Thanks,” I said.

“Welp, I’m tired of that last case. A long nap should do me some good.” Shawn yawned.

And with that, he went straight to sleep, but I couldn’t. Instead, I took out a pen from my bag and began to write about what happened the past two days and everything I learned from it. Probably didn’t want to confuse fairies with witches again.

The van was dark and made it hard to focus on what I was writing and soon sleep overpowered me.

I needed my rest because what was coming next was sure to take up all my energy and I needed to be ready.

Ready for anything.