Ariella's biggest desire in life has always been such a simple one. She wants to be 'normal.' Unfortunately, that one simple wish has never been within her grasp. Coming from a long line of witches is bad enough, but she's even more different than t...
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"Wake up!" Was screamed in my face, violently yanking me from a peaceful slumber. My instincts kicked into overdrive, and I jerked back, away from the unexpected noise. Forgetting that I was asleep on the couch and not my usual king-sized bed, I tumbled to the floor, landing with a thud and a low grunt. Rolling onto my back, I glared up at Oliver's laughing face through half-open eyes.
"Has anyone ever told you that you're annoying?" I asked.
"Yeah, plenty of times," he responded with an unbothered expression, causing me to snort in amusement.
I was shocked to see the sun was already shining through the windows. I hadn't slept anywhere near sunrise in months. I was sure the only reason I'd finally managed to was that we'd stayed up all night talking, listening to music, and playing video games. I sat up, pushing my hair out of my face, and glanced around to find all of the others already awake... for the most part. Micah was half on a bean bag chair, half sprawled across the floor, looking like he was still half lost in dreamland. He and Oliver had both slept on bean bags while Hazel and Emily crawled into my bed, and I took the couch.
"We need to go. I've got to drop you guys off and get to work," Micah muttered drowsily.
I crawled back onto the couch with a grunt. "I can drive them home if you want."
"No. It's fine," he replied, ruffling my hair on his way past the couch, causing me to grunt in annoyance and slap at his hand. I missed him entirely and tossed a disgruntled look over my shoulder, to which he smirked in response. He chuckled and grabbed his duffel bag from the corner of the room, heading towards the door with the others following behind.
I reluctantly climbed off the couch, figuring I should at least walk them to the door. We all trudged down the stairs, clearly not fully awake after only a couple hours of sleep the night before. I heard mumbling coming from the living room but didn't pay it much attention.
After waving my friends off, I walked back into the house, and I was about to head back upstairs when I heard River's high-pitched voice coming from the living room. She was never awake so early, and my interest was peaked. Pausing my steps, I decided to investigate and tune into what was happening in the other room.
"She tried to kill me! You have to take her back home with you. We aren't safe with her here," River said near hysteria.
Curious, I rounded the corner and barely caught the groan from escaping my mouth when the room came into view. Even though it'd been a few years since I'd seen her, I'd recognize the long grey braid on the head of the person seated next to River anywhere. Sara Gorman, our maternal grandmother, had apparently come when River had called.
I had no idea she would show up so fast, and I wasn't mentally prepared to deal with her yet. I wasn't a little girl anymore, though. I wouldn't allow the old woman to bully me like she had in the past, and I definitely wasn't leaving the place I'd finally come to see as home.
